90 player stt

I played a 90 player stt on Full Tilt today ($3/deepstack/turbo/knock-out) and came 5th for $19 ($18 for 5th place and $1 for 2 bounties). I didn't get involved in many hands early on because I wasn't getting any cards but I picked up the blinds a few times to keep my stack around the starting stack of 3k by the first break but this left me near the bottom of the leader

board.

In level 12 I pushed with AJ and was called by AQ...the river J saved me and doubled me up to 6K. Another double up in level 14 with QQ vs KJ took me to 12k and into the top 12 with about 20 left. Level 17 and my AA was good against a re-raisers TT and I was up to 21k and 4th and looking good for the final table. The blinds were getting quite high and you needed to try and steal them to maintain your position. I pushed with AK on the bubble and had 2 callers....thankfully they were AKh and A7 and I survived the other AKh 2 hearts on the flop to give him a flush draw to split the pot.

The bubble came and went and with blinds at 2/4k it was a relief to be put on the final table on the button. 2 shorties went pretty quickly and my cards dried up. I was in danger of dwindling away in 5th and pushed with J8 in the big blind for about 14k. The big stack on the bubble called with his 76 and flopped 2 pair and that was that.

Challenge bankroll is now $384.78

Full tilt matrix tourneys

I've not played much this month just a few STTs but over the last week I've had a few days off (and when I have not been trying to get my new PC to work ARRGGGHHHH! been doing my head in!) i have played some of these new tourneys on Full Tilt.

Basically you pay one entry fee and then play 4 stts against the same people and score 1 point for outlasting a player, 2 points for knocking someone out and 2 bonus points if you win a game. You get cash for 1st, 2nd, 3rd in each game and then also cash for 1st, 2nd, 3rd in points overall.

You ain't ever gonna build a roll playing these but they are good fun and good practice for multi-tabling novices like me. I have yet to fail to cash in any game and in fact am cashing in about 50% of the individual tourneys.

The standard is pretty poor as it is at these low stakes but I think it is helping me with being aggressive - the blinds are 6 mins but go up quite gradually so there is a surprisng amount of play - especially when it gets to the bubble. Its also interesting keeping an eye on the leaderboard and you can use that to your adantage as people try to ladder up and may not risk going out if they will earn an extra point by outlasting a shorty.

My challenge bankroll is $363.64 at the moment which is heading in the right direction.

Doing my head in!

I played another $5 STT on laddies and really frustratingly came 3rd. Does my nut in when the best hands pre flop never hold up and donkeys suck out! I was really patient and when I made good calls 3 times against the short stacks they all sucked out on me. GRRRRRR why the fuck cant hands hold up on this shitty site! I had AT vs KT so looking really good until the and T6999 board for a split pot...then AJ vs AT and of course the T comes on flop. Of course the last hand also was a suck out. The blinds were 2k/1k and so it was a total crapshoot. I pushed with A5 and of course was called by QJ and of course the river gave him his J and I out in 3rd instead of a big chip leader. One day I'll start to get the run of the deck...

Challenge bankroll is now $330.30 which is the highest its been so far so that's pretty good!

STT

Yesterday I played a $5 stt and had no cards at all and hardly played a hand. I had AA once but everyone folded to my preflop raise. I chased a flush draw when I had the pot odds but missed which left me the short stacked with about 2k. I was pleased to see 2 others donk out to leave me in the money lol.

In the last 3 I had 3k vs 13k vs 23k so not much chance. I got the double up I hoped for when I pushed with Q8 in the sb and hit a 8 on the river to beat KT. But then I got done with KQ after re-raising all in from the big blind and was a fave against K9 but the flop gave him his 3 outer and I'm out in 3rd.

Challenge bankroll is $330.10

5 paid stts

I played a couple of these 10 player tourneys on laddies where the top 5 get paid and cashed in 5th in both of them. Its just a case of hoping to get a hand, get a few chips over the starting stack and then steal the blinds when they get big later on. Its fairly easy to cash unless you are unlucky and run into a big hand or get sucked out on. I only play them when I havent got time to play a decent game.

Challenge bankroll is up to $327.60

Been following the WSOPE main event updates on the web and man is that a tough tourney with all the big names...this is the top 15 as we speak....scary!

Justin 'BoostedJ' Smith.
Talal Shakerchi.
Daniel Negreanu.
Chris 'Moorman1' Moorman. Gooooo Moorman - he does an excellent blog and was no 1 in pocket 5s mtt tourney rankings which is some achievement!
Scott Fischman.
John Juanda.
Chris Elliott.
Andy Bloch.
Johnny Lodden.
Mike Matusow.
Peter Neff.
Jani Sointula.
Brian 'sbrugby' Townsend.
Bengt Sonnert.
Erik Seidel.

Further down the leaderboard there is Devilfish, Josh Arieh, Robin Keston, Mel Judah....

Another STT

I played another $5 stt on laddies and my usual patient game and never really got going. I didn't pick up any decent starting hands so crap like KQ, KJ, AJ was looking quite good! I lost about 1500 when I had KJ and he had AJ and we both hit 2 pair, his A coming on the river of course.

We were down to the last 5 quite quickly and I was pleased to double up in the last 4 when I had KQ ob. I raised to 800 and the big blind called. The flop was a lovely KK7 rainbow and I called his ai with Q8 and doubled up to 7.5k. LOL and he did make a comment about terrible timing in the chat box which it was.

In the final 3 I was the shorty with 7K vs 12k vs 20K so wasn't expecting much and was just hoping to get a double up to at least have a chance. Well the 2nd stack committed suicide with a bluff and that left me with 10k vs 30k heads up. We had a right old battle which was pretty good and I managed to get to 30K when I had AK and he re-raised me all in with his QQ and I hit trips on the river. But alas I just couldn't finish him off and we were both up and down like a see-saw. By the end it was a bit of a crap shoot as blinds were 2k/1k but still an enjoyable game and predictably my timing was off on the last hand when I pushed with AQ to find him insta-calling with AK lol.

Challenge bankroll is now $324.20

morons & retards and fish, oh my!!

I decided to play the $3 (2k guaranteed) freezeout on blonde this afternoon and got off to a good start when I had KK first hand. A retard who limped utg+1 and then called my 24o raise re-raised me all in on the 442 flop with 53 for an open ended straight draw. How i laughed when the turn bought me the K for a full house and even louder when the donk hit his A for a river straight looooooool. I mean it wasnt even a re-buy and to limp UTG+1 with 53 and then call a 240 raise.....what planet are these morons on and thank christ he got exactly what he deserved!

Dealer: Starting a new hand (#1755420993)
Dealer: minec posts Small Blind 10
Dealer: richmagpies1862 posts Big Blind 20
Dealer: Dealing cards
Dealer: Your cards Kh Kd
Dealer: TheScarmaker folds
Dealer: guile85 calls 20
Dealer: GoliathREB folds
Dealer: frenk58 calls 20
Dealer: kcsaba17 calls 20
Dealer: Marcel84 calls 20
Dealer: tabler666 folds
Dealer: mrmickemellt folds
Dealer: minec calls 10
Dealer: richmagpies1862 raises to 240
Dealer: guile85 folds
Dealer: frenk58 calls 220
Dealer: kcsaba17 folds
Dealer: Marcel84 folds
Dealer: minec folds
Dealer: Dealing Flop2s 4d 2c
Dealer: richmagpies1862 bets 560
Dealer: frenk58 raises to 1,260
Dealer: richmagpies1862 goes All-in 700
Dealer: Dealing Turn2s 4d 2c Ks
Dealer: Dealing River2s 4d 2c Ks Ad
Dealer: richmagpies1862 shows Full houseKh Kd
Dealer: frenk58 shows Straight5d 3d
Dealer: richmagpies1862 wins with Full house2s 2c Kd Kh Ks 3,080
Dealer: richmagpies1862 wins with Full house2s 2c Kd Kh Ks 3,080
Dealer: frenk58 has finished tournament in 652. place

Well that was about the highlight as I never got a hand after that but witnessed some truly awful play. The end came with the predictability of a something really predictable (can't think of an example lol) when I pushed with AQ on the button for about 2k which was about 6 big blinds after there was 1 limper utg. The blinds folded and of course mr. limper called for half his stack with the mighty A9 off so he was miles behind and deservedly so...I mean how can you not get away from A9 utg after limping...if your gonna play rubbish at least raise and try to win rather than playing like a complete weak fish...what a moron....howver the RNG saw fit to reward the retard with a 9 on the flop and I'm gone in 165th. But as someone once said these are the kind of morons you want to play against and I would take the call every time!

