GaF? The second coming

No updates for a week or so - was a little demotivated by an apparent lack of readers - which begs the question - why am I doing this - for others or for me? Both (I think) - I get no specific pleasure from doing this per se, however I have a huge desire to improve my game - and I think I view this as a means to achieving that. Would be great to get some debates/discussions going on some contentious strategic poker issues - though probably more suited to a Forum (like Punters Lounge ;) ), so I spose what I look for here is to scribe things and start a "debate" in my own mind - to force myself to think things through a little, in some kind of formatted way!!!

A good place to start today I think is by looking at a comparision of my performance so far on the 5c/10c tables v 10c/20c tables - which is more profitable? This will look at a relatively small number of hands, but will start to give an indication. This is just over the last week.

	10c/20c	5c/10c
Hands	698	2828
Profit	$46.64	$113.19
Real Hours	8.02	18.7
Table Hours	14.3558	60.588
Average Tables	1.79	3.24
Profit/Real Hour	$5.82	$6.05
Profit/hour per table	$3.25	$1.87
BigBets/Hour per table	8.14	9.34
BigBets/100 per table	16.7	20.01

I view the key figure as "Profit/hour per table" which shows the 10c20c tables to be significantly higher!! Next week on laddies I think I will concentrate on the 10c/20c tables (but there are fewer available - so will probably have to play some 5c/10c tables to be able to play 5 tables at once.

Have my raked hands this week for the laddies freeroll - so fingers crossed.

I can walk - lets try walking faster!!

Wooooooooohooooooooooo - two readers!!! Welcome Mr V!!!!! An image in your honour? Wouldn't dream of it ;)

Played a couple of hours cash at Laddies this morning - and early start to this weeks grind. Decided I would play 1 10c/20c table and 3 (Later 4) 5c/10c tables and see how it went - I have to push myself more and move up to a higher level - I AM capable of it. But I need to be controlled and manage it in a way that I know when I have reached my limit!!!

It went excedingly well!!!
10c/20c table played 2 hrs 2 mins - won $18.12 - 22.28 BB Hour (47.68 BB/100). A profit of $8.91 per hour (on just 1 table)
5c/10c Played 2.17 hours - average of 3.14 tables at a time - won $4.45 - 3.27 BB per table per hour - 10.27 BB per hour - 6.87 BB/100. profit of $2.05 per hour
Overall - Average 4.08 tables at a time over 2.17 hours - won $22.57 - $10.42 profit per hour - 7.65 BB/Hr 16.12 BB/100.

Far from conclusive - but an extremely positive start - next time I may try 2x20c tables and 3x 10c tables.

Second cash session of the day over. Looked like being a disaster, but managed to claw my way back from about $40 down to record a small profit.

Overall Day:
Played 3.78 hours on average of 4.3 tables.
Total Profit $25.32
$6.69 per hour
$1.55 per table per hour
5.26 Big Bets won per hour
11.13 Big Bets per 100 hands

Overall Day (5c/10c tables):
Played 3.73 hours on average of 3.01 tables.
Total Profit $8.85
$2.37 per hour
$0.79 per table per hour
3.94Big Bets won per hour
8.43 Big Bets per 100 hands

Overall Day (10c/20c Tables):
Played 3.63 hours on average of 1.38 tables.
Total Profit $16.46
$4.53 per hour
$3.28 per table per hour
8.2Big Bets won per hour
17 Big Bets per 100 hands

Well - a lot to be said for Hungarians!! My second PC has died!!! (leccy is plugged in but nothing happens!!) - so for once I had to choose - V-Points freeroll or SO CL? I reg'd for both. V-Points started 30 mins earlier than CL, so I played it like a Hungarian and was right up there!!! I bubbled in 9th place - but Mr V was knocked out by a right pair colluding during the hand, maybe, I'll get bumped up a couple of spots......

Ended up not playing a single hand in SO CL - that was $3 well spent!!!

Used a Betfred $60 Semi Final Token - but playing like a Hungarian on Virgin, didn't help me play well on Betfred - I did ok in the end, but went out well short of the paid places (top 2). Have 2 of these tokens left - need to really concentrate on this one day and give it a proper shot.......

