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May Summary
I'm pleased to note my balance grew from £256.59 to £361.61. That's a very healthy increase of £105.02, or 41.1%. Once again volume was low with only 373 Poker Points earned, so even fewer than the 409 earned in April.
That's much better than I expected to see when I looked back. My overall feeling that I haven't been running too well lately must be misplaced; if I could grow my bankroll by 41% every month I'd be a very rich man in not too much time!
Unfortunately I don't exect to be playing too much again in the first half of June. When I do play I intend to continue to focus mainly on Bounty Hunters at buy-ins of £2.30, £3.30 and £5.75. These tournaments are fairly soft and historically have been very profitable for me. I haven't played a single cash hand in this challenge so far and I don't see that changing any time soon. I may sit in a few HU STTs when I don't have time for a long session, but I expect MTTs to account for nearly all my action.
It would be nice to get the £5.75 monkey off my back sooner or later. The fields are no tougher to beat than at the micro buy-ins. I know I can do it, when the Poker Gods decide it's my turn to enjoy the late stages run-good it'll come.
Monthly results so far;
January...... £0.00.......to....... £11.52
February.... £11.52.....to.......£52.21.......+353% growth
March........£52.21......to.......£87.88.......+68% growth
April.......... £87.88......to......£256.59......+192% growth
May......... £256.59......to......£361.61.....+41% growth
Closing Balance £338.99
Down £22.62 today
Apart from banking little more than a min-cash for 15th/305 in the evening £500 gtd @£2.30 Bounty Hunter there was no joy for me at the tables today. I entered several other MTTs but drew a series of blanks. I’m not overly concerned as I feel I’m still playing well. It’s simply a case that the cards aren’t falling my way too often at the moment. It’s all standard MTT stuff; lost flips, coolers and the occasional out-draws.
My only other chance of a decent score came in my first game, an afternoon £5.75 Bounty Hunter. My demise came when set of fours couldn’t hold against pocket nines that called my post-flop bets and caught a two-outer on the river. A hold there would have put me in the top 3 with a big stack and 42 of the 126 entrants still alive.
Things were looking great for a while in the £500 guaranteed BH when I found myself chipleader briefly with only 17 left from 305. However when the average stack is under 20BB things are always very volatile. After a couple of raise/folds my demise came when I jammed AT from the button over a short-stack’s weak open-limp. The shortie folded as expected, but the new chipleader on the SB to my direct left re-shoved with his AKs and I was out. It was a cooler for me in the circumstances and I don’t consider my play a mistake.
June Poker Points 40
Todays results;
8003792HNLB0.5GBPSkyPoker01/06/2013 20:15NL Hold'em £5 + £0.5299/584-£5.58004327HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker01/06/2013 20:05NL Hold'em £2 + £0.315/305£4.598003966HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker01/06/2013 17:05NL Hold'em £2 + £0.318/24-£2.38003899HNLB0.75GBPSkyPoker01/06/2013 16:45NL Hold'em £5 + £0.7537/38-£5.758003793HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker01/06/2013 16:15NL Hold'em £2 + £0.332/44-£2.38003707HNLST0.2GBPSkyPoker01/06/2013 15:55NL Hold'em £2 + £0.225/33-£2.28004078HNLB0.75GBPSkyPoker01/06/2013 15:45NL Hold'em £5 + £0.7533/35-£5.758003840HNLB0.75GBPSkyPoker01/06/2013 14:30NL Hold'em £5 + £0.7542/126-£3.41
Didn’t play
Day 152
Closing Balance £327.53
Down £11.46 today
Volume remains low for the time being, as does the amount of good fortune coming my way.
After another day off I played three Bounty Hunters this afternoon without any joy, two standard ones then a speed. Not much was happening for me, I didn’t pick up a premium pair once and wasn’t flopping well. I bubbled one of them when I shoved over a open-limp with my pocket 88, the limper called with J7 and got there.
I was hindered for quite a while on my first two tables by an unusual glitch that I haven’t encountered before; on both tables I kept getting hands where I could see my hole cards, but I couldn’t see any of the cards dealt on the board and had to play blind. I eventually solved it by closing the downloadable client and playing via my web browser instead.
