Monday, January 29, 2007

Tilt returns

O dear.
Lost rather badly tonight. Drunk a few after work, came back, shouldn't have played but did.
Roll now down to just shy of $2,100, same old story, hitting nothing, then calling an all in with pr of qs with a kicker, to a set hitter.
He made it obvious, raising me on flop and all-in on turn AND I CALLED.
What a donkey.
I was 3-tabling trying to clear 100pts so I get the ironman bronze. But couldn't get the 100 pts quick enough.
Very pissed off.
I have two days to go and two more nights out planned so it looks like I won't make the bronze. Only a small goal but it was one I was trying achieve.

Decent weekend

Played lots this weekend. Totally skint after the skiing trip and Christmas so nothing to do except hit the tables!
Doubled up at least three times, and was up every session - this time mainly 2-tabling.
Had my first set over set win, 9s to my 10s.
Four people saw a 4xbb flop, k high flop which we all checked.
Turn was 9, I took at stab with a half-pot bet 1st up, he smooth called and the original raiser and button caller both folded.
The 10 came on river, I potted it ($30) he re-raised all in after some delay. Felt bad for him but it has happened to me before.
Another double up came from an aggressive player who basically bluffed off all his chips with q high against my flopped set of 9s.
He turned a flush draw but the last $50 bet clueless after I called progessively bigger bets on the flop and turn.
He then lost another $100 buy in, and a further $60 with another huge bluff.
My stack is now $2,266 which represents about $500 gain over the last week.
Still played the pee-wee SNG on Stars for fun, and the odd very low buy-in tourney, but cash games suit my style of play.
There are several more successful players than me multi-tabling at 50c/$1 NL, but I try not to tangle with them too much.
Most are playing ABC poker, are disciplined although probably slightly more aggressive than me.
Anyway there are still enough fish out there. The best thing that you can see at my level is someone buying-in for $43.76 or some other random amount. You can be pretty sure this is all their stack and they are there to gamble.

I still have $120 left of my bonus ($380 released) and plan to keep grinding. Even thinking about cashing some out but scared it might jinx my run.
I need two more 100 FT point days to qualify for the Bronze medal, which I'm going to save.
My record on big cash freerolls is pretty dismal!

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

FullTilt's being good to me

A very good couple of days have lifted my roll to the cusp of $2,000.
Yesterday I couldn't stop hitting and ended short session 2-tabling $150 to the good.
I had a couple of other hit'n'runs in the afternoon (I was meant to be studying for my exam this morning) also netted some bucks.
Went out after work and came back about an hour ago and thought I might try my luck again.
Started badly and it just got worse. Lost about $50 with Qs against 10s against a mega slow-player who hit trips on the flop. He/she actually played it good, checking on flop and turn, as there was a scary k on flop in a three-way raised and re-raised pot.
Then lost another $50 before realising my 10s were prob not good on a low flop against a raiser.
Dribbled another $20 away (my qk v foe's qa on a high flop) before calling it quits on that table.
On the 2nd table things were not as bad - I was only down around $20 when this happened.


Full Tilt Poker Game #1661190053: Table Hauck - $0.50/$1 - No Limit Hold'em - 19:30:41 ET - 2007/01/23
Seat 1: SuperGirl126 ($65.50)
Seat 2: RUDYTWO ($11.80)
Seat 3: fatestguyevr ($55.30)
Seat 4: Edroh ($48.25)
Seat 5: MBx ($101.50)
Seat 6: GMoney2001 ($99.05)
Seat 7: LetsExperiment ($149.25)
Seat 8: nivekcraw ($102.20)
Seat 9: QuanticFive ($89)
Edroh posts the small blind of $0.50
MBx posts the big blind of $1
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to QuanticFive [7c 8c]
GMoney2001 calls $1
LetsExperiment calls $1
nivekcraw folds
QuanticFive calls $1
SuperGirl126 folds
RUDYTWO calls $1
fatestguyevr calls $1
Edroh calls $0.50
MBx checks

This was going to be last hand so I limped here when I prob would have folded in mid position. Glad I did cos the flop was a beauty.

*** FLOP *** [5c 4c Qc]
Edroh checks
MBx bets $3.50
GMoney2001 folds
LetsExperiment folds
QuanticFive raises to $13
RUDYTWO has 15 seconds left to act
RUDYTWO calls $10.80, and is all in
fatestguyevr folds
Edroh folds
MBx raises to $100.50, and is all in
QuanticFive has 15 seconds left to act

Now what do you do here. Can you fold this? MBx had just sat down and I had no read on him. To be honest I thought he was ahead, and RUDYTWO's delay was because he had a Ac.
Who knows if I would have called if I hadn't lost so much before, prob not. But I remember thinking that I might need a 6c.
I called ....


QuanticFive: i have it but not too high
LetsExperiment: wow
QuanticFive calls $75, and is all in
MBx shows [Kc 3c]
QuanticFive shows [7c 8c]
RUDYTWO shows [Tc Qd]
Uncalled bet of $12.50 returned to MBx
*** TURN *** [5c 4c Qc] [6c]
QuanticFive: 6 clbs

I was calling for the card but typed too slow.

