A DECENT MONTH

Absolute: Last Month $1065; Current $1112 (+47)
Poker Stars: Last month $118; Current $105 (-13)
Full Tilt: Last month $0; Current $184 (+184)
Total = $1,401 (+218)
Profit in the month = +$218  Profit in the year = +$674
B&M = £113 (-)
Betfair = £138 (-£9)
Total = £251.  B&M Profit in year +£51

After having a consistent run in the Cricket Club game since Christmas, where I only failed to cash once, I've now lost two on the trot.  Both were to "bad beats" where I went in best and guys sucked out on me with unlikely river cards...so it goes.  Finished third this week though.

The main story this month has been the re-establishment of a roll on Full Tilt.  The first $75 of it came from a rakeback company freeroll on FT, which is held there every Sunday night at 8.00 PM.  I'm going to be a regular in this, as I'm sure it should prove to be lucrative.  There are usually about 240 runners and the top 45 are paid with the smallest prize $30.  This is much better than the average tournament where only the top 10% are paid and serious amounts don't appear until the final table.  1st is $600.  They have my full attention.  It's a turbo 6 man format, but hey, I'm not complaining.

I used the money to speculate on some .1/.25 Rush poker.  I'm not bankrolled for it, but I thought I'd give it a go using the strategy described in the last post.  Initially this went great and I had spun the 75 up to 200 after just three 1 hour sessions.  Since then something approaching normality has set in (ie. variance).  I've been up to 317 but then had a run of losing sessions to take me down to 187.  In retrospect I realise that I went on tilt after one hand in particular where I was all in pre with AA against heavy betting from two other players.  Only one called my final all in and he had KK.  He hit a king on the river.  The pot was $84 - massive for this level.  I thought I was handling this ok, but realised later that I was deviating from my strategy and calling and chasing things that I normally wouldn't consider, thus costing me more. 

Wierd really, because the same thing in a SnG (hell, 27 off sucking out against AA in a SnG) wouldn't phase me for more than a few minutes - it's such a regular feature of those games - in both directions.  Different game, different psychology.  In fact something similar happened last night in a couple of $5 tournaments I played on FT.  I had AA beaten by KK in one and KK beaten by AJs in the other.  I just shrugged and moved on.

The official Krostdat .1/.25 Rush poker strategy.

This has been working for me so far, so I thought I'd put it out there and invite comments. 

For me the obvious advantages of Rush Poker are that you can't really use tracking software on it and self-evidently you can get through a serious volume of games without having to multi-table. 

My strategy is designed to take advantage of high volume of players who are "quick folding" anything remotely requiring thought. 

The only hands I bother with in early position are AA; KK; QQ; JJ; AKs; AQs.  Middle I open up to AJs ATs and pairs 7's up.  Late it's any pair and any suited Ace.  All of these I open for a 3xBB raise.  I fold to any raise in front of me, except with the premium hands (naturally) and where I have a pair and think I can stack off a "big stack" with a pair hitting trips (there are no "implied odds" with a small stack).

When I get callers I always bet the pot as a continuation bet if it is checked to me regardless of whether I've hit or not.  Most people are playing "fit or fold" and will move on unless they have a hand.  If I get a call, I back off unless I've actually hit something big style myself.  There are few players doing anything sophisticated here, so a bet almost always means what it says - he has some sort of hand.  In practice my continuation bets are taking down these small pots (usually around 7xBB $1.75) about 80% of the time, so they have to be good value.  They keep me "ticking over". 

What I am really looking for is hitting sets or nut flushes when I can stack people off.  This sort of approach would be pretty tedious at a slow pace, but at the Rush Poker pace you can get the right sort of situation frequently enough to make it worth waiting for.  The big pairs play themselves, but I have lost an all in with AA to AK hitting a straight, but that sort of thing is going to happen 20% of the time.

The other key principle I try to keep in mind (it's on a "post it" on my monitor!) is big bets = big hands.  I lost a hand I should have folded the other day when my AJs hit a flop of AJ6 rainbow.  I let myself get sucked in and lost two thirds of a buy in when the guy turned out to have AA.  If the betting is getting large you need at least trips to still be hanging in there.  Very few people are bluffing. 

That's it...ABC poker and so far it seems to be working.  Comments and thoughts most welcome.

"IN A BIT OF A RUSH"

I won $75 in a tournament run by the rakeback site I'm with.  It happened to be on Full Tilt, so that meant I suddenly had a bit of a wedge on that site again.

So...I thought I'd have a look at "Rush" poker - the speed version of a cash game which they've invented where you can quick fold and move on to a completely new table in seconds.  Not having a lot of experience as a cash game no limit player, I wasn't expecting much, but blow me if I didn't quickly find myself up $80 after three quarters of an hour ... and that after I'd lost a full $25 buy in when my AA was beaten by AKs which hit a straight on the river.

