Littleacornman's poker n life blog

Bloggerment Tonight

2009-11-22T16:15:00.001Z

Open to all...

Peck the Eyes Right Oot Yer Heid

2009-11-19T13:58:00.001Z

Just off the phone to the Doc and I've been given a sick line for a further two weeks with an appointment for Dec 3rd at 10.30am.I've been prescribed a stronger pain killer as I'm still in quite a bit of pain down the right hand side of my body.I'd rather have my Aces rivered ten times in a row than sneeze!Apparently it can take 4-6 weeks for torn muscles to repair and I also have a couple of lumps on my leg and a bit of numbness too.

My insurance company ( More Than) made a good offer to replace my car and I've already looked at a few online.I was tempted to go for a Vauxhall Vectra Sri or a Honda Civic Type S but I'll probably go for a 2litre Mondeo TDCI and maybe look at remapping the engine to add a few bhp.( although 0-60 times aren't quite as big a priority as they used to be a few years ago)

I've been keeping busy by playing at Full Tilt under the name Isildur1 and so far things have been going well against Durr and co at the Heads-up nose bleed tables.Ok,lame joke but I have been watching some of the Isildur1 heads up battles with the top HU players online and it's made for fascinating viewing.Here's an excellent take on the emergence of Isildur1 by InternetPokers over at Cardrunners.

I haven't played a great deal of poker over the last week.The Bloggerment on Sunday saw 16 runners and it was great to see some new faces and some very very very old ones like Dudley too.I didn't last long after my 66 fell to Mr Clouds A10 but it was fun while it lasted and I'm looking forward to doing battle again this Sunday.All readers,bloggers and Raise the River members welcome!Read an excellent write-up on last Sundays game by Rubbish here.

Perhaps inspired by watching Isildur1 I've played a few more PLO games since my last post although the one DON ( Double or Nothing where 5/10 players get paid) I played last night seemed to last forever despite it being a turbo.I've also played a few of my usual $22 NL turbo's and they have been as swingy as ever.Up a few hundred for the month,go on a cashless streak for 10-12 games,win 2 from 3 games etc etc.As it stands right now I'm up a few hundred Dollars for the month over about 75 games.

Call of Duty:Modern Warfare 2 also arrived in the post and I've had a wee go at the online team death matches,getting my arse handed to me on a plate by 12 yr olds shouting "pussy faggot" on a regular basis.Managing 6 kills and 12 deaths in one game is my best effort so far.More progress is being made on Motorstorm Pacific Rift where I'm hoping to move up from Gold Veteran to Hero status soon.Drop me an email/leave a comment with your Play Station 3 user name if you fancy a game sometime.

Ok,just time for a bit of info I found in "The Times" re online poker in the UK.With so many new players coming into the game from other countries I'm not sure any fall in UK players would affect Party or Stars a great deal although obviously the more fellow Brit donks at the tables the better overall. I included it as I felt it may be of interest to any fellow poker geeks** reading this.

"Internet poker: The boom in online poker is over in the UK, according to research from Mintel, which found that after growth of 72 per cent between 2004 and 2007, the poker market had stagnated last year and would fall by 7 per cent this year."

**Watching the Poker Million coverage last night Jesse May commentating said that of the two players heads up at the end,Gus Hansen and Taylor Caby,only poker geeks will have heard of Caby.My previous subscription to Caby's Cardrunners site,the hundreds of games I play per month, the poker blog,floattheturn membership and the endless surfing of RTR,2+2 and Pocketfives may already indicate a certain love of the pokers already but I don't think I've ever been a geek!

Ok,thanks for reading.Here's an old classic I felt was worth dusting off.The tv Dolmio adverts Glasgow style....

NSFW:

Sng turbo's n shwings

2009-11-11T14:42:00.004Z

Everything went well with the baby scan today so I'm still on course to be an Uncle by the end of next June.

My Mum also brought round my 2 week sick line and it's been posted off to my work.I think I must have further torn a muscle in my sleep last night as I'm in a bit more pain today and any coughing hurts even more than usual.

The s-man popped round this afternoon,the Big Chap called and I've also had a couple of calls from work and texts from old friends which are helping to keep my spirits up.I used to give the Big Chap and his neighbour a lift to the Rangers reserve games a few years back and his neighbour called to say there is some particularly pungent green herbs on the go down his way just now so hopefully I can get something sorted later in the week!

