The Soldier - UK Grind for life?

[The Soldier]

The stag do in Edinburgh was epic! Some pictures:

We weren't organised enough to book seats next to each other on the plane

Click to see full-size image.

Hurry up drive, we have a pub to catch!

Click to see full-size image.

Money was no object so we spared no expense for our stag. I didn't know they had a Ritz in Edinburgh (this room smelt great in the morning).

Click to see full-size image.

Some paintball to get the blood pumping.

Click to see full-size image.

Looking for a swift pint on the way back to get changed (didn't get in anywhere).

Click to see full-size image.

We dressed the stag as Pocahontas and we dressed as cowboys (not my idea!).

Click to see full-size image.

We hired out some rando bus that drove around Edinburgh with us and a couple of hen dos.

Click to see full-size image.

Standard

Click to see full-size image.

A bus wanker trying to bus surf

Click to see full-size image.

There were some hot hens on our bus! I'll try and get some more pics of them (there is one dressed as a chav in the pic above).  We also had a stripper with us on the bus (mandatory)!  I'll try and get some more pics, but for now...

Click to see full-size image.

A true friend serving the stag a good old cup of earl grey before going to bed.

Click to see full-size image.

p.s. this pic isn't of me!

[teamonkey]

I miss weds afternoon sports.

The first 10 years were true sports,  mostly rugby, occasionally target rifle shooting. The final 4 years it varied between golf and online poker.

Now I spend 6 months of the year bobbing up and down in the middle of the north sea on  60 x 60 metal pontoon floating thingy.

Keep up the good work Rupert old chap, mind you dont get too many creases in your mustard cords

[The Soldier]

Poker is technically a sport, so Wednesday afternoons could be accommodated down The Vic ;-)

I manage to get the odd football and rugby game in

I miss weds afternoon sports.

The first 10 years were true sports,  mostly rugby, occasionally target rifle shooting. The final 4 years it varied between golf and online poker.

Now I spend 6 months of the year bobbing up and down in the middle of the north sea on  60 x 60 metal pontoon floating thingy.

Keep up the good work Rupert old chap, mind you dont get too many creases in your mustard cords

No dramas.  I'll also ensure my Tweeds remain in good order.  Do a lot of ex-forces work in your industry?

[teamonkey]

There are quite a lot in my particular field, ROVs, and a few in general in various other roles.

However imho there isnt close to enough ex-forces working offshore.

On phone so not going to type a huge reply, more than willing to in the day time though.

Anyway, keep crushing the games while you can Tarquin, wish you all the best what what

[The Soldier]

18 Feb 14

Last weekend I travelled to Birmingham to play the GPS at Sky City. I played Day1a online and made day 2 with roughly average chips. The only hand worth mentioning was the very last hand of the day - Chip lead raises from UTG and UTG+1 (villain) calls. I call with  on Btn and SB + BB call. Flop comes      . SB + BB check and Chip lead C-Bets roughly 3k into 7. Villain then raises to 10k. Effective stack with Villain is 100k and he has me covered. Advice? I folded!

I arrived in Birmingham on Fri night and head straight to the casino to play some Cash. There wasn't a great deal running, only 1/2. A few of the regs and I tried to start a 2/5 game 4 handed but the tourney players weren't interested.

There were 2 hands of note from the 2/5. The first was a pretty standard AIPF with my JJ v AK. We ran it twice and chopped. The 2nd was a hand where the Btn raised to 15 and I called from the BB with A5 suited. The flop came A52 and I donk. He called and the turn came a 6. I bet again and he calls. The river comes a 3 (no flush). I bet 125ish and he raises me to 300ish. I call pretty quickly and he mucks - I have a bunch of history with Villain and know that he bluffs...... a lot.

The game broke quickly afterwards and I join a deep 1/2. The majority of the table are nits apart from one complete maniac sitting 2 to my right. He was playing roulette, so I adjusted my game accordingly and played some high variance, but sensible poker with him whilst the majority of the nits got out of our way. I lost a bunch running pretty dry before stacking his last bullet with  on a      board. He mucked an 8 (probably 2 kicker).

After the maniac bust I went back to the hotel to get rested up for Day 2. Day 2 started with a bang. I 3bet some rec player OOP with AK early on and he folded AQ. Not long after, I flat an early raise with  on the button; effective stack is 75k (I cover). I flop the nuts and he flops bottom set on a  board. Happy days! It goes all in on the flop and I increase my stack to 180k.

