Dom's Poker News

Wanna, Clda...Can't....

2010-07-02T21:11:00.000-07:00

Need to blog about so much.

Just really can't be bothered as it will be a huge entry due to missing all of june.

Been to vegas since then and had a small binkage.

Im bk home now and will blog some poker, strange ppl to sit next to stories and general merriment tales- prob on monday, jetlagged right now.

Laters peeps,

Dom.

UKIPT DTD

2010-05-19T01:50:00.000-07:00

Been feeling a bit confused since the weekend. I returned from the UKIPT festival with 2/2 cashes after gaining huge stacks in both comps, 1 final table, 1 tv appearance, a first attempt at some poker commentary...and a general feeling of dissapointment.

The main event cost me less than 60 quid to get into via sat, and i managed to amass a huge stack early on day 2. Obviously this must have given me a nosebleed as from then on treading water would be an understatement. I found the increase in quality impressive, the lack of cards and situations annoying and my lack of gear changing infuriating.

By the money bubble i put new meaning into the word bowl as i limped into the min cash territory. Coming back with 7bbs is surely something only some1 who's just lost a huge pot or a super nit can proudly do. Well i lost no huge pots and certainly don't want to bothering with poker if im the latter.

Drowning my sorrows is something i consistently seem to do at these events, direct debits to the bartenders from my account would be an actual option. My over reliance on alcohol has become apparent and it stops now, i managed numerous arguments with friends over trivial subjects, that's going to stop.

Arriving back on day 3 with my bowla patrola was an experience not enjoyed, especially when i misclick folded while committed in the bb recieving huge value to a rse and a shove. I was just hungover and slightly bewildered at everything, that changes now too.

After pocketing my bowly cash for 61st, i entered the afternoons 300 and soon set about blinding myself down while enjoying the boxing on television. Then something clicked and i arrived at 112k going into day 2 with few left. Day 2 brought the inevitable crap shoot but again my gear changing was more mini metro than Ferrari. I limped onto the final table with..yep you've got it- 7 big blinds and went out first in 8th after a small amount of tv time. The chance at spending ten minutes commentating afterwards was enjoyable and my weekend was done.

Overall a profitable week, but a non satisfying one, while again drowning said sorrows at bar i discussed at length my inability to kick on with huge stacks. Lack of full value from premiums and an inability to 3bet in certain situation are two standard things which i may be delving into.

Managed a dull train ride home on the monday, i'd hoped for tales of adventure and shame, but even then i let myself down. Oh well lets get this post more positive, it's vegas soon and im gonna start building a decent roll. I aim to crush whilst sober, and will gear change so much i'll get put on top gear.

Laters peeps,

Dom.

Playing...

2010-05-12T02:04:00.000-07:00

Managed to snag a seat, via an online sat, to the UKIPT in dtd this week. Im playing day1b and cannot wait to play a really decently structured live event. I have been working very hard on my game of as recently, so i should bust a little later into day 1 this time.

I promise to blog some tales of fun and woe when i get back.

Run good 1 time please, this is kinda like a vegas sat for me.

Quick post...

2010-04-19T15:28:00.000-07:00

Im always in a rush, i can never slow down and just chill, everything has to be done like yesterday, even this long overdue post. I mean im sure i'll write a proper entry b4 the end of this month, there seems so much to say, yet there's never enough time, well there is, just not in my crazy head.

Hardly played live at all since my last entry, bar popping into the international and throwing away 99% of the chips 3 handed, of crse it's just because i don't actually seem to like money. It's again related to making decisions too quickly and not slowing down and just thinking, i am literally snapping ppls heads off when i should breathe in and consider, does this 100 year old man really have a bluff in him?

Online its been an up and down month, the stts have been really a tough old grind recently, the standard is improving, and again, yeah im becoming impatient. My mtt game online is gaining momentum mainly due to picking better spots and generally tagging up, while also massively pressing certain situations. That big win is so due that i feel i will have it sooner than ever...there i go rushing again.

I haven't been all that well this month, and therefore have been watching football constantly, i swear my gf will throw the sky box out the window one of these days, oh well at least that's an excuse to get a sky hd one...

Laters peeps,

Dom

Adventures....

2010-03-24T07:45:00.000-07:00

Been up to a bit since my last post. I played the blackbelt live tournament, went mega deep in the sunday warm up and have been to staffordshire and back.

The bb tournament at the vic was great value, lovely structure for a very small relative buy in. Thus loadsa play against an average player weaker than the levels would normally attract. The first few levels saw me bounce up and down, yoyoing around without much direction, and although large stacked by the dinner break, i didn't feel i'd played 100 percent +ev.

The odd decision i made too quickly, used to the online timer binking away, live poker is so much easier-note to self, enjoy the experience and relish the time your allowed, plus the constant flawed decision making of yr average live donk.

Eventually i found that i had let the blinds catch me up, and after losing a huge pot to the eventual runner up, i grinded the rest of the day with a bowl. My main mistake was not getting my chips in during the last level more often, coming back with a 15bb stack on the sunday was not my idea of fun.

Two hands into that day i managed to make an appaulling fold when i should have been fistpumping all in, and 1 hand later my ace rag was fouled by the ladies. Still it was a fun experience overall and fair play to neil and co for putting on a unique tournament, roll on next year.

As im staked for the warm up and the million im regularly going deep, last sunday was no different, and after being in the top 20 for most of the warm up, i really felt on for a huge score. Things didn't go my way late on though and again i got blinded down and eventually ran a5 into kings. Making moves at the crucial points is something i might need to step up on, otherwise this 46th finish for again a bowla could become far too familiar a feeling. But like i always say, it will come, and soon me thinks.

Finally and most amusingly comes my weekend trip to staffordshire. Now after a very busy week trading and sweating the cheltenham festival, for very little reward, i couldn't wait for my friday-monday trip back to my old haunts from university. Friday afternoon i jumped onto the virgin train, anticipating my prebooked seat and looking forward to a nice kip b4 i arrived in2 stafford. This was not to happen, and i managed to get in a right ol stress about everything.

Now when you book train tickets online, they send you roughly 772 pieces of paper per ticket, and it was with these former tree parts that i found my train 'ticket' with my seat reservation upon. C52A it said, this seat however did not exist, carriage C only went up to 50. I walked up and down the train trying to make sure i hadn't misread anything.

Eventually with the train going at full throttle and no visibly free seats bar reserved ones i jumped into a couple of the reserved seats. Within seconds two ppl kindly asked me to leave. By now my heavy bag was causing me some annoyance and i was sweating rather profusely. I went over to the nearby shop area and asked the lady to get an inspector or something, secretly i was hoping virgin's screw up might get me a free upgrade. The lady radioed the manager and offered me a free glass of water, i think i looked a stressed state, very smooth.

The manager turned up and promised to find the seat that didn't exist. He took my wedge of tickets and walked off in a direction i had been down many times. When he came back he informed me i was looking at another seat reservation that i had from stafford to stoke, not from london to stafford. I felt slightly embarrassed and asked where my actual seat was, that's the problem he said, there actually is someone sitting in your seat. "Please ask him to move i asked", he said he had already informed the man who had claimed he would move along from the window seat i so coveted if i turned up and asked.

Fuming from my own mistake and sweating like i was bluffing with 3 high, i stormed off to get that prized window seat. Im sure all this had caused a commotion as the entire train carriage appeared to be watching my every move. Turning up at my actual seat i was met by a little person who also had no arms. Going redder as each pair of eyes burnt into me, i 'graciously' refused his request to move and sat next to the poor bloke who had to use his mouth to turn over the page on his newspaper.

The rest of the weekend went nicely, stayed at my friends in stafford, before going to the spurs stoke game on the saturday. Beers were had on the saturday night in town and the headache was deserved on the sunday. On my journey back early on monday i checked my train ticket 63 times before finding it empty and available.

Laters peeps,

Dum dom.

Long time no words...

2010-03-09T09:47:00.000-08:00

Again i just don't feel like writing but feel i should do. The weird thing is that anyone that knows me knows that i talk too much, i literally don't shut up, obviously this blog is the anti me.

Febuary was a weird month, again barely played live and grinded online like a demon with okish results. Since the start of march though i've played the international poker festival and built huge stacks in each event, yet only min cashed once. That was down to a combination of lost races, fancy play syndrome by myself and one outers from my opponents.

This past sunday i finished 40th in the sunday million for a relative bowla, and the life changing cash amount eluded me once again. But it will come, i know it will. I've plugged some leaks and feel more confident about my game than ever before.

I'll try and update this blog some mnore this month, otherwise it's becoming a monthly episode of a dom moan here and there, best to do it on a more regular basis. :)

Playing the blackbelt live trne on friday that has sold out, looks fun.

Laters peeps,

Dom.

M u s t blog....

2010-02-01T23:02:00.000-08:00

Hiya folks, been feeling so guilty for not updating this blog, kinda like an upaid bill, a friend you need to catch up with, or when you have to do the washing up but just can't be arsed...okay i'm talking tripe now, but you know what I mean.

It's been a long old month of online poker for me, something finally clicked in the stts and my results started to improve, as did my mtt results likewise. Just a general nit up in certain situations, and a running better at flips is probably all it was, but it's been welcome enough.

The only problem with the online grind is that i've hardly played live, and i love playing live against the spewy types that invade the cardrooms. Managed 2 games down the international last month, yet if anything i was the one who spewed there, but tbh i think i just needed to adjust to the lack of multiple tables, boy live poker is slow.

I tried to cut out the sports betting, but it's harder than i thought, that buzz is addictive to me, and i often win, just not enough!

Febuary has a deluge of juicy looking live trnes/festivals i'd love to attend, but i'll need to win big online to justify them, though that's not an impossibility. One time i'll be back in the bigger trnes i know i will, it's just a matter of time baby. I think i have finally become a bankroll nit u know.

Laters peeps,

Blogged out dom.

Happy new year all..

2009-12-31T09:02:00.000-08:00

Enjoy tonight everyone, and a happy new year to you all.

Dom

Getting sick of the beats....

2009-12-19T22:01:00.000-08:00

Long time no post.

Guess it's that time of year again for me with poker and my career in 'gambling'.

I always seem to run badly near the end of each year and go through numerous soul searching moments of questioning whether or not i can really get what i want out of this 'job'.

Financially it's just a real struggle right now, constantly having to pay off bills from previous months and never seeming to have my own roll liquid. This has put me under undue pressures and it's kinda tiring.

For the last few weeks i've been really hitting the late night small mtt's on ipoker. I've done okay and paid off some overdue bills, but i'm still always skint and i hate the hours.

I think my sports bets have become a bit too much of a leak right now. I even tried to start accounting for them on here, but it was no good really because thet are just too numerous, and i'm not really a great one for keeping records. So come new year i've decided i'll limit myself to one football bet at weekends, and if i actually start saving some cash, i might just might allow a little acca come midweek too.

This post has come about as i'm feeling pretty tilty after a bad beat on a final table i just made. I literally ground out this 10 dollar rebuy for 4 hours b4 getting to the final table in 2nd place and 30 bigs or so, with the average at 20.

The chip leader has 50bigs and has already tangled with me a cple of times previously, showing himself to be a donk of the highest order. Alert here comes a bad beat whinge...well it is my blog right?? :)

Donk chip ldr limps utg, 2nd donk min rss out of position, according to sharkscope the guy puts uberlicious into the term uber fish. Mid position i pick up the aces and make it 6x to play. Now in this sorta of situation v random non thinking donks it's very important to get precisely the correct raise amount in. I figure against their likely ranges anything more will likely scare off first donk, and anything less wldnt get enough in versus 2nd donk's range.

Both donks called and utg donk shipped it in on the j hi rainbow rag rag flop. 2nd donk folds and i snap only to be outdrawn by the mighty j8std on the turn when that damn eskimo just can't resist popping down. So it's 75 bucks and bread and butter for me all week rather than the kkk's in my pocket if i hold and the world.

Phew vent over, just let me run good again and start building this damn bowl roll up again!

Happy xmas all :)

Last night's bets...

2009-11-26T07:30:00.000-08:00

Ok so another score draw more or less, hull won and milan failed to flatten the french.
Takes the balance back to it's starting point of 100 points, so not exactly that exciting a start, but at least i'm not losing.

Been playing a few small stake mtt's this week, just cannot stop donking off big stack's when i get them, it's getting annoying and needing to be rectified. I'm even running badly in the stt's but meh that's just variance.

Looking 4ward to the weekend, going to be a good one i hope. I'll be studying numerous sports bets over the next 24 hours to see if I can find a nice saturday punt.

Finally well done to my frind marc c who took down the gukpt qualifier online last night, well done mate! Hopefully he'll take the grand final down, 100k+ ftw, lovely!

Laters peeps,

Donk dom.

Tips...

2009-11-25T08:43:00.000-08:00

Firstly better admit to having messed up a bit with my staking sizes as a few smart ass 'mates' of mine have pointed out. Gone is the 0.25 and 0.625 amounts, they just look ugly. From now on to appease the masses they will stay in 0.5 increments. :)

Ill also round down or up my loss/win to the nearest half point for clarity.

Tonight i haven't done any research into obscure fgs selections so will just have a cple of dull match bets.

(Balance 98.5 points)

(1)Hull draw no bet, 2.5 pts@6-4.

- I like hull dnb at home tonight at 6-4. They are improving, have competition up front and should be a difficult prospect for an everton side with injuries and a rather eratic nature. Hull are very much a confidence side, and right now goals mean confidence and they will go into this match with some hope after the west ham peformance, rather than everton 's usual spanking from united.

(2) Milan to win, 2.5 pts@1.98.

- Milan at near evens tonight are just too good a price to ignore. They play a marseille side tonight who i believe are underpriced due to thrashing a poor zurich side 6-1 last time out, milan are no swiss cheese. I make milan's price nearer 4-5 here and have been relatively impressed when watching them recently, and thus they are value here.

Laters peeps,

Dom.

More Sports...

2009-11-25T05:41:00.000-08:00

No piccy today im afraid-not for short posts anyway.

Last night's results were more or less a wash, well i lost but not much.

Liverpool managed to win 1-0, so no shame in losing an 8-1 shot by a mere goal, the fgs bets all misfired, but i was happy with the value i recived on their prices, so no matter. Stuggart tanked rangers, but unfortunately not by enough to really crush on the night.

So first night's total is -1.33 points. (Balance 98.67)

Going to post a cple of punts later this afternoon, prob only a cple tonight.

Laters peeps,

Dom.

Sports betting....

2009-11-24T04:32:00.000-08:00

Not much to talk about regarding poker to be honest. Just the daily grind going ok, with nothing special to speak of. So i thought i'd blog a bit about that other passion of mine, sports betting.

As with anything i guess, my bets on sports seem to lose when the farm is on and unleash hell on the bookies when the pennies are plunged. The latter is how it's been going lately. Everything i back, tip, even smell a punt on-wins. Of crse if i started putting some serious dough on im sure variance wld kick in, stupid really as this is surely irrational thinking. Anyway i had a thought about all this. To help myself keep track im going to start putting up some tips on here for a little bit.

Obviously they all come with a serious health/wealth warning and should just be observed for now. It's just i actually think with a proper staking plan i could actually start coining it in a little bit, but that requires discipline of course, something somewhat a little lacking in my locker.

Recently the bet that's been doing very nicely for me is the draw no bet selection. It helps the wuss in me back teams like sunderland at home to arsenal,when before i'd worry about the draw, which of crse wld be okay if i just layed arsenal on betfair, but after comish and stuff i often found value lost on the exchange, as lots of my fancies are arbs. Draw no bets often offer more value imo and are a lovely addition to the weekend acca.

So what i'm going to do for a month or so, and for a bit of a laugh, is start a punting bank with 100 points, and i'll back my tips in reality from this 'fund' as well as putting them up on here. I won't however mention how much the bank is, as that would be too personal-i'll just leave it up to the imagination.

Ok so lets get cracking.

This morning after a long night's online poker sesh i've been unable to sleep. Therefore i have been ploughing through tuesday's champions league games looking for an edge, and a few funky bets to place. Most of the games look tight encounters and i decided to look for a different angle, bar exclusively betting on the match odds.

Often i find in european matches the bookmakers wont do huge research into the more unknown team's players, and how often certain players will score frequently for their team, yet be massively overpriced. Many times you can find the odd gem lurking at a lovely juicy price with one or two bookmakers.

Unfortunately i didn't find a player at 50-1 who should have been 20s or less, as i have on numerous occassions before. But i did find a couple of decent enough 'value' bets. Which is all we are really looking for, if we continue to get value, as in poker, we will eventually be winners in the game. But mainly this is meant to be a bit of fun for me, and something to test the waters in terms of my punting discipline.

Most tipsters stick to 1-3 points in their bet sizes. I don't, my bets will vary up to a maximum of 10 points per bet. The reason is, i do a great deal of bets on occasion and some will be merely speculative, while some should win easily- but all will be value.

Tonight i'm laying out 10.5 points worth of bets.

So here are my bets: (100 starting bank)

(1)- Debrechen Draw No bet- 1.25 points win@8-1.

In my opinion liverpool cannot be trusted with counterfit right now. Defensively they look all over the place-i cannot see a clean sheet tonight. The hungarians are no world beaters and will themselves concede, i actually thought of backing the overs here, but there was not a huge amount of value in the price. And that's the key here, debrechen at 8s with the draw refunding stakes- are a value bet imo.

(2)- Stuggart Draw No bet- 5 pts win@5-6.

I really don't see a losing side to this bet at all. Rangers look terrible everytime i see them, the germans will be efficent and could very well be clinical enough to give the blues a real thrashing. Walter smith's boys have lost both previous home ties 4-1 and i can forsee a similar type of scoreline tonight. Thus i've also had some small correct score punts at party prices.

(3)- Stuggart to win 4-1- 0.5 pt@80-1,5-0- 0.25 pt@325-1, 5-1 0.25 pt@250-1.

(4)-Barcelona to win 3-1- 0.5 pt@14-1.

I think this will develop into an open game with barca needing a result. This is the sort of scoreline i envisage, and i'd be more inclined to make it 12-1, thus it's value.

(5)- Karadeniz fgs for Rubin Kazan v Dynamo Kiev- 0.625pt ew@10-1.

This guy has got quite a few goals for the russians so far and looks a value price here, most firms were single figs bar 1 here, who look to have underestimated the turkish player.

(6)-Josef varga fgs for debrechen v liverpool- 0.5pt ew@50-1.

The stats show this midfeilder is slightly overpriced here and with the generous place terms, an anytime goal will still provide a nice profit.

(7)- M Jovanovic fgs for standard leige v arsenal- 0.5pt @14s.

The serb scores hatfuls for them and takes the penalties to boot. Arsenal might start slowly here after the weekend.

Ok that's it.

Laters peeps,

Dom.

Sunday million and....

2009-11-17T02:09:00.000-08:00

So close to a big score, but alas it wasn't to be.

As i fired up my computer early on sunday evening i entered the warm up, with itself a near million prize pool. Several hours later i cashed for a bowl after beating 4000+ competitors, yet found the last 500 or so just a little too cardracky.

The million gave me a huge stack early on and inspired confidence in that win i knew i was due. Despite outlasting 17,500 fellow players, again the last 380 feisty fish found their cards bootiful, while i found rags aplenty-one day it will happen.

Been a quiet week really, grinding away while suffering from severe toothace, appointment later today to remove offending wisdom tooth.

Ill blog later,

Laters peeps,

Dom

Weekly Update

2009-11-12T01:12:00.000-08:00

Spent the weekend partaking in all sorts of revelries in nottingham...ok i just played some poker with a sherbert or 3, but it was fun.

Last week was spent grinding the small mtts online, with the odd stt sesh thrown in. I managed to sat into the dtd 300 in a 10 euro rebuy and took down a couple of mini rebuys on ipoker for a bowl or two. Thursday night saw me drink far too much than is advisable after a meeting about poker turned into a beer festival. Thus the friday journey up to nottingham was spent feeling and looking green, also managed to lose my prescription shades on the way up for about the zillionth time this year. Moto service stations certainly don't destroy the opposition in terms of customer service, but lets get onto the poker.

Friday 6th November

Checked into hotel and decided the £40 quid rebuy would be best left alone, a mate from the international chopped it up for a couple of bags while i watched a john candy film.

Saturday 7th November

The holiday inn's breakfast, in particular the sausages were atrocious, i still have a stomach ache which i blame on these. Probably shouldn't have eaten them every day then, but an incorparated full english has to be taken advantage of right? Anyway i rushed over to the dtd club and saw the place infested with sharks as well as the uusal cods.

My opening table was pretty weak, but i didn't exactly take advantage, instead taking strong yet weak lines (if thats possible) against the young scandi threatning to run over the table. Deciding i wanted the captains hat i took him on in numerous pots with position, came out even or so in pots won between us, yet massively down in chips attained in these skirmishes.

A few hands i murdered, yet if im honest my only premium hand all day was ak once and precisely no pocket pairs bar the odd ducks or threes. I know a bad workman blames his tools, but surely he has to actually have some damn tools available. After witnessing numerous nit rolls where ppl destroyed poker hands with aplomb i departed after shipping my bowl in with j9std and running into aj, suck out 1 time was not to happen on this occasion.

