Warren Buffett Would Be Proud

Not a bad result on Partygaming so far, but I'm going to hold on for the long term....

Party Time

Ten days since my last post. I'm being a lazy monkey!

Sadly there's not much to report on the poker playing front. The Tribeca migration has killed the action on Doyles Room, so I've been pottering around on Stars in my limited spare time.

Yet I still managed to turn a profit from poker, albeit from more conventional sources.

A few years ago I was looking at the stock market and noticed that shares in Stagecoach had been absolutely hammered after they cocked up a big US acquisition.

It seemed to me the market had grossly over reacted as their core business was sound, and they had a good recovery plan in place.

I didn't have the courage of my convictions, and the shares which were trading at something stupid like 20p are now closer to 200p. Ho hum.

A similar thought came into my head when I was looking at Partygaming shares a few weeks back. This time I had a small tickle at 28p.

In a few weeks they have rollercoastered their way to 45p so it's looking promising so far. Of course it's not a profit until I sell, but I fancy leaving them tucked away for a while in the hope of better things to come.

Bluffers Guide To Playing Poker On Your Home Network

The laptop died this week. Not a sudden death but a gradual ebbing away of its life force, as the connection between power supply and motherboard grew ever more erratic.

It's out of warranty, and appears to be suffering from the effects of having a toddler use it as a trampoline, so a replacement is the only option. Which should arrive from Dell later this week.

We have grown accustomed to the convenience of wireless networking in a short space of time, and I doubt we could do without a laptop for long now.

When we first 'went wireless' it gave us great flexibility, but it also presented a challenge in relation to one of my most commonly used poker tools - Poker Tracker.

The problem was my Poker Tracker database was on my main PC, so playing poker on the laptop meant I couldn't access all that juicy data I had accumulated.

At the same time, I was encountering an increasing delay on the main PC as the database grew to the point where auto updates could cause temporary screen freezes - which was quite alarming in the midst of a big hand.

So, I decided to kill two birds with one stone by making use of an old PC that was still functional.

Step one was to wipe the Windows 98 operating system from this old piece of junk, and replace it with Linux. Installing Linux gave me the opportunity to also load PostgreSQL.

I then ported my Poker Tracker Access database to PostgreSQL and loaded it on the old PC.
So, now I had a simple client-server system where my main PC was running Poker Tracker and my old PC was running the database. Which took some load off the main PC, thus eliminating the freezes.

Step two was to install Poker Tracker on the laptop, and get a new key from Pat - the creator of the software.

I'm not sure about the intricacies of the license but I explained the situation in an email and a new key was issued very rapidly.

I think it's fair to say that having Poker Tracker installed on two machines is fine, so long as you only play on one of them at a time.

With the database held on a separate machine, either Poker Tracker client can access it. Thus making the data available on both desktop and laptop.

For most people, I'd expect that should be just fine.

However, if you happen to have a fairly slow laptop, then the screen freeze may still be an issue. If this is the case then a solution is available...

First you need to fire up both desktop and laptop.

Share the directory on your laptop to which hand histories are written, and start Poker Tracker running on the desktop PC. Configure it to read from the shared drive on the laptop, kick off the auto import job, and presto, the work of loading and rating players moves from laptop to desktop PC.

Now you can start Poker Tracker on the laptop - but DO NOT start the auto import job - and your laptop will read the updated stats from the database without ever needing to do the calculation.

Thus you are free to roam with your laptop, whilst still making use of all that helpful data you have spent months collecting and without fear of timing out in a big hand when the auto rate kicks in.

Game Report: Stanley £10 Rebuy 9/3/07

A very strange and unusual thing happened to me this weekend.

Something so extraordinary it stretched my credulity almost to breaking point.

No, not Rangers winning a game at Celtic Park - fantastical as that may seem - the venue for this crime against perception was the Stanley Casino. The competition, their Friday night tenner rebuy - in which every single hand I played to a showdown, the best starting hand won!

I'd never played this event before, but I'd heard it was a good social game. Fifty plus runners, drinks promos, a free buffet at the break, and a game that was less wild than some of the smaller Glasgow rebuys where some tables have an all-in on almost every hand.

Having paid my starting £10 plus £1 registration fee I settled down with my 1500 chips and 90 minutes of 25/50 blinds aiming to play my usual fairly tight starting game, with the proviso that I'd gamble a bit more when big pots were there to be won.

Since I wasn't taking it too seriously, I didn't bother taking any notes, which I later regretted as I replayed a few hands in the bar with some fellow players.

Early on I found myself all-in from the blinds with 66 versus what looked like an attempt to steal some blinds and limp bets from a late position player. He called me with Q8o which was probably in better shape than he imagined, only for my sixes to hold up.

Another pot came my way when QQ all-in on a J-high but co-ordinated flop found a customer with top pair no kicker, who failed to improve.

The final hand was a real monster. Out of the rebuy period - after taking the top-up for a total outlay of £21 - and multiple limpers to the small blind meant a big pot, which got a lot bigger when he audibly sighed before moving all-in, in a manner which he'd done previously with AK.

Looking down at JJ I was 99% sure I was ahead and with a huge pot, I simply had to take on the race not only for his stack, but also those juicy limp bets. None of whom I could see calling.

Sure enough, AK it was and the Jacks held up. Which was enough to take me to the final table with a slightly above average stack.

At which point it all went horribly wrong. The blinds were escalating rapidly and no player could afford to wait for long to make a move.

I had a few blind v blind tangles with the guy to my right and when he completed pre-flop then checked to me on a flushing board I had no hesitation in betting a flopped bottom pair no-kicker.

It didn't look so good when he check raised all-in. With just enough chips to fold, and a feeling I wasn't against a flush draw I put it down fairly quickly. I heard him say to a friend he was never behind, which confirmed my suspicions of some sort of slowplayed big hand.

After which a succession of 82, 94, type hands, and no opportunities to steal, saw the blinds coming around with my M hitting 3 and K9s in my hand UTG.

So, I pushed, and got called by an Amiable Young Drunk Guy(AYDG) with AQs. Which, as was the law for this evening only, held up to knock me out.

The payout structure was that top 5 paid, and The Stanley contributed a couple of consolation dinner-for-two restaurant packages to sixth and seventh.

I finished seventh. Not sure what kind of a finish that is classed as - crypto-bubble? semi-bubble?

Mrs Div doesn't fancy dining in the casino restaurant so I'll probably be eating well before a future event!

AYDG was a real laugh. He was one of the few surviving Rangers fans at the final table and had been shortstack for hours, whilst taking a gentle ribbing about the not-quite-so-big game this weekend - hard to get excited about 'meaningless end-of-season games' - and his continuing attempts to 'fold to a dinner'.

He got his revenge by going on a wild run of card rackery just as the blinds went through the roof, getting paid with KK twice, as well as AQ against me, and a couple of other decent hands.

At one point he asked me if I knew who Howard Lederer was, and when I replied in the affimative he told me he thought I bore a certain resemblance. At the time I told him I was a foot shorter and eight stone lighter than The Professor, but on reflection no doubt he was referring to my card skills rather than looks...

I enjoyed the game and my record at The Stanley is now played two, final tabled two, with one cash (and a semi-cash?).

It was still pretty galling to hear the last few players - including AYDG - talking about a three way chop in the region of £500/£400/£400, knowing that one decent hand on the final table would have put me in with a great chance of being involved in that chat - for an outlay of just £21.

Playing these games always gives me a laugh because there are times early on when my play is so transparent I might as well turn my cards face up, but I still get callers because people love to gamble.

I love hearing the comments - 'oh he must have AA or KK again', 'this guy only plays monsters', etc., when I stick in a raise or move all-in on the flop, because it sticks in players minds.

Which means when I call a raise on the button with something like 65s, and get checked to on a ten high flop which I've totally missed, my bet is apparently interpreted as - this guy is so tight he probably called with JJ or QQ - and everyone folds, which suits me fine.

