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Author Topic: There and Back Again: A Punter's Tale by Matthew Harris  (Read 146596 times)
Rexas
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« Reply #165 on: May 25, 2013, 01:50:16 PM »

Yesterday was fun. Sat in a deep 1/2, purely because I was waiting until a smaller game opened up. Then, we decide it's a good idea to raise with    and call a three bet, which eventually leads to a double up and kinda locks us into the game, which wasn't so much of a problem now that we're a little closer to the rest of the stack sizes at the table. Then, we decide it's a good idea to get involved with 66, three betting a raise to 27 and getting a cold call behind. We get all excited about having two pairz, and when we've calmed down, we make it 42. For some very very very odd reason, The cold caller thinks we have c bet to 22, and decides he is going to raise to 52. He says "52", puts in the chips, the floor is called, and it's ruled that this counts as a call. We are now not excited at all, and plan on check folding the turn, BUT..... bingo! 6 hits the turn. In our mind, we count out the chips we're about to win in this pot. Obviously we're going to check, he's going to bet, we're going to raise the perfect amount to get stacks in on the river. We check, as planned, he bets 75, we make it 200, he calls. Unfortunately, dealer regi feels like this is a good idea to lean over the table and punch my face with the  WHY REGI WHY... We check, we fold, we cry, we are glad marris bingo hasn't started yet.

Then a bunch of other stuff happens, QQ is apparently worse than AA, top two on the flop is obviously no good against the backdoor flush draw, and all in all, we move over to play DC at dusk for the first time with a heavy heart. We pretty quickly gift a double up, reload, then win a few omaha hands, go a little bit mental in the padooki rounds and end up winning for that game, and losing less than we really should have been for the day. My monthly for this month is pretty disgusting by now though, after failing to break even last month and looking like we're on the same road for this one. Not got very long now until my university year ends, at which point we have the ISPT and then no idea what we're going to do/where we're going to be. The plus side is we're going to win the ISPT, and Alex is going to win the ME, so we're going to be a millionaire within the next few months. Good times Smiley
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« Reply #166 on: May 25, 2013, 02:40:56 PM »

I'm about to go and do something completely out of character. Laundry, in the day time. One of the positives of the degenerate sleeping pattern lifestyle for me, is being happily able to miss the queues for the laundry and just do it at 3 in the morning. Every now and then I get some pretty odd looks from the drunk people coming home, but they're drunk, so any conversation normally consists of "o hai BLEURGH WASHING BLEURGH odighawrid". Today, disaster. I have run out of socks. It's 2 o'clock, it's sunny, where the hell is the moon, there are people queuing. I guess I'm going to have to go for it. Wish me luck, blonde.
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« Reply #167 on: May 25, 2013, 09:03:21 PM »

I'm about to go and do something completely out of character. Laundry, in the day time. One of the positives of the degenerate sleeping pattern lifestyle for me, is being happily able to miss the queues for the laundry and just do it at 3 in the morning. Every now and then I get some pretty odd looks from the drunk people coming home, but they're drunk, so any conversation normally consists of "o hai BLEURGH WASHING BLEURGH odighawrid". Today, disaster. I have run out of socks. It's 2 o'clock, it's sunny, where the hell is the moon, there are people queuing. I guess I'm going to have to go for it. Wish me luck, blonde.

this is my fav post of yours
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« Reply #168 on: May 26, 2013, 04:40:22 AM »

Have been following, fun read Smiley

Always did washing in the early hours, if I wasn't heading home anytime soon, rarely cared about socks though could buy a pack of 5 plain black from Primark for £2 or something silly and a fresh pair are so comfortable compared to an old pair of Primark socks washed in whatever value washing powder was left over
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« Reply #169 on: May 26, 2013, 01:58:25 PM »

So, after getting the washing done with no dramas, headed down to dusk to soak up the cash game action over ISPT weekend. Beforehand, we thought it would be a good idea to hit up nando's. There has been a bit of a saga around this for some time, we've attempted to go and eat dinner there a good few times now, and every time been met with a MAHOOSIVE queue. Pretty much every nando's I've ever seen needs to be AT LEAST double the size it is, but hey. This time, we were way ahead of those pesky chicken loving families. Phoned them up, went to book a table, and was met with this response "I'm sorry, but we don't take bookings, we operate on a first come first served basis". What the actual fuck....

