You need to be logged in to your Sky Poker account above to post discussions and comments.
You might need to refresh your page afterwards.
You need to be logged in to your Sky Poker account above to post discussions and comments.
You might need to refresh your page afterwards.
Comments
Some nights I just want to cry after losing a chunk of my roll. Other nights I go to bed feeling like Ivey.
Tonight I feel like Ivey.
Sat down on mastercash table 50nl. Played 6 handed for a while and was doing OK. Then I hit a big pot.
Then this happens.
And although im feeling pretty good about cash at the minute, I know it can easily swing the other way. Tomorrow I could sit down and lose the lot. I just can't work out of i'm good/bad/lucky/unlucky or even if I enjoy cash.
I dunno!!
The first I'll talk about was the forum freeroll. What can I say? I ran QQ into AJ all in pre 3rd hand and went out on an Ace river. Ha.
Not 30 seconds later I went out in the mini set over set. Not thinking its going to my night at this time.
However I was still in the main and doing well. In fact I thought I was playing really well. Trapped the chip leader twice and managed to bink his entire stack. I ran quite well (even though I remember losing half my stack JJ v 1010 aip) , but really played quite well too, and 2 hours later I had final tabled. With 5 players left I had 1/3 of the chips in play and things were looking rosey.
Then I went on a slippery slope which started off like this.
Either way I went onto finish 3rd after sb open shoved onto my bb. I had A10s. He had 33 and held.
I should be quite happy (and probably will be tomorrow) but its hard not to feel a little dissapointed considering I was the chip leader with 4 left. Still, a FT on the main doesnt happen everyday so lets hope this is the start of a few decent tournament scores.
I was going to post before the main tonight about my cash game - something that I think I have improved massively over the past week. I'm about 500 quid up on cash this week... and with 3rd in the main tonight my BR is looking A LOT healthier... and I still have £120 C4P to come.
Onwards and upwards!
I love it. I hate it.
Experienced the highs and lows of cash tonight. I went onto 2 tables, and quickly was finding myself topping up after having to fold some tricky spots....
Then everyone left.
I was left HU against the same player on both tables - a guy who was intent on giving me a hard time in the chat box whenever I won a hand...
I took him for a ride and was about £200 up after he kept reloading on 1 table. The other table I was also up about £50. Then after one spot where he called a big raise on the turn, hitting his gutshot on the river to DU.... then doing it again put me on tilt, especially after he went off on one in the chat box saying it was a 'matter of time' whilst also exclaiming I was a 'lucky c***' etc. Then came a series of hands where he hit flushes, straights, sets, 2 pairs and each and every hand I had something to pay him off.... and whenever I hit a pair/straight/flush combo and got the money in, hed have a set and hold!
Had to walk away from the table as one table inparticular I had donated about £300 to him. I didnt play great admittidly but ive never seen someone run so well also. Its not just the fact that he hit big hands... its the fact that I ALWAYS had a decent enough hand or a hand with enough equity to pay him off. Genuinely about 6 hands had made the difference between being £500 up and £100 down. I remember one hand he called a raise on the flop with the flush draw... then called another big bet on the turn and then hit flush on the river. Usually hes throwing money away here but it was ridiculously frustrating when he kept calling for his draws and kept hitting when the pot was massive.
So down £100 on cash today (2 buy ins). However made about £80 on tournaments today so nothing to be concerned with.
It plays a big part in poker for sure. Something which I just found out the hard way in the rebuy.
What do you do when you don't get dealt any hands? When you raise AK and the flop comes 359? When you raise with 33 and the flop comes 69A? When youre card dead for the entirety of the tournament...
Well its obvious... you bluff. You take control in pots you cant win and rep a much better hand than the one you are holding. The problem? If you get looked up, the liklihood that you can steal another pot shortens. And if you get looked up again? Well then you can't ever bluff again on the same table as noone will believe you. Normally I don't mind this as you can really leather it on when you do flop the nuts or when you do get dealt AA and you will get paid. The issue... I never flopped the nuts. I never got dealt AA.
So when I ever made a play like this...
...you get snap called.
Just one of those days really where I had to try and make my own luck with very little success.
And theres nothing you can do when you flop the essential nuts and get outdrawn.
Main event I went out 3rd/4th hand. I turned top two pair in an inflated pot and got it in to see oppo had flopped the nut straight with 45.
