Swine Flu

Right, I reckon that little headline should set my sitemeter stats rocketing with hits from all over!! ;o)

Anyway, bit of a to do back end of the last week when my kids mum phones me at work and breaks the news that my middle daughter has contracted swine flu!!! Fuck me, poor kid gets everything! Sooooo, we need to seperate the kids so we can reduce the risk of them getting it too which means I have to schlep up the motorway to pick 'em up that night and take an emergency day off work while I sort out the next week and a halfs arrangements for getting em looked after as I can do without taking all that time off if I can avoid it but thankfully good ol' mum steps in and says she can look after em afternoons if I have em mornings. So thats me for the next 10/12 days while I'm kind of in lock down with the kids. Pretty good in some ways as I get to spend extra time with em but in other ways the repercussions can be felt for months as I am pretty highly strung financially and anything out of the ordinary kinda throws everything out of synch! Just have to hope that none of the other kids develop symptoms or I could see this going on for weeks....especially if I end up with it too!

This, of course, kinda slowed down my recent little burst of poker activity as I only get the chance to play now after they have gone to bed. However, my foray into 18 seat territory is still going pretty good having taken down 2 of the last 3 I played managing to turn a 4-1 chip deficit around HU in both games. Quite happy with the way I am playing, showing a lot more patience than I have been doing recently. Running at about 70% ROI right now but over a tiny figure so insignificant I know and just having said this will probably have doomswitched me ;o)

Omaha to the rescue

Finally managed a cash at the tables after getting dry bummed on one but it was only a 4th so not much joy really.

I watched Lex make it through the 1st round of the Late Night Poker freeroll...only two more to go mate ;) Congrats anyways.
Talking of that fish, I'm sure he must owe me money as I gave his blogging activities 3 months I think and sure enough........ didn't we put money on it? Shame! I loaded his page up to get the URL to add a link against his name here and there was tumbleweed and skeletons and shit over there matey!! (They were fish skeletons btw!)

After the frustrations of NLHE I thought I would go play some micro stakes Omaha and it was sooooo much kinder to me:



I do so like that game :)

In the real world I recently did an Amatay and started seeing my ex again. Not 100% sure how good an idea this is going to be but we shall see how things go.
I had everything set up for the weekend down at DTD with the RTR boys until my car decided to step in and land me with a £300 bill to get through its MOT which was the cash I had set aside for the weekend away. Hopefully I can still make it somehow as it does sound like it will be a laugh but we shall see.
I have also decided to get away for a week to Spain with the new, old, new, kinda, sorta, mrs sometime in August which I think I am going to have to use my bank roll to finance and then put it back after...hey, its just a loan!! So, I might just be doing a Jesus Ferguson stylee challenge when I get back as it looks like I will be sans BR!! Oh well, shit happens! :o)

OMFG!!

I know you all hate endless beat stories and we all have 'em, but I don't give a fuck, its my blog and I'll put what I want up and right now it's this fucking hand!! I think I'm pissed off more than usual about it because I lost over 2/3rds of my stack just 12 hands into the tournament and then battled back to be in the position to take both guys out, make the money and have a decent amount of chips to compete for the win....but ohhhhh no no no, the Full Tilt gods decided this would happen instead:



Needless to say I was gone a few hands later!! Fuck it!

Welcome to........

Yep, after a week away from the cyber felt I actually played a fair bit (well, a fair bit for me) last night and today and I am definitely in suckout city right now lol!! Although I couldn't really complain at the way I departed the first tourney of the night when I decided to limp my bullets in early position (which I NEVER do) and ended up being outdrawn by the mighty J8s making his flush on the turn. In my defence it was a pretty lively table and I fully expected a raise behind me to allow me to reraise if needs be but it didn't happen. Two diamonds on the flop did see me pot bet to try and ensure my opponent wouldn't draw to the flush but hey...implied odds and all that : Still, my own fault paying him off when I knew I had been outdrawn, fuck fuck fuck!! ;) That set the tone for the weekend so far as everybody I play decides they are going to draw to their flushes as they plainly just do not need to consider odds when trying to hit flushes because that's the new LAW!!! Fuck! I cant even suckout as they then resuck:

That actually kinda made me smile. From there AQo is obviously no match for KTo even after hitting my Q on the flop....always call a shove PF for 95% of your stack with A8s as you are bound to beat AJs.....don't worry about calling a shove PF over your raise and seeing that your AJo is up against AKo as you will hit not one, but two Jacks, just to be sure ;) And on and on.

