Variance

They always say you shouldn't play more than 10% of your bankroll at any time, and the night before last night I got a good example of why. I sat down at a 50p table with £25. I limped, two guys put in about £3 and I raised all in. The bigstack called, and won the pot with 2-8 (suited), catching a 2 on the turn.

Jeff Kimber wins in Walsall

The Walsall leg of the GUKPT is over, and Jeff is a worthy winner. There was an interesting incident in a hand between D Buttar and Graham Clarkson yesterday.

Meanwhile, my resolution to work on my tourney game after my outs at Walsall, well, it's come to nowt so far. Luckily I've been well in profit on my last six cash tables, so I'm :-)

Five minutes

Last week went well - five good cash table profits in a row, but this week has been all in the negative till just now. It was a new £1 table; I was in for £77, another guy for £100, one for £50, plus three low-rollers. My first hand I get dealt pocket tens and raise to £5 on the BB. Low-rollers call. Low flop, I bet £20 and they're all-in. Turn and river are ace and jack but I still take the pot, so what on earth did those guys have?

Couple of hands later I have K9s and I try bluffing the £50 guy out of the pot. Doesn't work; costs me £17. Interesting psychology here. Very next hand I have AJ and I limp. J-high flop, I limp again. Next card gives a straight possibilities (57J8), I bet, he raises, I go all-in, he dwells up (good sign) and calls. River is a third club, but again, whatever he had, I won the pot. Stack up to £160 in five minutes flat and I've single-handedly emptied the table! Good for the ego...

Speaking of which, I stayed up last night to watch the Poker Den show on 5. In case you don't know, it's highlights from an all-star 24-hour non-stop £50 cash game. The main reason I watch is Tony G. I love the guy. In the first few hours he managed to turn £10,000 into £100,000...

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!

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.