So yeah, no nando's. Ended up in Frankie and Benny's instead, where you order food, and they bring you over double what you expect, but it's actually pretty damn nice. As soon as the credit cards came out, I knew my pretty colours Santander card would be no match for the other two, and sure enough, the lovely waitress went straight for it. Good start to the day, basically cost me a shot in the super 50, although I'm certain I won more in the restaurant than I would of done in the tournament. Well, I "won" the dinner flip anyway.

Got into a 1/2 game at its inception, and it was instantly a very reggy game. Pretty much knew every face that sat down, and proceeded to a bit mental for a while, until some big guns started to show up. Won a few big pots, one with a set of 9's, one with AK on an A high board vs a smaller A and a flush draw, One against Ian "table of heroes" Gascoigne with AQ into A5. Then proceeded to absolutely butcher a hand against mitch, getting it in on the turn with two outs in the deck, was totally wrong about his range and all sorts of things really, shove was really mostly a bluff, but tbh I have no idea what I was expecting to happen. Either way, biggest pot I have ever played, and hit my two outer for my biggest session of the year, to get me out of the months hole. Seems like I learnt that lesson where if you screw up, just get lucky. Learnt a few pretty valuable lessons in this hand, and a few others, without having to pay for them. Not often you can say that in the world of poker.

My favourite hand of the night was this. I can't actually remember how the action went pre, but I had   otb, and called a raise, and we saw a flop of   four ways. The flop checks to me, and I check back. The turn comes the , giving us a straight draw. The small blind leads out 27, folds to me, I call. At this point, I think there is every possibility that the SB is on the same straight draw as me, or has just picked up a pair. Thinking A8 is very likely, potentially a hand like 9 x or the like. Don't believe he is particularly strong. Anyway, the river comes the  , putting a four card straight on the board. The sb checks, at which point I'm very convinced I have the best hand. I don't believe he has a J, can't really explain why, but I'm confidently putting the guy on a hand like 9x/A8/K8 etc. Instead of checking back, I go for a value bet, and make it 63. I feel like I can get called by this hand, as I think this player would expect me to be betting a 10 for the straight or an airball. We get tank called, flip over our hand, and rake in the pot. Felt very very good about my game at this point, was playing confidently and making good decisions. Now, I just need to cut out the occasional massively butchered hand, and I feel like my game will be in a very good place.

Off to dusk again pretty soon, although I will be writing coursework whilst playing. Going to rail Reg playing his ISPT day 1, and try once more for a nandos. GLGL Reg!
« Last Edit: May 26, 2013, 02:09:22 PM by Rexas » Logged

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« Reply #170 on: May 26, 2013, 02:07:18 PM »

i will be severely on tilt if we dont have a nandos, not good walking into a poker room as a spewy donk at the best of times  whale which ultimately leads to 
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« Reply #171 on: May 26, 2013, 02:28:47 PM »

nandos in first come first serve shocker Cheesy
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« Reply #172 on: May 30, 2013, 02:18:22 PM »

And so we reach the end of May, my first month of documenting my poker results on a daily basis and my last month of my first year of university. I have absolutely zero motivation to get any work done, but hey, what's new. Quick overview of the month:

Bricked GPS completely
Had a record 3 hand cameo appearance in the DTD 6 max
Made day 2 of the ISPT with a comfortable stack
Luckboxed a two outer for my biggest ever pot
Played my first hand of DC
Met, and played poker with, Steve Davies

I'm starting to give the 2/2 DC a shot at dtd, and will certainly be looking to play more of this format. I know I'm still very much a novice, I'm struggling a lot to get my head round some of the Hi-lo games, mainly because ive probably played around 100 hands of any hi-lo game lifetime. I'm enjoying the challenge, working out how to play all the games and taking any advice I can be given, although actually implementing it is taking longer than I'd have liked.

