November results

Online cash game hands: 26,393
Online cash game profit: $10,631

Rakeback: $1450

Online MTT Profit: - $600

Live cash game profit: $12,620

Live MTT's: -$5472

November Results: + $18,629

Its November!

Long time since i last blogged i've been fairly busy with moving back home and sorting stuff out for travelling. Firstly in September my computer broke as i spilt a beer on it so ive temporarily lost my HEM database again! so annoying. Online was pretty tough i think i was down around $3.5k but i made around £5.5k from live poker. I managed to bubble the EPT HU, which was the only tournament i played.

October started really rough i was playing live since alot while i didn't have a laptop and was stuck around £10.5k from 2 sessions at the Vic, one £5/10 where i lost a monster pot with A9hh in a 3bet pot vs Kcks on a 9 45hh board. After a 3 week break online i got back to the grind and made $5k in cash games in around 20k hands which was abit of a struggle as the games seemed tougher than usual.

The weekend just gone i went to Newcastle to celebrate Ellwood's bday. We had a night out in the toon on the sat and there were about 8 of us grinding on the sunday. I was playing cash until about 8pm but decided to load up a few mtt's since everyone else was playing them. Many hours later hungover and very tired i managed to win the $10r for $15k+ change and the $33 quad for around $4.6k netting me a +$20k day. It was nice timing as ive just booked up for HK/Macau and leave 2 weeks 2moro.

Yesterday i played my 1st round of golf since August and went round in 89, fairly solid but it was winter greens so the holes were a good 50 yrds shorter than usual. I even managed to drive just over the green of a 247 yrd par 4. My driving and long iron play is pretty decent, i guess my short-iron and putting is always going to be inconsistent when im playing infrequently.

Yesterday i turned 26, i guess in footballers terms im at my peak. (in reality im in the worst physical condition ive ever been in!) So im officially a dinosaur of the online poker world. Stars were kind enough to give me some run good as a netted a $5k winning day. Im guess the next couple of weeks im going to grind really hard so i can reach the 200k vpp bonus before the end of the year, before playing alot of live cash in Macau with a couple of the better comps they have thrown in there aswell.

October Results:

Online cash game hands: 20,284
Online cash game profit: $5027.24

Rakeback: +950

Online MTT profit: $18,650

Live cash game profit: -£10.25k
Live MTTs: -£750

Staking: +£500

October results: +$7821.24

Not a huge month but pleased to get out of the hole.

swings and roundabouts

Well i have not had much of an Indian summer, Im down about $9k in cash games online this month and probably over $10k if you include MTT's. I took a few days off this week as i struggle to motivate myself to grind when im downswinging. Its funny in the early days i used to book wins alot and grind heavily when i was losing, now it seems i grind hard when im winning and loss heart/cut my losses when i sense im struggling. One problem i need to cut out is grinding a little to long when im losing. Generally my sessions are 500-700 hands 6 tabling when my mindset is sound, however i do grind longer to try and get even usually playing 1k-1500 hands and its amazing how both my results and red line are so much worse towards the back end of sessions.

Luckily the day after my previous blog i had a remarkable session at the Vic, i was grinding £2/5 until a seat opened in a juicy £5/10/25 game opened. There was two spots in the game and luckily i ran hot and booked a £11.4k win. The game was unlikely any i haev played in recent history, both these players were playing every hand and 3betting over half, so although it was a great game i had to tighten up a little preflop to avoid opening/peeling 3bets too wide, or raise folding, when you know they won't let up on any street.

Theres some live MTT's at the Vic, so i'll likely play the £500 6max on wednesday and the ME (£1070) next weekend. I think online i'll take it abit easier and start adding some HU tables so i start winning some money. Looking towards EPT London i think i'll probably not be playing unless i bink something, i've got alot of outgoings coming up with travelling plans to finalise. I'll probably look to buy a few pieces of friends who are playing.

The bubble has burst

September hasn't been a kind mistress thus far. Im down about $6k in cash games and had no real results apart from a min cash in the 6max WCOOP. Ive ran pretty bad but what was most worrying was tilting off a few stacks this afternoon which was reckless and something i haven't done since well before Vegas, its pretty immature and something i shouldn't have in my system since ive been playing over 4 years. Despite this i played the WCOOP HU, which tbf is probably not the worst competition to play tilted but i bust in round 3 which was disappointing, 4bet jamming 60bb's with dueces vs a 25% 3betting range getting snapped off by KQs (I think we all know theres only one winner here). I think im going to take a few days off from online and play some live cash, luckily i don't really tilt live probably because im far to self-consicous.

I've also decided to give up online mtt's for the short-medium term. Basically i can't be bothered with them and am unsure if i have an edge. I've never put in time or effort to learn anything about them and until i do, i think its irresponisble to keep punting off and not learning anything. I will play WCOOP 6 max and HU comps as i feel i have a legitimate edge in these comps as they are games im familar with. I'll also continue to play sat's for live events, i think i might do okay in live Mtt's since the fields are generally weaker and the structures are better/deeper than online which will suit my game. Its probably no coincedence that the event i finalled in Vegas i played had a 2hr clock and 60+bb average stack throughout the comp and on the final was 90bb+. It was also just about the toughest competition ive ever played live.

Looking towards the coming months it looks like hopefully i'll be getting a tan this winter! plans are been put in motion and from Mid-November i'll be going to Hongkong>Macau>Manila>New Zealand>Sydney>Melbourne>Dubai. I think myself and Ben Jenkins are going for the whole trip, with Ellwood/Spinks joining for new year in Sydney and the Aussie millions. Im pretty excited, i think we intend to play APPT Macau and Manilla as they should be good events in fascinating locations. After that a poker free 2 weeks in New Zealand in early December with hopefully some outdoor activities followed by Xmas/New year in Sydney.

