That elusive fifth score .......

....... finally came tonight in the final round of the Champions League for June on Sporting Odds.

Only 8 points though for 17th and only achieved by playing only 5 hands - AJ and 66 (good folds pre-flop), QQ and AA (no callers either time), and a JJ which was called and beaten by AA.

The rest of the time it was fold fold fold, including 10 10 and 55 twice. The eight points took me back up to 6th from 9th both of which places were worth $50. I was one point away from 5th which would have been $100.

So Sporting Odds was no fun tonight but the Punters Lounge Betfred League game was as I was able to play all the hands I was folding on SO ! Came third which was enough to put me at the top of the overall league after 2 rounds (a 2nd and a 3rd, with the best 3 scores from 6 to count).

Next two rounds on Betfred involve Omaha which I have only ever played by mistake before !

Not particularly close

The Blue Square Poker 6 tournament in Bolton this weekend will have to take place without me as I finished 22nd in the $100 rebuy qualifier tonight.

57 entries so 30 paid $105 to play and I personally witnessed one guy rebuy 3 times in the allowed first hour, after which he had 200 more chips than he started with ! (he eventually finished 15th). Starting stack was 2000 and I played nothing until held 88 and made a full house to double up. After that I played only premium hands with big raises and no callers and made the first break with 5500 approx.

Continued to play conservatively until down to the last 26 with me in 19th and realised had to push a little more, which I did to get to 7500 approx and then made a stand with AQ, to be beaten by KK (think highest card on the board was a 9 !).

Was happy enough with my play however so not hugely disappointed, which for me is the main thing as it won't be on my mind when I try and score in the Champions League tomorrow.

Nearly the old old story ......

...... of trying to play too many games at once and all suffering as a result.

First was the WSOP freeroll on PokerStars which I had a free run at for 30 minutes before anything else started so tried to build a stack and of course ended up going out after only 15 minutes or so !

Then the Champions League on Sporting Odds, the Punters Lounge League Freeroll on Betfred and the Poker 6 qualifier freeroll on Blue Square all started at the same time. Gave up my chips early on Blue Square (because shouldn't really have been in although most of the same names as yesterday so lots read both the Racing Post and the Bolton Evening News !). Then managed to lose half my chips on Betfred while losing them all on SO before recovering in the former to finish second, earning another qualifier seat - this time in the Friday night Betfred Million semi-final (value $30).

In the Champions League I am amazingly still in 7th place having still not yet added a fifth points finish to my score. There won't be many entries but if I can place high enough in the final round on Thursday I can make top 5 in the overall monthly table - and each place is worth dollars.

Happy Again

Tonight was potentially my most successful poker night to date :-

Began in a World Cup £5k Freeroll qualifier on Royal Vegas poker. The qualifiers are tucked out of the way in the lobby so suspicion is that not many games have been played so far. The one tonight was generated by 8 of the 10 entrants being Punters Lounge members and we could co-ordinate our arrival to get the game going, which I then managed to win. $5.50 entry but money for the first three as well as the freeroll entry for the winner, so it is good value. It is even possible, although unlikely, that I am the only qualifier to date !!

Then played in a Blue Square Poker 6 qualifier for Racing Post readers. The winner qualified automatically for the live tournament in Bolton this coming weekend and places 2-9 got a second chance in a $100 + $5 rebuy feeder MTT this Wednesday. Congratulations to Slick Mick on PL for winning tonight, whilst my fourth place gets me into Wednesday's game (which looks as if it will have 30 freeroll qualifiers plus anyone wanting to pay the $105 - and it is a rebuy !).

Finally tonight I was able to play in the Punters Lounge exclusive freeroll on Poker.co.uk which was to celebrate PL's victory in the recent inter-forum competition. Managed to finish second for $120, with which I was more than happy because it was all happening whilst I was on the Blue Square final table at the same time .

So we now have to see if I can carry tonight's form into the tournament on Wenesday .......

Shoe

If you follow the link to the right you can find chuckles like this .....