Net result for the day? $25.32 up at laddies cash and $3.30 down at SO CL. Overall a profit of $22.02.

Poker Million

Started off today with some leaderboard $5 STT's at SO - was hoping that I might be able to play a few games and sneak unnoticed into the top 5 - Quickly became apparent though that those above me were around and playing - so gave up on that idea!!!

Main event tonight is the Laddies $100,000 freeroll. This is the result of the "work" and getting 500 raked hands through the week - I want a result!!! The main objective is to get a top 50 finish, which will give me another shot in tomorrows Poker Million Weekly Final - that doesn't mean limping into the top 50 though if I get the chance - I will as usual play to win - no limping here!!! Will remember the dynamic from last time as well - no cash in positions 31 to 50 - there are a large number of people who prefer to go out 55th to 35th - so approaching 50th, it is extremely loose - then from 50 to 31st it is tight as people struggle to survive to a cash payout again - so approaching 50th, I can't bluff, but if I have something, shouldn't be afraid to take people on. From 50th to 30th, I need to be loose and aggressive........ Of course before that, I need to do the business and get to that position ;)

I felt I played the Poker Million really well - for a lot of the time I was in the top 10. Had an extraordinary number of Pocket Rockets in the first hour (3 times!!) but was undone by a few bad beats - 99 turned over by 66 and AA turned over by QQ. Ended up going out when shoving on A6s with about 5 x BB left - I could have limped into the money for $110, but that was what the rest of the table was doing and it was an opportunity to accumulate chips. I was in it to do well. I was in it to win it, not limp into the money!!! I made a stronger effort to play position - playing very loosely in unraised pots in late position - it seemed to work well. Oh well, always next week.......Let the grind begin again - another 500 raked hands needed.

Betfred Match of the Day to follow. Is a rebuy, but I enjoy it - added value and bounties and $3.30 of the $5.50 entry fee refunded.......only 1st place usually paid (with $1100 seat) from about 100 runners, but I seem to do well against the bounties ;)

Had a great run in MOTD - took out BFBeckham - so won a $60 Sunday Semi Final Ticket :). I will call bounties (earlyish) with ANY 2 cards - in fact, I willalways raise all in to try and isolate - no 2 cards are that big an underdog - so I'll take my chances - and it's surprising how often it pays off. Five of us all in - and my A6s flops 2 pair then goes on to House Up - suddenly I'm sat on over 10k chips (2nd had 6k!!!) - but I never managed to move on from there. However, have a nice game to look forward to tomorrow now though :)

Net for the day. $5.50 down of Betfred (though $3.30 and $60 tokens received - so "profitable"!!). Was about $20 down on SO STT's ( I think - didn't track it properly!!).

And a pic for my only reader (that I know of!!) - Uglycow - I salute you!!!

Dreaming of WSOP

Well tonight was all about WSOP again - this time the main event of the evening was the 2nd game of 6 in the PL Goalpoker Series. Again a night of disappointment (YES I DO want to win EVERY MTT I enter EVERY night!!!!! Is that so unreasonable?). It is looking tough now - with just 3 leaderboard places qualifying for the STT final and I'm way down in 27th (of 34!!!). So I NEED to win one week to qualify ........

So what do I think of the way I went out? Well not the hand I directly went out to, but the hand I lost most of my chips on - honestly? I don't know - I was overdefending my blind (and despite what I say, and the image I try to sow, I DON'T like the concept of "defending blinds", especially when they are not crippling).

Everyone folded to the SB who flat called. He was short stacked and I decided he was weak and just wanted to see a flop. He had suited connectors. I had 86o. To be honest, my cards didn't matter - my vision - I would raise aggressively and he would fold. He didn't!!! He reraised all in. Now I clearly have the pot odds to call and so do. The right hand wins, I feel like a muppet and my tournament is all but over. Given the cards I wasn't that large a dog - 32.4% v 67.6%, BUT they're not odds I should be risking my tournament on - or are they? Add in my fold equity and was this positive ev or negative ev? If there is a 50% chance of him folding, then when I place my bet, I am the 66% favourite to win the hand!!! BUT if I win the hand, I win a small pot, if I lose the hand I lose a big pot!!!.

