Rant

Well.... its been a long long time since I have posted. Apologies for that.... for some reason I seem to have lost the blogging spark recently.

However.... I feel a bit tilted right now and I figure venting it out blogging is > venting it out playing :)

So... been trying to grind out the HUSNGs.... been playing a lot on pokerstars recently but over about 400 games (mix of PS and FT) I am breakeven. I think that about 150 of those games at the start of the breakeven stretch are probably down to bad play, but the last 250 games have been just poo.

I am pretty happy in the knowledge that I am almost always getting it in as a favourite, and the times that I am not is usually because I am running AJ into AA. I think that over the last 200 games, I have had AA about 5 times and every time it has been folded PF... whereas it looks like I have lost about 20 of the last 200 to AA. Meh... oh well... variance bla bla... But you know what I mean... it just makes you feel a bit crap when you really want to make some money and its just a long breakeven grind.

I am going to start to 2 table because I think that I can maintain my concentration with 2 tables, but hopefully it will allow me to increase my games/hour and therefore reduce my variance.

Anyway... on to happier news. About to go out and get drunk!

Hopefully I will maintain the urge to keep on blogging for a bit :)

The true colours of poker

I haven't really been keeping my blog up to date... sorry about that, not sure if anyone really reads it anyway but its nice to put my thoughts down on paper every once in a while. (I have however been trying to update my twitter regularly so you can follow my more up to date progress through tweets).

I have been debating how to write this post as it is supposed to have a bit of an impact, so I think the best way is to start with some graphs.

This is the graph of my last 350 HUSNGs, they are a mix of $20 and $10 HUSNG played on Poker Stars and Full Tilt:

As you can see I have been going through a pretty brutal break even stretch. When compared to the 600 HUSNGs I played previous to that, it puts it more into perspective:

I have been meaning to play quite a lot of poker over the summer, but so far all it has yielded is frustration and self doubt. Is it possible that I have just run well and am now paying for my luck... possible I guess but I am still confident (although not as much as before) in my game and I feel that I am still making correct decisions even if the results are not reflecting it.

Basically, even though I thought I was prepared to deal with variance and all the suffering that comes with it, sometimes it feels like it will never end, and that is what I am starting to feel like at the moment. I have tried my best to sit down at every session and say to myself that as long as I play well and make the correct decisions then the results will come, but over the past 2 months, this has not been the case.

I am still confident that so long as I continue to do my best that eventually things will turn around and I will be able to win some games but for the moment I am going to take a couple of weeks off and keep my mind of poker for a bit.

I have also been railing the mid and high stakes HUSNGs following some of the big winners, including mr 147_star (btw, I tried raising every hand to 147 pf but it still didn't work) and I really hope to pick up some tips or find some leaks in my own game. But seriously, really well done to all the durham guys who are having success at the moment, am very jealous about the Vegas trip which sounds amazing (to be honest, I could never afford it the way my poker is going at the moment!)

Will post again when I start making some money (don't hold your breath)!

G

Also, check out this link HUSNG Variance it models HUSNG variance according to win rate and gives some quite interesting results.

Twitter

Decided to give all this Twitter hype a shot... follow me here http://twitter.com/mrwooster

Seems to be a bit easier than updating the blog the whole time... but will still try to.

Going to post regular twitter updates for all my sessions.