I could get to like this, I thought and went back for another half hour later surprising myself by winning another $45 taking my roll on FT to $200.  Not bad considering it didn't exist 6 days ago!

All I did was play ABC poker, but I have to admit I did "run good", in terms of my good hands holding.

I've just had another bash tonight and dropped $28 due to AA being rivered when up against QQ.  But it's certainly a good alternative when I don't have the time to sit down for a series of SnG's.

"THE POKER MINDSET"

Lots of folk on the Raise the River forum have recommended "The Poker Mindset" by Ian Taylor and Matthew Hilger.  I've managed to get myself a copy (via Amazon, but sent from the USA) and I have to say that I would rate it alongside Collin Moshman's book on "Sit and Go Strtegy" as one of the best poker books I have read.  I'm sure it is one that I will go back to time after time.

There is nothing in it that is earth shattering, it just very simply and concisely sets out the poker verities around variance, "bad beats", tilt, bankroll management and the like.  The fundamental point is that, if you are a winning player, you need to maintain all the positive aspects of your game that got you there, through the inevitable tilt inducing periods of losing sequences.  We've all been there, or if you haven't you soon will be.

Funny enough the things I've most taken to heart are the bits least related to that.  These are the need to constantly seek to improve your game ("he that's not busy being born is busy dying") and the chapter on analysing and reading other players.  I think I've been a tad lazy with my poker development and settled into a bit of a "comfort zone".  I have an roi of 20%+ at $11 SnG's and the temptation is to just plod along at that.  However I really want to develop an effective tournament game, so I'm going to put a bit of work into that.

I've also been unfocussed around analysing and predicting other players when I'm in live games.  I need to learn to do this more and my little weekly game at the Cricket Club is an ideal spot to practice this. 

I had an unusual early exit in that game this week.  I had about 12xBBs when I raised 3xBB in middle position with 88 and got called by one of the best regular players in the big blind.  The flop came Qh 8h 6h.  Big blind who has a smaller stack than me, goes all in.  I can't pass that - even if he has the flush, which I doubt, I have the chances of a boat.  So I call.  He shows Qs 9s.  Turn 5.  River a 7...giving him a straight.  He hadn't even seen it himself.  Sigh.  As the "Poker Mindset" would have it, you can only keep making the best plays. 

ROYAL FLUSH !

Absolute: Last Month $1000; Current $1065 (+65)
Poker Stars: Last month $137; Current $118 (-19)
Total = $1,183 (+46)
Profit in the month = +$46 Profit in the year = +$456
B&M = £113 (+£19)
Betfair = £147 (-£18)
Total = £260. B&M Profit in year +£60

I've been playing online poker for about six years now and a couple of nights ago I had my first royal flush (making it also my first ever straight flush)...and what's more I scored with it. It was in the mid section of a sng and my AT diamonds hit a flop of KdJd3c. A guy went big (33) and with all those outs I went all in. He called and I hit the Qd on the river. He was a bit peeved actually, but I wasn't folding that draw.

I've carried on playing the turbo sng's and seem to have them fairly well sussed. The variance is a bit higher (I started the month with a $77 downswing) but it's nice to get more games in without multi-tabling. I can multi-table, but after a day's work it feels a bit too much like more work - I don't need it.

During the downswing I found myself getting sucked into playing too many hands early on. It's so easy to do and such a major mistake. One laggy player in particular really got my goat. Early in the game I standard raised three times with big Aces. Each time he called me and hit two pair (he showed), forcing me to fold to his bet on the flop the first two times. The third time I had AK, hit a K on the flop and just couldn't believe he could have done it again. He damned well did - he'd hit his K3 off and put me out. A lesson re-learned. Early on, play these hands really big from the start, if you play them at all.

Meanwhile I can make nothing at all of the APAT league games. In the latest run out I finished 31/101, which is actually my highest finish so far - not impressive stuff. To get that far I had to luck out with 88 v QQ. I suppose I shouldn't moan. These games are definitely harder than the general $10 games - eventually a good run in one will come.

Certainly I continue to fancy the $11 36 man sng's on Absolute. Unfortunately they've been running a promotion on $11 tournaments this month, which seems to have attracted away all the regs from these sng's. I've only played one this month but I finished 4th in it and felt very comfortable throughout.

Meanwhile the Raise the River guys are away for a team event in Newcastle over the bank holiday weekend. Sadly I couldn't make it to defend my "last longest" title, but dD has vowed to nit up and give it a go. Now it is inevitable that drink will be taken, so I just hope that Dave "No Shoes" ( see post on the APAT team event in January) doesn't go native and end up minus his shirt in the Bigg Market on Saturday night.

The old and the new.