Played the evening shootfest which carried a juicy 2.5k first prize, but failed to hit many flops, in the process massacring pocket queens against a female rock's turned set. At leats i busted in time for the haye fight and a comedy live score stt.

Sunday 8th November.

Woke up with a slight headache and decided to stay another night. The 150 fo today looked juicy and i managed to sell some of my action. That tournie went quite badly, i just could not get started, finally squeezing pocket ducks into the bullets, a bad move as the guy had never flatted a raise all day, guy wasn't exactly phil ivey neither, but might as well have been with me not even looking at the bloke. Shipping 13bbs in this spot dsnt sound horrible, fact that the aces guy had 11bb total does.

Decided the 40+40 evening shoot would end everything suitably, finishing third got me out of it for the weekend, but certainly not by much. Still was nice for the old confidence, even rejected a deal three handed, and glad i did despite the result. Finally thinking longterm for once.

Heard the twins were in the btm two on the xfactor-did my plums on this. Could not, would not understand that, and may attempt a similar bet this wknd, luckily a very small bet on lucie to go at 16s helped ease the pain a little.

Monday 9th November -Weds 11th nov.

Cheers to mark for the lift home, as also the lift up-poor guy should get a medal having to share a car with yours truely moaning about beats etc. Got back in time to grind a bit online. Thats what ive been mostly doing since i got bk, though i still feel rough from those breakfasts. Was glad to see that although james aikenhead hadn't won the wsop, cada had. Backed them both and also think the young american will be better for poker than a darvin moon win would have been, although i think mr moon surprised a few with his second place finish, certainly not the uber fish he made out.

Going to grind so much online next few weeks and try not to allow myself to get too down about having to miss blackpool gukpt and a stag do this weekend because of money issues, time to get that roll decent, then i'll party once more.

Laters peeps,

Dom.

Well....

2009-11-01T18:42:00.000-08:00

*EDIT* Monday 2nd November- Just won my seat to the dtd live 80k monthly grntd via a 10 euro rebuy-sweet :)
Will probably sell some action but if so will post nearer saturday, can't wait as it's been ages since i've been dtd.

The last week has seen me miss out on big cashes more times than a wannabe wag in stringfellos-not sure if that line works but hey who cares! Keep hitting the bar with small mtt cashes, and then hitting the bar for beer to drown my sorrows. I've literally made about 7 final tables on ipoker in the last week, yet my biggest cash has been for like 300 bucks, figure how that is possible. I guess the buyins varying from $7 to $50 doesn't help, but it keeps the variance down. And the top 3 places normally pay well for a few k. My problem has been i keep losing crucial races and getting sucked out on in crucial pots. Oh well rant over, here's how my weeks's gone.

Monday 26th october.

Got up late but still managed to make it to brighton with family for someone's birthday. Said person had a good time which was all that mattered really, but luckily so did i as i breathed in the sea air. Was nice to have a day off gambling and just chill, although on the journey home i mused over backing leicster on the draw no bet market against the 'toothless at home' reading. Left the punt alone and of course it sailed home.

Tuesday 27th october.

Was back to the grind of a sort. If you call the occasional stt and sports bet a grind. The night shift on the mtt trail was the real work done really, hit the post a few too many times but ended up a little on the day which was a refreshing change.

Wednesday 28th october.

Had a few footy bets on this day. They alll won which nearly caused me to faint, my slightly negative attitude of late expected to lose, probbaly something i need to change in all aspects of life. Again hit the late night mtt trail and nearly smashed up my computer due to a beat or twelve.

Thursday 29th october.

Today i decided id really hit those stts,id multi table and show em how it was done, did I do the volume??...did i f@*!
Enjoyed some sports bets a little too much, putting on one or two too many 'dirty' bets saw a long term account closed, something that caused me much fury. No matter though, least they can't get no tilt footy bets off me. Mtts again saw deep runs without much wonga recieved, as i sank into bed around 7am i wondered where it had all gone wrong.

Friday 30th october.

Agree to meet some mates up town for a 50 quid rebuy+add on trne at the sportsman. The standard had to be seen to be believed. Unfortunately i didn't pick up not one premium hand all night. Left me needing to squeeze open donk limpers, probably a bad idea when one of them is tilting and your 86std runs up against the snowmen. Left to go home after a guinness or 3.

Saturday 31st october.

Got all my xfactor bets ready and waited for the evening's show. Felt this was the week rachel's luck would run out and also punted lucie at party prices. Did my usual lay of the twins for the bottom 2, kinda hard for them to be in that position when they are clearly one of the most voted acts. Yet ppl never learn and one bookie even offered generous odds on the event not happening too.

Football bets were a mixed bag, fulham copping a sweet draw no bet punt, southampton, stoke and sunderland all drawing and ruining an accumlualtor, 3 teams starting with s in an acca are clearly jinxed. Played a very small amount of poker but otherwise spent the day with my lovely gf. Also found out mr keys had won 48k or so in estonia-MBN! Wd though mate.

Sunday 1st november.

Spent most of the day chilling and went into greenwich for a walk and food with gf, was a nice break from gambling. Coffee by the river is starting to become a habit, i think im getting old as i actually am starting to enjoy it.

Enjoyed seeing my rachel bet cop and the twins wager absolutely sail sthrough. Unfortunately the multitude of direct debits due out soon will swallow up those wins, but hey it was a nice result. Couple of nfl bets were a wash, and i played a couple of the stars majors. In the warm up i went up and down like a yoyo, but ran like a dog and soon departed.

The million went a little better if also reliant on the yoyo style, before i made a somewhat laggy 3bet ship allin for 20 big blinds to a hj open, my aj no match for his aq, but im sure its the correct move. Currently playing a 10 dollar rebuy in which ive gone from chip daddy to chip junior, but there's still hope, the pca sat went slightly badly tho, degenerated into a shoot, but 50 dollar ones normally do.

Ok laters peeps,

Dom.

Post a post...

2009-10-25T22:00:00.000-07:00

Rather like an ongoing record again I shall bleet on about not really knowing what to say in this blog. I could talk about how the grinding isn't really going on right now, how poker is very swingy both emotionally, physically and financially, I could speak about hands that puzzle, surprise or even amaze even the unamazeable.

But tbh i just can't be bothered. It's all a little dull. If im honest, recently i've suffered quite a few cruel rivers, and been taken to beat-aliciousville. I've got to make sure i dont tilt off all my pennies so that i have to go down and get a job at the local mcdonalds. Oh my god this post has become all funky, i don't know if i should post it, maybe i'll just delete this rubbish. Nah it'll be fun.

A lot of the more interesting blogs/posts i read on forums nowadays seem to talk about things related to other forms of gambling and life in general. As this blog seems to be going nowhere in terms of actual poker content i'll jump along that bandwagon and hope it inspires me to ditch the drivel above and deeply analyse balanced ranges, alex martin style.

So for the next few posts i think i''ll literally just talk about life and my recreational gambling on the side, as well as a bit of poker of crse, well probbaly just bad beat stories to start with but who knows, god im rambling.

Ok so here's the life of Dom since friday october 23rd:

Friday October 23rd:

I planned to use this day purposefully. To pick up some new glasses, to find lost sunglasses and genrally tidy up my mess in the flat. I did none of these things, absolute zilch, nadda, nottttttthing. In fact i didn't even grind online in one little stt, i just watched telly and vegetated like a potato.

I think my only 'worthy' attempt at work was checking out the weekend footy games, for teams to bet on, and obviously that is pushing the work label. My gf had taken the day off work as we had planned a wknd away, once that fell through she went shopping and did useful things, as i say, i didn't. As i hit the sack at the end of a long and 'easy' day, i felt largely ashamed of my lack of anything done on the day.

Saturday October 24th:

Today i played a couple of stts without much luck, punted on football games without much luck and went for a walk into town, b4 rushing bk for more betting on the chelsea game, which thankfully saved the day. Then i had to choose xfactor bets, this is obviously a highly skilled area of expertise which can take...minutes of....no intensive labour.

Sat down to watch the show with the gf while switching channels to see my strictly punts go down the drain, i mean y o y wld anyone vote to save sonia from eastenders? Motd ended a rather lazy day again for yours truely, im sure my gf was not exactly impressed with her wknd away...instead spent in the flat as usual with me kinda being as lazy as ever. Oh well tmrw i'll change.

Sunday October 25th:

Meant to go to the seaside today but we postponed it due to the weather, even though it turned out nice. Instaed went on another walk, and ran back in time to see most of the liverpool united game, this result was neither pleasing to my bank balance nor my football allegiances. Had about a million punts on the nfl over the day, broke roughly even if a little down on brownie points with the missus. The zfactor result won me a bowl of rice and the day drifted away.

Tried two of the sundays on stars only to suffer a sicko beat when a donk defended with q6o, gg. Tmrw i'll probbaly actually do that seaside trip, and some stts, and find those sunglasses, etc...then again i'll probbaly just stay in and watch tv.
*

*The above is based on fact and fiction and not wholly true, nor wholly untrue. Ill blog about poker mostly next time, this seems all too intense and silly.

Laters peeps,

Dom.

Report...

2009-10-11T21:05:00.000-07:00

Played the ept shootout side event on wednesday. Finished 3rd for 4k after failing to win a flip for the whole world. 11.5K FTW wld have been nice, esp seeing as i sold a great deal of my action. The overall standard in this event was appaulling, seriosuly most of these guys shldnt play above 10 quid stts, and even then they'd struggle.

My first table managed to lose 3 players within minutes, one bloke gleefully shipping his kings in and his 200bb stack on the first flop we saw. I think even the man serving at the bar knew his opponent had a set. Soon after another great player decided ak was also impossible to lay down to multiple action pre, again said barman wld have smelt the aces from afar.

After a long heads up battle my small pot strategy paid off when i got my money in good and it held up. The next table was tougher but i soon started raising most hands and being the table bully due to the general passive nature of my opponents. Like i say i need to win flips tho, meh.

This week i'll be grinding online while also playing a 2 day £300 side event at gukpt thanet on tuesday night with a nice smooth 45 minute structure. Again ill be selling percentages. Ive already sold 25% and will swop 5 percent with a friend. Therefore i have 20% available at 1.2, the price will be £36 per ten percent block. Any1 interested let me know.*

*EDIT: Am now sold out.

Laters peeps,

Dom.

Lets start again...

2009-10-03T05:35:00.000-07:00

For like the zillionth time im going to attempt to begin again with poker. After the let down of the wsope where i played ok but ran bad and didn't 'feel it', i now actually feel like a rock has been removed from my shoulders.

Yeah a burden's been lifted because although a cash was important, the fact it didnt happen allows me to concentrate the mind. The previous few months were hampered a little with an inability to really grind online, as id convinced myself naively the 'big score' was due in september.

This naivety is something i need to lose from my portfolio, the sheer harsh reality is like in anything, hard graft gets you the cash. Thats why the same old names keep grabbing the bounty time after time. I know with my game i can do this too, i just need to make sure i grind with the best of them. Discipline, concentration and a passion to succeed, it all starts now.

I'll be playing online for almost all of october, but there is an event next week im participating in. The £500+50 shootout event(capped at 100) at the vic is starting on wednesday and i know i'll have a big edge in that. I've already had some interest and i'll be selling up to 50% in the event.

*EDIT- I've sold 40% so far:

The price will be 1.1 and believe me that is very cheap. Most ppl play stts massively wrong, and this is basically one of them. Live players don't understand the simple stt strategy, I do and will exploit all edges i'll have in this. I actually expect to win the event (as i do with every stt i play) and will play this with much relish. *

I'll write up a couple of hands from the wsope in a day or so. Think i was slightly guilty of betting without and not when with on occasion. Will be interesting to get opinions.

* Just to clarify, i'm selling in blocks of £60 per 10%. Payment can be by bank transfer or by stars or full tilt transfer.

Laters peeps,

Dom.

WSOPE....Main Event.

2009-09-24T19:06:00.000-07:00

Saturday sees yours truely play day1a of the wsope main event. I feel very hungry for success this year, perhaps even more so than in previous years. It def feels like im at a crosroads in my poker career. As much as i can do the grinding day in day out with eyes closed, its not what i really want from poker.

Id love to travel the circuit more and play decent structured mtts, rather than the limited live shoots my roll allows right now. A nice win would allow this, and would def make the grind easier. Right now i would like to droan on and on about why, but i wont. I'll just get a result and do my droaning then.

If any1 fancies a piece of me@£100 per % in the main just send me an email to dominickay@hotmail.com or just text me if u know my number. Ive got a small amount still available for those with good taste. :)

Laters peeps,

Confident Dom.

Fist pumps...

2009-09-17T06:41:00.000-07:00

Played the 100+100 sat for the wsope 1k event yesterday. Possibly one of the worst run tournaments i've ever seen tbh. No clock, a relaxed ridic way of organising the max 1 rebuy or add on system and blinding lights...but i digress.

Managed to donk off my first 5k against rory liffey early on with 67 and mid pair on a flushing board, he binked his flush after the money went in, but tbh i was guilty of fps there(fancy play syndrome). After this setback i managed to grind my replenished 5k up to 15k before the folllowing hand occured.

UTG rocky type rss with 5k bk, loud donk flats with large stck, i repop with kk in the bb. UTG dwell folds jj or aq id say, donk peels. Flop j106, i bet somewhat a weak amount hoping to allude to possible fe for the donk, donk flats tho. Turn 9, i feel the value is in checking and snapping for a variety of reasons, this happens and he proudly turns over 108 for 9 outs. Bink the 8 comes and he fist pumps like he's won the world and informs me i played the hand wrong and he thus deserved it.

Was gulity afterwards of having one or two too many sherberts, but luckily binked a bit on the heads up machine, cheers eoin! Looks like i wont be playing this 1k event now, but its not the end of the world, i need to make sure i conserve all my energy for that 10k event in just over a week, now that would be a nice time to run good. Might even fist pump a victory myself...

Laters peeps,

Dom.

Poor effort...

2009-09-03T22:29:00.000-07:00

This is what a certain mr cowell might classify as a weak attempt at keeping this blog going. Im just not in the mood for writing right now, tbh im not in the mood for much. The whole grind thing is getting me down a bit and making me qstn whether long term this lifestyle is what i really want. Again this is all probably results orientated as i haven't had a proper mtt result in so so long. Stts keep the wolves from the door but not the champers on ice, and boy do i like my booze :)

I just seem to run pretty bad late on in every mtt i play right now, but its probably partly down to losing concentration at crucial stages. With the wsope coming up i need to make sure my mind and body are ready for a huge live grind, cos im only interested in a ft repeat...and of crse a win this time. This all sounds a bit crazy, but it is 6am and ive just finished a long stt sesh-something which will drive the most sane insane.

The international this weekend has a juicy 10k added 1k tournie, ill pop along tmrw and see if i can sat into this value fest. Hopefully be updating on a nice win in a few days. Ok peeps im blogged out.

Laters,

Dom.

Gotta update b4...

2009-08-11T19:05:00.000-07:00

Just realised i hadn't updated this blog in almost a month, well the month isn't up so...phew i've updated!

It's weird but writing this blog seems like a chore at times and a joy at others. There seems a direct corrolation between when im winning it's great and i wanna blag, and when i'm losing and i just dont wanna droan on and whinge and moan. I'll save that for face to face bad beat stories for my poor friends.

So what have i been up to of late i hear my one reader cry? Well ive been grinding a bit online and playing a small bit of live poker. Got a small result for 600 squid at the internationals nifty tournie a cple of weeks back, i think ill try and make that one a regular thing for the minute, i run good in it.

Went to luton for their gukpt festival and ran like a dog. More importantly however i think i found a leak...or something at least i can fix. Simply in terms of extracting value from my big hands and giving ppl more rope etc....ive not been doing that enough. I think my staple diet of turbo stts have found me often bashing a monster into the felt....frightening off even the most calling of train stations.

Ok well im rambling about a load of ol rubbish now so ill leave and return soon i hope with some more valuable input. If thats poss of crse!

Laters peeps

Dull dom

Not liking live poker right now...

2009-07-16T20:50:00.000-07:00

*

Not a big fan of king queen either at this particular moment. Anyway here's a report on the 3 vic events I played during the last week as part of my bluebelt package for blackbelt poker.

Feeling a smidgen of pressure due to last getting a live cash in january 1986, i arrived in marble arch for the first event i was particpating it, monday july 6th was the date, 300 f/o the comp.

My first table held a few spewy types, but the deck deserted me and by the time my table of spewers was broken i still had my starting stack. My new home housed cods all over da place and i soon took full advantage. Pressing every small edge possible i'd tripled up within minutes and barely put my stack at risk once.

As KK arrived in the bb once someone had raised utg, i felt chip leader status could be mine if things went the way i wanted. I 3bet and he snapped for far too much of his chips to setmine. I expected he held aq suited or jacks and looked forward to a bullet free flop. Unfortnately the first card out was the ace of spades, but also accompanied by the ks9s. Against this particular player i felt an overbet would recieve little respect so i basically shipped the lot in, he dwelt but claimed he'd folded aj of hearts. If so then nice call pre....and nice fold on the flop too...spewyyyyy. As i think he'll hero with aq and poss call with the jack of spades i still don't hate my play here, but perhaps i could have at least given him the illusion of fold equity by meekly betting or checking the flop, but no matter i digress.

I bled off a few chips raise folding medium stregth hands to horrendus donk overshoves before i was moved table again. Rhythm was hard to gather in this tournie and even worse i'd been moved to a much tougher table with many chips shared around. A couple of early incidents affected my decisions a little too much and i played one hand a little dubiously. Ace rag suited utg isn't really a raising hand with 20bbs or so, even when the big blind is already folding and certain ppl on the table looked disinterested. A good pro soon picked off my steal attempt and confidence was not at an all time high.

Somehow i subsequently managed to flat a lags mid position raise with kqo in the cut off, prefer a 3bet or fold tbh. The small blind looked like he wanted to raise pre but only flatted before donking the pot on a k22 rainbow flop, i got it all in v ak and it was gg me. Funny thing was how long he took to call, prob an unitentional huge slowroll ftw. Gone 2 tables or so shy of the money meant i felt a little dispirited, but still the post tournie pint of guinness tasted nice.

Event 2 was wednesday july 8ths 200 fo. This was not exactly my greatest poker moment. I lasted about 30 minutes and felt i'd let ego intrude into my game, something rather rare in my game i assure you. Check raises and 3bets galore early doors means time to get the pipe and slippers on and wait for someone to spew huge. Yet when my trip 9s got barely a cent paid and my jacks were cracked by an uber donk limp calling a 3rd of his stack pre and then shipping an ace flop with relish, i felt a little frustrated.

I puke folded the prev hand on the flop, before raising the serial check raiser's bb on the button. Holding a5o i was happy to see him flat oop. Then the a9q double club flop got cbet by moi and check rsd by him. I was steamy enough to have already mentally committed my 50bb stack once id cbet. Deciding he HAD to have the flush draw i insta shipped and he snapped with a9. Now i hate the way i played this hand. I fold out air an bet into nut hands and race v draws, just think, evaluate and at least look at the guy. He was clearly a semi donk but one who could get under yr skin, especially by constantly bleed limp calling and then check raising every other flop. If I adapt i get it all simple. Not my finest hour in poker i'll admit-i will put it down to a vegas hangover!

Event 3 was sunday july 12th's 300 bounty. This tournament saw lots of action and i certainly played better in this than in my previous outings. However, constantly getting my big hands cracked is a little hard to take. Ak was duked by a6 and my aa was demolished after getting it allin on a k234 turn v kq. The q of crse came down on the river to ship my opponent a huge pot and leave me with a bowl fairly deep into the tournament. My small amount of rice didn't last long as i ran my top pair into a flopped straight. No matter, it's all variance...and i played very well on this occasion...for once! :)

Overall a dissapointing week, the cards just aren't running for me right now, but a bad workman blames his tools so ill just say meh.

Finally a big well done to james akenhead who has become one of the november 9 at the wsop. Truely awesome achievement from one of the best players i have ever played against. I'll def be rooting for a sickdog victory in a few months.

I'll try one of these days to blog about vegas, but tbh it's not exactly something i want to do right now.

Laters peeps,

Dom.

*Don't really hate poker, love it really.

Back from vegas...

2009-07-06T05:52:00.001-07:00

Will blog about the trip asap,still bit jet lagged at moment despite having been bk since friday!

Am playing a few events at the vic this week, representing blackbelt poker. Shame im not in the main event at the rio, but i've been there done that, and there's always future years. Nice to see james keys doing well, with about 100k after day1.

Laters peeps,

Dom

Vegas Diary Part 3...

2009-06-21T14:27:00.000-07:00

Sorry for such a long space between updates. Have to admit to being a bit selfish right now, and thus not feeling like posting so much. I guess this blog while in vegas will just be a weekly update. This selfishness is due to me running like a dog on the most part, and generally feeling pretty bad about it all.

Since my last post i have played 2 more $1500 events, both without success. In the first I heroed an old donk after kinda reading him right, but he still binked. Yesterday's tournie went bad when within the space of ten mins i ran strong holdings into kings twice. That was a shame as my table was gen juicy and poor.

