Been grinding my roll up nicely on FTP of late mainly playing PLO HU at the $.25/.$50 levels. I have won about $600 in 3 days for an average of 4buyins a day, which I've been pleased with. I am using the pokertableratings tool a lot more now and it's definitely massively helping with my profit margins. I always used to want to play anyone and everyone HU thinking it'd be beneficial in improving my game. However, im older now and the money means more so I've accepted bumhunting is the way to go. I still take the occasional shot at a reg just to maintain some self respect tho ;). Ive also been going painfully deep in the massive field MTTs on FTP. On 5 occasions in the last week where ive finished in the top 50 of 1100+ entrant fields where 1st places have paid between $3k-$11k. It's annoying when youre sat for hours on end to win a few hundred $s when with a bit more luck it could be a $5k+ weeks. What I have accepted is that I will need to get some coaching on the latter stages of MTTs because it isn't just luck that I keep crashing out late in MTTs, I must be doing something wrong obviously!!
I spotted a south african player at a PLH .5/1 deep table earlier today. Looked him up on PTR and he was what I'd hoped, a massive fish. Running lifetime -16.32/bb across 14k hands. I sat with $200 and took a bit of a beating early on. I wasn't playing great and pot limit holdem is by no means by regular game so I was adjusting to the semantics of the match. After a while a few pure poker hands came up, where I wrestled a strong hold on the match. After i'd opened up a lead I proceeded to bulldoze him in one of the craziest matches ive played. When the dust had settled I was left with a $1.4k stack at plh100, which is fairly insane and had booked a $1k+ profit session. Felt bad as it was obvious the guy had busted his online account by the end of the match, but such is the nature of the beast.
Here are some of the big hands from what was an epic match:
sorry fucked up converter.
http://www.pokerhandreplays.com/view.php/id/1070278
http://www.pokerhandreplays.com/view.php/id/1070280
http://www.pokerhandreplays.com/view.php/id/1070341
http://www.pokerhandreplays.com/view.php/id/1070373
http://www.pokerhandreplays.com/view.php/id/1070375
http://www.pokerhandreplays.com/view.php/id/1070378
http://www.pokerhandreplays.com/view.php/id/1070380
http://www.pokerhandreplays.com/view.php/id/1070382
That's all folks
Le Goose
Friday, November 20, 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Back on the Horse
After some trials and tribulations I've finally returned to the felt in the form of some raunchy americanism. By which I mean I have transferred my roll from Interpoker to FTP. Im not really a suspicious type but I've had some bad beef with boss media this past few weeks and I figured I might be due a change of platform. Historically I haven't always done particularly well on Full Tilt but am hoping to change that this time. Im still getting rakeback on FTP so that's a relief and there are a fair few bonus for me to clear so it's all looking decent. Played some omaha on there last night making $100 or so in a hour and the quality seems very weak so that had me fairly buzzin'....I almost kicked it off with a bang when I went deep in the $5 rebuy $12k guaranteed. Unfortunately in the last 100 I just couldnt get much going and lost a huge flip with 55 vs AQ for the chip lead. After that I was fairly card dead and shoved K10 from the small blind and walked into 10 10 from the BB to finish 51/1133 for mediocre problem; shame as it was $3.7k ftw :(. There are two issues with the FTP tourns, firstly a lot of the good ones are a night which means playing a full schedule can fuck up your sleeping pattern. Secondly is the problem of fatigue with the tourns going deep into the night. Last night for example I was FUUUCCKKKIINNGG knackered from about 2am onwards (eventually busting from the $12k close to 5am). By the time of my bustout I was literally stuggling to keep my eyes open. That obviously has a negative impact on my game. For instance I probably wouldnt have taken the flip with 55 if I was wide awake backing my ability to pick up the small pots, however I was so tired I figured I'd either get a monster stack to give me a chance of winning it or I'd bust out. Looking forward to putting in some good volume once more.
Le Goose
*GGGRRRRR EDIT: WAS DEEP IN ANOTHER MTT TONITE 60 left, i was 46th, raised it pre with JJ, I get reraised and I jam, op decides hes priced in and eventually calls with 97o?! For a top 5 stack with $3.6k ftw, 9K5 flop was fine, 7 on the turn was not, A on the river was gay. Again I make a measly cash when it could have been a lot more :(!
Oh, but I did win 12 buy ins in 2 days playing plo50 HU :) not all bad!
Le Goose
*GGGRRRRR EDIT: WAS DEEP IN ANOTHER MTT TONITE 60 left, i was 46th, raised it pre with JJ, I get reraised and I jam, op decides hes priced in and eventually calls with 97o?! For a top 5 stack with $3.6k ftw, 9K5 flop was fine, 7 on the turn was not, A on the river was gay. Again I make a measly cash when it could have been a lot more :(!
Oh, but I did win 12 buy ins in 2 days playing plo50 HU :) not all bad!
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Cheeky Review/Update Post.
The online poker world has basically discerned into farse in the past week. Isildur1 has basically changed the whole outlook of gambling, poker and high stakes for years to come. In the past week he has come online and shipped profits of $6.1million from Dwan and Antonius mainly. Last night came concrete evidence that we're not dealing with a level headed swedish sicko, but a complete degen with mad skillz. There is no doubt that so far Isildur1 has done a supreme job of navigated matches onto 'his' terms, which, in turn, has produced devastating results for the young swede. However, last night he jumped into the biggest 7game online and still managed to book a win. Some of the hand histories were complete LOL as he didnt have a clue what he was doing in 5 of the 7 games, the fact that he still managed to book a win was a testament to the 'luck factor' involved with poker. It was almost sicknening/refreshing to see in two completely different ways. On one hand it showed the massive adsurdity of high stakes gambling from young adults. Isildur would have happily dropped a few $100k last night by merely entertaining himself for a few hours. Run that my your average wage slave in this country and they'd probably tear their fucking hair out haha. On the other hand I can of felt, 'you know what, good on the lad', he's absolutely destroyed FTP in the last week, he obviously loves gambling, and he's basically living the dream and enjoying himself whilst he does. It'll be interesting to see whether he sticks around or whether he'll just come, conquer and then fuck off; I'm sure we'll hear Hellmuth stating 'nobody will know who this kid is in 3 years'. Hellmuth might be a man of wisdom though. In the past year/18 months he has stated that 'Dwan is a superb player with ridiculous amount of talent, but he'll be gone and broke in a few years'. It's starting to painfully look like that might be the case, certainly in terms of Dwan's own cash anyway.
Hellmuth might have some sense behind his madness. In a recent interview Ivey said that what potentially makes him the best is not that he necessarily has the maddest skillz, but that he has great instinct, knowing when to increase his bets, when to go for gold, when to back down, when to play a 18hr session and when to play one table for 30mins. This struck a chord with me because it's something I have NEVER ever learnt to do. I always continue playing when stuck just to do anything to get out of a hole even when I know I'm noway near playing my A game. It's something that I'll need to learn to control if I ever hope to be successful because poker isn't profitable via pure degenism. It also seems Dwan has fallen into this trap, and now thats hes a member of Team Full Tilt and apparently close with some big dogs, it'll be interesting to see whether an Ivey/Antonius can have an affect on maturing him, making him think about game selection. Dwan is so popular because he is total degen, he just cares about winning every battle and being the best. This past week this attitude has led to his complete downfall and a MASSIVE downswings of profits for the online phenom. Earlier today he was found playing high stakes limit holdem (a game I can't imagine Dwan is +ev in above maybe the 1/2 level) against one of the best limit players in the world. It was obvious that Dwan had the last of his roll split across two FTP tables against the limit specialist and it was almost sad to see him busting his online roll again against a limit specialist. There are several posts on 2p2 about whether Dwan has the roll to withstand the hits hes taking at the moment (ffs hes 22 and has lost $6million in the last 8days!) and the likelihood is that he doesn't. I do however think people are underestimating Dwan's wealth. I think the kid has a serious amount of moolah (just from some articles ive read about how he had the primary suite at the Dorchester, the night before Whiney Houston stayed there a few ago etc) and I imagine he'll be terrorising the nosebleeds for a long time to come. Whether he can go on to make a comeback vs Isildur1 however, it looks very unlikely.
Can't give any updates on my own personal poker as my account hasnt been reopened yet @ interpoker and won't be until tomorrow as it is in the hands of the poker room manager and he only deals with such matters during 'business hours'...FUUCCKKK OFFFF INTERPOKER :) rant over.
