Brutal.

So the final day of the year. Thought I'd play a little bit. I ended up being more annoyed than 99% of the days I have played this year despite not losing a great amount of money.

I started off the day by losing top two v top set in a 3bet pot within the first 2 minutes. It wasn't a good way to start, but soon the internet kept disconnecting, which was extremely frustrating. Especially in spots like this:






Though, I had a few of these, and this has gotta be somewhat standard if I'm having frequent net disconnections.

The reason, though, that I couldn't stop playing was the fact that I had probably the worst player I have ever played with, to my right. We were around $7k deep at 10/20. Gradually the disconnections went from every 15 minutes, to every 10, 5, and then no access at all, so I got kicked off the table. I certainly wasn't too happy.


Now I have wrote that, I'll move onto a more cheerful note. The month ended up at just over $40k prob around 45k with rakeback, after around 35k hands played. No graph cos my main computer is being repaired. I was pretty disappointed that I had to play a lot of 5/10 this month, as on the main site I play on, not much was running any higher.

Toward the last 5 or so days of the month, the games on my main site really picked up and got really good. I hope they can stay like that for a while, though there was not much 25/50 still.

---------------------------------------------

The year as a whole probably hasn't gone as well as I thought it would (and I can't post final winnings as they are split on my two dif comps). I ran quite a bit under EV, and probably didn't play quite as much as I should have. Saying that I still made a lot of money on the year and won't complain, as I realise I'm very lucky to be in the situation to begin with. Outside of poker I had a really fun year, and I hope next year will be more of the same.

As for 2010 goals, I think it's pretty silly to make a monetry goal, because there are lots of things that can interfere with that, that I cannot help.

So my goals will be:

• Get money on a few more new sites to increase the amount of games I can play/ game selection.
• Work hard and put in as many hands as possible on my preferred set up, try and play as little as possible on the laptop.
• Try to keep up effort with the theory side of the game, sometimes it's quite easy to just play and not give thought to improving your game.

Gl for 2010!

Don't call it a comeback?

Okay, this has been a strange month. Especially following on from last month.
If I had to describe it in one word, I'd want to say stressful, but i'd probably have to go with relieved.

There is part of this graph which is missing as it's on my laptop, and I don't wanna start it up to get it, so I'll just describe it; I played 2 days at the start of the month on my laptop, 3k hands -19k.
So when looking at this graph, just shift the beginning down 19k.



So basically, I was at one point $55k down. That was just past halfway in the month. If I hadn't just had a 100k month, I would have been feeling pretty bad at that point. But I just got on with it. In fact I gave myself a new rule, which was not to look at my results on any given day. By the end of the month I was pretty happy to see that I had clawed it back and finished in the black.

I'd imagine this month will end ~+$10k after rakeback.

6 figure month!

I have decided to stop playing for the month. +103k before rakeback (I'm expecting about 2.5kish).

I started off the month really slow, but towards the end, wow I ran pretty well. Didn't really lose a session for the last 10 days.

I think one of the strangest bits of my month is that I never had a day >13k if I recall correctly. Also I had a -17k day at the beginning of the month.


This is the graph from my laptop:






This is the graph from my desktop:





Obviously the good thing about this month was not reaching some pointless milestone of 6 figs (though it still feels good), but it was making sure I played well at all times. Also I am getting used to 25/50 a lot more now. Trading stacks there is still pretty scary, but I'm sure it'll feel just fine soon.


I'll be filling my days off for the rest of the month with playing football, going out, and generally relaxing.

Gl.

Quick update.

+~25k this month atm.. was 40 at some point yesterday. I ran 13ish (?) k below EV today. It's getting a little tiring, but I'm not sure I can complain this month.

So I had hit 10k down for the day getting a little frustrated, and my 2 girl roommates came into my room drunk and jumping on me while I was 6 tabling. At the time I had AA in a 3bet pot. Finished that hand, 6 X's later then Spotify-Akon and speakers up full blast, I was done for the session.. I think it was probably good for me, because I could tell I was about to play sub-optimally.

