September wrap-up....

I’ve been playing a bit, lately trying really hard to build back my bank roll that I have blown away over the last couple of weeks after an incredible month of September. I cashed in over $1100 from stars only to put another  300 back on it… my balance is now sitting at $75 after placing a few times in some recent sit and go’s. Unfortunately I bubbled out in a $3+ tourney when I shoved my BB with 8 3 off, when the SB limped only to be called by A 2 and the board bricked out. It was a great call by him, but I think it was also a great shove by me, as we both had very short stacks, bubble factor was high, and just picking up blinds and antes added 1.5x your stack. I was shocked that he didn’t shove it with A2 there, as I would have been able to chuck my 8 3, but when he limps he could have any 2 so its on me to put maximum pressure, as I expect him to fold there about 80% of time given the circumstances.

I have been doing pretty well in 45 SNG’s as of late with $7 buy in being my money maker, I can’t wait to build up my bankroll a bit more to get back into the $15 game, as I love the results of adding a 1^st,2^nd or 3^rd prize to your chip count from that game. It’s now just a matter of finding the time to put back into my game to get it where it should be.

Unfortunately my scheduled turbo tourney’s have not been providing me with the results that I have been justified, where I’ve failed to defend people from getting lucky on me in crucial spots. One spot in my usual $16.50 4k turbo on stars, About 10 off the money and the Button open shoves my BB, for about 30 BB having my stack well covered (20 BB) only for me to wake up with QQ. I obviously, call and he exposes A10.  Only to spike the 3 outer on the flop.

There was one stupid mistake that I did make, I was running great in another 6 max, with about average chips, we were down the final 7 for the SB to open shove my BB, and I have A4, we both had around 30 BB, and I mis-clicked and called – he exposed AJ and the board bricked out – I went from hero to zero. This at 30 BB to me is a fold, and was probably only of the silliest things I have done of late.

The STUPIST thing that I have done was, when I did not see that one of my opp’s had opened the button, when we were 5 players left of a 45 SNG, I thought I was Open Shoving my 8 BB stack into a 9 BB stack, but I was blinded by a tournament pop up! I felt like the biggest idiot when he had AQ and snapped my shove.  Of course my 8 5 did not hold.

I’ve been practicing a lot of my end game, where I typically find myself in a spot where I’m face with a tough decision for all of my chips, where I think it is right to both call and fold. But that’s poker, and winning the battle of mistakes usually comes down to making your opponents make them.

Other parts of my life have been going pretty well too, work is going good, I’m enjoying two books at the moment; a great Australian novel called The Slap – which is soon to be a hit TV show on ABC. I suggest any one to read it… I’ve also been reading Prodigal Father, Pagan Son. This book is pretty gruesome and definitely not for the faint heart, it’s an autobiographical account of an outlaw bikie from the US charter of the notorious Pagans. Like I said – definitely not for the faint hearted but its worth a read.

My sporting world is going great, however I injured my knee in my warm-up game of football(soccer for those Aussies out there!) last week, so I missed out on last weeks game, which unfortunately for our team we lost our first game of the season. We play again tonight, it’s a great game the old 6 a side, like 6 max pokers, it’s a faster more aggressive game of football. So I’m looking forward to that and my first weekly game of basketball with the ITS crew. Also great news for all of you eastern Australian’s out there… its Daylight savings, so its time to dust off those surf boards, summer’s coming! O yea... I went to Parklife, Diplo was amazing the rest sucked... 

Speak soon...

SS

September... feeling good looking better

Hey guys,

I have had some very good results lately and am very impressed where my game is going. I have final table 3 MMT’s over the past month and have profited over $800 this month playing. This brings my total profit to over $2000 for the year with over $7,150 in prizes.

 I fell to some pretty bad beats one in 3^rd  on my fav $16.50 turbo MMT when I got in it with Q6 on a 6 5 3 board against my opponents 10 6 only for him to spike the 10 on the turn. I also came 5^th in a 6 max $8 for a nice pay day by was extremely disappointed when my KK was crushed by my opp’s A9 when we got it in pre-flop and he spiked the 3 outer. I believe that this game was probably my most strongest overall performance throughout the entire tournament, where I did not give my opponents an inch.