Shortly afterwards I move tables and play pretty standard with a comfortable stack until after the bubble. Not long after the bubble, I double up a rec player with AK < QQ. I am back at around 200k when I win 2 pots and all my chips back from him. The first I raise from the Btn with   and he calls from BB. The flop comes and I miss everything. He checks and I Cbet my back door flush draw. He calls and the turn brings me the flush draw. He checks and I bet again - he calls. River gives me the flush and I get paid. He mucks in disgust

Not long after, I min-raise in LP with  . The same Villain from the previous hand min 3bets me on the Btn and I flat. The flop comes AJ10. I check raise all in and he calls with A2!

I am now a big stack with roughly 480k and get moved to the "TV Table" with roughly 30 players remaining. If you'd like to watch my stack dwindle from 480k to < 200k in less than 30 mins, when it probably could (should) have increased to > 900k and potentially the chip lead, please feel free to:


I join the table from 1:12:48 (seat 3). I'd be interested to hear some feedback on the hands I played if anyone has an opinion.

In summary

A9 in BB < A4 from Btn. Btn raises, Hero 3 bets, Villain tanks for ages and Hero says "If you wait long enough then you'll be able to see my hand on the 30 minute delayed stream." Villain insta-shoves all in after speech and Hero calls. 4 comes in the window.

< Worst bluff I've ever seen. Rando tight player limps UTG with short stack, Hero flats on Btn with KJdd, SB (Villain) calls and BB checks. Flop comes , Villain bets with air, fold, fold, Hero calls. Turn comes giving Hero the flush. Villain bets 30% of his stack and Hero calls. River comes A, Villain goes all in with air and Hero folds. Right play?

We move tables after this and I bust not long after with roughly 12 bigs - I min raise with A7, SB tanks for an hour and then ships with roughly the same stack as me, I cover by 1 ante. I sigh/tilt call and lose to KK. I then spin up 2k chips to 24k chips, by winning 3 all ins in a row. Alas, the best comeback in tournament history wasn't to be and I bust the next hand in 21st place for £1,225. I was disappointed about the A7 min raise/call, but overall, quite happy with my play. I'll bink one of these things one day!

[The Soldier]

Ooph seems you were sat in one of the toughest seats you could have been that day - Deadman 2 to your right and Alex Spencer to your immediate left!

You learnt your first lesson - don't get involved with Simon Deadman, if he doesn't have it then he runs too good and by the river he will have it lol

That bluff is weird, real weird so think I'm going on reads. Really don't understand why he would donk any 3 in his hand; maybe an Ace and its kinda tough cus casino regs do weird stuff like leading out here. Split between calling it off and feeling dirty n folding.

Yeah it was a reasonably tough table. Simon and Alex were both really nice blokes and have obviously been killing it lately!

I think it's a bluff <10% of the time here. The question I was thinking at the time was "does he have a flush as well?"

[The Soldier]

10 Mar 14 - Donkaments Update
Things haven't been going so great recently. I've played a few tournaments:

1. Sky Poker Champs - Busted around 90th in the main (9 away from $) with around 15BBs. CO raised to 3x and I shipped with JJ. He called with AK and I lost the flip.

2. WPT Aspers - Busted day 1c. Biggest hand of note was QQ in MP1. Villain (huge fish) limped UTG (standard for him) and UTG+1 limped as well. I popped it to 4x and it folded around to Villain who flatted (for about 20% of his stack). UTG+2 folded. Flop came 99xss. He checked, I C-bet and he raised all in. I call and he tables 6-9. I had him covered by 3bbs so that was me pretty much out the next hand.

3. Hippodrome Spring Classic - Busted on day 1b. I had 25BBs and got dealt KK UTG. I raise 2x and a huge limp station calls from UTG+1. At the same time he says "I was going to raise 3x so you may have saved me some chips" (said man is Villain and has me covered). A couple more players call and the flop comes K J 10 rainbow. I C-bet 4 BBs and Villain min-raises. It folds around to me and I sigh shove knowing that I'm probably behind here, however, he would stack off with 2 pair and potentially AK (not likely due to flat preflop) for sure in this situation. He had AQ.

Click to see full-size image.

