GOOD CRAIC AT THE APAT HOME INTERNATIONALS.

Just back from playing in the APAT Home Internationals at Dusk to Dawn in Nottinghmam where I was captain of the Ireland A team. 

Before the event started I was talking to Ian Ski at the bar and he asked me what I thought of the Irish team.  I said they reminded me of Wellington's comment about his troops, "I don't know if they frighten the enemy but by God they frighten me!" 

The format was different from the last time I played in this (when we had a mixture of SnG's, Heads Up and then a final tournament, which was the most significant thing).  This time we had 3 No Limit Hold'em SNG's mixed in with 2 Pot Limit Omaha SNG's.  The top two teams played off Heads Up for the Gold and Silver medals and the 3rd and 4th for the Bronze. 

This revised format sounded good to me as I have heaps of SNG experience and so it proved.

Both Irish teams were in blazing form and we ended up comfortably in first and second positions.  We had already agreed to chop the prize money between the two teams if we achieved this and just played the Heads Up for the Gold and Silver medals which the "B" team won.  Star of the show was Kevin O'Hanlon who finished with the highest individual points total (I was fourth, four points behind him).  I had promised to play a jig on the whistle every time an Irish player won a table - I got lots of practice!  :-)  (There's a picture of me playing with Kevin on Facebook and the APAT site).

A great fun event played in a really good spirit by all of the competing teams. 

APAT Nottingham

I got back from the APAT Nottingham tournament last Monday night having thoroughly enjoyed the weekend.  I played a pretty decent tournament and finished 47th of 460 for a minor cash of £200, so that covered my expenses.

It was an up-and-down sort of a tourney on the first day.  A couple of tough beats saw me down to 2700 chips with the blinds at 200/400/25 so I shoved J9 off on the Big Blind after it had been passed round to me in the Small Blind.  He talked himself into calling and turned over T7 off.  Nothing untoward happened and I was back in the hunt.  From there I proceeded to batter my way up (just playing good hands for value, nothing tricksy) until I had 90+K. 

It was about 12.00 at this stage and I thought, ok, I can just cruise to the 2nd day from here.

However a bit later the big stack on the table (200K+) who had been raising routinely for a while raised me 2.5 Bigs and I was looking at AJ off.  Obviously I had to play, so I elected to call.  The flop came KKA and I made a half pot raise which he called.  (Alarm bells).  Blank on the turn and we both checked.  Blank on the river and he raises 15K.  I have the odds so I have to call and he shows K9 suited.  Sigh.

I was kicking myself afterwards thinking I should have re-raised 3x pre-flop.  Mik on "RaisetheRiver" said he didn't hate the line I took, as at least I got out without losing the lot.  I suppose that it was just one of those where I was destined to lose a chunk. 

Anyway, I duely made the second day but I was short stacked and with only 7 Bigs left and the blinds due to go up, I shoved QJ hearts.  The small blind insta-called and then Ant in the big blind dwelt for a while before folding (AK off it transpired).  Small blind turned over AQ off and I'm dominated.  The flop comes KT hearts blank and suddenly I'm favourite with umpteen outs!  Queen on the turn and a blank on the river and it's good game me.  Still, a bit of excitement to finish.

Meanwhile Hutch (who was on my table for the J9 shove) and No Shoes were both on the lash (no surprise there).  They may have been on the beer but they  were too tasty for one of the regs who tried to take advantage of them, but ended up on the wrong side of a 1K loss - lol.

"You're frightening, you"

It's been over a year since I posted on the blog, so I thought it might be time to update it.

Poker wise I am doing what I planned at the beginning of last year.  I'm playing mainly APAT stuff both on-line (or tournaments on the APAT website poker.co.uk) and live, with some sng's on Stars if I get eliminated from a tournament early in the proceedings.  I have a positive roi for these, but obviously with the low volume of games I play I'm not making a fortune.  That's fine as I'm playing for the craic.

Last weekend the Edgworth Cricket Club team went down to Luton to play in the APAT team tournament.  This was much stronger (25 teams & 200 players) than the tourney we won in Blackpool (120 players) a couple of years back.  The team finished 10th of 25, which was a decent showing considering three of them had never played in such a setting before.  They must have enjoyed it, because quite a few are up for the APAT event at Dusk to Dawn at the end of March.

Individually, I made the final table and finished 6th.  It could all have been even better if the eventual winner hadn't four flushed me on the river when my AKs hit an Ace on the flop ahead of his QT off.  That's the way these things go and at least I put myself in with a chance.

On the final table they had it set up to show the play (using cards with microchips in) on a delayed live stream.  It would have been interesting for the other folks on the final table to see what I was up to, as I was really abusing my ultra tight image and running a bunch of bluffs against the shorter stacked players to maintain my stack.  Fortunately I was to the left of the two big stacks, which was really useful.  Fun while it lasted.