I hate to bubble...

I bubbled a $5 stt yesterday and the hand below was key to this. I was pissing around on facebook, laddies forum etc and not really paying attention and folded here in the small blind when if i had been looking at the chip stacks it would have been a insta call with any 2 even though the chip leader was still to act. Would have cost me an extra 570 to call with 1200 in the pot already and the chance to knock out the shorty.....sigh....of course the shorty won with his T4 instead of being knocked out by my pair of Kings. 3 uncontested all ins in a row and hes not the shorty anymore and of course when I'm the shorty I get them in ahead and get sucked out on lol....still at least I may pay more attention in the future....then again maybe not!


** Game ID 1049054238 starting - 2008-09-15 22:44:40
** $5 Super High Stack- 20 hand levels [Hold 'em] (800.001600.00 NL - STT) Real Money

BOD75 sitting in seat 1 with $9570.00

[Dealer]- reggy sitting in seat 2 with $1370.00
richmagpies1 sitting in seat 4 with $7477.50
moderdy sitting in seat 5 with $20382.50
reggy posted the small blind - $400.00
richmagpies1 posted the big blind - $800.00


** Dealing card to richmagpies1: K of h, 3 of c

moderdy called - $800.00
BOD75 foldedreggy went all-in - $1370.00
richmagpies1 folded
moderdy called - $1770.00

reggy shows: 10 of h, 4 of d
moderdy shows: 7 of c, 9 of h

** Dealing the flop: 2 of h, K of s, 4 of h
** Dealing the turn: Q of s
** Dealing the river: 5 of s


reggy wins $4340.00 from the main pot
End of game 1049054238

Challenge bankroll is now $323.30

Another 5$ stt

today on laddies which took about an hour to fill but cashed in 3rd for $8. On the last hand I raised from the big blind after the 2nd chip flat called in the small blind. I then pushed with my J5 after hitting a J on the QJ8 flop and was insta called by the 2nd chip leader who had flopped a straight with his T9 lol. I couldnt really wait any longer with less than 10 big blinds 3 handed.

Challenege bankroll is now $328.80

Loving the EPT Barcelona live stream on www.eptlive.com Great work PokerStars!

Most stts ive played for ages...

I played 3 stts today which is probably the most in a day for months! Unsurprisingly there was no traffic at my favoured stts until the evening so I had a look on stars....I came 5th in a $3 9 seater, then won a $1 9 seater and then came 2nd in a laddies $5 super deepstack so a few dollars up for the day. Would have won the $5 if I could only get a medium pocket pair to hold up against two overcards heads-up but at least I'm getting them in ahead!

Challenge bankroll is now at $326.30 but still no where near the $1k i was aiming for this time last year! Better than losing though!

Quick update

Not played much (again) recently and have only managed to squeeze in a few Laddies 5 pay equal stts. These are 10 hand levels and turn into a crap shoot pretty quickly so not my cup of tea. But managed to cash in those that I have played in and along with the STT win and some free cash from Pokertrillion a few weeks ago the bankroll is now up to $319.90.

I will start playing the $5 stts again but the deepstack games i prefer are few and far between with the traffic on laddies rapidly disappearing!

I'll update again

when I finally manage to play more than a couple of games! played 2 STTs a couple of weeks ago and won the first and then in the second had my full house that I hit on the turn after flopping a set beaten by the nut full house that he made on the flop so no complaints as I was never getting away from it!

Hardly played at all recently...

Well, I think I have played about twice in the last 5 weeks and that was just a couple of quick cash sessions! Been a hectic month as we've bought a house and are moving in the next couple of weeks so had tons to do to sort everything out - the other half would not be impressed if she was left to do it all by herself while I played poker! Its also been Euro 2008, my birthday, had friends staying, started a new job so no time at all for poker!

Once we get moved in and get stuff sorted I will hopefully get some free time back and play a few more games!

Been following the WSOP a bit and at the moment a few of the guys from the laddies forum are playing in the main event and they've all made it through to Day 2 which is a great achievement! Let's hope they all go deep!

Another STT and...

...bubbled. No cards and a table of calling stations/ donkeys is not much fun. Was ahead in a few pots and my bets when I was ahead were called to the river with A high or gutshots which of course hit. Last hand I had ATs and raised to 400, the sb raises to 800. I've had enough and push for my last 2k. Maybe I should have waited but ATs 4 handed is gonna be good enough most of the time and if I start laying down to re-raises from donkeys I may as well quit now. Of course he calls for almost 2/3 of his stack with KJ offsuit where he is in a coin flip at best or at worst dominated... and of course hits his K on the turn.....sigh. So from being a 3:2 favourite and in good shape to double up and probably make the money I'm out....sigh. Still I want that call every single time as its winning in the long run...or so I keep telling myself lol

Challenge bankroll is now $291.56

May 2008 stats

Well, another winning month overall but a profit of $17 isn't much to write home about. Then again I only played 9 sessions. But at least it wasn't a losing month which is always good. The games I played broke down as follows:

STT

$2.30
p7, cashed 4 times (2x 1st, 2 x 2nd) for $9.50 profit

$5.50
P1, cashed o for $5.50 loss

MTT

P1, cashed 1 for $13 profit

And I have a really busy month this month with friends staying, doing stuff at the weekend, my birthday and hopefully moving house so I am probably gonna be playing even less this month. I'll try and play the odd STT but am not expecting to have much chance.

Oh and the WSOP starts so good luck to all those on the laddies and blondepoker forums who will heading out to Vegas hoping for big cashes and shiny bracelets! I'd love to play in it just once and maybe one year I'll decide to just say 'sod it' push some cash into it and be serious and play some satellites! You never know just win a few races in a sat and get lucky and it could happen!

Challenge bankroll is as it was on 26 May, $293.86 and has been hovering around the $290 mark for about 6 weeks now. Once it gets to over $300 I will go back to the $5 stts.

$66 satellite

I won a competition on Blondepoker tonight to get free entry into an Equal Chance $66 + $6 satellite - 10 runners and the first prize was a $660 seat at a $40,000 guaranteed live event in London next month plus a night in a hotel. Cool!

Shame I used all my luck up in winning the first comp and busted out the actual tourney in 6th lol. I think I got 44, 77 and AT and that was about it lol. I was down to about 10 big blinds and raised 300 with KJ and got a caller. The flop was 333 and I pushed. The caller had AJ and I'm out. Damn my perfect timing....!

Anyway, many thanks to Colchester Kev and Blonde for organising and giving me the chance to play in a decent size satellite which is way above my bankroll. Next time sort me out some cards too though please Kev!

2nd but could have been 4th or 1st

I played another STT today and came 2nd. Initially I was disappointed as it could (and probably should) have been 1st but was close to bubbling at one point so should be pleased really.

In the the first 3 levels i won a few hands with AK, AK, JJ, A4, 88,77, AA, 77, JJ but no big pots. I was on about 6k when we are down to the last 4 with 2 big chip leaders and another short stack. As usual the short stack pushes and the chip leader calls with crap and the shorty hits trips on the river twice in about 4 hands and I'm now the shorty and have gone totally card dead to boot! Not happy at this stage and looking like bubbling.

