"TOURNAMENT SUCCESSES BOOST BANKROLL"

Neteller: Last week $230; Current $230 (-)
Inter: Last week $13; Current; $5 (-8)
Ladbrokes: Last week $205; Current $216 (+$11)
PokerStars: Last week $101; Current $232 (+$121)

Total: Last week $549; Current $673 (+$124)

Profit for month = $126
Profit for year = $543

Well this has been the week of my big breakthrough in tournaments. Not only did I win the Bloggerment last week but I also came 3rd in another tournament (I was chip leader going into the final 3, but hit some bad beats - so it goes). I also won a few dollars in another tournament which I entered inadvertently. It was a Limit tournament - which I have to confess it took me quite some time to notice, as I had really poor hands early on. Finally I hit a hand and got really irritated when I couldn't find the slider - then it dawned on me! :-) Anyway, since I was there, I ploughed on - it was a 450 entrants jobby and I eventually bailed out 4½ hours later in 25th place. I won't be entering any more of those, well not deliberately anyway.

Meanwhile I've cleared my bonus on Stars. I then went back to play a night on the cash tables on Laddies. What a contrast - they are much looser. I can hold my own on Stars, but it is like pulling teeth making any money. On Laddies my chances are much better.

So, I think I'll use the Stars account for tourneys and possibly sit and goes and Laddies and another account for cash games. I'm not quite sure where to go for the third account (suggestions welcome)? Interpoker are talking about changing their bonus scheme, so that might be a goer. Basically I need something that it is possible to work off in a reasonable time, playing low level No Limit. Laddies are hopeless for this purpose - you have to make a massive number of "player points" just to buy in to a freeroll. I'm not looking for a lot - just some of my rake back.

VICTORY IN THE BLOGGERMENT!!!

Well blow me if Paddy's victory at the Open didn't translate into a follow up triumph in the bloggerment!

I trundled along early on getting nowhere slowly, until shortly after the first break. "Bluescouse" (who gave me a good pasting a few weeks back) made a big reraise just in front of me. I went all in with my pair of 10's and took down his 8's.

That effectively turned round the whole thing for me. I was able to do some stealing thereafter and got through to the bubble, which proved to be a very extended experience - particularly since I was dying for a pee at the time :-)

Anyway, I hung on in there with fortunes fluctuating back and forth and eventually Mike Saban was the man to suffer and it came down to a three way between "Hammerheid", "Spid" and myself. This too proved to be a long drawn out battle with many more fluctuations, but when I managed to take "Hammer" down, I ended up with a huge chip advantage against "Spid" and the rest was inevitable.

I have to say it would have been great fun even if I hadn't won, but winning made it all the better!

"No biting fish"

Neteller: Last week $230; Current $230 (-)
Inter: Last week $13; Current; $13 (-)
Ladbrokes: Last week $205; Current $205 (-)
PokerStars: Last week $121; Current $101 (-$20)

Total: Last week $569; Current $549 (-$20)

An indifferent week poker wise. I haven't played badly as far as I can tell. I have just been unfortunate in not finding someone with an encouraging but second best hand at the times when I have had really good ones. This has been a real feature of the week. If I get Aces or Kings and put in a decent pre-flop bet, nobody calls, even though there have been callers for similar sized bets earlier. If I hit heavily on the river and put in a pot sized bet to suggest top pair, everyone folds. SIGH. It's just the way things run sometimes and at least I haven't been letting it irritate me and then made poor moves as a result.

One hand I did learn from came early in the week when I had a pair of Kings. The big stack at the table bet out for 5x the big blind and I doubled him and he called. The flop came with an Ace and he bet out heavily and I felt I had to fold. I think I should have put him to a decision with an "all in" over his bet. If he had Aces - so it goes. If not he would only have had 3 outs against me with AK or the like. One to file away as I try to develop my No Limit game. If he'd called I'd likely have lost but it has to be equity value long term.

Meanwhile I've been watching Harrington win the Open, which is good news as I had a few quid on him (basically on the principle that he was "due"). Now, can the luck of the Irish carry on into the Bloggerment tonight? We shall see.

"Maniac"

Neteller: Last week $230; Current $230 (-)
Inter: Last week $13; Current; $13 (-)
Ladbrokes: Last week $205; Current $205 (-)
PokerStars: Last week $67; Current $121 (+$54)

Total: Last week $515; Current $569 (+$54)

There is a pleasant poker website to be found at www.raisetheriver.com run by a couple of the guys from the blogger tournament at PokerStars which I've been playing at for the past few weeks. On it they are trying to drum up some trade for a fantasy football league on the premier league free site. I like that sort of thing (though I'm not much good at it I have to say). Check it out if you fancy taking on Red Star Kronsdat!

Meanwhile I have been playing a little bit of No Limit on Stars and the odd tournament. Some progress at the cash games but no luck on the tourneys - and let's face it you can't get anywhere without some at that game. Still, it doesn't cost anything but time.

Hand of the week was undoubtedly on Stars the other night where I had a maniac on the table who was going all in with a full stack two or three time per orbit. He was seriously winding up some of the others at the table. About half an hour later he did it again from early position and I was looking at two Queens. I called him all in and took down his 10 4 off (I kid you not) to universal approval from the rest of the table. Funny enough he turned up again last night on a table I was playing and was perfectly conventional. Perhaps he was just pissed on the first occasion - he certainly played like he was.

"TOURNAMENT PLAY"

Neteller: Last week $230; Current $230 (-)
Inter: Last week $8; Current; $13 (+$5)
Ladbrokes: Last week $202; Current $205 (+$3)
PokerStars: Last week $101; Current $67 (-$34)

Total: Last week $547; Current $515 (-$32)

Not a lot of play this week. I lost a little bit on Stars mainly through poor play I have to say - inability to resist calling hands I "knew" I should fold on a couple of occasions. I also lost an "all in" to a full house on the river beating my nut flush - so it goes.

Meanwhile I've mainly been playing little player points tournaments on Inter using my large number of player points there. I think I'm getting a better feel for it all the time and I came 5th in one of them and would have gone further had my AK not been beaten by A3s, but there you go. It's very much a cheap learning exercise as far as I'm concerned and at least I think that I'm improving.

One thing I have learned is that its not a good idea to call an "all in" even if you have a good hand - it is usually just a "coin flip" at best. It is much better to be the one that has gone "all in" first so that you have the fold equity as well as the opportunity to double up should you be called. The exception to this is when you have a much bigger stack than the other player going all in, then you should call as it won't bust you if you get the wrong end of the 50/50 situation. All this is meat and drink to the regular tournament player I dare say, but it has taken me time to work out as I'm very much a novice in the tournament arena. It's cheap and good fun.

"No Limit back in favour"

Neteller: Last week $19; Current $230 (+$211)
Inter: Last week $8; Current; $8 (-)
Ladbrokes: Last week $157; Current $202 (+$45)
CD: Last week $211; Current: 0 (-$211)
PokerStars: Last week $97; Current $101 (+$4)
William Hill: Last week $6; Current $6 (-)

Total: Last week $498; Current $547 (+$49)

Loss for June = -$36
Profit for year = +$417

I haven't played a lot this week but what I have played has been No Limit again and I've enjoyed it. I think that I am at last beginning to get a feel for the game - at least currently I'm not leaking dosh at it!

I've closed the CD account for the time being since I didn't much like their No Limit tables - I dare say I'll be back some time as I've racked up quite a few player points there. That's why I have the odd few dollars in Inter and Hill's as well.

Stats for the month aren't thrilling but at least the loss was contained at the end.

Hand of the week has to be on Laddies where my pocket 9's hit a flop of Q99. Obviously wonderful, but I thought I'd struggle to make any money out of it. However the Q and one of the 9's were Diamonds and somebody raised for 5xBB and two folk followed. I joined them...like you do :-) Another diamond on the turn. Magic!! The original raisor bets out again and gets a caller. I joined them. River is another diamond. The three of us go all in and obviously I take down the pot.

That one hand was pretty much my profit on the week. Don't you just love second best hands that leave their poor owners drawing dead! Unfortunately this only happens once in a blue moon, but it's fun when it occurs.

"SLUMP CONTINUES."

Neteller: Last week $19; Current $19 (-)
Inter: Last week $8; Current; $8 (-)
Ladbrokes: Last week $179; Current $135 (-$44)
CD: Last week $244; Current: $219 (-$25)
PokerStars: Last week $74; Current $68 (-$6)
William Hill: Last week $13; Current $6 (-$7)

Total: Last week $526; Current $455 (-$71)

Poker wise, I continue to do little right at the moment. I found a soft game of 1/2 limit on Laddies and duely got hammered again. I tried a similar game on CD and got a similar result. After that I gave up for the week, and just played a couple of MTT's both of which I saw me finish in the 20's, winning about $6 - so not much consolation there.

If I carry on reducing my bankroll at this rate next week, I'm going to have to drop down to .50/1.00.

This bad trot isn't fun (they never are). I'm even contemplating another foray into No Limit - just for the sake of trying something different. There again, that is hardly a guaranteed way of turning round a bad run :-(

I played the Blogger tournament on PokerStars again and felt I was making good progress by finally finishing 4th (the dreaded "bubble" - just out of the money) of 21. Needless to say, to get so far, I had to have a bit of luck and I did when I went all in with A7 and was called by a player with AQ - I hit a 7 on the river. Still, I don't think I did much wrong the rest of the time and you have to get some luck to get anywhere in these things. Besides I've been on the other side of that sort of thing myself.

"A BAD WEEK"

Neteller: Last week $118; Current $118 (-)
Inter: Last week $8; Current; $8 (-)
Ladbrokes: Last week $292; Current $221 (-$71)
CD: Last week $260; Current: $26 (-24)

Total: Last week $678; Current $583 (-$95)

Profit for May: +$98
Profit for year:+$453

A very poor week for me poker wise. I just had a poor run of cards on CD, but on Laddies I allowed myself to get sucked into a couple of very loose games and got hammered in a several big multi-way pots. Bad play by me (I do know how to play these tables) which I hope I won't be repeating. I am going to have a stop/loss point of 30BB per session - something I should have instituted earlier really.