I cashed in the mini however... although I cant remember a single hand I played. *EDIT* Of course I do! Hhy.... called my 15x raise pre when he said I wasnt stealing his bb!
Played the 3k rebuy too, and after a shifty start where I had to rebuy I brought together a good stack which I carried all the way through to the final table. There was a guy on the table who took half my stack with 3rd pair 5 kicker. I must remember not to bluff a station. However I managed to DU twice through one LAG player and was around about chip leader with 4 left. Blinds were pretty big and when I had to call a shove from mattbates with A6s and saw his A9os hold I lost the initiative.
I got to the final 3 and shoved A3 with 12bb on the button... got looked up by KQ. K on the flop and that was that.
Mattbates went onto win it... again. The guys a machine.
So a decent return tonight and indeed this week. BRs looking good. Sharkscopes looking good (minus the massive downswing). Put that together with my SPT cash and just from tourneys im up around 1.1-1.2k since the diary started (pretty much all from this last week) + a little from cash.
The downswing really did put me to the test but it looks like im out of it now. The cards are being ever so slightly nicer so heres hoping it continues.
Havent played online since my last post, however went round to a mates house last night and played poker at his. There were 5 of us. I went out first after one of my mates limped QQ utg and I shoved J10s shortstack. I had been shortstacked on a AK94K board with AQ. My mate had K2! These are the kind of people who irritate me onlne! Lol. Still, we had decided to allow rebuys for the first couple of hours to keep the game moving and increase the prizepool, so I sat back down with starting stack and ended up busting 3 of my mates twice and went on to win which was nice! Its been too long since we last played together as its such a laugh. I remember one hand shortstack shoved, my other mate called off half his stack and another mate (also shortstack) went all in too. Hands shown... 96s, J4os, A9. I'd be dissapointed not to take their money! Haha.
Just read through my diary a bit.... one thing that I've become aware of - my ability to moan. So lets see if I can cut that out... afterall poker is supposed to be fun - I do forget that sometimes.
For those that read this every so often and don't know my journey, heres a lowdown on what you might have missed in handy bulletpoint form!
(interesting... bullet points don't seem to show)
Talk about up and down.
A bit of BR management and I can kick on from here.... hopefully starting with a decent score at the Primo.
Keep up the good work Gaz. This diary is one of my favourite reads on here at the mo. Enjoying the swings and swongs and nice to see you riding out the variance and getting well in front (...for now...)
Any plans to introduce more tables to your cash sessions now you are better rolled for it??
Thanks SJ. Nice to know you like the diary.
I am thinking of introducing a lot more cash into my playing time. Mainly at 50nl. I get frustrated at the lower limits and I think im semi rolled for 50nl anyway (30 buy ins). However cash is one of those games. I either love it or hate it. The potential to win big is such a temptation, however the potential to lose big is always there.
Played the main tonight. Ran absolutely rubbish.
Hovering around average chip stack... then this happens:
So didnt do anything wrong so I suppose I can take comfort, but if either hold im definitely looking at cashing. Ended up going out around 50th.
What is it tonight?
Well have a look...
LOVE
Ended up about £500 up in about 2 hours on 50nl! Ran so hot it was unbelievable. Lost about £80 in a pot and decided to leave when I was well ahead.
I had considered folding one or two of the above hands on the river. Particularly the QQ hand... but I just had a funny feeling I was getting shoved off the pot.
Either way, I'm feeling pretty pleased right now!!
Only thing missing that id be interested to see is your BR, do you keep to any strict BRM? or just play where you think the value is?
Gl let the heater continue !
My BR after last nights heater is now £2k - so now im properly rolled to be playing 50nl and I can afford to enter the main most nights. With the roll I have at the minute, its going to be a lot easier to avoid going busto. There arent many tournaments with much higher buy ins on the site, and aslong as I avoid playing the higher cash tables I should be in a good position to kick on from here. I'll continue to play my usual MTTs and I'll stick to 50nl until a time comes when I can afford to play the higher cash games and not risk my roll.
I played a bit of cash this afternoon. I did quite well on one table and was up about £70. However, on the mastercash table I was playing HU for about 30 mins. The guy took about £120 off me. I didnt play too well so no complaints. I should have played much tighter but got a bit frustrated that I couldnt hit a flop and got caught bluffing.
