The ramblings of a young man (gazza127 diary)

DOHHHHHHH · February 2014

It is possible that there are lots of hands in therocks perceived 3b/fold range that have lots of equity against us, or that are a slight favourite.

So the shove is designed to fold out these hands, which is good for us.

If we can fold out small pairs, Ax, it's good, even TJs, 89s etc, it isn't a bad thing to fold out 40% equity. We're winning all the time we're doing that.

KJs isn't strong enough to 4b/call for value with, and it's too strong to waste by 4b/folding small.

Options are to flat (I like this option, and it's standard in most cases with or without reads/dynamic), or to shove, and get folds tonnes, and have decent equity if called.

We got it in first with 45% and made our opponent make a good read/call to realise his equity, it's not the end of the World. Just run better nxt time.

Ok we were 'fortunate' he had A7 and we were in decent shape, but stove a call off range, then add in all the times we get folds, and it'll all add up to an ok play imo, wth the reads we apparently have.....

gazza127 · February 2014

So today went well.

Got onto my laptop at half 7. I proceed to register for main and mini getting ready for some BH action.

Then I fall asleep.

I wake near enough 9 o clock to see half my stack gone in main. Confused where I am and whats going on I go bust the very first hand I play.

Mini wasnt a whole lot better either. WP Gazza.

So I grab a coffee and a bowl of cereal and register for one all in sat to the 9pm (just before 9). I come second to collect £30... decide to put the rest forward and play it.

Came 6th in the end for a profit of roughly £120 or something of the sort.

Exit hand was a bit messy. Might post it on clinic tomorrow if i remember/can be bothered.

Two winning nights in a row? If only UKPC could be every week...

gazza127 · February 2014

Today has been so brutal.

Flop
russia	Small blind		£0.50	£0.50	£105.45
gazza127	Big blind		£1.00	£1.50	£368.33
	Your hole cards	6 5
nightnurse	Raise		£3.00	£4.50	£100.15
s_half9	Fold
sikas	Fold
russia	Fold
gazza127	Call		£2.00	£6.50	£366.33
		9 7 8
gazza127	Check
nightnurse	Bet		£4.00	£10.50	£96.15
gazza127	Raise		£14.88	£25.38	£351.45
nightnurse	Raise		£21.76	£47.14	£74.39
gazza127	All-in		£351.45	£398.59	£0.00
nightnurse	All-in		£74.39	£472.98	£0.00
gazza127	Unmatched bet		£266.18	£206.80	£266.18
gazza127	Show	6 5
nightnurse	Show	J 10
Turn
		9
River
		5
nightnurse	Win	Straight to the Jack	£205.00		£205.00

SO BRUTAL.

Flop
Stevie_J	Small blind		£0.50	£0.50	£188.35
gazza127	Big blind		£1.00	£1.50	£103.00
	Your hole cards	A 8
Stevie_J	Raise		£1.50	£3.00	£186.85
gazza127	Raise		£6.00	£9.00	£97.00
Stevie_J	Raise		£12.00	£21.00	£174.85
gazza127	Call		£7.00	£28.00	£90.00
		6 4 Q
gazza127	Check
Stevie_J	Bet		£15.00	£43.00	£159.85
gazza127	Raise		£40.00	£83.00	£50.00
Stevie_J	All-in		£159.85	£242.85	£0.00
gazza127	All-in		£50.00	£292.85	£0.00
Stevie_J	Unmatched bet		£84.85	£208.00	£84.85
Stevie_J	Show	4 K
gazza127	Show	A 8
Turn
		Q
River
		10
Stevie_J	Win	Two Pairs, Queens and 4s	£207.00		£291.85

SO BLOODY BRUTAL.

