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    2012 poker goals log.

    Hi all. As this is my first post, I wanted to start off by saying that Ive been reading this forum (and the old boards before it) since I began playing poker circa 2004 - There are some great posters and some excellent content that has been highly entertaining, and also helped me out in poker and otherwise over the years, without contributing much back to the community myself, but im hoping to change that starting with this log.


    Introduction


    My name is Derek, im from Limerick and im 25 years old.

    I have been playing poker for 8 years, mostly live until 2008, and almost exclusively online since then. My main accounts have been :-

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    With other accounts, my overall ROI is somewhere around the 25% region, with my average level being low-mid stakes.


    More recently


    I took a lot of time off last year to pursue other things outside of poker that turned into a waste of time and money. I decided around christmas that I needed to get back to the grind, was fairly broke and the thoughts of building up via microstakes was very unapplealing, so I decided to try to go down the sponsorship route.

    It made me take a long hard look at my game, took me outside of my comfort zone and presented unique challanges that were interesting and rewarding to overcome, and I feel a lot a more confident about myself and my game having gone through the process.

    I got sponsorship at the end of last month, and im hoping this experience will not only help me to put in the volume that I should be putting in, but also encourage me to move up limits and take more shots where I had never really had the bankroll/balls to do it before.


    Story so far?


    I got off to a great start, shipping a package to EMOP Lisbon in the first few days. I ran awfully after that to get my roll down -5k from starting without even so much as a sweat, but ive managed to regroup and a few respectable scores later, I have gotten into modest profit. Ive been getting deep a lot, just not much been going my way when down to the last 2 tables since I started. Hopefully im just getting the bad juju out of the way before the EMOP.

    Sponsored accounts so far :-

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    Why the log?


    Setting goals for myself so that I keep my eyes on the prize is the main reason im doing this. Having short, medium and long term, realistic goals is important in any career, so putting them down on here in black and white seems a pretty good way of motivating me to strive towards them.

    One of the big challanges I faced when applying for sponsorship was that I was a complete unknown, never really posting on forums and not even having a pocketfives profile. This made it difficult when approaching people/companies about staking and hopefully this log will make it easier should I need to do it again in the future.

    Another reason that I touched on at the start is, I have often found inspiration on these boards, so If theres anyone who can take anything from my experience (wether I succeed or fail) then im glad to be able to help.


    Goals


    My main goal for the year is to put in at least 5k games at mid-high stakes (My year beginning Feb 24th), while maintaining at least a good ROI% for the year.

    17-22% = Good
    22-27% = Very good
    27%+ = Excellent

    If I can maintain this then it should see me at 50k+ profit for the year.


    This months grind has seen me move into #43 in Ireland and #1 in Limerick (albeit briefly) on pocketfives.
    It doesnt mean anything really, but it is nice to be rubbing shoulders with (and leapfrogging) some well respected members of the community.
    It would be nice to cement myself as #1 in Limerick and be knocking on the door of top 15 by the end of the year. While I see this as more of a side effect than an actual goal, its always nice to see yourself flying up a leaderboard, and you cant put a price on bragging rights

    Pocketfives profile:-




    Finally


    I will put up more goals as I set them, along with my first months HEM graph at the beginning of April, and post new graph every month.

    I may do a trip report of Portugal if I dont bust early and feel theres anything interesting to write about. Its my first time travelling outside of Ireland on my own for a game, its just another tournament really, but hopefully ill have a few stories to share by the end of it.

    If something doesnt make sense, you feel I left something out, or there are any questions, please dont hesitate to reply as all input is welcome. Thanks.


    Derek Cosgrove
    Last edited by Kobraki; 28-03-12, 17:24.

    #2
    best of luck,should be good to follow your journey

    Comment


      #3
      Best of luck

      Comment


        #4
        Emop Lisbon trip report

        I want to do this trip report while everything is still fresh in my head, so I will write it and then hopefully never have to think about it ever again

        Day 1.

        I had a few early nerves as this was the first event of this nature I had played since the european deepstack in 2008, but they were quickly dispursed after I raked in my first pot. It was a 3 day event, so pacing myself and not getting fatigued was gonna be a challange as its a different kettle of fish altogether to my usual online 6-8 hour sessions.

        First day was a grind with the most of the action happening around me which resulted in me being on 3 tables that were broken up during the day, playing at 4 different tables total.

        With a starting stack of 20k, 45 minute clock for the first 6 levels with 1 hour levels after that, there was a lot of play but there wasnt much time to hang around either.

        Notable players from my first table were an Irish guy named Dane from the Killarney area (It was nice to be at a table with one of the half dozen or so Irish lads playing on the day) in seat 4, 2 very good scandies in seats 6 and 7, and Roy 'The Boy' Brindley in seat 8. I was in seat 2.

        It was clear early on that the 2 scandies were going to try and run over the table, particularly the guy in 7 who had a VPIP/PFR of about 45/35 and was a 3-betting machine. I played some pots in position as best as I could, but was pretty card dead and there wernt many easy spots to be had. Seat 7 busted Dane and Roy before we broke. I thought it wasnt the worst table in the world for me to get a doubleup at if I got a hand, but I was also glad to see the back of it. Left the table with 15k.

        Dont remember too much about my second table except it was pretty passive. Got up to about 20k by doing well in the steals and resteals before I was on the moved again.

        3rd table was where I played the only pot of the day that I put a substantial amount of chips into. The hand went like this -
        Blinds + Antes 300/600 50, with a stack of ~25k, I had been playing pretty tight so far and raised UTG 1450 with K10ss, UTG+1 (Playing pretty loose) makes it 3500, folded around and I call.
        Flop Q42ss. I check, he c-bet 3500 and I make it 8k leaving 13k behind. He dwells a minute or 2 and folds jacks face up. I show too (naturally). Up to 35k.

        Was on the move again shortly afterwards, and after a few more smallball pots during the last hour I eventually ended the day on 38k. I was around 50/72 coming back for day 2, but with the average stack being 55k I felt I was still in with as good as shout as anyone.

        Im not one for complaining about starting hands (Gimme 72os and 910s alternatively all day long), but the only hand I got all day that was in the [JJ-AA, AK] range was QQ at the 50/100 level that was an ace high flop. Hopefully I'd get better opportunities tomorrow.