In the meantime I think I am developing my ability to handle Multi-table tournaments. I haven't made any money (since my triumph of a few weeks back) but I am consistently going deep into them and I think it is only a matter of time (and
inevitably, some luck) before I do. My current strategy (it's still evolving) is to try to see cheap flops early on with anything semi-reasonable in position, but back off in the face of any opposition unless I hit of course. Early I will only go to war with AA and KK. Lots of people seem to go out to coin flips with Ax or any pair early on. In the middle I loosen up a bit, but basically I'm still trying to play poker, rather than take 50/50 bets. At less than 10x the big blind I start looking for all in opportunities to double up and get ahead of the blinds again. Here I'm not taking on other folks' all ins, unless I have a monster. I want the "fold equity" of being the first one to go all in. If I'm ahead of the blinds, I'm trying somes steals from position. I haven't had a lot of opportunity to develop late MTT play. I went out "on the bubble" on one last night when my KK met AQ, which hit an Ace on the flop. So it goes. They are quite good fun and of course inexpensive, since I am only playing in freerolls and "player points" tournaments. When I feel a bit more praciced I'll have a go at the blogger tournament.

Any experienced MTT players who want to comment on the above, please feel welcome.

"Tagged"

Neteller: Last week $118; Current $118 (-)
Inter: Last week $8; Current; $8 (-)
Ladbrokes: Last week $278; Current $192 (+14)
CD: Last week $262; Current: $260 (-2)


Total: Last week $666; Current $678 (+$12)

Juice and lots of the other poker bloggers have been doing this "tagging" thing where you provide 7 little known (or totally unknown) pieces of information about yourself. Here are mine...

1. Kronsdat (my poker alias) is the name of the Russian naval base near St Petersburg. I did the dissertation for my history degree on the rebellion of the anarchist and far left sailors at Kronsdat against the Bolsheviks in 1921.

2. I once danced with Northern Ireland's first, and I strongly suspect only, Cotswold Morris Dancing Team.

3. My surname is the lowest ford on the Firth of Forth (which is hard to say if you've had a few).

4. I once ran against Dave Bedford...in the inter-university cross country championships. He came 1st; I was 322nd. Still, there were over 600 in it.

5. I was at the game when George Best kicked the ball out of Banks' hands. It was a goal. It had left his hands and he never touched him! (but I could be a bit prejudiced).

6. The football team I supported in Belfast as a kid were called "Distillery" (now Lisburn Distillery). My father was their physio when they drew 3 - 3 with Benfica in Belfast (Eusebio and all). Tom Finney came out of retirement to play with Distillery for the match.

7. My only "international" sporting appearance was playing netball against England! (I was a basketball player - they asked my team to play a practice game against them, as their next fixture was against Jamaica and they were expecting a rough game!)

Meanwhile back with the poker...I'm pleased to have finished the week on a positive score. For the first four sessions I played this week I had one of those downtimes we all have to learn to live with. The usual stuff, poor hands (I was sub 10% flops seen in one session) and bad beats when I did get hands (AQ ambushed on the river by the might of K4 off lingers in the memory). Still, I rode it out until $60 down or so and then battled my way back.

So it goes.

"STEADY PROGRESS"

Neteller: Last week $158; Current $118 (-40)
Inter: Last week $8; Current; $8 (-)
Ladbrokes: Last week $263; Current $278 (+$15)
CD: Last week $188; Current: $262 (+$74)

Total: Last week $617; Current $666 (+$49)

I now have a beast of a bankroll :-)

I didn't actually play a lot this week for one reason or another but what I did play went ok. I had some interesting times again on Ladbrokes where I again managed to find a wild 1/2 table on a couple of occasions. I remember commenting a couple of months back on how I couldn't get AA, hitting a third to hold up for a while - here's a hand where it did...

Speed $2 10 [Hold 'em] (1.00|2.00 Fixed Limit - Cash Game) Real Money

- _Kronsdat sitting in seat 1 with $93.50
- vodichthu sitting in seat 2 with $28.59
- bolnde__25 sitting in seat 3 with $121.29
- paramal sitting in seat 4 with $65.70
- DOC1970 sitting in seat 5 with $74.37
- niloc sitting in seat 6 with $80.51
- yurkes sitting in seat 7 with $69.05
- SegerX sitting in seat 8 with $21.50
- fishing_rod sitting in seat 9 with $1264.74
- Silverfox sitting in seat 10 with $66.81 [Dealer]

_Kronsdat posted the small blind - $0.50
vodichthu posted the big blind - $1.00

** Dealing card to _Kronsdat: Ace of Spades, Ace of Clubs
bolnde__25 folded
paramal called - $1.00
DOC1970 raised - $2.00
niloc folded
yurkes folded
SegerX folded
fishing_rod folded
Silverfox folded
_Kronsdat raised - $3.00
vodichthu called - $3.00
paramal called - $3.00
DOC1970 raised - $4.00
_Kronsdat called - $4.00
vodichthu called - $4.00
paramal called - $4.00

** Dealing the flop: King of Clubs, King of Diamonds, 10 of Hearts
_Kronsdat bet - $1.00
vodichthu called - $1.00
paramal folded
DOC1970 called - $1.00

** Dealing the turn: Ace of Diamonds
_Kronsdat bet - $2.00
vodichthu called - $2.00
DOC1970 called - $2.00

** Dealing the river: Jack of Diamonds
_Kronsdat bet - $2.00
vodichthu called - $2.00
DOC1970 called - $2.00
_Kronsdat shows: Ace of Spades, Ace of Clubs
vodichthu mucks:
DOC1970 mucks:
_Kronsdat wins $29.45 from the main pot

There must have been at least one top straight out there - nice.

Sad to say it is increasingly hard to get a ring game at limit on Laddies though. They seem to fill the tables quite late on in the evening, but even then, not every night. CD I can always get a table on but they are generally much tighter.

I will have a punt on the blogger tournament on PokerStars some time soon - sounds like fun.

"Unexpected tournament success!"

Neteller: Last week $100; Current $158 (+$58)
Inter: Last week $8; Current; $8 (-)
Ladbrokes: Last week $170; Current $263 (+$93)
CD: Last week $149; Current: $188 (+$39)


Total: Last week $485; Current $617 (+$132)

I idly entered a tournment on CD last Monday, not expecting much, since it was a 1000 player jobbie. Well, blow me but didn't the Ghods of Poker smile on me! No fancy moves were employed. I just went all in with good hands at appropriate moments. That turned out to be good enough and I finished 7th to win $27.50. I might have gone even further if, in my last hand, my AQ had held up against JJ but there you go.

That accounts for the bulk of the positive score on CD where my cash game play also made a little progress.

In contrast to that the Laddies account shot up when I came across a wild game late on Tuesday night. I just sat and waited for a decent hand, while the rest of them were lathering into each other with gusto. In the end I entered a pot in middle position with QJ off with 6 players in. The flop came J7Q rainbow. Bingo! The big blind raised and I reraised him and got two callers. J on the turn. The two players, one still raising, called me down on the turn and river and one of them turned out to have a pair of 7's which accounts for his enthusiasm. Nice. It continued like this and I ended up $70 up in 40 minutes.

Meanwhile I've closed the Hill's account. I just can't face the pain of trying to collect the bonuses on the likes of Hill's and Inter - the flops seen on the tables you have to play are just too trying (sub 20% most of the time). I'll leave the grinders to enjoy each other and concentrate on tables and sites where the prospects are more inviting. I've kept Inter on for a bit longer, since I've still got quite a lot of player points there that I may as well use for tournament play - now that I'm an expert :-)

"...the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune..."

Neteller: Last week $68; Current $100 (+32)
Inter: Last week $8; Current; $8 (-)
William Hill: Last week $58; Current $58 (-)
Ladbrokes: Last week $116; Current $170 (+54)
CD: Last week $140; Current: $149 (+$9)

Total: Last week $420; Current $485 (+$65)

Profit for April: +75

A week of big swings. My downswing of last week continued at the start of the week and the CD account was down below $100 at one point. I didn't feel that I was doing anything wrong, it was just a continued combination of bad beats and my good hands failing to score heavily - twice I was hurt by flopped straights being matched at the river when my key card was duplicated on the river - splitting the pot. However, and I was pleased by this, I didn't panic and managed to ride it out.

Things turned round on Friday night when I played one table on CD and another wonderful table of 1/2 on Laddies. On the CD table I just made steady progress, but the Laddies table was a wonder to behold. There was a whole bunch of Scandies punting like it was going out of fashion (60%+ flops seen). In this environment I was able to see more flops in late position with the likes of suited connectors and small pairs with a high liklihood of getting paid off. This duly transpired - I only hit two good hands but was able to score heavily with both of them.

Faith is restored.

It's just a pity that Laddies is so depopulated most of the time. It might advertise itself as the most popular poker room in Europe, but that certainly isn't saying much for the others.

"WIPEOUT"

Neteller: Last week $68; Current $68 (-)
Inter: Last week $8; Current; $8 (-)
William Hill: Last week $58; Current $58 (-)
Ladbrokes: Last week $116; Current $116 (-)
CD: Last week $219; Current: $140 (-$79)
Party: Last week $30; Current: $30 (-)

Total: Last week $499; Current $420 (-$79)

I had a disasterous Saturday night session on CD where everything that could go wrong did, hence the $79 hammering. I suffered badly with being chased down by low pairs when hands like AKs and AQ failed to hit. I am going to have to just give over continuation betting on these hands in loose games. The bet is ingnored and you get called down with any damned pair.

What put the tin hat on it was a hand where I had two Kings in the cut off position. I raised and got the usual plethora of callers. The flop came KJJ. Bingo, a full house on the flop. What's more, two guys are actually betting into me!! The turn is a third Jack. Surely nobody has a fourth Jack and my King's up are still winning? Still they are betting into me. The river, unbelievably, is a fourth Jack. I lose the hand to a guy who had AQ and was drawning for a straight or lower full house. I went on tilt after that and dropped some more money. I know I should have walked away at that point, but there you go.

...and it was my birthday. SIGH.

"VARIANCE"

Neteller: Last week $0; Current $68 (+68)
Inter: Last week $8; Current; $8 (-)
William Hill: Last week $58; Current $58 (-)
Ladbrokes: Last week $38; Current $116 (+78)
CD: Last week $219; Current: $219 (-)
Party: Last week $63; Current: $30 (-33)

Total: Last week $438; Current $499 (+61)

Well I made a profit but that is mainly down to the bonus at Ladbrokes coming in. I've been playing on good soft tables but the downside of this is that they can be expensive if you don't hit the hands and by and large I haven't done. Last night on Laddies was a good practical example. I was up nicely and chugging along at a 1/2 table with a flops seen percentage of $48%. These boys were really going for it big style. However when my good hands finally came along, guys kept sucking out on me. You know it's going to happen, but that doesn't stop it being irritating. On one hand my AK hit a King on the flop only for me to be rivered by 92 suited! You just have to grin and bear it, because over time the equity value is there.

I had a similar experience on Party earlier in the week. I had the 50 odd dollars I started with up to 98 on a really nice table, when I hit a similar run and ended up down to 30. I'm in two minds about continuing to play on Party. It's quite difficult to hunt down the loose tables and get on them because they don't show the flops seen percentage in the lobby.

