Trejs Poker Quest - Australia Here we Come!

Im back!

2008-07-14T16:38:00.003Z

I havent posted here since last year, basically I had a very busy year!
The original purpose of this blog was to follow my quest to fund my australia trip through playing poker.
Well I almost did it! I funded about £500 towards it (the rest I spent throughout the year on various luxuries lol inclding a xbox 360 and samsung 32" tv! Lol so I didnt do bad really. I went to oz and had an amazing time
Before I went away I withdrew all my funds from pokerstars.

Ive only just in the last 2 months or so started getting back into poker online. I chucked $50 into PKR jsut for a laugh, im now up to $150 so not bad really.
Im now remembering how I was so addicted!!

To be honest when I bought COD4 for the xbox, poker took a back seat. This was my new addiction for a long time lol, this game is awesome online.
But ya cant beat the adrenaline rush when scooping up a big pot playing poker! So for now im back into poker :)

"Playing in the dark"

2007-03-25T16:01:00.000Z

Well im still not really getting much luck at the moment however im having fun trying out some of the strategies for MTT play in Arnold Snyders 'Poker Tournament Formula' book. Basically ive played a few MTT's this week with my cards covered with a piece of paper, so solely playing using position strategy. I definately feel like my aggression has been stepped up to the next level!

Its quite funny some of the names I got called in chat, for raising from position 6 with 72o, but most of the time it works. Even with the blinds very low it is surprising how many chips can be added to ones stack just by using position steals.
I pulled off a very nice bluff yesterday, basically I could sense weakness from another player who would continuation bet the flop then check the turn if weak. I check called the flop, checked the turn and pushed the river(with absolutely nothing!). My read paid off and I added 1000 chips to my stack, villain chatted he folded second pair..go figure

This kind of play is ideal when your getting cold cards and you need to keep up with the blinds. Arnold also has an interesting chip strategy which is a lot more aggressive than my usual. For example he would consider a player as shortstacked if he has 20-30 bb, and so advocates playing a lot looser than normal (Raising AJ UTg!!).
Arnolds strategies are a complete change to the tight play I usually go for, so its opened my eyes a bit. Im also noticing im getting a lot deeper in these tournaments due to building my stack early

This book is mainly geared towards fast tournaments where the blinds rise relatively quickly. Most MTTs online are structured like this so this book is ideal. Im only about halfway through but loving it so far!

On another note, ITH has setup a peer tutoring project which I think is an excellent idea. Basically you get matched up with another ITHer then the idea is both players will try to help eachother out either by railing or checking over hand histories.
This will be very helpful to me at the moment as im seriously beginning to doubt my sng game, probably due to the downswing but its likely I have leaks.
Ive been matched up with Schlepper which im very happy with, hes very active in the SNG forum and always gives constructive criticism on the many hands posted at ITH.
Hopefully I can also help him out in the same way

An Interesting Observation - Poker Peak Times

2007-03-19T13:40:00.000Z

Well due to my kickboxing training for my brown belt every sunday I cannot do the usual and go out on the beer on saturday nights. Therefore with the girlfriend away visiting friends I decided to spend Saturday trying to win some serious $!

I played in a 180 sng and the $3 rebuy NL tourney on stars. Ive played the rebuy tourney once before, I managed to build an above average stack with just the initial rebuy. Unfortunately I busted just before the cash though :(
Throughout the rest of the evening I 2 tabled the $16 sngs. What I noticed was the play was much much fishier than when I usually play, this was about 11.30pm UK Time. Ive now been informed that this is during "peak time" for the US - I usually miss this as Saturdays are when I go out and drink with my mates.

So am I playing at the wrong time?? My usual playing times are throughout the week between 6 and 7pm UK Time. Ive been studying the graph on sharkscope as posted in previous posts, and it isnt looking promising. By the looks of it im just about breaking even, the trends are always the same. Up a little bit, down a little bit Up a little etc etc etc..In another words im not getting anywhere! The frustrating thing is, Im not doing anything stupid and do feel like I have a slight edge over most of the players but I just cant seem to cash enough to make a profit :(

I need to sort this situation out as it just seems my bankroll is slowly slipping away for me.

I have an idea which may improve things a bit. I think the play on party is a lot looser than stars, so this week im going to try only playing sngs on party in the week- then back to stars for MTTS and late night sngs on the weekend.
The problem is im at the point where every loss is affecting me because Im starting to worry about losing my bankroll, even though I still have enough BR to play at $16 level.....

ON a side note, any UKers watch the rugby this weekend:

WALES 27 ENGLAND 18!!!!!!!!!COME ON

Every other match we lost during the six nations just dont seem to matter any more - as the stereophonics would say 'Aslong as we beat the English..we dont care' :)

It was sad not to see Ireland get the Grand Slam the deserved, I think the French are looking strong Favourites for the world cup

Back to normal, hopefully!

2007-03-11T00:34:00.000Z

Well things do seem to be turning around, the past 11 games since coming back from the break from pokerstars I have two 1sts two 2nds and two 3rds. Ive also dished out an obscene amount of suckouts this week, Ive had quads full houses, flushes you name it - ive also had a fair few premium pairs which have all held up.

So im glad I stuck at it - though I think ive learnt a lot during this downswing, I now know that I like many others am prone to tilt. And stopping and taking a break when tilt sets in is a good idea!
Ive also been re-reading my harrington books this week, its surprising how much more info can be picked up during a reread that I didnt pick up the first time!

Well im shattered and need to go to bed, I have brown belt training tomorrow and I dont want to fail it again!! GL ALL :)

Sharkscope

2007-03-02T11:59:00.000Z

My results on sharkscope are looking terrible recently due to the downswing. This graph tells it all:

As you can see I lost a lot more than I thought, to think my profit was over $500 at one point. In the last week it has dropped to $141. Lol my form is 'Super Tilt', going back last week that would be about right! I even played a $55 sng for some stupid reason, when I was losing. I think it was a desperate attempt to try and get my losses back.

Whilst browsing sharkscope I had a look at the leaderboard and couldnt beleive how much some people are making from sngs!!
But what is quite reassuring is that a lot of these players have hit nasty downswings along the way, the graphs show steady inclines with a few troughs every noe and again.
I need to realise that even the best players go through dowswings and if im a winning player I should eventually make what I lost back and more.

