The Fossil does Vegas

[Erimus]

Fairly uneventful start to the month on the poker front not a lot of volume put in tbh not feeling it, played 22 games cashed in 7 only in profit because have got a few sng cashes so they have payed the entries for tournaments, the sngs  are a right grind and can be a right pain I don"t think I could sit and play them all day, but I suppose if you are a multi tabling reg you are not there for a bit of fun it is your living so good luck to you.

I have had a few deep runs as per usual made one final table for not a lot, it"s the usual lose or win the important flip at the end which usually means a min cash or win it for a chance for the lot, gotta win those flips.

Cash and zoom poker have again taken a back seat again been coolered in a few spots and I just don"t like playing cash poker so it"s back to mtts and sngs for me.

Live poker has again been uneventful after my good run last month, made the final table of the last 3 tourneys at the G, not really difficult as runners have been around the 20 mark so they are effectively sngs, my usual tactic in these things is fold fold then shove when the pots are worth winning, I just can"t get involved in some of the 8 way limped pots at the G at the low blind levels, obviously if you have hand you put in a substantial raise you might lose one player but once a player has invested they are seeing that flop whatever the cost.

I haven"t cashed in the last 3, all fairly standard exits wont bore you with the details.

Last months profits have been spent and we will be seeing a new kitchen installed in August, hoping to win a bit this month so I can pay the fitter, I would attempt to do a bit myself but my DIY skills are negligible to say the least, best to leave it to the professionals.

The G have decided to put another 2 day event on at the weekend, after having a Facebook poll asking players which would they prefer a 1 day or 2 day £100 game, I can"t remember exact percentages but pretty sure 95% said a 1 dayer would be the players choice so they decided to stay with the 2 day event, what was the point of the vote, nice to know they are listening to their customers,  I will be surprised if they make 30 players this month listening to the chat.

I am hoping to make Nottingham in August for the Europeans so may bump into a few of you,in the mean time Run good, be lucky and stay healthy.

[Erimus]

Mid month mumblings to follow, according to opr have played 43 this month and I have cashed in 13 but unfortunately nothing big,made a final table on Monday finishing 9th when I shoved AJ utg with 12 bigs only to be called by Aq which held so fair enough, I did get lucky getting there with a few suck outs so can"t complain too much, so slightly down in mtts but slightly in profit due to a couple of sng cashes

I played the same game last night and was chip leader with 20 left when I got it in good with  AQ v AJ for a +400k pot but the J binked and was down to playing a 25 big blind stack again, I managed to find dem aces utg with 18 bigs so do a min raise get called by KJ, same player as above he manages to get a full house by the river, was convinced he had made at least KKk so when he checks back the river assuming I would put my last 10 bigs in I didn"t bother paying him off  so I lost the minimum but it killed the mtt any way and I eventually gave the chips to someone else, finished 12th.


Live poker has been fairly useless as well although Sundays game was quite enjoyable with Pokerpops winning it after delivering my knockout blow with a 6 on the river giving him a straight when we both had flush draws, mine being the higher, all standard stuff I managed to hit a straight last week when he had flopped trips so all is fair in love and war, glad he won it though, especially against all the young whizz kids who are still convinced we only play aces, hang on a minute I do it"s Dave who is a bit mad, in a good way.

G,s £100 2 day event went ahead it managed to get 16 runners and they wer e still 3 handed at 11:30pm on Sunday night, £900 was first prize but it"s a fairly long slog, average stacks were still between 40/50 bigs then don"t know what time it ended hopefully they will try and get the numbers up for the next one by offering a gtee or making it a one dayer with a slightly shorter clock.

Contemplating playing the Grand Prix at Dtd next week but only if I can get Susan looked after, I don"t really want the extra cost of hotels etc.Wedding anniversary his week, 27 years and counting, probably go out for a decent steak providing the place we go to has improved their wheelchair access, that"s it for now, run good, be lucky stay healthy.

[pokerpops]

a bit mad, in a good way

i think I"ll have that as my epitaph

thanks Bri


You"re right, the 6 on the river was suitable recompense for the 10 10 < KJ the week before
I ran good on Sunday night and ran equally bad last night - plus you missed the worst line up ever seen in there


The 2 day thing ended just before the SUnday comp so around 1230. Rocky eventually coming out on top, as he really should have.