On the Sunday morning, as I was checking out of the hotel, a guy from another team came over and asked me if I was "Kronstdat" on line.  I confessed and he said, "You're really frightening you, but you're not scary at all in the flesh!"  Best compliment I've ever had on my poker.  :-)

2011 ROUNDUP

Online poker: +£315 (-131):  CC game: +£157 (-11): APAT: +£200 (-)

Matched betting this month = +£112;  This year = +£1462

Profit on Month = -£30    Profit on Year = +£2132

It is interesting to look back at the targets I set in the review blog at the end of last year and consider them in the light of events subsequently.  I have totally changed my thinking since they were written. 

Basically I am playing an awful lot less than I used to on-line, mainly because I have absolutely no desire to "grind" my way to winning money at poker.  I'd rather just keep it recreational, so I just play the odd tournament or sng when the spirit moves me.  I imagine that is how I will carry on now.

Highlight of the poker year has to be captaining the team from Edgworth Cricket Club that won the APAT UK Pub Poker Championship back in June or so.  That was really good fun. 

I enjoy the APAT tourneys and will certainly be having a bash at anything within reach next year.  I wouldn't mind playing in some other "bricks and mortar" games if I can find something suitable.  The best one I've found is a Sunday afternoon tournament at the G in Manchester, but I often have other commitments on Sunday afternoons, so I've only been a couple of times.

Matched betting has been a "steady earner" all year and I've easily made most of my profits from that.  More of that will definitely be called for.

I'm not sure - given the limited amount of poker I am playing - whether I'll carry on with this blog - time will tell.

THE JOY OF SPREADS

Online poker: +£446 (+121):  CC game: +£168 (+27): APAT: +£200 (-)

Matched betting this month = +£272;  This year = +£1350

Profit on Month = +£420    Profit on Year = +£2162

I'm still moving along nicely on the $15 x 18 man sit and goes on Stars.  The usual variance of course but Sharkscope has me on 17% roi on there now and I'm actually better than that as those stats will be including games I played on Stars before my recent return there.  So - happy with that.

I have hardly played a tournament.  Certainly the only memorable one was an APAT $50 entry jobbie which crashed and burned in a horrible fashion.  At 50/100 and with a full stack I 3x raised in mid position with QJ clubs.  2 callers.  Flop comes QQJ 2 hearts!  BINGO I thought.  Guy bets into me.  I call.  The other guy folds.  Turn comes a blank.  Half pot bet into me and I call.  River is 9 of hearts.  Great I'm thinking.  If he has Ax Hearts I'm going to clean him out.  Half pot bet into me.  I go all in.  He calls and has K10 hearts of course for the straight flush.  That's the second hammering from a rivered straight flush I've had this year.  It's about time one of them came my way.

Meanwhile with the matched betting I've been working my way through the spread betting sites, which has gone nicely for around £250 profit.  With a bit of study some of these spread markets look to be "arbable" as well, so I'm going to leave my money in the sites and have a look at that one.  Happy days.

...AND SOME MORE STEADY PROGRESS

Online poker: +£315 (+173):  CC game: +£141 (+43): APAT: +£200 (-)

Matched betting this month = +£211;  This year = +£1078

Profit on Month = +£427    Profit on Year = +£1746

Poker has progressed very nicely this month with the 18 man sng's on Stars a particular highlight.  I've been slaughtering these games this month at a rate I know will be impossible to maintain.  Enjoy it while you can before the inevitable variance monster bites, I suppose.  The big bonus for me has come in the heads up part.  I've had 6 heads up scenarios and won 5 of them.  The minute I have an opponent who does something like fold on the button, I know I have a very good chance of a winning outcome :-)

I've also returned to quietly cashing regularly again in the cricket club game.  I've got a read on the new loose/aggressive players in particular and I'm really making it count by picking them off at the right moment.

Matched betting has also been fun, with a poker mate who is also an experience matched bettor, helping me work my way through the spread betting sites with referrals and advice.  I made some money on a recent Barcelona v Levante game which had an interesting outcome.  With a £100 "free bet", I had "sold supremacy" on Barca and laid off the other outcomes for a nice £60 profit whatever happened.  However, the game itself finished 0 - 0 with 8 yellow and 2 red cards!  If anyone had been on the spread for "sell cards" for that game it would have cost them a fortune.  It just goes to show -

DON'T GAMBLE folks!