Its now level level 6 and I get a decent hand when I turn a straight with J8 in the big blind after checking preflop and calling a 400 bet with my open ended straight draw on the flop. A double up to about 6k is looking on when the chip leader pushes all in.....and of course he has J8 too! grrrr!

Then just what the doctor ordered and I get a mad rush of cards which hold up - I double up when I raise with 99 and the chip leader re-raises me all in with A5. Up to 6.7k. I then push all in with 66 and the same guy calls with QT and I win 11.5k. The former chip leader is now tilting everywhere and 3 hands later I have KK. I raise to 1.8k and he pushes all in for 5k with A7 and he's out on the bubble and I'm now the chip leader with 16.3k lol. Man, things can change sooooo quickly!

I then go and blow 10k with K8 on a J86 board when I am re-raised post flop by TT and stupidly call lol. So now down to 3.5k and back where I started! Doh! I push with J9 and am in bad shape against A5 but the J on the flop doubles me up to 6k. I am now pushing pre-flop and picking up the blinds and am up to 8k, then 9k and back in with a shout.

I win 6k when I hit my open ended straight draw on the turn and now have 12k vs 12k vs 14k so all to play for! I win a big pot of 13.6k with AQ on a J6682 board. I raised pre-flop, checked the turn and then bet the spade flush draw that came on the turn. He called and I can only assume he missed his flush draw with the river 8 clubs. I now had 20k and was chip leader.

About a dozen hands later we were heads up and I was in front with 20,045 to 19,955 lol so couldn't be much closer! I
got up to 26k on the first hand. But then was back down to 14 k as he rivered a straight to my 2 pair. The last hand I pushed all in with K4h after his limp in the small blind. He called with J6h so I was in good shape as a 3-2 fave but the river brings him a 6 and its all over. Bit of a roller-coaster!

As I said I was pleased to make money as was looking like another bubble but just needed the cards to hold up and would have won.

Challenge bankroll is $293.86

Bubbled...

I played another STT but the mini -run came to an end as I bubbled. I got off to a fairly good start when I won a 5.4k pot after a short stack pushed with Q9 pre-flop for 2.7k and my AA held up. After that it was all fairly mundane with the usual mix of being on the wrong end of awful play....

> SPASH16 posted small blind (15)
> Alex48 posted big blind (30)
> Game # 988,398,934 starting.
> Dealing Hole Cards(Ah Jd )
> richmagpies1 raised for 120
> inonot called for 120
> JDabadone called for 120
> beatlesuk folded
> SPASH16 folded
> Alex48 folded
> Dealing the Flop(7h 4d Js )
> richmagpies1 bet for 202.50
> inonot raised for 405
> JDabadone folded
> richmagpies1 called for 202.50
> Dealing the turn(5h )
> richmagpies1 checked
> inonot bet for 303.75
> richmagpies1 called for 303.75
> Dealing the river(Kh )
> richmagpies1 checked
> inonot checked
> richmagpies1 shows One Pair, Jacks, with kicker card Ace
(Jd Js Ah Kh 7h )
> inonot shows Two Pair, Jacks over Fours
(Jc Js 4c 4d Kh )
> inonot wins 1,822.50 with Two Pair, Jacks over Fours

The preflop call with J4? Ok it was only a 6xbb raise but still pretty shocking and very much losing poker in the long run. Then of course his shit play was rewarded with the flopping of 2 pair when he hits a 3 outer when miles behind my AJ. Still at least he checked the river which probably saved me a few chips!

I think the hand below was the turning point as I would have been the chip leader. He was miles behind with T9 when the J on the turn gave us both straights. Only one of the 3 remaining aces could save him from and of course it did!

> Alex48 posted small blind (15)
> richmagpies1 posted big blind (30)
> Game # 988,403,034 starting.
> Dealing Hole Cards(As 10h )
> inonot folded
> JDabadone folded
> beatlesuk called for 30
> SPASH16 called for 30
> Alex48 folded
> richmagpies1 checked
> Dealing the Flop(9s Ks Qc )
> richmagpies1 checked
> beatlesuk bet for 52.50
> SPASH16 called for 52.50
> richmagpies1 called for 52.50
> Dealing the turn(Jh )
> richmagpies1 checked
> beatlesuk bet for 131.25
> SPASH16 went all-in for 4,920.76
> richmagpies1 went all-in for 6,879.38
> beatlesuk folded
> Extra chips returned to richmagpies1, 1,958.62
> Dealing the river(Ad )
> SPASH16 wins 5,117.63 with a Straight, Ace high
> richmagpies1 wins 5,117.64 with a Straight, Ace high

Again I stuck to only entering a pot with a raise but I won most of my pots pre-flop. Flat calling is just not an option even with big pairs as these guys will call with any old shit and more than likely hit so its just asking for trouble.

Down to the last 4 and there are 2 big chip leaders and 2 short stacks. As is usually the case the other shorty stuck them in, got lucky and doubled up. I stuck them in with A2 with 4 big blinds left and was dominated when the chip leader had AK. Just the way it goes sometimes!

Challenge bankroll is now $291.36

I won't be playing anymore today as I'm off to see the new Indiana Jones film tonight - been looking forward to it for ages!

Another win!

After winning my last game I was hoping to continue upwards again and am pleased to have just won another STT, so that's 2 in a row. Not amazing I know but its still pleasign after the run I have had recently!

I had a decent start when I hit a set after raising 120 with 66. I called the short stacks all in for 1.2k and his 55 was in bad shape and I was up to 6.5k. However, I was back to where I started when i lost 1.6k with JJ after the soooooo loose chip leader (he played almost every hand) called my bets all the way to the river with AK on T955 board and rivered his K! No big pots until level 4 when I picked up KK and raised to 300. I got 2 callers and the T98 (2c) was a worry putting straight and flush draws out there. I bet 1k and loosey-goosey calls. The turn is 4s, which put a spade draw on the board. Well, I pushed all in for my last 4k and he called with 54 spades and missed his flush draw when the river was 8d and I was up to 11k.

Again I made a point of not limping into pots with marginal hands and when I played a hand it was aggressively with a raise preflop. I won pots in position preflop with JJ, A5, J8 by raising on the button and with T8 in the big blind.

I was then card dead for ages and my 12k stack was gradually being eaten away. By this time the the big chip leader had managed to donk off his whole 16k stack but unfortunately not to me and we were 4 handed.

I had about 6 k when I picked up AQ on the button and raised 1.6k.The sb called and the flop was AAJ. Obviously I checked and the turn brought Q to give me a full house but also put a flush draw on the board. I was so hoping he had hit his flush with the river 8 but he checked. I bet 900 and he called and I won 5.4k. In level 9 I limped with TT on the button for 600 as any raise preflop was being folded round and I wanted to get some action. The flop was 532 and I re-raised to 4.2k. The chip leader called and the turn was 3. We both checked. The A river was a scare card but I had to call the 600. No way was I gonna re-raise as he could have the A or 4 and I'm a loser. I was pleased to see the 12k pot come my way and I was now chip leader.

Another big pot came my way in level 9 with AK. I raised to 2.4k and got a caller. the flop was K62 all hearts and I had the A hearts so was in good shape! I bet out 2.5k and he called. The turn was 9d and he folded to my 5k bet for a 15k pot. After this my aggressive play pre-flop was going unchallenged and I was winning pots preflop which is good when the blinds are so big!

At the start of heads up we were pretty even in chips but it was now level 12 and the blinds were pretty big. I won a 24k pot with A7 after calling for 1k. The flop was AK6 and I bet out 4k. He called and the turn was 7. I bet 12k hoping he had an A or K but he folded. At one point I was up to 30k and called his all in with KQ hoping to finish him off but he had A3 and hit an A and were back even!

