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The challenge is to make money
Sats are a decent alternative to mtts, especially for events such as UKOPS where the value of the seat is significant. In alot of the sats, the seat is worth more than top prize in most daytime sky MTTs.
Gary has said numerous times though that alot of the sats have poor structures and I would imagine that's the main reason why he doesn't play them often (if at all).
For instance £1000 over 12 months is a great idea for a challenge, but it just wouldn't interest me. Not wwhen its possible to come 12th in some tourneys and get paid £600 or more. Sky is a great site, but to me £5.50 for a £200GTD tourney? Thats about $7.50 for $300GTD?? Not when I can pay $6.60 for 15k$GTD an aslong I come in 50th or better (I will) I cash.
This challenge/diary serves two purposes only;
1. It gives me self-motivation to do my very best in the games I can/do play
2. To inspire new players and novices who start here with a small deposit, scared there'll be eaten alive at the tables. Exactly the sort of person I was when I took the plunge and transitioned from playchips four years ago. If I can spin it up anybody can.
This diary will not appeal to those of you playing a higher volume and/or higher stakes than me, nor to all the wannabe pros and grinders. It's aimed at the low-stakes recreational players, who probably make up 80%+ of the player pool on Sky. Most of them never post on this forum, though I can assure you, based on chatbox conversations, there are many that lurk. I've lost count of the number of times a player I've never heard of before asks me 'how's the challenge going?'
I'm not self-delusional about my poker ability or potential. I have no aspirations to play in high stakes games or to win vast sums of money. I'm perfectly happy having fun in the low-stakes games that I already frequent. Any money I happen to make at the same time is a bonus, I play poker because I enjoy poker.
As others have pointed out there's no point entering satellites for tournaments that run when I'm not online.
It's a pain in the neck maintaining this diary at times. However occasional posts from unknowns like these below, and similar things said to me in the chatbox, are worth their weight in gold and make the effort more than worthwhile. Both of these players were making their first ever post on the forum;
In Response to Re: 1,000 Poker Points -----> £1,000 Can it be done? Latest balance £693.56: In Response to Re: 1,000 Poker Points -----> £1,000 Can it be done? Latest balance £620.60:
Closing Balance £800.98
Up £5.77 today
Didn't have much time to play today, just registered in the next two tournaments due to run when I logged on. I played better poker than yesterday thankfully, but not enough luck came my way for a decent score.
For a while I had a good stack going in a £5.75 Bounty Hunter. I held the lead in the mid-stages, though unfortunately from there I picked up few good hole-cards and only just managed to scrape a min-cash in the end. On the few occasions I connected well with a flop the turn or river nearly always tipped the balance in favour of my opponents. Sometimes the cards fall in such a way that you're not going to win even if you make good decisions in every hand, it was one of those games.
My exit came when I squeeze/shoved 11BB with KQs from the button over a cut-off limper soon after the bubble. The limper had AQo and I was out. Still, at least I'd got myself deep and in with a chance, if I can keep doing that the binks will follow.
November Poker Points 96
Today’s results;
8534137 H NL T,HU 0.05 GBP SkyPoker 04/11/2013 15:08 NL Hold'em £1 + £0.05 2/2 -£1.05 8534051 H NL HU 0.05 GBP SkyPoker 04/11/2013 14:32 NL Hold'em £1 + £0.05 2/2 -£1.05 8533232 H NL B 0.75 GBP SkyPoker 04/11/2013 14:30 NL Hold'em £5 + £0.75 10/93 £8.67 8532746 H NL B 0.3 GBP SkyPoker 04/11/2013 14:15 NL Hold'em £2 + £0.3 4/9 -£0.8
£5.75 Bounty Hunter frustration. With my well-disguised set I extract great value from passively played draws on the flop and turn. Then the nut worst card in the deck lands on the river. I check back knowing that it's very unlikely my set is still good. A bluff would be crazy in my opinion, it would have to be very big and my opponents range includes the nuts. I prefer to give up and preserve my stack. The same villain busted me later in the tournament, by then he was runaway chipleader.
