Reached the break in 14th, went downstairs for a beer and then thought better of it. Why damage my chances of doing well? Coffee for me, then. Beer later, to celebrate (or drown my tears).
Good grinder sitting next to me: Dazzler. Got very short-stacked but didn't panic, and has now doubled up a couple of times and is in the money.
Had to apologise to a guy about an hour ago. We were both all-in with AJ and I rivered a flush. Not nice, especially when I didn't need the luck.
More recently, Jacklad blew up in a way that I recognise: chip leader on the table, but losing a lot of chips because of a loose call, he called off the rest of his chips very soon after.
Speaking of which, I've just gone out in 42nd. I didn't exactly blow up, but I did go all-in with 66, a guy called with A9, hit, damaged my stack and it didn't take long for the rest of it to get eroded away.
I've had an email from The Club asking me whether I'd like to ask a question on the show. A topic I thought of is when to call when someone's put you all-in, especially when playing cash tables.
Now it must be beer time...
Wednesday 30 January 2008
Monday 28 January 2008
What's worse in poker
... than being beaten by a dominated hand? Tonight in the Bounty Hunter, for example, I'm all-in with KJ against K8 and... I'm all out. Technically that's known as variance, but I prefer the term F*******K OFF! (Nothing personal.)
I'm been suffering from a bad bout of variance the last couple of days, but to be philosophical about it, it's better to be beaten playing well than playing badly.
At least I'm still in the freeroll. My luck was better there. Fourway all-in with 44, the flop is all paint, but then... Broadway on the board! That top prize of £81 could still be mine...
Suggestion for Sky Poker: can we have higher-value freerolls? The highest freeroll buy-in is 200 player points, with a £1000 pot. How about a 500-point buy-in tourney? At the mo I've got over 3000 points burning a hole in me leotard.
(Spoke too soon: out in 14th (£2.55 and no t-shirt!) in the freeroll. I'm all-in with QQ, DangerMog has 99, which transmogrifies into 9999. Bleh.)
I'm been suffering from a bad bout of variance the last couple of days, but to be philosophical about it, it's better to be beaten playing well than playing badly.
At least I'm still in the freeroll. My luck was better there. Fourway all-in with 44, the flop is all paint, but then... Broadway on the board! That top prize of £81 could still be mine...
Suggestion for Sky Poker: can we have higher-value freerolls? The highest freeroll buy-in is 200 player points, with a £1000 pot. How about a 500-point buy-in tourney? At the mo I've got over 3000 points burning a hole in me leotard.
(Spoke too soon: out in 14th (£2.55 and no t-shirt!) in the freeroll. I'm all-in with QQ, DangerMog has 99, which transmogrifies into 9999. Bleh.)
Update 2: Congratulations to John Ryan for winning tonight's £1750 gtd Velocity tournament. Thus he joins the elite club of studio guests who've won one of the live tournaments.
Saturday 26 January 2008
Cracking queens
A couple of hands into tonight's Open, I had Tc8c and called a raise. The flop came 9c 4h Ac. I raise a weak bet, it's called. That's enough info for me to put him on a high pair. Next card is a blank--he checks, I bet, he calls. The river is Qc. I bet, he raises, we go all-in.
Tonight's guests on the show are two familiar faces: Phil Cooklin and Julie Holness. Familiar because of their many appearances on the Sky Poker interstitials. They're both cult figures! ANd they've both started very well tonight. As I write I'm 36th with 11k chips, so fingers crossed...
(Came 53rd.)
Tonight's guests on the show are two familiar faces: Phil Cooklin and Julie Holness. Familiar because of their many appearances on the Sky Poker interstitials. They're both cult figures! ANd they've both started very well tonight. As I write I'm 36th with 11k chips, so fingers crossed...
(Came 53rd.)
Thursday 24 January 2008
Never say die
Taking £350 out of my Sky Poker account seemed to jinx me. I left £300 in, but a 10 pm tonight that was down to £3. The problem has been that although my tournament luck (or judgment?) has improved, with three money finishes in the last few days, they've been peanuts compared to the spondulicks I've been donating on the cash tables. Not wanting to reload, I've moved back down to the 50p tables and fought to get my float back in three figures.
