Monday, July 12, 2010

Can I transfer my run good please?

Sports betting has been going pretty great recently. Have had a real good year at it, much thanks to a few people that often pointed me in the right direction, whereas I only usually pick up tiny pieces of value if they're good at all. The world cup has been no exception. Ran immensely hot in it. Didn't end up with the absolute scoop, but made a tidy sum off of it thanks to a few bets of my own and a little help from those who are smarter than me! If Villa had binked a goal in the final it would have been better, but I can't complain!

Dunno what I'm going to bet on for the next while! Will get stuck into a bit of golf for a bit I reckon, especially with the Open coming up soon.

Haven't played too much poker recently. Had a few small placings and FTs, but no big money, and the cash has been a small winner too. I usually play 1/2 6max, but took a shot at a real soft 2/5 9max game there during last week. Got up to about 600 when UTG mins it, 3 callers, I'm in the bb with the kingers, make it 53 to go. UTG repops to about 110, everyone folds and I jam into the aces obv. Bink the river king though for a nice introduction to 2/5. Mbn to run like me!

Was in Arklow for the weekend watching the WC, F1, golf and TdF, and having a bit of a kickaround too. No poker or gambling, but good craic! Suffering now though!

My brother, Jim, is going pretty well in the WSOP ME at the moment. Starting day 3 today with 158k, average at 85k. One time and all of that!

Monday, July 5, 2010

VSOP ME

Was due to play the father and son qualifying in The Castle on Sunday (golf, I suck!), but got a call Saturday evening to say we couldn't, so headed in to play the Voodoo main event on Saturday. 250 game, 15k stack, 40 min clock, all the levels. Really soft too.

Had a ridiculous table to start with, it was just so bad. Got the stack up to 45k by the second break, which was a huge stack. Proceeded to run awfully then, and the table got progressively worse, with Mick Stevens, Iain Cheyne, Ronan Gallagher, and JTSpades from IPB all getting moved to my right. I got to cold 4b a5s in a good spot, but got snap jammed on. Sigh. Then proceeded to run really bad for an age. Had to make one big fold vs a weird line, and then lost 99 vs K8, AK vs AA for 20bb, and managed to river a split with my KK vs KQs after the KQ turns a straight. I'm on about 17k then, but shove it back up to 33k when I bust with about 20 mins left in the day when I raise AJ from EP, BB calls, flop is A22, he checks, I check back (I think he's got some airball here too much for me to bet, and I think I'll only get 2 streets mostly anyways from most aces.) Turn is a T, he leads for 5k into 5800. I call. River is a J, he bets 15k, I put my 26k in the middle and he has Q2o. WP sir. You got me.

Haven't been playing much lately, just been messing around the place. Trying to play some limit online recently, but I'm not much good. I'm a small winner I reckon, and I think I improve the shorter-handed it gets. Played 2 limit tourneys on iPoker recently. Came 2nd in a small stakes 7stud, and won a LO8 one. Both for very little, but I enjoy it. Came 2nd in a 20 NLO game on stars last night too for 450 or so. First time playing NLO, and it is so much better for tourneys than PLO that its unreal. Standard was pretty bad too which was fun. I'm not good at Omaha myself, but I just got lucky in the right spots. Had KKxx vs AAKxds first hand of HU for 30 bigs which did me, but gg. Came about 200 off the money in the mill too. Had half a stack on a few occasions, but just didn't really get going.

Starting work as an assistant trader in town in 3 weeks now. Really looking forward to it. Gonna be really tough and really competitive, but I'll give it a spin anyways. Better get the head into gear though if I wanna do well!

Big weekend planned for next week though for the WC, and lots of golf planned too. Should be fun and messy. Poker might take a backseat for a while....

Sunday, June 27, 2010

UKIPT Killarney

Decided to resurrect this blog in the wake of UKIPT Killarney. Will be nice to write sometimes, and I'll try not let it die again. This post turned out to be a little longer than anticipated! Tl;dr obv.

