blonde poker forum

I hovered over the back key before I started this, to be frank!

The truth shall set me free I hope.....in a nutshell, I'm a rec who would love to have the freedom of quitting the mundane day-day job, if only I could/can win enough in that one 'big shot' attempt. Had a few shots, mixed success. I know enough to understand that having a shot every now and again is very unlikely to prove successful, and I'm no match for the regs who grind every day, mastering the nuances of marginal scenarios. But, f*k it, I'm going to have the occasional pot shot, and win or lose, I'll share my tales!

Feel free to delve...

Good luck Dwayne.

At least you recognise that is "highly unlikely" you will succeed.

A great place to start. Ambition and hope are good, delusion not so much. The lines between them are narrow.

Good Luck with it.

Thanks tikay, good advice as always. I have a lot respect for you chiefly because you are a rare 'public' figure who has retained a sense of humility. On a separate note, posting diaries at 4am on a drunken whim isnt so bright! I want to make clear I have a real passion for poker. It's an important hobby in my life, a game where I've met great people and learnt a kit about my faults. Strengths are easy, 'getting' where you need to improve is a tougher cookie. On a poker note, I took a 'shot' at the weekend, 4 tournies played, total $290 invested, 4 tournies, 2 FTs and bubbled FT in one of other 2, $1800 up! I have an interesting PHA to post on one of em, but I'm out so it can hold :) Will post more about myself this weekend, I know my opening post was fishy at best, lol

There's the thing with poker, & perhaps explains it's mysterious & addictive hold on so many of us. It DOES show our character so vividly.

Read blonde, & you'll see soon enough the bad winners & bad losers. This will precisely mirror their life outside of poker, assuming they have one, which is not always the case.

The worrying thing, to me, is that it seems to me that a lot of people don't actually enjoy it, or not as much as they should. But they are addicted, need their fix, & so put themselves though utter hell, repeatedly. 

How many times have you read this?....

I fucking hate Sundays

Sports betting is no different - the anticipation is the buzz, the excitement leading up to the event. It's almost like sexual foreplay, which is wonderful, & in fact is sometimes better than the actual thing.

If we enjoy poker enough, EVERY hand dealt has that buzz of expectation - will it be a good one? 

I'm so nuts about the game that I get the buzz from waiting to see....

My hole cards

The flop

The Turn

The River

Dare I bluff here?

Will he call me?

At showdown, am I good?......that wonderful wait to see the cards on their back.

As you know, I went to Vegas again this year, & without troubling you with the boring preamble, I have had a difficult year or two in some areas of my life, & I was 90% unlikely to go to Vegas this year, before I strucky lucky, & I got there.

I played every day for around 3 weeks. Without exception, I was excited every single day of that trip. I'd awake each morning, & think ooh, in two hours I'll be playing.

I would arrive early, take my seat, say hello to everyone & settle down.  And being as I played mostly PLO8, which is low-variance, I would, on average, then sit there for 10 or 12 hours.

And in that time, I'd still get that buzz before every single hand, every hole card, every flop, turn, & river. 

Was it about money? No, don't think so. I was a bit nervous in the $3k PLO8, it is such a lot of money, but it was just that non-stop buzz. I loved every single minute.

We are all different, live & let live, but I do look at multi-table "grinders" (jeez, what an inappropriate word, grinding), playing 10 or 12 tables at a time. Do they really enjoy all those moments, the buzz of every card & street? Maybe they are making a ton of money, if so, good luck to them, but I don't see too many MTT grinders riding around with money in their pocket. It's win tonight to pay for tomorrow in many cases.

Guess what I am saying, given you have opened up & started a Diary, is enjoy your poker. It's just a game, but a truly fantastic one. And yes, treasure all the lovely friendships you will make in poker. They are worth more than any win, to us recreationals.
 

For me it's more fun playing multiple tables, more interesting decisions come up, more all-in showdowns and more action. But I guess I am part of the ADD generation!

Well yes, possibly.

I guess you are part of the "fast" generation (as in fast food, fast cricket, fast everything), & by multi-tabling you just get more kicks, faster.

There is something to be said for having time to savour some things in life though, be it fine wine, good food, nature, a pretty young lady, or even a hand of poker. 

I think, as a generalism, as we get older, we like to spend a little more time to savour the better things.

I suppose you no more understand how I can derive so much pleasure from live poker, as I can understand how anyone can enjoy 12-tabling. 

Now't wrong with either, of course.

Hope you are well, &, err, crushing.

I know I don't post much on here anymore

But Tikay, that was beautiful :)

Welcome to blonde Dwayne

Ahh, thank you Melissa.

I'm in a bit of a strangely reflective mood today. Been Posting nonsense all over the shop.

Good to see you back here.

Three words you need to remember at all times, Mr 110:

Game of cards.

If you can keep that in your mind when you play, you're already ahead of 80% of the field, are more likely to stick at it for longer without being found in a church archway with a colander on your head and might well find you enjoy it more.