(click on this to enlarge)

Not Happy

I hope tonight wasn't a sign of what this week is going to be like !

Did ok in the Virgin V-Points freeroll - 60th approx out of 200+ after my 10 10 was beaten by JJ and Kx, the latter winning with a one card flush although the JJ had me too.

In the SO Champions League I was out in 21st so I have still not posted a fifth points score with only two rounds to go and although I stayed in 6th overall after the other night I don't expect to now.

Most damage done tonight by the same player who first chased a one card flush all the way to the river and then similarly chased a 7 high straight all the way to the river (did at least have the decency this time to use both her hole cards - 56os !!).

Spin Palace

Main two tournaments played tonight were both on Spin Palace Poker.

First was the Poker Player shootout - a knockout STT format with 8 player tables. Too many tables and not enough entries in the first round so I was on a three player table which was the lowest - quite a few fours and quite a few eights (the people who rushed to enter and leapt in on the first available table !). For all that I came last of three and played appallingly against someone I think is the worst player I have come across in a very long time. I shall be aiming for the same table as him again next week and then he is mine !!!

Because I was out early I could play the Poker Night Live $2k added for the first time in a while. Bit up and down but remember staying alive with J9 when lucked a straight on the river. A bit later I bet 600 with 55, called a raise to 900 and then went all-in with Qxx on the flop hoping the guy had AK. Turned out he had KK but my 5 on the river really cheesed him off, blaming me for being all-in with 55. Wouldn't mind if I was calling his all-in but I wasn't. I made the play which he would in fact have wanted me to do giving him chance to call with his KK.

1. how am I supposed to know he has KK ? 2. is it my fault the 5 comes on the river ? !!

Anyway I made the money in 14th, losing with AK to Q9 with the flop A99 - now his call of my 3xBB pre-flop was a bad call !

I did actually play one other MTT tonight - the bankroll booster freeroll on Blue Square. Now I have gone out of MTTs on the very first hand before, and with better hands than 2 pair which is what I lost with tonight, but I have never gone out on the first hand before to a Royal Flush !!

Big night but Little to report

Two tournaments tonight that I would have like to have done better in but 9th in the final qualifier in the Punters Lounge WSOP MTT on Virgin saw me drop to 7th overall (although that was worth an extra 1000 V-points) and 23rd or thereabouts will see me lose ground in the Champions League on Sporting Odds.

Still all to play for in the latter though and perhaps with no other distractions in the final three rounds I can still do something there.

Correspondence between friends

A quiet night on the tables today with only two MTTs played, neither with any success, so my post today is in direct response to the comment from Mr V a few posts ago.

Basically I'm not sure I analyse my game enough to understand the reasons I play the way I do and to necessarily be able to put right any repeated mistakes or for that matter repeat any successes. One example being that most of my recent tournament wins or high places have come when I get to the final table in 7th or 8th rather than leading at that stage - and I have no idea what it is about that scenario that improves my game (other than making me concentrate harder). The devil's advocate view is the fact that I am on the final table at all is enough to give me the opportunity and the law of averages says I am going to win some of them !

I know I sometimes play hands I perhaps shouldn't simply because they have been lucky for me in the past - for example K 10 often works for me but KQ hardly ever seem to ! and I will often happily play K suited but never, if I can help it, Q suited.

If both my cards are 10 or higher there is a reasonable chance I will be thinking about playing them, if suited all the better (unless the highest is a Q !). I figure in most situations they will give me two live cards and therefore a chance.

Ace Rag I will avoid playing, as much as anything because I do not want to pair the rag on the flop. It is likely to be bottom pair and even if it isn't I am likely to over-value that pair, persevering making calls in response to smallish raises all the way to the river and then get drowned.

Of course all these 'rules' depend heavily on my chip stack, position, any table image I might have developed, the image I have of the other players, how much I have paid to play, how near the money we are, how much first place is going to pay, the day of the week (not really), and a high influencing factor is whether anyone has annoyed me on an earlier hand whether deliberately or not so that they are now a 'target', often beyond any reason and only to my detriment.