I had a loosing day on Friday which was unfortunate, and I played the BIG $55 only to turn the nut straight with 10♠ 8♠ when my opp called my all in for 4k with A 7, on a 9♣ A♠ 6♠ 7♣, board only to spike the only 7 in the deck that could help him, the 7♦ to fill up to knock me out, I would have been looking pretty as one of the chip leaders at that point.

 I have had a few SNG wins and final threes to go with these good results. I have also landed a deep run in a $3.30+ PLO tournament which I was pretty happy about as I would love to improve my game here as I find PLO becoming ever more popular with loose players. 

I have an ITM of 16% which I am still trying to push to 20% by the end of the year and I want to make a realist goal of clearing $5000 worth of profit by then too.

Here are my results for September thus far:

Looking forward to the monthly re-cap... 

SS

Let kick start this shit!

Whats up guys, 

Its been a long time between drinks/blogging. I had a bit of an up and down couple of months. No good results at the Sydney Champs which was pretty up setting but I’ve made a couple of final tables online. I’ve been playing in the standard daily $11, $16.5 turbo, $3+re-buy and have had some interesting results. My by far best result was a couple of days ago where I came 3^rd for $959. Copped a bad beat to get eliminated where I had a my opponent crushed 3 handed where we got it all in on 6 5 3 board, hold Q6>610. For a 10 to turn up on the turn to gg me out.

I also brinked out in a same tournament a week before in 8^th  with K♠Q♠ only  to be called by AJ, and the board to brick out.

I’m very happy with how I have been playing lately, since my coaching session with Watto my game has improved 10 fold. I played a lot yesterday but did not cash once, which was pretty disappointing. So for the year online I have made $1800 profit, not anything that I can retire on just yet but still it is some positive EV, which is good.

I’ll be looking to boost my ITM finishes from 15% to 20% over the 6months, and concentrating on some solid bankroll management. But this 900 is going to do me good, put some money on the loan and keep 400 in my bank and leave the rest on there, I slowly donked off around $80 yesterday with some unfortunate beats.

On the other side of things, I’ve finished Devilfish’s auto biography, and Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Both were great reads that were slow to get starting but amazing from the middle onwards. I’ve also finished Game of Thrones season 1 and can’t wait for season two. But what I am really hoping for is Breaking Bad season 4 to finish so I can take a day off work and just watch the whole thing!

Good luck on the tables,

SS

Time to chill...

Ok So I haven't been playing all too much lately, unfortunately I have lost my bankroll at the moment, I juggled with some higher buy-ins online after being under the influence of Devilfish's book. My $300 bankroll quickly went to zero after entering one too many $50 - $30 tourney's. I entered a few $15 turbo SNG's and was successful in one, but then boom, crash n burn to Smokinsam69.... I'm probably not going to play too much until the Sydney Champs, even though I would love too, I just have a fair bit of stuff on my plate with work and a new exercise routine I have in place.

I am loving this sunny weather, it has given me a lot more motivation to spend time outdoors and be physical. I went for great ride around Centennial Park with Stef last week on our day off, I know you guys are probably say ooo how sweet. But it was great, I highly recommend it if you want to impress a chick on a nice day. you can hire bikes at a shop near there, and also inside the park too.

So I'm taking some time out to recoup, analyse my game again and work up my bankroll. I can't wait to get back on the tables and play some cash games, fuck I love spotting the fish, and taking their money... will keep you all posted. Its not long till Sydney Champs, I will play the Opening, and I will also probably play the main if I can get enough people to stake me... drop me a line if interested... as I am an establishing player I am offer a much better deal for potential backers than a usual 50/50. Would be fantastic to have you guys on board...

SS

Nice little afternoon...

I had a bit of a gruelling day on the grind on Friday afternoon, while waiting for Stef to finish work, I was depleting my bankroll away and not getting very lucky, I came close to making the money in quite a few tournaments but getting nailed near the bubble in the few MTT’s that I went in. I was a bit peeved until I entered a $15 turbo 45 man SNG, only to make the final table coming 4^th in chips, I lately I have really been improving my final table play and I have had some good results when making final tables.

