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Czech it down

Nope, no trip to Prague. Twelve participants, one prize, and I finished seventh.

A pair of eights with three big blinds left, calling an all in and getting called behind. Last caller had AQ and two Queens on the board equals Goodbye.

In other news: I saw a new thing in Full Tilt Poker's plethora of tournaments, Knockout. A bounty on every player! A portion of the buy-in goes to the bounty, the rest to the usual prize pool. Knock a player out, and you get his bounty. Knock five or six out and you're freerolling.

I played one and made it to the money. $3 buy-in, 50 cent bounty. I kept a careful count of how many I knocked out and it sums up to: 2. I called an all in with JJ, he has 33, haw haw. A 3 on the flop and I'm out. $5.21 prize plus $1 in bounty, minus $3 buy-in and 30 cent rake. Uhm, a neat little profit of almost $3. Go me!

Have quads, might travel

Man, I've neglected my blog for ever. I'll have to make an über-post where I dump all of the good and bad plays I've made. I do keep a poker diary, of sorts.

In earlier blogs, I wrote a little about tournaments with monthly ranking points at a site where there is a kind of rakeback, you get shares. 50% of the shares will be given out over a two year period according to how much you rake compared to other players, and you also can win shares in tournaments and by being an affiliate.

Anyhow, twice I qualified by points to a monthly Sit'n'Go final (10 seats) where first place gave you a place in the site team and you would go to EPT Barcelona to play in a rebuy satellite to the main event. I didn't win in the finals...

But now I'm up again. In the Halloween weekend, they had a promotion. Friday, Saturday and Sunday, you got the buy-in refunded if you played in the "EPT Frenzy" tournaments. It was 10+1 Euro, so in essence you only paid the rake.

I played the Saturday tournament. There were 32 participants, and here I wonder if that's good or bad. You see, there was a prize for every eleven participants. So if there would've been 33 participants, there would be three prizes. On the other hand, maybe it's good if there aren't many prizes. You see, the prize(s) was a seat in the final. The prize(s) in the final is... a place in the rebuy satellite in EPT Prague in December.

So how did it go? 32 participants, two seats in the final and some Euros to third place.

The first hour went well, bouncing around in the top-5 and my AK hitting a K gets me to first place in stack-size out of ten remaining when the first hourly break gets closer. The good run continues and I have a bit over 13000 in chips while second place has 7000. Six players left. Second place with five players left.

Boom! I hit four Aces, quads, AAAA, and against the chip lead as well, so now I have 18000 against second place 9000. It didn't go to showdown, but I had to show it.

Chip lead with four players left, the stacks are evening out, at least among the top-3. More hits, and I'm chip lead with four players left, I'm the first player over 20000 in chips.

First break. Four players left and three places "paid", this is a nailbiter.

Break ends. And what's the very first hand I'm dealt after the break. AA! And what's on the flop? Ace, rag, rag. And here follows a complicated move, the checkrereraise. I have the best set and there are no good draws (flush or straight) available.

The turn is... A. Boom! Another four Aces, quads, AAAA. And it's against the same player I had the previous AAAA against. I get paid as much as possible on that one, I think, he has about 3-4 big blinds left when it's over. He must have hit a full house or something (two pair with KK?), thinking I had Ace-something for a set or was semi-bluffing.

Earlier there had been one quad Kings and a straight flush. Lots of high hands.

He's out a while later and now we're in the money. I have 37000, the two others about 5000, but let's not get to carried away. I want one of the two seats in the final, not the 100 Euros for third place. If one of the short stacks manages to double up twice, it's a whole different situation.

The waiting is over and we're about evenly stacked. Both places give a seat in the final, so it doesn't really matter. I make some half-hearted attempts to nail first place, betting on any hit, however small, but no. "Second" place.

So, tomorrow Thursday 15th I'll play in the final. Right now, there are seven qualifiers and one package (travel, accomodation, satellite entry and rebuys) for EPT Prague up for grabs.

One can also buy in to the final directly, with 100+10 Euros and it's "One seat for every 20 players". I don't think we'll reach 20+ players.