When I first played poker in the 1960's we basically played 5 card draw with some variations like "Southern Cross" (don't ask) and "Seven Card Stud" thrown in for interest. 3 card "Brag" was another popular game, which used to get quite ferocious with the "betting only finished when there were two players left" rule. I look back now and shudder. I didn't have the blindest notion what I was doing back then, but I think I can safely say that neither did anyone else in our group, since somehow I contrived to be a winning player!

When I started playing again some five years ago, after a lapse of, let's just say a few years, the game that was all the rage was of course Texas Hold'em - easy to learn and equally easy to lose money at. The big difference was that, thanks to the internet, there was no lack of instruction available on how to play effectively - the only real task was to sort the wheat from the chaff. Nothing stands still of course and now the "coming game" is "Pot Limit Omaha". This is a particularly evil variant, full of temptations, where very high hands can appear from all angles.

If the spirit of adventure is with you, you could do a lot worse than look here for some guidance on how to play Pot Limit Omaha. And if you want to take a trip down nostalgia boulevard, you could try here for instruction on how to play Seven Card Stud.

A TALE OF TWO RIVERS

I had a go at the £20 (+5) game at the G Casino in Bolton. Early doors I had a nice double up when my 99 hit a flop of 9h6c5c. The other guy bet the pot, I doubled it and he called. Ten on the turn. He checks, I bet pot, he calls. Ten of clubs on the river, giving me the full house. I go all in, he calls. He had 78 for the flopped straight. He said he thought I had to have the flush or house and shouldn't have called the river bet. Correct. If he had gone all in early doors, I would have too, so neither of us could have got away from the hand really.

I was then totally card dead for 3 levels and then had to make some moves as the blinds increased, which went ok. Then, with about half the field gone, and a 12xBB stack I got TT in middle position. Big bet from me, after one limper - two callers. Flop comes 455 two clubs. Guy who called in early makes a half pot bet and I go all in and he calls. He shows 66 including a club. The turn...8. River a xxxxing 7. Still, at least I got home in time to get a good night's sleep. Did I regard that as a consolation?

Mary's charity game went ok, with ten players. It ended up with BurnleyMik and me heads up, with Mik winning. That makes it 1 - 1 in our recent heads up matches...I'll get him next time :-)

COME AND JOIN A GAME IN A GOOD CAUSE

Next Sunday, alongside the "Bloggerment" which I regularly play, there is a game on PokerStars in aid of a cancer charity. This has been organised by "Mair", one of my regular (and best!) Bloggerment opponents. Do try to get along and join in. The details are...

Pokerstars
Sunday 18th April
8.30pm
$10 Buy In
password: Mair38 (it's a capital "M")
Tourney Number: 261128458

Be there or be square...

Get in!!

Absolute Bet: Last month $646; Current $1000 (+354)
Poker Stars: Last month $168; Current $137 (-31)

Total = $1,137 (+323)

Profit on the month = +$323

Profit on the year = +$410

B&M = £94 (+£34)

Betfair = £165 (-£35)

Total = £259.

Profit on year + £59

I'm updating the end of the month stats because I had a really nice couple of wins last night. I decided to give the Turbo's a go. I came second in a $5.5 one. Having decided I liked the format I then went for an $11 one and won that.

Following on the priciple mentioned in my last post, I then had a go at a $11 36 manner and won that too for $133 ($174 on the night). This is easily my biggest
on line win. I thought I had the beating of these and it's nice to prove the point so quickly.

A WHOLE NEW POKER CONCEPT!

Absolute Bet: Last week $646; Current $841 (+195)
Poker Stars: Last month $168; Current $153 (-15)
Total = $994 (+180)
Profit on the month = +$180
Profit on the year = +$267

B&M = £94 (+£34)
Betfair = £165 (-£35)
Total = £259.
Profit on year + £59

Some more fine entertainment at the Cricket Club game. We've had another influx of young players from the club, displaying I think it is safe to say a broad spectrum of ability. One of them was in a pot with a regular. Early doors, the reg goes 3xBB and the new guy calls. K42 rainbow - Reg bets pot. New guy calls. Turn 8. Pot bet; called. River J. Pot bet: called. Reg turns over AK. The new guy shows 10 6 off. One of his mates asks him, "What was that all about?" "I was bluffin'!"

It's a whole new poker concept folks - the bluff call!

Meanwhile I've continued to do quite nicely in the game - I've cashed every time I've played, bar one, since Christmas. Even then it's not a write off as there is a "cash game" full of LAG's that you just have to wait for a hand to get paid off in.

I've lumped that little wedge in with the Betfair/APAT stuff, as it is all geared towards playing in a live High Stakes Poker Tournament at some point in the year. The Manchester team is in there pitching in Division 1 of the APAT league, but I have yet to make a significant contribution - hopefully this weekend will see that put right.