[Erimus]

Well that"s it for another month in poker, and it hasn"t been that bad,it could of been a lot better with a bit of luck and a prevailing wind, first I would just like to congratulate Pokerpops on another brilliant run at he Grand Prix in Nottingham, as I write this he is currently 11th going into day 3.

He is the short stack but a chip and a chair Gl to him.

My circumstances dictate I cant play too many multi day events live but I am hoping to get to Nottingham for the Apat game just getting stuff sorted for Susan and as soon as that"s done will get registered.

Online has been profitable I am just $4 off getting $1k for the month, I am not one for setting targets but my general aim for the month is $500at least, so got to be happy with doubling that.

I am now adding in a few $30 sngs as I go along but these don"t fill up as fast as the $15 games and also playing a lot more heads up sngs which at he moment is going along ok.

I am also going to start playing a few more sats to the bigger games online hoping to play the Sunday million tonight, if I win a few sngs may buy in direct as a treat.

I played a sat for a ukipt seat last night on Stars, 2 seats were available and there was £200 for third and £80 for 4th, got 4th unfortunately, when 4 handed we were all fairly close and I played my exit hand so badly, so bad in fact not even going to talk about it as it still annoys  me now.

I am a relatively conservative player and the last few mtts I have played I just have just decided to try and get a big stack when I have about 20/30 big blinds to try and get a decisive stack to win one of these things, taking a more aggressive approach hasn"t yet yielded big results but hopefully one of them will come in one day.

That"s it for Julys ramblings, run good, be lucky stay healthy.

[duke3016]

I am a relatively conservative player and the last few mtts I have played I just have just decided to try and get a big stack when I have about 20/30 big blinds to try and get a decisive stack to win one of these things, taking a more aggressive approach hasn"t yet yielded big results but hopefully one of them will come in one day.

Welcome to the Dark Side  

[Erimus]

Final table stars 4k gtee good luck me 8th at mo but 20 bigs 1 double up got a chance

[Erimus]

Ran KQ into aq picked up the flush draw but no love, another frustrating run, gotta keep trying.

[Erimus]

2cd final table of the day erimus 14 if you fancy a rail.

Finished 7th hamstrung by chip leader who was hitting everything, lost two races at end, gotta learn to win them flips.

[Erimus]

Average start to August online, breaking even just in mtts thanks to a 10th and a 12th place in a couple of  $55 tournaments on Stars, the rest have been pretty meh, was going quite well in the hot $33 the other day but got a bit to aggro with AQ, villain was always going to have AK for a 50 big blind pot and a good chance of going super deep disappeared into the ether.

I have decided to cash out 2/3rds of  the money on Stars and only leave 1k there to play with and at the end of every month take any profit out and start again at 1k, if there is no profit just keep grinding it till there is. My initial thoughts were to try and reach 10k by the end of the year then withdraw but if I can top up my money in my carers role each month this will be of more benefit to us.
I can reload for specific events like sats to ukipt if I fancy another go at them, still kicking myself for throwing a potential seat away last week.

Good to hear Full Tilt may be reopening as I have $ 450 stuck in there, that will be a nice bonus which was was unexpected.

I haven"t played live for a while so I thought I would make an effort this week and have played 3 nights on the trot, the first game was on Sunday the 15/15 at the g, it attracted about 18 runners including PhilTC and Pokerpops, it was a really enjoyable game plenty of laughs, banter etc managed to finish 6th, losing a race AK v 55 flopped 5 killed me although I did hit an A and a K on the turn and river, thanks for that,  if you read Pokerpops blog he and Phil chopped it Gl and wp them, although Dave is running in God mode at the minute, hope it continues for him.

The Monday night game was a £30 freeze out with 10 runners, it is 15 k in chips and gives plenty of play, it deserves to get more runners than it gets but if numbers were to increase think they would have to reduce starting stacks otherwise it would take 2 days to finish.

The mtt payed the top 2 but we were 3 handed I was shortstack 15 bigs one of the others offered a chop and I was happy to take £80, it was late and wanted to get home.

I popped over to the G to see if their Tuesday game was going ahead but it looked as though it wasn"t going to run so went to Gala instead, Pokerpops had done the same and we had a chat in the break both agreeing that this particular Card room tilts the hell out of us both, the two previous nights I had really enjoyed the game, people were being friendly, the game was good, valets giving good service, and just a nice ambiance, gala is the total opposite, but we are here and may as well play.