Flop
gazza127	Small blind		£0.50	£0.50	£151.70
s_half9	Big blind		£1.00	£1.50	£93.00
	Your hole cards	Q J
russia	Fold
sikas	Raise		£3.00	£4.50	£200.60
stacker59	Fold
gazza127	Call		£2.50	£7.00	£149.20
s_half9	Call		£2.00	£9.00	£91.00
		K K 6
gazza127	Check
s_half9	Check
sikas	Bet		£6.00	£15.00	£194.60
gazza127	Raise		£16.50	£31.50	£132.70
s_half9	Fold
sikas	Call		£10.50	£42.00	£184.10
Turn
		4
gazza127	Bet		£26.00	£68.00	£106.70
sikas	All-in		£184.10	£252.10	£0.00
gazza127	All-in		£106.70	£358.80	£0.00
sikas	Unmatched bet		£51.40	£307.40	£51.40
gazza127	Show	Q J
sikas	Show	8 A
River
		5
sikas	Win	Flush to the Ace	£305.60		£357.00

Theres another 5/6 of these I could post.

Eurgh.

gazza127 · February 2014

Well last couple of days have been pretty brutal on cash (including today).

However one positive today, despite running AK into AA in a mega pot in main (and not getting there), was binking the £22 deepstack for £375.

Usually I don't like only having 3 paid and urge the field to hit 30 runners so I have a better chance to cash, but its nice to go on and win it and pick up 50% of the prizepool which almost never happens in tournaments.

I think thats the first time ive won the deepstack. One to cross off the list. I usually build up a nice stack in it and then make some bizarre move and throw it away. So extra nice to get the win.

Loses from cash cancelled out today. Less than 1k points to hit priority too. Cant be bothered to play anymore tonight though. A few episodes of House of Cards are what I need now

.

gazza127 · February 2014

Was going well in main.

Blew main.

Was going really well in mini.

Really blew mini.

Salvaged money on cash.

Blew cash.

Somehow still end the night in profit.

Tomorrows task - Make priority. 140 points to go.

gazza127 · February 2014

Late at nights, before I go to bed, I frequently rail the biggest cash games going on the site. Not to make notes or anything, but just to see some crazy pots go down. I often see pots of over £2k and wonder how much money these guys must have in their roll to be playing these silly stakes.

Have they worked their way up to this level, or are they just 'life-rolled'? I'd imagine its a bit of both in most instances. The players at those levels are no slouches. I mean how often do you see someone limp/call at 1000nl? These players know what they are doing.

Sometimes whilst watching these pots I have the urge to sit down. After all, I get dealt two cards same as them right? I have dreams sometimes about me sitting at such stakes and going on a heater... But dreams are dreams. I know these players know their stuff. I'd like to think I know my stuff too, and would hope that if I did sit down I wouldn't instantly be labelled 'table fish'. Issues would however start to arise due to the quantity of money involved. I wouldnt make moves in the right places, value bet as thin or barrel that river with air as the money at that level matters too much to me. I couldnt help but feel that if I sat and lost £1k in a single pot on poker, I'd need to take a good hard look at myself in the mirror and ask what im doing to myself.

Nope... I wont be sitting at 1000nl anytime soon. Despite my poor BRM, even I cant stretch to those levels without feeling sick in my stomach. I'd like to think one day I would be up at those levels, but it seems unlikely. I'd have to bink a big tournament (like a UKPC) to even think about joining those levels. And even then... despite me thinking I could handle myself at those levels, in reality I'd probably lose my entire roll. Maybe its that old cliche about meeting your childhood hero. Once you meet them, the magic can be ruined. Perhaps 1000nl is that hero that should be admired from afar... cause up close and personal heros rarely are as good as you've imagined them to be.

That being said, I did find myself railing the biggest cash game last night... which was suprisingly only at 200nl. After watching for about 20 minutes I had noticed that the standard was pretty poor for 200nl. There was limp/calling and the players were generally being quite passive.

I look at my roll. Am I rolled for this? No. Not by nearly anyones standards. Hmmmm. I cant sleep. Theres no other games running. I may aswell sit down right? Worse case scenario I lose 1BI... stand up and am £200 worse off. If '2 year-ago' me knew that I was sitting down at 200nl tables, he'd slap me. I hadnt played any poker online at all two years ago... and I definitely didnt have £200 lying around then available for gambling.

But, heres the thing about me... I like taking risks. No risk, no reward.

After about half an hour I had worked myself up to circa £400 having barely seen a showdown. I had decided to treat the 1 BI for this level as dead money and play exactly how I would do at 50nl. It was working. Suprisingly there were people on my table who looked like they were playing with scared money.