But, well, basically I freerolled into the final, and it will probably be a Sit'n'Go, a single-table tournament. And in my experience, there's always one or two that can't make it and will be sitting out. And one who will play wildly even in the first levels, doubling up or busting. I think I have a good shot at this.

Got into WSOP 2006 via a freeroll, had a one in ten shot at EPT Barcelona twice and now a shot at EPT Prague. And if that doesn't work out, there's always next year.

Funny concidence: A friend of mine, who's now a Ph.D., has in his programme been to conferences and such (guest researcher for example) in Barcelona, Prague and Bologna. Bologna, Italy, is not that far (at least on a map, if you squint a little) from San Remo, where there will be an EPT stop in April 2008. Am I following in his footsteps?

Expletive not deleted

So, played the final with a first prize of a seat in a live satellite to EPT Barcelona. Ten-player SnG for those who got the most points in the May ranking tournaments.

One player, let's call him Ass, was very reckless even before, and when his AA was sucked out by a J on the river giving the player with JJ a lot of chips all hell broke loose.

Ass raised or went all in almost every hand, and the second worst thing was that he was completely unpredictable. Sometimes completely empty, sometimes high pocket pair. Sometimes bluffing, sometimes hit the flop very good. Noone dared face Ass down.

The worst thing was that it was around the time of the AA vs JJ hand Ass commented that he couldn't and wouldn't go to Barcelona in September!

So why play in the ranking tournaments? Why play in the final?! Why not Sit the fuck Out?

He knocked me out! Stack dwindling since everyone was careful and didn't want to risk everything on a draw or against this maniac. Starting stack was 2000, I'm down to 800 and get pocket Eights. Blinds 75/150. All in. Everyone folds, except Ass(clown) who has AQ. Board QQ4JJ and goodbye. Then soon after he knocks one more out with rags. He had a 6 giving him the 6-high straight with another player having KK. All in after the flop I think and drawing to the straight.

Then he sits out. Saboteur!

Oh well, that's poker. But he won't get any respect from me next time, if any, I see him again.

So now I'm going for the June ranking. It starts well, with a third place in the first ranking tournament.

Played live Saturday, a rebuy tournament. Didn't have to and couldn't make a rebuy (since I was never under the bar) but didn't get many playable hands. Made the addon, then out in sixth place of nine.

I recovered that, and then some, in the cash game. Then I got home and got to the final table in a multitable but was annoyed by the payout structure. Here I get to the final table after three hours with 230 participants and I get three times the buy-in back. First place got 68 times the buy-in back. I could've made more playing SnG. Skim a little from first place and let it trickle down to the final table so you at least get more than from a SnG.

Be that as it May

During May, I've played almost all of the tournaments at a site that count towards a ranking. Points awarded for 1st to 15th place, usually between 20 and 30 participants and your best ten placings count.

The last tournament was played Wednesday, and I was already in the top ten in the ranking, but I came to the conclusion that I would have to play this last tournament as well. I came to that conclusion after I looked at the scoring and who were registered for this last one. If that player placed very high (1-3) thus giving him many points and this other player also placed reasonably high, out of four players who were a threat to me, then there was the possibility that this would knock me out of the top ten. So I had to play, and relax first when they were knocked out or placed such that they wouldn't score enough.

I outlasted all of the threats and actually finished third in the tournament and finally third in the ranking.

This was important because the top ten in the May ranking will play a ten-seat Sit'n'Go Thursday (May 31) evening. The winner will get to join a pokersite team (Team 5050Poker) which will eventually be nine or ten players, who will go to EPT Barcelona in September to play in satellites to the main event. Also sharing possible winnings 50/50 with the team.

So, there's a shot for another big live tournament. (I've already played in the WSOP, *yawn*. Been there, done that, got a T-shirt and a cap). It's going to be tough though. All players in this SnG are good, otherwise they wouldn't be in the ranking. This is different from some one-shot freeroll donkfest. Of course I think my chances are better than one in ten to win it, but nine other players also think their chances are better than one in ten.

:-)

Kind comments, best wishes and "good luck" have been expressed between the players on the discussion forum. We'll see what happens with that when the first bad beat or suckout happens tonight...