I've given up trying to explain matched betting to friends.  They just don't "get it" and think that I'm an unreconstructed gambler, which of course couldn't be further from the truth.  What I am doing is taking the gambling out of it!  However, as with poker, to the uninitiated it just seems like punting.  Anyway it keeps me entertained on wet Saturday afternoons and I'm building up a nice "Christmas Bonus" for my daughters.  :-)

QUIET PROGRESS

Online poker: +£142 (-27):  CC game: +£98 (+37): APAT: +£200 (-)

Matched betting this month = +£112;  This year = +£867

Profit on Month = +£122    Profit on Year = +£1317

Back to work again and poker is inevitably taking a bit of a back seat.  I'm mainly playing a few $15 18 man sng's on Stars at the moment and that is going nicely.  The minus in the on-line poker return is due to a bad trot on the $11 tournaments on 888.  These are soft enough, but a run of bad beats has knocked me back a bit there - inevitable in these this sort of thing.

My one cash in these did come about as a result of a pretty amazing piece of luck going my way.  I was short stacked on the bubble and caught AT suited in early position.  All in of course. 

Two all in callers behind.  This didn't sound like good news and it wasn't looking too clever when they revealed AA and KK.  The flop came QQQ. 

Hum, I thought, I have a one outer to a split pot!  Turn Q...Boom! 

Matched betting continues to boost the bankroll nicely.  I've lined up some referrals to work my way through the spread firms next. 

My next live outing won't be to poker, but to the European Diplomacy Championships, which are being held in Derby in November.  Should be good craic meeting up from old adversaries from the Dip world and the odd game of poker is also mooted.

Doing a bit of thinking :-)

Online poker: +£169 (+153):  CC game: +£61 (+7): APAT: +£200 (-106)

Matched betting this month = +£127;  This year = +£755

Profit on Month = +£181    Profit on Year = +£1,195

Online things have gone nicely enough this month.  I had a good final table finish in one of my regular 888 tourneys which bumped me up there and the 18 man sit and goes I've been playing on stars after any early tourney exits have been going really nicely.  I've been working on my final table technique there and the results have been very positive. 

The matched betting with my roll continues to be a steady earner and I've picked up lots of "start of the football season" bonuses this month.  Now for a bash at the spread sites I think.

The APAT world amateur championship at Dusk till Dawn in Nottingham was good craic, made even better by the fact that it was eventually won by Dave "No Shoes" Garden.  To be honest, he totally crushed it, following up on his recent big tournament victory against a lot of the top pros.  Well done that man.

From my perspective the APAT was very interesting, as I came away with a lot of ideas on how to improve my tournament game.  I went fairly deep (57th of the 200+ starters on day 1b) but I am now sure that I need to play with a lot more selective aggression in earlier phases of tournaments if I want to do real damage regularly.  I'm going to use the tournaments I regularly play on 888 to work out some of the ideas I've had and see if they improve my overall results over time.  I'm a profitable player doing what I do currently, but I think I can do better.  You have to have a go.  As Bob Dylan put it, "he that's not busy being born is busy dying".

Quiet times.

Online poker: +£16 (-33):  CC game: +£55 (-7): APAT: +£326 (-)

Matched betting this month = +£114;  This year = +£628

Profit on Month = +£64    Profit on Year = +£1,014

After the excitement of last month there is little or nothing to report on the poker front for July.  I've hardly played, being either too tired before the end of term, or away on holiday after it.  We finally got the trophy for the UK Pub Poker championship win which was great.

Next major feature on the poker front is the APAT world amateur championship in Nottingham at the end of August.  Should be good craic and a lot of folk I know are going.

I have had time to experiment with arbing horses using the B365 4/1 offer and a few minor horse sign ups, which is where the matched betting profit has come from. I hope I don't get gubbed there as I have actually started winning a few times after a long run of "losers".  Still - happy days and the football returns in a couple of weeks time so there should be lots more to go at then.

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!!!

Online poker: +£49 (+26):  CC game: +£62 (+23): APAT: +£326 (+300)

Matched betting this month = +£64;  This year = +£514

Profit on Month = +£413    Profit on Year = +£950

That couldn't have gone much better!  The APAT pub poker tourney turned out to be a total gas.

Before the tournament kicked off I stressed to everyone that the most important thing was that as many folk as possible made the "last 50", which is when the team points kicked in.  This was the main lesson I have learned from playing in previous team tournaments.  Well.  Did they listen?  Yes they most certainly did!

Come the "50 players left" point, we had 7 out of our 8 man team still in the event, which was 2 more than any other team.  As the night wore on we were steadily eliminated but we were scoring points and come the end of Saturday night we were massively ahead on "points in the bag", with 2 men still running.  Sadly, I was the last man eliminated on the Saturday, in 25th place out of the 128 starters.  (A5 suited, called by the deadly 96 suited hitting a nine - as it does).

So, with 24 left, we went into the second day with Phil (Bullmeister) in second place with a massive stack and Andy low, but not desperate.  Andy worked out that if he finished 17th or better we couldn't be beaten so he played to that and we were home and hosed by 4.00 in the afternoon.  The APAT guys told us they could never remember anyone getting 7 out of 8 players in the points in a team tournament.