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalance* Small blind 50.00 50.00 5560.00 GaryQQQ Big blind 100.00 150.00 6487.50 Your hole cards 7 7 Jonesy147 Fold JNWaller Fold boxer147 Call 100.00 250.00 2860.00 swandog95 Fold * Call 50.00 300.00 5510.00 GaryQQQ Check Flop Q 7 9 * Bet 100.00 400.00 5410.00 GaryQQQ Raise 295.00 695.00 6192.50 boxer147 Fold * Call 195.00 890.00 5215.00 Turn 10 * Check GaryQQQ Bet 595.00 1485.00 5597.50 * Call 595.00 2080.00 4620.00 River 8 * Check GaryQQQ Check * Show J 9 GaryQQQ Show 7 7 * Win Straight to the Queen 2080.00 6700.00
Closing Balance £800.27
Down 71p today
Not my day in MTTs, I entered four Bounty Hunters without cashing. I don't think I did much wrong, the cards just simply weren't falling my way. I lost 5/6 shallow-stack standard flips including one to bust on the bubble of a £3.30. Had I won 5/6 it might have been a different story.
In an £11 Bounty Hunter I watched in amazement as a calling station on a heater caught nearly every river, busting players for fun in the process, already up to 7 head-prizes by the time I exitted in the mid-stages. He/she cracked my pocket KK and QQ by calling pre-flop raises OOP with junk hands. When someone is running that hot nobody else at the table stands a chance.
After I busted from the last MTT I saw a player with a poor record of results waiting for a match at a £21 HU table. I decided to make a rare exception to my 40 buy-in rule, joining him with only 37 buy-ins in my account. To my relief it paid off and the victory saved my day. When I'd ground him down to 5BB an AQ /> T8 aipf hold won the match. To my dismay a ten landed on the turn, but a beautiful ace landed on the river.
November Poker Points 132 (£1.32)
Today’s results;
8537653 H NL ST,HU 1.0 GBP SkyPoker 05/11/2013 14:50 NL Hold'em £20 + £1 1/2 £19 8535831 H NL B 1.0 GBP SkyPoker 05/11/2013 14:00 NL Hold'em £10 + £1 36/49 -£11 8535556 H NL B 1.0 GBP SkyPoker 05/11/2013 13:00 NL Hold'em £10 + £1 19/58 -£7.25 8535484 H NL B 0.3 GBP SkyPoker 05/11/2013 12:45 NL Hold'em £2 + £0.3 12/19 -£1.55 8535483 H NL B 0.3 GBP SkyPoker 05/11/2013 10:45 NL Hold'em £3 + £0.3 18/108 £0.09
I picked up pocket AA just once today, it came in the last of my four MTTs. I already knew it wasn't going to be my day by then so wasn't in the least bit surprised when this happened
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalancefoureyes Small blind 30.00 30.00 1540.00 GaryQQQ Big blind 60.00 90.00 1330.00 Your hole cards A A ray7 Fold WEES3000 Fold nslater112 Fold gianluchin Fold foureyes Fold GaryQQQ Show A A GaryQQQ Win 60.00 1390.00 GaryQQQ Return 30.00 0.00 1420.00
Closing Balance £803.60
Up £3.33 today
I seem to be on a plateau at the moment, hovering around the £800 mark. I feel I'm playing pretty well overall and and I'm enjoying my poker, I just need some of that all-important run-good to go with it to move forward.
Today's session started with the two morning £3.30 Bounty Hunters. In the 10-45am I was always struggling after donking off some chips early. I found a great spot to play for my stack when my A6s clashed with QQ on an a 66x flop, unfortunately a queen came on the turn.
In the 9-45am I had a good run going for a while, going into the final table as chipleader was highlight of the day. Unfortunately once there I did a JC Tran; I couldn't pick up a decent hand or connect with a flop to save my life. Meanwhile a player to my left, who ended up winning it, went on a heater and was hitting everything. I was eliminated at his hands in fourth place, I shoved over his open limp and a SB flat with KJ on the BB, he called with K8 and spiked an 8 to eliminate me. An anti-climax in the end, but it was fun while it lasted.
Just like yesterday I found myself at the table of a seemingly invincible player in an £11 Bounty Hunter. He/she had already taken 9 head-prizes and was sitting behind 10x starting stack by the time I busted in the mid-stages as the aggressor when my suited king lost to 96o aipf blind vs blind. Must be nice!