As I mentioned in my previous post I went to see Harry Brown at the cinema the other night. On the whole I thought the film was decent. It starts really slowly, probably a little too slowly but as the film grows a bit of meat it becomes one of the movies that is very easily watchable. I guess I maybe expected something truely awesome and thus felt somewhat let down by what I saw. It wouldn't be massively unfair to suggest its a poor (and unfortunately British..) version of Gran Torino. And whilst Michael Caine was by far the best thing in the film, his performance did not match up to that of Eastwood in Gran Torino. A lot of the supporting cast was weak in my opinion. There seemed to be a certain romanticism behind the idea of portraying a load of scally hard knock kids in British films (Kidulthood etc) and this film was no different. Personally, I don't find it massively entertaining. I love the music of Plan B (Ben Drew), but in Harry Brown I felt Drew was terrible in this production. Felt like in trying to make his character 'real, or relatable' they actual achieved the exact opposite. Drew's character came across as vile and basically unwatchable. Jack O Connell (most notably known for being Cook in Skins) was the best of the supporting cast. I've always been impressed with his acting in Skins and I think he continued to excel himself in this production. He impressively looked like an actor portraying a east end youth rather than coming across merely as a scally from the east end of London (as Drew did). I felt the casting of Emily Mortimer and the chief detective was a huge error. Mortimer's performance just seemed nervous and out of context to me. I never felt like she made any connection with any of her fellow actors (despite an obvious attempt by the writers to strike a chord between her and Caine). The film is very watchable however, and its shock tactics keep you entertained well throughout and I'd say it's definitely worth going to see at the Cinema.
Over and out.
Le Goose
Hellmuth might have some sense behind his madness. In a recent interview Ivey said that what potentially makes him the best is not that he necessarily has the maddest skillz, but that he has great instinct, knowing when to increase his bets, when to go for gold, when to back down, when to play a 18hr session and when to play one table for 30mins. This struck a chord with me because it's something I have NEVER ever learnt to do. I always continue playing when stuck just to do anything to get out of a hole even when I know I'm noway near playing my A game. It's something that I'll need to learn to control if I ever hope to be successful because poker isn't profitable via pure degenism. It also seems Dwan has fallen into this trap, and now thats hes a member of Team Full Tilt and apparently close with some big dogs, it'll be interesting to see whether an Ivey/Antonius can have an affect on maturing him, making him think about game selection. Dwan is so popular because he is total degen, he just cares about winning every battle and being the best. This past week this attitude has led to his complete downfall and a MASSIVE downswings of profits for the online phenom. Earlier today he was found playing high stakes limit holdem (a game I can't imagine Dwan is +ev in above maybe the 1/2 level) against one of the best limit players in the world. It was obvious that Dwan had the last of his roll split across two FTP tables against the limit specialist and it was almost sad to see him busting his online roll again against a limit specialist. There are several posts on 2p2 about whether Dwan has the roll to withstand the hits hes taking at the moment (ffs hes 22 and has lost $6million in the last 8days!) and the likelihood is that he doesn't. I do however think people are underestimating Dwan's wealth. I think the kid has a serious amount of moolah (just from some articles ive read about how he had the primary suite at the Dorchester, the night before Whiney Houston stayed there a few ago etc) and I imagine he'll be terrorising the nosebleeds for a long time to come. Whether he can go on to make a comeback vs Isildur1 however, it looks very unlikely.
Can't give any updates on my own personal poker as my account hasnt been reopened yet @ interpoker and won't be until tomorrow as it is in the hands of the poker room manager and he only deals with such matters during 'business hours'...FUUCCKKK OFFFF INTERPOKER :) rant over.
As I mentioned in my previous post I went to see Harry Brown at the cinema the other night. On the whole I thought the film was decent. It starts really slowly, probably a little too slowly but as the film grows a bit of meat it becomes one of the movies that is very easily watchable. I guess I maybe expected something truely awesome and thus felt somewhat let down by what I saw. It wouldn't be massively unfair to suggest its a poor (and unfortunately British..) version of Gran Torino. And whilst Michael Caine was by far the best thing in the film, his performance did not match up to that of Eastwood in Gran Torino. A lot of the supporting cast was weak in my opinion. There seemed to be a certain romanticism behind the idea of portraying a load of scally hard knock kids in British films (Kidulthood etc) and this film was no different. Personally, I don't find it massively entertaining. I love the music of Plan B (Ben Drew), but in Harry Brown I felt Drew was terrible in this production. Felt like in trying to make his character 'real, or relatable' they actual achieved the exact opposite. Drew's character came across as vile and basically unwatchable. Jack O Connell (most notably known for being Cook in Skins) was the best of the supporting cast. I've always been impressed with his acting in Skins and I think he continued to excel himself in this production. He impressively looked like an actor portraying a east end youth rather than coming across merely as a scally from the east end of London (as Drew did). I felt the casting of Emily Mortimer and the chief detective was a huge error. Mortimer's performance just seemed nervous and out of context to me. I never felt like she made any connection with any of her fellow actors (despite an obvious attempt by the writers to strike a chord between her and Caine). The film is very watchable however, and its shock tactics keep you entertained well throughout and I'd say it's definitely worth going to see at the Cinema.
Over and out.
Le Goose
Friday, November 13, 2009
Oh FFS lol.
Well I was hoping to give a positive post about how I shipped an Omaha MTT and had some confidence back in my game. However, I can't do that. Earlier in the day I was running absolutely terribly during one of my sessions. Rather than get somewhat outwardly frustrated I decided to sort of steam off my venting in an email to the platinum team. To become platinum on Interpoker you have to play a lot, and consequently rake a lot (like most sites) and in turn you get a few perks etc on your account. Obviously I didn't believe one of those perks would be to take my 'shit' but I figured they wouldn't mind me venting in an email. Anyway, I thought the email had worked when I sat in a shorthanded omaha tournament (only 24 runners) and shipped it for £140 or so. Wasn't a huge win but it did regain some of my confidence after some bad weeks. I went out this evening to see the new Michael Cain film; Harry Brown. Will write up a review in a future post. On returning from the cinema I decided to load up Interpoker and put in a sesh. My account had been locked. I went to my email and had a reply from the platinum club informing me that they had come to the decision that it would be best to close my account!! Now this has severely pissed me off. I'm annoyed at myself because it would always been stupid to write an email venting to the poker room but at the time I was annoyed haa. But jesus, they jumped the gun bloody quick. I won't go into how much money was in my account but it was the mtt winnings and then some! Furthermore I'm due 4 figures in rakeback coming in which obviously I won't be able to get now. I'm literally still in shock a bit. I've since emailed them apologising for my email and requesting that they reopen my account and I'm guessing they probably will but it's no certainty.
So unless I decide to redeposit on a new site, which I don't want to do I'm a bit fucked as far as poker is concerned, especially as I wanted to take money of the site to put towards a trip to Latvia I have booked later this month. Has anyone ever had this happen to them? How was it resolved? What's the likelihood I'll ever see my money again? If anyone can answer these would be a great help.
Gl on the tarbs and don't piss off your pokerroom!
Le Goose
So unless I decide to redeposit on a new site, which I don't want to do I'm a bit fucked as far as poker is concerned, especially as I wanted to take money of the site to put towards a trip to Latvia I have booked later this month. Has anyone ever had this happen to them? How was it resolved? What's the likelihood I'll ever see my money again? If anyone can answer these would be a great help.
Gl on the tarbs and don't piss off your pokerroom!
Le Goose
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
ZOMFG?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?
INSANEEEEEEEEEEE. That is simply the only way the recent poker world action can be described with what has transpired over the last few days. There is so much to discuss and I shall leave it to order of importance.
The greatest poker battle ever?
