The (imaginatively titled) Orford Poker Journal 2016

RICHORFORD

...and on that note, I'll be playing on the site tonight (Wednesday Jan 13th), having a go at the main, mini and the £55 Bounty Hunters.

Double Guaranteed Prizepool week! Yes, I'll have some of that please!

Maybe see you at the tables. My alias is ricorford

J

RICHORFORD

Greetings all and may I be the last person to wish you a Happy New Year.

 

Now call me a maverick, but finishing 2015 and starting 2016 got me thinking- wouldn’t this be a good time to look back at my 2015 and look ahead to 2016?

 

Yes, it’s that kind of left-field thinking that’s got me where I am today.

 

And where is that exactly?

 

Well, cast your mind back dear reader and you may remember I began 2015 nursing an overall career tournament profit on Sky Poker of MINUS £988.

 

And my mission that year was to go into overall profit by the end of it. And would you believe it? I didn’t manage it.

 

I finished the year on MINUS £380. So file that under ‘Fail’.

 

But let’s look at the positives…my actual record for the year itself was +£608.

 

And that was the first time I’d posted a yearly profit playing online poker since I began over a decade ago. Till then it was just a hobby that cost a bit of money, like any other hobby, but not a ridiculous amount.

 

But that changed in 2015. Suddenly my hobby was profitable. My results had improved and I felt I was a lock to make the final 30-40% in any MTT and a decent shot at cashing. I won a couple too, which was nice.

 

In fact, at one point my overall career profit hit the giddy heights of +£632. Which is actually a tiny bit depressing because it means I experienced a swing of about a grand from that point. But hey, I still made a profit on the year, right? Let’s focus on the good stuff.

 

And with that in mind let’s look to 2016. Oh wait, did I say good stuff? Scrap that, 2016 has not got off to a flyer. My figures have tumbled further since the beginning of the year for a 2016 profit so far of MINUS £198 meaning my career MTT earnings on Sky now stand at MINUS £523 over seven years.

 

Here’s the Sharkscope chart of those seven years right up to this very day, in it’s all it’s dubious glory…

 

So where does that leave me for 2016? Well, I’ll continue to play as often as I can on the site- which usually works out at one evening a week- and, based on my 2015 record of £608 profit, my aim this year is to post a profit of a further £1380 in 2016. Roughly double the year before. Coz you’ve always got to look to improve, right? 

That would bring me to an overall career profit of PLUS £1000.

 

So, in summary- by the end of 31^st December 2016 I aim to have made a calendar profit of £1380 meaning an overall Sky Poker MTT career profit of £1000.

 

I’ll obviously post the highs and lows as ever on here, but you can assume as before, it will be mainly the highs, because…well, be honest, do YOU feel like writing about your pain when someone two-outers you in a closing stages of a massive tournament? J

 

Good luck everyone with your 2016 adventures! 

GELDY

Last you were

but may I be the first to wish you

glgl

SUPERSNEDD

Good luck Rich, remember even £1 profit is still profit and if your hobby costs you nothing then it can't be all bad.

You say final table and min cash, have you thought of a DYM game?

GELDY

PS

vwp in 2015

RICHORFORD

In Response to Re: The (even more imaginatively titled) sequel to The Orford Poker Journal 2015…The Orford Poker Journal 2016:

Good luck Rich, remember even £1 profit is still profit and if your hobby costs you nothing then it can't be all bad. You say final table and min cash, have you thought of a DYM game?
Posted by SUPERSNEDD

Thanks mate. Yeah, can't complain. Although I'm about to in my first update of the year...lol. (See below)

DYMs. Yep, played a ton of those back in the day. Should probably get back into them. But I just love the thrill of a big MTT.

RICHORFORD

In Response to Re: The (even more imaginatively titled) sequel to The Orford Poker Journal 2015…The Orford Poker Journal 2016:

PS vwp in 2015
Posted by GELDY

Thanks Geldy. It was a good year poker-wise for me, all-in-all. 

2016 looks potentially like being a different story though... :-(

RICHORFORD

Urgh, horrible. Second session of the year- finish 85th in the main which is a decent run. 

Crash and burn in the 10.30pm £55 Bounty Hunter- lost a big pot first hand and never recovered, was out in short order.

Those two didn't bother me though.

It was the OTHER two MTTs I played tonight that hurt.

The 8.30pm Mini Rebuy event and the 9pm £55 buy-in £2500 GTD Bounty Hunter.

Played for over four hours in both games.

And I was the bubble in BOTH!!!!!

I hope this isn't a sign of things to come this year...