Since i won't get back till maybe sometime in February i've decided not to live in London next year. London's expensive and since i don't intend to be in England more than 8 months next year it's probably more prudent to get a place in Newcastle where i could live like a king for 1/2 the price. I've felt a little stagnated been down here since i've returned and so moving up north between february and Vegas next year (May time) will given me time enough to decide where i want go from there. Another reason for moving north is to look into getting on the property ladder. Buying down here is impossible at the moment, so i'd like to go lower risk and look into buying a 2 bedroom property in Newcastle or Durham. If i really like it and the location suited me i'd consider living in it, but its more likely im looking at buying to-let. I currently know very little so i need to a) make good money over the 6 months so i have a decent roll for the games i play b) do some serious research. I might try and purchase some books for when im travelling, although im unsure if books are really a source of information for this sort of thing. If anyone has any tips/helpful knowledge i'd be eternally grateful.

gl at the tbls

JP

August results

Cash games online went well this month, grinded hard and made good profits. Probably 85%- 3/6 the rest 5/10 with a smidgeon of well timed 10/20 shots. I ran well and played solid, finishing the month in the top 5 winners at 3/6.

Online Mtt's however have been an abomination. I think im down around $5k this month, unable to make any significant deep runs. I really don't have a clue whether i just suck at mtt's or whether its variance. My hourly at cash games for the last few months has been in excess of >$200 per hour so at some point im going to have to consider not wasting my time with online mtt's apart from WCOOP's where in theory i should do better with deeper stacks and better structures.

Didn't play live poker this month much. I played 1 cash session, playing £2/5 ROE which was pretty stupid as i don't really have a clue what im doing in PLO and dropped £2k donking around in it. I also played GUKPT Luton where i bust the last level of the day, nothing particularly interesting happened but i came away realising i haven't been to many worse places than Luton. I did play the £250 6max turbo mtt the night before the main and bubbled. It was agreed that the bubble boy would get a "saver" however i never caught the winner the next day so that lucky man is likely £250 richer.

Im really looking forward to WCOOP and grinding hard online for the next month, after that i might looking at drawing up a schedule for EPT London + sides and selling some action. Will have to have a think about it though.

August results:

Online cash game hands: 32456
Online cash game profit: $24,732
Rakeback: $1500

Live cash hours:5
Cash game Profit: -£2k

Online mtt profit: -$5k
Live mtt's: -£1k

Total August profit: $16,350

Pretty disappointing results considering how well cash games went. Im really happy with my game and hopefully i can get something going in 1 or 2 wcoop events :D

Grind on the mind!

Since i've returned from Vegas i think i've left the flat on no more than 4 occasions such is my dedication to putting some good shifts in. When i first got back the games were rediculously good even for euro hours, but they haven't been so good recently which isn't too much of a problem as im back into my usual sleeping pattern so i'll usually be grinding any hours between 6pm-4am. I managed to log 72 hours for the last 2 weeks of July which is practically like working! :D

I started well winning chunks at 3/6 making $14k in 3days, inc coming 2nd in a HU hyper turbo mtt for just over $1k. I then went on a $10k downswing over a 4day stretch which was annoying before recovering a to make a $7.2k profit for the month. It was rather stressful because i was going some crazy variance whereby i was either running insanely above EV with a high W$SD or wildly below with a low w$sd, i think my stlye is fairly low variance since i only 4-6 and play fairly TAG but basically when i got it in bad i won and when i got it in good i lost which was a mind f**K and probably led me to play sub-par in numerous sessions.

I put in a MTT grind on Sunday which started horrifically i was running badly, losing huge pots for big stacks in the mid stages of $100r, $55r and i bubbled 2x €550 EPT sats. 3 cans of red bull deep, i managed a few cashes inc the Sunday mill and $22 cubed. My night however was rescued with the last MTT i played, an 11pm $27KO turbo which i won for $4.8k or so from 1400 runners. I ran hot all the way sucking out aplenty but played the final table well applying lots of pressure in the right spots shorthanded.

I've barely done anything other than poker since i got back, went to watch England vs India in the cricket at Lords on the last day with Ben Jenkins and my flatm8 which was cool, great atmosphere. I also went to a m8's 30th bday party on Saturday night where i got rather drunk and had a good time. I'll be heading up north Monday to see family and play some golf. There is an outside chance i'll play UKIPT Edinburgh, but the following week i'll be playing GUKPT Luton for sure.

July Results:

Online cash game hands: 22589
Online cash game profit: $7260
Rakeback: $1.2k

Online MTT sessions: 2
Online MTT profit: $2.5k

Back in not so sunny England :/

Well im still catching my breath from what was a brilliant 6 weeks in Vegas. Not really sure where to start so i think its best to break Vegas into 2 posts (poker/non poker)

Poker:

It turns out i was fairly lazy with regards to grinding out here. In six weeks i managed only 12 cash sessions and 8 mtt's which compared to people like Spinks and Ellwood was a bit of a joke. If i could of played online it wouldn't have been a problem but its tough to motivate yourself to play long sessions when its fairly mundane and your often hungover, got regular chinese games going, cinema etc etc.