Similarly another pot I won had multiple limpers, and I checked the BB with two random cards. Whiffed the flop - which was checked around - and when the turn brought a double belly buster straight draw, I bet out - thinking if I hit I would definitely get paid by anyone who called the turn bet - only to see everyone fold. Probably putting me on two pair or better!

While the best starting hand may always have won at showdown, I'm pretty sure there were a few occasions where the worst hand won without a showdown. Which is just how I like it.

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).

Back On Track

I hope!

Finally posted a winning session last night. A mighty $50 profit.

Which isn't great, but it's a start. Particularly when you consider:

I started the night losing a buy-in to a 2-outer when a known wildman/bluffer type tried to make a move on me.

I chopped a pot against Mr Cannot Fold when my set v his two pair was negated by the board making a straight.

Just a few hands later on another table, my AA fails to defeat JJ when the board makes a straight. Again!

ffs those last two felt worse than genuine bad beats. Once is bad, twice in a few minutes just makes you think it's time to give up and become a professional bingo player.

All of which made a profit - any profit - feel like a victory of Olympian proportions.

So I laid my $400 of missed opportunities to bed, and settled for what I had.

The other thing I noticed last night was the dramatic decline of traffic on Tribeca as their phased migration to iPoker got underway.

I'd imagine for a week or so the remaining Tribeca sites will become almost unplayable, but conversely iPoker will start to climb the Poker Site Scout rankings.

When the migration is complete it should be an even happier hunting ground - alas on a poorer GUI. I'm hoping the poorer user experience will be compensated by the old adage that good players hate bad software, so perhaps sharks will be even thinner on the ground.

Clearing The Decks

Just wanted to put up a quick post before commencing battle tonight.

The last couple of nights that I've played have been a real downer. I've left nine successive tables in the red.

Which has been enough to erase a decent monthly profit, leaving me precisely $1 to the good for February.

It's fair to say I can now conclusively draw a line under a pretty good streak that lasted from December until last week.

Looking back on the losing sessions has been quite instructive. I didn't get stacked once across any of the tables. It's just been a succession of missed flops and outdraws leading to a steady bleeding of chips.

Having spent half an hour looking at the biggest pots I lost, there is only one where I think I made a bad move. I 'floated' on the co-ordinated flop - having missed my hand - with the intention of trying to win the pot if a scare card fell on the turn.

The perfect scare card did indeed fall, but my attempt to steal was met with an all-in reraise from an obvious big pair. So, not a terrible move, but clearly the wrong opponent to try it on.

Which also goes to show the value of flopping sets against big starting hands. So many people cannot fold an overpair in any circumstances.

Other than that it's just been a case of flopping draws that miss, not hitting sets with middle pairs, and being the victim of a nasty sequence of flush draws hitting for opponents.

Nothing too drastic, but cumulatively enough to have me in the doldrums to an extent.

Back to the table tonight, with a faint hope the poker gods owe me a few decent flops.

How To Make Money From Party Poker

Trade their shares!

Quite a ride Party Poker shares are on right now.

A ride fuelled by rumours from the US of an opt-out for poker from the UIGEA; rumours from Gibraltar that the financial results announced on 1st March will be better than expected; and the inexorable fact - courtesy of Poker Site Scout - that Party is gradually overhauling Stars in the race to be biggest online site.

When I started playing on Party the peak time was very late for UK players. 3a.m or so on a Friday night/Saturday morning was a good time to be doing business.

Now the geographic profile is dramatically different, and the tables are not yet as bustling, but are moving in the right direction.

Instead of Americans, the tables are full of Scandinavians, French, Germans, Italians, and many from the former Soviet States - Latvians, Belorussians, Ukranians, Kazakhstanis (yes, the land of Borat!) etc.

The Americas still represented by Canadians, Mexicans, Brazilians, and more.

Ironic is it not that residents of those ex-Soviet states now have the freedom to play online poker? Recent news stories suggest even the Chinese will soon have a taste of those same freedoms.

All of which perhaps explains a recent 60% surge in the Party Poker share price; albeit from a very low base.

It also means a more reasonable 'working day' for UK players as the geographic profile moves east. So perhaps we can win big, and still get a decent night's sleep now.

On the downside for the amateur - though perhaps an upside for the share price - it seems logical that the 'big rakers', the multi tablers who would have followed the US dollar to Stars and Full Tilt, will now migrate back to Party as liquidity in those sites decreases and Party numbers increase.

All of which suggests those March numbers from Party should make interesting reading!

Table Chat

Quite an entertaining weekend at the tables.

Played a big session on Friday and had one of my best ever winning nights. Followed up with a short session and smaller win on Saturday; before rounding off with a big losing night on Sunday.

Sunday actually brought a new experience for me.

The guy who was so bad I had to delete a player from my Tribeca buddy list in order to add his name - they only allow 30 on the list - was merrily relieving me of my cash through a succession of horrific flush chasing calls that never missed.

After losing two big pots on successive hands to him, I noticed he was being berated by another player. Don't tap the tank is my motto - I hadn't said a word.

I checked to see if the other guy had lost a big pot to him previously, only to realise the berater wasn't even at the table!

Yep, some random railer couldn't bite his lip and was verbally pounding on my latest buddy. I was annoyed and amused in almost equal measure.

Rather than dwell on the negative, lets accentuate the positive with a hand I enjoyed from Friday night.

Some time ago I read a post by Peter Birks about the language of poker. Raise = 'I have aces', Reraise = 'No, I have aces', etc.

On Friday I had one of those conversations where, as Peter says, the other guy must have heard me but just wasn't listening.

There's no great strategy in this hand, and the only difference from several hands I played on Sunday is the river, but it's worth recalling the good ones when those nasty rivers fall at other times.

Let's join the conversation...

Hand Start.
Seat 1 : 77east has $8.50
Seat 3 : PatStewart has $64.87
Seat 4 : Villain has $49.88
Seat 5 : RECTUM21 has $121.25
Seat 6 : DonkSniper has $98
Seat 7 : engy has $98.75
Seat 8 : Deeky has $142.63
Seat 9 : Hero has $107.50
PatStewart is the dealer.
Villain posted small blind.
RECTUM21 posted big blind.
Game [89468] started with 8 players.
Dealing Hole Cards.

Seat 9 : Hero has

DonkSniper folded.
engy folded.
Deeky folded.
Hero called $1 and raised $2
I say: 'I like my hand'
77east folded.
PatStewart called $3
Villain called $2.50
He says: 'I like mine too'
RECTUM21 called $2
Dealing flop.

Board cards

Villain bet $2
He says: 'I have a draw'
RECTUM21 folded.
Hero called $2 and raised $9
I say: 'Gonna cost you more than that to hit it'
PatStewart folded.
Villain called $9
He says: 'I got money'
Dealing turn.

Board cards

Villain bet $2
He says: 'I STILL have a draw!'
Hero called $2 and raised $32
I say: 'I know'
Villain has 10 seconds to respond.
Villain called $32
He says: 'I feel lucky'
Dealing river.

Board cards

Villain bet $1.88 and is All-in
He says: 'You missed a couple'
Hero called $1.88
I say: 'Cheers'
Showdown!

Seat 9 : Hero has

Seat 4 : Villain has

Villain has Two Pair: Jacks and 8s
Hero has Two Pair: Aces and 8s
Hero wins $102.76 with Two Pair: Aces and 8s
Hand is over.

To be fair, he did catch enough of a hand on the flop that I can see why he didn't want to let it go easily, but once that raise comes in, and out of position, I'd reckon he has to make a push/fold decision right there.

I'd push against all but the rockiest - and I wouldn't have bet into them.

Equally, I don't always go that crazy with TPTK, but there's certain players and certain betting patterns that make for a very clear conversation.

The difference between the good players and the bad players is that good players pay attention to what the other guy is saying, and don't fall in love with the sound of their own voice.

Remember, it's not just your iPod you should be listening to at the table. If the other guy is giving you a warning, perhaps you should heed it.