Gl

Quadaments

All good things must come to an end :(

Full Tilt Poker Game #11765655419: Table Honors (6 max) - $0.25/$0.50 - Pot Limit Hold'em - 12:18:41 ET - 2009/04/19
Seat 1: byondthgrave ($75.20)
Seat 2: egofreako ($47.80)
Seat 3: jdthefolder ($27.65)
Seat 4: fastfrille ($43.05)
Seat 5: McManiax ($57.10)
Seat 6: Cafe Creme ($50.75)
jdthefolder posts the small blind of $0.25
fastfrille posts the big blind of $0.50
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Cafe Creme [Ts Td]
McManiax raises to $1.75
Cafe Creme calls $1.75
byondthgrave folds
egofreako folds
jdthefolder folds
fastfrille folds
*** FLOP *** [Ad 2h Tc]
McManiax has 15 seconds left to act
McManiax bets $2.50
Cafe Creme has 15 seconds left to act
Cafe Creme raises to $6
McManiax calls $3.50
*** TURN *** [Ad 2h Tc] [4d]
egofreako adds $2.20
McManiax has 15 seconds left to act
McManiax bets $9
Cafe Creme has 15 seconds left to act
Cafe Creme has requested TIME
Cafe Creme calls $9
*** RIVER *** [Ad 2h Tc 4d] [Ah]
McManiax has 15 seconds left to act
McManiax bets $34.25
Cafe Creme calls $34, and is all in
Uncalled bet of $0.25 returned to McManiax
*** SHOW DOWN ***
McManiax shows [Ac As] four of a kind, Aces
Cafe Creme mucks
McManiax wins the pot ($99.25) with four of a kind, Aces
Cafe Creme adds $50
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $102.25 | Rake $3
Board: [Ad 2h Tc 4d Ah]
Seat 1: byondthgrave didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: egofreako (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: jdthefolder (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 4: fastfrille (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: McManiax showed [Ac As] and won ($99.25) with four of a kind, Aces
Seat 6: Cafe Creme mucked [Ts Td] - a full house, Tens full of Aces

$144.60

Biggest pot I have played for a while..... nice to win it too.... defiantly didn't put him on aces....

Full Tilt Poker Game #11746570880: Table Honors (6 max) - $0.25/$0.50 - Pot Limit Hold'em - 8:47:35 ET - 2009/04/18
Seat 1: Cafe Creme ($74.95)
Seat 2: Karlktulu ($28.80)
Seat 3: R4ph4 ($72.05)
Seat 4: NNURCDD ($22.05), is sitting out
Seat 5: KrulleVaar ($101.20)
Cafe Creme posts the small blind of $0.25
Karlktulu posts the big blind of $0.50
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Cafe Creme [Kh Th]
R4ph4 raises to $1.75
KrulleVaar folds
Cafe Creme has 15 seconds left to act
Cafe Creme calls $1.50
Karlktulu folds
*** FLOP *** [5c 9h 2h]
Cafe Creme checks
NNURCDD has returned
R4ph4 has 15 seconds left to act
R4ph4 has requested TIME
R4ph4 bets $3
Cafe Creme calls $3
*** TURN *** [5c 9h 2h] [6c]
Cafe Creme has 15 seconds left to act
Cafe Creme bets $5
R4ph4 raises to $15
Cafe Creme has 15 seconds left to act
Cafe Creme calls $10
*** RIVER *** [5c 9h 2h 6c] [Ah]
Cafe Creme has 15 seconds left to act
Cafe Creme bets $22
R4ph4 raises to $52.30, and is all in
Cafe Creme calls $30.30
*** SHOW DOWN ***
R4ph4 shows [As Ad] three of a kind, Aces
Cafe Creme shows [Kh Th] a flush, Ace high
Cafe Creme wins the pot ($142.60) with a flush, Ace high
R4ph4 adds $50
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $144.60 | Rake $2
Board: [5c 9h 2h 6c Ah]
Seat 1: Cafe Creme (small blind) showed [Kh Th] and won ($142.60) with a flush, Ace high
Seat 2: Karlktulu (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 3: R4ph4 showed [As Ad] and lost with three of a kind, Aces
Seat 4: NNURCDD is sitting out
Seat 5: KrulleVaar (button) didn't bet (folded)


Will try to post a longish update soon... hopefully over the next few days

Royal!!!

LOL at his cards

(For easier viewing: http://www.pokerhand.org/?4102004)