In the past few days the FTP railtards have been treaties to the sick degenism (my new word for the OED) of all time. A few months a go a highstakes Swedish sicko called 'Martonas' came bursting onto the scene and changed the face of high stakes online play before eventually being bust by online phenom, Mr Thomas Dwan. Fast forward a few months and another swedish sicko is in the hooousseeee; Isildur1. Some have mused that Isildur1 is Martonas but it's been established now that clearly isn't the case. Isildur1 has epically destroyed Durrr in the last few days winning in excess of $3million. The argument is that this isn't merely a heater, there is a definite chance that Isildur1 could simply be the best NLHE HU player in the history of the game. Over the past 3 days Durrr and Isildur have played for 43hrs out of 72. Considering they're 6 tabling HEADS UP with millions on the line this is ridiculously sick. I actually cannot in anyway comprehend how the FUCK these two can do this. In 3 days theyve played 21k hands, just an obsurd amount. To put it in perspective they've knocked out the same amount as hands the durrr challenge has taken 8 months+ to do in 3 days!! Furthermore, the match is so sick that the durrr challenge is most likely dead now. As the Arctic Monkeys say; don't believe the hype. What has been hilarious is that once Ivey had been knocked out of the WSOP main event the majority of the poker world fucked the ME off and turned their attentions to the battle changing the face of online poker. Durrr has to be comended in a way. Many would call him stupid, but he's got to be the best by doing what he is currently; not turning away any opponent and playing to the death. Many are hailing Isildur as the current best and in truth it probably isn't a mantle he deserves....yet. Admittedly he is potentially now up 30buyins on Durrr, and altho very sick in 3 days it is in no way insumountable. Durrr has crushed it for years and has been hailed as the very best for good reason, the boy is truly sick. It doesn't look like letting up and although the two will be on an extended break whilst Durrr goes to play HSP it looks certain the two will clash sometime again next week. It will be fascinating to see how Durrr plays on HSP, which apparently begins filming today (6th season). The buy in for example is a mere $200k (lol?!) and considering durrr has recently been dealing in games with 10x this amount its questionable whether he'll have the patience for the 'lower stakes'. Hopefully Durrr will bring his A game because it has been a joy to watch him is HSP so far where he absolutely dominated last series. Insanely Durrr invited Isildur to come play HSP. It's unlikely to happen as its the producers who pick the line up and they always tend to opt for 'name players'. It is good to see Durrr's respect for his opponent despite being down an insane $3million so far. The other coal in the fire is that Durrr has just, somewhat inevitably, become a member of 'Team Full Tilt'. I think this is something everybody envisaged. Great Marketing by the FTP team that this news is announced as Durrr is in the middle of the greatest match in online history. For Durrr's sake the deal will potentially mean lifetime financial security (as I imagine a small stake in the $6billion FTP will have been offered to Dwan), which considering his losses of late will put his mind somewhat at ease. Dwan is a special creature because the money will mean nothing to him. A lot of people are asking 'how the fuck can he sleep after a 12hr 6 tabling HU sesh where he loses $1.5million', and the answer is simple; easily. Well not quite easily, because the boy loves poker and wants to continue playing at all times, but he sure as hell won't be worrying about the $s wasted. In his defence, Isildur (rumoured to be 21ish..insane!) seems to adhere a similar level of degeneracy, and I doubt he has the bankroll that Durrr is working off. It'll be fascinating when the eventually identity of the boy is revealed and it's likely to be a name the whole poker world stands up and takes notice of for a long time. It'll be interesting to see what further transpires between these two competitors in the coming weeks, and whether any other player decides to take on Isildur in Dwan's absence, I can't imagine many who will jump at the oppurtunity.
As I stated earlier the WSOP Main Event eventually sort of drifted into boredom with the ridiculous action going down on FTP. It was taken down by 21 year old Joe Cada, now the youngest winner ever, and it was a massive letdown; imo. Cada apparently is a decent online player, a HSNL reg etc so he probably isn't the fish that many seems to think he is. He did, however, run like god on the final table. Considering some of the players at the table this has to be one of the worst final tables in WSOP history. After Ivey went down AK vs Moon's AQ it was no longer an event tbh. Apparently half the Penn & Teller theatre cleared out for instance!lol! The play 4 handed was a joke with players shoving for 40big blinds into 2 big blind pots with blatantly marginal hands. Saout seemed like he played the best stuff but he made a huge error with how he played his 8s and didnt need to get into a race situation in that spot, it was an error that cost him the title. Moon in fairness epitomised the main event and the overwhelming fact that poker is, short term, a blatant game of luck. Can't hate on the guy though because he never proclaimed to be a great player and he did drive most of the action on the final table, even if he did get lucky time after time. Really felt for Akenhead, after getting back into it fortuitously it was horrible to see him run KK into AA, horribly depicted by ESPN too, wasn't happy with it. Overally, the WSOP main event was a major letdown and not a very good advertisement for the game :(.
Personally, I'm getting killed online at the moment. Playing 10 hours sessions with terrible decision making is runing any chance of substantial profits. Still think Im one of the better ssnl/msnl in interpoker and the way I epically destroy the PLO tables sometimes is hilarious. I just tend to run terribly in the NLHE cash games, particularly nl100. That just tilts me and I get off my A game, but meh excuses excuses. I busted 17/72 in the platinum VIP tourn last night shoving J8o and finding AA in the BB (he had KK 3 hands earlier, run better please); still...*wp gg me. Will jump back on the horse soon enough, would be nice to win sometime :) haha. Still smilin'...
Cheers to those who read this essssssaayyyy, just something I find immensely interesting and had to discuss.
Gl on le tarbs all.
El Goosey
The greatest poker battle ever?
In the past few days the FTP railtards have been treaties to the sick degenism (my new word for the OED) of all time. A few months a go a highstakes Swedish sicko called 'Martonas' came bursting onto the scene and changed the face of high stakes online play before eventually being bust by online phenom, Mr Thomas Dwan. Fast forward a few months and another swedish sicko is in the hooousseeee; Isildur1. Some have mused that Isildur1 is Martonas but it's been established now that clearly isn't the case. Isildur1 has epically destroyed Durrr in the last few days winning in excess of $3million. The argument is that this isn't merely a heater, there is a definite chance that Isildur1 could simply be the best NLHE HU player in the history of the game. Over the past 3 days Durrr and Isildur have played for 43hrs out of 72. Considering they're 6 tabling HEADS UP with millions on the line this is ridiculously sick. I actually cannot in anyway comprehend how the FUCK these two can do this. In 3 days theyve played 21k hands, just an obsurd amount. To put it in perspective they've knocked out the same amount as hands the durrr challenge has taken 8 months+ to do in 3 days!! Furthermore, the match is so sick that the durrr challenge is most likely dead now. As the Arctic Monkeys say; don't believe the hype. What has been hilarious is that once Ivey had been knocked out of the WSOP main event the majority of the poker world fucked the ME off and turned their attentions to the battle changing the face of online poker. Durrr has to be comended in a way. Many would call him stupid, but he's got to be the best by doing what he is currently; not turning away any opponent and playing to the death. Many are hailing Isildur as the current best and in truth it probably isn't a mantle he deserves....yet. Admittedly he is potentially now up 30buyins on Durrr, and altho very sick in 3 days it is in no way insumountable. Durrr has crushed it for years and has been hailed as the very best for good reason, the boy is truly sick. It doesn't look like letting up and although the two will be on an extended break whilst Durrr goes to play HSP it looks certain the two will clash sometime again next week. It will be fascinating to see how Durrr plays on HSP, which apparently begins filming today (6th season). The buy in for example is a mere $200k (lol?!) and considering durrr has recently been dealing in games with 10x this amount its questionable whether he'll have the patience for the 'lower stakes'. Hopefully Durrr will bring his A game because it has been a joy to watch him is HSP so far where he absolutely dominated last series. Insanely Durrr invited Isildur to come play HSP. It's unlikely to happen as its the producers who pick the line up and they always tend to opt for 'name players'. It is good to see Durrr's respect for his opponent despite being down an insane $3million so far. The other coal in the fire is that Durrr has just, somewhat inevitably, become a member of 'Team Full Tilt'. I think this is something everybody envisaged. Great Marketing by the FTP team that this news is announced as Durrr is in the middle of the greatest match in online history. For Durrr's sake the deal will potentially mean lifetime financial security (as I imagine a small stake in the $6billion FTP will have been offered to Dwan), which considering his losses of late will put his mind somewhat at ease. Dwan is a special creature because the money will mean nothing to him. A lot of people are asking 'how the fuck can he sleep after a 12hr 6 tabling HU sesh where he loses $1.5million', and the answer is simple; easily. Well not quite easily, because the boy loves poker and wants to continue playing at all times, but he sure as hell won't be worrying about the $s wasted. In his defence, Isildur (rumoured to be 21ish..insane!) seems to adhere a similar level of degeneracy, and I doubt he has the bankroll that Durrr is working off. It'll be fascinating when the eventually identity of the boy is revealed and it's likely to be a name the whole poker world stands up and takes notice of for a long time. It'll be interesting to see what further transpires between these two competitors in the coming weeks, and whether any other player decides to take on Isildur in Dwan's absence, I can't imagine many who will jump at the oppurtunity.