Monthly stats:
CASH
Played 70 hours
Finished +1189
Overall Hourly of approx £17 per hour.

TOURNAMENT
Played 51 hours
Finished -£1474

Total Profit/Loss = -£285

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« Reply #173 on: May 31, 2013, 03:03:23 PM »

it took me years to start beating any games but people now think they can do it in 3 months, impressive stuff.
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« Reply #174 on: June 01, 2013, 12:22:11 AM »

it took me years to start beating any games but people now think they can do it in 3 months, impressive stuff.

you dont have to listen to the moaning though dave! haha, on a side note, glgl to rexas in the ispt. verndog the lucky rail bird is there in spirit!!
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« Reply #175 on: June 05, 2013, 03:15:16 PM »

Slight update needed to the monthly figures, unexpectedly played an ROE game and finished 210 on the right side of the line, so practically a breakeven month.

Basically, in summary of the recent few days, IwemCRY. Or, Iwemberfuckmylifehowdoesthishappen. Struggled to get comfortable the whole time I was there. My table was 4 handed for over an hour, during which I had a pretty disgusting run of cards, and hit some pretty awful run outs. Then we became five handed for pretty much the remainder of my stay in the best value comp ever, until I committed a lot of chips with AQs out of the SB on the runout of A1023A, only to bet fold away a big portion of my stack on the river, after a speech and a shove which I don't think is ever a bluff, hence I can't really beat anything. Got the rest in with a gutshot, a pair and a flush draw and bricked out vs top set. Felt horrible coming away from wembley, late regged into the APAT masters too and ran AK into the kid with the hoodie and the headphones and the sunglasses and the constant button raises where he somehow manages to find KK. Basically, just hit on the wrong side of a whole bunch of factors. On the plus side, it's meant a week or so at home, which is very much welcome. Seriously considering playing the Luton 20k gtd 150 deepstack this weekend, and definitely playing the monthly £100 at my local tonight and the poker player main event thingy in brighton in a few weeks. Uni is now over with for the next few months, so I can hit the felt pretty much full time.

Had some fun down in the genting club last night. Played the £40 freezout, which was a disaster, then sat down in cash and felt very comfortable before losing the lot to a guy who called a big squeeze with 84h (they're suited alright, and he was in the SB so once you've had to put a pound in the pot, whats an extra 20 or so? Give the guy a break...) and flopped two pair, then flopped a straight with the 23h vs my two pair and a horrible river call on my part, and finally limped utg with AA, only for me to flop a gutshot and a flush draw and lose the rest. I actually had a pretty good time though, and I'm starting to feel very very comfortable with my cash game following some pretty good advice. I suppose the great thing about this game is that we are constantly learning, and even though I can't see the results at the cash desk, I'm seeing them in how I'm conducting myself at the table and how I feel like I'm making a lot less mistakes.

Had one of my favourite ever hands last night, too. I wasn't even involved, it was just fun to watch. Folds to the hijack who limps for £1, btn overlimps, both blinds check. Flop comes 567, and the sb donks for £3. This guy has been like super super nitty all night, had call/folded most of his chips away (mainly to me), and after making this bet, he looked super nervous. Anyway, folds to the btn, who makes the call. There has been a bit of a thing between these two as the night has worn on, with the btn being pretty insulting about the tight guys tightness, to the point where it was getting kinda offensive Turn is a monster brick, and the sb then makes it £8, with visibly shaking hands. The button folds, and the guy triumphantly flips over K9, with one of the biggest smiles on his face that I have ever seen. For a moment, I honestly thought he was going to pick up that guys £4 and shove it right in his eye. After overcoming our disbelief at what we had just witnessed, we turn to the button, and pretty much everyone at the table takes a moment to tell the guy how badly he just got owned/pwned/outplayed/murdered etc. Made me remember what poker is all about. It's the small victories that make you feel a million feet tall. Poker is a game where we are all equals when we sit down to play, and over the course of a game, any one of us could rise and become a champion, and any one of us could fall and be that sucker Matt Damon cleans out for a living. Sometimes, this doesn't even come down to how many chips we have in front of us at the end. Regardless of losing money, that guy left with his head held high, and rightly so. He's no push over, he knows it, and now so do we. He can play this game. That's poker, folks.
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« Reply #176 on: June 07, 2013, 06:03:48 PM »

how did omaha go last night marris? Wink
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« Reply #177 on: June 13, 2013, 02:54:54 PM »

Few highlights and lowlights over the last few days.