Party Poker - I found $10 :)

2007-02-27T13:52:00.000Z

And magically turned it into $96!
After my 15 sng no cashes I switched to party for a change of scenery. Found $10 in my account so decided to see what I could do with it. I played a $6 turbo and won, the played another 2 and came second.
I waited till I had around 5 buyins for the next level then moved up to the $11 turbos. The play here is very very fishy compared to pokerstars!!! I was playing an $11 yesterday, when the bubble finally burst I chatted something like 'at last the bubble has burst', another player then types 'Bubble??!'. To which another player had to explain what the bubble was, LOVE IT!

Im gonna use this party money as a mini challenge to see how high I can take it, just as a break from pokerstars for the moment. Maybe party is a better place to play sngs if the play is consistently this bad?
It would be nice if I could take it past my $250 loss on pokerstars but that may be a little too ambitious!

Im annoyed with myself for letting myself tilt, I honestly thought it wouldnt happen to me as it usually takes a lot for me to lose my patience. I noticed I started playing a lot more passive, and playing silly hands out of position.
One thing I have also learnt is that multitabling does not help during times like this, losing on 4 tables at once is a lot harder to accept than losing on one at a time..

Bad Times :(

2007-02-23T23:43:00.000Z

Ok im tilting right now, 14 sngs in a row not one single cash, this is horrible!
Im down over $200 since my last post, when the fuck is this going to end....

Excuse my language im just a bit frustrated at the moment, my hard earned bankroll is slowly going down the pan. The annoying thing is Im playing my usual game, making the right decisions according to SNG poker tracker, yet nothing is holding up...not good at all..................................

On step forward....Two Steps Back!

2007-02-22T09:09:00.000Z

The title of my post I think perfectly sums up sngs, constantly one step forward closely followed by 2 sometimes 3 steps back! Upswing followed by downswing followed by downswing followed by upswing..and so on.

In my last post my pokerstars account was up to a whopping $800, now it is down to $690. My ROI is at a miserable 11.5%, granted Ive only played 113 sngs though.
At this rate I really cant see how the hell am I going to get up to 3k by the end of this year??
The plan is to play to 200 sngs at $15 then see where I stand after that. I honestly think the best chance I have at reaching my milestone is to play more MTTs, but the truth is I just dont have the time.
A lot of my time at the moment is spent training for my brown belt, I need to make sure I pass this time!

Anyway just a short update for now, current bankroll:

WillHill: $130.88
Stars: $690.88
Party: $10(I have no idea where this came from, probably some sort of bonus!)
Neteller: $271.68

TOTAL: $1103.44

SNG ROI: 11.5%

2 table turbo madness

2007-02-06T09:10:00.000Z

Well Ive had an interesting experience playing the 2 table $15 turbos. The play is terrible, so I should be winning..right??....WRONG!
I dont know what it is, maybe im playing too tight I dont know but I just cant seem to get consistent cashes on these things. Granted ive only played 13 which isnt much at all, but I get the feeling things arent going to improve. It seems that because of the extra fishy play I am getting constantly busted by suckout after suckout.
In my last game I was chipleader on the final table, blinds were big. I pushed QQ utg, UTG+1 called with A70. What the hell did he think he was beating here?????
Of course the A came on the river and I proceed to lose half my stack. Very next hand I get TT late position, I push get called by KK :( Game over..
Theoretically I should be beating these in the long run, but how many do I have to play until things even out? My scores are one first, two seconds and a fourth.

Im now back to the single tables, things are going pretty badly at the moment. My ROI has dropped to 14% having not cashed in the last 5. So my bankroll has taken about a $200 hit in the last week or so :(

I must admit im beginning to get a bit frustrated as my BR doesnt seem to be increasing, if it does it soon drops back down again! Maybe I need to play some MTTs?

BTW Ive found quite a reassuring way to combat tilt and to stop me retaliating to abusing fish in the chatbox. Log on to and use the free search. When you get that 'haha bye bye' from mr fish having knocked you out on the bubble by catching his runner runner flush, log on to sharkscope and check out his username. Every time ive done this without fail it will confirm my read by showing a negative profit and negative ROI%, quite often in the thousands.
I know its sad but it makes me feel better, at least im making profit however small it may be!!!!

Yours in frustration....Trej!

Another big one looming?

2007-01-25T09:10:00.000Z

Well I feel like im getting closer to cashing relatively big in a MTT soon, ive got into the habit now of trying to play at least one or two MTTs every weekend in the hope of adding a nice boost to my bankroll.
I played a $20 180 man sng last week and came 12th, I was so close to making that final table. Theres nothing more frustrating than playing for 3 hours and busting that close to the big money! But, I think I played at my best and felt that I didnt make too many mistakes - I busted pushing A6 from the small blind into the big blind who called half his stack with A9 and it held up. Personally I thought it was a bad call on the bubble but thats just me. These things happen. My M was about 4 so it was a no brainer really..
I quite like the format of the 180 man sngs and seem to get qutie far in them each time, fingers crossed if I keep trying, one day I may get a nice cash :)

Ive used all of my T$ playing the $15 turbos. My bankroll at pokerstars is looking very healthy now.
Im not gonna be too quick in moving up this time, ive decided to wait until ive played around 250 at this level, just so ive got a nice cushion when the inevitable downswings kick in.

Im also going to try some 2 table sng turbos this weekend as I hear they are quite profitable.

So to summarise, heres my current bankroll and ROI:

Pokerstars: $805
WillHill: $130.88
Neteller: $271.68

TOTAL: $1207.56
SNG ROI: 17%

So going in the right direction at the moment

On a completely different topic im at a bit of a dilemma with the kickboxing. Basically Im supposed to be fighting in Cardiff on March 3rd, but im also starting my brown belt training on Sunday. It is very difficult to give equal attention to both mainly because I would have to train full contact techniques for the fight whilst mastering the semi-contact techniques for my brown belt. Im thinking maybe I should get my brown belt outta the way then concentrate on the fighting..hmmm...

$3 Rebuy satellite - I won :)

2007-01-15T10:14:00.000Z

I entered a satellite for the sunday warm up, not really intending to play the warm up but just because I fancied playing a MTT and this one was starting soon so I thought what the hell!
I had a stinking hangover yesterday but somehow I still managed to play well! I had a bad start but a good/lucky finish. There seems to be a pattern emerging where I do well in these things when hungover!!

