Sick sick sick

My run of form at the moment makes me want to vomit. Its so bad its untrue and the really sick thing is I'm not playing all that badly. Admittedly past few days I had played with zero confidence but today I felt ready to go and felt sure today would be the day when I would turn things around. For the past week or so I have had an unbelievable number of 2nds and 3rds in 6paks and it has reached hair tearing out time. But today I was sure that I was going to get some breaks....I was wrong :-(.

I lasted the sum total of 5 games before I gave up, I had two 2nds and 3 bubbles to show for my efforts. Honestly I don't mind getting raped in the 1st hand but when it is constantly happening HU or on the bubble it hurts. I could easily have won all 5 games but had nothing to show for my efforts except another losing day. I started off with two bubbles, 1st one I got them allin pre with AKs v KQo for a 4k pot and lost. In the other I made a marginal call with A6o, other guy had 66 and held..fair enough, I then recovered back to 1500chips and jam with A9s from the SB, BB calls with J8o?!?!?! and KO's me. The temptation to tilt is building inside me but in going well in 3rd game so try to remain positive. I get HU but blinds are at silly level, other guy has been jamming virtually every time he is SB, with stacks level and blinds 300/600 I make a stand with K20, he has K60 but flop comes a friendly looking QQJ..turn 8..ok I'll take a split....river 6 :-(. Game 4 I get HU with roughly even stacks, we have a bit of jousting before he pumps on SB, I have AT and call he has 99 and flops a set, game over. Game 5, 3 left I have 1200 chips, big stack on button jams I call with AJs he has KJ and I lose. I have now won 1 of my last 27 6paks and it would be fair to say I'm a little peeved.

Apologies for boring you with all of that but 'tis tricky to try and remain positive when its losing day followed by losing day. By writing it down hopefully it will reinforce the fact that I'm not doing anything wrong and it will turn. I'm still making it to the final 3 as often as I was when things were going well, back then I was converting more than my fair share of them into wins, however past week or so I can't buy a win. Gotta take the good with the bad though I guess. Tomorrow is another day.

Bad Few Days

Where do I start??? At the weekend I decided that I would be a donator and pissed my chips away in every tournament I played in. I decided at that point I needed a couple of days off to get my hunger back.

Tuesday came and I decided to play a few 6paks and did ok, nothing great due to my recently contracting 2nditis as well as bubbleitis (a nasty combination I assure you). However since then it has been bad news brown and my sharkscope graph is in freefall, I'm currently unplaced in 11 as I type and have only 2 wins in my past 28 games...not pretty viewing I can assure you. Now the obvious explanation would be that I have played like a clown :), however I'd dispute that lol. I actually don't think I've done all that much wrong, I have just run unbelievably bad. Today for example 3-handed, I hold KJ on button playing a stack of 1500, I make it 150 and the blinds call, flop comes QJJ, checked to me and I bet 200, SB calls and BB makes it 400, I smell a rat here but realistically there are only 2 holding he could have which beat me AJ and QJ as surely he would re-raise with QQ and arguably also AJ. Of course he has the QJ and I pay him every time.

There havnt even been that many beats (mainly because I've never been in front) although when they have happened they have been in key pots. I just can't buy a win at the minute. Anyways PMA there is a trip to Singapore to be won this evening :)

MTT win

Has been a while since I actually won a MTT but got the monkey off my back tonight. Took down the $50 FO on Pokerstars for $3.9k. I hit some decent hands early on and built up a stack and from then on never looked back. I reached the final table in good shape, about 3rd in chips, but then proceeded to lose 3 consecutive coinflips to a shortstack which put a big dent in my stack. The table however was pretty tight and I was able to get 2/3 raises through a round uncontested which helped me rebuild.