And of course anyone other than Mr V reading this - the only hands I ever play are high pocket pairs and I never never bluff.

Anyway, for the second time tonight - and in the hope it is an original quip - I would say and now believe that being in love (with poker) means never having to say you are sorry .........

Another Mixed Bag

Royal Ascot started today and one of the girls at work was given a tip by a client and four of her colleagues decided to join in and have a bet. As I visit Ladbrokes daily (although don't always have a bet) I placed the bet for them and had a bet of my own on a different horse in the same race.

No prizes for guessing theirs won - Takeover Target in the King's Stand (and it was my decision to go for SP which was 7-1 rather than the 5-1 on offer in the morning, and to put all on to win rather than each way so I advised them well) - and mine (Reverence) was out with the washing ! Interestingly the client with the tip had seen Takeover Target win three of his races in Australia !

Then I get home and decide to have one small bet in the last at Royal Ascot - just place only on the Tote at a big enough price to win back my lunchtime loss. I find a horse with decent form at 4-1 the place and am then swayed by the commentators talking about another which is 20-1 SP but I notice is over 50-1 the win and 10-1 the place on the Tote. So I am about to back it when the same commentators say it is poorly drawn on the outside and everyone should concentrate on the low drawn horses, which my original choice is so that is the one I back. The result ? my first and final choice, Dimboola, finishes 10th and the 20-1 shot, Elhamri, romps home, paying 53.3-1 the win and 10.8-1 the place ! d'oh ! The only other thing I would say, without having seen a report on the race, is that I would be surprised if many of the jockeys drawn high in the race had kept to their racing line for as long as they are supposed to before heading left and causing more than enough bunching of the field.

Poker-wise tonight I think I played one hand in the Stan James PokerZone Freeroll and no more than half a dozen in the $500 added on Mansion. Which left me clear to concentrate on round nine of the Champions League on Sporting Odds. Played steadily to get to the final table in I think 7th or 8th place which not for the first time led to me winning the game. I get cocky if I hit a final table with a good stack so I am sure I play a far better game if I have to come from behind. Certainly have the patience to let others scrap it out before me, hoping to get to the final three still in reasonable shape and then I come into my own ! And now it will probably never happen again !

I am back up to 6th in the overall CL table with only four counting scores with everyone ahead counting their best five at the moment (although 11th, 13th and 15th have only four scores posted like me and the guy in 12th has only three). I am 25.68 points off the lead and the points scoring opportunities always drop away as fewer people play the last few rounds (four to go). Tonights win was worth 28 points which is the lowest to date and will get less so it is going to be tight at the top come the end of the month.

One unusual but pleasant occurrence today - I came here to write today's post and discovered I have one reader not personally known to me. So hello to anyone else in that category ...........

Freefalling

Played 3 main freerolls tonight.

First the Poker Player Grand Prix on Betfair in which I was leading at the first break and then went into complete freefall going out 136th just 15 minutes after the break !

Then the Ibiza Party freeroll on Goal Poker in which I ended up 27th after being top 5 for a long time. Problem was I didn't really fancy the trip so played looser than even I can do sometimes and won a lot of hands I perhaps shouldn't have done as a result. Difficult to start playing tight when it is loose play that got you there. We'd have gone if first place had come my way.

The net result of the above is that I could concentrate on the WSOP qualifiers on Pacific Poker and managed 4th in one to qualify for Thursday's final (and win $4 !).

Been enjoyable tonight, winning some big hands if not a huge amount of money !

Mixed Bag

Busy evening at the tables playing several freerolls - too many at the same time using both my pc and laptop as usual when the same network is involved (Sporting Odds and Virgin again).

To summarise, the results were :-

7.30pm: V-points freeroll on Virgin - 29th (top 8 rewarded - and was comfortable in top 10 a lot of the way until started playing too many hands !).