As everyone knows, vegas can be both the best place and the worst place in the world at times. Right now it's def the latter.

Hopefully i'll post again in a day or so, and hopefully in a better mood.

Laters peeps,

Dom.

Vegas Diary...

2009-06-12T13:23:00.001-07:00

Well it's not been easy so far, and i guess that's why i haven't felt like updating my progress on the daily basis like last year. Being too results influenced is never good, but as humans we all have weaknesses, and mine is perhaps getting too emotionally involved in how i peform in poker. Detaching oneself from the actual variance within the game is vital to succeeding in this cut throat industry.

So instead of a day by day update i'll just inform you of how i've done generally on this trip. Stts started off beautifully, although i believe i made some bad -ev deals thinking of short term cash rather than long term variance. Since those first few days however i've had such bad luck i cannot descibe it in mere words. Kings constantly cracked by rags and almost every single race lost, roughly sums it up. But as i like to proclaim often, a bad workman blames his tools...so moving on.

Played the $1500 no limit event at the rio yesterday. Early on i lost a third of my stack cbetting a player who wld only ever ck rse with the nuts. Then i managed to get full value from an old timer with my rivered flush. Soon enough though ppl started 3betting me for fun and i had to lay down a cple of hands waiting for the right spot. That situation arose and i found a double up against a blind defender overplaying jack rag. From then on i pretty much dominated my table and turned in to the 3bet merchant i know i am in my heart. 4bets were unheard off and bleed limps adored by many. Of course eventually i began to tread water as short stacks desperately fought amongst themselves and i became card dead.

By the dinner break my large stack had become average and although dissapointed at my weak table being broken it was nice to get moved to a table with larger stacks. This meant i could steal a bit without being commited to calling shoves, and soon enough i doubled up after a cple of players played there blinds horribly. Unfortunately that table was broken shortly after i joined, this displeased me much when i realised my third one was much tougher. I stole a bit and kept ticking over amongst the internet whizzes. With 270 getting paid i'd reached the last 450 with an average stack when the following hand occured. A player who had been far too frisky, raised something like his 4th pot of the round. The blinds at this point were 400-800 with a 100 ante. Finding AK on the btn i decided to rr the lag. However, i felt the stack sizes were difficult. He had about 35kish and i had 23odd. I didn't like rsng to 8k or so and folding to a raggy flop.I decided i'd shove and take the pot down now, of crse i wasn't exepecting a snap from jacks. Although i hit two pair my opponent setted up and i was gone.

So that's about all she wrote so far,i'll be playing another $1500 tmrw and am hoping for the deck to favour me a little better. The way things are going, a month stay looks far too optimistic right now, but we'll see how everything goes.

Laters peeps,

Dom.

Summing up and moving onto the vegas diary....

2009-06-05T11:17:00.000-07:00

Ok this post is going to speak about the blackbelt grading and how it went for me, b4 starting on what i'm sure you've all been waiting for... the famous dom daily diary in vegas-it's pure com!

Blackbelt's grading was so tough, it was really a grind, but very beneficial. Playing 6 hours a day, with one workshop of the same time, 6 days a week, doesnt actually sound that much. I mean people with normal jobs work more time than that each week, but as poker players we don't really get that! I learnt so much about how lazy and unstructured my life was b4 the grading. I probably knew all along i needed more volume, but the actual process was far harder than the principle.

Overall i finished about -£100 throughout the grading, i never really got into a consistent profit curve and jumped up and down quite a bit. I think it's all about ajusting to the levels and the sheer volume of games per month, something im not used to. I'd hope to beat $50 stts at about the 15% roi mark-longterm, which means a profit of about $6k a month-which would be fine. Obviously that's not what happened last month, mainly due to the switching levels and a lack of ajustment to the increased volume on my part.

As far as community contribution i could def have done more in my first month with blackbelt. However, I found the amounts of blogs reached saturation point and that mine may have just got lost in the seas, something i'd never want to see from such skilled writings! :)

In terms of strategy articles i'm kind of finding my way with these, and hopefully will get some out in the open soon enough. Because make no mistake, i want to be a brown belt as soon as i can, i know i'm a good enough player to represent the site in a worthy way, and look forward to a good relationship with a very worthy company.

So moving on....it's vegas time!
-----------------
Dom's Vegas Diary
------------------

Day 1- Tuesday June 2nd
-------------------------

I had been in spain the previous week, relaxing after the grading process and enjoying a poker free week. It certainly worked as i felt super hungry for games on my return. 2 days after returning from marbella i was jetting out to las vegas. Arriving early at gatwick i snagged a snazzy emergency exit seat in economy, free of charge, should be £50-so that's +EV already baby!

The plane got to nevada an hour or so early, and i zoomed off the jet hoping my usual fingerprint com would finally cease. 30 minutes later i realised that was a naive thought and tried to detilt. Another 30 minutes of waiting for my bags left me looking 4ward to a nice cold beer in the hotel. However, my glasses had other ideas!

As dave the legend picked me up in his rental car, i managed to drop and stand on my only pair of glasses! Absolute com and a dom mare of epic proportions. I spent the next few hours hemmoraging money replacing said specs in a vegas opticians. Not the best start to the trip but an amusing one i'm sure you'll agree. Finished off the day with a nice soft $275 stt down the rio, chopped it 3 ways for a profitable start to the trip.

Finally checking into my hotel late on in the day was not so easy, they gave me a smoking room with a non working telly, managed to get that changed but not until the following day.

Day 2- Wednesday June 3rd
---------------------------

Was happy to get my new hotel room sorted but hadn't slept much in the smoke fest the nite b4. Went and picked up my new glasses and felt i'd suffered a bad beat already, $400 is not something i'd normally invest in specs, but over here things to do with gen heath are kinda excessive. Managed to fit in another stt today but bubbled it and hit the sack early doors in an attempt to get into a sleep schedule, omg i sound about 83! :)

Day 3- Thursday June 4th
------------------------

Today i learnt the new way to play poker, the limp snap! This lesser known way of playing k9 std by your average joe out here is something i'll have to add to my game. The hand went like this, k9 limps oop with 4k at 1-200, about 4 others do likewise. As the trne had got pretty shooty with 50 antes included i decided to ship/sqze my 4050 stack in with a10o. The utg snap had me worried, especially the way he proudly turned over his holding, the king on the river rewarded his excellence and my chip n chair was gone the next hand. Played 4 stts today and although i mangled one hands with 22, i gen played great but just found variance kicked me in the face. Still vegas is awesome and i'm thrilled to be out here.

Laters peeps,

Dom.

Viva las Vegas...

2009-06-03T12:56:00.001-07:00

So much to post, so many things to do, so won't say everything now, will do it all soon.

Im in vegas now after arriving in pure com style yesterday, and am already loving vegas again. The rio stts are gonna take one hell of a battering this week i can tell ya, am 1 for 1 so far and hopefully it's gonna be a parlay time.

In other news i managed a blue belt from the blackbelt grading process, that's something i'll also talk about in the next write up.

Laters peeps,

Dom.

Final week...

2009-05-19T08:37:00.000-07:00

Im currently completing the final week of the blackbelt grading. It's been a very interesting 3 weeks so far. The dropping down in stakes and the structured grinding 6 hours a day have really helped me look at my game.

I'm going to write a proper post about how the process went next week, so this is just a quick recap really. Basically as i speak im about +135 squid. Best go get that champers on ice eh?!!

Laters peeps,

Dom.

Shipped...

2009-05-07T20:11:00.000-07:00

Blatant brag post alert: Just shipped the £50 f/o down the international for a bag of sand. Not a fortune but great for the confidence and all helps increase the net worth and all that. Net worth is my new fave term which i will attempt to use in every future opportunity! Blackbelt workshop yesterday was awesome with phil laak making a surprise entrance mid afternoon. One grader did a good ICM presentation too and id hope to gain quite a bit from that.

In other news I see there is a new meercat advert out. Obv this is like my net worth has increased as this is just great news...simples!

Laters peeps,

Dom

Hello peeps...

2009-05-05T08:09:00.000-07:00

The last week has been a real grind online and a bit of live play too for yours truely. It's certainly been an eye opener in terms of structuring my play, hours and general life. Almost all too in a good way, I believe before i started blackbelt i was unaware of how to really grind online. The $10 stts are actually hard to master when you are so used to the lite 3bet and random 4 bet in your armoury. Here you can only win by 3betting thinly and value betting even skinnier. The Cbet is something you cannot abuse so much and it leads me to tears. This new week sees the start of the $20 stts which should see me hugely increase my rather drab roi so far.

To help get used to smaller stake players i ventured over to the 10 quid rebuy at the international friday night. 30 quid later and a few hours into the night i'd finished 3rd for 250 quid and an enjoyable nights work. The amount of open limp bleeding going on was amazing, and def helped me identify things to use and abuse online in the smaller stake adventure.

For the next few weeks i'll be blogging less on here and more on here, so please follow over dear reader and support the site and thus support me in my quest to be one of the lucky 8.

Laters peeps,

Dom.

And we have begun...

2009-04-29T12:45:00.000-07:00

This is where i hope after 4 weeks of grinding online I will be heading, along with a brown belt with blackbelt poker. This is the aim, and my mission that i have chosen to accept. Sounds a little robotic, but im trying to focus all my thoughts on really doing this 100%.

Yesterday's first workshop was fun, lots of chat about what blackbelt involves and what is expected of us. My favourite bit was def the hand analysis bit led by nik persaud. It was fascinating hearing numerous opinions on how a hand played out, from the 2+2 style to the uber nitty way of playing. Im not totally sure in which category i fitted into, probably somewhere in the middle, if leaning to the more aggressive side. Some of these graders really know their stuff and competition is fierce, all gooooooood :)

Got a bit of a hangover today following a few post drinks with some of the guys watching the snore draw in the chelsea game. Im currently watching the united game while grinding those $10 stts, infact i better get back to them.

Laters peeps,

Dom

Blackbelt poker...

2009-04-19T11:39:00.000-07:00

Like my friends James Keys, Steve Holden and 47 others i have been lucky enough to be chosen for the grading which starts a week on monday. I am literally chomping at the bit to get started on this fascinating opportunity. Getting a more structured and more analysis into my play can only be good for me, whether or not i manage to sneak into the top 8 for the brown belt package. I also like the idea of sharing and listening to ideas at the workshop once a week in london. So thats all good.

The last week or so i've been grinding a bit online while also venturing again into the live cash arena. Saturday saw me nittily avoid the 300 quid international spring festival event, in favour of some cash action with some inebriated souls...i was sober:)

One hand in particular was an exaample of why i should just be rebuilding my roll this way over and over again. A little 1-1nl game with a 100 max buy in saw me sitting with a stack of around £220 after half an hour of picking up small pots and the odd bluff. There was a mixture of rocks and lags on the table, with 1 fish whom i had position on. I limped utg with 67 suited in a multi way pot, the flop came down 673 rainbow, so i checked with the intention of check raising. One lag bet 7 squid into the 9 pound pot recieving 4 callers including the fish at the table. I then reraised to 30 or so and found auto folds untill the fish reraised to 60. Now against many players here i would possibly stop and think it over, however against this particular foe it was an instant push. This guy had been playing so strangely that the only thing i was worried about was scaring him off. Unfortunately it soon became apparent he had a very strong holding. He claimed a set to which i declared that he would be slowrolling with a set, well the comment must have worked as after a lengthy dwell he folded his 3s face up. As he knew i held 45 i felt it only fair to show him my inferior holding. Nice fold buddy! :)

World champs snooker, manc GUKPT week and loadsa other stuff means this will be an exciting week for me, i may make my first million!

Laters peeps,

Dom

100th post....

2009-04-14T07:24:00.000-07:00

I was putting off this post as i thought i best make it a good one as it's the 100th on this blog. But then i couldn't really think of much to say, and decided this 'landmark' was stopping me writing, causing a block of sorts, so i've decided to say who cares and just post a wishy washy post and get the ruddy thing out the way.

The last few days have seen no poker bar a live bank holiday freezeout at the international yesterday. Bar that, since thursday i've been 'helping' to assemble numerous Ikea purchases in our flat. When i say help, im ashamed to admit, i more or less sat down and watched telly while some1 else did it all. DIY is not excatly my strong point, and as for the cleaning up afterwards...well lets just say i failed the class on that one too.

Easter has been filled with numerous beverages and copious amounts of chocolate, so the next week or so may see myself attempting an exercise binge of sorts. Taking stairs rather than lifts, walking 5 minutes rather than get a bus...lol :)

The live tournament i took part in was a deep stacked shoot. Unfortunately after winning a race i got so excited i spewed off my chips rsng and calling short stack shoves with k7 and the mighty ducks, getting crippled in the process.I then ran a10 into aq and 73 into a cple of big aces. Not my finest moment but i certainly enjoyed the rollercoaster, and actually learnt a few things.

The US Masters wasn't the money spinner id hoped for, a couple of my runners missing out on big priced place pay outs. The worst thing was the winner being Angel Caberra. A week before i'd backed the stocky one in a much weaker field at 150s, amd he'd peformed abysmally. So despite backing 699 players at Augusta, i left out the crucial money spinner, big game player and all that....ooops.

This week i'll be grinding stts like a demon, im hoping to get a roll together for manc GUKPT week, all within strict roll management of crse!

Thats the end of 100, 101 next peeps, laters.

Dom

Cash games and rocking up....

2009-04-09T03:50:00.000-07:00

I've finally started playing...and winning in cash games. For years it's only been something that i have stumbled into after a losing tournie and copius amounts of alcohol. The combination of tilt and booze never quite worked and more often than not i left the felt potlesss. Since i have started seriously managing my bankroll i have been looking into ways to maximise my edge and minimise my risk. Cash games have managed to supply both.

This past weekend i decided to visit the international and play their weekend freezeout. With a reasonable clock and 8k in chips i expected to put up a decent effort. What happened was a triple barrell bluff being picked off and a large race lost, and thus an early bath. Rather than wash myself i decided to play the small cash game running next to the tournament. This was so soft i couldn't believe my eyes. Candy from babies and all that, wow these players really wanted to donate. Oh and i ran good too.

Went back last night too and registered another reasonable profit from the game. I think the combo of a sober dom and a non tilting post-tournament version might actually do quite well from these games u know! Im still grinding the stts online meanwhile as it's a pretty easy way to keep the roll ticking over during the daytime. Soon enough i hope to be back in the bigger games, all with sound roll management of crse.

Happy easter in advance everyone. Laters peeps.

Dom

Smaller Stakes...

2009-04-03T03:57:00.000-07:00

This week has seen me sampling out smaller stake online tournies, while also playing a small live event. At least nobody can accuse of me not trying to build a roll again, rather than continuously firing shots at bigger events. No norweigian champs for me im afraid steve, thanks for the comments, but im afarid the roll must come first nowadays. Im sure ill be at dtd soon enough for one of their great events anyway.

Ive been sampling the ipoker mtts recently. Some of the structures are mega deep and have quite a bit of value, i still hate the software tho, it really sucks. Managed to make 3 final tables out of like ten attempts, so im quite pleased with the strike rate too, of crse the beats have stopped me getting the top money, but no matter.

Last night i went along to the international for their thursday night event. Smaller buyins like this may be my immediate future, and if so ill make sure i bring the ipod. Some of the idiotic comments you hear at this level are quite amazing, and as for the play, well its creative i guess. As i departed after 4 levels, i reflected upon a hand or 2 misplayed somewhat, but mainly by my opponents.

I sound rather bitter at the moment, its not that i hate grinding, i just hate grinding! :)

Laters peeps,

Dom.

Shots and feeling bad...

2009-03-30T09:52:00.000-07:00

The last few weeks have seen me take more shots than either Fernando Torres playing against West Brom, or an over zealous soldier on his first day at target practise. I feel i still believe i have a huge bankroll sometimes, and i don't anymore.

The conclusion from these various attempts are threesome:

- Firstly, i feel i can compete easily at all tournie levels on the Uk scene.
- Secondly, the average player in tournaments is appaulling.
- Thirdly, and by far the most important...my limited, devestated roll...needs much work before i can consistently play again at these levels.

Basically im just not rolled for the event's ive been playing. Obviously im not completely stupid and have been selling pieces of myself in events over 300 quid, however even then i really shouldnt be playing. Putting too much of my own 'hard earned' cash at risk without using sound bankroll management has caused me no end of problems. Well from now on, as Take That once said...everything changes.

**EDIT**

I'm only going to play in live tournaments where i have 100 times the amount i personally buy in for, in my bankroll, unless there is added money, where i will allow myself 50 times this amount, or if i manage to get in from a sat. Obviously the rule will apply to sats as well, so i wont be playing the larger wsop sats for a bit, which will be annoying.

I will more loosely apply the same principle to online play/mtts. I wont stop myself playing in a 100 dollar mtt once in a while because i dont have say $10k online, i'll just play them far less often. Like ant's comment said, 30-50 buyins online sounds better-i agree. Live play has so many more expenses associated with their events like hotels etc, which is why i have to be more careful.

Overall this is all basic, nitty roll management, which lots of my mates follow, it's just never been my stlye. But they all seem to have cash and i don't.

As for the week in the vic, i managed one measly cash after a varied performance by yours truely. I loved many of my plays, and hated a few too. But its all a work in progress. It's the norweigian champs in dtd this week, but i think the buy ins might be a little big for the new nitty dom. Best get on the grind, saturday's 250 event is a few days away...25k in the roll and i'll play it.

Ok laters peeps,

Dom.

0/10...now it's a joke...

2009-03-29T11:46:00.000-07:00

I played the gukpt london day1b on friday. I busted around 6pm after seeing my queens's cracked as my aces had been previously. Will do a summary of how the week went as a whole and a more indepth look at things tmrw. Right now i'm watching the updates and wishing Chaz Chatta all the best of luck of the final tabalists. Personally though, just making day2 would be an acheievement for me.

Laters peeps,

Dom.

Gotta stop making those...

2009-03-24T18:18:00.000-07:00

Tuesday night's £300+1add on/or 1rebuy event didn't exactly go to plan. By half eleven i was on the way home. My starting table was full of circuit regulars and provided a jolly, fun atmosphere. The usual Dom row would have to wait till if the table was broken or i was moved and perhaps that worked against me. I think i play better versus the ego maniacal types, they concentrate something in my brain perhaps i switch off when i actually like the ppl im playing.

The table was pretty passive bar two or 3 players, who were playing without premiums and thinking outside the range etc. I felt i was one of them early doors, raising with 34 oop and getting there on the river for 2 pair and the thin pay off. However, the key race i needed to win got chopped when the board held a straight. Win that pot and things could have been very different indeed. Instead i finished the break on a very average stack, thanks mainly to the add on.

A couple of hands occured against the opponent i almost stacked, after the break for the add ons. The check raise fold from the bb is not something i really want to be doing too often, certainly not with top pair-even if im beat. The very next hand against the same oppponent (a good solid player and top bloke) i made a slightly dubious flat in the sb with ksqs. A king hi flop with two rags and two clubs brought another check raise from yours truely, only to be yet again be stuck allin. Again i made another hero fold and was shown ak, but still i hate my play here. If i call pre i need to be never check folding here on this brd, check calling and reevaluating on further streets ftw i think.

My exit hand happened when i rsd l8 pos with 108 std and just under 20bbs. Joe grech new to the table in the bb called and check rsd me allin on the j92 brd with jq, i wasnt folding here but missed. So im now funking for a 5% swop i made as theres about 100k in the prizepool, get it won my 5% please:)

The conclusion from this tournament is that i played too passively overall and allowed myself to get into bad situations i didnt need to be in. I will try my very best not to allow this to happen again, certainly not in £300+ events.

Tommorow will include a visit to the dentist, followed by a £250 sat to the main. Hopefully neither experience will be like pulling teeth. Im desp to play the main event as i must make a mate pay up the 5/1 bet hes laid me on making day2 in this 1, im not going 0/10!

Laters peeps,

Dom

Another bowl of......

2009-03-23T06:29:00.001-07:00

Recently I have been going very deep in every tournament I am playing, yet i seem to either just miss the money or pick up a bowl of rice. Therefore, although very happy with my overall play right now, the odd tweak may need to be applied in future events, and luckily i beleive i may just have figured out what is holding me back. Firstly here's a tournament report from the Gukpt Vic £500 side event i played this weekend.

After selling half my action by kick off i felt good, not only in the continued faith being shown in me, but in my game as a whole. However, the first hour and a half of the 8,000 chip 45 min double chance tournie almost felted me. My starting table was gen weak, yet alberts prescence created a strange dynamic.

A good young player got caught bluffing once too many times and took an early bath while i was folding for england. Eventually i got frustrated with the 49o and j2's, so i started bleed limping with filth. So much so i bled off half my stack. Then i nearly/should have went busto in a sb bb confrontation with a top pr flush draw flop. I hero'd a strange river only to see my oppo's fellow missed draw hit the straight. Down to a bowl i managed to get the fish of the table to call off his whole stack with q10o versus my ackc preflop. My flush overkilling the hand, but giving me a chance going into the break.