However it is a useful site to have as a backup when there is no action on Laddies or CD. Perhaps Pacific might be an idea for that purpose - I can recall doing well there at one time.

"LADDIES BACK IN FASHION"

Neteller: Last week $30; Current $0 (-30)
Inter: Last week $8; Current; $8 (-)
William Hill: Last week $58; Current $58 (-)
Ladbrokes: Last week $14 (73); Current $38 (+24)
CD: Last week $219; Current: $271 (+52)
Party: Last week $82; Current: $63 (-19)

Total: Last week $410; Current $438 (+28)

I haven't played a lot this week either but what I have has been mainly on Laddies since they made me an offer for a $50 bonus (I've cleared it but they haven't confirmed it yet, so I've not included it in the stats). I had forgotten just how loose the Limit tables on Laddies are - sometimes the 50/1 tables were reaching mid 60's flops seen! Of course this means that the varience is very high, but you can get paid off nicely when you hit a hand.

My best one was a pair of Jacks which I raised with in early position getting 3 callers!! J83 rainbow flop - lovely. I bet and get raised, I reraise and it's capped out, with another guy limping all the way too. Fine. Turn is a K, still no flush draw. Betting caps out, still 3 of us. River is a 6. Betting caps out again with everyone in for a $35 pot. It turns out the guy betting back at me had hit trips 8's and the other guy had two pair; wonderful. :-)

Of course you get the reverse too. I got out in timely fashion on another hand when I had raised with AA and got a flop of AQT rainbow. I got a lot of resistance and suspected I needed the board to pair. The river produced a K and I bailed out. They both had the straight and split the pot. I must check how many times I've had trips Aces beaten in the last few months.

"ONLY PLAY POKER WITH PEOPLE WORSE THAN YOURSELF!"

Neteller: Last week $30; Current $30 (-)
Inter: Last week $8; Current; $8 (-)
William Hill: Last week $57; Current $58 (+1)
Ladbrokes: Last week $14; Current $14 (-)
CD: Last week $276; Current: $219 (+3)
Party: Last week 82; Current: $ (+13)

Total: Last week $410; Current $410 (+17)

I haven't played much in the last week and what I have played has mainly been at the lower levels on CD and Party where I can find the sort of chaps I like to play. Hence the revival of my old slogan, above. The 1/2 and even on occasion the 50/1.00 tables on CD have been distinctly tighter recently and I prefer to not play at all rather than have to endure sub 25% flop seen "rock festivals".

One highlight this week was my first ever Royal Flush and in Spades too. I didn't make much with it, but it was fun to see one.

Monthly and yearly update...

March = + $146

Year = + $245

"UPS AND DOWNS"

Neteller: Last week $389; Current $30 (-359)
Inter: Last week $8; Current; $8 (-)
William Hill: Last week $57; Current $57 (-)
Ladbrokes: Last week $14; Current $14 (-)
CD: Last week $276; Current: $219 (-57)
Party: Last week 0; Current: $50 (+82)

Total: Last week $783; Current $410 (+25)

A week of mixed fortunes at the poker tables. I started by trying my hand at 2/4 on CD at some suitably loose tables. However I couldn't hit a flop to save my life and I had to pack it in as the variance was slaughtering me. This was a shame, as the players were there to be beaten - but you can't do it without the cards. I shall return!

Meanwhile Party offered me $50 up front to go back and play there. I was looking for another site (which supports "Poker Office") to play on anyway as there are times when there are no tables that I want to play on, on CD. So, back I went and it proceeded happily to the extent that I am now up on the week despite my travails on the 2/4 tables. This isn't to say that you can't find tight tables on Party. I had one where the "flops seen percentage" was 17%! I still made a few dollars, but I didn't hang around. "Office" is very useful on Party as there are no "flops seen percentages" given in the lobby.

I've closed the Bodog account (I never really settled there) and taken $389 out of the Neteller account for a jolly over the Easter holiday period. At Hills and Inter I have "player points" I can use for the occasional MTT, so it's worth keeping those accounts open. Laddies I may use for another foray into No Limit, but my enthusiasm for that format is very low currently.

"The art of folding"

Neteller: Last week $402; Current $389 (-23)
Inter: Last week $8; Current; $8 (-)
William Hill: Last week $57; Current $57 (-)
Ladbrokes: Last week $14; Current $14 (-)
Bodog: Last week $30; Current: $30 (-)
CD: Last week $281; Current: $276 (-5)

Total: Last week $811; Current $783 (-28)

I've had a reminder over the last week about the importance of the of folding to a poker player. I'm down on the week primarily because I allowed myself to get sucked into too many multi-way pots with drawing hands. I had the pot odds to draw but sadly didn't hit as frequently as I needed to and suffered as a result.

A particular weakness I have identified is continuation betting too frequently with AK and AQ after the flop when I haven't hit. At the tables I am playing a lot of players will just call you down with a small pair. You only need to get caught this way a couple of times to do the bankroll a bit of damage. I sharpened up my play on this score by the end of the week, but didn't recover enough to undo the earlier setback.

You live and learn.

"A GOOD WEEK"

Neteller: Last week $270; Current $402 (+132)
Inter: Last week $8; Current; $8 (-)
William Hill: Last week $52; Current $57 (+5)
Ladbrokes: Last week $14; Current $14 (-)
Bodog: Last week $19; Current: $30 (-)
CD: Last week $288; Current: $281 (-9)

Total: Last week $662; Current $811 (+128)

This has been an good week for my poker, despite the fact that I lost yet again with a pair of Aces that hit trips on the flop - to a runner, runner straight this time. By playing patient solid poker I was really able to clean up on the CD 1/2 tables. This was helped by good table selection - only playing on tables where the flops seen were hovering around 40% a lot of the time. I have added four folk to my "buddy list" who all dropped $100+ in a session - these guys are seriously poor players. Sadly they won't be around for long I suppose.

Despite the losing hand mentioned before, I'm actually back in profit with Aces, which has to be a good thing...

My Poker Office stats for AA - JJ come out as follows for just over 2000 hands:

AA 18 hands +$8 42% won showdown.

KK 9 hands +$36 80% won showdown.

QQ 13 hands +$94 83% won showdown.

JJ 16 hands +$86 77% won showdown.


So statistically I should expect a nice run of wins with Aces to bring we back to around the 80% won showdown level. We shall see.

"CURSE OF THE FLUSH CHASERS"

Neteller: Last week $270; Current $270 (-)
Inter: Last week $8; Current; $8 (-)
William Hill: Last week $76; Current $52 (-24)
Ladbrokes: Last week $21; Current $14 (-7)
Bodog: Last week $19; Current: $30 (+11)
CD: Last week $285; Current: $288 (+3)

Total: Last week $679; Current $662 (-17)

Now I "know" that folk chasing flushes with hands like J7c and K4s are the stuff of which riches are made at the poker table, but they have been a total curse to me this week.

The first occasion was the worst. It was a large multi way pot. I held AA in the cut off postion and capped the betting with 3 followers. Too many for my liking, but hey, you have to take it as it comes...and it came out as a flop of Ah 8c 4c.
The betting is capped with one player dropping out. Turn is Js. Betting caps out again with one man left. You can fill in the rest. The turn is a club and he has J7 of the suit. After that one I am now running at a loss with AA on CD. I didn't lose so much with it, but I later had a hand where my Aces were beaten by J8o which hit two 8's on the flop. SIGH.

In another $30+ hand I had three Jacks on the flop, only to see them beaten by a runner, runner flush. After this sort of thing the only answer is to pack it in and go to the pub!

However I got my revenge with later hand where my pair of Jack's tripped up and hammered a pair of Aces +$45!

Meanwhile the Cryptologic 1/2 tables continue to be a rock festival. I now only play the five hours at Hill's to get my $45 bonus and still managed to lose money this month. It's not difficult when the tables are so tight. I might only play 10 hands in an hour but if the majority go wrong then you are in trouble. I'll stick to my policy of playing games that I am sure I can beat.

"CHUGGING ALONG"

Neteller: Last week $270; Current $270 (-)
Inter: Last week $8; Current; $8 (-)
William Hill: Last week $76; Current $76 (-)
Ladbrokes: Last week $21; Current $21 (-)
Bodog: Last week $19; Current: $19 (-)
CD: Last week $246; Current: $285 (+39)

Total: Last week $640; Current $679 (+37)

Not a lot of poker played but what I did play went ok.

Figures for the month of February. +$203

After two losing months this is a thorough vindication of my decision to stop bonus chasing and concentrate on playing games I know I can beat with decent poker.

"KEEPING TO THE STRAIGHT AND NARROW PATH"

Neteller: Last week $220; Current $270 (+50)
Inter: Last week $8; Current; $8 (-)
William Hill: Last week $176; Current $76 (-100)
Ladbrokes: Last week $21; Current $21 (-)
Bodog: Last week $26; Current: $19 (-7)
CD: Last week $207; Current: $246 (+39)

Total: Last week $659; Current $640 (-19)

It's been hard work trying to make progress with my poker this week. To start with I had a run of nasty "suck outs" with people hitting stuff on the river like low pairs making trips, any two suited cards hitting a flush etc. A bad sequence of this saw me decline some +$50 in a couple of sessions. However I managed to keep to the path of poker rightiousness and duely reaped my reward with some good sessions that saw me back to +$17 for the week. Then a poor Saturday night session with a maniac saw me drop back again. I mean what can you do when you have raised in late position with AQ and the man with J7 off hits a J and a 7 on the flop? SIGH. I could feel myself liable to tilt, so I took myself off.

These things happen. Hopefully normal service will return soon.

I haven't played any No Limit this week (apart from the odd tournament) and I can't say I've missed it. Strange really. I had a really good run with it for a while but subseqent to being some $200 up, I haven't been able to get anywhere at all. I've no idea why as I was playing the same style of game in both periods. So it goes.

"AUTO PILOT"

Neteller: Last week $220; Current $220 (-)
Inter: Last week $8; Current; $8 (-)
William Hill: Last week $145; Current $176 (+31)
Ladbrokes: Last week $21; Current $21 (-)
Bodog: Last week $26; Current: $32 (+6)
CD: Last week $149; Current: $207 (+58)

Total: Last week $659; Current $ (+95)

I had an amusing occurance one night last week with a multi table tournament I entered on Bodog. There were over 300 players with 27 finishing "in the money". These tournaments on Bodog are a lot more laid back than many I am used to on other sites, with the blinds coming at a very steady rate and less really wild "all in" play than on many other sites. This suited me fine. I plodded along for a couple of hours, doubling up from time to time and after two hours I was down to the last 30 players with a stack of average size. The trouble was it was 12.00 and "time for bed". So, I left the computer on, clicked "auto fold" and went to bed. When I got up the next day I found I had finished 7th! I doubt if I would have achieved that actually playing cards. It just shows what a "crap shoot" tournaments are really. Still, they are quite amusing if you don't take them seriously.