Highlight of the day, if you can call it that, was an A9s>K9o hold for a bounty in the speed game. However I went out a few hands later when I lost my only flip of the day to be left on fumes. My squeeze/shove with JT failed to beat an UTG limp/callers pocket 55 with plenty of dead chips in the middle from other limpers and the limp/callers head-prize. It was a great spot, had I binked I’d have been in the top 5 with 2 tables left, but it’s just not happening for me at the moment.
June Poker Points 59
Today’s results;
8011165HNLB0.75GBPSkyPoker03/06/2013 15:45NL Hold'em £5 + £0.7510/34-£3.418011003HNLB0.75GBPSkyPoker03/06/2013 14:30NL Hold'em £5 + £0.7536/87-£5.758010515HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker03/06/2013 14:15NL Hold'em £2 + £0.34/18-£2.3
I found myself at some at some great tables today. Unfortunately I didn’t get the cards to capitalise. The hand below was played in a £5.75 Bounty Hunter;
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalanced Small blind 40.00 40.00 1490.00 m Big blind 80.00 120.00 2960.00 Your hole cards 6 4 Dottle1963 Fold sharonm Fold GaryQQQ Fold d Raise 280.00 400.00 1210.00 m Call 240.00 640.00 2720.00 Flop 2 J K d Check m Bet 640.00 1280.00 2080.00 d All-in 1210.00 2490.00 0.00 m Call 570.00 3060.00 1510.00 d Show A 10 m Show 4 Q Turn 7 River 2 dWin Pair of 2s 3060.00 3060.00
Closing Balance £353.40
Up £25.87 today
I only had time for two tournaments today. In the 10-45 £3.30 BH after losing half my stack due to a couple of harsh river cards I got my chips in in a great spot with my JJ up against 99 and AKo. Yay, I flopped a set! But hold-on, this is poker we’re talking about; I still managed to get busted when the AK made a runner-runner flush. What can you do?
Next up I bought into the 11-30 £5.75 BH. I played well, made a few big holds and found myself at the final table. However from two tables out I’d to contend with a loose player with a huge stack at my table who was running red-hot and winning nearly every pot. At the final table he was on my direct left with a huge chip lead and not keen on folding, this made life difficult to say the least. Unsurprisingly my demise came at his hands in the space of two hands when we were three-handed. First he hit a gutshot on the river to beat me for a big pot having been behind on the previous three streets. Two hands later he opened to 3BB with KTs on the button, he was opening super-wide so I 3-bet jammed my A9 with my 26BB behind. I'd probably have prefered a fold if the truth be known, but at least my stack went in as a 55/45 favourite when he called. Had I won the pot I’d be chipleader with 54BB and the villain down to 10BB, however I was all but dead on the TT6 flop. A frustrating end, but I couldn’t really have done more. Hopefully some of the run-good I saw the eventual winner enjoy will come my way one day.
After a poor run over a recent days it’s a welcome relief to post a profit. I won’t be playing much over the next couple of days. Then after Thursday I’m away on holiday and will be taking a complete break from poker for a week or so.
June Poker Points 70
Today’s results;
8012870HNLB0.75GBPSkyPoker04/06/2013 11:30NL Hold'em £5 + £0.753/55£29.178013260HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker04/06/2013 10:45NL Hold'em £3 + £0.354/69-£3.3
well played mate,...a win at last...
not happy you've just overtaken me though!!! lol
keep it going,
dev
also resting up my bad arm,which is another reason.
might get to read a bit more of your book lol
going on holiday?
or just on a poker break?
The laptop will be going with us and I'll drop into the forum from time to time, mainly to update results, but I'll be much too busy to play poker tournaments. I'm not sure exactly when we'll get back to Exmouth, maybe on the Thursday, I'll resume play when we do.
I'll also be taking The Mental Game of Poker II with me to read. If you're having a break from playing it's an ideal time to read the first book, it's real eye-opener. Most players get a lot out of it, I did and I'm not the sort of guy who tilts much.
No doubt you'll come back to the poker reinvigorated and successful.
In September I'm going to start walking the 630 mile South West Coast Path. Unfortunately I'm unable to take a month off work and do it all in one go, so I'm planning to do about a week per year for the next four years.
Closing Balance £363.60
Up £10.20 today
No luck in the two morning £3.30s. In the 9-45 I was drawn on a wild bingo table. After 35 minutes of folding and blinding down due to a dearth of hole cards worth gambling with I eventually took on one of the maniacs with AT but couldn't beat his pocket 22 aipf. In the 10-45 I ran QQ into AA.