He was then the aggressor as my cards dried up and I was down to about 6k at one point. A couple of re-raises won me decent pots and I managed to get back to over 10k and was still in with a chance. Anyway I managed to eat away at his chip lead and my final had was QQ. I limped and the flop was 995. He pushed all in and I insta-called. He had 85 for 2 pair but was dead to a 5 and the 7, T were bricks for him and that was that.

I was pleased with the way I played especially heads up. Coming back from being a big chip dog is always satisfying!

Challenge bankroll is now $293.66 which is the highest ever!

Oh and here's a tight preflop fold with AT from this game where I would have hit quads!

A win.....at last!

Given the recent run I decided that I would play at the $2 STT level. I have the bankroll for the $5 games but the way I seem to be getting shafted by the poker goods means I'm pretty low on confidence and so its always wise to move down if you are not in a winning frame of mind! Anyhow I am pleased to report that I won the STT I played today for $8.

I made a conscious decision to try and avoid flat calling today and if I was gonna enter a pot I would raise. I had a slow start and watched 2 muppets get knocked out in the first 1st level by the same guy who now had an 18k stack which he was using to bully. Unfortunately he was 2 to my left! In level 2 I picked up QQ on the button and raised to 180. I got 3 callers including the chip leader in the big blind. The flop was K64 and I folded to his 360 bet as the other 2 also called. If it had been heads up I may have called or raised to find out where I was but with 2 others calling, one was bound to have a K and this was proved correct as the chip leader won with 2 pairs with his K7. My confidence was so low that even with QQ and just 1 over card I'm convincing myself I'm behind but I guess my caution was justified here!

The turning point came in level 2 when I picked up 88 and raised 120. The big chip leader called and the flop was a good looking Q85 rainbow to give me a set. I bet 140 and he called. The turn was 6 and he checked so I bet half the pot again and was re-raised to 1.4k so he obviously had something! Did he have 97, QQ? Well, if he did then so be it so I called as I figured I was ahead. The river was an A and with only 1.8k left, an all in push was the only move. He called and showed 66 for a turned set and I won 9.4k and was now 2nd.

I wasn't involved in any real big pots but took a few down with KK twice after preflop raises and and with AT twice, when once I turned a set and won 1.3k. After that it was mainly winning with preflop raises and continuation bets if the flop was checked to me with hands like 77, A9, JJ, A8, AQ.

The bubble seemed to take an age but I managed to knock out the short stack with my 99 after he re-raised my 1.2k preflop raise and I called for an extra 1.5k. I was in good shape against his 55 and there was no suck out for him.

Heads up I was was 32k-8k chip dog so it wasn't looking good! As expected he was aggressive and I wasn't getting anything to play back at him with and was down to 4k at one stage. I then had a mini-comeback and got up to 10k after winning 3 or 4 pots in a row. I then managed to get up to 30k after hitting a straight on the turn after he gave me a free card and he re-raised me looking to finish me off! It was then up and down with the chip lead swapping a couple of times. I was unlucky not to win sooner as twice he came out on top in the classic pair versus over cards coin-flip situation.

A key hand which kept me in the game was was when I raised it up with QQ and he pushed all in with Q9. He had me covered but my QQ held up. The last hand was when I raised 9k with 99 and he pushed back for 15k with QT. I called the extra 6k and this time the 22266 board gave me the win!

I guess that my decision to only raise preflop and not flat call was a good one and my poker tracker stats for this game have me raising over 18% of the time preflop. Much of this was in the last few levels where I pretty much raised every time I went into a pot and when I was heads up. But I was pleased that in the first few levels I didn't flat call once preflop and only checked preflop when in the big blind which is ok. Raising helps define your hand and even though some times I folded when I was re-raised, at least I knew where I was which probably saved me plenty of chips!


Challenge bankroll is now $287.96

Definitely need a break!

Played another STT tonight. Should have known it was only gonna end one way! sigh........

> pompeybaz2 posted small blind (50)
> bigalan53 posted big blind (100)
> Game # 982,188,171 starting.
> Dealing Hole Cards(Js As )
> richmagpies1 raised for 400
> ScroogeMcduk called for 400
> darcyhux folded
> pompeybaz2 called for 350
> bigalan53 called for 300
> Dealing the Flop(Ah Ac 3s )
> pompeybaz2 bet for 800
> bigalan53 folded
> richmagpies1 called for 800
> ScroogeMcduk folded
> Dealing the turn(4d )
> pompeybaz2 bet for 1,600
> richmagpies1 went all-in for 4,802.50
> pompeybaz2 called for 3,202.50 A4 ffs!
> Dealing the river(10c )
> pompeybaz2 wins 12,805 with a Full House, Aces full of Fours
> richmagpies1 has left the tournament in 5th place

So yet again outdrawn. Was a 68% fave after the flop and ok there was 19% chance of a split pot, but he was just a 13% fave after the flop but hits one of his 2 outs on the turn. Man, how much do you have to raise pre-flop to get idiots with A rag out of the pot....1k, 2k, all in? Well my notes on him say 'plays any old shit in any position - fish', so I shouldn't be surprised!.

Ok he was in the sb but that's still no excuse. I guess there was no point raising on the flop as he was going nowhere now he had hit trips. And with no flush draw out there, I couldn't hope for a much better flop! I didn't put him on AK/AQ but if he did have that then so be it. There is no way I could lay down that hand and if I start laying down hands like that, then I may as well give up altogether! Hmmmm now there's an idea.....

When will my luck change?

Challenge bankroll is now $282.26

When will it end....

I played a $5 stt today and as usual the combination of being card dead and no luck put paid to me in 5th place. Not a great deal of hands to talk about but this one will give you an idea of how I run at the moment. Level 3 and I get AQ in the sb - not great but about the best I'd so far so I call the raise to 100 with 4 other callers. Flop is Q72 rainbow so I bet out 300 and get 2 callers. Turn is 7 and I bet 750, 1 caller. River is 4 and I bet 750, the caller has 87 and I lose a 4.5k pot. Miles ahead after the flop (81%-19% favourite) and he hits of course. Ok I could have raised preflop but out of position I'm just hoping to hit the flop cheaply and I don't think that I'm gonna get rid of too many given the looseness of the play so far. So why would I want to build the pot just yet? Surely better to see the flop cheaply and then if I hit, that's the time to bet?

About 20 hands later I push with AJ after hitting the J on the flop and of course the AK caller hits a river K and that's it.

I think I may take a more long term break as as I said a few posts ago, every time I play I'm expecting to lose and even when I get big hands I'm expecting to be outdrawn by idiots who are miles behind.

Challenge bankroll is $284.56

Same old story...

I played another $2 stt the other day and was completely card dead until level 5....about 85 hands! I'm down to about 4k and have been so patient. I finally pick up KK and raise to 500, the short stack with 3k pushes all in and I insta-call and am loving his TT.....but ffs he hits a fecking T on the turn and instead of being second I'm now the short stack with about 1k left...! He said 'sorry, ul' which really winds me up! Why is he sorry? Would he rather have lost? And also I think his re-raise with TT was shit play. Did he not notice that I have barely played a hand and might therefore be playing quite tight? TT is NOT a big pair and is not a re-raise all in hand where you are unlikely to get a call from a lower pair and be, at best, in a race against over cards or a 4-1 dog against a bigger pair.

Any way I'm now past caring and manage to double up, ironically, with TT when my push for 1.1k is called by 87? Of course the A96 flop brought him about a million outs for an open ended straight and flush but unbelievably he missed them all and I'm up to 2.3k. My luck then seemed to change and I hit quad As followed soon after by quad 7s but not for huge pots as even the donkeys I was playing smelt some danger or more likely didn't have anything despite calling pre-flop raises lol. There was also a split pot of quad 2s when the board was 2222A. I didn't see the point of the donkey raising the pot unless there was an idiot who would fold so I just called.