Meanwhile my decision to concentrate on playing tables I can win on consistently rather than chasing bonuses on tight tables continues to be vindicated. There may not be a lot of players on CD compared to other sites, but the ones there are aren't very good and that suits me fine!

"BACK IN THE BLACK"

Neteller: Last week $220; Current $220 (-)
Inter: Last week $8; Current; $8 (-)
William Hill: Last week $101; Current $145 (+44)
Ladbrokes: Last week $23; Current $21 (-2)
Bodog: Last week $32; Current: $26 (-6)
CD: Last week $92; Current: $149 (+57)

Total: Last week $476; Current $569 (+93)

This week's events have totally supported my decision to give the tight bonus chasing tables on Inter a miss and concentrate on tables where actually winning regularly was more likely.

I have played mainly at 50/1 and 1/2 on tables where the flops seen have been at least 30% and often well beyond. The only problem with CD is that there are many fewer players, so it is not always possible to find a game I want to play in, but generally it has been ok.

In the meantime I've finally broken my run of losing "all in's" at No Limit. A full house managed to hold up...horray! I'm not getting too excited really. I suspect that unless I can start getting a run again, like I did when I turned $10 into $200 on Laddies, my No Limit career is going to be...well limited.

"TIME FOR A RETHINK"

Neteller: Last week $150; Current $220 (+70)
Inter: Last week $132; Current; $8 (-124)
William Hill: Last week $101; Current $101 (-)
Ladbrokes: Last week $58; Current $23 (-35)
Bodog: Last week $44; Current: $32 (-9)
CD: Last week $0; Current: $92 (+92)

Total: Last week $467; Current $476 (+9)
(-$104 on the month)

Having had two poor months running I think a review of what and where I am playing is called for. The loss on the month would have been greater had I not taken up an offer of $50 to go back and play on CD.

There are two current problems as I see it. The bonuses on Inter are no longer worth chasing as the new "bonus revolution" system makes them too hard to clear at a level which is comfortable. The 1/2 and particularly the 2/4 tables are incredibly tight (almost all around 20% of flops seen most of the time). This means that a couple of hands which fall wrong for you, like KK getting beaten by AK, which happened to me the other day, mean that you will be really struggling to stay in the black. The answer to that is to give Inter a miss, which is what I am going to do. I will just keep that account going to play the "player points" freerolls using the points I have acquired.

The other problem is an amazingly bad run at Limit. I have worked out that I have now gone a run of over 10 "all ins" without a win. The latest one was a pair of 6's that hit a flop of A65. A guy went all in with me with A5 and hit another A on the river. I must surely come out of this run soon. I am just going to stick to playing No Limit on Laddies and Bodog and if the bank rolls run out, then so be it.

"...AND CONTINUES"

Neteller: Last week $150; Current $150 (-)
Inter: Last week $157; Current; $132 (-25)
William Hill: Last week $101; Current $101 (-)
Ladbrokes: Last week $58; Current $40 (-18)
Bodog: Last week $53; Current: $44 (-9)

Total: Last week $519; Current $467 (-52)

My downswing has continued. It's nothing epic but very waring. The main problem has been getting rivered on key hands where I was ahead all the way through and betting accordingly. This has happened both at Limit and No Limit.

The worst No Limit hand came when I tripped up a pair of threes on the flop of A23. I went all in for $31 and was called by a guy with A2. He caught an A on the river, so his full house beat mine. Yet another 22/1 shot hammers me. I have now sunk on Laddies from +200 to my current 40. In the whole run I haven't won one "all in" hand, even when I've been virtually out of sight, as on the hand described. These runs happen of course, but they are hard to take.

For a bit of fun, I've been playing some multi table tournaments with the "points" I have accumulated on various sites. The MTT's on Laddies are noticably more wild than on Bodog or Inter. On Laddies players seem to try to double up or steal with the most unlikely hands from very early on in the piece. My usual tactic is to wait for a decent hand and try to pick one of these guys off. I've managed to finish "in the money" a few times, but the money has only been a few dollars, sadly. Top finish so far is 5th. On Inter and Bodog the MTT's bear a closer resemblance to normal poker. I can't see that there is a lot of skill involved in this though - it's just a crapshoot really.

"DOWNSWING CONTINUES"

Neteller: Last week $250; Current $150 (-100)
Inter: Last week $125; Current; $157 (+22)
William Hill: Last week $69; Current $101 (+32)
Ladbrokes: Last week $81; Current $58 (-23)
Bodog: Last week $53; Current: $53 (-)

Total: Last week $578; Current $519 (-59)

I had hoped that my downturn would dissappear with the New Year but sadly that hasn't been the case. No particular things I can blame. I'm not playing badly, just not hitting cards when I need them and particularly, getting good "second best" hands particularly in my Limit games. I will try and tough it out for another week. If that doesn't happen, then I will have to look to dropping in levels at Limit to try to recuperate.

Regardless of that I am thinking of revising my strategy at Limit anyway so that I play a large number of low limit tables - say 3 at 25/50 rather than one at 2/4, which is what I have been playing. The looser play on the lower limits should work out as a steadier earner than the grinding you have to do at 2/4 (where 20+% seeing the flop is the norm). If you get a couple of bad hands where you get dumped on the river (as has been happening recently) then it takes a long time to recover.

I haven't played much No Limit - the loss is down to one sad hand where a "wise fool" called my Aces with a pair of 2's and caught one on the river - par for the course then :-(

"REVIEW OF MY POKER YEAR"

Neteller: Last week $50; Current $250 (-100)
Inter: Last week $60; Current; $125 (+65)
William Hill: Last week $69; Current $69 (-)
Ladbrokes: Last week $95; Current $81 (-14)
Bodog: Last week $53; Current: $53 (-)

Total: Last week $627; Current $578 (-49)

Not a good week or indeed a good month. I'm down $49 on the week which leaves me down $94 on the month. This led me to taking a look at how the year as a whole has gone.

The monthly figures come out as:

January: +$82
Februrary: +56
March: -$17
April: No play
May: +$112
June: -$114
JUly: +$91
August: +$259
September: +$160
October: +210
November: +169
December: -$94

This leaves my total profit for the year as $914.

Looking back, this time last year, I was playing .25/.5 Limit and just thinking about moving to .5/1. I am now regularly two tabling 1/2 limit and have even dabbled in the giddy heights of 2/4. I've also started playing No Limit with some initial success followed by my recently chronicled disasters with high pairs.

I think I am now a competent Limit player and I should find myself able to play 2/4 comfortably in the next few months. My other objective is to improve my No Limit game so that I am profitable at that as well. I have to say that I have enjoyed playing No Limit more than Limit recently and that is where I can see me taking my game. However I will continue to use my Limit game to build up the bankroll using the bonuses at Inter and Hills.

It's a plan. It will be interesting to review things this time next year.

Happy New Year and may all of your "All in's" be successful ones!

"HAMMERED AGAIN"

Neteller: Last week $50; Current $350 (+300)
Inter: Last week $144; Current; $60 (-200)
William Hill: Last week $169; Current $69 (-100)
Ladbrokes: Last week $186; Current $95 (-91)
Bodog: Last week $83; Current: $53 (-30)

Total: Last week $748; Current $627 (-121)

I suppose it had to be coming, but I've had a really unredeemably bad poker week. I wish that I could say that it is all down to a run of poor cards, but really it's been a combination of both that and poor play also.

The downturn seriously set in with a hand where, after plodding along getting nowhere in particular, I found myself with 66. A player in early position raised substantially, I called, and hit the beast - a 6 on the flop. He bet out, I went all in and he called it. He had 2 Queens. He hit a third on the river - a 22/1 shot. That cost me $78.

Poker playing for the week went downhill from there. Basically, on reflection, I have been trying to force things to catch up and have been caught out as a result. Every time (4 times subsequently) I have had big pair, I have allowed myself to be sucked in and hammered by someone who called my big preflop bet and then hit a set (of course I didn't subsequently luck out on the river). It is a bad habit I have hopefully now cured myself from. SIGH.

Meanwhile I still can't make any progress on Bodog. I've reverted to playing Limit there, but a series of bad beats has seen me continue to decline. I think I'm going to have to give up on that site as a notion.

Meanwhile I played a "player points MTT" on Laddies last night and made the last 13, thus winning all of $1.30!! Still it was a good laugh. I finally crashed out when I went all in against a big raiser who turned out to have 2 Jacks. I had 2 Queens. One of his Jacks was a Spade. I didn't have a Spade. We had 3 spades on the flop and another on the river. What can you say?

A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL MY READERS! - all 3 of you :-)

"BEST WIN"

Neteller: Last week $150; Current $50 (-$100)
Inter: Last week $127; Current; $144 (+17)
William Hill: Last week $129; Current $169 (+40)
Ladbrokes: Last week $151; Current $216 (+65)
Bodog: Last week $83; Current: $83 (-)

Total: Last week $654; Current $5 (+122)

Yesterday saw my best ever session at No Limit, the highlight of which was a hand where I scored my best ever one pot victory: $82.70.

I was two tabling on Laddies, getting nowhere fast on one table but doubled up nicely on the other when I looked down at 89s in the big blind. This is not a hand I would normally get too excited about, but there were four other punters and no raises so I checked it out. The flop came AJ7 rainbow. A player in early, who also had doubled his stack, called "hmfcloyalist", raised for 3xBB and got two limpers. At that price (plus the implied odds) I thought the four outs were worth a punt, so I limped too. The turn produced a 3. The Hearts supporter offered 3xBB again and we all limped after him. The river was a 10! The Hearts man shoves in $6 and I go all in. He bites and his AJ duely gets hammered by my straight.

I don't really understand why anyone would call an all in bet with less than trips, but I'm glad they do!

Meanwhile I continue to have trouble with two kings as a starting hand in No Limit and I note that I am not alone. "Juice" recently posted concerning his travails with the same holding. This time I got them in the big blind, which is in some ways an ideal position. An early position player raised 5xBB and got two callers before it came round to me. I took the logical position and raised all in and one player called. He had A 10 clubs and duely hit 2 clubs with the third one on the river. I know I am favourite pre flop here but I do seem to have lost a disproportionate amount of times racing with KK recently. I'm due a good run with them I know that much.

Anyway - I got my money back more or less right away at the other table I was playing, when I hit a set and managed to get someone all in on the flop.