I had some hands in the first hour but lost all the flips, had to rebuy about 4 times. I think I may have been a bit too aggressive. So I didnt get the double up before the end of the rebuy, went in with my original starting stack plus the add on. I definately think my experience with the turbos helped a lot, I managed to make some good steals with my short stacks that helped me somehow keep up with the blinds. Throughout most of the tournament I always had about the average or just left.
The bubble was painful, blinds were something like 10,000/20,000 and I had a stack of about 57k in the bb. There were about 40 players left at this point, 32 got a seat!
This was my first satellite and first experience with the stallers, everyone did it..so by the time the blinds got back round to me they had gone up to 20,000 and 40,000, basically putting me almost all in on the bb with 82o - I nearly cried...But by some genius stroke of luck, the whole table including the small blind folded round to me..WOOT! I folded my small blind(though I probably should have pushed really as bb should have folded practically any hand at this point, bear in mind there were 34 players left and 32 got a seat). The next hand it was all over and id won the seat :)

I decided to unregister and keep the T$, my hangover was worsening at this point lol. So thats given me a good boost, and just like my last MTT win right after the downswing!
Im thinking I may keep these T$ as a kind of minibankroll for MTTs only, that way I have a seperate bankroll for sngs and mtts so I can keep better track of where my profit is coming from..

An end to the beast of all downswings?

2007-01-09T13:40:00.000Z

Ok its probably not that much of a loss compared to some others but it felt like my hard earned bankroll was slowly draining away from me! Finally after a nasty run of 26 sngs, only cashing in 5 I managed two seconds and a first place yesterday. So fingers crossed things will be back to normal.

I watched my pokerstars account drop from $640 to $450 at one point. Now its back up to $557. Still at a loss but hopefully I can make that up with a few cashes.
It really is tough this sng game, lots of variance it seems which can get very frustrating! I also found myself slightly tilting towards the end when none of my hands seemed to hold up and my aces were constantly getting cracked - the biggest sign of tilt for me was when I raised KJ from early position and called a reraise all in, what the hell was I thinking! I would never usually do this, and that was the first time I felt my frame of mind was affecting my actions. So I took a break that day and carried on plugging away the next day.
I noticed it affected by mood no matter how much I tried not to let it get to me, something I definately need to work on.

Although I suggested in my last post I should maybe try another site I realise this isnt the solution when on a downswing. Eventually things have to get better for a winning player, so say the stats...

So to summarise my progress in the $15 turbos:

Played: 71
ITM: 38.0%
ROI: 16% - EDITED: My ROI Isnt 28% I miscalculated. Not as good as I thought but still early days

I cant really complain, I have a positive ROI though I realise this doesnt mean much at the moment for such a low count.

Im enjoying this blogging thing at the moment, I find it quite satisfying having somewhere to deposit my random rambles lol

Downswing Again :(

2007-01-05T09:01:00.000Z

So far 10 sngs in a row, not even one cash!!!! This is beginning to get very frustrating, the amount of times ive gone out on the bubble 2nd in chips but low M. Push with a premium pair first in and called by the big stack who hits his hand on the flop or river, Im determined not to drop down to the $6s though, im positive this is variance so I must be due an upswing eventually!

Im always tempted to try another site at times like this, I know I should face the music though really. However Interpoker are running a nice reload at the moment which can now be cleared by sngs, but its only running until the end of the month. So Im considering depositing there and playing until the end of the month, at least to stop me tilting as its bound to happen eventually if this downswing continues!

Happy New Year!

2007-01-03T08:51:00.000Z

Well how quick has that year gone, I cant beleive its 2007 already!
1strules comment gave me a much needed kick up the ar*e. Basically it feels like im on a bit of a downswing at the moment so for some reason I feel less inclined to post, which is wrong really. I cant just post when things are good, the whole idea of this blog is to outline both my ups and my downs.
Thing is though, I hate complaining about badbeats and the like. Ive had my fair share over the last few weeks but then Ive also served a few so I cant complain, thats poker variance :)

This hand came up a few weeks ago, I cant seem to find the original handhistory text but I did paste it into pokerhand.org:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?689256

It always makes me smile lol. I had been reading Phils Little Green Book prior to this, and I remembered a tip he gave where he reccomended sometimes betting the pot with a good hand if an ace is on the board hoping to be raised. Well thats what I did here, I had 2 pair completely disguised in a multiway pot. But this was also bottom 2 pair meaning I would like to limit the fields.
I didnt get the raise I hoped for but got the call. My hand got even better again on the turn. I had the feeling this opponent was going all the way here, I played the hand very slowly ( I purposely took a long time to call his raise here to try show weakness), the check on the river worked perfectly and induced a lovely all in from villain with A6o!!!!!

Ive had some nasty hands since then but as I said I dont like to post bad beats, most people to dont want to hear bad beat stories!
So at the moment Im playing the $15 turbo sngs, according to my records my ROI is 55% at the moment but thats only over 22 sngs. Ive lost the last 6 though :(

My xmas was brilliant, very relaxing, very nice to see all the family again. I think I may have over indulged though, have some work to do in the gym lol.
New Years Eve, well it wasnt the best but im not gonna go into that, long story but I ended up home by 10.30 while the missus was collapsed in bed!!
I decided to play a 180 man $10 sng again on ps, I came 11th. I have a feeling I can probably make a good cash in one of these again soon. Maybe I should try the $20 180s?

So far as I said ive only read most of Phils little green book, its a good one though. Lots of very useful tips, and its all very easy to follow!

Bankroll

Well I had to take advantage of the pokerstars reload, they dont come around often. I needed an extra $600 though, so I cashed everything out of WillHill and Bodog, plus had to redeposit an extra $300 from my bank account although this will be going straight back into my bank account once the 48 hour wait to withdraw has elapsed.
So I have to gain 1500 fpps to get $150, however I have 180 days to do so. Hopefully I can clear this playing sngs.
Ive played quite a few mtts over christmas and not cashed big in any so though my ROI is good in the sngs my bankroll still aint going up:

Pokerstars: $1212.6(Not for long, $600 back out to neteller, $300 back into bank acc)
Party: $18.17
Ladbrokes + Bodog: $3 on each
Neteller: $81.68

Total Bankroll: At the moment stands at $1318, this will drop to $1018 once the
$300 is withdrawn back into my bank acc.

