The 10 to 10,000 USD challenge, brought to you in association with.......

The pain, the pain, the pain........

2008-10-12T01:08:00.004+01:00

Full Tilt Poker Game #8448540465: Table Palos (deep) - $0.25/$0.50 - No Limit Hold'em - 20:01:41 ET - 2008/10/11
Seat 1: sshilton2 ($99.50)
Seat 2: caranape81 ($26.45)
Seat 3: MasterBlasta78 ($54.70)
Seat 4: vlrhsgo ($100)
Seat 5: SG3KSG ($130.80)
Seat 6: CA Prime ($113.50)
Seat 7: brodie82 ($129.80)
Seat 8: Tromulator ($100)
Seat 9: RustyOzz ($19.55)
RustyOzz posts the small blind of $0.25
sshilton2 posts the big blind of $0.50
The button is in seat #8
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to SG3KSG [7d 5d]
caranape81 folds
MasterBlasta78 folds
vlrhsgo folds
SG3KSG raises to $1.50
CA Prime folds
brodie82 folds
Tromulator calls $1.50
RustyOzz calls $1.25
sshilton2 folds
*** FLOP *** [Tc 4s 6s]
RustyOzz checks
brodie82 has been disconnected
brodie82 has reconnected
SG3KSG bets $3
Tromulator raises to $9
RustyOzz folds
SG3KSG raises to $129.30, and is all in
Tromulator calls $89.50, and is all in
SG3KSG shows [7d 5d]
Tromulator shows [3s 5s]
Uncalled bet of $30.80 returned to SG3KSG
*** TURN *** [Tc 4s 6s] [8s]
*** RIVER *** [Tc 4s 6s 8s] [Ac]
SG3KSG shows a straight, Eight high
Tromulator shows a flush, Eight high
Tromulator wins the pot ($199) with a flush, Eight high

*Snort*

Back to square one in one hand. Arse.

Just a quickie...

2008-10-09T11:07:00.002+01:00

Awoke this morning with a crazy urge to play poker, and as today is my day off, I thought 'why the hell not!!'

Just the one, a $10 + 1 SnG on Full Tilt, and managed 2nd for a meagre profit of $16. Still, it's all welcome, and we're still moving in the right direction (albeit very slowly!!). Should really have won it having gone 3 handed as chip leader, but a couple of nasty turns soon had my stack dwindling. Last hand HU was a bit of a mare as well, my underpair was counterfeited when the board double paired on the river, giving oppo's Ace high the nod. Still, a cash is a cash, soon be playing the proper stakes again!!

Tempted to play a local £25 freezeout on Sunday night, more to say hello to a few old faces than anything!! Problem is, I've also got a fishing session planned for the same evening. Hmm, choices, choices!! I'll keep you posted......

Until the next time (which may be a while again!!), be lucky and keep that PMA going!!

Anybody know where to find.....

2008-09-07T17:09:00.004+01:00

.....Full Tilt hand history from within my hard drive? I have no idea lol!!

Anyways, had another little go (around 200 hands) last night while Mrs SG was out painting the town red, and having put the little 'un to bed at about 9pm a quick 0.10/0.25 deep stacked cash session was in order.

About half an hour in, one of my favourite types of players joined the table. You know the sort, limps any two cards every single hand, checks when he hasn't hit, bets small with a marginal hand, bets big with a decent hand and refuses to fold a pair once he's invested a few cents into the pot? I love this kind of opponent, as it suits my playing style on a cash table down to a tee. Wait, wait, wait, hit a big hand and let 'atc man' hang himself. My opportunity came around an hour into the session, when I was involved in a three-way pot with a 3bb early position raiser, atc man flat called and I also flat called from the big blind with 7c 5c. A rainbow flop of A75 put a wry grin on my face, and a check to early raiser saw him putting in a half pot bet. Flat call from atc man, I'm hoping he's got a weak ace and put a 3 x check raise to find out if early position raiser is just continuation betting. A quick fold tells me what I need to know, but atc man again flat calls. Bingo. safe-ish card (Jack) on the turn so I out in a half pot bet myself, flat call from atc man, cool beans, I've got him by the nads, my two pair is looking good here for certain. A deuce on the river and I'm home and dry, or so I thought. A 3/4 pot sized $15 bet was quickly raised all in to make a total pot of $108 should I call, and I was left scratching my head. No flush or straight possibility, maybe he's got a strong Ace and thinks it's good? Maybe he's flopped a bigger two pair or a set and has caught me out, wp gg? I'm certainly thinking there's a good chance that my 7s and 5s are good so put the call in, only to see oppo is holding A2. D'oh!! To add insult to injury, atc man then proceeded to leave the table almost instantly. Nice!!

I decided at that point to stand up, make myself a stiff whisky and coke and have a bit of a breather. Now that I only play one table I can do this whenever I like and find it really helps to keep things on a level head, rather than stewing over happenings while playing multiple tables. A few minutes, some deep breaths and a replenished stack later, I sat back down and continued the session. Fortunate enough to hit pocket Aces, 7s and 2s and 4 hands, flopping a set with both the 7s AND 2s (whoop!!), I also pulled a couple of daring (but properly thought out) bluffs and managed to end the session with a profit of $17.75, not ground-breaking but it could so easily have been a loss of $50!!

It's sessions like this that restore my faith in my own ability (I'm not good at poker, but I can certainly play the game to a fair level) to overcome adversity and make a steady dollar here and there as long as I keep a level head. I think that is the biggest flaw in my game by far, sometimes I just go off the rails and pull silly moves that are very unlikely to get through. if I can keep that under wraps, I'm halfway there!! Rakeback on Full Tilt definitely needs to be sorted out, I'm liking the software, the liquidity and the vast range of playing styles on there, it is certainly keeping me on my toes whenever I play. Onwards and upwards!! I'm hoping to delve into the world of 0.25/0.50 relatively soon, still micro-stakes by most people's standards but when you've only got a bankroll of $200, it's needs must!!

Until next time, be lucky!!

Not much to report.....

2008-08-15T21:09:00.002+01:00

H'okay!! Played an hour or so on Wednesday night while tying up some fishing rigs, again on the 10c/25c NL deep stack tables at Full Tilt. Threw away 30 or so dollars on a couple of mis-timed oop river bluffs on scary boards, trying to represent the hand that I'm (now) pretty sure my opponent was actually holding as both times they responded by putting me all in. D'oh!! Almost made up for it later on though, when on the right side of a $50 pot with made flush vs 2nd nut draw on the turn, thankfully oppo didn't hit and I was almost back to square one.

One thing I have noticed about Full Tilt - What is it with all the minimum buy-in hit and run pikies on there? Buy in for 20bbs on a 200bb table, get it all in at the first half-decent opportunity then leave the table straight away. Am I missing something? Is this really a viable way of being profitable or is it simply gambling with numbers and hoping for the best? I've seen it so many times since I started plaing again that I'm thinking there must be some sort of strategy to it, it's that commonplace on FT. Somethig to think about while I munch on my KFC tonight anyways!!

Good luck, until next time...

Pssssssst......

2008-08-07T18:16:00.002+01:00

Well, hello again blogging community!!

Apologies for the delay in getting 'back on it', it took a little longer to get over the burnout blues than expected!! The good news is, I no longer hate the game of poker, so will be resuming the challenge, woo hoo!! I think when I embarked on it, I went all out like a bull at a gate, shouted about the challenge to anyone that would listen, and hammered it every single day. Totally the wrong way to go about a long-term challenge, lesson learned!!

I've played probably 3 or 4 times in the last 6 months (has it really been that long?), just an hour or so here and there when I've got nothing better to do. Up until Tuesday night I'd managed to gradually expand a referral bonus of about $30 up to the heady heights of $57, nothing spectacular but it was a consistent small profit each time I played (I've gone right back to roots now, only playing 1 table and everything!!). Tuesday came along, I finished my work for the evening and was stuck for something for do, as baby Shannon was asleep by 7.30pm and my wife was out enjoying a few drinks with her sister. 9pm came and went, so on went a quick spin up on Full Tilt (I'm still using the Your Poker Cash account, the rakeback has finished now so if I'm going to restart the challenge in earnest that'll need to be looked into). By the time Mrs SG got home at 12.15pm, I'd spun the $57 into $189.55 on a 0.10/0.25 no limit table, and was feeling jolly clever!! The best part of all though, without doubt, was that I'd spent 3 hours playing poker and didn't want to smash anything, which is how I'd got to back in February. Excellent news, hence the challenge restart.

I'm not going to shout about it, I'm not going to hammer it every day, I'm only going to play 1 table low level cash (for now) and I'm certainly not going to be setting myself targets anymore (I get enough of that at work!!). A few things that haven't changed, however, is the fact that I'm still aiming to turn $10 into $10,000, I'm still going to give away and sell percentages, and I'm still going to give 10% to Macmillan when the challenge is complete. I'm just shy of 29 now, the new aim is to make it to Vegas by the time I'm 40. If I manage that I've succeeded, and will be a very, very happy man.

The updates won't be fast and furious (I imagine it's going to be a while before anyone twigs that I've restartes the blog to be fair!!) as I'm probably only going to be playing once a week, at most, but I will try to remember to update after each session to keep a log of how things are panning out.

Until next time, be lucky!!

FREE MUNNY!!!!

2008-02-26T20:18:00.002Z

Thought that if I'm going to leave the blog in suspended animation for a few weeks, I might as well leave it on a massive plug-a-thon. So, as a result, treat yourselves to a copy/paste of a couple of earlier posts, revolving around YourPokerCash and their free $50 bankrolls at Full Tilt, Party Poker, Absolute Poker or UltimateBet, the choice is yours.....

I found this affiliate link while browsing the t'interweb this afternoon, looks very interesting to say the least!! It appears that they are an affiliate that simply offers a one off $50 instead of rakeback to generate custom for the poker rooms. Might be worth a look?

http://www.yourpokercash.com/?addby=b169ae

I'm not sure if it's too good to be true (free money generally is!), but I've signed up at YourPokerCash and applied for the Full Tilt offer. Apparently it's pending at the moment, and may take up to 10 days. I'm happy to wait 10 days for some free poker dollars tyvm!! I've only signed up for Full Tilt to see what happens, if all goes well I'll let you know (and promptly sign up for UltimateBet and Absolute, lol). Possibly a decent link for anyone wanting to sign up for a Full Tilt / Absolute / UltimateBet account during the time that RakeTheRake cannot cover them during the time that it takes the UK Gaming Commission to get their act together? You will forfeit any chance of rakeback at these rooms in the future (unless you can do the old new account trick like at Betfair) but a free $50 is a free $50 and not to be turned down in my opinion!!
Enjoy!!

http://www.yourpokercash.com/?addby=b169ae

**NB When you have signed up for a Your Poker Cash account, you still need to click the blue 'Request' button at the room of your choice. Once this is done you will receive detailed instructions on how to download the software and activate your account.

**EDIT 21st Jan** Received in full, 10.35pm. Let's spin it up then shall we? There is also an extra $50 to be had depending on how many Full Tilt Points you earn, this is released in $5 increments and works out to be equivalent to 35% rakeback. Away you go!!!

**EDIT 22nd JAN** Scroll down a little bit and hit the 'Received Free $50 from Full Tilt last night' post in the Blog Archive, on the left for further info
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Congratulations, SG.

Your request for a Full Tilt Poker free bankroll from YourPokerCash has been approved! If your free bankroll is not in your account at the time you receive this email, please be patient as it may take a few more hours to hit your account. Be sure to qualify for our weekly and monthly promotions. Click the "Promotions" Tab on the YPC homepage for more details.

Minimum Activity Requirement:
1. When you receive your Full Tilt Poker Free Bankroll, you must complete 1000 Full Tilt Points before cashing out.

If you have any questions, feel free to send us a message by logging in to your YPC account and clicking the "Support" Tab at the top of the YPC homepage. Good luck building your bankroll!

Regards,
YPC Team

http://www.yourpokercash.com/?addby=b169ae

Bonus!! 10 minutes to sign up, 4 day wait while they verify my details (over the weekend too, so effectively 2 working days), $50 free. Good enough!! The 1000 FTPs works out as $142.86 in rake when playing MTTS and STTs (not sure about cash, FT appear to have a very bizarre rake/points system and I simply can't be bothered to work it out as I rarely play cash anymore), but for every 100 FTPs I earn a bonus of $5, which works out at 35% rakeback, up to 1000 points/$50. I'll have some of those onions tyvm!! The 1000 point mark is to stop people just signing up, cashing out and scarpering, fair enough if you ask me. It also gives me another avenue to explore when it comes to trying to buy a package from one of the poker rooms that has been involved in the challenge......

I'm highly likely to try to ramp it up playing way too high, but as it's a free $50 I'm happy to take the risk. If I lose it all, so be it.

So, there you go people, if you want a free $50 to start playing at Full Tilt, Absolute Poker, UltimateBet or Party Poker

http://www.yourpokercash.com/?addby=b169ae

Righty then, time to see if I can grind another challenge bankroll from the paltry $9 that's left in the Hills account/$8 in Betfair/spam the hell out of the YPC to get a $50 bonus in Full Tilt/if all else fails redeposit a few quid in Hills (AAARGH!! DEPOSIT?? THE SHAME!!!). The plan is to start the blog back up when I'm over $100 again, but hang 'The Rules' and just have a bit of fun with it instead of grinding away, that way the bored gamble-monster should stay away. I reckon it'll be for the best.....

Good luck all, hope to have an update or two over the next few weeks. Keep well, and keep winning :D

Well, that's the end of that then

2008-02-21T00:55:00.003Z

Three very important rules for poker, gambling and life in general -

1 - Never play when intoxicated
2 - Never play when annoyed from outside influences
3 - Never play beyond your bankroll

Back over $200......

2008-02-20T17:43:00.003Z

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Off out to support my team mate Dave in the semi and (hopefully) final of the Pool singles knockout tonight so squeezed in a few games this afternoon instead. Glad I did!!

Good luck all!!

So much for playing less......

2008-02-20T01:33:00.002Z

Decided on a few games of poker at 9pm, and 4 hours 34 minutes, half a bottle of whisky and 21 William Hill Double Your Money STTs later, I'm done. Phew!! Started awfully, having another one of those 'one of them nights' that we all get, where everything you do goes wrong, moves get called, big hands get rivered time after time, you know what I mean, cashed in just two of the opening 8 DYMs. Here we go again I thought, ready to turn it off. Struggled through, and dare I say played very solidly indeed (along with a stroke of luck here and there) to cash in 11 of the next 13 for a total profit of around $29 on the night. Nothing astronomical, but better than a kick in the nethers!! Of course, add to that the $7 rakeback I'll be receiving for the session, and we're edging ever closer to the $200 mark (which incidentally, I expected to hit in mid January. Oh how difficult is doing a challenge when you write a blog about it?). Got to 4 showdowns with JJ, won one, lost three, got to two showdowns against JJ, lost them both (set each time). I HATE JJ!! Even folded it UTG on the bubble of one of the DYMs, I hate it that much lol!!