Returning in the afternoon I joined the first tournament going, a small £2.20 rebuy that only attracted 8 runners. I was pleased to bink first place for £23.40 with £6.60 invested (includes one instant rebuy and the add-on). These cheap rebuys are great value because a lot of the runners don’t rebuy or add-on which limits their chances of victory. In this game two of the four runners alive at the hour mark didn’t take the add-on. This is an unwise strategy and unsurprisingly they finished in fourth and third with the top two only paid.
During heads-up play I thought it was going to get away from me when a beat delayed my victory and gave the villain a significant lead; my A6 failing to hold against AQ when all the chips went in on an A67r flop. However I kept my cool and fought back, helped by flopping two pairs twice in close succession to quickly regain the lead. The winning hand was a standard flip, my 55>AK aipf. My opponent was short at this point at around 15BB, so my open-shove and his call were both pretty much automatic. With effective stacks well under 20BB I’m open-shoving any small pair from the SB because I won’t like most flops.
June Poker Points 70
Today’s results;
8017567HNLR0.2GBPSkyPoker05/06/2013 14:00NL Hold'em £2R + £0.21/8£16.808016315HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker05/06/2013 10:45NL Hold'em £3 + £0.343/64-£3.38016091HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker05/06/2013 09:45NL Hold'em £3 + £0.344/69-£3.3
A hand on the way to victory in the £2.20 Rebuy. When everybody checks the flop and another king is dealt on the turn I take the opportunity to lead out representing either an ace or trip kings and steal the pot.
It’s quite possible I had the best hand all the way, however having the confidence to take control post-flop and win occasional pots with unimproved small pairs makes them much more profitable than taking the 'no set, no bet' approach adopted by many.
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalanceGaryQQQ Small blind 30.00 30.00 6377.00 h Big blind 60.00 90.00 2622.50 Your hole cards 3 3 play2win02 Fold d Call 60.00 150.00 6920.00 DEGREEK Fold GaryQQQ Call 30.00 180.00 6347.00 h Check Flop K A 7 GaryQQQ Check h Check d Check Turn K GaryQQQ Bet 95.00 275.00 6252.00 h Fold d Call 95.00 370.00 6825.00 River 8 GaryQQQ Bet 195.00 565.00 6057.00 d Fold GaryQQQ Muck GaryQQQ Win 370.00 6427.00 GaryQQQ Return 195.00 0.00 6622.00
Tomorrow morning I'm off on holiday and will be taking a short break from playing poker. This challenge will resume in a week or so. Good luck all.
have a nice time Gary,Lea too,obviously.
(* *)
^
dev
ps;been reading 'mental poker'..well bits really,as not playing due to cash promo atm. lol
yes,i like The Beach too...had my mum's 50th party(I think) there,well upstairs in the Beachcomber Bar.
my mum and 2 of her friends dressed up as The Bee Gees with the white suits & wigs and false teeth,and did a great dance routine to a few songs...it was so funny,and as they kept it as a surprise to everone,we all fell about laughing.think they were introduced as The Bees Knee's or The Knock Knee's,or something. lol
yeah me & Gary live down the colony,in town, just a few roads away from each other.
small world,isn't it.
(* *)
^
dev
Didn’t play
Day 163
Closing Balance £369.54
Up £2.21 today
When I returned home this evening after my 8 day break I was itching to pay some poker, so bought myself into the Mini and late registered for the Orfordable.
In the Orfordable after barely playing a hand for 45 minutes due to a dearth of playable cards I busted when my 3-bet with QQ on the BB was flatted by a late position opener with A4s. The villain got there after calling my flop check/shove with his flush draw and overcard. The chips I put in post-flop went in as 55/45 favourite for a very useful 77BB pot. I’m fully prepared to play for my stack in such spots and I leave the tournament with no regrets when it leads to my exit.
I was blessed with a soft starting table in the Mini, though for 50 minutes very little went my way and I was down to less than half of average. Things then sprung into life when in a hot 5 minute spell during which I took out two short stacks and came within 5 chips of my third head-prize in the hand below. My third, fourth and fifth heads followed and for quite a while I was a top 20 stack.
The wheels came off when I lost a 3-way all-in with TT<66 aipf for a 14K pot plus another two head-prizes and a place in the top five with around 120 of the 529 entrants still alive. The same player busted me less than an orbit later with A7o>QQ aipf. What more can you do? I won’t deny it was a sickening way to bust, but I leave the tournament happy in the knowledge that I outplayed my opponents and it was only the run of the deck that deprived me a deep run.