I really need to crack on with this quest and try get the bankroll moving in the right direction, a year isnt long really. I know other people have done it so I dont see why I cant, I think I need to be a bit more of a gambler and not be too afraid to move up the limits.
Well thats it for now, I could go on forever but Id better stop as I dont want to bore anyone to tears! Hope xmas went well for everyone, happy new year all :)

Merry Christmas!!

2006-12-24T11:51:00.000Z

Just a quick note to say Merry Xmas all and a happy new year :)

My poker playing has slowed somewhat over the last few weeks due to christmas drinking and mince pie eating etc etc lol. SO fat bastard is me at the moment, gonna have to get straight back into the kickboxing after xmas as I have a fight next march so all the mince pies are gonna have to go!

Im still plugging at the $15 sngs, not doing too bad at the moment however still floating around what my bankroll was last time I posted due to playing a few mtts. Having fun though. ALso just ordered 3 books using the ITH free gift offer as I finally cleared the pokerstars bonus. THe books are:

Little Green Book by Phil Gordon
Internet Texas Holdem by Matthew Hilger
Texas Holdem Odds and Probabilities by Matthew Hilger

I will try to post a review of these books once finished

Im hoping to take advantage of the new pokerstars reload 25% up to %150, should help pad the bankroll :)
Anyway Later all, have a good one, drink and be merry!!

Ok time to move up..Again! :)

2006-12-08T14:19:00.000Z

Well Ive had some success at the $6 turbos, im very happy with a ROI of %40 over 54 sngs. I know this is a small sample to reflect on but the play is definately soft. SNGPT has been very useful to me in making decisions during the endgame, ive noticed im able to make push/fold decisions a lot easier in the later stages of the turbos sngs, and dont need to refer to SNGPT after each game so much as I was before.

Any player that has researched the right situations to push in these games definately has an edge. I see so many people not pushing at the right times, or pushing at the wrong times. According to my sng tracking spreadsheet ive made $140 profit at these :)

So Ive decided im being way too conservative with my bankroll, its time to take on the $16 beasts eek! Well ive played 3 so far with a 3rd and two 2nds. Nice way to start, early days yet though!

So my bankroll has seen a small increase to $1210 having lost a bit at William Hill during the bonus chase.

I promised my girlfriend I would treat her if I managed to take my bankroll over 1k so ive decided to cash out $150 to take her out for a meal this weekend. Its a shame the Exchange rate is so crap for converting to sterling at the moment, from $150 I got about £75, not the best considering I would have got a lot more back about 6 months ago, but theres no point in waiting, I cant see it getting any better any time soon.

To summarise:
willhill :170
bodog: 87.99
pokerstars: 640
ladbrokes: 3
neteller: 271.68 - 150 cashout = 121.68

Bankroll before cashout = 1210.99
After Cashout = $1060.99

Im gonna hit WillHill again this month hopefully for another $50 @:)

First attempt at the turbos

2006-11-20T09:59:00.000Z

Got a few things to cover, its been a while since my last update!

Since my MTT win I havent had much luck playing the $10 sng's at pokerstars, in fact my roi is in the minus at the mo :(
Apparently according to some at ITH im not the only one that sees these as a rockfest. On average after about 40 mins of play most of the table is still in, if you compare this to bodog, 2 or 3 players are often out within the first 2 levels!
Theres an interesting discussion here if anyones interested:

http://www.internettexasholdem.com/phpbb2/ps-550-rockfest-vt45886.html

So im trying out the turbos at the moment, apparently these are quite soft. Ive started at the 6.50s just to get used to the format. Ive played 6 so far, 3 wins and 2 2nd places. Even though its a minute sample, the results are already looking a lot better than those at the $10 standards.

Im thinking I could try multitabling these and hopefully make a bit more profit than singletabling the $10s.

Ive also invested in sit n go powertools:

http://www.sitngo-analyzer.com/

Its a very useful tool for making all in or fold decisions during the endgame of sngs, the most important part. Its got a hefty price tag at $79, but worth it in my opinion.

Finally I deposited at WillHill to take advantage of the pay per hour promotion. Theyre paying £5 an hour up to a max of £25. This is an awesome bonus, I deposited $100 and have already almost doubled it to $191! Im gonna try do this every month now, its so easy to clear at $1-$2 limit. I just play ridiculously tight playing about 2 tables at a time for an hour :)

So to summarise, my bankroll is as follows:

willhill : 192.53
bodog: 108.49
pokerstars: 516.40
party: 202.12
neteller: 121.68

TOTAL: $1144.22
GL ALL!

WOOT!! First MTT Win and $1k Milestone!

2006-10-31T08:14:00.000Z

Wohoo how happy am I! Looks like my moaning did some good, the poker gods answered my prayers. On my last $20 at stars I decided to have a bash at the $10 Sng 180 man. And I went and won the bloody thing!! I know its not a huge cash but for me bankroll its a major boost.
Throughout most of the tournament I had no hands and at one point my M slipped down to 6, but I think I played my short stack quite well, pushing at the right spots. With about an hour to go I started catching cards, and winning lots of coinflips.

I know the pictures crap but you can kind of jsut about see my name at the top, 1st place for $540 :)
I also had my first royal flush! Looking back at my previous post only a few hours before I entered this tournament this is a drastic turnaround, just what I needed.
The guys on IRC chat at ITH railed me on the final table, so thanks to them for supporting me.

Im in work at the moment so dont have exact figures but I know roughly my bankroll now stands at around $1200. Ive only got about 120 fpps so still a long way from the $50 bonus at stars..

Need an upstreak!

2006-10-29T09:40:00.000Z

Ok im not running great at the moment, im not doing badly but im not doing well either!

My bankroll at the moment stands at just over $700 but it still looks a long way from the big 3k :(
The problem is I just cant seem to win at the moment, ive got plenty of 3rds. A sprinkling of 2nds but hardly any 1sts. I could really do with just one win to pick up my bankroll a bit.
I think I need to reread the harrington books as there are certain aspects of my game which need some work on. Im finding the opposition at the $10 level a lot more challenging than the $5 sngs - everyone says the $10 levels should be easy, so what does that say, does this mean im crap!?

I also need to make a decision on which site to play at as im currently switching between party, stars bodog and ladbrokes. My bankroll is split between them all
Im sure stars has me on a downstreak at the moment as im getting bugger all hands compared to the other sites so im having a break from stars at the moment....

Crazy Hand!

