Clearing The Decks

Last week I received an email from a very good friend expressing some concern for my welfare.

Among the criteria he cited as the basis of his concern were: non-attendance at the pub; lack of blog activity.

It's pretty difficult to argue with the facts here. Over the entire festive period and into New Year I was properly drunk once - albeit to such a spectacular level that it went way beyond properly drunk and more into the improper level. The blog activity speaks for itself.

There hasn't actually been any dark reason behind my disappearance from both the real and virtual social scenes. Just a vicious combination of work pressures, family issues, and ill health. At this time of year I seem to attract more bugs than the average UK prison.

Time to put things right!

It's symptomatic of the state the blog has fallen into that I can kick off the regeneration by doing the almost obligatory year-end review/New Year resolutions post in mid-February.

To do so, I had to go back and remind myself what the 2007 resolutions actually were. I was expecting abject failure, and was pleased to actually find a tickable box.

For 2007 I was comparatively unambitious in my online poker goals. I set only two, yet contrived to miss them both spectacularly.

Clear $6,000

2007 was a bad year! I didn't play anywhere near as much as I expected. When I did I either played badly or ran badly. Eventually time constraints and a lack of motivation drove down my table time.

I won a touch over $1000 for the year. Which is gravely disappointing, yet in a way still feels like a victory. 'Only' making $xxxx in a given time period has to be better than losing $yyyy in the same time period?

Deepen Experience of Other Poker Variants

This goal was basically sacrificed in pursuit of trying to remedy the shortcomings in the previous one. Trying to get a high volume of hands in at the table doesn't really lend itself to variants other than Hold Em.

Anyone who has tried multi-tabling HORSE, or even mixing Hold Em and PLO, will be able to attest to the mind altering possibilities of such a strategy.

Do Some Interesting Poker Related Stuff

Box ticking time. On 1st January 2007 I wrote:

A deliberately vague target. This could mean that long anticipated Vegas return. It could be satelliting into a decent size UK event. It could be a trip to one of the EPT events.

Much as I have no desire to live the life of a poker pro, I am envious of the travel opportunities it affords. Doing something along those lines would be a nice segue between poker and my wider ambitions in life.

On 9th October 2007 I landed at McCarran Airport to commence my second Vegas visit.

More than enough was written about that on my return. Suffice to say, I consider this box well and truly ticked.

The Vegas trip pretty much put a cap on my poker time for the year. I think subconsciously I may have burnt myself out by getting a bit too results oriented.

Another lesson learned and not one that will put me off in the longer term (gotta love that phrase). Without poker I wouldn't have gone back to Vegas and got the chance to do this...



For this year I'm not setting any real poker goals. What I am aiming for in the non-poker area is a progression of my aims in terms of simplifying my life and keeping my finances on course for early retirement.

I don't see any point expanding on this at present, as I hope to write more about it soon. Time will tell whether I keep to my resolution.

October Summary

A bit late, because I forgot. With good reason too. For the first time in three years, I went a whole month without playing online poker.

I was pretty surprised when I realised this. Although the primary reason for no online play is detailed over the last half-dozen posts or so...

At least it gives me some ammo if anyone ever accuses me of being a gambling addict!

It also means I was level for the month, which makes it one of my more productive 'efforts' this year.

September Summary

Had a bit of an 'oh shit!' moment this afternoon, when I actually realised it was October.

This should be a good thing, since it means only eight days til Vegas, but alas was also a bad thing, since it meant I was due to write up the monthly summary post.

The final number wasn't quite as bad as I had imagined. I'm down around $800 for the month at the tables. When the rakeback arrives I'd guess the nett loss will be under $700.

Hardly ideal, and it really puts a poor slant on the already lagging annual figure, but better to be a little ahead over all, than a lot down.

Trying to remain positive since I'm well aware there are worse fates in life than a few bad beats at the table.

July Summary

No poker played for approximately ten days caused me to actually miss the month end, and forget about the summary post. Until today.

July was a bit of a rollercoaster. At one point I was sure I was comfortably heading for a +$1000 month, before I ran into a barrage of outdraws.

Some were pretty sore - overpair v overpair on a low flop, where the lesser pair spikes the two outer after all the chips fly in - but strangely, most actually had some sort of method to them, so I couldn't really get upset.

