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Am surprised you remember my Geneva trip, but yup, you nailed it, I had hoped to go visit CERN, but it never happened. Instead, we explored the Swiss railway system, & very good it was, too, we even went up to the top of a snow covered mountain in a Mountain Railway thing which was all jolly exciting.
Talking of short term variance, after Monday's debacle (won 12, L 18, 40% games won, £47.50 lost) I did rather better last night, winning 20 from 30 (67%), & winning back £23, which was half of Monday's losses. Felt good.
Traffic was patchy again last night, what with CL football, & the fine weather. Weather wise, we have to expect a drop in traffic now, nothing to be done about it. Even so, I managed my scheduled 30 games last night, so no complaints.
We were joined last night by a player who we don't see too often in the PLO8 DYM's. Before I go further, I don't ever diss players here, & I don't give away their "game", that'd be unfair.
Anyway, his name was "Trample", & I have him colour coded to oh-so rare "Purple", which denotes he wins over £1 a game on a significant sample size, in his case, around 6,000 games. His Sharky has about 10 different stars, included a gold one, so we know he's handy enough.
With traffic light, & rarely more than 3 or 4 games on the go, I was able to take a close look at how he does it. (He played 4 games @ £11 & won 3 of them).
He plays 95% of his volume at NLH, so that was the first clue. It's quite rare for good NLH players to also be good at PLO8, & when they are, it tells us straight away what their strength is - aggression.
So I was able to suss what he was doing, & found how to combat it, or to a degree. Not saying I can beat him consistently, but at least I now know what his game style is. Hopefully, he'll join us more regularly.
I also got slow-rolled with the abso nuts twice last night, by 2 different guys. I never said anything, never do, but what strange people these must be, to so delight in doing that kind of stuff.
It was 2xPoints last night, too, so I was able to rack up 264 points, which is a lot for a midweek night by my standards. That takes me to 409 for the week. I'd like to get 1,000 points by c-o-b Sunday, but given the traffic & weather, that's highly unlikely, hard to get 150 points tonight & tomorrow, though might get a few more on Saturday & Sunday if the weather turns for the worse. Most likely end up with around 800, which is £8, so not so bad I suppose.
All good.
Bit of a left field one here, but this amused me.
On another Forum yesterday, we were discussing how the bookies had taken a bit of a bashing (or not) on Leicester winning the EPL @ 5,000/1.
Everyone had an opinion, but here's the thing - nobody knew, they were all amateurs, just punters, whistling in the dark. The complexities of a high volume Online bookmaker are immense. These businesses are run by very bright guys, believe me, it's real Level 6 stuff, & here were all these punters thinking they knew better than the bookies as to whether the bookies had taken a pasting. It's kinda like poker players who think they know how to run a poker site. To be blunt, they don't.
Anyway, a link was given to a Blog by an insider, a Bookies rep (not Sky Bet), Nick Goff. And he wrote this absolutely golden piece.....
“there has never been a sporting event that has produced so many experts in bookmakers’ liabilities.”
It amused me because, well, that's sometimes how I feel here, on the poker side, & we had a bit of that yesterday.
It's all well-intended, of course, but I do have to bite my tongue sometimes.
Carry on, as you were.
P.S. If I ever slowroll you it will be because I am having trouble keeping up with play not because im trying to be an %^&*
The atmo was good last night, yeah.
How many times did you bust me last night? 3, was it? Twice I walked into your Aces, & on another occasion you had me dominated at both ends & you held. Bang out of order, that. I was not paying close attention, but it looked to me that you had a tidy winning night.
Good to see you have sussed the "balanced hand" thing, which, when you began, was your big weakness. Another opponent to worry about......
Talking of which, Markycash had a clean sweep last night in the PLO8 DYM's - 7 from 7. Only about 3 were against me, when I kept walking into his Aces. I really must stop doing that.
