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Friday 15th November
Played 29
Won 19
Lost 10
Split....
£2.25 - Played 0, won 0, Lost 0
£5.50 - Played 16, won 12, lost 4
£11.00 - Played 13, won 7, Lost 6
PROFIT/LOSS on Day £34.50
REWARD POINTS = 205
BANKROLL at close of Play = £448.14
REWARD POINTS at close of play = 1,676
November so far.....
Played 253
Won 151
Lost 102
Win-rate, November, 59.68%
Cracking day yesterday, with more games running than I can ever recall, & there were an incredible THIRTEEN @ £11. I only managed to win 7 of those, so broke even on them, but ran well in the £5.50's, & won 12 from 16, which is 75%.
Ended the day £34 ahead, to take the roll within touching distance of £450, & a lovely haul of Reward Points, over 200, to take me to 1,676 for November.
Started very up & down, & could not get my nose ahead on Game-Count, but eventually hit some form, & won 7 on the bounce, including 4 @ £11, to surge nicely ahead, & I held from there.
Have run well for a few days now, going from £400 to near £450 in short order, so a downswing must be expected soon, but as long as the trend continues in a northerly direction, I'll just have to accept it, it is inevitable, this run cannot continue.
All good, & I hope you enjoy your weekend.
Saturday 16th November
Played 33
Won 19
Lost 14
Split....
£2.25 - Played 0, won 0, Lost 0
£5.50 - Played 24, won 15, lost 9
£11.00 - Played 9, won 4, Lost 5
PROFIT/LOSS on Day £1.00
REWARD POINTS = 210
BANKROLL at close of Play = £447.14
REWARD POINTS at close of play = 1,886
November so far.....
Played 286
Won 170
Lost 116
Win-rate, November, 59.44%
33 games yesterday, for an overall loss of £1 belies the story behind that.
I managed to lose FIVE games @ £11 in the first half of the session, & found myself in a huge hole, top side of £60 down at that stage.
Partly, I think, this was my old problem, concentration, I was watching the Rugby on the TV, having a few bets, & there was a lot of warm chat on the Table, which I really can't ignore, so was chatting with folks.
Anyway, I had to give myself a bit of a talking to, so I took a break, then focused properly for the remains of the session, & I finished with a right rattle, winning 8 of the last 9, including the last 6 in a row.
I don't keep track of my balance during a session, so I only have a rough idea of where I am, but I assumed I had lost plenty, & it felt like a winning day when I eventually found the days loss was only £1. Phew.
Even so, 33 games for a £1 loss is not ideal, but it could have been so much worse.
My Reward Points are ticking along nicely, too, I gave myself a taerget of 500 for the weekend, & I'm over 400 already, so I'm pleased with that. I still have an outside chance of 3,000 Reward Points this month, although I still have a few Shows to do in Novembrer, so they will be blank days.
Enjoying it immensely.
Quick recap of where we are, & how we got here. I think it's good to critically self-analyze.
I started this sort of challenge thing on 2nd September, & with a balance of exactly £200.
I played cash at first, & that did not go too well, my £200 sunk to about £134.
So I moved across to PLO8 DYM's, & by the end of October, the £134 had been built back up to £215.
Since then, I've been on a bit of a heater, & we are up to £447 now, for a gain of £232 so far in November, but that includes £50 of REWARD POINTS money from October, so the "real" games profit iin November is only £182.
I still don't know if I can beat these games, or if I am just having a glorious heater, I suspect it is halfway between the two.
I'll continue, & I guess we''ll see soon enough.
I must add, running this "Diary" really helps, as I know I have to out myself evey morning, & the potential for egg on face is huge.
Anyway, we'll see, it is what it is.
I would strongly recommend anyone to give this sort of thing a try, it really does help the self-discipline. We all get beats & give beats, over time these all equal out, and I've had plenty of both.
I was on the comeback trail late in yesterday's session, really trying, & I got it in terribly with A-K-2-3 against A-A-K-Q. The flop, of course, came 10-J-Q, BOOM! I did feel a bit bad for the chap, but them's the breaks, & they cut both ways.