Meanwhile Phil was playing an absolute blinder.  He isn't a regular tournament player, so he was finding the sheer length of the thing difficult to come to terms with, but on he battled, eventually finishing second when the winner hit a run of top hands at the heads up stage.  A great effort.

The tournament was very well managed by APAT, as usual, the only disapointment being that they had "lost" the trophy somewhere in the system.  Ah well, we can live with that.

Another entertaining feature of the weekend, was that I played a £15 rebuy on the Sunday while railing Phil and Andy and came 5th for £120.  :-)    I only took one rebuy, after I lost with AK suited hitting a flush on the river - to a straight flush.  I "got him" about an hour later.

I've only played odd games on line but a couple of minor cashes have kept me nicely in the black there too.

Matched betting saw quite a few small offers from books trying to keep the punters interested after the end of the football season, so I've mopped those up.  Next up will be horse specialist books when I have the time in the summer holidays and then the spread firms once the football is back. 

Happy Days.

FOUR FLUSHED

Online poker: +£21 (-23):  CC game: +£39 (+7): APAT: +£26 (-37)

Matched betting this month = +£69;  This year = +£450

Profit on Month = +£16    Profit on Year = +£537

I haven't played much in May - too much on at work and too tired come the weekend most times.  I did play in one of the APAT online championships and was going very nicely until a horror show came along.  I had a nice medium stack with about half the field gone.  A big stack in eary position went 3BB's and I called on the button with JJ.  The flop came 3d 8d Js.  My opponent bet half the pot - I raised and he went all in, which obviously I called.  He showed AdAc.  The next two cards were diamonds and it was "good game me".  All you can do is go in with the best hand, but that sort of thing does hurt.  Needless to say I am waiting patiently to have a similar piece of action in my favour some time soon.

The next poker highlight should be the APAT pub poker tournament which is taking place in Blackpool later in June.  The Cricket Club have entered a team.  There is a team from the West Midlands that looks very strong on paper, but it should be a good laugh.

Matched betting continues to tick along. I had lots of nice little ones as offers on the Champions League final and so on, which I cleaned up on.  I even found an arb on William Hills on Barcelona - I didn't go too daft on it though, as I wanted to keep the account.  I've now finished Bet365 with my daughter - so I will be getting all my money back shortly.  She gave the bookies an awful pasting, but it wasn't too clever for my Betfair account :-)

Things will probably go a bit quiet on that front now that the football season has finished.  Either that or I will have to diversify into tennis or cricket.

A NICE PROFITABLE MONTH

Online poker: +£44 (+225):  CC game: +£32 (-5): APAT: +£63 (+113)

Matched betting this month = +£43;  This year = +£382

Profit on Month = +£381    Profit on Year = +£521

It's been a fun month poker wise.  I came 5th in an on-line APAT tournament which has put that into the black there and set me up nicely for the "Home International" tournament in Newcastle. 

This was great craic and played in a very good spirit throughout the two days.  I was playing for Ireland A.  We started ok and I was second in one of the sit-and-goes, but it went downhill from there for the team except for young Ger Smith who kept us in the hunt with some sound performances.  We went into the final tournament in 7th place of the 8 teams, but we did know that a good performance in this could still see us in contention.  By the half way stage, with 16 of the field of 32 gone, we were the only team along with the Welsh A team who still had 4 runners. 

Two of our team were then knocked out, so with 10 left, there was our team captain, John Murray (good stack) and me (short stack) left.  The Welsh A team still had 4 runners, so they were home and hosed but we could still come 2nd if we could both finish ahead of the remaining England B player.  That ambition came to an end in an amusing (in retrospect) fashion.  Five handed I went all in with AQ suited.  No callers round to John in the big blind.  He has a long think and decides to call with 5 2 off suit (to chip me up, so that we could have a bash at the remaining England player).  Needless to say he proceeded to four flush me with his 2!  Oh how the England team laughed and indeed we had to ourselves it was so ludicrous.  Right move - wrong result.  Such is poker.  Anyway we finished in 3rd place for the bronze medals.  The Welsh team were very deserved winners and this was emphasised when one of their team won the UK tournament at the weekend (which I didn't play in - 2 days was enough for me).

I've also got the on-line poker in the black now thanks to a third place in the $3,000 guaranteed tournament on 888.  I was pleased with my play in this.  With about 50 of the 300+ starters left I became chip leader when I was all in with AA against KK and 88.  A King came on the flop but a glorious Ace made an appearance on the turn and I was off and running.  I managed to keep a +15BB stack and more all the way to the final table.  My exit hand was a tad unfortunate really.  Three handed I had AJ suited on the button.  I raised and the chip leader three bet me.  He had been chipping up through light 3 betting all the way through and I had marked him for this, so I went all in and he called with K5 off.  I wasn't too surprised but less than thrilled when he hit the 5 and knocked me out. 