I got to the break with 10 big blinds after making 2 moves without success earlier, utg raises to 700 gets 3 callers, I look down at KJdd, decide to squeeze to 2k only worrying really about utg if he reraises I will reassess, call, call, call, now I have KJdd oop and a 10 k pot, only have 6k behind, Completely whiff the flop, all low cards and black, utg ships it all in, can"t do any thing,sigh fold he shows 45 for  an up and down straight draw, outplayed ? Suppose so but I can"t do much once he has shoved flop.

Grinded for an hour or so back to 8k then at blinds 300/600 an argument ensues between one player who has just lost with KK v AK, pretty standard spot couldn"t see the need for shouting but think it was because another player had said something, I had put some music on previous to this as I didn"t really want to be there, I eventually lost a race 1010 me v AJ, J on he flop,no help for me on the turn and river, got to learn to win them flips.

So on the live front played 3 for a loss of a tenner, cheap nights out.

G are running a one dayer on Saturday,£100 buy in 20k chips 30 min blinds might pop along for that if my son gets home this weekend to look after Susan, plus the Stockon home game will be at the G this Thursday to celebrate and congratulate Dave on another successful run at Dtds Grand Prix.

Congratulations to Rob as well for his run at the Gps in Stoke, it"s good to see members doing well in various tourneys around the country, that"s your lot for now, run good, be lucky stay healthy.

[Erimus]

Online running pretty horrid at the moment not a sniff of anything, the closest coming in a $55 tournament when on the exact cash bubble small blind shoves all in I have 15 bigs look down at AQ, I could fold here and squeeze into the cash but I call, yippee he has Q3, 3 on the river, urgh, hey oh move on.

Also had a deepish run in the big $11 on stars losing another AK v a8 encounter small blind v big blind for a top 20 spot and the possibility of a decent run, but again wasn"t to be.

Apologies for the bad beat stories 50 p gone in the tin.

Better news on the live front played G casinos new comp it"s £100 20k starting stack 30 minute blinds and this month attracted 36ish runners I think, the casino added £300 as well.

I wont bore you with the early stages but got off to a good start when I hit a set of tens v AA, didn"t get full value as 4 clubs were on the board and it was checked down at the river.

The table was fairly solid with hardly any limping plenty o f 3 and 4 betting going on , I was a bit up and down and when we finally broke to two tables I had about 30 big blinds.

I got moved and ended up sitting to the right of Pokerpops and kept my stack between 25 and 30 bigs with a few light steals from the button, the decisive hand on this table was when it was the final table bubble, the short stack shoves from mid position about 35k small blind takes an age to fold I have QQ in the big blind, trivial call from me, villain turns over AA, urgh, first card out is a Q and the Q on the turn seals it for me, ul for the AA but I will take it.

We get to the final table, Pokerpops is there and with all decent regs it is not going to be an easy table, comp is paying top 6
Blinds are 1k5/3k and I have about 100k, so just over 30 bigs.

I get a few raises through with mid pairs uncontested so I am keeping a decent stack then comes the most significant hand of the night.
We are on the cash bubble (£280) for 6th place I look down at 10 10 I make my standard raise 2.5x, I can"t remember blinds but I have about 30 bigs behind, Pokerpops who probably has about 60 plus bigs  4 bets me a biggish amount I can"t remember the exact figure.

It folds around to me and I have a decision, it"s either fold or shove, the amount he had 4 bet me too didnt give me the option to set mine, I instantly shoved hoping to represent AA or KK, now I didn"t get an instant call so I am ruling out AA or KK, my thoughts are now if has JJ he can fold because I have made it look so strong, can he fold QQ if that is what he has, I keep watching him count out the chips to make the call, he tanked for a while and he eventually folded,  I breathed a huge sigh of relief and showed my hand and from his reaction I think I got him to lay down the better hand, I don"t normally show and this was not intended as a rubdown or anything like that i was just glad it got through, speaking to him at the break he said he didn"t think I would do what I did with 10 10 on the cash bubble, he still hasn"t said what he had by the way, may have to read his blog later it might be in there.

In the above hand I think he calls most other players but he is pretty sure I am only doing that particular move with either aces or kings in that spot.