Played the main and mini this evening. Ran OK in both. Mini was a bit of a pain. I got stacked right before the bubble (80 left) and was left with 1.5bb. Managed to run that 1.5bb up to 20bb and cashed, however the blinds were a nightmare and with 12bb I saw a chance to DU with A10s and shoved. Got called by JJ and 77 and the Jacks held. Cashed in 40th.
The main was going well, however I was very up and down. I was shortstack with around 30 left but managed to DU KK v 1010. Then I knocked a couple of players out and went up to 1st. I lost half my stack barrelling AK into an inflated pot. He raised the turn and I had to fold. I got to the final table after bluffing a big hand (hhy - you called it - i missed absolutely everything!). Was first with 3 left then a big hand left me 3/3. I rivered trip 6s. Oppo had flopped the straight with 53. However i still managed to get HU about even stacks.... Then I threw it away. Tried to rep a J on a 4 card straight board. Got snapped off by middle set and he held. Game over.
Still... 3rd in last weeks monday main. 2nd this week. I'll just have to win it next week.
So the BR is up past the £2.5k mark - which is the challenge I set myself when I first started the diary.
CELEBRATION TIME!
Lets see if I can hold onto it. Lol
Time to watch the new Breaking Bad episode as a reward.
Played bad... ran worse.
Ran KK into AK all in pre. (A on flop)
Ran QQ into AA all in pre - oppo had had AA not two hands before.
Got stacked 1010 v QQ on an 8 high board.
Trip 10s got done by a fullhouse.
So down a bit today... but im not going to get disheartened. I know I didnt play well and probably could have gotten away from one or two of those hands. Going to play the rebuy tonight. Lets hope I can have another deep run like monday night and recover todays loses from cash.
Played more cash. Lost more cash. Cards were not nice to me tonight. Didnt hit a flop for goodness knows how long. Stacked with JJ v KK on 7 high flop, as well as AK v QQ on a AKQ board.
I've decided to withdraw most of my BR. Why? Well my 'job' at the minute is still something left to be desired. I havent been working for the last couple of weeks. Its a start up company and they cant seem to afford to pay me at the minute. That being said, one of the investors is in the office this week so hopefully I'll have some good news before the week is out.
Other reasons for withdrawing BR:
- I reached my 2.5k target - woop.
- I don't trust myself with 2.5k in my poker account (I just have a funny feeling that id end up sitting on MC 2000nl or something stupid)
- I need the money
- Time for a new challenge.
I've left £500 in my account, and with a strict BR (LOL) i'm sure I can roll it back up.
Challenge? Well maybe its silly to set personal targets on poker as you lose sight of why you play - fun.
So with that in mind i'm going to set myself a 'loose target' to try and reach 2.5k (again) by the new year. I'm thinking I'll leave cash alone for the most part. I do best at 50nl but if I have a few bad spots then they BR will be annihilated, and I don't really enjoy 10nl/20nl for some reason. Plus I don't really want to have the embarrassment of near enough going broke again.
So MTTs it is...
The BR is £500 - I will not be depositing again (no second chances this time).
Lets get started.
Played 2 tournaments so far today. The first one I enterd was the 3max £100 gtd. I struggled massively to be honest. I wanted to bully the other players around, but as you are so deep from the beginning you cant do it with much effectiveness. Its different compared to the end of a tournament when you're 3 handed. So I went out of that pretty quick as I flopped the flush draw and gutshot straight and got the chips in... called by top pair and I missed.
So I went and entered the 3pm £500 BH £22 entry - yeah I know its a bit of a BR buster but I couldnt help myself.
Played very well. Got knocked down to 1.2k early doors but built it up nicely and I was up in the top 3 with 12 left. Then this hand happened:
Just in case you missed the 2nd half of the show last night, you got free entry to the £22 Run MTT tonight.
RE the £22 Run MTT - I had to give my seat back as im out tonight. Shame they couldnt change it, but they ended up giving my seat to someone else so at least it didnt go to waste.
Update -
Played the main and mini last night... didn't play well and went out without even threatening the money.
I also played the 3k rebuy at 9pm and was doing well for the first 3 hours. One hand springs to mind when I had 88 on a 246(2 club board) - I bet... oppo shoved and I called expecting to see a draw. Nope, just a set of 4s. Anyway I went out 2 before the cash 3-bet shoving AQ on the button with 15bb. Snapped by JJ in the BB.
