9th best again - arrrrghhhhhh

4th July and the Circus £75 Deepstack with £500 added and fully dealer dealt this is without doubt the best game of the month now and get special permission from the wife for a day off to play it. Sadly it seem that many don't share my view on a gorgous summer day and we end with only 49 runners. Being the class fellas they are the £500 still gets added although it was guaranteed on 50 runners, no nits picked here, top work.

So to the game and starting on a pretty solid table I turn the straight with Q10 on 99J8 vs a very active player in level 1 and win a 2.5k pot but out of position I check the brick river to him sure he has the 9 and will bet out but miss out on some chips as he checks behind with 95o thinking he was outkicked fml.

From then get very few hands or good spots and end at the break with the 8.5k I started with. Nothing really of note until we get to 2 tables and as I am starting to increase my stealing with blinds at 600/1200 and a 16k stack I get AhKh utg and make my standard 3k raise. SB dwells then shoves and I'm not folding AKs at this stage with my stack. I win the flip vs JJ on the turn and now have some real chips to play with. I then get moved to the other table with 17 left and find thats just as solid as where I've come from with 3 good locals I have some knowledge of. No massive stacks but no shorties so again looking to be fairly active as we approach the bubble and gain the easy chips available.

This is the stage where I'm looking to get the chips to win the thing and amazingly the cards come too but manage to run every bluff into a hand and every hand into a fold so basically stay where I am chip wise until a SB v BB battle where I manage to bluff out a big 20k pot going with my read. Think this is the most passive I have played a bubble in ages but that was down to the good standard of play at the table more than anything.

Final table starts with only one or 2 shorties and they are at 12BB so not desperate and 2 big chippers on 50BB+, the rest are average on about 25BB and there really aren't any great spots on the table to play at with 20BB.

We lose the first shorty in the first orbit as his cutoff shove with A5o is caught by AQo in the BB and other than that its raise and win it. I'm looking for spots to reshove and to raise when its folded to me but the standard remains good and the spots are few and far between. Finally I get 77 in the small blind and the button makes it 6,5k to play at 1k/2k. I shove for 43k as I can't really play 77 out of position profitably and any raise then commits me to the pot. After a pretty long dwell he calls with AKo, the dwell shows this was the correct push and I presonally would have snapped with AKo here. He rivers the K to knock me out in 9th as he has me covered by 500.

Really happy with my game again and that's 5 FT in my last 5 local games but unfortunately 9th in the last 2 starting the FT with over 20BB in each. Just need to win that race to have a really good shot at the right end of the payouts tho. I'm pretty sure I could have laddered to a much better payout than £120 but I'm going to be sticking with going for the wins especially on tables like these were the really exploitable bad players are few and far between.

A cooler but a cash

Okay so I didn't make it to Saturday without venturing out again for a live game, the addition of 3 £50 seats to the Circus £30 double chance prize pool was too good an offer to refuse.

I normally play the early levels of these games really tight but the cards were having none of that and get so many playable cards I ended up playing loads of small pots early on.

Then get pretty much a total gift in level 2. A guy gets his AA bust on the river for his first buy-in, next hand he limp/calls from mid position after I raise it to 400 with AA from the cut off. The flop comes Q84 2 spades and he checks, he's visibly steaming from the last hand so I elect to try and let him hang himself on the turn and check behind. The turn comes a brick and he shoves his last 3.1k into the 1k pot. He's got QJo and the river bricks for a tidy pot to me.

A few hands later I get into a raised 3 way pot out of position with 22, the flop of As7s4d is checked round and I'm pretty happy no-one has an ace. The turn is 7c and I check reraise what I'm sure is a steal from an active thinking player, Hamid. I decide to show him the 22 in the hope this gets me some more action against him later in raised pots. I also get to showdown with 6d4d having raised from mid position and get paid on the river with 2 pair and really don't mind this table image at all on a pretty tight table and with a workable stack of 11k.

In level 3 (100/200) the cooler arrives. Its raised from mid position to 600 and called by Hamid, I flat in the BB with 33 looking to represent on dry low boards or set mine. The flop lands 3s4s10h and I check to the raiser who obliges and makes it 800, Hamid calls and I decide to bet out given my table image now and putting Hamid on a draw. I make it 1500 total and the initial raiser folds, Hamid dwells up then shoves for about 7/8k and I scorch the cloth getting mine in, happy days. I flip the 33 and he flips 44 lol, so sick but well played by him in a good spot.