Got to say I have been really enjoying DYMs lately. I really love the PLO8 version and adopt the “my strategy is that I have no strategy” which seems to work for me some of the time. I look around and note some like to sit out and only play AA or A2 until the blinds get bigger but i haven’t got the patience – and even when I try that seems to blow in my face.
Time on the PLO8 tables have made my DYM 2 card game a lot stronger – I don’t know whether this is sheer fluke, or good training from Tikay or perhaps i may be improving. Anyway all I know is I enjoy it and the atmosphere on S&G tables is pretty good at the moment – when I work out my strategy I will be the first to let you know^^^^
Good bump, Brian, what with this & that, I've been a bit busy lately.
I'll try & get re-started, & reply to some of the questions. Really busy with under the table stuff right now - blogs & suchlike, but I'll do my best.
In Response to Re: Can an old dog learn new tricks?:
Hope all is well with you Karen, also with your broody Son & of course Mr DoorMat.
Quick "Team Plop" Update for you, & I have to start with some very sad news.
Think you may have still been here when we lost "happysilve", which was terrible news.
Unfortunately, in April, "sparrolegs" passed away very suddenly. I know we always say this, but they were both such lovely ladies, & never said a bad word or harboured an evil thought. It's so sad, & so unfair.
The thread about Caroline, aka sparrolegs, is HERE
That apart, all is good here, & the usual crew are, for the most part, still here.
weecheez is a full time member now, & has quickly become very solid & proficient.
We have a NKOTB too, "markycash", who has really shaken things up, he has an amazingly good game, & has made many of us realise - certainly me - that we needed to improve our game if we want to remain profitable. He's a genuinely good guy, too, ready & willing to help anyone with good advice.
Not seen Eon on the PLO8 Tables much recently, he seems to have moved across to the Dark Side, & be playing NLH these days.
The sole remaining Identical Twin seems to have moved on, too, not seen him here in months.
Mr "You live in the same town so must be colluding" graces us with his presence now & then, & I've yet to see him say a nice thing about anyone or anything. Not entirely sure I'd like to meet someone so full of dislike for anyone & everyone.
Generally, though, the atmo remains very good, & we rarely see any bad blood on the tables, & the players are a credit to the game, & Sky Poker.
An occasional visitor these days is FILIPSEBO. Very unusual style, raises EVERY hand, & pots EVERY street, so we have to adjust our game v him. When he frequents the £11 & £16.50 tables (yes, we have a £16.50 table now) it gets a bit exciting, I can tell you, but at the moment he is mostly playing the 50p & £1 versions.
"Adzbo" is another new regular, & a very good one, too, got a lovely "correct" game.
The other regulars are all still here - Brian, AJ, Vespa, Lynn, Ger (who won nearly £1,000 over the last 2 weeks in Promo MTT's), Hendo, Phantom, Whizzy, Alexis, jorzar, Eddie, Chiggy, Penguin, botneck, & of course, dear beloved Jod.
So there you are, a quick round up.
Seriously, & I mean this - we miss you. *
* May be untrue.
xxx
Can you please stop calling me? I ALWAYS have it. *
* T & C's apply.
Not forgotten this, & it will very likely happen.
The thing they are juggling with is that whereas Turbo PLO8's will certainly add more interest & players, it will split the liquidity, & we may end up with inadequate traffic in either.
Anyway, bear with them, & it will very likely happen soon.
I'll certainly support it - I'm not generally a fan of Turbo stuff, but if I adjust my ranges I think I'd be OK, & the beauty of Turbos is they it enables us to fit a lot more games (& thus more Reward Points) into a session.
Hope all is well with you & yours.
Good to see you back amongst us.
I've managed to lose nearly 3 stone in weight since Jan 16th, but the diet ends the moment I leave home tomorrow morning, & it's Latte & Sticky Bun City here we come.
If the flight is on time, I'll be playing my first event tomorrow evening, the $600 PLO @ Venetian, followed by a $600 PLO8 at the same venue on Sunday.
Gill arrives on Sunday, too, staying for 10 days, & we will head across to the Southern California coast for a few days, via SouthWest Airlines & the Amtrak Surfliner.