Well, tonight after just failing to recoup my tenner in the Open, I put down my "last" £30 on a cash table. Fifteen minutes later my last £3 was in the middle with J9 and a 78A flop. My instinct was that no-one had an ace, so my draw wasn't too bad, but there were two callers. The ten came on 4th street... :-)
And guess what: 45 minutes later I was sitting there with £70. I played well, avoiding the temptation to be reckless. It would be so nice to have been down to £3 and then to build a few hundred quid out of it. I did have to close my eyes and push at one point. I had 44, the flop came Q86 but no-one bet. So I pushed, and somehow the fish who called missed everything.
The table was very fishy, which helps! Maybe I should've stayed on longer, but my luck could've changed, I know. Fish can catch! Luckily they didn't on my two double-ups. On the first one, I limped with AJ, the flop came AT9 - two diamonds - and the guy on my left called my all-in on 4th street (a 7). The river was a diamond but the guy must've had something like JT or ace-rag (or JQ?? - some people call with all kinds of mad draws).
Then the same guy called me again when I went all-in on 4th street. This time the board showed 339T, two spades. The river was a ten and my pocket kings held up. If I'm going to be generous I could put him on queens or jacks. (I was slightly worried he had 99.) But maybe he only had a flush draw!
Well, tonight after just failing to recoup my tenner in the Open, I put down my "last" £30 on a cash table. Fifteen minutes later my last £3 was in the middle with J9 and a 78A flop. My instinct was that no-one had an ace, so my draw wasn't too bad, but there were two callers. The ten came on 4th street... :-)
And guess what: 45 minutes later I was sitting there with £70. I played well, avoiding the temptation to be reckless. It would be so nice to have been down to £3 and then to build a few hundred quid out of it. I did have to close my eyes and push at one point. I had 44, the flop came Q86 but no-one bet. So I pushed, and somehow the fish who called missed everything.
The table was very fishy, which helps! Maybe I should've stayed on longer, but my luck could've changed, I know. Fish can catch! Luckily they didn't on my two double-ups. On the first one, I limped with AJ, the flop came AT9 - two diamonds - and the guy on my left called my all-in on 4th street (a 7). The river was a diamond but the guy must've had something like JT or ace-rag (or JQ?? - some people call with all kinds of mad draws).
Then the same guy called me again when I went all-in on 4th street. This time the board showed 339T, two spades. The river was a ten and my pocket kings held up. If I'm going to be generous I could put him on queens or jacks. (I was slightly worried he had 99.) But maybe he only had a flush draw!
Wednesday 23 January 2008
Bonzer night
Still in the Open as I write, an hour and a half in. And outlasted Bruno Fitoussi! He was on my table for a while, which made me instantly a bag of nerves... I could've knocked him out: I folded KJ to his all-in, and it would've been the winning hand. Soon afterwards he was moved to another table and someone else took his scalp.
Meanwhile, the other studio guest, Erkan Mustafa, is also still in. Erkan was Roland in Grange Hill, and I guess he's taking advantage of a little coaching from Bruno...
Er, now I'm out. :-) In 70th, so just in the money. And I'm sitting on Bruno's table in a two-table sit-and-go.
Meanwhile, the other studio guest, Erkan Mustafa, is also still in. Erkan was Roland in Grange Hill, and I guess he's taking advantage of a little coaching from Bruno...
Er, now I'm out. :-) In 70th, so just in the money. And I'm sitting on Bruno's table in a two-table sit-and-go.
Monday 21 January 2008
That's Entertainment
An amazing hour in The Open tonight. I was going all-in far too much, my chip stack was going up and down like a yoyo, and I had pocket aces three times in twenty minutes!
Then I blew up. AJ under the gun. I had 7000 chips and it would've cost me 2000 chips to raise, so I just went all-in. Two callers! Bad news: AQ and AK. Flop 46T. Turn J! River K!!
That's TV poker.
Then I blew up. AJ under the gun. I had 7000 chips and it would've cost me 2000 chips to raise, so I just went all-in. Two callers! Bad news: AQ and AK. Flop 46T. Turn J! River K!!