Cash Update
Cash has been running super bad. I haven't kept 'detailed' HHs as the games have been VERY good and the majority of my concentration has been focussed on playing my A-game and not going on tilt. It has put my resolve to the test at a crucial stage in my "life plan."

Some coolers:

(1) I can't remember prelims, but I flop the nut straight on a QJ10 board in a deep 2-5 game. I get it in 3 ways on the flop against top 2 and bottom set, and the Villain gets instant service on the turn.

(2) KK < AA all in pre against a fish.

(3) In a 5-10 I have a stack of £1,900 (effective) and a fish that has run good raises on Btn to 40. I flat with 66 in BB and the flop comes 6 8 10 rainbow (pot is 90). He C-bets 60 and I call. The turn is a K, bringing a flush draw - pot is £210. I check raise his bet of £135 to £400. He calls and the river comes an 8 (flush draw misses). I bet £1k and he raises me all in for 400 more. FML.

(4) In a short handed 2-5, I raise with 1010 UTG to 20 (effective stack is £1,000). The Btn (solid decent reg) calls and the flop comes 10, 8, 9 rainbow. I C-bet £30 and he calls. The turn comes a Q and I check/call a bet of £50. The river comes another Q and I lead for £100. The reg raises to £500. I tilt shove (for an extra 300) – I’m usually quite disciplined when tilting and instantly leave the game - so I’m disappointed with this play…… and ofc, he tables Q 10. Having thought in more depth about this hand and discussed it with others, I came to realise that a check/raise is a far better river play!

(5) Reg raises 3x from UTG (villain), 2 fish call and I flat on Btn with J8hh (stack is 300bb effective). The board comes high and I flop a flush draw. Checked around to me and I bet. Villain calls and turn completes the flush. He leads for 2/3 pot and I call. River blanks and he leads for 3/4 pot and I call. He shows nut flush.

(6) Tried to 4bet bluff a LAG reg who 3bet my raise from Btn in a 5-10. It didn't work - mostly due to my failure to continue with my line. If I'd C-bet flop, even small, it would probably have worked. I played it bad.

Summary
(1) I’ve lost a bunch more big hands but these are the ones that I remember. I’ve been running bad and playing sub-optimally in cash games for 35 sessions, which is about 1-2 months play for me.

(2) I’m going to take this week off and reflect on my game during this period to address my leaks!

(3) My hourly has dropped significantly.

(4) Playing well in tournaments.

Click to see full-size image.

[The Soldier]

16 Mar 14
I played very little this weekend due to the rugby, which was exactly what I needed. Sat was epic! - I went to the Durell Arms in Fulham to watch all 3 games with old Uni mates. England were unlucky not to get anything as they were probably the most on form team of the competition (serves them right for relying on the French). Ireland were very consistent though and a decent team so probably deserve the win! Wales on the other hand need to sort their sh** out (at least there were signs of this against Scotland). The group of death in the World Cup is going to be interesting...

I played a hung over session at the Vic on the Sun. When the 2-5 game started I made a disciplined decision to remain at the 1-2, given my hangover and recent poor play. It turned out to be a good decision as I bagged £984 in profit (half from PLO and half from NLHE). The most notable hand from the 1-2 was:

Hero is dealt  in the CO. Villain is a fish on a heater, with a stack of £2.2k. My stack is 1k as I've bought in for 50% of the biggest stack. He will call with literally any hand that he likes preflop and raise pre a very small %age of the time.

Villain limps in early position, another rando limps and Hero makes it 15 from CO. A short stack on the Btn ships all in for £35 and Villain calls. The rando folds and Hero makes it £140 – Villain calls.

Flop - £320 –      . Villain checks and Hero bets £100. Villain raises to 300 and Hero ships. Villain tank folds. Anyone think I should just call here?

In other news, I've played a few online tournaments recently. I've bricked all but have 1 interesting hand to report:

Game is the big $162 on stars and I have 28 bigs. We are 16 away from the prize pool. The Villain is a complete maniac. The very hand before this one he has 15 bigs and is UTG. He raises 3.5x with and a dude with 10 bigs ships on him. He snaps and knocks him out.

The very next hand I'm dealt 88 UTG. I min raise and it folds around to Villain who ships for 25 bigs. I snap and he has KK - gg. Would anyone fold here?

Click to see full-size image.

[The Soldier]

Now we are up to date!