In other news, I have received contact from a mysterious financial backer, known only as 'Baron Von Megacock'. This is the man responsible for originally lending me the cash to buy my banana car when I saw it up for sale 12 months ago, for which I paid him back with profits from poker last year. He has expressed an interest in the challenge (not least because I owe him $600 for something entirely different) and has agreed that not only will he join me in Vegas for a jolly up when the challenge is complete (he doesn't play poker, however he does drink heavily so jumped at the chance of doing so in Vegas), he has agreed to be my topless back massager for the duration of the time that I'm still surviving in the WSOP. Not quite in the same league as the scantily clad beauties that the pro's pay for, but beggars can't be choosers. Rumours that he has agreed to doing it completely starkers if I reach the Final Table are as yet unconfirmed, but I'm working on it......

Right, time to sleep off the over-indulgence. Good luck all!!

Nothing to report.....

2008-02-19T16:28:00.004Z

On the poker front, barring receiving my Hills Rakeback for the week, which just happened to be exactly four dollars, precisely what I lost in rake at the weekend lol. As you can see from the SharkScope graph, things have leveled out somewhat following the huge downswing at the end of last month/beginning of this month. Rather a level chart than a falling one though!!

Fishing was very cold, however a few carp were caught and a good time was had, anything is welcome at this time of year. As an added bonus, I had a few quid running onto Portsmouth to beat Preston in the FA Cup, which was on while I was out fishing. Listening intently on the radio, they just about pulled it off, waiting until the 3rd minute of injury time to score the only goal of the game. PHEW!! £174 to the good, that'll be this years car tax paid for then!! I might have run up and down the lake banks, whooping and hollering, finishing off with a goal celebration style chest slide in the mud, however that's another story. Suffice to say, the fella fishing on the other side of the lake must now think I'm completely bonkers....

Not got much to do this week so will hopefully be able to get in a few poker sessions, to tell the truth I've kind of lost interest and am enjoying the break, going back to playing every now and again as opposed to every single day. Let's hope it reflects positively in my play and state of mind!!

Good luck all, thanks as ever for putting up with the drivel and then coming back for more :D

Oh, the joy, the delight, the immense beauty of JJ....

2008-02-17T11:20:00.002Z

I think it has been well documented that I absolutely hate JJ, without doubt a horrendous bogey hand for me. As such, I now play JJ like a small pair, set mining and chucking it away at the slightest sign of resistance. This is why, from a DYM last night......

Tumble: posts small blind 7
Gare23086: posts big blind 15 That's right, this is level ONE!!
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Gare23086 [Jc Jh]
MrFeeling: folds
Melfice: folds
tibbbi: folds
Kenny7: calls 15
04captain: folds
Karyn82: folds
Mar220785: calls 15
Ste250796: folds
Tumble: raises to 120
Gare23086: calls 105
Kenny7: folds
Mar220785: calls 105
----- FLOP ----- [Jd 3c Ts]
Tumble: bets 1395 and is all-in
Gare23086: calls 1395
Mar220785: folds
----- TURN ----- [Jd 3c Ts][Ad]
----- RIVER ----- [Jd 3c Ts Ad][Kd]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Tumble: shows [Ah Ac] (Three of a kind, Aces, King high)
Gare23086: shows [Jc Jh] (Three of a kind, Jacks, Ace high)
Tumble collected 3165 from Main pot

JJ in my hand, it is cursed, I tell thee!!!

Honestly, what have I ever done to JJ to deserve that? Looooooooooool!!! Dealt out a 5 outer to someone on the river in a different DYM shortly after so karma was restored, not, however, before my wireless router crashed when I had 2/3 of my stack in the middle with KK on a K84 board though!! Darn you Hills and your lack of disconnection protection!!! Decided it just wasn't going to be my night after that, so turned it off having cashed 4 from 8 for a total loss of a mighty 4 dollars. Considering the circumstances, not horrendous, should've been 6 from 8 for $36 profit but I can't grumble, so will leave it there.

I have entry into $36k worth of gtd MTT's tonight, shame I have already had an overnight fishing trip planned for weeks!! I have 50/50 jockeys for the 2 big ones ($10k and $20k respectively), best of luck guys, I wish you well :-)

Big well done to Dests who took down yet another MTT last night, great result, well played!!

Right, time to go and catch some lovely fat carp. Best of luck all!!

WELL DONE DESTS!!!

2008-02-15T16:25:00.002Z

Almost forgot!! Big well done to Mrs D, who has been having a bit of a torrid time of late. We all knew it was only a matter of time before she turned it around, and turn it around she did, in proper style too. Monday night (which just so happened to be her birthday, added bonus) saw her take down the $13k guaranteed, for a particularly tasty payday of $3640. Great effort, very well played!!!

Nothing particularly interesting to write about....

2008-02-14T16:39:00.002Z

...bar reaching the Quarter Final stage of the Pool singles knockout without losing a frame then being knocked out in a nailbiting 3-2 thriller by one of my own team-mates, but who wants to read about that? Not poker people, that's for sure!! Not played any poker since Monday, so instead, it's just time for a massive plugathon.....

3 companies that are currently helping me with the 10 to 10000 USD Challenge, in no particular order -

YourPokerCash - Sorted me out with a free $50, no deposit bankroll and a Full Tilt account, which I can have my RTR referal fees paid into. I'm due another $50 anytime soon, so it's time to take a different approach and play Tighty McTight from Tightsville low limit cash with that $50, and use the account just for referral fees once 1000 FTP's is reached. As soon as 1000 FTP's are earnt, apparently I can apply for another $50 at Absolute, PartyPoker or UltimateBet. Bonus!! Click the link and fill in the sign up details (takes about 10 minutes, and you need a digital camera) at top left of page for your very own free $50.

William Hill Poker - 30% rakeback direct from Hills, a nice little bonus every Tuesday, and the Double Your Money STTs have become the mainstay of my poker play at the moment. Having had a few looks through the MTT lobby, they also appear to have a very, very comprehensive MTT schedule of an evening with satellites to all the big tournaments. Add to that the infamous HeadHunter and Scalp Collector Tournaments, and you don't really need to look anywhere else!! Click the banner at the top of the page for a minimum of 30% rakeback direct from William Hill, paid straight to your account every Tuesday.

RakeTheRake - Look after all my other rakeback needs, from Betfair to PKR. Admittedly, I've not used the BF software much this month (only for Eyes Wide Shut satellites), but when I do it's 30% rakeback from them too, thanks to RTR. If you're thinking of opening an account at a new site or are currently using a Betfair account and aren't earning rakeback on it, you'd be silly not to click the RakeTheRake button at the top left of the page...

Right, plugs over, time to think about cooking a special Valentine's dinner, no poker tonight for obvious reasons... Going to get right back on the trail tomorrow though!!!!!

Good luck all!!

My turn to have Aces cracked.....

2008-02-11T21:47:00.000Z

Just over an hour into a 2591 runner freeroll, 600 left, 5 'sitouts' on a 10 seat table, AA looks tasty to me. Unfortunately, KTo looks equally tasty to my oppo, who hits a dream flop. Who would've thought that he had the only starting hand that could beat me come the river? And there's me thinking he's on a draw or 2 pair due to his massive calling station/suckout history on the table. Oh dear.....

Hold'em NL (150/300) - 2008/02/11 - 21:43:15 (UK)
Table "6474560 - 17" Seat 7 is the button.
Seat 1: Chri20013 sits out
Seat 2: Gare23086 (34121 in chips)
Seat 3: Acoustic sits out
Seat 4: Franzz (11357 in chips)
Seat 5: Fish00002 sits out
Seat 6: skylin3r (1350 in chips)
Seat 7: politistu (26105 in chips)
Seat 8: lindemans (14514 in chips)
Seat 9: TOBY23 sits out
Seat 10: claudix sits out
lindemans: posts small blind 150
TOBY23: posts big blind 300
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Gare23086 [Ah Ac]
claudix: folds
Chri20013: folds
Gare23086: raises to 1200
Acoustic: folds
Franzz: folds
Fish00002: folds
skylin3r: folds
skylin3r sits out
politistu: calls 1200
lindemans: folds
TOBY23: folds
----- FLOP ----- [Qd Js Ad]
Gare23086: bets 1200
politistu: calls 1200
----- TURN ----- [Qd Js Ad][3s]
Gare23086: bets 2100
skylin3r sits back
politistu: calls 2100
----- RIVER ----- [Qd Js Ad 3s][7c]
Gare23086: bets 8100
politistu: raises to 16200 WOOHOO!! Surely he hasn't got K 10? THE CHIP LEAD IS MINE!!!!!!
Gare23086: raises to 24300
politistu: is all-in 5405
Returned uncalled bets 2,695 to Gare23086
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Gare23086: shows [Ah Ac] (Three of a kind, Aces, Queen high)
politistu: shows [Kd Th] (A Straight, Ace high) KNACKERS!!
politistu collected 52660 from Main pot

Aces cracked.....

2008-02-11T01:09:00.000Z

...... by me and AK off suit, woo hoo!!!!!!

Loose aggressive UTG+1 raises to 3bb, I look at AK on the button and decide I have his raggy ace dominated, or we are at worst racing and as oppo only has another 10bbs left I decide that getting him all in pre would be a good move. I think he wet himself when I shoved, and beat me into the pot lol. "Nice hand" I offer as the flop is dealt, a King gives me just a glimmer of hope. Turn brings another King, BOOYAA!! I bought him a pint, but I don't think it took the pain away.

I made it to just before the 3rd break (12/40), never having really got going, always hovering around as a medium stack. I was down to 7.5bb and Ah8h looked too pretty to resist on a 6 handed table for an UTG move, which I promptly smashed straight into KK UTG+1 and AQ on the button. Flop brought an 8 for a chance, alas the turn King did me no favours, no arguments there. Nice to exit a tournament having gone in with the worst of it for a change :-)

I've decided that it would be a good idea to involve my live play in the challenge, so as a result I'm going to pay for half of each live buy in from the internet bankroll, and half of any winnings will be returned. Seems like a good plan at the moment, only time will tell though.

Kip time for me, I'm absolutely pooped!! Good luck all!!

Apologies.....

2008-02-10T19:01:00.000Z

......to one and all for the lack of updates, I've simply had nothing of any note to write about!!

Tuesday saw the bankroll take a huge hit when I ignored all the pre-written rules, instead decicing that I would play 30 DYMs, no matter what. It started well, but I then started to play very badly indeed, making poor judgements left, right and centre. I don't know exactly buy ins I dropped, but suffice to say it was a LOT. Final straw was DYM number 27, when the post below happened (the 106,106/1 mayhem). I turned it off after that, and it stayed off, right up until today. I've been running pretty cold for months now, with any luck Tuesday evening was the turning point (it can't really get any worse than 100k/1 lol!!), and that it's now out of the Poker Gods' system once and for all. Ooh look, is that a pig flying past my window??.....

On a non-poker related note, I managed to get through to the last 16 of the singles knockout in my pool league on Wednesday night (our team of 7 has 5 players in the last 16, ship it to the Berkeley!!) and also found out that we'd leapfrogged ourselves into 2nd place (by just 1 point) in the league with just 2 games remaining. 1st are currently just about uncatchable, but 2nd would be a fantastic result, fingers crossed that we can stay ahead!!

Played 10 DYMs today, cashed 7, a good start to rebuilding the battered bankroll once again, let's hope it continues. I even sucked out on the bubble in one, AT vs AK all in pre, flop brought two beautiful 10s. Mustn't grumble!!

Off out to play a £25 ($50) live freezeout tonight so must keep this one short as I have to be there in 10 minutes, usually a good crowd down there so looking forward to it.

Best of luck at the tables,
SG

One for the 'all rigged' crew.......

2008-02-06T01:14:00.000Z

Lots of HH's I'm afraid, but this really is beyond belief. 'Roomsey' has been sat out the entire DYM, until the point of being blinded away to 200 chips, in the small blind, at 200/400, with 6 left and 5 paid, so time to play it like a satellite and limp into the money, one of the shorties will die sooner rather than later, surely? Macken001 is also short, so is folding his blinds away, and also manages to get himself all in on the blinds pretty quickly. Between them, they win 11 straight showdowns when forced all in, and who bubbles when the blinds get to stupid proportions (500/1000)? Of course.....

*Edit 6/2/08 - Having just run the hands (all pre flop) through the CardPlayer odds calc and Sporting life betting calc, it appears that the 11-fold (of which whoever was all in was 30% once, 25% 3 times, 35% 3 times, 41% twice and a 66% favourite just twice) was a 106,106/1 shot (don't believe me? Try it for yourself.) for one of the other players not to be knocked out before the blinds finally gobbled me up. If I change the 7th hand to the 3% that it was on the flop, needing runners to stay alive, that figure rockets up to 1,332,744/1. I run too good.

Seat 2: Ksu010161 (7033 in chips)
Seat 4: bozzy (1548 in chips)
Seat 6: Roomsey sits out
Seat 7: Macken001 (1170 in chips)
Seat 9: Gare23086 (1684 in chips)
Seat 10: Gstrin001 (3365 in chips)
Roomsey: is all-in 200
Macken001: posts big blind 400
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Gare23086 [2h Kd]
Gare23086: folds
Gstrin001: folds
Ksu010161: folds
bozzy: folds
Returned uncalled bets 200 to Macken001
----- FLOP ----- [4d Ac 9d]
----- TURN ----- [4d Ac 9d][4c]
----- RIVER ----- [4d Ac 9d 4c][Qh]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Macken001: shows [Qd Js] (Two Pairs, Queens and Fours, Ace high)
Roomsey: shows [4s Tc] (Three of a kind, Fours, Ace high)
Roomsey collected 400 from Main pot

Seat 2: Ksu010161 (7833 in chips)
Seat 4: bozzy (1148 in chips)
Seat 6: Roomsey sits out
Seat 7: Macken001 (770 in chips)
Seat 9: Gare23086 (1684 in chips)
Seat 10: Gstrin001 (3165 in chips)
bozzy: posts small blind 200
Roomsey: is all-in 400
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Gare23086 [6d 8c]
Macken001: folds
Gare23086: folds
Gstrin001: folds
Ksu010161: calls 400
bozzy: calls 200
----- FLOP ----- [5c 7s 2c]
bozzy: checks
Ksu010161: checks
----- TURN ----- [5c 7s 2c][Jd]
bozzy: checks
Ksu010161: checks
----- RIVER ----- [5c 7s 2c Jd][4d]
bozzy: checks
Ksu010161: checks
----- SHOW DOWN -----
bozzy: shows [7h Kh] (A Pair of Sevens, King high)
Roomsey: shows [6c 8s] (A Straight, Eight high)
Ksu010161: shows [4s Ts] (A Pair of Fours, Jack high)

BLINDS NOW 300/600

Seat 2: Ksu010161 (6033 in chips)
Seat 4: bozzy (748 in chips)
Seat 6: Roomsey sits out
Seat 7: Macken001 (70 in chips)
Seat 9: Gare23086 (1684 in chips)
Seat 10: Gstrin001 (6065 in chips)
Roomsey: posts small blind 300
Macken001: is all-in 70
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Gare23086 [Qd 2h]
Gare23086: folds
Gstrin001: folds
Ksu010161: folds
bozzy: folds
Returned uncalled bets 230 to Roomsey
----- FLOP ----- [7d 5h Qc]
----- TURN ----- [7d 5h Qc][9h]
----- RIVER ----- [7d 5h Qc 9h][Tc]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Macken001: shows [Th 8d] (A Pair of Tens, Queen high)
Roomsey: shows [Ks 8s] (High Card King)
Macken001 collected 140 from Main pot