Some of you will now be thinking that this is a classic case of bum-hunting. I can see that view point, but sitting on a table you think you wont get annihilated at, is slightly different to sitting at one you are confident you can crush. And to those who think that might like know I played on the same table as Launder, Style and Zing for most of the evening... and did have my clashes even when the maybe lesser players left.

My head was telling me to stand when I hit £400. But one of my main irritants is people who hit and run. Now I hadnt done that of course as it wasn't a big cooler that got me that money, but I would have felt dirty standing. I always give people the opportunity to get their money back - something I usually regret. Something I did regret.

My Aces get busted by the guy running golden and i'm back to square one. Meh. At least my session didnt start like that... things could have been worse. Stand im thinking. Just stand. You are about £15 down, but have poker points galore. It was fun, but its 4am and its time to go to bed.

I'm stubborn.

Nope. I can beat this table if given time and my hands decide to hold. I'd atleast like to end the table in a little profit.

Then I hit the perfect spot, against the right player too. This player was on my right and was getting a little sick of me as I rarely gave a cheap flop/spare card. They were never folding Aces here:

Flop
XX	Small blind		£1.00	£1.00	£288.35
gazza127	Big blind		£2.00	£3.00	£227.20
	Your hole cards	6 6
launder	Fold
style2737	Fold
subsnw	Fold
XX	Raise		£5.00	£8.00	£283.35
gazza127	Call		£4.00	£12.00	£223.20
		6 2 8
XX	Bet		£9.00	£21.00	£274.35
gazza127	Raise		£30.00	£51.00	£193.20
XX	Raise		£93.00	£144.00	£181.35
gazza127	All-in		£193.20	£337.20	£0.00
XX	All-in		£181.35	£518.55	£0.00
XX	Unmatched bet		£60.15	£458.40	£60.15
XX	Show	A A
gazza127	Show	6 6
Turn
		4
River
		K
gazza127	Win	Three 6s	£456.60		£456.60

Soon after I won the rest of his stack AQ />KJ on a AJx board and I was up circa £270 for the night. He left and I was left 4 handed with Style, Launder and a guy I'd never heard of or played against in subsnw.

I stayed for another 20 minutes or so, but by that time it was 4:30am and I had to be up at 7:30am for work. I left after about an hour and a half £260ish up. Yes, down to a very nice spot busting Aces. But I think back at the hand where my Aces were cracked and like to think things evened themselves out by the end of the session.

So yeah, not sure why the long post to be honest. Could have just said that I took a shot at 200nl last night and came through smiling.

Although by the fluttering in my stomach when all my money went into the middle with the set and that spade came on the turn, I doubt I'll be returning any time soon.

1000nl is a long way off.

Jac35 · February 2014

I watched you play from around the time you raise/folded the turn in a big pot. Assume that was the hand you had aces?

Was hoping you weren't in a hole at that stage so pleased to read that you were doing fine to that point.

Grimaced when the spade came on the turn in the hand with the set. Glad you held.

Good decision to leave the table I think. No point carrying on when 4 handed and tired against that line up.

It's funny how we feel about big losses. I'm just the same. By now we should both probably be a bit more level headed about it.

When we have good winning days it's a nice feeling, no more. When we have a big losing day the feeling is horrible.

I've had some big nights in the casino where I've won a £1000+ and been like "yeah, that was a decent night" I've also had some awful nights where I've lost big,never more than a £1000 though and felt sick to the stomach and done the "that's it, I'm never playing again, pokers shxt" stuff.

I admire/don't believe the guys who just say that it doesn't affect them in the slightest. All one long game sort of thing. I guess they would argue that it only hurts because I'm playing above my bankroll. I'd be surprised if many are sitting at 1/2 in my casino who are properly rolled for it. Personally, I think if the games good, then there's nothing wrong with it.

gazza127 · February 2014

Spying on me eh?

Yeah the pot I had AA was when I squeezed from BB. Flop came K high. Q turn and had to fold to shove as I couldnt see him doing it with anything worse.

Im glad I held too! You know you are playing slightly outside your roll when you get the jitters when all the money goes in. Certainly provided quite the sweat, but as you say I wasnt in a hole so it wouldnt have been the end of the world if he runner runnered... although it would have sucked.