Cash went ok, ran average and made $11,650 in 12 sessions (around 55 hours)thats a nice $212 hourly which is higher than my online hourly but given i'd have put in 120-140 hours in this time it probably works out slightly less profitable for me. I started off playing 5/10 but towards the end of the trip i played $10/20 since mtt's and staking went well. I played $5/10 at the Venetian, probably my favourite cardroom in Vegas as its well run has plenty of games running. Towards the end of the trip i played at the Aria since the Venetian seldomly got 10/20 going and the Aria was nearest to where i was staying (the signature). Playing 10/20 in Vegas is actually fairly annoying, the Rio is 10/25 with a btn straddle so i wasn't keen to play there as its too big, i don't like the bellagio card-room so ruled that out. I like the Wynn/Venetian but games seldomly run there. So i was stuck with the Aria. It was a fairly poorly run room imo, understaffed huge waiting lists and no-one really taking charge but i was limited in choice.

The games i played in probably weren't the best. I generally grinded 6-11pm, on the occasions i played later and till 4am i noticed the games were alot softer but this was later in the trip and if i find myself bumhunting live games i need to acknowledge i have issues. The bumhunting in Vegas was absolutely rediculously, arguably worse than online. On numerous occasions i 3bet a player they folded and they snap asked for the table change btn which is rediculous. I could understand if i had direct position and was making it tough for them, but it was often one single 3 bet which didn't even make showdown. In my last cash session at the Aria a 10/20 game broke leaving me and Olivier Busquets playing HU to keep the game alive, that was cool and im fairly sure i held my own against one of the best and a genuinely nice guy.

So in total i played 8 mtt's. Overall things went well, in most mtt's i was actually really card dead and never really chipped up. i came 55th in the $2500 which i mentioned in my previous blog post and came 5th in a Venetian $2500 for $34,667 which is my biggest cash. I played my best mtt poker in this mtt where i finished day with 22bigs, went on an absurd heater on day 2 to be 5/21 in chips from 275 runners. 5 handed i had 30% of chips in play and was CL when i maybe made a mistake which cost me serious bean ($150k up top). I flatted KK vs HJ open as he opened off 30bigs and it went 3 way to an 822 flop. I min-raise the OR cbet and get overcalled by the player who nearly has me covered (we have around 65% of chips in play and theres 2 fairly short stacks considering the avg stack is 90 bb's). The player in question was a fish and a really nasty guy who had actually been berating me a fair bit even though hands hadn't gone to showdown often. Anyway he lead a 9 turn which i peeled and c/r allin on a J river where i bet 1/4 pot to induce. He had 88 and proceeded to call me a clown and mock my call :(. I didn't say a word but one player threatened to "knock him out" if he continued and the floor almost had to break up a fight lol. Next hand i have 30bb's and 99 5 handed and lose to JJ. I maybe should have folded the KK hand since there were shortstacks (ICM suicide blah blah blah), but he was a big fish on what was otherwise a fairly tough table so i just couldn't find the fold button.

The ME went badly, i can't recall many hands but basically struggled to win a pot on a really soft table and bust in level 4. Still waiting to make a day 2 in the ME :p. Sucks abit because i kept all my own action swapping out only 20% but no-one i swapped with cashed. Staking went well for a change, i had 5% action of Paul Nash who came 5th in a bracelet event netting me $6k. I ran absurdly good at CCR and chinese netting me some profit, although i spent alot of money on nights out a new watch, cabs, tipping, Trips, go-karting and general Vegas shannanigans which ate into my profits. I'm extremely grateful to come out ahead for the trip to Vegas since a few guys i went to Vegas with had a rough time (poker wise).

Vegas results:

Live cash hours: 55
Live cash game profit: 11,650

Live MTT profit: $14,761
Staking: + $5.5k

Vegas results: + $31,911

Full Flow in Vegas

So ive been in Vegas for nearly 3 weeks and time has really flown by. Had a couple of epic nights out railing cody to the bracelet and Moorman to 3rd in the 6max, although i dropped serious bean on bottle service. Yesterday i was on an 18hr drinking binge and felt horrendous waking up at 4pm today.

I haven't actually played much poker. Only played 5 cash sessions and im a mighty $1k ahead, i was $7k ahead but dropped $6k in my past two sessions. Just been playing $5/10 really games are decent im hoping to grind harder in the coming weeks.

Mtt wise ive only played 4. Went pretty deep in the $2500 6max finishing 55th for $8k. Was a weird tourney for me, was short most of the mtt with between 20-50bb's and usually below average but i ground it out pretty well. I was really card dead all mtt so to go deep without running hot was kind of encouraging. I also had tough tables, Nanonoko was on my left on my 1st tbl along with Xian Lui. Later i share a tbl with Moorman (finished 3rd) and Pete Akery. Ive got 6 comps left so hopefully i can put together a deep run.

Aside from poker the nights out have been eventful and the nightclubs incredible. My days are suprisingly filled by going to the gym, sunbathing a little, winning chunks at chinese, eating way to much fast food (when in Rome) and going to the cinema. I'll hope to to more touristy-esque stuff towards the back end of the trip.

JP

May results/ Arrived in Vegas

Arrived in Vegas about 14 hours ago. Only managed to stay awake till 7pm (Vegas time) and have just woke up now at 5am :/. I've had a virus aswell for about a week now so not feeling too great, but im sure its clearing and i'll be ok in a couple of days.

May ended ok had an upswing, towards the end of the month where i managed to make $8k in two days at 3/6 6max which was particularly handy. As documented before tournaments went terribly, im just about in profit due to my bink in the 109r 6max and the fact i sold 30-50% of my action in a few of the 4 figure events. Live cash went well again, i put in a short session last tuesday which i broke-even after about 5 hours of playing.