Do the right thing

I had gone far in many satellite attempts for getting into one of the big satellites for the FTOPS Main Event, but not won. The subsatellites I played were all with only one prize, winner goes on to a bigger satellite. I had managed many final tables out of six or five tables starting, quite a few fourth places, some third places and one second place (with a good fair beat in that one, making fives full of Kings on the turn versus fives full of Aces with pocket Aces).

The last of the big satellites are nearing and I think strategically. I really want to get into the big one.

I buy in directly to the $100 satellite. Buyin for the Main Event is $500, meaning that about one in five will go on from the satellite. Definitely doable. If I can make a final table in a five- or six-table tournament, I can finish in the top 20% of a multitable tournament, and I don't have to win the whole damn thing, just reach top 20% and we're done.

When it starts, it's 1412 participants and 263 get a seat in the Main Event. Three other players will get a booby prize of dollars instead.

To the right of me is the classical online poker expert, commenting everybody's play and trashtalking. "66 lmao" when chip leader loses a small pot against a set of fours. One comment is "he only has those chips because he hit aces and played an idiot". I can't refrain from commenting "So, what you're saying is: He has more chips because he played and had the best hand?".

I mini-raise with TT and fold against a reraise from the chip leader and bully at the table. Not time to gamble yet.

"The expert" is out. Raises in middle position, big blind reraises, expert goes all in and big blind who covers him well calls. Big blind has AK suited. Expert trashtalker has... JK off suit. No hit and goodbye. So I comment "JKo lmao".

Wait for it. Wait for it. Yes! There it comes! "play me heads up p###y @ss donks". Uhm, no? We're kinda busy here with an important tournament.

He seemed to be the kind of player who absolutely can not let go of a hand once he's in it and sees it as a personal insult if someone challenges his initial thinking. "Ooh, suited connectors (89 spades). Against this and that, it is such and such favorite. Flop TKA rainbow. Heck, they're not holding any of that, I'll bet them off. Oops, two callers. Turn another diamond, I put him on a flush draw, bet him off dammit! What, he called? But but but, he doesn't have implied pot fold odds equity, I'm in position, his stats say he has a 18% thingamabob XLA and Jupiter is ascendant. OK, I'll checkfold the river but tell everybody what a great player I am."

It's a turbo tournament and blinds are going up. Lots of folds all around. And then the pivotal moment comes. I'm in the big blind and have AT diamonds. Fold all the way around and small blind whom I very barely cover thinks for a while and goes all in. Is he trying to steal? If he had something, and we're the only two involved, he won't gain anything more than my blind from going all in. He would've called or min-raised with a pair, A-something, connectors.

I call. And oh my how right I was. He has J8 off suit. Flop is 7x9, not too worrisome. More cards help me than help him. Turn a blank.

Fukitol tahelweit. The river is a Ten filling a gutshot straight for the bastard. Smooth move, ex-lax. J8 ftw... "J8 lmao".

When I've posted the small blind of 60, I have 25 left. Surprisingly everyone folds and it's only a matter of protocol to toss in the rest with my 58o. And big blind who can't act has 24 and I "double up" to 170. Fold, fold, fold until I get somethng playable, which is 55 in UTG+1. Called by big blind with AT suited (hey, I recognize that from somewhere) and a ten on the flop, no fives come and I'm out at 966th.

Isn't it a b*tch when you do the right thing and lose like that? Someone, David Sklansky I think, wrote something along the lines of that you shouldn't play differently from how you would play if you could see all the cards the players have.

For fun, I checked it in an odds calculator. Preflop I was a 65% to 35% favorite. Likewise on the flop. On the turn, 80-20.

Would I have called with ATs versus J8o preflop if I knew what both of us had? Very very probable. Of course, he wouldn't have played J8 against AT, and if he did he would be the object of general ridicule and scornful fingerpointing from everybody at the table. Even if he is getting short, he has a whole orbit before he has to make a gambling decision again.

Would I have played the flop if I knew the cards and we assume that he just called with his small blind and I checked? Yes, and any sane player would've folded if they also knew what each had.

On the turn there's no question about it. He would then still have about 1000 chips left.

So, what's next? Some long shot attempts at WSOP satellites and if all else fails, try the one on June 17th at Full Tilt with 100 seats guaranteed.

Trying to play my way into a team which will go to EPT Barcelona.