GELDY

In Response to Re: The (even more imaginatively titled) sequel to The Orford Poker Journal 2015…The Orford Poker Journal 2016:

Urgh, horrible. Second session of the year- finish 85th in the main which is a decent run.  Crash and burn in the 10.30pm £55 Bounty Hunter- lost a big pot first hand and never recovered, was out in short order. Those two didn't bother me though. It was the OTHER two MTTs I played tonight that hurt. The 8.30pm Mini Rebuy event and the 9pm £55 buy-in £2500 GTD Bounty Hunter. Played for over four hours in both games. And I was the bubble in BOTH!!!!! I hope this isn't a sign of things to come this year...
Posted by RICHORFORD

Tut tut Mr half empty man.

Four high standard mtts and you manage to get to the bubble in two of them. How great is that. Next you'll be doing a Lambie and complaining that you'd FT-ed 5 times but not taken one down. Chill. I'd take it as a sign of some great results to come this year.

RICHORFORD

Second session since I started this year's dairy.

Played on a Friday night. A real rarity, couldn't resist that double guarantee 8pm though!

Played my usual 4 MTTs- the main, the mini and the two £55 entry Bounty Hunters.

And I managed to cash in 3 out of 4. Not bad.

Didn't get too far in the 10.30pm £1500 Speed Bounty Hunter.

But came 45th/676 in the mini for £7

Finished 13th/64 in the 9pm £2500 Bounty Hunter- which was 4 off the cash, but I won £82 in head prizes which softened the blow.

And my best result of the night- finished 16th out of a field of 533 in the 8pm main event! For that I took down £107 plus £40 in head prizes.

All in all I made a profit on the night of £96.84, so can't complain.

Slightly gutted about the main as first prize was £3000 + head prizes and I was only 15 places away from that probable £4500 prize. But happy to finish in the top 3% of a big field.

On an 'interesting' side note- my Sharkscope tells me that prior to tonight I was £652 down in total since I began playing on Sky Poker years and years ago. And the number of MTTs I've played was 698.

Now, I'm no mathematician, but I make that cost of playing a game which has given me a lot of hours of enjoyment over the last 9 years, less than £1 an MTT. And I've played some pretty big tournaments along the way. Food for thought anyway. I may not be in profit yet, but it hasn't cost me a fortune over the best part of a decade either.

Hope your 2016s are going well on the poker tables and good luck!

Tikay10

Very good, Rich. Sort of. Certainly quite good. Well, good.

Tikay10

More seriously.......

You've been playing here on Sky Poker since Day One, coming up to 9 years now.

Do you still enjoy it as much as ever? I fancy your enthusiasm has increased over time.
 
It's a very odd thing to see, or at least perceive, that so many don't seem to enjoy the game, but still play it. The same small group just don't seem to relish the fun the game gives us as much as they could.    

RICHORFORD

In Response to Re: The (even more imaginatively titled) sequel to The Orford Poker Journal 2015…The Orford Poker Journal 2016:

More seriously....... You've been playing here on Sky Poker since Day One, coming up to 9 years now. Do you still enjoy it as much as ever? I fancy your enthusiasm has increased over time.   It's a very odd thing to see, or at least perceive, that so many don't seem to enjoy the game, but still play it. The same small group just don't seem to relish the fun the game gives us as much as they could.     
Posted by Tikay10

Hello darling,

 

Yes, actually I enjoy my poker more now than ever. I think this is a combination of understanding the game more, playing better and getting results and maybe not playing quite as often as I once was so my enthusiasm for the game doesn’t waiver from overkill.

 

I really look forward to my one big evening a week of online poker which I’ve been doing for years now and I take it very seriously. But, not so seriously that it’s becomes a chore. The second that ever happens (hopefully never) I’ll be chucking it all in, temporarily at least and taking a break from the game.

 

I’m back on tonight (20th January)- and going large- my usual 4 Wednesday night MTTs plus I might even have my first ever crack at qualifying for the UKPC.

 

J

RICHORFORD

Not a bad session tonight by any means- depending on how you look at it of course.

Started out by bubbling a satellite to get into the UKPC semi.

But then won a seat at the second time of asking and went on a deep run in the semi itself, just missing out by about 3 places on a seat in Sunday's final.

Finished about 2 or 3 off the money in the main event.

About 13 off the money in the mini event.

In fact the 9pm £2500 Bounty Hunte was the only tournament in which I didn't finish very near the bubble. Went out of that one after a few levels.

Oh, that and the 10.30pm £1500 Bouunty Hunter where I came 4th for £170. ;-)

Players

Players Remaining: 0 / 38

Player Name	Chips	Rank	Prize	Heads	Value
wilTurkey5 190000 1 £380 + £323.02 Head Prizes 7 £99.49 kenmillon 0 2 £237.50 + £29.30 Head Prizes 1   AllyD90 0 3 £142.50 + £93.75 Head Prizes 5   RicOrford 0 4 £104.50 + £72.66 Head Prizes 3

All told, I got about 5 hours play out of it and finished about even for the night. So, the night didn't cost me a penny and I got a free shot and came mighty close to going into decent profit.