We got down to 5 players when I ran 99 > AK of shorter stack and for him to hit an A on the flop and for me not to improve. I did however manage to play my short stack incredibly and finally make it to heads up when one of my opponents from Switzerland, pokegrandma was pulling some amazing beats, in fact he got a back-door runner-runner straight to knock out the 3^rd place and put us heads up.

Pokergrandma had everything going for him luck and a massive chip stack, he was over a 5:1 advantage with me have around 14k. I slowly stole blinds and reluctantly folded a few hands until I get dealt a beautiful starting hand for heads up, 9♥ 9♦. And thought this is it, he calls his small blind an I min-raise my big blind to 4k and he calls,

The Flop come J♦ 10♦ 4♥, I open shove for the remainder of my stack and he calls, turning over 10♣2♠, the board ran 6♦2♦, completing my flush and doubling me up. It seemed the luck had turned.  

And it was time to battle!

I had now just above 23k in chips and my opponent had over 40k,

My next big hand is A K, and I was limping a bit, so not to get rid of this monster I limp, he 3x I call, knowing I’m not folding any flop, with position – as he has to act first, he indeed does and shoves on a 10 high board, and I snap and my A K holds against his Q J.

I am now chip leader, and funny enough I can’t remember the last hand, I’m pretty sure he open shoved me pre-flop and I was holding an A, and I called and he didn’t connect. It was a nice win, it boosted my bankroll $192.26 – to well over $230 and making my much earned profit of $50 for the few hours that I spent. I left to pick up Stef with a smile on my face and we enjoyed a nice evening out with a few friends on the town.

I didn’t screen shot, as I know they look better, but here is my history:

PokerStars Tournament #414863423, No Limit Hold'em
Buy-In: $13.78/$1.22 USD
45 players
Total Prize Pool: $620.10 USD
Tournament started 2011/07/15 17:43:24 AEST [2011/07/15 3:43:24 ET]
Tournament finished 2011/07/15 19:09:15 AEST [2011/07/15 5:09:15 ET]
 1: smokinsam69 (Australia), $192.26 (31.004%)
 2: pokegrandma (Switzerland), $133.32 (21.499%)
 3: 3rd Bro (Netherlands), $102.31 (16.498%)
 4: alexisdonk (Canada), $77.51 (12.499%)
 5: Mastamaschek (Germany), $55.80 (8.998%)
 6: blowflyz (Australia), $37.20 (5.999%)
 7: ozzieowen (United Kingdom), $21.70 (3.499%)
 8: sayago1962 (Spain),
 9: morrri (Poland),

You finished in 1st place.

Now I have to continue to build my money that I lost so I can hit Crown Casino next weekend with confidence. Will keep you up dated through the week… 

Coaching, Wins looses, etc...

Whats happening party people. So after a coaching session with a good mate of mien Andrew “higgerwattage” Watson, I have plugged a few leaks in my tournament game and have over the past few weeks managed to have a couple of deep runs and win a couple of nice SnG’s. My First deep run was in a $2.2 $4k Gt, and I place 5^th out of 5000, which was actually a bit of a let do as I went into the Final table as the Chip leader, I remember one had where I made a call of the short stack holding A5 and he had AA. And then I lost a had with AK > AQ with Q hitting the Board, after all in Pre Flop. And then Finally pushing my Button with K♠7♠ and running into K 10, and of course the board bricked out.

But that gave me over $400, bucks that I took out and paid for a few things with that week and put $200 into my bank roll. Lately I have been doing great with my normal SnG’s with a couple of 1^st, in $7/45 man ones, on Monday I played 4, cashed in 3 with one 1^st, boosting my online roll up to $160. So that should keep me a float for a few days.

My work friends decided to go for a casino run, last night and I had an arrangement to get staked by my mate into the $500 cash game, but when I rocked up he had blown over 600 on BlackJack and was not in the mood any more. So I took that $200 out and played the $1-$2 blinds, $200 NLH table and was off to a rocky start with trying to bluff this guy out after about sitting there for an hour card dead, of course this bluff didn’t work and I was down to $140.