        Day 2.

        Play began back at 3:30 with blinds 800/1600/200. I realised pretty quickly what a nice table Id been drawn at with 2 tight players also with short stacks to my left, an old Portugese guy with a decent stack to my right who was open raising 3.5-4X as standard. To his right was a scandie who was going on about an ept final table he was at, who was
        shortish as well, but his style was to see a lot of flops and it was keeping big stacks to his right at bay.

        I had slipped below 30k when the old guy raises to 8k at 1000/2000/200 from early-mid postion, I ship JJ and he eventually calls my with 66 and i hold. Up to 60k.

        Now came a pot that I was absolutely shocked at. Im not involved, but its folded into SB a Portugese guy with a decent stack raises, BB shortie ships and SB call.
        Theres about an average stack in the pot.
        SB has A7 and BB has AJ. Boards runs out - A 10 7 5 10
        As dealer is counting the shorties stack to see how much to take off the big stack, the tournament director comes over takes one glance at the hand and orders the dealer to split the pot!?! The dealer obliges, nobody at the table says anything and we move on.. I was like WTF?!? I try to say something but nobody pays any attention to me and before I know it we're playing the next hand. Im not even sure if the Portugese guy realised he should have won the pot even hours later. Pretty disgraceful TBH, you wouldnt see that happen in a 20 euro game in a casino.

        After that I was on the move again. Really awful table for the first time all tourney. Scandie chip leader (or close to it) on over 350k, another scandie 2 to his left with over 150k. Mostly Portugese guys on my right with low-medium stacks.

        First hand I play at the new table blinds 1500/3000/200, old Portugese guy on button who I have little read on opens to 10.5k. I look down at 55 on SB and ship for 48k. BB calls and button calls with AQ and KK respectively. I think in a vacuum I cant do much else here, its like my 5th hand at this new table. Flop come J45 and I hold up to 150k!

        Im still stacking my chips by the time its folded to me on the cutoff, where I was dealt 78s. I open to 6.3k and BB (the other scandie) calls. Flop comes J87cc. He leads for 8.5k and I call. Turn comes offsuit 4, he checks. I bet 14.4k and he calls. The river comes offsuit 10 and he checks again. I ended up checking behind, but really felt I missed a bet on the river. I was pretty sure he didnt have a flush draw, and felt he would have bet the straight on the river. My thinking at the time was he could have easily had a bigger 2 pair hand (10 7, 10 8, J 10). I was also a little wary of a check raise bluff on the river as stack sizes lined up pretty well to make this a good option for him.. In hindsight though, I played the hand nicely to that point to get into a situation where I was pretty polarised, and felt I would have got paid on the river by a lot of one pair hands, so really should have value bet around 25k. Oh well, not the costliest mistake in the world, but felt it was my first real misstep all tourney. Not much happened over the next 45 mins before we broke for dinner. Up to 185k.

        Came back after the dinner feeling really full and lethargic (the 3 course spread we had on both days was fairly epic). Swapped 2.5% with Connie during the break, and at that time we were flying the Irish flag pretty well along with Doke and Lappin (Who is chip leader at the final table as I write this.)

        Then came the exit hand. Ive been beating myself up about it since it happened, as it was a really really dumb play to make at that stage in the tourney after uncharacteristicaly, it must be said, butchering the hand from start to finish to get myself into a really tough spot.

        Blinds up to 2000-4000/300, im sitting on 160k and get dealt Q8os in SB. Utg+1 Limps for the third time in the last 2 orbits. I complete on SB (first mistake) and BB checks. A bit more history is that both times it has been folded to my SB I have given the monster chip leader a walk, so I reckon its fair enough to say it looks like I really dont wanna play a pot OOP against him.

        Flop comes 8 4 2 rainbow, I check (second mistake), BB bets 8500 and the limper calls with what I read to be an obvious float. I raise to 23k (third mistake), BB dwells and calls and limper folds.

        At this point in the hand I ask myself wtf am I doing, this is a great example of how not to play top pair decent kicker oop in a limped pot with 40BBs. But at this point I cant change the past, I can only affect the future so lets see how it plays out. Usually if i get to a stage in a hand and I feel ive misplayed it up to that point I will just try and release it without putting too many more chips into the pot, but I still have to play the game as I see it should be played.

        Turn comes Ah bringing a flush draw. I think his most likely holding at this point are some kind of straight draw, possibly worse 8s and maybe some kind of random floaty crap, which he is more than capable of having. Flopped 2 pair is the only hand im wary of really, as he would play it this way for sure, but all things considered I figure im ahead of his range. What to do now though is the question?
        If you said check then you're right.
        As you can guess I didnt. I thought I could induce from hands like stragiht draws, smaller pairs on the flop that have backed into a gutshot/flushdraw and some of those random floaty hands like J9hh that has picked up a draw. So I lead for 32k leaving 100k behind, and do my best to give him my most antisocial 'fuck you' stare to try get him to bluff.
        From his point of view I think im pretty polarised, i.e. have A8 or 22, maybe 44, maybe 24, or think its reasonable for him to assume Im bluffing given action and history. Having the medium strenghth holding is the level, and I hope to christ it works. He ships after tanking for 4 minutes. I take about 15 seconds to call him. He flips 84 and I dont improve on the river. NH, GG.

        Extremely disappointed with how it went down in the end obviously, was the worst hand of poker I played by far all weekend and I paid the price. I really dont mind the call on the turn so much, as the opponent in question was more than capable of making a move on me, a tight unknown Irish guy. But theres absolutely no way I should have gotten myself into that situation in the first place.
        Overall I felt I gave a really good account of myself over the weekend, bitterly disappointed at the fishiness of the exit hand though. Playing a 350k+ pot with second pair with the average stack 100k, with 40 left and 27 paid is definitely not 'preferred strategy', and its but another reminder of how much I need to improve and keep watching concentration levels and so on. It also made me aware that a lot of my winnings online have been Turbo Mtts, particularly the 180 mans on stars, and that my deepstack game definitely needs work if im to compete at this level.