So I ended up playing cash - oops. I sat down on nl50 (mastercash table).... and quickly I was up £150 after a couple of nice hands. There was a loose cannon on my table... and when I say loose cannon, I mean LOOSE cannon. Honestly, you could value bet 2nd pair weak kicker and get called by worse. However after a couple of spots where noone believed he had the goods he rolled his £100 into £500. I was determined to have the lot off him before the morning came as I knew he would pay me off for my hands. However I ended up doing my own stack. I flopped the open ended straight flush draw with J10d after a 3 bet pre and got my money in knowing I was a flip against any overpair. He turned over KK and held.
So I reloaded for the full amount to see where it got me. A couple of hands into the reload I flop the nut flush and Mr Loose Cannon is the only other player in the pot. I bet big on flop and turn and get calls... then I decide he's likely to call an overbet shove so got it in. He called with the worse straight on the board and i got a full DU. An hour or two later Im up £130 on the session and decided it was probably bed time at 8am after Mr Loose cannon leaves the table with his remaining £120.
Cash has been going quite well recently.
Look how much respect I get from an UTG raise though...
I played an action table last night. It did exactly what it said on the tin - action. Not sure I liked it at all. You find yourself playing for stacks almost every hand youre involved in as 3 bets are almost a normality every hand. Still, I managed to find myself in a very nice spot right at the end of my session which put me in some decent profit for the day.
I did make up for coming 2nd though cus next day I won it:)
My mate wanted to go to the casino and when I saw a poker table open I couldnt help myself. The blinds were £1/£2 which was a bit higher than im used to online but I was determined to give it a crack. I bought in for £150 - an amount I was happy to lose if it so happened - well not happy, but I wouldnt be too upset if I lost it.
First hand I sit down on the BB and im dealt 88. I was ready to call and see a flop. Then UTG raises to £15... 7.5x the big blind! And he's called by 3 players! I couldnt believe what was going on and wonderng what I had gotten myself into. After about half an hour I was down £30 after paying to see some flops and being forced to check/fold a lot.
Hands of note:
I get dealt JJ in the SB. UTG limps. UTG+1 limps. UTG+2 raises to £15 and gets called in middle position. I reraise to £55 pre... mental eh?? UTG folds and UTG+1 folds. UTG +2 thinks for a while then folds. Middle position asks how much I have and then decides he'll put me all in. I reluctantly call as I had oppo down as a bit of a loose cannon. He turns over AQ and im in a flip for a pot of £250. A J on the flop seals it and I win the pot.
I get dealt QQ not too long after and the action is near enough the same. I 4 bet to £60 pre to try and get out most of the players... however I still get called into two spots. Flop came J10A and I was forced to check/fold. The other two players got to showdown JJ v J9.
I got dealt JJ about an hour later and raise to £15 UTG and get just the one caller. Flop comes KQ6 all spades. I hold the J of spades. I get donk lead into for the size of the pot and I decide to fold. I probably either have the best hand at the time or have spade outs but decided it wasnt worth the risk.
My penultimate hand I played I get dealt AK. I raise to £15 UTG+1. I get called in one position. Flop comes J46 (2 spades). I lead for £20 and get called. Turn is a blank and I decide to continue for £50. He asks how much I have behind but after a lot of deliberation he decides to fold claiming he had the up and down straight draw.
I ended the evening about £50 up but honestly believe that on a good night I'd run over that table as some of the play was speculative to say the least!
A perfect example of this is the last hand I played. I get dealt 44 on the button. UTG raises to £6. UTG+1 reraises to £12. He gets called by middle position. Another guy moves all in for his remaining £19. I decide I'd call as its my last hand and if I flop a set I will 100% get paid. UTG calls. UTG then reraises to £45. He gets called by middle position. I fold as im no longer getting the odds. Then UTG calls. Flop comes 876. UTG checks. UTG+1 moves all in and is called by middle position. UTG calls also. Hands that are shown are JJ, 87 and 54 and a pot of almost £1300 gets moved to the guy holding 54 - mental.
I certainly enjoyed playing live cash but it was an intersting experience to say the least! The amount of money some people are happy to lose on a friday night in a casino is nothing short of crazy. More money than sense. Still... I hope to go again sometime soon and with a couple of hands that hold I think I could end up with a decent profit playing live cash - but im not sure i could cope with the beats too well at that buy in with the amount of speculative play that occurs.