I played some STTs in the afternoon. It could have gone better, could have gone worse. I managed to sn@tch a few defeats from the jaws of victory due to harsh run-outs. However my session finished on a good note; after cashing in the last two DYMs I was pleased to end the day just the right side of £800.
November Poker Points 171 (£1.71)
Today’s results;
8541330 H NL 6MX,DN 0.3 GBP SkyPoker 06/11/2013 17:07 NL Hold'em £3 + £0.3 1/6 £2.7 8541325 H NL 6MX,DN 0.5 GBP SkyPoker 06/11/2013 16:57 NL Hold'em £5 + £0.5 1/6 £4.5 8541222 H NL HU 0.1 GBP SkyPoker 06/11/2013 16:16 NL Hold'em £2 + £0.1 2/2 -£2.1 8541171 H NL 6MX,DN 0.25 GBP SkyPoker 06/11/2013 15:51 NL Hold'em £2 + £0.25 1/6 £1.75 8540999 H NL HU 0.1 GBP SkyPoker 06/11/2013 15:45 NL Hold'em £2 + £0.1 1/2 £1.9 8541106 H NL ST,HU 0.05 GBP SkyPoker 06/11/2013 15:07 NL Hold'em £1 + £0.05 2/2 -£1.05 8540972 H NL T,HU 0.1 GBP SkyPoker 06/11/2013 14:06 NL Hold'em £2 + £0.1 2/2Closing Balance £813.19
Up £9.59 today
No luck in MTTs again, though I only entered two today. I had a great table in a £5.75 Bounty Hunter, there all sorts of crazy play right from the start, several players were happily playing for their stacks very light. Unfortunately my cards weren't so great. I kept it tight and waited for good spots but they didn't come often enough. I did double twice with, once with pocket AA (the only pair I saw above 77), once with a set of fives, however I was already down to well under half of table average each time and never really got myself in the game.
I fared better in STTs, cashing in a £3.30 DYM and winning a £10.50 HU match.
With my £6.44 Rewards payment being credited today and a small profit at the tables I'm pleased to report a new highest balance.
November Poker Points 190 (£1.90)
Today’s results;
8544348 H NL HU 0.5 GBP SkyPoker 07/11/2013 13:43 NL Hold'em £10 + £0.5 1/2 £9.5 8542376 H NL B 0.75 GBP SkyPoker 07/11/2013 12:30 NL Hold'em £5 + £0.75 27/68 -£5.75 8544091 H NL 6MX,DN 0.3 GBP SkyPoker 07/11/2013 12:29 NL Hold'em £3 + £0.3 1/6 £2.7 8542440 H NL B 0.3 GBP SkyPoker 07/11/2013 10:45 NL Hold'em £3 + £0.3 31/85 -£3.3
Welcome to the table! Crazy play in level 1 of a £5.75 Bounty Hunter.
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalanceH Small blind 10.00 10.00 2095.00 beer09 Big blind 20.00 30.00 2450.00 Your hole cards 6 9 GaryQQQ Fold R Raise 100.00 130.00 1877.50 The_Chris Fold UncleNafe Fold H All-in 2095.00 2225.00 0.00 beer09 Fold R All-in 1877.50 4102.50 0.00 H Unmatched bet 127.50 3975.00 127.50 H Show Q Q R Show K 10 Flop 3 6 A Turn 5 River K R Win Pair of Kings 3975.00 3975.00
.
Closing Balance £876.03
Up £62.84 today
Yay, I have a bink to report
I shipped the 10-45am £3.30 Bounty Hunter, which was the only game I played today. My prize money was £66.14 including head-prizes. Tight aggressive poker, two flip wins out of two, and a few key holds saw me across the line.
By my own admittance I've been a bit too spewy in MTTs at times lately. After seeing so many maniacs at the tables yesterday I had a good think about my strategy while working overnight. I decided I needed to go back to basics; keep it tight, play my big hands hard and take bluffing out of my game as much as possible.
Obviously I didn't expect the adjustment to bring immediate success, but I'll take it.
My run started towards the end of level 2 when my raise with AT was defended by 9T on the BB. The run-out of Q5J6K gave me straight over straight to stack my opponent on the river, the somewhat unfortunate villain become the first of the 10 players I busted. From there I was always above average and cruised into the money comfortably. A few spots before the bubble I won my first flip when I 3-bet shoved over a 14BB shortie's open with my AK and cracked his pocket 77, a standard play by both of us.