Seat 2: Ksu010161 (6033 in chips)
Seat 4: bozzy (748 in chips)
Seat 6: Roomsey sits out
Seat 7: Macken001 (140 in chips)
Seat 9: Gare23086 (1684 in chips)
Seat 10: Gstrin001 (6065 in chips)
Macken001: is all-in 140
Gare23086: posts big blind 600
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Gare23086 [Ac 5d]
Gstrin001: folds
Ksu010161: folds
bozzy: folds
Roomsey: folds
Returned uncalled bets 460 to Gare23086
----- FLOP ----- [8d Js 4s]
----- TURN ----- [8d Js 4s][Ts]
----- RIVER ----- [8d Js 4s Ts][Jh]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Gare23086: shows [Ac 5d] (A Pair of Jacks, Ace high)
Macken001: shows [Td 3h] (Two Pairs, Jacks and Tens, Eight high)
Macken001 collected 280 from Main pot

BLINDS NOW 500/1000

Seat 2: Ksu010161 (5133 in chips)
Seat 4: bozzy (1948 in chips)
Seat 6: Roomsey sits out
Seat 7: Macken001 (280 in chips)
Seat 9: Gare23086 (1244 in chips)
Seat 10: Gstrin001 (6065 in chips)
bozzy: posts small blind 500
Roomsey: is all-in 330
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Gare23086 [2h Kh]
Macken001: folds
Gare23086: folds
Gstrin001: folds
Ksu010161: folds
Returned uncalled bets 170 to bozzy
----- FLOP ----- [8d Jc Qs]
----- TURN ----- [8d Jc Qs][5c]
----- RIVER ----- [8d Jc Qs 5c][7h]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Roomsey: shows [Qd Ac] (A Pair of Queens, Ace high)
bozzy: shows [8s 2s] (A Pair of Eights, Queen high)
Roomsey collected 660 from Main pot

Seat 2: Ksu010161 (5133 in chips)
Seat 4: bozzy (1618 in chips)
Seat 6: Roomsey sits out
Seat 7: Macken001 (280 in chips)
Seat 9: Gare23086 (1244 in chips)
Seat 10: Gstrin001 (6065 in chips)
Roomsey: posts small blind 500
Macken001: is all-in 280
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Gare23086 [8c 7s]
Gare23086: folds
Gstrin001: raises to 2000
Ksu010161: folds
bozzy: folds
Roomsey: folds
Returned uncalled bets 1,500 to Gstrin001
----- FLOP ----- [Ah Qh 2h]
----- TURN ----- [Ah Qh 2h][3s]
----- RIVER ----- [Ah Qh 2h 3s][Kh]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Gstrin001: shows [Qc 9d] (A Pair of Queens, Ace high)
Macken001: shows [3d Qd] (Two Pairs, Queens and Threes, Ace high)
Gstrin001 collected 440 from Side pot #1
Macken001 collected 840 from Main pot

Seat 2: Ksu010161 (4453 in chips)
Seat 4: bozzy (2118 in chips)
Seat 6: Roomsey sits out
Seat 7: Macken001 (1020 in chips)
Seat 9: Gare23086 (1244 in chips)
Seat 10: Gstrin001 (6005 in chips)
bozzy: posts small blind 500
Roomsey: is all-in 160
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Gare23086 [Jh 3s]
Macken001: folds
Gare23086: folds
Gstrin001: folds
Ksu010161: folds
Returned uncalled bets 340 to bozzy
----- FLOP ----- [Kh Js 4d] <<<< Edit 8/2/06 oppo now needs runners to stay alive, and is just 3% to stay alive here
----- TURN ----- [Kh Js 4d][8d]
----- RIVER ----- [Kh Js 4d 8d][6c]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Roomsey: shows [8s 6h] (Two Pairs, Eights and Sixes, King high)
bozzy: shows [Ks Th] (A Pair of Kings, Jack high)
Roomsey collected 320 from Main pot

Seat 2: Ksu010161 (4453 in chips)
Seat 4: bozzy (1958 in chips)
Seat 6: Roomsey sits out
Seat 7: Macken001 (1020 in chips)
Seat 9: Gare23086 (1244 in chips)
Seat 10: Gstrin001 (6005 in chips)
Roomsey: is all-in 320
Macken001: posts big blind 1000
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Gare23086 [4d 4h]
Gare23086: folds
Gstrin001: folds
Ksu010161: folds
bozzy: folds
Returned uncalled bets 680 to Macken001
----- FLOP ----- [Kh 5h 7c]
----- TURN ----- [Kh 5h 7c][3h]
----- RIVER ----- [Kh 5h 7c 3h][3s]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Macken001: shows [9d 6c] (A Pair of Threes, King high)
Roomsey: shows [7d 8s] (Two Pairs, Sevens and Threes, King high)
Roomsey collected 640 from Main pot

Seat 2: Ksu010161 (4453 in chips)
Seat 4: bozzy (2458 in chips)
Seat 6: Roomsey sits out
Seat 7: Macken001 (200 in chips)
Seat 9: Gare23086 (1244 in chips)
Seat 10: Gstrin001 (6005 in chips)
bozzy: posts small blind 500
Roomsey: is all-in 640
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Gare23086 [7c 2h]
Macken001: folds
Gare23086: folds
Gstrin001: raises to 2000
Ksu010161: folds
bozzy: folds
Returned uncalled bets 1,360 to Gstrin001
----- FLOP ----- [4d Qs Qc]
----- TURN ----- [4d Qs Qc][5h]
----- RIVER ----- [4d Qs Qc 5h][6h]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Gstrin001: shows [As 9s] (A Pair of Queens, Ace high)
Roomsey: shows [Th 5s] (Two Pairs, Queens and Fives, Ten high)
Roomsey collected 1780 from Main pot

Seat 2: Ksu010161 (4453 in chips)
Seat 4: bozzy (1958 in chips)
Seat 6: Roomsey sits out
Seat 7: Macken001 (200 in chips)
Seat 9: Gare23086 (1244 in chips)
Seat 10: Gstrin001 (5365 in chips)
Roomsey: posts small blind 500
Macken001: is all-in 200
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Gare23086 [7c 3s]
Gare23086: folds
Gstrin001: folds
Ksu010161: folds
bozzy: folds
Returned uncalled bets 300 to Roomsey
----- FLOP ----- [7s 7h 4d]
----- TURN ----- [7s 7h 4d][2h]
----- RIVER ----- [7s 7h 4d 2h][9h]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Macken001: shows [6h 3h] (A Flush, Nine high)
Roomsey: shows [4c Qs] (Two Pairs, Sevens and Fours, Queen high)
Macken001 collected 400 from Main pot

Seat 2: Ksu010161 (4453 in chips)
Seat 4: bozzy (1958 in chips)
Seat 6: Roomsey sits out
Seat 7: Macken001 (400 in chips)
Seat 9: Gare23086 (1244 in chips)
Seat 10: Gstrin001 (5365 in chips)
Macken001: is all-in 400
Gare23086: posts big blind 1000
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Gare23086 [7d 2s]
Gstrin001: folds
Ksu010161: folds
bozzy: folds
Roomsey: folds
Returned uncalled bets 600 to Gare23086
----- FLOP ----- [8c Ad Kc]
----- TURN ----- [8c Ad Kc][6d]
----- RIVER ----- [8c Ad Kc 6d][7h]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Gare23086: shows [7d 2s] (A Pair of Sevens, Ace high)
Macken001: shows [9s Tc] (A Straight, Ten high)
Macken001 collected 800 from Main pot

Table "6439438 - 1" Seat 7 is the button.
Seat 2: Ksu010161 (4453 in chips)
Seat 4: bozzy (1958 in chips)
Seat 6: Roomsey sits out
Seat 7: Macken001 (800 in chips)
Seat 9: Gare23086 (844 in chips)
Seat 10: Gstrin001 (5365 in chips)
Gare23086: posts small blind 500
Gstrin001: posts big blind 1000
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Gare23086 [4d 8c]
Ksu010161: folds
bozzy: folds
Roomsey: folds
Macken001: folds
Gare23086: folds
Returned uncalled bets 500 to Gstrin001
Gstrin001: doesn't show hand
Gstrin001 collected 1000 from Main pot

Seat 2: Ksu010161 (2953 in chips)
Seat 4: bozzy (2458 in chips)
Seat 6: Roomsey sits out
Seat 7: Macken001 (800 in chips)
Seat 9: Gare23086 (344 in chips)
Seat 10: Gstrin001 (6865 in chips)
bozzy: posts small blind 500
Roomsey: posts big blind 1000
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Gare23086 [Td Th]
Macken001: folds
Gare23086: is all-in 344
Gstrin001: calls 1000
Ksu010161: folds
bozzy: folds
Roomsey: checks
----- FLOP ----- [7h Ah 5d]
Roomsey: checks
Gstrin001: checks
----- TURN ----- [7h Ah 5d][Qh]
Roomsey: checks
Gstrin001: checks
----- RIVER ----- [7h Ah 5d Qh][7d]
Roomsey: checks
Gstrin001: checks
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Gstrin001: shows [Kh Qc] (Two Pairs, Queens and Sevens, Ace high)
Roomsey: mucks hand [Jd 4h]
Gare23086: mucks hand [Td Th]
Gstrin001 collected 1468 from Side pot #1
Gstrin001 collected 1376 from Main pot

The one time I can beat Roomsey is the time that the big stack also takes a shot. Utterly, utterly sickening. It might only be a difference of $20, but what a gutter. The word sick is used an awful lot in poker, but I do feel genuinely sick. What can you do against that?

Nightmare.

Like buses.......

2008-02-05T19:34:00.000Z

As the old saying goes, you wait for ages and then 2 come along at once :D
Oppo was holding KQ spades and continuation bet the flop, turn brought another spade so he semi-bluffed at that and called my min raise, river came a Queen to give him just enough to lead out for a moderate amount and call my 3 bet. Happy days!!
Hammered it today because I'll not be playing tomorow or Thursday, currently 9/15, for all of $15, from 2 sessions with another one planned for this evening. Not exactly a storming percentage, but better than running at a loss :-)
Also played a 10 MPP 'March Madness' satellite, lasted 1 hand, result!! QQ no match for A7o, who pushed all in pre flop. K54 flop, turn 6, river 8, gotta chuckle. Nice hand, well played, good game, haha.

Good luck all!!

Today was yearly MOT test day for my trusty old Citrine Mondeo....

2008-02-04T12:25:00.000Z

..... and it only went and sailed through, just needing the headlight aim tweaked!! Bonus!! I had £240 ($480) put by should it have needed any work, but it only cost £65 ($130) in the end, with the test fee itself being £48 ($96) of that, woo hoo!! Just goes to show just how much a bit of DIY preventative maintainence and a touch of effort every few weeks helps to keep a vehicle in tip top condition, bearing in mind it's coming on for being 15 years old and in the words of the MOT tester - "That's the most mechanically and structurally sound Mk1 Mondeo I've seen in years". Well, who am I to argue with that? Praise indeed :-).

This means that no money has had to be siphoned from the poker account to pay for it (which is lucky, as I appear to still have close to naff all in the poker account, lol), so the challenge bankroll still stands at $163. CHAAAAAAARGE!!! DYM time I feel, might even squeeze in a couple of sneaky ones this afternoon while Mrs and Mini SG are out swimming.

Good luck all!!

Betfair Eyes Wide Shut Mayhem.....

2008-02-03T10:49:00.000Z

Got my rakeback for January (only played on Betfair for about a week in Jan so was a piffling $11.40) on Friday. Wildcat kindly pointed out a thread on the footy forum that highlighted an odds compilation error for one of the Blue Square Conference South games, and to cut a long story short I had a quick look at the form of both sides and thought 'what the hell, it's only $11'. Lo and behold, the final scoreline was 1-5 in 'our' favour, SHIP IT!! That gave me enough dollars in the Betfair account for 3 bites at the Eyes Wide Shut cherry, and the chance to turn $10 into $2500 in less than 4 hours......

BF do two turbo (1500 starting chips, 5 minute blinds) satellites per evening, the first a 9 bucker and the 2nd a 7 bucker. For some reason I've always fared better in the $7 satellite, even though there are less seats per entrant. How does that work then? Anyway, I'd decided to play both satellites and save $8 for another day. The first went particularly well, when 20 minutes in an 'advanced' resteal with 97 on a Q64 flop is no match for KK, and no matter how hard it tried the BF software could only muster up half of my runner runner straight. It's all rigged, I tell thee. Resteal indeed. I read good!! Whoops!!

The 2nd satellite started with a bang, to say the least!! Very first hand is below, and I must admit that when I jammed on the flop I was certain I was behind and just wanted an excuse to walk down to the kebab shop!!

***** Betfair Poker Hand History for Game 308693742 *****
NL Texas Hold'em $7 Buy-in + $0.70 Entry Fee, Level:1 Blinds(10/20-(no ante)) - Saturday, February 02, 22:20:07 GMT 2008
Turbo Sat to Eyes Wide Shut #124250
Table 2 9-max (Real Money)
Seat 5 is the button
Total number of active players : 9
Seat 1: Jenpusa ( 1,500 )
Seat 2: EURO 8876 ( 1,500 )
Seat 3: barleyotto ( 1,500 )
Seat 4: baw99 ( 1,500 )
Seat 5: themainman ( 1,500 )
Seat 6: boysvnh ( 1,500 )
Seat 7: von and ( 1,500 )
Seat 8: JJLehto ( 1,500 )
Seat 9: SG3KSG ( 1,500 )
Tourney Level:1 Blinds(10/20-(no ante))
boysvnh posts small blind [10]
von and posts big blind [20]
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to SG3KSG [ Ah, Kd ]
JJLehto folds
SG3KSG raises to [50]
Jenpusa folds
EURO 8876 folds
barleyotto folds
baw99 calls [50]
themainman folds
boysvnh calls [40]
von and calls [30]
** Dealing Flop ** [ Kh, Jc, Tc ]
boysvnh checks
von and bets [200]
SG3KSG goes all-in
SG3KSG raises to [1,450]
baw99 folds
boysvnh folds
von and calls [1,250]
von and goes all-in
** Showdown **
von and shows [ Kc, Jd ]
SG3KSG shows [ Ah, Kd ]
** Dealing Turn ** [ Qd ]
** Dealing River ** [ Qs ]
** Hand Conclusion **
SG3KSG wins 3,100 from main pot with a straight, Ace to Ten
************ Game 308693742 ends ************

SG in suckout shocker!! Nice to be on the right side of it!! I continued to run very nicely for the remainder of the satellite, this hand in particular helping to see me through....