Managed to bink a ticket for Killarney UKIPT a few weeks back, so headed down this weekendfor the event, and managed to get 9th in the event somehow.

I had nothing overly interesting in the whole tourney. Never at a tough table really, or if I was, it wasn't for long. The absence of all the top Irish players really helped in making the tourney soft.

Start day 1 with 15k. Lost 3 hands in the first 2 levels to put me down to 6-7k. First I 2 barrelled KK on a Qc5c5x9x3c board and c/f river vs a good english player. Second I flat IP with 9T vs a fish, raise a K9T flop bet turn, and check back K river to lose vs KQ. Tight older guy raises UTG, I flat AhQd in sb, flop is Ad9x4d, I c/c, turn is a Td, checked through, I lead Q river and get flatted by bottom set. Was folding to a shove anyway though. Stayed on 6-7 for an age, then got to 5b shove QQ for 50bbs over a cold 4b, villain tank folds AK, and I'm up to 11 or so. Down to 10 in the last couple levels of day 1, blinds 150/3 I think, fish joins table and donates a double up in a very very soft hand to get me over 20, then get a few streets of value from him to put me on 28. Then play a fun hand against him when he limps his button (he limps loads) and I check my option with 74o. Flop comes 459r, I c/c. Turn is an 8, I c/c an overbet. River is a 7 and I crai and he instasnaps with QQ. I was calling river anyway w/o the 7, so got v lucky. He was pretty angry at me too :o. Someone told me later that he was telling loads of people about the bad beat some fish with 74 put on his pocket queens. Oops.

That has me about 43 or so, but I lose a big flip for 20k or so with TT vs AK, when I flat an unknowns HJ raise OTB after v aggro CO flats too. Shorty small blind shoves, folded to me and I snap. Flop is KKT, turn A.

That has me on 37 or so, and lose a few small pots at the end of day to wander down to 30k.

Start day 2 by winning 3 of the first 5 pots, and in the 6th, bb has clicked sit out, young guy in the CO raises, I 3b my btn with QQ, he 4bs, I shove, he has AK. I lose and am down to 10bb. Next hand he raises and calls my shove with A5 which was behind my AJ, and stays there. Up to 16k. He raises again an orbit later on my btn, I shove 77 and hold vs his AK. Back over 30k at 3/6. Win a few more pots to get near 40, then raise AA from MP, SB 3bs, I flat. Flop is Axx with two diamonds, he crai with AQ and I'm up over 60k. Cooler for him, cos in fairness I was playing most pots.

Moved to a table with Liam Flood a few to my left so am forced to quieten down a little. Good english player raises UTG then with 20bb, and UTG+1 shoves for 10k, which was about 14bb IIRC. I flat with JJ UTG+2, everyone folds, including Liam Flood with AK, and I hold vs 77 to get over 80k. I flatted cos there was one other deepish and tightish guy behind me, and I thought it was better to flat and fold to his shove, while calling everyone elses. Lose a good few small pots then to put me back on 70.

Get moved to a much softer table then. Got two streets of value from a cork player on a scary board with AQ as TPTK after I flatted IP vs EP raise and we both check flop. I then just started running hot, but also destroying everyone. I ended up playing a crazy amount of pots for a long period of time, just 3betting everyone, and keeping stealing the blinds. Helped a lot cos we were getting closer and closer to the bubble. Got a few nice hands at the right time, to call an EP shove from Denise with AA, and then got 3b shoved on when I had TT. Both hold vs worse hands, but both only had 10bbs at the time. Got up to 250k mostly without showdown, but the AQ, TT and AA helped. Had an annoying but standard hand vs Aonghus O'Farrell just off the bubble. I've been very active, and raise MP with AhTd. He calls bb. Flop comes QJ8 with two hearts, giving me the double bellybuster, backdoor flushdraw and A high, so I check back. Turn is a bink of a diamond K. Get shoved on when I bet, obv snap to see top 2 with the flushdraw. House on river drops me down to 200 from the 250 I had to start the hand.