Last weekend I was seeing my family so the volume I played was pretty low. However, I managed to play a few online tournies on Sat night. I made one deep run in the nightly $165, making a small profit in the session overall. On the way back to my place of work during Sun night, I made a brief stop at the 'Rainbow Casino' in Bristol. I lost £300 playing 1/1 plo & nlhe. For feedback on my experience at 'The Rainbow,' please see here - http://blondepoker.com/forum/index.php?topic=63491.0

[The Soldier]

Yeah that was me! Where were you sitting? The game was surprisingly good, although I remember it being a lot more aggro back when it was 1/2 ROE. I lost an all in preflop with . I turned my hand over on the flop and was like "ship it" - as I flopped top set and a flush draw! Get back into your box big lad... villain rivers a straight The villain had a good starting hand though so no hard feelings. I went turbo card dead after that.

I'm glad you agree with the points - I find it totally bizarre how a card room that has been there that long can still operate the way it does. The sad thing is that many other card rooms are exactly the same. It's mostly in London and Nottingham where competition has resulted in the 'survival of the fittest' where you won't notice it. Shame the thread turned into a debate about the delivery and dick swinging and not the content.

I was on a course at the ‘Land Warefare Centre’ in Warminster, which was a convenient place to visit Cardiff -> Bristol from.

Have you ever played in Swindon? I’ve overheard people talking about it a few times now…

[dreenie]

Read your diary with interest, keep it up

[ruud]

Sounds like you play with a lot of "fish"!

[The Soldier]

I got a pretty serious grind on last weekend. It began with the PKR Live in Stratford on Fri (day 1). Day 1 was quite frustrating for the most part, although it ended well! I went from 20k chips to 4k chips off the bat. I arrived at the table roughly 3 levels in after finishing work late (1500 hrs ).

The blinds are 200 (I think) and some dude with a Grosvenor patch raises in early position to 600ish. I 3-bet in MP with A to 1500 (I think) and villain cold calls from the Btn. Mr Grosvenor also calls and we see a 3 way flop.

Flop comes       (I think). Mr Grosvenor checks, I bet 2.5k, villain calls from Btn and Grosvenor calls.

Turn comes a   (I think). Grosvenor checks, I bet 4k, villain calls and Grosvenor mucks.

River comes a 3 (no diamond). I check/sigh call the villains 8k bet on river. He had 56 suited… Just so you know my thought process here – this guy was tighter than a ducks arse, so I discounted 56 suited preflop and all 2 pair combos. I thought he either had a set, AK or a busted flush draw. I didn’t have the  . Given he’s a bit of a nit, I expected him to raise the turn in a 3 way pot if he had a set, so I discounted that on the river. My dad was right, it is dangerous when I think!

I play the next 4 hours or so with some discipline (I still had > 20 bigs) and manage to survive until about 1 hour from the end. Somehow, I turned that 4k into a 50k stack (which is about average) and make day 2. I went 'Dan Bilzerian' that night to celebrate and stayed in some rando 2 star hotel hole in Stratford.

I didn’t get anywhere during day 2 (now a 6-maxer), just managed to tread water around average stack. I took a knock back after 3-betting some aggro lady’s UTG open.

Aggro lady makes it 2x from UTG, I make it 5x with JJ in the CO. The flop came A K 9. She checks, I bet 4x and she raises to 12.5x (pretty much all in). I fold and aggro lady flips over 66. Needless to say, she tried something similar about 1 hour later and got felted. My buddy told me I should check that flop…

Not long after, with about 9bbs left, I post the small blind and get dealt Jc8c. UTG (lag) min raises and btn (lag) flats. I ship (TAG) and BB re-raises all in with 20+ bigs. Lag 1 + 2 fold and I’m up against KK. GG.

A couple of people I’ve spoken to say that I had no fold equity and so it was a bad play. If everyone did fold I would have doubled up (probably not much fold equity but surely a little). If 1 player called I would have tripled up. It is high variance stuff but I’m still not convinced it is as terrible as some have suggested. I’d be interested to hear peoples’ thoughts.  

I made my way to the Vic straight afterwards and played some 1/2 and 1/3 for the remainder of the weekend. I dodged the 2/5 due to my recent downswing. The games were great and I made 1.1k. Total profit for the weekend = £808.

Click to see full-size image.

[celtic]

Tell us more about the CPR story.

[Chompy]

Garth fan?