Lots of good, and considered, calls/reraises with the likes of TPTK went down to flush/straight draws that hit after my flop bets got check-raised.

One shouldn't really complain when action is sought and given.

Ultimately I ended the month about $300 to the good and a nice loyalty payment from BlondePoker pushed that up to $450. So, not a great month, but so long as the bankroll moves north, I'll settle for that.

The reasons for lack of poker action are threefold.

I got distracted by the travel plans for the trip to London. On top of that, the new contract necessitates an earlier train to work - so I'm trying to curtail my late night sessions.

The most recent blocker to my poker play is entirely my own fault. I couldn't resist splashing out on a couple of new PC games to see how they looked on the 24" monitor.

Frontline - Field Of Thunder has been a slight disappointment. Not that it's a bad game, but I'd previously been a Sudden Strike addict and I was hoping this would be a step forward from that, but if anything the gameplay is slightly less satisfying to me. Still a decent game.

The real killer has been my first purchase from the Civilization series of games.

I'm well aware I'm way behind the times on this, but Civilization IV must be the crack cocaine of computer gaming. Time just disappears. I had a skim through the voluminous rule book and decided to have a quick play around to familiarise myself with the basics.

Seven hours later (around dawn) I shut down the PC and stumbled bleary eyed to bed.

Just typing these paragraphs has got me itching for my next Civ fix. No more early nights for me!

June Summary

I had good intentions of writing a detailed summary for June, but alas time is against me so I'll stick to the basics.

I took a bit of a kicking on PokerStars in June, despite having a few big winning sessions. These were balanced out by some equally big losing sessions, and some losses at the more 'recreational' Razz and HORSE tables.

Fortunately iPoker came to my rescue towards the end of the month and I managed to notch up a couple of hundred profit for the month.

There are still people playing $100 buy-in tables on iPoker with stats like 85%/20%.

It boggles the mind! Just be prepared to occasionally get stacked by some *sick* outdraws. It's +EV in the long term.

If you want to play on iPoker, there's no better place than BlondePoker - with their (ahem) 30% loyalty scheme paid monthly into your account.

I managed to get some good time in at the gym during my holiday then gave up all the good work as soon as I started my new job - which necessitates a slightly earlier start in the morning.

Resolution for July - work out a more productive timetable for my non-working hours...

May Summary

Brought to you courtesy of wifi access in a Scottish country hotel. How times change!

No access to the specific numbers. But in May I played a little, won a little.

I'm a little disappointed with my current win rate, but a win is a win nonetheless.

I suspect it's a bit to do with not being on top of my game at present, and a bit to do with not hitting many blockbuster hands.

Still, I'd rather be complaining about a low win rate than a high loss rate, so let's envision the cup as half full for now...

April Summary

Not a lot to report for April really. I'm going through one of those periods where whenever I feel I'm getting on top of things, something unexpected arises to absorb all my spare time.

Consequently poker was at a minimum. So much so, that when I was lucky enough to win four free entries to the Mansion $100k guaranteed, I only had time to play three of them.

During which I twice lost while well ahead when the chips went in (top set v straight draw, and AKs v Q4o. Yes, really!!).

Even worse, on the third occasion, I was in the early stages of the game when I got a phone call demanding my urgent attendance for a pre-wedding outfit try out. Causing me to play like a wild man in an unsuccessful attempt to accrue enough chips to fold through the period when I was out of the house. Now THAT is a bad beat!

Another reminder of why I don't play tournament poker. I just can't set aside that much time right now.

Thanks to Mansion and Blonde Poker for the freeroll, and apologies for not taking it more seriously!

Much as I'm not a tournament player, I can still spot value a mile off, and that tourney is V.A.L.U.E. So many bad players, but it would take a lengthy run at it to overcome the inevitable variance.

Other than that, I lost a couple of buy-ins on Everest Poker. Like Mansion, the standard is execrable, but it really takes some persistence to get over the variance hump.

I've been at this long enough to recognise what's happening. In December/January I played quite well but also ran well. Hit some nice flops, and got paid.

On Everest I've been playing OK, but missing flops, or getting sucked out on. That's life.

No complaints, just a yearning to have more time to exploit these people before they go bust.

