blonde poker forum

My name is John Murray. I am seeking staking for the upcoming SCOOP series, where I intend to play the following:

13/05	Badugi M	$200+$15
15/05	Stud M	$200+$15
21/05	Stud Hi-Lo M	$200+$15
21/05	2-7 Triple Draw M	$200+$15
22/05	Razz M	$200+$15

Total $1,075, selling 50% at 1.1. I believe my edge in these games is higher than that, but this is my first stake request on here and I don’t want to over-price it.

I realise that most of the people who stake players on here don’t know me, so I need to give you some background particularly in the light of recent events on here. I may have over-egged it a bit, so I hope it doesn’t come across wrongly as a brag-list, particularly as a lot of you have much bigger cashes to brag about. If it goes well and I look for staking again, I will put less detail next time.

I have played small buy-in Holdem live and online for the last few years and have made a reasonable profit every year.  Live, my Hendon Mob is dominated by APAT results, though there are others. I have won one and have reached the most APAT Main Event final tables (six), jointly with one other.
http://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=r&n=54333
http://uk.pokernews.com/news/2010/04/john-murray-wins-apat-uk-amateur-championship.htm-5649.htm.
I have had more APAT cashes than anyone (albeit some being team events) http://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/ranking/386

There are non-APAT events there as well, though, as with anyone, Hendon Mob leaves out more than it includes. My most satisfying day was last Easter, when I won two tournaments the same day at the Ricoh G in Coventry.

Online, I have accounts on numerous sites, almost always as MintTrav or a variation of that. My names on the sites I have played most this year are:

Stars	MintTrav
poker.co.uk	TravMint
William Hill	RazIsALadyboy

I play Holdem online but prefer to play Stud and Draw games, where I have a bigger edge. I usually play Triple Stud and the other variations listed above at much lower stakes.

I have satellited into the SCOOP Badugi M for the last three years, making the final table once.
In 2012, I decided to have a go at the WCOOP for the first time and played the Stud, Triple Stud, Razz and 2-7 Triple Draw, entering by a combination of satellites and staking. I cashed in the Stud and made the final table in the Razz.

Total WCOOP & SCOOP (M) – Played 7, Cashed 3, Final Tables 2.

The stories of the SCOOP Badugi and WCOOP Razz as they happened are here http://www.apat.com/forum/index.php?topic=5926.90 and here http://www.apat.com/forum/index.php?topic=11942.0

I also cashed (29/2407) in the TCOOP Stud earlier this year to go with the WCOOP Stud cash, so it would be nice to complete the set.

I think it is time I had a proper good go at one of these series and played all the events where I think I could do well. The above are the core of what I want to play. I will play the L levels of the same events from my own cash, unless there is feedback that they should be part of the stake.

I will also play some of the other SCOOP L tournaments – HORSE, 8-Game, 2-7 Single Draw and maybe even the odd Holdem.  Unfortunately, my favourite game, Triple Stud, is not included in the schedule. I should probably play the HORSE M and 8-game M, but I am currently just intending to do the L. I definitely shouldn’t play the 2-7 NLSD M, as I’m not that good at it.

I could raise this stake easily on the APAT forum, where I am well known and have previously been staked successfully, but I want to test the response on here. I actually know quite a few people who post on Blonde, but they tend not to frequent the staking threads. I’m sure that, if asked, Sharplea, kinboshi, Tighty, JonMW, Laxie, George2Loose, Eck or technolog would confirm that they know me in the flesh and have known me for a few years, though I’m not asking for them to vouch for my trustworthiness (or playing ability). You can see on the Razz thread that I paid the stakers straight away. [There are several others who know me but I haven’t tried to list everyone I know as I would insult someone by leaving them out. Better to insult lots of people than a few.]

10%	=	$118.25
5%	=	$59.12
1%	=	$11.82

---

Based on the comments below, I'll include the Lows.

13/05	Badugi L	$24.55+$2.45
15/05	Stud L	$24.55+$2.45
21/05	Stud Hi-Lo L	$24.55+$2.45
21/05	2-7 Triple Draw L	$24.55+$2.45
22/05	Razz L	$24.55+$2.45
23/05	8-Game L	$24.55+$2.45
24/05	HORSE L	$24.55+$2.45

Not gonna include the 2-7 Single Draw on the basis that I stink at it.

So that's 7 x $27 = $189.

Total entries $1,264.

10%	=	$139.04
5%	=	$69.52
1%	=	$13.90

I will assume that those who requested that the Ls be included are in for them and anyone else who has posted so far [which is up to ForthThistle] is just in for the Ms unless they repost. Anyone new from this point is in for the lot.