There was one guy who was up and down, going in with crap and sucking out all over the place....doesn't it drive you mad that when you can't hit a barn door others seem to hit 2 outers all the time? I won't go into the detail of my last hand but it was as predictable as you can imagine with me being ahead when the chips went in but not for long and I bubbled.

Anyway here's the nice pics of the quad hands.

Back in the money...

I played a game on Thursday and although it was a free roll, it was a $10k free roll so definitely worth playing. I managed 117th/1153 for $13. I never got many cards and when I did, i.e. I had KK twice, all folded to my my pre-flop raises. I pushed in the hand after the bubble had burst with AK in the big blind but ran into a set of jacks.

Given the way my luck has been going I decided to play a $2 stt on laddies instead of the usual $5 game. It was a real old slog and lasted 2 and a half ours! I managed to get 2nd for $4.50 which was ok but as we were about even chips when heads up and I managed to get a 26k-14k lead at one point I was disappointed not to win. It was the usual story of not being able to get paid off with my good hands i.e. him folding pre-flop both times when i had AA...grrrr! And then when I tried to be aggressive without much, he played back at me with a hand and showed it. The main turning point was when I was on the wrong end of a set vs set situation which meant him getting the 30k - 10k chip lead. I then pushed all in 5 times in a row and he folded each time and of course when I finally had a hand and got him to call, he sucked out on me lol. Still better then bubbling though!

Challenge bankroll is now $292.36

April 2008 stats

April was not a great month and in terms of earnings it was an overall loss of $29.14 - the first losing month of the challenge so far. However, the bankroll (which is what is important) only went down by $2.04 as a result of bonuses etc.

STTs
I played 10 stts and cashed in 5 for an overall loss of $8.75

MTTs
I played 7 MTTs for an overall loss of $15.87

Cash
I played 1 cash session for a loss of $4.52

If I had won a couple of a couple of coin flips and turned 2nd places into 1sts then it would probably have been a winning month but that's poker.

So I guess the main aim of this month is to get the earnings graph going the right way!

Challenge bankroll at the end of the month was $276.86

Time for a break

I think I'm not gonna play for a week as I am just totally card dead at the moment....its just getting ridiculous. I played a laddies super deep stack today and finished 5th. I played 170 hands and the only cards I had were JJ twice and nothing else. I had AQ a few times in early position which is almost insta fold and whenever I did limp, the flop couldn't miss me by much more lol and it was fold to a raise or re-raise. I lost count of the times I had absolute rubbish on my big blind and when I did defend after getting sick of folding it, a nightmare flop or a re-raise meant I had to lay down. I mean it was getting to the point where KJ suited was looking a monster! Of course I had my usual fold shit and then hit a monster, this time it was A6 which would have given me quads on the river


Of course the others on the table were calling raises with 45 under the gun and flopping trips or Q8 and flopping full houses. The chip leader was showing AA, AK, QQ, KK god knows how many times.....this game is sooooooooo frustrating sometimes. Oh and I went out on a coin flip with A4 against 33 which was no surprise. It was so bad that I almost just sat out and went and did something else!

Anyway I'm not gonna play any games for a week as I'm not in the right frame of mind at the moment and am just sat there expecting to get dealt shit and it is happening!

The challenge bankroll is $276.62 and whilst this is heading in the right direction is as a result of bonuses from various sites rather than money won lol.

$1000 added but card dead :-(

I played the $10 private blonde poker MTT tonight on PokerTrillion as it had $1000 added and as there were only 26 players it was great value. However, I didnt have a hand all game and went out in 13th when I ran into the chipleader's AA after raising with A9 when I was pretty shortstacked and hitting 9 on the flop lol shame! Although it was a bigger buy in than usual, I got $25 free from PokerTrillion as part of a promotion as they have moved networks so nothing lost really.

Challenge bankroll is $282.12

Card dead

I played a 1 euro MTT on Poker Trillion tonight and had no cards all game. The only hand I had for the first 4 levels was JJ which I folded to a big bet on an AK flop. I witnessed some shockingly bad play too. In most hands there were 5 or 6 callers and I lost count of the hands where 8 or 9 players saw the flop even with a pref-flop raise! We had lost 100 players out of 370 by half way through the second level and almost 2/3 of the field by the first break. Calling all ins with K3 for your whole stack was the norm.

I had to laugh when a guy went all in with A9 and was called by K8 for all his stack. The flop brought a K but when the river brought an A, the guy with A9 said 'sorry'! Why are you sorry? You were ahead preflop, some donkey called for his whole stack with K8, got lucky and then you won on the river...why are you sorry when you had the best hand preflop? lol The donkey with K8 got what he deserved for his awful call for all his chips! I mean you can move all in with K8 but calling with it? lol

I managed a double up to 2.6k with AA after my 2x bb raise was re-raised all in by AQ. I couldn't get my chips in fast enough and the A on flop pretty much sealed the deal. However, that was as far as my good fortune went and a push on the button with K8, which was ironic given the donkey call above, for less than 4 xbb got a call in the big blind with AT which was fine and he flopped a full house lol.

Challenge bankroll is $269.48 and seems to have plateaued for the last 6 weeks or so but at least the general trend is upwards rather than downwards. I don't think I'm playing any different than usual, its just that little bit of bad luck or others hitting cards at the wrong times (for me) but that's just the run of the cards and something that has happened many times before. A bit frustrating but not a lot you can do about it really!

Anyway I doubt I am gonna be able to play much this weekend as we are moving house next month and so have plenty of things to do before then!

One of those games.....again....grrrr

I played another super deepstack STT tonight and it was one of those games where you never get any cards and on the few occasions that you do, the flop couldn't be any worse for your hand if it tried!

First hand I get JJ utg (sigh). I should just fold lol but instead raise to 120 and get 2 callers. The flop is 642 (2 clubs) which isn't too bad, so I bet out 195 and am re-raised to 1k and there is a caller. I think about it for a bit but its the first hand and its just not worth risking my whole stack when I could be up against a set, an over pair, a straight draw or a flush draw. If I wanted to just dump my chips in and pray I would be playing turbos lol. So I fold. After just 11 hands we are 2 players down and the chip leader on my right has 15k. I really don't see why some people play these deep stack games.

The cards don't get much better and its another 30 hands before I get anything worth playing - QQ in the big blind. I raise to 300 and get a caller. The flop is 853 with 2 spades. I bet out 450 and get a caller. The turn is Ks which is an awful card for me putting an over pair and a flush on the board, so I check. The river is a 6 spades which is another poor card for me as I have two red queens. I check and fold to the 2k bet. I guess I could have bet on the turn but if I get a call or raise its obvious I am behind and he obviously has something as he called both pre and post flop so it would just be throwing chips away as I would have to bet 3/4 or 2/3 of the pot as he's gonna call for anything less as I would be giving him the odds if he is on a draw.

A few hands later I get AA and raise to 200 and of course everyone folds! About 10 hands later I win preflop with AK and the very next hand get AK again. I raise to 600 and am re-raised all in. I call as I'm getting a bit pissed off and he turns over 66! Now I don't think this is good play from him. If someone calls he is at best gonna be a coin flip as it is unlikely he is gonna get a call with a lower pair. If he is up against a big pair he is a big dog and against 2 over cards he is only a 55-45% at best or could be worse if they are suited or connected. Anyhow, of course I hit my A but he hits a set and its all over....sigh. One day I will play a game when I will hit a flop or win a race.....hopefully! lol

Challenge bankroll is $271.13

Poker trillion and more stts

I had an email from one of the sites I have an account with Poker Trillion (Boss network) informing me that they are moving networks at the end of April and that I should withdraw the money from my account before the 29th. They will also give all active account holders $25 for the inconvenience which is cool. However I only had about 10 euros in the account (never having deposited as the money was a freebie) and the minimum you can withdraw via Web Dollar is 20 euros. I ha vent got a security code you need to deposit which I could do and then withdraw the whole lot but its not really an issue as I can't figure out how to deposit anyway! Bizarre! A poker site which makes it hard to deposit....now there's a first! So after a long call to Web Dollar customer support they told me there was nothing they could do as the site is closing down and that I should contact Poker Trillion...very helpful. I sent an email anyway and will see what happens.