Then again, maybe he's bluffing. Deciphering THAT conversation is where the real fun starts!

Automatic 30% Rakeback On Tribeca

Quick bit of pimpage...

Blonde Poker just announced a new loyalty scheme which gives automated 30% rakeback payments for all players.

Blonde is a Tribeca skin run by UK poker enthusiasts, and well worth supporting in my humble opinion.

Disclaimer: There's no affiliate deal in this for me. Just supporting a decent bunch of people.

When I Die

I'm going to donate my body to medical science.

Yes, another week, another illness. At some point in the last 12 months my body appears to have evolved into a highly productive culture vessel for common ailments.

K had a winter vomiting virus towards the end of last week, and having suffered this myself a few years ago, I was hoping to avoid catching it.

As my Tuesday lunch began to bubble uncomfortably, and I felt the first shivers rippling through my body, I decided discretion was the better part of valour and headed for home early. Being caught on a crowded commuter train with this virus advancing on my system was not an attractive option.

Sure enough, by 6pm my head was in the toilet bowl, and my abs were getting the best workout they've had since - well - the last time I had the damn bug.

It's a real Blitzkrieg illness - from apparent good health to puking, crapping, fever, delirium, and fatigue, all within a few hours.

At least it wasn't as severe as my previous attack which happened when I was working away from home, and had me literally crawling around as I was too weak to stand.

Possibly famous last words, but mightily relieved E hasn't caught it.

The impending assault on my system perhaps explains - though I fear it is merely an excuse - an outbreak of extreme donkitude on my part during Monday evening.

Net result being a near $200 loss for the evening - after several weak calls, poor bluffs, and general imcompetence.

The root of my poor play was, I think, impatience and frustration due to extreme card deadness.

If I was a 'poker pro' it would have been a good session to quit early since I could sense all the symptoms afflicting my play; but as a hobby player there is definitely an element of knowing it might be my last chance to play for a few days, so wanting to 'make the most' of it.

Even when making the most means donating $200 to the biggest calling stations since BT.

On the plus side, I've managed to catch up on some good poker reading. Comments to follow.

Sublime Symmetry

'Be careful what you wish for', as the saying goes.

Poker conversations have become quite a feature of our trips to the football over the last couple of seasons. It was no different yesterday, as Celtic dismissed Hibs to move within touching distance of a second successive SPL triumph.

With less than scintillating football on display, I spent a fair bit of time discussing my recent good form (and luck) at the cash tables, whilst acknowledging the amazing number of completely hopeless players who still manage to keep their Tribeca accounts well funded.

Many of these players have found their way into both my buddy list and player notes.

Settling down for a decent Saturday night session, I was delighted to find many of the usual suspects already in place, including one guy on whom my notes are becoming quite voluminous.

For a No Limit Hold 'Em opponent, possibly the most pleasing note to add is 'cannot put down any half decent hand', and this guy is squarely in that grouping.

When we managed to get heads up in a twice raised pre-flop pot - none of the raises mine - with me in position holding KK on a ragged board, I knew that I was getting paid.

And I was, until he called my reraise all-in with JJ, and the turn delivered the cruel eight percenter to send me reeling.

A bad beat for sure, but probably the baddest part of it was that on my very first hand after reloading I flopped an OESD, turned OESD plus a pair, and tilted off another buy-in against someone who flopped bottom set.

Leaving me $200 in the hole before my seat was warm. Bollocks! But not to worry, the night was young.

At this point I could picture the other eight players positioning their sights squarely on my stack, as frustration seeped from my pores. My disgruntlement growing as the villain bled away his entire stack without any of it returning to it's rightful owner. The deck rendering me impotent.

This is where mental fortitude comes into play.

Much as I was doing my usual McEnroe with Tourettes impersonation, internally I was having one of those dialogues which goes 'Self, you are better than these guys. Bad beats come from bad players. You either need to walk away, or get a grip of yourself and earn back that $100 you just blew.'

After that little chat I laboured for an hour or so with little happening across three tables. Winning and losing small pots but generally not getting heavily involved, as equilibrium was restored.

During which time I discovered a new addition to the buddy list - a push-monkey who played every flop like it was the final table of a WPT with the average stack holding 20BB.

'He's gonna pay me off', I thought. So imagine my delight when he limped UTG+1, and called my raise from the SB, to see a J98 flop with me holding QQ.

As expected, he insta-pushed over my continuation bet, and while against some opponents that sort of flop would give me cause to pause, with him it was an easy call.

Cards on their backs and I was ahead - though not quite as far as expected - of his KTs. Until the unlikely Q on the turn made my set but gave him the straight.

Not a bad beat really, since he could easily have pushed a lot of hands off that flop, and he had lots of outs, but a real irritant in the sense I knew exactly how he would play the hand and successfully got all the chips in ahead yet again, only to lose out.

All of which left me in a pretty deep hole, but I wasn't ready to lay down the shovel just yet.

Fortunately I managed to keep the tilt monster behind bars, and after much scratching and clawing recovered to a $131 deficit for the evening, which by now was early morning.

Necessity having dragged me into work today, and still suffering from a combination of illness and lack of sleep, I wasn't particularly aiming to play tonight.

Desire to put right last night's losses spurred me on, and I found myself back at the tables where the Tribeca seat assigner kindly placed me to the immediate left of the aforementioned push monkey at two of my three tables.

Within 20 hands, the tables were turned. My AA; his KK; Q high flop; no suckout, and after sixteen minutes of play and a few small pots picked up elsewhere, a quick count across the three tables showed that I had exactly recouped last night's losses.

A sign if ever there was one!

So, I logged out, and set my sights on a much needed early night.

Poker, sometimes you just have to laugh!!

Gotta Love YouTube

I found this on YouTube via a link from a stock market website. I like this guy's style. A very nice precis of the UIGEA fiasco..

Life Plan

This is a post I have been planning to make for quite a while. The delay in doing so, perhaps symptomatic of the reasons for making it.

In modern jargon K and I are doing a bit of what might be termed 'downsizing'. A financial advisor might describe some aspects of it as 'retirement planning'.

Neither of those terms sits comfortably with me. I don't see it as some sort of retreat from modern life, nor is it about plotting a comfortable descent to the grave.

Rather I see it a life plan. One which structures our priorities in a manner that will give us quality time with E - and any kids to come - whilst ensuring we are not shackled to the grindstone until our twilight years.

Last week K left her job, having handed her notice in soon after the New Year. We are a single income household for the foreseeable future.

This was not a spur-of-the-moment decision, though the timing is more rapid than we had previously planned.

She will be devoting more time to bringing up E, and simultaneously removing the burden from my parents. My dad's episode at Christmas a reminder that we sometimes place unfair expectations on them - which they would never dream of refusing to meet.

K and I have never been the most ostentatious of spenders. I can recall numerous occasions when my gadget and car oriented techie workmates have teased me for my unwillingness to splurge on the latest must-have item.

I was called 'tight' long before I took up Limit Hold 'Em.

Yet we can hardly be counted as frugal either. We've got a nice house; two cars - albeit very much from the sensible range; and we do like to travel and have fun.

Thus our plans are more a formalisation, or evolution, of our existing lifestyle, rather than some sudden Damascene conversion to a new lifestyle.

Work-to-live, not live-to-work, has always been my approach.

Coupled to a pragmatic grasp of how finances work, I have generally been relatively cautious with debt - avoiding running up big credit card bills, whilst accepting the inevitability of the mortgage payments.

This attitude no doubt influences my conservative approach to bankroll management.

We now find ourselves in the position that the mortgage is the sole remaining debt on our balance sheet, and as I said previously, killing it off is financial goal number one.

Progress has already been made in that area, and I expect more to follow later this year. All of which has laid the foundations for K's early withdrawal from the workplace.

Whenever friends or family seek financial advice from me, I tell them that reducing debts in order of expense should take priority over investment.

While shares may go up or down, the bank will always expect their payment at the start of the month.

Investment returns are uncertain; interest charges are certain. I continue to maintain that philosophy.