Returning from the break things changed and i started to win numerous small pots putting me bang on average when all of a sudden as the bb i was moved tables. 'Brilliant' I thought as i noticed Nick Pesaud had immed position on me, somebody who always seems to do well when we battle. Luckily the rest of the table appeared gen spewmeisters, so if only i could KO Nicky boy.

This actually happened when i played a hand a lil dubiously. A young scandi who seemed to open lite raised oop, with a stack covering myself and Nick. I flatted with 77 in the sb fully expecting to Nick to either peel or squeeze. He chose the latter raising to 1700 the 525 open rse, with blinds at 1-200 and about 5k behind. I had about 9k total and was glad to see the scandi dwell fold.

Now this situation is a tricky one for me. If i play this hand online and i feel this is a squeeze i insta shove. Here i did feel likewise, yet didnt fancy a push. I know the math tells me its a shove or fold and most flops arent going to like my hand oop v a very tricky player. But sometimes other considerations dictate, and i peeled a flop off. The 943 rain brd had me hooked aand i ck rsd him all and his A10 missed. Tbh on gen reflection pre flop i shoulda shipped, but i dont always agree u have to play a certain way, yet can cert see how it appears yucky.

From here on I built my stack up with few troubles bar verbal sparring with some rather rude middle aged gents whom i took instant dislikings too. A hand where i held qq in the bb caused a gen uproar and i had to compose myself after general behaviour left me wondering why i bother with this game at times. Still being "Dom the King of Kings of arguments" i more than held my own and managed to get one fishy to stick all his chips in with 2 outs for a huge pot. He binked and even gave me a bit of a rub down, lovely. Lost another huge pot with cowboys again soon after, versus the mighty j9std, although this foe was a much more jolly type who played the game with a smile, and thus it hurt a lil less.

I never gave up the ghost despite the beats and managed to end day1 with 46k and 30k under average when the bubble burst on the final hand of the day. So with 15 left i was guaranteed 800 snarlers and a further day of sparring to look forward to. Not sleeping until 7am is not the best of prep i kno, but if i cant sleep, i cant sleep.

Returning at 2pm sunday i watched two players get ko'd before i shipped in my chips with little over 10bbs and fold equity from the coff with a5. The extremely annoying bb snapped with qq and i failed to dish out a beat of my own. Another bowl...another day. Was pleased to see the man in form Sunny Chatta chop the thing and being the degen i am, i snuck off to the £30 fo over at the international that night. Of crse i spewed all over that shoot but had a laugh at some interesting antics from the lower stake players.

I'll be taking a break today and giving the £200 unlimited rebuy a wide berth tonight. Tommorow i'm entered in the £300 one rebuy OR add on event and have also bought in for the 250 sat on wednesday.

I have been selling percntages recently for events with hardly any mark up. After seeing the gen standard in the vic this week and the costly prices of late night london cabs, i wont be selling so low for this 1. If anyone is interested i will be selling percentages for tuesdays event but it will be at 1.3, which i believe is still a more than fair price. So as i'll def do the rebuy/add on it's basically a £600 event and thus a 10% block will sell at £78.

Anyway that's about all she wrote. In other news i had another nice score on the golf at the weekend, it's something that i may start taking much more seriously before long. Seems less variance than in poker, if less fun.

Laters peeps,

Dom.

Ps The tweaks i need to apply to my game are all about value. That's all im saying :)

Made day 2 in the 500...

2009-03-21T23:58:00.000-07:00

Well i made day 2 of the 500 and am in the money. 15 of us left and the bubble burst on the last hand of the night. £800 guaranteed so far, all the way up to £25k for first.

161 players took part in the double chance event with 8000 chips each and a nice smooth 45 minute structure. Tbh the clicky factor you always see in the vic was there all night, prob a reason i only play festivals there. Got in a few dom special arguments and played some bad, good and average poker. I had kings cracked twice and picked up queens on numerous occasions, esp when times were tough.

With the average at 85k my 45k stack needs a double up going into the 2000-4000+300 ante level. However once that's done, im gunning for the jackpot. Best get some sleep.

Laters peeps,

Dom.

London poker tour 300 event...

2009-03-19T14:31:00.000-07:00

I and 30 others attended wednesday's 300 pound event sponsored by 888.com. The field was full of circuit regulars, with sharks and fish mixing it up together. My starting table was pretty passive but i didn't accumulate as quickly as i'd have liked. Despite picking up aces and kings twice each in the first level I was unable to really get a flow going. Having the aces cracked when i flopped a set probably didnt help either, the rather loose button binking his gutshot. Eventually two tables out i got sapianoed and that was that.

I disnt bother with the 300 tonight in the vic for a few reasons. Mainly i was too lazy to sign up in time, and they sold out hours in advance, with two hours to go a mate texted me that there were 50 alternates...erm i'll leave that then. It means ill be able to prepare for saturday's 500, and i should be fresh and raring to go come the weekend. I think i'll do a long online sesh tmrw and get my stt game going again, its free money basically, i just find it dull.

I've enjoyed watching the darts tonight while my gf is out and about, a rare treat as normally she wont have it on-cant stand the bellies- so it's a case of checking out the highlights the next day or something. Can't really complain as i do monopolise the television viewing with sport being shown at all hours. Just need taylor to beat part 8-3, 8-4 here, it's 6-3 as i speak...nerves a jangling!

Laters peeps,

Dom.

Bankroll management...

2009-03-17T19:57:00.000-07:00

I often think that I am to bankroll management what Mcdonalds is to diets. And i like the odd double cheese too, anyway i'll move on.

The last couple of weeks have seen me taking a few shots which have hit the bar, and while hitting the bar afterwards i've been left musing.

Variance is the real killer in this game and i need to start being more protective of my roll. Recently i've built it up from nothing with ease to be honest. Unfortunately moving up the levels is where i fall short. I just jump up without caring of the consequences.

What the last couple of weeks have taught me is that i must be more careful with entry fees, 500 quid events for example can only be played when i sell enough to justify it.

Tonight i played some crypto tournies for one of the last times ever and it was quite emotional. The crypto river was in full force, nailing 2 outers on me a few times. Busting 4 tournies-3 while deep- was tough, but winning the 5th was sweet. One of my fave late night tournies 'the insomniacs' involves a deep stack with a better than average player. Obv as i won it tonight the standard dropped a little. Still 900 bucks all helps with the poker coming up.

This week ill be playing a couple of events on the london scene. The gukpt vic festival looks juicy but pricey. So ill have to sell some action, and will post accordingly.

Ok peeps thats about it,

Laters,

Dom.

Close but no....

2009-03-13T19:28:00.000-07:00

Oh dear another close one to a big cash, and yet another fail, in fact two in one day.

Ok, so firstly i return to play day 2 of the 500 quid event with 23 left and im full of confidence. A few shorties shove and lose, finding us quickly down to 2 tables with my stack slightly shorter on 34k. My new table includes a who's who of the Uk poker scene and spots will be tough to find here. I decide therefore ill up the aggro factor as i want to get a stack to bully the bullies. Unfortunately i bust on the first hand i play at the new table.

Folded round to the button im not surprised to see the slightly lag btn rse the 1-2000 blinds to 6k. Seeing as8s i insta shove my 34k stack into the middle, paul parker then stands up and declares 'the chances of him folding are like 1%'. I ask him then to stick the chips in asap please and not slow roll me :) He does so and the button insta folds ak, the same hand Mr Parker has. The board pairs and creates a poss chop with a third nine on the turn, but the river blanks. So am i right to shove here? Opinions welcome.

So far most of my tighter fellow players insist i should find a better spot as im only getting called by a better ace or flipping etc, and my shove is in essence a guess etc. However my more aggro fellow players agree that increasing my stack by 33% odd means this is a standard shove.

I find myself somewhere in the middle. Although tbh im prob still in the latter camp although my confidence in this did take somewhat of a battering. One of my former table mates later informed me as i was ko'd a certain pro declared my shove ludicrous and that most of the table agreed. Id never think it was ludicrous tbh, reckless perhaps. Anyway moving on...

Decided to play the 100 rebuy event which started at 7pm. My starting table was extremely weak and i played most hands early on binking streets and playing goood. Without a rebuy i held 12k, but i added on the 3k just for the hell of it.

After the break a few better players were added to the table and as the cards dried up so did the spots to get jiggy. However, i chose a ridic spot to jig it up, halving my stack in one fowl swoop. A very conservative player rsd my bb from the sb, i looked down at a10o and rrsd his 1200 bet to 3300, blinds 2-400 antes 25. He then pretty much auto shoved for another 6k and i felt commited to pay off his cowboys. I almost binked a flush but missed and my golden days seemed over.

Finally we were moved to the upstairs bar when we were down to 5 tables. I prodded my 7k bowl around for a while, eventually managing to get down to 20 odd players left and 10bbs. I open shoved my qjo from the coff only to see aa in the sb. Get it won lofty u lucky fish! :)

Overall im happy with my play again for 95% of both tournies. Maybe i need to just either run bettter or tweak a few things. Either way this weekend im having a few days off and shall return next week for the london gukpt at the vic.

Time to go peeps.

Laters,

Dom.

Day1 done...onto day 2...

2009-03-13T05:40:00.000-07:00

I've made day 2 of the 500 f/o down the empire. Am sitting with 38k just on average with 24 left and 1/2000 blinds +100 antes. 16K ftw is nice.

Early on i ran aa v ak against steve holden on an ak flop which is always going in on that flop. I then dribbled my double up down to average with james aikenhead running the table. I had position on the guy but he was taking all my moves away from me, finally i decided to start 3 betting him light. Then he 4bets me...prob light as well!

I persist with a few 3bets and start to get a few throuh picking up some smallish pots. The table is broken and im happy to move to a much more passive table. I dish out a suck out to a small stack with 99 v jj, revenge for the int main anyway, tho diff player...oops. Then i pick up pot after pot as ppl aren't playing back at me. Unfortunately im now moved to a much tougher table where the dynamic is totally diff.

I notice one guy is open rsng from l8 pos a bit too much, so i 3bet him lite getting him to dwell fold a better than av hand id def say. Then i 'sqze a mass overbet thru getting ak to fold...with ak. After that i rock up as its becoming an allin fest with ppl gambling not wanting to return with bowl tmrw, of crse im now cardead.

Win a couple of small pots late on and am happy with how the day has gone. Gonna do a few chelt bets before rushing off for a 3pm start.

Laters peeps,

Dom.

Empire festival...

2009-03-11T23:13:00.001-07:00

As alexander the meercat would say...simples.

This week i shall be mostly playing the empire poker festival in london, obv it's my lucky casino. And i've cashed in the first event i've played already. Just busted in 7th for a bag of sand in the £200 event. Became a complete shoot in the end with my ah2h no good v jj. Actually dished out two suck outs in the tournie hitting 3 outers with aplomb both times. Gotta happen eventually, so no complaints here. Was pretty cardead all night and was bumping and grinding, stealing from all positions. Im hugely happy with how i played.

After cashing in i bought in for the 500 two day event which i chopped last year, so glad im able to play it, lovely structure with an average player soooooo poor. I should fit in very well :)

Cheltenham first two days has been a real rollercoaster, ive had lots of winners, but my bad staking plan means im only about level going into day 3. Loving the racing so far though, gotta go one of these days too to the festival, the guiness would flow beautifully!

Ok peeps im pretty whacked so thats about it,

Laters.

Dom

Out..

2009-03-08T10:13:00.000-07:00

Sorry stakers, no return this time.

Out in 20th barely half an hour into day2. Simple really, dribbled down to 12k halfway through the 8-1600 level, there was only literally one other spot i cld really have shoved in earlier. Folded round to me in the coff i decided to bin q7 std when i prolly shlda shoved in 16k. Eventually stuck my 12k in utg with 55 utg only to be called by the btns-also quite short stacked's aj. Pretty bad call imo with the blinds still to act and considering it was the only hand id played etc in 30 mins. Still bad calls r normally rewarded against me and the brd paired on the river to send me out. GG etc.

Felt i played gr8, maybe 1 or 2 hands i'd change, but hey its hard to play perfect, and u kinda need to win the 80 percent shots in big pots. Think ill be hitting a nice 1 soon, im feeling great about my game, variance is just a killer.

Laters peeps,

Dom

Main event

2009-03-07T20:08:00.000-08:00

Well im still in...just.

Played some great poker and really pretty damn proud with myself, but ill be returning with a bowl of just under 20k sunday at 3, mainly due to the last hand.

After finding a lovely initial table with little 3 betting and 4 bets unheard of i eased my stack up to 28k from 10 by the dinner break. Finding some nice spots to steal and some nice cards on decent flops all helped.

Then nightmare scenario as a huge lag with pos joined our table and started 3betting peeps like me for fun. I snugged up and finally played a bootiful stack defining pot with him.

LAG raised again UTG, then a shortie shoved blind, a medium stack isolated i believe with qq, commiting half of his stack, i find aa in the bb. I insta shove for a variety of reasons, im amazed and overjoyed to see the lag call of 80 percent of his stack, blinds with 150-300 or something, hed put in 800 yet called my 25k shove instantly with ak...claiming, im never folding that there. Appaulling call in my book and for once i scooop after qq dwell folds, tbh think he was commited and shld prob call here too.

Anyway i move up to 50k swinging up to 65k at times, b4 dropping to 40k at others. By the end of the night and the last hand i get involved in a 70k pot. Sitting on about 55k ish i donk allin over the top of a pretty tightish players oop rse with jj. Id developed a somewhat aggro image by now and was looking to exploit this against lesser pairs. He finally called with 99 and hit runner runner 4 the straight and a 70k pot.

So im going back with 20k with blinds at 800-1600 and a 200 ante, and 21 left. Im in shove mode but if i can double up quickly im right back in this.

Sleep time,

Laters peeps,

Dom.

150 FO Report

2009-03-06T07:23:00.000-08:00

Another tournie, another dissapointment.

140 runners took to the felt for this little tournie, lots of value was apparent. Limping like pensioners, the average player shouln't have been playing 150p tournies, let alone quid. I managed to finish 19th myself and played pretty damn well bar in a couple of spots late on. After finally gaining a nice 40k stack with 40 left, i went completely situation dead, id been card dead all evening-but who cares about that. I just needed spots to exploit, but none really appeared with constant allins frustrating any moves id planned.

When the structure had become shooty i make a bad lay down l8 on with a8 in the bb. A loud arrogant young guy rsd 4x my bb from the coff, with the shooty structure its a shove most of the time, yet i folded after a dwell only to be shown 63. Myv reason for folding was the fact he hadn't played many hands at all in like the whole time (30 mins or so) he'd been at my table.

Another potential spot was when with 10bbs utg i folded 44, thin spot but i think i shld have gambled with 21 left. Eventually i was forced to shove kq running in2 aq and without a suck out i was on the rail. Played well with only 99 as a half decent pp all night, ak did help a cple of times tho.

Can't decide whether or not to play the main right now. Im not rolled for 500 events so cant buy in, but may try to sat in and failing that might sell percentages. Id have to sell 50 percent to play, and cos i live in london they r no real expenses so ill sell at face value. **Have sold 10 percent and am looking to shift another 40 percent, in 10 percent blocks it will be 55 quid a block. Let me kno asap if yr interested as event starts tmrw.

** EDIT Now sold all the 50%, thank you ppl.
Laters peeps,

Dom.

250 F/O Report

2009-03-04T18:00:00.000-08:00

Ok so 1 down and 1 early bust out.

My starting table included jerome bradpeice, albert sapiano and a couple of young movers and shakers. Joe grech soon joined in and i had an intersting table to take on. I played quite tight for once and didn't get involved in any real crazyness bar when i had something, in fact i was a bit of a gibraltor all night. Funnily enough i picked up qq twice and ak 3 times, the queens winning smallish pots both times, the ak cracked on each occasion. Basically i cldnt win a race and that was all she wrote. Was a nice prizepool with 130+runners and a 9.5k first prize. Next tournie...

May play the 150 tmrw but am not sure as id like to concentrate on satting into the 500 main on saturday, which looks full of value.

Laters peeps,

Dom.

International week....

2009-03-04T02:29:00.000-08:00

Im really looking forward to experiencing the international's first festival week, which starts for me tonight with the £250 f/o. The atmosphere at the gutshot's fetival events was always buzzing, and this looks to be no different. Their main event is a cracking structure, but i'm not sure if i'll play that one, we'll see.

This week i'm cranking up the trading action, attempting to build a decent roll for cheltenham week which will be a liscence to print money. Next week is also the empire poker festival. It's a lucky casino for me, and im defending a chop in the 500 event from last year. This month is looking choka already what with the vics festival starting the week after that, poker poker poker, it''s driving me crazy...in a nice way.

Went down the pub last nite for a few ales and to watch the liverpool game. Wasn't impressed by the scousers despite their victory, i really dont see how benitez keeps his job when they are just not progressing whatsoever. Gerrard really holds that rabble together, wish he'd have a breakdown and move to spurs...oh is that a pig outside flying?

On my knee injuury front it aint looking all that good. The specialist suspected it could be a cruciate injury, and i'm off for an mri scan soon. The sooner i get it sorted the better, even i lazy as i am wish i could get out and about a bit more. Walsall was tough as i was in a great deal of pain and masked it either with painkillers or alcohol....or both! Just kidding on that last bit.

Ok i best go get some volume into my stts, my results recently have suffered from variance in that area, break even at worst, but obv not good enough.

Ok laters peeps,

Dom.

New month, new start...

2009-03-02T04:49:00.000-08:00

Walsall gukpt for me was a non starter really. Again i've shown that in little pots i can more than compete, once those pots start to build i lose my head. Lesson hopefully learnt. One hand i think sums up how badly i played was in a side event. AdKd i raise it up with a big stack. Am called by woody deck in sb and bbb calls too. Flop 234 1 diamond, all ckd. Turn is 5 of diamonds. Woody deck again severly overbets pot commiting most of his 7k stack into a 500 odd pot?? WTF? Anyway i hero with donk end of straight an dnut redraw, wrong odds, wrong everything. Of crse his 6 holds and i'm crippled and bleed to an early exit.

But as the title says new month new start. So no more whinging just positive thoughts.
Well done to sunny chatta for shippping the main event, well deserved. Also congrats to steve holden for his final appearance, just gotta win those flips and who knows eh bud. You'll ship a main soon too i reckon.

I'll be at the international this week 4 thir festival, shld be good.

Laters peeps,

Dom

Very quick post...

2009-02-28T18:17:00.000-08:00

Was knocked out at about 1215am sat mroning in the main event, the last level of the day a la brighton. Tbh i played well for 99% of the day b4 the rags i was recieving got to me. I overplayed 55 utg severely which crippled me, before making one of the biggest hero laydowns in the bb ever seen to man. Think i must have had a brain freeze of epic prportions. Few intersting hands i'd like to talk about and ill do so in a day or so.

A few well known faces have made the final table, it certainly looks like fireworks all day sunday in walsall. Alas ill be back in london watching then 'mighty' spurs prolly get smashed by the 'weakish' united. Two players i'd like to see do well are sunny chatta and steve holden. Steve is such a solid, decent guy who plays in a similar way. Sunny has more gears than an f1 car, and to say the guy is due would be the understatement of the year. So one of these 2 ftw please!

Ok peeps not much else to say really bar i think man u at 4/5 in 90 minutes-dependant on team news, look good things tmrw. Ill be keeping my powder dry however so as not to spoil the match.

Laters,

0/9 day 2's Dom...lucky number 10 in the vic??

Walsall is here...

2009-02-26T22:15:00.000-08:00

Arrived in walsall thursday 1800hours. Hotel nice, side event.........weak as you could ever wish to see. Unfortunately i threw away a huge chip lead to cash in 7th for a bowl of 470 quidds, after blowing up as expected. Playing mainly as a warm up i hero'd an early call with q10 on a 10 hu brd with a missed flush draw rather apparent. Made for an easy call and got me rocking an rollin. With 20 left i had double the average with 90k and was cruising to a top 3 finish. My demise was sealed when i overplayed both 6c5c and kcjc.....think i gotta fold those clubs.

Loving my hotel right now and looking forward to day 1b. I still have 40% available at 1.3, let me know asap if yr interested.

Laters peeps,

Dom.

Less pics more substance...

2009-02-23T14:22:00.000-08:00

*Updated post

Firstly apologies to anyone who was crazy enough to take my advice and lump on my two footy selections at the weekend. Once again for the second week in succession, BOTH finished in snore draws. I think i should do the pools with this gift i have for choosing such equally matched teams each week. Oh well try, try again and all, im sure on friday i'll have another couple of diamond tips:)

*Secondly i am selling up to 50% of my action for the GUKPT main event at walsall this week at 1.3. I am idealy looking to sell in 5 10% blocks of £130 each- i'm happy to pay the juice. Just let me kno via the comments section on here or by email and we'll sort out transfers. I'll accept payment via full tilt or bank transfer, obv gotta be up front b4 percentage is confirmed.

Why buy part of me? Well i'm pretty experienced in high stake mtts nowadays, i feel much, much more confident about my game. I feel i have a def edge over yr average player in that field, and i'll prove it next week. The last few live tournies i have played have felt so easy compared to online battles, it's just about gaining the hunger and the paitence. I feel i have both right now.

