Toe'd in the Hole

[rubertoe]

Some of you may know this some of you may not - But i have been abstaining from online Poker (since my exit from the national) untill the National League starts in a couple of weeks

My reasons for the exile have already been given so i wont bore with the details - but i thought i"d let you know how i"m getting on!

Well after making the decision to give up online Poker on the Sat/Sunday i decided that i would find something else to fill my time and all i managed to realise that there is absolutly FA on TV on Sundays - unless of course you have SKy which is an entirly Different Matter -  and that it takes a lot of effort to plan and Execute a Roast Dinner. Although i may have found a new Carear path I always fancied being a Chef! (If the WSOP ME win doesnt happen that is - You gotta have dreams)

This was not really important as i had gone a day or two without playing before so it didnt really bother me all that much.

Then we come to Monday - Now this was strange for me - Work as normall (obviously Poker doesnt pay my bills), nothing strange about that - but my normal routine is to get home from work about 5ish - fire up the PC and the Play a few SNG"s untill the missus get"s home a couple of hours later - Back to Sunday and the leftovers - I proceed to Make Soup (rather than Play)!!!

FFS Soup i hear your cry - I couldnt believe it either there i was - Chicken Carcass Simmering away with a cookbook on the Side - doing something that i never dreamt i"d be doing during Poker time! luckily for me this trend never continued for the rest of the week! (although me and GF do share the Cooking)

Tuesday - Much as Monday - Work etc - then Home and i am now filling my Poker time Playing PS3 which is a nice distraction (and a nice reminder that i can play poker as this was bought from a Poker winnings) but i can see that my Girlfriend has noticed that the PC hasnt been on for 2/3 days and not a poker site has been opened - She likes to moan about the noise that the virtual cards make when dealt! She plays - but she isnt worried if she dont. So she enquires as to why i havent been playing poker and i proceed to tell her about the exile - She Massages the ego telling me i am good player etc and if i wanna play then Do. I"m Adamanet that the Exile shall Continue!

Wednesday - there is Footie on, we have guests and i like to have a bet on the game when my team aint playing , but i am also now 4 days into my break and i am starting to get the urge to Play again!

Thursday - The Day i Cracked (but it aint all bad)!!!

I Decide today is the day that i shall return to the Online Poker World, but from the outset i have laid down 1 rule that that is still sort of keeping me in exile!!

I will play anything but Hold'em,

leaving me with Stud, Omaha, Draw anything really - So i have been cracking on with some PLO 6max SnG"s and some Cash 7 card stud - both at lower limits and i must say that not really having played much of either of them i am holding my own and making a Small profit along the way - So for me the next few weeks shall see me playing incresingly more varieties which will inturn hopefully improve my holdem game.

I must say that at the lower ($1-5 sng /20c) levels the play of the Omaha and Stud are terrible and i will be doing my very best to take advantage off this untill the National league starts.

I"ll update over the weekend as to how i get on - Unfortunately the Home Game has been Cancelled due to lack of numbers - which is shame as this would be my only chance to play Holdem for a while and i was looking forward to it - but as the Girlfriend is Out on saturday - i will of course be firing up the PC and playing some badddddoooooogggggiiiii or 2-7 or maybe even some Backgammon!!!

Finally Just like to say good luck to all those that won seats to Walsall - its gonna be Quality!!! (well maybe some of the play might not be) Enjoy

Rubertoe

[duke3016]

there is absolutly FA on TV on Sundays - unless of course you have SKy which is an entirly Different Matter

There is feck all on sky either. Nice prose, good luck with the variations

[TopPair2Pair]

Look forward to reading the blog.

smash up the Badugi!!!... !

[rubertoe]

I am now a full week - give or take a few Hours - into the Texas Holdem Cold Turkeyathon and i must say that i am starting to miss it! Dont get me wrong i like playing the other variants but to be honest you cant beat the thrill of NLHE! - the cadilac of Poker! as Doyle Calls is and who am i a to disagree with anything that he might say about poker!