As I stated earlier the WSOP Main Event eventually sort of drifted into boredom with the ridiculous action going down on FTP. It was taken down by 21 year old Joe Cada, now the youngest winner ever, and it was a massive letdown; imo. Cada apparently is a decent online player, a HSNL reg etc so he probably isn't the fish that many seems to think he is. He did, however, run like god on the final table. Considering some of the players at the table this has to be one of the worst final tables in WSOP history. After Ivey went down AK vs Moon's AQ it was no longer an event tbh. Apparently half the Penn & Teller theatre cleared out for instance!lol! The play 4 handed was a joke with players shoving for 40big blinds into 2 big blind pots with blatantly marginal hands. Saout seemed like he played the best stuff but he made a huge error with how he played his 8s and didnt need to get into a race situation in that spot, it was an error that cost him the title. Moon in fairness epitomised the main event and the overwhelming fact that poker is, short term, a blatant game of luck. Can't hate on the guy though because he never proclaimed to be a great player and he did drive most of the action on the final table, even if he did get lucky time after time. Really felt for Akenhead, after getting back into it fortuitously it was horrible to see him run KK into AA, horribly depicted by ESPN too, wasn't happy with it. Overally, the WSOP main event was a major letdown and not a very good advertisement for the game :(.
Personally, I'm getting killed online at the moment. Playing 10 hours sessions with terrible decision making is runing any chance of substantial profits. Still think Im one of the better ssnl/msnl in interpoker and the way I epically destroy the PLO tables sometimes is hilarious. I just tend to run terribly in the NLHE cash games, particularly nl100. That just tilts me and I get off my A game, but meh excuses excuses. I busted 17/72 in the platinum VIP tourn last night shoving J8o and finding AA in the BB (he had KK 3 hands earlier, run better please); still...*wp gg me. Will jump back on the horse soon enough, would be nice to win sometime :) haha. Still smilin'...
Cheers to those who read this essssssaayyyy, just something I find immensely interesting and had to discuss.
Gl on le tarbs all.
El Goosey
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Epic Disappointment.
WSOP MAIN EVENT FINAL TABLE.
Won't discuss anymore till later in the week to avoid spoilers.
:( Le Goose
Won't discuss anymore till later in the week to avoid spoilers.
:( Le Goose
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Etiquette lessons.
I was browsing 2p2 earlier today in the November high stakes thread. As per usual, there was the usual array of complete and utter shite in NVG but there arose a particular debate over the etiquette of one of online poker's most respected young stars; Cole South (CTS). Cole, in my opinion, has always come across as a very level headed guy, potentially a bit smarmy on occasions, particular alongside benefiled/caby in the PAD appearance, but on the whole you have to respect his persona considering the sick nature of his regular games. The debate was fumed because recently Cole has been polite, perhaps overly polite, to a new high stakes spewer called Isildur. Many argue Cole is being somewhat facetious with his interaction with Isildur to ensure he continues to give him action. Considering Cole is now up comfortably in excess of $1mil on Isildur you can appreciate him wanting to give him every oppurtunity to stay in the games. Isildur has also always reciprocated a similar level of civility considering these guys are playing games where $1million swings wouldn't be an uncommon occurence. For my 2cents I think the interaction between this two high stakes player is admirable, espeicially considering the money involved and the fact that are playing HU; the most overly competitive form of the game by a long way.
It made me consider poker at all levels, and at the levels I play at in particular. The reason I don't agree with the berating of Cole, and why I find his persona at the table so admirable is because you rarely find it in online pokers. There are a lot of players, especially the high stakes regulars who have superb tilt control, but the majority of the biggest stars cant maintain a friendly aura on the felt (Dwan/Dangs vs FullFlush being the prime example). Most players at nl100 and 20/30euros stts are absolute wankers. I get on well with some 6max players on Inter where we all clearly respect each others games but apart from that I have cold blood with 80% of the opponents I face; figure is closer to 95% heads up. What is amazing about Isildur and CTS is that acting that politely can potentially be giving up a weakness in HU. I know in the past I've tilted to other players who have laughed and jibed me after continually sucking out. My mate who doesn't play poker has told me to pretend the chat box isn't there, because he appreciates how much it affects my profits. The biggest weakness most online players have in their game is ego. Once ego gets involved you'll never see someone play their A game. Ego is an emotion, and emotions should be kept clear of the felt in my opinion. The other issue I guess at SSNL is that money simply matters more. I find myself getting emotional in pots because I know the money still matters to me, and I can't help looking at the $s tick up and down.
I guess today I've learnt that if one can maintain an excellent etiquette at the table and just focus their game on making good poker decisions they are going to win much more often. I've figured that it's just important to not care less if some pleb gives you shit for winning a pot of you as it is to not give a flying fuck if your KK is cracked by K2 all in pre flop. A clear mind and conscience will inevitably result in better profits.
Le Goose
It made me consider poker at all levels, and at the levels I play at in particular. The reason I don't agree with the berating of Cole, and why I find his persona at the table so admirable is because you rarely find it in online pokers. There are a lot of players, especially the high stakes regulars who have superb tilt control, but the majority of the biggest stars cant maintain a friendly aura on the felt (Dwan/Dangs vs FullFlush being the prime example). Most players at nl100 and 20/30euros stts are absolute wankers. I get on well with some 6max players on Inter where we all clearly respect each others games but apart from that I have cold blood with 80% of the opponents I face; figure is closer to 95% heads up. What is amazing about Isildur and CTS is that acting that politely can potentially be giving up a weakness in HU. I know in the past I've tilted to other players who have laughed and jibed me after continually sucking out. My mate who doesn't play poker has told me to pretend the chat box isn't there, because he appreciates how much it affects my profits. The biggest weakness most online players have in their game is ego. Once ego gets involved you'll never see someone play their A game. Ego is an emotion, and emotions should be kept clear of the felt in my opinion. The other issue I guess at SSNL is that money simply matters more. I find myself getting emotional in pots because I know the money still matters to me, and I can't help looking at the $s tick up and down.
I guess today I've learnt that if one can maintain an excellent etiquette at the table and just focus their game on making good poker decisions they are going to win much more often. I've figured that it's just important to not care less if some pleb gives you shit for winning a pot of you as it is to not give a flying fuck if your KK is cracked by K2 all in pre flop. A clear mind and conscience will inevitably result in better profits.
Le Goose
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Stubborn Fucker.
One of the greatest aspects needed to be a good poker player is knowing when it's time to pull out, and game selection. I did a fantastictly shite job of adhering to both yesterday. I sat down at some 50nl HU (50euros) and played a guy called RixFM yesterday. I ended up dropping 400euros (8 buy ins) to him. I played absolutely terrible after taking some fairly sick beats at the start of the match. The deck was literally slapping this guy in the face but to be fair I just kept paying him off when I knew I was behind. My game completely lost all credit because I was chasing losses. The guy acted like a complete wanker in chat too at the start when he on me and surprisingly I let that get to me too. Fact of the matter is, I wasn't in the right mindset to play any poker, espescially not heads up where a strong mentality is required at all times. To drop 8 buy ins isn't too mental heads up, and in aggressive matches its close to standard. It is, however, comfortably the largest amount of buy ins ive lost at that level.
So where to now? I get back on the horse, nuff said. It has been said that in the face of adversity we come back stronger and I hope to emulate this idea. I am probably going to drop and play stts for a while. Turbo STTs have a lot of variance but I think they are beatable for a decent ROI just by playing good stt strategy. I will try and play over 1000 of these before moving back to the cash games.
Once again tilt control and game selection has come back to bite me in a educational, if not a wee painful way.
Enjoy le felt,
El Goose
So where to now? I get back on the horse, nuff said. It has been said that in the face of adversity we come back stronger and I hope to emulate this idea. I am probably going to drop and play stts for a while. Turbo STTs have a lot of variance but I think they are beatable for a decent ROI just by playing good stt strategy. I will try and play over 1000 of these before moving back to the cash games.
Once again tilt control and game selection has come back to bite me in a educational, if not a wee painful way.
Enjoy le felt,
El Goose
Sunday, November 1, 2009
[ ] shot taking went well.
Ok im an uber techno noob, so first off if anyone knows how to rip hand histories from the IPN network by all means pllleeeeasssee let me know.
Took a shot today at the 40euro HU SnGs today on Interpoker and the epic run bad continued. At one point I lost 9 in a row against a fish with a -16% roi (-$16.3k). For me dropping close to 400euros is a big hit and it hurt prrreeetty bad. In the end I won a few at the end and then ran 10 10 into AA pre flop and he quit with me down about £200. It just pisses me off, like obviously there are lots of good players nowadays, but I do think the difference between 10/20 regs, or £100/£200 (in terms of stts buy in) regs is how well they run when taking a shot. Godders was a sick player (used to write on this blog) but I know he got up to 25/50 because of a very successful shot for instance. Everytime I take a shot I seem to get horrifically beat up. Today was just insane. I had my opponent, whos name I won't display because I want ALL his action once i've rebuilt the roll, down to 3 outs in 8 of the 9 matches in a row he won. It was simply insane, the guy just kept binking left, right and centre. I don't want to sound like FullFlush but in spots I didnt need to get my money in because I was 'too good' to be flipping vs him; i was too good to be getting it in 65/35% if im honest and in fairness I think I tilted after a while. It was no doubt a sick session for me, and one as a poker player i'll simply take on the chin and move on. I figure now I'll grind back the 10euro Stts and i won back £60 of that £200 playing them at the end of the session today. Those who know my username on interpoker will be clearly able to see where by sick 'shot gone wrong' happened as I fell from grace faster than atomic kitten.