My "bread and butter" $11 SnG's on Absolute have been going nicely. 27 games played with 7 1st places making the big difference from earlier this year. I had been playing the odd $11 tournament (the "$1200 Guranteed") but these seem to have disappeared now. However I have spotted some soft looking 36 man SnG's (1st prize $144). I didn't cash in the two I've played but I'm sure I can. The current "cunning plan" is to play one of these every time I make a 1st place in a $11 SnG. We shall see.

INTO THE BLACK.

Absolute Bet: Last week $527; Current $642 (+115)
Poker Stars: Last month $144; Current $168 (+24)

Total = $810 (+139)

Betfair: Current £200

Profit on the month = + $139

Profit on the year = + $60

B&M money = £60 (+ £14)

I've managed to turn round my bad start to the year and get the bankroll heading north again. I worked out what the main leak in my game was - it turned out that I was making too many negative equity ICM decisions. Once I had identified this my results improved quickly. I've also played the $1200 guaranteed $11 tournament on Absolute three times. I fancy this one, as it starts at 7.30 and usually has fewer than 200 runners - so if you run deep there is a realistic chance of getting to bed at a reasonable time. Close to the money on two occasions, but no cigar so far. One of them was an exit in the first ten minutes - amazing for me. I ended up all in with AK of diamonds on a board of Ah 6d 4d...Turn Jh...River 8d. He had 5d7d for the straight flush...SIGH.

I've put a couple of hundred from the B&M money into Betfair so that I can play some of the APAT games. I had set it aside for entries to the live games but sadly none of them are anywhere near the north west of England - Aberdeen, Swansea, Dublin and Luton don't cut it for me I'm afraid. The next local one is the team tourney I played in last month, which will be held in Bolton in January next year. It seems a long way off. There is a one day event at Dusk to Dawn in Nottingham in the summer which I might try to get to - Nottingham is doable in a day. Meantime I'm going to have a punt at some of the online APAT games, which is why I put a wedge into Betfair. Horrible software though.

Games at the Cricket Club continue to make a small but steady profit. The scene has settled down into a regular 12 - 16 players. There are about 4 of us who play a tight/aggressive game, a similar number of weak/tights and the rest are serious loose/aggressives. They tend to dominate early on with one or two usually eliminating a couple of their number and getting big stacks they try to boss the table with. Most weeks the game comes down to two or three TAG's hunting down a LAG and usually the TAG's win, which is why playing poker is clearly a game of skill. :-)

SWINGS, ROUNDABOUTS, VARIANCE AND DONKEYS HEADS!.

Absolute Bet: Last week $600; Current $527 (-73)
Poker Stars: Last month $150; Current $144 (-6)

Total = $ 672 (-79)

Profit on the month = -79

Profit on the year = -79

B&M money = £246 (+46)

Life online has been very trying this month. I've played 30 $11 SnG's and ended up down $73. Despite doing well in the Bloggerment, I'm also down a little bit on Stars, as I managed to get sucked into some cash Pot Limit Omaha. I'm a long way short of having a game plan there, so I'll give that a miss in future.

In my "bread and butter" SnG's, it's all the usual "bad beat" type stuff, being sucked out on in key hands where you were ahead etc. The worst run was 7 games without a cash - nowhere near my record, which is twice that. I didn't have an outright win until the 28th game. That is the real cause of the problem. Turning a healthy percentage of cashes into wins is vital. Anyway, hopefully things will turn round and I will get into the black again. I've been here before.

I've certainly turned things round at the cricket club where I cashed in both games played.

However, by far the best craic was the APAT UK Forum Team Championship at the G Casino in Manchester, where I played for the "Raise the River" team. I finally got to meet lots of folk off the forum that I regularly play in the "Bloggerment", including Mair, Hammerheid, Bullmeister, Ant, DoV, dD, Lou Saban and Gorvacorfin in addition to the motley crew I'd met up with in Bolton, BurnleyMik, Snakeyes and NoCash. I certainly took dD by surprise - he wasn't expecting someone even more ancient than himself! :-)

Hammer, Snake and Mik were well up there in the drinking stakes but the prize (to nobody's great surprise I suspect) has to go to NoCash, who woke up the next morning minus his shoes!? Well done that man. The Norn Irish and the Geordies provided some stiff competition for service at the bar too - more of them later.

I was back to back at my table with Ant at the next one. For the first 3 levels we competed very effectively with each other to see who could play the fewest hands - yes, I won :-). I had AQ raised, hit the Q on a two spade flop, bet the pot and got called. Blank on the turn. Overbet the pot, got called. Spade on the river. Bet from opponant - fold. He had the flush of course. Sigh.

Amazingly the first player out was last year's winner, Mair. Glory is fleeting and all that.