My 1st tournament out here is Thursday, Its a Venetian Deepstack $1590 hopefully i can get off to a good start. I seem to have lost my phone again so tweeting chipstack updates could be a problem for the 1st mtt's :(. I'll likely be blogging a fair amount while in Vegas as theres plenty to do should be alot of fun.

Online Cash hands:26516
Online Cash game profit: $11680
Rakeback: $1190

Live Cash hours:24 hours
Live Cash game profit: £8k ($13,195)

Online MTT profit: $500

Total May profit: $26565

Another good month im pleased with, hopefully i can transfer this over to the live games in Vegas!

Pretty tough week

Firstly SCOOP was a massive anti-climax. Didn't make it past round 1 in any of the HU comps. I was a little unlucky with my draws getting a 5/10 6max cash reg in the $2600 and a 10/20 6max cash reg in the $260. Both matches lasted about 90minutes, i didn't play particularly well in either match although i was card dead which can sometimes make you try and force the issue to much in this type of format. I also played the $1k ME and the $109, busted the $109 fairly early flatting AA off a 25bb stack and getting it in badly vs AK on a KKx T board :P. the $1k i was doing well until i lost 77 to 33 AIPF and JQss vs K9o on a K67ss Tx board was my downfall hand. I just OPR'd my figures on stars and i haven't cashed in 21 mtt;s since i won the $109r 6max, pretty incredible achievement imo. Its abit worrying before Vegas but i guess live MTT's will be a lot different, or at least i hope!

Cash games online haven't gone great, dropped about $5k this week so im only $5k ahead for the month which is rather poor. Not running well but also playing sub-par. I think post SCOOP the games might not be so good so i'll probs only play a little HU between now and Monday(Vegas!). Had a good session at the Vic last week made around £3500. Made a pretty big call with 88 as the PFR calling a raise, turn + river barrel for nearly a $4k pot with 88 on a 735ss 4x Qh board. Think i might put a short session in later today aswell.

Outside of poker ive slowly but surely being trying to get things ready for Vegas. Bit of a pain in the ass doing all the bank wire/money xchange stuff but i guess its got to be done. A welcome piece of news was winning the fantasy football league i entered with a few mates which netted me around $1k. The last day of the season was epic, im glad Wolves stayed up and im glad for Martinez aswell as he seems a decent fella albeit at a shit club. Like most disappointed to see Blackpool go down which is testament to how well Holloway did with the resources available.

Yesterday i went to the opticians for an eye test, turns out i have a stigma (fairly common) and need glasses which i should get later 2day/2moro. Will probably start winning since i will be able to tell the suits of the cards! Funny how after i get told and have the test i suddenly realise how bad my eye sight is!

JP

Mid-May with Vegas days away.

Since my last update things have gone along fairly reasonably. SCOOP/MTT wise things have gone pretty badly, i haven't cashed a thing since my 100r 6max win and i think im yet to make a 3rd break in a SCOOP which is pretty LOL given the structures are pretty darn good. This weekend has some good SCOOP's i intend to play. The HU $216/$2600 which should favour HU cash players more than SNG HU players since it starts with 200bb's instead of 100bb's which the previous HU mtt started with. On the sunday theres 6max and the ME which i'll play the L and M and maybe fire 1 bullet at a satelitte to the main H if im feeling it.

Cash games im up around $9.5k so far + RB. Games are good and i think im on the PTR list for top winners at the $3/6 which is a decent effort since im a fairly low volume grinder.

Got a few errands to run before i leave for Vegas a week on Monday, stuff like bank wires, extra travel insurance, currency conversions etc etc which is annoying but will need to be done within the next week or so.

Just got back down to London having been home for a week or so, had a couple of good nights out at home, appreciated how cheap everything is compared to down here!

I intend to blog once b4 Vegas, hopefully with a SCOOP watch on my wrist! (who am i kidding :P)

Wee shipped an MTT!

last night i loaded a couple of 6max Mtt's on stars to go with my cash games.I'd seen the 100r 6max get overlay repeatedly and last night was no exception with around $10k of overlay on a $30k gtd. Luckily i chopped it HU for $7.3k which was nice and my first win of the year. SCOOP starts 2moro aswell so looking forward to playing a few MTT's this month, especially the $1.5k HU event.

Played at the Vic on Tuesday ran really hot again and booked a £4500 win. Played a few large pots, where i picked off one big bluff with trips, had something of a cooler with KK Vs QQ on an 8hi board vs a recreational player. Might only get the chance to play live once or so between now and vegas as im back up north for the week. Since ive had a good start to the year i'll likely start by playing 10/20 cash in Vegas, im not 100% how good the games are but usually there built around 1/2 recreational players although im confident the live regs will have glaring leaks anyway. Im looking to do a bank wire to one of the cages in Vegas for the MTT's im playing, if any1 has any useful information as regards to where its best to send that will be great. Its abit frustrating since Europeans often exchange online Xfer's for cash with American players which is obviously a no-no at present.

My schedule is the following:

2nd June: $1590 Venetian Deepstack
6th june: WSOP event 10: $1500 6max
9th June: $1590 Venetian deepstack
13th June: $1590 ventian deepstack
15th june: WSOP event26: $2500 6max
17th June: $2100 Venetian deepstack
20th June: $1590 venetian deepstack
23rd June: wsop event 40: $5k 6max
27th June: $2500 Venetian deepstack
2nd july: $1070 ventian deepstack

I'll obviously be looking to play the main, provding i satelitte in or have a decent score in one of the prelims.

Online cash has been good, already put in 7.5k hands for just over $4k profit playing mainly 3/6 6max. Been quite a few games running around midnight, so been jumping in the games while theres been plenty running.