---

Everyone has confirmed, one way or another, that they want to include the Lows, so that makes it simple.

Booked	M Only	M + L
rfgqqabc		10%	received
Steve Swift		2%	received
redsimon		5%	received
toddswain		5%	received
claypole		10%	received
craigbetts		5%	received
ForthThistle		2.5%	received
Free_Rollin		10.5%	received

10% sending sent now (Demonic16)- would love to see lows included but purely for selfish reasons :)

Very best of luck, Adam

2% ship in the morning on stars  if ok


Steve

John 5% please. I don't have funds on 'Stars, can I do a bank transfer? PM bank details if this is possible.

5 please

Also if be happy to have the low included aswell :)

10% please.

Will take 5% if I can bank tx.

2.5% please John.

You haven't insulted me....

In for the lows as well then!

lows as well, i am in,let me know what i need to send,

Steve

I believe I've sent the right amount for the lows as well, just check for me, cheers mate best of luck!

PM me bank details please, if banks an issue ill get someone to send you stars, thanks

If you are happy for bank transfer, then I'll take whatever is left. Let me know either way. Good luck.

So we're sold, subject to a couple confirming whether they want to join in the Lows or just stick with the Mediums.

Thanks for that.

These tournaments are quite different to the Holdem ones. The Ls have plenty of people giving it a go, who don't really know what they are doing, though there is always the danger of someone drawing incorrectly all the way and overtaking you at the end when you have put in lots along the streets. On the other hand, the majority of players in the M know very well what they are doing.

I tend to play these games quite aggressively, so I can have big swings, with the possibility of busting fairly early or growing a big stack, even though it's limit. I guess one deep run in the Ms and a couple of L cashes is the realistic target but you never know............

Yes, correct amount received. Thks.

Happy to include L SCOOPs to. How many £s is required?

Sent bank for 5% oh mediums and lows. Gl

Sent bank £45.18 for M and L

Sent to bank.

Oh great, you've all used different rates. My fault for not setting one in time.

Received:
toddswain £46.00 = .6617
craigbetts £45.50 = .6545
redsimon   £45.18 = .6500

xe.com is currently showing .65108.

Tell you what, if there are any winnings, I'll return them at the rate you have used. With a bit of luck, there won't be any.

Free_Rollin - just take your pick from the above.

I used the one in 'stars cashier. hope not confused matter too much!

50p! I just rounded up, send any the world back at current rate. Apologies for confusion, guessing toddswain has gone on the round up too.

Hi mate, want to send on stars please let me know what i have to send you including the L events.

Steve

Ok seen amended first post for 2%  on M and L  send $27.80  from 177272  on stars.

GL

Received thanks.

I go with the majority John.

Much do I send you for 2.5%

Yea just rounded up, np, return at what u get paid, gl

$29.56 or $34.76, depending on whether you want to include the Lows. On Stars is fine.

If you want to do a bank transfer, just choose a rate from those above. I'll pm you the account.

Send me Bank Details and will send tonight when im home from Work.

Shipped John.

GL sir.

How did yesterday go?

I railed for quite a bit yesterday, i have no idea how to play the game but it looked like the hero couldn't gain any momentum.


Steve

I completely forgot about this....send me bank details mate by PM and I will send staght away..sorry

Obv if you sold elswehere understand...I am a clwon, but happy so ship by Bank Xfer immediately

No problem. Details sent.

Sent you another PM, wont ship until you confirm mate re: lows.  I am good for it and if dont get tonight I will do when I am up yomorrow.

Just answered your pm. I'm good with including the Lows. David used .6545 as well, so let's use that. $139.04 x .6545 = £91.00.

It was horrible. I had a horrific starting table with very strong players. Every raise got reraised, etc. PearlJammer was on it, but he was the least of my problems - only tangled with him a couple of times. The last I saw, he had chipped up as he played his dealt high Badugi fast and got paid. I did the same but got outdrawn. I drew some hands early when the bets were low, but blanked. I lost quite a bit on a hand where I snowed but the guy filled his Badugi. After about three hours I got moved to a much easier table (though it did contain Gambler4444, previously 1st and 4th in the Sunday Million, amongst other things). I was able to play my game more there, but got moved on again after a while, though again to an okay table. I would have liked one of those as a starting table. The thing with Badugi is that it becomes very high-variance mid-tournament and you need to hit fairly regularly to survive. Unless you can get some traction and build a safety stack, getting involved in hands becomes risky. Without antes, you can sit it out for quite a bit but, after a while, once you go with a starting hand, you have to win it or you are in trouble. Eventually I committed and came unstuck. Three of the people I came up against made the final table (two from my first table). Finished 164th for zip. PearlJammer was 150th and Gambler444 was 156th. The less said about the Low, the better - if we get a result, it is more likely to be in one of the Ms.