I very rarely play these levels. Something possessed me last night to play. The table just looked passive and I thought if I picked my spots I could maybe make some money. I don't think thats bumhunting... maybe it is? I dunno. I was playing with some of the best cash players on the site for a good while so I dont see it that way personally.

I left as I was completely shattered. Not that it got down to 4 handed... although I do much prefer playing 6 max - you can play less hands and pick your spots better. Im certainly feeling the effects today of that late night!

Its funny the reactions we have to winning/losing. I know personally I probably take the beats a bit too hard, and gloss over the ones I bestow on others. Poker after all is a long game and emotion is probably best left on the sidelines.

After all, tilt and positive tilt are both bad things with potential horrible consequences.

There was an interesting conversation about being positive in Tuesday nights show. I cant remember which professional they were talking about, but one had unequivocally stated that having a positive mental attitude throughout downswings or bad beats was one of the reasons he was the player he was, and why he was so profitable long term.

I suppose it makes a lot of sense...

Jac35 · February 2014

I did notice that you played less hands than normal.

In the 30 mins or so I watched, you did pass preflop at least twice

gazza127 · February 2014

In Response to Re: The ramblings of a young man (gazza127 diary):

I did notice that you played less hands than normal. In the 30 mins or so I watched, you did pass preflop at least twice
Posted by Jac35

It did kinda hit me after I lost that big pot with Aces what kind of money I was playing with... so i might have tightened up ever so slightly after that.

Only a little though...

hhyftrftdr · February 2014

Nice little post that Gazza. I often watch the higher limits when there is nothing to do. God knows just how rolled the likes of Style, Rosiedog etc etc are.

I mentioned in my thread recently about how I'd seen a guy I used to encounter regularly at 4nl as recently as July last year, sitting at tables as high as 1000nl. Couldn't believe it when I saw his name on the table list. I always knew he was one of the best players at 4nl (which isn't saying much tbh). But that is a meteoric rise in the space of half a year or so.....4nl to 1000nl..... Wonder if he's had a big bink somewhere, come into some money, maybe just nailed poker in recent months and could take a shot....

Jac makes an interesting casino point. The odd times I play live, I won't hesitate to sit in a 50/1 or 1/2 game. Yet I just wouldn't do that online, even when I was rolled for 100nl. Live cash can be so juicy though

TeddyBloat · February 2014

In Response to Re: The ramblings of a young man (gazza127 diary):

