Man Oman!

Flying out to Oman tomorrow for at least three weeks with work.

Will post Februarys results up when I get back. Looks like I was slightly down on the month. Despite having a good month on the $25 STTs I was crap at the MTTs. Good luck at the tables.

First update of the year

Hi reader, not going to bother with this blog much this year - unless I get a big win (almost zero chance of that) or qualify for something (about the same chance) I will just be putting up my stats from Poker Tournament Tracker each month with a bit of blurb on how I am doing. I have religiously been keeping it up to date. Here are January stats:

From 01/01/2008
To 01/31/2008

Total Buy-Ins: ($ 1220.80)
Total Gains: $ 1415.68
Net Gains: $ 194.88
In The Money: 37.3% ITM
Return On Investment: 16.0% ROI
Games played: 83
Hours played: 81.3 h
Hourly: $ 2.40
ITM from Bubble: 86.1%

1st: 13
2nd: 6
3rd: 10
4th: 7
5th: 8
6th: 8
7th: 8
8th: 6
9th: 1

These were mostly STTs (only 22 of the 83 were MTTs) at which I just about ended up level. The profit comes from the MTTs including a win in 105 runner V Points Freeroll which netted 7500 points. These points have a real worth of 1p each and for the sake of acocunting I have converted these to dollars at a rough exchange rate of 2 bucks to the pound. I havent converted all the points yet as I am saving them up towards flight to vegas (86,000 miles at the moment) but I will be topping up the virgin poker account with them over the next couple of months in an attempt to qualify for the virgin poker festival in Newcastle in April.

Also got Betfair Rakeback £14.90 today which is always nice.

A Look Back at the Resolutions for 2007

I thought I might look back almost 12 months to my new years resolutions for 2007 and see how I have done. Admittedly I wasn't expecting a spell in hell for four months which certainly changed my outlook, but that is all over now so wont dwell to much on that.

This is a copy and paste of the resolutions with my take on how it has gone.

Make a profit at poker for the year. Passed, I cant gibe you an exact figure but I have more in my accounts and have withdraw loads. I am going to email betfair for a rundown on my poker activity and will let you know in a separate post later.

Speak my mind a bit more on here and on the Betfair forum. Probably failed but deffo not elsewhere, where I have found now if someone is getting on my tits, they soon know about it.

Lose a bit of weight. Passed, lost about a stone while away, but have put a bit back on since getting home. Must try harder next year.

Qualify for a live event through a satellite. Failed. A big regret but was hampered by going away. Will be high on the list next year.

Get good at Darts. Has to be a fail - although I am "better" I still cannot class myself as good. 26 is still my favourite score.

Update this Blog more often. 39 posts (plus this one so 40 ) in '07. 81 in '06 so a fail.

Have less Poker snacks. While I was here a fail, but wasn't here for a third of the year which helped. A fail overall though.

Keep even more detailed records of my Poker. Fail. Stopped keeping records completely until December so must keep it up from here.

Do less Sports Betting. Well I have spunked a hundred quid on cricket this year and done alright on the footy bets. But I have done more Sports Betting not less, so technically a fail, although made more cash. Must get the right wording next time.

Walk to work more often. While I was here I passed, although again need to review the wording as I got my push bike out. Next year will be tougher cos work is now 2 miles further.

Quality not Quantity Poker. Overall a fail i think, before I went away I may have passed but leading up to going away I was playing like it was going out of fashion, same when I came back for a weeks R&R and then also when I got back for good.

Go to bed earlier. Pass, still had a few late nights, but overall went to bed earlier.

Play more Golf. Big time fail. Only played once. Takes up too much poker time, but will try harder next time.

Cut down portion sizes. Pass, made a concerted effort to eat smaller meals, and mainly managed to do it.

Cut the grass regularly. Pass, although it helped not being here for the majority of the summer as I may well have lost interest

Buy a PS3. Passed and its fucking awesome!

Go to (or at least arrange to go to) Las Vegas. Failed, far to difficult this year. Maybe next as I still have a shitload of Virgin Airmiles.