I'm off to do something productive before my early morning kickoff tomorrow (and before my drunk roommates get back).

2nd losing month ever!

Yeah, so, not too fun. Didn't get to play too many hands, because I had lots of visitors to my home in Bangkok and then had to move back to England, and move into a new house ready for university.

Started October off alright, +11k.

Gl.

Variance.

So by now I obviously know that variance is a massive part of poker. Every player is gonna have their ups and downs. I have learned to cope with the losing. It gets easier the more it happens, and I guess apart from last month, it's been happening a lot this summer.

From what I have gauged from talking to poker players over the years, the vast majority of them would say that they have mostly been on the wrong side of variance. Some probably have been, some probably haven't. I have a feeling it's because losing makes the player feel worse, than winning makes the player feel good (I think I have worded that poorly, but I can't be bothered to spend time thinking about how I'm gonna re-word). That way the big losing days/months will stick in the memory.

Now, before I share my story of variance I will say, I know I've been pretty damn lucky in certain aspects of my poker career, those aspects can't be measured. However, all-in expected value can be. For anyone that doesn't understand it; Expected Value. It's basically the mathmatical expectation of my winnings when I am in an all-in situation.






This is a graph of my 10/20 hands over the last 9 months or so. The thin line is my EV, the thick line is my actual winnings. I'm not really sure what I should feel. I won 170k at 10/20 over this time, which is obviously a lot of money. But being $100,000 behind EV just really sucks a lot. It's a hell of a lot of money to not have due to a bit of bad luck.

As for this month, you may be able to tell, with the tone of the post, It's a losing one. I'm not particularly worried, because I have been playing well, and had these sort of stretches before, and come through them. Just gotta keep the right mindset and put in some work.


I leave Bangkok at the end of this month to go back to university. Which is pretty sad cos I really love this place. I've had such a good summer. Just hope I can get back into the routine of doing some work instead of doing whatever the hell I want.


Good luck everyone, but save some for me please!

End of the month once more.

Well, It's not... but I have been busy for the last few days and think I will be busy again tomorrow showing friends around Bangkok so I may not get the chance to have another session.





Happy with this, of course. Best month ever I think... should end up at 75k after rakeback.

Not too much more to add really. Will try and think of some monthly goals for September.


Gl, Rob.

Sick day.

Played this today. Feels good to comeback from being down. No tilt, just solid play.


As for the month, its going pretty well (hoping this doesn't curse it or anything):







...and as for life, going for a party on a yacht somewhere in BKK tomorrow for a birthday.. no idea where. I have a feeling i'm going to make my illness worse... but, oh well.


Now, as you were, August...

Pffff.. well at least I didn't lose!!

I'm gonna go ahead and get this first bit out of the way. I know moaning about making $15k in a month won't get me much sympathy, but I'm still (kinda) gonna do it anyway.






I was happy with the amount I played and the effort I put in. It was the way in which the month went. Dropping >20k in the first couple days sucked a lot... then a really good middle. Then last day, during a lesson, we drop just over 14k. It was a horrific last day to the month. There have been some of the wierdest hands I have ever played in the last few days. Played a fair amount of 25/50 in the last few days.. (I shouldn't really be moaning about a 14k loss, considering this really - pretty standard).

But August is a new month, lets get completely out of this downswing!! Started the month okay, +5k today.

Still out in Asia, having a great time, too.

Gl.

Long time no update!

Basically, cos writing about losing money pretty much sucks.

So... I am slowly creeping out of my downswing.. (hopefullyyyyy) which was 70k. Easily my biggest. Started off the month by losing a quick 20k but am almost even now. I'm pretty happy about this.

I am waaaaaay below EV.. but I don't wanna complain much cos this should happen to everyone at some point... probably even what I'm experiencing. Obviously through all of this I decide to rent out the most ridiculous penthouse in Bangkok just for myself, next to the one my friends are living in..... fun though.

Not much else to say, other than that I hope I completely recover from this downswing sharpish, cos losing sucks! (esp when you should be winning..).

Gl at the tables!

Rob

Update from Thailand!

So I had my first losing month ever last month. Wasn't fun, although I didn't play a lot at all.