So far, no real change then. Where the life plan comes in is in setting more definitive long-term goals.

One area that has attracted much attention in the financial press recently is the pensions crisis.

As people live longer, birth rates decline, final salary pension schemes disappear, and a culture of instant gratification and cheap credit overpowers more traditional values such as moderation and saving, the nation is heading towards an economy where people will carry their debts far beyond traditional pensionable ages.

Working into your seventies will be the norm, rather than the exception. Already the government has set in motion the raising of retirement ages in the UK, and this trend will certainly spread across the rest of the old economies of Europe and the US.

That is NOT my plan.

I've always been somewhat of a contrarian when it comes to financial planning. When others were fleeing the stock market as it languished in the lower 3000s, I plunged in with a big lump sum contribution to my pension. I saw it as a chance to make my money work harder over the next thirty years.

Now as many of my fellow citizens resign themselves to an extra ten or fifteen years of work, to pay for their current excesses, I am again aspiring in the opposite direction.

While K looks after family business, I have set myself a target of transitioning out of my current lucrative but time-consuming and unfulfilling job within roughly ten years.

The aim being to replace it with some as yet undefined work that will be less stressful and time-consuming, whilst paying whatever bills remain.

To put things in context, I recently turned 36, and the broad-brush plan looks something like:

- mortgage cleared by 40
- current job ended by 45
- part-time by 50
- effectively retired by 55

All of which does sound awfully like a terribly dull retirement plan at first glance.

Where I see it differing is that what we are aiming for is to reduce our fixed and non-negotiable outgoings rapidly, to give us more freedom to expend as we see fit in the future.

It also gives us the freedom to make more time for ourselves. As a contract worker I am very much a slave to the demands of the current customer.

We are not plotting a comfortable path towards the grave; we are planning on enjoying life to the full.

I want to be in a position where deciding to spend a long weekend in Barcelona or Rome is something we can do on a whim, not something that necessitates three months advance planning.

Where attending school sports days, and the like, is a given - not a big ask.

All of which means surrendering a few frills and luxuries now, in the expectation of more rewarding pleasures a few years down the line.

In the more immediate term, I'm also making some other changes for the better.

Over the last year I've been aware that my health and fitness isn't all it should be.

For the first time since I was a teenager I've moved up a waist size. Much as I was never any good at sports, I was generally active until the last few years. Whether it be hacking shins on a 5-a-side court, shifting some weights in the gym, or even just walking to work.

I'd hate to be too infirm to enjoy my kids growing up. There are things I didn't do when I was young that I'd like to learn with them. Skiing for one!

I'd love to take them to interesting places. K and I honeymooned in Africa, and went on safari. That was an incredible experience that I'd love to share with them.

South America and the Far East are still on our list of places to visit. They aren't trips I'd inflict on a toddler but it would be great to take them when they are old enough to appreciate the experience.

While I don't ever see myself existing on salad and lentils, I will be making a more conscious effort to eat healthily, and I'll be aiming to get more value from my gym membership - presently my most wasteful investment.

K is already well ahead of me on this path, so hopefully her success will spur me on.

From a psychological perspective, discussing the above with K, and even writing up this post, has made me feel more content than I have for quite a while.

I'm happy that I've regained a sense of purpose in life, and can see some rewards coming from the pressure I've put myself under over the past ten years.

At one point I presumed my career would be a gradual progression through the ranks of some firm to the point where I was a manager or executive.

That isn't going to happen now. I'm happy pursuing my narrower motivations as a contractor without becoming embroiled in the office politics of promotion and empire building.

This realisation is relatively recent, and if I'd been told that ten years ago I wouldn't have believed it. People change. We adapt to circumstances, and get on with things.

My first serious job application was to the RAF. I wanted to fly fast jets.

I passed the aptitude tests, and failed the medical due to dodgy eyesight. So I've undergone a fairly dramatic switch of career ambition already.

All of which means I've managed to knock off over a thousand words with barely a mention of poker. Which is as it should be.

I don't see poker as playing a great part in these plans. Rest assured that is not the career change I have in mind!

Which isn't to say there won't come a point where any surplus winnings are reinvested towards the life plan.

For now I still see my aim as building bankroll to let me play higher, but I suspect there will come a time that the sums get so large, and the quality of opposition improves, to the point where I feel uncomfortable playing any higher and will be happy to cream off any excess profits for reinvestment elsewhere.

Wouldn't it be nice to buy some boring high yield ISA shares, or raise the deposit on an investment property, from some steadily accumulated poker winnings?

Though there would have to be one hell of a property crash before my winnings equated to 15% of a house!

For now I think that's enough of my manifesto for a happy life.

K and I won't be changing our names to Tom and Barbara; our eggs will still come from the supermarket; but hopefully there will be fun and rewarding times ahead.

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!

Affiliate King Strikes Again

The Grandmaster of all Internet affiliates, Scurvydog, strikes again - with news of AGLOCO - the relaunch of an old get paid to surf the Internet scheme.

As he says, it probably won't make you rich like Bill Gates, but it should pay for a decent night out every now and then.

So go ahead and sign up now, and give yourself the chance to grab a few referrals of your own.

Altogether now, mmmmmm beer.

Playing Short At The Cash Table

Recently I've been running into a lot of people who buy in very short for No Limit games.

I've mainly been playing the Tribeca $.5/1 Hold Em tables, and most of them seem to be there to gamble in the hope of a quick double through.

Sometimes it works and they rapidly disappear with a profit, sometimes they change to a more conventional style once they have won a few all-ins, and mostly they lose and disappear - perhaps after a few reloads.

It's not a playing style that appeals to me, and I don't know how well thought through their strategy is.

As an example from the weekend, I made a 3BB raise from early position with KK and a middle position short stack pushed all-in for about 20BB, which led to the action coming back round to me and of course I insta-called.

He had A3. No suckout, and he was gone.

Now what is he expecting to happen here?

Every so often I'll have a very marginal hand (though rarely in early position) and his 20BB investment wins 4.5BB when I fold. (My raise plus the blinds).

Mostly he is going to get called as around a 70/30 underdog - by a dominating ace or a pocket pair - thus losing in the long run.

Surely the times he picks up 4.5BB can't compensate for all the times he gets it in as a big underdog?

I suppose for a recreational player on a very small budget there is a buzz from the times when A6 beats JJ, etc. but I'd have thought there would be more fun in buying in for the full $20 at a $.10/.20 table and playing lots of pots, rather than buying in short at a bigger table and lumping the lot in the first time an ace or pocket pair appears in your hand.

I know the Rolf Slotboom book on Pot Limit Omaha outlines a short stack strategy, and I'm planning to read it soon, so perhaps my views will change then.

For now, I'm quite happy to see a few of these guys at the table, as more often than not they leave empty handed.

Funny Old Game

Kicked off the weekend with a quite extraordinary session on Stars.

Four tabling the $100 NLHE cash games, I went on a probability defying run of cards.

AA in successive hands on the same table. KK, QQ, JJ, TT, AK, on multiple occasions.

Several times I was looking at a big pocket pair on one table, and just as I was thinking, I'll fold the other hands and focus on this table, I'd be dealt AA or KK elsewhere.

I finished the session $60 down to post my first losing night of the month.

Sometimes you just have to laugh.

The whole night was a succession of raise, everyone folds, take the blinds; or raise, get a caller, take down pot on flop.

Until I finally managed to get it all in with KK. Versus AA. Ho hum.

One thing I did notice that is different between Stars and Tribeca is that pre-flop raises into several limpers do elicit many more folds on Stars.

On Tribeca when I have several limpers in front, I tend to limp hands like AQ, AJ, 88. The reason being, people will often call off a good chunk of their stack with the likes of QJs, then get stubborn when they flop 2nd pair.

Which means if I fail to hit, I'm often unsure where I am if I get smooth called on the flop. Did they catch a pair they can't put down but won't defend, are they drawing, or slow playing a monster?