Be more patient with the kids. Passed I think, mainly due to being/going away. Deffo makes you appreciate the little gits more.

Spend some of my Poker profits on good stuff. Passed, A big telly, Sky+, plus other goodies have all been bought with my ill gotten gains.

Reduce the amount of Poker clients on the laptop from 22. Passed! We are now down to 11, more work to be done, but deffo better.

So 10 Passes and 10 Fails, but am happy that I managed to get some of the important ones passed (PS3 obviously) and some were badly worded so could have been a lot better.

Its been an incredibly interesting year, one which I don't really want to repeat again anytime soon. I start a new job in January which will bring with it new challenges and new travels no doubt and I am really looking forward to it. Next post I think will be my blog review of the year, obviously a shorter one than last year!

A Christmas Message

Merry Christmas everyone, I hope you have a great time and everyone gets all the presents they want. I am going to make a conscious effort not to play on xmas day, although if there is a decent bonus tournament I might...

Frustrating time on the poker tables at the moment, I have had a couple of finals tables including a 2nd in the $1.5k gtd on betfair for 300 bucks, but I have had soooo many close encounters when I have spunked off a load of chips close to the ft, and flunked it. High on my list of new years resolutions will be more patience.

I think the next post will be my review of the year, and then one of aims and resolutions for 2008.

Merry Christmas

Is this a poker blog or a footy tip line?

Well the only time I seem to post is when I have the footy tips and they are probably wasted as no one hardly reads this any more. Hey their loss is your gain as they have missed some fantastic footy tips recently. This week I hope for more of the same:

1 Sunderland v Derby (Backing Sunderland @ 1.72)
2 Wolves v Preston (Backing Wolves @ 1.74)
3 Sheff Wed v Colchester (Backing Sheff Wed @ 1.91)
4 Ipswich v Barnsley (Backing Ipswich @ 1.62)
5 Hull v Cardiff (Backing Hull @ 2.14)

as a multiple (at 19.87) and singles, plus Rochdale at 1.93 just as a single. Get on early before the price crashes!

As for the poker (i suppose I better mention it in this poker blog), I am a bit frustrated with my Internet connection as its not very good with betfair, so I am playing on full tilt a lot - results wise - I am pretty much dead even having played a few stt's and some 90 runner sit n gos that pay out 18 places. I really want to win one of these soon.

He's Back, He Playing Poker, He's Winning and yeah your value footy bets are back!

All back in and settled, still got two weeks off work yet, and then only back in for a couple of weeks before xmas. Happy days.

Poker is going well, last night finished third in one of Betfairs $5 Rebuys for $357 after having final tabled (6th) in a $1.5k gtd, $15 buck entry for around $100. The rebuy game took ages and finished about 3 o'clock this morning so I am well knackered.

I have however managed to pick out my value footy bets for the weekend. As some of the regular readers know I have a certain amount of success picking out teams whose odds look bigger than they should. Here are this weekends picks:

1 Arsenal v Wigan (Backing Arsenal @ 1.19)
2 Rotherham v Shrewsbury (Backing Rotherham @ 2.05)
3 MK Dons v Chesterfield (Backing MK Dons @ 1.87)
4 Macclesfield v Dag and Red (Backing Macclesfield @ 1.87)

I know some will see 1.2 as not exactly value but there is no way on this earth that Arsenal can lose this. Famous last words! Rotherham are at the top of the form charts in League Two against and ordinary Shrewsbury team means I couldnt beleive it when I saw it at 2.05. The other two games consist of god home teams against less good away teams so 1.87 represents a good price for these. I have backed the 4 as singles to varying stakes and also rolled them up as an 8.49 acca. Good luck, get on before the prices crash.