Think my plans for the coming days are to play 1/2 rounds of golf in the week and catch up with the old man and probably go to watch Durham c.c.c at the riverside, where i haven't been in an age where i think they are playing Somerset. Should be good.

JP

April Results

So April was pretty good, decent volume and solid profits. I also had a nice £3.8k winning session at the Vic midweek.

Online Hands: 27435
Online Cash game profit: $18,269
Rakeback: $1200

Live Cash Hours: 20
Live cash profit: £5,150 ($8602)

Online MTT sessions 2
Online MTT profit: Approx b/e

Live MTTs: DTD Monte carlo -£1090 (-$1821)

Totals: + $26,250

Pretty good month and pleased with my progress especially my 6max game.

What happens next?

So on Friday the 15th April (now known as black friday in the poker world) THE DOJ in the US banned American players from FTP and stars and Indicted several key figures from the companies on accounts of fraud. Interestingly enough when the news broke i was playing the DTD £1K Monte Carlo and sheet my pants since i had a sizeable 5 figures on both sites. However as things have developed things don't look too bad, MSNL cash traffic has dropped a little but MTT'ers are likely to enjoy the reduced fields and lower variance. Im guessing the worst effected are the SNG players, and of course the American online pro's who have had the rug pulled from underneath them. I truly feel for those guys (even the shortstackers). It will be interesting to see the effect of vegas thats for sure.

So a couple of weekends back i played the DTD Monte Carlo event. I was in the top 5 of chips going into day 2, things didnt quite go my way as i 3/5bet jammed ATo for 45bigs vs Toby Lewis AQ. The day b4 i ran incredibly hot. I was up over 120k with 5 levels and busted 4 people from 30k starting stack, mainly coolers and a hillarious donation. Once again i have no problem accumlating chips, i just need to knuckle down in the middle periods when theres less room to manovre. I think i need 1 or 2 tournaments where i ninja through a load of levels with 20-35 bigs to get use to the disclipline needed in order to improve.

The next day i tried to play the £5/10 VIP game but no-one would start the game but me and Annette Obrestrad who was playing the big game been filmed there. We decided to just play a £2/5 HU game for 4 hours instead which was cool, i ran pretty well in the 3bet pots and won around £750 but decided to flip for £250 at the end, where Annette drew a 4s first and i somehow drew the 2s LOL. She was a nice girl and it was a fun match if not particularly profitable it was an important experience.

Online has been good, grinded really hard at the start of the month and im up around $17.5k playing a mix of 2/4-3/6 6max and 2/4+ HU when i get action. Running good playing okay is the theme i think. May should be exciting, i intend to go home for a few days pre Vegas to see family and also play a few of the SCOOP's which are at favourable times for myself.

gl at the tables all

JP

Decent start to April?

The reason for the question mark is i managed to go deep in the 2.25mill on ftp last sunday, a top 50 finish out of 14k runners and $430k up top, with everyone at the final table getting $30k+. The sunday itself was going terrible, i was 0/14 for cashes until i ended up 1 tabling this for around 7 hours and $3700 to book a $2k winnning session. I ran like god all the way so can't complain really especially since i fired only 1 bullet, but i played close to my best so im pleased with that. I did have a perverse thought though when in the last 100. I felt in a way i didn't really want to win $428k as it would potentially drain my motivation to continue grinding cash which is probably an odd way of looking at things (obviously in hindsight $428k would be a beautiful thing). Maybe its because i've been grinding it out for a few years now and its all that i know, or maybe i have some deep root mental health issues.

Cash games are going ok up around $6k online with a mix of 6max and HU. My 6max game is improving a little as i get used to the pace of the games once again, although the odd hiccup along the way is a regular occurence. With HU i barely get any action on stars, FTP isn't so bad since PTR has stopped tracking for the past 6 months or so and ive only played there since vegas so i can get some action there which is nice.

I played some live cash in the Vic on Tuesday winning £850 for the session. Lost a £4k pot with KK VS AA where i flatter a 4bet called a 78J board Turn J went check check, before he potted the river allin. I probably should have folded since hes a decent tight reg but im a massive POW. I also won a £4k pot with AA vs 97dd allin on a K72dd 9h board. I still don't mind my play since the guy is likely peeling wide OTB when i isolate two weaker players, so feel he can have 86dd/89dd type hands. I also didn't have a blocker to the nut flush draw so opted to stick it in. Anyway river was a deuce counterfeited his two pair which was unlucky for him and he played the hand well. I also won a big hand vs the same guy earlier, peeling a 3bet with A4cc and c/r a 239cc board, turn Ko river 7c. He had KK apparently but i think its standard to c/r get it in here with 54% equity against all overpairs bar AA (i have a blocker anyway) also hes capable of getting it in with dominated draws.

Next week im playing the dtd £1k Monte Carlo event. Great place to play poker and not a bad night out for a few beers either!

JP

March Round up

Slightly odd month and defintely flew by. Starting off grinding online, final tabled a GUKPT side and came 11th in the main. After that i took an involuntary 10 days offf or so because my laptop broke (so tilted from losing my HEM db). The last couple of days ive been playing some six max cash which has gone well.

I've just put together a MTT schedule for Vegas. Im going to be playing 10 over the 7 weeks, 3x WSOP 6max events and the rest Venetian deepstacks. Hopefully been a 6max/HU cash grinder should help me in these SH/Deepstack comps, My gukpt cashes have given me a little injection of confidence which is timely with Vegas around the corner.