***** Betfair Poker Hand History for Game 308706965 *****
NL Texas Hold'em $7 Buy-in + $0.70 Entry Fee, Level:6 Blinds(100/200-(no ante)) - Saturday, February 02, 22:48:22 GMT 2008
Turbo Sat to Eyes Wide Shut #124250
Table 2 9-max (Real Money)
Seat 9 is the button
Total number of active players : 6
Seat 1: pasax ( 3,435 )
Seat 2: EthanJohn ( 4,035 )
Seat 3: DIMEFI ( 0 )
Seat 4: merly ( 6,495 )
Seat 5: themainman ( 950 )
Seat 6: boysvnh ( 8,620 )
Seat 7: cushty ( 2,090 )
Seat 8: treborkid ( 0 )
Seat 9: SG3KSG ( 4,450 )
Tourney Level:6 Blinds(100/200-(no ante))
EthanJohn posts small blind [100]
merly posts big blind [200]
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to SG3KSG [ Kh, Qs ]
themainman folds
boysvnh folds
cushty folds
SG3KSG raises to [700]
EthanJohn calls [600]
merly calls [500]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 4d, Qd, Kd ]
EthanJohn checks
merly checks
SG3KSG goes all-in
SG3KSG bets [3,750]
EthanJohn calls [3,335]
EthanJohn goes all-in
merly folds
Returning uncalled bet [415] to SG3KSG
** Showdown **
EthanJohn shows [ Ah, Ad ]
SG3KSG shows [ Kh, Qs ]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 2s ]
** Dealing River ** [ Ts ]
** Hand Conclusion **
SG3KSG wins 8,770 from main pot with two pair, Kings and Queens
************ Game 308706965 ends ************

What, no 4th Diamond? Shocking!! In all fairness, EthanJohn has played this hand very well in my opinion, and got unlucky that I hit the flop so hard. I managed to use the big stack to my advantage and bully and steal my way to a seat in the $55 buy in, $7000gtd Eyes Wide Shut 'proper'.....

14 minutes in, Proviman came online and wished be 'Good Luck' on MSN. I've played 1 hand (AQ in 3rd, 3 bet pre, 1 caller from SB, I bet 2/3 pot on A high flop and took the pot), and find myself with AKo in the big blind with the blinds to rise to 50/100 the very next hand. There is a limp from early, and SB has raised to 300 (blinds are currently 25/50). I see that as quite a big raise, one that doesn't really want a call, so imagine SB to be on a medium pair or A10/AJ/AQ. To smooth call and miss the flop here would cost me 1/5 of my stack, I'm confident of being ahead or at least 45/55, I might even have SB dominated. The big raise doesn't really want a call, it's fairly early on in a $55 tourney, I fancy him to fold, and don't really like the idea of leaving myself 13bbs in a turbo tourney should I miss the flop, so in they go. SB thinks for a bit and calls, and has AQo. YEE HAA!!!

***** Betfair Poker Hand History for Game 308748133 *****
NL Texas Hold'em $50 Buy-in + $5 Entry Fee, Level:3 Blinds(25/50-(no ante)) - Sunday, February 03, 00:14:26 GMT 2008
Eyes Wide Shut $7000 GTD #124251
Table 14 9-max (Real Money)
Seat 3 is the button
Total number of active players : 9
Seat 1: RAMVAS ( 885 )
Seat 2: il tedesco ( 1,785 )
Seat 3: tracey_uk ( 1,210 )
Seat 4: The Sham ( 1,890 )
Seat 5: SG3KSG ( 1,670 )
Seat 6: Oli b uk ( 1,945 )
Seat 7: Gatso ( 1,435 )
Seat 8: piatellas ( 1,730 )
Seat 9: zynth ( 950 )
Tourney Level:3 Blinds(25/50-(no ante))
The Sham posts small blind [25]
SG3KSG posts big blind [50]
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to SG3KSG [ Ks, Ad ]
Oli b uk folds
Gatso folds
piatellas calls [50]
zynth folds
RAMVAS folds
il tedesco folds
tracey_uk folds
The Sham raises to [300]
SG3KSG goes all-in
SG3KSG raises to [1,670]
piatellas folds
The Sham calls [1,370]
** Showdown **
The Sham shows [ Ah, Qc ]
SG3KSG shows [ Ks, Ad ]
** Dealing Flop ** [ Ac, As, 7c ]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 9c ]
** Dealing River ** [ 4c ]
** Hand Conclusion **
The Sham wins 3,390 from main pot with a Flush
************ Game 308748133 ends ************

Gotta love that. Pfft!! I think I used up all my luck on the satellite, like I say I ran very nicely indeed (come to think of it, I don't think I lost a hand that went to showdown, will have to run through the HH in a mo) and was due a bit of a nasty one. Regardless of how I played that pre, the chips were all going in from both sides on that flop, it was just my turn to lose that one. I think I'd have rather the SB had hit the Queen though.....
**Edit 12.15 - During the satellite, I was involved in 10 showdowns, won 8, split 2. Wow. I ran (and dare I say played?) goooood for that hour :D

On the upside, I forgot to mention the small matter of hitting Quads for the first time in ages and getting paid off in a DYM on Hills the other day (Thursday or Friday?). Kerching!! I in fact played 10 DYMs and cashed in 8 of them, bringing my Sharkscope graph back up to an acceptable level after dropping $70 like it was candy towards the back end January, after the 'played 3, won 3' session. Not a massive amount, but nearly half of the challenge bankroll so was a bit scary at the time!!

As ever, good luck to all, and thanks for putting up with the drivel!!

A request....

2008-02-02T12:23:00.000Z

If anyone who reads this is around the Portsmouth/Midhurst/Worthing area and has a spare 19(ish) inch monitor hanging about that they would like a few quid for, I'm in the market for one. Let me know via the comments or email (at top of page) and I'll get straight back to you. Cheers!!

January Recap

2008-02-01T19:42:00.000Z

TFI February is all I can say!!

Struggled through January, I think I lost my marbles on 2 seperate occasions, but still (thankfully) managed to make a little profit. Start balance was $74, low point was around a week into the month, $40. High point was around the 20th, before the Full Tilt account went belly up, $211. January has finished with a total balance of $165.64, not exactly on target but a reasonable start considering how badly the challenge started. Fingers crossed for February!!

Off the poker, things that have helped me get through the month include, in no particular order -
My wonderful wife and bouncing baby girl - They've managed to drive me insane and keep me sane at the same time, wouldn't swap them for the world!!
UKGatsby - Cheers for the help in getting the blog up and running, much appreciated.
Wildcat/Chalfontfan and Proviman - Both ever cheerful, forever on the end of my MSN ranting, and always on hand for a bit of advice. Sorry, and thank you in the same breath. As an aside, Provi has had an absolute stormer of a month on Betfair, with no less than 25 MTT Final Tables and 3 wins to his name. Great effort squire!!
CostCutter bacon offcuts - A revelation!! Can't believe I've never discovered these beauties before!!
YourPokerCash - Gave me a free $50, which I managed to keep under control all the way up to a shocking $71.50, then spunked the lot in 2 days when I prematurely moved up levels due to boredom and utter greed. D'OH!!
RakeTheRake - For looking after my Betfair rakeback, hence dodging Betfair's stupid lower limits, and for agreeing to pay my referall earnings into my Full Tilt account as opposed to by cheque, hence saving me a couple of quid on admin fees. Cheers RTR!!
Channel Dave - Top Gear, Bottom, Red Dwarf, Never Mind The Buzzcocks on an almost constant loop. Wonderful background for a few games of poker!!
My Pool team coming back from 4-2 down to win our latest cup game 5-4 last night - Needs no explanation, a cracking team effort, well done guys (pats himself on back for winning 2 of the 5 games, hehe). Could've just given up and got drunk, but no, each and every one of the team knuckled down and grinded out the result with sheer determination. Currently running 3rd in Div 1 and still in the League Cup (all 4 divisons) at the Quarter Final stage. Fingers crossed!!
Wildcat(again)/Haribo/Dibble - Got me onto the Double Your Money STTs on Hills. Many thanks to all three of you, the bulk of this month's profit has come from them. Boring, but profitable, I think the challenge would've died on it's arse without them. Cheers chaps!!
WSOP 2007 on YouTube - Yes, we all know who wins, but watching the coverage in You Tube is keeping the dream alive!! People say how they'd rather play the Aussie Millions or an EPT event because it's 'less commercial'. The commercialism and craziness of Vegas is EXACTLY why I want to go to the WSOP!!!

Thanks to everyone that has taken the time to read in January, apologies for the general negativeness of the posts. I'll try to keep much more positive in February!!

Got a funny email today....

2008-01-29T14:44:00.000Z

Riddled with grammar and spelling errors, quite clearly a scam. The biggest mistake of all? I don't even have a Natwest account. Idiots. Who dares me to click the 'update your details' button?

Not played poker for a few days now, instead using my spare time to play a few frames of snooker, a hobby that I've neglected over the past few months. Nailed a break of 32 on Sunday evening, was very pleased with that (my highest break ever is 36, and as far as I can remember I've only ever scored 30+ on 7 or 8 other occasions). Possibly going to have a look at a few DYMs this afternoon/evening.

Good luck all

**Edit 18.12 - Played 3, cashed 3, big smiley face alert. Played small ball poker in all 3, no fancy moves, didn't even need to win a coin flip, indeed I never even got involved in one. Played nice and solidly this afternoon, didn't get annoyed when I got 5 outered, what a difference a small break makes!! Another few frames of snooker this evening, back on the DYMs tomorrow. I think I'd got back into the 'hammering it' groove when it comes to poker, rather than just playing a few games here and there for fun. Must avoid falling back into 'grind' mode in the future, it does my game (and emotional state lol) no favours at all.....

PMA!!

Definite break for a few days.....

2008-01-25T22:39:00.000Z

I may well have said that I wasn't going to play the weekend, but couldn't help myself. Decided to split the remaining Full Tilt balance between 2 micro cash tables, took 3 huge hits and busto. First was when I led out with a flopped top set vs flush draw who jammed x4.6 my lead, turned the flush, second was 44 vs 55 on 45A flop and third was K9 vs 55 on K95 flop. Bye bye Full Tilt bankroll, it was so healthy a few days ago, boo hoo!!

Must take a break now, the K9 vs 55 my oppo might as well have phoned me up and told me he had the set on the flop, I played it so badly it was unbelievable. Could've got away with a $2.30 hit, instead I go busto. Not good.

Back onto the William Hill Double Your Money's next week, target was to reach $500 by the end of February (planned a target of $250 a month for the first 6 months) but I think $300 is probably now a far more realistic target given the circumstances. With any luck, February will be a better month than January. I won't hold my breath though!!

Good luck to all, see you at the tables in a few days :-)

FFS!!

2008-01-24T15:30:00.001Z

Full Tilt bankroll has taken a bit of a hit, wonderful. Decided that a couple of 10 buckers were worth a shot (thinly veiled 'bored of $5' post), overplayed 2 pair vs set in first one, but was happily running all over the second. Then I obviously annoyed someone 'up there'.......

Seat 2: SG3KSG (5,933)
Seat 4: Don Engel (3,422)
Seat 5: cocotier974 (1,095)
Seat 8: aviator4321 (1,485)
Seat 9: ESCADINHA_BR (1,565)
ESCADINHA_BR posts the small blind of 40
SG3KSG posts the big blind of 80
The button is in seat #8
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to SG3KSG [Qc 9s]
Don Engel raises to 160 Oppo has been pretty passive, certainly not a steal based on the other stack sizes. I give him credit for JJ+, AK/AQ/AJ
cocotier974 folds
aviator4321 folds
ESCADINHA_BR has 15 seconds left to act
ESCADINHA_BR folds
SG3KSG calls 80
*** FLOP *** [9h Qh 3d]
SG3KSG bets 360
Don Engel raises to 720 I've been leading out off my BB a lot, he's either following up with AK/AJ or I've got him by the short and curlies cos he's calling every day of the week with AA, KK or AQ, if he has QQ, nice hand well played, pay the man
SG3KSG raises to 5,773, and is all in
Don Engel calls 2,542, and is all in
SG3KSG shows [Qc 9s]
Don Engel shows [Kh Ks] BINGO
Uncalled bet of 2,511 returned to SG3KSG
*** TURN *** [9h Qh 3d] [7h]
*** RIVER *** [9h Qh 3d 7h] [3s] BUGGER!!!
SG3KSG shows two pair, Queens and Nines
Don Engel shows two pair, Kings and Threes
Don Engel wins the pot (6,884) with two pair, Kings and Threes

Seat 2: SG3KSG (2,491)
Seat 4: Don Engel (5,864)
Seat 5: cocotier974 (1,025)
Seat 8: aviator4321 (4,120)
Don Engel posts the small blind of 50
cocotier974 posts the big blind of 100
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to SG3KSG [Qd Qc]
aviator4321 folds
SG3KSG raises to 350 Trying to make it look like I'm clearly stealing, expecting BB to shove
Don Engel folds
cocotier974 has 15 seconds left to act
cocotier974 raises to 600 No shove? A little confusing but I'm going nowhere, oppo is committed and I'm confident of being a fair way ahead even against a strong Ace. Again, AA,KK, nh wp pay the man...
SG3KSG raises to 1,850
cocotier974 calls 425, and is all in
SG3KSG shows [Qd Qc]
cocotier974 shows [Ac Ts] Medium Ace it is then, good stuff
Uncalled bet of 825 returned to SG3KSG
*** FLOP *** [3c 8s 9d] Not the worst flop in the world...
*** TURN *** [3c 8s 9d] [Jc] Oh, here we go....
*** RIVER *** [3c 8s 9d Jc] [7c] YES!!!!!
SG3KSG shows a pair of Queens
cocotier974 shows a straight, Jack high
cocotier974 wins the pot (2,100) with a straight, Jack high

Ended up bubbling when A5o was far too good for Coco to lay down when I pushed 1650 chips at his 1900 stack @ 60/120, I think he beat me into the pot. Looks like the William Hill Double Your Money STTs may see my attention a little sooner than planned, to be honest I'm not enjoying playing on Full Tilt, it doesn't suit the way I play at all and I can't seem to adjust to compensate for it. My own fault, I'm simply too aggro on the bubble against opponents that don't fold, I just can't bring myself to play passively on the bubble lol. The two times that I'm screaming for oppo to call, I get turned over. LOOOOOOOOL!! I've had a bit of a break, Full Tilt Bankroll is now $49.50. Going to fire up 4 x $10 and see what happens, fingers crossed!!