I Havent played anything other than SnG Omaha for the last 48 hours and having played 16  - 20 tourny"s i am showing a break even result - less the rake* which is ok - but there are some donks - but this is to be expected in a game like omaha - where your never that much of a favourite with 2 cards to come!!

I may crack and play a NLHE tourny later today as it is a freeroll - $2kgtd - and only about 400 runners and half of them sitout or bust out in the first 20 mins so - i may have to play as it is such Valoooo . But otherthan that there are a few Omaha Tourny;s that i have my Eye on and also i am looking for a stud tourny with a bit of added value - so i"ll let you know how that goes - or whether the NLHE demons rear there ugly heads again!!!

One Last word - the amount of money that is banded about for Manchester City to buy Kaka is absolutly ridiculous and should never be allowed to happen - Dont get me wrong Kaka is a great player - but C"mon its obscene (regardless of how much the owner is worth)As a Gooner myself i would like nothing more than to see my club spend money - but Wenger will not cripple the Club! - i hope that this transfer does happen - but not for the money and it has to be for footballing reasons - and lets be honest it cant be - its Man City FFS and there not even the best club in Manchester let alone England!!!

** the Rake sucks at the lower level SNG"s

Rubertoe

[Waz1892]

I am now a full week - give or take a few Hours - into the Texas Holdem Cold Turkeyathon and i must say that i am starting to miss it! Dont get me wrong i like playing the other variants but to be honest you cant beat the thrill of NLHE! - the cadilac of Poker! as Doyle Calls is and who am i a to disagree with anything that he might say about poker!

I Havent played anything other than SnG Omaha for the last 48 hours and having played 16  - 20 tourny"s i am showing a break even result - less the rake* which is ok - but there are some donks - but this is to be expected in a game like omaha - where your never that much of a favourite with 2 cards to come!!

I may crack and play a NLHE tourny later today as it is a freeroll - $2kgtd - and only about 400 runners and half of them sitout or bust out in the first 20 mins so - i may have to play as it is such Valoooo . But otherthan that there are a few Omaha Tourny;s that i have my Eye on and also i am looking for a stud tourny with a bit of added value - so i"ll let you know how that goes - or whether the NLHE demons rear there ugly heads again!!!

One Last word - the amount of money that is banded about for Manchester City to buy Kaka is absolutly ridiculous and should never be allowed to happen - Dont get me wrong Kaka is a great player - but C"mon its obscene (regardless of how much the owner is worth)As a Gooner myself i would like nothing more than to see my club spend money - but Wenger will not cripple the Club! - i hope that this transfer does happen - but not for the money and it has to be for footballing reasons - and lets be honest it cant be - its Man City FFS and there not even the best club in Manchester let alone England!!!

** the Rake sucks at the lower level SNG"s

Rubertoe

wot site is the freeroll on !!  

[rubertoe]

Wow -  You know you have made it when you appear on the APAT radio show!

Hopefully this will Direct alot of people to my blog!

Just to clarify something that was mentioned in the show and this is where does the name "rubertoe" come from - (It was funny that des mentioned ivanhoe! as that was the name of our dog!!) but that isnt where the name comes from!! They are right and it is just as boring as mentioned it is just derived from Roberto and developed into rubertoe about 15 years ago and you know a nickname is gonna stick when your mum starts yelling "rubber Dinner is ready"!" (This obviously when i still lived at home, my mum doesnt ring me up to tell me to come home for dinner).

Anyway still no NLHE -- and a day of Stud ahead of me!!!

Ps - this will be the last post that mentions food - now i"m off to the butchers!!

[monkeyman]

If you"re playing Stud, Partypoker is a lot softer than Pokerstars or Full Tilt

[rubertoe]

Well it seems that i have opened up a can of worms!

I never really thought about blogging when i first made the "its a fresh begining" Post - it all started with a rant about me not being good enough - which i am addressing through abstainence and shared learning (ie google-) - But really as un apdate of how i was getting on!*

And now however it seems that i must continue _ i have Fans (well Des and Leigh Liked it)! - So we now find ourselves thinking of things to write - me -  I like to waffle!!