        Came back to the hotel after busting out last night and sat into a few tournies on the Ongame network, playing the Brazilian and Canadian Dailies which I came 9th and 7th respecively in. FML.

        Thats all really, and as usual I have plenty to take away from the weekend (Not 50k though unfortunately). Sweats like this dont come along every day so it might take a few days/weeks before im truly over it, but I must say I have loved every minute of the trip. Met loads of cool continental players, and even discussed the possibility of moving to a poker house in Spain for the summer. Its definitely something Id love to do at some stage, and would consider it seriously if it became a viable option in the future. Still in preplan mode, but food for thought nonetheless.

        I had swapped 2.5% with Connie at the dinner break on day 2 and he bottom cashed, so at least thats 50 quid in the bag! Came to collect this afternoon and hung around grinding with the lads a bit while writing this trip report. Im off to have dinner now and enjoy my last night in Lisbon, perhaps do a bit of boozing for the first time all weekend.

        End report.

        Comment


          #5
          Great report. Your exit hand is the perfect proof of why completing rubbish hands is a bad idea. You just get yourself in the worst spots and end up compounding errors with worse ones. At least you recognise them all now.

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by zuutroy View Post
            Great report. Your exit hand is the perfect proof of why completing rubbish hands is a bad idea. You just get yourself in the worst spots and end up compounding errors with worse ones. At least you recognise them all now.
            I couldn't disagree more, completing the sb against a serial limper is going to cost you almost nothing in expectation. Just because the hand was played badly after that point doesn't mean that any decision that led to that must be wrong. Even if its a mistake, which I doubt it is, its a tiny one compared to the flop/turn line.

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by Kobraki View Post
              Now came a pot that I was absolutely shocked at. Im not involved, but its folded into SB a Portugese guy with a decent stack raises, BB shortie ships and SB call.
              Theres about an average stack in the pot.
              SB has A7 and BB has AJ. Boards runs out - A 10 7 5 10
              As dealer is counting the shorties stack to see how much to take off the big stack, the tournament director comes over takes one glance at the hand and orders the dealer to split the pot!?! The dealer obliges, nobody at the table says anything and we move on.. I was like WTF?!? I try to say something but nobody pays any attention to me and before I know it we're playing the next hand. Im not even sure if the Portugese guy realised he should have won the pot even hours later. Pretty disgraceful TBH, you wouldnt see that happen in a 20 euro game in a casino.

              enjoyed the tr

              the above is nuts

              Comment


                #8
                Nice report , keep em comin.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Really enjoyed your trip report.

                  Best of luck with this.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    End of month report (Feb 24th - March 31st)

                    The staking deal got off to a flier when I won the EMOP sat. I then had 2 weeks of absolute torture when nothing I could do was right where I made a lot of last 2 tables without converting any of them into a top 3 finish. More through bad beats than anything else I felt after going over HHs, so hopefully varience would be on my side if I kept on plugging away.

                    Was at about -$5k in monetary terms when I came 2nd in $10r on ipoker for $1500, and 4th in the €15 rebuy on Micro for $2200 on the same night. Also came 16th in the Wednesday 30k on ipoker, so I had a lovely sweat going at one stage. I was unlucky not to have won the heads up I felt after starting with a 4-1 chip lead, with him having about 20 bigs. I lost a race, got caught in a big bluff and then lost another flip for the game. Also could have ran a bit better in the other 2, but a good nights work overall.

                    Although Ive tried to keep my HEM results fairly accurate, its impossible to keep everthing perfect. So I took the figure my sponsors give me for the month and doctored the data a little bit to reflect true winning. (Therefore the figure is 100% accurate, but peaks and troughs are not and ROI% and all other figures may be off by some degree). Graph also includes the value of the EMOP sat.

                    While not the greatest month in the world in terms of big scores, ive had plenty to take from it and feel I should be concentrating on the numbers a bit more. (Put those years of maths science to work!) Control pot size, position is vital, and most importantly to try and always be thinking about every action and every scenario from the moment I decide to play a pot. Just use your head.

                    Ive decided to try and pursue the EMOP leaderboard this year. Through sheer dumb luck I managed to get 6 leaderboard points for my 40th place. The winner of the event only got 25 points, so although Ive missed Prague and the first EMOP online, there are still 3 live events (inc one in Dublin) and 4 online tournies to try add points to my tally. Next live stop is Bulgaria, my birthday coincidentally falling on the week of the event, so im gonna try like hell to bag a ticket for it.


                    Store your photos and videos online with secure storage from Photobucket. Available on iOS, Android and desktop. Securely backup your memories and sign up today!
                    Last edited by Kobraki; 04-04-12, 03:13.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Prop Bet and a Heater

                      The first 2 weeks of the month were fairly woeful apart from a win in a 50FO for 3k in the middle, which included kept me at just -$1k after the first 13 days.

                      Then I got a messgae on Friday night off a mate who was needling me about being one rank above me in the pocketfives "sliding" TLB leaderboard in Ireland. We immediately agreed we needed some sort of prop bet and after a bit of back and forth we settled on an amount and came up with this structure:- 3/10th monies to be paid July 1st to whoever is ahead in the "sliding" TLB rankings, same again on Oct 1st, and the last 4/10th at the end of the year going on the yearly rankings. The bet is about bragging rights as much as anything, but im also hoping we both do that little bit better this year than if we had not made the bet, so money well spent if I lose IMO.

                      He works 4 nights a week so im thinking that gives me an decent edge. He's gonna have to start playing on other sites and away from stars if he is gonna compete, as "sliding leaderboard" counts max 24 tournies from one network towards a total of 40 best results. The yearly leaderboard counts max 60 from one network towards a total of 100 best results. If/when he does start playing on other networks though he's gonna fly out into a lead methinks.

                      I usually play 5-6 tables, but after making the bet and having a bad spell I decided to cut back to 3-4 tables and concentrate more. I have also been making an effort to play deeper stack, higher buyin tournies so cutting down on tables while playing them so I could self analyse a bit seemed a no brainer.

                      Right away I felt I was picking up on things more and had a good grasp of the gameflow at each table at all times, rather than having to think about it a bit when a hand caught my eye at a certain table. My plays are more premeditated and I was following through on more flops turns and rivers. I find im opening, 3-bettting and 4-betting more, and being right in close-decision read based situations more often (obviously im gonna feel this way on a heater, but I think there is probably some correlation between cutting back on tables and recent results and aggressiveness increase).