Maybe some more live play.

Going for it

Working on the FTOPS... I continued with several attempts at getting into a satellite to the final by way of cheap satellites (counting the buyin in points or dollars). Almost, but not quite. More final tables but by then the blinds are so high (Turbo tournaments) that there isn't much play anymore, what brought me to the final table, just "all in or fold".

The worst of my bad beats was: Dealt AA in very first hand. And a player before me goes all in, yesss! Insta-call. But a player after me also calls, that worsens the odds. All in-guy has 44. I AA and last one QQ. OK, not too shabby. Flop and turn nothing special regarding draws. River Q and a split last place.

An interesting one: Everybody played carefully after the flop AA4, and I river a flush. Hopefully someone has a naked Ace or a pocket pair? Hell no, opponent slowplayed A4! I'm down to a third of the starting stack but I manage to turn it around (don't give up until it's over, a poker tournament is generally a zero sum game) up to finishing in third place. Of course another bad beat. 88 short stacked all in before the flop and the one caller has AQ, classic coin flip situation with overcards vs pair. Flop 9x9, good, good. Turn K, liking it, liking it. River another K making my two pair a counterfeit. My hand is then KK998 and opponent's KK99A. Any other cards than K, A or Q on the river would've kept me in the tournament. But you only remember the losses in great detail. My AJ against AK preflop and riverring a J soon fade from memory.

So, now I'm tired of trying to subsatellite into the Main Event. So my plan is this: To heck with trying to get in cheap. I've made it far in many of these tournaments.

The buy-in for the main event is $500. There are satellites for $100, meaning that one in five goes on from the satellite. So I'm gunning for the big satellite with many participants. You could play very passively and reach the top 20%. Strategy and tactics. There are many other tables where players can get knocked out, whereas if you play a five- or sixhanded Sit'n'Go where the winner goes on, you can't make any mistakes. So the big satellite it is. Wish me luck.

Oh, by the way. At the flea market this morning, I found and bought a Laughing Buddha figurine. Quoting from the Wikipedia link: "One belief surrounding the figure of Budai in popular folklore is that if a person is to rub his belly, it brings forth wealth, good luck, and prosperity."

I'm covering my bases with a Bible quote as well:

A slack hand causes poverty,
but the hand of the diligent makes rich.
Proverbs 10:4

It even has more "oomph" in the King James version.

He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.

More FTOPS attempts

I've still got it in me. Made more attempts at by way of satellites getting into the satellite to the FTOPS Main Event at Full Tilt.

Out of 54 starting players and only one (1) winner I placed 11th, 21st, 46th, 4th, 15th and...

The 46th place was AK and hit an A on the flop which had two diamonds and I went all in for him not to try to draw, but he did, and he did have diamonds, and he did hit the flush. And another fourth place for the statistics.

The and... maybe the last one for today. Shall I stop trying, or shall I make a push all night? I made some miracle recoveries in that one. AJ vs AK and hitting J on the river for example. It's only a bad beat if it happens to you, not someone else. :-)

At last we are TWO left, heads up. Could this be it? I hit QUADS Jacks and I don't scare him off, I want him to bet into me so I don't waste the monster hand but he doesn't so I have to make a move on the river but no call. I show it and tell him to "BET!" and he says he almost did, he hit the 7 on the flop.

I lost fair and square, what else can you do? K something and I hit a K on the flop K55 and then a 5 on the turn and he plays carefully. Not many hands can beat me and heads up you have to play a made hand.

One of the hands is AA and that is what he had. 2nd place and no consolation prize. Couldn't it be so that you could get a second chance when you've placed so well often as I have. X final tables and you get to play a shorthanded table, for example six players and two qualifiers?

OK, at least one more. Gotta play, gotta play!

Edit, footnote: Man, oh, man. Once again, I get dealt AA in the very first hand. And YES, someone to the right of me goes all in. Instant call! But... one player after me also calls. That worsens the odds. Oh well, let's see what they have. The one who went all in first has 44, hah haw. I have AA and third player has QQ. OK, not to shabby and the flop and turn show no danger. River is a Queen and we're out at a split 53rd place. Out early in another one, turning a Jack-high flush with a straight draw out there which was what I was hoping someone had hit. Nopers, winner of that pot and knocking me out had a Queen-high flush.