It's pissed me off to start the month with a losing day, especially after a terrible end to october. I know at the moment that im primarily running terribly rather than playing particularly bad. I think I need to be a little more dilligent with my game selection and lose the 'my bollocks are massive, lets dance rummy' mentality I often possess on the felt. I've decided to stop playing cash for the time being. In my opinion you need at least a few £k online to make cash worthwhile and sadly after running bad and withdrawals that isn't the case for me. I did play some HU PLO this morning and busted some russian guys account but decided to bank the winnings from that; inssttaannttly regret that decision now :P.
Meh, for fucckkkss sake just let me run good one fucking time you twats....ahhhhhh all better..
Le Goose
**edit....
Went deep in the 3500gtd (had a 4450 prize pool) £1k ftw.
2nd with 8 left...and find KK
raise it and find a caller in the chip leader
flop comes an ugly J109, i bet, he shoves i call, he had 88.
7 on the turn never in doubt.
And the run continues for the man who runs the worst, comfortably in the world, deep in mtts. A goose classic. got £100 for my troubles, off to find the vodka and paracetamols :) happy days.
Took a shot today at the 40euro HU SnGs today on Interpoker and the epic run bad continued. At one point I lost 9 in a row against a fish with a -16% roi (-$16.3k). For me dropping close to 400euros is a big hit and it hurt prrreeetty bad. In the end I won a few at the end and then ran 10 10 into AA pre flop and he quit with me down about £200. It just pisses me off, like obviously there are lots of good players nowadays, but I do think the difference between 10/20 regs, or £100/£200 (in terms of stts buy in) regs is how well they run when taking a shot. Godders was a sick player (used to write on this blog) but I know he got up to 25/50 because of a very successful shot for instance. Everytime I take a shot I seem to get horrifically beat up. Today was just insane. I had my opponent, whos name I won't display because I want ALL his action once i've rebuilt the roll, down to 3 outs in 8 of the 9 matches in a row he won. It was simply insane, the guy just kept binking left, right and centre. I don't want to sound like FullFlush but in spots I didnt need to get my money in because I was 'too good' to be flipping vs him; i was too good to be getting it in 65/35% if im honest and in fairness I think I tilted after a while. It was no doubt a sick session for me, and one as a poker player i'll simply take on the chin and move on. I figure now I'll grind back the 10euro Stts and i won back £60 of that £200 playing them at the end of the session today. Those who know my username on interpoker will be clearly able to see where by sick 'shot gone wrong' happened as I fell from grace faster than atomic kitten.
It's pissed me off to start the month with a losing day, especially after a terrible end to october. I know at the moment that im primarily running terribly rather than playing particularly bad. I think I need to be a little more dilligent with my game selection and lose the 'my bollocks are massive, lets dance rummy' mentality I often possess on the felt. I've decided to stop playing cash for the time being. In my opinion you need at least a few £k online to make cash worthwhile and sadly after running bad and withdrawals that isn't the case for me. I did play some HU PLO this morning and busted some russian guys account but decided to bank the winnings from that; inssttaannttly regret that decision now :P.
Meh, for fucckkkss sake just let me run good one fucking time you twats....ahhhhhh all better..
Le Goose
**edit....
Went deep in the 3500gtd (had a 4450 prize pool) £1k ftw.
2nd with 8 left...and find KK
raise it and find a caller in the chip leader
flop comes an ugly J109, i bet, he shoves i call, he had 88.
7 on the turn never in doubt.
And the run continues for the man who runs the worst, comfortably in the world, deep in mtts. A goose classic. got £100 for my troubles, off to find the vodka and paracetamols :) happy days.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
End of the Month Review/Rant/General Musings/Fml.
Wellll seeing as Interpoker has been bashing me around like a cockney husband and his 'missus' i'll bring the poker month to a premature close for October. I'm definitely done for Oct now, I am eating back into profits and I want to retain it as at least a £2k+ month (which at the moment it is). I have simply ran so bad in the past few days and literally feel like the doomswitch has been flicked. I've not been that bothered though really, no one can win everyday at poker and it's a fact that is lost of most of the general public. They see a losing session/losing day as a reason to shit their pants when really that isn't required. Ive had probably 22/23 winnings days this month and it has resulted in my best profits for a long time. It is true that they say, the winning never feels good like the losing feels bad. I should be buzzed, my game has been shit hot this month and I feel I play nlhe cash at a fairly advanced level now. However, i have been murdered in the last few days, and example of which i just want to share:
NL100 cash.
Hero: $128 Villain: $227
I raised in position to $3.50 with 6s6h, villain calls out of the SB.
Flop: Js5h4h
Pretty good flop for our hand. His range out of the SB is massive as he's played nearly everyhand since he's sat. He's been slamming literally every flop and hence had doubled fairly quickly. I c-bet here $5, and he quickly calls.
Turn: 6c
Bingo! Perfect card for our hand as he isn't going to lay J here like ever. Villain now leads the turn for $20. Two things struck me here, firstly it wasn't uncommon for him to lead this turn. At nl100 a lot of float plays usually go down with the villain donking into me on the turn. Secondly, I was sure now that he has some sort of hand because he big bet his made hands. The issue I faced here is that I didn't want to lose my customer because I think after he's led he will fold some weak Js (J10/J9/maybe QJ) if I jam. So i decide to take a riskier option and flat call to peel one off.
River: 10s
The river is absolutely golden for my hand. It's close to a perfect blank. I know that J10type hands are a big part of his range, in which case I think he is never folding his hand. It also means that flush draws have missed so being in position a lot of my work is done. He's always going to fire a barrel at this river with J10/any J and all his missed flush draws because my hand is 88/77/99 a lot in his perspective here. On the river he massively overbets $78 into the pot and I want to throw up and should probably fold here. It sounds insane but at nl100, especially from the weaker players, the river overbet almost always signify's the nuts, and v occasional a complete spew bluff. I know he is never betting a QJish hand in this manner. I don't even think he bets a J10 to this degree. I know in my mind he has 78 at this point or a missed flush draw/some funky 67/57 he's turning into a spewy bluff. Eventually I decided that folding the set here was uber weak and shove over the top for like $20ish more. He times for about 1minute!! So now im celebrating thinking im about to ship a big pot and he goes and calls eventually, flips 7h8s, gg me...gg october.
This hand was just a prime example of how the end of October has been for me. In all honesty I think I SHOULD probably fold the river here most of the time, because he hand is literally the nuts in this spot like 90% of the time. However, at the time I was tilted as a fish had just quit me HU and I figured it was kind of a cooler spot and just hoped he would flip the missed flush draw one time.
I think on the whole I can't complain poker wise, I achieved and exceeded most of my October goals and it was a successful month. I've been feeling weird of late though and haven't been enjoying my poker. I guess I'm in that zone where I know there is more to life than poker, and it's definitely true. It's also easy to feel like this when i've had a rough end of month being beat up on Interpoker, bubbling the live MTT on monday etc. In my next post I will outlay some of my monthly objectives for November.
Watched the latest installments of the WSOP Main Event last night. I think ESPN actually do a good job in terms of creating the buzz/excitement synonymous with the main event, even if they don't do a great job of showing top quality poker. It seems this deep run has brought Ivey out of his shell 'media wise'. In the past few episodes he's seemed really chatty, smiley at the table and just seems a lot more socially outgoing. Maybe that's what he's always been like and hasn't felt like expressing in it when he's grinding smaller buy in tourns but it does seem like a noticeable change. Im definitely on the Ivey bandwagon for winning this tourney. I think it'd be good for poker and I think it'd be class for Ivey, because fact of the matter is..the guy is the best, by far the best. I also like the quintessential way in which they depict the 'British' James Akenhead. For the record I think James comes across really well in the tournament, and for a reserved guy it's refreshing to see the main event brings out the excitement in him too.
Gl to all on le felt, October done for le goose.
Le Goose
NL100 cash.
Hero: $128 Villain: $227
I raised in position to $3.50 with 6s6h, villain calls out of the SB.