Remember the old sayings, 'you can't bluff a calling station' and 'you can't put a man on a hand, if he don't know what he's got'?

So I prefer to see cheap flops in the hope of catching a monster, then stack them.

Stars seems to offer many more opportunities for picking up small pots pre-flop, as a raise to 5 or 6BB into a few limpers was generally enough to pick up the pot.

Another small reminder that it's not just about having game, but also about adapting to the circumstances you find yourself in.

A Selfish Perspective

There's been plenty written elsewhere on the fall out from the UIGEA, and obviously many of my American friends are going to find themselves increasingly restricted in their freedom to play poker, as the sanctions bite deeper.

Losing Neteller is clearly a huge blow.

That said, from a selfish perspective I'm not entirely convinced it will have a detrimental effect on my game. Recently I've been playing earlier in the evening and there seem to be ample supplies of European donks at the tables.

Indeed the geographic reach seems to be moving east with more Poles, Russians, and Israelis appearing to supplement the Irish, British, Scandinavians, and other Western Europeans.

So, the loss of US fish maybe isn't such a crushing blow. What's interesting to me is whether the new entrants will bring a similar proportion of good players to bad, or whether there will be a period where there is a higher proportion of newbies, and fewer good players.

Clearly there were a large number of US players playing a serious amateur, or semi-pro type game, who are now unable to access all the sites I can.

It's a question of whether there are now proportionately less sharks than fish in the pool I swim in. At the moment I have no clear opinion either way on this, but it's a point worth considering.

Something else I'll be interested in is just how far the UK government goes in meeting US demands for information. The international financial services market is ultra competitive and London guards it's position jealously.

The UK government has been keen to bolster London by marketing it as a financial centre for online gaming companies, due to their anticipated growth rates.

So, how will Gordon Brown - current Chancellor, and Prime Minister in waiting - react to the howls of protest from the mega institutions who have been hit with DOJ subpoenas?

He will realise there must come a point where many of these companies will choose to up sticks and head for more accommodating regimes, be they in Germany, Switzerland, or the Far East.

The US is developing quite a reputation recently for trying to impose their will on other financial markets, without providing reciprocal arrangements.

I'm sure the likes of Peter Birks will cover this in greater, and more knowledgeable, detail than me, but the thought does occur a lot of nations, and mega corps, must be getting to the point where, in the immortal words of Father Jack, they tell the DOJ to 'Feck off'.

Writing anything about the US at present is a fraught subject, since it's easy to be tarred with the anti-American label.

I like America. I've only been twice, but I had a great time on both visits. I liked the people, the cities, the attitude.

What puzzles me, and many other Europeans, is that such a powerful nation chose to elect such a fundamentally flawed regime.

At a time when the draft dodging, coke snorting, drink driving, company wrecking, chimp impersonating, miserable excuse of a president is sending yet more troops out to die in a pointless and unwinnable war for democracy - whilst simultaneously driving a coach and horses through the US Constitution - the economy is faltering, the currency declining, and the new economic powers of the Far East steadily buying up American assets, one might imagine politicians had bigger fish to fry than online poker.

Because let's be serious. Online poker is a big thing to those who play it, but in the grand scheme of things it pales into insignificance beside rigging elections, and possibly sentencing people to death on the basis of coercive evidence and hearsay!

So while we might all hope that the City of London, the WTO, and the UK and other governments finally grow sick of the current shenanigans in the online poker world, ultimately they are a small part of a much bigger picture.

One which only the American electorate can restore to something approaching normality.

Off And Running Good

Just time for a quick update to keep the site alive.

I've not been playing much at all this month so far, due to a combination of yet more ill health, and a majorly time consuming clear out of the family home.

I've been unpacking boxes that we moved from our last home, only to deposit them straight into the loft in the new residence, where they've lain for several years.

In the process I've unearthed a few gems, but 90% of the stuff falls into the 'why didn't we just throw that out when we were moving?' category.

Many trips have been made to the local waste dump, with at least one more still required.

The ill health is nothing serious. I'm still in an unbreakable cycle of minor cold/flu/throat bugs. Which is extremely -EV for a freelance worker, and which might at first glance seem like an opportunity to replace the lost revenue with some 'working from home' on the virtual tables.

That doesn't work for me. Apart from the sneezing, coughing, and runny noses, the other symptom tends to be a debilitating lack of energy. On several occasions in the past few months I've slept for eleven or twelve hours straight, only to wake up still feeling fuzzy headed and lethargic.

In this condition, putting my bankroll on the line doesn't feel like a wise move.

It would probably be different if I had something less trivial like a broken ankle. Indeed I can distantly recall a week off work when I had my tonsils removed, during which I was glued to the PC playing computer games to pass the time, and distract from the incessant pain I was experiencing.

If only I'd known about online poker then!

Fortunately, in the few sessions I've played this month I've been running very well.

Not just winning a few big pots, but not losing any either - I can't recall being stacked at any point throughout January.

I've also hit a couple of big flops with speculative hands, and got paid off.

Probably some of my starting hands that I've raised, or called a raise with when in position, look very donkish to a casual observer. They'd be missing the point.

Sayings like 'you shouldn't call a raise with KJ because you will often be dominated' are fine for ABC poker, but I'm not calling with KJ - or 97, or 64, etc. - to flop top pair. I'm calling to hit a big flop that an overpair can't get away from.

If I can see a relatively cheap flop in position against a weak player with a deep stack then I don't see a risk of domination. I see a chance to invest a few BB and win 100BB or more.

So far this year - touch wood! - it's working for me. Albeit the sample size is very low.

Wattie, Justin , and Jambos

Just kicked off a big weekend with a few beers, a family size pack of Walkers Sensations, and another winning session on Tribeca.

I called it a night early, as I've had a bit of a frantic week at work and could feel fatigue creeping in. Plus I've got other stuff to do tomorrow so need a decent sleep.

It's always nice to post a relatively short 100BB+ session without ever being significantly down, or feeling under any pressure.

I suspect my win rate suffers slightly from an unwillingness to make 'big calls' with decent, but far from the nuts, hands.

I'm sure I'm letting a few players pinch a cookie or two, either deliberately or simply from a lack of awareness that 2nd pair top kicker is not a long term winner.

However I am getting better at controlling pot sizes, which helps to reduce variance and enhance my edge over weaker players.

This style is also better suited to my temperament, and any EV sacrificed is probably compensated for by the more stable bankroll progression.

That said, it's something I am monitoring through PokerTracker and note taking to see if I can push up the win rate without sacrificing stability.

Clearly I wasn't playing against Justin Timberlake tonight. Would anyone seriously contemplate playing that boy for money at cards? With his luck he'd probably hit a straight flush on every hand.

From Britney in the cute'n'sexy pre-trailer trash mom phase to Cameron Diaz at well, any phase, to (if rumours are to be believed) Scarlett Johansson. wtf!?

No wonder the press over here call him Justin Trousersnake.

As we say in Scotland, jammy bastard!

Saturday is housekeeping day. This week I've been on something of a blitzkrieg against the accumulation of household junk, and tomorrow much of it will be off to the dump.

There's also some shopping to be done - including a widescreen LCD TV scouting mission...

The clear out is part of a wider change we are planning presently, of which I expect to be posting more soon.

The other big news this weekend is the return of a couple of past heroes to scenes of former glory.

I'd imagine many Celtic fans will be rubbing their eyes in disbelief as Steven Pressley takes to the field at Tynecastle clad in the famous green-and-white hoops of Celtic - possibly as captain!

The inevitable vitriol that will pour down from the foul inhabitants of that miserable stadium will probably do more to cement Pressley's status within the Celtic support than anything he could do himself.

Much as there's been many misgivings about the signing of a previous foe, I'd expect most Celtic fans will be relish rubbing Jambo noses in the dirt. I'll probably be cheering them on from the local pub.

The other big return is that of Walter Smith to Rangers.

An eloquent and persuasive article over at eTims admirably dissects the hypocrisy and bias within the Scottish sporting press that has characterised their coverage of Walter walking out on the national team.