While I was away a £3.73 Rewards bonus was credited to my account.
For the record I've had 30 days off so far during this challenge. So 133 of the 163 days so far were playing days, most of those, today for example, being at a very low volume.
June Poker Points 87
Today’s results;
8048425HNLB0.5GBPSkyPoker14/06/2013 20:15NL Hold'em £5 + £0.5119/529£5.518048901HNL 0.3GBPSkyPoker14/06/2013 19:10NL Hold'em £3 + £0.363/96-£3.3
I experienced both the highs and lows of tournament poker in tonight’s Mini. In the first hand it’s pretty much the dream run-out for my full house. While I’m aware I don’t hold the nuts I know I’ve a great chance of getting paid in full by either an ace or a big flush. Note I miss my opponents head-prize by 1/16th of a big blind!
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalancetweedie10 Small blind 40.00 40.00 3475.00 shawsok Big blind 80.00 120.00 2640.00 Your hole cards 9 9 mAcstAr777 Fold GaryQQQ Raise 195.00 315.00 3345.00 L Call 195.00 510.00 3350.00 mjh171727 Call 195.00 705.00 1645.00 tweedie10 Fold shawsok Fold Flop J A 9 GaryQQQ Bet 495.00 1200.00 2850.00 L Call 495.00 1695.00 2855.00 mjh171727 Fold Turn A GaryQQQ Bet 595.00 2290.00 2255.00 L Call 595.00 2885.00 2260.00 River 10 GaryQQQ All-in 2255.00 5140.00 0.00 L Call 2255.00 7395.00 5.00 GaryQQQ Show 9 9 L Show J K GaryQQQ Win Full House, 9s and Aces 7395.00 7395.00
The villain in my exit hand was leading a very charmed life; he’d doubled off me with 66>TT aipf just three hands earlier.
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalancewiggywoo11 Small blind 200.00 200.00 9060.00 GaryQQQ Big blind 400.00 600.00 7480.84 Your hole cards Q Q STUD3NT Fold marrington Fold dog8dog Fold t Raise 2000.00 2600.00 11905.82 wiggywoo11 Fold GaryQQQ All-in 7480.84 10080.84 0.00 t Call 5880.84 15961.68 6024.98 GaryQQQ Show Q Q t Show 7 A Flop 9 K 2 Turn A River 7 t Win Two Pairs, Aces and 7s 15961.68 21986.66
I thoroughly enjoyed it. We were walking by 7-30am, so we had the trail to ourselves on the way up, it was a clear day too so the views were superb. When got the summit the cafe was still shut and the first train wasn't in, so we could spend as much time at the at the very top as we liked. The Miners Trail seemed pretty easy for the first couple of miles, then there's that very tough mile during which you climb about 500m before you meet the rail line near the top and it gets a bit easier again.
Closing Balance £497.51
Up £127.97 today
Binkety Bink!
No joy in the two morning £3.30s for me today, I went nowhere fast in both and they're best forgotten.
In the afternoon I returned to the tables and registered for a £2.30 and £5.75 Bounty Hunters which were destined to go much better.
The smaller tournament was the £2.30 which attracted only 21 runners. I was delighted to bink first place, as I am in any MTT I enter. Regardless of buy-in or field size taking down an MTT is the best feeling in poker for me. I feel I played well and deserved the victory, though admittedly I was helped by a slice of luck at the final table. While second in chips I 3-bet jammed KQ from the button over a min-raise and scarily got cold called by the chipleader on the BB. I was relieved to find myself holding two live cards when he showed AJo for a fairly loose call (the opener folded). I binked a queen on the turn to take a significant lead which I then maintained all the way until the end, making the most of my stack to bully others, particularly on the bubble. So many big all-ins have gone against me that I feel absolutely no guilt whatsoever on the seemingly rare occasions when I win one from behind, I always do my best to make the most of it when the good fortune comes my way.
The £5.75 went pretty well too; I took first place in that one too from a field of 95 for a total return of £125.38.........get in!!!!