For the remainder of the day (it finished at 2.00 in the morning) I played 5 more hands, winning all of them. However, mostly I only took the blinds, as nobody took me to a showdown. Given the ultra tight way I had been playing, that was hardly surprising. The rest of the RtR team were gradually whittled away, until there was only BurnleyMik and myself left.

I was left with a stack of 46K to start the second day with Mik on about 37K. Somewhat surprisingly there were no huge chip leaders among the 31 players (of 160) left - even the biggest only had about 30xBBs. So we were almost all in with a shout. Players were gradually whittled away but I was totally card dead and had to make the odd all in blind steal just to stay with a stack that could realistically make people fold. With antes as well as escalating blinds this tactic is vital to survival. Eventually I had to make a move with about 7 BB's left and went all in with a pair of 6's against a big stack. He called me with a big Ace but a six came on the flop and I was chipped back into it again.

When his table broke up Mik ended up on mine, two places to my right with one of the Irish guys between us. He was getting to the stage when he had to make a move and went all in on my Big Blind. I had A10. Cue major trance as I thought things through. If I called one of us was going out and therefore we would have no chance of going deep in the team tournament (we both needed to figure high on the final table to even have an outside chance). Also, he wouldn't have put me in this situation (for the same reason) unless he had a strong hand. I folded and he showed JJ. Phew - nice pass Brian! However it was all in vain, as Mik was evicted when he raised the Irish lad from the small blind and was called. With two low spades and two on the flop, which included 2 jacks, he checked. So did the Irishman. Blank on the turn. Mik went all in and was insta-called. Irish lad had 2 Jacks for Quadzillas and it was goodnight Mik.

Gorvacorfin from the forum was the last player left that I knew. He was on my left now and just to be friendly I nicked his blinds a couple of times - you have it to do as they say in Lancashire. Players were being slowly but steadily eliminated and we were down to 5 handed when I found myself short stacked again and ready to make a move. K10 told me it was time to shove and in it went - call from a big stack with AJ. AQ on the flop giving him the lead and me 3 outs...but no Jack came and I was out in 12th place, three off the money. SIGH. Sadly, Gorv was the next out, missing out on the money too.

It was great to go deep and have a shot at making the money again. Actually I did make some as I was in a "lasts longest" for a tenner each with the other guys, so at least I got my entry back and £20. All that and two grand day's of entertainment too. Great craic and I will be back for more. Well done APAT.

The Geordies? Grief but they made a noise ("drink had been taken" as my mother would have put it). There was particularly raucous support for a player they insisted on calling "Chipmonk", though he didn't seem to appreciate this moniker himself. He did eventually finish 2nd, so well done. The donkey's head he put on when he went all in a couple of times was entertaining too - as he put it himself - try getting a read on me past that!

I'm going to have a bash at this along with some of the other Raise the River folk...

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker! Bloggers can register for to play for free in the WBCOOP, if you don’t have a PokerStars account you can get your Poker Download here.

Registration code: 089359

This lovely little fellow has arrived because I've crashed out first in the Bloggerment (for the first time I can recall). The cause - very poor play and nothing else. So it goes :-(

A GREAT POKER YEAR

Ultimate Bet: Last week $453; Current $637 (+184)
Poker Stars: Last month $113; Current $149 (+36)

Total = $786

Profit on the month = +$220

Profit for the year = +$580

B&M money = £2,389 (-9)

Profit for the year = £2,389

It's been a grand final month to finish a great poker year - with $184 profit on the $11 games on Ultimate Bet and $36 on a few games on Stars. The SnGs work out at the totally awesome roi of 74%, which is even better than my previous monthly best - the September figures. According to Sharkscope my roi overall is 23%. Very acceptable.

I'm very comfortable with $11 games, so I'm going to look towards getting the Cereus bankroll up to $800 and then moving up to $22 games. I'm going to take out the Ultimate money and transfer it over to a new account on Absolute, so that I can get rakeback (30% seems to be available from a number of sources). It looks as if I will be playing enough hands at a sufficiently high level to make rakeback worth taking into account in future.

I re-opened the Stars account to play in the Bloggerment with the RaisetheRiver folk (Stars private tournaments 9.00 PM on Sundays - good craic). As hoped, my luck on there has improved (poor old "Weegem" certainly thinks so after last week when my all in with TT against his Aces hit a flop with two tens - sorry mate). I've now come 2nd twice. "Mair" has won for the last two weeks running and seems in fine form.

The hoped for improvement in results at the Cricket Club hasn't emerged yet though - looks like I will have to tough that one out.

All in all I am very pleased with the way my game has developed. I now have a winning game at SnG's which I've managed to successfully transfer to tournament scenarios. There is still plenty to work on, but I'm enjoying playing which is the main thing. It's a hobby not an occupation.