Say 50% chance of winning the blinds of $150 + 32% chance of winning an all in - $1740 is $75 + $600 = $675. If he calls and his hand holds up, he has a 67% chance of winning $1740 = about $1200.

If there is a 50% / 50% chance of him folding, then, knowing the cards, I had negative ev on the hand of about $525. I MUST LEARN!!!!

Stage #399191648 Tourney ID 1134038 Holdem Multi Normal Tournament No Limit $50 - 2006-05-12 16:22:11 (ET)
Table: 2 (Real Money) Seat #7 is the dealer
Seat 1 - THE CROC ($5840 in chips)
Seat 2 - RED FEAR ($1430 in chips)
Seat 4 - POCKETLADYPL ($1740 in chips)
Seat 6 - JADEDJ ($935 in chips)
Seat 7 - PLISTONBUST ($1235 in chips)
Seat 8 - LESJOHNSON ($870 in chips)
Seat 9 - TELEPEE ($1335 in chips)
LESJOHNSON - Posts small blind $50
TELEPEE - Posts big blind $100
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to TELEPEE [6h 8d]
THE CROC - Folds
RED FEAR - Folds
POCKETLADYPL - Folds
JADEDJ - Folds
PLISTONBUST - Folds
LESJOHNSON - Calls $50
TELEPEE - Raises $500 to $600
LESJOHNSON - All-In(Raise) $770 to $870
TELEPEE - Calls $270
*** FLOP *** [10s Ac Kd]
*** TURN *** [10s Ac Kd] [7d]
*** RIVER *** [10s Ac Kd 7d] [8c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
LESJOHNSON - Shows [10d Jd] (One pair, tens)
TELEPEE - Shows [6h 8d] (One pair, eights)
LESJOHNSON Collects $1740 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total Pot($1740)
Board [10s Ac Kd 7d 8c]
Seat 1: THE CROC Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 2: RED FEAR Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 4: POCKETLADYPL Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 6: JADEDJ Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 7: PLISTONBUST (dealer) Folded on the POCKET CARDS
Seat 8: LESJOHNSON (small blind) won Total ($1740) All-In HI:($1740) with One pair, tens [10d Jd - B:10s,P:10d,B:Ac,B:Kd,P:Jd]
Seat 9: TELEPEE (big blind) HI:lost with One pair, eights [6h 8d - P:8d,B:8c,B:Ac,B:Kd,B:10s]

Cash games at laddies - I hit the 500 raked hands and am in tomorrows Freeroll for the first time in a few weeks - whooopeeee!!! Thought I had played badly, and lost, but no, looking at the stats, I should again be happy with results. Total play time was 1.42 hours. I made a profit of $4.58 (or $3.23 per hour) - peanuts - but that is misleading - I made 4.74 BB per hour per table (16.16 BB per hour as I averaged 3.41 tables at a time) - that's the important stat and a result I'm pleased with. ANother way of looking at it is 10.13 BB per hour. :)

Final game I played tonight was the Laddies Poker Million Freeroll - another dream - another blank!!

Net result for the night - profit of $2.58 ($2 lost on Goalpoker, $4.58 won on laddies)

By the way, does ANYONE read this blog? If so, please say hello, or I may decide not to bother anymore!!!

Let's Paaaaaaaaaaaarty

Tonight I can feel it - I'm in the mood and I'll hit the groove!!!!

Will start off with an hour or so's cash at laddies. At 19:30 there is the mega Freeroll at Virgin for bloggers. Just 70 entrants chasing a WSOP package and £2,500 worth of V Points - Overall probably a freeroll worth something like $8,000 - with just 70 entrants!!! At 8pm it's back to SO for Champions League - may play it on an old machine if still in Virgin, or even skip it if I feel the need to REALLY concentrate on Virgin.