Now I'm calling it a night.

I see that a DrPauly is already registered for the FTOPS Main Event. Is it, and I think it is so, the Dr. Pauly? Yes, it is.

Funny, he writes in his blog that "I'll have a quiet weekend to myself where I can finally get some sleep, work out, read, write, and mentally prepare for seven weeks of WSOP insanity.". Pffft, huhmmph, lying through his teeth *mumble* *grumble*.

Not quite there

I've been neglecting this blog for a while, but I'm preparing a longer posting (a.k.a. an "uber") where I mostly will whine about bad beats and suckouts, something I'm sure you are very eager to hear about from a low-stakes player. OK, there will be some poker philosophizing and rambling as well.

What else has been up? Started playing at a new site in March, where the rakeback (of sorts) is that you get shares according to your rake and bonus level. Shares are also added to the prize pool in some tournaments. At the moment I own 0.0008% of the company. The first/next shareholder meeting, if there is one, will be interesting. Since we're a group (and not "the public"), it's perfectly legal for us to play live poker, something that is otherwise a gray area in Swedish gambling law.

Playing above your comfort level makes you sharpen up. I played in a $25 Deep Stack tournament (I mostly play $5 to $10 SnG and multitable tournaments with the occasional foray into $20 if I'm "up") and whaddya know, I won it! Nervous at the start because... Very first hand dealt to me was AA. In a Deep Stack tournament, starting with 5000. You'll either win a small pot or lose a big one. And I don't want to go out in the first hand in a Deep Stack. I played it somewhat carefully and won it, up 1000, although it was a troublesome board. Not any obvious draws, but since it was DS, there was always the possibility of "any two". "Jack Six off suit? Sure, I'll look at a flop, I've got plenty of chips".

And I played in a live tournament also above my comfort level. About $140 buy-in to a freezeout, usually it's $30 rebuy. Twenty participants, five paid and I wasn't worried at the final table. I know some shortstacks will knock themselves out, out of necessity. Yup, third place and a small win at the post-tournament cash game meant I left with three times as much cash as I arrived with. A good day. It goes into my "poker kitty", where I'll get cash for the next time I'll play live. A nice feeling, having (thin) wads of cash lying around the apartment. I also have a (very) small bundle of dollar bills left over from my trip to the US and Vegas and the WSOP last summer. Some day, somehow, I just know I'll go around at home gathering it all up for That Big Score, like in Rounders.

I coulda been a contender. I wrote earlier about trying to satellite into the monthly $750.000 Guaranteed at Full Tilt but not making it. I got to the satellite by way of a 54-seater SnG that I won. Now I'm gunning for the FTOPS IV Main Event with $1.5 million Guaranteed.

Yesterday I played four supersatellites, 54 players and the winner goes on to the satellite with the standings yesterday at 45 seats guaranteed to go on to Main Event and 1900 participants. My results: Fourth, fourth, twentyninth (bad beat, AQ vs JT all in preflop and him hitting trip Jacks) and third. Three final tables and good results. At the times I made it that far, the blinds were so high (it was Turbo tournaments) it was mostly "all in or fold" and all knockout situations were classic coin flips; two overcards (AQ) versus a pair (99) or face cards against face cards with shared cards (KQ vs QJ) and someone hitting or outkickering.

But I feel confident. Three final tables out of four. The satellites I've played have been bought in for with frequent player points, there are also $ buy-in satellites. I've got a good "bankroll" of points, so I'll keep trying Friday night, making a push towards the Saturday satellite for the Sunday final. I really would like to strike gold again.

Also trying WSOP freerolls. And I'm doing well in another grind at the site where you get shares, they have Ranking tournaments where the top 15 in each of the 17 Ranking tournaments get ranking points and the top 10 points rankers meet in a SnG at the end of the month. Winner gets on the team which will go to Barcelona in September to play in the EPT, in a live satellite to the main event, and team members splitting possible winnings 50/50. 50% to the player, 50% to the team. I'm in the top 10 and will probably make it to the SnG if I don't mess up. Like if I play in more ranking tournaments and don't get enough points, or someone lower in points makes a big rush and passes me. Ya gotta play to win!