A big hand that propelled me to clear chipleader came soon after the bubble had burst with 10 players still alive. A player who'd been limping a lot then playing a 'fit or fold' strategy post-flop inexplicably blew up (see below) and gifted me his stack with flopped middle pair. Soon after I won the second of two standard flips to bust another shortie with AK /> 77 aipf (again).
From there the only hiccup came at the final table during 5-handed play. Maniacs don't usually get that far, but one survived today. After losing a pot he went on tilt and decided to shove all-in pre-flop every hand with any two cards, claiming in the chatbox he needed to leave to catch a train. After a few orbits of nobody picking up a calling hand he'd chipped up to second in chips and was getting dangerous. Then I called him with a dominating hand, but he sucked-out on me having open-shoved with 53o. I went from first of five to fifth and was in deep trouble with only 11BB, he had a big lead. It didn't last long. I got back into the game very quickly with QQ /> KQ aipf just two hands later, then found a hold against the maniac at the second attempt to double off him, get most of my chips back, and leave him super short. Someone else took him out in the next hand and we got back to playing poker.
From four left I completely ran over the other three. They all tightened-up, seemingly not wanting to bust in fourth place. I started opening and c-betting light, picking up chips at will and they all blinded down to 10BB or less while I had over 60BB. I took out fourth when he jammed KJ into my AK. With three left I open shoved J9 on the button with my opponents down to only 7BB and 5BB, both reluctant to be next to bust. The BB called with A8s, unfortunately for him a jack on the river eliminated him. That was the only all-in and call situation I won as an under-dog in the entire tournament
At the start of heads-up play I had a massive 165k v 12k lead with blinds at 1.5k/3k. It wasn't over quite as quickly as I'd hoped, after I'd doubled-up my opponent twice it was game-on. He played well overall to be fair, but a ill-timed bet-sizing mistake cost him the game. When I'd min-raised K8 from the SB at 2k/4k the villain made a minimum 3-bet from the BB. I feared a monster, but needed to put only 4K in to see a flop with 20k already in the middle, irresistable pot odds of 5/1. The flop came down K86 with a flush draw, obviously I was never folding top two pairs. Stacks went in, my opponent was all-but dead with K3. Had he used his very tight image to 3-bet shove light, or made a larger 3-bet that would have forced me to make a 4-bet shove or fold decision, I'd have chosen to fold pre-flop.
The Bounty Hunter took 3 ½ hours to play. I was pokered-out by then and called it a day.
November Poker Points 193 (£1.93)
Today’s result;
8546209 H NL B 0.3 GBP SkyPoker 08/11/2013 10:45 NL Hold'em £3 + £0.3 1/89 £62.84Today I decided to wait for chips to come to me rather than go out and chase them, and come they did. We're in the money here when an opponent has an inexpicable blow-up and gifts me his stack and bounty. Prior to this he/she had been very tight post flop. I expected to be shown at least a strong queen or a nut flush-draw and was worried I might be behind.
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalanceGaryQQQ Small blind 400.00 400.00 24077.50 tony011 Big blind 800.00 1200.00 4096.25 Your hole cards K K acerowe Fold BobbyPongo Fold * Call 800.00 2000.00 15595.00 F1N63RS Fold GaryQQQ Raise 1555.00 3555.00 22522.50 tony011 Fold * Call 1155.00 4710.00 14440.00 Flop Q 7 3 GaryQQQ Bet 2695.00 7405.00 19827.50 * Raise 5390.00 12795.00 9050.00 GaryQQQ All-in 19827.50 32622.50 0.00 * All-in 9050.00 41672.50 0.00 GaryQQQ Unmatched bet 8082.50 33590.00 8082.50 GaryQQQ Show K K * Show 7 5 Turn 10 River 10 GaryQQQ Win Two Pairs, Kings and 10s 33590.00 41672.50
The final hand. My opponent had a tight image so I'd have snap-folded to a shove here. As it was his tiny 3-bet lets me see a flop very cheaply and brings about his own downfall.