I haven't done a lot of matched betting on my own account because I have been using my roll to see my daughter through the Bet365 £200 offer and a nice Betclic one for £100.  Ticking over nicely thanks to dutching on Pinnacle mainly.

The "trading" experiment on the golf was intersting.  I went for McIlroy, Stricker, Kaymer, Donald and McDowell in the end.  Stricker, McDowell and Kaymer failed to show but Donald was well placed and of course McIlroy was winning by the end of day 3.  It was a bit tempting not to lay off the bet on McIlroy because he looked a shoo in at this point, but I knew he was flakey on the final day of tournaments (even the two he has won he nearly contrived to lose) so it was a "no brainer" to make sure I laid them off.  This meant that I was guaranteed a modest profit on the venture.  I'll definitely have another go at this on the US open.  Luke Donald in particular I think has a big win in him. 

A QUIET MONTH.

Online poker: -£181 (+22):  CC game: +£37 (+24): APAT: -£50 (_)

Matched betting this month = +£78;  This year = +£339

Profit on Month = +£46    Profit on Year = +£67

I haven't played a lot of poker this month, but at least what I have played has been profitable - mainly 18 man sng's on Stars.  I haven't really had time for many tournaments but I minor cashed in a couple of those too, so I seem to be getting past my "bad trot".

The thing I am looking forward to this month is the APAT "Home International" tournament which will take place in Newcastle in 3 weeks time where I'm going to play for Northern Ireland.  Should be fun and a chance to meet up with some old mates in Geordieland while I'm there.

In the matched betting I've now completed the "partner friendlies" along with the all the accessible British facing books.  Ones like "Jetbull", which require a lot of work, I've just passed on.

I've been thinking about what direction to take off in next with this.  There are some European's I still have to do, but basically I'm thinking of going into American facing books.  This requires a change of style as you need a big roll to complete the wagering requirements, but I do now have enough for that.  The best method seems to be dutching books against each other.  It quite interests me getting into different sports like basketball too. 

I've also started looking at "trading", with an experiment in next week's Masters Golf my first venture.  Nothing serious - a couple of quid each on Donald, Kaymer, Harrington, McDowell and Fowler and then looking to lay them off after the end of the 3rd round.  It will be interesting to see how it works out. If a couple of them are "in contention", then I should be able to engineer a profit.

COINFLIPS AND HOW TO LOSE THEM...

Online poker: -£203 (-39):  CC game: +£13 (-22): APAT: -£50 (_)

Matched betting this month = +£134;  This year = +£261

Profit on Month = +£73    Profit on Year = +£21

Poker continues to be a serious struggle at the moment - I can't win a coinflip to save my life and of course that is not a good status report when you are playing mainly tourneys and the odd sng.  It's very waring indeed.  What the sort of trot I have had since the New Year must be like for someone who is seriously involved in playing poker for a living is horrible to think about.

BUT.  I have Matched Betting to save the day.  It continues to go swimmingly and as a result I am now marginally up on the year betting wise.

The trouble with having a sustained bad run when you are playing poker is that you start to question the verities that gave you a winning game in the first place and then you get caught out all over again.  I'm fully aware of this and am battling to control it, but it's not a lot of fun.

The Cricket Club game the other night had a classic.  I was eliminated on the bubble (3 way coin flip - ahead before the flop - lost) and went to join the "cash game" that develops from the losers.  Second hand.  4 players.  I have AKoff in the BB.  Fold, Fold, call from SB.  SB I know to be a very loose player, so I raise 5x.  Call.  Flop 962 rainbow.  I go all in.  He calls and shows K6 off suit.  To add insult to injury, another 6 comes on the turn and that is that.  When you are running bad, you are running bad...and players as bad as this make a profit...sigh.

So, a bit out of love with poker at the moment, but I know this will eventually end.  At least I finally cashed in a tournament last night, even if it was before the serious end of the money and, inevitably, to a bad beat - four flushed with AQ v AJ.

AN UNHAPPY START TO THE NEW POKER YEAR

Online poker: -£164

CC game: +£35

APAT: -£50

Matched betting: +£127

Profit on Month = -£52    Profit on Year = -£52

I've had little joy at the virtual tables this month, with a losing sequence of 24 games before I finally won something.  Since the vast majority of these were tournaments, a losing streak like this isn't the greatest surprise in the world - the variance in these things is so great that a sequence like this is inevitable.  However as well as the usual bunch of suckouts I also think I was playing badly a lot of the time.  Too much messing about calculating lays for matched bets in European bookies rather than concentrating on my games!

I've cut that out and I've also decided to try to run up another winning sequence of sng's before I go back to trying tourneys again regularly.  Discipline needed.

The matched betting continues to tick along nicely - I've virtually worked my way through the British and Irish ones now and I'm moving into the Europeans.  I've also started experimenting with "dutching" using "asian handicaps" and other such exotica.