One quick example hand...

Raise with AA and get one caller from the blinds. Flop top set on a 3 clubs board.

Manage to get it all-in on the flop, with an acceptance that I may be behind, but am way more likely to be ahead of something like AK-AJ with a club kicker, and whatever the situation I still have outs to a full house.

Am absolutely delighted when the idiot shows AQo - no clubs. Just as I'm counting the cash, the board makes a flush for a split pot. Ugh, a 2%-er.

With luck like that, it doesn't feel too bad to be only about $200 down. For it will surely come back my way once I get some time at the tables.

Poker aside, the house renovations are almost finished. The culmination of which is the installation of one of these babies.

Woowhoo! I may bitch about my work sometimes, but it does have it's upside...

March Summary

Another month, another rushed summary.

One of the paradoxes of writing a blog is the most interesting times leave the least time for actually writing them up, and of course when I have ample time for the blog, I have bugger all to write about.

March was another month of swings. I kicked off with a couple of big wins - by my standards - then meandered through a series of peaks and troughs, which ultimately left me another $300 to the good.

In a strange sort of way, the most satisfying session was one where I ran into a series of evil beats, yet only ended up $20 down.

Until I totted up the numbers post-session, I was convinced I'd taken a severe kicking, as the big numbers in my head related only to monster pots I'd lost.

So to find myself pretty close to break-even felt like a genuine victory. I'd obviously snaffled a lot of compensatory small pots along the way.

I also managed to sneak in another live game - but that's for another post, if I have the time!

There are three Dell boxes in my hallway, and despite the fact I've been home for four hours they remain unopened, which in itself tells a story.

February Summary

Or to give this post it's alternative title - Thank God For Rakeback

Yes, after much wailing, whining, and general despair, your hero finally hacked his way through the lemming hordes to find himself on the final day of the month within sight of break even.

At which point he thought 'I wonder how my rakeback is doing', and was astounded to find over $100 ready for dispersal - putting him a mighty $20 in the black for the month.

Which was motivation enough to shut down the tables and declare the month over.

What a rollercoaster. After cruising into a $400 mid-month profit without breaking sweat, I got a brutal reminder of the variance aspect of poker. Enough to put me off pontificating on the luck v skill argument for, oh, a few days maybe.

Still all's well that ends well, and while I won't be investing my profit in the deposit for a new house just yet, it's always nice to see black rather than red on the spreadsheet.

I've been a real sourpuss on these pages for the last few weeks, but I subscribe to the school of thought that it's better to post consistently, rather than abandon the blog when the going gets tough, for fear of turning it into one long bad beat tale.

While some of these posts may be a little monotonous and painful to read, I'd rather give a true account, than pop up intermittently when there's a profit to be advertised.

It's just as valid to share the bad times as the good, and I hope getting it all down here will make me a better player, and if it helps anyone else who stumbles across my musings, so much the better.

Remember if you are looking for a Rakeback deal, I've always had great service from Rake The Rake. If you decide to sign up, tell them who sent you (div1970@gmail.com).

January Summary

A true micro summary this month, as I was way too busy with household and admin tasks to do much of note.

Played very little, but ran rather well. Only got stacked once all month - KK v AA - and hit some very nice flops with speculative starting hands.

Which led to a profit of just over $500 from the $0.5/1 NLHE tables.

Decent start to the year!

2006 Poker Review

In my 2005 Poker Review I set myself six targets for the year to come.

Some very clearly defined, others less so.

• Learn new games


• Play live more


• Move up limits


• Take some shots


• Meet more bloggers


• Clear $6,000

So, how did I get on?

Learn New Games

This went about as well as I could have hoped for.

Early in the year, I dedicated an entire month to Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo and followed it up with a month of Stud Hi/Lo.

I built on this as the year progressed with some 7 Card Stud and even a smidgen on Triple Draw.

Additionally, I spent periods of time focusing on different aspects of my Hold Em game.

Intense bursts of multi-tabling on PokerStars has given me a SNG game which I am confident I can rely on.

My No Limit Hold Em cash game has also come on in leaps and bounds with a positive effect on my bankroll.

On the whole then, I can confidently tick this off as a target hit.

Play Live More

The same cannot be said for my live game.

