Final Table Finally!

Well it’s been a while since my last final table appearance but I eventually managed another one in the Mansion $10 buy in $500 added tourney this morning. There were only 61 runners so excellent value, and I got off to a solid start. It’s fair to say I had my fair share of luck along the way (AQ busting AK with about 12 left being the one that sticks in my mind – isn’t it nice when it goes your way for a change!), but together with some good solid play too I finished 4th for $122. So I was very pleased with that.

And to cap off a good morning, I finished 47th out of 1000 odd in Betway’s Happy Saturday’s Lottery to gain some much needed PL ranking points!

Halloween Horrors

In my STT challenge, I went from hero to zero with the last set of 10 yielding just one 2nd place finish, giving a loss of $80. I think it must have been because Pokerroom changed all their player characters to ghosts and ghouls for Halloween!

However, I’m still showing a profit and have since played the remaining 5 required to get my $40 bonus.

So in summary:
Entry Fees $605
Prizes $710
Profit $105

Plus $100 profit from $5 STT.

One Of Those Days

The main focus of this week was to try and play the remaining STT's required to release my 40 bucks bonus at PokerRoom. With one week to go I had 16 left to fit in by Saturday, so it was going to be tight! The challenge is (edit: was!!) going well though and the last set of 10 returned 4 wins and a profit of $90.

However last night was just one of those sessions where everything goes against you. First up I was playing extremely patiently and waited a good 20 minutes before I played a hand. That hand was the old favourite AA in the SB. 3 limpers, so I raised up to 4BB. One taker and a flop of 9 T x rainbow doesn't give me to much to worry about. Potentially, I'm only wary of someone with JQ drawing at a straight so I bet out a 3rd of the pot trying to maximise the returns from my premium starting hand. A call, which re-enforces my belief he's on the draw or maybe has top pair with AT. The turn is a blank so I bet again for a 3rd of the pot. I'm reraised all in and after thinking for a while believe he's on the bluff draw. So I call. And see pocket 9's laughing at my rockets having made a set. Note to self - look out for hidden sets. In hindsight the warning signs were maybe there but many times you get shoves with draws or top pairs so I'll let myself off that one.

Next up we're down to the bubble and there are 2 big stacks with about 6k each and me and one other effectively battling for 3rd spot. I'm keeping my head above water and keeping ahead of the 4th place guy when he eventually shoves his AJ in the BB to meet a big stack with KK. Obviously I'm hopeful the Kings will hold up here. The flop shows a Jack to give shortie more hope and then sure enough on the river is the 2nd Jack which confines me to being shortie now. A few hands later and my A5s is no match for the biggies AJ with an Ace on the flop, and bang goes another one.

The 3rd game of the night serves me no better. Early on there is one guy who takes 3 people out in 2 hands with AA and KK. A few hands later and I get dealt KK UTG. I mix it up and limp in and so do 5 others. "Doh!" I think to myself, "I've let a few too many in here" but the early big stack in the BB raises up to 4BB. "Aha, you wanna play do ya?" So I re-raise to 9BB. Everyone else folds but he shoves all in. "Great I think, he's got tens or jacks maybe". So a quick call and he flips over Aces - what a run of cards he's had. No help to either of us and I'm busted again. I try to take solace in the fact that that particular situation is only supposed to happen once in about 120 times or so (think I've read that somewhere before!), but it's not much help when you've lost 3 in a row.

No poker for me tonight, as it's the 2nd match of our Essex League Season. Read about how we did on Clements Hall 2nd Team tomorrow.

Punters Lounge Bloggers Freeroll

Been a hectic few days for me, so little poker has been played. The only noteworthy tourney I've played in recently was the PL Bloggers Freeroll last Thursday. 45 Runners in this inauguaral event and I finished a creditable 14th against some very knowledgable players. I enjoyed a good run of cards in the early stages, but as the cards dried up and the blinds increased it became increasingly desperate and I ended up with QJs pairing a queen but being beaten by pocket rockets. An enjoyable game of poker though and looking forward to the next one.

Bonus!

No poker last for me last night as we had our first Essex League match of the Autumn season. Check out how we got on here.

Since the last update I’ve played 2 legs of the Champions League and have bombed out early in both. The 1st leg I made the nut flush on the river only to be beaten by a full house which was also made by the same card. Then the 2nd leg my trip Q’s were beaten by another full house.

On a brighter note though, I’ve finally managed to rake the remaining $80 of the Poker.Co.Uk introductory bonus. It only took me about 6 months to play the required 1000 hands!

Another positive in the last few days has been I’ve managed to play 10 more STT’s towards the challenge, winning 4 of them including 3 on the bounce. So pretty pleased with that, and will try and squeeze a couple in this evening. As I write though my KK has just been busted by AK. Grrrrr. Let’s hope for better luck in the next one…..

No Joy!

No joy in last night's tournaments. Finished about halfway in the field of 224 in the Poker Player game and came 24th in the PL Challenge - which won't be anywhere near good enough to challenge the leaders come the end of the month.

Also managed to get in 2 more STT's towards the challenge. In the first one - walked straight into Aces to finish nowhere, then in the next one bubbled. D'oh! So over all a disappointing night's play.

Might have a dabble in tonight's Champions League on Sporting Odds. Played it for the first time last month and despite only playing 6 of the legs finished a creditable 18th for $25. Will have to see if I can better that this month.

$1000 STT Challenge

Didn't have time for much poker last night but managed to squeeze in 2 $10 STT's towards my $1000 STT Challenge (see below). Managed to cash in both of them but couldn't get the win. First one I got to Heads Up shortstacked and my AJ eventually fell to pocket 5's. Then the second one, after hitting top pair with Q7s I was beaten by KJo which made a straight....... on the river! It's always the river! Still a 2nd and a 3rd is not too bad at all.

A brief summary of the challenge: (full details here)

Back in May I set myself a target of winning $1000 solely through STT's. I started off with the $5 STT's at Interwetten Poker, and after 70 of them I had profits of $100. I then decided to step up to $10 STT's and switched over to PokerRoom to take advantage of their 40% deposit bonus. At the last update I had played 20 for profits of $60.

I haven't played as many as I'd have like to by now, and I need to get going in order to clear the bonus in time. I only have 17 days left to play another 30!

I might be able to get one in tonight, but that depends on how well I do (or don't do!) in the PokerRoom Poker Player Team Challenge. Have also got the first leg of the monthly Punters Lounge Challenge tonight so (hopefully) it might be a busy night.

Welcome to my poker blog

First up a little bit of my poker background. I started playing poker in January this year, after discovering the Poker Forum at PuntersLounge. I decided to try and get myself a decent bankroll from nothing through playing freerolls and sign up bonuses. And I'm pleased to say I managed this. So therefore I now play all my poker with money won from nothing. Not bad - a hobby that pays for itself!

The highlight of my short poker career was winning an all expenses paid trip to Vegas in June to play in the Mansion Poker Dome, which was broadcast on Fox Sports Network in America. I didn't win, but the experience was superb and I would love to go back there again one day.