I'm currently alternating between clearing bonuses at Limit and playing No Limit. In terms of enjoying the game the No Limit has to be the clear winner at the moment. I would never have guessed I would be saying that a year ago.

"NO LIMIT STRATEGY"

Neteller: Last week $150; Current $150 (-)
Inter: Last week $27; Current; $27 (-)
William Hill: Last week $119; Current $129 (+10)
Ladbrokes: Last week $104; Current $151 (+47)
Bodog: Last week $103; Current: $83 (-20)

Total: Last week $495; Current $532 (+37)

Winnings for the month come in at $225, which is a little bit more than last month.

Regular readers may possibly be wondering how someone with a total inability to make a go of No Limit Holdem up until recently, has suddenly developed a winning game, all be it at a very modest level. A great deal of the credit should go to a site I discovered when I was researching how to play No Limit, called "freeholdemstrategy.com".

On this site they advocate a "tight/passive" strategy for No Limit holdem games with a buy in of below $200. Basically, because of the high number of poor players who see too many flops at this level, you can afford to play a very conservative game, seeing about 20% of flops and waiting for a really big hand on the flop that will give you a chance to double up by getting someone all in. It is certainly a very easy strategy to learn and it has been working for me effectively enough.

In fact it has been so effective that I have begun to tweak it a little bit, by trying some limping with AK in early position and other slightly non-standard moves. I've been doing this from time to time to "mix up my game" and not become too predicatable. So long as I bear in mind (as I have been doing) the fundamental principle that if I've anything less than a set after the flop I'm very vulnerable, I shouldn't come to too much harm. I've also tended to be fairly aggressive with top pair/top kicker if I hit it - though still folding if I meet resistance as advised.

The positive thing about this strategy is that it contradicts a lot of the "conventional wisdom" about playing No Limit that you read about in books - i.e. the "tight/aggressive" approach. I think it is often very useful to apply a "contrary" approach to that generally seen; in the same way that it is best to play a rather looser game at a tight table and a tight game at a loose table.

It's working for me anyway.

"SLOW PROGRESS."

Neteller: Last week $624; Current $150 (-$474)
Inter: Last week $228; Current; $27 (-)
William Hill: Last week $119; Current $119 (-)
Ladbrokes: Last week $84; Current $106 (+22)
Bodog: Last week $100; Current: $103 (+3)

Total: Last week $954; Current $495 (+25 on last week's position)

I've taken $474 out of my Neteller account to pay for a night away with a good meal for my wife and I over the Christmas holiday period.

Meanwhile the poker has been pretty nondescript this week. Another couple of hammerings with KK getting sucked out on, saw me drop on Laddies, but I recovered later in the week, with a good Satruday night two table session putting me over $100.

My best hand was A8 hearts, which hit three more hearts on the flop. I slow played it from the Big Blind and found a punter who also had the flush and managed to get him all in. Good fun.

Meanwhile I can't seem to get anywhere much on Bodog, but I suppose I should persist and see if I can make a go of it. The games don't seem particularly tough, but I haven't been able to make much progress so far.

"FIRST $50+ WIN AND FIRST $70 LOSS - SIGH."

Neteller: Current $624
Inter: Last week $228; Current; $27 (-)
William Hill: Last week $119; Current $119 (-)
Ladbrokes: Last week $64; Current $84 (+20)
(Sun: +9)
Bodog: Current: $100 (-)

Total: Last week $925; Current $954 (+29)

I've done a bit of shunting money around, which leaves me with most of my bankroll in Neteller, a closed Sun account (the bonus was too difficult to clear, especially at No Limit) and a new account on Bodog. Meanwhile, before I closed the Sun account, I had my biggest ever win on one hand there - $57.60. It went down as follows...

Game #3968806224: Hold'em NL ($0.15/$0.25) - 2006/11/13 - 17:41:38 (ET)
Table "Selective" Seat 10 is the button.
Seat 1: Kronsdat ($26.30 in chips)
Seat 2: Dave025 ($15.35 in chips)
Seat 3: ellak ($56.60 in chips)
Seat 4: lindy61 ($24.85 in chips)
Seat 5: edske13 ($24.60 in chips)
Seat 6: Acephil ($48.99 in chips)
Seat 7: soden ($5.25 in chips)
Seat 8: Pokerbint ($6.75 in chips)
Seat 9: Redfox82 ($6.10 in chips)
Seat 10: alphaa7 ($22.85 in chips)
Kronsdat: posts small blind $0.15
Dave025: posts big blind $0.25
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Kronsdat [As 9s]
ellak: folds
lindy61: folds
edske13: calls $0.25
Acephil: calls $0.25
soden: folds
Pokerbint: folds
Redfox82: calls $0.25
alphaa7: raises to $0.75
Kronsdat: calls $0.60
Dave025: folds
edske13: folds
Acephil: calls $0.50
Redfox82: calls $0.50
----- FLOP ----- [9h 4c 9d]
Kronsdat: checks
Acephil: checks
Redfox82: checks
alphaa7: bets $2
Kronsdat: calls $2
Acephil: raises to $6
Redfox82: folds
alphaa7: calls $4
Kronsdat: calls $4
----- TURN ----- [9h 4c 9d][Ah]
Kronsdat: checks
Acephil: bets $4.25
alphaa7: folds
Kronsdat: raises to $8.50
Acephil: calls $4.25
----- RIVER ----- [9h 4c 9d Ah][2s]
Kronsdat: bets $11.05 and is all-in
Acephil: calls $11.05
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Kronsdat: shows [As 9s] (A Full House, Nines full of Aces)
Acephil: shows [9c 2c] (A Full House, Nines full of Twos)
Kronsdat collects $57.60 from Main pot
----- SUMMARY -----
Total pot $60.60 Main pot $57.60 Rake $3
Board [9h 4c 9d Ah 2s]
Seat 1: Kronsdat (small blind) showed [As 9s] and won ($57.60) with A Full House, Nines full of Aces

Which was fine obviously, but I did take a tonking on Laddies when I ended up all in with two Kings against two Aces. It was a real shame as I was up $18 at the time and my Laddies account was running at $110. SIGH. Still, you have to accept these fluctuations at No Limit and I did take down a couple of decent pots with Aces myself during the week.

At the moment my thinking is that I will play Limit on Hills and Inter at the start of each month to clear their soft bonuses and then concentrate on developing my No Limit game on Laddies and Bodog.

I will also be having a look at developing a strategy for "Sit and Goes", as the player points at Laddies give you free entry to these. However apart from playing a couple of freerolls at Laddies 9 months ago, I have no experience at all of this type of play.

"MORE FUN AT NO LIMIT"

Neteller: Current $400
Inter: Last week $172; Current; $228 (+46)
William Hill: Last week $119; Current $119 (-)
Ladbrokes: Last week $25; Current $64 (+39)
Sun: Last week $75; Current $114 (+39)

Total: Last week $791; Current $925 (+$134)

My good fortune at No Limit continues. I played twice during the week, both times with Juice. Nothing much was happening in the first session, when I got a pair of 9's and raised it only to be reraised. I called it and had the great good fortune to get the wonderful flop of 933! The guy had a pair of Aces and went all in only to get hammered by my made hand. Nice. I could get to like No Limit :-)

I'm still under no illusions however. I know that my skills at this are very limited (no pun intended) indeed and I'm proceeding very cautiously. Come to think of it, that's probably why I'm surviving.

Later in the week I had another session where I just chugged along doing nothing much till I had A10 diamonds which hit KQx diamonds on the flop. (Not bad - the nut flush and the remote chance of a Royal!). I checked it and was paid of handsomely by the biggest stack at the table who raised and then saw me all in.

Meanwhile I'm not doing particularly thrillingly at the game I'm supposed to be able to play. At limit, I've again made a profit on Inter, but only because of the bonus. A vile last session where I dropped nearly $60 was the main cause of the problem. I don't think I was doing anything particularly wrong. It was just one of those sessions where nobody ever called my bets with strong hands and my plays with continuation bets using position just seemed to find guys who had hit and then check raised me. SIGH. Ah well - no long term damage done. Next up the Sun bonus, which will probably take a couple of weeks, as it's a bit harder to clear.

"DOUBLING UP AT NO LIMIT!"

Neteller: Current $400
Inter: Last week $199; Current; $172 (-17)
William Hill: Last week $96; Current $119 (+23)
Ladbrokes: Last week $11; Current $25 (+14)
Sun: Last week $75; Current $75 (-)

Total: Last week $785; Current $805 (+$20)

Hightlight of the week has to be doubling my money at No Limit. My skills at this game are very embryonic but I'm still better than some of the guys on the beginners tables at Laddies - they just play too many hands giving me the odds to play suited connectors and the like. I'll keep visiting it from time to time and see if I can develop a workable game.

Meanwhile the start of a new month means I can tackle the bonuses on the crypto sites again. Sadly I dropped $22 on Hills but the soft $45 bonus for playing 5 hours still left me up on the deal. I've taken another $100 out of Inter and now I'm working off their $100 bonus. My target is to have enough money by Christmas to take my wife and I out for a night away and a good meal over Christmas and still have a reasonable bankroll to carry forward into the New Year.

Now that I seem to be coming to terms with two tabling at 1/2 I suppose the next step, some time in the new year, will be to move up to 2/4. Ambition indeed :-)

Saddest hand of the week has to be the following...

HAND 5------
Game #3871079314: Hold'em FL ($1/$2) - 2006/11/04 - 09:42:34 (ET)
Table "Metz" Seat 5 is the button.
Seat 1: Krassotti ($67.25 in chips)
Seat 2: Shenghui ($32.25 in chips)
Seat 3: noniis ($56.25 in chips)
Seat 4: SLAYER96 ($28.50 in chips)
Seat 5: Eta0106 ($36.90 in chips)
Seat 6: jerry84 ($37.50 in chips)
Seat 7: kingpack ($44 in chips)
Seat 8: kronsdat ($85.75 in chips)
Seat 9: anmaan ($70.50 in chips)
Seat 10: potlimit9 ($17.37 in chips)
jerry84: posts small blind $0.50
kingpack: posts big blind $1
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to kronsdat [Ad Kh]
kronsdat: raises $2
anmaan: folds
potlimit9: folds
Krassotti: folds
Shenghui: folds
noniis: folds
SLAYER96: folds
Eta0106: calls $2
jerry84: folds
kingpack: raises $2
kronsdat: calls $1
Eta0106: calls $1
----- FLOP ----- [4c Kc As]
kingpack: bets $1
kronsdat: calls $1
Eta0106: calls $1
----- TURN ----- [4c Kc As][Ah]
kingpack: bets $2
kronsdat: calls $2
Eta0106: calls $2
----- RIVER ----- [4c Kc As Ah][Kd]
kingpack: bets $2
kronsdat: raises $4
Eta0106: folds
kingpack: raises $4
kronsdat: raises $4
kingpack: calls $2
----- SHOW DOWN -----
kronsdat: shows [Ad Kh] (A Full House, Aces full of Kings)
kingpack: shows [Ac Jc] (A Full House, Aces full of Kings)
kingpack collects $16.50 from Main pot
kronsdat collects $16.50 from Main pot

That damned King on the river meant he equalled my full house. I can't remember having two sets of trips before and certainly not Aces and Kings!