Thoughts Turn to Home

3 Weeks to push. Looking so much to getting back and spending some time with the family (and, ahem, playing some poker).

I have luckily got about three weeks off work when I get back so can combine the two no problems, but I am certainly looking to distil the time playing poker and use the old adage "quality not quantity". Before I came out here and when I was back for a week I definately lost focus and just played for the sake of it because I knew I was going to be without for a while, I still managed a few cashes but also wasted some buys ins when I was not mentally right to play. Once back and settled I am definately going to come up with some sort of plan of action for my play. Cash games do not interest me in the slightest, and I still a mix of STTs and MTTs, so will base it around that. I also need to distil the sites I play on and consoldiate the bankroll. I currently have about 23 accounts up and running (and funded) and need to look to get them down to about 4 or 5 I guess. Betfair, Sun, Pokerstars, Mansion and Full Tilt I think. The first two are the ones I get rakeback on and I enjoy the games on all five. I guess I also need to step up the buy in levels I play at. With a couple of thousand bucks in the accounts I guess playing 10 buck STTs and 2 and 5 buck MTTs is a little below what I should be playing at.

All comments welcome on the above, and any ideas are also welcome.

Beginners Luck

Playing with the lads we have taught to play out here and got it pretty spot on till this happened. 3 players left out of 6. Marginal chip leader, dealt KK on the button, so I raised to 750 (blinds 100/200. SB fold but BB reraises to 1500. He had been playng any ace all night so reraised all in (I him covered by about 800 chips), he insta calls for the game and flips over QsJc. "What the fuck?" "I thought you were bluffing". I did try to explain that in the very small chance that I was bluffing, he still wasn't going to be a massive favourite to win, but he couldnt quite grasp it. Needless to say he flopped the staright draw which hit on the river. I went out shortly after when flopping a straight flush draw, all the chips were in but missed. Ahh well.

One Off Footy Bets

Some of the more regular readers will have seen I got some decent footy tips in last season. I Dont get to gamble (due to internet restrictions) while I am in Iraq so I have been looking forward to sticking a couple of quid on the following:

Man U @ 1.23
Ipswich @ 2.1
Carlisle @ 2.14
Northampton @ 2.16
Rotherham @ 1.86
Rochdale @ 1.97

Good value prices as always (event he Man U one I reckon). Get on if you have time!

A Week at Home

Back for a weeks R&R. Its good to be back in the UK apart from the cold! A bright morning this morning reminds me why I love England, I could almost walk around in shirt sleeves. Once this weeks over I have to go back for about 5 weeks so it wont be too long, thankfully.

I brought my digi camera back and dowloaded a few pics, there are a few more on the PC at work which I will being back, but I like this one, which shows me and Mitch playing extreme poker outside our accomodation late one night. Mitch had to play with a head torch, and me with a little pocket one. Note the quiet player in the third seat at the back.



The sandwich won by the way, after a long heads up battle.

More IPT Woes

Another $25 tourney, this time a 9 seater, this time out in ninth. After one spin of the table I got KK in mid position, so I raised it up, and was reraised by the button, which was called by the BB. Alllllll Innnnn, button flips over AK and the BB turns over QQ. Q on the flop, A on the turn (to lose the side pot) and its over again. Perhaps I'll wait till i get home.

SNAP IS THE CHAMP

Not much else to do apart from congratulate Snap, BFWCOP III champion!!!

Well done pal, you deserve it.

Found my Level

Played a five player $10 stt. 3 rank amatuers and one experienced player. Me and the other guy who plays managed to work our way through the outdraws to go headsup. Eventually we got them all in with JJ (me) against KQ and its over for the first win on the IPT. +$25 for the night. Running total -$25 tournaments same for cash.

Come on the flashmob. If someone can update Raisetheriver.com that would be handy.

IPT Woes

Played again on Sunday night and lost. Never got going in the tournament game and took some beats in the cash game after building a decent stack quickly. The cash game was Dealers choice, 2, 3 or 4 cards. Managed to lose most of my stack on the Omaha hands when a couple of lads who had played it before decided their two pair was food enough against my flopped straights to catch their Full Houses, same situation twice, both times leaving me low on chips. Will continue to play as there is definite potential in the game. But at the moment its a losing one. So -$25 in the Tourney and -$80 in the Cash. Running total -$50 and -$69. Hmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Good luck to all flashmobbers at BFWCOP this coming weekend.