Late at nights, before I go to bed, I frequently rail the biggest cash games going on the site. Not to make notes or anything, but just to see some crazy pots go down. I often see pots of over £2k and wonder how much money these guys must have in their roll to be playing these silly stakes. Have they worked their way up to this level, or are they just 'life-rolled'? I'd imagine its a bit of both in most instances. The players at those levels are no slouches. I mean how often do you see someone limp/call at 1000nl? These players know what they are doing. Sometimes whilst watching these pots I have the urge to sit down. After all, I get dealt two cards same as them right? I have dreams sometimes about me sitting at such stakes and going on a heater... But dreams are dreams. I know these players know their stuff. I'd like to think I know my stuff too, and would hope that if I did sit down I wouldn't instantly be labelled 'table fish'. Issues would however start to arise due to the quantity of money involved. I wouldnt make moves in the right places, value bet as thin or barrel that river with air as the money at that level matters too much to me. I couldnt help but feel that if I sat and lost £1k in a single pot on poker, I'd need to take a good hard look at myself in the mirror and ask what im doing to myself. Nope... I wont be sitting at 1000nl anytime soon. Despite my poor BRM, even I cant stretch to those levels without feeling sick in my stomach. I'd like to think one day I would be up at those levels, but it seems unlikely. I'd have to bink a big tournament (like a UKPC) to even think about joining those levels. And even then... despite me thinking I could handle myself at those levels, in reality I'd probably lose my entire roll. Maybe its that old cliche about meeting your childhood hero. Once you meet them, the magic can be ruined. Perhaps 1000nl is that hero that should be admired from afar... cause up close and personal heros rarely are as good as you've imagined them to be. That being said, I did find myself railing the biggest cash game last night... which was suprisingly only at 200nl. After watching for about 20 minutes I had noticed that the standard was pretty poor for 200nl. There was limp/calling and the players were generally being quite passive. I look at my roll. Am I rolled for this? No. Not by nearly anyones standards. Hmmmm. I cant sleep. Theres no other games running. I may aswell sit down right? Worse case scenario I lose 1BI... stand up and am £200 worse off. If '2 year-ago' me knew that I was sitting down at 200nl tables, he'd slap me. I hadnt played any poker online at all two years ago... and I definitely didnt have £200 lying around then available for gambling. But, heres the thing about me... I like taking risks. No risk, no reward. After about half an hour I had worked myself up to circa £400 having barely seen a showdown. I had decided to treat the 1 BI for this level as dead money and play exactly how I would do at 50nl. It was working. Suprisingly there were people on my table who looked like they were playing with scared money. Some of you will now be thinking that this is a classic case of bum-hunting. I can see that view point, but sitting on a table you think you wont get annihilated at, is slightly different to sitting at one you are confident you can crush. And to those who think that might like know I played on the same table as Launder, Style and Zing for most of the evening... and did have my clashes even when the maybe lesser players left. My head was telling me to stand when I hit £400. But one of my main irritants is people who hit and run. Now I hadnt done that of course as it wasn't a big cooler that got me that money, but I would have felt dirty standing. I always give people the opportunity to get their money back - something I usually regret. Something I did regret. My Aces get busted by the guy running golden and i'm back to square one. Meh. At least my session didnt start like that... things could have been worse. Stand im thinking. Just stand. You are about £15 down, but have poker points galore. It was fun, but its 4am and its time to go to bed. I'm stubborn. Nope. I can beat this table if given time and my hands decide to hold. I'd atleast like to end the table in a little profit. Then I hit the perfect spot, against the right player too. This player was on my right and was getting a little sick of me as I rarely gave a cheap flop/spare card. They were never folding Aces here: XX Small blind £1.00 £1.00 £288.35 gazza127 Big blind £2.00 £3.00 £227.20 Your hole cards 6 6 launder Fold style2737 Fold subsnw Fold XX Raise £5.00 £8.00 £283.35 gazza127 Call £4.00 £12.00 £223.20 Flop 6 2 8 XX Bet £9.00 £21.00 £274.35 gazza127 Raise £30.00 £51.00 £193.20 XX Raise £93.00 £144.00 £181.35 gazza127 All-in £193.20 £337.20 £0.00 XX All-in £181.35 £518.55 £0.00 XX Unmatched bet £60.15 £458.40 £60.15 XX Show A A gazza127 Show 6 6 Turn 4 River K gazza127 Win Three 6s £456.60 £456.60 Soon after I won the rest of his stack AQ />KJ on a AJx board and I was up circa £270 for the night. He left and I was left 4 handed with Style, Launder and a guy I'd never heard of or played against in subsnw. I stayed for another 20 minutes or so, but by that time it was 4:30am and I had to be up at 7:30am for work. I left after about an hour and a half £260ish up. Yes, down to a very nice spot busting Aces. But I think back at the hand where my Aces were cracked and like to think things evened themselves out by the end of the session. So yeah, not sure why the long post to be honest. Could have just said that I took a shot at 200nl last night and came through smiling. Although by the fluttering in my stomach when all my money went into the middle with the set and that spade came on the turn, I doubt I'll be returning any time soon. 1000nl is a long way off.
Posted by gazza127

What a thoroughly enjoyable post.

Great read, gaz thanks for sharing.

gazza127 · February 2014

Cheers guys.

Played a few MTTs tonight.

Ran deep in 7:30 deepstack but it wasnt to be and I ended up 3rd. Ran deep in mini finishing 13th for pittence. You really do have to finish in the top 3 in that tournament to get any sort of decent return.

However I did hit priority and ended the day in profit.

Taking the day off tomorrow and seeing some friends. Will definitely be taking it easier next month pokerwise. It is actually quite difficult having a full time job and hitting priority! A man needs his sleep!

gazza127 · March 2014

Pretty gutted... was making a deep run in Mega Roller.

I win this I go into top 20 stacks and can kick on.