I don't keep concise records of where or when I played live, but it was certainly less in 2006 than 2005.

The home game disappeared - primarily due to time constraints such as expanding families - and I rarely made it into Glasgow to play at any of the established venues.

Poker is an unforgiving hobby when allied to a 9-5 day job, and limited weekend time.

The one achievement I can claim is cashing at the Stanley £50 freezeout.

This goes down as a target missed, but let's call it a glorious failure rather than a tragic one!

Move Up Limits

This is looking like a 50/50 to me, though as in many poker situations the 50/50 is perhaps more 54/46.

In limit Hold Em I'd hoped to be routinely playing $3/6 or beyond, which has indeed come to pass.

In big bet games, I'd been aiming for $1/2 at least. That hasn't quite happened yet - though many people on my bankroll would already have made the move - but I'm optimistic it is not too far away.

Take Some Shots

An abject failure. Simply I don't seem capable of finding the time to devote to playing big MTTs, hence shot taking is not an option.

Just about the only shots taken accompanied an IM chat with Al.

Meet More Bloggers

Adding another member of the bloggerati in Joe Speaker to the list was certainly a big plus. I thoroughly enjoyed his visit to Glasgow, and even the unreliable Scottish weather cooperated. Just a shame Ryanair and ScotRail didn't!

I had high hopes of making it to Vegas in December, but alas work demands got in the way. As it happened, this may not have been a bad thing.

So, quality over quantity was the motto here.

Clear $6,000

Two years in a row I've posted this aim, and twice I've missed by a wide margin.

This year the numbers were:

Starting Bankroll:	$3,469
Ending Bankroll:	$6,305
Profit:	$2,836

At least I am consistent!

Looking at those numbers shows that in theory I could be playing higher already, but my approach to bankroll management is quite conservative. I seeded my online accounts with a couple of hundred dollars and have never had to reload, so it's all profit to me.

As I said last year, not many hobbies are self funding.

On the whole then, I can hardly characterise 2006 as an unrestricted success, but it was hardly a disaster either.

At the half-way stage I gave myself a C-. My first live cash, and a late rally in the bankroll, have persuaded me I can upgrade this to a C+.

I'm not entirely happy, but at least I didn't go bust.

I'm going to apply the lesson learned from 2005 and 2006 when setting aims for 2007, to make them more achievable given my personal circumstances. Thus the aims for 2007 are primarily progressions on those for 2006.

Perhaps there's a lack of ambition in this, but poker to me is a hobby, not a profession.

The 2007 targets:

Deepen Experience of Other Poker Variants

It has been exciting to see PokerStars and Full Tilt in particular expand their mixed game offerings. I want to spend more time at these tables, playing for meaningful stakes.

Clear $6,000

I'm not giving up on this! One year I shall succeed.

Do Some Interesting Poker Related Stuff

A deliberately vague target. This could mean that long anticipated Vegas return. It could be satelliting into a decent size UK event. It could be a trip to one of the EPT events.

Much as I have no desire to live the life of a poker pro, I am envious of the travel opportunities it affords. Doing something along those lines would be a nice segue between poker and my wider ambitions in life.

I think that gives me enough to work with, without setting unrealistic aims. As always it's not a roadmap for the year ahead, but gives me a few points of reference on the journey that awaits.

Two years down the line, I'm still enthused and challenged by this game, and looking forward to discovering what 2007 holds for me.

December Summary

I'm going to throw up the December summary a little early, since I've got plans for the next few days.

Birthday today, so spending some time with K. E decanted to the grandparents for an overnighter.

Tomorrow is the annual Jolly Boys day out, which is simply a day when the guys take the chance to go out and get ridiculously drunk without the girls in tow.

It's a long standing tradition which used to end in a visit to a club, but these days usually involves many pubs, some food, and climaxes in a casino in Glasgow. -EV ahoy!

After that it's Hogmanay time, though I can't see it being a wild one. In truth, there hasn't been one of those for quite a while.

Returning to the month so far...

For obvious reasons this has been a harrowing time. The miscarriage is one of those events that I wouldn't want to forget, but that I do need to put behind me.

K and I are both of similar minds on this, and are trying our hardest to look forward rather than back.