Writing this from a penthouse in Bangkok. Didn't think the Wynn would be topped, but it def has.





Puts me like 60k below EV over 45k hands or something I think? Hoping for a better July.

Update from Vegas

I am in Vegas for a week. Staying in the Wynn. It's ridiculous. Such a nice room, and hotel.

Thought I'd play a post-drinking session as always. Didn't go well. Ended -13k or so. I lost 15 to a really tight HU player who just got in some really good spots v me. All of FTP, which doesn't seem to like me at all.

I am now -14k for the month. I have only played 13k hands, because of travelling here and to Malta. I'm down 20k in EV again, which is annoying. I'm not sure I'll be able to get very many hands in for the rest of the month, so it may be my first losing month ever! (first under 10k profit too!).

I'm gonna try to buy a camera and take some pics of this room, it really is amazing.

Rob

Uhhhhhhh

Definitely just lost the biggest pot I have ever played:


$25/$50 No Limit Holdem
6 players
Converted at weaktight.com


Stacks:

UTG		($12218.00)
UTG+1		($10569.00)
CO		($4750.00)
Hero (BTN)		($8720.50)
SB		($3069.00)
BB		($4267.00)

Pre-flop: ($75, 6 players) Hero is BTN

UTG raises to $175, 2 folds, Hero calls $175, 1 fold, BB calls $125

Flop: ($550, 3 players)
BB checks, UTG bets $425, Hero raises to $1,300, BB folds, UTG raises to $4,400, Hero raises to $8,545.50, UTG calls $4,145.50

Turn: ($17,641, 2 players)

River: ($17,641, 2 players)

Final Pot: $17,641
Hero shows:
UTG shows:

UTG wins $17,638 ( won +$8,917.50 )
Hero lost -$8,720.50
BB lost -$175



Makes it worse by the fact he was playing really badly, tilting and getting allin with a lot of crappy hands. This is the worst shape I can possibly be in... I have 0.1% equity on the flop, which basically means I should be winning 1 out of 1000. Great.

I finished up the night +5k though, so I was happy with that.

End of May! End of Guildford for now.

Friday was the last day of uni for me, which ended 2 weeks of going out and doing whatever the hell we all wanted. Was v fun. Apart from one very obvious shit day (hint it wasn't the -20k day).

Sucks to leave Gtown, but, me and 4 friends will be moving into a new house around end of July ready for the 2nd year.

As for poker:






I think this is the 2nd least I have ever played in a month (and the least was when I went to Thailand for ~1month last year). Also I'd estimate at 80% of the hands having been played when I was hungover - which can't be that great of an idea, but hey, if I hadn't I'd never have played at all. Added to that I had final exams for 1st year to revise for/ take.

Considering this, I have to say I am pleased with earning ~$50k this month.

Ah well, back to the life of a poker pro for 4 months!

Lose lose lose!

That's the month so far! Not even too bad really, just annoying as I was up a tonne more. Over a $30k downswing at the moment... which hurts a little.

Positives:

• Played 25/50... for a bit.. lost $700 but I played well.
• In the process of organising Vegas!
• Put money onto a 4th site, so I can play more games.
• To put the downswing into perspective... here are the hands on my laptop since coming to uni:

Finished with uni for the year!

Had 3 exams this week and completed them. I've got about 2 weeks left at uni before the holidays, just to do whatever we feel like doing, really.. so it should be fun. Technically I do have lots of time to play.. realistically I doubt i'll play too much.

Put in a session today. Went well, actually. Was pretty fun too, despite having a hangover from post exam partying.

I've played just over 6k hands this month, and am up $41k, which is pretty outrageous. Most of it is from heads-up play. Hope it continues when I start to play a bit more.

Also halfway through the month, and haven't reached the goal I set myself yet... oops!

Quick out the blocks.

Hardly played at all though.

Exam time now, so I'll probably be playing little to no poker over the next 7 days. Ughhhh!

Mayyyyyyyyyyyy

Month started off in a verrrrrry annoying fashion. Dropped 12k, to a very bad player. Like really bad. Just as I was starting to claw it back, the uni internet decided to block ipoker, spotify and ftp.