Flop: Js5h4h
Pretty good flop for our hand. His range out of the SB is massive as he's played nearly everyhand since he's sat. He's been slamming literally every flop and hence had doubled fairly quickly. I c-bet here $5, and he quickly calls.
Turn: 6c
Bingo! Perfect card for our hand as he isn't going to lay J here like ever. Villain now leads the turn for $20. Two things struck me here, firstly it wasn't uncommon for him to lead this turn. At nl100 a lot of float plays usually go down with the villain donking into me on the turn. Secondly, I was sure now that he has some sort of hand because he big bet his made hands. The issue I faced here is that I didn't want to lose my customer because I think after he's led he will fold some weak Js (J10/J9/maybe QJ) if I jam. So i decide to take a riskier option and flat call to peel one off.
River: 10s
The river is absolutely golden for my hand. It's close to a perfect blank. I know that J10type hands are a big part of his range, in which case I think he is never folding his hand. It also means that flush draws have missed so being in position a lot of my work is done. He's always going to fire a barrel at this river with J10/any J and all his missed flush draws because my hand is 88/77/99 a lot in his perspective here. On the river he massively overbets $78 into the pot and I want to throw up and should probably fold here. It sounds insane but at nl100, especially from the weaker players, the river overbet almost always signify's the nuts, and v occasional a complete spew bluff. I know he is never betting a QJish hand in this manner. I don't even think he bets a J10 to this degree. I know in my mind he has 78 at this point or a missed flush draw/some funky 67/57 he's turning into a spewy bluff. Eventually I decided that folding the set here was uber weak and shove over the top for like $20ish more. He times for about 1minute!! So now im celebrating thinking im about to ship a big pot and he goes and calls eventually, flips 7h8s, gg me...gg october.
This hand was just a prime example of how the end of October has been for me. In all honesty I think I SHOULD probably fold the river here most of the time, because he hand is literally the nuts in this spot like 90% of the time. However, at the time I was tilted as a fish had just quit me HU and I figured it was kind of a cooler spot and just hoped he would flip the missed flush draw one time.
I think on the whole I can't complain poker wise, I achieved and exceeded most of my October goals and it was a successful month. I've been feeling weird of late though and haven't been enjoying my poker. I guess I'm in that zone where I know there is more to life than poker, and it's definitely true. It's also easy to feel like this when i've had a rough end of month being beat up on Interpoker, bubbling the live MTT on monday etc. In my next post I will outlay some of my monthly objectives for November.
Watched the latest installments of the WSOP Main Event last night. I think ESPN actually do a good job in terms of creating the buzz/excitement synonymous with the main event, even if they don't do a great job of showing top quality poker. It seems this deep run has brought Ivey out of his shell 'media wise'. In the past few episodes he's seemed really chatty, smiley at the table and just seems a lot more socially outgoing. Maybe that's what he's always been like and hasn't felt like expressing in it when he's grinding smaller buy in tourns but it does seem like a noticeable change. Im definitely on the Ivey bandwagon for winning this tourney. I think it'd be good for poker and I think it'd be class for Ivey, because fact of the matter is..the guy is the best, by far the best. I also like the quintessential way in which they depict the 'British' James Akenhead. For the record I think James comes across really well in the tournament, and for a reserved guy it's refreshing to see the main event brings out the excitement in him too.
Gl to all on le felt, October done for le goose.
Le Goose
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Local Celebrities.
Boom, boomtown, boomcity. Finally the crew (or to be exact me and Bates) got our recognition we deserved last night when the cocktail waitress, the fittest one there I may add, said 'you always do really well you two', as me and Bates were chillin' on one of the breaks. Its about time people stood up and took notice of the shear dominance the boomtown bring to live tournaments @ the G :) Unfortunately the lil' cutie dishing cocktails spoke too quickly as Bates crashed shortly after in 17/60 and I went on to bubble 11/60.
The way I bubbled was pretty hilarious/complete noobness. I shoved 53o UTG and promptly picked up a caller in the SB for half my chips. SB had AQ, but I had accidently pushed my cards into the muck in a moment of retardation, and he recieved a double up with no sweat; wp me. Later I shoved A4dd with 21k @ 1.5k/3k blinds and received a caller with KQo; 22Q64 board meant it was a leisurely bubble night for the goose. It was a good night overall though, still ended up for the night, thanks to some steady syndicate work on the roulette table. I also had a fellow reg buying me pints as he 'enjoyed my banter' when I was drunk, so couldn't complain really. Will be heading back to the G on thursday probably for the 30quid rebuy, where I suspect it'l be 1k+ ftw, so shipping that one time would be swweeettt.
In all honesty it's looking like a slow end to October. I'm kind of twiddling my thumbs waiting for November to begin in fairness. It looks like i've consolidated my position in the RTR rake race, so Im not thriving to make a few $hundred in rake. I will probs play a wee bit of cash over the next few days to see if I can tip the monthly profits up a little more but in fairness I've hit and comfortably exceeded my monthly goals so I'm fairly content. Speaking of monthly goals, if anyone has any ideas what a nl100 grinder can aim for 'outside the box' then by all means feel free to drop a cheeky comment etc.
I'll update at the end of the month, planning on playing a few large MTTs so hopefully I'll run goot one time yah and shippity shipship teh monieezz :)
Le Goose
The way I bubbled was pretty hilarious/complete noobness. I shoved 53o UTG and promptly picked up a caller in the SB for half my chips. SB had AQ, but I had accidently pushed my cards into the muck in a moment of retardation, and he recieved a double up with no sweat; wp me. Later I shoved A4dd with 21k @ 1.5k/3k blinds and received a caller with KQo; 22Q64 board meant it was a leisurely bubble night for the goose. It was a good night overall though, still ended up for the night, thanks to some steady syndicate work on the roulette table. I also had a fellow reg buying me pints as he 'enjoyed my banter' when I was drunk, so couldn't complain really. Will be heading back to the G on thursday probably for the 30quid rebuy, where I suspect it'l be 1k+ ftw, so shipping that one time would be swweeettt.
In all honesty it's looking like a slow end to October. I'm kind of twiddling my thumbs waiting for November to begin in fairness. It looks like i've consolidated my position in the RTR rake race, so Im not thriving to make a few $hundred in rake. I will probs play a wee bit of cash over the next few days to see if I can tip the monthly profits up a little more but in fairness I've hit and comfortably exceeded my monthly goals so I'm fairly content. Speaking of monthly goals, if anyone has any ideas what a nl100 grinder can aim for 'outside the box' then by all means feel free to drop a cheeky comment etc.
I'll update at the end of the month, planning on playing a few large MTTs so hopefully I'll run goot one time yah and shippity shipship teh monieezz :)
Le Goose
Sunday, October 25, 2009
What a difference a post makes!...er, almost.
Well, well, well. Since my latest blog post on the psychee of poker my game has improved immeasurably. I'll be honest, there were times last week where I doubted whether I'd ever win at poker again. I figured I was just playing terribly, but I have no doubt that some of it was down to running poorly. The past few days I've been on a tear again, I won 9 buy ins one night at omaha and then went and tore up the NLH games, which are laughably poor. I put 'almost' in the blog title as I hit the old demons and gashed some money on the roulette tables whilst drunk..financially it didnt hurt me too badly but mentally it was an unneeded stumbling block.
Ive been thinking about whether the financial pro's of playing poker outweigh the cons of doing a very secluded activity to earn a crust. Recently my ex moved to Manchester, started a new job and has been staying at my pad. Her job is your standard £7/phish customer service job, which seem to be invading most cities considering the current climate. The 'pseudo-intellectual' side of us poker player would simply go 'pffftt' at that salary, at that role. But I'm beginning to envy her already. She has structure, she has made new friends, her salary is constant, there is little stress...i could go on and on. At the moment im currently on track for about a £2/2.2k+ month from poker for October (unless I have a crazy last week of the month). Now for the stakes I play that a decent month, arguably a very good month. I don't usually like discussing figures in blog posts as I think its very personal, and this will be the last blog post where I do so. I've made an 'executive' decision that if I don't clear at least £2k+ again next month, and for the coming months then I'll will discard poker to the 'hobby' list, and go in hunt of a 'proper job'. I use £2k as after tax this is a figure I will never acquire in the professional world for a long time (probably). The other main issue I fight is that my parents hate poker, and hate the idea of it. I think if I have consecutive months of making £2k+ then they will be a little bit more on board but the likelihood is they will always be ashamed to have a son who makes his living from poker. It'll always be an insumountable mountain in many ways. I guess the reason I stick with poker is that I love it, and Bob Dylan once proclaimed that 'a man's success can be measured on whether when we wakes up and goes to bed he's enjoyed what he has done in between'.