7.30pm: $10k freeroll on Sporting Odds - 43rd for $30 (top 100 rewarded and again was comfortable in top 10 for a lot of the way until started making sure got into the money and dropped into top 20. should have hung on a little longer for more reward - first prize $2400 - but never mind !).

8.00pm: Champions League on Sporting Odds - early exit.

9.00pm: WSOP qualifier on Pacific - sat out the whole game.

9.00pm: $500 added on Mansion (1c entry) - played a few hands but early exit.

9.00pm: Bloggers freeroll on PokerStars - won a few hands early but soon slipped back and early exit.

10.00pm: WSOP qualifier on Pacific - joined in when down to 900 chips approx and won several hands quickly to get up to get up to 5000 or so. up and down a bit after that and I think went out in 60 something.

11.00pm: Poker Dome qualifier on Mansion (1c entry) - won some good hands early on and was nicely in top 10 but was soon playing too many hands and was out 192nd.

Did actually do well in yesterday's Poker Dome qualifier - finished 17th of 400 or so (with two qualifying for the Vegas game) and like the Sporting Odds $10k this evening I should have done better having got so close .........

Down again

More internet connection problems tonight but after spending ages on the phone with BT support they reckon their service is fine and it is my Belkin wireless router which is at fault.

Have now sent Belkin support an email for their thoughts. All a bit confusing because the connection was fine for the most part yesterday so how can it go from being dodgy one day, fine the next and then dodgy again if it is a hardware problem rather than the ISP service ?

Either way no poker to report on today.

BT Yahoo - you let me down !

Couldn't post this last night because my internet connection was down (for several hours).

Came 10th last night, winning $20, in the Poker Player PokerRoom Team Challenge freeroll.

I should have done better having had connection problems from 10 minutes before the first break when I was lying 6th. Was let back in to fold a couple of hands and then kicked off again when 11th of 20.

Was let back in 10 mins later to find I was now 11th of 11, but with at least 5k less in chips. Managed to win the first hand by pairing a 10, and then checked from the BB with 10 6 suited and flopped 2 pair so raised 6k of 16k only two seconds before disconnected again. Then followed another 10 minutes delay wondering if had been called or raised without being there to respond, and wishing I had gone all-in !!!!

When let back in I was on the final table holding 10 10 so had to go all-in while I could and got beat by AA and 67 !

10th was at least $20 better than nothing but I reckon I was good for at least 4th which was $100 (and 1st was $300) - so thank you BT.

Sorry again to one of my readers ........

...... and I think one of the only two of my readers !

I was trying to concentrate tonight on the next round of the Champions League on Sporting Odds but registered at the same time for the Punters Lounge WSOP MTT on Virgin. Both sites are 'Boss Media' so it was the usual SO on the laptop and Virgin on the PC - the latter on the better 'piece of kit' because it cost more to enter and therefore less to be lost if the laptop played up.

But as said, I did still concentrate on SO because I have been doing ok on there in June so far whereas I had not been troubling the judge in the previous rounds of the Virgin tournament. I owe a lot to PL though and wanted to support them and Virgin - reinvesting some money won when runner up in an exclusive PL freeroll on Virgin in April as well as having another stab at the V points on offer.

I'm guessing you've guessed it (still writing as if more then AvonGirl and Mr V read this !) - I bombed out of the SO tournament fairly early on and have now dropped to 10th from 6th in the CL table.

So this left me with the PL / Virgin MTT and I managed to claw myself onto the final table but fairly short stacked, so that I found myself raising all-in with 10 J hearts - which made trips via the flop and river and means I can never complain about suited connectors again !!. I have grovelled my excuses for that hand on PL and don't intend to prolong that here. It will be of no comfort to anyone but it did make me pull myself together and play a patient waiting game until down to the final three and then a lot more aggressive to eventually grind out first place - $128 for the $11 entry, plus 20,000 V points - thank you Virgin !