Not this time either

Nope, it didn't work out in the satellite I wrote about earlier. It was a Turbo tournament, with 408 participants and 9 prizes (entry into a $750.000 prize money Guaranteed tournament). I really only made two plays.

First one was TJ on the button. Just call it unraised and no raises. Hit a T on the flop, mini-bet, the blinds fold and one caller. Check on the turn. The river is a king, I just make a mini-bet again. He (just) calls and has KT.

Nothing playable after that. Changing tables, pay the blinds, flat call and don't hit any flops. I'm down to about 1000, starting with 1500 and the blinds are now 60/120. Middle position, one raiser in early position to about 3 times big blind. I have AKo... Ace of clubs and King of diamonds. I might as well make a move now if I'm going to have a shot at a better position. All in. All fold except for the raiser who calls and has 77. Such situations (AK vs pair) are about 50/50, which is shown by what the board became.

2TJ9, out of which three are clubs. I still have a shot. But the river is not an Ace, King, Queen or club. It's an eight of hearts, giving him a straight to really rub it in and I'm out at 233rd place.

But I will not stop trying.

Could work, could work...

I've made more attempts at the WSOP freerolls at Full Tilt Poker, as I've written about earlier.

Then I laid my eyes on another opportunity. From my January attempt at the Iron Man Challenge (where I in the end ended up in the money (a pittance) but did not win it going on to lots of money) I had a healthy supply of Full Tilt Points.

There's the Sunday $750000 Guarantee tournament. I made several attempts this weekend at satellite tournaments costing Full Tilt Points and...

• Attempt 1: A 54-player Sit&Go tournament costing 50 points, with 1 prize. Eighth place.
  
• Attempt 2: Same thing, 54 players, 50 points, 1 prize. Second place! But only one prize.
  
• Attempt 3: 9 players, 300 points, 1 prize. Fourth place.
  
• Attempt 4: 9 players, 300 points, 1 prize. Second place again.
  

Well, it's going well, but not well enough. Second place is best loser, especially when there's only one prize.

• Attempt 5: 54 players, 50 points, 1 prize. First place, winner, da man, qualifier, entry gained.
  

Yes, finally went on! Practice makes perfect. IMHO, I must be doing something right.

On to what? Well, another satellite, but/and I like the odds. In the satellite (which you can buy in to directly for 2500 points), the final table, 9 players, go on to the big game. At least that what it looks like now, could be more places "paid" if more qualify for the satellite. Since I've gone far (but, alas, not far enough apparently) in other tournaments recently, I feel I have a shot. I don't have to win, just place high. Anyhoo, the big game I'm talking about is the $750000 Guarantee tournament (which you can buy in to directly for $500), and I like the numbers there as well. Last time I checked, 430 were already registered and 216 places were paid.

It's doable. Finishing "in the money" twice more today, and I have a shot at six figures. Or three. Last time I checked, first prize was $141000 and last ITM was $750. Anything is a plus for me, the low stakes dreamer.

Just don't play like a total donkey.

Shameless panhandling

If you're not registered at Full Tilt Poker, why not give it a try and at the same time slip me some kickback greenbacks by using the signup code MARTILT ?

You get a 100% (up to $600) bonus on your first deposit. Paid out incrementally as you meet the requirements.

Play Online Poker

Giveaway

Since last weekend I've been struggling, fighting, kicking and screaming at Full Tilt Poker's WSOP Giveaway.

Yup, they're giving away WSOP Main Event seats, but not without effort. For a while now, they've been having Sit&Go Freerolls continuously, with 315 (named .COM) or 630 (named .NET) participants. One prize, and one prize only, in each of them - the winner gets entry into Round 2 next Saturday, the rest get absolutely nothing.

I see that for Round 2 there's max 5000 participants, but it's still only half full. In Round 2 the whole final table (9 players) get entry into the final on Sunday, the real WSOP Giveaway where there's two (2) WSOP Main Event seats up for grabs.

And there are other ways to get a WSOP seat by way of Full Tilt, check it out.