Highlight of the month was playing with the Raise the River folk in the APAT team tournament in Bolton.  Sadly there were lots of drop outs for various reasons.  Still it was good to meet up with Cogs, Amatay, DoV, Ant and Jakattack from the RtR games.  Bully and BurnleyMik turned up in the evening.  Because of the dropouts my mate Steve from the Cricket club game got a run out.  He enjoyed the experience of playing against decent players in a good atmosphere.  Sadly we failed to cover ourselves in glory, finishing about 15 of 25 in the end I think.  I lasted till about 9.30 in the evening, mainly thanks to Aces holding up against Kings.  With only 7x big blinds left I felt I had to go with an all in with tens against a big stacks early position raise.  He showed AQ and hit both of his cards so it was "good night Vienna".

Unhighlight of the evening was the buffet.  This featured a beef stew that was seriously awful.  There were any number of plates distributed round the restaurant area with little cairns of this seriously inedible beef!

A bink for Christmas!

Absolute: Last Month $1607; Current $2661 (+1054)
Poker Stars: Last month $123; Current $104 (-19)
Full Tilt: Last month $118; Current $ (+19)
888: Last month $828; Current $723 (-105)
Total = $3,486 (+949) = £1,937
Profit in the month = -$949 Profit in the year = +$2,999
B&M = £199 (+23)
Betfair = £1,290 (+221)
Total = £1,486 B&M Profit in year +£1,327.

TOTAL PROFIT FOR YEAR = £3,264

Normally on Christmas Eve we go round to a friend's house for a gathering, but this year it wasn't possible because so many of the family were poorly with one bug or another. So I fired up a tournament qualifier on Titan (that a very nice Chinese lady called Honey had phoned me to say was available) and another $15 tourney on Absolute. Damn me if I didn't turn round an win them both (my first ever outright tournament wins and both within half an hour of each other). The Absolute win meant that I could up "Dad's Christmas Poker Bonus" to my two daughters to £400 each, which was enthusiastically received.

The tournament qualifier was a good laugh. There were two "tokens" available as prizes ($320 entry into a $200K Guaranteed Tournament). When we had got down to the last three I had about 20K in chips and the other two guys had 120K each. Not promising. However, I went all in with 77 and they both called me with overcards - clearly hoping that one of the two of them would take me out and that would be the end of proceedings. However the flop came 345 rainbow and the turn was a glorious 6! They muttered away in chat about the iniquity of this for some time. Meanwhile I hit a couple more hands took one of them out and that was it. Nice.

Sadly the tournament itself didn't amount to much for me. I went all in with QQ against 77 and was four flushed. Sigh.

It is interesting to look back at what I posted as my objectives in December last year. These were...


a) Basic game on-line: $11 then $22 SnG's with a profit on year objective of $1,000.

B) Play some MTT's on Stars when I have the time (good for practicing tourney technique).

b) Play on-line games on Blue Square in the APAT leagues. (I'll put $200 into Blue Square to set that up).

c) Play some more B & M tourneys (especially APAT) when they are available. (I'll set aside £200 to fund that).

For the first half of the year I played the sng's as my main game and ground out a steady profit (that is where most of the Absolute bankroll came from). I moved to turbos and never played more than 2 at once (basically because I couldn't be bothered). I moved up to 22's and had some wins there too.

However, over the summer when I had a bit of time, I tried out a few tournaments and, because I was initially successful I decided to put most of my efforts in that direction. Again, I haven't been going mad with it - just two at a time and then some multi-table sng's if I bust out early. These have been profitable and I have a 100% roi for the ones I regularly play on 888.com (Pacific). I like these as they have just the right number of players so that they don't last for ever and there are plenty of donks willing to double you through if you hit something tasty early on. Sadly I haven't actually managed to bink a Pacific one yet, though I have finished 2nd, 3rd and 4th! Anyway - profit overall in the year has been nearly treble my $1,000 objective, so I am well pleased with that.

The main improvement in my game? Definitely it is making a point of NOT calling big bets unless I am holding a serious made hand. I have a "post it" that I put below my screen that reads "big bets = big hands". I still make mistakes (indeed I did in the renewed Bloggerment the other weekend when I called a river bet with a flop of QQx when I was holding KK)...but I don't make as many as I used to.

I've been taking a bit of a liking to the $11 x 45 man scheduled games on Absolute and the $6 x 90 man games on Full Tilt. Both are very soft and provide a good option if I've been eliminated from tournaments. I have the bankroll and the mental attitude now to be able to see off long runs of losing games, which are of course inevitable when you are playing tournaments and multi-table sng's.

I played some of the APAT league games but didn't always remember to sign up. The first division ones are quite tough. I only managed to final table once and that was when I played in the second division by mistake! I've played a couple of the online APAT's as well but no joy there so far.