Much as this coverage gets up my nose in the short term, just like in poker there's a longer game to be played. One in which I welcome the continual fawning and grovelling of the Scottish press at the feet of Sir 'Dodgy' David Murray.

Was he really knighted for services to Celtic!?

The longer the press allow Murray a free ride in the papers, the further ahead Celtic will surge. Leaving our previous rivals as mere wannabes scrabbling to catch up.

All of which inspired me to seek out a precious clip from Walter's previous managerial reign at Ibrox, in which he snaps under questioning from the nonentity that is Chick Young, when asked to explain another Rangers humiliation in Europe.

Cheer up Walter. Never mind justifying losses to the likes of AEK Athens. This season it's more likely to be Motherwell spanking you.

Finally, a big up to Andy Ward - whose articles on SNG and tourney strategy are always instructive reading. He jetted over from rainy England and took down a WPT Event in Tunica.

Nice work if you can get it.

In The Thick Of It

After my near $1000 December profit, I made my triumphant return to the tables last night - having taken a week off over the new year period.

I momentarily allowed myself the worry that the maniacs who had padded my bankroll in December may be in shorter supply after the festive period, but my fears were without foundation.

At times like these my vocabulary and creative talents can fail me, as I struggle to communicate just how dire some of the play is at the $.5/1 tables.

So, as time is short tonight, I'll be concise. Some of these guys would struggle to spell their own name.

It's that bad. Really.

Last night's gold standard example. Two guys all-in pre-flop with not insignificant stack sizes. One has AA - understandable. The other - KK? QQ? AK?

No! Try T8o. Beyond comprehension.

At some point surely Malthusian theory must kick in, and the fish will be over exploited by the sharks to the point where returns diminish for the winning player?

This is one of the worries expressed about the replacement of Limit Hold Em by No Limit Hold Em as the game of choice for the 'less strong' players. They can go bust a lot quicker at No Limit.

Fortunately that point seems to be a long way off. Which must be indicative of the continuing strength of the world economy.

People who probably struggle to tie their shoelaces are still finding enough cash to fund their losing poker habit. Hallelujah!

As is traditional in these circumstances I started with a series of outdraws and missed flops, to be rapidly down $100.

Much to my relief, things turned around in the space of a few hands, culminating in a draw that hit, and an opponent who couldn't fold an overpair. Profit for the evening $10.

Well, it all counts, and it was good to get back in action with a winning session of sorts.

Between Iraq and a Hard Place

Is anyone remotely surprised at the diabolical mess the Iraqi government made of the execution of Saddam Hussein?

They had him under their control for one hour, and that was enough for him to be abused, filmed, and the film leaked to the world media.

In an instant transforming him from oppressor to oppressed, and actually giving him a chance of achieving his goal of going down in history as a martyr rather than a dictator.

It takes a special brand of incompetence to make a murderous despot look good - but they managed it.

In a few frames of grainy camera phone footage, we were treated to a concise summary of why the entire Iraqi campaign has been a pointless waste of lives and resources.

The Iraqis are incapable, and unwilling, to form a democratic government. They may say that's what they want, but clearly it isn't.

Instead of a totalitarian regime headed by a single tyrant, we will soon have a shambolic oligarchy, which in time will likely subdivide in the manner of The Balkans, into smaller states arranged along religious or ethnic lines.

Which will contribute further to instability in the region, and strengthen the hand of Iran and Syria.

Meanwhile Turkey will hardly thank The West when the almost inevitable Kurdish state is founded on their border.

No wonder Bush and Blair are so reluctant to expose themselves to direct questioning. They are likely counting the days until their respective escapes from responsibility.

Were they to be questioned, would they find it within themselves to state the unstateable? Things were better with Saddam than without.

Which is not for a second to deny the enormity of his crimes; but are those of his successors any less?

Some countries are incapable of governing in a democratic manner. Evicting Saddam from power was like firing Super Nanny as head of your local nursery for being too strict, and replacing her with Michael Jackson and Bubbles.

Out of the frying pan, into the fire, in a conflict which will continue to claim many lives for a long time to come.

Feck Off Festive Season

Back to work tomorrow, for the first time since mid-December. I'll be lucky if I can remember my password.

This hasn't been a festive season to fondly recall, for a number of reasons.

In the space of three weeks I managed three hospital visits - including one full on flashing lights and sirens episode - and two visits to the emergency doctor.

The cause of two of the hospital visits is already well documented. The third came last Saturday, when my dad called from the local post office to say he was feeling unwell.

When I got there he was out-of-breath, dizzy, and had the complexion of Pete Doherty after a week long bender.

'Just take me home for a lie down', he said. 'Call an ambulance', I told the lady behind the counter.

This is typical of my dad. With a severe heart attack, and a triple bypass on his medical record, you might imagine he'd err on the side of caution, but he won't be told.

Last Christmas after experiencing chest pains, he drove my mum to work and sneaked off to the local Accident and Emergency Department without telling anyone - thinking he could have a quick check up and be back home before we realised he was missing.

When he got there, his symptoms resembled another heart attack and he was soon hooked up to an ECG - necessitating a gruff phone call to me to go and collect mum when she finished work.

Fortunately they were able to confirm he hadn't had another heart attack, and he was released twelve hours later.

This time, he was kept in overnight. It seems he reacted badly to a recent change in his medication, causing his blood pressure to plummet.

Prior to this I'd already had one visit to the emergency doctor with K after she started experiencing severe neck and head pains. A call to NHS Direct had them covering everything from meningitis to possible post-op complications, and they booked her in for a visit.

Much to our relief if turned out to be nothing too serious, and she was soon on the mend.

The final visit came on New Years Day. E had a very restless night and by early morning was running a very high temperature - so hot she was visibly reddening like someone with nasty sunburn.

When I checked her temperature it was showing 39.7C which put it in the top band of 'high fever' on the chart. Another call to NHS Direct, and another visit to the emergency doctor, who diagnosed a viral infection and prescribed some medication to get her temperature down.

So, again nothing too major, but scary nonetheless.

Which leads me almost to be relieved to get back to the inevitable backlog at work.

Three weeks off work should mean rest and relaxation, instead it's been sadness and a fair degree of stress.

2006 couldn't end quickly enough for me. I'm already formulating plans to ensure 2007 and beyond have better things to offer.

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.

Santa Arrives A Day Late

I couldn't win a hand last night, and dropped a couple of buy-ins as my opponents hit the most improbable draws, or proved to be totally unable to put down middle pairs again my unimproved AK, etc.

All standard fare, but one of those times where it becomes really annoying that some players have no clue about the fundamentals, like position, pot odds, etc.

Which is stupid, since of course that makes them ideal opponents - in the long term naturally.

Tonight the tables were turned, and I capitalised in this hand. It's amazing how much of a blind spot some people have to straights.

Any flush card tends to slow down the action, but note how little heed is paid to the turn.

When THREE people flop a set against your open ended straight draw, there's no way the turn should be so cheap - to say nothing of the feeble out-of-position raise with QQ - but who am I to complain?

never looked so sweet!