Reading back over my last few posts have revealed an alarming pattern. Plenty of pretty pictures but very little substance. One follower of this blog has even left, possibly sick of a great deal of waffle without any actual poker content. Doesn't do what it says on the tin i guess, and it is called 'Dom's Poker news' after all. To be honest unless i am playing live poker, i am not a huge fan of chattting about hugely standard online situations on here, of which there are zillions that occur to me every week. However, as its suppoesed to be a poker blog i am going to try and include hand analysis each week on here, whether online or live.

The stts this last week have been barey broke even. Looks like my pronouncements a week ago of 'i can't remember the last losing day...so easy it's dull etc' were a touch premature. It's mainly just variance tbh, but also i think many are using software to gain an edge over me, so ill have to step into the new century and install poker tracker etc soon as b4 i become another fish in the sea. I like my shark rating on stts, and do not wish to lose it.

Spurs scraped a win tonight, which was nice, lennon fgs and +2.5 goals in the game both copping nicely for a few snarlers indeed. Betting on my own team is horrid tho, i also had a nice wager on 2-2 which left me almost hoping for a hull equaliser near the end, something i really shouldn't be doing. But i guess harry dsnt pay my rent and thus i dont feel so bad. Last week's golf selections left me drawing level, which certainly wasn't the end of the world. In australia i drew a complete blank, with mickleson rescuing the bank balance with an up/down final round finally clinching the american tournie.

I'll play an mtt over the next day or so and analyse a hand or 2 from it on here in the next post. I may even do this from 'sunny' walsall on thursday. I play on friday but will get there nice and early to play the 100 shoot for a warm up thurs nite.

This blog does look rather bare without a pic so i'll put up a pic just for the sake of it. Not really poker related but dsnt really matter imo. Meerkats ftw!!!

Later peeps,

Dom

Weekend is here...

2009-02-20T20:49:00.000-08:00

I love weekends, I love being able to watch many sports, with bets flying around and trades moving up and down. Sometimes I even play some poker. Lovely. Will put up a couple of tips again at the end of this post. Obv ones to avoid after last week.

I've decided to venture to walsall next week just for the main and one side event. Am playing day 1B of the main and may have some action to sell in myself. Will update on that one, as i already have my seat locked up it's not something i've 100 percent decided on. I should sell as i am not rolled for 1k events, but i really feel a huge score is coming, and thus i feel greedy:)

Twice this week i've felt like some live poker, and twice i have been too lazy to leave the house. This has meant a good increase in online volume, which at least is a plus point. But I am slightly worried bar the odd poker festival i am becoming somewhat of a hermit. This time last year i had a simlar feeling so zipoped off for a quick break to lanzarote. Unfortunately it looks like i'll have to wait till may this year for a break, which is a bummer to say the least.

(DRUM ROLL)
Ok it's that time now for what i'm sure many are fear...waiting for, my football tips, Dom's diamonds shall i say!

*This week ive lumped on exeter away to chester, apparently the latter are struggling to feild a team, they played a 16 year old up front last week, and the evens looks fair. Also i fancy stoke at home to pompey, may even plump for a 1-0 correct score, but will def have some of the 13-8 the home side on betfair.

*These tips carry a severe wealth warning.

Enuff rambling on,

Laters peeps.

Diamond Dom.

Bad tips and Boredom...

2009-02-16T20:29:00.000-08:00

Firstly apologies to anyone mad enough to have listened to my football tips last weekend. Both were lucky to gain draws, the weekend was certainly not profitable for me in terms of sports betting bar the Golf which went well. The poker is still going well enough. I can't remember the last losing day i've had recently from playing sit and go's. The only problem is im finding them so easy, they r becoming boring. I know winning money sounds fun and exciting even, yet the monotonous grind is so dull i yearn for something more. I know in my heart i want to be a selective mtt player, something my roll won't allow right now...one day.

Backed arsenal -1.5 last night which was a lock by half time, i'm thinking of a similar bet on united against fulham midweek, obv depends on team news. The appointment of hiddink last week was all gooooooood 4 me, i got paid out by paddy power, but still have my bets on carlo ancelotti running, hopefully he'll step in next season. Mancini is another who wouldn't be the end of the world, but it's a freeroll for me now anyway so i'm not bothered too much even if gus keeps it. Another pretty nice bet i have running is paul hart at 25s for the pompey job. Think hes down to 4s or something now after their win at the weekend. Personally i always try to back the caretaker at party prices as soon as the manager markets are getting priced up, within reason of crse, lets just say i didn't go overboard on wilkins.

In other news i still havent got the hospital results on my knee. It's frustrating to say the least. I think psychologically it's holding me back from fully exercising the leg and allowing me to be as lazy as poss...like i really need an excuse. Anyway with the walsall gukpt on next week i gotta get it sorted this week as i do not want to miss out on making the big bucks, not when i'm feeling so positive about poker. As i say, it's becoming dull winning money, so i might as well bore myself a little more eh.

I must admit i really struggle about what to write in this blog, i'd love to do detailed hand analysis, but i am just so damn lazy, sorry ppl. One day i hope i can thoroughly mangle a hand or two in this blog and be very proud once again.

Ok time to go, laters peeps.

Dom

Ps- No meerkats this time im afraid.

Fa cup and things...

2009-02-13T08:30:00.000-08:00

This weekends games look interesting. Just an early stage of deciding my bets right now, but am drawn towards blackburn@4/5 on betfair at home v coventry. A half decent side sent out by big sam should be able to do the job against an average championship side. Also quite liking west ham verus the pretty woeful boro at home, again at about 4/5. Nothing else really stands out imo. May combine these selections in a double. Have done a fun bet for a fiver(all i was allowed on)for any player to kiss the ref in the facup this weekend @33s. If there were lower league teams involved this wld be a cert, still maybe a few swansea players might fancy a few extra quid.

Pokerwise i actually ventured out for a live game this week. It's amazing how you notice so many things regarding betting patterns and how bad gen live players play, after playing so much online. Recenty i've been grinding it out a great deal and seem to have tightened up my gane quite well. This is so important when playing live as overall i've bluffed off live in far too many once promising situations.

Last night was a fun lil 50 quid (5k starting stack, 20 min levels-i think) fo down the international. My mate kindly gave this injured fish a lift to the club. My table was quite an action one so i switched off aggro tendancies. One guy was playing every hand till he dbld up by racing and another was limp calling rss oop with ace junk and getting there. I managed to dble up with aces v kings and now id locked up a stack was looking good. 20 minutes later i was watching the darts in the seating area and considering playing online.

My tournie ended after 3 or 4 key hands. With 10k and 50-100 blinds it might sound marginal, but in a shooty structure im not folding ak std to a rr donk allin for 35% of my stack. I'd rsd utg to 300 and had been amazed to see quite a fishy player donk it allin for 3500 with 77. My two overs and nut draw on the flop didn't get there.

I also tried rsng aforementioned players bb with kq only to see him defend to the death with j4 and mid pair on an ace brd. Lovely. Didnt fire the third bullet as i thought i had showdown value...ooops.

Then a typical blind v blind confrontation crippled me with a pretty cooler board. Blinds 100-200 i make it 600 form the sb with ac10s. BB- a capable player defends and we see a A2J Brd with 2 spades. Having the 10 of spades as well here affects my decison making and i donk 775 into the pot, being swiftly rrsd allin for a few thou more. I'd often fold such a marginal but imo the position, the redraws available and the structure of the trne force my hand here. Also i felt she cld easily have the fd. Which she did with as5s, the 5 plopping on the turn quickly enough. Think the hand plays itself in this situation. Got my bowl of rice in soon after with 88 v the bullets, no suckout for mr kay today.

I played a bit online afterwards and enjoyed playing in such an envirmonet. More of such visits for me ftw i believe. Getting out of the ol routine every now and then is so crucial in poker. It can get so dull and monotonous after a while, like a job even! :)

Best stick up a meercat b4 i go to please all google searchers-i am still loving that advert!! Becoming a couch potato fast as the knee is still very fragile and im getting xrayed AGAIN tmrw. Hop-fully it will be ok.

This is the yoga, new york based meercat.

Laters peeps,

Dom.

Ps- Blackburn and west ham in a double tmrw looking good:)

Trading golf....

2009-02-06T15:46:00.000-08:00

For once i have decided to post a non poker post on this blog. Still it's a gambling one, so not all that far off the block anyway.

For the last couple of days i've been trading golf, the tournament is the Buick Open in san diego. I used to trade golf a great deal on betfair, especially the majors. Nowadays i've cut right down on this as i just haven't had the paitience. However, due to having a great deal of spare time right now, i decided to plunge back in again. Right now i'm almost wishing I hadn't.

The problem with golf trading i find is that if you find yourself stuck a bit, you find yourself forced to jump back in and square it off, in fact often all you seem to be doing is chasing the 'losses', till eventually you get a small win. In terms of effort and sheer time spent i cant exactly call it +ev and a great roi winner. Yet in a sick way it's a gamblers dream. I can certainly see why many degens bet on putts going in when in groups watching in a bar. A real adrenaline kicker thats for sure.

Anyway, thursday went well and i had good positions on all bar the leader going into today. Thus i decided to trade the pace setter all day (Camilo Villegas) to gain a nice green book. That was the idea, unfortunately almost every single trade i put in went swingy and to call my book red would be an understatement. Right now i can square off a cple of ton loss, or dive back in tmrw and hope for better luck. The former is the most sensible thing to do, so obv i'll be opting for the latter.

I'll be looking for some good football bets over the weekend, i've heard that chester can barely get a side together so may lump on brentford, but at about 1-2 its not exactly a value bet. As mentioned in my prev entry im not a huge fan of benitez, but can't really back pompey right now, esp with pennant ineligible. May lay liverpool small anyway as without gerrard i'd rather chuck my money away than bk them odds on. Aston villa could be a possibilty at around 13/8 away to blackburn also. I'll need to do some more research b4 i get on anyway.

Finally i noticed over the last few days that this blog had been getting more hits than usual. Brilliant thought I, people are starting to enjoy my musing, and with the introduction of pictures i've finally cracked it. So i looked at the referrals and it appears that ppl have being searching for 'compare the meerkat.com' and finding my blog come up in google. Obv this is due to my entry a few days ago about my admiration of that advert. So it turns out i'm still blogging to a select audience, but for all you meekat fans, heres another piccy! This is the stamp collecting new york meerkat.

Ok think that is about all she wrote so it's time to goooo.

Later peeps,

Dom the bad trader.

Ftops, Snow, Keano...

2009-02-04T23:04:00.000-08:00

This week, and next week I intend to be mostly playing FTOPS. The prize pools are huge and i'd rather like a share in one of them, oh yes indeed.

Because of my damn knee which i still havent got xrayed i am basically housebound right now. Left my snow covered front step today for a newspaper, but was perma worried about slipping over and further damaging the damn thing. Still it means im getting alot of volume in for the poker and sports trading. This week one has gone well while the other has slipped a bit, as usual its tricky to get both rosy at the same time. One day!!

I am well chuffed to see robbie back at spurs, cannot believe how badly benitez treated him. Was overjoyed with everton's win last night if only for that. If i was a liverpool fan i'd be seriously wondering if i had the right manager in charge of my club. Gerrard's injury last night was almost certainly down to being overworked, too many average scouse players imo, meaning the likes of stevie g and torres have to be superhuman.

Alas this weekend i wont be going to dtd less i stage a remarkable recovery, so ill be looking 4ward to watching the lord of the rings trilogy uli bought me for xmas. I'll play online anyway and aim for a march mission to the notts place. Again my brain has collapsed and all the hands i wanted to discuss seem to have vanished. Lots of bad beats i could discuss but thats just dull.

Laters peeps,

Dom.

Compare the meerkat.com...

2009-02-03T07:51:00.000-08:00

Love that advert, above is the poker playing meerkat from london.

Also a fan of the churchill adverts, esp the roy walker one, 'It's good but it's not right...I ordered a korma!

Ok that's 99% percent of the non poker content in this blog, and boy do i need to get out more! My knee is getting xrayed this week, i want to go dtd this weekend, but its not looking promising.

The stts are going very well right now, i just need to make sure i keep improving as normally ppl catch onto my style after a month or 2 winning on a site and i go from big winner to break even. Cardrunners and books ftw maybe, obv a bit of pokertracker too.

Ftops is this week and i cant wait, i can really sense a huge score on the way, wanna get some wonga together to book vegas asap. This weeks lovely weather has left me chomping at the bit to see some sunshine and what better place than vegas.

Few strange hands recently id like to talk of, but ive forgotten em, so next blog will sort this. Infact my brain has froze, so think ill blog tmrw or thurs in more detail.

Laters peeps,

Dom

Never as good as you think, or as bad...

2009-01-28T18:31:00.001-08:00

Tonight I won a Gukpt package worth $2500. Poker overall has been going well, as has the sports betting of late. So overall things are gooooood.

However, as i read in a magazine article recently:

"Your'e never quite as good as you think you are when winning, nor as bad when losing."

This statement could have been written about me, as it describes me perfectly. So although on a good run right now, i'm awaiting the blow up/downswing with relish. Well at least i'm not dreading it. Like a squirrel i'm saving all winnnings for the countless rainy days that will occur soon enough, so that i don't have to join the real world and actually get a job.

Whilst reading other people's blogs of late i've noticed how they can nicely deviate from only droning on about poker, poker, poker, to other more interesting subjects. This is something i need to learn, as otherwise this blog like myself, will become burnt out.
So in my next piece i will attempt to unravel mysteries of our times, political strategies for the future and i shall furiously debate climate change. In reality ill probably talk sports a bit more.

On that note i'm very proud of my ew wager on aston villa at 200-1. For once some fatherly advice given to me was heeded and we shared the bet. Don't honestly think they'll finish in front of united, but arsenal-yeah no worries, liverpool-no reason y not and chelsea aren't exactly pulling up trees.

Next week i know a few ppl are flying off to vegas for the latest venetian deepstack. In an ideal world i'd go too, but roll restrictions and my bleeding buggered up knee will stop this. Still i cannot wait for vegas in the summer and am going to book my flights as soon as i decide how long/schedule etc.

Last year i stayed in 3 diff hotels and found it a bit tough to live that way. Either i'll park myself in one place this year or i'll rent an apartment or something. Problem with that is i dont really want to have to make meals and stuff all the time. We'll see on that one.

This weekend is the rendevous brighton jan sales main event, it looks a cracker. I wont be attending due to prev mentioned reasons, but will be cheering on a few mates. My next live poker is looking like the dtd weekend a week on saturday. Not been there 4 ages and am chomping at the bit to play some poker in such a luxurious card room again. Space between tables and decent service-us ex gutshotters aren't used to that, well cert not the space bit.

Ok i've gone on enough, i'll prob blog again around the weekend. Sunday night is the superbowl and i am not sure who to bet on yet. One thing's for sure-it should be a cracker!

Laters peeps,

Dom.

An image at last..........

2009-01-24T19:14:00.000-08:00

Just thought id try and figure out how to put images on this blog, and what better image than those chips which i always seem unable to attain!

This is only a quick, quirky post from yours truely. I'm laid up right now with my knee so i've been grinding it out proper online. Stts, mtts, they sound like sexual diseases, but they actually have been going okay of late.

Tightening up my game has always been something i've known that i had to do. Yet until this last couple of months, maniac blow ups have been something of a speciality. Nowadays i still like to bluff, just not as much, and certainly not against certain people.

The more i play, the more i realise how easy poker is, and how complicated i have made it in the past. The lack of booze in my system is providing clearer images in my mind, and i'm not seeing three aces in my holdem hole cards anymore. Obv that never happened btw!

Okay i'm gonna fly but before i do that i best put another image in just to show off!

The bracelet is something i want this year anyway, but who doesn't. Lastly thank you for all your 'kind' comments on my injury, you guys are leg-ends.

Laters peeps,

Dom.

Comedy dom....

2009-01-18T03:27:00.000-08:00

Firstly i'm now 0/8 for GUKPT Cashes and day 2's made. Secondly I have damaged my knee and am laid up for a few days, and thirdly I am a twat. :)

Thursday started off well with confidence booming. Moves/strategies were already developing in my head while i enjoyed a soft drink or two at the bar, while snaffling sausage rolls from the blue sq buffet.

Arriving at my table i saw jerome bradpiece and adam vinson were the only players i knew. It soon became apparent a young lad nameed Ramsey from the vic was a def danger, and he had position. Yet the others were rocks and fish, overall a very nice table.

As the table ran uber tight early on i started to play most hands, i felt that there was a huge edge in playing small pots with most of these players. However, as is often the case in these events I managed to bluff of a few k early doors when there was no real need to.

*Note to self*
Firing barrels against a gibraltor aint the cleverest move when safe cards, not scare cards keep rolling off the streets.

Then i ran top pr into a set and was semi-slow rolled. Actually it was a def slow roll, just think he didn't realise it as he kept doing it all day. My river call in this hand was appaulling and within 2 hours i'd decimated 10k into 2000. I'd built the pot needlessly on the turn which made me feel commmited on the river.

Came back after a good chat with alex and immediately started rebuilding. Showing 'great' skill i conjoured up kings twice...and took down the 75-150 blinds. Again my powers of magic brought another premium and this time in the bb to a btn 4x rse. His kq felt commited against my bullets, which held up.

From then onwards i played very well for 90% of the rest of the day. I played most hands, actually getting scolded by an opponent for 'raising every single hand'. I felt brilliant, i'd got under ppl's skin, now i'd get a stack. Soon enough i was on 20k from a series of 3 and 4bets, squeezes and general solid plays. Then a key moment arose.

Folded to my sb i rsd with aq at 200-400, with just ramsey calling in the bb. Flop was 679 with two clubs. I have no club, no pair, but i felt the cbet was the way to go for a few reasons against such a tricky player. He flatted and something about the way he did so made me very wary and i wasn't sure if i even wanted to hit the turn.

Of crse the ace of hearts rolled off and I checked, i know with straight and flush draws there's a case for protecting my newfound hand, but not only is it almost face up, it may be already beat, or drawing dead. He checked behind, but i'm still ubercautious, though i feel with a set and 2 pair he has to bet, so i'm thinking now he has either a flush or strt draw or a pair thats now counterfitted, or even air-having floated, but now scared from the ace.

So the queen of hearts rolls off giving me the nut 2 pair, yet why do i still dislike my hand? Check it, my instincts scream, you'll just scare off the worst hand, and find action from a set, he can't bluff this river too big imo, but a check might induce a small one. Instead i value bet like 2750 into 7k and after due consideration he shoves for about 7 more. Getting 2-1 on the pot dsnt matter, how is he ever bluffing this river? Also the table is being broken after this hand, and i have about 14k back, everything screams fold to me.

I start talking aloud, something i often do on such a crucial decision. I cannot see what i beat bar a lesser 2 pair, or a busted flush or straight sraw. But he isn't value shoving with the 2 pair, and i think he's too good 4 the bluff move here, he know i've been hero calling all day long. I know i'm beat...he has set of 7s, yeah that's it....ok i call.

My atrocious 'reasoning' paid off his 58 suited, which i believe had the flush draw too on the flop where he flopped the straight. Afterwards i knew if he checks the turn, he has to almost always have the strt if he's shoving the river, with all the draws out there, he must protect a set/2 pair. He played it well, and i bad, simple.

My next table looks scary with a pro in every seat. However, i soon turn my 6k bowl with blinds at 3-6 into 26k through a series of card catches and general aggression. Bar tony phillips the table is playing tight. Here is when i have my 'blow up' which stops me getting a nice stack for day 2 and causes much annoyance on my part for not paying full attention.

There is a limp utg from perhaps the worst player on the table (i don't see this), i'm still stacking my chips after doubling up on the prev hand. Also i'm talking to tony who is two to my right. He makes it 2000 to play, now his normal raise is 2.5x the bb. So i rr to 6k with a10 in the coff, but i don't reaally care about my hand all that much, i'm just squeezing tony out. BB now shoves for 12k total. Oops,hand in the cookie jar time, limper folds as does tony. So now i'm getting like 7-2 as there is about 21k in there. I've just gotta pray he has kings and 3 outs, which he does and they hold. Paying attention ALL of the time is something i must learn.

Now with 14k and blinds at 4-8 i go totally card dead with mark goodwin on my immediate left also short. All lag l8 moves are now tougher with him expected to repop very light. So i bleed down to 11k when my table is broken, and i move with blinds at 500-1k.

First hand i'm +1utg when jack powell and his huge stack raises utg, i have 7s and fold due to the pos, he claims queens. Then in my bb i am raised by the tightish coff. He was on my table earlier and often open limps oop with aq/k and always raised with mid pairs, while doing a bit of both with higher pairs. Bar his flexibility in how he plays hands i'd say overall he has quite a weak passive game, and i veiw him as a tight player, also he is short too. His raise is small to 2400, this rings a bell as he did so earlier with a mid pair. I have a8 in the bb, against most players i insta shove here as i've fold equity against air and can be ahead of the average range in this spot.