Hey Trav,

I wish you and your investors the very best of luck in this package. Im sure its a great value investment for all involved and I hope you make a lot of money for yourself and the guys who chose to invest.

Good Luck.

Thanks pleno

This is so frustrating. I hate getting outdrawn. But I was drawing for a big pot a short time ago and by 6th street I had Jh Th 9h 8h Ks Kd and we were 3-way. We had been 4-way til 5th, so I've seen a lot of cards and most of my outs are still in the deck. Didn't come obv.

Current positions:

30 PearlJammer
33 MintTrav
34 shaundeeb
37 NigDawG
52 apestyles
90 Gambler4444
125 E.Katchalov
181 GeorgeDanzer


Name-dropping ftw.

Nice soft table now - Danzer, Katchalov, Bassysaffari, paulwiter.

Down to 155 players in the Stud and we are in 35th - 48 paid. apestyles has shot from nowhere to 13th. Erneus, who FT'd the Badugi, is 19th. All the names dropped previously are still alive except GeorgeDanzer, who has just gone. NigDawG is on fumes.

Slow-played QQ and let paulwiter keep betting into me. When I made 2P, the objective was to get him all-in for his 4k (out of my 12k). He had 55 - hit another 5. A third of my stack wiped.

Nh, wp the q5q5 and the nutflush hand imo

Ta.

48/91 - Could be a nail-biter as to whether we cash or not.

Christ, this is a grind now. 56 left. We are 41st. 39 Erneus, 42 shaundeeb, 43 NigDawg, 45 PearlJammer, 52 apestyles. Who will it be?

Did my best to feck it up just before the bubble. Maximised my loss with  Ac 8c Aspades 8s against rolled-up  4h 4c 4s and then nearly busted with  Ahrt Ad the next hand. Anyway, somehow we got a cash - finished 47th for $309.70. I went all out with  Ac Aspades again to double or bust and achieved one of those. Villain went mental with  6s 6h, we both piled it in and you know the rest.

Onwards and upwards John!

Congratulations on the cash.

John you did get my cash teah?  Left my account yesterday.  Shaun

Received thanks. OP updated.

Missed everything in the 2-7TD. Started with good hands and just kept drawing A or Q or a pair all the time. Time after time the same thing.

It was a tough table - pmahoney22, blanconegro, DazzleO, luk45zp and Premove, fresh from his 5th in the Badugi. They were very aggressive but that was fine. A good opportunity in fact. Picking the hands should result in picking up our fair share or more of the hands and getting paid. The problem was whiffing the deck all the time. Annoying.

Still in the Stud Hi/Lo M. Currently 99/167 from 463 starters.


Edit: Just split a 4-way pot with PearlJammer. My life is complete. 77/155. 64 paid.

Very best of luck sir.

I haven't bothered to say anything about the Lows cos it's all been fairly farcical. I was motoring along nicely in the Stud Hi/Lo earlier when Bish, Bash, Bosh and I was gone. The first hand was the killer.


PokerStars Hand #98914303176: Tournament #2013050281, $24.55+$2.45 USD 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo Limit - Level X (250/500) - 2013/05/21 21:40:09 WET [2013/05/21 16:40:09 ET]
Table '2013050281 48' 8-max
Seat 1: MintTrav (8511 in chips)

*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 17150 | Rake 0
Seat 1: MintTrav mucked [Qc Ac Tc 7c 8c 2d 2h]
Seat 5: Onetumeni showed [ Aspades 6s 3c 4c Th 5s 6d] and won (8575) with HI: a pair of Sixes; LO: 6,5,4,3,A
Seat 8: arcmonkey showed [Jh 9h Js Kc 2c Jd 9c] and won (8575) with HI: a full house, Jacks full of Nines



PokerStars Hand #98914632520: Tournament #2013050281, $24.55+$2.45 USD 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo Limit - Level X (250/500) - 2013/05/21 21:45:50 WET [2013/05/21 16:45:50 ET]
Table '2013050281 48' 8-max
Seat 1: MintTrav (3436 in chips)