The shortstacks then started dropping off pretty quickly and soon we were 4-handed, during a break one guy suggested and even chop when the stacks were 145k, 140k, 85k and 80k. I was on 140k so my answer was a resounding no thank you LOL. Oh and the guy suggesting the even chop was the chip leader with 145k LMAO. I had no intention of dealing unless it was on very favourable terms as I had a big edge over the other three. So we carried on and I built my stack up to 190k when the shortstack moved in on the button for 50k (blinds 4k/8k) I call with 77, he turns over KTo and gets no help. I'm now playing a stack of 250k with the other two on 100k each. At this point I went into overdrive and started raising every pot applying maximum pressure. Eventually one of them finds a hand and plays back at me but by this point I have the chips to call I have A6s v AJ, I flop my 6 and go heads up with a 5 to 1 chip lead and it was all over in one hand. I have Q7 in BB, SB completes and flop comes QQJ, I check and he moves in with J8. Game set and match :-)

I had started the day intending to hammer some £60 6paks but after only managing a 2nd from my first four I decided I wasn't in the right frame of mind so took a break and came back refreshed for my MTT...looks like it worked.

Crypto 15k

I feel like a moan so I will. Of all online tournaments this one really does attract the dregs of the poker playing population. 90% do not have a clue!!! FACT. But lo and behold I cannot get a result in it for love nor money. To be honest i'm only really moaning because I was sure I was getting a result in it tonight and got raped yet again, this nasty 3 outer was a killer, exceptionally well played by my opponent though..excellent stuff hardly surprising that he was still in after i crashed and burned.


-----HAND 19------
Game #2230243043: Hold'em NL (300/600) - 2006/08/17 - 22:32:15 (GMT)
Table "£15K_THURSDAY 3229354 - 3" Seat 10 is the button.
Seat 1: Slambello (7485 in chips)
Seat 2: ----TECHN (9515 in chips)
Seat 3: Ptarmigan (28005 in chips)
Seat 4: LeGil (12280 in chips)
Seat 5: Kirsten (45473.50 in chips)
Seat 7: riverdave (33690 in chips)
Seat 8: shag07wal (14967 in chips)
Seat 9: P.LeGuen (22963.50 in chips)
Seat 10: annakin (10455 in chips)
Slambello: posts the ante 75
----TECHN: posts the ante 75
Ptarmigan: posts the ante 75
LeGil: posts the ante 75
Kirsten: posts the ante 75
riverdave: posts the ante 75
shag07wal: posts the ante 75
P.LeGuen: posts the ante 75
annakin: posts the ante 75
Slambello: posts small blind 300
----TECHN: posts big blind 600
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to P.LeGuen [Jd Td]
Ptarmigan: folds
LeGil: folds
LeGil sits out
Kirsten: folds
LeGil sits back
riverdave: folds
shag07wal: folds
P.LeGuen: raises to 1775
annakin: folds
Slambello: folds
----TECHN: calls 1175
----- FLOP ----- [8c Ts 6s]
----TECHN: bets 7665 and is all-in
P.LeGuen: calls 7665
----- TURN ----- [8c Ts 6s][Ks]
----- RIVER ----- [8c Ts 6s Ks][Ah]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
----TECHN: shows [Ad 3c] (A Pair of Aces, King high)
P.LeGuen: shows [Jd Td] (A Pair of Tens, Ace high)
----TECHN collects 19855 from Main pot

If I win that pot I'm top 3 in chips with 33 left and I would have got a result but it wasn't to be. I managed to recover and get myself back into it but my fate was sealed when I lost 2 flips to die in 17th. One was not amused.

On to other matters. Lack of players on the STTs on crypto past few days has been a problem. I have hardly played any 6paks (16 total) since my return from Vegas due to playing mainly MTTs but I decided to have a go yesterday and had to endure annoying waits to get a game started. Who knows what things will be like when Betfair leave.

Speaking of Betfair, I have to say their communication at times leaves a lot to be desired. As mentioned in previous post I won an EPT package on Sunday and I have received not communication from Betfair regarding this, I have since emailed them as I have a few queries regarding the package, and as I type I'm still awaiting a reply. Compare this with Pokerstars who send you an immediate confirmation email and full details within 48hours.