                      Saturday I made 2 final tables in turbo $50fo and $100fo (both on ongame) finishing 4th and 5th respectively.

                      Sunday I came 2nd in $100fo doublestack $25kguar on ipoker. Was chip leader throughout but lost several flips against the donk I got heads up against. Also came 28th in the Sunday 35k on Entraction.

                      Monday I had a hankering for omaha after reading some comments in the BBV and played Monday night omaha on ipoker which I came 5th in. A 10th in 50fo on ipoker which I was a bit unlucky in (ran AQ into aggro players AK 5 handed when we both had average stack) and kept getting booted out of the omaha for long periods which was very annoying and cost me more than one pot I had invested chips in. Third day profit in a row though, so pretty pleased overall.

                      Tuesday I had won a ticket to the $525 highroller on ongame. I also played the Super Tuesday on ipoker as well some other tournies. Finished 34th in the highroller with 26 paid after losing a few flips and one hand I had to call a shove when commited with A8 v AQ, 8 on the flop to give me some false hope then he hits runner runner straight.

                      As I was typing this as I was going deep in the Super Tuesday and stopped typing at the final table.. Ended up taking it down for only my second ever 5 figure cash! Im actually sitting here in absolute disbelief, the tournament is only 20 minutes but my brain is still in hyper crazy mode from the shorthanded play, just really really chuffed and these last few days have more than made up for any residual demons I might have had from Lisbon.

                      A bit about final table play.

                      Was 3rd in chips going to the final table and held my stack steady until 4 left when I got lucky A10>AK AIPF. Down to 3 handed and I was short stacked (180k v 400k v 400k) against these 2 opponents.



                      Played uber aggressively with 3 left and get my stack up to about 375k without showdown. Slipped back a bit before I won a flip with AK v JJ to leave xalexbrucex with 70k and he was gone a few hands later.
                      Got down to heads up 4:6 chip defecit. Got lucky again where I made a (debatable) call on the turn on board of Q 8 6 9 hhh with Q9 vs K7hh and spiked the house on the river.
                      Was all over 3 hands later when I minraised button with J9 he calls. Flop 678 he min raises my C-bet, then shoves 2X pot to a Jack on the turn. I snap and hold against his K8.

                      Cant believe what a run its been still!! Just over 15k upswing over 4 winning days in a row. Couple of days off now (been playing a lot recently), and hopefully can keep it up when I come back refreshed.

                      ..oh, im fairly confident with that prop bet now, UL Millsey
                      Last edited by Kobraki; 18-04-12, 04:47.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Good going man, keep it up

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Great thread so far, wp.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Cool read. Love the detail. Thanks for taking the time.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Gratz on the score last night man!

                              Comment


                                #16
                                nice heater c ya at the tables!

                                Comment


                                  #17
                                  Cheers for the supports/interest in this all. My results so far have gone beyond my expectations, and that is in no small part to looking back here from time to time at my goals and the feedback received, and I have found afterwards I redouble my efforts with deep runs usually following. Pretty powerful resource to have, so thanks people (and the internet).

                                  Obviously im still delighted about Tuesdays result, it puts me well ahead of time in my '50k before the end of the year' goal. I know from experience how swingy it can be in MTTs so im gonna try not to get too ahead of myself about it, and keep the head down and just keep trying to make the right decisions in the moment.

                                  I play football, but hadnt played in a couple of years until a few mates organised a 5-a-side indoor game a couple of months ago, which is tough, but usually one of the high points of my week since it started (uneven numbers has fucked it up a couple of times tough).

                                  It was cancelled tonight so was a bit disappointed. Played some pokers instead and hoped karma would be on my side

                                  Wouldnt you know it the way im running, I binked a package to EMOP Bulgaria!
                                  Met a few EMOP veterans in Lisbon last time out, and the overwhelming consensus was that Bulgaria is far and away the most fun place on the tour to go out on the lash in, as well as it being a week long and cheap as fuck. Its on the week of my birthday too so cant wait!

                                  Business first though, and hopefully Ill get a chance to put right what went wrong in Portugal and exercise any demons from last time (as well as my scandie 3 betting arm!).

                                  Thanks again everyone, I hope I can keep this interesting! GL at the tables!

                                  Comment


                                    #18
                                    If your looking for a player over the next two weeks don't hesitate to pm me I love indoor soccer and I'm also pretty good (not boasting )))) ). but congrats on ur recent success and hope to be able to compete with you on number one in limerick

                                    Comment


                                      #19
                                      Cool thread, best of luck in Bulgaria and the goals.

                                      Comment


                                        #20
                                        Originally posted by Zippppppy147 View Post
                                        If your looking for a player over the next two weeks don't hesitate to pm me I love indoor soccer and I'm also pretty good (not boasting )))) ). but congrats on ur recent success and hope to be able to compete with you on number one in limerick
                                        Cheers man, ive been keeping my eye on you all right, nice couple of 3k+ scores in the last few weeks yourself keep up the good work!

                                        Ill definitely keep you in mind for football next week and pm you if we're short, cheers for the offer. A member of staff joins the game most weeks, and we still couldnt get the 10 tonight even counting him, so id say be expect the pm tbh.
                                        You dont have to be good to in our game, although there's a few decent players (1 in particular plays/played fullback for geraldines among other teams) we also have our share of heavy smokers/borderline alcoholics too so dont be expecting too much out of us!
                                        I reckon i'm in the good but unfit bracket (being a smoker). We have the last slot of the evening as well, so we often play for an hour and a half instead of the hour as theres no one coming on after us (having an employee in the game has its advantages ).

                                        Comment


                                          #21
                                          PM sent

                                          Comment


                                            #22
                                            Mini slump and April graph.

                                            Not too much excitement over the last 2 weeks since my last post. First week was ok getting a few deep runs and 2 notable near misses. Came 12th in 50 rebuy on ongame after 55>A3 in pot for over the average stack. More interestingly, 2 days later I found myself in this situation in the 30 rebuy on ipker.