2006-10-25T13:30:00.000Z

Ive been running badly at pokerstars lately, wont go into the details. So I decided to try a SNG at party to see what the competition was like, this happened in the first 10 minutes!:

Party Poker
No Limit Holdem Tournament
Blinds: t20/t40
10 players
Converter

Stack sizes:

UTG: t1875
UTG+1: t1825
UTG+2: t2318
Hero: t2120
MP2: t1255
MP3: t1920
CO: t2140
Button: t1815
SB: t1675
BB: t3057

Pre-flop: (10 players) Hero is MP1 with J♥ J♠
2 folds, UTG+2 raises to t80, Hero calls t80 (pot was t140), 5 folds, BB calls t40 (pot was t220).

Flop: T♦ K♥ K♣ (t260, 3 players)
BB checks, UTG+2 bets t249, Hero calls t249 (pot was t509), BB folds.

Turn: K♦ (t758, 2 players)
UTG+2 bets t658, Hero calls t658 (pot was t1416).

River: 3♥ (t2074, 2 players)
UTG+2 is all-in t1331, Hero calls all-in t1133.

Uncalled bets: t198 returned to UTG+2.

Results:
Final pot: t4340
UTG+2 balance 198 bet 2318 collected 198 lost -2120 Qh 6c Hero balance 4340 bet

UTG+2 balance 198 bet 2318 collected 198 lost -2120 Qh 6c

Hero balance 4340 bet 2120 collected 4340 net 2220 Jh Js

HAHA I had to laugh, what was he thinking! Well its nice to know there are still some fish left at party :)

2006-10-17T10:09:00.000Z

ITH members got together last week and staked a load of players in the Sunday million - I saw this as a golden opportunity to get my money in where its best as there are some awesome tourney players on ITH. Therefore this kinda persuaded me to finally deposit at pokerstars.
Ive been meaning to deposit for awhile but just aint got round to it, I deposited $100 to get the $50 bonus. I sent a $50 stake to krazyxtan for the tourney - As it turned out there werent any major winners, only one person ITM meaning a return of $8 :( Oh well, maybe next time!

My bankroll then is spread between pokerstars party poker, ladbrokes and bodog. Im kinda undecided at the moment which side to play at. The majority of my cash is at party due to the reload bonus but im tempted to take most of that out due to the new US legislation meaning the traffic at party is bound to suffer....

I played a few $10 SNGs at pokerstars. OMG the first two I received terrible bad beats, on the first hand of both tournaments out straight away. The first with AA, raised all in preflop against KK. Another K shows up on the flop. So straight onto the next SNG, qq first hand. V nice!Now theres one limper UTG, im on the button so I raise to about $80(blinds $10/$20). UTG minreraises me to $160. Uh oh, have to call though. Flop comes AKQ - hmmm tricky flop. I have the set but J10 beats me plus AAA.
I figure I cant get away from this hand, I know I was minreraised preflop but that could mean anything at this point - in fact I put him on AK(wishful thinking maybe).

Anyway to cut a long story short, all the chips ended up in the middle and villain shows J10!!!!!! A minreraise preflop with J10? Well fair play to him he got all my chips. Out straight away. NOT A GOOD START!!

PS I anyone happens to be reading this im trying to figure out a way to get my hand historys into my blog with illustrated cards and not boring old text. Anyone know how to do this?

The rematch(kickboxing)

2006-10-11T09:17:00.000Z

On the weekend I had a rematch with the same guy I fought a few threads below. But this time he had the home advantage!

This was my first away fight, I was a lot less nervous than last time. I think because I didnt have the added pressure of family and friends watching, and thinking you dont want to let them down.

It took about 4 hours to get up to Lincoln, the journey werent too bad actually - spent most of it listening to music on my new sony erikkson W850. What a wicked phone!!

As soon as we arrived at the venue we were weighed in straight away - now I had been panicking on the bus as I thought I may be too heavy (last time I weighed I was 85 kg, my opponent was 80 kg the last time we fought). My jaw dropped when i stepped on and saw 82kg staring back up at me - I had done a lot of training for this fight but had also relaxed my strict diet quite a bit(large steak thursday fry up friday!!).
My opponent had also lost 2 kg and was 78 kg..the fight was going ahead.

Weigh in over and done with, first priority was food. Oh and checking into the hotel!! I had a nice big tub of pasta (one that I made earlier) in my bag - as im a tight git and didnt want to spend too much on food haha, so I tucked into that.

We were late arriving at the show from the hotel, as the tomtom(satnav) was crap and took us the longest way around. Never rely on these things, nothing wrong with a good old fashioned map!! We were ushered to our changing rooms which happened to be a basketball court. Not a problem though, nothing fancy needed.

I checked out the schedule I was on fourth! I was happy with this as I usually had to wait for hours until the big lads fight at the end of the show. So I only had to wait about 20 mins.
Nerves kicked in again, started to panic a bit but not quite as much as last time. I didnt have that dreaded feeling this time, I knew I was fit and that I had trained hard for this. PLus I knew I could beat him.

Going into the ring I felt good, quite fired up and ready to go. The crowd was big and very supportive of their fighters, there was a massive cheer as he entered the ring.
From the first bell I went in very aggressive. I had a feeling this lad was gonna go at me all guns blazing so I beat him to it, had an amazing first round. Blitzed him with as many combinations as I could.

The rest of the fight is a blur for me, I just remember thinking I wanted to silence the crowd and knock this guy out as soon as possible. If I beat him once I can beat him again. End of the second round I was completely exhasuted, I dont think Ive got my breathing right yet - I had put every ounce of energy into the first 2 rounds.
I honestly didnt think I could go another round, I had taken qutie a few blows to the head and actually thought I was losing. Somehow managed to get through round 3 and felt relieved when the final bell went.

I went back to my corner feeling quite disspaointed thinking id lost the fight, though my trainer was telling me id won every round!! Surely not? Anyway the result was about to be announced, I thought I already knew the result. "And by unanimous decision...." Oh no I thought, its a whitewash hes walked all over me.... "In the red corner, Gareth..Partridge" WOOOOOT!! Id won!

Apparently so I was told afterwards that was my best fight so far. I was told to get the dvd and watch it - I cant wait to see it now as I really cant remember much at all.
After the fight I had to see the medics as I was not feeling good at all, my chest was very tight and painful and so was my head, I actually thought I was going to black out. I lay on the floor and was given a sugary drink, munched on a mars bar and started feeling a bit better after about 30 mins.

