From a generic Degree to a leading Poker Practitioner

[JGill_DTD]

It was my own bad, I forgot that everyone else in the poker community doesn't get out of bed till 2-3pm.  Except MC, but he's some kind of weird poker cyborg from the future.

Everyone else has had a go at moaning it in, I thought I would give it a spin, and tbf it's done a smashing job!!!  Maybe I should be moaning a lot more.....

Noticed Callum Morgan going in on your hand history post. No doubt he will win the world soon

[theprawnidentity]

Quite amusingly, I got a snap chat from him tonight of what looked like him shipping a 3r.  Must work.

[JGill_DTD]

Quite amusingly, I got a snap chat from him tonight of what looked like him shipping a 3r.  Must work.

Blonde member in moan it in shocker

[BorntoBubble]

Quite amusingly, I got a snap chat from him tonight of what looked like him shipping a 3r.  Must work.

Blonde member in moan it in shocker

[JGill_DTD]

At the 25/25 Series in Birmingham this weekend. Having two bullets (one tonight, one tomorrow if required) so hopefully will find a bag with my name on.

[JGill_DTD]

Blessing in Disguise

As mentioned previously went to the 25/25 series in Birmingham, decided to opt for a bullet Friday night and Saturday afternoon if required, as my mate lives within walking distance of the casino.

Standard was unreal. Probs the softest/toughest tournament I've played for over £100 (delete where appropriate) based on the following hands:

A player cramming 5 high on a 8-9-10-J board for about 100 bigs;
8/10 hands in a row someone was all in, with the shortest stack on my table being no smaller than 50 bigs;
Average pot was around 40 bigs;
Not one single walk all tournament;
Majority of hands went 4-6 to a flop, even in the later levels of the day.

This meant I stuck to playing the top 5% of hands. However on Day 1a I couldnt win, 3bet for chunks with  , called in 2 spots, flop comes all clubs, get it in and I'm effectively dead as villain has  . This was 20 minutes from the end of 1a.
I don't usually get annoyed but had I made Day 2 on this flight I would have enjoyed a full Saturday off with the girlfriend which I was looking forward to, instead I'd have to wake up in the morning and walk straight into the Grosvenor. Really frustrating, meaning I was back for 1b.

However 1b went even worse. A guy betting the absolute world on all flops (including one where he check raised/bet/bet showing bottom pair like it was the winner when called) finds KK vs me when I have AQ on a Queen high board, marv. Managed to remain chilled, was in a really good place in my mind, eventually busted by jamming KJ vs 88, couldn't find it to get back to 12k. GG in level 4.

However this meant I had the majority of the day and Sunday to spend with the girlfriend. Decided whilst watching TV this evening to push the online backing deal, just signed a contract with Tomsom giving a reference for me and I'm good to play tomorrow if I wish. Expected to play 30 hours a week average which is definitely a capable figure, will be grinding on 888 poker, ipoker, party poker, FT and PS. Really excited to get stuck in, mentored by Stars MTT crusher tedSTRETCH who I'm really looking forward to working under. Should hopefully still have some time to play some live comps also to keep it healthy.

[JGill_DTD]

Slaving

Since I started Sunday, already I've been absolutely grafting the left click button off my laptop. Currently my schedule is as follows:

11am - Wake Up, have breakfast
12pm - Shower
1pm - Spend a little time with girlfriend, do whatever I need to do in town
4pm - Start grinding
1am - Finish Grinding/Start reviewing
3am - Sleep

A pretty sad overview, although this is obviously only for the meantime waiting to hear back from PokerPlayer. I review with a friend outside the stable for 2 hours every night. I will always remember a comment (unable to remember who, ironically) saying the following:

"Don't ever think that Poker owes you something. It's put you in so many incredible situations, it's difficult to ever expect sustainability from a game of cards that has given us all so much"

I realise all I can do is put myself in as many situations as possible for poker to potentially payout. Some of my biggest winning online sessions have come from me initially saying I don't fancy playing, then deciding I need to take every opportunity available to me if this is going to be taken seriously.

I'm currently getting used to play across 888, Party, Tilt and Stars. I really didn't think 888 and Party would differ THAT much in gameplay, but it's pretty incredible how much the regs and recs differ to those on Stars. Tonight I lost 3 huge stacks with misclicks on 888, where if I'm typing on Skype or whatever, it pops up without me realising and I hit enter then I minraise. This included a min 4bet with 29os, as well as a min 5bet with A7os. Really sigh as these two cost me 4BI's minimum, thrown in with a night of losing almost all flips I got really frustrated. Thankfully my mate is strong enough to talk me into doing a review which really clears and focuses my mind, something I 100% benefit from every time I do it each and every evening. Definitely recommended, even if it's just flicking through, posting the rare hand for discussion.

Enough of the run bad, 10th in the Triceratops on Tilt and 54th in the Double Deuce, along with about 3 FT's and things definitely have a positive slant. Really excited for hand reviewal on Thursday just to hear a new viewpoint on things, at the moment me and my mate are at similar stages with our game (he's a little ahead of me) but I know all the spots he takes now and why, and they are pretty much the same ones I take.

[Luke Barradell]

888 is so soft compared to other sites, but the prize pools are much smaller for the buy-in. The only problem with stars is that there will always be a lot of regs at every stake compared to other sites, along with a load more players. What do you look at when reviewing?

[JGill_DTD]

888 is so soft compared to other sites, but the prize pools are much smaller for the buy-in. The only problem with stars is that there will always be a lot of regs at every stake compared to other sites, along with a load more players. What do you look at when reviewing?

I go through the hand histories of any deep runs I had, analyse spots. I like to say to myself what I'd ideally like to see myself do before seeing my raise sizing/whether I fold/3bet etc (since I tend to have forgotten individual hands by the end of the session). I like to write things down, for ideas as to what to work on in the next session. It's quite strange that the way I played on Sunday is different to the way I will play today, in specific spots.

[Luke Barradell]

I see. What would you say is you favourite type of tournament to play? I.e. Six max, deepstack, knockout, turbo etc.

[JGill_DTD]

I see. What would you say is you favourite type of tournament to play? I.e. Six max, deepstack, knockout, turbo etc.

All I play is full ring to be honest, tend to be non turbos,deepstacks.

4max however is my favourite. Really good way to improve your aggresive areas of play since it involves plenty of 3betting, lots of pot control spots post flop. Definitely a thinking man's game

[Luke Barradell]

Will  you be playing the same stakes with a backer or will you be moving up slightly?

[JGill_DTD]

Will  you be playing the same stakes with a backer or will you be moving up slightly?

Same stakes. If I find a line of results then should be able to move up, which I'm obviously hoping for

[JGill_DTD]

Shiiiiiiiiip!

Click to see full-size image.

Ran the absolute worst tonight, hence why I'm not still grinding at 11pm. However as standard managed to find all the hands in one MTT. Literally the only comp I cashed out of about 25 today, but lovely to finish early in profit

[JGill_DTD]

Shiiiiiiiiip!

Click to see full-size image.

Ran the absolute worst tonight, hence why I'm not still grinding at 11pm. However as standard managed to find all the hands in one MTT. This included K9>AQ pre, AJ>AK pre, AA when someone 3bet jams all on the FT. Literally the only comp I cashed out of about 25 today, but lovely to finish early in profit