There and Back Again: A Punter's Tale by Matthew Harris

[Rexas]

Mainly for Ian's benefit...
Cash last night was a bit of a disaster, few hands of note.
We overcall two limps with 99 in 1/1, button makes it 10, gets a call from both blinds, folded to us, we look at the dead money and make it 48, folds to BB who calls. He check shoves a 7 high flop, we call, we hold, good start to the day.

Little later a few things happen. We get schooled by Mr. Gascoigne a few times, most notably when we bluff shove a 10/10/6 board and he calls with 56, then the last hand of the night where we make it 6 onto his straddle, he makes it 30something, we shove for around 150 total, he calls with A6 and beats our AQ.
Also got smashed with KQ on 427 with our FD and two overs versus 2/4, get floated two streets with bare A high who rivers the pair, run AKs into KK (AKx flop) and run two pair into middle pair that turns a better two pair. All in all, not a wonderful day. Actually kinda enjoyed it though, as company goes, that table was one of the best.

Went home and played a 2/7 triple draw tournament, which I chopped for my first ever online win, for a whole $9. I am such a baller, it's actually unreal. And yes, you read it right, CHOPPED. Decided to celebrate with practically busting my stars account playing 4 man HU sngs today, and running like... well, me online, which is a common euphemism for absolute rubbish

On the plus side, we have the GPS incoming I do have 30% left to sell, and since im a couple of hundred posts short of being able to post on the staking board, I will put it up here.

Basically, I'm selling at face value, because I don't feel like I'm proven enough to sell at a mark up, even though I believe I have a pretty strong skill edge in deep stacked tournaments. So, for GPS Sheffield, I'm selling 30% for two bullets @ £8.80 per %. I actually adore the GPS tour, the structures are fantastic, the fields and the prize pools are big, and the buy ins are within my tournament bankroll management. Ran deep last time, finishing 28th at my first shot, hoping to do better this time!

[Rexas]

25% left to sell now!

[verndog158]

dont pretend people are buying matt  

[Rexas]

So I have to go to the GPS tomorrow on the back of a few pretty disheartening days. Lost a bunch on cash against a crazy guy who "knows how I play" and peeled a raise of mine with 94 os and flopped a house, and then did the same with Q2os and flopped a queen, got it in vs my pair and flush draw and held.

Bit of a new low for me at the tables though, had a fall out with a guy I've never met before. I know I can be a pretty massive dick sometimes, but in this tournament (the 25xl) I didn't feel like I'd said or done anything out of line, I was just generally being chatty, as I always am, and as far as I could tell the table was joining in with the banter, enjoying themselves, and certainly not bothered by me. Anyway, about 2 hours in, the guy suddenly tells me that I'm the biggest wanker he's ever met, and just goes off on one at me, swearing and shouting abuse. I take it, don't rise to it and just keep playing, so a few hands later he decides to start clapping and congratulating a guy who wins a big pot off me. What are we supposed to do in this situation? I should probably post this spot in the hand histories board :p I went with asking to get blinded out and playing cash, I just couldn't be bothered to get involved in a £50 comp in someone that wants to behave like that. According to a fair few people, there have been similar experiences with this guy, he's a bit of an all round bully, but still, its bothered me.

Finished the night by dropping another BI on cash after busting the tournament, got started on again by the same guy who started getting pretty aggressive, so I went with having a word with the floor and going home. Now to try and get some sleep and be in a positive mind frame for the GPS tomorrow. Lego

[adiman999]

You have been known to go a bit ott at the table but from what I seen today you were just being friendly and chatty and just generally very matt :p this guy was way out of line, but many people did say he is always like that. Oh well, it was good to see you take it well and not react to him, one because it shows some maturity on your part and two if it came to blows he would have killed you

As for the GPS we shall chop it HU cause we all know you stand no chance of beating me HU :p

Ding... SHIP IT!!

[flushthemout]

gl you two

[verndog158]

rexas, looking at your previous XXL results at DTD, it looks like you just leave and blind yourself out every time anyway?

[Rexas]

Me and Adrian made day 2, both with a little over 100k, hopefully getting some binking done tomorrow Few HHs for everyone, and a side note about confidence, but more on that when I'm 50k richer, and considerably less tired lego

[Vinodh]

GL tomorrow Matt!!!

[verndog158]

 
this seems an appropriate thing to post. we do this enough already, imagine how much when you luckbox another 50k!!

[Rexas]

So basically, the GPS sucked. Literally couldn't get anything going for the entire tournament. Day 1B was one of the most frustrating days of poker I think I have ever had. Picked up quite a lot of very playable hands pre, the sort that you kinda have to stick money in with, and was then forced to stick more money in post and then make very disciplined decisions on pretty sick run outs. Things like AQ on A44J, AK on A8998 and so on. Eventually bust with AK vs KQ against Julian Thew for a pot to have the average stack for day two. Then took my second bullet the next day, continued to hit some bad spots but this time had the hands in between to make up for the chips lost in those spots, and finished the day over average after getting it in with 10s vs JJ on 10/8/4 for a big double up. Came back for day 2, got moved tables a few times, and ended up on a certain Mr. Trumpers left. Then this happens.