So i"ll Try and Talk about anything and everything (except cooking) that comes to mind! be it poker (I cant wait for the national league to start - i am gonna post Hand histories and invite comment), My Life work or whatever!

Why is that i cant follow one bit of advice that i am trying to drum into myself?
"dont go broke in an unraised pot" simple. but i just cant seem to absorb this info and i find myself repeating it to myself time and time again - admitedly mostly after exiting tournies!!(For those that have played with me you know what i Mean - See avatar!) but like i say i am trying to address this and there are a couple of people that i would like to Thank!

Both Eck and Noble1 took time to PM me after my initial post, and this sort of thing reminds me of why i Post here and am becoming a more active participant - and for that i thank them as i can only see good times ahead!!

North London FTW

Good luck all

[rubertoe]

It looks like North london are gonna have a good team for the league -

less than a fortnight to go - Woop Woop!

So if you fancy Joining the winning club then get over to North London and sign up!

[rubertoe]

Well I Finally Cracked - Completly this time!

After all the Variations that i have been playing - i played a NLH tourny last night -

$5 - 245 runners and i managed to finish 15th - which was not to bad - but i should have made the final table! Was it worth me taking time away from NLH - i think that it has been benificial as when i played last night i really concentrated from the outset and started to make notes on the players ( and noticing betting patterns and this most certainly helped (i do make notes occasionally - but it is normally some vague sh*te after a donkey play by someone) -  and by identifying the weak players and confronting them - three betting and re-raisng them i managed to acrue chips without really to much risk!! i was only all in on the hand that i went out with - pocket tens (me) against KJ (villan) all in pre - so i was more than happy!!

Other than that - Just normall Work for me - I am on a boring Management training course at the moment - i can tell you it is tedious - but i am getting paid to sit and do F All all day so it aint to bad!

Rubertoe

[jacklevel06]

I"m sort of following your example here.Monday to Friday are now non online playing days for me.I"m into the second week now,and am not missing it in the slightest.I"m actually looking forward to playing at the weekend and not feeling like it was a chore,which it had become for me.
The reason i stopped was mainly because it felt like i was taking a lot of beats,this eventually made me play scared and i was laying down mid pairs and the like ,when only a min raise had come infront of me.My confidence was rock bottom so decided to take a break.
To fiil the void there was only one thing for it.I bought a dart borad,watch out Phil Taylor  

[rubertoe]

Nice one Jack,

I didn"t play any poker last night - I think that like jack it is good to take a break from the game every now and again - As like jack, i too suffered from the same symptoms - Loss of confidence, playing too tight (Scared really - I"ll admit it) and having played only one NLH Tourney - let alone hand - in the last few weeks - i think that when i am ready to play again properly,  i will feel so much better for it - because that hunger to learn will hopefully return!!

Good Luck with the darts mate - i think it is only a matter of time before there is clash of Poker Clubs across the oche/Baize at darts/pool/anything!!!! We should perhaps re-name it Arrows & Poker Association & Tour!!!!!

Rubertoe

[rubertoe]

I just wanted to elaborate on a post that i made today in North London Poker Club!

It has to do with the regional and my thoughts on the day! - It was a great day - although i am not a lover of Self dealt games - it had a great structure and the turnout was great, i played at the UK Championship regional satellite at the Vic. Anyway, To elaborate - I remember talking to Richard Iwaniak and to be honest i was slightly oiled at this time after being knocked out somewhat earlier! But i recall that he was a nice guy and I am glad that he is the Skipper of the Winning Club!

The reason that Richard and i were talking is that My Mrs and His Mrs (Sorry if that is rude - Its not meant to be) were both still in the satellite and they were sat side by side, with Linda on Tanya"s* Left!!!! (trouble) and we were both railing!! So were just coming up to a break and tan , who had seen Linda on TV and knew she was a good player, is a bit tipsy and giggly at this point and when big hand develops, where Tanya (Approx 12k) is in the SB (200) and Linda with 7k in the BB. Tan has Pocket Tens and makes what i assume is a standard raise to which Linda just flat calls. Flop is rainbow rags under Tans Tens!! Woohoo - you can virtually see it in her face, Linda on the other hand is Sitting there Looking out from beyond her glasses, Tanya wants to find out - so she makes a bet of about the pot only to see Linda push on her!! her face drops but she knows she has to call with that hand and that flop - with those chips in the pot! So in goes the money Cards are Revealed Tanya shows her Tens only to be crushed when Linda turns over The Kings!!