Enjoy your Sunday.
Sunday 17th November
Played 23
Won 15
Lost 8
Split....
£2.25 - Played 0, won 0, Lost 0
£5.50 - Played 19, won 12, lost 7
£11.00 - Played 4, won 3, Lost 1
PROFIT/LOSS on Day £31.50
REWARD POINTS = 135
BANKROLL at close of Play = £478.64
REWARD POINTS at close of play = 2,021
November so far.....
Played 309
Won 185
Lost 124
Win-rate, November, 59.87%
The heater continues, & I booked (or binked) a £31.50 profit yesterday in a fairly short session.
Really bad start, losing the first 3, then winning the next 4, then swung & swong both ways but gradually fell behind, & was in a small hole after Game #13. Then followed a remarkable run of 9 straight wins, but my attempt at 10 in a row floundered on my last game of the session, an £11er, after which I drew stumps for the night, as I wanted to rail the UKPC Final, & watch some NFL. I was scared these would impact my concentration, so happily logged off with a nice profit in the bag.
The 'Roll is now a very healthy £478, & I have over 2,000 Reward Points locked up, so that's £20 minimum in the bank for next month. 3,000 points, the threshold for additional payment, is not impossible, that'd give me £45 minimum, but it depends if I have enough spare time. I've give it a good try, though.
Must say, this whole thing has re-energised my love of playing poker, though heaters always help!
Will be back trying again tonight, be good to see some of you on the tables.
There were tons of games all weekend, & a remarkable number of players who are new to Sky Poker, so that's very encouraging for PLO8 DYM liquidity. 2 months ago it was a struggle to get 5 or 6 games per evening, now there are always 2 or 3 £5.50-ers or £11ers running at once, & even more at £2.25, £1.15 & £0.60. A 4 hour session generally equates to 20 or 30 Games @ £5.50 & up, which is excellent considering that PLO8 is a game which, compared to NLH & even PLO, is relatively unpopular. I looked on FT last night, out of curiosity, & there were barely any PLO8 SNG's running.
All good.
There is a regular in these PLO8 DYM's who has an extremely aggro style. He has an extraordinary win record, & must make a small fortune playing them, but his game-style seems to upset a few folks.
When he started playing them, it took me about an orbit to work out that this chap was differernt gravy, & he had an intuitive understanding of odds.
As a result, in certain situations, he turns up with the most eclectic range of hands, & he puts a few beats on the more traditional players. His game, to my eye anyway, looks technically perfect, every play he does makes perfect sense.
He raises almost every hand pre, and herein comes the basic mistake - most people FLAT his raise. The correct thing here is to re-pot it, or fold, not to peel. We miss most flops, so when the c-bet inevitably comes along, smoking a pipe as they say, the flatters finding themselves in a world of pain. We are not playing deep enough to peel in these, so we have to adjust to shallow-stack play. It's extraordinary how often players just peel behind a pot-sized bet. The most efficient time to decide which way to jump is then, not a street later. Re-Raise the guy pre - as I always do (or I fold, but I NEVER flat him) - & he folds like a good 'un.
Unfortunately (not that he gives a jot or tickle) he gets plenty of mild abuse, the damned with faint praise variety, & sarcy remarks, from some others. One chap, far & away the least-technically gifted on the regulars, gave him a right mouthful yesterday. Poker players are very good at dissing others, but rarely see the irony.
Mr Chunter was back, too, after a few days absence.
Well done Sky, you rivered me again
Typical Sky outdraw
Of course, I expected it, well done Sky
He then busted A-A-K-2 DS with the innovative 9-8-7-3, AIPF. Not a word.......
Apart from "good luck all", & the occasional "wp", & some banter with MOTHER & the like, I rarely chat on the Rail much, (except to reply to questions, which I feel obliged to) I find it quite hard when 4-Tabling, to be honest, but I read all the chat, & it really is quite an insight into human nature. I honestly don't know why some people play poker, it does not appear that they derive much enjoyment from it. Why would you partake in a recreational activity which upset you so much? I enjoy all sorts of hobbies & pastimes, but none of them make me angry or chuntery, if they did I'd not indulge, I just try to do things in my recreational time which I enjoy.