                                            4 left I have 800k, aggro CL who I have position on has 1m, and other 2 have 280k and 120k respectively. Blinds 12k / 24k / 2.4k.
                                            120k stack on the button shoves, I call from BB with 89 < A5.
                                            Lost another 180k 2 hands later when I raise with A9 and get called by CL out of the BB and eventually fold top pair on the river on a 4 straight, 3 flush board for a 2/3 pot bet (half my remaining chips).
                                            Two hand later, and the 280k guy has gotten up to 370k. He min opens and I stick him in with KQ from the BB. He calls with 22 and holds.
                                            2 guys on 1m now, shortie back to 150k and me at 150k, I get it in again A4 < 104 to bust in 4th for $1750. Played great poker all tourney long and looked really good with 4 left. I wasnt overly happy with my bet sizing in the A9 hand in hindsigh, but wouldnt really change anything other than that.

                                            After that tourney came a week of misery and depression without a single cash to my name. Just couldnt string 2 pots together in anything. Most notable crash out was on the bubble of the 50 rebuy 2 nights ago in a pot for top 5 in chips. Min raise and massive reshove in front of me, I snap 30+BB with AA v AQ, Q on flop and Q on river.

                                            Broke the week long duct last night with 24th in 50fo on ipoker. Was motoring in chips all tourney long, then ran QQ into AA, CO v BB, against one of the few people at the table who had me covered . Its reminded me why I was trying to increase the amount of tables I play, im gonna go back to 6 tables (at the start of my sessions anyway), and hopefully will be < 4 tables by the time im getting to the buisness end of things. Ill have to keep a sharp eye on myself to see if im paying enough attention to all tables to make sure my ROI doesnt drop.

                                            Thats the doom and gloom over (fingers crossed), now for last months graph.
                                            $11k cash profit and the EMOP Bulgaria sat for slightly north of $13k total.






                                            To finish sligthly differently than usual. I came across this article during the week that listed "the 50 Most Inspirational Sports Quotes in History".

                                            I had heard some of these quotes before, but a lot of them were new to me and it was an insta bookmark. A great resource for poker players IMO as a source of inspiration and work ethic on those bad runs. Also great to look at how people dominating their sports/games feel about their success and what got them there [Spoiler: Hard work and heart].

                                            As we look back on an emotional sports history, memories of the most encouraging, brave and genuine sportsmen start to flood the scene...


                                            It’s not the will to win that matters—everyone has that. It’s the will to prepare to win that matters. - Paul "Bear" Bryant

                                            Make sure your worst enemy doesn't live between your own two ears. - Laird Hamilton

                                            You are never really playing an opponent. You are playing yourself, your own highest standards, and when you reach your limits, that is real joy. - Arthur Ashe

                                            Always make a total effort, even when the odds are against you. - Arnold Palmer

                                            Without self-discipline, success is impossible, period. - Lou Holtz

                                            Do you know what my favorite part of the game is? The opportunity to play. - Mike Singletary

                                            Show me a guy who's afraid to look bad, and I'll show you a guy you can beat every time. - Lou Brock

                                            I've missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.- Michael Jordan

                                            and of course..

                                            You miss 100 percent of the shots you don't take. - Wayne Gretzky

                                            Good luck at the tables!

                                            (Might have overdone it a bit with the quotes there, all solid advice though!)

                                            Comment


                                              #23
                                              Log update

                                              Its been longer than usual since my last post, I moved apartment over the weekend and have had very little time for anything outside of playing poker and doing real world stuff. Im getting a 25Mb line in tomorrow which is a big upgrade from current iPhone tethering. Also im living alone having been sharing with a mate for the last year, so im hoping my solitude will result in less distractions which will result in better play and better results.

                                              I played my first live game of the year on home soil a few weeks ago, the €100 EOM game in Fitzpatricks, Limerick. It had a paltry turnout of 21 IIRC, but with the majority of the players having won their tickets in, and with over 1k up top, I was gonna give it my best shot. I played well I thought, getting to the final table short after being card dead and my bets not getting through for most of the night. I amassed a stack when the blinds started getting chunky by stealing and with JJ holding v AJ for a big double up. Ended up busting in 5th when I ran AQs into QQ BTN v SB for half the chips in play with 3 paid.

                                              I had planned on heading up to the UKIPT, but after the move and not running great online the last 3 weeks, the inner nit told me not to go. The updates here were great as usual, and it made the decision not to go all the tougher. Ill be at the next one hopefully. Not looking past Bulgaria at the minute though which is just around the corner. I gotta Usain Bolt one of these things at some point right?!

                                              Speaking of the EMOP, I played in my first emop online last Sunday. ~50 runners, 7 paid but more importantly a cash was worth leaderboard points. I came 5th to take my points total to 11, which leaves me just outside the top 25. Not 100% sure exactly whats at the end of the leaderboard, but from talking to some people on the last outing its gonna be top 10-16 playing a ~50k freeroll in Vegas (it was a cruise last year). A cash finish and ill be in with a good shout on a leaderboard already dominated by the Irish, we'll just have to see how it goes next week I suppose.
                                              Echtgeld Poker Apps - die besten Pokerräume für iPad, iPhone, Android


                                              As mentioned online hasnt been going great, still slumping unfortunately. 5th in $30 rebuy, 5th in $50fo and 20th in $500 highroller the only significant scores since my last post. Also worth a mention is the 50 rebuy the same night as the highroller, which I busted 24th in where I got dogged in a huge pot for the chip lead. I had visions of a double final table at one point as I had a commanding chip position in both all tourney long, but it was not to be. Nothing has gone my way in the business end of anything since the 100 rebuy last month. Variance is a bitch! If you're doing things right, theres not much more you can do when you're running like a one legged sumo wrestler other than try play your way out of the funk, so thats what im gonna try do.

                                              GL at the felt all, virtual or otherwise!

                                              Comment


                                                #24
                                                Hey mate, have read two posts so far, just like to say best of luck with the aventure. I'll defo be keeping an eye on it.

                                                All the best.
                                                Huh, Math my dear boy is nothing more than the lesbian sister of biology.