You'll also have better hands (as in the ones on the end of your arms) as you won't have spent time slamming tables, win or lose.

Even if it is your job, your job is playing a game of cards. Some people make a living shovelling tarmac, some people spend all day tapping at a keyboard and some make their money taking their clothes off. Keep it all in perspective and it can be as fun as it is supposed to be.

And best of luck with the dream, sir.

Love Tal, aged 80.

Why is that different to any other day...

No need Plumpy, no need.

Whilst waffling for England here yesterday, I clean forgot to congratulate you for your results laast weekend.

Top work!

Thanks Tikay, your post was great... nowt wrong with a bit of waffle every now & then (although I've heard you tend to do it in the 'now' far too often :) )

I'm definitely in your camp when it comes downs to what you get from poker. I hate (but understand) terms like 'grinding', it makes the game sound so much like hard work! And to some, I'm sure it is, so good luck to them.

For me, it's all about those nerves in the pit of your stomach when you're in a pot. I believe you can tell so much about a person from how they react before, during & after a big hand. A player's self-esteem, control, patience, sportsmanship, temperament... I could go on, but the point is it really opens people up in a way that very few scenarios are capable of doing. You see the best & worst of people. I hope most players who have a bad night, lose their cool or whatever, are capable of reflection afterwards and see their flaws, but anyone who's ever frequented the same casino regularly has seen those players who are constantly moaning over the same 'badbeats' (it's normally an A-K v Queens scenario...), blaming the dealer, etc. Not sure what 'they' get from this, other than making others feel uncomfortable, but again it's a reflection of their character that's all too visible to everyone else.

So, about me....

I'm 31, born in Manchester, went to Sheffield Uni for 3 years, then back to Manchester where I worked for a financial solutions company from 2 weeks after graduation in 2003, up until this March. Decided to relocate down South, now living in a place called Ware (Herts.), working for a small finance & accounting recruitment firm in Central London. I'm single (oh I forgot, 'Hi MelissaChloe, thanks for the message', lol), very independent, lived on my own for a couple of years but currently flat sharing with my bro & his girlfriend, which is cool as I like keeping close to the family. My parents are both Irish, my Dad from a place called Draperstown in the North, my mum from West Meath in the South. Most of my family are based in Ireland now, which is hard as we're very much a traditional, close Irish family, but I make sure I get over for Christmas each year.

So, a PHA:

$15,000 Guarantee R/A $30

4 handed,
Romeopro33 (D) 410,088
Castaspell           906,662
Me                    399,854
TheRodAce        207,396

Blinds are 10,000 & 20,000, Ante 2000
from what I can remember, 1st pays c $3800, 2nd $2700, 3rd $2100, 4th $1535...

Folded round to castaspell in the SB, I have  Kh  5h, he min-raises to 20,000

Now I recognise my hand is very marginal, blind-v-blind, but felt he'd been opening up most pots, and had shown a willingness to give up post-flop. In retrospect, I think it's a fold, and pick better spots, but hey ho (I'm a rec, remember?). So I called:

Flop:

 5s 7s 4d

He bets 44,000 - I call

Turn:

 5s 7s 4d Kc

He check, I bet 87,500, he raises to 306.950, I go all in, he calls.

He shows -  Kd 7h .... the river runs out  Aspades

The mistake, I know, was getting involved with a 20 BB stack, with this hand. But as played, from the turn, can/should I get away from this??






     

He's a modest man, with much to be modest about.

I think when an opponent leads a flop and c/r turn its all over baby. Saying that its 4 handed what the hell.

Can you think of a hand you can beat that c/r that turn?  Call pre and fold to that shove on reflection but with 30 secs thinking and a load of beer I would probably do the same as you. The raise pre makes the pot too big which also suits your opponent more that you. We know its good to make pots bigger in position heads up but not in this situation when laddering is a factor.

I love beeeeeeeeeeeeeer.

Yeah, I did think over ICM but to be frank I wanted to go ftw.. I wasn't drunk during the tourney btw, just when on blonde :). On reflection I should fold pre, then fold the flop. I think u have to go with it OTT - it's 4 handed, and he's going to use laddering considerations against me. It's b-v-b too, have to play the maths and expect to be good OTT I reckon

Just played this hand, 5 euro r/a, 6000 guaranteed, if anyone can explain villain's play, pray tell, unless he's stood behind me!

Me 6,120  (mid position) 5s 6s

Villain 5180 (D)

Blinds 50,100 - I raise 210, 3 calls....

 8d Kd 8c

Checked to me, bet 375, villain calls...

 8d Kd 8c 4s

Check-Check on turn...

 Aspades

I rep the Ace, bet 750

Snap call, villain shows....

 5h 6h

Delighted to be splitting after the call, but totally bemused, thoughts?

Either a misclick or Josh has lowered his stakes.

Lol, was first thing that came to my head at the time! 

Hi dwayne,

Have you been to play at Luton yet?