It's easy to say or write that, but less easy to actually manage it. We've both found ourselves unexpectedly breaking down in the last few days, but as I've said before, I'm sure time will be the healer.

Perversely, the time I've spent at the tables this month has been one of the best runs I've experienced in a long time.

I've had many more winning sessions than losing ones, albeit a couple of the losing ones have been real epics.

Chuck in the regular Interpoker bonus, and a decent rakeback, and it looks like I'm going to post a profit of just under $1000. I don't expect to be playing much, if at all, in the next few days so that figure should be fairly accurate.

I've been primarily playing a mix of $.25/.50 and $.50/1 NLHE on Doyles Room (Tribeca) and the standard of play is extremely mediocre. I also think 9-handed rather than 10-handed tables suit my No Limit approach better.

It's been interesting to track the various players I've added to my buddy list this month.

Many of them seem to disappear back to MTTs after a caning at the cash tables, but some of them pop up in the most unexpected places.

A few have migrated to 6-max, which could make sense as it might suit their maniacal style better.

One extremely passive type surprisingly appeared in the $2/4 9-handed game.

Most astounding of all, a guy who I'd labelled an 'over aggressive idiot' suddenly appeared in a $5/10 9-handed game on Boxing Day! I can only assume someone gave him a cash Christmas present.

I don't make a habit of watching other games, but I did take a few minutes to monitor that table. Unsurprisingly he was losing, and he didn't hang around long.

Although the bankroll has grown less than I'd hoped for this year, I'm optimistic I could hold my own in the $1/2 game at the very least.

My present expectation is to persevere with the current level for a while longer to prove to myself that I am a consistent winner at this level - and to build additional insurance reserves before stepping up - but the step up is certainly in sight.

I'll be putting together my annual review, and targets for 2007, quite soon. So, more on this to come.

November Summary

What a difference a month makes!

I started the October summary with a mournful, and very hungover, reflection on the disastrous Celtic performance in Lisbon against Benfica.

This month I'm basking in the glow of Champions League qualification for the first time since the tournament was restructured, and plans are already laid for a visit to the pub on Wednesday to see Celtic travel to Copenhagen with a genuine chance of winning the group.

Happy days indeed!

Things are looking up on the poker front too. I spent most of November flitting between limit and no limit Hold Em, with a tiny smattering of Triple Draw thrown in too. I'm still not playing as much as I'd like to but that's life.

My no limit game seems to be in pretty good shape right now, though I could have done with a little more luck in the way the turn and river fell.

My Triple Draw game is still in it's infancy and will need a fair bit of work before I plot my first visit to Bobby's Room.

I was in a real rut for most of October, but it's amazing the effect having just one or two big hands hold up in succession, or catching a draw against someone who underbets their made hand, but can't put it down when they go behind.

Suddenly it's sweetness and light, and poker is a great game again. As I've said before, poker is a game of mental fortitude, and keeping ones head together when things are going wrong pays off handsomely when it all comes right again.

Minimise the losses on the bad days, and maximine the profits on the good ones - that's what it's all about.

For December I'll probably persevere with more of the same, whilst living life vicariously through those who are off to Vegas in the near future.

October Summary

"Did you see the game last night?"

"Aye. It was shite!"

- two primary school kids on the train

This post brought to you by a two day hangover, and a depressing sense of familiarity.

I have to say, I've really taken to Gordon Strachan and the changes he has made to the Celtic team. 95% of the time he seems to get things right, or close enough to right as not to matter.

But, when he screws up, he REALLY does it in style!

The obvious answer to a humiliating defeat in a crucial game is to redouble alcohol consumption, with scant regard for work the next day. Which is why even 48 hours later, my body is still somewhat fragile.

Much like my bankroll, as this has been another month of biting, kicking, scratching and clawing to avoid a deficit emerging.

Fortunately a combination of the new improved Interpoker monthly bonus, and an old Stars bonus that I'd never got around to clearing, meant my losses at the table were more than offset by free money from the poker sites, leaving a small profit overall.

Not terribly satisfying, but better than being in the red.

The vast majority of losses were in Limit Hold Em, and were very much of the running bad variety. Raise KK, AJ catches his Ace on the turn; raise AK, get called down by 66; flop a set, opponent rivers a flush, blah, blah, blah.