The poker continues to go ok although I keep telling myself to have a proper go at the $33's whenever my Party roll breaks through a certain total and I keep chickening out and firing up more $22's.I did cash for 3rd in one $33 and it's not that I'm worried about the standard of play.It's mainly that 10-20 buy-in downswings happen a lot and although I can stand losing $300 or so in a really bad $22 session,I don't fancy dropping over $600 when running bad at higher stakes.

To try and put the swings into perspective I won two and took 2nd in the last three $22's I played last night for a profit of $200.If I play 8 games today,run like crap and cash in none of them that would still give me decent return on investment figure of about 10% over those 11 games in total.10% roi over a reasonable sample size ( at least a couple of thousand games) is very respectable.Obviously 11 games means nothing and maybe I'm not actually making sense ( I blame the pain killers!)but my point is that even if you're maintaining a good roi ,you're still going to see an awful lot of beats and lost flips in a row.

My worst excuse to myself when running badly is to tell myself that some players are obviously going to be in the bottom 5% overall when it comes to luck at the felt and I'm just unlucky enough to be in that 5%.Reading 2+2 threads and seeing graphs of winning players with break-even streaks of a few thousand games helps bring it home to me that going 10 games without cashing or even hitting a 25 buy-in downswing are completely standard and that I will play through it and eventually get back in the black again.

I probably do need to avoid playing $6.50 PLO turbo's as despite winning a $16 the other night I'm still crap at them.I usually have to check the chat box for the dealer summary to tell me which hand won at showdown and a couple of times I've been genuinely surprised when the pot ships to someone else when I thought I held pretty much the nuts! 2 cards goot,4 cards bad.I blame Dudley!

Ok,I do have another post I wrote a month or so back that I may fire up but I don't intend posting much over the next week or so until I feel better.I do intend getting onto Amazon and ordering COD:Modern Warfare 2.I never really got into the other COD games,preferring the Medal of Honor series but with plenty of time on my hands over the next wee while I think I'll give the new COD a go.

Thanks for reading and don't forget to register for Sundays Bloggerment game on Stars.It's only $5.50 and is open to all....

The Return of...

2009-11-09T13:43:00.006Z

...The Bloggerment!

Yep,it's back this Sunday and will be coming soon to the Pokerstars Lobby under the "Private" tab.( click on Tourneys first).It's open to all bloggers,readers and Raisetheriver forum members.Feel free to chat it up or play the silent chip stealing assassin! Bounties are on offer and I'll pay $5 to anyone knocking out Dudley ( Resdent Evil) after just getting a text from him suggesting the crate I swerved to avoid last Monday was put there by a rep from the Foxes Welfare Society!

On the health front I called the Docs this morning and was referred to Accident and Emergency at the hospital due to the slight popping sound I can hear when lying on my front.They literally took the piss,gave me another x-ray and the outcome was that they reckon I've torn muscles in my back and it'll just take time to heal, which in the grand scheme of things is good news.Called the Doc back for a sickline and I've got an appointment for Wed morning.Hopefully a week or two off and I'll be fighting fit again.

*Edit: Just had a call from the Docs to say they've read my hospital notes and I've been given a 2 week sickline with no need to go on Wed.

My sis popped round last night with Spag Bol,Chile and a DVD box set of The Wire and Prison Break.Oh and the Frankie Boyle live dvd too.After she left I played some poker and watched Slumdog Millionaire.I'm actually up a couple of hundred dollars at the $22's this month over not too many games, but as the swings are huge that really doesn't mean very much.

I also called the insurance company and they say I should get a call within a couple of days to negotiate a payout for my wrecked Focus.I like the look of a Honda Civic v-tec Type S I spotted and may raid my poker account if required too.

Ok,Back to feeling like I've been attacked by a Fire-Truck...

Thanks + Car Pics

2009-11-06T15:10:00.008Z

Thanks to all who commented,called,emailed etc after my last post.I've finally stopped coughing up blood today ( not major amounts or I'd have listened to my folks and gone to the Docs)and the Ibuprofen is helping the pain I'm still feeling from my bruised kidneys and sore back.Burnley Mik commented that I wrote that last post in a fairly matter of fact manner and in truth I don't think it all really sunk in until Wednesday night when I went to bed and couldn't stop shaking.

My Dad sent me these pics today after collecting my stuff from the car which has now been officially declared a write-off by the insurance co.Looking at them makes me realise I may have been unlucky that the pallet blew into my path but I was running one helluva lot better when it came to where the lamppost hit the car!

I'm still in too much pain to pick up the free ( won't seem free when I get next years insurance renewal through the door!)courtesy car I've been offered although I'm hoping to be well enough to get it next week sometime.More importantly I'm also going to have to miss my 2nd Gers home game in a row and I can't remember the last time that happened!