That takes me back to about 3k and I decide to get my extra chips and nit up for a level to get to the more crucial levels with some chips. I make it to the break on 8k - my starting stack.

After the break as the blinds increase I try to step it up a bit and steadily build winning and losing small pots then raise AKo from mid position and bet 3 streets v Hamid on A64QJ rainbow for a double up then get another gift. I raise to 1k from UTG+1 with AhKh at 200/400 and it folds to the BB who announces all in for 7k, I call and he shows K4o??? think my face gave away my thoughts and he spews out "You've stolen my bloody big blind all night, I've had enough of it." Amazingly I hold up and have a decent stack to play again, to be honest I can't recall raising his blind once all night but even then why pay a lump sum when you can pay in installments ;)

From there it was just pretty standard stuff, raise here, fold there, lose 1/4 stack calling shorties from behind. We get to the FT and I'm on average chips with 25k and blinds at 1.5k/3k. All the monies up top there's not a lot of poker left in this one so I'm going for early chips and the win. I run up to 45k 9 handed from just shoving atc in position then make a purely mathematical call when UTG shoves 17k into by BB at 2k/4k so its 13k to win 23k but also to bust another rock. He has Ad6c v my Ks5s and wins his 60/40 (not sure how ofter I get a 60/40 here so maybe this is a fold), then next hand I shove J7o into his A5o and he wins the 60/40 again.

Maybe needed some more patience here but just feel if I can get chipped up at this stage I'm going to win these games a big percentage of the time from there and two 60/40's are not terrible spots to acheive this.

Running good

Bit of a change of scene on Saturday as the wife arranged a trip to the races despite knowing I was wanting to play the Aspers £75 deepstack. All seemed a bit of a waste of time paying £22 for the privilege of drinking £3.20 cans of Fosters and watching some horses on a big screen, but then again I am a miserable twat.

My betting record at horse racing is pretty dire and with £300 burning a hole in my pocket this had the potential to be a very expensive day out, but much to my surprise the day got off to a flyer as race 1 scooped me a win at 8/1 on trap 5.

The plan was to reinvest all the profit back onto 1 horse for the win and after thinking long and hard about form and the like I thought fuck it lets put it on trap 5 again, but then the flashing lights and Fosters took over and I end up splitting it over 3 horses instead. Obviously trap 5 comes home again and I'm kicking myself for being such a pussy but still in nice profit.

The remainder of the day was more standard and I managed to piss away all my profit but was about even so pretty happy with that. We decide to get away sharp (again why the fuck did we bother going??) for some more beers in Gosforth. Really can't see what the attraction of live racing is but each to their own.

End up getting to the stage where I just can't be arsed to drink another pint and convince the wife that a trip to the Grosvenor for a bit of cash action is the way forward. Unfortunately, its only 7.30 and there is not a fucking soul in the joint with 11 registered for the tourney, cash seems like it will be an age away. She decides she can't be arsed to wait to play and goes home and I eventually relent through sheer boredom and play the £25 double chance freezeout to pass some time which is up to a whopping 19 runners at this point.

The early stages were the usual passing around of chips and get rid of my first stack as my AA is obviously never going to out run A8o who cant pass to a raise and reraise and is duly rewarded as the board runs out 844 ship turn 8 river 10. FML

Then get involved with the same player after raising the cut off with Q9o and he defends his BB. The flop is 966 and he check calls a 1/2 pot bet. The turn 2 is pretty uneventful and he shoves all-in. WTF? I tank for ages trying to work out wtf that means and eventually call to be shown 105o and avoid the 10 for a scoop.

Manage to get going after this and run my stack to over 30k before giving back 15k to the same donk trying to move him off a big pot where he shows middle pair and says he obviously couldn't fold such a monster. Bluff.......stump.....I never learn.

So final table begins and I'm sat with 8BB and looking to get active as only 3 are getting paid and the cash action is underway. Finally get it folded to me on the button and ship with 4c2s only to be insta called by the SB who has JhJc. The flop comes AsKsJs.....turn 10h.....river 4s. Weeeeeeeeeeeee.