Hi Celtic,

No, never had the pleasure unfortunately, a good place to play? I've gone to a few deepstacks at DTD in the last 12 months, but otherwise I've played mostly at Manchester 235 for the last 3-4 years and a few times at the G Casino there. I played some cash at the Empire in Leicester Square last month, which is pretty much the sum of my poker venues visited!

Luton is ok. Choice of two casinos both mainly do deepstack comps, which I'm not a fan off, but they get plenty of runners, so I'm in the minority.

Friday at the G is fairly decent. 40+20, with the winner getting 1700+.

Good mix too, from nick crisp and claypole, through to Sicilian and chompy.

Just for balance, there is a 150 coming up at gentings next weekend. 20k gtd. add them both on fb if you're on there.

I've been a bit lazy with this over the last few weeks, mainly due to lots of changes in my working life. I've been offered a graduate tax trainee role at a large chartered accountancy firm in London, which is getting me out of the joyous wonder that is recruitment. Working in a small agency where you literally have to generate all business from scratch is no easy ride, so to get an opportunity like this at the age of 31 is huge for me. The Partner at the firm told me over the phone they were 'taking a bit of a punt' (my kind of language!) on me, as they usually go for fresh grads. It's fair to say, I can't cock this one up.

Poker-wise, I've had some really good results of late, these are my stats for the last 219 games:


Games Played: 219
Avg. Buy-In: $20.69
ITM %: 18
Total Profit:$3,354.84
Average Profit:$15.32
Average ROI %:74
Early Finishes %: 0
Early Middle Finishes %: 12.8
Middle Finishes %: 53
Middle Late Finishes %: 22.8
Late Finishes %: 11.4


And some decent scores of late:
 
8/24/2013            $15,000 Guaranteed R/A    $30.00+$3.00            4/217    $1,535.62
09/27/2013    $10,000 Guaranteed R/A    $30.00+$3.00             3/147    $1,425.60
09/26/2013    $4,000 Guaranteed R/A    $7.00+$0.70             1/272    $1,108.12
09/29/2013    $200,000 Sunday Special    $200.00+$15.00    92/894    $420.00
07/28/2013    $150,000 Sunday Special    $200.00+$15.00    78/824    $379.04



I made a huge error in the $150,000 Sunday Special, open shoving A-K with around 25 BBs, to be snapped off by Aces. Really annoyed me as I had an above average stack and have been playing stackszies of 5-25 BBs really strongly of late. One of my biggest strengths is patience, so to make a play like this I still can't comprehend. My thought process at the time was I could easily get called by worse/just take the blinds as I didn't want to play down the streets, but in retrospect it's just a lame play, lol.

Tonight I played the £50 satellite for the DTD deepstack, 2 bullets - grinded away a 5-10 BB stack consistently for the last hour or so, never out of the bottom 3-4 (21 got a seat, was like this from 50 left!)....but we got a seat :)

Congratz on a seat and the solid results!

I want to give advice regarding AKs but I can't comprehend not wanting to play the streets! You know you can flop a royal right??!?!?!?1 Keep it up!

Haha, it was offsuit so would need to be a truly special flop! The moment I did it I knew it was awful, but in a way it's good I got looked up.... a lot of the time it will get through, or I'll get called by 9's, 10's etc and bink, then forget about how ridic the play really was. It wasn't consistent in any way with how I normally play either, just a rush of blood.

One thing I would like to say is that my game has improved a hell of a lot since reading Pleno's tourney feedback from a few months back (think was in Marbella?), where he open folded K-Q/A-Q suited type hands 3-4 times in spots where any further action would have led to awkward/tourney defining decisions. It made me think in terms of chip protection, not making 'lazy' calls and generally picking better spots. A lot of his feedback really hit home for me and I feel I've applied successfully in MTTs. Cheesy I know, but thanks Pleno!

A*

Hey, not posted in a while, due to a combo of new job so less pokerz but mostly laziness, hasn't stopped me checking everyone's else's diaries :)
I do have a good session to report from my visit to the Vic last night. As a general point I've been there thread times and find the cash games I've played at 1-1, 1-2 stakes comparatively (dare I say it) 'soft'. So much limping and calling down with weak top pairs, predictable betting patterns when they miss/hit flops, etc. so I sat down with £200, played fairly snug, then on a straddled hand (1-2) decided to limp in (lol) with pocket 9's. The flop comes down:

 Aspades 9h 8h

A donk lead from one of the earlier position limpers (5 in hand I think) of £15, I raise to £35, he sets me in and I snap for the anticipated drawing hand:

Turn  3h (puke)
River   7d

He shows  Jh 7h


Joy....

Straight to the cash desk, £200 more please sir thank you....

I then played really solid, chipped up without seeing rivers, actually enjoy mixing it up with raises and limps on these multi limper tables, as rather like Alex famously declared, I feel I've got a good grasp of the old reverse implied odds and can get away from hands....cashed out for £820, up £420, happy days for the weekend!