On the dating front although the lady is lovely,she is also 43 and doesn't want more kids.She asked me by text before we met if I was open to falling in love and I replied that I'd been there and done that ( obv the ex Mrs A was 12 yrs older and couldn't have kids)so I'm not sure we've much of a future.She did stay over last Saturday and we both agreed we had a fine time so hopefully a repeat will be on the cards at some point,possibly when I'm not feeling like I've been trampled on by a herd of rhino's!

On the poker front I've only played a few games and there's not much to report.It did seem crazy that I ran so hot in September at Party and then from the 1st October the deck was as cold as ice.Actually it's probably not that crazy as hot/cold swings over a couple of hundred games are standard sng fare.

Ahh well at least this weeks shennanigans are a good excuse to post this top tune!

Back soon...

Crash,Bang,Wallop

2009-11-02T23:54:00.005Z

The date went well on Sat night.She looked stunning and we seemed to click.

Unfortunately tonight I was driving home from work at a when a wooden crate blew into my path.I swerved to avoid it,spun a couple of times and ended up walloping a lamppost.Other drivers stopped and helped me out the car before the ambulance arrived to take me to casualty.Bottom line is I've bruised my kidneys,hurt my lower back and leg.Coughed up a tiny bit of blood probably due to a few wee glass shards from the windscreen but I'll be alright.I reckon I'm in for an uncomfortable few days but the police that attended the scene reckoned I was lucky to walk away as the car is almost certainly a write-off.My sis and brother in law have been great and sent me a wee vid of Nacho happily munching his bone.I'll get him back in the morning.

Anyways I'm full of painkillers and some of my own herbal medicine so I'll leave it there for now.Anyone any idea the market value an insurance co would pay out for a 2005 Focus St170 with 35k on the clock....

Annual Stats + Uncle Acorn!

2009-10-31T13:48:00.006Z

It's only 6 weeks so we shouldn't take anything for granted but all being well I'm going to be an Uncle! For anyone unaware, my sister had cervical cancer a few years back and is unable to carry a child, however my sis and brother in law found a surrogate,paid a fortune to go through IVF and it finally looks like it's paying off.

Oct 31st is the end of my 5th year of real money online poker and here are my monthly/annual stats...

Monthly: Party $4854 ( - $53 over aprox 200 sng's) Stars $618 ( + $63 over 3 sngs)

FT $95 ( =). Total $5472 + $10 for October.

Total Annual profit Oct 31st '08-Oct 31st '09 = $5007.( aprox 2.5k sngs)

After making three times that last year I always felt I was going to be on a bit of a hiding to nothing trying to repeat that success.I've only averaged just over 200 sng's per month and at a couple of $ per game profit,it's always going to be hobby money.Perhaps I should look at becoming a Trick or Treat pro....

Righty time to go buy some wine glasses and slap on the High Karate....

Friday Update

2009-10-30T13:30:00.006Z

I had been feeling a little better yesterday so I took Nacho out for a decent walk and then went to see a man about a dog last night.Arriving back I felt a bit dizzy and realised I'm still not 100% over the swine/man flu virus.I did sleep for over 10 hours last night though and reckon I'll be fighting fit for dinner at Mum and Dads later, followed by an evening over at the s-mans.I was in two minds about postponing tomorrow nights re-arranged date, but the lady in question has sent me a few hot pics by text and I'm not waiting another week!

On the poker front I'll post my annual stats tomorrow sometime.I did some 6 tabling of the $22's yesterday and dropped about 10 buy-ins through a combination of bad beats and rushed decision making to leave me 5 buy-ins down overall at Party for October.I am up a wee bit on Stars and after my PLO sng win the other night I played my first hands of PLO cash at the baller $10 by-in level.I lost nearly $8 when my A5 flopped a full house and lost to a bigger rivered boat but came back to make....$3 profit overall.I'm still pretty clueless as to what is and what isn't a good PLO hand but for $10 stakes I'm happy to just muddle along.

I was watching the news last night and they covered the touching story of a wee girl called Sophie Atay.I copied the info below from her justgiving website.Feel free to click on the link,make a donation and help sent Sophie to the States for treatment.

"Sophie Atay was born fit and healthy on 15 November 2007 at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear. One day whilst drying Sophie after her usual bath her mother felt a lump on the left side of her tummy. After numerous and frustrating hospital visits over a 10 day period Sophie was diagnosed with neuroblastoma stage 4 (high risk) on Monday 16 February 2009. Sophie's family are now looking to raise funds to take her to the Memorial Slone Kettering Hospital in New York for treatment."