In all, I'm lined up to play around 20 events (or until I run out of money....), & then, in early July, the Sky Poker Viva Las Vegas host team join me, then a day or so later, 40 Sky Poker qualifiers & their +1's.
Fingers crossed I'll be sending back plenty of Blogs this year. For those not lucky enough to go to be there, Vicarious Vegas is the next best thing.
As many of you know, I had been struggling this year with my game, & had not made a penny in 2016 when May started. At one point, I was nearly £250 below my January "peak", & I was really scratching my head to wonder what I was doing wrong.
At my age, we worry about mental faculties failing, concentration spans, or maybe the game is too tough for me these days.
markycash spent a lot of time helping me, pointed out a few areas where I was being exploited or could do better. I tried to adjust, & initially, it did not make much difference, but eventually, after adjusting some of my ranges (both opening & calling) & changing a few of my disciplines I started to see an improvement.
More follows.......
Somehow, I can't visualise Lil Dave joining us for sausages on sticks & lemonade at the players Welcome Party, he has a season ticket to Spearmint Rhino I imagine.
Have to say, the quality of players on his Table when there were 2 tables left was breathtakingly high, some of the most famous names in UK poker were battling it out.
So, as I was saying, I'd had a bad time in 2016, & entered May £20 or so DOWN on the year.
And then, this happened.....
16th May, P 30, W21, L9, % of games won 70%, Profit £30.20, profit per game £1
17th May, P 30, W17, L13, % of games won 57%, Profit £21.80, profit per game £0.73
18th May, P 25, W17, L8, % of games won 68%, Profit £41.75, profit per game £1.67
19th May, P 21, W16, L5, % of games won 76%, Profit £24.95, profit per game £1.19
20th May, P 30, W17, L13, % of games won 57%, Profit £2.15, profit per game £0.07
21st May, P 23, W15, L8, % of games won 63%, Profit £10.55, profit per game £0.46
22nd May, P 19, W14, L5, % of games won 73%, Profit £54.75, profit per game £2.88
23rd May, P 26, W17, L9, % of games won 65%, Profit £33.90, profit per game £1.30
25th May, P 23, W17, L6, % of games won 74%, Profit £35.70, profit per game £1.55
26th May, P 20, W11, L9, % of games won 55%, Profit £6.70, profit per game £0.26
27th May, P 33, W20, L13, % of games won 61%, Profit £40.15, profit per game £1.22
As far as I can recall, I've never even had 7 straight winning sessions, certainly never 11 on the bounce.
So I'd cracked it, easy game, & now I was over £300 ahead in 2016.
I'm the best.
And the next 5 nights, up to last night?
28th May, P 37, W20, L17, % of games won 54%, LOSS £11.75, LOSS per game £0.32 29th May, P29, W10, L19, % of games won 34%, LOSS £30.20, LOSS per game £1.04 30th May, P 23, W11, L12, % of games won 48%, LOSS £19.05, LOSS per game £0.83 31st May, P 30, W16, L14, % of games won 46%, LOSS £29.75, LOSS per game £0.99 1st June, P 10, W4, L6, % of games won 40%, LOSS £16.05, LOSS per game £1.60
I'm the worst.
And, I suppose there we have it - the absolutely amazing wonders of variance in poker.
We win, we think we are the best, & then, along comes Miss Variance, smoking a pipe, & gives us a slap round the chops.
Love this game, & the way it messes with our minds, & shows whether we have backbone & mental fortitude.
Anyway, for now, I'm nicely ahead in 2016, but thanks to the last 5 nights, I'm over £100 below my all time high.
If I play tonight, it'll be my last game until mid July, & it'd be nice to go out with a profitable night, but whatever happens, I'll enjoy it. I always do.
The strange thing was I was almost pleased to see the 11 night winning streak end, as I was starting to play defensively, to protect the run. And that's no good.
I'll be pleased to see the 5 night losing streak end, too, not sure I've ever done that before, either.
The miracles & power of variance.