Here at 12am i decide i've worked too hard to flip without thought, and decide to bleed call and see a flop where i'll re-evalute. This is ridic, just shove or fold. Anyway flop is 8k2, i check as don't want him to fold worst hand, and can't bluff bet here, he cbets i shove, and he has ak. But this wasn't the key hand, the a10 sqze was.

The night didn't finish there as after being ko'd i decided for one night only i'd 'forget' my no drinking and drown my sorrows. So we went to a club and did shots b4 arriving bk at the casino at 4am. Then the most stupid thing ever hpnd. While leaving the blackjack table as the place was closing about 5ish, (there is a story about that table which i'll tell another time) I twisted my leg and collapsed in agony. The staff thought i'd broke it, so did i, but i hadn't. As i hobbled out of the grov i reflected on how i wanted the day to end, surprisingly this wasn't it.

The next day the hospital confirmed i'd injured my knee and prob had internal bleeding. The pain is a killer and i can't properly walk for a few days. Marv. So now i'm back home and bk to the grind.

Laters peeps,

Dom

Unlucky 13........

2009-01-14T14:23:00.000-08:00

Pretty upset right now, as you might have guessed from this title, I busted 13th in the 300 dble chance today. I managed to sneak into the cash for a measly 450 english pounds. Certainly not what i'd hoped for when the day started.

Early on i managed to lose a couple of flips, and decline a huge coin throw with jacks against a clear ak. Bar the knaves good cards were hard to find and i grew frustrated. Bluffing was a way to gain a release and i was picked off. Now shortish and soon to be in shove mode i lost another flip before i was forced to push with ace rag from the coff. My ace on the river no match for the rivered flush for my oppos pckt fours.

So bk to the drawing board for the main event tmrw. I'll gladly win some flips then.

Laters peeps,

Dom.

Brighton Day 2....

2009-01-13T21:03:00.000-08:00

Today went a great deal better than yesterday. For a start I actually picked up kings twice and even aces once too. However, these hands did not get paid off, bb specials like 63 suited and those magic ducks were golden. As it's 5 am i'll do a very brief report.

Turning up at 755 for an 8pm start, I should have known grovesnor would start their tournie as usual half an hour late, without a word-not even a brief sorry. The 300 squid dble chance seemed right up my street. My first table was full of pros, but luckily i had position on extra specially tricky players like Sam Trickett. Before long i'd boosted my stack to 22k by the first break, without ever really being in danger of busting.

My table broke and i played many hands at my new abode, quickly doubling my stack, so that by 11ish i had 3 times the average with 45k. Another table broke saw me bust shortie after shortie, sucking out on a couple of occasions, to the severe dimay of my foes, who really couldn't get my style.

I had two more table breaks (4 in all) and i stalled for a couple of hours yoyoing between 40 and 70k. Finished on 64k with about 25/148 starters coming back tmrw afternoon. Average is around 40k with blinds at 800-1600 and a running ante i believe of 100.

So alls good and i'll uopdate after taking it down tmrw afternoon/evening.
My mate alex is also still in with a healthy 52k after being close to the felt a few times. Bad luck he's only playing for second!

Laters peeps,

Dom.

Respect brutha....

2009-01-12T19:26:00.000-08:00

Here's a report from day 1 of the brighton gukpt festival week:

Via a couple of thankfully pretty empty trains, I arrived into a very wet and windy brighton at half past four, just in time to pop into the books to watch a nag i had an interest in...or so i thought.

Naively deciding a walk in the hurricane drenched streets of hove was preferable to a warm and cosy cab, i soon faced the prospect of being without sight. My glasses were so wet through i could barely recognise buildings, let alone a bookies. So i missed the race, arrived at my hotel seriously soaked and found out my horse had been given the donkey of the meeting award.

No matter, i'm here to play poker so i settled down into my plush-ish hotel and fired up a sit and go. Finished 2nd for a small profit quickly changing both clothes and mindset, ready for the casino and a live poker battle.

After almost being blown into the sea on the 2 minute walk to the Grovesnor, i arrived ready for action. Drank a few oj's and ate a dubious buffet. Enjoyed meeting up with some circuit chums and chatted.....bla bla bla.

My first table in the 200 was cramped to say the least. Being 6'4 and 15 stone means being cooped up in the ten seat, while the nice man on the table behind backs into your chair....isn't great, but i digress.

Bar nick persaud,a guy from luton and some circuit reg, i didn't know anyone on this initial table. With a 6k starting stack and 25-50 opening blinds there was lots of play to follow. The action started off slow with me raise/folding a bit. Then i ko'd a player who really shouldn't be playing 20 quid tournie's let alone 200's.

Cruisng along with 100 bb's at 50-100 with a smooth 45 min structure i was v.happy with the flow. Then i ran into the table cardrack and did a couple of k. But fight on i did and without cards i scraped and stole. When the table was broken i had almost 10k again and the blinds were still just 150-300.

My new table seemed a bit more aggro with one player far too laggy. I decided to target him as my double up/ free ride. Unfortunately the cards had other ideas,93, 72,59 not hands you wanna 4bet too much. Yeah others were isolating the cod with wide ranges. Eventually a little frustrated i was overjoyed with the chance to squeeze.

Mr cod- 'i only raise with filth/mod hands and limp with ak/jj', raises to 900 from hj, solid net type tag flats, i see 77 in sb. Instant shove for me with 8500 back and loadsa fold equity with the next level upcoming (2/400 and antes kicking in meaning i somewhat lose this 'move'. Instant call from laggy with 99 for half his stack was unexpected, the btn fold of js10s standard. Flop was no help, nor the rub down cod delivered.

'All in 77...madness, u can't bluff me boy' basically the jist.

Yeah mate u called off half yr stack with that after id folded 4 england waiting for such a situation.

'Respect brutha' was his parting shot, **** *** brutha was my delightful repsonse.

All in all a fun enough evening, with 145 runners, finishing 70th not ideal.
Yet wouldn't change how i played, especially with the cards i was dealt in the 4 hours i played.

Confidence is still high and despite the odd offer -and polite decline of said offers- of beverages of the alcoholic sort, i'm still more sober than ever.

Looking 4ward to the 300 dble chance tues evening, i'll prob report on that weds afternoon after taking it down.

Ok i guess it's that time...

Laters peeps,

Dom.

Off to brighton...

2009-01-11T18:59:00.000-08:00

It's 3am and i should be asleep right now. But brighton gukpt week starts monday evening and i'm really looking 4ward to it.

I've booked into a nice hotel 4 a cple of nights, and have got all the staking i needed for the 3 events i am playing. I'll be bringing the lappie to grind out the stt's during the days and i cannot wait.

The no drinking is still going ok. Had a dodgy moment sunday afternoon when i was dying 4 a beer, yet i managed to resist the tempatation. The real test of crse will come this week when if i suffer a beat, i'll have to drown my sorrows with an oj or a pint of milk...rather than a pint and a chaser.

Football this weekend was so close to a really good one 4 me. I did sunderland, west ham and forest in singles and a trixie. Only forest copped yet the other two shoulda coulda...but didn't. Oh well still on the beans rather than the caviar this week. Also had a cple of small ew dbles which if they'd copped wlda coulda been kkkkkkkkkkk's all over the place for mr kay here, instaed they were the usual 1st and 2nd by a sh.

Been playing stt's since thursday with a new roll and a new purpose. Things are looking good right now, as long as i realise its all about variance i shall defeat them very easily i can tell u. Oh yeeeeees.

Ok so monday is the 200 event in brighton which will be won by me. I'll post a winner's report in a coupla days.

Laters peeps,

Dom.

Happy new year...

2009-01-07T14:46:00.000-08:00

I've been reading quite a few blogs over the last week.

Most seem to promise brave resolutions and hopeful goals for 2009. Personally i'd only break them so i wont bother. Bar one for this month. As hinted about in previous posts, i've been a bit worried about overdoing it on the booze, especially at poker festivals around the country. Not only has it caused me to lose money, but i've got out of shape and generally made a fool of myself. Thus im detoxing for jan, and staying 100 percent off alcohol.

Febuary may follow similar lines dependant on how i feel. Right now it's pretty easy but its only been a week!

So how has the poker been going since new year? Quite average i'd say. My bread and butter stt's which were going well up to xmas have started to kick me in the face. Bubble, bubble toil and trouble. That's me right now, i cannot cash in em. I've done my full tilt roll and have a bowl in pokerstars to play with. Still it's all variance, and i really haven't analysed my stt game 4 quite a while, so i shall, and will be back soon enough. The standard is terrible. But my roi of 13% just aint good enough right now.

Mtt's have been mainly low stakes. I've final tabled alot over the last week but just for minor cashes, last night i managed to take down a 100+runner midnight mtt on crypto. Just a few ton but it all helps, and right now i need every penny. Living in london is just soooo expensive.

The crossroads has arriven again as the bills have gone out over xmas and new year. To pay everything all over again in feb i either need some more results soon or ill have to get a job. The money i won early last month has almost all gone already. My problem is i have no ability to save 4 a rainy day, i always think it will be sunny. And im just too generous when most of the world is tighter than a duck's ass.

So Decembers early promise seems years ago and i'm struggling for funds again. The problem is jobwise all i want to do is play poker or sports bet. No change there then hey?? :)

However, i may have to bite the bullet and start viewing the job pages. Yet to do what i have no real idea. Literally i'd have no clue, might try an agency or something. But i really don't want to have to do this.

Therefore i must make sure i can use my limited roll to get a result this month, for example Brighton gukpt is next week. But again the events are beyond my bankroll. So i'm going to try and get staked for as many events as possible. They have quite a few events that look tasty. I just know the average standard will be atrocious, so i should fit right in:)

Seriously I gen believe my mtt game is as good as ever right now, my confidence in that variant is uber high. Playing 4 someone else, sober, could also help install much needed discipline in my life. I've never had much of that, but i guess a real job could give me this as well. But early mornings and early nights....im a poker player!

A friend recently told me i moan too much in this blog. And i do, just like in real life moaning/sarcastic musing is soothing. But i'll quit while im behind for now.

Ok all stakers are welcome for brighton gukpt week.

This is the schedule.

I'm planning on playing the 200/300/1k events. Total buys ins are 1610 inc reg fees. I'd like to sell all the shares ideally in ten percent blocks of 160 quid. The deal will be, 70 percent returns from any prizemoney after your stake is returned.

My hendonmob profile is here, and i'm not a bad bet:)

EDIT- Just sold the lot I believe. So thats good. I'll update how i get on next week from brighton.

Laters peeps,

Dom.

2008 Review

2008-12-30T19:08:00.000-08:00

Here's a brief month by month assesment of the year from my perspective:

January
-------

Went to brighton for the gukpt festival week. Stayed in possibly the coldest hotel ever, and cashed only once in a rebuy event down the rendevous. Probbaly enjoyed the social side of the tour more than the poker finishing down quite a bit.

Online things went ok with a cple of sat wins, but overall nothing spectacular.

Cant remember much else from jan.

Febuary
-------
Went to walsall for gukpt week with no success whatsoever. Played poorly all week and drank far too much. (pattern appearing for those observant)

Also had a much needed break in lanzarote with the gf, capped by spurs winning the league cup i had a wicked time.

March
-----

Had a nice score down the empire in a 500 event for a few k. It was really appreciated as things hadn't been going great in the year so far.

Gukpt week in the vic was another bad week for moi.

Online things were just average.

May have been to dtd this month but can't remember any worthwile results, was starting to really like that place by now though.

April
-----

This month was kinda crazy. Went to dtd for the norweigan poker champs, i can still remember the hangover(s). Great week even if pokerwise a non starter.

Played my first Gala events in nottingham and cashed twice. The main event was a sickener though when i really threw away a chance of a great score by letting my ego get in the way, still was very happy for mr keys with his 2nd place.

The mad poker month concluded with manchester gukpt week. I played very badly this week and again enjoyed the social side of the tour a bit too much, still had a great time.

May
---

This was a real grind of a month online. Spent countless hours trying to qualify for the wsop main event online(unsucessfully), playing stt's and mtt's all day long to build a decent roll for vegas. Managed to fit in a week in newcastle for the gukpt week which passed by again without success. Had a minor cash at the gutshot festival and won a live sat there for a small wsop package which i sold.

June/july
---------

Managed to take down the 100 rebuy on stars in a chop, which helped boost my vegas roll.

Vegas was everything it always is, and i more or less loved it. Just wished id played a bit better. Did a couple of chops in smaller events but left my A game truely at home in the bigger ones when i played badly tbh. 5 weeks was a bit much perma in a hotel and im not sure id do that again. Won a last min wsop sat which was a real bonus. Playing the main for the 3rd year running meant a lot to me. Getting to day 2 with a reasonable stack was gr8, my day2 performance still hurts.

Made some good friends over there though and i still miss the place. Roll on june 09.

August
------

Luton gukpt week went badly, played horribly in the main event and my game was in a real crisis of confidence. Bankroll wise i was struggling too. For the first time in a while i wondered if poker was right for me.

Gutshot's last festival week was enjoyable without any results.

September
---------

Wsope main event went well on day 1 with me bluffing joe hachem and getting a nice enough stack. Day2 was a disaster from the get go, i just cldnt stop bluffing and was getting picked off easily enough. I am determined to play better in this next year, i want another big ft, and why not this one again?

Gave the gukpt bolton a miss, the first one id missed in months, but a rest was nice.

October
-------

Failed to sat into the ept london which hurt and also had to miss the thanet gukpt due to roll reasons. A very quiet month pokerwise spent mainly online with mixed results, things were def a little stale.

November
--------

Flew to miami for the cpc cruise and had a great time, poker and a holiday rolled into one is always goooooood. No real results on the boat, but my game was better than ever imo. Confidence was back.

December
--------

This month has flown by. The luton cash at the start of the month was as important to me in someways as the Wsope 07 result. Moneywise it was just as important, and confirming my newfound confidence was vital. Live poker has def got my juices flowing again.

Also this monnth confirmed to me what i already knew, that i need to stop boozing so much. So in the new year im gonna have some serious time on the wagon and def hit the gym a great deal. Lifestyle choices are going to be made in more detail. I may even get a real job next year, if only to learn the real value of money again.

Laters peeps,

Dom

Happy xmas...

2008-12-24T05:24:00.000-08:00

As the title says, happy christmas everybody.

Next week i'm going to do a month by month review of this year, should be a interesting read-especially for me!

I'm currently about to go last minute shopping...as always very well prepared in my household.

Laters peeps,

Dom.

Ty betfair

2008-12-16T08:15:00.001-08:00

My post from the 7th of december has been put on the betting@betfair site. The link has now replaced the majority of that post...to see my ugly mug and the rest of the post just click on the 'read more' link from that date. Though i'm sure 'both' of you that read this blog will have already read the post. Oh well! :)

Laters peeps

Dom

Seaside adventure...

2008-12-12T09:41:00.000-08:00

It must be something to do with the sea, first miami and the caribbean...then brighton. Yeah right the only comparison is that i played poker both times.

I've just come back from a trip to brighton yesterday for a 100 f/o. While high flyers on the circuit are larging it up in prague for the EPT i'm slumming it in the bargain basement tournies, still this should teach me some roll lessons i sorely need.

Heard about this tournie at the last minute, brighton grovesnor have a mini winter festival this week, nice enough structures with a standard of play i shall describe as just not very damn good.

A 30 min clock with 10k starting stack, this gave a nice bit of play early on, although the antes kicked in very late. Rocks, rocks, rocks, yeah you'll find them on brighton beach, here i had them on my starting table. So i decided to get jiggy early on playing 90 percent of the hands in the first couple of levels, meeting little resistance. I should have accumulated a huge stack early doors, but i bluffed the wrong guy a cple of times too many.

One amusing hand occured early on with an old cirucit know it all. He allowed me to get in cheap on the button when i flatted the coff pre rse with kj. Old circuit obv had a large hand pre in the bb but didn't raise after a big dwell as he wanted to trap me, oop 3 handed...beautiful. Think he had queens actually.

Anyway flop came down q102 giving me an up and down, oldie checks, coff cbets, i flat, oldie more or less min raises, coff folds and i flat. Turn brings a blank, there was also a heart flush draw out there on the flop. He checks, lovely i check too, river brings me the bingo,lingo, nutz non heart 9 and oldie checks again. Now i know this guy is 'trap checking' 100 percent honestly hes that bad. Obv ive been betting A LOT. So i fire out the pot knowing he'll insta/even rr with his o/pr set hes played horribly. True enough he goes to shove, then thinks better and just flats, nutz i claim and off he starts...

He berates me for my flat of his raise on the flop, what a terrible call bla bla...
Unfortunately i rise to his bait and try to educate him, eventually realising...he doesn't understand odds etc...so no matter move on. Not with me though, i give as good as i get oops....table now on tilt...lovely :)

I had one or two beers while playing and boosted my argument quto even past it's usual 2-3 line. So from now on i aint drinking booze whilst playing for a good while. Simple. I'm now mr soft drink at the tables.

In the tournament i lost huge pot early on for the mass chip lead with jj v ak ak and 9s, ace first out. Bowl of rice turned into a stack again tho and i was vul to lose aanother monster pot in blind v blind making a good call with aj v the huge q4...golden qq on flop.

Hopefully be back in brighton for gukpt next month, and one of these days ill talk about something interesting in this blog...yawn im even boring myself...

Laters peeps,

Dom

Wow.....a result

2008-12-07T19:36:00.000-08:00

It's 330am right now and i just can't sleep, so thought i'd blog a bit. I've finally had a result on the live poker scene once again. It came about most unexpectedly too, which made it all the sweeter.

Read more...

Need to blog...

2008-11-29T11:11:00.000-08:00

Well i meant to do a huge blog the other day all about the cpc and how stuff is for me right now. But i just haven't been able to do it. This freezing weather is zapping all energy i have and i am just ultra lazy right now....big change there then. Thus this will be another shortie, one of these days i'll get round to a proper 'deep' blog, even with piccys and stuff...but who knows when.

I was down the international the other night. Played the 50 quid 20 min clock f/o. Felt the structure got a bit shooty and you just gotta win flips all day long to get to the ft, i didnt and thus busted midway-no probs. What was a problem was my angry reaction to a young kid giving me a rub down after i'd lost a flip to him. Berating me for my call this fish decided to state what a great player he was and how bad i was, in a most eloquent manner of course. Sarcasm alert.

This sorta thing is something i've seen time and time again in much bigger tournies, and from more intimidating foes. Here i should have just brushed it aside even encouraging his ill informed opinion- why educate the thick and all? Except here i launched into my own tirade telling him to shut up and how dare he give me a rub down etc. I went OTT and displayed to myself why right now poker aint going great. Like i said to a friend of mine recently, i think of my game as part rolls royce and part skoda- scattered about all over the place. This was def the latter.

Small sports betting mention to end with.

Looking 4ward to united/city and chelsea arsenal tmrw, fancy the draw in both actually. If just one comes in profit, if both....partytime! :)

Laters peeps,

Dom.

Back home

2008-11-25T06:11:00.000-08:00

Well i expected it to be cold but to say i felt it was icey would be the understatement of the year. Ok i kinda shouldn't have waltzed around london with my flip flops and dolph jumper (no coat)...i mean it aint the caribbean now is it?? Boo.

The flight back was ok, managed some much needed kip while also finally watching the batman film starring heath ledger. Was very impressed by him-god it's sad he died so young. However, wasn't hugely impressed by the film as a whole, finding it very confusing in parts.

I want to do a huge and i mean huge blog on stuff, but need some more sleep now, tmrw 4 sure.

Laters peeps.

A very tired Dom.

Quick update...

2008-11-23T15:24:00.000-08:00

Ok i'm back in miami after the cruise. Flying home tmrw after an up and down week. I'm looking 4wrad to seeing my gf and home again, but i'll miss a few things like the weather.

Pokerwise things didn't go great. I managed to sat into the main event yet busted that in 38th shy of the money-19 places paid, and that was the closest i really came all week to a score. Until the last two events i'd been so card dead it was an absolute joke. Yet i'd played better than i had in months, getting my money in pretty good mostly and generally getting spewed on by the deck. For example i busted the 400 event after c betting then 4 betting allin a 10 high flushing flop with an up/down strt flush draw, recieving a dubious call from 107 by the bb defender, of crse i missed, standard.

However, the first hour or so of the main event went swimmingly until my table was broke, this kinda semi tilted me. The dynamic of my original table had been so good i'd quickly accumulated without breaking sweat. My new table was much tougher and i found cards like j3 repeatedly difficult to play.

My exit hand was a real weird one and i'll talk about it next post, quite sure a few ppl will call me fishy 4 playing it, but i had reasons.

The final 1k event was something i'd rather forget. Within an hour or so i must have held the chip lead with about dble the average and a flow going soooooooooo good. Concentration was soon broken AGAIN by a table break (something i just have to get over and used to asap) and i got involved with 57 std when i really shouldn't have, and although i came close to winning a huge pot with it, i was nearly felted by it when my oppo hit the river. His play was fine and actually good, mine was stubborn and too laggy 4 the structure and my stack.

Soon busted that and the poker was over for the week. And possibly for a long time.

Went to the dolphs pats game today, was great. I'll blog next when bk on tues, laters peeps.