Hmmmmmm....so I guess the only thing I could do was try and spin the 10 euros up to 20 euros by the end of the month or lose it trying as it would be lost anyway. So I decide to play some cash yesterday and managed to lose 3 euros with TT when I ran into KK. So today I decided to play some STTs - 3.30 euros, 10 seater, pay top 4, 8 min blinds. I played 5 and managed 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 4th and 8th for a profit of 4.50 euros which should have been more if it wasn't for the usual runner runner bad beats!

Challenge bankroll is $276.63

In the money again...at last!

So here we are again! LOL Despite what I said in my last post I got bored and played another STT today!

I thought it was gonna be another blank as I was getting no cards and folding shit which then hit the flop big time i.e 77 which would have cracked AA, 86 would have made a full house to beat KK. I didn't get a hand until level 4 when I managed to get them all in pre-flop against AK. Half expecting an A the board of 73T45 was cool and I was up to 9.6k.

The cards dried up again and although I know aggression is what counts its tough to call raises with 82 or J5 and pray that the flop is kind. Anyway 2 whole levels passed until in level 7 I got 77 in the bb. I checked and the flop was a rainbow J87. I re-raised a 1.2k bet to 4.2k and call his push all in with J9. He misses his 7 outs and I'm the chippy with 12.4k.

Now people were more wary against me as I could knock them out and I start to pick up chips with more marginal hands as I can afford to bet out more. Down to the last 3 and I'm the chippy with 15k vs 12k vs 11k ish. It was very much pre-flop raise and fold but I'm always ahead but not by much. This changes when the 2 others with 12k each get them all in and I now a 25-15k chip dog!

I'm aggressive and get back to about 22k-18k. The last hand I get AJd and raise 2.4k. He re-raises to 4k and I push all in. Big mistake lol as he has AQ! However 2 diamonds on the flop give me hope but I miss my 12 outs as usual and its second place. After the recent run I've had I'll settle for that!

More 3 outers on the river

I've had just about enough of this bloody game. Drives me crazy when you sit there playing patient poker, getting dealt shit hand after hand. I had 72 three times in a row twice and lost count of the number of times I got 94, 83, J5. So there I'm sat with about 6k, waiting for a hand, until I finally get KK on the bubble. I raise it up, get a caller and then of course the flop brings an A with another pair and a flush draw. The 2nd chip leader goes all in....what can you do but fold? You just know that if you call he will have an Ace. Guaranteed. No, no, I tell a lie, he will probably have a flush draw with which he is prepared to put 3/4 of his chips in with and will hit on the river. So I'm the short stack now and resigned to bubbling but wait with 7 bb left I get 99. Its an instant push under the gun and the chip leader on the button says 'K8' and we all know what is coming, yes, the river f*****g K to knock me out on the bubble. I've had about as much as I can take getting constantly f****d over by 3 outers or morons who call raises with A rag. Its only a $5 game but its just f*****g shite. Really. It is. I think I'll spend tomorrow doing something interesting rather than this b*****ks.

Oh I almost forgot that all through the game there were 2 c***s who obviously playing on the laddies 3d poker so every time they did one of the 'actions' with their character it was described in the chat box for those of us had not downloaded the 3d rubbish i.e. anyone who has an attention span greater than a 3 year old child. Congratulations for that Ladbrokes as I would hate to miss out on all the hilarity.....

Ahhhhhh! I feel better now!

A rag kills me (again) & dormant account fees

This blog is starting to sound like one continual moan about morons shoving their chips in the middle with A rag and hitting and lo and behold here is another example....I played the 2k guaranteed $1 re-buy (yeah I know its bound to be full of muppets) on Blue Square. I didn't have many cards but AA held up twice and I was about average at the first break. I hadn't re-bought but took the add on. About half way through the second hour the site started to freeze, people sitting out, minutes passed between hands, but the clock didn't stop and I think we got through 2 levels with about 3 hands being played. Blinds were now 500/1k and I had 54 in the bb. I checked and then pushed all in on the J54 board. A big stack called with A4 and of course he hits his river A. FFS! Such a terrible call with bottom pair! So instead of being above average chips I'm out in 242/670.

In the middle of being knocked out I was on the phone to World Poker Tour support where I have an account. I haven't played there for a few months but opened it up to see if there were anything worth playing. I only have $100 in the account but this had gone down by $14 over the last few months which was strange. I emailed them and then called them. Apparently its a 'dormancy fee' and that after 2 months they take $2, then $2 the next month and then $10 a month after that until the account is empty! Bit of a cheek for doing bugger all! Anyway I gave the nice German -sounding woman some grief on the phone (fuelled by the A rag muppet call), 'close my account etc' and they rang me back and said that they will refund it as 'goodwill gesture' as I'm a valued player (yeah I'm a real high roller lol).

She said its its all in the terms and conditions but who reads them? I'm not sure if other sites have the same policy but might be worth checking if you have lots of accounts with not much in them and register for a free roll once a month or you may find that some accounts may be emptied without you knowing!

Back to the STTs, back to the outdraws.....

Played a laddies $5 super deepstack tonight and going along with around starting stack and then pick up the first hand for about 30 hands......

> Apresboarder posted small blind (75)
> xoking1 posted big blind (150)
> Game # 958,633,859 starting.
> Dealing Hole Cards(Jh Js )
> richmagpies1 raised for 600
> GUV1 called for 600
> jobbe folded
> kidsatdotcom folded
> Apresboarder folded
> xoking1 called for 450
> Dealing the Flop(2c 2h 3c )
> xoking1 checked
> richmagpies1 bet for 937.50
> GUV1 went all-in for 7,355 he has A3, did he really think his 2 pair was good?
> xoking1 folded
> richmagpies1 went all-in for 3,617.50
> Extra chips returned to GUV1, 2,800
> Dealing the turn(Qd )
> Dealing the river(3d )
> GUV1 wins 10,985 with a Full House, Threes full of Deuces
> richmagpies1 has left the tournament in 6th place

Jesus, I know I want poor calls but.....the preflop call for 600 with A3? LOL! Preflop I'm 70:30 favourite, post flop I'm a 75:25 favourite, post turn I'm 89:11 favourite...makes me want to smash my laptop sometimes when donkeys get rewarded! What did he think I was raising with that he could possibly be beating pre-flop...A2? K rag? LOL. Sorry, that's giving him credit for having any thought process apart from "oooooh I have an Ace lets get all my chips in...". Did he really think his 2 pair was wining after the flop? Really?..... sigh.............

Challenge bankroll is $273.40

Muppets on party grrrrr

I managed to turn the $10 ticket I had left into a level 3 $30 ticket by finishing second in a game this morning. I then loaded up a level 3 game and got rivered when ahead to finish a disappointing 1oth!

I had AK and rasied it 200 and got 3 callers! The flop was K62 and I bet 3/4 pot and got a caller. The turn was a J and I pushed all in. He calls and turns over K7....wtf? so is miles behind only for the river to give him a 7 and knock me out. K7 ffs! Never mind how can he call preflop with K7 but then how can he call on the flop and the turn? GRRRR! Drives me crazy! Should I have pushed on the turn? Well it was the right play as I was miles ahead but obviously the wrong play by the river lol

I bought in and played another $3 level 1 game and won it to get another Level 2 token. Ihad a nice hand when I hit quad 5s.


I then played the Level 2 token and doubled up in level 3 with AA when he couldn't put down QJ preflop after I had re-raised him....the mind boggles, it really does. After that it was pretty poor and my exit was with AK after the guy under the gun called a raise of 1200 with Q6!!! and of course he had a wild guess that his 6 was good on the J76 flop. It was good but I mean come on, lets just shove and pray! So out in 6th but with another level 1 token.