*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 6273 Main pot 1273. Side pot 5000. | Rake 0
Seat 1: MintTrav showed [6c 4s 2s 2d 8c  Aspades 8s] and lost with HI: two pair, Eights and Deuces; LO: 8,6,4,2,A
Seat 2: LOBOTRJAS123 showed [ Td Tc 7h Ts 3d 7c 6d] and won (637) with HI: a full house, Tens full of Sevens
Seat 7: kaivari showed [3h 5c 7s Qh Ks 4c 6s] and won (5636) with HI: a straight, Three to Seven; LO: 7,6,5,4,3



PokerStars Hand #98915127758: Tournament #2013050281, $24.55+$2.45 USD 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo Limit - Level XI (300/600) - 2013/05/21 21:54:31 WET [2013/05/21 16:54:31 ET]
Table '2013050281 48' 8-max
Seat 1: MintTrav (1065 in chips)

*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 6000 Main pot 4800. Side pot 1200. | Rake 0
Seat 1: MintTrav mucked [Qc Ad Ac Th 5h Td Kd]
Seat 3: ceramikon showed [Kh 8h  Ahrt 3d 7s Qh 2h] and won (6000) with HI: a flush, Ace high; LO: 8,7,3,2,A

Had a couple of trainwrecks.

Lost half my stack when TJQKQQ5 lost to a rivered full house. Then tried to force someone off a hand but he wasn't having it. It's not looking good - 91/98.

Put it on the line, but AA let us down again. The guy who called with QQ ended up making a Lo. The one who was after a Lo ended up with 2P. We got the Hi side-pot, which was bugger all. Even on seventh, we had plenty of outs to scoop, which would have got us back on track.


*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 16699 Main pot 13789. Side pot 2910. | Rake 0
Seat 1: MintTrav showed [ Ahrt 4c Ad 5c Ks Js 2c] and won (1455) with HI: a pair of Aces
Seat 5: AJSuited16 showed [5h 2d 4s Kd Kc 2s 4d] and won (6895) with HI: two pair, Kings and Fours
Seat 6: Mafews showed [Ac Qh Qc 6s 8h 3c 7d] and won (8349) with HI: a pair of Queens; LO: 8,7,6,3,A

And we went out just after in 93rd. Pity - we had a real chance of cashing in that.

So hard to keep playing disciplined hands in the Razz when you see some of the junk that wins pots. Getting close to the money now:

M: Paying 64/461. We are currently 137/162.

L: Paying 288/2192. We are 69/354.

ITM in the Lo - 74/227. There's very little difference in the payouts for a long time. You have to get 80th to get double the 288th, so I guess it's time to chip up or bust trying.

86/113 in the M.

Gone from the M in 109th place. Idiot calls on 5th, knowing he has 3 cards and I must have 4 after the action on 3rd. So he will probably need to catch twice below 6 to win (an 8 prob is unlikely to be good cos he will have 876), but not a 2. So he specifically needs to get a 3, 4, 5 or A. Twice. And I probably have some of them (which I did - I had two of them).

Then he reraises all-in on 6th, when I must have a made 8-Lo, so again only a 4, 5 or A will do. And he gets it twice. That hand would have put me into 50th place and in with a great chance of cashing or better.


PokerStars Hand #98962110038: Tournament #2013050302, $200+$15 USD Razz Limit - Level XVI (1000/2000) - 2013/05/22 21:39:58 WET [2013/05/22 16:39:58 ET]
Table '2013050302 57' 8-max

*** SHOW DOWN ***
nilsef: shows [7d 2h 6d Js Kd 3s 4h] (Lo: 7,6,4,3,2)
MintTrav: shows [4d 5d 7h Jh 8h 2d 2c] (Lo: 8,7,5,4,2)
nilsef collected 19920 from pot
MintTrav finished the tournament in 109th place


Now 35/176 in the Lo.

8/52. I see 810ofclubs is still going strong in 26th.

Been railing for ages mate. u r not alone :)  TID obv

Good luck.

gg   ul 

11th in the Razz L.

$403.60 to add to our account.

So close to a really good return, which is a bit unfulfilling but you can't complain when you finish 11/2192.

The Razz M was always likely to be our best shot at a big return, so it was annoying to get close but then swerve all the money in that one.

That's all the Ms done. Just a couple of Ls to go. I don't think I'll bother with the Ms in the HORSE and 8-game (unless someone feels like buying me in).

Hey - good job we included the Ls in the stake. I'm glad we did, actually - I'm happier that the stakers get a return. Maybe we'll win it all in the HORSE.

sick run in low Razz and vv unlucky in Medium one. That hh is painful :(

Been a good sweat!