Again I feel I played well and had nobody to fear in the field. Two big flip wins with the bubble looming when my pairs beat AK each time propelled me into the top three where I stayed almost all the way to the end. During 8-handed play while chipleader a vicious beat put me down to 6th/8 when I got my stack in holding AT v QT with TTxx on the board for a massive pot. The villain spiked a very lucky queen with one card to come and I thought my £5.75 BH jinx had returned to haunt me. However I kept my cool, fought back, and got sweet revenge by busting both the QT guy and an inexperienced player who’d been trash-talking my game in the same hand on the final table bubble. From there I held my lead all the way to the end, closing out victory with a 77>A3s aipf hold after a 30 minute HU battle during which I led throughout.
To say I am pleased about this afternoon’s results is a massive understatement; I am in fact ecstatic, and will be opening a bottle of sparkling wine later to celebrate. I’m particularly pleased to kill the £5.75 jinx which has now written-off as just a figment of my imagination. The monkey is off my back and I can now enter these games brimming with confidence.
After expending so much mental energy in the afternoon games I decided to take the evening off poker, very happy to report a new highest balance by a country mile and with the half-way point looming.
June Poker Points 107 (£1.07)
Today’s results;
8052341HNLB0.75GBPSkyPoker15/06/2013 14:30NL Hold'em £5 + £0.751/95£1208051468HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker15/06/2013 13:45NL Hold'em £2 + £0.31/21£14.948051126HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker15/06/2013 10:45NL Hold'em £3 + £0.396/96-£3.38050819HNLB0.3GBPSkyPoker15/06/2013 09:45NL Hold'em £3 + £0.339/78-£3.3
Never give up! Keep calm, it pays if you don't tilt and stick to your A-game when things like this happen. £5.75 Bounty Hunter 8-handed play at 4-38PM;
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalanceGaryQQQ Small blind 400.00 400.00 38557.52 XXKIPXX Big blind 800.00 1200.00 19005.00 Your hole cards A 10 trash talk guy Fold S Call 800.00 2000.00 22008.12 GaryQQQ Call 400.00 2400.00 38157.52 XXKIPXX Check Flop 10 10 4 GaryQQQ Check XXKIPXX Check S Check Turn 9 GaryQQQ Bet 1295.00 3695.00 36862.52 XXKIPXX Fold S Raise 4800.00 8495.00 17208.12 GaryQQQ All-in 36862.52 45357.52 0.00 S All-in 17208.12 62565.64 0.00 GaryQQQ Unmatched bet 16149.40 46416.24 16149.40 GaryQQQ Show A 10 S Show 10 Q River Q S Win Full House, 10s and Queens 46416.24 46416.24
15 minutes later, 4-53PM final table bubble;
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalanceS Small blind 600.00 600.00 30771.26 GaryQQQ Big blind 1200.00 1800.00 43213.17 Your hole cards A Q XXKIPXX Fold trash talk guy All-in 3311.82 5111.82 0.00 S Call 2711.82 7823.64 28059.44 GaryQQQ All-in 43213.17 51036.81 0.00 S All-in 28059.44 79096.25 0.00 GaryQQQ Unmatched bet 13041.91 66054.34 13041.91 S Show Q 8 GaryQQQ Show A Q trash talk guy Show K 4 Flop 10 K 5 Turn J River 10 GaryQQQ Win Straight to the Ace 66054.34 79096.25
The games you describe sound great, though as explained in the OP for various reasons I am, and will be staying, a daytime only recreational player. Unlike many other diary authors here I have absolutely no aspirations of climbing the levels and playing at the highest-stakes. I thoroughly enjoy playing poker, and it's even more fun when I win, but unless something dramatic changes in my life I'll be remaining a low-volume recreational player for the foreseeable future.
I googled your mate last night. It took a course record to beat him. Both that 1985 course record and Robbie's summit record still stand to this very day.
Hopefully the second £500 will come even quicker than the first.
I'm now rolled for £11 games without breaking my 40 buy-in rule and I will be playing them when I can. In my experience the fields are pretty much the same as in the £5.75s, so I have nothing to fear. They don't start at a time that fits in well with my session too often, so I won't be in seen in them regularly.
These downswings feel terrible but they can't last forever, hang on in there. Running KK into AA is an unavoidable cooler, just remember it always evens out over time and you'll find yourself on the right side of them sooner or later. I took a couple of vicious beats in the Mini last night, then look what happened today. Your next big win might be just around the corner. Try to avoid tilting, continue to play your very best and success will follow sooner or later. I have no magic secrets, I just try to make the best decisions in every hand and eventually it gets rewarded.