I played the level 1 game and won 900 first hand with AA vs KK. The flop brought an A which probably saved him his whole stack. No cards after that until I called an obviously tilting short stack's all in with 99, he turned over A6 and although he hit his A on the flop, I hit my 9 too. I then picked up AA again and was pleased to get a re-raiser who then called my all in with KK.....yes the river was K and that was that....grrrrr!

I will probably quit these steps games and go back to the normal STTs. I've had $140 worth of play for $15 which is pretty good. What gets me though is even though I have a finished in the money stat of 71% (cashed 12/17 times with half of these cashes being 1st or 2nd) I am still $15 down! The way I see it is that I'm not gonna get any 'useful' cash to add to the bankroll unless I get to level 6 and given the amount of luck or rather luck needed to avoid the idiot calls, getting to level 6 is gonna be a slog. And probably one which I'm not prepared to undertake.

Party steps stats

I've played a total of 13 steps games and have had the following results:

L1 Played 9, cashed L1 x 4 times, L2 x 3 times, not cashed x 2

L2 Played 3, cashed L1 x 1 time, L3 x 1 time, not cashed x1

L3 Played 1, cashed L2 x 1 time

In the money 76.92%
ROI - 2.30%
Earnings -$2

So for an intial cash outlay of $12 I have played $87 worth of STTs and still have a $10 ticket left which will hopefully get me back to L3.

Overall they are quite fun and its not that difficult to make a small outlay go a long way. Am I prepared to put more money into these to try and reach Level 6 where real cash can be won? Not sure. If I do I might decide to have a seperate bankroll for this instead of using my challenge bankroll as I am doing at the moment given that its not actually cash I could use to play in other tourneys.

I think overall I am showing a very small profit for March, about $6 lol if I take the steps results into account.

Up the steps we go!

I've only played a few of these steps games since I last posted. Results are as follows:

Level 1 - Played 2 - 4th and 2nd so that's a level 1 and a Level 2 ticket
Level 2 - Played 2 - 1st and 6th so that's a level 3 and a level 1 ticket

So I have a Level 3 and a Level 2 ticket left at the moment.

The standard at level 2 is no better than at level 1 and it is just a case of playing tight for the first level or 2 as by then 3 players have usually been knocked out and you are guaranteed a level 1 ticket at least. Overall I've played 12 games and cashed 9 times, 4 of these being in the top 2 where you get a ticket to the next level which is pretty good I think!

I have a week off work this week! WOO HOO! So will hopefully be able to play a few games during the day.

Its the Nordic Bet $25k freeroll tonight so it would be great to go deep in that as I rarely play games with that big a prize pool. It will have over 5000 entrants but like most freerolls if you can avoid getting mupped early on and get a few hands you can make the cash.

UPDATE - well, no hands at all in the freeroll and out in 1920/8080.

I decided to play my L2 steps ticket and busted out in 9th. I got JJ in the bb early on and flat called a raise. The flop was rags and I bet the pot but folded to a re-raise. I then had AK clubs twice but only picked up the blinds. I was one of the shorter stacks with blinds at 100/200 and had AT diamonds. I called and picked up a straight flush and straight draw on the AQJ board. I pushed all in as I had a ton of outs but the caller had KT including the K diamonds and the turn and river were bricks for me and I'm gone in 9th. Disappointing but sometimes you have to take a chance!

So I still have a level 3 ticket which I will probably play tomorrow.

UPDATE 2

I decided to play the $30 ticket and came 5th so get another shot at the $10 level. I was card dead apart from when I flopped the nut straight with AQ but got no action. I doubled up with AK vs the loose chip leaders KJ call to get back to 2.5k. Then it was just a case of stealing the blinds with A2, Q9, K5, K4 to try and stay alive. I got AJ on the button and pushed. The chip leader called with 55 and hit his set and I was out. However, as I have said about the other levels, the standard is no different really and you still get some awful play.

Played 7, cashed 5 times

I played 3 more Party level 1 steps over the last couple of days. I came 5th in one, 4th to win another level 1 token and then 2nd tonight to win my 2nd level 2 token. One more level 2 token and I'll give the next level a go.

So that's 7 of these I've played and I've cashed in 5 of them which is not a bad record. I have witnessed some truly awful play and it does pay to be patient as people just seem to want to be knocked out without even having a draw!

What I will probably do is use the $25 free I got from the affiliate sign up to play these and once that's gone go back to the standard STTs. I don't want to waste too much of my bankroll on these but I'll see how it goes. If I'm playing these kind of low level satellite type games it might be better to play somewhere like Pokerstars or full tilt where I think, when you win satellite seats you can use the 'dollars' to enter any tourney you want rather than be forced to play the same format like you have to with the Party steps. But will see how it goes.

More steps games

I played 2 more Party steps L1 games tonight and won tokens in both.....unfortunately they were for another try at Level 1! Boooooo! But better than not cashing at all I guess.

I basically had no cards and just picked a few pots hear and there raising in position. The standard is pretty poor and the amount of donks who get a big stack and then blow it all is quite ridiculous! I mean why if you have 6k and are on the bubble do you want to lock horns with the other big stack with just one pair when there are 4 spades on the board and your bet gets re-raised all in? Why call? LOL But I'm glad they do as I was sitting there with about 1000 chips with the blind at 300/150! I know the first 2 places are what counts really but why throw away such a great position with such an awful call! Totally crazy!

So played 4 of these and won 2 Level 1 and 1 Level 2 tokens. I think I will try and get 3 tokens for the next level before I give it a go rather than just try and play a single token as far as I can go.

Oh and also had a nice addition to the bankroll today as my free $25 from the Poker News affiliate deal I used to sign up to Party Poker came through. If anyone wants the code its here http://www.pokernews.com/party-poker-50free/1

As I said I signed up via it yesterday and got $25 free and a $25 bonus which is released after you get 150 party points. You have to open a real money account and make a deposit but its free cash. I have nothing to gain from this either in case you were wondering!

Challenge bankroll is now $282.75 after subtracting the initial deposits at Party and Gala

Party steps games

Whilst continuing the bankroll challenge I have also decided to play the steps games on Party Poker. Basically, you enter a series of stts and instead of getting cash you get a token to buy into the next level which ultimately ends in an stt where you do win cash. I think the set up on Party is pretty good:

Level 1 $3 ($2.60 + 0.40)
1 -2 - level 2 token
3-4 - level 1 token

Level 2 $10 ($8.90 + 1.10)
1-2 level 3 token
3-4 level 2 token
5--7 level 1 token

Level 3 $30 ($27 +3)
1-3 level 4 token
4 level 3 token
5-7 level 2 token

Level 4 $70 ($63 + 7)
1-3 level 5 token
4 level 4 token
5-7 level 3 token

Level 5 $170 ($154 + 16)
1-2 level 6 token
3-4 level 5 token
5-6 level 4 token
7-8 level 3 token

Level 6 $500 ($470 + 30)
1 $2000
2 $1000
3 $700
4-5 $500

So as you can see the payouts at level 6 are pretty good and from level 2 onwards the top 7 at least get a token for another go at various levels. The blinds are 9 minute levels with 2k starting stacks so not too much of a crap shoot especially with the number of positions paid out. Some may say that 6 levels are a lot to get through but I don't think that the opposition at levels 4 or 5 will be as good as those who normally buy in to standard $70 or $170 stts - there are a lot of sharks at those levels who know ICM pretty well and multi table and make a serious profit. Step games are more likely to be against people like me who have moved up from the lower levels! Well I hope so anyway!

What I would hope to do is get a few level 2 tokens and then play them to try and get as many shots at the next level as possible.

I played 2 of the level 1 games tonight and had a bad beat in the first when my AA was cracked by the chip leaders flopped K high flush. Another club on the turn or river would have been great for my A clubs and would have pretty much been guaranteed a payout. However, I managed 2nd in the other game I played and have my first level 2 token! So we will see how it goes!