Anyway, have to go out now. Probably a good thing as I really don't need any more of whats been going on the last couple of days. Still, I'm happy enough with the way I have actually been playing so I'm sure it will turn around. I did actually win a little playing cash this morning so maybe I should just stick to that? Just not as much fun as tourneys though!

Have some real life stuff going on right now too but it will have to wait for another post as I can hear a beer calling me :) Have a good night all!

Pokerin' and Rockin'

Actually managed to sneak a bit of poker in over the weekend which was quite a feat considering I have had a house full of kids. Only a couple of 18 seaters on FT but managed to cash in one so happy days.....

Otherwise I have been battering my lads X-Box while he was off at Alton Towers and managed to finish C.O.D4 before he got back with his mates Guitar Hero game and two guitars to go along with it.

Caught "The Boss" at Glastonbury and what a great show....and how good is he looking for his age? Inspired me to dig out his greatest hits CD again. Hopefully he will tour again soon as I'm not gonna get to see him this time around and would love to catch his show again before he hangs up the harmonica!

So, after watching the final of the confederations cup where the yanks nearly made the Brazilians look like turkeys me and the boy stuck Guitar Hero on his X-Box and after moaning that I would never be able to do this with this guitar thingy that he had brought, a few drinks to fuel my inner rocker did the trick and I caught on how to use this thing and man...WHAT A GAME!!! I dont have to worry about neighbours so we cranked the tv up as high as we could stand, loaded up a co-op career and hit it....within an hour (after a couple of bottles of wine and some JD's) I WAS Angus himself as I knocked out track after track on lead, rythm, bass...you name it!! Haha, seriously though, what a game....I can see us doing this all week!! Cant see why certain musicians were knocking it really...its just a game guys!!

Poker Suspension

I think there is going to be a bit of an enforced poker suspension over the next week or so as I have my eldest son coming to live with me for the next week and a half because his sister has an exchange student coming to stay and the house isn't big enough for 'em all...I reckon this is way cheaper than forking out more for his witch of a mother to buy a bigger house ;) Still, I'm looking forward to spending a bit of quality mano a mano time with him as we get on pretty good and always have a good time when we do stuff together...oh and it means I get to play X-Box games with him all week!!! I wonder where I stand on deducting a weeks maintenance from his mothers purse ;) I'm just kidding before I get hauled over hot coals by some single mother with ex issues ok?

This should also mean that I finish the month in profit, although only just, for the first time in 3 months as the pokes has been going ok recently and despite having my entire buy in removed by two horrible little short stackers in a FR game the other night I managed to make it all back pretty much on another table. I swear that everyone I play now limps kings or aces in early position and by the time I have raised and/or c-bet or hit my card and bet the flop or anything against these guys by the time all this is done they don't have a lot left behind and I'm calling any bet after this to lose half my stack...but then I'm just a donk!

Also been playing the 45/27/18 manners on Full Tilt and seem to have settled on 18 seat tourneys and have cashed my last 2 of 3 in 1st and 2nd to finally get back into profit. I think I will crack on with these for a bit and see how I go.

OK, see y'all in a week or so. GL at the tables!!

Night at the races

Sat here in work slowly dying....I am sooooo tired. The reason for this state of affairs? Well, as I mentioned the other day I went to the races at Haydock last night as my boss had a horse running. As it was just the two of us going he decided he was up for a bit of a sesh, and lets face it, it would have been rude of me to argue with that right? I mean, who am I to turn down free booze and food?