I also lost some cash messing around at micro limit Pot Limit Omaha. Mostly in absurd situations where you genuinely wonder what the other guy thought he had when the chips went in.

Not playing much at present is very much an enemy when this sort of run is ongoing, since every loss is somehow amplified and resonates around my cranium for days.

When I raise a big pair pre-flop, make a huge overbet on a somewhat co-ordinated board, and an opponent calls off all his stack with an 8-high flush draw, then on two of three occasions raking the chips is routine and barely registers.

A shrug of the shoulders, 'what a terrible call', and tot up the profits.

On the third occasion, when the wrong card hits the board, the after effects cruelly linger much longer. There's indignance - someone so stupid doesn't deserve to win! - frustration - how long can this run continue? - and finally acceptance - I'll get it back later.

Unusually I finally reversed the flow playing some No Limit Hold Em on PokerStars during a weekday afternoon. This is NOT the time, or the site, that most people would pick out as being a good recovery area for someone in the midst of a bad run, but circumstances drove me there.

I'd been off work sick, and having recovered a little and realising I had the Stars bonus to clear, I went looking for a game. The only part of the site that was jumping was No Limit Hold Em - so I fired up four $50 tables, and proceeded to run up a nice profit without ever getting too out of line.

Of course I promptly gave a big chunk back, when I called a raise with 44, flopped a set on a ragged board, played it fast, only to run into an opponent who had flopped top set with his queens.

That was the biggest pot I lost all month, yet one of the least troublesome. If you don't go bust in that situation, you'll be leaving cash on the table in the long term.

I even told the guy 'NH', and meant it, which I took as a sign that the bad run was behind me.

September Summary

These summaries are starting to get a bit repetitive but it's good discipline to keep bashing them out.

I started the month badly with a bit of a pounding at the PokerStars SNG tables. Annoyingly I thought I was playing OK, but I just couldn't get a hand to stand up.

I then went on a two week break, due to a combination of work, illness, and other matters which conspired to keep me busy.

Not all matters were entirely unpleasant. The football has been progressing nicely to keep me happy, and of course, I now have a very active 15-month old daughter to keep an eye on.

Toddlers are damn hard work, but worth every second of it. The look on her face when I get home from work is enough to banish any miserable thoughts that are clouding my head.

My interest in poker remains high, and even though I didn't play for a while, I'd still find myself walking down the road to work, whilst replaying hands in my head from weeks previously.

Some people might see this as a step along the path to obsessive compulsion, but I still love thinking about strategy and odds - I just wish I had more time to put it all into practise.

Speaking of which, I'm hoping to play a £50($90) live deep-stack freezeout next weekend at the Stanley Casino in Glasgow.

Tourneys aren't really my game, but I still enjoy playing live. I figured it would be less -EV if I'd actually raised the cash in advance, so I got my shoulder to the wheel at InterPoker and battered through the monthly $100 bonus there.

They have recently loosened the terms to make it easier to earn the bonus - though it is skewed towards limit players.

Any raked hand at a $1/2 or above table now counts. The odd thing being a $1/2 LHE table is ranked the same as (for example) a $1/2 PLO table - where the game is actually at least four times bigger.

Playing a smaller stakes PLO or NLHE game wouldn't earn any bonus at all.

InterPoker is a Crypto site, and it can be a strange place to play. Sometimes it is very Scandie heavy, and the games are certainly less 'good' than on Party or Tribeca, but that doesn't mean they are unbeatable.

Indeed sometime it can actually feel easier to play against a bunch of very tight players, with varying aggression levels - even if it is disconcerting to occasionally get AA cracked by some hyperactive Norwegian who caps with 55 pre-flop.

The flip side of that coin is a few tweaks can earn their reward quickly. Such as calling a raise with AA in-position and letting the pre-flop raiser bet into you until you raise the turn, and extract a couple of extra bets from him.

Adapting to the circumstances of the game is infinitely more productive than moaning about bad beats - and thus it was that my Stars losses became a profit, and the buy-in for Saturday was secured.

August Summary

A very swift summary since I can't wait to get August out of the way.

In brief. I've been ill. I've played little. I've lost.