Dom

CPC update

2008-11-17T15:39:00.000-08:00

Gotta be quick here peeps, internet costs about $1000 a minute. Actually seriously the cheapest package/rip off is $55 for 2 and a half hours.

Played the $270 super sat to the main event last night. With around 100 runners, and a strange $100 rebuy/add on thing going on it generated 16 seats. I played pretty well despite being card dead all night, eventually busting in 23rd at 4am, oh well.

Woke up early today for a bit of brekkie b4 the $300 midday fare. Here i struggled with the delights of 62 and j3 b4 hitting a kqq board with qj. All the money went in with my oppo holding aq, gg wp etc.

Tonight sees the $400 jobbie, will give that a crack, and i can categorically confirm i will win this. Serriously i'm that confident. Reads are going well, got the flow going, now if i could just catch some cards...

As for the ship it's kinda cool. Felt a bit sea sick last night as i adjusted to the the choppy movement of the boat, but it's all good.

Weather wasn't great today, but im sure puerto rico tmrw will be boiling. Hi to all bk home in sunny england. :)

Laters peeps,

Dom

Welcome to miami...

2008-11-15T17:33:00.000-08:00

Yep i'm in the USA waiting to hop on the CPC cruise tmrw, and ruddy well looking 4ward to it too.

Miami is warm, extremely warm, especially when you are used to the cold dreary london weather.

Arrived on friday only to be delayed yet again due to my 'fingerprint' issue which always occurs. It's so lol i won't even bother with the story, most mates kno this story anyway.

Then we jumped in a cab 4 the short ride to the days inn hotel, home 4 the next coupla days. 20 minutes later after driving around in circles, and 40 bucks poorer, i realised we'd been conned by a right ol' scoundral. Typical beats!

Today i bought a pair of trainers for 15 bucks, reebok too-nice. Tonight i'm thinking of watching the brock lesnar ufc fight over a cold beer. Then tmrw it's the cpc.

Really looking forward to getting on the boat and seeing the high seas. Will try and update on progress.

Laters peeps,

Dom.

Bad month...

2008-10-31T06:41:00.000-07:00

Well October hasn't exactly been a great month for me. Have struggled with form and the breaks just haven't gone for me. I think when you are playing bad you need that bit of luck, when you are neither playing well nor running well....ahem.

It's probably a delayed hangover from vegas and partly the WSOPE too. Confidence is SO SO important with me in poker and sports trading. I know it's a bit silly, especially as both formats lead to math based approaches, something i'm good with, i just guess it's all psychological.

Funny hands this month involve people calling allins on flop with two unders to my overpair and hitting strange combo draws that don't even appear possible untill close inspection. This one made me laugh.

I got it all in with queens on a j27 board. It was a sit and go with me and my oopponent deep stacked. I'd raised pre with ladies, got a call. Flop came down as mentioned, rainbow. I bet, he 3 bet, i shoved, he insta called-he was by no mean committed. His hand? 35 off suit. Turn 6, river 4-he makes a straight. Lol.

Having said that, it's not like i haven't been playing badly too, tho obv not quite as bad as that. My problems have been when i go mega deep and throw away huge chip leads as usual.

The other day for example. I have 63 in the bb. Laggy fishy mid pos in 6 max limps. I check. We have 30 left in this mtt and i'm chip daddy, but the blinds are getting big. Flop comes k63. I know this guy will bet if i check so i do, he complies and i check raise his. He insta calls, i'm pretty certain i up against k* now.

Turn brings the jack, i'm not crazy about this card as i felt it could have filled up his 2 pair but i bet anyway to keep control of the pot. He dwells for ages and finally calls.

River comes a blank like a 8. I now am not sure i have the best hand, i'm thinking if he had kj he rr's the turn but i'm also wondering if he did this to confuse me...and thus extract most value. There weren't any obv draws out there, and nothing filled on the river. So now i think i should check and see whet he does, i mean i have bottom two, hardly the nuts, nah i'll stick him in. He insta's with top two and i cripple myself.

Ended up bubbling that when an UBER donk manged to overplay q4 something chronic cracking my jacks.

Ooop kinda turned into a bad beat write up, but it's not that at all, i'm just wondering out loud why i always seem to get myself in these situations. I think bad street plays could be the answer. Back to the drawing board.

Taking some much needed time off poker for a cple of weeks anyway and going to do loadsa sports research. So my next blog may be all about that.

On a side note my last blog gave a pretty bad tip at the end of it, so i'll try and improve on it this time.

Laters peeps,

Dom.

Ps- I fancy spurs at about 3-1 to beat liverpool, may be biased here, but the confidence is back and i can really see us turning them over. Also may lay the pool on the win market if they r anywhere near the 11-10 books price.

Long time no post...

2008-10-17T22:06:00.000-07:00

Just realised it's been over a week since my last post, quite unlike me, i normally manage one blog a week.How superb of me. Seriously i've wanted to blog about stuff, but as i said last time out, i just haven't been able to. So what's been going on?

Not much really. Been a huge grind online the last week and really a tiring one. I've lowered my stakes due to roll restrictions and therefore instead of my usual 10-20 mtt's a session, costing near on a grand on occasion, i'm playing less tournies...with lower stakes. A normal tournie at the moment is the $30 rebuy on full tilt,and the numerous £20 crypto mtt's i used to literally win all the time.

Unfortunately full tilt has been it's usual...get the chip lead and donk it off staple dom diet, while crpto has been more fruitful. In two days i played like 8 or 9 mtt's. I final tabled 4 of them and although i didn't win once, i made a nice enough profit to warrant the grind in low stakes.

The structures aren't terrible, loadsa play early on, dead easy to accumulate, just gets a bit shooty near the final table, and then it can get really really crapshooty...my speciality!

If i'm honest i'd say again i shoulda made a few k this weak, but my meagre 4 figure profit will do in terms of a confidence booster...small acorns and all that. As i write i realise most of what i say in each blog is the same. Whine about money, poker and even whine about whining....i'm even doing it now for god's sake!

So from this moment onwards i'll be more positive, and will start to analyse hands more, in fact i'll start with one from the Wsope now, and one from last nite in an mtt...just for fun.

This years's Wsope really was an eye opener for my poker game. It showed me once again how little a difference there is between us mere 'mortals' and the so called 'big name pro's'. Most of the players i found to be my toughest opponents were online players, and i like to think i can play pretty good online...but this was live.

Okay so hand analysis time...

My main gripe (bar a horrible semi-bluff i'll recap in another blog) over my Wsope performance was my inability to extract the most chips from my premium holdings, and when i say that i don't mean aces, i mean when i turned straights and hit set's. I clearly 'overplayed' them, and here's an example. This isn't a key hand in this tournament, just something that i seem to do a great deal-playing too fast on rivers.

Day 1.

Second level i think, blinds 1-200.

On the button in multi limped pot I flop an up and down, holding j10 suited, Flop was q92 rainbow, i didn't have the backdoor flush draw. It's checked round to moi and i bet half the pot (600), and am check raised by the bb(2k), every1 folds bar me who flats obv.

He's a mid to late 20's scandi who plays pretty TAG as far as i've seen so far-although later on he got very LAG from the button constantly 3 betting, so he could have been on a move here, but at the time i genuinely believed he had a hand here, minimum jq, poss deuces as it was a limped pot with me on the btn and him in the bb. Turn comes the gin card...king..still rainbow.

He cleverly checks and i bet out, i don't like checking here as i think a lot of the time it gives away my hand. I prefer a bet, as if i was floating.Also i want him to check raise again-although i know this is highly unlikely. I also have to build the pot...pretty standard i'd say. I bet about half the pot (2500) and he insta calls and the river brings a rag that dsnt pair the board, i have the nuts.

Now this is a pretty big pot in relation to the blinds and obv i'm hoping he'll bet. But he doesn't and with say 10k in there and with us both having about 15-20k back and blinds at 100-200, i size up how much to bet. So i think about it. If i bet small, say 3kish i'll almost certainly get a call from any set, any overpair and 2 pair. But i think he'll fold moderate holdings here as i've shown strength by staying around after being 3 bet and leading the turn.

Yet if he calls the turn with these hands he would call a value bet on the river surely...the odds being huge and all. But i kept thinking if he's really good, he might be able to fold anything bar a set, even two pair, tho not kq to a value bet. Again an example of me 'overthinking' a rather easy situation. I should have just value betted, if he had air he folds or ck raises the turn.

What i'm really thinking now is an overbet might get a call here. I know how these players often think, as i think i play his hand similarly on occasion-especially if he has q9 or kq which i'd actually suspected on the turn. So i bet about 8500 hoping he'll see my play as a stubborn float and highly suspicious overbet and thus make a hero call, it happens online all the time right??!!

However he folds after a short dwell. Wasn't a key hand really, and i ended the day on 50k after few scares,i just think it's a hand representative of me not extracting enough from such a situation. It's a leak in my live game perhaps and worth noting.

Just to illustrate on day 2 almost exactly the same hand occurred, this time against a much tougher opponent, again with me holding the nuts, again i overbet the river and received no call. I think in both cases my opponent had a hand that snaps a value bet, and it's irritated me a bit, but hey closure is here.

Lastly here's a hand from a £30 rebuy on crypto i played and final tabled last night. First prize is £3.3k and a CPC trip worth $5k. 2nd is £2.2k, and third is £1100, 6th is £550. Basically, this tournie is massively top heavy and with 6 left i'm second in chips with 155k. Leader has 170k and average is about 110k, with the two shorties on about 50k.

Yeah it's become a bit shooty and blinds have just been raised to 4k-8k, with an ante of 500 or so and 15 minute levels. The average m is just 6 or 7. It's kind of push or fold, although i've been stealing a great deal makiing rss of under 2.5x the bb and finding little resistance. Of the other players on the table only 1 or 2 know what they are doing, unfortunately they happen to be the other 2 chip daddies. Okay so onto the hand.

Button(3rd in chips with 140k) rss to 24k, he's pretty agg from late pos, but normally merely doubles the blinds, something stinks a little bit. I'm sitting in the small with aq std. What's my move. If i flat i have 130k left and can see a flop before i decide to commit, after all my m is 10 and im not yet in push mode. Seeing as the raiser is one of the better players do i really need to flip with him? Much better to see the flop and decide then? Nah i think, my hand is huge in this spot and after about 1.5 seconds consideration i shove, he insta's and turns over 10s which hold. Now i'm crippled and my 7s lose to aj very next hand. I know it's just a small tournie with a top heavy pay structure, but still is it the right move, i'm not sure-maybe i've been watching too much phil hellmuth though if i'm questioning this.

It's a tendency to shove alll in which has cost me big style over the years, i'm sure ppl wait for my 'sqze move' to pick off and win the flip they want. Anyway as i write about this last hand it kind of convinces me in that tournie it's the standard correct play, trouble is it's again representative of losing flips in much bigger final tables when i've just won a bowl.

Wow i've really droned on so i'll stop now.

Laters peeps,

Dom.
Ps- got a feeling all the internationals over the last week could really hurt the big clubs this weekend, in fact i've permed everton, boro and wigan at huge prices. Especially with the champions league in the week i can really see liverpool slipping up without torres, and i think cech will be a big miss for chelsea. Hopefully everton can do a hull on arsenal too. Beers on me if they all cop!

Recap....

2008-10-08T09:43:00.000-07:00

Recently i just haven't felt like writing. I have wanted to explain how the wsope main event went, but not enough to actually do so.

Pokerwise confidence is quite low at the moment, i need a boost.

I've been playing online a great deal the last week. Same old story. I've gone mega deep after seizing chip leads and playing great, before playing uber-stupid and mostly missing the money. Total cashes have been less than a grand, i should have cleared ten grand easy.

It's all psychological with my poker game. It's not that i can't,dont know how...it's that i don't have the patience nor the common sense to deal with mtt's for hours on end. I genuinely believe it might even be down to a problem with physical fitness making me tired. So i'm joining a gym soon as, starting to swim and am going to get back on the squash court for the first time in donkeys years.

If after all this i'm still playing like an idiot i'll take a great deal of time out of the game. I love poker, i really do. But i'm starting to get depressed with my barren spell right now. Poker is a very lonely game, especially in the middle of the night when you bust out after donking off youyr chips to an uber donk who cant even spell poker, as mr hellmuth might say.

So onto the wsope...so many hands to discuss, so much self bearting to do...will have to wait till tmrw.

Laters peeps,

Depressed Dom.

Out...

2008-09-30T10:01:00.000-07:00

Yeah busted the wsope main event yesterday around 6ish. Will write a detailed blog, including some hands, probably tomorrow. Quite down right now, but am hoping james keys can do a little better. Will be railing from the comfort of my computer, the guy has a great game and a lot of confidence.

Laters peeps,

Dom.

50K Day 1A....

2008-09-28T13:38:00.000-07:00

Helloooo.

Well it's weird how i've swiftly moved through to day 2 on a nice above average stack after the year i've had. After 7 GUKPT'S with no day 2's, im 2/2 on wsope's. Of course this means nothing yet, and boy is there much work to do.

So here's how my day went, obviously won't go into huge detail incase any potential tablemates stumble onto this page, unlikely i know, yet worth being careful.

Sat down 15 minutes late after a rather hectic few minutes after arriving late to the casino. Registering i was scolded for an ID issue, which though resolved was no perfect start. I then changed into the rather nice luminous bluey shirt and set about the day.

My opening table was a mixed bag. I once again encountered the very solid Ted lawson (over $2 million in cashes-and a wsop bracelet), he was on my first table last year, but this time i had the all important position. Max Pescatori was also briefly around before busting, yet the other players were pretty TAG and unknown to me. Basically it was a very nice table to have.

Some poor bloke departed my table within 20 minutes when he was unable to lay down the 4th nut flush on a flushing board, that trumped by the 3rd nuts, both hands perhaps overplayed so deep i'd suggest.

The table got much much harder when chris moorman arrived having doubled up early on another table. Over the day we tangled a few times, something perhaps familiar to last year's tournie early on with a mr tabatabai. Like john he has a great game and is very, very tricky.

Eventually my table got moved to the tv area and were greated by a fellow named Joseph Hachem. I won a nice pot off him with a flush arriving on the river, a hand that i felt proved key as i was somewhat 'off form' for a few hands previously. After that encounter i barely lost another hand and built up from my 25k stack to 50k through a variety of steals, hands holding up and general preflop aggression.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow yet need to get a good night's kip as i expect about 175+ players to be left. It's as if i'm starting all over again, which is fine by me.

Laters peeps,

Dom.

Playing Day 1A....

2008-09-24T07:09:00.000-07:00

Just found out i'm starting the WSOPE main event on saturday Day 1a. Quite pleased with that as it mean's if I get through the first day i get a day off rather than having to play through.

Going to write a proper blog in next day or two, right now bit busy.

Laters peeps,

Dom.

Stuff.....

2008-09-17T08:29:00.000-07:00

Hello all. The last week has been a bit busy. I went out friday night for my birthday, had a nice meal, although the staff at the italian were a little weird. They took a whole 20 minutes to ask if we wanted drinks, and reacted as if i'd broken expensive china when i knocked over a cheap vase, placed clumisly by the side of the table.

Pokerwise it just aint really happening. I need to start analysing hands a bit more as i'm not really playing my A game right now, which is something i need to rectify b4 the WSOPE. Talking of the WSOPE i played a sat for the £1500 side event down the empire last night.

A £50 dealer dealt rebuy brought a 70 player field, with 6 and a half seats available. Early on i realised the average standard on my table was atrocious. Unfortunately, I kind of contributed to the sub-average play. I had decided to play reasonably loose in the rebuy stage as i knew after the break the structure would become a little shooty. I had enough snarlers in my wallet for 3 rebuys and an add on, and i needed every last quid. Didn't win a showdown in the rebuy stage, either finding semi-bluffs snapped off and missing, or losing races with junk. Not finding premium hands shouldn't be a prioblem yet it seemed it.

After the break with 6k in chips I found bluffing was impossible against bad players who slowplayed top pairs to death like it were the nuts, ignoring all draws as if non existent. Reverting to ABC i doubled up with kings after someone got a bit jiggy with a medium pair. Quickly bluffed off most of those chips before with a shooty structure left me with 7200 and 6-1200 blinds and UTG.

Now with 40 left and an average of about 15k i knew a double up wld give me a real chance in the crapshoot. but i didn't feel i could allow myself to go through the blinds. The BB had half his stack in the blind so i reasoned any hand with prospects would be an auto for me, just didn't like my position. I looked down to see A9 off suit and quickly shoved it in. Mid position woke up with AK and that was it, i would have beaten the BB tho as his 47 missed. Now i'm not sure if in a sat i should def shove here. Yet with blinds going up in 5 mins and 6 bb's with an m of 4 i kinda think its pretty standard. I think.

Returning home b4 midnight i felt unsatisfied by my poker's night work and thus fired up my laptop. Quickly busted in 2 sit and go's-my bread and butter too. So decided to change tack and play one MTT on crypto and one rebuy on tilt. Ended up 2nd in the crypto one for a few ton and 11th in the full tilt-amazingly deep rebuy. Was happy with the crypto result, especially as i didn't play great in it, and i've won a lot in that particular tourney over the year.

However, the full tilt result was upsetting. 268 runners in a $20 rebuy brought a $4k first prize. I looked odds on for this as i soon gained the chip lead holding on until 20 out. Yet now my steals became obvious and i started to get 3 bet all the time. Eventually i cracked and played an horrific hand with 11 out. Sitting in 7th with 70k and an avergae of 100k, i was 2nd to act on a 5 handed table. The UTG player raised to 9k,(blinds were 1500-3k, antes 300). Looking down at ad10c i prolly shoulda either mucked or shoved. Yet i bled called and was glad when the others folded. An a54 with two hearts looked okay and i flatted the c bet. The king of hearts didn't look horrid but i felt i had to protect from the flush draw when he ckd, yet he then ck rsd me allin. I insta called as i felt with half my stack in cldnt fold, yet i clearly could. It's clear i'm beat and i haven't felt as bad about a hand i've played in about...2 days. :) He had ah 6 h and had the stone colds.

Seriously though i need to look at playing more patiently and not blowing up so much. 90% of solid play just don't cut it. Gutshot last ever 5 quid rebuy won't be the place to try this out though, so best find a way to qualify for the 1500 on friday. Sit an go anyone?

Off to the gutty's last hurrah now...should be a blast.

Laters peeps,

Dom.

Word-block....

2008-09-10T06:56:00.000-07:00

Hello all.

I've been kinda suffering from writer's block recently, thus its not been easy to blog.
Don't know why exactly, i often am guilty of talking far too much in person, i guess online i'm more of a mouse...well sorta! lol

Poker has been up and down as usual. Going deep ALL THE TIME in online Mtt's. Yet i am perfecting the matasouw blow up. It seems getting the chips is easy, getting the chip lead in 100k tournies-easy....yet keeping them and not turning into a huge LAG when i should TAG up a bit-impossible.

I've started 4 betting more and more in my game, i'm noticing ppl 3 betting me with air and finally doing something about it. A few months ago i though 3 bet was a treble and air was just something i need to live.

Played a wsope £1500 side event sat last night. Unfortunately i never really got started. I lost all flow and finally started pushing 3 hands in a row just to attain a stack and an appearance of a 'player'.

I'll be railing my mate james keys online as he tackles the barca EPT over the next few days. The guy has an incredibly good technical game, something i could certainly learn from. Think i have an edge on natural flair though!!:)

The word block has arrived again, so best go.

Laters peeps,

Dom.

GSOP, Online, Paul's Blog...

2008-08-27T05:32:00.000-07:00

Firstly a big cheers to Paul Gardener for his write up in the last blog.

Was certainly different to my quick, short and moany versions. Perhaps it will cause a change in my own writing. Very interesting subject matter paul, and good luck with the new blog. I will add the addy to my link section, but for all that would like an immediate link...here you are.

http://goldenballs-wwwpaulsblogcom.blogspot.com/

I think paul means to call it 'golden blog' after his nickname, at the moment it is entitled 'my first week'. I think that was the intended subject title of his first post, so change the overall blog title buddy.

Pokerwise things are still crawling along for me. Everytime i take one step forward i take two steps back. It's not that i don't even know i'm playing wrong half the time, it's just that i can't stop myself. Counselling seems the best option and i'm looking into it. :)

The GSOP main event really didn't go well. 4 hours of grinding it out was highlighted by one or two very badly played hands by myself. Got pushed off a hand on the river when i really shouldn't have, the guy showed his inferior holding as i passed-he actually thought he had the best hand which was the clincher.

My demise was sealed with a squeeze gone wrong, sending me out with a wimpy whimper.
Bolton Gukpt is next week, but it could be the first one i miss in 8 months, shame but unless i qualify in the next few days i can't justify buying in for surely the 8th failure running!

Online i am playing well. I find it so much easier, yet less fun, than playing live right now. That is a real shame as live play is something you can't beat, the thrill of catching a fish bluffing, a fish folding too much and a fish going on tilt. Problem is...i might be that fish in live play right now.