"TWO TABLING."

Neteller: Current $300
Inter: Last week $299; Current; $299 (-)
William Hill: Last week $96; Current $96 (-)
Ladbrokes: Last week $6; Current $11 (+5)
Sun: Last week $23; Current $75 (+52)

Total: Last week $728; Current $785 (+$57)

I have played the week on Sun, two tabling and was making nice progress until the very last session. It turned into one of those total horror shows where everything goes wrong again and again. My blind steals and blind defences were getting challenged and beaten and my good hands were getting sucked out on - the lowlight being AA in the small blind which was raised and I then threebet. The flop came Qs 7h 2d. Bet; call. Turn is 4s. Bet; call. River is 10s. I check; bet; call and he has 8s9s. I couldn't resist checking the odds on that one - they are 77% v 23% in favour of the Aces. When you are running bad, that's what happens.

I ended up down $74 or 37 big bets on the session. I cleared my bonus, which relieved some of the damage, but it wasn't a lot of fun.

Still, Pete Birks ("Everything has a limit" blog) has been going through the same sort of thing day after day for over a week now, and he's been hit by a bus and is getting flu! So, I guess I shouldn't complain when I've actually turned a profit on the week!

However the downturn at the end has meant that I have failed to beat my $287 target for the month - actual winnings this month being $210. So it goes.

After taking the hammering on Sun I played a bit of No Limit on Laddies with "miasdad", one of Juice's mates. I finished up $5, so I'm somehow still alive there. Mind you it was mainly thanks to my AJ diamonds hitting 3 diamonds on the flop. Even someone with my No Limit skills couldn't mess up that one! :-) I do know enough to know that I still don't really know what I'm doing at No Limit though.

"A QUIET WEEK"

Neteller: Current $300
Inter: Last week $499; Current; $299 (-)
William Hill: Last week $196; Current $96 (-)
Ladbrokes: Last week $10; Current $6 (-4)
Sun: Last week $23; Current $32 (+9)

Total: Last week $728; Current $728 (+$5)

Having cleared my bonuses at Hills and Inter I've been playing on Sun this week towards the bonus there. Pressure of work and other real life interference has meant that I haven't actually played much, so the lack of progress was to be expected.

Still I haven't much to go on losing the Laddies $10 at No Limit :-)

In the meantime I've moved some money into Neteller ready for the November bonuses. In November I think I am going to play less frequently but concentrate on two tabling when I do. That should be an interesting experiment. I have already experimented a bit at two tabling, using the Laddies account, and I think I can manage it.

"A VERY GOOD WEEK"

Neteller: Current $0
Inter: Last week $429; Current; $499 (+$70)
William Hill: Last week $98; Current $196 (+98)
Ladbrokes: Last week $10; Current $10
Sun: Current $23 (+23)

Total: Last week $537; Current $728 (+$191)

A complete turnaround in fortunes this week. Everything has been proceeding very calmly and pleasantly and I've ticked along on all fronts all week. I haven't had any particularly wonderful hands (I can't remember winning a pot of over $20) but I've been winning steadily every session. I've cleared my bonuses on Inter and William Hill so I've opened an account at another "cryptologic" site, Sun Poker and started to work on their bonuses.

I had a little bit of a retrospective and found that, since I started playing on the Cryptologic sites I've won $287 in August and (amazingly enough) $287 in September! Unless I meet with a stunning reversal of fortunes I should be able to top that this month.

I should be able to lose the random $10 given to me by Laddies - I've been playing No Limit with it and I've seen no evidence that my ability at that game has improved.

It is also interesting to look back at my entries in the blog nearly a year ago. Then, I was bemoaning the fact that I was having a hard time on Laddies and putting it down to playing "too tight" for the game. I broadened the range of hands I would have a punt with up to nearly 40% and saw my ability to win improve. It just shows how much you have to vary your style according to the tightness of the tables you are playing. If I played 40% of flops at $1/$2 on Crypto sites I would get slaughtered. My current game is very much about waiting for good hands and selective blind steals. I've been making a lot more use of "table image" too. If you have taken down some pots with good hands it makes blind stealing so much easier.

One hand I was happy to observe but not be playing in occurred yesterday. Four players saw a raised flop of A84 rainbow. The betting capped out leaving two players. Same on the turn which was a 7. The river is a second 7 and the betting reaches $14 each before one player calls ($54 in the pot). One player had AA and the other unfortunate had 88! On Crypto you seem to be able to bet on as much as you like after the river - I haven't seen that on any other site.

Good luck.

"DOWNTURN TIME"

Neteller: Current $0
Inter: Last week $485; Current; $429 (-$56)
William Hill: Last week $89; Current $98 (+$9)
Ladbrokes: Last week $10; Current $10
Total: Last week $575; Current $537 (-$37)

It's not been a great couple of weeks for my poker. I haven't actually played that much and what I have played hasn't gone well. It's the usual story of a downswing - a combination of bad beats (my "favourite" was AA beaten by Q4s which hit two 4's on the flop) and poor play due to the resulting irritation. I have caught myself on, going "tilty" on a couple of occasions. In my case I start playing hands I know I shouldn't (and of course the reason for not playing them duely transpires) and/or being ultra aggressive with hands like AK off even after they don't hit the flop. Having found myself doing this I have been very careful to play short sessions subsequently unless things are going well (which they havent' been!). I will just have to see it out.

In the meantime I have been subbed $10 to play on Laddies again. The only problem is that there aren't any games there that I want to play. J has suggested I seek him out and have a no limit sit and go game with him, which seems the best way of using the freebie. Nothing lost that's for sure.

It will be very interesting to see the effects of the new American anti-internet gaming legislation on the Poker world. Party and Pacific seem to be the most vulnerable companies with their large US client base. There has been no particularly noticable effect so far on the sites I'm currently playing on but that could certainly change.

"BANKROLL MANAGMENT"

Neteller: Current $0
Inter: Last week $414; Current; $485 (+$71)
William Hill: Last week $0; Current $89 (+$89)
Total: Last week $405 (-$185 of my original stake); Current $575 (+$160)

I decided to indulge in a bit of bankroll management.

The bonus on the Inter account has been cleared for the month, leaving me at a very nice $485. At this rate I should make the $1000 target by Christmas I would have thought - barring a terrible attack of the dreaded variance. That is certainly my current target.

Since William Hill have an attractive $70 bonus for playing five hours there in September, I decided to tackle that for the rest of the month, using some money from Inter. I have now put this back into Neteller ready to attack the October bonus on Inter. All did not go smoothly however and I had a bit of bother getting the William Hill account running. This is the first time I've ever had that - normally Poker sites are very good at taking money off you (if nothing else).

I've also taken my "start up" money out, so I am now playing almost completely with money I have won since I started playing again - a nice feeling.

Things have gone quite well on William Hill. Since it is in the same network as Inter, I am essentially playing the same people.

I did have some trouble from a maniac one evening. He wasn't hard to spot - the usual form - raising every other pair of cards and continuation bets thereafter. I took the normal approach of waiting for the right hand and thought I had it when I called his raise from the big blind with a pair of eights to go heads up with him. The flop came 2 8 10 and I thought "gotcha". I duely check raised him on the turn, which was a nothing card. On the river, which was a Q, I did it again only to be "threebet". I saw it and he had J9 off for a straight. SIGH. He wasn't just doing this to me however, he was hitting all sorts of unlikely things against everyone else too and the table was distinctly going on tilt. At least I didn't lose anything else to him. Sometimes folk just get lucky.

"QUIET TIMES AGAIN"

Neteller: Current $144
Party: Start $50; Last week;$38 ;Current $32 (-6)
Inter: Start $50; Last week $386; Current; $414 (+$28)
Total: Start $185; Last week $568 ; Current $590 (+$22)

I didn't play a lot in the last week and what I did play was fairly uneventful.

The exception was going into a game with two queens and flopping two more!! Of course I had to slow play it, as I couldn't expect a lot of action. Fortunately someone had paired the other card on the flop, which at least gave me a bit of action which I was able to nurse along until check raising on the river. I've had quads (including A's) at least 5 times since I started playing about 18 months ago, but I've never had a straight flush. I've been close (4 cards and one to come) on a couple of occasions but never been there. Thinking about it, I reckon I have seen other players hit one on probably about three occasions.

Meanwhile I have just about cleared my September bonus on Inter.

Once I have achieved that, I will find another site to work off a bonus on (probably Royal Vegas where I have an account that I have never actually activated). Then I will return to Inter in October for the next month's bonus.

The bonus offer is certainly working for Inter in terms of attracting action on the tables. As I write this there are 10 full ring game tables going at 1/2 - about 150% more than you would have seen before the new offer.

One thing I have been experimenting with is changing my play from raising and reraising on "autopilot" when I have AA or AKs. On tight tables I have been limping with them, particularly in late position to try to improve my earnings. It seems to be working ok, but sadly I don't have the actual stats as "office" isn't supported on Inter. I'll try to note what happens over the coming weeks and see if there are any conclusions I can draw.

"CHANGED TIMES AT INTER"

Neteller: Current $197
Party: Start $50; Last week;$56 ;Current $38 (-18)
Inter: Start $50; Last week $337; Current; $386 (+$49)
Total: Start $185; Last week $537 ; Current $568 (+$31)

The new bonus system on Inter has certainly had a magical effect on the number of $1/$2 full ring game tables available. You can only now earn a bonus on $1/$2 tables and above, though at up to $100 per month for 500 raked hands played it is certainly generous and achievable. Where previosly you were sometimes lucky to find a full ring game table you can now find at least 5 at any given time. Most games are pretty weak/tight since there are obviously lots of folk trying to work off their bonus now.

I haven't actually played that much since I have been away on holiday, back at work or engaged in such manly activities as taking down trees and turning them into logs and wood chippings. Still it will be autumn soon and an end to such things.

Here is my best hand from what I have played.