That's TV poker.
A6
A6 is now officially my bogey hand. Two outdraws last week, and tonight I push all-in postflop with A8, A6 calls and hits his three-outer on the turn...
Two Canadian guests on the show tonight: Wade McElwain and his rather nice gf Katherine Ryan. Hope to see her - er, I mean them - er I mean the happy couple, er - on the show again soon.
Two Canadian guests on the show tonight: Wade McElwain and his rather nice gf Katherine Ryan. Hope to see her - er, I mean them - er I mean the happy couple, er - on the show again soon.
Sunday 20 January 2008
Top Ten
Best finish in the Open for a while: went out in 9th, and went out going all-in preflop with the best hand: A6 against KT. And it was still the best hand on the turn...
One problem with my game is that I don't hammer away at weak players, and finding myself straightaway on an easy table, I tried to push a bit harder and I made a good start, betting fish out of three early pots.
Here's all the hands I played where there was a flop. I've put the time, followed by my nett winnings or loss, followed by my cards if there was a showdown:
9.02 +505
9.04 +465
9.10 +575
9.14 +200
9.18 +250
9.21 -2235
9.24 +700
9.24 -1100
9.28 +3460 (JT)
9.40 +1000
9.43 +2760 (Q8s)
9.45 +10630 (AK)
9.50 +3795 (QQ)
9.51 -750
9.55 -3000
9.56 +3132 (A8)
9.56 +6020 (AJ)
10.37 -4000
10.43 +12510 (36s)
10.51 +55575 (7Ts)
10.52 +5980 (86)
10.53 -10000
10.58 +15000
11.00 +67775 (QK)
11.05 -41700
11.14 +20000
11.23 -155417
(Of course there were also plenty of blinds I either stole or gave up.) I haven't done a detailed analysis before and it shows some interesting facts:
1. No-one saw any of my cards for the first half an hour, even though I won six pots.
2. Before the biggie, I'd only lost four major pots in over two hours of play.
3. I didn't go all-in till 9.45, and then at 10.27, 10.40, 10.51, 10.54, 11.04, 11.14, 11.22 and 11.23. I mention this because when we see the leaderboard after a few minutes several players already have 6,000 or even 9,000 chips. Best to ignore them; putting in 3,000 chips when the blinds are 15 and 30 is something pretty exceptional.
4. Remember that to get from 3,000 to 200,000 chips (enough for the final table) only needs 6 double-ups. So patience is an acceptable strategy as long as you hang on to your blinds. My success was based on winning just three hands: at 9.28, 9.45 and 10.51.
5. The second hour was pretty amazing. It looks like I was hibernating for most of it. I was pretty card-dead, but I did in fact win the blinds five times, with A2, JT, 65, 44 and K7. Meanwhile the other players were stealing a march on me chipwise and I was sliding down the leaderboard. My lucky break came when I had 63s in the big blind, the flop came 468 and I rivered another 6.
My best moment came soon after. I push all-in UTG with 7Ts and got two callers. Oops! Whew: flop 3T5, more rags after that and my 22,000 chips became 77,000. I know I left it late to make that move but I don't think I'm ever going to lose the tight side of my game. Sometimes I see situations where a looser player would push and probably get their cards through but I bottle it.
A few of the hands I was in were featured on the TV show, and between them, TK and DP said a couple of complimentary things about my play. I wonder what they would've said about my final move...
One problem with my game is that I don't hammer away at weak players, and finding myself straightaway on an easy table, I tried to push a bit harder and I made a good start, betting fish out of three early pots.