When I was able to reconnect he had gone and no games were running anymore.

Sample:

$10/$20 No Limit Holdem
3 players
Converted at weaktight.com


Stacks:

Hero (BTN)		($2333.00)
SB		($4081.00)
BB		($7319.00)

Pre-flop: ($30, 3 players) Hero is BTN

Hero raises to $50, SB folds, BB calls $30

Flop: ($110, 2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $80, BB raises to $175, Hero raises to $550, BB raises to $7,269, Hero calls $1,733

Turn: ($9,662, 2 players)

River: ($9,662, 2 players)

Final Pot: $9,662
BB shows:

BB wins $9,660 ( won +$2,341 )
Hero lost -$2,333




Bah, I was only a 90% favourite after working it out. Thought it was more. Still pretty awful way to lose a hand. I only ended -3k on the day which was a big result.


Yesterday I played this hand:


$10/$20 No Limit Holdem
6 players
Converted at weaktight.com


Stacks:

UTG		($2090.50)
UTG+1		($2686.00)
CO		($4443.40)
BTN		($1877.00)
Hero (SB)		($6752.00)
BB		($2000.00)

Pre-flop: ($30, 6 players) Hero is SB

UTG calls $20, 1 fold, CO raises to $80, BTN calls $80, Hero calls $70, BB calls $60, UTG calls $60

Flop: ($400, 5 players)
Hero checks, BB checks, UTG checks, CO bets $280, 1 fold, Hero calls $280, BB folds, UTG calls $280

Turn: ($1,240, 3 players)
Hero checks, UTG checks, CO bets $920, Hero raises to $6,392, UTG folds, CO calls $3,163.40

River: ($11,715.40, 2 players)

Final Pot: $11,715.40
CO shows:

Hero wins $11,712.40 ( won +$4,960.40 )
CO lost -$4,443.40
BTN lost -$80
BB lost -$80
UTG lost -$360



Which was fun. More of these please, May!

April over. Eventful!

-$14k on the desktop at home. Makes the total at around $51k in 33k hands before rakeback.

I think I'm pretty pleased with the month. I had my 3 biggest losing days ever this month. Ran ~$40k below EV, and still made a decent amount, i'm fairly sure I can't complain.

Next month I won't be able to play too much, I don't think. I have exams in the middle of the month also lessons, and a project (I think?) to complete. Then after the exams the month will get crazy with nights out here.

Thoughhhh.. I am gonna set myself a goal of playing a soft 25/50 table. Lets hope I can manage the strenuous goals I set myself.....

20BI!

Hit 20Buyins below EV today. That's $40k below EV on the month.

Brightside (pretty big one); I'm still +$41k in 30k hands for the month. Lets hope for a good run in.

back home

Just posting this so I can actually remember as it wont be recorded on my laptop. -$14k session, another 7k under EV in 1000 hands. Not too fun.

Time for an update!

Right, since a week ago, I have played like 1500 hands of poker maybe? I have no idea. Won the league and cup, and seen my sister for the first time in 7 months.

It has been really good, the only downside was that Newcastle lost...

I would describe the football, but doubt I would do it justice, and I'm feeling lazy (though not lazy enough to hire a PA; that rant will def be coming soon), however it is described in great detail at http://www.universityofsurreyfc.co.uk/


The month so far:





Random hand that really annoyed me:



$10/$20 No Limit Holdem
2 players
Converted at weaktight.com


Stacks:

Hero (BTN)		($2771.50)
BB		($3771.00)

Pre-flop: ($30, 2 players) Hero is BTN

Hero raises to $50, BB raises to $180, Hero calls $130

Flop: ($360, 2 players)
BB bets $225, Hero calls $225

Turn: ($810, 2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $450, BB raises to $950, Hero calls $500

River: ($2,710, 2 players)
BB bets $2,416, Hero folds

Final Pot: $5,126

BB wins $5,125.50 ( won +$1,354.50 )
Hero lost -$1,355



Thanks a lot, river.