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117 +13.47 2hr 531.83
Returned from my holiday itching for a game of poker. I crashed out of main and mini early and played the MC tables. After blowing a stack early with AK I climbed back into profit and enjoyed the games while watching the show online. It was nice to get some encouragement from Rich and Ross, although not so great to see myself bluffed off of aces. In the following half hour I made a few hero calls with 2nd pair and picked up medium pots so it was obvious that a few of the other regs were watching too.
The show closed with a half-decent fold I made vs rivered trips for my opponent but I made a few big folds throughout the session and its going to be a theme of my poker this month. Of course I will adjust if I think im being exploited but I need to get into the habit of replaying previous streets and laying down my hand if necessary.
Played 2 tournaments each with £23.50 total buy-in at the Genting in Newcastle. In the first tournament I made a few errors...mucked my cards and went to collect a medium pot with KK on JQx when there was still a player to act.... Oops!
The standard was fairly questionable with many loose calls and I didnt really pick up another decent hand until the midstages when I 3b an utg limper with aq, cbet big flop and turn on AQxT only to find opponent had turned the nuts with KJ. There wasnt much table chatter and I sat quietly myself and tried to focus on the action, content to play my own game. I must confess to getting butterflies and mild shakes even in small pots playing live and I throuroughly enjoyed myself, despite not reaching the latter stages.
I then played an ill-advised shortstacking cash session at Aspers. I intended to rail a friend in a £1/£1 game but the game would not start until 5 handed so to make up the numbers I bought in with just £50. The blinds were killing my stack but I managed to get all in pre with AK vs AT in a 46bb pot, however two tens on the flop meant that I lost my £50 in just under an hour.
At this table, there were 3 or 4 regular players sat during my session who chatted to each other on first name terms though barely spoke a word to my friend and I. Indeed, even the dealers were fairly mute and I didnt feel very welcome at all, although I gather the casino is far livelier in the evening.
Note to self: no more unwise cashgame buyins, even if helping out a friend. My pal also bust his stack so I grabbed a few complimentary poker magazines and we headed back to Genting for an 8pm 'double chance' tournament.
I had a mixed table and decided to take my 'double' chips upfront and started with 8k at 25/50, hoping to build a stack early on. Once again, I failed to pick up any playable hole cards and my stack dwindled until half the field had bust and I had around 12bb. A few hours sat without playing a hand can drive some people crazy but I kept myself busy studying the other players and stealing small pots here and there. The average at this stage was only around 20bb so I hung around and eventually managed to pick up a few decent pots heading towards the final table bubble.
The table was very talkative with a mix of ages and poker styles however I did have a few slightly uncomfortable momemts at the table, chiefly whenever the dealer moved/bust. No one at the table wanted to deal and I cannot even square up a deck never mind shuffle and deal at a reasonable speed so I was very reluctant to step up. As it turned out I only had to deal one hand when we agreed to all deal a hand in turn. I was truly atrocious and the hand must have taken 10 minutes to play out despite ending on the flop. I think my table mates were more accepting of my live poker inexperience after that and helped me out a bit more afterwards with general prompts - blinds, button movements etc. The really good news was that I was then moved to the final table which a staff member would deal.
During the break I was looking at the chipstacks. On my left was a large stack, nursed by a young lad with headphones named Ryan. One of my previous tablemates informed me that Ryan was the best player at the table and very aggressive.....mine was not exactly the best seat at the table then! There were at least 5 other regulars at the table who all knew each other well. Despite this I decided to get on the front foot and after 2 or 3 orbits I was sat with a 38bb stack.
Unfortunately from there I played a little loose passive with speculative hands and when the blinds went up and I couldnt hit a flop at all until I was forced to shove kq utg with 14BB.... I was called by AT and went out in 7th place for £30. I supplemented this with a few more complimentary poker magazines. When I left, the feared Ryan had just taken a decent pot to become chipleader and seemed very comfortable.... I wonder if he plays on sky? The table was very relaxed and everyone was happy to chat and this was a cool way to round off the days poker.
I wont be in any rush to play live cash until my bankroll grows but I will definately play a few more live tournaments here and there......although I think ill look for fully dealer-dealt tournaments and save a bit of awkwardness. I have had mucky looks and grumbles on both of my live poker outings so far after I have asked if anyone else would volunteer to deal the cards and do everyone a favour. Is it really so much to ask?
After 11 hours in the casino I had spent £70 all told (would only have been £27 if my AK held up). Not bad for a full days entertainment, food, drinks and £10 worth of bathtime reading
Glad to see you enjoyed on the whole your live experience, although I know what you mean about some people being unwelcoming and generally unsympathetic to newbies.
I'm really happy you're posting away on here- I feel like it's just as much your thread as anyone's now, but if you wish to start your own thread I can understand that.
Keep it all going. I feel like there are a lot of people lurking on the thread and reading your exploits and appreciating you taking the time to write about them.
Session 118 -57.35 Br: 474.38
Nightmare day. Lost all in preflop with KK vs A5s and also a full stack when all in on the turn with set over set. Cash poker is so frustrating at times......in this session I was trying to stay very aggressive and then ran into spots like this. Im happy that my decisions were right in these big hands, but still leaked a lot of small/medium pots when I tried to semibluff vs stations.
Session 119 +£24.44 Br: 498.82
Quck hour. Started badly losing a full buyin QQ<AA on a low board. I kept my head and got lucky in a few pots....flopped 666 in 3b pot, turned a straight in a 3b pot and got paid in full. Not a great start to the month with not much opportunity to play and mixed results.
121 -8.58 BR: 460.95
No luck again. Actually, I cant quite believe that I didnt make a profit in my last session today. I got paid 50bb when flopped a set, busted a mouthy maniac (folding is gay apparently) for 80bb and generally ran pretty well. When I came to review the results my flabber was well and truly 'gasted!
After a half decent start in the mtt/stt roi challenges I have fallen away so the rest of the month will mainly be put into cash games to try and rack up my required points tally of 3k. Currently only at 650 points and my not feeling very motivated but I WILL stay committed to my task.
Supertilt halfhour after this in first hand:
'If you've got a set Larson lets see it!!!.....oh......'
Back on it tomorrow! Overall BR has shrunk a little recently as well although it wont affect the games I can comfortably buy in to. If nothing else this diary really has shown that you cant take short term results too seriously in isolation and that a deep BR is required. Thankfully I have always been a tight Yorkshireman so still got plenty buyins in reserve for another day.
Slow and steady start to the day.
On the j9s hand it is the kind of hand that I will sometimes fold to good player's utg raise when concentrating and playing a tight game, but overplay constantly when on autopilot and/or 'tilted'.