So, we start as we mean to go on with a couple of cans while waiting for our lift in the office at the end of the day. Weather held up for us and it was a glorious evening at Haydock by the time we got there so we headed for the Champagne bar and grabbed ourselves a nice table with a good view of the course and sat in the sun quaffing the good stuff! I'm having a little look around checking out the race ladies as you do and who do I see checking badges at the entrance to the stand? Antonio Esfandiari that's who....no word of a lie!! Antonio Esfandiari is checking badges at Haydock Racecourse, the poker must be going badly for the poor lad!! Seriously the guy was the absolute spitting image of him although probably a few inches shorter and a few years younger. I was going to take a picture just to prove it to all you fish reading this, yes both of you, but I thought he might not be too amused and I really didn't want to look that sad anyway lol.

Anyway, a few drinks later and a few quid down after my pick in the 2nd was narrowly beaten to the line our horse was up next so off we went to the owners enclosure for a quick bite and a chat with the ladies accompanying the horse while we took a look at it to see if they thought we had a chance. Had a word with the jockey too and he seemed to think they had a good chance so I slapped a few quid on it to win. It almost looked asleep while parading around but as it went off to the course it seemed to perk right up. And this is where our night really started as it romped through from being about 3rd or 4th halfway through the race to catch everyone up and then take the race on a photo while myself and bossman are jumping up and down, punching the air, "did we make it, did we win?" I'm saying. The result is announced pretty much immediately and cue much back slapping! Back to the owners enclosure, pictures, presentations and into a little room where they let you watch the race over on their tv while they ply you with free Champagne and provide you with a buffet. Needless to say I just concentrated on the drinks! Oh, honorable mention for the young girl walking the horse around as she was such a great looking girl and coupled with that nice Irish lilt, well.........

I could get used to this being a racehorse owner lark!!

After all the excitement we decided to head back to town to carry on the celebrations in a restaurant there. Probably hadn't been sat down more than 15 minutes or so and two women come and install themselves at our table totally out of the blue. I don't know if it was the owners badges that we were still wearing but I think I'll be taking that out with me again the next time I go out and test it out ;) So we are looking at each other and thinking WTF while one of these birds launches into some kind of ramble about god knows what. I cant remember how long they were at our table as by this point we were pretty smashed and rapidly getting worse as the large JD's flowed quickly but bossman is a married man and often goes to this place with wifey so we eventually got rid which is probably just as well as in the state I was in I would probably have done something stupid anyway if I had been left to it. I could do without some strange bird chasing me down thinking I own racehorses and I'm loaded after a night of debauchery so correct decision I think....or maybe I'm just getting old and I've lost my balls? haha maybe.

For some reason none of this seemed to sit too well with some guy on the table next to us who starts giving us shit. We are too pissed to care but as we leave he starts again and I just cant keep my gob shut now so I give him some back....no idea what I said but hey, I'm sure it was good ;) The strange evening then just kept getting stranger when we got a cab outside and after dropping bossman off at his place I must have dropped off and woke up as the cab stopped....right back where he picked us up!! So I'm thinking "whats this daft bastard brought me back here for?" and of course I cant help myself so I tell him exactly what I think, get out of the cab and tell him he has no f&*£ing chance of getting paid and walk off back towards the restaurant. I cant remember if I went back in and had another drink or not but I do remember I had to walk bloody miles before I got a cab and of course, yet again I suffered from the "remember getting in the cab but cant remember getting out" affliction again but I woke up in my bed so obv everything was fine from there. Maybe I should have asked the original taxi driver to take me home and not charge me for the return trip to the restaurant in the first place, but you know how it is when your pissed, right?

Definitely still pissed when I woke up so I probably shouldn't have driven in to work but I only realised once I got here! Anyway, never mind, decent evening and more money in my pocket when I got home than when I went out so cant complain! Maybe I should take up betting on the horses instead of pokes eh? That turned into a big post....did anyone make it to the end? lol

MTT's

Still haven't been playing too much recently and when I have I have been having a little dabble at the 45 seater tourneys on Full Tilt and the odd MTT. However, finally I feel like I'm not so damn card dead constantly. Since I mentioned that I was actually picking up some hands etc... in the brit blogger a couple of weeks ago it has mainly been more of the same. I have only played a couple and haven't cashed yet but have got close and generally felt I have been playing quite well.