Made some pretty major edits to my tournament game after really having a think about how Julian seems to cash every tournament he plays, and it's paying off with me running a lot deeper in every tournament I've played so far. Unfortunately, this has been offset by the fact that I've been the biggest loser in pretty much every cash game I've sat in so far this month. I don't even feel that I've been playing that badly, I think I've been making good decisions and just falling on the wrong side of variance basically every hand I play. Starting to really test my newfound temperament, and I'm ashamed to say I failed that test yesterday. Found  two spades Two Clubs otb after a limp, and a raise to 6 from a 200bb stack, and a flat from a 400bb stack. We flat, playing about 400 ourselves, and the limper, playing a little under 300 comes along too. We see a  Two Diamonds flop. Limper checks, raiser makes it 11 as a c-bet, cut off calls, we make it 40, then the limper just ships it for 290 ish. Folds to us, we call, he flips over  , and gets instant reward in the shape of the  . Even now we still have like 40% to win, but brick off the end, and give up for the day. Of all the people as well, this guy is one of the rudest people I've come across at a table, very frustrating. Feels pretty awful to have worked pretty damn hard at calming down, only to face that. It was more the player than the pot. O well, I will continue to run massively below EV for the month and try not to lose too much, i suppose.

Had a very bad experience in the comp on sunday too. We organised a meal before it started, in honour of Melissa's first ever dtd comp, and we got a bunch of people to come play and ended up with a last longer worth more than a final table. Tournament was great fun, until a few hours in, where a man who I had never met before and had just moved to the table proceeded to win a big hand off me, and then just launch into me. I had said and done nothing whilst he had been at the table, hadn't reacted to losing the hand in any way aside from tapping the table and passing my chips across. Got called a whole bunch of names, was laughed at by most of the table, and it continued for a good few minutes until I reacted. This reaction only took the form of saying that he was being a bit impolite after winning a pot, and the response I got was another laugh, a few more comments, and then he got stacked and I moved tables. This is the second guy in the space of a month who I have never met before who has just laid into me at a poker table, and it made me feel ridiculously small. The fact that I took it with very little reaction almost made it worse, a part of me really wishes I'd given the guy a piece of my mind, it amazes me that people in a £25 comp can be such dickheads. This experience was followed by a bust out and a whole bunch of small comments that, given my frame of mind, I took the wrong way. Still didn't really react, just took it and moved to a 50/1 table where I didn't know anyone to just waste some time more than anything. I don't think I've ever felt so isolated in a card room before.

The night was capped off by moving to open up an omaha table, which I assumed would be 1/1. Sat down, got told it was 2/2, got up again, then got called back to be told they'd made it 1/1. Kinda didn't feel great about them changing the stakes just so I could play, but sat anyway. Very quickly got told it was going to be 1/1/2, and really just felt like fml. Resolved to stick it out, then became insta the big loser after flopping the nuts with a straight flush redraw and a blocker to anyone else having the nuts. Left the game pretty fast, the whole thing really got to me in a way I didn't expect it to. Probably the worst I've ever felt leaving a cardroom too, and I didn't really lose much for the day.

Followed the whole thing up with a trip to the zoo the next day, but more on that later!
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« Reply #178 on: June 13, 2013, 03:04:33 PM »

Few highlights and lowlights over the last few days.