That gives me licence to steal and I get a few decent starting hands to maintain my stack at around 20BB as the others fall away all to the only big stack at the table who has about 1/2 the chips in play.

Finally get 3 handed as short stack and decline a deal as they can't offer me anything worth stopping for and get heads up with a 1:4 disadvantage. Again he tries to offer a shit deal and again we play on. Heads up was total easy sailing and I'm just slowly chipping away with the small blinds before I flat with 78o and the flop comes 569 rainbow. I bet out and he decides tp shove with A9o to make me the marginal chipleader.

At this point I should really have carried on and gone for the win but instead elected to take the even chop and chalked up another good result with my 2nd chop in 2 games at the Grosvenor.

Next live game will be the £75 at Circus on Saturday and really looking forward to playing a longer clock and for a more meaningful prizepool.

Timing is everything

Why is sods law such a fucker?!?!

Decide to have a warm up to the CBMPT main event by playing the Grosvenor £20 £2k Guaranteed last night. I thought it might be a good opportunity to get rid of some suck outs and cold decks.

All was going perfectly to plan as my 8000 stack yo-yo'd around between 4k and 12k for the first 2 hours with suck outs galore stealing away any chips I won.

It got to 300/600 and with just 4k I'm looking to gamble to get back in the game so agree to call an all-in with both of us in blind and on similar stacks, my K9 holds and from there I go on a heater and run upto 30k in the next few orbits.

We reach 2 tables and the heater continues mixed in with alot of stealing as people nit up. Lose a few big flips for massive stacks but reach the final table with 90k and about 4th in chips with 2 big chip leader. Time: 2am - already not ideal preparation for a big game the next day.

Then commences the tightest FT in the history of poker. By 5am we are 3 handed and once I finally get to level chips we chop it up for £400 a head and I get to bed for 5.30am.

12am and I'm off to Leeds for the main event feeling really confident in my game, if a little weary.

Play begins at 3pm and within 20 mins I've already had 5 mid pocket pairs and AK which all lose and I'm down to 7.5k from my starting 10k. On the plus i've side it's the easiest main event table I've ever sat at and some of the play was just laughable. I've picked 3 spots for easy chips and just look for the opportunities to exploit them but sod and his law are not on my side. Where yesterday I couldn't fail to look down at suited connectors, pairs and big aces today they were replaced with J2o, Q5o and K3o if I was lucky.

It was definitely the most frustrating 3 hours of poker I've ever played as I fold my way through level after level. The problem with the table was it was full of calling stations, so while top pair top kicker would be paid off 90% of the time you still had to make a hand with some showdown value as bluffing was just pure suicide.

I managed to exploit one of my spots as I get AQ on A104 rainbow and he check calls to the river with K10 for 4k and end level 3 on 11k.

So to level 4 and 200/400. This is the stage I'm now looking to abuse my image and play much wider as its possible to get to a flop heads up and move people off hands as fishing becomes expensive.

Remain totally card and situation dead but about 30 mins in I get AhKd folded to me in the cutoff. I stole from here in the last orbit so increase my standard 3x raise to 1.1k in the hope the very active BB looks to 3 bet. Instead I get a flat call from the button who has been v tight but would 100% have reraised to protect with AA or KK.

The flop comes Ac 7s 4c and I elect to bet into hoping its seen as a continuation bet with a missed pair. I bet 2.1k and he tanks then shoves all-in. I'm certain its either AK, AQ or AJ here so I snap and he tables AQ with a big sigh and a NH, the dealer promptly turns a the Q and bricks off the river and I'm gone.

Yet another biggy where I exit the first time I'm in danger, its so frustrating this run and TBH I should have just unregistered today after yesterdays win cos its just so unlikely I'm going to run good 2 days on the trot.

More grinding

The time has come for me to sort out my online poker. No more 6000 runner MTT fields and spunking off the profits to PokerStars cash tables. My PS balance has been withdrawn and moved to a ipoker for some serious grinding at full ring $0.25/$0.50 with the odd realistic field MTT thrown in for good measure.

