The Beatles once said "its getting better all the time"

Today i got up really late which was totally not the plan as i have got to be up for work in the morning. Yes that's right, i have a day of work booked. 175 quids for three hours in Aylesbury. It would be rude not to. I sometimes work as an entertainer performing as characters for corporate clients or private functions and parties. Tomorrow i am a stilt walking giant/ BFG character for kids at the Roald Dahl museum should be a laugh, it usually is.



As for the poke. I was not feeling the sng vibe so i sat at a cash table. Given that my "roll", such that it is has now built to the heady heights of $70, i thought i would play a bit of cash now that i could afford to lose a tenner here and there. Anyway I'm glad i made that decision. Ha! What a hilarious donkey festival that is. I used to play cash all the time and the 25/50NL tables on party was where i had my most success. Since bankroll/money problems and no job i have reduced volatility by not playing them . I sat down thinking i would play tight aggressive. I had no problem laying down nice hole cards if it didn't develop well but i would raise any hand i wanted to play pre flop. This was a standard raise for all pairs 22-AA and from all suited conns 56 upwards. I literally just played the cards and the board and left about half an hour later having tripled my buy in - happy days!



I played a couple of multi table sng's tonight and have just finished first in one where i shouldn't have even cashed. I was looking at pictures of Claire Forlani on the internet. All clothed and above board (grrr, more's the pity lol) and suddenly my table popped up and i accidentally selected to reraise all in!



I was in the bb and there were a couple of limpers. The button made a decent raise, the sb reraised all in, now i reraised over the top of him and the button called. Eeek! I looked at my hand to see the pitiful and embarrassing 25 off suit! The sb turned over K7 clubs and the button, pocket rockets. Fook.



The flop came 355 - Ha! I held and tripled up. I apologised to the "ace man" and he was cool. Like a mystical Obi Wan he advised me to use my chips wisely.

I reraised a playa all in with AQ, he paused and called with AJ. I'd flopped a ten (top pair) and called a fools unnecessary bluff. I called the now very active "ace mans" all in with JQ out flopping his A8 off suit. Down to heads up, I just put him all in nearly every hand as by that time the chip counts were me 22,000 him 1000. Lol.



This takes my current BR on Stars to $110. My Sharkscope, which was once in shatters, to a $514 profit with an ROI of 6% and rising. I checked my OPR earlier too which scores me at something like 80% and places me about 30,000th of 280,000 players on the Pokerstars Network. As it goes at the moment i am happy with my performance and these tools being available online serve to keep me in check with myself.

So thats cash games back on track, full ring stt's are good, multi sng's good, short handed (inc turbo) good. The only thing that i am really hankering for is a decent MTT win. If that were to happen i think i would soil myself!

...And Finally

You may know that Stars runs a tourney at midnight (GMT) for a $10+1 buy in with a guaranteed prize pool of 15k. First is usually $4.5-5k. There are 15 minute levels with 3000 starting chips. Good value despite 2k+ runners (better than the lottery). Now they have introduced a tourney at 7pm which is again the same buy in, the same guarantee but 10 minute levels with 1500 chips.

BUT.... BUT, they are now starting a low buy in to run alongside their big Sunday tournies with 100k guaranteed! A slice of $100k for $11? How can you not be in this? I looked at the lobby today there are already over 13,000 people signed up. Madness, but i will be there. Oh yes. I will be there.

Good luck everyone

Once again i am rendered (almost) speehless

Today i have near decimated my pitiful bank roll. It had been one of those days i'm afraid. It started well enough, winning an early stt and my sharkscope sng profit topping $470. Unfortunately what goes up must come down. I must say that everywhere i turned i seemed to get shafted my KK by pocket 4's, my aces to pocket 10's and the last straw just now, my QQ to 63 suited to bust me out of another tourney. I could have perhaps escaped some of the hands that fucked me today. What i cant seem to get away from are the crazy pre flop calls, the runner runners and the idiots who want to justify their play. I ponder peoples holdings and am sometimes correct and sometimes laugh at how far off i am. This is not necessarily to do with bad reading ability but the sheer ridiculousness of the betting patterns given their current situation. I don't even feel like stopping playing which is the worst thing. I smell a zero BR report coming up. The last tourney i was playing so tight and to run my ladies into that muppet hand. 63, well it just doesn't seem just. I know that all of this will even out in the long term, however i know i am making mistakes too and sometimes getting lucky. Therefor, until i eradicate my own mistakes there will be no evening out possible and we will continue as we are. There as so many variables in a single tourney that to play well, get cards and to hit flops requires such focus, skill and luck i am honestly surprised anyone wins and cashes well regularly. Right now that seems impossible.

Still, we crack on. One day my friends. One day.

Oh yeah. The film "The Jerk" with Steve Martin was on while i was playing. Chuckles! Definately worth a watchfor any comedy fans in the house.

Poker Stars - where the stars play poker...

...especially at the lowest limits.

So i deposited a few more 10$ and embarrassed myself by looking at my sharkscope stats. it looks a bit like this



You get the idea. Up 500 very steeply and gradually dropping off on a long slow descent. Destination Poverty - population 1. Me. (Poverty in this case being a sad corner of my bedroom - we are not talking on a global scale.) Its actually only dropped 50 dollars but its 50 dollars in the wrong direction and it needs to be rectified.

I have just run one of these investments down to near virtual felt before winning it back after dominating a tiny 2 table tourney. How nice and refreshing to regularly see the best hand hold up. I often look at my play and criticise myself, but, i will say that so often i am busted holding the best pre flop hand. In that situation in the past i have walked away from the game frustrated and angry. I should learn from it instead. We know this is a game where any 2 cards can win so why am i surprised to go broke if i don't play a flop and regularly gamble with the best cards pre. If i have the best hand it should, more often than not, remain the best hand post flop so lets see what happens.

Just played a classic with this sort of thinking in mind. Sng - 5 players left - me short stack but still 25x bb - I'm on the button with AQ suited - I go to move all in on the blinds - I stop and think - they will probably fold - raise to build a pot with the best hand - I raise 3xbb and the sb calls - the bb moves all in instantly. I know he hasn't got a big hand - small pair maybe - i give him credit for something as i have only played a few hands - so i put him on a small pair - i laugh to see he has made this play with 86 off suit. I laugh less when the flop is K79 - and less again when the turn is a 5 completing his straight. I congratulate him on his stellar performance and leave.

What can you do?? Seriously??

Good luck everyone