Finally I'd just like to wish my mate Spudy all the best in the Irish Poker Classic in Cork, unfortunately due to family reasons I was unable to go. Good luck lad bring it home :-)

If at first you don't succeed....

I woke up this morning in a positive frame of mind despite last nights faux pas. Yeah I blew a golden opportunity of an EPT seat but I also knew that if I kept playing at that standard(with the exception of the last hand) I'd get other opportunities. I had 4 super sats lined up for tonight, the Macau on Betfair, the Crypto wide EPT and the CPC and WH Grand Prix on William Hill.

First thing was I was struggling to play effectively with all 4 tables running at once. 4-tabling STTs is one thing but MTTs are a different kettle of fish, but I was struggling along and actually got off to a decent start in the CPC. But things went sour when I lost a 5k pot with a set of tens, the villain hit his flush on the river. That crippled me and I struggled on for a while before bowing out in 11th. The WH Grand Prix I never really got going and died in 21st when my AK was bust by KT, I was short at the time so no real complaints.

The Macau sat also started slowly, only 16runners with one seat and cash for 2nd and 3rd. I made it to the final table (great achievement eh?? :-)) pretty short and never really got going at all until we were three handed. At this point I took control and set about reeling in the big chip leader it started well and my stack was building and then I find AK0 in the SB and make standard raise, BB (the chip leader) then makes an big re-raise effectively putting me all-in. My chips beat his into the pot and he turns over A6o...only to hit a gutshot straight on river. I win that pot I'm clear chip leader and odds on to win a seat but instead I pick up $400 for my troubles. I'm still going over to Cork to play in this as the legend Spudy won a seat a couple of weeks ago and I told him I'd play if I cashed in the WSOP, so its off to Cork I go :-).

So thats in effect two bubbles in consecutive nights...happy days!! But all was not lost as I was still running in the EPT sat, tonight there were 113 runners with 2 seats up for grabs. Again I started slowly, I think this was ue to having all 4 tables running as when I started busting out of the others I started to gather chips in this. It was only really when I got down to the last 20 or so that I managed to build up a "proper" stack getting a tasty double up when the SB decides to limp trap with KTo, unfortunately for him I'm going nowhere with my QQ.

The final table is soon upon us and like last night I go there as chip leader and this time I'm determined there will be no bubble. I don't recognise many of the other combatants and indeed Shaa is the only other person I know on the table. It starts off well and I'm basically being allowed to do as I please picking up small pots and blinds here and there to keep the stack ticking over. Then I pick up a nice pot when guy to my right who had been anteeing away since he got to the final table decides to jam from the button for 16k, I call from the SB with AK and I hold up (he had rags). We were 5-handed by the time of the break and I was 2nd in chips behind a clueless and classless clown to my left, so it was all still to play for. At this point I'm saying to myself "DO NOT THROW THIS AWAY BAZZA"...... I didn't :-)

We got three handed with the classless clown having a big chip lead and at this point I'd love nothing more than to see him bubble. I got my wish


Game #2175637853: Hold'em NL (800/1600) - 2006/08/13 - 22:10:00 (GMT)
Table "EPT 6600 Final 3173053 - 1" Seat 9 is the button.
Seat 5: shuffle10 (78010 in chips)
Seat 7: P.LeGuen (76370 in chips)
Seat 9: Ukpoker1 (128120 in chips)
shuffle10: posts the ante 200
P.LeGuen: posts the ante 200
Ukpoker1: posts the ante 200
shuffle10: posts small blind 800
P.LeGuen: posts big blind 1600
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to P.LeGuen [4d 4c]
Ukpoker1: raises to 4800
shuffle10: folds
P.LeGuen: calls 3200
----- FLOP ----- [As 4s 8h]
P.LeGuen: checks
Ukpoker1: bets 20800
P.LeGuen: raises to 71370 and is all-in
Ukpoker1: calls 50570
----- TURN ----- [As 4s 8h][7s]
----- RIVER ----- [As 4s 8h 7s][8c]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
P.LeGuen: shows [4d 4c] (A Full House, Fours full of Eights)
Ukpoker1: shows [Js 8s] (A Flush, Ace high)
P.LeGuen collects 153740 from Main pot
----- SUMMARY -----
Total pot 153740 Main pot 153740 Rake 0
Board [As 4s 8h 7s 8c]
Seat 5: shuffle10 (small blind) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: P.LeGuen (big blind) showed [4d 4c] and won (153740) with A Full House, Fours full of Eights
Seat 9: Ukpoker1 (button) showed [Js 8s] and lost