So, time to set out the poker plans for next year.

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).

A prosperous New Year to all my readers!

BACK TO THE QUIET LIFE

Neteller: Last week $113; Current $113 (-)
Ultimate Bet: Last month $442; Current $453 (+11)

Total = $566

Profit on the month = +$11

B&M money = £2,398 (+£14)

Well, with the very able assistance of my wife and two daughters, I've managed to be a one man antidote to the recession and spend the APAT money. I'm now the proud possessor of a new wide screen plasma telly, nice big monitor for my computer, an iphone for daughter one, a lap top for daughter two, and a fine selection of new clothes for the wife and I. Buy shares in Curry's now.

On the actual poker front it has been a case of up, down and then a minor recovery. On the $11 games I shot up to 537 in 8 games and then went into a tailspin with only one miserable 3rd place in 14 games. Three wins in my last 5 games has pulled me into a position where I have made the grand profit of $11 on the month. Downswings like that are to be expected, but they are still tedious to bare. However I don't take it too seriously. Basically I know I am a winning player at this level and I have the bankroll to see out things like that.

I haven't been able to do much at the Cricket Club lately either. I am regularly in the last 3 or 4 but I haven't won outright for a while. Some new young players have been joining and a couple of them have learned quickly and developed decent games. This means that we have about 5 players with tight/aggressive games and the remainder are very Laggy. Inevitably some of the LAG's get lucky and chip up early and then bully with big stacks. One of them did me the other night - calling my all in on the flop with 44 against my QQ - he hit the 4 on the turn of course. Still it's fun and I'm sure I can start winning again soon.

Meanwhile, since I was in Nottingham for the night, I went down to the "Dusk till Dawn" club - the largest in the country. Very nice set-up. I had hoped to play in a £25 freezeout but got there too late. I played some .5/£1 No Limit Cash and won the princely sum of £16. There were a couple of seriously poor players who donated nicely (what is it about the Chinese that makes them such wild gamblers?) but sadly I never had a hand to go up against them with myself.

It's good to see the Bloggerment tournament on PokerStars back again too. (9.00 on Stars "private tournaments" - password "donkament"). That is basically where I learned how to play tournaments. No luck so far though. I've had folk sucking out against me with flush draws I hadn't given them the odds to call for the last two weeks - again, my turn will come :-)

WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Neteller: Last week $113; Current $113 (-)
Ultimate Bet: Last month $517; Current $442 (-65)

Total = $555

Profit on the month = -$65
B&M money = £2,386 (+£2,334)

The APAT English Amateur Championship tournament in Bolton turned out to be totally awesome, with me finishing in 2nd place for a prize of £2225!

Day 1.

I met up with two of the Raise the River guys, at the Odessa Cafe in the centre of Bolton, "Snakeyes" and "NoCash". "BurnleyMik" turned up later at the casino. Before the tournament started, we set up a £10 a head "who goes deepest" prizefund of £100 for 10 of us, held by Kevin from Blackburn. Then we were off.

I was on a table in the corner, which turned out to be a thoroughly good thing. With over 220 folk all crammed into quite a confined space the heat in the centre of the room was mega, so it was useful to be near an exit.

We quickly found a "table captain" in a guy from Halifax. He bullied the table something rotten and over the first couple of hours took out several players. Certainly there seemed to be more cries of "Man down" from our table than anywhere else. He had position on me which made things difficult. Basically I took down a couple of blind steals and that was it. Mainly I was trying to come to terms with casino rules such as keeping your cards on the table and avoiding "string bets". All new stuff to me. I was totally card dead, so my 10,000 starting stack was slowly depleting as time went on, but I hadn't reached a 10xBB situation which would make an quick all in necessary.

The table broke up and I ended up in the centre of the room. This was bad news as the heat was dreadful there and I was downing water like a fish! However, my luck changed with regard to cards. I had AA twice and the first time I just took down the blinds and an original raiser who folded to my all in. On the second occasion however I opened with a 3xBB bet and was followed by an all in from one of the few female players. Naturally I called. She had KK. Nothing untoward happened and I'd doubled up nicely. BurnleyMik told me afterwards that she had crippled him earlier with 99 hitting trips against his 1010. A tough break for the lass, but I needed it.

I went card dead again for the next couple of hours, just making the odd blind steal, against players I thought wouldn't shove back at me (reads were good).

At the very end of the day (about 1.30 in the morning) I was moved to a new table. A couple of hands are played with no action and I look down at AQ of Spades. We are nearly at the end of the level and everyone left will go through to the next day. I put in a 10,000 bet (a quarter of my stack). A Welsh guy, Gary Phillips, goes all in with a stack similar to my own. A big stack thinks long and hard and folds. I go into a trance and eventually decide he has to have a big pair to make that move at this stage of the day, so I fold. Gary, very decently, shows his KK to confirm my read.