To be fair, not a traumatic amount - about $100. Primarily, and somewhat embarrassingly on the $1/$2 HORSE tables. I'm putting it down to variance on the whole since some of the beats really were of the ridiculous variety.

I had another crack at the Stars double shootouts tonight.

Lost one making a big raise all-in to several limpers from the BB with 22. Obviously I'm not wanting a caller here.

I knew I was in trouble when UTG called for 90% of his stack, and I was pretty much doomed when LP reraised all-in for a few more chips, and UTG inevitably called.

Picture my incredulity when the cards were on their backs. UTG limp-calls a 15BB raise with 33 and several players to act behind. LP limp-reraises all-in with KQo.

The flop had a king, the river a 3, and UTG was triumphant.

So, not a bad beat, but really, where do people learn to play like this?

Not that I'm exactly complaining - I just need to regress to ABC on these tables. Like the guy who made a massive all-in raise pre-flop with AA into several limpers, and got called by the mighty A8o. Nice work if you can get it.

The other game was so bad it was almost criminal. Our villain had already amassed some chips when he got into a confrontation with me. Calling from the BB after I raised.

On a K96 flop (two spades) we managed to get it all-in. Me with A9, he with 63. Not a spade between us. The 3 on the river was so predictable I'd already resigned myself before it arrived.

Well, I did say these players were bad! How bad? THIS bad



Yes, I was so pissed off by that beat, I raced over to Sharkscope to prove to myself just how stupid he was.

Very, as it turns out. Not that losing to a fish on 'Super Tilt' makes it any more bearable.

July Summary

Posting volume is diminishing recently, so I'm forcing myself to rattle off the monthly update in good time as compensation.

In results terms, July was one of my better months of the year. Though I'm getting nowhere near the earn rate I'd initially aimed for at the start of the year.

The big bonus this month was the launch of PokerStars resizeable tables. For those of us forced to scrape by with 15" monitors, multitabling is not a joyful experience, but four tables on Stars is now easily achievable.

This prompted me to launch back into the SNG world with gusto. Initially at the $10 buy-in, and now cruising along in the $20 games. My results were pretty good, especially as I've been working on my game - playing more hands, and picking my moments for less orthodox plays. Fun times.

In the last week or so, I moved back into the world of cash No Limit Hold Em, which is something I've been away from for quite a while.

Given my lack of match practice, and ongoing experimentation with new strategies, I've been playing at very low limits.

Despite a few setbacks, and some enforced adjustments to my new strategy, I'm in the black, and learning more every day.

I don't want to say to much now as - calm yourselves! - I've got a strategy post of sorts fermenting in my mind.

In summary then. I won, I had fun, and it was damn hot in Scotland.

Oh, and Celtic won their first game of the new season in style. Must get back to commenting on football at some stage...

June Summary

I didn't get to play as much poker in June as I'd hoped for - particularly in the first half of the month.

When I did play, I stuck primarily to SNG. Alternating between No Limit Hold Em, Pot Limit Omaha, Pot Limit Omaha 8OB, and at one point I even found myself in a LIMIT Omaha game. I think I misclicked somewhere along the line.

It was a winning month, and I had fun. SNG are quite liberating, as the time commitment is fairly well defined, and the maximum win/loss is predetermined.

I played one crazy game where I got bad beat down to under 2BB by the table moron, was all in next hand, won, all in again next hand, won, and within a few minutes was monster chip leader having bubbled out the moron.

So dominant was my lead the other two players were effectively competing to fold their way to second so that by the time it was heads up, I was a 10/1 chip leader.

I lost!

The other guy simply couldn't lose a hand. It didn't matter how strong our respective starting cards were.

Yet I wasn't perturbed in the slightest - being just happy to have made the money after being so short stacked.

In a cash game a swing like that would have me climbing the walls. In a SNG it was just an interesting talking point.

Since it's now halfway through the year I want to do a quick review of my targets for the year...

Learn New Games

I'm on track for this, after devoting a fair amount of time to Stud-8OB and Omaha-8OB in the early part of the year.

During the latter part of the year I aim to have a go at 7 Card Stud and perhaps Triple Draw. I've already added 7 Card Stud For Advanced Players to my poker library, on Felicia's recommendation.

Play Live More

Woeful. I can barely recall what a chip looks like. Very disappointing, but the dual demands of work and family take precedence of course.