Im so glad I took the fight, it was an amzing experience and I cant wait for the next one. Think I may have a break from fighting now though until after christmas, I miss my chinese takeaways too much ;)

At last :)

2006-10-02T08:15:00.000Z

Wohoo I finally cleared it. Bodog bonus over and done with :) I had a few problems withdrawing, at first they declined me saying I hadnt made the requirements(even though I was actualy 50 points over the required amount!). Got onto customer services though and managed to sort it - cashed out $300 and left $80 in my account - my poker points are around 370 at the moment so i may aswell get them up to 400 so I can enter some of the T builder tournaments. Turned out to be a good investment that one!!

Ive had quite a successful week in all. As soon as I got my funds from bodog I deposited at WilliamHill to take advantage of the september bonus paying £10 an hour up to £50! Probably one of the best bonuses ive seen actually, loaded up two tables of $1-$2 fixed limit and just played uber tight, managed to steal a few blinds quite easily, every table was a rock garden.
It seemed to good to be true, after 1 hour of play on two tables, two payments of $18 instantly in my account!! Long story short I deposited $150 and cashed out $250 just a few days later. This bonus chasing can be quite lucrative!!

So now my bankroll stands at $750. I decided to take advantage of the party poker reload this month, 20% sign up bonus up to $75. Ive deposited the max $375 and hope to clear 750 raked hands multitabling 0.50/1 limit plus a bit of NL. Im gonna have to get a book on Limit cash games as im sure im making mistakes being a NL player. Im never quite sure whether I should be cold calling raises with something like aq or reraising preflop?

Ps about the 10th hand in playing two tables at party, the most amazing thing happened. I had AA at exactly the same time on both tables!! Then the flop on both tables both contained another ace, so I got AAA on both tables at the same time, what are the odds on that happening???!!!!!!!!!! Didnt get many callers though so only made about $12. Cant complain though!!

Nice run!

2006-09-22T07:35:00.000Z

Ok since moving up to the $10 sngs at bodog so far ive won 2 placed second in two and 4th in the last. I cant help but think I may be on the start of a good run at the moment but im not complaining! Its good timing for me as im nearing the end of my bonus chase at bodog. I now have 330 points, need another 20 to clear the bonus, so fingers crossed ill finish it this weekend.
This little run has boosted my bodog bankroll to $325 :) including my ladbrokes account this takes me up to, off the top of my head a few $ off $600(excuse my inaccuracy, im typing this at work at 8.35 am friday morning. Brain isnt fully functional yet!!).

Apparently im gonna need to overplay the bonus otherwise bodog get pissed off, poeple abusing the bonus etc. Theyve got a cheek though, they still aint fixed my software problem - im just a minority according to them!
So plan is to get a few more points over 350 then withdraw. My next decision is where to go next, ill probably withdraw from Ladbrokes also and go for another bonus chase elsewhere.

Bye for now!

Upping the stakes - $10 sngs

2006-09-18T12:49:00.000Z

Ok well so much for me waiting until I reach $500 before trying out the $10 tourneys.
Ive seen such bad play at the $5 and $6 sngs, ive decided to see if $10 is the same.

To be honest ive seen no difference whatsover, I bubbled my first three but I won last night. A cool $50 wohoo!
I know its not much but I really thought I had no chance in this one, at one point I had an M of 6 versus 4 other players with Ms over 15. But I used harringtons low m strategy and somehow managed to break the bubble. Two chipleaders went all in against eachother on the bubble aq vs ak preflop and put me in the money! Unbeleiveable considering I only had a few bbs left at this point

I was happy to be in 3rd at this point and assumed thats the way it would stay, I had about 700 chips. Other 2 have a few grand! BB is 300 at this point, I was very selective in moving all in with practically no fold equity. And they folded every time! I moved up to second place and knocked out the third.

So its heads up, chip leader has a 7-1 chip lead on me no word of a lie!
Blnids up to 500 so im all in with a wide range of hands - thinking this is it im resigned to second, my chipleader again folds to my all in every time!!!
I flopped a full house at one point, slow played and took the chiplead. He finally calls my all in with 52o, versus my 55. They hold up and I win!!! Couple more like that and im laughing :)

Almost there!

2006-09-16T17:27:00.000Z

Well nearly anyway! Im up to 302 points on bodog, I rejoiced thinking I can now withdraw my inital deposit and bonus but ive just been informed that the 50 points they start you with doesnt count towards the bonus!
Oh well another 48 points to go.
Ive moved up to the $10 tourneys now, ive lost the last 3.
The last hand I busted out with was 88 in the bb. 1 limper utg folded round to me, I push with 720 (blinds 100 and 50). UTG calls w j10(2000 chips)
I thought it was a poor call personally but thats the way it goes
2 jacks and an 8 appear on the flop, the turn brings another jack JUST TO RUB IT IN!!!

I really am suffering some terrible beats lately, just wanna clear the bonus and get out.

BTW If anyone is actually reading this do you have any tips on what to do with my bankroll once ive cleared the bonus? My bankroll including money from ladbrokes will be around $550.
Im hoping theres some juicy bonus out there that will help boost my bankroll a bit!

I know pokerstars isoffering a deposit bonus at the mo, they dont do it often so think I will deposit some there. Ive heard good things about pokerstars.

Anyways best be off.
Oh yeah ive got a rematch with the same fella I fought last week in 3 weeks time. THis will be my first away fight - just as I relax and start pigging out again, its back to the hard work! Wish me luck
Good luck all at the tables :)

My kickboxing bout

2006-09-11T14:51:00.000Z

Firstly im gonna apologise for being slow in updating this, ive been busy over the last few weeks training for a full contact kickboxing fight last saturday. I realise I am most likely talking to myself, but i like to pretend someone might actually be reading this..and it keeps me sane!

Saturday was the big day for me, this was my 3rd kickboxing fight(So far ive won one and lost the other). A lot of people think that having fought before in the ring then it would mean you would be less nervous for the next one.....For me it is the complete opposite, I think because I already know what it feels like to fight in the ring in front of hundreds of people it makes me even more nervous. It is a very nervewracking experience! The nerves hit me the week before the fight actually, I found myself constantly thinking about it, couldnt get hardly any work done - I still played some poker, it was actually quite good for me. helped me take my mind off it!

