WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Happy Days.

FOUR FLUSHED

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A NICE PROFITABLE MONTH

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A QUIET MONTH.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

COINFLIPS AND HOW TO LOSE THEM...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

AN UNHAPPY START TO THE NEW POKER YEAR

Online poker: -£164

CC game: +£35

APAT: -£50

Matched betting: +£127

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

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

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

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

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

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

A bink for Christmas!

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

TOTAL PROFIT FOR YEAR = £3,264

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So what are the plans then?

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

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

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

A Prosperous New Year to all my readers!

TURNING IT ROUND.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

SUFFERING TIME.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

MOVING OVER TO TOURNAMENTS.

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

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

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

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

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

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

A BIT OF MATCHING.

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

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

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

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

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

STEPPING UP

Absolute: Last Month $1146; Current $1416 (+270)
Poker Stars: Last month $98; Current $110 (+12)
Full Tilt: Last month $164; Current $151 (-13)
Total = $1,538 (+128)
Profit in the month = +$269 Profit in the year = +$950
B&M = £111 (-13)
Betfair = £138 (-)
Total = £249. B&M Profit in year +£49.

The main news this month is that I have stepped up to playing $22 sng's (well actually $20 + $1.80 on Absolute) as my regular game now. Things have gone
ok, the standard isn't appreciably better that's for sure. Meanwhile, with it being the school holidays, I've had a bit more time and played a couple of
tournaments - the $1,500 Gtd. on Absolute. I came 3rd in one for $180 and 4th in the other of $152, which is the main source of profit for this month.  These seem pretty soft to me, so I'll have a bash any time I have the evening to spare.

The sad news is the demise of the rakeback tournaments on Sunday evenings on FT. These were a nice little earner, giving me a bit of a wedge on FT. However FT seem to have changed their criteria and because I don't actually have rakeback from them, I can't play in it any more - sigh. The rakeback
site are going to organise something else for non FT rakeback members, but its a shame nevertheless as it was a soft game with a very good "overlay".

I played in a tournament at the G in Manchester on Sunday afternoon. Sixty five starters and I finished 23rd. Wide range of ability to put it mildly!
There was a Vietnamese woman (with a broad Manchester accent) beside me. She was a wildly loose player - on one occassion, which staggered the entire
table, she went all in on the flop on a KKQ rainbow board having already accidentally turned over the 4 of spades. There was one player already all in and another to play. He called her and she won with Jack high, when the board paired again! Didn't last too much longer though. I'd play there again as I think I was getting a feel for it.

Meanwhile after reading an article in "The Guardian", I have a "matched betting" thing going utilising free bets on sports betting sites and Betfair.  If it works out as planned, I'll let folks know more about it.  Could be a useful "bankroll booster".

...FOLLOWED BY AN INDIFFERENT MONTH

Absolute: Last Month $1112; Current $1146 (+34)
Poker Stars: Last month $105; Current $98 (-7)
Full Tilt: Last month $184; Current $164 (-20)
Total = $1,408 (+7)
Profit in the month = +$7  Profit in the year = +$681
B&M = £124 (+11)
Betfair = £138 (-)
Total = £262.  B&M Profit in year +£62

This month started well with a win in the Cricket Club game and a successful transition to $20 + 1.80 turbo sng's on Absolute.  The standard in the 20's is no better than the 10's or 11's as they are now for some reason.  As string of 8 cashes in succession saw me +$220 on the month, but things have gone totally pear shaped since then.  I've had a horrible run of 10 losing games interspersed with one 3rd place to see me more or less back where I started.  Runs like this are nothing unusual of course but it's irritating just the same.  At least four of those were on the bubble as well - SIGH.

Meanwhile I couldn't win anywhere else either.  I've had a go at some $5.5 tourneys on FT in a Raise the River syndicate and failed to cash in any of them - close on a couple of occasions but no cigar. 

I was quite surprised after the trot I've had to find that I was just above breaking even.  It can't be all bad if you can achieve that while running bad.

Meanwhile I'm casting around for a bricks and mortar tournament to go to during the summer holidays.  Anything up to £100 buy in considered.  If anyone knows of any likely candidates in the north west/Yorkshire areas please let me know.

A DECENT MONTH

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"IN A BIT OF A RUSH"

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

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

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

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

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

"THE POKER MINDSET"

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

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

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

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

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

ROYAL FLUSH !

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The old and the new.

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

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

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

A TALE OF TWO RIVERS

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

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

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