Full Tilt Poker Game #11645198526: Table Eugene (6 max) - $0.10/$0.25 - Pot Limit Hold'em - 13:14:48 ET - 2009/04/12
Seat 1: Cafe Creme ($27.07)
Seat 2: redbullnut ($57.05)
Seat 3: ohuenchik ($37.03)
Seat 4: psmadsen ($52.49)
Seat 5: los46550 ($60.82)
Seat 6: gueleg ($0), is sitting out
los46550 posts the small blind of $0.10
Cafe Creme posts the big blind of $0.25
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Cafe Creme [Qs 9s]
gueleg stands up
redbullnut folds
ohuenchik folds
psmadsen folds
los46550 raises to $0.75
Cafe Creme calls $0.50
*** FLOP *** [Ks As 2d]
los46550 checks
Cafe Creme bets $1.50
los46550 calls $1.50
*** TURN *** [Ks As 2d] [Ts]
los46550 checks
Cafe Creme bets $4.50
los46550 calls $4.50
*** RIVER *** [Ks As 2d Ts] [Js]
los46550 checks
Cafe Creme has 15 seconds left to act
Cafe Creme bets $13.50
los46550 calls $13.50
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Cafe Creme shows [Qs 9s] a Royal Flush
los46550 mucks
Cafe Creme wins the pot ($38.48) with a Royal Flush
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $40.50 | Rake $2.02
Board: [Ks As 2d Ts Js]
Seat 1: Cafe Creme (big blind) showed [Qs 9s] and won ($38.48) with a Royal Flush
Seat 2: redbullnut didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: ohuenchik didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: psmadsen (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: los46550 (small blind) mucked [6s 5d] - a flush, Ace high
Seat 6: gueleg is sitting out

£5 anyone?

£5 to anyone who dresses up in chinos and a shirt (preferrably Jack Wills), picks a fight with Tony and then runs away like a little girl. £10 if you get it on camera. Seriously, I would love to witness this.

Work > Poker

Played 1HUSNG yesterday vs a -16%ROI fish and lost in 19 hands... Made a somewhat silly bluff halfway through the match and then ended up getting it AI with K5 on a T5T board (obv he has slowplayed QQ). So, the silly bluff went like this: I raise Ad9d IP he calls. Flop Jh4h5h, pot is 120 and he leads for 60. I raise to 190. I see this donkbet a lot from aggro players on monotone flops and I think that it is often a bluff, but vs this opponent who was pretty passive I should have known better and not raised... he is never folding a heart and often has a pair. I wouldn't say that it is never the right move because I think this is +EV vs a lot of aggro opponents, but not vs this one.

I have a lot of coursework to do so probably going to play very little over the next few weeks, however I am going to do a full review of the last 100 $20 HUSNGs I have played so expect a long post in the next week or so as I go through a thorough analysis of my HU play, something which I hope will really help me improve my game.

Learning about 'soils and foundations' at the moment and my lecturer is the most boring man in the world... seriously, I would rather get slowrolled by Chris May.

Happy learning

Breaking Even

Played 12 $20 HUSNGs yesterday and ended up down 2 BI due to loosing 4
in a row at the end of my session. I think I played pretty well, the
only hand where I kicked myself was when I shoved over a turn donk
with AK on a 4643 board vs a very bluffy oponent and he snapped with
86....

In the other games, I lost 2 flips with AJs and AQo vs 77 and 55 and
also lost with KQ to Q8 on a Q74 flop so not too upset about ending
the session down, but it is frustrating as I have been breakeven over
the last 200 games.

It's 9:15am and I am in a very boring lecture on management.

Stay +EV

Blogging on the move

It seems that not writing blog posts is getting a bit boring, but
whenever I get home and decide to write a post, I either forget what I
was going to write about or just forget to write a post all together.

I have set up my blog so I can publish posts directly from my phone so
hopefully I will be able to make more regular posts from wherever I am
at the time. (Currently it's 9:30am and I am in a lecture on Polution
and Enviromental Sustainability.... Great stuff!)

Note that this has the HUGE advantage that I willbe able to write blog
posts while in klute.

Ah, something really interesting is about to happen in my lecture. I
hope!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all.... 2009 should be an interesting year given the current economic situation... tho on the bright side, every time I see the £ loose value I see my $$ increase in value so at lease there is some small compensation.

Not much to report pokerwise, usual story, not had much time to play blah blah... but the HUSNGs are going great. Have moved up to the $20s again and seem to be doing ok, and have started dabbling in the idea of transitioning to turbos which I think will yield a higher $/hour than the regulars.

Also want to say congrats to Paul who seems to be absolutely killing the games now.... no one really knows how he does it but pretty sure that he must have the only PokerStars superuser account in existance.... but seriously... he is doing insanely well!

So... going to try to grind out some turbos between doing some work....