The process began 2 weeks ago and so far my initial £200 has been up and down all over the place. I've peaked at £420 and been down to £180 and been everywhere in between. The biggest problem with ipoker seems to be the lack of players and by restricting myself to 50BB minimum tables I'm always playing with about 5/10 regulars at each table.

My games definitely improving though and once I manage to eliminate stacking off with top/top and overpairs, I think I will be able to turn a pretty decent profit.

Live poker for the week was a Friday night session at both the G and Circus, both due to the fact I played like a complete turd at the G where I began.

AA UTG in the early rounds got me a small pot before losing it back with interest with 810o from the small blind on a 10c10d4cAh7c board with the button slow playing A10 to perfection. My exit was sealed having 3 bet preflop with AQ from the SB and seeing a AJ10 rainbow heads up. I bet out and the original raiser shipped it in, I figure he has AK or KK and unusual just gave my chips away with the call in the knowledge that I could play at Circus if it was AK and I missed my 16%. Sure enough it was AK and my gift was gratefully received.

So off to Circus where I had the pleasure of dealing myself bust twice. Played for about an hour in total here where trip 7s lost to a full house for 1st buy in and then 88 lost to a rivered 4 outer for AQ.

In other news I'm in discussions over some potential live staking that might lead to me playing some more £500+ games beginning with the CBMPT in Leeds but early days so fingers crossed.

Structurally Sound!

Been a while since I played live so decided to take a trip out last night and try my luck. On a Thursday I would normally opt for the Aspers £30 Deepstack game but was intrigued by a new structure being used in the £25 Freezeout at Circus.

The structure is based on their standard blinds with 7k starting stack but uses a 25 mins clock for the first 4 levels, 30 mins for the next 6 levels and then 35 mins for the remainder, basically giving a deepstacked game and increasing the play at the business end of the tournament without over extending the total time of the game.

Bit of a disappointing turnout with only 25 players but the game was good and I fancied an earlier finish with work in the morning anyhow. The deepness of the game didn't stop the usual crazies and the final table started at 11pm by which time I had seen only one premium hand and was constantly hovering around the 12k mark with 2 big chip leaders but no-one on under about 20BB.

The crazy play continued onto the FT with players dropping like flies and I got myself back in the hunt when someone reraised their AJ into my AA which held to give me 24k at 400/800, and we were 5 handed and in the money by 12pm and it was looking like an early night on the cards.

5th place was decided as someone decided to 3 bet all-in against the chip leader with A8 on an 875 board when it was clear the CL wasn't folding, he showed 87 and took his 50BB stack.

From there played out the most cautious 4 handed FT I have ever witnessed. The stack dynamics really didn't help as we had stacks of 20BB, 30BB (me) and the other two sharing about 200BB evenly, add to this no big hands colliding and we played on for about 1.5 hours 4 handed before the short stack finally waited too long to shove.

At 2.00am three handed and blinds up to 1k/2k, I decided to ramp it up a bit as sole shortstack and give myself a chance of winning (if 20BB can be seen as short). All was well and was merrily building a decent stack when I get AdQd on the button and make a standard raise to 5.5k. The BB and massive CL tanks then puts 45k into the middle, WTF, in the context of the game to this point this confuses the fuck out of me. Its a massive over bet and the first time the BB has done anything remotely like this.

It now comes down to why the fuck he does that, instantly rule out pairs QQ+ and leave myself on pairs I'm racing or the AQ, AJ or the dreaded AK. The other player has about 40k so I can fold and still ladder to 2nd but decide this is almost certainly a mid pair and go for the win.

So I reship and avoid the AK as he flips 88 and the board runs out 10d10c4sJd.............8d to brick making the nut flush and his house, so its good night but another decent performance and another quality game for the punters in Newcastle.

A cheery little ditty

(to the tune of Blaydon Races)

They all went down to Villa Park

Twas the 24th of May

Hoping God would smile on them

Upon the Sabbath Day

Proud as punch in stripey shirts

Cream of the Geordie nation

Ganning down to Birmingham

To see the relegation

Oh me lads

You should have seen them crying

Watching the shambles on the pitch

Premiership dreams a dying

All the lads and lasses there

All had gloomy faces

Ganning doon to the Championship

With all of shearers aces