A Poker Game at Last

Finally found some lads that play poker over here. Went down on Sunday night for a $25 freezeout and then a cash game. Was happy with the way I was playing and trundling along with 4 left (out of 8, only 2 paid), when I got a AA on the button, happy days as they say out here. UTG calls. I raise 3 x bb, SB folds, BB calls, and does the limper. Flop comes Q T 3 rainbow, and its checked to me. Substantial bet from me sees BB call, and original limper fold. Flop comes A of spades, showing two spades. He checks I go all in. He umms and ahhhs for a while then calls for all but a couple of hundred chips, and flips over T2 of spades. Of course I deal myself the spade that I dont want and I am out. Marsalaama Mutherfucker.

I played in a cash game after for a while (.25/.50 blinds), bought in for $60 and left with $71 after an hour or so. Play was average at best and I should have walked away with a bit more but tried to get clever with a muppet and lost about 18 bucks on one hand towards the end.

These guys play regularly and I will mostly be playing as much as I can with them from now on, so could be profitable. I will keep you updated on my progress.

Iraqi Poker Tour (IPT) Progress so far.

Tournaments -$25
Cash +$11


Ciao for now.

Every get the feeling you aint welcome?

The locals aint happy.

Its still a massive big bag of wank here and cant wait to leave. Miss the family, miss peace and quiet, miss POKER!

Thanks to gats for the illustrious award in the monthly post, although I wouuld rather have got a poker award.

Hope you are all having a fab time in the uk.

Laters

Its Shit

I thought that watching the news was bad, but its far worse when you are here. They dont report half of it!

Further updates to follow.

Blog Suspended

I am away for a few months with work, therefore this blog is suspended until probably about mid November, by which time we will have had a flashmob victory in the bfwcop III, hopefully.

If I get t'internet access while I am away I will try and post up so photos, and keep a few updates going.

Those of you who know where I am going, don't mention it directly on here for obvious reasons, and for those who don't know, well either ask one of the others or mind your own business.

Good Luck and...

COME ON TEAM FLASHMOBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

Edit: Weather forecast thing added over on the right, but basically its gonna be fecking hot!

Saturday Headhunters

Rather than take on the tough(er) competition of daytime betfair players I thought I would play a few of the Crypto Headhunter tournaments. I like the format although I am not sure it suits my style of play. I think you have to get a stack early on and then bully opponents by going all in against them - not my style, but lets see how I get on.

1114 Game - £5 - Steady start up a couple of hundred. Dealt AQ, put in a standard raise and get one caller. Flop is A Q 7, two spades - I raise a decent amount caller reraises all in. Now I am thinking if they have AA or QQ then fair enough but more likely AK through to AT and decide its worth the risk. Oppo flips over K4 spades,turn is a blank but the river is a spade and its all over. No Heads

1214 Game - £2 - Good start, two early heads and up to about 4k. Bloody Thunderstorm means I lose the broadband for about 45 minutes. Got back in and had just finished just inside the money, plus the two heads from earlier.

1314 Game - £5 - Also affect by the loss of broadband cos of the thunder, having onlyplayed a couple of hands before losing connection. Got back in with only 800 or so left, waited for a suited ace but no luck. No Heads.

1414 Game - £10 - No good, no hands to speak of for the first 45 mins or so, then managed to get my all in with AK called by QQ. No Heads.

Top Tune

Not much of a music buff but I have just downloaded the Kings of Leon "Fans" and cant get the tune out of my head. Have a listen, top track it is.

Back on the poker after a couple of nights on the piss, and a home game last night. Very tired but have managed tocash in each of the STTs I have played tonight. I am not going to donkof a load this weekend like I did last week.

The spacebar is playing up onmy laptop so if any of my posts look a bit odd (more than usual) the thats why.

Tripled up plus a little bit in the home game which was a laugh, but didnt finish till 2 this morning, so work has been a drag today.

4 weeks to my trip to the sun, cant wait...

Good luck at the tables this weekend.