With the levels rising - it wasn"t to long after the break that she hit the rail but she played well and we enjoyed the tourney - and she will never forget that hand that she played with Linda!!! but it wasn"t all bad, i played a bit of cash and managed to Double through my buy in so all in all it was a good day - And the regional will be sorely missed!

But this maybe gives me an idea - Why should the clubs themselves not organise their own live games?? (Each club could organise their own games, at local Clubs and Sports Clubs etc, chose there own structure, buy in etc as long as agreed by the members of the club,) with more Clubs this year the numbers would be evenly spread - and people shouldn"t have to travel too far - that is if they have chosen the club closest to them!!!!! and these don"t have to be for seats - although that would be great if Des could Chuck in one seat - for the winner of each Event - Taken out of the Prize Pool of each - Credit crunch and all that!!!! But these are just random thoughts!

Rubertoe

***I just thought that i better give My better half a Name - and this be it!!!

[APAT]

I just wanted to elaborate on a post that i made today in North London Poker Club!

It has to do with the regional and my thoughts on the day! - It was a great day - although i am not a lover of Self dealt games - it had a great structure and the turnout was great, i played at the UK Championship regional satellite at the Vic. Anyway, To elaborate - I remember talking to Richard Iwaniak and to be honest i was slightly oiled at this time after being knocked out somewhat earlier! But i recall that he was a nice guy and I am glad that he is the Skipper of the Winning Club!

The reason that Richard and i were talking is that My Mrs and His Mrs (Sorry if that is rude - Its not meant to be) were both still in the satellite and they were sat side by side, with Linda on Tanya"s* Left!!!! (trouble) and we were both railing!! So were just coming up to a break and tan , who had seen Linda on TV and knew she was a good player, is a bit tipsy and giggly at this point and when big hand develops, where Tanya (Approx 12k) is in the SB (200) and Linda with 7k in the BB. Tan has Pocket Tens and makes what i assume is a standard raise to which Linda just flat calls. Flop is rainbow rags under Tans Tens!! Woohoo - you can virtually see it in her face, Linda on the other hand is Sitting there Looking out from beyond her glasses, Tanya wants to find out - so she makes a bet of about the pot only to see Linda push on her!! her face drops but she knows she has to call with that hand and that flop - with those chips in the pot! So in goes the money Cards are Revealed Tanya shows her Tens only to be crushed when Linda turns over The Kings!!

With the levels rising - it wasn"t to long after the break that she hit the rail but she played well and we enjoyed the tourney - and she will never forget that hand that she played with Linda!!! but it wasn"t all bad, i played a bit of cash and managed to Double through my buy in so all in all it was a good day - And the regional will be sorely missed!

But this maybe gives me an idea - Why should the clubs themselves not organise their own live games?? (Each club could organise their own games, at local Clubs and Sports Clubs etc, chose there own structure, buy in etc as long as agreed by the members of the club,) with more Clubs this year the numbers would be evenly spread - and people shouldn"t have to travel too far - that is if they have chosen the club closest to them!!!!! and these don"t have to be for seats - although that would be great if Des could Chuck in one seat - for the winner of each Event - Taken out of the Prize Pool of each - Credit crunch and all that!!!! But these are just random thoughts!

Rubertoe

***I just thought that i better give My better half a Name - and this be it!!!

Put "em on the radio once, and he wants paying  

Nice post Robert and I think NL have a very solid team forming.  We very much hope that players within each club will choose to meet up and play together as the season progresses.  I"ll get in a whole lot of trouble with lots of members if APAT starts offering seats to Nationals though the local games though, so we"ll put that one on the burner and see where we all are for Season Four.

[rubertoe]

Scuppered at the first Hurdle!!

At least i know that des reads my Blog!!!