Home Game Report

I thought maybe I wouldn't drink during this home game, how wrong I was! I was 10 dolllars up at the end of the night which is nice but not that important, everyone enjoyed themselves which is good. The wife won a bit and I got a 3rd in the main event so not too bad. We played a bit of cash where I tried to bring new elements into the game. Hold 'em switch was very popular. We played a freezeout at the end of the night which Pat won by hitting a five outer on the river to bust my AQ with his A2, the bugger.

The full results are as follows :
Me - 3rd 15 quid
Wife - 2nd 21 quid
Mum in law - 1st 31 quid + high hand QQQAA for 8 quid
Dad in law - Nowt
Albert - Nowt
Chobbs - Nowt
Pat - 1st 20 quid
Gimp - 2nd 10 quid

Profit / (Loss)
Online Cash (273)
Online SNGs 1350
Online Multi tables (65)
Live Cash 821
Live SNGs 0
Live Multi Table tournaments 552
Live 'Pro' tournaments + Satellites (1840)
Home Games 110

Total $655 up

Home Game Tonight!

I started with a list of twelve, but numbers have now been whittled down to eight. The players will be competing in limit cash games of Hold 'em, Hold 'em switch, Pineapple, Lowball and Royal Hold 'em, as well as the customary five pound rebuy main event. There will also be a high hand of the night jackpot and progressive quads of better jackpot, which was won at Christmas and was eighty quid at the time. Definitely a drinking and socialising night as opposed to something that might swell my pension fund. If the stakes were higher half the players wouldn't come, although I am slowly uping the ante so to speak now I've got them hooked...

The brave and fearless competitors tonight will be ;
Me
Wife
Mum in law
Dad in law
Albert
Chobbs
Mad Pat
Danny the Gimp (I'll refer to him as Gimp from now on)

I have set up one table on the patio and one indoors for the inevitable cold snap at about 10pm. Should be a good night if I play my cards right! (sorry)
My bankroll for the evening is 50 quid, the wifes is about 40 as she needs less being the better player. I will post full tournament results here and report on my cash profits/loss.

Pride Comes Before a Fall

Yes you've guessed it I didn't make my 13th cash in a row the other night. I got destroyed in about four hands on a heads up match on Virgin. Since then I've been struggling to get any live action but have got Tuesday night's home game to look forward to.
I nearly got to the Loose Cannon last Thursday night for the city 100 but got too comfortable in the pub in Whitehall drinking Titanic and other nice bitters......

I am up to $1325 on online SNGs, the profit coming from Virgin 5 Euro heads up matches. I've been winning at least two out of three which gives me a small but steady profit. My monthly profit is $186 which isn't bad for what essentially is a hobby. Try making $186 a month playing football, Golf or fishing..........
I had a few beers last night and lost three in a row after tilting against a good player. I need to regain my focus today and win a few before jet washing the patio and getting the barbie on.

The Record Cash Streak has been Broken!

I've been grabbing a few games on Virgin and Betfair the last few days, mostly heads up matches. I've broken my record for cashes in a row which was 8 but is now a healthy 12. I'm still on this streak so when conditions are right (i.e. after the Sainsbury's shop) I'll see if I can make it 13 in a row. I should say that I've played some good aggressive players and got lucky on coin flips, but I think I deserve some luck.

By grinding away at small stakes and making a steady profit theres always the nagging feeling that I could be making more by playing bigger stakes. I give it a shot every now and then and invariably fail and go back to low stakes where I'm comfy. I may start playing more $22 SNGs on Betfair, Full Tilt and Virgin and see how I go for a month. Check back here for the results!

Profit / (Loss)
Online Cash (273)
Online SNGs 1298
Online Multi tables (65)
Live Cash 821
Live SNGs 0
Live Multi Table tournaments 552
Live 'Pro' tournaments + Satellites (1840)
Home Games 100

Total $593 up

Itching For Live Action

As the title says it's been weeks since I got back from Vegas and I'm missing the fact that I can get out of bed at 4am and walk downstairs to play some live poker. I'm having a home game on 22nd July and I'm thinking of going to the Loose Cannon or Empire tommorrow night to get my fix.

Online I've been doing ok. I broke my $10 SNG cherry on Full Tilt, taking one down on Sunday. I've not been playing much on there due to the time difference, and the fact that I don't want to play the better yanks in the middle of their day. I've been playing on Virgin mostly in their cooler tournaments. The reward isn't high but it's a double up for little risk (just some solid play).

I'm up to $1242 on online SNGs now which isn't too sad. A slow rise in the old worm suits me - I use a free Excel graph to track my results from www.KingsCasade.com, which is excellent.

Now for some live cashes!

Up, Up and Away!

The last few days I've been playing mostly heads up matches on Full Tilt, Virgin and Betfair. I started out winning but then my luck ran out, so I had a break.

I've decided to use Full Tilt for the purpose I downloaded it - to play drunk Americans when I'm all nice and fresh in the morning. I had a couple of heads of matches there this morning and was outclassed by better players. From now on I'll only play early in the morning on the Tilt to give myself a better chance.

I've discovered the Virgin Cooldown SNG, which is 11 Euros entry, top five get 20 Euros. This tourney suits my tight aggressive 'Harrington' style of play. I'm glad to say it would seem most players don't adjust their play from a standard SNG. They take too many risks by calling all ins for all their chips when all they really need to do is get a nice stack and keep it. I've played three of these matches today and 'won' all three for a profit of 27 Euros ($42).

I've also played a few $11 SNGs on Betfair and came 6th, 3rd and 2nd. I lost the heads up match against a German player who was top of the Betfair leaderboard in June, and I matched him all the way, which is encouraging. A $59 profit today.

Profit / (Loss)
Online Cash (273)
Online SNGs 1214
Online Multi tables (65)
Live Cash 821
Live SNGs 0
Live Multi Table tournaments 552
Live 'Pro' tournaments + Satellites (1840)
Home Games 100

Total $509 up

Getting into Mano a Mano...

I've been busy at work and at home the last week or so which means my usual 4 tables on $10 SNGs on Betfair or Party have to wait. I can't guarantee that I will be left to concentrate for a whole hour at home, so if I played I would be struggling and if I bust out of all four I'm in danger of blaming the family for disturbing me (maybe I should blame the bottle of Pinot Grigio I've just necked instead eh?).
The solution for me has been to play some $5 heads up matches one at a time so I can concentrate. If I get disturbed and donk off all my chips it's only the price of a small donner or pint of grog so it's not the end of the world. I've done ok so far playing 16 tourneys on Virgin, Full Tilt and Betfair. I've won 11 out of 16 for an ROI of 30% and profit of $33, which is ok as the stakes are so low. What I have noticed is the rake if quite high so the rakeback deals I have at Full Tilt and Betfair are important. I need to win two out of three to show a small profit. If I was winning just half the tourneys the poker site would slowly bleed my bankroll of course, the buggers. I'm not going to get into rake on this post as I want to play some more poker.....

Profit / (Loss)
Online Cash (273)
Online SNGs 1164
Online Multi tables (65)
Live Cash 821
Live SNGs 0
Live Multi Table tournaments 552
Live 'Pro' tournaments + Satellites (1840)
Home Games 100
Total $459 up