Ok,thanks for reading.Back soon..

We are the People

2009-10-28T14:29:00.006Z

I missed going to Ibrox for the Gers 1-1 draw at the weekend, although I did watch it at iraqgoals.net. Our manager,Walter Smith,has said that Rangers are in real trouble financially and are being run by the banks.This seems to have moved takeover talks up a gear and I hope a decent buyer with the clubs interests at heart will come forward and help get us back on a sound financial footing.Ex chairman Murray had a go at trying to spend our way to European success back in the 90's and despite achieving 9 domestic league titles in a row, we're still paying for that folly now.

So I'm still stuck at home with swine flu.My temperature has dropped back to normal today and only a dry cough and an all round feeling of weakness remains.I'll probably stay off work for the rest of the week too.

They say you shouldn't play poker when ill,tired etc and as ever I don't listen to anything "they" say! Things have been swingy as always at the $22's and everytime I got close to ( within $100 or so) to breaking even for the month I'd hit another run of 6,7,8 games without cashing.Last night I'm happy to report that I finished my 3 tabling at Party with 3 sweet wins to take me slightly into profit for October.There's no point in getting too excited by that as another standard run of 8-10 ( or more) cashless games could be just round the corner.

After those 3 wins on the trot I decided to move to Stars and played a $16 PLO turbo sng for a change of pace.I took that down too and went to bed after watching some of the Poker Million coverage on tv.

I've also just finished reading the Mike Matusow story and would highly recommend it.It was a real page turner* and is well enough written to be of interest to non poker players too.

I'm probably way behind the times but I was sorry to read that Frankie Boyle will no longer be on "Mock the Week" as he was the main reason I watched that show.Watching Emily Maitlis getting her knickers in a twist quoting Frankie's joke on Newsnight was almost as funny.I actually have a lot of respect for the Queen but it doesn't stop me enjoying this clip.( NSFW!)

*as opposed to other books where you just read the same page over and over again.What a stupid phrase!

Running Hot

2009-10-23T15:59:00.003+01:00

Over 38c to be exact.Yep with a night out at the s-mans planned for tonight and a hot date lined up for Saturday, the nice nurse on the NHS 24 hotline reckons I probably have swine flu which means staying indoors for a few days.Hopefully it's only ** Man flu and I'll feel better in a few days.

I could barely keep my eyes open yesterday and the dry cough and runny nose are the other main symptoms.Thankfully I've not got it so bad that I can barely move, but I'll have to miss the Gers home game ( feckin' Brucey bonus the way we're playing!)mainly because if it is swine flu I don't want to pass it on.( unless Neil Lennon has plans to sit in the Gers end tomorrow...)

I've only played 5 sng's all week and with a eight days to go I'm still heading for my second losing month of the year.( my year end is Oct 31st) No big deal really as I've only played about 135 sng's since Oct 1st but it's a little frustrating after having such a good month last month.

Back next week...

** Obviously still as lethal as the Bubonic plague!

Time Attack

2009-10-21T18:32:00.003+01:00

The s-man was over on Monday night and he brought a UFC game with him.( for the PS3).We spent 10 minutes on the tutorial and then abandoned that for a couple of furious button mashing scraps.( 1-1!) We did have time for a few Motorstorm races too and managed to rack up a few more ranking points. We've made it to Gold Veteran status but our "time attack" times are still about 5-6 seconds behind the best players. Looking online there are actually forums, youtube vids and plenty of rivalry between players who play the ranked games ( racing up to 11 others) and the time attack guys who race alone ( usually following the best time ghost) to set lap records. There are maps available to show when to use your "boost" more efficiently and a ton of discussion on technique, workable short-cuts,game glitches etc.The s-man and I just like to fire up a game and play.

Where’s this going? Well to draw a poker analogy , if you ever wonder how on earth some players make the plays they do then my guess would be that these guys/gals just like to sit down, fire up a poker game and play. They probably don’t read poker books, forums or blogs and couldn't care less about roi/hourly rate or how many bbs/100 they are up or down this week/month/year. They may take great pleasure in hitting their two outer in the same way I enjoy it when my Monster truck generates a lovely crunching sound as it rolls over the motorbikes of the more serious contenders, but overall they’re probably losing players. That 2 outer buzz is probably a major factor in keeping them in the game and for that ( and all the fish) we should be grateful.