Here's all the hands I played where there was a flop. I've put the time, followed by my nett winnings or loss, followed by my cards if there was a showdown:
9.02 +505
9.04 +465
9.10 +575
9.14 +200
9.18 +250
9.21 -2235
9.24 +700
9.24 -1100
9.28 +3460 (JT)
9.40 +1000
9.43 +2760 (Q8s)
9.45 +10630 (AK)
9.50 +3795 (QQ)
9.51 -750
9.55 -3000
9.56 +3132 (A8)
9.56 +6020 (AJ)
10.37 -4000
10.43 +12510 (36s)
10.51 +55575 (7Ts)
10.52 +5980 (86)
10.53 -10000
10.58 +15000
11.00 +67775 (QK)
11.05 -41700
11.14 +20000
11.23 -155417
(Of course there were also plenty of blinds I either stole or gave up.) I haven't done a detailed analysis before and it shows some interesting facts:
1. No-one saw any of my cards for the first half an hour, even though I won six pots.
2. Before the biggie, I'd only lost four major pots in over two hours of play.
3. I didn't go all-in till 9.45, and then at 10.27, 10.40, 10.51, 10.54, 11.04, 11.14, 11.22 and 11.23. I mention this because when we see the leaderboard after a few minutes several players already have 6,000 or even 9,000 chips. Best to ignore them; putting in 3,000 chips when the blinds are 15 and 30 is something pretty exceptional.
4. Remember that to get from 3,000 to 200,000 chips (enough for the final table) only needs 6 double-ups. So patience is an acceptable strategy as long as you hang on to your blinds. My success was based on winning just three hands: at 9.28, 9.45 and 10.51.
5. The second hour was pretty amazing. It looks like I was hibernating for most of it. I was pretty card-dead, but I did in fact win the blinds five times, with A2, JT, 65, 44 and K7. Meanwhile the other players were stealing a march on me chipwise and I was sliding down the leaderboard. My lucky break came when I had 63s in the big blind, the flop came 468 and I rivered another 6.
My best moment came soon after. I push all-in UTG with 7Ts and got two callers. Oops! Whew: flop 3T5, more rags after that and my 22,000 chips became 77,000. I know I left it late to make that move but I don't think I'm ever going to lose the tight side of my game. Sometimes I see situations where a looser player would push and probably get their cards through but I bottle it.
A few of the hands I was in were featured on the TV show, and between them, TK and DP said a couple of complimentary things about my play. I wonder what they would've said about my final move...
Friday 18 January 2008
Soz m8
Having done £70 of my last £100 on a £1 table, I put the rest down on a 50p table and pushed all-in on a flush draw. Bendog had flopped a pair of aces and called. I made my flush and he wasn't best pleased. Apologies, sir, but I feel less guilty than if I'd been a fish.
126th in the Open. Came back from having my QQ rivered but finally called all-in after the break with QJs. Which reminds me: KQ, KJ and QJ are very dangerous hands to be going all-in with. Note to self: stop doing it.
126th in the Open. Came back from having my QQ rivered but finally called all-in after the break with QJs. Which reminds me: KQ, KJ and QJ are very dangerous hands to be going all-in with. Note to self: stop doing it.
Monday 14 January 2008
Welcome
I'm a fan of Sky Poker. I like the speed of the tournaments (from 650 players to heads-up in under 150 minutes!). I like the live TV every evening with its fine array of commentators and guests. I like the interactivity: not only can you get your emails read out live or on "The Club", but several regular players have been invited onto the show. I was disappointed when GetMintedPoker Live stopped its live show (All hail the Axxeman!) but, technically speaking, Sky's show is a great improvement.
I guess another important reason I'm an SP fan is that I've made money: over £4,000 since I invested £140 in September. Most of that is from tourneys, but lately, as my tourney form has sagged, my cash game has improved. I was up £600 in 11 days (until I c*cked up last night and gave £150 of it back). Nothing bigtime, but :-)
I guess another important reason I'm an SP fan is that I've made money: over £4,000 since I invested £140 in September. Most of that is from tourneys, but lately, as my tourney form has sagged, my cash game has improved. I was up £600 in 11 days (until I c*cked up last night and gave £150 of it back). Nothing bigtime, but :-)
Thursday 10 January 2008
Poker v Scrabble
Because I've spent the evening playing poker, when I sat down to write a blog post about a Scrabble tourney I've just been to (as a spectator) I found myself comparing it with poker tourneys. One important difference is I don't fancy eating a dictionary, which is what most of those guys have had to do in order to play at the top level. That's one of the great things about poker: anyone with an average IQ can learn to play it well in a few hours, or at least well enough to be able to win a few cash pots or get a money finish in a tournament.