That main event table feels definitely within reach if I play it enough. But there's always, always room for improvement.

Goodnight and hope your own game is going well.

yuranASSet

Always good to see someone hit a heater.

I mean, improve, sorry.

I saw somewhere you are also a writer.

Tell us more!

RICHORFORD

Hi 'yuran',

I currently write and perform all the stuff you hear between the programmes on the History channel.

You know, all that "coming up after the break, it's all kicking off in the latest episode of bla, bla, bla". That sort of thing.

Thanks btw- not a heater by the site regulars' standards, but certainly one by mine. :-)

Phantom66

Thought I recognised the voice.

Loving Texas Rising at the moment.

yuranASSet

If you introduced 'Vikings' then there certainly would be a new found respect (outwith poker). :P

LmfaoAllin

In Response to Re: The (even more imaginatively titled) sequel to The Orford Poker Journal 2015…The Orford Poker Journal 2016:

Not a bad session tonight by any means- depending on how you look at it of course. Started out by bubbling a satellite to get into the UKPC semi. But then won a seat at the second time of asking a nd went on a deep run in the semi itself, just missing out by about 3 places on a seat in Sunday's final. Finished about 2 or 3 off the money in the main event. About 13 off the money in the mini event. In fact the 9pm £2500 Bounty Hunte was the only tournament in which I didn't finish very near the bubble. Went out of that one after a few levels. Oh, that and the 10.30pm £1500 Bouunty Hunter where I came 4th for £170. ;-) Players Players Remaining: 0 / 38 Player Name Chips Rank Prize Heads Value             wilTurkey5 190000 1 £380 + £323.02 Head Prizes 7 £99.49 kenmillon 0 2 £237.50 + £29.30 Head Prizes 1   AllyD90 0 3 £142.50 + £93.75 Head Prizes 5   RicOrford 0 4 £104.50 + £72.66 Head Prizes 3   All told, I got about 5 hours play out of it and finished about even for the night. So, the night didn't cost me a penny and I got a free shot and came mighty close to going into decent profit. That main event table feels definitely within reach if I play it enough. But there's always, always room for hitting more two outers. Goodnight and hope your own game is going well.
Posted by RICHORFORD

FYP.

Wp tonight. Noticed you around the top of main n mini lobbys, nice runs.

Interseting dynamic on our table with you and mr77, am I right in saying he bust before you?

You will have to settle for brags until the big bink, which im sure wont be long.

Gl for the rest of the month and indeed 2016.

RICHORFORD

In Response to Re: The (even more imaginatively titled) sequel to The Orford Poker Journal 2015…The Orford Poker Journal 2016:

In Response to Re: The (even more imaginatively titled) sequel to The Orford Poker Journal 2015…The Orford Poker Journal 2016 : FYP. Wp tonight. Noticed you around the top of main n mini lobbys, nice runs. Interseting dynamic on our table with you and mr77, am I right in saying he bust before you? You will have to settle for brags until the big bink, which im sure wont be long. Gl for the rest of the month and indeed 2016.
Posted by LmfaoAllin

Cheers LmfaoAllin. Appreciate your message and GL yourself for the rest of 2016.

As for you saying the big bink was coming... see below... ;-)

RICHORFORD

After a couple of sessions of very frustrating exits from various MTTs with all the usual bad beat shenanigans you've come to love and expect from the game, it's fair to say tonight also started inauspiciously.

In the £2500 BH at 9pm I raced into being one of the early chip stacks but went out within the hour.

I went very close to binking a seat in this Sunday's UKPC final, finishing about 3 off the bubble in the Semi satellite. But ultimately, no cigar.

But things got better. A lot better. Thanks to the main and mini which I finished playing about 2am. In fact I think this was the closest I've ever got to the jackpot.

Finished 17th in the mini event for a cash of £30 and finished runner-up in the main for a cash of £1041!

Big profit on the night then. Taking my profit for 2016 to £353.67 and my lifetime Sky Poker.com MTT profit to -£26.33.

So I'm now £1026.33 off my target for the year of hitting a lifetime profit of £1000.

I won't rest on my laurels though, I've been here plenty of times before and hisorically I now start slowly dropping down again a few hundred pounds over the coming weeks. Let's see if I can reverse the trend this time...

Any2Suited

Well played, i saw on aussies jackpot update you had a chance in both tourneys, so followed your progress.Did you change your game in the mini or main event when you realised you had a jackpot chance? I'm meaning, if your position was comfortable in the main would you almost play dym or sattelite strategy just to get to final mini event table(even with low chipstack) that would be probably worth a few quid more on the jackpot table than the mini tourney pay out.