The cricket club game that I play in on a Thursday night is ticking along nicely now - we regularly get 13/14 players and once got up to 26. My roi is 84%, so I can't complain :-)

Nearly 40% of my winnings this year have come from "matched betting". This is a wonderful method of boosting the Betfair bankroll using my poker funds and the good news is that I still have lots of British bookies "to do" before I move on to the Euros, American facings and then Aussies. A nice little earner for about an hour a week's work.

So what are the plans then?

a) Carry on with the mix of tourneys and sng's as my basic on-line games. Since I should set something that is in the jargon "challenging but achievable" I will go for an in year profit of $5,000+ for the on line play.

b) Play some more b & m tournaments using the matched betting roll to fund them. Let's say 5 including APAT if any of them are adjacent.

c) Play the APAT on-line tourneys and final table at least one of them (again funding this via the Betfair matched betting roll).

A Prosperous New Year to all my readers!

TURNING IT ROUND.

Absolute: Last Month $1607; Current $1607 (-)
Poker Stars: Last month $123; Current $123 (-)
Full Tilt: Last month $118; Current $118 (-)
888: Last month $101; Current $828  (+727)
Total = $2537 (+727)
Profit in the month = -$727  Profit in the year = +$1,949
B&M = £173 (+16)
Betfair = £1,069 (+309)
Total = £1,242  B&M Profit in year +£1,106.

The horrible run of the previous month ended almost immediately into November.  I've played 20 tournament games on Pacific and final tabled 3 of them including a 2nd place along with 4 other cashes.  My roi on there is now just over 150%.  The second place came last Friday and it meant that I was playing until 2.30 in the morning, which I didn't really want to do since I was going to the APAT Coventry event the next day.  Glad I did though as I very nearly binked the thing and was ahead in the heads up several times - it went on for half an hour.  All my sng experience definitely came in useful - it was just a coin flip which went wrong that cost me in the end. 

The APAT Coventry was good craic but ultimately unsuccessful.  It was good to meet up with Ant and Mair again.  One of Ant's friends, Michelle, was beside me at my first table.  She was eliminated very early on, with a horrific "bad beat", when her 55's on a flop of 533 were eventually called all in by...33 of course. 

It turned out to be no bad thing for her, as she then joined the £250 pro game and came 2nd in it.  I would have tried that tourney myself, if eliminated early as there was a big overlay on it with only 11 players and a £1,000 GUKPT seat for the winner in addition to the prize money.  Indeed we were discussing this option just before her exit!

It was one of those tournaments where my big hands weren't called early on (since I was playing very tight and making heafty raises this wasn't too surprising).  Then in the middle part I was totally card dead for 3 levels and didn't do anything but fold.  Of course I then had to start making some moves and they held to get me back into the thing.  At around 11.00 I went all in with QQ was called behind by AK and he hit a King on the flop and that was that. 

If I'd won that I'd have been right in the mixer, but that's how tournament poker goes.  Anyway I enjoyed playing and there was a good atmosphere about the whole thing. 

Mind you I could have done without the ABBA tribute band in the concert room next door.  I loathed ABBA when they first appeared and nothing I heard suggested I should change my opinion!

Meanwhile the "matched betting" goes from strength to strength, building up the roll in Betfair.  I'll use it to play some live tournaments next year, with some of the side events in the GUKPT having an appeal.

SUFFERING TIME.

Absolute: Last Month $1737; Current $1607 (-130)
Poker Stars: Last month $123; Current $123 (-)
Full Tilt: Last month $118; Current $118 (-)
888: Last month $190; Current $101  (-89)
Total = $1,810 (-$219)
Profit in the month = -$219  Profit in the year = +$1,222
B&M = £157 (-)
Betfair = £760 (+268)
Total = £917  B&M Profit in year +£682.

It has been a truely vile month for my poker.  I can't win a game to save my life and it has been horribly fascinating to watch it unfold.  First up in the horror show - Aces.  I've had them beaten by Q4 off, Q9 off (10 minutes later in a different game) and QJs and the usual motley assortment of pairs hitting trips.  It got to the stage where I was looking forward, with interest, to see what could beat them next.  I couldn't even win when I reverted to my regular sng's.  I shudder to imagine BurnleyMik's response to the run I've had.  :-)

In the Cricket Club game I had a classic.  I had KK and raised (like you do), 1 caller. Flop comes 88K.  Raise. All in from caller. I call.  She has 88.  SIGH.  It's been that sort of month.  Ok, I've got that off my chest now, so no more bad beat stories. 

The Cricket Club game has actually got quite interesting for me, in that I am struggling to win at it, as I used to.  There is a cash game afterwards, which I regularly recoup any losses at, but the game itself is quite challenging because there are so many very loose players currently. 