The final hand had me holding KK and calling an all-in with an A on the flop - eyes closed when called and happy to see I was up against 77 when I opened them ........

Beware

A losing day today at the tables so a couple of warnings only :-

1. On Victor Chandler (or others using their skin such as Blue Square, Paddy Power, Racing Post, Maxim and The Sun) if you are dealt pocket Kings be prepared for another player to have pocket Aces. It happens everywhere at some time or another but in my experience too often on VC.

Tonight's example in the Sun WSOP qualifier was worse than ever. I am dealt KK so go all-in, to be called by KJ, AA and AA. The only help to anyone on the board is that the KJ paired his J and I am as good as out. The very next hand I was out when my short stacked K9 was beaten by AK (held by one of the AA).

2. If anyone ever invites you to call their all-in saying they have to leave, do not believe them. You can be certain they are holding a huge hand and are trying to sucker you.

And even if they are a personal friend and can be trusted, the cards cannot - so their 23os could still hit a full house !

Round Five

Back in the Champions League on Sporting Odds tonight - round 5 - and managed to finish 4th, so now up to 6th overall, with eight rounds to go.

As always I needed a bit of luck to stay in when playing the first hand on the final table (10 players). My all-in with KJ (K on flop) was called by AK but managed to get a J on the river.

Even so I think my exit in 4th was the height of unlucky :-

I am lying third with 6180 chips and get dealt AA in the big blind (800 chips). The player to my left has 20455 chips (lying 2nd) and is the only caller so I raise pre-flop to 2400, and he puts in 1600 to call.

The flop comes 8s, 5h, 10s and I go all-in, which costs him 3780 to call. OK it still leaves him 14275 , but when he shows 89 hearts it means he has called my initial raise with 9 high, and my all-in with middle pair !!

I'm still happy though because my AA is ahead, until the turn is 8d and the river to complete the kick in the teeth is 9c to give him a full house !

The big question of course is whether he would have called if I had raised all-in pre-flop ?

Either way - whoever it was that popularised suited connectors wants shooting ..........

Bankroll Boosting

Quiet day on the tables today but I do like the $200 bankroll booster (freeroll) on Blue Square and rode some luck in that to finish second for $34. Have to say though I probably saw more bad calls there tonight than I have for a long time - and this was near the end of the tournament when the money was being handed out, not at the beginning when you will see poor calls because people are trying to build up a stack quickly.

One piece of news I could have given you on Thursday is that Flo's Choice is back in foal - so well done Flo and Danbird !

Back to it

Second top ten finish in the June Champions League on Sporting Odds (2nd) and up to 9th in the leaderboard after 4 legs so far. 13 rounds in total and best 5 scores count so there is a long way to go.

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!

This Online Poker Tournament is a No Limit Texas Holdem event exclusive to Bloggers.

Registration code: 7166052

........ or maybe not

So having viewed Mr Hellmuth's rant in the link on yesterday's post I now have to agree with him ! If my exit tonight from the Sporting Odds Champions League had happened live I would have let rip too !

The villains of the piece were sat at seat 2 with 2720 chips and at seat 9 with 1360, with me at seat 10 with 1390 chips. The blinds (15/30) are seats 6 and 7.

I am holding 9s 9d and raise to 90 chips, with calls from seats 2, 7 and 9.

The flop is 7c, 6c, 4s. Seat 7 bets 90, called by seat 9 and I raise to 450 chips, which is then called by seats 2 and 9.

The turn is Jh. Seat 9 checks and I bet 450. Seat 2 then raises to 900 and I am prepared to call, until seat 9 goes all in (850 chips). I think about calling because I am down to 400 chips (although that is more than 10x the BB) but common sense says one of them must have a hand - AJ being most likely - and I don't have a straight draw and any club on the river puts me out so I decide to fold.

What do I find I am up against ? K8 clubs at seat 9 and two more clubs at seat 2 (my hand history doesn't recall them as I folded but I don't think either was paired by the board, certainly not a J). Both of them have been chasing a flush draw from the flop !!!!!! Academically, the river was an 8 so seat 9 wins with a pair of eights, and would have won with K high !!.