A friendly river for once. Although it'd have been a travesty if that idiot had ever got to sit his arse down at a EPT event. He busted a few hands later and the seat was mine :-) Maybe I can play this game after all!!

PS This is probably a bit of a rabble as I'm half asleep typing this, I'll try and sort it when I'm more awake.

I am a muppet!!!

As I type I'm completely and utterly disgusted with myself. I have just blown an opportunity to win a EPT seat of my choice. We are playing 3 handed and I feel in total control when the following hand happens.

Game #2163259343: Hold'em NL (400/800) - 2006/08/13 - 00:40:24 (GMT)
Table "EPT 6600 Final 3172933 - 1" Seat 3 is the button.
Seat 3: Blackkat (11748.08 in chips)
Seat 4: sixpac (51093.45 in chips)
Seat 9: P.LeGuen (37158.47 in chips)
sixpac: posts the ante 100
P.LeGuen: posts the ante 100
Blackkat: posts the ante 100
sixpac: posts small blind 400
P.LeGuen: posts big blind 800
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to P.LeGuen [Th Ac]
Blackkat: raises to 11648.08 and is all-in
sixpac: folds
P.LeGuen: calls 10848.08
----- FLOP ----- [9h Qc Ad]
----- TURN ----- [9h Qc Ad][Qd]
----- RIVER ----- [9h Qc Ad Qd][Ts]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Blackkat: shows [2d As] (Two Pairs, Aces and Queens, Ten high)
P.LeGuen: shows [Th Ac] (Two Pairs, Aces and Queens, Ten high)
P.LeGuen collects 11998.16 from Main pot
Blackkat collects 11998 from Main pot
----- SUMMARY -----
Total pot 23996.16 Main pot 23996.16 Rake 0
Board [9h Qc Ad Qd Ts]
Seat 3: Blackkat (button) showed [2d As] and won (11998) with Two Pairs, Aces and Queens, Ten high
Seat 4: sixpac (small blind) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: P.LeGuen (big blind) showed [Th Ac] and won (11998.16) with Two Pairs, Aces and Queens, Ten high

OK nothing too bad there, except the fact that I fail to realise its a split (I never was the sharpest tool in the box). So I'm sitting there punching the air already trying to decide which event to go to when I see the pot being split and I'm like WTF??? then I look again at the board and I'm like FFS. Aaaarrghh focus and concentration totally and utterly gone. Then to make matters worse Blackkat goes and doubles up with KK v 66 against sixpac. Then the tilt monster envelopes me and I just want the game over and I go and make a completely and utterly fucking disgracefully bad call :-( What a complete and utter cunt I am, I know I'm beat but still call. Well played Bazza you cretin.


Game #2163330603: Hold'em NL (400/800) - 2006/08/13 - 00:45:26 (GMT)
Table "EPT 6600 Final 3172933 - 1" Seat 3 is the button.
Seat 3: Blackkat (24896 in chips)
Seat 4: sixpac (35870.45 in chips)
Seat 9: P.LeGuen (39233.55 in chips)
sixpac: posts the ante 100
P.LeGuen: posts the ante 100
Blackkat: posts the ante 100
sixpac: posts small blind 400
P.LeGuen: posts big blind 800
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to P.LeGuen [Kc Qs]
Blackkat: folds
sixpac: raises to 2400
P.LeGuen: calls 1600
----- FLOP ----- [3s 9d Qd]
sixpac: bets 3200
P.LeGuen: raises to 8000
sixpac: raises to 33370.45 and is all-in
P.LeGuen: calls 25370.45
----- TURN ----- [3s 9d Qd][4s]
----- RIVER ----- [3s 9d Qd 4s][6s]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
sixpac: shows [9s 9h] (Three of a kind, Nines, Queen high)
P.LeGuen: shows [Kc Qs] (A Pair of Queens, King high)
sixpac collects 71840.90 from Main pot
----- SUMMARY -----
Total pot 71840.90 Main pot 71840.90 Rake 0
Board [3s 9d Qd 4s 6s]
Seat 3: Blackkat (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: sixpac (small blind) showed [9s 9h] and won (71840.90) with Three of a kind, Nines, Queen high
Seat 9: P.LeGuen (big blind) showed [Kc Qs] and lost


AAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH Just looking at it makes me want to vomit!!!

Oh well got to look on the bright side I got £1930 for my troubles, doesn't feel like much consolation but its better than a poke in the eye.

Post Vegas Blues

The flight home was a killer, I was shattered but couldn't sleep and it took forever. Then I land at Gatwick which was in chaos and I face a lengthy wait before I get my baggage, I then have to hightail it to the other terminal in order to catch my connecting flight.

Since I've been back I've been royally shafted, indeed I've been humped by so many donkeys I now have to play standing up. There have been a couple of bright spots, I have won a 470euro seat in the EPT Sat on Crypto and a £130 seat in the William Hill Grand Prix Sat. Mr Pokerstars has not been so forthcoming with seats in EPT and WCOOP sats. I thought it was going to change when I played the $25 rebuy sat for the $475 super sat for the London EPT, I'm in for $125 (not ideal) but have an above average stack (8k) with 24left and 6 seats. The table muppet playing 3.5k makes it 600 and I bump it up to 1800 on the button with AKo, he moves in and I expect to be racing at worst, but I'm in front as he has decided to go to war with K9s, he hits flush, wp sir. A couple of rounds later and the same clown makes it 800, I have JJ on the button playing 3.5k and push, BB then jams for 6k, uh oh I've walked into a monster methinks. Muppet features insta calls for most of his stack and proudly shows off his KQs, BB has TT?? so I'm in about as good a shape as I could hope to be in preflop. K on flop seals my fate. From now on I'll just buyin to the super sats and save myself the grief :-)

Days 2 and 3

After the highs of day one its not surprising that I went into day 2 full of confidence (something I lack at times) and ready to press on and build that stack of mine. Things look good when I sit down at my table and notice that I'm chip leader by over 20k.. Good stuff, lets take command here . I didn't get off to the best of starts and soon my stack was down to 50k. Things soon started to pick up however.

I won my first decent sized pot of the day when I raised in MP with Ac9c, guy two to my left who had taken a couple of pots off me earlier called as does the button. Flop comes QJT with one club, I check guy to my left sticks in a half pot bet button folds and I call. Turn is the 6c and goes check check, the 3c lands on river giving me the nut flush. I lead and other guy calls with QT for two pair. This pushed me up to around 75k. I then took down another nice pot with KQs busting someones very poorly played KK. So after the slow start I was now flying and had over 100k. Things were looking promising....then the downswing came.

I can't recall many of the hands but I ran very bad for the next 2 levels, I made a couple of errors which compounded things and before I knew it I was struggling badly with only around 38k when I pick up my first hand of the day QQ, utg makes it 3200 and I re-raise it up to 10k and she quickly calls leaving herself only 17k behind. Immediately alarm bells start ringing, she had been very tight, only playing a couple of hands since I got to the table, I feel I'm either already behind or up against AK. Anyway flop comes K high and I'm now certain I'm behind, she checks and I decide I'm done with the hand unless a Q comes on the turn . Its a blank and she moves in, I pass. The table soon breaks and I then spend a total of 3 hands at another table (of course the three hands were UTG, BB and SB) before it breaks and I get moved two to Joe Hachems left with half an hour of the days play remaining. At this point I'm severely pissed off and looking for any excuse to get my chips in the middle. The dealer manages to stop me spunking off the last of my chips by dealing me nothing better than 9 high. So the day ends and I have a paltry 21,600 left!! Not good!! I then have to endure the bagging up procedure which is really should be a simple procedure taking only a few minutes but it is carried out like a military drill and takes forever. On day 1 I didn't mind it although I was shattered, but at this point I just wanted out of there, I was pissed off with the way things had gone and with how I'd played (although looking back with a clear head I didn't do all that much wrong). Anyways eventually the procedure is over and I leave only to be hit with a mile long taxi queue. Happy days!!