Having said all this, I still have immense confidence in my own game, i'm probably only saying all this to gee myself up. Oh my god it worked...best go find a game. :)

Laters peeps,

Dom zee fish

GUEST BLOG

2008-08-23T10:40:00.000-07:00

Hi all as you will probally guess from the inteligent writing and humerous banter this blog is not written by dom but by me Paul " goldenballs" Gardener. Many thanks to my good m8 dom for the invite and privellege hopefully you will find the following of interest and benificial.
QUESTION-WHAT MAKES A SUCESSFUL POKER PLAYER?
Good card reading skills, good opponent readings, patience, luck, game selection, dedication, natural ability, fearless attitude, level headed, positive attitude, timing, focus ...
Well the correct answer would be all of them with many other skills required as well. The one thing missing from this small selection needed to be sucessful Is in my opinion one of the most valuble skills you need to aquire if you want or intend to succeed in the shark invested world of poker.In many poker books it is hidden in the last chapter if anything on this subject is written at all.
The subject i am refering to is BANKROLL MANAGEMENT.
I have been playing 11 years and i have seen many better players than myself disapear from the poker scene due to there inability to manage there bankroll.
There is in my opinion in %95 of the time two reasons for this
(1) They have leaks like horses, roulette, blackjack 2 flys climbing the wall etc
(2) Wrong game selection.

So looking at number (1) these people are not and never will be poker players, what they are gamblers simple as that. They may win quite often at local level say a £1000first prize but then donate most if not all to ladbrokes or gala,s roulette tables. Some may have a little bit of discpline and only donate half of the 1K to the above,
but you can guarentee the money will disapear eventually, either through a dry spell in comps or the inability to resist the urge to reclaim there entry fee from the blackjack table.

Looking at number (2) This is perhaps the hardest one to spot yourself and requires honesty from you. The player enters a cash game or comp with a small bankroll. If you have only a small bankroll say 5k and you enter a couple of grovesnor tour events at £1100.00 a time unless you hit you are going to have to step back into your local level rebuy/freezeout comps but if you dont hit and are a regular weekly player sooner or later you will hit the dry spell and be out of the game due to no funds.
Without being too one sided many people from the above are more than happy to live the gambler/topsy turvy lifestyle and if they are happy with that well so be it but they will never be a sucessful poker player.
So what makes a sucesful poker player? Well its pretty simple really, in fact so simple its childs play.
Win more than you spend and keep a hold of the profit.
Many years ago i went bust through wrong game selection. I was a regular tournement winner at my local casino,s. But through making the wrong decision I went skint I entered the local dealers choice cash game. Now this game is hold em, irish and omaha maximum six cards!!!. The game is frequented by the local chinese and people with more money than i will ever have. It was,nt a major factor that i did not know the basic skill,s required for omaha so no surprise when i turned two years bankroll into chicken egg foo yung . It was,nt that hard really i did it quite skillfully. Reason wrong game selection. I was now faced with a dilema no money, and having never taking any money from my monthly income i had to go part time taxi driving to rebuild my bankroll. Friday and saturday nights driving pissheads round the scenic pubs of the north east not fun beleive me. One rainy saturday night after making a measily £70 i swore to myself if i ever got back i would never make ONE mistake again and i can honestly say i hav,nt. The following years i followed the same routine play comp lose go home, play comp make a profit bank the profit. In these two years i went on a family holiday to vegas and played a comp at the 4 queens in vegas.I there met two people at different times, one for about a 5 mins conversation the other some one who i was sat next to in the comp. I have no idea of there names but the guy at my table was your typical old style american gambler who won the event the previous night for aprox a $15000 pay day. I asked him if he was playing the main event which was $5000 to enter and he replied "not unless i cash in this he replied" oh i thought u won last night came the response " yeah i did but the dice wer,nt good afterwards" A few days later i wandered down to the queens to watch a bit of the main event and struck up a conversation with a guy at the bar.Apparently he had witnessed a bit of my previous comp play while watching a m8 on my table and commented on my play all positive stuff. He then went on too describe how he was a succesful player in vegas and enjoys a fantastic lifestyle(typical american) but the twist that followed shook me. He went on to discuss the time he went skint through playing with the big boys & had to bellboy in hotels for 4 years until he could build a bankroll. Deep down inside it seemed like was me talking to me. Well u can guess that 3 days made me realize what i wanted from poker and more importantly how to do it
As i write this blog 7 and a bit years later i am in a position to afford and play in any event i wish to. Through slightly better than average poker skills but excellent money managment skills ,ever so simple really.
So all you poker players out here ask yourself this. ARE YOU A POKER PLAYER OR A GAMBLER?
I sincerely hope this blog has not come across as too serious but as dom will tell you it is avery close to heart subject. I had the intentiion of blogging some comical and humorous tales from arond the poker scene but feel maybe as this is quite possibly a one of opportunity would take the chance to pass on this infomation. If it benifits one player then it will all of been worthwhile.
As you are probally aware dom is playing the gut shot main event as i speak so good luck m8.

Just to sign off here are some questions that need answering

Q1 will dom ever make the second day of a grosvenor main event?
Q2 will dom ever post a blog as long as this one?
Q3 will dom ever get re-raised before he raises again

Before i sign of think i better explain Q3 as it tells of how i met dom. Playing at Blackpool in 2007 in a £200 side event dom got moved to my table. It was about midway through he comp and this is how the play went. In about 13 of the first 17 hands dom played he raised every time only for someone to reraise which resulted in dom giving a bit of speech play and folding every time!!! In 17 hands we had,nt seen a flop. Anyway on hand 18 dom announces "RAISE 2600 TO PLAY" but unknown to dom some one in early positin had already raised to 6000 the comment from one of the players just had every one in stiches
" fooking hell mate your now getting reraised before you even raise" a classic
The next night in another event i found myself sat next to dom from the start and to be honest felt a bit sorry for him as Big barry neville seemed to be bullying dom all over the table, little did i realize dom was setting him up i just never picked up on it.It was only after dom played his "coup de grace" against the bully did i realize this lad can play
Well as mine host would say later peeps

Quick Recap and GSOP main event....

2008-08-23T04:42:00.000-07:00

Played the 100nl gsop festival event thursday. Went deep, eventually finishing 17th, after losing a race. Win that and im top 5 no worries.

Still i was very pleased how i performed, especially considering the 200 event debacle.

Am sitting right now in the Gutshot- otherwise known as 'the hottest place in the world'. The club is literally like a sauna. No matter with this structure of the main event, 'the tightest player' Gus Hansen ever saw should do well.

It's a strange feeling to have immense confidence in your game, yet to beware the blow up...think i'm becoming like mike matusow!

The most important thing win or lose...and i will win...is to be happy with my performance. Finally started reading some Harrington last night, 'when you make a mistake you lose even if you win...and when you lose but play correctly...you win'.

Again this statement illustrates everything about my problems with poker, it's so basic, so standard......yet i find it difficult to put that into practise. Not any more.

Laters peeps,

Dom

£200 GSOP Tournie

2008-08-20T20:43:00.000-07:00

Played the 200nl event last night, stunk it out pretty bad.

After playing so much online recently, sitting down in a live enviroment kinda threw me. Madly, i found i wanted to play every hand, no matter how low the blinds nor the position.

Had quite a tough table, although i felt i had key position on the real dangerous players. Yet, 2 or 3 key hands i didn't play like i would online, rushing in like a bull in a china shop. When i lost a key race i didn't hold on to the rest of my bowl of rice 4 too much longer and was more than happy to go home.

The 100 event will be different. The same structure as the 200 has given me a kind of heads up on how to approach it, early on there will be loads of play, and when the antes cut in it will be time to get the steal on. Again hugely standard, basic poker....yet so complex for me nowadays!!! :)

When i got back in i fired up the laptoooop for a full tilt mtt session. Got myself chip leader again early on and dictated many pots, bullying the shorties. The 17k first prize looked within reach, but i lost a couple of key pots and didn't even make the money-which was pretty bad seeing as how strong i was at the first break.

In another mtt i reached the money b4 gambling on a flush draw which missed, again against the bullets- something that keeps happening recently.

I've basically decided to play the gsop main event this weekend too. Looking at the structure left me salivating, something i hope the gutshot's bad 'air con' unit won't force me into due to heat exhaustion. Their machine they've installed looks like a 1970's mad scientists time machine. Which dsnt work either for time travel nor air filtering!

Trading is going very nicely right now, however i'm kind of worried that once the olympics stop i'll have to start trading the horses and stuff again. Will find that very dull compared to the frantic finishes in the swimming and the like.

Wish i could go to a footie match this weekend, but it would clash with the GSOP, work gotta come first and all. Got a feeling spurs against sunderland could be a good one too.

I am running out of things to say here which is scary as i don't feel i've said that much. Read Alex's martin's blog earlier. The guy can write 4 england. Guess i need to go down the hand analysis route on this blog a bit more, so next post i will...well maybe.

Gotta run....

Laters peeps

Dom

Blogging....

2008-08-20T05:52:00.000-07:00

Just felt like a quick post seeing as it's been a week.

Not much has been going on to be honest. Grinding it out online-with varied success, whilst becoming addicted to sports like swimming and judo, thanks to the olympics.

My sleep patterns are very strange right now, probably due to living on chinese time. As for poker it's up and down all day long. Keep going deep in mtt's but not deep enough. Led another big tournie on stars 4 a long while on sunday, thought i was on 4 a big score b4 3 bad beats in a row did 4 me.

Tonight i play my first GSOP event. It's the gutshot's best festival imo, and i normally do okay in these events. Will try play the main this weekend too.

In other news a friend of mine asked if he could do a guest blog on here, why not...so next blog may be more fun than my drivel ppl!

Laters peeps.

Dom

GUKPT'S = 7 played....no cashes...no day 2's....

2008-08-12T11:19:00.000-07:00

Luton went badly...as with any gukpt for me really. Yet agin i failed to realise the old adage that you can't win the tournie on the first day...let alone the first level.

Broke my own record by busting within the first hour. Arrived at my table to find Iwan jones, Ian Cox, a couple of other circuit regulars and generally quite a touch table.

However, these things don't bother me. I'll put myself up against anybody in a poker tournament, i know i have more than a good enough game to compete, and eventually win of these things. Yet its all about timing and i don't appear to have that right now. Better get myself a new watch.

Seriously though if i was a car i believe i'd be stuck in gear, i am most certainly in need of an MOT on my live game. Just to illustrate, here's how my tournament played out.

First few hands i fold not wanting to get involved with marginal oop early doors. Looking for hands to play with position i somehow manage to play 2 rags in the small blind to an early raise from a scandi, thus contradicting everything i've just said. Three handed i check raise the low flop-i missed, before fire/folding the ace turn. To massacre a hand more badly would be quite an acheivement although i guess if he folds the turn it's a bonus, yet def a -EV play overall. Then lost a bit with bottom two against a flopped straight, with the nut flush draw, at least i folded on the flop.

So a couple of thou down already i lose another hand where i won't fold when i know i should, for gods sake its 25-50 Dom!!!

Sitting with 7k i build to 8.5k when i take down a 3k pot with the nut flush, Ian cox cleverly keeping the pot small flatting with the 2nd nuts. Then comes my exit hand.

Utg has been limping far too much and players are coming along with relish on the domino rally. As i am UTG+2 I decide to bump it up with KhQh, to try and isolate somewhat against the loosey and at least make the pot less than 8 handed oop. In hindsight my hand can play reasonably well against the rest of the table. This early on top pair isn't worth worrying about, so really i'm looking for 2 pair min to go deep with, so basic...yet so difficult for me to comprehend when i build the pot with my 'premium'.

One good thing about my raise to 225 was that Iwan jones, who has dbld up already with a set against someone who chronically overplayed 8s on a 7 high flop, immediately reaises to 775. This should signal alarm bells as not only is he raising an oop raise but he himself is well out of position.

I've only played against the guy once b4, but everything i've heard about the guy, can see about the situation tells me minimum queens, minimum.

Yet i call pretty quickly, partly not wanting to appear weak, partly hoping to connect huge and get a nice chunky pot against a dangerous player.

A 7 high flop with two hearts looks nice to me, so i check, when he fires 2k into the 1700 pot i immediately push. He insta calls with bullets(no Ah)and i miss.

Just like pocket snowy man i have donated to mr jones on a 7 high flop. Again if i hit, i don't look so silly, yet again a -EV move overall. I don't mind my check push on the flop as if i'm going to play the hand i can't chicken out then. Yet preflop....fold, fold....and ummmm....fold.

Hitting online donkaments like a demon this week. Already gone very deeep on 2 full tilt mtt's without cashing huge. Need to get back to the trading i think too while grinding the sit and go's. I have a 30% roi on ft right now.

Laters peeps.

Dom

Ps- Big shout out to my friend alex who made 3 final tables in side events at luton this week, and finished 12th in another-brilliant performance mate.

'Lovely' Luton....

2008-08-06T15:21:00.000-07:00

Here i am sitting in the g casino blogging away, bit bored to be honest.

Won my seat to the main today as planned so don't need to sell any shares. Am playing tommorow...I WILL make day 2.

Boredom is because there really isn't much to do here till tmrw. The casino sit and go's are organised quite shabbily with lists remaining for hours on end. Cash games dominating the scenery. Funny i thought those stt'd wld generate more players 4 the main event, which is surely a good thing.

Booked into the easy hotel tonight. At 30 quid a night its cheap as chips, which is just as good as you get a box with a shower. Still won't be in there much.

Last night was a huge grind online which should have ended profitably but instaed ended with a bowl of rice after throwing away two huge chip leads in nice guaranteed tournies on full tilt.

Still i'm extremely confident about my game right now, even so much that i feel my 200-1 bsq price is value 4 the main. Predictions are possibly foolish but i feel a bit of a rush coming on.

I've added a couple of links to my blog. Both write on the betfair site and are good reads. Personally i feel i need to broaden my vocablary while writing on here. Something that can only be helped by reading other's blogs.

One blogger, mr keys, is attempting to blog every day for the near future. Good luck with that mate, can't say i envy you that task james. There's only so much to say...god i'm dull.....:)and on that note....bye peeps!

Dom

So close yet so far....

2008-08-03T20:36:00.000-07:00

Just placed 98th in the sunday million out of 8000+ runners. Was good for a couple of k yet i'm not really too happy about it. Ran really well early on winning most flips and not having my raises re-raised too often.

Eventually got myself into the top ten when we entered the money with 1200 odd left. By the time we were down to 600 i had built to 500k when the average was 140k and i was firmly planted amongst the chip leaders.

Then things started to slow a bit with players re-raising my late positional openings. I had to tighten up quite a bit, living off the occasional squeeze play after suddenly finding mysellf card dead.

Then with 150 players left i had a chance to break the 1 million barrier. A big stack with over a million opened for a normal raise of 3x the bb. The maniac on the button who had been constantly pushing and calling with horrific frequency shoved for about 400k. If the action gets back to the initial raiser i feel he instant calls this guy as he claimed he folded a medium pair as i pushed. Yep i found myself sitting in the bb with ak, so i shoved and find myself up against q8 off-a good hand for the maniac in fairness-when you'd seen his range previously...obviously this is said somewhat tongue in cheek. Of course the queen spiked the turn and i went from potential top 5 to bottom 5. Managed to hop along from then into 98th finally getting it all in with aq against....ak. King on the flop...gg etc.

Obviously my crippling hand isn't a huge beat, just wish i could sometimes run good on those crucial showdowns. First prize tonight was 200k from the 1.7 million prizepool. Nice flat payout structure with an enjoyable blind structure-i'll be playing again. I don't actually play all the sunday comps all that much, but think i will from now on.

On friday i played live for the first time since vegas.I popped down to my 'lucky' casino(the empire) for their 200nl festival event. I found it totally refreshing to play in a casino once again, in comparison to staring at a screen 4 hours on end. Early on i found myself on a potentially tough table with a couple of gutshot players, Nicky P, and Koresh of late nite poker fame. Luckily for me koresh doubled me up early on when his allin call pre with 24 off failed to improve against my ak.

Managed to build up to around 16k from my 5k starting stack when i got moved to another table. Lost a couple of pots there before being moved again with 13k and around 23 bb's. Sitting down on my new table i noticed quite a lag on my immediate right. I managed to get it allin pre on my first hand with a coin flip situation with aq against 9s-which i lost. Although i hate flipping with no fold equity-i called his push- i felt this call was the correct one against THIS player. He ended up chopping the comp i believe, luckily a mate of mine finished 4th giving me my buy in back thanks to a ten percent swop.

With luton gukpt on this week i should be playing quite a bit more live poker. Not entirely sure what days i'll go but wednesday is looking favourite with me having one last attempt at satting into the main. Either way i'll play some smaller side events as i try to lose my gukpt curse of never cashing in one single event. May try and sell some of my action into the main if i play, so if your interested let me know.

Ok i've droned on long enough for now so will leave while i still have some dignity left!

Dom

Ps- The new statistical 'dom' is going ok, the sports trading is giving me a regular wage, and seperating it from the poker is proving to be a good idea, now if i could just win some money at poker....:)

I can't get no sleep....

2008-07-27T19:41:00.000-07:00

Well i'm writing this blog at 342am...it's just too humid in london right now.

After my last somewhat 'negative' entry i felt i'd better write up a more positive one.

This weekend i took a couple of days off and recharged the batteries. I've also had a very productive meeting with a few people very close to me. The 'meeting' analsyed my recent results and current precarious financial situation.

Subsequently, i'm going to be far more into statistical analysis from now on, and much more cautious with my bankroll. It appears i have been playing limits too big for my limited roll at the moment. Something rather obvious yet not acted upon before. Not only that but i have been extremely haphazard in keeping expenses to a reasonable amount. This is all going to change.

As i mentioned previously a couple of days ago, i feel i have reached a crossroads in my life. Thus, i have decided to start trading sports properly again and allow the poker to take more of a secondary role, at least for a few weeks to start with.

This should help me to calm things down greatly in my life and refresh a poker game that has become a little stale. I'm looking forward to reading some poker literature and watching some cardrunner videos.....all in the name of research.

It's gonna be fun.

Laters peeps.

Dom

Running bad.............

2008-07-25T16:59:00.001-07:00

Just bubbled a sat for luton, after also busting early in the gukpt main event.

Confidence is now quite low and i'm almost certainly going to miss my first gukpt main event in months. Spent a fair bit on sats now and certainly can't justify spending much more on them(will try 1 more), and right now don't even know if i really want to.

It's very easy i think to become very disillusioned with poker, especially when you're on a bad run like i am at the moment. I'm sure without a doubt that these moments are the ones that really define you as a player...if you can cut it so to speak.

Gotta be honest and say right now i don't know one hundred percent if i can.

The swings are just so huge, both financhially and emotionally in tournament poker. I think perhaps the time has come to take some time off from the game.

After next week's empire festival, and luton gukpt week the week after, i may take some time off from the game and do some real soul searching.

Trading sports is something i feel there is much less variance in and i may go back to my old 'job' for a period of time.

Of course a big win in the next few days might change my mind but i'm not totally sure if that would be a good thing. A win can cloud over important factors that need to be considered and not pushed aside for a rainy day.

Whilst in vegas i finally realised the importance of adding a solid cash game to my poker 'skills'. It's something that is a gaping hole within my poker game. The lesser the variance in this game the better, and i really can't rely on luck anymore.

After reading james keys's blog the other day i realsied i'm too old to be messing around. He mentioned career choices and spoke of differences in life decisions based on age. Well at 30 i'm at a crossroads in my life.
(1)Do i pack it all in and get a 9-5?
(2)Do i put the poker to one side and concentrate on the sports trading for a bit while disecting my game and reading some books-basically getting back to basics?
(3)Do i say to hell with it all and give the poker 100 percent again for the zillionth time?

Favourite is number 2 right now, but i've a feeling certain ppl i know would prefer i chose number 1-something i really don't want to do right now.

Ok i''ve ranted and raved enough here, hope anyone expecting a detailed 'poker' blog isn't too dissapointed. I just feel my head is a little messed up right now and blogging about it actually helps.

Ok peeps laters,

Dom

Raring to go

2008-07-25T10:39:00.000-07:00

Have backed myself and a few others for the online gukpt main event tonight, looks sure to be a good one. The structure should suit my game well, providing i don't bluff too early on of course.
Pretty sure i've got a good chance in this event and cannot wait to get started.

In other news...well there isn't much to report really...pretty bored!

Laters
Dom

Back to the grind...

2008-07-23T11:33:00.000-07:00

Well since my last post here's what i've been up to...grinding it out online.

Returning from vegas with a gigantic wallet sized hole in my pocket, i've had to knuckle down.

Full tilt, mansion, blue square, stars and hills have all recieved donations from yours truely. To be honest it's been a break even couple of weeks, with the big score always just eluding me.

However, i traded the open golf last week and managed to eek out a nice profit thanks to pod. One of the greatest shots i've ever seen from him on the 17th, awesome indeed.

Have started to get withdrawl symptoms over vegas, i miss the poker rooms and the live action. I really do think it's hard to appreciate exactly what you have available when you are actually there, oh well next time out.

I've been playing the online blue square gukpt festival this week, great structures although an average standard of player higher than usual.

Am playing the main event on friday and am available at 100-1, i hate to tip myself but....ok i won't. Had a bit on though.

Speak soon peeps.

Dom