In something of a miracle, I have ended June in (marginal) profit. I started the month with a BR of $7909 and finished with $7964 for a princely profit of $45. I actually owe myself some dividend from last month so that will probably drop a little bit.
That result is actually pretty good, considering that I found myself in a $1500 hole at one point. It was, of course, rakeback that saved me - I have a policy of only adding rakeback to my account at the end of each month. I made about $470 in rakeback and another $400 in rake races, along with $100 of the RedStar signup bonus. That means that I lost over ($900) on the tables, which is not a very marvellous result.
I had a nice short shot at 5/10Euro the other night with one of my favourite fish which provided something of a boost. I resisted the temptation to join a very juicy looking 10/20Euro table yesterday. I think I want to get the BR to $10k before I get too deep in those kinds of games.
By the way, my Eurolinx withdrawal finally came through after nearly a month of waiting. I'm really hoping they have sorted out their problems, because it is still one of my favourite sites to play with some great races and promotions. I've just requested another withdrawal to keep a minimum bankroll on the site, and am hoping this one comes through much more quickly.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
PLOtastic
I rocked up for a $100 PLO donkament at Burswood on Tuesday with a pretty solid understanding that I suck at PLO. I was joined by none other than TiocfaidhArLa from "Poker Career Downunder", who flew in - scheduled to arrive at the airport at 6:35, made it to the casino by about 6:55 (tourney started at 6:30) and got to his stack only 150 down. It was a pleasure to finally catch up, and we managed to have a good chat over a beer as well as playing a bit of (lol)limitaments afterwards. He busted out of the PLO shortly before me.
Played pretty tight for quite a while and found no playable hands. My first raggy AA hand I limped in EP intending to RR if the opportunity arose. Alas, it was called in about 5 places and I had to release it on the flop. The second AA hand I raised in MP, called from the button. Flop top set, but don't get paid. Maybe I could have checked it since the board was raggy but NM.
First really big hand was AKQ9, maybe double suited, maybe button. I Raised, flop goes 3 way. Flop KK9. Checked to me, I bet out nearly pot. One caller on my left (has me covered). Turn A (oh yes), I bet, he calls, river rags out and we get it all in. MHIG: he says he had K9. A couple more small pots and I am up to nearly 11k in chips with average still at 3.5k.
Then I lose a bit to a short stack, my KK53hhcc against his KQQxss when he makes a spade flush on the river. Move to a new table and the next big hand (cooler): I have AKJJss, pot it, flop goes 3 ways. Flop is JT6dd. I pot, call, guy on my right with Tourettes (but seemed like a really good bloke) raises AI, I call, other player folds. He has TT with the diamond draw. Diamond comes on the turn, river does not fill my boat. After that, I wasn't quite crippled but pretty badly damaged. I lost another AIPF against a dominated short stack with something like AKKJ to his KQTx with him making some stupid straight or something. My really bad hand (getting a bit short) was to raise KJT9cc, flop comes ATxhh, and I pot in an attempt to take it down. He RR me all-in, and I fold (he showed AQTx no hearts). I probably had the odds to call for the gutshot, but elected to limp on with my remaining pittance. It didn't last too long - I got it in good heads up once again but got drawn out on the turn.
Not too unhappy with how I played. If my top set of jacks had held up, I would have been in pretty good position to final table and maybe cash. And of course it was about 100 times better than the last rebuy PLO where i didn't win a single pot.
After that, I played 90 minutes or so of limit. Had pretty good position on two truly awful players. One middle aged lady (regular) who limp calls almost any cards preflop and cold calls most raises, and plays cards virtually face up postflop. The other was a chubby guy from Victoria who sounded like he plays a lot but just played so bad, calling down bottom pair to bets and raises multi-way etc. Anyway I started by losing nearly 100 when I raise JJ in MP, and get called by the usual suspects. I bet all the way on a board of tiny cards, and get raised on the end with the board reading something like 23459. I can probably fold easily here, but the pot was huge so I called to see not one but two players catching 6 high gutshots on the end (to be fair, one of them had a small pair to go with it, but still).
After that I won a decent pot with 77ui on a K25Tx board. I Cbet the flop (3 way), and the turn went check-check, so I value bet the river. I got raised and nearly folded since chubby was AI and the sidepot was tiny, but I call and he can't beat chubby's pair of 2s so MHIG. After that I won another decent hand and left exactly even to the dollar. But wow, the standard of play on that table was terrible. There were a couple of regs at the other end of the table who were decent, everyone else (except for TFAL sitting in the Jesus seat on my right) was either a passive calling station or a rock.
footnote:
Playing poker with Tourettes must be a particular challenge. The guy in the tournament was twitching constantly, occasionally shaking his head dramatically, and sometimes letting out an unintentional expletive. I didn't really try too hard to get a read on his tics, but I'm sure they must be readable.
Played pretty tight for quite a while and found no playable hands. My first raggy AA hand I limped in EP intending to RR if the opportunity arose. Alas, it was called in about 5 places and I had to release it on the flop. The second AA hand I raised in MP, called from the button. Flop top set, but don't get paid. Maybe I could have checked it since the board was raggy but NM.