The night before the fight I was feeling quite down, I think I was just very tired - I was training 6 days a week and had only slowed down in the last week so I think my body had started to complain. I was in bed by 9.30 friday night and woke up feeling on top of the world, wide awake and feeling very hyper.
I basically stayed that way for the rest of the day - I went to a bbq at a mates for his 25th birthday, sipped squash and somehow stayed away from the burgers all day while everyone else got pissed :( (I hadnt had a drink for 5 weeks!). I was due to weigh in at 5.30. 4.00 came along and I was still at the bbq - the food hadnt been served yet so I started to panic! 4.15 panic over, steaks chicken and lamb kebabs galore :) Had a humungous potatoe and a bowl of pasta, and felt carbed up to the max!

Got to the coal exchange in Cardiff bay for about 5.45(Theres no point in turning up on time for these things, it always takes hours to get things sorted). To my amazement, all the fighters had been matched up - all we had to do was weigh in. They even had a list on the wall showing whose fighting who and what time etc, this is a first!
I weighed in at just over 85kg, about 3kgs heavier than my opponent.
I watched the first few fights and must admit I still felt pretty good, I necked a can of red bull - the effects soon kicked in and I felt even more hyper than before.

About an hour before the fight(about 9.30) I started to feel tired, i was sweating already and had a heavy feeling in my head. this wasnt good...Did some warming up on the pads, and felt v slow compared to my usual standard in training. I just felt as if my energy was lacking for some reason..at this point I was thinking all sorts of things. ...'Please dont let this happen again, not like last time'. The same happened to me last time just before the fight, lacking energy and feeling slightly dehydrated
'You have to win this, everyones come to see you they think your going to win. You cant let these people down' I kept telling myself not to think negative, to just go in and do the business. But my body was telling me something else, just didnt feel right..

'In the red corner........' My name was called and I make my way to to the ring, followed by my corner guys. Walking through the crowd I dont see or hear anyone, Im looking straight at the ring nowhere else.
I get in the ring, the ref calls us to the middle..I have no idea what he said to me, I think I just nodded! I looked at my opponent he wouldnt look back at me, he looked a little bit scared.

Bell went, first round. Took a jab straight away, cut my eye instantly! I think I must be one of these people with stupidly soft skin as I seem to cut v easily.
I was pissed off at having taken a punch already so tried to counter, I got quite a few punches in on him but just wasnt on form. I felt quite weak and lacking in energy, I basically decided to let him to do the work - to not use up too much energy and counter attack when I get the chance.
1st round over, instructor tells me ive got the first round. I wasnt confident though - why am I so slow? Im mcuh quicker than this in training?
He tells me I have to win, i can win this. This is my fight! I need to throw more kicks, somehow id forgotten to kick. This is a kickboxing fight after all!

Round 2 - I charge straight in with a jab followed by a right roundhouse to the ribs then a left roundhouse to the ribs. We clinch quite a few times and trade punches toe to toe for a while, when he backs away and looks to the ground. The ref steps in and calls timeout, he is crouched over in his corner. I think hes winded - ref puts my hand up..OMG ive won! How the hell did I do that!!!!
I have some pics which ill try put up, my face is a picture. So releived!

That night I celebrated with a few pints and a curry at 3 in the morning. How I stayed awake that long I dont know...

A break from Bodog

2006-08-24T16:29:00.000Z

Having gone through a bad downswing which never seemed to want to end I decided to have abreak from Bodog and see if my luck improves elsewhere.
I still have funds in Ladbrokes (these had dropped to around $260) so decided to go play some sngs on here for a change in scenery. I actually prefer the structure here, the blinds are a bit quicker but they start you with 1500 chips(bodog is 1000, each game takes over an hour to finish). The downside to the sngs on ladbrokes is the $1 fee for the $5 games..but then again the play is pretty poor (as with bodog!). However at Ladbrokes I have had some success at SNGs.

This week was my first week back to Ladbrokes. Ive only 5 SNGs at LAdbrokes this week, plus a few at Bodog. Ive played about 4 Bodog tourneys all of which I have lost, and each to a bad beat. At Ladbrokes Ive won1 and placed second in 3, the 5th SNG I came 4th- and this was only because I accidentally opened two SNGs at the same time, and I ended up heads up in one and playing the bubble in the other. I won heads up and went out in 4th in the other one, though I am confident I could have cashed in this if I gave it full attention - Multitabling is not for me, I cant deal with lots of screens flashing at me to make multiple decisions at once lol. I nearly accidentally folded QQs preflop yesterday first in!

Now..I havent exactly had amazing cards at Ladbrokes, or hit a number of flops etc. I dont think ive had any sets, just an average amount of overcards/pocket pairs. Ive just had less bad beats, and ive also managed to steal a lot more, pulling off some bluffs in the right spots - I think my postflop game has improved recently due to thinking a lot more about my decisions and paying attention to betting patterns.
Here is a key hand which won me $500. I had nothing when I bet, but I felt I had a read on the guy. Unfortunately Cybrarians hand convertor isnt working at the moment so its just boring ol text at the moment, but you get the picture. Ill try update it when the hand convertor is fixed:

splors2 sitting in seat 1 with $2050.00
- AliMacG sitting in seat 3 with $1690.00
- TSO1 sitting in seat 5 with $3345.00
- trejster sitting in seat 7 with $3030.00
- Gustavsvik sitting in seat 8 with $1805.00 [Dealer]
- Happiz sitting in seat 10 with $2930.00

Happiz posted the small blind - $50.00
splors2 posted the big blind - $100.00

** Dealing card to trejster: 7 of Clubs, 8 of Clubs

Here you can see im on the button, the blinds are significant so I quite fancy a steal here :) My image is pretty tight so far

AliMacG folded
TSO1 folded
trejster raised - $300.00
Gustavsvik folded
Happiz folded
splors2 called - $300.00

** Dealing the flop: King of Hearts, 3 of Clubs, 3 of Spades
splors2 checked
trejster checked

I would usually stick a continuation bet here but decided to check and keep the pot small, and see what the bb does. bear in mind I did this earlier in the game with a set

** Dealing the turn: 9 of Spades
splors2 bet - $200.00
trejster raised - $500.00
splors2 folded
trejster mucks:
trejster wins $1350.00 from the main pot

The small $200 bet simply looked like probe bet to me, he wasnt sure about my check on the flop so wanted to see where he stands. I cant see him calling with a 9 from the BB so I doubt the 9 has helped him. If he had a king he most likely would have bet the flop, any other big pair I reckon wouldve reraised preflop.
I had a strong feeling that a reraise could take the pot here, I sensed weakness and luckily for me it worked out.