                                                My Poker Blog http://jason-tompkins.blogspot.com
                                                My twitter http://twitter.com/#!/blaaaaaah666

                                                Comment


                                                  #25
                                                  Originally posted by blaaaaaaah View Post
                                                  Hey mate, have read two posts so far, just like to say best of luck with the aventure. I'll defo be keeping an eye on it.

                                                  All the best.
                                                  Cheers man, I appreciate it. Ive been keeping an eye on your stable which has been doing really well, hammo in particular, and I wish ye the best of luck with it and GL in vegas.

                                                  Comment


                                                    #26
                                                    End of month graph, EMOP TR and goals update.

                                                    Graph

                                                    Didnt play half as much online as I should have this month, with moving apartment and the week in Bulgaria. I was a small loser overall, I felt I played ok in what I played, but had a bad downswing followed by a 2nd in a 50 rebuy, with it being the only significant cash in the month. I played really well during that tournament, particularly 3 handed. Got dogged twice heads up otherwise I would have been a 1.5k winner for the month, but you cant win them all I suppose. Ill go over the HHs and put up some key hands in a later post, there were a couple of interesting ones and ive been meaning to post more hands in this.

                                                    SPOILER


                                                    EMOP Sunny Beach trip report

                                                    Left the scorching weather in Dublin to arrive in Sunny Beach on Monday evening.
                                                    Met the ecclectic crew from killarney at the airport, 5 players travelling plus various partners/siblings along. You would struggle to find a nicer group of people. I was travelling on my own, and they made every effort to involve me throughout the week and and I thouroughly enjoyed their company all week long.
                                                    Sunny Beach wasnt exactly what it said on the tin at first, it was pissing rain, windy and dark when we arrived after a long 4 hour flight and 2 hour time difference. The whole day felt like the journey home, it was so surreal.
                                                    After dropping the bags off at the hotel, we went to the casino where we got dinner and took advantage of the complimentary bar. After a few drinks, the most peculiar thing happened. Most of the staff, the drinks servers, the bar people, and I think even one of the cleaners, hopped up on an innocuously looking empty stage. One went to the drums, one to the piano and a third had a mac with a midi touchpad instrument. 6 went to microphones.
                                                    I wasnt sure what to expect, what with it being night after the eurovision, but they were really fucking good. Completely out of nowhere and a very nice touch by the casino.
                                                    SPOILER


                                                    Woke up Tuesday afternoon not really remembering how or when I got back to the hotel the night before. Stayed in the hotel for most of the day as it was still raining, and went for dinner that night. Met most of the other Irish guys playing the tournament as well as blogging sensation TylerD, a true gent.
                                                    There was a lot of us at the table, and the service was sloppy during the starters. When they were bringing out the mains they informed me they pretty much forgot mine so I had to wait. Nothing builds an appetite like watching 9 people eat dinner I can tell you! Half an hour later the seabass finally arrived, it was pretty good, not sure it was worth the wait though. The restaraunt in fairness to them gave us a free dessert each and a free bottle of kiwi liquor between us. The lads had all planned on playing the sat in the casino or play online that evening, so after I ate dessert alone (couldnt leave it behind me) I walked back to the hotel. Walked for an hour and a half after a few wrong twist and turns, but got back to the hotel in the end. Was pretty tired and with the tourney starting tomorrow I decided to have an early night.

                                                    Tournament started Wednesday. Light lunch then off to the casino. Got a decent seat draw with mostly local lads at the table. No disrespect to the Bulgarians, but they were the value in the tournament as far as I could see. Got up to 40k pretty quickly after playing a flopped set tricky for maximum value and with it being the only huge pot I played on day 1. I hovered between 35k and 50k all day eventually ending on 48.6k.

                                                    Had the day off on Thursday. The majority of the Irish guys that travelled were playing today so went to fanboy them for a little while as the weather was still shit. It was also my birthday, so I hit the beers pretty early. After a couple of hours I left and went back to the hotel. I found this waiting for me in my room.
                                                    SPOILER

                                                    Really nice touch again, and it put a smile on my face for the rest of the day. Went for dinner with one of the lads who wasnt playing the tourney later on, then for more drinks, then ended up back at the casino when play ended for the day. Met Lappin and drank with him until 5am. Very interesting guy, had a good conversation with him about poker and otherwise, then back to the hotel to recharge for next days play.

                                                    Got up later than I had intended to on Friday. The weather had turned for the good, it was scorching and not a cloud in the sky. Always tougher to play poker on a day like this. After lunch I went down to the casino with my gameface on. Got a tough table with aggressive players to my left. Played well and kept chipping up all day, lost a few races then won a key one. Was on about 120k when it all went tits up.
                                                    Playing 40BBs I opened A9 on the cutoff CO to 2.1x, guy shipped 20 bigs from the BB. He was a scandie and had iGame badges on him meaning he was an online player and I expected to have an online mentality. He had been playing tight so far, but he had just slipped below the 20BB mark and I expected him to reeally widen his shipping range and thought it looked like a good spot for him. I also thought he would 3-bet induce with the best hands he would have. He had a little over half the average stack and we were still 20 off the money so I elected to call. He tables QQ and it held.
                                                    Made a similar raise a few hands later and guy effectively shoves his 12BB stack. I knew he was really strong, but felt I had enough equity to stick it in all the same. His KK held. Immediately we went on a break and I counted my stack. Just shy of 20k.
                                                    Was on the BB after the break with blinds 2k/4k/300. MP raises and Im delighted to have A2 and ship, and get there vs his 77. Very next hand LP min raises and I instashove 45k with AJ. He tanks and eventually calls with A4cc. Flop of 1075 rainbow and im thinking im with a shout again with an average stack if I win this pot. 6c on the turn and my heart sinks a little bit. 8c on the river is the final nail in the coffin, and its a 46th place finish. 6 places off leaderboard points, and way off the money.
                                                    My thoughts after the tournament were that after a yoyo day when I was a close to the rail a couple of times, I had finally got a stack together, and I probably needed to change gears a bit and didnt. The decisions came at me hard and fast, and I never really properly reflected on my own tourney position when I was made that big call with the A9. Fatigue again was a factor late in day 2, and I strongly feel more regular exercise is required to maintain the levels of mental stamina needed for such events in the futute.
                                                    Went back to the hotel and drank til 6am.