Day 2.

I'm still in, but in 26th place of the 30 left. I've worked out what I'm going to do before I even get to the casino. The new blind levels and antes are going to slaughter me so I'm going to make a move on the first two laps with the first reasonable hand I get and with air if it's getting close to the second set of blinds. First lap I shove with A9o and collect the blinds. That gives me another couple of laps. Then I get AA and shove - no callers. Collect the blinds again. My stack is dwindling as the level is coming to a close - I have to make a move and shove on the blinds with A5. Call from the Ian Burnett in the big blind with A10s. I'm on my feet ready to shake hands and leave. A 5 hits on the river!! Ok - we still have a game folks.

Then comes what will be the main hand of the tournament for me. I look down at QQ. A guy in early position with a stack smaller than mine makes a 4xBB move. I go all in over the top. The guy after me (who has shown every sign of being a good player) goes all in over me with a bigger stack. The original raiser calls. The guy to my left has AA (damn). The original raiser has AhJc (why was he still in the hand?). The flop comes Q93 all hearts. Yippee - I've lucked out trips. (Damn - there's a flush draw). Two blanks and I've trebled up!! I felt sorry for the AA guy, who had only done what anyone would and he exited shortly afterwards.

I now had a stack of something like 240K. Folk were exiting steadily and I was "in the money". I now went totally card dead again. For something like two levels I only made the very odd blind steal and watched the others at the table. A young chap called Andrew McCloud made a very strong impression as did Ian Burnett, who was a couple of seats behind me. It turned out that he knew "Mair", who my wife told me was giving me a lot of support on the APAT website along with some of the other RtR folk.

I decide not to make any more blind steal moves as there are so many guys ready to go over the top and put you to the question. Besides, I didn't have too, since I was comfortably more than 10xBB and antes. Gradually players were eliminated and we were down to the final table.

The last 9 players were all treated to a very pleasant meal. They all seemed a really decent bunch of folk (and no sign of the autistic types I remember from my Chess Congress days!).

I went into the final table with the second smallest stack, so I knew I would be making a move fairly early on and it would have to hold. Early doors, Tony Trippier (who was chip leader at the end of day 1) puts in a big bet ahead of me. I go all in with QQ and he shows AJ. The Queens hold (I'm really beginning to like Queens). Things are now really aggressive all round and I'm only really looking for all in moves. I end up all in with Andrew McCloud with QQ (again) against 1010. He hits a 10 (damn) but I river a straight!

Then one of the key hands of the tournament and I'm not in it. Andrew makes a big bet and John Kay goes all in over him. Andrew has a long think and makes a great call when he finds his AJ up against A7. However a 7 comes and no jack so Andrew is out in 4th. (Tough that).

Ian Burnett finishes 3rd when his A4 is beaten by John Kay's K10. I'm second - hooray! Now for a shot at the title. I'm .5M chips v 1.5M chips. First hand I get A4 and put in a big bet. John goes all in. Odds must be my A is ahead and I'm level on chips if I win. I call. John shows 109 hearts. Four blanks ... and a 9 on the river.

John rode his luck, but then so did I, so I can't complain. I was saved on the river 3 times in the course of the day.

A great exciting day and very well run by the APAT folks. Many thanks to Steve at the casino and the RtR folk for their support (my wife was amazed at the positive vibes I was getting). I will return, but I doubt if I can ever run as well as that again. As Pete Birks put it to me, the best poker advice I can give is "run good". Amen to that.

Oh, I've had a crap month at the $11 SnGs. Now ask me if I care!!!

FUN AND GAMES

Neteller: Last week $68; Current $113 (+45)
Ultimate Bet: Last month $317; Current $517 (+200)

Total = $630

Profit on the month = +$200
B&M money = £52

Hilarious times at the Cricket Club face-to-face game recently. One of the regulars at the bar decided to join in for a game - having watched proceedings for the last few months. Result - carnage. The man could do no wrong - although he was committing just about every "wrong" in the poker bible.

He was in just about every hand (he won the first five of the night) and totally dominating my table. I was quietly observing and doing damn all as usual at this stage, when I looked down at KK. He called as per normal and I put in a 4xBB bet. He called. Nothing flop. I bet the pot. He called. Nothing Turn. I go all in. He called...and he then showed AA!

The first "proper" hand he had had. SIGH. I got lots of jeers and catcalls, since it is a rare event indeed for me to play a hand in the first hour, never mind go out with it!

Well - this carried on for the rest of the evening. Whatever he went with, hit, and he won the evening in record time. It was amazing (if a tad depressing) to watch. Needless to say, he was first out the following week.