First really big hand was AKQ9, maybe double suited, maybe button. I Raised, flop goes 3 way. Flop KK9. Checked to me, I bet out nearly pot. One caller on my left (has me covered). Turn A (oh yes), I bet, he calls, river rags out and we get it all in. MHIG: he says he had K9. A couple more small pots and I am up to nearly 11k in chips with average still at 3.5k.
Then I lose a bit to a short stack, my KK53hhcc against his KQQxss when he makes a spade flush on the river. Move to a new table and the next big hand (cooler): I have AKJJss, pot it, flop goes 3 ways. Flop is JT6dd. I pot, call, guy on my right with Tourettes (but seemed like a really good bloke) raises AI, I call, other player folds. He has TT with the diamond draw. Diamond comes on the turn, river does not fill my boat. After that, I wasn't quite crippled but pretty badly damaged. I lost another AIPF against a dominated short stack with something like AKKJ to his KQTx with him making some stupid straight or something. My really bad hand (getting a bit short) was to raise KJT9cc, flop comes ATxhh, and I pot in an attempt to take it down. He RR me all-in, and I fold (he showed AQTx no hearts). I probably had the odds to call for the gutshot, but elected to limp on with my remaining pittance. It didn't last too long - I got it in good heads up once again but got drawn out on the turn.
Not too unhappy with how I played. If my top set of jacks had held up, I would have been in pretty good position to final table and maybe cash. And of course it was about 100 times better than the last rebuy PLO where i didn't win a single pot.
After that, I played 90 minutes or so of limit. Had pretty good position on two truly awful players. One middle aged lady (regular) who limp calls almost any cards preflop and cold calls most raises, and plays cards virtually face up postflop. The other was a chubby guy from Victoria who sounded like he plays a lot but just played so bad, calling down bottom pair to bets and raises multi-way etc. Anyway I started by losing nearly 100 when I raise JJ in MP, and get called by the usual suspects. I bet all the way on a board of tiny cards, and get raised on the end with the board reading something like 23459. I can probably fold easily here, but the pot was huge so I called to see not one but two players catching 6 high gutshots on the end (to be fair, one of them had a small pair to go with it, but still).
After that I won a decent pot with 77ui on a K25Tx board. I Cbet the flop (3 way), and the turn went check-check, so I value bet the river. I got raised and nearly folded since chubby was AI and the sidepot was tiny, but I call and he can't beat chubby's pair of 2s so MHIG. After that I won another decent hand and left exactly even to the dollar. But wow, the standard of play on that table was terrible. There were a couple of regs at the other end of the table who were decent, everyone else (except for TFAL sitting in the Jesus seat on my right) was either a passive calling station or a rock.
footnote:
Playing poker with Tourettes must be a particular challenge. The guy in the tournament was twitching constantly, occasionally shaking his head dramatically, and sometimes letting out an unintentional expletive. I didn't really try too hard to get a read on his tics, but I'm sure they must be readable.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Diary of a sick cooler.
It's like some strange twisted version of Newton's law. Every heater is followed by an equal and opposite cooler. The last week has been incredibly sick. The bankroll has taken a hit of over 20%. That's probably about 250 big bets on average. Not a whole lot of fun.
It feels of course as though my decent hands are just not holding up, so I had a little look at HEM. This is the last 500 hands of 5/10 sorted by starting hand:
And 3/6:
And 2/4:
I think it's quite bad, but on the upside, I picked up 50EUR for the losing aces hands via a Eurolinx promo (if I ever get my $$ out). I also won 100 Euro while writing this post.
It feels of course as though my decent hands are just not holding up, so I had a little look at HEM. This is the last 500 hands of 5/10 sorted by starting hand:
And 3/6:
And 2/4:
I think it's quite bad, but on the upside, I picked up 50EUR for the losing aces hands via a Eurolinx promo (if I ever get my $$ out). I also won 100 Euro while writing this post.
Monday, June 8, 2009
.. but the worm inevitably turns.
Why is it that every big heater is followed by a massive, flat-on-your face cooler?
Yesterday was a disaster. I've dropped about a grand in barely a couple of hours of play. Probably 120BB or so.
I felt like at times I was playing poorly or that other players were running over me. But that's the thing isn't it? If other players are being very aggressive against you with marginal hands you need a little something to play back and when nothing comes, your cap for value preflop looks a bit foolish.
Blah whatever. I'm going to go play a $50 rebuy at the casino tonight and blow off some steam.
As an aside: I would advise not depositing at Eurolinx for the time being. There are problems with withdrawals there. I have a couple of grand in there which I am very much hoping to get back, otherwise this week will go down as the worst bad beat in my short history.
Yesterday was a disaster. I've dropped about a grand in barely a couple of hours of play. Probably 120BB or so.
I felt like at times I was playing poorly or that other players were running over me. But that's the thing isn't it? If other players are being very aggressive against you with marginal hands you need a little something to play back and when nothing comes, your cap for value preflop looks a bit foolish.
Blah whatever. I'm going to go play a $50 rebuy at the casino tonight and blow off some steam.
As an aside: I would advise not depositing at Eurolinx for the time being. There are problems with withdrawals there. I have a couple of grand in there which I am very much hoping to get back, otherwise this week will go down as the worst bad beat in my short history.
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