**Edit 17.15
Just gets better and better, I run gooood!! Get away from this one? I think not....

Full Tilt Poker Game #4977772498: $10 + $1 Sit & Go (37785682), Table 1 - 50/100 - No Limit Hold'em - 12:09:20 ET - 2008/01/24
Seat 3: ponty74 (5,125)
Seat 5: svetofor13 (4,530)
Seat 6: SG3KSG (3,845)
svetofor13 posts the small blind of 50
SG3KSG posts the big blind of 100
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to SG3KSG [8h 8d]
ponty74 folds
svetofor13 calls 50
SG3KSG checks
*** FLOP *** [7h Jc 8c]
svetofor13 checks
SG3KSG bets 200
svetofor13 calls 200
*** TURN *** [7h Jc 8c] [5h]
svetofor13 has 15 seconds left to act
svetofor13 checks
SG3KSG bets 400
svetofor13 raises to 800
SG3KSG calls 400
*** RIVER *** [7h Jc 8c 5h] [Jh]
svetofor13 has 15 seconds left to act
svetofor13 bets 2,800
SG3KSG calls 2,745, and is all in
Uncalled bet of 55 returned to svetofor13
*** SHOW DOWN ***
svetofor13 shows [Jd 5c] a full house, Jacks full of Fives
SG3KSG mucks [8h 8d] - a full house, Eights full of Jacks
svetofor13 wins the pot (7,690) with a full house, Jacks full of Fives

As I'm typing......

Full Tilt Poker Game #4977867419: $10 + $1 Sit & Go (37785757), Table 1 - 80/160 - No Limit Hold'em - 12:22:07 ET - 2008/01/24
Seat 3: mudgems cat (928)
Seat 4: DONKofWALES (3,134)
Seat 5: Barry the cat (1,178)
Seat 7: SG3KSG (3,942)
Seat 8: jake_das080889 (4,318)
Barry the cat posts the small blind of 80
SG3KSG posts the big blind of 160
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to SG3KSG [Ks Kh]
jake_das080889 folds
mudgems cat folds
DONKofWALES folds
Barry the cat raises to 1,178, and is all in
SG3KSG calls 1,018
Barry the cat shows [Qc 5c]
SG3KSG shows [Ks Kh]
*** FLOP *** [Ts 8s 7d]
*** TURN *** [Ts 8s 7d] [Qh]
*** RIVER *** [Ts 8s 7d Qh] [Qs]
Barry the cat shows three of a kind, Queens
SG3KSG shows a pair of Kings
Barry the cat wins the pot (2,356) with three of a kind, Queens

Time for a break over the weekend I think, sick and tired of running so desperately cold.

Good luck all

Wow

2008-01-23T16:42:00.000Z

How's this for a misclick? Got myself very short with K8 checked in BB vs limped AK on AK8 flop, had just about managed to get myself back into it then this.....
LOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!!

Full Tilt Poker Game #4965518364: $5 + $0.50 Sit & Go (37693635), Table 1 - 25/50 - No Limit Hold'em - 11:36:46 ET - 2008/01/23
Seat 3: SpeedyGonzo77 (3,160)
Seat 4: Diggin74 (1,700)
Seat 5: Ramaschtroumpf (1,425)
Seat 6: BelleDK (1,125)
Seat 7: Erk A Lurk (1,155)
Seat 8: Xanaduer (4,340)
Seat 9: SG3KSG (595)
BelleDK posts the small blind of 25
Erk A Lurk posts the big blind of 50
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to SG3KSG [Ah Th]
Xanaduer folds
SG3KSG raises to 595, and is all in
SpeedyGonzo77 raises to 1,140
Diggin74 folds
Ramaschtroumpf folds
BelleDK folds
Erk A Lurk folds
SpeedyGonzo77 shows [6c 3s]
SG3KSG shows [Ah Th]
Uncalled bet of 545 returned to SpeedyGonzo77
*** FLOP *** [Qh 9d 3d]
*** TURN *** [Qh 9d 3d] [6d]
*** RIVER *** [Qh 9d 3d 6d] [9h]
SpeedyGonzo77: misTAKE AARSH
SpeedyGonzo77 shows two pair, Nines and Sixes
SG3KSG shows a pair of Nines
SpeedyGonzo77 wins the pot (1,265) with two pair, Nines and Sixes
SG3KSG stands up, takes a bow and leaves graciously, chuckling away to himself.... What a misclick!!!

30% rakeback direct from William Hill

2008-01-22T14:09:00.001Z

The astute amongst you may have noticed the change in the banner above - with thanks to Gary Kane at William Hill, he has sorted out that anyone downloading the software from the banner above can have a minimum of 30% rakeback as a matter of course, with no minimum limit.

The rakeback week runs Monday - Sunday and players are paid every Tuesday according to the number of MPPs they have generated the previous week. This is on top of the monthly bonus of $100 for every 1,000 MPPs earnt up to a maximum of $500.

Mpps Earnt............Net..................Gross

0000-1199............38.71%...............30%
1200–1849............40%...................31%
1850–2499............45%...................34.88%
2500+....................50%...................38.75%

Fill your boots!! Don't forget to clear your cookies (and if you've had a previous William Hill account make sure that the software is uninstalled), otherwise the automatic rakeback HTML may not work and you'll be stuck with a normal account without rakeback entitlement. Many thanks to Gary at William Hill for making this possible, and also to UkGatsby for lending a helping hand with proceedings.

As an aside, the Full Tilt onslaught has started, well, indifferently. It's the first time I've played on a site that is predominantly US based, and I must admit that I'm finding it difficult to play against people that simply refuse to put down rag Aces and Kings pre flop, and middle pair no kicker or worse after the flop. Gutshot draw for all your chips anyone? Yeah, why not!! Will have to adjust my gameplan accordingly I think!! Just been 2 outered on the river HU with top two vs underpair to the board, nice hand, well played, good game, as the laptop gets launched across the room lol.

I've somehow managed to control myself into playing $5 STTs, and after 15 of them the profit is a truly massive $16.50. Hmm. Luckily though, again I can fit 4 tables on my laptop screen so with any luck the 1000 point threshold will be beaten by the middle of February (as long as I don't go busto first lol) so I can return to William Hill and possibly have a look at stepping up to the £10 DYMs as a result of the boosted bankroll, although I must admit to being tempted to forget about the Full Tilt idea and just get straight back on the £5 DYMs. However, the challenge is most definitely a marathon, not a sprint, and every free $100 is another 1% to completion so I'll try to stick to the Full Tilt task. Fingers crossed!!

Received Free $50 at Full Tilt last night

2008-01-22T09:44:00.000Z

As the title suggests really....

Congratulations, SG.

Your request for a Full Tilt Poker free bankroll from YourPokerCash has been approved! If your free bankroll is not in your account at the time you receive this email, please be patient as it may take a few more hours to hit your account. Be sure to qualify for our weekly and monthly promotions. Click the "Promotions" Tab on the YPC homepage for more details.

Minimum Activity Requirement:
1. When you receive your Full Tilt Poker Free Bankroll, you must complete 1000 Full Tilt Points before cashing out.

If you have any questions, feel free to send us a message by logging in to your YPC account and clicking the "Support" Tab at the top of the YPC homepage. Good luck building your bankroll!

Regards,
YPC Team

Bonus!! 10 minutes to sign up, 4 day wait while they verify my details (over the weekend too, so effectively 2 working days), $50 free. Good enough!! The 1000 FTPs works out as $142.86 in rake when playing MTTS and STTs (not sure about cash, FT appear to have a very bizarre rake/points system and I simply can't be bothered to work it out as I rarely play cash anymore), but for every 100 FTPs I earn a bonus of $5, which works out at 35% rakeback, up to 1000 points/$50. I'll have some of those onions tyvm!! The 1000 point mark is to stop people just signing up, cashing out and scarpering, fair enough if you ask me. It also gives me another avenue to explore when it comes to trying to buy a package from one of the poker rooms that has been involved in the challenge......

I'm highly likely to try to ramp it up playing way too high, but as it's a free $50 I'm happy to take the risk. If I lose it all, so be it.

So, there you go people, if you want a free $50 to start playing at Full Tilt, Absolute Poker, UltimateBet or Party Poker (don't forget, brand new customers only, and clear your cookies before hitting the link), fill your boots!!

http://www.yourpokercash.com/?addby=b169ae

Today I will mostly be playing my new found fortune on Full Tilt, I did plan to have a day of DYMs on Crypto but as the $5 for every 100 FTPs is only valid until May 20th, I suppose I'd best make hay while the sun shines.

Good luck all!!

Back on track

2008-01-20T00:10:00.000Z

^^ As above ^^

I've refrained from posting until now just in case it was 'Beginner's Luck', but after now playing 30 of them I am pleased to report that I have a nice feel for the Double Your Money STTs on Crypto, and I'm even more pleased to report a healthy profit, woo hoo!! Even better still (touch wood, pleeeeease don't curse yourself), I appear to have been running 'normally' as opposed to super cold over the last few days. TFFT!! 21/30 for a 70% in the money figure, ROI is 30.8%. Still early days yet though, I expect that figure to drop a little over the next few weeks.

I started with a few on Thursday afternoon, played a fair bit yesterday and a few today, deciding that playing 4 tables is no problem thanks to Crypto's 'Pro' view. The target is to win 3 of the 4 in each session, high expectations but something I think is achievable. Roll on the day I win all four, I'll be over the moon!! I realise that 30 STTs is by no means a fair case study, but from early observations, the game is very much beatable. At least 2 of the 9 losses have been to rivered 3 outers (taken so much better now that the whole world doesn't seem to be against me lol), and at least 4 have been down to marginal situations in which my brain has been screaming fold but my mouse finger has got a little itchy!! I'll out these down to experience, and use it to my advantage in the future. I feel that the way I play cash coupled with the way I play the latter stages of tournaments is very much suited to the DYM strategy, fingers crossed, I hope to keep up the 70% strike rate.

Many thanks once again to Chalfontfan and Haribo who finally got me, kicking and screaming, on to the DYMs. Why didn't I do it weeks ago? Heaven only knows...

I have 2 MTTs to play tomorrow night, and must admit I'm really looking forward to it. I have the monthly RakeTheRake $5000 freeroll and Annette_15's $1000GTD (see 'Value added tourney alert' post), both on Betfair. $6000 in prize pools for the princely sum of $1.10, can't be bad!! Having gone so deep in Hilly's Home Game on Paradise during the week, spirits are high for tomorrow's offerings. Fingers crossed!!

Good luck to all, especially Dests who seems to be having the same sort of start to 2008 that I was suffering up until midweek, albeit on a far larger scale. You're too good Mrs D, hope it turns round for you soon. When it does, heaven help your opponents!!

*Edit Sunday, 8.15pm. SG3KSG is officially dead and buried, in a permanent state of deep freeze. Can AJ beat T8 on a JT2 flop 1hr 15 mins into the $5k RTR freeroll? Of course not. Gone in 57th of 150ish, and didn't even make the 1st break in Annette's. So much for being in high spirits!! Oh well, at least it gives me an opportunity to watch the genius that is Mark Selby in the Snooker Masters Final and drink a few beers. Lovely Jubbly!!

Bye bye Betfair......

2008-01-17T18:38:00.000Z

..... Hello Cryptologic!! (for now)

Lobbed the £20 that was left from the Betfair account into my, as yet unused, William Hill account today to have a butcher's hook at the Double Your Money STTs. For anyone unfamiliar with the concept, basically top 3 on a six seater and top 5 on a ten seater get exactly that, double their money back (minus the dreaded rake, of course). Chalfontfan (Call of the Wildcat) has been on at me for a few weeks to give them a bash, and this coupled with Anon's (I think I know who Anon is ;) ) comment spurred me on to see what all the fuss was about.

Having played 5, I'm fairly confident that they are the way forward to try to build my battered bankroll up to an acceptable level (aiming for $300) to start on the Betfair standard STTs again. It also seems that the SG3KSG account on Betfair is cursed so upon my return, I shall be going back to using the account that did the damage last year. Welcome back, SilurisG!! This was the hand that absolutely nailed the lid on SG3KSG's coffin earlier on today.....

Seat 1: kenn2603 ( 1,110 )
Seat 2: japi2005 ( 950 )
Seat 3: ODI ( 876 )
Seat 4: james112233 ( 914 )
Seat 5: niktsip1 ( 1,150 )
Seat 6: SG3KSG ( 1,000 )
Tourney Level:2 Blinds(15/30-(no ante))
james112233 posts small blind [15]
niktsip1 posts big blind [30]
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to SG3KSG [ Ac, Ah ]
SG3KSG raises to [105]
kenn2603 calls [105]
japi2005 folds
ODI folds
james112233 folds
niktsip1 folds
** Dealing Flop ** [ 3h, 2h, 7h ]
SG3KSG bets [255]
kenn2603 calls [255]
** Dealing Turn ** [ Jc ]
SG3KSG goes all-in
SG3KSG bets [640]
kenn2603 calls [640]
** Showdown **
kenn2603 shows [ 7s, 5s ]
SG3KSG shows [ Ac, Ah ]
** Dealing River ** [ 7c ]
SG3KSG writes "NICE HAND WELL PLAYED"
kenn2603 writes "ty"

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!!!

Now I'm not saying that it's all rigged like some sort of muppet, far from it in fact, however the SilurisG account ran soooooooo much better than the new one, it's untrue. Since changing accounts in November, it's been massively hard work just staying in the black, I know we all run bad from time to time but nearly three months is pushing it a bit if you ask me!! I'm hoping the account change will be the start of a whole new love affair with the game that I'm starting to dislike more and more every day.

I've also figured out that the YPC (see post below) bonus of $50 after earning 1000 FTP's with the original free $50 starting bankroll is equivalent to around 32% rakeback when done with STT's, so along with the DYM's I shall also be trying to spin up the $50 in Full Tilt, up until the 1000 point threshold is achieved so I can withdraw the lot. As a result, the Full Tilt dosh will become part of the challenge bankroll when it hits my account. That'll be a welcome bonus!!

Off out to pool tonight, I imagine a few DYM's will see my attention when I return.
Best of luck to all, and many thanks once again to WildCat and Anon for pointing me in what will hopefully be the right direction.
Don't let the buggers grind you down!!

Free Full Tilt / Absolute / Party $50 bankroll for brand new customers?

2008-01-16T17:24:00.000Z

I found this affiliate link while browsing the t'interweb this afternoon, looks very interesting to say the least!! It appears that they are an affiliate that simply offers a one off $50 instead of rakeback to generate custom for the poker rooms. Might be worth a look?

http://www.yourpokercash.com/?addby=b169ae

I'm not sure if it's too good to be true (free money generally is!), but I've signed up at YourPokerCash and applied for the Full Tilt offer. Apparently it's pending at the moment, and may take up to 10 days. I'm happy to wait 10 days for some free poker dollars tyvm!! I've only signed up for Full Tilt to see what happens, if all goes well I'll let you know (and promptly sign up for UltimateBet and Absolute, lol). Possibly a decent link for anyone wanting to sign up for a Full Tilt / Absolute / UltimateBet account during the time that RakeTheRake cannot cover them during the time that it takes the UK Gaming Commission to get their act together? You will forfeit any chance of rakeback at these rooms in the future (unless you can do the old new account trick like at Betfair) but a free $50 is a free $50 and not to be turned down in my opinion!!
Enjoy!!

**NB When you have signed up for a Your Poker Cash account, you still need to click the blue 'Request' button at the room of your choice. Once this is done you will receive detailed instructions on how to download the software and activate your account.

**EDIT 21st Jan** Received in full, 10.35pm. Let's spin it up then shall we? There is also an extra $50 to be had depending on how many Full Tilt Points you earn, this is released in $5 increments and works out to be equivalent to 35% rakeback. Away you go!!!