I've closed down the Stars account, as I hadn't used it for months.

Meanwhile the on-line poker has been a roaring success. I've had a really nice winning run at the $11 games and pushed the roll over the $500 mark much quicker than I'd expected. Sharkscope puts me on an roi of 31% (though they haven't got all my 5.5 games by any means). However my roi for the 30 games I've played this month is an awesome 54%! I've cashed in 19/30. I even played a $22 game, following a win in a $11 game and came 2nd in that. The standard was just as bad.

There are one or two decent players that I've clocked and I've got "notes to avoid" on them - no need to make things more difficult than they need to be. One of them looked so useful with his big stack "bullying on the bubble" tactics that I googled him and found that he had an roi the same as mine but for 10 times as many games! A real shark and now a marked man as far as I am concerned. Funny enough in the next game I played there was another player trying the big stack bully on the bubble stuff. He was nowhere near as good at it though and eventually he was the one who bubbled out.

Meanwhile next month sees the the APAT English championship in Bolton, which I've managed to get an entry to, using £75 from the money I've won at the Cricket Club. I've never played a face-to-face tournament in a casino, so it should be an interesting experience, especially since BurnleyMik and another couple of the RaisetheRiver guys will be there too. I thought I may as well record the money position in b&m games - I've £52 left after paying the entry for the APAT thing.

FUN AND GAMES

Neteller: Last week $68; Current $113 (+45)
Ultimate Bet: Last month $317; Current $517 (+200)

Total = $630

Profit on the month = +$200
B&M money = £52

Hilarious times at the Cricket Club face-to-face game recently. One of the regulars at the bar decided to join in for a game - having watched proceedings for the last few months. Result - carnage. The man could do no wrong - although he was committing just about every "wrong" in the poker bible.

He was in just about every hand (he won the first five of the night) and totally dominating my table. I was quietly observing and doing damn all as usual at this stage, when I looked down at KK. He called as per normal and I put in a 4xBB bet. He called. Nothing flop. I bet the pot. He called. Nothing Turn. I go all in. He called...and he then showed AA!

The first "proper" hand he had had. SIGH. I got lots of jeers and catcalls, since it is a rare event indeed for me to play a hand in the first hour, never mind go out with it!

Well - this carried on for the rest of the evening. Whatever he went with, hit, and he won the evening in record time. It was amazing (if a tad depressing) to watch.

Needless to say, he was first out the following week.

I've closed down the Stars account, as I hadn't used it for months.

Meanwhile the on-line poker has been a roaring success. I've had a really nice winning run at the $11 games and pushed the roll over the $500 mark much quicker than I'd expected. Sharkscope puts me on an roi of 31% (though they haven't got all my 5.5 games by any means). However my roi for the 30 games I've played this month is an awesome 54%! I've cashed in 19/30. I even played a $22 game, following a win in a $11 game and came 2nd in that. The standard was just as bad.

There are one or two decent players that I've clocked and I've got "notes to avoid" on them - no need to make things more difficult than they need to be. One of them looked so useful with his big stack "bullying on the bubble" tactics that I googled him and found that he had an roi the same as mine but for 10 times as many games! A real shark and now a marked man as far as I am concerned. Funny enough in the next game I played there was another player trying the big stack bully on the bubble stuff. He was nowhere near as good at it though and eventually he was the one who bubbled out.

Meanwhile next month sees the the APAT English championship in Bolton, which I've managed to get an entry to, using £75 from the money I've won at the Cricket Club. I've never played a face-to-face tournament in a casino, so it should be an interesting experience, especially since BurnleyMik and another couple of the RaisetheRiver guys will be there too. I thought I may as well record the money position in b&m games - I've £52 left after paying the entry for the APAT thing.

MOVING ON UP

Neteller: Last week $108; Current $68 (-40)
Full Tilt: Last week $45; Current $45 (-)
Ultimate Bet: Last month $198; Current $317 (+119)

Total = $430

Profit on the month = +$79

I started the month with a couple of wins at $5.5 which put me over $200. Since then I've only played $11 games and I've found them very much to my liking. I've played 22 for a profit of $67, which is a "roi" of 27%. Very tidy I reckon.

The standard is not noticably better than in the $5.5 games, which surprised me a little bit. It is a rare game that isn't down to the last 4/5 players by the time we reach the 50/100 level, which is where the serious blind stealing has to start.

I've cashed in 10 of the games, so I still seem to be running close to cashing 50% of the time as I was consistently at $5.5. My heads up game seems to be running ok too, as I've won 4 with 2 seconds.

I bunged in another $40 from Neteller to get some bonus going. It's not a lot but I may as well have it.

I'm only playing one game at a time at the moment. I'm going to have to have a look at multi-tabling. I'll make multi-tabling the target once I have over $400 I think.