Made some pretty major edits to my tournament game after really having a think about how Julian seems to cash every tournament he plays, and it's paying off with me running a lot deeper in every tournament I've played so far. Unfortunately, this has been offset by the fact that I've been the biggest loser in pretty much every cash game I've sat in so far this month. I don't even feel that I've been playing that badly, I think I've been making good decisions and just falling on the wrong side of variance basically every hand I play. Starting to really test my newfound temperament, and I'm ashamed to say I failed that test yesterday. Found  two spades Two Clubs otb after a limp, and a raise to 6 from a 200bb stack, and a flat from a 400bb stack. We flat, playing about 400 ourselves, and the limper, playing a little under 300 comes along too. We see a  Two Diamonds flop. Limper checks, raiser makes it 11 as a c-bet, cut off calls, we make it 40, then the limper just ships it for 290 ish. Folds to us, we call, he flips over  , and gets instant reward in the shape of the  . Even now we still have like 40% to win, but brick off the end, and give up for the day. Of all the people as well, this guy is one of the rudest people I've come across at a table, very frustrating. Feels pretty awful to have worked pretty damn hard at calming down, only to face that. It was more the player than the pot. O well, I will continue to run massively below EV for the month and try not to lose too much, i suppose.

Had a very bad experience in the comp on sunday too. We organised a meal before it started, in honour of Melissa's first ever dtd comp, and we got a bunch of people to come play and ended up with a last longer worth more than a final table. Tournament was great fun, until a few hours in, where a man who I had never met before and had just moved to the table proceeded to win a big hand off me, and then just launch into me. I had said and done nothing whilst he had been at the table, hadn't reacted to losing the hand in any way aside from tapping the table and passing my chips across. Got called a whole bunch of names, was laughed at by most of the table, and it continued for a good few minutes until I reacted. This reaction only took the form of saying that he was being a bit impolite after winning a pot, and the response I got was another laugh, a few more comments, and then he got stacked and I moved tables. This is the second guy in the space of a month who I have never met before who has just laid into me at a poker table, and it made me feel ridiculously small. The fact that I took it with very little reaction almost made it worse, a part of me really wishes I'd given the guy a piece of my mind, it amazes me that people in a £25 comp can be such dickheads. This experience was followed by a bust out and a whole bunch of small comments that, given my frame of mind, I took the wrong way. Still didn't really react, just took it and moved to a 50/1 table where I didn't know anyone to just waste some time more than anything. I don't think I've ever felt so isolated in a card room before.

The night was capped off by moving to open up an omaha table, which I assumed would be 1/1. Sat down, got told it was 2/2, got up again, then got called back to be told they'd made it 1/1. Kinda didn't feel great about them changing the stakes just so I could play, but sat anyway. Very quickly got told it was going to be 1/1/2, and really just felt like fml. Resolved to stick it out, then became insta the big loser after flopping the nuts with a straight flush redraw and a blocker to anyone else having the nuts. Left the game pretty fast, the whole thing really got to me in a way I didn't expect it to. Probably the worst I've ever felt leaving a cardroom too, and I didn't really lose much for the day.

Followed the whole thing up with a trip to the zoo the next day, but more on that later!

Poker sucks, zoo is awesome
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« Reply #179 on: June 20, 2013, 04:37:21 PM »

I've recently had another one of those random philosophical moments that I tend to have, and thought I'd share it with the people of blonde.

I've been getting asked to explain how to play poker by quite a lot of people in the recent months, and its made me think about what I was told when I first asked. I sat down with a group of mates in a hotel room in Austria, and was told some rubbish about flushes and straights and boats, which didn't really make too much sense. I dived in anyway, and eventually starting working it out for myself. I'm very much still going, too.

Anyway, I've been spouting this speech about boats and flushes and so on for a while now, and it struck me that it is complete bollocks. The question of "So how do you play poker?" is a very complicated one. To start, there's all this mathematical stuff about immediate odds, pot odds, implied odds etc. There's the concept of E.V., which is absolutely vital to understanding how to develop into a player that can actually win money at this game, and then theres all the other stuff about situational awareness, reads etc. It feels like I'm lying, when I tell people about hand rankings and leave it at that. Because really, that doesn't answer the question. Those are the rules, but don't even come close to actually knowing how to play. Basically, I suppose what I should really be saying is "I can't tell you, you have to lose a silly amount of money so you can start to work out out for yourself." Some advert, huh?
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