Cat O'Neill and Liam Flood then get moved to my right, which was obviously a little tougher. Couldn't play a pot with Liam Flood, despite him opening a load, and both of us being about 80bbs deep, and me having direct position cos I just never had a hand to play back with. Getting near the bubble two shortstacks on my left just started folding everything, so that got me a lot too. One of them told me later that he folded AK twice and AQ once to my BTN shoves into their <10bb stacks near bubble time. Must have been a serious case of squeaky bums!

Play one pot vs Cat O'Neill on the bubble. I've 200k and she has 130k. She raises btn to 7.5, I make it 19.4 on the BB with A2s. She calls. Flop comes K45 with my backdoor. I bet 20.5k, and she tanks and folds. Was shoving turn anyway. Think I could have got a fold from a lot of her range. She plays pretty solid in terms of opening from what I've seen anyway.

Bubble bursts shortly afterwards anyway, and day 2 finishes.

Start day 3 with just shy of 250k and just inside the money. Drop down to 60k or so within the first level though. One of the first hands I flat an aggroish (hadn't played with him, but had heard he was semi-aggro) scottish guy's raise from MP with AQo in the bb. Didn't really want to 3b and get in AQ for 80bbs there. Flop comes 854, I check/call. Turn is an A. I check call again. River is a J. I check/call once more to be shown A8. Shove AQ over Aonghus's UTG raise when he has 15bbs, he tanks a little and calls AK and he holds. Get that 60k back up a little by getting a few 3bet shoves through (blinds are 1.5/3 now). Got to shove TT from SB into Aonghus's AQ and I hold to get back to 130 or so. Pretty lucky I actually had a hand when I needed to that time.

I raise MP with A5o then, and Tamu Kero, who's a Finnish pro that I've played with previously flats his BB. He has about 90k. Flop comes K57r. Checked to me and I bet 8k, he raises to 22k, I shove and he folds. :).

Then raise AhTs in MP when I'm up to 150k or so. Scottish guy flats from SB. Flop comes J54 with one heart and 2 clubs. He c/calls half pot. 9h on the turn is checked through. Pot is about 50k now. River is the Qh. He checks to me again and I fire 95k. He tanks and folds a J. That may have been pretty bad, but I really don't think he turns up with two pairs there too often, and may actually fold 2 pairs that aren't QJ. Fun hand either way.

Then raise QJ from MP, get 2 callers, one the scottish guy on the btn, and Owen Robinson from the SB. He's a tag, and seems quite good. Bink a QJJ flop. Bet flop and the scottish guy calls. Turn is a Q, and I crai, which I think is truly awful. He folds anyway, and i'm back up to 250 or so.

Stay extremely quiet for an age then. Stay at the same stack for ages until we're down to the final two tables. Peter Barrable shoves his 20bb stack UTG with 77 at 3k/6k, and I snap my AK, and somehow don't find a way on a QQJ flop. That left me with 130 or so. I shove that in multiple times to get it back up a bit, and open a few pots too to put me about 240k at 3/6. About 14 people left, and my table kept folding, so was opening a lot. Owen Robinson was the only guy I was really wary of. I knew he was gonna 3b me sooner or later, and he already had a couple times earlier. I raise my CO with KK, he 3bs to 50k or so from his 150k stack, I shove and he has 99. The way I'd been playing, I got extremely lucky to have a hand again. Bit of a cooler for him. Put me on 390 or so though at 4/8.

Femi then moves to my direct right with his monster tank. I try and play a few pots with him with position and 50bbs, but nothing much happens till he raises SB to 22k and I call QTo. Flop comes 77J, I c/c 35k. Turn is a 8, giving me a gutshot. He checks, I bet 42k and he calls. River is the K, so I bet 110k into 230k when checked to. He tanks for an age and folds 66. I actually don't like my bluff at all. Wouldn't do it again anyway. That puts me over 500.