[Dec 26 21:57:12] : Hand Start.
[Dec 26 21:57:12] : Seat 1 : AAJacks has $150.22
[Dec 26 21:57:12] : Seat 2 : hdbets has $56
[Dec 26 21:57:12] : Seat 3 : Villain 3 has $13.37
[Dec 26 21:57:12] : Seat 4 : Villain 2 has $48.59
[Dec 26 21:57:12] : Seat 5 : Hero has $102.08
[Dec 26 21:57:12] : Seat 6 : Mrs Colin has $76
[Dec 26 21:57:12] : Seat 7 : Villain 1 has $104.75
[Dec 26 21:57:12] : Seat 8 : IL Prof has $141
[Dec 26 21:57:12] : Seat 9 : Noodles1619 has $98.21
[Dec 26 21:57:12] : Hero is the dealer.
[Dec 26 21:57:13] : Mrs Colin posted small blind.
[Dec 26 21:57:15] : Villain 1 posted big blind.
[Dec 26 21:57:15] : Game [96727] started with 9 players.
[Dec 26 21:57:15] : Dealing Hole Cards.
[Dec 26 21:57:15] : Seat 5 : Hero has Jd Tc
[Dec 26 21:57:20] : IL Prof folded.
[Dec 26 21:57:21] : Noodles1619 called $1
[Dec 26 21:57:27] : AAJacks folded.
[Dec 26 21:57:27] : hdbets folded.
[Dec 26 21:57:27] : Villain 3 called $1
[Dec 26 21:57:32] : Villain 2 called $1
[Dec 26 21:57:34] : Hero called $1
[Dec 26 21:57:37] : Mrs Colin folded.
[Dec 26 21:57:45] : Villain 1 raised $2
[Dec 26 21:57:47] : Noodles1619 called $2
[Dec 26 21:57:51] : Villain 3 called $2
[Dec 26 21:57:54] : Villain 2 called $2
[Dec 26 21:57:56] : Hero called $2
[Dec 26 21:57:57] : Dealing flop.
[Dec 26 21:57:57] : Board cards [9s 4c Qd]
[Dec 26 21:57:59] : Villain 1 checked.
[Dec 26 21:58:01] : Noodles1619 checked.
[Dec 26 21:58:05] : Villain 3 bet $2
[Dec 26 21:58:09] : Villain 2 called $2
[Dec 26 21:58:12] : Hero called $2
[Dec 26 21:58:21] : Villain 1 called $2 and raised $8
[Dec 26 21:58:22] : Noodles1619 folded.
[Dec 26 21:58:24] : Villain 3 called $8 and raised $0.37 and is All-in
[Dec 26 21:58:24] : Under-Raise rules are now in effect.
[Dec 26 21:58:28] : Villain 2 called $8.37
[Dec 26 21:58:31] : Hero called $8.37
[Dec 26 21:58:34] : Villain 1 called $0.37
[Dec 26 21:58:34] : Dealing turn.
[Dec 26 21:58:34] : Board cards [9s 4c Qd 8h]
[Dec 26 21:58:41] : Villain 1 bet $16
[Dec 26 21:58:43] : Villain 2 called $16 and raised $19.22 and is All-in
[Dec 26 21:58:47] : Hero called $35.22
[Dec 26 21:58:51] : Villain 1 called $19.22 and raised $56.16 and is All-in
[Dec 26 21:58:53] : Hero called $53.49 and is All-in
[Dec 26 21:58:54] : Showdown!
[Dec 26 21:58:54] : Seat 5 : Hero has Jd Tc
[Dec 26 21:58:55] : Seat 3 : Villain 3 has 4h 4s
[Dec 26 21:58:55] : Seat 4 : Villain 2 has 9h 9d
[Dec 26 21:58:55] : Seat 5 : Hero has Jd Tc
[Dec 26 21:58:55] : Seat 7 : Villain 1 has Qh Qc
[Dec 26 21:59:00] : Board cards [9s 4c Qd 8h 7h]
[Dec 26 21:59:00] : Seat 7 : Villain 1 has Qh Qc
[Dec 26 21:59:00] : Villain 1 has 3 of a Kind: Queens
[Dec 26 21:59:00] : Seat 5 : Hero has Jd Tc
[Dec 26 21:59:00] : Hero has Straight QJT98
[Dec 26 21:59:00] : Hero wins $105.78 with Straight QJT98
[Dec 26 21:59:00] : Seat 7 : Villain 1 has Qh Qc
[Dec 26 21:59:00] : Villain 1 has 3 of a Kind: Queens
[Dec 26 21:59:00] : Seat 4 : Villain 2 has 9h 9d
[Dec 26 21:59:00] : Villain 2 has 3 of a Kind: 9s
[Dec 26 21:59:00] : Seat 5 : Hero has Jd Tc
[Dec 26 21:59:00] : Hero has Straight QJT98
[Dec 26 21:59:00] : Hero wins $104.49 with Straight QJT98
[Dec 26 21:59:00] : Seat 3 : Villain 3 has 4h 4s
[Dec 26 21:59:00] : Villain 3 has 3 of a Kind: 4s
[Dec 26 21:59:00] : Seat 4 : Villain 2 has 9h 9d
[Dec 26 21:59:00] : Villain 2 has 3 of a Kind: 9s
[Dec 26 21:59:00] : Seat 5 : Hero has Jd Tc
[Dec 26 21:59:00] : Hero has Straight QJT98
[Dec 26 21:59:00] : Seat 7 : Villain 1 has Qh Qc
[Dec 26 21:59:00] : Villain 1 has 3 of a Kind: Queens
[Dec 26 21:59:00] : Hero wins $56.35 with Straight QJT98
[Dec 26 21:59:15] : Hand is over.

Site Admin and Donald McVicar

I've been tidying up the blog template recently. Much as I'm a techie to trade, HTML isn't one of my core skills so I enjoy pottering around a little for a change of scene.

A while ago I added an RSS news feed for Glasgow Celtic, using the facility available from The Scotsman newspaper.

The Scotsman is, in theory, one of the 'quality' papers in Scotland. However a recently published front page article and opinion piece had me so fuming at their blatant institutional bigotry and shoddy journalism that I decided to drop their feed.

I've replaced it with one from that paragon of journalistic integrity, The BBC.

My old sparring partner Donald McVicar was also in the news recently, after referee Kenny Clark admitted on The Whistleblower website that he had wrongly denied Celtic a blatant penalty that could have put them 2-0 up in the recent Rangers game, which was subsequently drawn 1-1.

I think it's important to recognise the positive aspect of this. Referees are only human. They do make mistakes. What bothers me is they usually refuse to admit them.

So, it's good that Mr Clark has been big enough to own up to his error - even if he was the only person in the ground not to have thought it a penalty at the time. Indeed, so blatant was the trip, Stevie Wonder could have spotted it.

What continues to bother me is Donald McVicar insisting that Kenny Clark had a good game overall.

Oh really? In the first minute he missed a deliberate stamp by Alan Hutton on Aiden McGeady, as he lay prostrate on the ground. At least a yellow and possibly a red card offence.

Early in the second half he missed a brutal and blatant assault by Charlie Adam on Lee Naylor that left Naylor bleeding from an ankle injury that needed five stitches after the game.

This sort of wild tackle from behind is a straight red in any major competition. In the more lenient Scottish arena, it should still merit at least a yellow. Clark didn't even give a foul.

Adding insult to injury, as Naylor lay in obvious agony, he chided him for apparent time wasting or play acting. Since when did football players start carrying theatrical blood capsules in their socks?

So, applause to Donald and Kenny for owning up the most heinous error, but a return visit to Specsavers for them both, to help them spot their other deficiencies.

Précis of a Difficult Week

Firstly, a heartfelt thanks to those who have contacted me through comments or email. All the kind words have been very much appreciated by both of us.

It's been a week since we got the news, and I'm steeling myself for a return to work tomorrow. Assuming yet another cold bug has cleared up a little by the morning.

Having got over the initial shock of receiving such terrible news, we've been trying to maintain as much normality as possible for the sake of E.

She did get her first ever overnight stay at the grandparents on Monday, as K needed to undergo a surgical procedure known as a D&C to remove what remained of our baby from her womb.

That was an emotionally difficult day for us both, with the added factor that she had never undergone a general anaesthetic and was understandably nervous.

It's worth saying the doctors and midwives at the hospital have all been great. The medical profession is often criticised for lack of patient empathy, but the staff we encountered were universally sympathetic and caring.

The procedure went well, and has at least allowed us to draw a line under the pregnancy.

That said, I think it will be quite some time before our emotions are entirely settled.

We've both resigned ourselves to the fact we were victims of one of nature's quirks, and understand and accept what happened.

Which means we can rationalise it, but not ignore the sadness and despair that continues to linger within us.