*** RIVER *** [5c 4c Qc 6c] [Jd]
MBx shows a flush, King high
QuanticFive shows a straight flush, Eight high
QuanticFive wins the side pot ($153.35) with a straight flush, Eight high
QuanticFive: ooo
RUDYTWO shows a flush, Queen high
QuanticFive wins the main pot ($37.45) with a straight flush, Eight high
LetsExperiment: OH MY GOD
RUDYTWO is sitting out
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $193.80 Main pot $39.40. Side pot $154.40. | Rake $3
Board: [5c 4c Qc 6c Jd]
Seat 2: RUDYTWO showed [Tc Qd] and lost with a flush, Queen high
Seat 5: MBx (big blind) showed [Kc 3c] and lost with a flush, King high
Seat 9: QuanticFive showed [7c 8c] and won ($190.80) with a straight flush, Eight high

WHAT LUCK!!!
I cashed out a couple of hands later after being berated by one player, and backed up by two others for my call.
What would you do?
Anyway it meant I was back over $1,900 - $1,926 to be precise after another $20 bonus was realised on that hand too.

BTW I somehow managed to pass the exam despite the poker playing. It was multi-guess and I managed to get a few by process of elimination.
My mag is giving me £200 for passing it which is not bad.
Ok, bed time, its after 1am.

Ta-ra

Sunday, January 21, 2007

Three-tabling

Sticking to the $100 NL tables on Full Tilt seems to have worked.
My bankroll is at a truly staggering $1,764 - well, ok I'm not breaking any records but I'm pretty pleased.
Playing at this level seems to concentrate my mind more than the $50 tables where I fritter cash away.
On Sunday evening I was all set for the raketherake.com $16,000 freeroll which had 1,500 entrants. Like last month my table had just 3 people playing and like last month I didn't last very long...9 minutes to be precise.
My Qs losing to A7o on a 7 high flop, all in on flop, and he hit an A on the turn.
Every time I play a NL tourney I get sucked out on - once memorable hitting trip 6s on the flop, getting all in v ako and losing to runner, runner a and then k.
Not planning on playing many more in the short term.

It will be interesting to see what effect the Neteller ban on US players does to numbers at FT and poker in general.
It surely is the next step to a total ban on ALL sites for yanks.
The only hope now is that the Democrats get in and they reverse the law, although there has been no noise from them on this front.

More and more Europeans seem to be playing the game, and if it takes off in Asia the game will surely get another boost in numbers.
China is a huge marketplace, and they LOVE to gamble. Disposable income is still low there though, and I'm not sure they have sorted out their banking laws sufficiently to be able to deposit properly.

The only downside to my success since I got back from skiing is that my exam revision has suffered. I'm actually a little worried I will fuck it up on Tuesday which will be a mite embarrassing.

Anyway good luck to my 'hundreds' of readers.

Saturday, January 20, 2007

Back on it

...and bleeding chips.
I'd forgotten how frustrating this game is after a week away.
My neck hurts and I'm pissed off after jujst four hours playing.
Lost a $200 pot with As to some multi-tabling 'rock' who I totally fished in, only for him to hit runner, runner flush on a rag board.
Seeing the guy - ruxyman - sitting there doing nothing for round after round after this hand is mighty galling.
I'm slightly on tilt, but am going to 3-table the $100NL tables and see what happens.
Wish me luck!

Thursday, January 11, 2007

Last post for a couple of weeks

I'm off skiing on Saturday and then I have an exam on the Tuesday when I get back so I won't be playing poker again for a while.
I decided to take a break from the grind of the Full Tilt cash tables after frittering away $120 at the start of the weak.
I had lost patience and had got into the mindset that I was going to lose.
I played just three Pokerstars SNGs over the last two days, winning a $6 turbo (Omaha H/L of course) on Tuesday night.
Last night I came came 6th in another $6 turbo, before dropping down to a $3 turbo which I won.
Not a lot else to say.
When I get back from my hols and studying I'm planning to give some of my tips in how I'm beating these Omaha H/L PL games.
Good luck on the tables.

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

The run continues

Don't wanna seem arrogant and I know it is all for puny stakes but I have been killing the turbo SNG on Stars.
After the weekend the results wre: 2,6,1,10,2,3,2,2.
And then 1,1,2,4 tonight.
I basically feel that I can make the final three almost every time, and decisions are coming so easily.
If you check www.sharkscope.com and type in QuanticFive you can see how well I'm running. Basically I was dead even after 20 games and since then I have made $120 in about 25 games, with an overall ROI of 70%+
The only downer is that I'm having so much fun on Stars I haven't been doing well on FT.
I reached a high of $1550 but now am at $1426 and falling.