Keep winning small pots to get the stack up to about 550. I raise 44 from MP, and a pretty tight guy shoves 12bb from the BTN. I really think I should have folded against him, but I didn't. He had QQ. Either he was acting or he actually didn't enjoy putting his money in there, but that was somewhat a factor. I think he was defo getting in AJ anyway, so my call can't be too bad. He got AQ in in a similar spot a little earlier, and I'd been a crazed loon, whereas that guy had been tightish.

Then play a pretty memorable pot vs Peter Barrable. I'd stolen a bit from him, but he'd played back a small bit too. I raise my SB with J7s to 28k at 5/10. He calls his BB with just over 300k. Flop comes 552. I lead 29k, he snap makes it 85k. I tank a short while and shove the tank in. He obv has A5. Looks a little crazy, but at that stage we were on the final table bubble. He had been playing back a little at me already, so I knew he could be light. I also thought from previous play and conversation that he would raise 66+ against me there anyway, along with some bluffs. I didn't think there were many 5s in his range either. I also thought he would flat 5s sometimes (not all the time), and flat 22 almost always, especially vs me. So I think I can force a fold sometimes from 66-99 which he had flatted pre, fold the bluffs and the 34. I wouldn't expect 99 to fold much tbh, but I definitely would 66, and a sliding scale between those hands.

Pokerstars blog posted that hand too. Whoever the blogger was said in other words that I was obv a fool that needed "reading lessons" cos it was immensly obvious to everyone else around that he had a monster from his shaking hands. Smart people obv. I'm pretty happy that my reads were better than anyone elses (bar Nick Newport who plays loads live) in the last 10, and pay loads of attention to details. Perhaps they missed a hand a little before where Femi raised, he looked at his cards and his hands started shaking badly. He eyed up his stack, got it into a heap, tanked a little while and folded. According to stars blog he obv folded the boots there. I will defer to there judgement, as it is clearly far superior to mine. I emailed them about the report, and they haven't deigned to treat me to a reply yet. Obv not worthy. Maybe they'll deem it fit to stoop to the menial task of replying to an email. Looking forward to the reply anyway.

That hand left me with 57k at 5/10. I shove my BTN with QT, Peter Barrable folds A6 :0! Up to 75k. Shove K7o the next hand, and Mike Hill calls with AT. I find a K and am up to 150k. Stay there for a few orbits until Mike Hill makes it 30k UTG, Femi tanks a little and makes it 100k. I find KK on the BTN and ship it in. Mike folds and Femi calls with AQ. Mike says he had an ace too, but nevertheless one of the other aces finds its way to the river. Busto in 9th for 5600. So close but yet so far!

Hugely enjoyable event, and fair play to Connie et al who put on a great show and gave us a fantastic structure. Great atmosphere as well.

Played some cash after that, after a few pints. Got AK in vs AQ pre on one of my first hands. Lose for a buyin. Then get 9TJQss in 4way vs bare kings, a random bag of spanners and KQT3 no suits. KQT3 obv flops the nuts. Nice. Another buyin! Get AQ in vs Ax for 175bb vs a farmer on a A86 board. That was nice. Then get moved to a table with Gerrard Harraghy, and carnage ensued. One of the first hands we play, I raise my HJ with Q6s in 1/2/5, he 3bs, and I shove it in. He snaps it off. Board comes TT467 to give him a straight with 85s! Few hands later I manage to get 150bbs in with T7s on a 689J board vs 88 and lose. Played one of my favourite hands ever a little later. I manage to 6b shove for 150bbs over a cold 5b with 5 high and get a fold. Fun times. Dropped 3buyins in cash, but I was monstrously below EV. Good fun though.

Sports haven't gone too well over the last little while too, but am still up good in the last month. Here's to the Argies not winning the World Cup and all will be well!