We are in the SB. The cut off takes a look at his cards, tanks for a little while, and throws in some chips. Simon goes to muck pretty obviously, but pulls his cards back when he realises the C/O has just limped. I don't think this is ever an angle from Simon. Anyway, he then calls. I think that I'm going to want to squeeze here with pretty much any playable hand, the tank limper is never strong due to some previous HHs. Anyway, we look down, for the first time of the tournament, at AA. We go for a pretty big squeeze. The BB tank flats, the C/O flats, simon tells me this is the spot where he's supposed to go all in, and folds. Which really, really sucks. Anyway, we see the wonderful flop of KQJ. Which really, really sucks. We check call a bet from the BB, who seems pretty inexperienced and kinda weak, expecting him to shut down with any 1 pair hands like AK, 10/10, J10 etc. We see the wonderful turn of another K. Which, you've guessed it, really, really sucks. So we check fold, and get shown QQ, which in a bizarre kinda way is run good on our part, because really, that money has no right to not go in pre. Bust out a few rounds later to Trumper, when he flatted to create a spot that my short stacking strategy couldn't really not shove in, and he had the JJ and we had the 45 and we didn't bink. Bad times. Still, my deepstack record of never failing to make day two remains intact.

Had my biggest ever losing session on the thursday at the GPS, which has totally killed my hourly and put me firmly into the negative for the month. Nothing really to report, just losing some on cash coupled with the tournament buy in just killed me. Was told by a very good friend that I should take heart in the fact that I will definitely have worse days, one of the best bits of advice I've ever heard.

So, after bricking the gps, we decide to head on down to DTD and play some cash. We google dusk till dawn, we sat nav the result on my buddy adrian's Iphone, and we end up being taken to the dusk till dawn ghost hunting place, what the actual fuck. After that interesting detour, we got to dtd and immediately jumped into a pretty good looking 1/2. Initially lost a big one where i was behind the whole way, would rather not mention the board or my hand :p Then got coolered by alex after flopping the nuts and getting it in vs a flush draw, which gets there, and my redraw to the nut flush bricks. lolsigh reloaded, and then started to play very well and get the better side of the deck, killed the game for a good few hours making some very nice moves, getting some good hands, and using my positional advantage to exploit the shit out of a few guys and a few spots, finally finished the day up a bundle.

[Rexas]

Yesterday was a lot of fun, and quite long, so I'm gonna go over it in a separate entry. Got seated in a 1/1 game, and instantly proceeded to win the lot in a very good game after finding the best possible seat. Then moved over to Omaha in preparation for the streamed omaha game in a few weeks, lost the lot to frankie, moved back to hold em, then semi tilt moved back to omaha, god moded the shit out of it for a little while, then left as a winner when the game got short handed. Moved back to texas for a few minutes, until we managed to get a very good ROE going, where quite a few interesting things happened.

First big hand comes where we peel with the  from the BB on a solid regs straddle, who also peels, vs a chinese frankie raise. We see a three way flop of  . Frankie c bets, we raise, straddle repops, frankie folds, we get it in, and hold vs.  . This was pretty sick, since a lot of the time on this sorta board I could be making a move against frankie, and even when im not, A10 is normally in better shape than it actually was.  The reg remarks that this is pretty sick, and from across the table, for very little reason, another reg who i get on pretty well with decided to comment on how this can be pretty sick, and essentially give out a rub down immediately after a £400+ pot at a totally unnecessary time. Understandably, this got to the guy who lost, kinda killed the atmosphere at the table, and was generally pretty shocking etiquette. I don't think it was intentional in the slightest, but still, didn't go down well.

Won a few big uns, lost a few big uns, and actually enjoyed the game a lot. Feel like im getting better at taking it when i lose, still need to cut out some of the moans, but generally its not actually hurting as much as it used to, which is definitely a positive. The big thing about the whole game though is that I feel like my understanding of Omaha has improved dramatically. I'm playing considerably more aggressively than I used to, and when i do pick up strong holdings, trying my utmost to get the pot HU preflop, especially in position. I find that a lot of the live omaha games get reduced to everyone limping pre, seeing a flop, and check folding unless they have the nuts, which makes the game not only ridic dull, but pretty damn unprofitable. By being more aggro and trying to force pots with less players involved, I'm starting to see how the same game can be made much more profitable. I still think I play too many hands, but my overall understanding has, I feel, come on massively as a result of mistakes made yesterday. Unfortunately, this week, I have a fuckton of uni work to do to get my first year finished by friday, so I'm unlikely to be playing much, if at all, until thats done. Plus side, after this week, I can hit the grind even harder.

[verndog158]

always time for a uni home game rexas, dont forget us mere mortals! always time for a rexas    bluff snapped off by the nuts

[Eso Kral]

Hey Matt

Nice to meet you all but briefly the other day at DTD, hope the wet hands were due to there being a que for the dryers!!

Did you get a ringer to play for you in the ISPT Day1 as if so nice sole Herbiemob entry 

http://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/ispt/qualifiers.php

Click on Matt Harris

[Rexas]

Hey Matt

Nice to meet you all but briefly the other day at DTD, hope the wet hands were due to there being a que for the dryers!!

Did you get a ringer to play for you in the ISPT Day1 as if so nice sole Herbiemob entry 

http://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/ispt/qualifiers.php

Click on Matt Harris

As always, they try and credit that guy with all my hard work Will definitely get that changed, thanks for the tip off :p

Was nice to meet you too, shame it was all in a bit of a rush :p and theres always a massive queue #hygienevariance