                                                    Saturday I lay on the beach most of the day, then went drinking again later (Im not a big drinker at all, but it was a holiday resort so it seemed only natural to have pint in hand all week). Ended up going to a techno club with a really good DJ. Was a pretty crazy night, that was memorable even though large parts of the night are a blank.

                                                    Sunday I stayed in bed til 5pm then took it extremely easy when I did get up. Played a bit of online that evening and had an early night.

                                                    Checkout day on Monday. Played some pool and bowling, did some shopping and got the last bit of sun in before the trip home. Had a great trip overall, and met some really nice people and feel I made some friends which was a real bonus. Pity I couldnt give a better account of myself in the tourney again, but there'll be other days chances im sure. Mentally im already gearing myself back up for going back to the grind.
                                                    Long day of travel with a 4 hr plane journey, then a 2 hour wait in Dublin airport before the final leg of a 4 hour bus to Limerick. The journey was made even longer when I thought the bus was at 1 and it was actually at half 12 and I ended up missing it. That sickening feeling when the penny dropped that i'd have to spend the night in Dublin airport was like being told my dog has died and being kicked in the nuts at the same time. Got a Mcbreakfast and plugged the laptop in. 10 hours later I arrived home. Pretty horrible experience, but didnt take away from the week too much.
                                                    End report.


                                                    Goals

                                                    This thing has turned into more of a general blog than the poker goals log it started out as, but thats not a bad thing either. After the 3 month mark at the staked grind I think its a good time to kind of review where I am now in terms of the goals I laid out at the start as well as setting and sharing some new ones.

                                                    Stats to date :-
                                                    SPOILER
                                                    Tourneys - 1181 ; Winnings (inc packages) - $17k ; ROI% - 37.4%


                                                    ~$12k profit and 2 EMOP packages to date is a pretty good return. However, im going to need to pick up the pace a bit if im to hit 50k profit and 5k tournies by the end of the year.
                                                    After talking to some knowledable folk this week ive decided that to get the most out of myself im going to need to max out the amount of tables I play. Im gonna try get back to a comfortable 8 this month, then try get up to 9 and play it til im comfortable, then 10, then 11 and so on with 16 tables being the target for this year. I will not increase unless I play for a couple of sessions in a row and feel im not making silly errors after an increase. If I need to drop a few of the bigger buyin games and my roi% takes a hit then so be it, if I do it properly my bottom line will increase and thats the most important thing at the end of the day.

                                                    Pocketfives

                                                    Competition has been hotting up locally with user 'knockglass' coming out of nowhere and taking the #1 spot in Limerick. He seems to be a newish online player, and has been cutting it up this year. Nice going dude, keep crushing 'em!
                                                    Also Zippppppy147 has been been gaining steadily after the last few weeks on the grind. Keep up the good work man.
                                                    The 3 of us are now in the top 30 in Ireland. To put it in perspective, there were 0 in the top 40 when I started keeping track of pocketfives. Thats pretty cool, and I hope the players in my hometown keep upping their game.

                                                    Im up to #23rd (formerly #22nd) ranked player in Ireland and approaching the top 1000 worldwide. Not a bad acheivement in itself, but its a long way to go to reach the long term goals.

                                                    The dream will always be a WSOP bracelet, a WPT title and/or a top 10 pocketfives worldwide ranking. I think I will play poker for as long as I havnt acheived any of these.
                                                    I might spend a lifetime not acheiving the dream, but hopefully along the way i'll be a respected player who makes a generous living, and manage to stay ahead of the curve as the games get tougher.
                                                    Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss you will land among the stars.

                                                    Comment


                                                      #27
                                                      Havnt updated this in a while, but when things arnt going great there really isnt much to write about and you just have to put the head down.
                                                      Ive been having a bad run this last month, 20+ cashes with no finish higher than 4th and no cash over 1k. Its looking like its gonna be my 2nd losing month in a row which really sucks as I dont think my results have reflected my play at all, but I guess we're all slaves to variance.
                                                      My plan for increasing the amount of tables played has also been put on hold because, of the 4 sites im staked to play on, 2 of them are down at the moment, but im still stretching to 8 tables where possible.
                                                      Ive been slipping down the pocketfives rankings due to points decaying and the people arond me generally crushing the last month. Nice work all, itll be my turn soon enough though.

                                                      Took some much needed R&R last weekend heading up to body and soul. I'd previously been to 4 electric picnics and 2 oxygens and it was the best festival ive been to. The people were amazing and there was seldom a dull moment.

                                                      Cliffs:

                                                      8 of us convoyed up on Saturday. I stupidly hadnt booked a ticket and they were sold out by the time we arrived. I went looking for someone with a spare ticket for sale in the car park while my friends went in (keeping their eyes peeled for a ticket of course).
                                                      After an hour of no luck and the amount of people looking for a ticket exponentially increasing, I got word that one of the girls' wristband was loose enough to slip off, so one of the lads was going to bring it out and hopefully id be able to slip it on and make it into the campsite at least.
                                                      It was going to be harder than it sounded as the girl in question had tiny hands, but with an ability to dislocate my ring finger knuckle (done it a few times playing sports before) and quite a bit of motivation I was able to get it on.

                                                      SPOILER

                                                      Saturday was ok, although after 5 hours of travelling, trying to get in and setting up camp in the rain we were all pretty tired. Went to Villagers and Donal Dineen who id seen before and were good. I blagged my way through all the checkpoints on Saturday (they wernt really checking) untl the last one who stopped me, but they let me into the campsite in the end.
                                                      Got up midday on Sunday, the sun was out and it scorching in the tent. Went back to the the entrance first thing, told them that id lost my wristband and showed them my friends' ticket stub and they gave me a replacement. Pretty easy actually, my bluffing face must be getting better.
                                                      Spent the afternoon walking around looking at arty stuff and listened to some cool talks. Got a massage and bought one for the girl whose wristband I used to get in. Got pretty fucked up in the evening and went to the main stage. M83 were phenomenal, little dragon was amazing and whomadewho were also really good. Roamed the woods afterwards taking the last of the substances and chatting to people until it got bright. Complete barrel of laughs from beginning to end.

