Stations,stations and more stations!!!

I wrote this entry last week but never got it completed for one reason or another but better late then never....

What a strange week... started out playing my usual 200nl and had a decent start and then went through a period of not being able to stay ahead no matter what!! See BB section for details..... I had one particular session where I lost 6 buy in's in about 20 mins without tilting at all.... they were all big pairs in preflop.... one after the other...

My NL graph for the week...














So something had to change... so with a combination of determination and greed for rakeback (the end of the month is nigh) I decided to give limit a go again...

WOW... stations, stations and more stations...... every type of station imaginable.... the main station being the calling station that we''re all used to. They really will call tot he river with any pair and draw any overcard.....any chance really of catching up and they are there....


The other station i noticed was the betting stations...... they bet preflop/flop/turn and river with or without a hand...... so with these guys I really found you had to call them down with marginal holdings.......A high was good so many times agaist these guys...

I also found a boardsie that plays limit.... The Mad Chef seems to frequent the 5/10 limit full ring tables....

So plan was to bet when I had a hand and fold when I didn't and the simple technique worked quite well and I made a great recovery to salvage the weel and earn a few bob in rakeback as well.... But I really dont think I could do it long term as the outdraws are just beyond funny... You really have to run good at this game and you need cards at showdown



So to sumarise the 10 days from the 21st to the 31st of the Janurary...

9504 Hands PlayedProfit/Loss $1508
VPIP 27%PFR 14%
Post Flop Aggro 1.27
Showdowns Won 52.1%Rakeback $825 Total Profit $ 2333


So overall an excellent week that yet again could have been better in the NL department but I cant and won't complain...

So overall an good month of January despite downswings.... with a total profit of $4949



Outside poker.....

I decided to build a new PC from my rakeback from last month... spec's are here.... http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055231544 but then finsing a company that will build it for me for 20 quid I couldn't pass it up...


Jackie is on the mend and getting better each day thankfully.... again many thanks to all for their concern....



Best of luck to everyone playing in Droheda... I'm sorry to miss it this year but just couldn't justifty the buy in with very little chance of me cashing in it... So instead I had a punt on Garry Clarke for €10... best of luck garry... if your blog is anything to go by confidence wont be a problem for you...



new entry this week

Swings and roundabouts!!!

Before I get to the poker let me firstly thank all of you who have been sending best wishes to Jackie for a speedy recovery..... It is appreciated... The good news is that she will make a full recovery although slowly.... she is still in hospital but out of intensive care now.... once again thanks for your thoughts....


Now to poker... what a week it could have been.... If I could remove one day from the week.... On Friday I played a session in the afternoon and was +5 buy ins and playing well... later that evening after a visit to the hospital I got back on and one of my favourite fish listed buddies was on... an Irish guy that the regs know well..


I got a seat beside him and knew it was only a matter of waiting for a hand and he would pay.... but I noticed he was not in his normal calling mode but after he lost a hand he went tilting and started getting it in preflop loads of times... So I get KK and he makes a raise and i 3 bet him and he shoves...... His A3 gets there..... so he continues to do the same for the next few rounds and I find myself with QQ and get it in preflop against him and again his AQ beats me with a turned A... this continues with this one player hitting hand after hand against me...... all in preflop each time I had a big pair and he had a Ax and then I had AK and got it in against his Ax twice and no good again.... before I knew it I was 10 buy ins down against him..... and then preceeded to run QQ into his KK and QQ into his AA... kind of stuff nightmares are made of..... he was a 69/22 player and should be profitable but the variance is terrible against them when u dont run good.. On my other tables I was playing like a donk as this guy had me off my game and I should have stopped but it resulted in this day happening... from +5by ins to -5 buy in's in about 2 hours!! damn! and then I played bad for the rest of the day until I was finished with black friday and I had undone all the weeks good work...

Black Fridays Graph











So on Saturday I had a chat with myself and decided to move back up levels and play my own normal game and forget about chasing fish and I've managed to get the week back into profit again so here's this weeks results..
8147 Hands Played

Profit/Loss +$806

2.19bb/100 (Poker Tracker)

V$PIP 23%PFR 17%

Post Flop Aggro 1.87

Showdowns Won 47%

Rakeback $525

Total Profit $ 1331
this weeks graph...


Other news of the week was of course the shenanigans in the Loft club in Naas... details here http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055220611 but I have to say I'm glad it worked out the way it did in the end and I'm glad I had the guts to stand up to someone like this... Cash wise I did well on the night and the game was very soft and I cashed out for over 600 after buying in for 200 so was happy with that.