Guess it takes all sorts.
Thought he would have learnt his lesson after his infamous chatban last year
Still, at least this fella/lady is abusing the sharks. Effectively playing into their hands. Just the type of thing that they want to see. Much worse (imo) when they abuse weaker players.
You never play PLO/8 HU sngs TK?
There are 2/3 players on here who have updwards of a 20% ROI playing 4card HU sngs over huge samples.
That's twice as high as the most successful NLHE HU sng players, and 4/5 times as high as most NLHE winners, including myself.
1 fella is top of the World leaderboard for total profit in PLO8 HU sngs $5-15 buyin level in 2013.
Looks like a goldmine for any semi-competent PLO/8 player! Which rules me out unfortunately
You are right as to "abusing the sharks" or whatever terminology best suits. It really is water off a duck's back to the guy, he laps it up & does not flinch, or bite, he just carries on, in the fashionable term, crushing.
Yes, I'm aware that there are a few guys who absolutely rule the PLO8 HU SNG's, in fact one of them is the guy I am talking about. He is a chap from the North East, & he told me yesterday he is enjoying the atmo in the DYM's, as it is much more friendly than in the HU things.
Me play HU PLO8? That'd be a bad thing, I am the world's worst HU player, & I'd get absolutely mullered. I think we have to accept that there are some things we will never be able to do well, or even competently. In my case, HU is one of them. I'm way too defensive & passive. Chip-preservation works for me in DYM's, but that'd be a proper fail HU.
I do look at the PLO8 HU lobby a few times, as I've been looking at other PLO8 avenues, but the same small group of chaps are always sat there, waiting, & I just know they'd proper skin me.
Be good to learn to play HU better, but you know how it is, can an old dog learn new tricks?....
PS - welcome to the thread, never realised you read it. One is honoured. Enjoy the Ashes, right?
PPS - be lovely if we could help Don get his head round the game, it's such a shame to see him putting himself through such agonies. Easily cured, too, very easily. If we could ever get him enjoying his poker, it'd be the greatest thing ever. I might just Post on his Diary a bit later, & see if I can help, but you are a mate of his, so do your best, please.
I'll reply shortly Don, bear with me please.
When I signed up to my - in fact THE - first Online Poker Site, in 1998, I was new to computing & the internet, in fact we all were, it only became widely available to the public a few years earlier, & we were all on achingly slow hard-wired "dial-up" at the tme. So things that are common practice & instinctive now, were all new to us then.
The site was Planet Poker, and shortly after they signed the world's first ever "Online Pro", a chap by the name of Mike Caro, who penned many books on poker, & contributed much to Super System. I later met Mike, & I'd label him as, well, a tad eccentric, but for balance, he was the first persion I ever heard foretell the upcoming boom in Internet Poker.
Anyway, I digress.
I filled in the Sign-Up guff, & then it asked a daft question.
What alias do you want?
Eh? Alias? Why do I need an alias? My name is Tony Kendall, I'll use that. Why would I not? Incidentally, 16 years on, & I still don't understand why we don't all have to use our real names. Anyway, I digressed again.....
I tried to take "Tony Kendall" as my Alias, but the site rejected that, because it was part of my Password. So I decided to use my initials, phonetically, & "TK" became "tikay". I've probably got, or had, Accounts on over 30 Online Poker sites down the years, & with one exception, they are all variants of "tikay", usually with a number suffixed. The one exception was in the last 4 or 5 years, when I opened an account with Full Tilt, for business reasons, & did not want my regular alias seen on there.
My real world relationships are divided into two groups, those who call me "tikay", & those, usually close friends, & of course all my girlfriends.....who call me Tony, or Kendall, even Mr Kendall on occasion....
I've been with Sky Poker over 7 years now, & every suit & all the Staff call me "tikay", even to this day. Sometimes they call me far worse, too, I imagine......
There you go Paul, you asked, you got.