So how have I done? Well, I've played three dozen or more of these freerolls. One third place, one fourth place, one sixth place, two eleventh, two fourteenth and some more "last three tables" and generally often high placements (if it had been "normal" tournaments where about the top ten percent gets paid, I probably would have made a profit. But here it's only one prize and... second place is best loser.

Anyway, I must be doing something right if you look at how I've placed. It's worth a shot. I could go all the way. I wanna go to Vegas again! And again!

For make benefit

More exotic places showing up in my Google Analytics of what visitors I have to this blog and where they come from:

• The Azores. Yep, those islands waaay out there in the Atlantic Ocean.
  
• Malaysia.
  

A small world

Should I worry?

I checked my Google Analytics visitor data and I see that I had had visitors from such places as Dublin (Ireland), Fort Myers, San Francisco and Washington D.C. (U.S.A.).

But also from Bogotá (Colombia) and Rasht (Iran).

So... I believe the scenario is something along the lines of me being checked out by U.S. gubmint officials (the D.C. visitor) for possible airdrop into Iran, bringing poker to the masses there. This is not possible without training and preparation, so station agents in various places have been involved. First, I will be sent to Dublin for physical training, i.e. ingesting copious amounts of Guinness. From there, I will proceed to Fort Myers, Florida. Why? If you look at a map and draw a line between Fort Myers and San Francisco, what point do you cross? Yes, Las Vegas.

Well, you do. If you use a small map, a large marker or pencil and squint a little. I will make a parachute jump into Las Vegas (in standard issue white Elvis jumpsuit).

This will be financed with Colombian drug money.

See? It all fits together.

The good old times

Like, yould would believe the time I would have tome to concentrate right now?" I am verily focussing on evey keystoke.

OK, here we go.

Remember when you hit that flow? I am far from it.

Blargh. I just have to tell you.

OK, department party where I:

1. Danced
   
2. sang
   
3. bought drinks
   

fuck it

I will exp... env... all...

Talk more later.

Fuck, I'm incapacitted, yet I´d put it in more whatchamacallit. words.

bye.

---

Twelve hours later.

Note to self: Don't blog drunk. Who, in their right mind, stagger home and then start up a computer and ramble in a semicoherent way?

At least I enjoyed myself.

December gloom

In December I had a hefty decline in my bankroll, but I'm still "up". Nevertheless, it feels like I wasted the profit. The cause: Second best and suckouts. The usual; KK vs AA, set vs higher set, AA vs miracle. Flop two pair (for example KQ) to be sucked out by set on the turn.

Before Christmas I had a good run at a live cash game, doubling up twice with JQs flop TKA and 88 flop A8X where opponent hit a pair of Aces. At the live game after Christmas those profits went away. First, an expensive tournament where I chickened out with KK allowing the opponent to draw to a river Full House with 22. Then in the cash game I lost one buy-in with AA, flop A but a third Club on the turn and indeed he had the Flush (29!) "but I had outs". Then another buy-in where I don't hit anything and donk away the rest around closing time.

When will I learn?

In the two days before Christmas Eve (when we celebrate Christmas in Sweden, while some celebrate on Christmas Day) I just played around online and also played my father heads-up (he's had a good run online on low-stakes short-handed and heads-up) where I won the majority of the matchups.

Online, the days after Christmas, I tried to recoup my losses but was just treading water. Made a few attempts at satellites for a big-buy-in tournament on New Year's Day but the best I did was second place in a five-person Sit'n'Go where the winner got a seat.

Plans for January: Drop down one level in online cash games, try to place well in cheap multi-table tournaments. And make an attempt at the Full Tilt Iron Man Challenge.

Plans for 2007: Win a seat online to a major live tournament in WPT, EPT, WSOP or some Open/Million(s) or big tournament and get In The Money this time.

And/or win five figures or more in a Guaranteed/Megasatellite/Tiered kind of thing online.

Things not to do, or be reluctant to do: Play in a team or get staked. Well, I wouldn't mind being sponsored, but I don't want to share profits at a flat rate, and in a way it feels as if I would be playing with scared money.

-"Congratulations Martin, you won $100,000!"

-"But I have to split 50/50 with the backer..." *mumble mumble* *gripe gripe*

-"But that still leaves you the nice amount of $50,000!?"

-"Yeah, but those 50 could have been 100, all mine."