own-goal poker

Suitably admonished on PL this evening (generally not specifically) I need to post a warning to avoid the site called Goal Poker like the plague.

They recently refused to honour two WSOP packages that had been won on their site by fellow Punters Lounge members, and possibly others that were not brought to our attention. They offered no explanation (other than 'exceptional circumstances') which is no use to someone who has been invited to THE tournament and then told they cannot go. They were offered seats in a forthcoming Johnny Chan tournament instead but after the WSOP experience where's the guarantee those seats wouldn't be pulled at the last minute too ?

Forget winning seats to play Johnny Chan on Goal Poker, you've probably got more chance of competing against Jackie Chan if you go that route !

2 7 offsuit

Back to that old chestnut. I don't play them as I cannot think of one good reason to do so. OK if I hold them in the big blind and no-one raises pre-flop and the flop gives me two pair or trips then I will repel all boarders, but that is the only scenario that will not find me ditching 27 without a moment's hesitation.

So I don't play them and it annoys me when others do. Especially in tonight's example when it is a private game for members of Punters Lounge and there is an element of kudos in winning with the worst starting hand on the planet. As much as I object to someone, however short their stack, going all-in with 27os pre-flop and hitting a 7 to beat my K 10 hearts (ok my fault for calling the 800 or so all-in but K suited works for me and I was chip leader on over 5000), it is the applause received for doing so from another player that really grates.

I love 99% of what goes on on Punters Lounge but I cannot join in the heralding of 27 so for the moment I shall leave the private games alone.

I love Poker 770

same colour as yesterday because Poker 770 came to my rescue again this evening !

One less hand to worry about !

I already don't play 27 or Q suited and to that small list I can now add QJ offsuit.

I paid to play four tournaments tonight and I went out of the first three of them holding (and overplaying) QJos. By the third time you would have thought I'd have learned my lesson. Later in a freeroll I deliberately raised six times the big blind with QJ and then went all-in after the flop to be beaten by 46suited thanks to a 4 on the flop !

Actually QJ goes on the list even if suited because it is still Q suited !

The fourth STT I paid to play was for $5 five seated on Poker770 and not for the first time that site came to my rescue when I won to recoup my earlier losses. I really must play there more .........

hurry up August

I'm going to finish July in profit (4th consecutive month) so shouldn't complain but it has been a dull month. The profit at the moment will come from making one final table and a third place in a PuntersLounge league.

Champions League on Sporting Odds hasn't gone as well as usual, although two legs left to get back into the top 20 (21st at the moment !) and there are now so many Poker Dome freerolls on Mansion that they all blend into one and none are getting my full concentration.

Took the weekend off from poker and I can't say that I missed it. Don't want to stop playing but perhaps need to find some new games.

Too hot to care !

Played several games on Mansion as there are now Dome qualifiers exclusive to Sun readers again to get involved with as well as the usual ones. Not even close in any of them though.

My other poker tonight was all on Spin Palace. Failed to get through the first round on the STT Shootout (2nd of 5) but did make the money again in the Poker Night Live $2k added to at least make the minimum profit possible. Was out in 25th and the next money level was 24th, which I could very easily have made, but well before the money my all-in with 88 beat 99 (8 on the flop and again on the turn) so can't really complain.

Oh so easy still though to remember the bad beats that go against you rather than all those that go in your favour. Still a great value tournament, even though the $10+$1 buy-in is usually my biggest of the week (pathetic I know !).

But it is too hot to really care ........

Inescapable ?

Two things are :-

One - I think I am good at poker but not so good that I win every game. I make good folds and bad folds, good calls and bad calls, good bluffs and bad bluffs. So does every player, but to progress you just have to make more of the former than the latter in each case. BUT (and a big but) whenever you are all-in pre-flop with AK and are called by AQ you have done well, but you cannot stop that Q on the flop if that is what the cards hold. The same applies to your AJ called by QJ - you have done well again but if the third card on the flop is another Q you have again lost the hand and have to accept it and move on. Of course the worst thing about either of the above losses is that sometime later you are likely to overplay JJ and run into something like AA - but again what can you do ? !

Two - Although I think I make plenty of 'good' folds, the price is that sometimes I will have been bluffed off the pot which I do not mind - it is obviously a big part of the game. What I do object to (mostly because I never do it) is the bluffer showing his hand and rubbing my nose in it. I would like to say I don't know why they show but of course it is to rile me and at the moment it works ! every time ! Of course that anger may result in delightful revenge but I guess more often than not it has a detrimental affect on my game and it is something I really need to work on. Not to continue to detest the bragging bluffer but to at least minimise the adverse affect on my subsequent play.

It would of course be nice if none of the above had happened to me in different MTTs this evening, but of course it all did !

Mansion

Not making much progress with the Mansion Dome qualifiers this week. The main problem is that they are on Mansion ! Site down a lot recently and by the time it is up again the qualifiers are full - almost as if the site is only down in the UK and the US players can still sign up ?

Having qualified for the Telegraph WSOP final I decided I would be better playing in the Evening Standard 888.com UK Open final on Pacific Poker at the same time tomorrow because I can't get time off work to go to Vegas for the WSOP anyway ! By the time I came to this decision there were only two qualifiers left so was just as well I won the second of them.