Saturday, January 06, 2007

Star SNGs

You may remember that I was trying to increase my pee-wee stack on PokerStars by playing the turbo $3+40c Omaha H/L SNGs.
Well I'm in the midst of WSOP-esque run :)
Since Thursday I've played 11 games while I've been grinding away on the Full Tilt tables.
My results are: 3,2,1,1,x,3,3,3,3,1 and finally a 1st on a RAZZ $3+40c.
My dwindling roll on Stars has risen from a puny $30 up to $90.
OK, I'm not going to break the bank but if I keep at it I hope to be able to get back to my starting $200 there

Grinding

I've been playing a lot of the past few days, managing to rack up 100 FT points on each of the last five days.
Four out of the five days were winning days, but progress was, until this morning, frustratingly slow.
Yesterday, for instance, I lost a $50 buy-in to a four-outer on the river (we were all in by the turn) and a 2-outer for anoher $25.
I went to bed last night at around the same time a player called Phatheon logged on, and started four-tabling. The only reason I noticed him was that he was playing so tightly.
Anyway, eight hours later, after a decent night's kip for me, he was still four-tabling - and playing much looser.
He was not on tilt, but just calling and raising more, and putting his chips at risk.
Anyway this happened.

Full Tilt Poker Game #1542964686: Table Wengert - $0.25/$0.50 - No Limit Hold'em - 5:38:21 ET - 2007/01/06
Seat 1: toedrag27 ($34.80)
Seat 2: Likethebox ($75.55)
Seat 3: Patient Paddy ($35.10)
Seat 4: squeege55 ($80.80)
Seat 5: Pockets Impty ($98.60)
Seat 6: phaethon ($38.40)
Seat 7: KGB_AK ($100.60)
Seat 8: I__WIN 4 LIFE ($7.95)
Seat 9: QuanticFive ($47.75)
QuanticFive posts the small blind of $0.25
toedrag27 posts the big blind of $0.50
The button is in seat #8
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to QuanticFive [Th Ts]
Likethebox folds
Patient Paddy folds
KGB_AK: i'm blowing heads up
squeege55 folds
Pockets Impty folds
phaethon raises to $1.50
KGB_AK folds
I__WIN 4 LIFE calls $1.50
QuanticFive calls $1.25
toedrag27 folds
*** FLOP *** [7s Ad Td]
QuanticFive checks
phaethon bets $3
Likethebox: p.i.m.p
I__WIN 4 LIFE folds
QuanticFive calls $3
*** TURN *** [7s Ad Td] [6c]
QuanticFive checks
phaethon bets $8
QuanticFive raises to $23
phaethon raises to $33.90, and is all in
QuanticFive calls $10.90
phaethon shows [Qh Qd]
QuanticFive shows [Th Ts]
*** RIVER *** [7s Ad Td 6c] [8s]
phaethon shows a pair of Queens
QuanticFive shows three of a kind, Tens
QuanticFive wins the pot ($75.80) with three of a kind, Tens
phaethon is sitting out

And a few hands later...


Full Tilt Poker Game #1543030427: Table Wengert - $0.25/$0.50 - No Limit Hold'em - 6:06:29 ET - 2007/01/06
Seat 1: toedrag27 ($53.45)
Seat 2: Cuddler11 ($56.05)
Seat 3: Patient Paddy ($34.90)
Seat 4: squeege55 ($74.70)
Seat 5: Pockets Impty ($99.30)
Seat 6: phaethon ($71.25)
Seat 7: KGB_AK ($104.60)
Seat 8: lord80 ($44.75)
Seat 9: QuanticFive ($80.50)
QuanticFive posts the small blind of $0.25
toedrag27 posts the big blind of $0.50
The button is in seat #8
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to QuanticFive [6c 6h]
Cuddler11 calls $0.50
Patient Paddy folds
squeege55 calls $0.50
Pockets Impty folds
phaethon raises to $1.50
KGB_AK has 15 seconds left to act
KGB_AK calls $1.50
lord80 folds
QuanticFive calls $1.25
toedrag27 folds
Cuddler11 calls $1
squeege55 calls $1
*** FLOP *** [6d Jd 3d]
All check
*** TURN *** [6d Jd 3d] [Jc]
QuanticFive bets $4
Cuddler11 folds
squeege55 folds
phaethon raises to $8
KGB_AK folds
QuanticFive raises to $23.50
phaethon has 15 seconds left to act
phaethon raises to $69.75, and is all in
QuanticFive calls $46.25
phaethon shows [Td 9d]
QuanticFive shows [6c 6h]
*** RIVER *** [6d Jd 3d Jc] [6s]
phaethon shows a flush, Jack high
QuanticFive shows four of a kind, Sixes
QuanticFive wins the pot ($144.50) with four of a kind, Sixes
phaethon is sitting out

Now I know I got lucky by hitting my trips but I was fully expecting him to fold to my re-raise. Especially on the 2nd hand. If anything this shows how playing too long, or too many tables impairs our judgement. Take a break kids! Anyway, here endeth the lesson.

The upshot is I'm back up $1,378.75, the level I was a before my xmas Razz nightmare.

The only thing of note is that i tried my hand at a Horse $5 tournie on FT attracted just shy of 100 players. Ironically, the Razz rounds kept me in this all the way to the final table, 6th place, and a whopping $15 profit. Not really worth the time, it was nearly 2am when i finished and I suffered at work the next day, but it definitely got the blood pumping a few times.

Cheers.