I had a few hands like this throughout the game where my reads paid off, I do feel like my game has stepped up a level. Now Im dying to reach the $600 so I can up the limits, im confident the skill level cant be too much of a jump...

Anyways im gonna keep track of my bankroll ups and downs at the end of each post:

Bodog Funds: $230(inc $100 bonus funds) Points: 220 (another 80 needed)
Ladbrokes Funds: $302.89

Good luck all!

Ps Apologies for the essay, once I start I cant stop!!! If anyone has any similair blogs please add a comment with your blog name, I love reading these things :)

Cant get out!

2006-08-20T11:54:00.000Z

Ok I now it sounds a bit dramatic but does anyone ever get the feeling they are trapped by a poker site due to being stuck on a bonus chase? Or am I just losing it lol!

I get this feeling with Bodog, im gonna be honest I hate the site. I signed up for a 100% up to $100 sign up bonus a few months ago. It is an instant upfront bonus but you cant withdraw until 300 points have been reached.
Sounds lucrative right? Well yeah I guess it does. Its not easy to clear though, ive played there for the last 2 months or so and am only halfway through it. For a low limit player like me its not too easy. Basically you get1 point for every $1 in rake for cash games, and 3 points for every $1 in tournament fees.
Ive worked out that it clears quicker (not a lot quicker) for me by playing SNGs. So at the moment ive got 210 points, I deposited $100. Inc the bonus I have $234 in my account, I need to play about 60 more SNGs to clear the bonus.
I know this doesnt sound a lot, but I just hate playing at this site and am just dying to cash out and play elsewhere. I have my reasons:

The software is terrible! I cannot sign in the regular way, I have to click on account preferences then my account to sign in(as advised by cust service)! But I cannot access any of my hand histories, I cannot access my profile/image etc or many of the other options on the site, I get asked to log in again and again!! AAAAAAAHHH
Ive been onto customer service for months who have told me it only affects a handful of people therefore its not a priority for them to fix it.
This is a major issue for me as I cant post my hand histories for review onhere and ITH - I have some classic hands to post but cant access them :(

Now this site is completely crammed with fish, now I know what your thinking this is a good thing right. Well sometimes..but at the moment its not a good thing. Yep im going through a downswing(Youd never guess would you!), out of the last 15 SNGs ive played ive only cashed in about 3. Now I dont think im a bad player, I play tight in the early stages and step up the aggression in the later levels, it has worked for me in the past.
But lately I cant do anything right, donks are calling my raises left right and centre - any ace is a monster, obvously! ......
Today I busted out in 8th with kk, donk calls raise from CO with A8(this particular donk drew out on my straight earlier by catching a flush on the river) along with the sb(im in the bb).
Flop Qs6s2h. I decide to bet the pot, noones gonna draw out on me. Donk calls...
8h on the turn - looks like a safe card to me, I bet about 1/3 pot..donk calls again??
River is 8 of course :( , I only have about 300chips(started with 1000) - donk calls :(
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGHHHH

This is happening constantly at the moment, how I havent thrown my laptop out the window I dont know!
Anyway as you can tell my quest aint going swimmingly at the moment. As soon as I clear this bonus im g0nna withdraw and look elsewhere, Im considering purchasing SNGPT too.
I have $250 in my ladbrokes account which I will also withdraw the majority of and try find a big bonus chase somewhere.
Meanwhile im thinking of depositing a small amount onto pokerstars just to give it a whirl, ive heard good things about this place, I think i have about $50 sitting in my neteller account - may be a nice break from bodog!

Please excuse my ranting im not always like this, heres hoping my next post will be a bit more positive! Oh I have a full contact kickboxing fight in a few weeks, that should help me let off abit of steam ;)

PS It was nice to see my first comment on my first post. Cheers Llanlad, another fellow welshman!

A bit about me and my Quest

2006-08-14T15:48:00.000Z

Hi im Gareth or Trej as most people know me by, im 25 and live in Cardiff Wales.
This blog is to track any progress I make on my new quest :)

First a bit of background about me, im a software developer by day and kickboxer/poker player by night lol! I train at the dojo about 4 times a week but I always manage to find time for poker...somehow!
I started playing poker back in October when i found a link to a free $10 for Royal Vegas. I couldnt turn down free money ;)
So I took my $10 and planned to turn it into $100. Lol, I lost that within days. But im not a quitter..I deposited $50 into party poker for the free $25, within days I was up over $100 but yep you guessed it I lost it all the next week!

Now heres where I used my common sense, and decided to do some research on texas holdem before depositing any more. I logged onto www.pokerstrategy.org and found a very useful article on bankroll strategy. This taught me to stick at the microlimits!

Next I logged onto ITH - www.internettexasholdem.com. This site was a godsend!!!! There are some very good players on this site offering some very sound advice. With the help from ITH and their free gift offer I deposited at doyles room for2 free books - Harrington on Holdem and Harrington on Holdem 2. These are the most useful books ive read, ive come to learnfrom reading these books how to play SNGs and MTTs and soon realised that im a tournament player - cash games are not for me!

Anyways to cut a long story short I built a bankroll on Doyles up to around $100 then withdrew and deposited at Ladbrokes for a $250 bonus for depositing and referring a friend. Ive also had free money from partypoker added to my account which ive managed to increase.
Having reached $300 I deposited $100 at bodog for the 100% bonus. This is the stage at which im at at the moment - Im about halfway through the bonus andintend to clear it solely playing SNGs. Once this is cleared I should be up to around $500..still along way to go :(

Me and my girlfriend have always wanted to go to Australia however we do not have the funds at the moment. So ive masterminded a plan!!
Ive worked out ill probably need around $3000 by Christmas 2007 (We want to spend Christmas 2007 in Australia!).

Having had some success so far(have only been playing since october 2005) ive decided to try and build up enough of a bankroll to fund my trip to Australia!

Now I realise most people make this kind of money quite quickly playing poker but for a low limit player with a small bankroll, its not so easy!

I have a bankroll of exactly$420 at the moment. This is split between Ladbrokes and Bodog Poker.

Once ive cleared this I plan to move on and chase some more bonuses. At the moment im playing $5 SNG's however once I reach $600 I will most likely move up to $10 tourneys.. WISH ME LUCK! I will update this blog weekly :)