Also glad to see one the guys I coach do very well in England this week at the GUKPT where he final tabled and cashed two of the side events and had a good run in cash games.... Must have got luck again Paul??? lol the more you play the lukier you get... WP

On the weight front.... I lost another 5 lb this week which was a surprise as I hadn't been that strict with myself.


thats enough ramblings for this week. hopefully I'll a decent ammount of hands in this week and report again next week. GL all

Week 2 update. personal disasters/poker good

I've just realised that for some bizzare reason... (prob me not pushing send button) my week one report is no where to be seen... prob somewhere flaoting around cyberspace! anyway just to recap on last week. It was a poor start to the year having moved back to 1/2 the first 3 days showed a loss of over 1600 and the rest of the week was digging my way back out of the hole I dug... I ended the week having broke even and had rakeback of $350 o show for my troubles... I took my weekly withdrawal from my BR as I promised myself..


So I decided ot move back to my comfort zone this week and play 100nl
This week was much improved poker wise although I didn't play anything like the number of hands I needed to... for 2 reasons really..... I fell during the week and broke 2 ribs and am finding it hard to sleep at night leaving me tired during the day for poker.. the main and most important reason is my partner Jackie was sceduled to go into hospital for a routene operation this week and during the operations something went horribly wrong and she got into difficulties which left her for the first 12 hours fighting for her life on a life support machine while the doctors did everything they could to resussitate her..... thankfully we got word that night that she would be ok but very very lucky to come out of it... She is still in intensive care but out of the danger zone now thank God... So a lot of my time has been spent at the hospital and I wasn't in much humour for poker when I'd come home..


Hence I played a lot of sng's this week... not a very profitable venture but a change from the norm.. I played 20 100$ sngs with a return of $2335


4452 Hands Played Profit/Loss +$610
6.78bb/100 (Poker Tracker)V$PIP 26%
PFR 17%
Post Flop Aggro 1.77Showdowns Won 45%Rakeback $335


Also +340 from SNG's
Overall profit $ 1285


Paid my self my wages weekly this week again... I think it might be the way to do it as I don't miss it that way from my BR...


I continued giving coaching lessons to 2 guys this week and delighted to see them both doing very well... In particular one guy who I plan to write a feature on has won 40k in tourney wins since october.... lol I've been coaching him on cash games.... but I'll take some credit for it anyway...
I predict he will be a major tourney winner this year taking down a big one..


My trip to Sweden has been put off for another while so I'll update when I have news..


On my weight loss programe I managed ot shed a few of the LB's I put on over christmas by loosing 6lb's in my first week back at it although in saying that my head wasn't in it so this week I'll see how it goes but with grabbing a bit when I can this week it has not been easy...


OK update next week.... I'll make sure to press send this time or save or whatever it is I need to do.

2008 here I come

Well as 2007 makes it's way into the passage of history I look forward to a new year and all it will bring with it... With it some new dreams, hopes and aspirations...

I wish everyone health and happinness in 2008...

talking about health.. it's my first day back playing poker after the christmas break and I'm dying of the FLU! have to go to the doctor in the afternoon as it's not going away on it's own...

Anyway I've decided to do a weekly update on my blog to try to keep myself disciplined.. I will be posting honest accouns of my weeks play and graphs and stats as well... I'm getting this from dvdfan and I think it is a good idea as the embarrasament factor if I'm not doing well might buck me up..

well 2007 is now in the past but it brought for me my first year as a full time player... by full time I mean I have no other source of income... I don't like the term PRO as it implies that you have to be good at it ;)

While the year could have been much much beter I've managed to make the successfull transition to online play and make an ok standard of living for the last number of months... but 2008 has to be the year where I decide if it's for me or not.... I think making a bare living is not enough and if Iam going to continue with poker as a means of income I need something to show for it... So we'll see....

I've decided to keep my withdrawls to a minimum and try to bankroll build to move up levels or keep a very good buffer for the level I'm playing.

On a another note as some of you know I set about on a weight loss prgramme in 2007 and managed to loose a staggering 9 stone over the year! but have been splashing out over the christmas and have put back up the inevitable few pounds like everyone has I guess... SO from today I'm back on my weight loss programme with excercise although dont feel much like it today with my FLU but have to push myslef.... maybe I'll leave the exercise till I'm feeling a bit better

So I'll update nextweek and see how it goes... Gl for now..