I just fancied chatting some bs, hope y'all enjoyed.
Le Goose
Ive been thinking about whether the financial pro's of playing poker outweigh the cons of doing a very secluded activity to earn a crust. Recently my ex moved to Manchester, started a new job and has been staying at my pad. Her job is your standard £7/phish customer service job, which seem to be invading most cities considering the current climate. The 'pseudo-intellectual' side of us poker player would simply go 'pffftt' at that salary, at that role. But I'm beginning to envy her already. She has structure, she has made new friends, her salary is constant, there is little stress...i could go on and on. At the moment im currently on track for about a £2/2.2k+ month from poker for October (unless I have a crazy last week of the month). Now for the stakes I play that a decent month, arguably a very good month. I don't usually like discussing figures in blog posts as I think its very personal, and this will be the last blog post where I do so. I've made an 'executive' decision that if I don't clear at least £2k+ again next month, and for the coming months then I'll will discard poker to the 'hobby' list, and go in hunt of a 'proper job'. I use £2k as after tax this is a figure I will never acquire in the professional world for a long time (probably). The other main issue I fight is that my parents hate poker, and hate the idea of it. I think if I have consecutive months of making £2k+ then they will be a little bit more on board but the likelihood is they will always be ashamed to have a son who makes his living from poker. It'll always be an insumountable mountain in many ways. I guess the reason I stick with poker is that I love it, and Bob Dylan once proclaimed that 'a man's success can be measured on whether when we wakes up and goes to bed he's enjoyed what he has done in between'.
I just fancied chatting some bs, hope y'all enjoyed.
Le Goose
Thursday, October 22, 2009
John Madden, my hero?
I was watching a programme on Sky Sports last night about the NFL and John Madden. Madden was a genius, his dedication and commitment made him the best. Personally, I've never been a massive fan of American Football. Ive always harboured slight admiration behind the tactics involved in the game but as a spectacle it's never really excited me.
During the programme their were several interviews with the players, fellow coaches and Madden himself. A lot of what was discussed I felt could be related to poker and poker players. Madden was a perfectionist, he was never really happy, but was content when his plans came together ([x] in before A team references). It made me think about my poker game, and how often I don't concentrate enough/thrive for perfection. Often, and particularly when im up for a sesh, I'll make a lot of gambling decisions rather than poker decisions. I guess the main issue behind this is that I have an issue seperating poker and gambling. Poker in it's purist form should not be gambling AT ALL in my opinion. Of course there is a luck factor, but there is a luck factor in life, and most people dont consider life a gamble. One thing I'm going to really going to concentrate on in the coming weeks to is to simply make 'poker decisions' rather than gambling decisions and see how it affects my winrate.
Further into the episode Madden talks about how he didnt have to always win...in wasn't life and death. This is probably lost on most who consider the great coaches in sporting history. Obviously he made sure his teams played to win, but Madden admits he wasn't disappointed when his sides lost to other great teams; he states 'Was I upset? No. We lost to some of the greatest teams in history'. This really struck a chord with me. In poker I have occasions where I'll lost so much unnecessary $s to a terrible opponent. It's an ego thing and I'll know I can beat them, but if they suck out then i'll change to an uber aggressive game in order to try and bully/dominate the fish. This happened last night, i dropped a buy in or two to a mega fish @ an omaha table and used my new 'MADDEN MINDSET'. I said to myself that I was just going to continue to play perfect omaha, and that if the fish remained at the table I would bust him getting my money back and more. Sure enough about 30mins later I had taken 4 buys in back off him and busted his account. I now see poker in that madden style; I don't mind if I'm getting a bit beat up by a good player, you have to beat the good players to become one. If I'm losing to a bad player by playing badly I'll be upset, and it'll make me angry. If I'm losing to a bad player because they are getting lucky in won't bother me, because I know playing great poker I'll either make that money back (and more), whether its in that session or in future sessions.
Learning about cognitive effects on life and competition are imperative in my opinion to maintain a great winrate. Lots of the top pros have admitted that nowadays they have life coaches (Esfandiari/Hellmuth and more) and I can understand why. If you're letting mental demons affect you then you will lose at poker. Im considering taking it to the next level with this, doing meditation and yoga etc. I think the gym and poker go hand in hand. I believe in the old chinese proverb of healthy body/healthy mind. Being at total peace at the table is definitely going bring improved results.
Ty for reading my spiritual bullshit guys, but seriously...it helps a lot.
Le Goose
During the programme their were several interviews with the players, fellow coaches and Madden himself. A lot of what was discussed I felt could be related to poker and poker players. Madden was a perfectionist, he was never really happy, but was content when his plans came together ([x] in before A team references). It made me think about my poker game, and how often I don't concentrate enough/thrive for perfection. Often, and particularly when im up for a sesh, I'll make a lot of gambling decisions rather than poker decisions. I guess the main issue behind this is that I have an issue seperating poker and gambling. Poker in it's purist form should not be gambling AT ALL in my opinion. Of course there is a luck factor, but there is a luck factor in life, and most people dont consider life a gamble. One thing I'm going to really going to concentrate on in the coming weeks to is to simply make 'poker decisions' rather than gambling decisions and see how it affects my winrate.
Further into the episode Madden talks about how he didnt have to always win...in wasn't life and death. This is probably lost on most who consider the great coaches in sporting history. Obviously he made sure his teams played to win, but Madden admits he wasn't disappointed when his sides lost to other great teams; he states 'Was I upset? No. We lost to some of the greatest teams in history'. This really struck a chord with me. In poker I have occasions where I'll lost so much unnecessary $s to a terrible opponent. It's an ego thing and I'll know I can beat them, but if they suck out then i'll change to an uber aggressive game in order to try and bully/dominate the fish. This happened last night, i dropped a buy in or two to a mega fish @ an omaha table and used my new 'MADDEN MINDSET'. I said to myself that I was just going to continue to play perfect omaha, and that if the fish remained at the table I would bust him getting my money back and more. Sure enough about 30mins later I had taken 4 buys in back off him and busted his account. I now see poker in that madden style; I don't mind if I'm getting a bit beat up by a good player, you have to beat the good players to become one. If I'm losing to a bad player by playing badly I'll be upset, and it'll make me angry. If I'm losing to a bad player because they are getting lucky in won't bother me, because I know playing great poker I'll either make that money back (and more), whether its in that session or in future sessions.
Learning about cognitive effects on life and competition are imperative in my opinion to maintain a great winrate. Lots of the top pros have admitted that nowadays they have life coaches (Esfandiari/Hellmuth and more) and I can understand why. If you're letting mental demons affect you then you will lose at poker. Im considering taking it to the next level with this, doing meditation and yoga etc. I think the gym and poker go hand in hand. I believe in the old chinese proverb of healthy body/healthy mind. Being at total peace at the table is definitely going bring improved results.
Ty for reading my spiritual bullshit guys, but seriously...it helps a lot.
Le Goose
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Is K high the new A high?
In recent weeks there have been several high profile massive pots where KQhigh has been the catalyst for some very sick call downs; ie Dwan vs Martonas and Antonius vs KOC..I suggest both get looked up. I had my own K high experience @ 1.5/3bb the other day and I thought it'd be a good hand to analyse. I can't rip hand histories of interpoker, as im a bit of a computer 'tard so if anyone knows how please let me know, fortunately I know the hand by memory. I'm just interested to see what some of the higher level thinkers think of the hand as a lot of my buddies who play poker a bit, fairly solid but basically are nuthuggers thought the whole hand was crazy.
NLHE300 ($1.5/$3).
Hero $308
Villain $300
There has been a few limpers into the pot and I had KQo on the button, when it made its way round to me I made it $14 to go. I actually think I underbet a little here, $16/$18 would be a better raise. Anyway the BB (villain) is a crazy aggro Italian player that I have history with. He's definitely the weak link in the game but he has got enough moves to bully most weaker tag players. The villain calls out of the BB and it gets folded round.
Flop: J73r
Now the flop isn't great for my hand obviously as I completely miss, but the texture of the board and the fact it isn't particularly draw heavy means we can continuation bet here and have it get through a decent percentage of the time. The BB checks to me, and I fire out for $23. Again my bet sizing here might be a little small but Ive found that this sort of value c-bets tend to get a lot of respect, so I often overbet a little when I actually have a hand. With the action back to the BB he decides to flat call. This doesn't surprise me in the least as he floats a lot, and likes to try and take pots away on the turn.
