Alex,

Your diary has been fun to read and kudos to you for your honesty, it is what makes it worth a gander.

Just a couple of observations if I may, in no particular order, and none of them meant to be derogatory, think of them as helpful feedback from an outer perspective.

Don't take this the wrong way, but your edge is quite possibly not as big as you seem to think it is. I reckon any 'edge' diminishes as you lose more in a session anyway, something that you need to factor in. People can see you are tilting and you won't get away with as much.

And not everyone is a fish, even if they aren't in your inner circle. Players have improved much in the last few years and even the 'fish' are better than they were three years ago. The gap is not always as vast as you seem to make out sometimes.

Tilt control is a massive part of the make up of a winning player. It affects everybody to a certain degree, even the quiet ones, and the best tilt less than the rest. This is where a stop loss is a good idea. Losing 1k is not completely ridiculous (you seem to understand variance) in a 50p/£1 deepstacked straddle game populated by £1/£2 regulars (ie playing much higher than it's name would suggest), but losing 10 buy-ins clearly is very stupid, as you yourself have said. The fact that you realise this is a good start and I'm sure you will take steps to address this.

And maybe you aren't taking it seriously enough if you are playing Countdown with your mate on your ipad whilst in the game. It seems a very dismissive attitude. Even the worst players need observing and will take lines that you may miss if you are otherwise occupied. I'm not saying you shouldn't use your iphone/ipad or whatever at times, but you are saying you are a professional poker player (and young enough to give it your full attention), so maybe a bit more focus wouldn't go amiss.

You seem a nice lad and I'm sure things will only move on up for you, but please don't place too much emphasis on winning the Monte Carlo. Luck is such a significant part of tournaments that I would take it all with a pinch of salt for now, even if you did play well.

Just carry on grinding, ramp up the focus, keep looking inwards for self improvement (and it seems you are doing this), and listen to people like Ed Gascoigne who speak much sense. That is the whole point of you posting your diary I would have said -  the feedback is so useful.

Anyway, good luck and keep posting.

OK this obv lead to a bustout and although I'm not revealing what villian has I think it's fairly obv but please try not let this bias the outcome. Also I have managed to get 120 bigs in with Top Pair which is pretty bad under normal circumstances.

My stack 26k

Villian 28k.

History- my image is as usual playing a lot of pots. Table is playing fairly tight. A few soft spots (just kidding Dewi).

Villian- seems pretty awful. He got his chips by cold calling a 3 bet from button in sb with A10. He's then c/raised T83 flop and called it off when button shove Kings and rivered a 10.

Blinds 100/200.

I open 450 UTG+1 at 100/200 with AhKs. Folds to villian in BB he 3 bets to 1200. I call.

Flop is Kh8h3s. Villian bets 3.5k! I flat.

Turn is . Villian now jams.

He can only have one hand right?!?!

I would have thought the most important consideration was the fact that if he had the hand you thou thought he had, you are out of the tournament.

Or maybe this thinking is why I'm shit at tournaments.

If you want any decent responses I'd edit the post above without the other players hands.

Or stick a picture of Gwyneth Paltrow in there (before she went all goo-goo she was actually rather attractive.)

All I want to know about Gwyneth Paltrow is this: was that really her in that scene in Shallow Hal or was it a body double with the most perfect ass? If you've seen the film you'll remember the moment...

Oh alright then, although I wasn't really expecting any repllies.

DTD last night, in the early hours, the usual 50p/£1 nonsense, albeit on the new straddle happy 200-max tables.

Most flops are multi way, a pre-flop raise is seen as irrelevant but nobody is squeezing or 3-betting.

I am on the button with   when it is multi-limped to me. Now normally I would raise but the SB is a lovely combination - LAG and useless. He talks a good game but spouts utter shit and plays a game consisting of call, call and call some more and hit that runner runner draw.

I know he will likely raise in the best position (in his mind) and he doesn't disappoint, bumping it up to £6, which really is just an irritant as everybody will call. I am happy to do so on the button, capping the betting with my lovely big stack busting connectors. The SB has me covered, I am sitting with around £220.

The flop is a glorious  

SB checks (how I want him to have AQ here) and the BB leads out for £15. BB is known to me, both personally and as a solid, thinking player. He likes to push his draws as well as lead out with the goods. I am suspecting a draw here, or possily a nine - I have seen him do this before with trips in a multi way pot. It is folded to me. I think about raising but decide I probably need to flat, to get the SB to call behind or have him raise me, whereby I can get it in.

The SB calls. The pot is now £75.

The SB could have anything given previous hands we have seen, but of course I am not discounting a genuine hand either.

The turn is the  

SB checks and he is beginning to look either very trappy or very fishy. BB leads again for £25 this time. I comment that this is a very small bet to which he replies he wants me to raise so that he can come over the top. I am now actually a little more concerned about the SB, he is so fishy he could easily have a straight here.  I flat again, exercising a little pot control  and waiting to see what the SB does.

He calls and we go the river with a pot of £150. The river is  . Yuk. But I took that risk when I flatted on the turn.