Flop
gazza127	Small blind		600.00	600.00	27146.07
K8LOU	Big blind		1200.00	1800.00	70968.24
	Your hole cards	J J
IrishRose	Fold
Indigo_L	Fold
GreatPark	Fold
TONY509	Fold
gazza127	Raise		1800.00	3600.00	25346.07
K8LOU	Call		1200.00	4800.00	69768.24
		6 J 7
gazza127	Bet		2400.00	7200.00	22946.07
K8LOU	Raise		5643.00	12843.00	64125.24
gazza127	All-in		22946.07	35789.07	0.00
K8LOU	Call		19703.07	55492.14	44422.17
gazza127	Show	J J
K8LOU	Show	3 A
Turn
		9
River
		5
K8LOU	Win	Flush to the Ace	55492.14		99914.31

Never folding that shallow.

Yep... pretty gutted.

gazza127 · March 2014

At least I won a seat to Tuesdays main for my epic* joke.

In case you missed it:

How many poker players does it take to change a light bulb?

Six. Max.

Instant classic right there.

*open to interpretation.

gazza127 · March 2014

I was a little bored towards the end of work today, and was the only one left in the office. Of course im going to open up some cash tables.

Took another little shot at 200nl, but instead of telling you how it went... i'm going to let whoever reads this excuse for a diary guess.

The session rode on this hand:

Flop
LB44	Small blind		£1.00	£1.00	£397.00
gazza127	Big blind		£2.00	£3.00	£398.00
	Your hole cards	??
bolly580	Fold
bigsid	Fold
stacker59	Fold
LB44	Raise		£6.00	£9.00	£391.00
gazza127	Call		£5.00	£14.00	£393.00
		4 J 3
LB44	Bet		£10.00	£24.00	£381.00
gazza127	Call		£10.00	£34.00	£383.00
Turn
		8
LB44	Bet		£22.00	£56.00	£359.00
gazza127	Call		£22.00	£78.00	£361.00
River
		7
LB44	Check
gazza127	Bet		£96.00	£174.00	£265.00
LB44	Call		£96.00	£270.00	£263.00
gazza127	??

Question is... what do I have? A prize shall be given if you can nail my exact hand - probably just a pint at the next convenient SPT

Thats of course if anyone actually guesses.

Lambert180 · March 2014

Ill go with 77

gazza127 · March 2014

In Response to Re: The ramblings of a young man (gazza127 diary):

Ill go with 77
Posted by Lambert180

I'll let others have a stab before saying.

And by others. I of course mean that one other bloke who occasionally reads this thing.

splashies · March 2014

Hmmm, there's reason why you've posted this hand. I think it's def a brag.

I think you bluffed the river and were called by worse.

I'm going for, you had A5 (cc?) and villain had A2

Slipwater · March 2014

3 4 of diamonds.

benc · March 2014

910 spades!

gazza127 · March 2014

Ok noone has got it.

One person is very close in their thinking but has picked the wrong hand

F_Ivanovic · March 2014

In Response to Re: The ramblings of a young man (gazza127 diary):

Ok noone has got it. One person is very close in their thinking but has picked the wrong hand
Posted by gazza127

9cTc?

bev60 · March 2014

I'm with splashies A5 spades

gazza127 · March 2014

Good to see a few of you think im bluffing here

Noone has gotten it. Looks like that pint is going to have to go to me.... unless someone makes a late genius guess.

ff55hh · March 2014

56 spades and you cracked a set????

golds95 · March 2014

Would it be 88

F_Ivanovic · March 2014

In Response to Re: The ramblings of a young man (gazza127 diary):

Good to see a few of you think im bluffing here Noone has gotten it. Looks like that pint is going to have to go to me.... unless someone makes a late genius guess.
Posted by gazza127

I didn't think you were! Looked like a value bet to me :P But then when you said someone is close in their thinking it must mean it was 9cTc, something like 88 (similar to lambo's prediction) or something along the lines of As5s (my new second guess) - which would be a bluff. I guess you would raise that on the flop though?

mrsduck · March 2014

56s?

mrsduck · March 2014

Oh someone already said that! My first instinct though..

The ramblings of a young man (gazza127 diary)

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