Online Update

So, I battered through the latest Party bonus.

Until the final session, I was cruising in the black, before being holed below the waterline by a succession of runner-runner torpedoes - mostly of the backdoor flush variety.

Once again, it was bonus to the rescue, to keep me in profit over the piece.

I'm getting pretty sick of having to rely on the various reload bonuses to keep my bankroll moving forward, but on the whole I haven't been playing horribly.

Sooner or later I am due a session where my premium hands hold up, and my speculative ones hit the flop hard. Until then it's a case of shoulder to the wheel.

One weakness that has crept into my game is losing the ability to fold big hands on the flop or turn when it's screamingly obvious I've been outdrawn.

I'm too keen to explain away my foe's betting and raising as bluffs, when their holdings aren't immediately obvious.

That's a huge error. This is low limit Hold Em on Party Poker. For some players there is no hand range - unless 72o to AA counts as a 'range'.

It feels like a frustration thing, and I'm sure I can erase it quite easily.

Usually I'm very disciplined, not only in poker but any financial matters, so I feel perfectly capable of restoring that strength to my game. Given time to play!

I've been planning to step up to $3/6 on Party for a while now, and have been datamining like mad, but I've not yet made the leap.

Frankly, I don't feel comfortable putting a higher chunk of my bankroll on the line, when I'm not totally on top of my game and just don't feel like my luck is in. That could change at any time, and I certainly have notes on enough players to feel good about finding a decent table.

I really need to get my act together and sort out a rakeback deal before that day dawns.

My only other major online event recently was the second Blonde Poker No Limit Hold Em tourney. I played really well in the first - and also caught some good cards - only to self combust on a crucial hand when I was second in chips, eventually bubbling out.

Consequently I was really looking forward to this game, and was hoping to go at least one place better. Sadly for me, it wasn't to be.

I was card dead from the off, and when I tried to make a move with my only moderately playable hands, I ran into medium pocket pairs who wouldn't lay it down, even to a pre-flop raise and a reraise on the flop.

Most frustrating! Still, I do enjoy the camaraderie of this crowd, and it's a great learning experience.

The fields are relatively small by online standards, and there are several pros involved. So the quality of play is generally high - aided by a big starting stack and slow clock.

The more good players I play, the better I will become, so I'm never upset to run into superior opposition in an MTT. Cash games would be an entirely different story!