PLO8 is played by a very small minority of poker players, just a few %. Coaching vids, books, coaching, stratrgey discussions are far & few between. The majority of those who play it have not made the effort to learn ther basic techniques. The biggesdt PLO8 Event at this year's WSOP was, I think, a $3,000 Entry, attracted 435 runners (including one hopelessly optimistic young man) & paid $279,094 to the winner.
And there you have it.
Which of those would you rather play, & win?
Which of those are you more likely to win?
It's all relative.
I swim in shallower waters these days, because them boys in that big deep pool would eat me alive. In my little shallow pond, I get by. I also happen to absolutely love the complexities, twists & turns, & very odd strategies, that are necessary in PLO8. Here we play a game which has TWO Pots (sometimes...) & in one of those pots, the hand rankings do not include pairs, trips, sets, flushes or full houses. The other one does. You can use any 2 cards in either pot, sometimes the same two, or a different two, or mix 'n match.
Meanwhile, all that waffling was probably designed to delay today's daily report. It's all about being in denial.
It did not happen. I had a great session last night. No, I did, honest.
Monday 18th November
Played 25
Won 9
Lost 16
Split....
£2.25 - Played 0, won 0, Lost 0
£5.50 - Played 9, won 6, lost 3
£11.00 - Played 16, won 5, Lost 11
PROFIT/LOSS on Day £65.50
REWARD POINTS = 205
BANKROLL at close of Play = £413.14
REWARD POINTS at close of play = 2,226
November so far.....
Played 334
Won 196
Lost 138
Win-rate, November, 58.58%
Wow, how did that happen?
I guess I've run super-good all month, turning £215 into £478 I must have run hot, so the big downswing had to be expected.
Very odd night all round, though. 16 x £11ers ran, must be a record for PLO8 here, & my win-rate is these is better by far than anything else. And yet I lost 11 out of 16, including 5 out of the last 6. Yikes.
I was close to break-even, just losing a bit @ 10pm, & almost drew stumps, but I made that fateful decision to chase. That worked well.
No concentration issues at all, I was strongly focussed all session.
Made - arguably - a couple of bad plays early, but the sort of ones which most times we get away with, so don't get questioned. These are all about 4-handed play, and is very tactical. With 2,000 @ 150-300, we can wait for others to bust, or better spots. Can be awkward with that stack too, as if someone playing 1,600 reshoves, we are pot stuck. With 2 or 3 bigs, our shoving range is huge, with 7 Bigs, it does not need to be. Anyway, twice I shoved too early (or, more correctly, got caught doing so) with marginals such as A-Q-4-5. With 2 Bigs, a no-brainer, with 7 Bigs, not so much.
Had a few eye-watering outdraws, too, but no worse than I dish out to others when I'm running hot. Think I just ran a bit bad, but the worry is, we all think that when we have a bad night, it's such a convenient psychological crutch.
Anyway, gotta get back on the bike tonight, & see if I can claw some if it back, & get back in the right tempo. My timing was a bit off on occasion last night, that's about the biggest fault I can readily identify.
Gotta love the way poker does that, just when you think you've got it cracked, slap, right round the chops.
Was there ever a better game to test the resilience of human character, our backbone & mettle?
I knew it was coming, but just not "when", so in a way yes, I'm glad, it felt like I lost a lot more, to be honest. I did not dare look last night, & ended up getting a pleasant surprise this morning, as I thought I'd dropped north of £100. Almost felt like a win this morning.
The Ashes & all nighters? Well I'm doing Thursday's Show, so will miss the first hour, but yes, I might well have a few all-nighters over the weekend so I can watch the 1st Test, though I doubt there'll be any DTM traffic for PLO8 @ 3 or 4am.
I've had a few bets on the Ashes, too. Excited.
Tuesday 19th November
Played 14
Won11
Lost 3
Split....
£2.25 - Played 0, won 0, Lost 0
£5.50 - Played 11, won 8, lost 3
£11.00 - Played 3, won 3, Lost 0
PROFIT/LOSS on Day £46.50
REWARD POINTS = 85
BANKROLL at close of Play = £459.64
REWARD POINTS at close of play = 2,311