Had another crack at the daily dollar on Saturday night too and it was going great until I had a complete brainfart around 4:30am'ish when, pissed as a fart, I get involved in some table chat with a complete tit who is getting on everyones nads and while doing this I look down at cowboys and call someones shove for my entire stack walking into his set of tens...d'oh. I didn't even realise I was calling my entire stack off when I did it, jesus I didn't even think...just autopilot while I argued with dickhead and took another swig of the booze lol. Hey it was fun for a buck though :)

Off to the races on Thursday night so need to sort out some clothes...should be a good night hopefully! So...I'm off!! Cya!

Poker?

Whats that then?

You may just have got the idea that I have barely been playing recently. If so, you would be correct. I just haven't been able to muster the enthusiasm or, indeed, the time to really play recently. This is due to various factors....

1. Complete loss of interest (probably, as has been pointed out, because I have been losing)

2. I have been out living my real life, or as Lex likes to put it, slagging it up!! Can I just point out here Lex that I have NOT been slagging it up, I have just been entertaining and making new friends..... That sounds soooo much better!

3. Seriously though, the end of the footy season meaning plenty of afternoons/evenings in the pub watching the rash of matches that arrive at the end of a season, the arrival of summer meaning BBQ's and beer gardens and a few nights out here and there have just meant barely any time to sit and play as its soooo much nicer being out and about right now.

However, as this is supposed to be a poker blog of some description I guess I should at least attempt to talk some poker.

May was my second straight losing month although I managed to pull back around 2/3 of my initial losses in the last week or so with some better results at the ring games on iPoker so not as bad as it could have been.

As mentioned, my enthusiasm for the game has waned somewhat and as such I have been toying with some ideas to try and rekindle my interest. One of which was to empty my iPoker account and start from scratch in a Jesus Ferguson stylee challenge for myself.

This gives me two pluses....I get to piss the rest of my bankroll up the wall (whats left of it) and maybe starting from scratch will give me some incentive to play more. I don't know why I think this, I just do...I started with a freeroll on iPoker and built from there and it might just be interesting to see if I can do it again. Also, I can treat anything I win as free money and then just play as and how I feel like it knowing that if I bust I can just start over and maybe introduce a little bit of gamble into my game for a change as it is currently pretty much non-existent (they don't call me Mr O for nowt). This might just be "fun" for a change, and if it is "fun" then it might just rekindle my desire to play more seriously. I probably wont do this either but worth thinking about I guess!

I will still have my "proper" roll over on FT if I want to play any tourneys etc....

One thing that has kept my interest is a little get together the RTR boys have been talking about down at DTD one weekend. It really does sound like good craic with a piss up on the Friday night around Nottingham and then a DTD tourney on the Saturday night. I initially wanted to get my arse down there but then decided I couldn't really afford it but after having a pretty damn good month at work I am again thinking maybe...just maybe. I know the money could be better spent elsewhere but I just wouldn't enjoy it anywhere near as much!!

Oh, and I managed to cash in the brit blogger again...at last.....going out in 6th when I shoved over the top of what I reckoned was a button steal with AT to be shown A6 when he called the extra 1500 or so needed to see 5 cards. He didn't need 5 though when he hit his 6 on the flop and that was all she wrote.

Frustration.....

.....probably a game I should stick to judging by the way the ol' online poker is going at the moment :)

However, frustration is what I am now experiencing at the tables. I finally started picking up hands and connecting with flops etc... on Sunday night in the bloggerment and everything seemed to be going swimmingly for this little fishee until:



Sigh....I managed to get back into it a little bit later when my bullets actually held up :) then lost a little when my opponents 34s was obv better than my cowboys :( and eventually got taken out when AIPF by 9T as AJ is obviously utter shite....

Anyway, I thought I would play the daily dollar tonight as I have no work in the morning so a late late night wouldnt be a problem....neednt have worried really lol:




Didnt see that 9 coming :) I was expecting at least a split on that one...what do I know anyway? At least the cash games are going ok even if they are duuuuuuulllllll