We get to 4 handed the chipleader has 35 bigs v 20 bigs I have 18and the short stack has 14, 4th place is £450 we discuss a deal at the request of chip leader who takes home £1200, second place takes £1k and myself and the other lad take home £875 each, quite happy with that,the £875 was more than 4th and 3rd place amounts so all in all a good days work.

Run good, be lucky stay healthy.

[pokerpops]

Fish!

I had QJ, instant read to know you have tens and I have two overs, just couldn"t bring myself to take the flip.

[duke3016]

Fish!

I had QJ, instant read to know you have tens and I have two overs, just couldn"t bring myself to take the flip.

Just checked outside to see if the planets were still aligned  

[Erimus]

Alternative view on last nights game at G, see Pokerpops for the original.

As Dave has said there at 2 casinos within a few miles of each other and the G at the moment can"t compete with Gala regarding the number of runners, last nights game at gala was a £60 game which would prob get 60 plus runners and obviously generate a decent prize pool, but due to time restrictions a few levels are missed out and the structure is not very good, I used to play a lot at Gala and done ok but on one reentry game they changed the structure mid way through the game and instead of going back after the break with 25 bigs paid the reentry fee and had a 12 big blind stack, (structure had been altered 2 weeks previous when I hadn"t entered, my bad for not checking), since then only been back on the odd occasion.

Although the fields aren"t big at G, the games are generally sit and goes rather than mtts and with some  people usually buying in twice they can be quite profitable.

Only play premiums in the first few levels as its usually 6 people to a pot, once someone has chips in the middle it doesn"t matter what some one raises to they are going to call.

Lost first lot of chips when aggro good player raises, gets one flat from small blind I have 55, the pot is 1200, I only have 2k so just announce all in, aggro player  folds,limper calls he has 99, no help on board so take the extra chips, original raiser had 77 so I saved him some chips.

Significant hand of the night Dr Donk limps utg as is his usual move I limp call with 98,5 people eventually see flop which was 9,5,7, dr donk leads out for 1k2, I only have 6k behind so announce all in, Dr Donk is going to call if he has hit so I might get a double up, get 2 callers behind so pot is now about 20k, I stand up assuming I am going home, turn card is a 6, so I sit back down again, no help for anyone on the river, but the old lady announces straight so I assume we are splitting, she actually misread her hand and had J high, bink back in the game.

I reraise Dave from the dealer button after his raise of an early position limper he shoves all in, I fold AJ, reading his blog he has 99, nines how does he do that to my show of strength, (previous history may have been involved).

Eventually get to heads up with Dave, a couple of days to late but it is what it is. He has the chip advantage so no talking of splitting the pot, eventually my KQ beats his KJ and we are equal in chips, I ask if he wants to split as it is late and we both take £175, like he said I don"t have much experience in live heads up mainly because any tournament I have gone deep in deals are usually done, if it wasn"t so late I would of been happy to play on,I assumed Dave would of been working today so offered the option.

I am well in profit at the G by just playing these small games rather than the higher variance games at Gala, and it"s generally a more pleasant experience.

Game selection for the win.

[Erimus]

Nottingham is now a definite, found a place literally 10 minutes from home which can accommodate Susan, I don"t know why I haven"t seen this place before, speaking to the manager she says there is always rooms and beds available and with the price being very close to standard night in a decent hotel it is a better option than booking a hotel for both of us and leaving her alone with a mobile to contact me if required.

I actually deposited the cash on Monday to get my seat and put a bit too much in which allowed entry into the sat which ran, I would like to say I was unlucky and bubbled the seat but as there were only 3 runners that would of been a slight exaggeration well done to Suzanne who got the seat, i cant complain though had a profitable few days and my buy in is taken care of, looking foreward to the game and will be nice to meet up

I shall be playing the knockout game tonight and possibly a few on Stars so hopefully a good session will ensue.

Vegas may be on the cards again if she likes it and she settles in there, probably march/April 2013.

[PHIL_TC]

Fantastic Brian, not sure when you want to head down, but will be driving down on Friday morning mate if you want a lift.. coming back Monday. Let me know.

Vegas.. just been talking about this with Matty this afternoon.. decided we"re 100% going back next year, just can"t decide when.

Option a) March for my birthday
Option b) WSOP time
Option c) Anth wanting to do "comic con" in July followed by Vegas after (probs just missing end of WSOP though)
Option d) November for WSOP main event final
Option e) Whenever APAT decide it would be an idea to go back
Option f) All of the above.. or maybe a couple  

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