 I've never been in such a position but was just imagining such a scenario, and was thinking i may limp on meagre chips in mini event and play just to get a jackpot bonus.Anyway sorry for the long observation and again well done.

P.S. Once you get level for the year will you stop ??

Cheers, Dave.

RICHORFORD

In Response to Re: The (even more imaginatively titled) sequel to The Orford Poker Journal 2015…The Orford Poker Journal 2016

Thanks Dave- To be honest it never really got to the point where I was near enough to both final tables that it would affect my decision making. Just as it was starting to become a viable possibility in the mini I went out, 11 spots away. At that stage I was still playing exactly how I would if I was only in that game, trying to accumulate chips, not trying to ladder up. When I exited the mini I think I was still around 4th/12 in the main. 

If I'd got to the stage where I was say, a safe-ish 2nd/7 in the main but a short-stacked 7th/7 in the mini then I guess I may have possibly erred on the side of caution on those 50-50 decisions, in an effort to initially ladder up and sneak over the final table line in the mini. But the more I  think about it now the more I think you'd have to ignore the whole jackpot thing and play your normal game making optimal decisions. Better to die trying to get 1st and 1st for that massive extra £5K plus tournament winnings then limp over the line to grab the minimum jackpot prize of £50 by folding away and laddering up but then having no chips left with which to win either tournament. 

Maybe some of our more experienced players could weigh in on the strategy in these spots. I'm like you, not really been in that position before! 

As for my challenge- no, I love the game too much. If I hit that extra £500, then I'll just revise the target upwards. Big 'if' though!

Tikay10

In Response to Re: The (even more imaginatively titled) sequel to The Orford Poker Journal 2015…The Orford Poker Journal 2016:

In Response to Re: The (even more imaginatively titled) sequel to The Orford Poker Journal 2015…The Orford Poker Journal 2016 Thanks Dave- To be honest it never really got to the point where I was near enough to both final tables that it would affect my decision making. Just as it was starting to become a viable possibility in the mini I went out, 11 spots away. At that stage I was still playing exactly how I would if I was only in that game, trying to accumulate chips, not trying to ladder up. When I exited the mini I think I was still around 4th/12 in the main.  If I'd got to the stage where I was say, a safe-ish 2nd/7 in the main but a short-stacked 7th/7 in the mini then I guess I may have possibly erred on the side of caution on those 50-50 decisions, in an effort to initially ladder up and sneak over the final table line in the mini. But the more I  think about it now the more I think you'd have to ignore the whole jackpot thing and play your normal game making optimal decisions. Better to die trying to get 1st and 1st for that massive extra £5K plus tournament winnings then limp over the line to grab the minimum jackpot prize of £50 by folding away and laddering up but then having no chips left with which to win either tournament.  Maybe some of our more experienced players could weigh in on the strategy in these spots. I'm like you, not really been in that position before!  As for my challenge- no, I love the game too much. If I hit that extra £500, then I'll just revise the target upwards. Big 'if' though!
Posted by RICHORFORD

I'm here for you Rich, as always.

devil_tear

Nice score Rich.Was on your table towards the end, and thought you played composed. I think you'll smash the 500 target.

Gg.

Tim

RICHORFORD

In Response to Re: The (even more imaginatively titled) sequel to The Orford Poker Journal 2015…The Orford Poker Journal 2016:

Nice score Rich.Was on your table towards the end, and thought you played composed. I think you'll smash the 500 target. Gg. Tim
Posted by devil_tear

Thanks Tim. Appreciate that. And I hope you're right about the target!

RICHORFORD

In Response to Re: The (even more imaginatively titled) sequel to The Orford Poker Journal 2015…The Orford Poker Journal 2016:

In Response to Re: The (even more imaginatively titled) sequel to The Orford Poker Journal 2015…The Orford Poker Journal 2016 : I'm here for you Rich, as always.
Posted by Tikay10

Yes, you're right. You're the perfect person to ask, Tikay. So here goes...

Do YOU know anyone who could help us with the strategy in these spots?

Cheers.

MAXALLY

Nice result last night Richard, well done. Could you confirm or deny the rumours that someone has started *cough tikay* that you had 92 rebuys out of the 292 total rebuys?

Seriously mate.....hope you smash it in 2016. Play more!.

aussie09

hi rich,

as requested, your HERO Card...





it is updated daily. you can see it online, here...
www.PokerSuperHero.com/hero.html


use the drop down box to select your hero card

weecheez1

Vwp sir and unlucky for the jackpot

Donttelmum

Great result Rich.  Some of Tikay's advice/analysis over the years is starting to show

James