Looking to the horizon, i think im going to bail on playing the IPO. I hear its a good value comp, but Dublin is darn expense and i'd like to get back into grinding cash online so with regards to April i'll probably only play the DTD monte carlo event and possibly the IPO satelitte there running there depending how im feeling. I may also play GUKPT Walsall right at the end of the month.

Online should be good fun leading up to Vegas, another FTOPs and SCOOP before i fly the atlantic so a timely bink would be rather fun :P

March results.

Online Hands: Around 18k Online cash game Profit: $7.5k approx
Rakeback:$400

Live cash Hours: alot 40+ easily Live cash profit: -£2.3K ($3685)
Online MTT sessions:2 Online MTT profit: -$2k approx

Live MTTs: Luton Deepstack (£550) GUKPT £200 re-entry, GUKPT £200 6max, GUKPT main £1590
Live mtt profit (after backing):+ £2450 ($3926)

March Profit: $6,141 Pretty disappointing month in the main, although i played really really badly live which ive been kicking myself about. I have however decided April will be my month. I have zero prior engagements so will be grinding hard to put in hopefully a $20k+ month.

F***k me!

Pretty tilted at the minute. Last week my computer broke and today i heard its going to cost around £400 to fix. My m8 Ben can potentially fix it for alot cheaper but he would have to order a hard-drive which could potentially take a week (not cool for a grinder who hasn't played in 10 days). So it looks like i'm going to have to buy a laptop and do all the boring shit of installing a bunch of stuff.

Im most tilted about losing my HEM database. The database isn't particularly old (August 10') but i nearly reached $100k cash game profits on it and had a bunch of hands on regs which i'm going to lose. Luckily ive logged my results in this blog to give me a rough idea how im doing.

Couple of days ago i finished 11th in the GUKPT Main. i was CL going into the last 2 tables, but lost a couple of pots notably with AJ vsK4o AIPF and then i made a play cold betting allin with AJhh for 40bigs, vs co open and btn 3bet who had exactly the same stack size as me. It was a great spot, he just happened to have aces this time :P. I played well so i'm happy with that but with £101k up top, i'd have hoped to get a top 3 or 4 finish once reaching the final 2 tables. i ended up cashing for £4590.

March online wise is turning out to be a write off due to a lack of a working computer. I think i was up around $3k net after cash profits and online MTT losses. Ive made abit through Live MTT's this week, but im struggling to concentrate playing live cash, finding it extremely boring (probably because ive been in the Vic 5/7 days) Hopefully i'll buy a decent laptop 2moro and be back up and grinding online towards the latter end of this week and pretend that March never actually happened.

JP

GUKPT in town this week

So i haven't played much online this week. Went home friday, my brother had a surprise 30th bday party back home in Durham which was excellent fun all round, can't remember last time i had a decent night out in Durham (granted had less than 10 in past 5 years). On Sunday i went to Newcastle to grind Sundays with Ben Jenkins, Jono Beck and Jack Ellwood. We all bricked pretty hard and so yesterday morning me and Ben got the train to London for GUKPT and the sides.

We both played the £200 re-entry MTT. Only got 80 or so runners but we both final tabled. Ben finished 6th i finished 4th, after going into FT as chipleader so a little dissappointing for £1400 or so. Was £5k up top so only a baby comp. Played the 200 6max tonight, busted after 3 levels nothing interesting of note. Planning to play 1a of the Main on Thursday, need a long sleep 2nite to recoup as ive barely slept since friday. Probably go to cinemas or out for a meal+ beers 2moro to unwind some. Live poker is pretty draining deffo couldn't grind it out for a living.

JP

Sup March

March has been a little frustrating. Blogging now after a long 13 hr live £2/5 session where i ended down £450. Pretty pleased considering i lost a £5.5k pot with 77 vs supfoolio (hs online cash reg) T8o in a 3bet pot on a 976 board.

Yesterday i grinded 15mtt's or so. Went deepish in a few on tilt but nothing to serious managing 3 cashes leaving me down around $1.5k for that session.

Cash games online have been swongy, was up $6k at one point but now in only 2k ahead. Running not so well about $5k below EV but i shouldn't complain.

On thursday i played the Luton £550 deepstack. i busted within 6 levels (lol) losing big pots with boat under boat. then bluff raising a river (definitely against the wrong guy) on a J4567 board, getting called by a naked 63. Next week i'll be playing GUKPT and the £250 side which should be fun. In between, im guna grind it out till the weekend online before i go back home for the weekend as its my bro's surprise 30th bday party (pretty confident he doesn't read this) which should be fun. The dress theme is black,white and silver so if any1 has any good clothing combo's fire away!

JP

February results

This month was pretty meh, mad around 35 buyins online which is ok, but mostly at 1/2-2/4 whereas i broke even at 5/10 and lost at 10/20. Hopefully i can make 40 buyins in March.


Online Hands: 26,661
Online Cash game Profit: $8431.37
Rakeback: $900

Live Cash Hours:26
Live cash Game Profit: $7645.34 (£4900)

Online MTT sessions:2

Online MTT profit: - $1700

Live MTT's: None

February total profit: $15,276.71

Slightly disappointing month but none too shabby nonetheless. Im playing the £550 English open deepstack at Luton this thursday and the GUKPT London to keep me occupied for the beginning of March, February volume was decent mainly due to playing more 6max, but i expect volume to be poor in March especially if i go to Mauritius at the end of the month.

Its a funny old game!