**EDIT 22nd JAN** Scroll down a little bit and hit the 'Received Free $50 from Full Tilt last night' post in the Blog Archive, on the left for further info
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Value added tourney alert!!

2008-01-15T17:52:00.000Z

....(and a shameless RTR plug)

Sunday night on Betfair sees another 'Annette_15' MTT, prize pool is a Guaranteed $1000 for a tiny $1 buy in. The last one saw just 330 odd runners, so massive value and a good chuckle for a tiny outlay. Sign up to Betfair through RakeTheRake quoting RTR17009 in the 'extra info' box and guarantee yourself 30% rakeback for the future (if you download the software from the Annette blog link or direct from the Betfair site you get 0% rakeback). DON'T FORGET TO CLEAR YOUR COOKIES!! (Tools option on toolbar ^^^ top right, then internet options and clear cookies)

Already got a Betfair account but not receiving rakeback? Again, RakeTheRake can help you out. Following the instructions on the site, it is possible to sign up for a new account with rakeback enabled. AGAIN, DON'T FORGET TO CLEAR YOUR COOKIES!!

The password for Annette's tourney can be found on her official Betfair blog, HERE, and the finest rakeback affiliate in the land can be accessed from any of the yellow RakeTheRake banners on this page. RTR17009 is the magic number, and now for a quick word from our sponsors.....

What is Rakeback?
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Start claiming your rake money back - Visit RakeTheRake TODAY!!

Right, RTR and Betfair plugs over and done with, time for some poker!! Playing an MTT tonight, Hilly's Home Game on Paradise (who, incidentally, RakeTheRake also support, click the 'rakeback offers' button on the black nav-bar to see a comprehensive list of all poker rooms that they cover) along with grinding out a few more dirty but productive (touch wood) super turbo STT's on Betfair. Fingers crossed!!

*Edit 10.55pm. Out of Hilly's Home Game in 16th of 290 with 10 paid, AA vs 88 when 7th in chips, for the chip lead, after restricting myself to just the one table and concentrating hard (and dare I say it, playing well?) throughout. There will be no STT's tonight.....

Upbeat post alert!!!

2008-01-14T17:15:00.000Z

Yup, that's correct folks, you read it right!! Shock horror he's not moaning!!
When the force is strong, stay out of it's way......

From this....

***** Betfair Poker Hand History for Game 300085774 *****
Table 1 6-max (Real Money)
Seat 2 is the button
Total number of active players : 2
Seat 2: kenn2603 ( 2,800 )
Seat 5: SG3KSG ( 3,200 )
Tourney Level:7 Blinds(100/200-25 ante)
kenn2603 posts ante [25]
SG3KSG posts ante [25]
kenn2603 posts small blind [100]
SG3KSG posts big blind [200]
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to SG3KSG [ Ah, 8c ]
kenn2603 calls [100]
SG3KSG goes all-in
SG3KSG raises to [3,175]
kenn2603 calls [2,575]
kenn2603 goes all-in
Returning uncalled bet [400] to SG3KSG
** Showdown **
kenn2603 shows [ Ts, 6s ] "I have put one big blind in the pot, I have soooooted cards therefore I must call the remaining 13bb's, IT'S THE LAW"
SG3KSG shows [ Ah, 8c ]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 4c, 3h, Tc ]
** Dealing Turn ** [ Qc ]
** Dealing River ** [ 2h ]
** Hand Conclusion **
kenn2603 wins 5,600 from main pot with a pair of Tens
************ Game 300085774 ends ************

To this....

***** Betfair Poker Hand History for Game 300087283 *****
Table 1 6-max (Real Money)
Seat 2 is the button
Total number of active players : 2
Seat 2: kenn2603 ( 1,200 )
Seat 5: SG3KSG ( 4,800 )
Tourney Level:9 Blinds(300/600-50 ante)
kenn2603 posts ante [50]
SG3KSG posts ante [50]
kenn2603 posts small blind [300]
SG3KSG posts big blind [600]
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to SG3KSG [ 7h, 6h ]
kenn2603 goes all-in
kenn2603 raises to [1,150]
SG3KSG calls [550]
** Showdown **
kenn2603 shows [ 8c, Th ]
SG3KSG shows [ 7h, 6h ]
** Dealing Flop ** [ Jc, 7c, 7d ]
** Dealing Turn ** [ Qd ]
** Dealing River ** [ Kd ]
** Hand Conclusion **
SG3KSG wins 2,400 from main pot with three of a kind, Sevens
************ Game 300087283 ends ************

WOO HOO!!!! I must take this opportunity to say thanks to the BF RNG for a change, AA held up the next hand to take me to the heady heights of 800 chips and I won a 40/60 the next hand to give me a fighting chance. I managed to get ahead by about 1200 by 200/400 when Kenny boy once again makes another bizarre "Ooh they're sooooooted I must call" decision with 5d2d for his whole stack, spiked a 5 and it's all in every hand from there on in, with the RNG favouring me. Good old super turbo super bingo. YEEHAA!!!

Thank you Poker Gods, it is nice to be smiled upon, makes a welcome change!!

I'm not sure that it's possible...

2008-01-14T00:55:00.000Z

... to be any more frustrated than I am right now. £25 live freezeout tonight, 5000 starting chips, 20 minute levels starting at 25/50, a fair bit of play but it has a somewhat turbo feel to it so stretching every edge is paramount. 2 hours into it I'm gone, having taken 6 pots, none of which came to a showdown (at least 2 I was definitely ahead on, 2 were marginal and 2 were stone colds when it became apparent nobody else had anything). I showed down 2 hands, and got 1 and 2 outered respectively. First was A4 vs AJ at 100/200, AJ limped from mid and I was on the BB. Flop AQ4 rainbow, bingo. I check, oppo bets 400, I flat call. Turn 4, get in there you beauty!! I lead for 725, oppo pushes for 3700 more, I think I beat him into the pot. River is the only Ace left in the deck for a split instead of a tasty double up to put me in a decent position for the rest of the tournament. I continued to hover around starting stack until 200/400 when I've got 5500 and find KK in the BB, excellent news. Reasonably tight button (one of my pool team as it goes, fairly new to poker, doesn't understand the power of position or blind steals and very rarely plays anything but his cards so I give him credit for a reasonable hand) raises to 1000, ooh do I like those onions. I put on my best 'your not having my BB without a fight' act and make it 2200 to go, obviously not wanting to overbet as I fancy a call here. Flop is 3 nice low cards, no straight, no flush, the only real problem I could have is a set. I check to make it look like I was just defending my BB and have now given up on the idea, oppo eyes up my 3300 stack and swiftly chucks the corresponding amount over the line. No brainer, in they go, I'm up against 1010. Turn Ten, thank you, goodnight.

What can you do?

Apologies for posting the above bad beat drivel ^^^^^, I just needed to get it off my chest. It's got nothing to do with the challenge, it shouldn't be there, I will reprimand myself fully in the morning. Time to polish off a nice healthy sausage, egg, bacon and cheese sarnie, leathered with mayonnaise and tomato ketchup. If that doesn't cheer me up, nothing will!!

Keep it tight people, very best of luck to you all.

Who am I trying to kid?

2008-01-13T00:02:00.000Z

Stick to one post a week? No hand histories? Yeah right!! Played bundle of super turbo tonight, all in or fold style. Up a few dollars plus a couple in rakeback, ROI for the evening of 41%, super duper!!
Four hands stood out this evening, 3 of which had me chuckling to myself for different reasons.....

toneman posts small blind [100]
$10 to $10k posts big blind [200]
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to $10 to $10k [ 9h, Tc ]
toneman calls [100]
$10 to $10k checks
** Dealing Flop ** [ 8s, 8c, Qs ]
$10 to $10k checks
toneman bets [200]
$10 to $10k calls [200] Fairly certain oppo isn't strong here, he's been min betting the flop a lot, taking down the previous 2 pots uncontested. I plan to take it off him on the turn even if I miss the Jack, if he is strong then so be it.
** Dealing Turn ** [ Jc ] BINGO!!
$10 to $10k checks
toneman bets [450]
$10 to $10k raises to [1,200]
toneman goes all-in
toneman raises to [3,570] This has confused me immensely, I'm calling with any two cards here, I'm hardly going to fold and leave 2 bbs am I?
$10 to $10k calls [380]
$10 to $10k goes all-in
Returning uncalled bet [1,990] to toneman
** Showdown **
$10 to $10k shows [ 9h, Tc ]
toneman shows [ Td, Ac ]
** Dealing River ** [ Kh ] NIIIIIIICE!!!!!!
** Hand Conclusion **
toneman wins 4,010 from main pot with a straight, Ace to Ten

Seat 1: $10 to $10k ( 828 )
Seat 2: GAF1 ( 3,243.50 )
Seat 5: imacake ( 1,928.50 )
Tourney Level:9 Blinds(300/600-50 ante)
$10 to $10k posts ante [50]
GAF1 posts ante [50]
imacake posts ante [50]
GAF1 posts small blind [300]
imacake posts big blind [600]
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to $10 to $10k [ Kc, 8s ]
$10 to $10k goes all-in
$10 to $10k raises to [778]
GAF1 folds
imacake folds Comedy Gold!!!!!! (Still bubbled when I ran 76 soooooted into the monster that is J2o, but this hand more than made up for it!)
Returning uncalled bet [178] to $10 to $10k
** Hand Conclusion **
$10 to $10k wins 1,650 from main pot

Tourney Level:5 Blinds(75/150-(no ante))
TEDNET posts small blind [75]
guttuhaugen posts big blind [150]
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to $10 to $10k [ 6d, Kd ] (I know, hangs head in shame...)
$10 to $10k goes all-in
$10 to $10k raises to [925]
imacake folds
Ice Scooby folds
homer666 calls [235]
homer666 goes all-in
TEDNET folds
guttuhaugen folds
Returning uncalled bet [690] to $10 to $10k
** Showdown **
homer666 shows [ Jd, Ah ] WHOOPS!!
$10 to $10k shows [ 6d, Kd ]
** Dealing Flop ** [ Qh, 6s, 9h ] WOO HOO!! No Ace, no Jack, no Ace, no Jack, no Ace, no Jack etc etc etc.....
** Dealing Turn ** [ Tc ]
** Dealing River ** [ 8d ] Once again, NNNNIIIIIIIIICCCCEE!!!!!!!!!!
** Hand Conclusion **
homer666 wins 695 from main pot with a straight, Queen to Eight

Seat 2: Generally ( 2,570 )
Seat 3: imacake ( 945 )
Seat 4: $10 to $10k ( 2,485 )
Tourney Level:8 Blinds(200/400-25 ante)
Generally posts ante [25]
imacake posts ante [25]
$10 to $10k posts ante [25]
Generally posts small blind [200]
imacake posts big blind [400]
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to $10 to $10k [ 6s, Ad ]
$10 to $10k goes all-in
$10 to $10k raises to [2,460] To isolate the shortstack, I'm happy to take a pop at the shorty on the bubble and I would be very unlucky to run into a stronger ace or PP, because Generally surely can't call with anything less than 10s+ or at the very least AJ+....
Generally calls [2,260] This could be a problem......
imacake folds
** Showdown **
Generally shows [ Qh, Ac ] NOOOO!!!!
$10 to $10k shows [ 6s, Ad ]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 5s, 8s, 6d ] WOOO HOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!
** Dealing Turn ** [ Ah ]
** Dealing River ** [ 7s ]
** Hand Conclusion **
$10 to $10k wins 5,395 from main pot with two pair, Aces and Sixes

I'm so glad I play with chat off, I imagine I'd have got a torrent of abuse for that one!! I went on to win, with Generally bubbling, I genuinely felt sorry for him as I know exactly how it feels. I thought it best to end the evening on a high note, so logged off after one of the harshest beats I've dished out for a long time (given the situation). I shall be willing to bet that Generally was fuming, even if it was only a $5 bubble.

Early night for me tonight, got a £25 live freezeout to attend tomorrow evening so going to aim for more than 6 hours sleep for a change!!

Be lucky!!

Hehehehehe

2008-01-12T02:15:00.000Z

Just had to get this one in, it's pretty close to how I feel about poker at the moment, but what a great picture!! I love it!! However, the road to recovery has been started, I tentatively dipped my toes into the world of super turbo once again this evening. 2 played, 2 won, ROI 286.4%. Not exactly shabby!! Just a shame it was 286% of $5 and not 286% of $20, but never mind, from little acorns and all that. Off to bed a relatively happy chappy, fully intent on bashing out some super turbo whup-ass over the weekend. THE CHALLENGE STARTS HERE FOLKS!!

That was easy!!

2008-01-11T17:03:00.001Z

BONUS!!! Now let's try multiple files, including a couple of gifs. This could go horribly wrong.....

*6 attempts later, the layout is ok but the gif doesn't work, it needs to be clicked on. That'll have to do...

Super turbo super bingo mayhem

2008-01-11T16:49:00.000Z

Today was supposed to be a day of the above, to grind my bruised bankroll back up to an acceptable level. However, Betfair are experiencing 'Technical Difficulties' (just wait until how the gory details of this particular cock up become part of the public domain, it's an absolute belter!!) with STT's in particular, and from what I can gather the whole site, so instead I'm going to use my time to try to figure out how to post pictures and videos and stuff, for future reference. First of all, let's try to figure out how to put a picture up. Fingers crossed, there should be a picture of my trusty old Citrine Yellow Mondeo when I hit the post button. Here it goes!!

Oh dear......

2008-01-11T01:00:00.000Z

I really, really didn't want to start off with 2 downbeat posts, but it looks like I have to. Another nightmare evening last night, 9 played, only 4 cashes and still no win. I run so cold at the moment it's untrue. I've made a promise to myself that I'm not putting excessive hand histories or smilies on the blog, so will just bore you to tears by writing them down instead. Ok, buckled up, ready to go?