Well - so much optimism - so much disappointment. :(
Congratulations to moFace on winning his WSOP package and Pene on her Champions League win. Hope you both enjoy my prizes :P

The grind.... laddies cash tables - up to 432 raked hands - just 68 to go for this weeks freeroll - should be about an hours play left..... According to Poker Tracker - I played overall tonight for 2.63 hours, on upto 5 tables of 5c/10c. My profit was 7.59 BB per hour per table, or a "real rate" of 33.51 BB per hour when you include multitabling. That's a profit of $17.65 in total, or $6.70 per hour. As suggested before - I need to get the courage to play at higher value tables and see how I do. Other interesting stat - I was playing at just over 200 hands per hour - when people talk of online poker being fixed - that for me is a clear explanation and what is "forgotten".

So I lost $3.30 on SO CL. I made $17.65 on laddies. Profit for the night of $14.35 - I'll try not to spend it all at once ;)

Poker Grind

Still not on top form - and the poker is feeling like a "grind" at the moment - so not expecting to play much tonight - maybe a little cash at laddies (have missed the $100k freeroll for a couple of weeks now - NOT AGAIN!!!!) and the Sporting Odds sponsored MTT at Punters Lounge.

Am I addicted to poker? How bad would I have to feel before I could go a whole night without playing any games at all?

In the end - no laddies cash games tonight - just the PL MTT at SO - got my first PL Final Table in a long time - happy to take my $0.12 profit and run ;)

Not Much Poker tonight

Not in the mood for poker tonight - or more specifically - not in the mood for sitting in front of the PC - have a splitting headache and the monitor doesn't help!!!

However, can't miss SO Champions League Leg - so that was my only game tonight. Knew I wasn't "in the zone" though, so went out predicatbly early.

Net for the day - $3.30 loss

Frustrations

A frustrating nights poker ..... no notable achievements.

Was fiddling around with my Poker Tracker Database earlier - seeing if I could partition it to make it smaller to make it run smoother - so was thinking of putting my laddies database by itself - reimporting that however crashed my system entirely.

I didn't help Team PL in the inter-forum challenge at poker.co.uk at all this evening - but didn't we do well? We took 108 of the 210 points on offer. Awesome.

Played at Goalpoker for a chance to win a VIP trip to Paris for the Champions League Final ...... but not to be ..... happy with the way I played (the slow blind structure there really suited my early patient game) - ended up being rivered to go out in 5th - being beat by MCFC (an Arsenal fan...honest ;) ) who went on to win it - great result for him - well done Mate!!!

The Betfair Grand Prix Freeroll was going ok - when I got dealt rags. The low stacked Bounty shoved - I'm last to act - so call with any two cards - but it doesn't happen (the correct cards win ;) ), very next hand I get AA - no action, only get the blinds - Very next hand I get QQ, raise and called - flop comes A T x - opponent checks - I shove - he calls with a T ...... the river comes a T. Strange how you go through a tournament and nothing happens for ages, then you get 3 consecutive hands like that.....

Rivered twice on the night .............. but hey - the Poker Gods will smile on me tomorrow instead - I'll get that "bad luck" back (hopefully with some interest).

Not an expensive night - freerolls and low buy in - poker.co.uk I lost $2.20, goalpoker $2.49 up. So net performance on the day - a whopping profit of $0.29!!

A new Dawn

The Blog starts here!!!

A nice win tonight in the Blue Square Bubble Freeroll - $320 better off. Had some luck along the way, but hey, you don't win MTT's without dishing out a few Bad Beats.

A decent evening on the Laddies 5c/10c Cash tables too - a healthy profit of $44.39. That's 26.39 BB/100 - At an hourly rate, it's 12.38 BB per hour per table - as I was mostly on 5 tables at once that works out at a real rate over the session of 52.43 BB per hour ($10.49 per hour, or $44.39 over the entire session). A friend was suggesting the other evening I should be playing at a higher limit - and I think he is right!!

No success on SO though - didn't do anything worthwhile on the Super Sunday Final (Freeroll - 110 runners - 1st place gets Main Event WSOP Package) and Champions League was equally poor (for a loss of $3.30).

Net performance on the day shows a profit of $361.09 :-)))