So since my last post things have gone well in a strange way. My downswing eclipsed at roughly $12k as i had a further -$5k day taking a shot at 10/20 FR as i got a seat in a game with an infamous Russian high stakes fish, donated yet another stack to him before losing another hand to a reg with TT vs AA AIPF which may have been marginal in a FR game as i don't really know what im doing.

This past week i've decided to not peek at my results $ wise. Since i play a spread of limits 1/2-10/20, i only look at my winnings in terms of BB's so im not effected by the $$$ swings and concentrating more on my play. In the past 5 days ive made around 20bi's which is pleasing although i suspect this is mostly 1/2 and 2/4 but i'm playing well and ive never been as confident in my game as i currently am. I won't peek till Monday and then only intend to look at my results weekly just in case something is going drastically wrong.

Last night i think i logged my best live cash session. I think i logged 9 hours for just over a £2.9k win which was pleasing. Live cash games at any level are just so soft, and people really level themselves and get FPS to easily so you can just hoover up alot of dead money playing solid.

Luckily, I've recently managed to get myself a live backer for MTT's which is cool. Basically a Russian investment fund well known on 2p2 and had action of the PCA winner and 2 EPT finalists, will be taking 40-60% of my action for future events over €1k. I've got alot linedup between now and Vegas, with GUKPT London, deepstack Luton, IPO, EPT San Remo and Spinks pointed out this http://www.millionparadisepoker.com/?page_id=6 which i cannot turn down as the place looks incredible. Just a little bink and i'll be delighted.....

Haven't managed to play any online MTT's really. I fired 4 bullets at the $216 6max and sold 50% of my action, i managed to get to the 3rd break with 4 stacks. Things didn't quite go my way in the mid stages and i didn't get 1 cash :(. I want to put a MTT session in sunday but me and my flatm8 are guna try and get tickets for the league cup final so i'll have to wait and see how that develops.

JP

The Curse of the Graph!

Those poker players in the know will probably have read this thread thinking what a fool i was for posting a graph (rightfully so). Its fairly well known that after posting a successful graph the poker gods will strike you down in doubley quick time. So over the weekend i went on a $8k downswing playin 5/10 HU and some 2/4 6max. I actually dropped around 10 stacks on sunday at 6max, ran pretty badly but it happens and i wasn't too bothered as i know i looked at the hands and i think theres only 1 or 2 that i could of taken a different line with. Its pretty differcult jumping into 6max from HU, its impossible not to spew. This for me usually takes form in value betting too thinly and 3betting a little too wide. I might jump back in the games at some point, but i'd have to work on my game which to be brutally honest ive never done.

I've always been the same of been exceptionally lazy yet fairly talented in most things i do, usually resulting in me doing the bare minimum to get the job done or keeping the family happy for such things as grades/exam results. I don't look at hands or even discuss them with peers apart from posting a few "one liners" on forums. Nor do i watch video's or do session reviews. I don't think im alone with this type of mindset and like a true lazy person i've come to terms with it and am content with the realisation of how far this mindset can take me.

Put in another live session on Tuesday for a £1.1k win at 2/5. Only put in around 7hours because i was playing pretty badly and not concentrating at all which was annoying since i left when the table started to get good. I often play during the day live and leave later when the drunk players come in as it gets slightly irritating when as you can imagine slow the game down, chat shit etc etc. I know i should stay as these are the players who i will obviously profit the most against but been sober around drunk people isn't fun so i'd rather grind during the day with the regs and enjoy the company more.

Last night i watched the Arsenal V Barca match. What a match! Barcelona really are a cut above anyone else for sure, but i think this result on its on is huge for Arsenal running into the tail end of the campaign and even for future seasons. In all likelihood we'll get spanked at the Nou Camp but theres no shame in that really.

Solid start to the month

Luckily im off to another good start up around $13k in online cash games in just under 7k hands. Still running pretty golden and am running just over $3k above EV. Sunday i put in an mtt session which didn't go great, i had a deep run in the Sunday warm up (120th) and $22 cubed but no real binks so i think i was around -$1.2k for the session.

Yesterday i played my first live session of the month and logged around 10 hours for £700 profit at £2/5. I think i actually ran fairly bad losing big pots with AA/QQ/JJ but did okay towards the end. I'll maybe put in another session in the next few days depending how i feel. Ive also after much deliberation not to play UKIPT Nottingham. Although its an excellent comp with a good structure i just think it makes more sense to grind online as im doing really well, whilst my live MTT record is probably the worst. Also theres some decent FTOPS/MTT's and stuff on Sunday which i would prefer to be home for.

Im just about sorted for Vegas, going for 2months (20th May-20th July). Ive seen the schedule and im not particularly impressed tbh. I can only see myself playing the ME, 6max $2.5k and $5k. The HU is a joke at $25k so most of my series i intend to grind $10/20 and maybe $25/50 live cash if things go well. I'll also dabble in some of the Venetian Deepstacks if i get bored of online/live cash.

I haven't really tried to win a seat for EPT Copenhagen so will likely just fade it, probably isn't the best value EPT anyway, so for now i have no plans to play live MTT's (almost certainly a good thing). I do however, need to check out the Palm Beach casino and play some £5/10 so will hopefully get to do that at some point this month.

gl at the tables all

JP

Blog from Deauville!

Urgh well Deauville hasn't gone well. Busted the ME at the end of level 3 running a triple barrel bluff in a 3bet pot with AK vs JJ on a 954 J7 board. I don't think its too bad considering he was a scandi and likely had more suited connector type hands which picked up pair+draws on the turn which would struggle to call the river. I think he folds 88/TT OTR aswell.