SB checks once more (very polarised now, either the stone cold nuts or feck all), BB value bets his probable flush for a tiny £25. Well, he probably wants a raise more than a call. I decide I can't fold trip nines for £25 into a £150 pot just yet, especially as the SB may actually give up now (unlikely though) and BB could have the same sort of hand as me. So I reluctantly flat once more, half expecting the move from the SB, which duly comes when he check-raises to £75.

BB instantly and begrudgingly announces "I call".

Ok, there is £325 in the pot minus £7 for rake, so I am getting just over 6 to 1 to make the call capping the betting.

I don't see how I can be winning obviously and despite the lovely odds toss the little feckers into the grime.



So my question and ponderings  are thus:

Is anybody sick enough to actually call here?

(thought not)

...and...

After I sit there for a while thinking how sick it is that I flop trips against the fishy deep stack and end up having to pass, it also comes to mind that two small changes would have changed everything and I would have probably lost the lot. If my mate in the BB doesn't lead out I would have done my bollox (I bet my nines, get raised and then stick it in), and If I had raised preflop the SB would probably have re-popped me big and maybe I would have let it go preflop and saved neary £100 in the process.

Such subtle changes have a massive 'Sliding Doors' effect in deepstack Holdem and that is why we love it...

That sounds like an absolute dream.

This Q depends on your roll. If your massively rolled for the game and he's raising blind everyhand it's ~impossible to be card dead enough for one hour that you can't make a +EV shove/call.

Depending on position obv and how nitty the rest of the table is, you can get it in super wide. If he's doing it every hand, I'd probably wait until I got top 20% so 66+ K9+ A8+ QT+ something like that. I doubt you went an hour. Not getting a top 20% hand in that time is almost impossible.

In short, man up, get it in.

The AK fold is obviously lolbad technically but people have very different reasons for playing poker, so he can do what he likes with his money.

On reflection it was probably only half an hour and yes, I was dealt not much better than 9,4. If I had have  been dealt AK I would obviously have snap shoved but I would have done that with quite a bit worse. We were only about five handed too which would have helped had I been dealt a hand.


Yes, it's definitely a question of your roll and I suppose the guy that passed AK wasn't properly rolled for it.

And sorry George2Loose, that minute of your life  is gone, gone, gone...

Friday night at DTD. A guy in his early forties, well dressed but clearly drunk, sits down with £200 at our 50p/£1 straddle table.

He creates havoc by open raising to anything between £50 and £100, sometimes blind. He calls anyone who folds with a pained expression, a "pussy".

He admits he is rich and is just having fun. Some players complain (not me) saying they can't see a flop (lol) and to call the floor. Er... don't you want someone who is prepared to give his money away, especially as he can clearly afford it? People - what is wrong with you?!!!

Anyway, the floor says he is not breaking poker rules (duh) and that as he isn't being abusive (apart from one moment which he quickly apologised for) then he is welcome to stay.

Then I see the most head scratching moment ever.

Matey raises blind to £75. It folds round to the last player who has about £100 - he open mucks AK and says "I'm not even prepared to flip with you"


I'm not having a go at him per se - it is his choice not to take the bet and you have to respect it - but I must be missing something here??

Can anyone else fold? I know I can't and I'm one of the tighter players around.

Just thought I'd share it with you. Comedy hights like that don't happen too often...sigh....  I played at the greatest ever poker table.

FYP

Indeed, I agree. It wasn't the best hour to go utterly card dead. Aaaaarrrrghhh!!!!

Friday night at DTD. A guy in his early forties, well dressed but clearly drunk, sits down with £200 at our 50p/£1 straddle table.

He creates havoc by open raising to anything between £50 and £100, sometimes blind. He calls anyone who folds with a pained expression, a "pussy". I should mention he has by now won a few pots with the predictable filth he turns over.

He admits he is rich and is just having fun. Some players complain (not me) saying they can't see a flop (lol) and to call the floor. Er... don't you want someone who is prepared to give his money away, especially as he can clearly afford it? People - what is wrong with you?!!!

Anyway, the floor says he is not breaking poker rules (duh) and that as he isn't being abusive (apart from one moment which he quickly apologised for) then he is welcome to stay.

Then I see the most head scratching moment ever.

Matey raises blind to £75. It folds round to the last player who has about £100 - he open mucks AK and says "I'm not even prepared to flip with you"


I'm not having a go at him per se - it is his choice not to take the bet and you have to respect it - but I must be missing something here??

Can anyone else fold? I know I can't and I'm one of the tighter players around.

Just thought I'd share it with you. Comedy nights like that don't happen too often...sigh....

You have 1 pair, he might have better... or worse

I haven't posted on blonde for ages. It is such considered and helpful analysis that has reminded me why.

How can that post have pissed you off that much, just lol.

It didn't that much, his reply just wasn't that helpful which is what I was looking for. Maybe Poker Hand Analysis is the wrong place to get a hand looked at. I'm all for the mickey taking in the Rail and the Lounge

I don't even think he was "mickey taking" he gave his read without writing 16 lines of bs, there isn't much to say about the hand. For some reason people just becoming unbelievable sensitive when posting on pha, I don't think there's been a thread on here for over a year where someone's genuinely took ott amount of shit, imo it's the best board on the forum.

 bit of both tbh, didn't mean any offence though.