To my mind there is nothing better, if you are going to get AA, than getting them in the big blind. There is every chance that some will raise you on a blind steal, if nothing else, which at least gives you something to work with. It is disappointing to get them late, raise and then have everyone fold. In this hand I was a bit worried about trips when JV86 kept raising me, but it transpired he merely had top pair, good kicker.

Game #3339516754: Hold'em FL ($1/$2) - 2006/09/04 - 13:57:52 (ET)
Table "NiceFrance" Seat 8 is the button.
Seat 1: kronsdat ($100.15 in chips)
Seat 2: julepikk ($62.50 in chips)
Seat 3: Inv19 ($59.88 in chips)
Seat 4: Thor_kgb ($97.75 in chips)
Seat 5: MickH1 ($109.87 in chips)
Seat 6: rawallace ($32 in chips)
Seat 7: JV86 ($31.25 in chips)
Seat 8: stillslim ($19.25 in chips)
Seat 9: Real_fab sits out
Seat 10: bundys ($100 in chips)
bundys: posts small blind $0.50
kronsdat: posts big blind $1
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to kronsdat [Ah As]
julepikk: folds
Inv19: folds
Thor_kgb: folds
MickH1: raises $2
rawallace: folds
JV86: raises $3
stillslim: folds
bundys: folds
kronsdat: raises $3
MickH1: calls $2
JV86: calls $1
----- FLOP ----- [7d 6c Js]
kronsdat: bets $1
MickH1: calls $1
JV86: raises $2
kronsdat: calls $1
MickH1: calls $1
----- TURN ----- [7d 6c Js][9d]
kronsdat: bets $2
MickH1: calls $2
JV86: raises $4
kronsdat: calls $2
MickH1: calls $2
----- RIVER ----- [7d 6c Js 9d][7c]
kronsdat: checks
MickH1: checks
JV86: bets $2
kronsdat: calls $2
MickH1: calls $2
----- SHOW DOWN -----
JV86: shows [Jc Kh] (Two Pairs, Jacks and Sevens, King high)
kronsdat: shows [Ah As] (Two Pairs, Aces and Sevens, Jack high)
MickH1: mucks hand [Ks Ad]
kronsdat collects $34.75 from Main pot
----- SUMMARY -----
Total pot $36.50 Main pot $34.75 Rake $1.75

"REVENGE OF THE FISH"

Neteller: Current $197
Party: Start $50; Last week;$48 ;Current $56 (+8)
Inter: Start $50; Last week $371; Current; $337 (-$34)
Total: Start $185; Last week $563 ; Current $537 (-$26)

After the glories of last week, when I could do no wrong, I was prepared for a setback. The week began pleasantly enough and I was up about $35, when the fish started biting back. I particularly suffered with AK both suited and unsuited. I lost 6 successive hands with it including one final horrible one where a villain raised late and I reraised a the Big Blind with AK suited. When an Ace appeared on the flop I thought my luck had finally turned, but the villain reraised me. Suspicious after my earlier setbacks, I just called to the river and of course he had hit a 5 as well as the Ace on the flop. So it goes. At least I haven't actually lost much, which is what it is all about when you start getting these runs.

One evening, when Inter was unavailable for some reason, I played a bit of 1/2 on Party. It didn't seem much different from Inter really.

I don't expect to do much in the next week, as I will be away for the main part of it.

"MOVIN' ON UP"

Neteller: Current $197
Party: Start $50; Last week;$48 ;Current $48 (no change)
Inter: Start $50; Last week $150; Current; $371 ($+221)
Total: Start $185; Last week $397 ; Current $563 ($+221)

A record breaking week for my poker playing. Since there was a dearth of $.5/$1 tables available, I decided to take a chance and try a move up to $1/$2. For some reason there always seems to be at least three of these on the go, even when there is nothing available at the $.5/$1 on Inter.

I found them very much to my taste. I played totally "by the book" tight (under 20% flops seen) aggressive (bets and raises easily outscoring calls) poker and it has worked a treat for me. I made $171 at the tables and cleared another $50 in bonus. I like the bonus offers at Inter (I'm in for another $100 one now). Unlike CD, they don't seem to welch on them either. Mind you they are earned, as the rake at Inter is quite high it seems to me.

The one downside about Inter is that Poker Office isn't supported, so I can't keep track of my stats so easily, which is a shame.

I'm under no illusions of course. I know that the dreaded variance monster will catch up with me again at some point, but at least I now have a bankroll on the site capable of withstanding a downturn.

Since I was playing at a higher level it wasn't surprising that I also managed to break my record for an individual hand, with two Queens earning me a $35 payout when they flopped trips in a multiway pot. I got a lot of action, as you would, from an unfortunate opponant who tripped up his pair of 4's on the same flop.

More weeks like this one please!!

"HOLIDAY TIME."

Neteller: Current $197
Party: Start $50; Last week;$48 ;Current $48 (no change)
Inter: Start $50; Last week $127; Current; $150 (+23)
Total: Start $185; Last week $374 ; Current $397 (+23)

I haven't played that much this week as I have been away quite a few days, including an excellent day at the fifth day of the test at Headingley. I like going to the fifth day of test matches. It's cheap, you get a better crowd than the drunken "barmy army" bunch who ruin the thing for anyone anywhere near them and usually you get a result. (I think it was Brendan Behan who said "only the English could invent a game that lasts for five days and usually ends in a draw!"). England's bowling and fielding were really top class. Perhaps they can give the Aussies a fright even without the injured battalions?

My hand of the week came when I had been slowly declining through lack of cards one night. I'm concentrating a lot currently on not throwing money away when I am holding top pair/top kicker and get raised or check/raised on the turn and or river. A raise in this situation usually shows that the villain has two pair or better and unless its a big pot your better off gritting your teeth and getting out. This is a lesson my main opponant in the following hand has yet to learn. Two hands before this one I had hit "UncleHog" with a check/riase on the turn after my pair of 8's made a set on the flop. He duely called and then called my river bet. Then this hand came along two hands later...

Game #2147322843: Hold'em FL ($0.50/$1) - 2006/08/11 - 18:11:29 (ET)
Table "Adhafera" Seat 9 is the button.
Seat 1: silvrbull ($52.65 in chips)
Seat 2: bobnhuey ($46.85 in chips)
Seat 3: culverley ($39.10 in chips)
Seat 4: gambler29 ($40.35 in chips)
Seat 5: kronsdat ($40.54 in chips)
Seat 6: lukkb1 ($36 in chips)
Seat 7: UncleHog ($40.75 in chips)
Seat 8: alpha2100 ($21.65 in chips)
Seat 9: c@intheh@ ($46.40 in chips)
Seat 10: calli ($16.60 in chips)
calli: posts small blind $0.25
silvrbull: posts big blind $0.50
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to kronsdat [Kc Kh]
bobnhuey: folds
culverley: folds
gambler29: folds
kronsdat: raises $1
lukkb1: folds
UncleHog: raises $1.50
alpha2100: folds
c@intheh@: raises $2
calli: calls $1.75
silvrbull: calls $1.50
kronsdat: calls $1
UncleHog: calls $0.50
----- FLOP ----- [6h 5s Ks]
calli: checks
silvrbull: checks
kronsdat: checks
UncleHog: bets $0.50
c@intheh@: calls $0.50
calli: folds
silvrbull: calls $0.50
kronsdat: calls $0.50
----- TURN ----- [6h 5s Ks][7c]
silvrbull: checks
kronsdat: checks
UncleHog: bets $1
c@intheh@: folds
silvrbull: calls $1
kronsdat: raises $2
UncleHog: calls $1
silvrbull: calls $1
----- RIVER ----- [6h 5s Ks 7c][5h]
silvrbull: checks
kronsdat: bets $1
UncleHog: calls $1
silvrbull: folds
----- SHOW DOWN -----
kronsdat: shows [Kc Kh] (A Full House, Kings full of Fives)
UncleHog: mucks hand [Tc Td]
kronsdat collects $19 from Main pot

Blow me but he did the same thing again! Rock on.

"UP AND RUNNING AT INTER"

Neteller: Current $197
Party: Start $50; Last week;$48 ;Current $48 (no change)
Inter: Start $50; Last week $31; Current; $127 (+96)
Total: Start $185; Last week $278 ; Current $374 (+96)

I decided that I would leave Party alone and just concentrate on Inter and it has paid off well for me. I managed to get my game running really nicely and made $46 at the tables in the week. Combined with clearing my $50 bonus this gives me my best ever weekly win of $96. I now have a substantial enough bankroll at the site to be able to take a bad trot, which makes the thing a lot more comfortable. My objective now is to get to $200 on Inter and then I will look at two tabling - ambitious or what!!

I was helped considerably by the advent of some maniacs at the tables. They are great for generating points towards clearing a bonus and when you get the right hand you can really give them a pasting. This turned into a "right hand"...

Game #2105456973: Hold'em FL ($0.50/$1) - 2006/08/02 - 17:46:55 (ET)
Table "Adhafera" Seat 2 is the button.
Seat 1: C0MEDYBOB ($12 in chips)
Seat 2: fastlane ($23.25 in chips)
Seat 3: mastershe ($9.45 in chips)
Seat 4: ANDYG ($13.87 in chips)
Seat 5: kronsdat ($62.76 in chips)
Seat 6: Timockj ($58.76 in chips)
Seat 7: joeandyh ($38.75 in chips)
Seat 8: Tappi ($34.02 in chips)
Seat 9: DAH1001 ($17.25 in chips)
Seat 10: Berkovich ($30.14 in chips)
mastershe: posts small blind $0.25
ANDYG: posts big blind $0.50
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to kronsdat [Kh Kd]
kronsdat: raises $1
Timockj: folds
joeandyh: folds
Tappi: calls $1
DAH1001: folds
Berkovich: calls $1
C0MEDYBOB: folds
fastlane: folds
mastershe: folds
ANDYG: calls $0.50
----- FLOP ----- [Qs Ah 8c]
ANDYG: checks
kronsdat: checks
Tappi: checks
Berkovich: bets $0.50
ANDYG: folds
kronsdat: calls $0.50
Tappi: calls $0.50
----- TURN ----- [Qs Ah 8c][Ks]
kronsdat: checks
Tappi: checks
Berkovich: bets $1
kronsdat: raises $2
Tappi: raises $3
Berkovich: folds
kronsdat: raises $2
Tappi: calls $1
----- RIVER ----- [Qs Ah 8c Ks][Kc]
kronsdat: bets $1
Tappi: raises $2
kronsdat: raises $2
Tappi: calls $1
----- SHOW DOWN -----
kronsdat: shows [Kh Kd] (Four of a kind, Kings, Ace high)
Tappi: mucks hand [9d 8h]
kronsdat collects $19.75 from Main pot
----- SUMMARY -----
Total pot $20.75 Main pot $19.75 Rake $1

When the Ace appeared on the flop and being out of position, I was very close to folding to the bet, but the two villains had shown themselves to be very loose aggressive players, so I decided to take the turn card and was very fortunate, with my "two outer", to hit the third King. "Berkovitch" (I presume he had an Ace) takes the hint after my "check/raise", but amazingly "Tappi" (with his 98 off??) keeps betting into me until the bitter end, even though another King has arrived on the river. What did he think I might hold, especially after my preflop raise? I suppose the point is that he didn't think at all.