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalanceGaryQQQ Small blind 2000.00 2000.00 101550.00 * Big blind 4000.00 6000.00 70450.00 Your hole cards K 8 GaryQQQ Raise 6000.00 12000.00 95550.00 * Raise 8000.00 20000.00 62450.00 GaryQQQ Call 4000.00 24000.00 91550.00 Flop 8 6 K * Bet 12000.00 36000.00 50450.00 GaryQQQ All-in 91550.00 127550.00 0.00 * All-in 50450.00 178000.00 0.00 GaryQQQ Unmatched bet 29100.00 148900.00 29100.00 GaryQQQ Show K 8 * Show 3 K Turn 9 River 2 GaryQQQ Win Two Pairs, Kings and 8s 148900.00 178000.00
In Response to Re: 1,000 Poker Points -----> £1,000 Can it be done? Latest balance £876.03: It's unlikely, though I won't rule it out.
MTTs remain my game of choice and I'll almost certainly be sticking to buy-ins in the £3.30 to £11 range in those.
Occasionally if I don't have time for an MTT I play HU matches, more for fun/variety now rather than as a means of attaining my goal.
At £5.25 or lower I don't mind who I play, I'll happily sit first and play whoever turns up. At £10.50+ I'm nittier and prefer to table select, ie I use a filtered search to check a players HU STT results before deciding whether to sit with him/her. Most of those I see waiting for an opponent are strong players who I'd rather avoid because I'd be the underdog in the game.
There are exceptions, for example see Day 304 when I bent my 40 buy-in rule slightly to sit at a good £21 table.
Closing Balance £873.78
Down £2.25 today
No luck for me in MTTs todays. I drew some soft tables and found several +ev spots to get my stack in the middle, but the cards simply weren't falling my way. Absolutely no complaints though after yesterday's generous dose of run-good.
There was a lot of crazy bingo being played, particularly in Bounty Hunters, standard stuff for the weekend. While it's somewhat frustrating and takes a lot of the skill out of the game I'm cool with others using that style of play. To be fair wild gambling is probably one of the best strategies a novice player can adopt in an MTT. These guys don't stand much of a chance if they try to play a load of pots post-flop against more experienced opponents, it's understandable if they'd rather to punt their stack with anything half-decent and hope for the best. Those of us who can resist the temptation to join the madness and patiently stick to good calling ranges will always come out as the winners in the long run.
My run-good today all came in STTs where I managed to recoop most of the money spent on MTT buy-ins.
Despite taking my A-game to the tables I still managed to brick two all-in sats for the Main Event this evening. I've still never binked in one of these despite multiple attempts. Very harsh considering I pretty much invented them. Hint, hint Poker Gods!
November Poker Points 243 (£2.43)
Today’s results;
8554240 H NL 6MX,DN 0.3 GBP SkyPoker 09/11/2013 20:35 NL Hold'em £3 + £0.3 1/6 £2.7 8554247 H NL ST,HU 0.15 GBP SkyPoker 09/11/2013 20:14 NL Hold'em £3 + £0.15 1/2 £2.85 8552239 H NL L,SAT 0.15 GBP SkyPoker 09/11/2013 20:02 NL Hold'em £1.65 + £0.15 23/51 -£1.8 8552235 H NL L,SAT 0.15 GBP SkyPoker 09/11/2013 19:42 NL Hold'em £1.65 + £0.15 17/41 -£1.8 8553668 H NL HU 0.1 GBP SkyPoker 09/11/2013 18:40 NL Hold'em £2 + £0.1 2/2 -£2.1 8551860 H NL R 0.2 GBP SkyPoker 09/11/2013 18:30 NL Hold'em £2R + £0.2 36/96 -£11.00 8553399 <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,Sans-Serif;line-height:20px;" class="TeClosing Balance £882.12
Up £8.34 today
All I had time for today were the two morning £3.30 Bounty Hunters. I went fairly deep in both, but not deep enough for a decent score.
My best chance came in the 9-45am. I ran well to get to the late stages taking 5 head-prizes on the way including a big flip win with Aks />QQ aipf. However after a taking a hit when my pocket AA came second best to J8 in a huge 3-way pot a few spots from the money (I was pretty much dead on the 9TQ flop) I was always strugging. Despite fighting hard I couldn't find a way back into contention and left with only a min-cash.