Can't win a race!

I played another $5 stt and bubbled in 4th.

Sometimes it seems that every time I pick up decent hole cards the flop is just awful for me, putting sets, flushes, straights out there for others but totally missing my hand! This game the cards deserted me when I needed them. In level 1 I raised 160 with QQ and got 3 callers. The flop was 622 with 2 h and I bet 500. I was instantly raised all in for 5k! I thought for a while but folded as there was no need to risk all my chips and be up against a set or a flush draw. I won 2k with AA after I got into a preflop raising war and we both got them all in. He had KT lol. The flop was Q63, the J on the turn was such a terrible card for me but thankfully the river 8 was a brick for him. After that I just had no cards whatsoever. Any raises with suited connectors, small pocket pairs were either re-raised or the flop was just awful for me if I managed to see a flop. I managed to get to the last 4 and raised with KQ. I was re-raised and I called going all in. Maybe I should have just shoved preflop but I didn't think the 66 he had was a particularly good move but it proved to be a winning move as my inability to win an important race reared its ugly head and I was out.

Not sure if I can be bothered to play another game today with the way the cards are falling for me at the moment.

Challenge bankroll is now $253.75

Back to the $5 stt

I played another 8 handed super deep stack $5 stt today and came 2nd. The usual patient approach was needed as the dealer was being unkind with the hole cards as usual! It was not until late in L2 that I had a hand in a position that was worth playing. I had QQ and raised 240. I got 2 callers but the AJJ flop was not what was wanted and I folded to a pot size bet from the chip leader. A couple of hands later I had KK and my raise to 180 was enough to take the blinds only grrrr.

I won a few small pots pre flop with AQ, AJ, 77 but was then card dead for what seemed forever and was always one of the short stacks. We were on the bubble now and there was another player with a couple of hundred more than me. I looked down at AA and raised to 1.2k. I thought about going all in for my remaining 2.5k but didn't want to scare everyone out of the pot. The other short stacked asked if I had 77 or QQ and he then went all in. I insta-called and he turned over 44 which begs the question why? if he thought I had a bigger pair. Anyway the flop was A67 to give me a set but the 5 on the turn gave him an open-ended straight draw and I feared the worst! However the river J doubled me up to 5.2k and left him with about 100. I knocked him out the next hand when his all in was called by one other player and we sensibly checked it down

In the last 3 I was the chip dog with 5k to 28K and 6K. I sneaked into 2nd when the chip leader rivered his 3 outer to knock out the other shorty. Heads up and I'm 35-5k chip dog. I needed to double up and a few hands later pushed with AT, he called with 96 and hit 4 diamonds for a flush and that was that. Still pleased given that I was card dead for long periods or got no action at all with my couple of decent starting hands.

Challenge bankroll is now $259.25

Another STT win

I played a $2 stt on laddies today as the $5 were taking a while to fill and I had an hour or so to kill and didn't want to wait around. Was a good decision as I managed to win it.

I didn't get many hands early on so was patient and let 2 donks knock themselves out in L1. It tightened up a bit after that and I won 1.9k with AK in level 2. Level 3 gave me KK and I won 1.3K after betting out on a QJ5 flop with 2 hearts. In level 4 I had 88 in the bb,and checked. The 653 flop with 2 diamonds was about the best I could hope for and I led out with 400. I got 3 callers! eek! A 3 on the turn and I bet 1K and got a caller. The Q on the river slowed me up and we checked it down and I won 4k.

We were down to the last 4 and one guy who had been a big chip leader but he had played almost every hand and was yo-yoing all over the place, sat out and was blinded out in 4th lol. I was pretty card dead as he lost his last 2k so there was no need to be stupid when I could afford to sit tight and make the money without having a real short stack.

Down to the last 3 and I had 9K vs 19k and 12k so not that bad. Again I was patient as the chip leader on my right was raising every hand. I just waited for a hand to go back over the top with. It came in the form of TT and I re-raised him to 2k. He went all in with 55 and I called. The 764 flop was scary but the A, 2, were bricks for him and I now had 15k and the chip lead. It was my turn to bully now and I raised in the small blind4 times in a row to take the big blind which he noticed and told me. I told him I had a hand every time lol

It took a while to get to last 2 and was a small 22k to 18k chip dog heads up. He proceeded to go all in pretty much every hand but I was patient. I waited till he didn't go all in and I had something half decent to re-raise him with and he started to get the message that I wasn't gonna throw my chips in and pray lol. In the end it all ended pretty quickly in 2 hands as he called with absolute crap and thankfully my hands held up. I would put the hand detail here if I could get them out of poker tracker! But whenever I have it open with the laddies software it always takes for ever then crashes. Only ever happens when the bag of shite that is laddies client is running, works fine with all other poker clients running! grrrrrr! lol Got it working now and the last 2 hands hands were K9 vs J4 and QJ vs 63. Both times he pushed after I raised preflop and both times he bricked. I guess he had live cards but he needed to hit and its not the kinda position I want to be in lol

Oh I almost forgot I played a $1 MTT on laddies yesterday as it had 1k added and was limited to 300. I came 155th lol

Challenge bankroll is now $252.75. The graph seems to have hit a plateau over the last month rather than going up but then again I haven't played much and at least its not going down.

Card dead

First games for a while today and I got a 3rd and 6th in 2 super deepstack stts.

Nothing much to report really as I was card dead in both pretty much all the time. I had QQ 3 times in the first game but never won big pots as my rasies were either folded preflop or on the flop. I suffered a few beats when two pair was beaten by runne runner straight 2 hands in a row and ran TT into JJ on a raggy board lol. I thought I was out when in level I rasied to 1.2k with TT. There was i caller and the board came J87 (2 spades). I re-rasied all in for ym last 1.5k and he called with 66. Happy days until the turn was a 6..... arrrggghhh but the river 9 gave me a straight and I doubled up to 5.8k lol. Oh and of course I had the usual fold trash and flop a full house hand lol. I seem to get at least one of these every game!

In the end I got them all in with 66 and was called by AK who hits a K on the turn grrrr just can't seem to win a race these days. So a profit of $2.50 lol

In the 2nd game I was even more card dead but this hand probably sums it.

> 000rusty000 posted big blind (30)
> Game # 950,771,226 starting.
> Dealing Hole Cards(Jh Jc )
jens_dog> nh
> bren21 folded
Countalucard> ty ul
> Countalucard folded
> richmagpies1 raised for 180
> RiverKing66 folded
> Apresboarder folded
jens_dog> no i knew you had it :-)
> jens_dog called for 180
> s-pyro folded
> 000rusty000 called for 150
> Dealing the Flop(10c Jd Qc )
> 000rusty000 checked
> richmagpies1 bet for 555
> jens_dog went all-in for 400
> 000rusty000 called for 555
> Dealing the turn(6h )
> 000rusty000 checked
> richmagpies1 checked
> Dealing the river(Ac )
> 000rusty000 bet for 2,065
> richmagpies1 folded
> Extra chips returned to 000rusty000, 2,065
> jens_dog shows One Pair, Fives
(5c 5s Ac Qc Jd )
> 000rusty000 shows Two Pair, Aces over Jacks
(As Ac Js Jd Qc )
> 000rusty000 wins 2,065 with Two Pair, Aces over Jacks

I laid down the best hand here but there were so many hands beating me here - was a flush and straight on the board! Maybe my own fault as I should have bet the turn? I was a bit annoyed after that and not getting any cards at all didn't help. I managed to double up with 88 vs A7 but a few hands later I pushed with KJ after hitting top pair on a J high board. I was called by QQ and that was that! Crap play by me i think as I shouldn't be playing KJ really but then again it was in the big blind so just one of those things I guess.

So down $3 for the day for the STTs.

Challenge bankroll is $248.15