Finished 10th in the $1 challenge on Sporting Odds tonight, for a profit of 16c but more importantly retained first place (by only 2 points) in the Punters Lounge League for July based around that tournament.

Busy Sunday

several tournaments at once tonight - not quite sure why Sundays are three times as busy as a Saturday for online poker freerolls / qualifiers / finals etc.

Started at 7pm with a qualifier on UltimatePoker for the Aruba Classic live tournament in September. It was exclusive to readers of the Sunday People with three qualifiers on consecutive Sundays and an online final on 6th August. Five from each qualify and I managed to finish a hard fought 3rd so now have a 1 in 15 chance of winning the big prize (a $10k package).

At 7.30pm came the Virgin V-points freeroll but I was out early. Played more hands than I should because at 8pm came the champions league on Sporting Odds, a WSOP freeroll on AceFlushPoker, and a Daily Telegraph WSOP qualifier on Pacific 888 (with a second at 8.30pm).

Finished 9th in the champions league and now 17th for July overall. Got nowhere on AceFlush but scraped a top 20 finish in the second Telegraph qualifier so I am in that final later this week.

The other freeroll tonight was for $500 on 32Red but was too busy in the Aruba qualifier and didn't play one hand.

Thoughts for the week turn back to the Mansion Dome and defending my first place in the Punters Lounge Sporting Odds League for July (which I may not have previously mentioned during my 'cold spell' !).

I am still here

and trying to qualify again for the weekly Mansion Dome final on Sunday. It has involved late nights and the closest I have got this week so far was an 18th place (top 6 qualify) but I keep going.

Very little to report otherwise, hope to have better (or any) news shortly !

How many times

will I end up saying on here that both bad and good luck are temporary and confidence is King !

I enjoyed one MTT of the three I played - finishing 4th in the Poker Player Grand Prix on Betfair. Made a stupid move on the chip leader with A8 when lying second and got beat by his 99. Was an A and a 9 on the flop so even if I hadn't been all-in pre-flop (which I was) I think I'd have been all-in after it anyway.

At one point I had over 50% more chips than the guy in second so the only disappointment was to let that slide but overall I really enjoyed it and my confidence is sky-high again !!!

Funniest thing I've seen on an online poker table for a long while last night was a guy complaining because he was the only person playing at a full 6 player table, ie. 5 sitouts. He just could not see that he was collecting free blinds and was 'screaming' to no-one to be moved !

a monthly profit

of four cents !

courtesy of my first final table of July so far in the champions league on sporting odds and a win in a STT on Poker770 - a new site that I like so far !

out of the Mansion Poker Dome qualifier in 104th, mainly due to my Q4 with QQ on flop running into QK (with a K on the turn for good measure).

so I can now look forward to at least one more 4 hour stint trying to get into next Sunday's final .......

Here is the news

Nothing

The lean spell continues. This is highlighted by the 5k freeroll on Royal Vegas Poker that I spent all day waiting for (1.00 am start), only 46 qualifiers and then the site felt rubbish (didn't notice that particularly the day I qualified), I got dealt mainly rubbish and I was rubbish. Out in 37th.

Yesterday I spent 4 hours trying to qualify for the weekly Poker Dome final on Mansion - top 6 needed and I got impatient and out in 14th.

Only glimmer of hope came in the 5 hours I spent to get 2nd place in this afternoon's Dome qualifier, so have made the final tomorrow evening (top 3 get to have a weekend in Vegas) - but on current form I might as well not bother turning up !

One drop of rain !

It felt better today and I think I played what I was dealt better.

A tenth place in the $1 challenge on sporting odds gave me a profit on the day of 20c so not surprising that I take more comfort from the overall feel than the financial result !

The next two days see the final two legs of the Punters Lounge Betfred League in which I am currently lying second so that will be more of a test of any revival .......

Drought Watch

Four Days

Made to wait a bit longer

First round of the Punters Lounge / Poker.co.uk MTT League for July (every Monday) and although not completely, was effectively busted in two hands - first my KQd with K on the flop is beaten on the river by 27os, and then KK beaten by 10 10.

Bit of a role reversal today as it was a winning day on the horses for a change !

Dull Dull Dull

Two days of dull poker sums up this weekend for me personally so not going to bore you with it.

Just as well I know from previous experience that it will pick up ! Plenty of good wins for others on Punters Lounge so well done to those concerned.

Another opportunity missed !

Main focus tonight was the Spin Palace / Poker Player / Poker Night Live TV Shootout - the STT knockout tournament in which I played so badly last Friday.

First round tonight just four players at the table and managed to come from behind to win (only ahead for last two hands).

The next round (semi final) was a tough 8 player table - including 3 good players from Punters Lounge plus a previous winner and runner-up on the final table from the middle of May. Played solid and eventually won through - possibly my best STT of recent months (especially as don't play many these days).

So that put me into the televised final, except I overplayed AK, K on flop, to be beaten by KK and then my all-in with 66 the very next hand was beaten by 77, so that by the time the final table featured on PNL it started with a sad empty seat !

The Punters Lounge Betfred league game tonight was Pot Limit Omaha - and the least said the better. I shall not be taking up that poker variation !

Finally today is the end of June and I can report another profitable month (the third in a row).