Still Pushing On

I'm still in the middle of a shit sandwich at work, and there's no end in sight just yet. I've been playing a bit of Pokay on Betfair recently and doing OK. I play $11 double ups and make a few quid here and there. Once this period of uncertainty about my job has passed I'll get back on it, live and online. I'm keen to get up the Fox poker club in London to show those boys a few moves (or not).

Anyway keep it real gents.

Et tu, Brute?

Sorry I've not been on for a while, I'm going through some shit at work where it seems the whole world is turning it's back on me. Allies are few and far between, and I've got a battle on to keep my job. I will get through it one way or another, although I might be going pro at poker sooner than I expected! I'll post again when this is sorted. Take it easy gents.

My Best Comeback Ever!

I just played a Pokerstars $11 double up and lost a big pot to end up with 5 chips from my starting stack of 1500, the lowest ammount of chips you can have on the site (I think). Did I give up? Not at all. Blinds were 100/200 with a 25 ante. I was all in for these hands;

Ace seven suited, made a flush to put me upto 35 chips (yeah)
Five seven off vs king ten, spiked a 5 on the flop - 165 chips
Pair of fours - Hit a set then a house to win - 615 chips
King seven off - two other players in the hand, I missed the flop and thought they'd check it down, until a crazy bloke made a min bet to isolate me on the flop with 62 off! I won that hand and was chip leader with 1865 chips, then I cruised to a glorious victory. What a mad game!

Leap Years Explained

Wishing to impart some knowledge of the universe upon my wife the other night I said to her 'Do you know why we have leap years?' She looked at me in all seriousness and said 'So people can get engaged?' I give up...

Getting Back into it

Now that I've got over the Marathon and returned from the hell hole that is Cuba I can concentrate on poker. Who am I kidding? I've got work, wife and decorating to do now, then I'll have studying to do before my next big exam in September (which if I pass means an extra 8k a year). I've come to the conclusion online poker is a young man's game, purely for the fact that when I was a young man I had so much time it was unreal. I used to watch episodes of Star Trek all morning for fuck's sake! Now I haven't got a minute to spare which is rubbish.

I'm making $2 a SNG playing $11 double ups, so if I can pump out 1500 games this year I'll have my flight money for Vegas next year. I can multi table four tables easily, so the way I figure it seven hours of SNGs a week should do it. It would be so good if I could get away with a sneaky game at work, but there's no chance of that.

Anyway back to the ceiling painting....

London Marathon 'Victory' Report

Wow I'm glad that's over. After a very long and painful 26.2 miles I finished the race in 7hrs 44minutes. I came 36466th, my halfway time was 3hrs 25mins 45secs. 36522 runners finished in the time before the organisers go home, but hundreds of people finished after that.

I started out on Blackheath with a plan to run very slowly and hope my injured groin held out. Unfortunately it started hurting at mile two, and despite regular stretch stops, 8 Nurofen tabs, a surgical glove full of ice down the old pants, and a bucket of freeze cream, the pain got worse, forcing me to walk from Surrey Quays (mile 9). I had a two mile run once I crossed Tower Bridge, but the pain got too much and I was walking again from mile 14. Docklands was a long section of the course, seeming to go on forever, however the last six miles was an absolute killer. I was under a bit of pressure to beat 8 hours as quite unfairly, the medal staff go home at 6pm. I wanted that medal like nothing else (apart from a new groin). I tried to step it out over the last few miles but had a couple of times where my legs felt so weak I was going to collapse. I knew if I went down I'd be staying down and would end up on the 'sweep up' coach - probably the most miserable place in London that day. At one point on the South Bank the sweep up coach loomed behind me like a white shark of doom, ready to eat me up for an early evening dinner. I ignored the demonic beast and concentrated on every step, getting there in time for a medal and a wee up a tree.

I was completely unprepared for the level of public support I encountered. With my name on my vest, and I couldn't count how many times people shouted to spur me on, giving me their heartfelt support. The people of London make this event the best in the world, and because of that I'd never do a Marathon anywhere else. I'm so glad I had dark glasses on, as the crowd couldn't see my tears of emotion in response to them. What a day.

Thankyou everyone so much for donating to this worthy cause. Including offline donations we're well on our way to paying for a child with cancer to get away for a week with their family to have treatment somewhere sunny and warm, and maybe forget for just one moment the reason they're there. That moment is worth 1000 marathons, and so my name will be in the draw for next year and every year from now on. Thankyou all again.

Comeback Victory

In between training for the Marathon and working I thought I'd sample the delights of the Empire Leicester Square on Thursday night. I played in the hairy £20 crapshoot and chopped the £900 prize fund five ways for £180. I made a nice £120 profit, which is better than ingrowing arse hairs.
My tournament came down to three hands -

My QQ against AK - Winner
My AK against QQ - Winner on the river when I hit the Q I needed for broadway. He thought he'd won by making his set, nononono sir!
My 33 against a 22. Winner!

Once my holiday is over and the Marathon is a blister filled memory I'm going to get back into live poker, or indeed any poker. I've missed it.