So much for playing less......

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.....

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....

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!!!

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....

...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.....

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.....

...... 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!!