Last night was a classic.  I made a big bet with AQs and was called (as expected) by one of the loosies.  Nothing flop.  I go all in.  He calls and turns over A4.  4 on the turn.  You couldn't make it up.  I am going to experiment with a more laggy approach myself, because there are too many of these players and one or two of them always seems to get chipped up and then dominate the table with big stacks. I'm going to have to adjust to win I think. 

Because my MTT career got off to such a massive start I am still very much up of course and I knew that a correction was coming - I just wasn't expecting such a horrible one.  You live and learn.

Anyway, I'm still up on the month thanks to the wonderful "matched betting".  This is going swimmingly and am taking in +£50 a week from this source.  I've now started doing the same for my eldest daughter, laying off the bets for her on my Betfair account.  A nice little earner for her.

I'm looking forward to my next live poker experience - the APAT European Amateur tournament in Coventry at the end of November.  Let's hope I can keep up my live APAT event record - time to turn things round!

MOVING OVER TO TOURNAMENTS.

Absolute: Last Month $1577; Current $1737 (+160)
Poker Stars: Last month $123; Current $123 (-)
Full Tilt: Last month $118; Current $118 (-)
888: Last month $0; Current $190  (+190)
Total = $2,029 (+350)
Profit in the month = +$350  Profit in the year = +$1,441
B&M = £157 (+11)
Betfair = £492 (+203)
Total = £649  B&M Profit in year +£414.

I've now moved most of my online poker playing over to playing tournaments now with only the occasional Sng when I don't have time for a tourney or I've been knocked out early.  My "regular" is the $1.5K Gtd. on Absolute but I've also been playing the $2K Gtd on 888 and a $3.5K Gtd on Betfair.  They are all $11 games.  The nice thing about them is that, not only are these games soft, but they don't have the huge fields that you have to plow through on the likes of Tilt and Stars - that is much more to my taste. 

I've played 29 games, cashing 11 times and final tabling 8 for a total profit on these of $976 over the last couple of months.  Still no outright win so far - the best I've done is 3rd, but it surely has to come.

The main improvement I've made to my game, which lies behind these results, is developing significantly tighter calling ranges against bets late in these tournaments.  I worked out that I was giving myself far to many "coin flips" with hands which were quite good, but not enough to guarantee domination.  It's better to pass and retain the fold equity of the first bet all in, when in the later stages of these things.  It's certainly been working well for me so far.

Meanwhile the matched betting has been jogging along nicely and I've still not attacked the big ones yet.  This is building up a nice stash in Betfair where I'm going to have a bash at some of their higher level tourneys with the dosh accumulated. 

I'm also plotting going to the APAT European tourney in Coventry in late November.  It will be good to meet up with some of the Raise the River folk again, as I expect quite a few will be going.

A BIT OF MATCHING.

Absolute: Last Month $1416; Current $1577 (+161)
Poker Stars: Last month $110; Current $123 (+13)
Full Tilt: Last month $151; Current $118 (-33)
Total = $1,679 (+141)
Profit in the month = +$141  Profit in the year = +$1,091
B&M = £146 (+36)
Betfair = £289 (+151)
Total = £435.  B&M Profit in year +£200.

What with being on holiday, although I haven't played as many games as I usually would in a month, I have played more tournaments - mainly the $1500 Guraranteed on Absolute at 7.00 PM.  Of the 9 I've played this month I've final tabled three times and this has been the source of my profits.  I've run poorly on my regular sng's, otherwise the profits would have been greater - just one of those things.  I've been getting my MTT game nicely grooved now and definitely managed to improve my play.  I'd like to find some more tournaments starting at 7.00 PM with 150 or so runners.

The main source of interest has been the increase in the Betfair wedge.  This has been achieved by doing some "matched betting" by signing up for the bonuses at betting sites and then laying off the qualifying bets and "free bets" on Betfair.  I read about it in "The Guardian" here and one of the sites recommended in the article can be found here. 

It has worked nicely and I've been picking off two betting sites a week and made £151 so far.  There are one or two wrinkles to look out for.  Some of the sites (Paddy Power and Betfred so far) don't like you putting your money in via Neteller or Moneybookers.  They won't actually tell you why, but they have things in their terms and conditions about it - so always check those out in advance.  I've also found that "Betclic" (and possibly others) won't let you withdraw money without photo ID (irritating to have to do, but not a problem as I have a scanner - but not necessarily easy for everyone).  If any of you want to do this via an introduction from me, that would be nice as some sites (like Betfair and indeed as is common with poker sites) have introduction offers.  The person introduced gets a better deal too.  A nice little way of boosting the poker bankroll and I intend to use the money raised to enter a much higher stakes live tournament than I would usually manage, some time in the not too distant future.  Of course it's also fun taking money off bookies!

Big news of the month was "Mair" from the Raise the River forum, making the final table of the UKIPT event in Edinburgh where she finished 8th and won £2400.  Well done that lass!