                                                      Even the trip home Monday was fun. Dragging the gear to the car hungover was tough, but 2 valium and a McDonalds later and I was blissfully watching school of rock on the dashboard DVD player on the way home. Had heard the England/Italy game had gone to penalties but managed not hear the result, so watched it not knowing the result when we got back. It all worked out so well, delighted I made the decision to head up last minute.

                                                      It was the first proper break from poker since the staking began, not thinking about the game at all while I was away. I feel completely recharged after getting it out of my system. Back to the grind now, and time to kick some serious ass.

                                                      Comment


                                                        #28
                                                        Was having problems with ongame and microgaming the last while, so had to do all my playing on ipoker this month. As a result I had to play less tournies with a bigger av. buyin than usual, higher variance stuff. Heres last months graph. First really ugly month yet.
                                                        SPOILER


                                                        In other news my old sponsors have merged with/been acquired by my new sponsors https://www.bankrollsupply.com/

                                                        I was a week out of action due to the move (played live poker twice in that time), but am back up and running the last few days with ongame accessable again.
                                                        The new setup is a lot different than my old setup. Before I was just playing on what was more or less a staking deal with minimal contact with anyone from the company. Now im in group chat sessions (with my brother Glenn who coincidentally was already staked by BRS, also Flushdraw is in the group), as well as there being FB pages etc. Its a lot more interactive and will take a bit of getting used to I think, as the part of my brain used to navigate socially is not usually working when im playing online. All in all though I do feel it will probably improve my game to be doing it. Some things still need to be sorted out, but im hopeful for the future after the move. All hail glorious new overlords.

                                                        Comment


                                                          #29
                                                          July graph and recent events.

                                                          After some time off and losses incurred in June, I tried to curb things by increasing volume (playing 24 days in 25 at one point), dropping buyins and incorporating sngs.
                                                          Results were less than ideal with a $2.8k loss for the month. This month has also not started well. So whats gone wrong?

                                                          It was also pretty shit becoming part of a community, then having to leave after a month. Ive become quite dissillusioned after all thats happened, and it has definitely affected my morale and motivation, as well as my results over the past 6 weeks or so.

                                                          I have been trying to mass multitable 8-12 tables as previously posted about, and its not been going well. The main reason is the 2 networks I play on (ipoker/ongame), when I get moved table every other table freezes. It can last anywhere from a few seconds to almost a minute depending on CPU usage at the time. The timebank on these networks are pretty short, so I find myself constantly missing hands when im moved. And more tiltingly, im timing out when already involved in pots, often with big hands and large portion of my chips in the pot. 1-2 of these can completely destroy a session.
                                                          I find when playing less tables the freeze lasts less time, so for now im gonna stick to 6 tables max and not think about an increase again until im playing on networks that support mass multi tabling better (Stars/FT reopen).

                                                          Also notable last month was due to network failure (twice) and computer failure (once), I was locked out of 3 sessions for up to an hour, giving up over 1k in tournament buyins (not to mention equity) as well as the stress involved while waiting and trying to sort a soltion. Absolutely one of the most sickening feelings in the world, especially near bubble. Invariably I was returning to 5bb if anything, with no miracles happening on these occasions.

                                                          I try to focus on the things I can control rather than things I cant, but I must say I have been running really bad, losing flips and getting coolered a lot when deep in tourneys with decent loot up top recently.
                                                          Looking at my results in tournaments with at least 2.5k for first, since my last decent score (4.2k near the end of May), theres been 19 times when I have made the last 2 tables, with only 8 times into the final table which consisted of a 9th, 7th (twice), a 6th, a 5th, a 4th and 3rd (twice). Biggest score ~1k.

                                                          Whatever external distractions there may be, when I get down to the last 2 tables I give it 100% concentration as mistakes made at this point are costly.
                                                          I would consider end game to be one of my strengths, so im pretty disgusted with such a poor haul over a 3 month period. I could post HHs, but I dont want to turn this into kobrakis bad beat log.

                                                          Off the table there has been more drama with my sponsors, with the merger of bad beat and bankrollsupply being dissolved after a month. Im not going to get into the ins and outs of everything, but there has been a lot of changes to my deal over the last few months, mentor changes, schedule changes, % changes, added target numbers for rakeback etc, which has been very unsettling.

                                                          Ill put my hands up and say there have been tournaments and even entire sessions where I played below par on reflection. The Euros and the Olympics have been highly entertaining, but also pretty distracting. Full concentration on the task at hand at all times is the least of what I should do to improve things. Take days off if I want to watch stuff. A no tv rule to be implemented.

                                                          This downswing has eaten into much of my profit this year, and it has been disheartening to say the least. After the 10k win in April I was taking far too many shots at 50-100 rebuys and 200 fos trying to hit another big score while confidence was high. My ITM% in these have been shockingly bad, and has accounted for much of my losses since May.
                                                          I dont think I suck at this level by any means, and is a reflection on my overall run bad. During that time I was cutting down the amount of shots I was taking, but the swings have become unsustainable and for now Im not even going to play 100fos unless I sat in.

                                                          I had only been playing tournies with minimum 10k guarantee for the past few months.
                                                          The smaller buy in/guarantee tournaments are the ones with the most fish/value, im realising now how I completely shot myself in the foot by discounting a lot of the softer games for so long.

                                                          At this stage in the log, I would be happy to reach 60% of my original goal amount (30k) this year, with ROI numbers adjusted accordingly. With just 20 weeks left, I plan to stick to mid stakes and 6 tables max, so I will need to be putting in a hell of a lot of table time for the remainder of the year. Increasing session times from 6-8 hours to 10-12 hours. Get back to the roots of my younger, caffeine fuelled days. Not just playing time either, Im going to put in more hard hours on HHs and studying in general. I think its absolutely essential at this point if im to turn things around.

                                                          I mean, hopefully ill bink the big Sunday/HR/Live event that has eluded me so long, but its unrealistic to think Im going to anytime soon, and is probably not the way im going to acheive the goals set out in this log.
                                                          Its not called a grind for nothing. Consistent hard work is the key.

                                                          July Graph
                                                          SPOILER

                                                          Wish meGood luck at the tables!

                                                          Comment

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