In the 10-45am I spent most of my time bumping along near the bottom of the field, devoid of good hole-cards and missing flops. A few spots from the money a flopped set of fours won me a full double and a workable stack. Soon after that I took on KTo with my AJ aipf for my first head-prize an above average stack, but that particular key pot didn't come my way. I went out first hand after the bubble when I jammed 8.5BB with A9 into the blinds. I was happy when the SB called with A3, not so happy when the BB also called. His/her pocket TT held-up.
November Poker Points 24 (£2.49)
Today’s results;
8554506 H NL B £150 Bounty Hunter 0.3 GBP SkyPoker 10/11/2013 10:45 NL Hold'em £3 + £0.3 12/106 £0.6 8554213 H NL B £150 Bounty Hunter 0.3 GBP SkyPoker 10/11/2013 09:45 NL Hold'em £3 + £0.3 10/85 £7.74Weekend Bingo Hunter fun. The good old cold 4-bet shove with A3o comes out in level 1.
PlayerActionCardsAmountPotBalances Small blind 10.00 10.00 1610.00 GaryQQQ Big blind 20.00 30.00 3835.00 Your hole cards 6 2 RogueCell Fold ecakapug11 Fold B Raise 80.00 110.00 1260.00 i Raise 260.00 370.00 675.00 s All-in 1610.00 1980.00 0.00 GaryQQQ Fold B All-in 1260.00 3240.00 0.00 i All-in 675.00 3915.00 0.00 sUnmatched bet 280.00 3635.00 280.00 s Show A 3 BShow 10 10 i Show A J Flop 2 A K Turn Q River 5 B Win Flush to the Ace 3635.00 3635.00
Closing Balance £882.12
Up £6.03 today
My internet connection was playing up today. I was suffering lag and timing out so I kept my MTT buy-ins low in case I became fully disconnected.
As it was it stayed playable and I ended up having two near misses from three tournaments entered, plus a load of fun at some friendly tables.
In the 9-45am Bounty Hunter I made final table, admittedly helped by a TT /> QQ aipf suck-out close to the bubble with my tournament life on the line. My downfall came when a very loose/aggressive player on a short-stack open shoved with five left. I held pocket 66 and re-shoved hoping to isolate him. My hand suddenly didn't look so good when the BB, who I also had covered, but only just, stuck his stack in too. When the cards were flipped over I was in much better shape than I expected; my pair in with a good chance against their QJ and KJ. As well as two pay jumps and two decent head-prizes the huge pot was worth a substantial chiplead with three left. However it wasn't to be, a jack landed on the flop and and that was that.
In the afternoon £2.20 Deepie on the final table bubble I 3-bet shoved AJ from the BB over an aggressive opener on the button. He called with KQ and got there. Had I won the pot I'd have gone into the final table with a good chip lead. I didn't win it and was left on fumes.
HU STTs didn't got too well; I lost two out of three. Didn't fare too well in standard all-in spots.
Last game was an £11 DYM. I selected a soft table, though it turned out to be a tough battle. The other players were very aggressive from the start so I kept it uber-tight hoping they'd bust each other. However the shortest stacks kept winning the all-ins and we got to 150/300 with all six still alive, by then I'd had to join the fray to avoid blinding out. After two eventually busted the bubble seemed to on for ages. All four of us were shoving wide and calling tight, all taking turns as both the short stack and chipleader. At one point I sucked out on the river to double with KQ /> QQ aipf. My shove was good regardless of results with blinds at 300/600, average stack 5BB. Eventually and all-in and call between two other players settled the matter and I cashed.
I finish slightly up on the day and with my account on a new highest balance, happy times
November Poker Points 272 (£2.72)
Today’s results;
8560505 H NL 6MX,DN Double Your Money 1.0 GBP SkyPoker 11/11/2013 17:38 NL Hold'em £10 + £1 1/6 £9 8560293 H NL ST,HU Heads-Up (Hyper) 0.15 GBP SkyPoker 11/11/2013 15:26 NL Hold'em £3 + £0.15 1/2 £2.85 8560291 H NL ST,HU Heads-Up (Hyper) 0.25 GBP SkyPoker 11/11/2013 15:18 NL Hold'em £5 + £0.25 2/2 -£5.25 8560255 H NL ST,HU Heads-Up (Hyper) 0.15 GBP SkyPoker 11/11/2013 15:00 NL Hold'em£3 + £0.15 2/2 -£3.15 8558656 H NL Deep Stack 0.2 GBP SkyPoker 11/11/2013 14:20 NL Hold'em £2 + £0.2 7/22 -£2.2 8558195 H NL B £150 Bounty Hunter 0.3 GBP<span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,Sans-Serif;line-height:20px;" class="EOP SCX6460902Closing Balance £882.12
Up £6.03 today
My home internet connection was playing up today. I was suffering lag and timing out so I kept my MTT buy-ins low in case I became fully disconnected.
