"...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.