1st STT, ran JJ headlong into KK on a ten high board (admittedly, kinda my own fault for being over-aggrssive).
2nd, button pot raised my bb when 5 handed, I hold AK so push to make it look like an 'I'm not going to be pushed around' move, knowing that if button calls I'm very probably in very good shape. Button does call with AQ (pot is now half the chips in play and I have oppo covered), spikes a Queen on the flop, great. This leaves me short but I battle on, using my shortstack as a weapon to steal a few blinds, when I do get a call I've got a half decent hand (AQ) but it's no match for 55 who flops another.
3rd STT, I call a min raise from utg when 4 handed with KT in bb, flop comes KT5. Min raise 4 handed smacks of monster to me, so unless oppo has KK or 1010 (I don't think he has 1010 due to the min raise, would've expected a 3 or 4 bb raise at this late stage), I'm in great shape to snaffle his whole stack. We get it all in by the turn, of course oppo has min raised on the bubble with 55, how silly of me. Sigh.
4th STT, blinds are 50/100, I have KK on the button. 2 limpers plus the blinds still to act so I make it 1200 of my 2150, happy to take the pot there and then. Blinds and original limper fold, 2nd limper takes nearly the whole timebank to make the call, leaving himself 1020 chips. Flop is 3 low diamonds, I am running so cold at the mo I just know I'm already drawing incredibly thin (I have no diamonds) yet still fire following oppo's check. The dirty fkwit then slowrolls me with his QdJd. I hate slowrollers. I'd like to slowly roll over them all. In a tank. Anyway, back to the action (or inherent lack of).
5th STT, got 3rd (PHEW!! This was the last of my pitiful bankroll, so a bust out would've seen a very early end to the challenge), nothing untoward happened, I just overplayed tptk vs set when 3 handed.
6th STT, I managed to scrape 2nd, but only after the shortstack bashed them in from the button 3 handed with KdTd when I've got AA in the bb, woo hoo!!! Flop 2 diamonds, you know the rest...... This left me the shortstack, but somehow I managed to claw back a few and ended up HU vs an Italian that simply refused to fold. I found it very, very difficult to play HU against him, I was genuinely scared to bet because I never, ever knew where I was. By the time the blinds had got to 300/600 and the stacks at 2500/11000 I simply gave up and stuck them in atc, straight into AJ!!.
7th STT, I went out in 6th, can't remember how so couldn't have been anything too stupid, probably me donking off my stack then being forced into pushing earlier than I would have preferred (sounds familiar, so prob what happened)
8th and 9th. I got 3rd in both, the 8th being rivered for 3/4 chips in play AJ vs KQ, however in the 9th I won a 50/50 on the bubble, and won it in style!! Open jammed AJ for about 6bb's (was shorty on table), bb calls with 55, flop came KQ10!! I felt so alive!!! Managed to scrape into 3rd, eventually going out to a flip, something like Q8 vs 22.

So, another $20 odd down, so far for the month (3 sessions) -$45. Not a huge loss normally, just a general swing but as my starting roll was just $74, I'm in a whole world of trouble regarding the challenge, and completing, nay getting through the first month, without depositing. I don't have much to do tomorrow (today really, Friday), so I'm going to spend the entire day hammering the $2.75 super turbos, playing the odds rather than 'proper' poker, like I did in October. It's something I really, really, really don't want to do, but needs must and all that. Super turbo super bingo mayhem!!
On a positive note (personal life intrusion, but I have to get a positive from somewhere!!) I play pool for a local pub team, we won 7-2 tonight, and had a great evening with the opposing team, a cracking bunch of lads.
Right, time to sign off. The thermostat will sort itself out, I will run close to mild again, and my next post will be one of joy and happiness!! Either that, or I will have busted my account playing super turbo, and it all happens so fast and so furious that I won't have time to write down all the silly beats, so nobody will have to endure it ever again!! Yippeee I hear you all say!!!
I am so annoyed that I've started the blog on a negative note, I promised positive mental attitude from the start, and I have failed miserably. I absolutely promise that my next post will be an upbeat, happy one, I will make sure of that!!
Good luck at the tables, but please save some for me....

Not a great start......

2008-01-09T01:27:00.000Z

Not how I wanted to kick off proceedings, but hey ho, there we go. I played 6 STT's tonight, 2 x 5ths, 2 x bubbles, a 3rd and a 2nd, for a loss of $21, which is close to 1/3rd of my starting bankroll, not good at all. I didn't realise just how tough it would be with only 7 buy ins, I think I should've maybe thought about that part a little bit more before starting the blog on a whim at 2am!! I got runner runnered twice, to add to the two runner runners I suffered in 4 STT's on 4th Jan, I'm playing well but not getting breaks at crucial times at the moment, just going to have to grind it out and ride through the tough times (it's been 3 months now though, pleeeeeease can someone switch the lever back to golden?). I also entered a 524 runner freeroll to a weekly final for a $100k gtd seat worth $550, top 9 go through, I ran c/o KJ headlong into bb's KK on a KJ* flop with about 20 left for half my stack and finally went out in 12th when my short stacked J4 button steal was called by sb's A2o (nh, wp, sigh...) for about half his stack. I flopped the 4, but alas the turn 5 gifts sb the straight. I feel I played very well up until that point so will take a few positives from it, however I'm a bit gutted at the moment, tonight could have been so much better. Never mind, back to the tables tomorrow for some more fun and frolics. I'm going to try to keep my posts to about 1 a week now, but if anything major happens, I'll get it up on here. Good luck at the tables, until the next time......

First percent sold already!!

2008-01-08T14:43:00.000Z

Wow, that didn't take long!! Many, many thanks to Chalfontfan (aka Call of the Wildcat) for getting the ball rolling!! We were having a chinwag on MSN last night when he asked if he could reserve another 1% on top of his freebie. Not a problem I said, consider it done, but don't send me any dollars until the $10k is won and ready to be exchanged for a WSOP seat, just in case it takes a little longer than hoped. I checked my emails this morning, it appears that the great man has shipped it over via a PokerStars transfer anyway, with the message 'I wouldn't do it unless I knew you were going to succeed'. What a massive vote of confidence, and a truly wonderful gesture. It would be downright rude of me to transfer the $75 back until the challenge is completed (which was my first thought), so I'm going to use it to open the bank account that I'm going to be sweeping the funds into each month. Once again, many thanks to Chal, a true gentleman. Now go visit his own blog via the link on the left!!!
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Sharing the challenge love.....

2008-01-07T16:00:00.000Z

Righty then, onto what to do when the $10k target is achieved. "Buy a WSOP seat, surely" I hear you say? Not quite that simple, unfortunately!! I fully intend to contact some of the poker sites that I use (obviously, the first to be contacted will be Betfair, as I base most of my play there) and ask if I can buy a WSOP package direct from them, rather than go through the rigmarole of sorting out a seat, flights, accomodation etc etc all by myself, as I'm absolutely terrible at that kind of thing!! I'm confident that in return for a bit of advertising, someone will be willing to help me out, fingers crossed!! To pay for some of the 'extras' (nudge nudge, wink wink) while out in Vegas, I've decided that I'm going to sell anything up to 60% of my seat in 1% increments, at $100 each. On top of giving me a bit of spending money, this will certainly make me play the Main Event in a much better fashion, knowing that I've got backers that I simply cannot let down with poor play and a poor result. I certainly shan't be 'getting bored' in a builder86 fashion and throwing my stack away with any two cards, that's for sure!! As a thank you to the people that encourage and help me along the way, I've come up with a crazy blog discount scheme, as follows :-

Random blog readers/Betfair forumites/Raise The River forumites - $90 for 1% (as long as buy in is still $10k when I buy in, lol)
Fellow bloggers that link this blog ('$10 to $10k Challenge' please, cheers) to their own and let me know about it so I can do the same, before the bankroll reaches $6k (to stop people jumping on the bandwagon as we near completion) - $75 for 1%
Anyone who sets up an RTR **Edit 22/1/08 or William Hill** account through the banners on the blog (again, before $6k) and is still active when the challenge is completed - $75 for 1%
I also have a list 'e-chums' that have helped me out in the past (Pandybear, Proviman, Chalfontfan, Highstack, Chilindude, UkGatsby to name but a few) who will recieve a free 1% by way of a thank you, any further %'s will then also be at $75 apiece

I'm also pledging 10% of any of my profit from the WSOP seat to Macmillan Cancer Support, for instance if I sell 50%, buy in for $5k and cash for $15k ($30k in reality, but 50% goes straight to those that have bought percentages), Macmillan will receive $1000 (10% of the $10k profit). If I somehow final table and cash for $1 million ($2m), Macmillan get close to $100,000, so on and so forth (hopefully!!). My close family have been directly affected by cancer on more than one occasion, and the Macmillan nurses were absolutely fantastic during these turbulent times. I'd like to give a little something back to them if I manage to live the ultimate dream of cashing in the WSOP that this challenge pays for.

Hopefully this covers everything, again if there is anything I've missed I'll edit with a (*Note **/**/**). Now that the blog is up and running, the challenge can commence and I can actually play a bit of poker!!. Wish me luck!!

'The Rules'

2008-01-07T13:46:00.000Z

Okay, if I'm to complete this challenge, it's going to be more thanks to bankroll management than poker talent, that's for sure!! I'm the first to admit that I'm distinctly average on the poker tables, a profitable player but no Doyle Brunson. I am however, not particularly shabby at managing my bankroll, thank goodness!!. As such, I've come up with a list of 'Rules', ones that I think will enable me to complete the challenge in the optimum timescale. The way that I played over the summer (mainly STT's with a few satellites to MTT's for a 'big score' here and there) seemed to be the optimum strategy, so I'm going to try to stick to that wherever possible. In no particular order :-

The bulk of the table hours is to be 9 seat, regular blind (8mins) single table tournaments (sit and go's)
9 seats STT's are by far my most profitable form of poker when it comes to %ROI/stake/hour played, so it seems only correct to try to make the bulk of the table time up with them, grinding away a reasonable profit each month (hopefully!!)
Start the challenge at $10+1 buy in, when the bank reaches $1000, move up to $25+2.50
$10+1 is by far and away my comfort zone, a level in which I'm more than happy to chuck my chips about with any two cards. However, once the bank is $1000, it would seem silly to stick to grinding at $10+1, so I will move up in stakes. I expect my ROI to be lower, but the increased payouts along with the much increase rakeback each month should ensure me a higher return, if all goes well
If I show a loss of 12 buy ins at $27.50 in any calender month, drop straight back down to $11 until that loss is recovered
If I'm having a torrid time of it at $25+2.50, it makes sense to drop back into the comfort zone, to regain some composure and confidence
If the above ^^ happens 5 times, we're clearly not getting anywhere fast so consider staying at $10+1 for the duration of the challenge, to 'guarantee' (if only!!) a profit each month
Trying desperately to stay modest and level headed, I honestly don't think this will be a problem. I think the ROI will be significantly lower for the first few months, but after that, with any luck I'll have settled in and forgotten about the initial psychology of jumping up by 150%, and $25+2.50 should hopefully become my new comfort zone. However, I am aware that it could all go horribly wrong, so this rule is included should that happen
If feeling comfortable and showing an ROI of 20%+ at $25+2.50 for a few months, consider the step to $50+5 and repeat rules 3 and 4
$50+5, an unthinkable amount for me to invest in an STT at the moment, but you never know, stranger things have happened!!
For the duration of the challenge, there will be no full buy in MTT's, satellites only
Not even $5!! By entering satellites into the bigger tournaments, there is a great chance of a massive bankroll boost for not much outlay. By entering $5 and $10 MTT's here there and everywhere last year, I'm sure I managed to bleed a fair bit of profit down the pan, and when I did get a result it would just about make up for what I'd spunked ober the previous few weeks plus a tiny little bit on top (barring the HeadHunter win, but that was a bit of a one off). However every time I cashed in an MTT that I'd satellited into, it was like Christmas come early!! As I have already mentioned, I am nowhere near the best when it comes to MTT's, so if I'm playing one I want it to be a big 'un!! This will also keep me 'battle fit' if you like, I could grind away $10k at STT's then have completely forgotten how to play an MTT when the time comes, not good when that MTT is the WSOP Main Event!!
Satellites are only to be played if profit is +$200 in calender month at $10+1, $400 for month at $25+2.50 or $600 at $50+5 (profit cheekily includes previous month's rakeback)
This, I think, is one of the more important rules. If I'm to complete the challenge, I need to be making a steady profit. If I set the bar at the above levels, my BR should steadily creep up each month, with the odd 'big hit' from an MTT that I've satellited into. I play no satellites until I hit the target each month. If I've just about hit target but paying for a satellite would drop my profit for the month under the bar, I don't play it, simple as that. If I lose a couple of STT's and this drops the months profit to under par, again satellites are to be sacrificed. I think this is of utmost importance, to consider satellites almost likes treats, and aim to treat myself each and every month. As it's paid on the 1st of each month, I'm going to include the previous month's rakeback, thereby giving me a decent headstart each month and making the targets achievable within a couple of weeks (hopefully!!) so I can try to get a big score at the back end of each month.
Satellites are only to be played when in profit for the day on STT's (even if it's only $1 profit!!) and when feeling positive about my game
For fairly obvious reasons. It is very important to play poker confidently. If I'm not having such a good day, I might as well take that satellite buy in and flush it down the pan
Bank to be swept to a corresponding amount each month once $1000 is reached, and placed into it's own bank account to earn interest
I really hope I don't have to explain this one.......
If I lose 5 STT buy ins on any given day, off it goes
There is nothing worse than playing on tilt, for any reason. I find that if I lose 4 or 5 buy ins in a row, this clouds my judgement and I 'chase'. Often I've managed to scrape it back, but there have been a few times when I've well and truly done my kahunas, and this is simply not acceptable. If I've lost 5 buy ins, it's for a reason. Whether that reason is that I'm playing badly or whether the Poker Gods simply aren't smiling on me that day (don't we all get days when it seems the Poker Gods are positively TRYING to make it as horrendous as possible?), poker will be turned until at least the following day, when I've had chance to sleep it off. Again, I find setting a loss limit one of the more important rules. I know it's going to be hard to turn it off when I've played well but got p*ssed on, but it's got to be done. As a result, daily loss limit is $55 at $10+1 and $137.50 at $25+2.50 (I don't even want to think about $50+5 just yet tyvm!!). This doesn't include satellites, however if I'm having a mediocre day on the STT's it's highly unlikely that I'll be playing satellites anyway.

So there we have it, 'The Ten Commandments'. Obviously they're not set in stone, if I feel one needs changing or if I need to add anything, I'll edit this post with a (*note **/**/**). If you can think of anything I may have missed, or anything that may help me along the way, please get it in comments. Many thanks.

It's now time to write up a seperate post on what I'm going to do when the $10,000 target is achieved, so we'll leave this one here and get straight on to the next one......

A bit of history for you......

2008-01-05T12:56:00.000Z

I thought it best to start the blog off with a little bit about me, my poker background and reasons for undertaking the challenge, so here we go.........

I was introduced to No Limit Texas Hold 'em by my good friend and former colleague, Kev Shipsides, way back in the summer of 2006. I'd seen a bit on the telly previously, things like Late Night Poker (showing my age now) and Celebrity Poker Challenge, to name but two, and I was intrigued by the game. Kev invited me to his monthly home game (I now know the reasons why, hehe nh wp Kev), during which I had to be explained the finer points of the rules. Things like 'check', who was to act first after the flop and the fact that I couldn't raise less than double the current bet were completely alien to me, and suffice to say I must've come across as a complete knob. However, I was there more for the social side of things and I had a great time, almost begging to become a regular invitee. To his credit, Kev gave me a few lessons (at work!!), and by the 4th home game I had a fairly decent idea of how to play the game. This leads us to October 2006, when I opened my first online account. Kevin emailed me a referral code for Betfair, so it seemed the logical step to take......