A bit more to add into our pot.

Finished 74/2780 tonight in the 8-Game L, which gives us another $126.26.

Another fantastic effort! Would of been nice to win a flip.

Oh did you see it? He had enough chips to call the reraise all-in, so fair enough. I suppose I'm always more likely to bust in the NLHE than anything, so maybe I can fold and play my better variations, but I don't think I should be folding 99 there. I was happy to have a race as I had got short by then and needed a refuel to take back into the Stud games. Obviously a shove would be the right move at that point in a Holdem tournament, but in this, there is the consideration that I could rebuild more steadily and less riskily in the other games. A potential double-up was too good an opportunity to pass though.

And 20/3719 in the PLO Hi-Lo L for $232.81. Just finished (well, I have - the rest are still playing). This one wasn't part of the stake, so I get to keep it for drugs and hookers, but I thought I'd let you know.

The final hand. I think I can hope for at least a split here but TBH I ran well to get that far, so that's how it goes.

PokerStars Hand #99023199866: Tournament #2013050341, $24.55+$2.45 USD Omaha Hi/Lo Pot Limit - Level XXXIV (25000/50000) - 2013/05/24 4:22:08 WET [2013/05/23 23:22:08 ET]
Table '2013050341 127' 9-max Seat #9 is the button

*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 413902 | Rake 0
Board [5h 7s Ks Kd 2c]
Seat 1: MintTrav (small blind) showed [4c Ahrt 6h 2s] and lost with HI: two pair, Kings and Deuces; LO: 7,5,4,2,A

Seat 6: Teminem showed [5s 3h Jh Ac] and won (413902) with HI: two pair, Kings and Fives; LO: 7,5,3,2,A

Nice, been a fun sweat, sick effort. Good luck in the last one tonight

Tonight??

Details Profit??? lol

I have completed my participation in the HORSE tournament. It wasn't my finest hour. I clearly had a table of HORSE professionals. Or else I just played crap.

I'll work the results out tomorrow and pay people in the same way they paid me, unless they express a different preference beforehand.

In the meantime, I really need to get some sleep.

Our cashes were:

Stud M	$309.70
Razz L	$403.60
8-Game L	$126.26
Total	$839.56

I'm glad we got some, but disappointed we didn't get a good one. My view of poker is that you have to try to manoeuvre yourself into situations where you could get a score. Then, it will either happen or it won't, but you gave yourself the opportunity to get there. Getting yourself into that situation repeatedly gives you your best chance of a big result. We had opportunities, not just where we cashed, but we also came very close in the Stud Hi-Lo M and Razz M. Another time, one of our cashes or near misses could have converted into a big one.

My purpose in posting some hands that went against us wasn't to cry over bad beats, but to show pivotal moments where we gave ourselves the opportunity for a big result with favourable odds, which went against us. Winning those hands could have resulted in a hugely different outcome to the stake. I'm not suggesting I was particularly unlucky. There were plenty of times when my hands held up when they might not have, or even times I got lucky, though I can't really remember being the underdog any time when it all went in.

I'm not sure what the next step is from here. The WCOOP will come around in time. In the meantime I'll probably have a crack at the weekly $215 in some of these variations. I assume they will have smaller fields with higher average ability than the SCOOPs, but I must be in with a chance. Won't know unless I try, so I'll probably put up a staking thread for some of those before long.

rfgqqabc		10%	$83.96
Steve Swift		2%	$16.79
redsimon		5%	$41.98
toddswain		5%	$41.98
claypole		10%	$83.96
craigbetts		5%	$41.98
ForthThistle		2.5%	$20.99
Free_Rollin		10.5%	$88.15

Could those who paid by bank transfer send their details to me. I have paid those who sent by Stars or who sent me their Stars details since.

Received.

This was a nice little sweat and would be interested in future packages (not of the linford variety though).

Same as above a good sweat, would deffo invest again.

were on the same omaha 6max table buddy

Yeah, I saw that. Sorry for the time-banking. I had given up on the tournament and just crawled to a min cash. I couldn't see any point in going for a double-up cos the next 200 places get very little extra once you are ITM. Finishing 100 places higher was worth $6 more, but I would risk $87 to do it. I was glad to just get anything out of it, especially as it was PLO, which is my weakest variation. Good luck for the rest of the tournament.

Received - Thanks.

Please send on Stars John.

4ththistle

Thanks.

rec'd mate, wpwp WCOOP?

Received in bank, decent sweat, WP