The following day was a rest day for the main event and it gave me time to reflect on things and try to get things in perspective. I still had chips which was a commodity 7700 others didn't have. I was odds against making the money never mind going deep which was my aim but hey what was gone was gone, I now had to make the most of what I had.

Day 3 arrived and I set out with the intention of attacking, I wasn't going to allow myself to ante away, if I was going down I was going down fighting. I had drawn a decent table, I was the shortstack but there was only two stacks over 100k so I had enough chips to "hurt" anyone on the table besides them. It was therefore going to be a case of picking my spots (I was assuming I'd get no hands, I had none for first 21hours of play so didn't expect things to change and I wasn't disappointed). I had decided in advance that if any of my chips were going into a pot the lot were (obviously I'd be seeking action with a big hand) to I utilised the allin move on many occasions early doors. Two guys to my left had 60kish and seemed unwilling to get involved so when it was folded to me the chips were in. I made my way up to 30k and bought myself a little time before I got knocked back down to 20k at which point I'm now getting desperate. I find AQo and TT in quick succesion and push, I get no action but the blinds and antes lift me back up to 30k. Then I just couldnt find a spot to push and the bubble was fast approaching, the guy two to my left had been replaced by someone holding a monster stack so I had to tread a little more carefully.

I get battered back down to 14k, its costing 6k a round and its folded to me on the button, I can see up on the screen that there are less than 892 left with 873 paid. I look down at K4s and jam, SB folds and BB thinks for a while, and starts calculating whats in the pot, at this point I know I'm in front. Eventually he looks at me and says "You're in front but I gotta call you kiddo", he turns over T9o. So basically this is a $14.5k pot, and I'm doing battle with K4s :-). Thankfully I hold and I move up to 30kish.

At this point they stop play and announce that they will play one round at each table and if the bubble bursts then anyone knocked out on that round will share any prize money. At this point its -EV for me to get involved until the bubble bursts so i'm hoping it bursts on that round, but it falls three short and we have to play another round. Again I have to fold like a little girl (I didn't pick up any hands which made it easier), incidentally a guy had sat at the table with 80k at the start of the days play and did not play one hand, I guess he needed the $14.5k but it was sad to watch. This time the bubble does burst and I have 21k left, the first hand after we restart its folded to me in the cutoff, I look down at A6o and push, SB says he is all in and I know I need to get lucky. He has AQ and holds and its goodbye WSOP 2006 for me. However I will be back.

Some pre Day2 thoughts

Day 1 went as well as I could have hoped for but all that will count for nothing if it goes pear shaped tomorrow. Today I've spent most of the day in my hotel room, indeed only leaving it to go for some food, as I have tried to make sure im 100% mentally right for tomorrow. As I type I feel, focused, zoned in and ready to go, pity its still 15hours until kick-off lol.

Tomorrow is the biggest day of my poker life to date and I fully intend to do myself justice, now I know that due to the nature of this sometimes sick game that I could play superbly well and be out by the end of the 1st level, but theres nothing I can do about the turn of a card. If it happens it happens, but heres hoping it doesn't :-). If I play like I did on day 1 then I should be fine, i'm going to continue to be aggresive and hopefully that 65k will grow. The advantages of having a stack at the end of tomorrow will be huge as the bubble will be burst at some point in day three and as it approaches the rich will undoubtedly get richer and the poor will get poorer. Given the number of online qualifiers I imagine those with a stack will be able to have a field day...heres hoping I'm one of them :-).