I'll make no secret of the fact that during the 1st six months of my online career, I was most definitely a losing player. I was only playing for fun if the truth be told, knowing that I was no good but the game fascinated me. I was going out of $5 MTTs before the 1st break fairly regularly, I was playing super turbo STTs, I was basically the easy money. However what I learnt in these 6 months has stood me in good stead, and I can now take this experience and use it against my current opponents. Kevin lent me Harrington 1+2 when I first started playing online, and to say that 75% of it went over my head when I first read it would be an understatement. However, I soldiered on, and to be honest I wasn't overly bothered because it was, to me at the time, a relatively cheap hobby. This wasn't to say I lost every time I played, I did manage to luckbox a few results here and there (most notable one finishing 2nd of 1000 runners in the Poker Player Christmas Freeroll in December 2006 for $240, having lucked out with QJo (I know now......) vs AK + AA with about 300 left, and pushing all in with a flush draw on the flop only to hit runner runner straight vs a flopped set with about 90 left), but between October and March I donated a total of $490 to the other Betfair users, and Betfair themselves in the form of rake (I didn't even know what rakeback was at this point). Then, suddenly, on March 18th 2007, something clicked...........

At the time, I had just $11.57 in my account, and was starting to realise that poker possibly wasn't for me. I'd decided that once the $11 had gone, that would be my last deposit, and I'd uninstall the software and give up on what was clearly an unprofitable hobby (who was I trying to kid? It would've been re-installed inside a month, 1.01 NAP). I registered for 2 x 9 seat regular $5 STTs (hence where the $10 in the title comes from) in a final bid for stardom, and won them both. I don't remember exactly what happened from here, but I do remember thinking that maybe STTs were the way forward for my style of play. Spurred on by Kev, I managed to spin up to just over $300 by 1st May 2007. I was delighted, and more importantly, I was turning a steady profit. I managed to leave that account to rest in peace at $198 down, but the amount that I learnt during the period has been well worth the investment.

Rewinding a couple of months, I had been lucky enough to 'meet' the legend that is Highstack via the joys of email, when he helped me out with a password for one of the Poker Player Grand Prix events (I'd subscribed following my result in December, but had done it slightly too late and hence missed the password for the first tournament in late January). It was also Rob that helped to explain rakeback to me, when I saw a thread on it on the Betfair forum. He suggested that I email Betfair and enquire about it, which I duly did. Apparently, I didn't rake enough to qualify for a rakeback deal, and that would be the end of it, unlucky. Or so I thought...

In the April (I think) edition of Poker Player, there was an advert for RakeTheRake.com. Hmm, if Betfair won't give me rakeback, maybe these people will help me? Following the instructions on their website, I hatched a cunning plan. My debit card was due to expire at the end of April, so I would set up a brand new Betfair account via RTR, withdraw all the funds from my original BF account at the end of April onto the old card, and fund the new account at the beginning of May with my new card. It worked a treat, and what a revelation it was!! I was more than happy with $100-$150 a month profit back then, and suddenly I was being credited with a free $40 or so on the 1st of the month!! It has made a huge difference to my ROI, and I now believe that anyone that plays poker without a rakeback deal either doesn't know about it, or is very silly indeed. To quote Dealem, from his excellent DaVinch site, "Playing online poker without a rakeback deal is like leaving your change at the shops every time you buy your shopping or petrol". The positive of going through an affiliate such as RTR is that it doesn't matter how little you play, there is none of this 'You must rake $400 a month to qualify for rakeback' rubbish, along with all the RTR exclusive freerolls, bonuses and promotions that you're likely to encounter. This far outweighs the couple of dollars a month that RTR sweep off the top to pay their bills, if you like. I admit this was a slightly underhand way of obtaining a deal, but if Betfair had entitled the masses rather than just the big boys rakeback in the first place, I wouldn't have had to bother........
The team at RTR have been fantastic, I've now got all my poker accounts on rakeback deals under one roof (so to speak), free itemised personal rake tracker so I know what I'm due from each site each month, payments on time as stated each and every month, always on hand to answer any queries, and they were more than helpful when I requested some merchandise and leaflets to hand out at a recent local live event. To be honest, in a way I'm glad that I didn't get direct rakeback off Betfair, RTR have been that good. On top of that, from what I can gather when compared to my Betfair points statement, I'm receiving the full 30% net and BF must be paying RTR nearer 35%, thus keeping even less of my rake than if they had given it to me in the first place (cue satisfied chuckle). Bitter? Twisted? Me? The clues are in my email address.... Anyway, enough of the plug, let's get back to the bloggage shall we?

Anyways, back to the story. It's now May, and I have a new account. I'd decided previously, once I'd got my bankroll (I now had the sense to keep my poker money seperate from my 'real' money, not keep withdrawing/depositing all the time) up to $300, I was ready to take on the challenge of the mighty $11 STTs. I think I was still running at a loss in MTTs at the time, despite a few cashes and 2 smallish wins, but had STTs licked (or so I thought), so I bit the bullet and jumped up a level. I found the play tighter, but certainly not unbeatable, and was soon comfortable at $11. This may sound a bit lame to all the 'proper' players out there, but to someone that had less than 9 months online experience at the time and is tight as ar*eholes with money, I was (and still am) happy with becoming comfortable at a slightly higher level so quickly. I had my bankroll up to an almighty (for me, don't forget that up until March I was a losing player) $700 by June, and I was intrigued by the HeadHunter tournaments on Cryptologic, having read about them on the forum. I withdrew $50 from Betfair and promptly opened up an Interpoker account, again through RTR (I couldn't open a Hills account, as at the time I worked for them). I entered a $5 HeadHunter and enjoyed it immensely, I didn't quite make the prize money but had made my stake back plus maybe 75% in 'Heads' so I was instantly hooked. The following day, I got home from work at 9.50pm with the intention of breaking my 10pm Thunderrrrrrrr virginity so to speak, but missed registration by about 2 minutes. Not to worry I thought, I'll enter this 266 runner $10 HeadHunter at 10.14pm. At about 11pm, I suddenly realised it was in fact £10 and not $10, whoops, so much for bankroll management!! Anyway, to cut a long story short, I played exceptionally well, didn't get dramatically unlucky and ended up winning it for a total of £378.19 (close to $750), by far and away my biggest ever poker win at the time. Over the moon? You betcha!!

Dear SG,
Thank you for participating in the tournament "Head Hunter £10 4982726", on Jun 19 2007. Congratulations! You placed 1st and won 308.00 GBP standard prize and collected 70.19 GBP in Heads!
Ryan Hartley
Manager - InterPoker

Wow!! I couldn't quite believe it until the following day (which just happened to be an 8am open for Royal Ascot, D'OH!!), but when it finally sunk in it was an indescribable feeling, one that I knew I wanted to experience again.....
Forum star Chalfontfan then told me of a bad experience he had in the past with InterPoker, one that involved them suspending his account after a few days until he provided identification. I didn't fancy the idea of having nearly £400 hanging about in an account I couldn't access for weeks while ID was sorted out, so promptly withdrew the lot, leaving what can only be described as a monumental ROI for all the databases to contend with!! I've not played on crypto since, but Inter never suspended the account, so maybe a return will be on the cards in the near future....
I also withdrew $300 from Betfair, and used the money to treat my trusty old Mondeo to some new suspension and exhaust, along with a few treats for the family.

July was a fairly quiet month, I made a few bob on the $11 STTs, I dropped a few bob on satellites and MTTs, but finished $70 up so not a horrendous result. I qualified for the $16k 5 times and the $50k gtd twice, failing to cash in any of them. I think I played a little too reserved, not wanting to make a tit of myself in front of all these 'proper' players. If only I knew then, what I know now.....

August was somewhat better, having found a mahoooooosive cash machine that went on my 'stalk till they leave' list on the low stake cash tables. On top of this, a 4th in Betfair's EWS bumped my bankroll over $1000 for the first time, with just over $400 from a $7 satellite not to be sniffed at. I withdrew down to (I think) around $400 at the end of the month, leaving myself a decent buffer to carry on grinding at $11 STTs and using the profits from these to enter satellites to the big tournaments for a 'big score'.......

September saw by far and away my best month of poker, I played well and ran golden, for sure. The low stakes cash 'Golden Goose' was very active, the play was very loose from the whole table every time he was on, and most of the table was very deep stacked 90% of the time. I saw this as an opportunity to set mine and fish for monsters, knowing that the possibility of being paid off was huge. It's been said that playing on the same table as this well known fishy was 'cheating' by some of the miserable sods on the forum, however if truth be told, the best part of 70% of my income from cash in September came from 5 or 6 huge pots with the other players on the table when 2 big hands clashed, and at the end of the day, the money is in my account, not theirs, so I don't care where it came from!! Of course, with the play being looser than normal (and one occasion when I turned a 10 with 10 10 vs KK, phew!), I was always on the right side of it in the huge pots, which was niiiiiice!!! (Apart from the time when my 10 10 clashed with 7pm's QQ on a Q 10 4 flop, but tbh I don't think there was any way of getting away from it so all is good). There was one night in which I managed to amass a $256 stack on a 5c/10c table, and didn't go to bed until 10am the following morning when my stalkee had finally had enough, along with a couple of $100+ sessions as well. Suffice to say, with some shrewd (read as incredibly tight) play to gather the required number of hands to qualify, I managed to win Betfair's Low Stake No Limit/Pot Limit Cash leaderboard, an achievement that I am very proud of, and one that BF rewarded me with a bonus prize of $250. In between the cash table carnage, I also managed to cash 3 times in a row in the $55 buy in Eyes Wide Shut, all from $7 satellites, with the 3rd cash being a 2nd place finish for $1210. Ship it!! The end of month overview showed a +ve of $1,766, and a very happy SG!!

October was a strange one. I withdrew right down to something silly like $68 (I needed to ensure food on the table for my family when a job offer fell through after I'd already resigned from Hills, I had enough put by but wanted to be doubly sure for the coming months), with $55 of this already tied up for the Betfair Battle of the Forums. I went out of this when Betfair's Ruru pushed all his chips in on a 3 spade flop, out of the blinds with me raising pre with KK from mid position. He'd pulled this move earlier on in the tournament and showed nothing but 9 high on more than one occasion, and as I held the K of spades I thought it was worth the gamble. Ruru flipped a set of 7s which held up, and my roll was down to a somewhat battered $13. I was mildly irritated by the exit, and decided to bust my account by playing some $2.75 super turbos (1000 starting chips, 2 minute blinds) while railing the rest of the 'Your Comps' forum team, literally playing push or fold poker from level 1 to let off a bit of steam. Any A10+, KQ, KJ, or pair above 88 saw all my chips in the middle, as did flopped monsters from the BB. I soon found that people were happy to call off their whole stack pre with huge hands such as K7, Q9 soooooted, 33 and the like, and I soon developed a strategy that saw me playing odds rather than poker. I CAN BEAT ROULETTE!! If I can get them in as 50/50 or better, over time it will be profitable I thought, and profitable it was. Over a period of 2 weeks, I played close to 600 $2.75 super turbos in the same manner, and ended up with a roll of $149 and finished 11th on the 'Barcelona' (Low stake) STT leaderboard for the month (one off the money, boo!!). Bit a result for someone that was trying to bust his account, and the upside was that rakeback boosted it to close to $200 on the 1st of November. Shibby!!

On the downside, it really, really messed my game up, and November saw me playing very badly indeed, still in a super turbo frame of mind. My head was messed up from outside influences, my poker was terrible, and I played very little. What I did play was somewhat of a shambles, and I ended the month down by around $45. I was permanently angry/stressed/annoyed, no frame of mind to play poker in so......

I took a couple of weeks break to sort myself out, and resumed playing again on December 3rd, after getting some outside news that laid some ghosts to rest and took a big weight off my mind and allowed me to concentrate on playing well again. I decided to play $11 regular 9 seat STT's, as I know I can turn a decent ROI over time, I feel these are by far my most profitable form of poker at the moment, from a percentage/time point of view. My bankroll was only just enough to be able to do so comfortably, but a good start saw any worries alleviated and I managed to turn $138 into just over $500 before having a Christmas break from 20th December until 3rd Jan. The withdrawal monster came out to play again, dropping $450 into my bank account to ensure a good Christmas. A little stupid, as this has left me with just $74 to start the challenge, and I will be doing starting off at $11 so it could be a short one!! However, it ensured my family a great Christmas, and I always have a debit card if things get really desperate..........

On top of the above, I've also spun some freeroll winnings into $200 on iPoker and lost a few bucks on Stars, however as I mostly play on Betfair and intend to do (or at least start) the challenge on BF, I've left out the gory details of the other accounts. I've also won a few quid at live events and home games but keep my online money seperate from my live bankroll, whether this is a good idea or not, only time will tell.

So, there you go. That's the history of my short poker career so far, and some of the logic behind the challenge. I play poker for the love of the game (as much as it riles me sometimes) and would like nothing more than to play in the WSOP over the next few years, for the experience and the holiday of a lifetime more than anything else. By using poker to pay for it, I can't think of a better win/win situation, because I know for a fact that if I were to buy in direct with 'real' money, I'd always be thinking about what else I could've spent the money on, however if that money has come from poker, if I lose it all but have a great time, it'll still be the best thing I've ever done, much the same as the home games I went to back in the day. I didn't really know what was going on, but I had a pukka evening and that's all that mattered at the time. I imagine I'll be much the same in Vegas, but with the (very slim) chance of winning millions of dollars!! I could try to satellite in (in all honesty I'll very probably have a bash at a few cheap satellites along the way) and get in for less than $1k, but at the same time I could fail miserably and spunk the entire $10k with nothing to show for my efforts, so the aim is to spin up to $10k and buy in straight out of my poker account.

Between March 18th and December 20th last year, I managed to clear an online total of $4,028 net profit from a game that I'm still learning. I reckon, with some decent bankroll management and a whole bundle of determination, I can turn $10 into $10,000 by the time the WSOP comes around in 2010. I could include the $4k from this year by chucking it back into my poker account, but that wouldn't be much of a challenge would it? So, instead, I am going to attempt it from where I stand now ($74), but still deem it a $10 to $10k challenge as I theoretically haven't deposited any of my 'real life' money since that fateful day in March when I had $10 split between 2 STTs and not a bean to my name elsewhere. I'm pretty certain that I'll need to withdraw a bit in February for my MOT, but after that, I shall be attempting what dreams are made of. I'll detail the BRM 'rules', how I'm going to share the challenge love by offering percentages in the WSOP (if and when I finally complete the challenge) at cut rates to blog readers and how I intend to go about spanking a $10k profit in a little under 30 months on another post at some point over the next few days, but I think I've gone into a little too much detail in this one, waffled on a bit and it's dragged out so I'll leave it there for now. You'll also notice how I've tried not to include my private life too much, this is a challenge blog and I intend to keep it that way, rather than boring everyone to death with my mundane life. If you see me wittering on about how I went down the shops or something equally unrelated, please feel free to give me a dig via the comment section!!

Good luck at the tables, till next time........

In the very beginning......

2008-01-05T02:11:00.000Z

The very first post on my very first blog, ooh I feel all excited!! I'll update with full details over the next few days, but basically this blog is going to follow my story of turning $10 in to $10,000 via the joy of online poker, and then taking that $10k and buying into the WSOP Main Event with it. I am confident in completing the challenge, and I'm looking forward to sharing the ups and downs via the blog (be prepared for the downs, I like a good rant!). Anyhow, it's just coming up for 2.30am GMT, so sleep is probably a good idea right now. I feel it's going to take a good few days (ok, I am a technopleb, make that weeks) to get the blog up and running to a satisfactory standard, so please bear with me during the initial changes.