Turn: 6
Now this turn is basically a massive blank, one of the biggest blanks that can be put out there. The BB insta checks to me, and I decide to fire again for $39. This is one of my biggest mistakes in the hand as my bet on the turn here is really too small, if he shoves here I definitely have to fold. However, he now decides to minraise to $78. This raise for me is where I started making my main read on the hand. I know my opponent (from previous history) NEVER plays a set this way because he simply isn't good/bad enough to do so. The 6 on the turn, although mainly being a blank slight improves a hand like 89 which he can certainly float with on the flop. His turn raise in my mind was a weak one, one where he was basically testing the waters for a cheap as possible. At this point its alot easier for me to start putting him on a solid range of weak Js/89 + 910, 97 and 87 and potentially 88/99 type hands, however I think he raises the flop with 88/99. I decide that shoving here is potentially spewy, as I dont think he ever fold any pair on this board now and I figure there are cards I can take it away from him on the river, plus I think there are cards where he'll simply give up on the river.
River: 3 pairing the board and maintaining a rainbow board.
The river is interesting, it again is a massive blank. In many ways its a terrible bluff card but I know my opponent is just good enough to be aware of this. He insta shoves the river, which actually makes my decision a lot easier as I had a massive note on him 'LIKES TO OVERBET BLUFF THE RIVER'. It isn't a snap call because I think he is retarded enough to turn 78etc into a bluff here as well as some other A high air like A5o for examply. However, at this point I figure there are enough hands in his range that I'm beating for me to make a profitable call with K high. After a bit of thought I decide to make the call with KQhigh and duly get shown K10o and ship the $600 pot.
For variance reasons I wouldn't say the average ssnl player wants to be getting into these spots on a regular basis. There are many occasions where that pot plays out a lot different but on this occasion it worked out perfectly for me. Pots like this have highlighted how good my NLHE game has been lately. I always state that i'm a terrible terrible NLHE 6max player and I make the majority of my profits from omaha. However, I have been putting a lot of reading and work into my holdem game lately and I'm noticing massive improvements. For those who believe the holdem games are getting simply too difficult you could not be more wrong. However, pots like the one above highlight that there are different factors in the ssnl games nowadays. A lot of players are watching/analysing the high stakes games and you seem a lot of those 'moves' being implemented. I still see so much spew in those games and I think holdem up to 5/10 is very beatable and exploitable.
Poker wise I have been pretty pleased with the month. I had a few personal goals at the start of the month, one of which was to get platinum status on Interpoker and I achieved that a few days a go. I also wanted to rake $4k and I am solidly on target for that. I also want to make the top 10 of RTR's rake comp for the boss network and I'm currently clinging on to 10th which would provide another tasty $525 bonus. If anyone wants to leave there thoughts on this hand or offer up examples of similar spots you've been in, I'm very happy to discuss.
Im off to cain it at le gym.
Le Goose
NLHE300 ($1.5/$3).
Hero $308
Villain $300
There has been a few limpers into the pot and I had KQo on the button, when it made its way round to me I made it $14 to go. I actually think I underbet a little here, $16/$18 would be a better raise. Anyway the BB (villain) is a crazy aggro Italian player that I have history with. He's definitely the weak link in the game but he has got enough moves to bully most weaker tag players. The villain calls out of the BB and it gets folded round.
Flop: J73r
Now the flop isn't great for my hand obviously as I completely miss, but the texture of the board and the fact it isn't particularly draw heavy means we can continuation bet here and have it get through a decent percentage of the time. The BB checks to me, and I fire out for $23. Again my bet sizing here might be a little small but Ive found that this sort of value c-bets tend to get a lot of respect, so I often overbet a little when I actually have a hand. With the action back to the BB he decides to flat call. This doesn't surprise me in the least as he floats a lot, and likes to try and take pots away on the turn.
Turn: 6
Now this turn is basically a massive blank, one of the biggest blanks that can be put out there. The BB insta checks to me, and I decide to fire again for $39. This is one of my biggest mistakes in the hand as my bet on the turn here is really too small, if he shoves here I definitely have to fold. However, he now decides to minraise to $78. This raise for me is where I started making my main read on the hand. I know my opponent (from previous history) NEVER plays a set this way because he simply isn't good/bad enough to do so. The 6 on the turn, although mainly being a blank slight improves a hand like 89 which he can certainly float with on the flop. His turn raise in my mind was a weak one, one where he was basically testing the waters for a cheap as possible. At this point its alot easier for me to start putting him on a solid range of weak Js/89 + 910, 97 and 87 and potentially 88/99 type hands, however I think he raises the flop with 88/99. I decide that shoving here is potentially spewy, as I dont think he ever fold any pair on this board now and I figure there are cards I can take it away from him on the river, plus I think there are cards where he'll simply give up on the river.
River: 3 pairing the board and maintaining a rainbow board.
The river is interesting, it again is a massive blank. In many ways its a terrible bluff card but I know my opponent is just good enough to be aware of this. He insta shoves the river, which actually makes my decision a lot easier as I had a massive note on him 'LIKES TO OVERBET BLUFF THE RIVER'. It isn't a snap call because I think he is retarded enough to turn 78etc into a bluff here as well as some other A high air like A5o for examply. However, at this point I figure there are enough hands in his range that I'm beating for me to make a profitable call with K high. After a bit of thought I decide to make the call with KQhigh and duly get shown K10o and ship the $600 pot.
For variance reasons I wouldn't say the average ssnl player wants to be getting into these spots on a regular basis. There are many occasions where that pot plays out a lot different but on this occasion it worked out perfectly for me. Pots like this have highlighted how good my NLHE game has been lately. I always state that i'm a terrible terrible NLHE 6max player and I make the majority of my profits from omaha. However, I have been putting a lot of reading and work into my holdem game lately and I'm noticing massive improvements. For those who believe the holdem games are getting simply too difficult you could not be more wrong. However, pots like the one above highlight that there are different factors in the ssnl games nowadays. A lot of players are watching/analysing the high stakes games and you seem a lot of those 'moves' being implemented. I still see so much spew in those games and I think holdem up to 5/10 is very beatable and exploitable.
Poker wise I have been pretty pleased with the month. I had a few personal goals at the start of the month, one of which was to get platinum status on Interpoker and I achieved that a few days a go. I also wanted to rake $4k and I am solidly on target for that. I also want to make the top 10 of RTR's rake comp for the boss network and I'm currently clinging on to 10th which would provide another tasty $525 bonus. If anyone wants to leave there thoughts on this hand or offer up examples of similar spots you've been in, I'm very happy to discuss.
Im off to cain it at le gym.
Le Goose
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Back2Back
BAACKKKK TOOO LIFE, BACCKKK TOO REALITY.....
Tonight I went back2back on the main HU MTT on the boss network after my win last week. I don't play this tournament that often as a) it takes a long time generally (more waiting around for matches to finish) and b) 1st only pays like $350...altho back2back means a nice $700. I guess its the feeling of invincability that im basking in rather than financially gain. Going back2back means that I had to win 12 HU in a row, and even against the fishiest of fish, thats no mean feat. Tonight's victory was different to last times, I only dominated in the later rounds, in the early rounds i had 10 10 once and that was it, i realied on timely bluffs and getting lucky, most notable having K9 get there vs QQ just before the money. The whole tourn was swingy and I realised that I actually have great staying power. Particularly in the final where I totally outclased my op only for him to keep getting there time and time again. I eventually had 98 vs J5 with a 5to1 chip advantage and was rewarded with a fairly leisurely 99895 board. It felt really good to win it not once but twice as its the first time ive done that. On the old Crypto software i had a 2/2/3/4 in the £1k gtd 4 days in a row, which is still my sickest achievement, but this will rank up there.
Had to share guys, much love...BUZZIIIN'
Le Goose
Tonight I went back2back on the main HU MTT on the boss network after my win last week. I don't play this tournament that often as a) it takes a long time generally (more waiting around for matches to finish) and b) 1st only pays like $350...altho back2back means a nice $700. I guess its the feeling of invincability that im basking in rather than financially gain. Going back2back means that I had to win 12 HU in a row, and even against the fishiest of fish, thats no mean feat. Tonight's victory was different to last times, I only dominated in the later rounds, in the early rounds i had 10 10 once and that was it, i realied on timely bluffs and getting lucky, most notable having K9 get there vs QQ just before the money. The whole tourn was swingy and I realised that I actually have great staying power. Particularly in the final where I totally outclased my op only for him to keep getting there time and time again. I eventually had 98 vs J5 with a 5to1 chip advantage and was rewarded with a fairly leisurely 99895 board. It felt really good to win it not once but twice as its the first time ive done that. On the old Crypto software i had a 2/2/3/4 in the £1k gtd 4 days in a row, which is still my sickest achievement, but this will rank up there.
Had to share guys, much love...BUZZIIIN'
Le Goose
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