A bit of a flat evening, pokerwise. I came in the money in the Velocity, but the tourney was spoilt by a system crash at Sky which meant that most of the players (i.e. the ones playing through their TV boxes) got cut off. So coming in the money wasn't much of an achievement! (Though I did already have a healthy stack when the crash happened...) Meanwhile, even though the tourneys were continuing, it appears that the live TV show couldn't show any of the action. Not sure why not - I wouldn't have thought that the two systems were connected.
A bit of a flat evening, pokerwise. I came in the money in the Velocity, but the tourney was spoilt by a system crash at Sky which meant that most of the players (i.e. the ones playing through their TV boxes) got cut off. So coming in the money wasn't much of an achievement! (Though I did already have a healthy stack when the crash happened...) Meanwhile, even though the tourneys were continuing, it appears that the live TV show couldn't show any of the action. Not sure why not - I wouldn't have thought that the two systems were connected.
Monday 7 January 2008
Up
Just gone out of the Bounty Hunter. :-( Sky have increased the number of entries, up from 650 to 800, with 90 places paid and a first prize of £1584.
Happy coz I made a profit of £160 in one hour on a £1 cash table last night. This was after - as usual - losing half my stack to begin with. (I flopped a set of 2s - Geomax flopped a set of 5s.) Luckily a loose guy called p*****1972 quadrupled me up by going all-in against my pair of kings and my set of 10s, and when he left, a kid called s******ter took his seat and made a bad attempt at representing an overpair to my 88 on a 46T9J board and I took a £136 pot. Making such a good read sent me to bed a happy chappy. :-)
Happy coz I made a profit of £160 in one hour on a £1 cash table last night. This was after - as usual - losing half my stack to begin with. (I flopped a set of 2s - Geomax flopped a set of 5s.) Luckily a loose guy called p*****1972 quadrupled me up by going all-in against my pair of kings and my set of 10s, and when he left, a kid called s******ter took his seat and made a bad attempt at representing an overpair to my 88 on a 46T9J board and I took a £136 pot. Making such a good read sent me to bed a happy chappy. :-)
Sunday 6 January 2008
Bollocks
So much for the rules of poker... Tired and on tilt (After my bad beat in The Open, I lost two big pots on two different sites when guys with A6 made reckless calls and outdrew me) I got all reckless myself and threw away over £100. So tonight I'm going to have a go in the Sunday Showdown and then call it a night. Back to work tomorrow anyway.
Watch the tourney live online here.
Watch the tourney live online here.
Poker Rules
1. Play your game. Don't let one hand or one player throw you off.
2. Don't play tired or drunk. Etc. You need to concentrate.
3. Be patient. If you're bored, play two tables, surf the net, whatever.
4. Luck beats weakness. Did he just limp/check/call? Then bet again.
5. Don't call an all-in bet unless you're sure you're ahead!
More later. Putting them here to remind me!
Today's bad beat: The Open tonight, did something stupid to get myself low-stacked, worked my way back up to average chips. I raise all-in with two pair, guy calls hoping to catch an ace...
2. Don't play tired or drunk. Etc. You need to concentrate.
3. Be patient. If you're bored, play two tables, surf the net, whatever.
4. Luck beats weakness. Did he just limp/check/call? Then bet again.
5. Don't call an all-in bet unless you're sure you're ahead!
More later. Putting them here to remind me!
Today's bad beat: The Open tonight, did something stupid to get myself low-stacked, worked my way back up to average chips. I raise all-in with two pair, guy calls hoping to catch an ace...
Saturday 5 January 2008
Idiot savant
Last night I played for a couple of hours at Tony G's site. I put down $200 at a 10-handed table. The usual pattern ensued: lost half my chips, then eventually got up to $220. Very tired, I should've got out, but instead I somehow managed to lose the whole lot...
(I've been a big fan of Tony's ever since I saw him in the Paris WPT event on TV a couple of years ago. He still plays in some of the tourneys on his site, but not as often as he used to.)