The HU i busted the 1st match, i won the 1st match flopping a str8 flush with 9Tcc on a JcQcKc vs two pair, before losing 33 vs 2To AIPF in the second match and finally losing AT vs QQ AIPF with high blinds.

The 1st of the €1K's side i played i managed to bust 1st level, KK vs QQ in a 4bet pot where i couldn't get away from a Q high board. Then today i busted the final €1k side in 13th with 8 paid :(.

Last night my Spinks and Ben put in an MTT session for lol's. I went deep in the 100r on stars, $75 super stack on tilt/20r on tilt before finally hitting a final table in the $30r. Managed to luckbox my way to 4th for a $4k+ score. My Mtt game seems reasonable at the moment, definitely more disciplined/patient than in the past.

That said im probably going to fade the £500 UKIPT Nottingham. Not so keen to play a £500 mtt when i'll probably do another £500 in expenses, beers and stuff.

January results:

Online hands: 20,004
Online cash game profit: $10,119
Rakeback: $500

Live Cash hours: 18 hours
Live cash Profit/staking; £2350 ($3720)

Online MTT sessions: 3
Online MTT profit: Approx $2k

Live MTT's: Deauville ME, €3HU, 2x €1k sides
Live MTT Profit: -€2.5k after selling action (-$3397)

Januray total Profit: $12,942

Overall January has been ok, looking foreward to february i don't intend to play any live Mtt's (outside chance of going to EPT Copenhagen) so i'll be looking to play 20k online hands a few mtt sessions and hopefully log more hours playing live cash but we'll see.

Leave Deauville for London on Tuesday think we're going out for beers tomorrow with a few of the english dealers i know who are a good laugh, plan to get messy although this place is ridiculously expensive maybe i can continue to run like god at credit card roulette.

JP

Pre- Deauville blog.

So this week has been fairly reasonable, played a bunch of MTT's on sunday didn't really get anyway apart from f't bubbling a 6 max MTT and not getting close to cashing in anything else.
Monday i went to the Vic with Ben (cash horse) played sum £2/5 while he played some £1/2 and made around £950 total profit (well done benjamin!) so can't complain.

Since then ive grinded pretty well, ive played 16.3k hands for the month including a nice couple of $2/4-3/6 6max sessions for a little change from HU. Im up around $11.5k online, last couple of days have been meh but things progressing nicely so i won't put too much pressure on myself to log hands in Deauville.

Travelling monday and playing 1b (Wednesday). I'll be updating my twitter with chip counts at breaks (www.twitter.com/whollyflush) or anything that i find somewhat amusing. Since ive learnt that live cash games in France are taxed heavily by the government (too ignorant and lazy to know the exact amounts) ive been persuaded to play the side events. So i'll also be playin a 1x €1500 €3k HU and 2x €1k providing i don't make any day two's (Usually not much of a problem, tricky part is getting past the first couple of levels on a day two :P). Ive managed to sell 50% of my action of these to friends and a serial investor on 2p2.

Travelling by car with Ben and Jon Spinks, and theres plenty of UK players going so should be fun even if/when i bust early doors. Will try and put a blog post in post deauville with a trip report.

Gl all

JP

Quick Update!

Things have gone pretty well since my last update. Im up around $10k online in just over 10k hands although im running absurdly hot right now.

Also on Tuesday i played my first live session of the year, played reasonably put in 11 hours and managed to bag a £1400 winning session. Audley Harrison was playing on the same table briefly which was pretty funny, seemed a nice guy but dropped £2k sharpish before exiting to go to some West end club.

I'll be setting off for Deauville on the 24th and will be there for 8 nights. I'll be playing the ept main for sure but am unsure about playing any side events, when i reckon there'll be some great cash games running. If things go well i'll probably play the €3k HU and sell action, but 2 can be a long time n the poker world.

gl all

jp

Goals for 2011

So ive decided on my poker goals for the year and decided to outline them in this blog.

1) 200k online hands. In 08/09 i got well over 500k hands but now i switched to HU midway through '10 playing that many 2/3 tabling isn't as easy. I think 20k hands per month is a good number to aim for bearing in mind i intend to play a fair amount of live events.

2) 100k cash profit online. Does what it says on the tin, playing from 1/2- 5/10 i think this is achieveable as long as legislation issues don't affect the state of the games.

3) 10 hours live cash per week. Haven't played live cash yet this year since ive just moved back to London. I'll likely be playing a mix of £2/5/5-10 depending how things are going. I should probably check out the Palm Beach instead of just playing at the Vic to see what the games are like there. I'd hope to make in the region of $30k profit if i put in 520 hours.

4) 20 online Sunday MTT sessions. I intend to play a few majors and satelittes from now on sundays as they are decent value give you the chance to bink reasonably big.

5) play 3 EPT's, 4/5 WSOP events- for the love of god cash in something! Given how much money MTT's and expenses cost me last year i suppose ive got to be reasonably happy my roll is in decent shape and i made near 6fig profit last year. Hopefully a couple of cashes this year will help me have a more profitable year.

6) $200k net profit.

Hopefully by the end of the year i'll be in a position to buy my 1st house and still have a reasonable poker roll to play the games i do. If so i'll be extremely content with my lot.

2011 started pretty disasterously actually. I spent NYE in the toon at a house party with a few poker players and managed to lose my Iphone 4 which i just bought about 3 weeks ago WITHOUT insurance. Ive just bought a replacement costing me £550!

To follow that on NYD i dropped 3 bags playing 3/6 where i got owned pretty badly. Im now just about back to b/e for the year but im ahead of pace to play 20k hands this month.

I'll try and blog before EPT Deauville but we'll see.

gl all

JP