On the button I was dealt K♠ 4♠, and made it $8 with a couple of limpers, and got 4 callers the board came:

K♥ J♥ K♦,

Everyone checked to my button and I bet out $16, the SB called and everyone folded.

I’m putting him on any J, or Flush draw, with may be QT and aswell.

The turn brought a 3♣, and he checks. And I bet out $35. He calls.

I think now based on his play that QT is gone, and flush draw is not that likely unless is is like A♥ 10 ♥ or something like that, so most likely he has a J with good kicker like Q, as I he likes to call his top pairs down.

The turn brought a 10♠. And he checks again, I push my remaining $85 into the pot, and he calls. And mucks when he see’s my 3 K’s.

K♥ J♥ K♦ 3♣10♠.

My hand: K♠ 4♠ oppents hand ? ? Pot $280+.

A few more hands go by and I manage to build over $300. When I get dealt the 3♣ 4♣, and make it $8.

I grab 4 callers again, this time I am UTG with two early position callers and, the BB tag along.

Flop brings:

5♣ Q♣ 2♣

Bingo Flush, ok now how do I get the money in? I continue again for $16, and get one caller, and  the same guy from my last big pot makes it $50. The SB gets out of the way. Now I go through my head as what this guy could have and of course I think yea he could have a bigger flush but – lets face it, this is Hold’em not Omaha, it is unlikely, so I’m more likely putting him on a set, or a really good Q with a Club in his hand, Like K♣ or even A♣, remembering he doesn’t really like raising me pre-flop without big pairs in his hand. And if he has the bigger flush, I don’t see myself folding anyway.

I made my decision and I grabbed a pile of chips, and pushed them in the middle, the dealer counted out $175 total. And he starts to literally shit himself, scratching himself, thinking what to do, like he has never been re-raised before. But to my surprise he goes all in and I instantly call and he turns over A♣ Q♦.

The turn brought the 10♣, I still have the 6♣ for a straight flush but the river brings a J and my hand goes dead.

Pot was over $600, my hand was a big favourite to win. Would have been nice, when I was up $100, I was thinking of how good it was to shout Stef, but then the $600 pot came along and all I was thinking about was how good it would be to pay a chuck off my loan, and take Stef out for dinner. I still took Stef out for a great meal at our favourite Japanese restaurant. Back to the online grind for a few weeks.

Lately I have been reading DevilFish’s auto-biography and it has been pretty interesting so far, there a good quote that I like from it that should sum up a poker player’s feeling about money and the ability to cope with bad beats, “As long as you realise the money means nothing, then your ahead”. And lets face it, you are ahead– well 80% of the time at least.

I’m looking forward to the Sydney champs coming up in September, with a few backers still needed, so get in touch if you are interested!

Been a while...Nice little win

Hey guys, its been a while, I have competed in the Queens Birthday tournament and bummed out around 21st when my pocket 1010's got cracked by AK, when the river brought that dreaded Angel Ace of Spades... they did not have anywhere near the amount of players that they were expecting, and only the top 14 got paid... So I feel short and left with 3 tables to go. I did however play the best that I have ever played I can confidently say, making reads and plays that I would have never done previously. And if it wasn't for my open-ended straight flush draw falling to a couple of bricks on the turn and river, this would have been a completely different blog entry.

Had some very interesting hands though that I would like to discuss with you over the next couple of posts, but first lets celebrate today with a little win! :)

Yep that's me, so far I have won a couple of these $2.5 180 sit n go's since playing online, so I think they are definitely my game at the moment. I will be a bit more aggressive with my bank roll, now try to boost it up a bit. I bummed out of a few $16, turbo's and $11 one today unfortunately. Where I think I play a bit too tight and exploited by the ever increasing blinds. When My shark scope updates, I'll put that up here too.

Adios for now my dear readers! On a personal note, I've been playing a social game of soccer at the Camperdown Oval on Monday and Thursday nights with some die hard football addicts, so if you are free come on down! 6pm, Camperdown Memorial Oval..

Cheers,

SS