As it was it stayed playable and I ended up having two near misses from three tournaments entered, plus a load of fun at some friendly tables.
In the 9-45am Bounty Hunter I made final table, admittedly helped by a TT /> QQ aipf suck-out close to the bubble with my tournament life on the line. My downfall came when a very loose/aggressive player on a short-stack open shoved with five left. I held pocket 66 and re-shoved hoping to isolate him. My hand suddenly didn't look so good when the BB, who I also had covered, but only just, stuck his stack in too. When the cards were flipped over I was in much better shape than I expected; my pair in with a good chance against their QJ and KJ. As well as two pay jumps and two decent head-prizes the huge pot was worth a substantial chiplead with three left. However it wasn't to be, a jack landed on the flop and and that was that.
In the afternoon £2.20 Deepie on the final table bubble I 3-bet shoved AJ from the BB over an aggressive opener on the button. He called with KQo and got there. Had I won the pot I'd have gone into the final table with a good chip lead. I didn't and was left on fumes.
HU STTs could have gone better; I lost two out of three. Didn't run too well in standard all-in spots.
Last game was an £11.00 DYM. I selected a soft table, though it turned out to be a tough battle. The other players were very aggressive from the start so I kept it uber-tight hoping they'd knock each other out. However the shortest stacks kept winning the all-ins and we got to 150/300 with all six still alive, by then I'd been forced to join the fray or I'd have blinded out. After two eventually busted the bubble seemed to on forever. All four of us were shoving wide and calling tight, each of us having stints as both the short stack and the chipleader. At one point I sucked out on the river to double with KQ /> QQ aipf. My shove was correct regardless of results with blinds at 300/600 and the average stack only 5BB. Eventually an all-in and call between two other players settled the matter and I was relieved to cash.
So I finish slightly up on the day and with my account on a new highest balance. Happy times.
November Poker Points 272 (£2.72)
Today’s results;
8560505 H NL 6MX,DN Double Your Money 1.0 GBP SkyPoker 11/11/2013 17:38 NL £10 + £1 1/6 £9 8560293 H NL ST,HU Heads-Up (Hyper) 0.15 GBP SkyPoker 11/11/2013 15:26 NL £3 + £0.15 1/2 £2.85 8560291 H NL ST,HU Heads-Up (Hyper) 0.25 GBP SkyPoker 11/11/2013 15:18 NL £5 + £0.25 2/2 -£5.25 8560255 H NL ST,HU Heads-Up (Hyper) 0.15 GBP SkyPoker 11/11/2013 15:00 NL £3 + £0.15 2/2 -£3.15 8558656 H NL Deep Stack 0.2 GBP SkyPoker 11/11/2013 14:20 NL £2 + £0.2 7/22 -£2.2 8558195 H NL B £150 Bounty Hunter 0.3 <span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,Sans-Serif;line-height:20px
Thanks for the support, I enjoyed having you at my table even though it made life far difficult than usual. Undoubtedly it would have been hell for me if the seats were reversed and you had postion
If I were starting this one now it would be much easier, I'd try to do it from zero money and zero points and enter the daily £500 Free Cash Freeroll every day to get things going. Back in January the hold 'em freerolls cost 25 points each to enter with a £50 prizepool, so I only had enough points for 40 attempts and was up against opponents taking rebuys and add-ons.
The target still feels a long way off to me, I'm just ignoring it and just do my best in the games I enter tournament by tournament. I suppose somewhere in the back of my mind I'm aware I'm just one decent £5.75 or £11 Bounty Hunter bink away from the finish line but I try not to think about that. It'll come when it comes.
You're absolutely right and I'm well aware of it. I've been very fortunate to enjoy rapid growth over the last month or so.
Who knows what'll happen next; this thing might be wrapped up in the next few days if variance is kind. If it's not I could easily have less cash at Christmas than I have now. Time will tell