Christmas shopping this week seemed to bring a never ending procession of newborns in prams, with parents beaming proudly at their offspring. I feel nothing but delight for them, but couldn't help wondering about what might have been for us.

I'm sure that will fade. Time being a great healer, as the saying goes.

My only overnight stay in hospital came about six years ago, when I had my tonsils removed. That's usually a childhood operation, but I was one of the unlucky adults.

I can still vividly recall coming round from the anaesthetic in a darkened room, whilst traces of (I presume) morphine still circulated in my veins.

My giddy, dreamlike state soon to be replaced by one of absolute bloody agony, as the effects subsided and only co-codamol was on offer for further pain relief.

I spent a week off work, mostly alone at home immersed in computer games as a distraction from the pain I was enduring. Whole days passed with me subsisting on a diet of soggy cornflakes and warm soup, whilst I razed cities to the ground and launched wave after wave of armoured assaults.

This week my distractions from the emotional pain have been football and poker.

The visit of Celtic to Ibrox being a real throwback in terms of passion, commitment, and scything acts of brutality - most of which went unpunished. I was nowhere near as deeply engaged in proceedings as I would usually have been, but the distraction was welcome and the result acceptable.

Much as I yearned to divert myself further through poker, I didn't trust myself to engage in any big bet cash games. So I ground out enough limit hands to work off the monthly Interpoker reload bonus, and played in a few of the daily freerolls.

Coincidentally, my rakeback provider had also laid on a couple of big freerolls. I got nowhere in the $10,000 at Interpoker, but squeaked into the top 30 of the $12,000 at Full Tilt.

Making the top 30 from 1600+ entrants is pretty commendable, even if maybe 35% didn't actually turn up, but it's still frustrating to make a mere $40 when $2500 is on offer to the winner.

In part I was a victim of timings, as the hand I went out on, in a battle of the blinds, was easily foldable, but it was getting late and K was going to the hospital the next day. So external factors were at work.

Perhaps the most encouraging sign this week was my eruption last night when I got AK cracked on an ace high flop - by a buffoon who paid three bets to see a flop with K2s and went runner-runner for the backdoor flush.

The shouting, cursing, and general outrage that such an idiotic play should be rewarded was an encouraging indicator that my emotions are returning to their normal levels.

There's still a long way to go, but I'm already looking forward to putting this year behind us, and making plans for a rosier future.

Dark Times

This blog has been running for almost two years now, and I've racked up over 300 posts in that time. Some mediocre, some interesting, a few amusing, and one or two that are pretty damn good, even if I say so myself.

In all that time, I never imagined I'd have to write one like this.

The pregnancy is no more. The baby lost to a miscarriage.

It had all seemed to be going so well. The bump was developing, and although the Mrs (henceforth 'K'), was still suffering morning sickness, she felt the worst was over.

So it was with great optimism that we attended the first scan yesterday afternoon - unfazed by the grim weather that assailed us as we crossed the hospital car park.

Arriving a little ahead of schedule gave me the chance to grab some lunch in their cafe - having rushed there from work - and we sat discussing K's maternity leave options, as we marked time ahead of the appointment.

When the first images from the scan flashed up on screen, memories of the previous pregnancy came racing back.

It had been quite stressful. K suffered a lot of early bleeding, which led to a scan after only 6 weeks, at which point the baby resembled nothing more than a tiny prawn - with a flashing dot at it's centre, which the staff told us was the heart beating.

This time, I was able to make out something more closely resembling the images I recalled from the later scans, but as the operator began to ask questions of K it became apparent something was wrong, and the smile faded from my face.

As I heard the dread words, and K burst into tears, it became obvious to me what was missing from this scan - a heartbeat.

For a few moments I felt dizzy, detached, like a viewer watching a drama unfold on a TV screen. All I could do was hold K's hand and cuddle her. It didn't feel real.

We've had no problems with bleeding. The morning sickness is supposed to be a good sign - indicative of high levels of the necessary hormones. The bump has been growing.

So how can the baby be dead?

Once it had sunk in, the staff showed us to another room, and gave us some time to ourselves.

Later they explained that although the pregnancy had gone for 14 weeks, the baby had only developed to a size equivalent to 8 weeks. In all likelihood, it had been growing very slowly and died in the previous day or two before the scan.

The fluid sac that protects it had grown at the normal rate, hence the expanding bump.

All of which seemed logical, and as that facts sunk it, reality dawned.

The drive back to my parents to pick up The Toddler (E) was mercifully short. I could barely focus on the road.

Breaking the news to them was made all the harder by E's broad smile welcoming us, and her puzzled stare as she watched K hug my mum.

When we got home, all we wanted to do was lie down. Both of us felt physically drained by the experience.

24 hours later, the shock has worn off, and reality has set in. I've been doing some reading on miscarriages and the statistics surprised me.

According to the NHS over 10% of pregnancies end this way, so it's hardly unusual.

I think what hit us hardest was the total lack of expectation that such an event was occurring. As the staff at the hospital said, most people have an idea something is wrong due to bleeding, pain, or other symptoms in advance of the scan.

We were feeling optimistic and anticipating the experience of seeing our new baby for the first time.

Right now we are trying to focus on the positive. There's no suggestion any future pregnancy would be affected by what has happened, and if it had to happen, better to be sooner than later.

That doesn't make things good, but we understand that other people go through much tougher experiences than this, so I'm sure we will be fine, though it may take a while before normality is restored.

Until then, we will be trying to get on with life, and appreciating what we already have.

I can't see it being a jolly festive season, but I'll savour every moment spent with my family, and give all the love I can to the great child we already have.

Rollercoaster Ride

Having a fun time on the Tribeca NLHE tables this month so far.

From seven sessions, I'm looking at:

- three really good
- two good
- one break-even
- one terrible

Which is a more than acceptable ratio!

Even the terrible session didn't feel so bad, though the spreadsheet numbers suggest it was! Just one of those nights where big pairs got out-flopped, and every draw missed.

It even included what I'd term a 'good beat'. Called a raise on the button with 55, flopped middle set on a 9-high board. Raised the turn. Got called(good).

Checked behind on a scary river, only for my opponent to turn over 99 for the flopped top set!! He reraises the turn and I'm all-in and busted.

As I called the raise, I actually said out loud something along the lines, 'This could be the hand that turns this night around.'

In a way, it was. Just not quite in the manner I'd hoped.

I've won a couple of very big pots in similar circumstances this week, by going slightly against accepted logic and making very small lead-out bets when I flop a straight draw on a flushing board.

For example I get in from the SB with:

Then lead out for 2BB on a flop of:

At these levels this is almost shorthand for 'I have a heart flush draw and want to see a cheap turn', so when the turn happens to be a welcome 8c, the action really starts.

No one is likely to give you credit for the nuts - they might even have drawn to hit the idiot gutshot - and suddenly all the cash is in the middle. This happened twice this week, once to someone drawing dead, and once to someone trying to backdoor another flush.

The power of deception, and a good illustration of why adding a little 'incorrect' play to your game can be beneficial in the right circumstances.

For Those Of You In Vegas

Have a great time!! But can you beat this bar bill, run up by English poker pro Dave 'Dubai' Shallow.

Outspending P-Diddy takes some doing!!

Vegas Casino Group Launches UK Online Gaming

Here's an interesting little snippet from The Times.

Las Vegas Sands - owner of The Venetian - has announced plans to launch an online casino and poker site, initially for UK consumers.

Strange timing one might think, but I'd imagine they must have a pretty vast mailing list of non-US residents to whom they can market the site once it is bedded in.

Bill Weidner, Las Vegas Sands’ chief executive, said: 'As the internet gaming landscape continues to evolve, this effort will put us in a strong position to evaluate and react to other potential opportunities.'

As an IT guy, this doesn't half smack of a 'soft launch', in advance of bigger plans.

One wonders whether the ears of legislators have already been bent in Washington with regard to regulation and liberalisation of the US market.

Don't shut down those affiliate accounts just yet.

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.