"QUIET TIMES"

Neteller: Current $197
Party: Start $50; Last week;$0 ;Current $48 (-2)
Inter: Start $50; Last week $32; Current; $31 (-1)
Total: Start $185; Last week $281 ; Current $278 (-3)


I have closed my CD account and put the proceeds into my Neteller account for the time being. Needless to say I couldn't get any sort of a coherent account out of CD about the gratuitous change of rules regarding clearing the bonus. That being the case, the only response was to bid them a cheery goodbye.

I've reopened my Party account, so that I can get a game when there are no suitable tables available on Inter. Not that I had the problem much, as I have only just survived there. I was down to my last 5 dollars before managing to claw my way back up again with some reasonable play. Because I have so limited a bankroll there (I'm taking part in "J" and the gang's "Inter challenge" to start with $50 on the site and work the way up to $1000 - it seems pretty distant at the moment) it is difficult to progress as I can't risk playing on the higher level tables. Once I clear the $50 bonus it will give me more options. I'm half way there at the moment.

Meanwhile a study of my stats from Poker Office has revealed a leak in the blinds. I am getting the most hammer from the small blind position - it should be from the big blind. I have been playing too many hands and will drastically curtail the number I opt to play. It will be interesting to check out the stats again in a couple of months or so.

"FALLING OUT OF LOVE WITH CD POKER"

Neteller: Current $73
CD: Start $94; Last week;$122 ;Current $174 (+52)
Inter: Start $50; Last week $37; Current; $32 (-5)
Total Start $185; Last week $234 ; Current $281 (+47)


I was just casually checking on progress towards my $80 bonus on CD Poker last night, when I was surprised by the totally unannounced news that the points requirement to make the bonus had changed from 4800 points to 8000. This pissed me off mightily as you might imagine, so I emailed customer support asking what was going on.

Here is the reply...

"Thank you for contacting CDPoker.

Hi this is Jojo of CD Poker Support!

Brian, we have received your email and we understand how you feel. We always strive to provide excellent experience to all our valued players. Our poker room management has decided that due to current trend in the online gaming industry, this change will serve the purpose of our poker room to be at par with competitors. Rest assured that this modification will benefit all our players eventually.

We are confident that this will not, in one way or another, affect our existing relationship. We aim to offer a high level of customer support to each and every player at CD Poker."

Well that is all very fine and dandy but doesn't even attempt to answer my question as to why the goalposts moved. Jojo should be Home Secretary with that range of evasiveness. I don't have good feelings about this one.

Meanwhile the actual poker went fine and would have been even better if it hadn't been for a couple of ridiculous "bad beats" which cost me about $40. The worst was two queens which hit a third on the flop. Capped betting before and after the flop. Guy hits a runner, runner inside straight on the river to beat me. He even apologised!!

"NOT MUCH HAPPENS, AS HAPPENS SOMETIMES."

Neteller: Current $73
CD: Start $94; Last week;$137 ;Current $128 (-9)
Inter: Start $50; Last week $32; Current; $37 (+5)
Total Start $185; Last week $244 ; Current $240 (-4)

It's been one of those up a little bit, down a little bit but no great excitement sort of weeks. It might have been better had one of the large multiway pots I was involved in turned up trumps but it wasn't to be. One of them was particularly sad. The world and his dog opted into a hand with me limping in also with QJ off. I hit a Q for top pair on the turn and it held up on the river, with lots of folk calling down because of the size of the pot, but sadly I lost to KQ off. So it goes.

Still I'm more than three quarters of the way to the bonus now, which is a very decent $80.

I'm still opening a second table on Inter from time to time, but not making a lot of progress so far. I'm having to play .25/.5 because of my very low bank roll. I really could do with clearing the $50 bonus there so that I can reasonably take a chance on moving up a level.

"BOUNCING BACK"

Neteller: Current $73
CD: Start $94; Last week;$62 ;Current $137 (+75)
Inter: Start $50; Last week $25; Current; 32 (+7)
Total Start $185; Last week $160 ; Current $242 (+82)


A great week, which has done a lot to restore confidence in my play after the wearisome few weeks that have preceeded it. Everything just seemed to flow nicely right from the start. My blind steals succeeded and my premium hands held up when I needed them to. I hit some nice flops too, none better than when JK of diamonds in the small blind hit 10Q diamonds on the flop and then the 9 diamonds on the turn. My first ever straight flush in just over a year of playing. I only made about $9 with it, but it was nice to see.

I was pleased with the way I managed a maniac on one occasion too. He was the full monty: raising 80% pre flop and raising and re-raising post flop. He was creating big pots every time, with two or three players at the table always ready to take him on. (This was nice for getting points towards my bonus too). I bided my time until I had the right hands, taking him down on three occasions for about $25 in total. His bankroll fluctuated wildly throughout his time with us and he eventually left about $20 down.

Just to bring me back to reality, my session on Saturday saw me play for an hour and ten minutes, seeing 13% of flops and losing $19, without winning one hand. The main loser was a flopped straight which was beaten by a full house on the river - he had Q7 off - there's no justice, but we knew that didn't we folks.

I've also been doing some two tabling on Inter but there hasn't been much movement. It's tricky because my bankroll there is so low, I can't afford to take any chances - we live in hope!

"Slump continues"

Neteller: Current $73
CD: Start $94; Last week;$69 ;Current $62 (-7)
Inter: Start $50; Last week $45; Current; 25 (-20)
Total Start $185; Last week $187 ; $160 (-27)

My dispiriting slump continues. That these kind of prolonged downturns can happen is underlined by Pete Birk's blog where he too reports a heavy loss on the month, even at sites and levels he normally cleans up on.

I had a foray into the world of "No Limit" on CD, but the whole of my losses there can be traced to one hand where my pair of kings were bashed on the head by a pair of Aces. He even hit on the river, though of course he didn't need to. My skill level at No Limit is too low to work with such a limited bankroll, so I'm trying to retrieve the thing with Limit games.

On CD I had myself right up over $100 by the middle of the week but a severe downturn in fortunes dropped me straigh back down again. I hope I see the end to this wearing run soon.

"SERBIANS OBLIGE; I'M GLAD SOMEBODY HAS"

Neteller: Current $73
CD: Start $94; Last week;$90 Current $69 (-21)
Inter: Start $50; $45(-5)
Total Start $185; Last week $213; Current; $187 (-26)

My slump in fortunes continues. I just can't seem to do anything right at the moment. I hope it turns round soon, as it's a bit dispiriting.

I've decided to join in the competition with "J" and his friends to put $50 into Interpoker and see who is the first to $1000. This may seem a tad optimistic on my part, given current form, but I thought it might perk up my interest a bit. If I'm to be competitive I may have to develop a "no limit" game. That would certainly be interesting. Any thoughts on basic no limit strategy would be of interest.

Meanwhile the Serbs duely obliged with the worst goals against record of the first round. They had me worried when they went two up but duely collapsed and lost 3 - 2. Well done those men.

"COME ON YOU SERBIAN GOALKEEPERS!"

Neteller: Current $123
CD: Start $94; Last week;$99 Current $90 (-9)

Total Start $185; Last week $297; Current; 213 (-9)

I haven't played much this week (I keep finding myself watching this ball kicking contest that seems to be suddenly popular). What I have played has had a minor negative outcome to the extent that I now find myself back where I started on CD. This is disappointing to put it mildly. If things don't improve in the next few weeks, I may take myself off somewhere else, where there are more games to choose from. Some of the games (though certainly not all) on CD can be very tight, which makes it hard to win much.

I'm enjoying the World Cup - there have been a large number of entertaining games - you can't ask for better than that. It was disappointing to see the Czech's stumble after their excellent start - Ghana did play very well though and thoroughly deserved their win. I think their prospective game with Brazil in the last 16 could be a cracker. Result of the week for me was Argentina's 6-0 win over Serbia which puts me in pole position to win the booby prize in the sweep at work for the team that conceeds the most goals in the first round!

"STILL WAITING FOR THE RECOVERY"

Neteller: Current $123
CD: Start $94; Last week;$120 Current $99 (-21)

Total Start $185; Last week $297; Current; 222 (-21)

I had thought I was turning things round this week when I went up 25 or so in couple of sessions at the start of the week but it wasn't to be. Another series of relentlessly poor sessions saw me lose the gains and then some more.

The trouble with the very tight way I am playing now (sub 20% of flops seen) is that you can be ground down by the blinds and a series of good hands getting blown out. I've had AA, KK and QQ all cracked this week. One problem I have identified is not getting out of hands quick enough when I should know I am beaten. A good example of this came when I had raised with AK suited and got 3 callers including the big blind. On a flop of A93 rainbow the Big blind raised and I reraised him with one other guy limping along. It went that way to the end with the board not improving. I was beaten by two pair 9's and 3's. Tough, but I should have realised the big blind wouldn't bet out and persist thereafter unless he had better than top pair. So it goes. That said you need to avoid playing too fearfully as that can prove costly too. Balance is everything.

I am looking forward to seeing how my long term punt for the World Cup, The Czech Republic at 40/1, progress. I backed them before they won their play off qualifier. They are the second rated team in the world and have good players and a good record in tournaments.

"AN UNSTEADY WEEK"

Neteller: Current $123
CD: Start $94; Last week;$174 Current $120 (-54)

Total Start $185; Last week $297; Current; 243 (-54)

It was just as well that I was sceptical about whether I could keep up the level of performance of my first two weeks on CD, as the variance factor hit me with a vengance this week. I could do no right no matter what. One dreary session followed another where I saw few cards worth having and got slaughtered with those I did get. It was neatly summed up by one hand where I caught QQ in the big blind and was called down to the river by one guy with K3 off - naturally he hit a King on the river. You just have to ride with this sort of thing and wait it out. Fortunately, having been here before, I didn't go on tilt, but it hasn't been much fun. Bankroll wise it has been worse than it looks as I was $25 up on last week's total before the bad trot hit.

Meanwhile I have shifted my money out of Party and put it in my new Neteller account, ready to open and account on Royal Vegas once I have cleared my bonus on CD (which should take about 9 weeks at the current rate of going).