I survived a bit longer getting through a couple of big blinds but never getting up to more than 520 (no calls when I had a decent hand) and eventually go out with K 10 spades to 77 (board 34447 ! no spades !).

No more poker for me tonight and none at all tomorrow as I will be away from any computers and I am looking forward to it immensely !

Enjoy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3K-OzP-0ek&search=phil%20hellmuth

and learn the art of being a good loser !

Sometimes you get lucky .............

Going along in mid-table on a Mansion $500 added tonight when was out in two hands to the same opponent :-

A J spades v him all-in with A (clubs) 10 (not clubs) - nothing paired on the board, but it came up with 4 clubs including runner runner (ie. turn and river) to give him a flush.

just a few hands later ......

Me all-in with QQ v same him JJ - flopped a Q and I think a K and then the board came up with A on the turn and 10 on the river to create an A high straight for him !

It's just the way it goes sometimes, and he did at least say sorry after the second hand !

Thank You PL and SO

Back in the money this evening by finishing 10th in the Sporting Odds £2.5k freeroll for $50. Only qualified by winning the final leg of the Punters Lounge / Sporting Odds MTT League for May, so I need to thank both of those fine institutions again for setting up the opportunity.

I led for a brief while when down to the last 20 or so and then comfortably in 3rd when made a couple of bad calls when holding 44. I should just fold them every time regardless (like I do with Queen suited) and just be done with it because otherwise whenever I have the choice a 4 comes on the flop if I fold and no help comes if I call with them. Same thing happened this evening - trips when I folded and beaten by AQ and A6 when I called.

Other bit of bad luck was being moved tables when down to final 14 to sit in front of the chip leader (and eventual winner). Not once did he not raise my BB from his SB, and not once did I not fold !

In the end my final hand was when 11 remained with me in 10th and the person in 11th was all-in from under the gun. I decided to call (leaving me 1100 chips) with A7os and then found the SB raising all-in so I decided I had to call so the two of us could try to beat the UTG. I find myself up against 55 and 66, with the latter being the guy in 11th !! The board gave me no help but thankfully provided a 5 on the river to knock us both out but keeping me in 10th !!!!

Mixed emotions because whilst I was happy not to bubble I had played the latter stages like a complete coward and it does leave you wondering what might have been (although I wasn't really getting much help from the cards) and the $50 isn't going to change my life !

Derby Day

Not much poker so far today - just two STTs on VC this afternoon, finishing second in the second for a net loss of $2 !

I'll be in a couple of freerolls by 8pm so will report back later on.

On the racing front however I should have just had a good day. Desert Lord (half-brother to Carnival Dancer, the father of our only foal this year) won the Vodafone Dash at 12-1 (over 18-1 on the Tote) with Continent (by Lake Coniston, a sire we have used in the past) a personal favourite in third, paying over 11-1 the place on the Tote. Then the Derby was won by Sir Percy (by Mark of Esteem, a stallion we have used in the past) at 6-1 (6.4 on the Tote).

I like to back horses by stallions we have used (shows faith in them), but did I today ? ................

and the freerolls ? - not even close !

and Betterer (or is that more better ?)

The good fortune starting on Monday (early Tuesday morning) continued into yesterday with a seventh place in the final leg of the Champions League tournament for May on Sporting Odds. Not brilliant and not actually in the money for that leg, but enough to put me up to 9th in the monthly table which was worth $50.

Today I managed to fight out a win in the $1 Challenge, again on Sporting Odds, which has been used during May for an exclusive League on Punters Lounge. The win was worth $20 approx, plus an extra $10 as it put me up to 5th in the PL league table and gains me entry into a $2500 freeroll on Sporting Odds on Sunday.

At the start of Monday I was $39 down for the month. Now after 3 days good fortune I end the month with a profit of $149 ! Well done me and thank you Mansion and Sporting Odds.