This just looked like a 'do I feel lucky ?' kind of spot and not much to analyse

Fair enough, I really didn't take offence but the apparent "do I feel lucky punk" aspect to the spot is what makes it interesting - it's very easy given his stack to just get it in after he bets so small on the turn but I actually sat there and gave it some thought. Obviously I was way behind or way ahead but when alarm bells go off in your head I feel you owe it to  yourself to at least listen to them before you ignore them.

You have 1 pair, he might have better... or worse

I haven't posted on blonde for ages. It is such considered and helpful analysis that has reminded me why.

How can that post have pissed you off that much, just lol.

yeah seriously, you say there is no point in betting, then we check and don't know what to do, that is one hella good reason to bet if we can still have the best hand.

the guy also cant be that solid if he snap peels 12 out of 75 vs the tight guy at the table.

Bet the turn and wager it all or check and be willing to fold what other options are there?

I didn't say I didn't know what to do. I wanted some other opinions to see if what I actually did had more merit than my other option. As you correctly point out there were only two options and believe it or not I was aware of this.

I agree about his preflop call , but given what I had seen from this player, it looked a little suspicious.

You have 1 pair, he might have better... or worse

I haven't posted on blonde for ages. It is such considered and helpful analysis that has reminded me why.

How can that post have pissed you off that much, just lol.

It didn't that much, his reply just wasn't that helpful which is what I was looking for. Maybe Poker Hand Analysis is the wrong place to get a hand looked at. I'm all for the mickey taking in the Rail and the Lounge

You have 1 pair, he might have better... or worse

I haven't posted on blonde for ages. It is such considered and helpful analysis that has reminded me why.

I'm playing the 50p/£1 table at DTD with £200 max sit down and straddling, although there hasn't been much of that going on and this is generally a tight table with only a couple of weak spots. It is the sort of table though where if you raise to £7 you get 6 callers but raise to £8, everybody folds...

So we have the standard four limpers, I pick up  in the SB, my stack is about £160. I have been snug but aggressive when I do play a hand, the usual really.

I raise to £12

The BB seems solid, likes to see a flop, is capable of a laydown - he looks aat his cards and calls instantly. His stack is approx. £75.

Amazingly we see the flop heads up.

Flop is 

£28 in the pot, I lead for £15.

Without much thought once more he calls.

The turn is  .

Now I know he only has about £48 left. I consider putting him in but that isn't going to achieve much, I check. He bets £10.

I am putting him on a small to medium pocket pair, suited connectors, maybe the same as me, 10,10 or at a stretch AK and he is floating me, but given the flat pre flop and the likely 5 callers this seems very unlikely.

His betting screams of a set, two pair or 88 for the turned over pair and turned straight.

I know that he is pot committed so if I call the rest is going in anyway.

Thoughts please.

Nice start to your diary. What have been your poker highlights thus far? Where can you see yourself in 3 years time?

Thank you.

It's tough to call anything thus far a highlight as such. I've had a few results in the nightly comps at Dusk, but nothing that stands out as truly astounding. There was this one time last summer where I had an epic PLO swonnnnng, where I started running ridiculously good and moving up stakes far too quickly. This ended with me two tabling $1k hu sngs versus TheCranium. [  ] won both.

It's hard to say where I see myself. I mean my problem for a long time was staying away from roulette. If I took a bad beat, I would blow up and try and get my money back immediately on red or black. So, assuming I've grown out of that, I will be in three years time where I should be now. Braceletville.

Nice post so far m8, keep it up. It's all in the timing.

1/2 dead tonight. game didn't last more than 2 hours won 100 then me and giblin went to play 2/2 dc for the rest of the night. Sat with 60, scooped a decent pot in padooki to get me about 150 in front, lost most of it back before the end of the night, left winning 20 or something but was playing for the enjoyment of it rather than anything else.

Going Germany on Friday to see Hannahhhhhhhhhhhh whoop. So that means Broadway tomorrow night until 5am then straight on the plane. Last time I'm going over there as she's home in 2 weeks

You should have played the 50p/£1 table I was on -  where no one knew how to straddle properly. Here is an example of the masterful play, nothing to do with incorrect straddling but a bit of a headscratcher nonetheless  -

Aggro bluffing gobbo (but in a good way) raises pre-flop (and has been doing with all sorts of shit as well as strong cards), bets and gets called every street and then somehow decides to turn his Kings into a river bluff by raising three times the nit's obvious value bet with the probable nuts on a                board,  and said nit (a possibly retired gentlemen even tighter than a nun's chuff) calls said £30 bet, is shown KK and folds.

Or how about the guy who sits down with £50, very first hand raises to £7 in MP, is re-raised to £21; calls, sees a raggy rainbow flop including an ace , checks and calls a £25 picture card turn bet leaving himself £4 and then calls off the last £4 after a massive dwell, tables nines and is shown trip aces. "I can't believe I was so unlucky you had three aces"

Naturally I lost a buy-in to this lot. Happy days.