Move Up Limits

I've had some success here. $3/6 is now my default limit game, and I'm gearing up for a slightly higher SNG level too.

I've not been playing enough big bet cash this year to justify moving anywhere beyond the $50 and $100 tables. That may change later in the year.

Take Some Shots

Nope. Another failure. I just haven't felt able to commit the time to any form of MTT events, so trying to satellite my way into bigger events just hasn't been on my radar.

The only events I've taken a shot at have been blogger freerolls.

Meet More Bloggers

Well I managed to add Joe Speaker to the small list of bloggers I've met so far, and of course, The Tank became a temporary blogger. That was a spectacular weekend!

Again, plans are afoot to improve my performance later in the year.

Clear $6,000

Pah. If only!

After getting stuck in January, I gradually clawed my way out of the hole and I'm now back in black but way, way off the pace for making $6,000.

I'm optimistic I can improve my performance in the second half, but pessimistic about hitting my final target. Time will tell.

Overall I'm probably about a C- at present, but I can see scope for improvement in some areas at least.

Here's hoping!

May Summary

Back in black. BACK IN BLACK.

Yes, I'm officially unstuck for the year, which means the online bankroll is now at a record high.

Given that I had hoped to win $6000 this year, that probably shouldn't be cause for great celebration, as I'm effectively almost back where I started with 5/12 of the year already gone, but it does feel good.

May saw me make a small but significant step forwards, as I finally faced up to the evidence of my bankroll, and recognised that I really should be playing $3/6 Limit Hold Em.

In fact, I'm actually bankrolled for $5/10 at a push, and I could certainly justify $4/8 - if there were more games available.

Yet for months, I've been stalling on making the move.

Two things gave me the spur I needed.

Firstly, my results started to turn around and my confidence returned. I found myself making more positional moves against the *right* opponents, and making good folds on the flop/turn based on my feel for the game.

Secondly, Iggy posted a link to a great article on the cost of the rake.

This made me realise the longer I scratched around at $2/4 and $1/2, the more I was punishing myself whilst lining the pockets of mysterious billionaires.

So from now on $3/6 is my preferred game. If I can't find a good game at that level, I'll still make use of the $2/4 tables as a fallback, but only when necessary.

So far I haven't seen any real difference in the standard of play. There's a warm fuzzy feeling - familiar only to poker players - which comes from sitting at a nine handed table and seeing five fish icons spread around the virtual felt.

The bets do feel more meaningful, but the beats haven't felt any worse.

Conversely the wins DO feel better. I was beginning to get quite blase about raking in pots at $1/2 and $2/4. They just didn't feel significant in the grand scheme of things.

I've pulled in a couple of $3/6 pots that have felt VERY nice indeed.

Moving up limits was one of my goals for 2006. Another of my goals was to meet more bloggers, which I'll be doing this weekend. Not only is Joe Speaker coming to town, but I think Matt Milne might be around too.

Those faithful few readers who follow me will know that another goal this year was to play more poker variants, which I've done by focusing on one variant on a month-by-month basis.

I'm taking a break from that in June, which I'm officially designating as 'poker is fun' month.

This month I'm going to play whatever the hell I feel like. Whether it be a NLH cash, PLO8 SNG, Stud MTT, whatever.

I might even take a few shots at satelliting into bigger events, where time constraints allow.

I'm back, and it feels good!

April Summary

Although my last few posts have pretty much covered it, for the sake of consistency and completeness I've decided to maintain the traditional monthly summary post.

In short, I made a statistically insignificant profit for the month. If the fates were kinder, it would have been a whole lot more.

So I'm still stuck for the year, but I've whittled the overall loss down to a couple of hundred dollars.

On the whole my game has been pretty good. I'm planning to persevere with LHE for the next month, and have earmarked turn play with overcards as something to work on.

I've got more thoughts on how the month went that are worthy of their own post. So expect that soon.

I also restarted my fitness regime this month, for health rather than aesthetic reasons.

Some thoughts on that will probably be forthcoming - though shoot me if this turns into a 'this week I lost 2lbs, and my 30" waist jeans fit me again' blog.

For now I'm off to play some cards and wallow in the uncommonly early end to the SPL season.