Tonight at Sky Poker was almost a perfect night. I came 16th in The Open, then I made a profit on three cash tables, and then... Mr Stupid strikes again. I'm in profit on another table, but call all-in with a low flush. Actually I had a flush and a straight, and my hand looked so pretty I couldn't bring myself to fold it, even though if I had done I'd now be £50 richer.
So, I really am a quite-good player. I know before I throw all my chips away that that's what I'm doing. I just need to stop myself doing it!
(I've been a big fan of Tony's ever since I saw him in the Paris WPT event on TV a couple of years ago. He still plays in some of the tourneys on his site, but not as often as he used to.)
Tonight at Sky Poker was almost a perfect night. I came 16th in The Open, then I made a profit on three cash tables, and then... Mr Stupid strikes again. I'm in profit on another table, but call all-in with a low flush. Actually I had a flush and a straight, and my hand looked so pretty I couldn't bring myself to fold it, even though if I had done I'd now be £50 richer.
So, I really am a quite-good player. I know before I throw all my chips away that that's what I'm doing. I just need to stop myself doing it!
Thursday 3 January 2008
A Night Out
To the Grosvenor at Junction 10 for the £30 Treble-Chance Freezeout tourney. Plenty of runners and a £1000 first prize. After three hours I went out calling all-in with KQs against Ace-rag. It was half past midnight and half the field were still there, so, two hours later, I'm sure they're still playing. That's the trouble with normal tourneys - they take a long time. I don't like the two hours that are virtually wasted at the start of a rebuy tournament, and this tourney was just as bad - registration closed at 9.15 but by 11pm absolutely no-one had been knocked out. I know most people (me included) want some entertainment for their £30 but this is crazy.
Anyway, I was reasonably happy with my play. Early on a girl called Kelly won a pot with KK and the next hand I raised all-in in front of her with TT and she called. Yup, she had kings again and I used up one of my chances. Undeterred, soon after I raised with 58s, flopped the flush and showed my cards. I made the break with average chips.
Gradually things got more lively. My end of the table was quiet and full of rocks, but at the other end there was one aggressive player, who was joined by another and then another as people were moved between tables. A couple of times before the break I chickened out a bit, in situations that online I would've bet. But no damage done.
The third of the three was a very good loose player. Just after he arrived, low stacked, he pushed all-in with a gutshot, and the guy who called him wasn't best pleased when the magic card came on the river. After that Mr Loose took the table by storm - he had the gift of the gab and took full advantage. In one hand I had pocket fours and bet postflop even though I didn't connect - the girl and Mr Loose called. The I bet again and Mr Loose called again. This reminded me of a recent hand in The Open, where I'd eventually called all-in with 44 and I was right - the other guy was bluffing with an ace. But this time I just couldn't go through with it.
Anyway, I was grinding pretty well and maybe avoiding risks would've seen me into the money. Dunno. I do know that I played okay and I'm looking forward to going back soon.
Anyway, I was reasonably happy with my play. Early on a girl called Kelly won a pot with KK and the next hand I raised all-in in front of her with TT and she called. Yup, she had kings again and I used up one of my chances. Undeterred, soon after I raised with 58s, flopped the flush and showed my cards. I made the break with average chips.
Gradually things got more lively. My end of the table was quiet and full of rocks, but at the other end there was one aggressive player, who was joined by another and then another as people were moved between tables. A couple of times before the break I chickened out a bit, in situations that online I would've bet. But no damage done.
The third of the three was a very good loose player. Just after he arrived, low stacked, he pushed all-in with a gutshot, and the guy who called him wasn't best pleased when the magic card came on the river. After that Mr Loose took the table by storm - he had the gift of the gab and took full advantage. In one hand I had pocket fours and bet postflop even though I didn't connect - the girl and Mr Loose called. The I bet again and Mr Loose called again. This reminded me of a recent hand in The Open, where I'd eventually called all-in with 44 and I was right - the other guy was bluffing with an ace. But this time I just couldn't go through with it.
Anyway, I was grinding pretty well and maybe avoiding risks would've seen me into the money. Dunno. I do know that I played okay and I'm looking forward to going back soon.
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