Last night I was at Ibrox to witness what was probably the worst result Rangers have ever had in Europe . We lost 4-1 to the Romanian champions and two own goals, a deflected free kick goal and two own goals can’t hide the fact it was a pathetic spineless performance.I was more angry at the lack of character being shown by the team than the poor quality of their play.There was some booing after the fourth goal went in and while I could understand my fellow supporters frustration I think booing while the game is still being played is almost like a form of poker tilt. It may help release some of the pent up frustration felt by the individual fan but it’s not going to help the team actually improve on the pitch.In fact if anything it can only serve to lessen the confidence of the players which in turn leads to more mistakes and poor play.

Anyway to try and finish on a slightly happier note I've mentioned before that fellow car drivers failing to use their indicators makes my blood boil.On the other hand I do love it when the cars coming towards me on the other carriageway are flashing their lights,I slow down and over the next hill is a policeman waiting with his speed gun.

Back soon....

Head Bangin'

2009-10-19T18:58:00.004+01:00

I hit the tables on Friday night and would have been better off banging my head against a brick wall.On Saturday Two Pies came round to watch the Gers win 2-1.Our plans to head to the Alea were scuppered due to the casino running a Nut's pub poker league game instead of their usual £22 turbo tourney.I fired up some online tables and Two Pies watched as I crashed out of game after game without cashing.I did manage to finish with a couple of wins to stem the tide a little but it was still a brutal wee session.The s-man arrived about 7-ish and a marathon Motorstorm session followed.

Yesterday I watched the football and stayed off the laptop until late last night when I took 2nd in a couple of $22's to leave me about 19 buy-ins down for October.If the poker gods are reading this I'd like to apologise for my winning month last month and point out that it was all due to luck/running good.Now please let me win a hand...!

My Amazon order arrived at the weekend and I've made a start on Colin Moshman's sng strategy guide and the Mike Matusow story, "Check Raising the Devil".I like the Moshman book so far with its examples of how he would play different hands according to position,player type,blind levels and I've been looking forward to getting my hands on the Matusow story for a while after reading good reviews.Vicky Coren's book has also arrived and it's next on my reading list.

I'll try and squeeze some poker in this week.The s-man is coming over tonight,I'll be at Ibrox for Rangers Champions League game tomorrow evening,Nacho get's his booster jag on Wednesday and I may be visiting my folks on Friday before going out.

Anyways thanks for stopping by and if you "follow" this blog via blogspot and wonder why I don't follow yours it's probably because I use bloglines to read most of my favourites.No doubt I'm behind the times and some blogtwitterbook has now overtaken bloglines but I like it!

Back soon...

Supreme Victor

2009-10-16T18:30:00.005+01:00

No bad beats at all to complaint about last night.I wasn't outdrawn once and halted my slide by not dropping any buy-ins at all! As you've probably guessed I didn't play any poker, although I did watch a training video after the s-man left and I'd finished whupping his best time attack times at Motorstorm Pacific Rift.I did manage to win one race but as usual far more pleasure was gained from punching other riders off their bikes and knowing that somewhere in the world somebody was sitting in front of their television cursing the Supreme Victor.( my latest MS Trophy!)

The plan is to hit the tables tonight,be up in time to watch the Champions play St Johnstone through in Perth at 12.30 and then head to the Alea casino for another go at their £22 turbo tourney.I always consider my entry fee as money spent and haven't given any consideration to playing any of the games in the £50-£100 range which run in Glasgow poker venues.They seem far too rich for my taste despite the fact I'll probably return from the Alea and happily wager approx £55 four tabling the $22 turbo's on Party.My "gulp limit" is certainly far higher online.I posted yesterday about losing 7 buy-ins in a row the other night and although it did cross my mind that the total sum lost equalled about £95, I went to bed and slept like a baby without giving it a second thought.If I lost the same total at a Casino I wouldn't be a happy Acorn at all.

Perhaps that difference in mindset is because no matter how badly I run online I know I'll always make it back at some point.Offline feels more like gambling to me and my attitude to gambling has always been that the money is spent and any winnings which come from it are a bonus.

Away from the poker I'm keeping all my fingers n toes ( and obviously saying hello to lone magpies) crossed that my sister and hubby run good on the IVF front and it works out this time.They should find out next week and I'd take all the bad beats going and more this month if that could be balanced by things working out for them just the onetime....

I've also registered Nacho with a vet ( the ex got free treatment for him as she didn't work)and can only hope he'll cope with the change of surname without needing doggy counselling.Booster time for him next week so that should be fun.

Ok,posting about the dog's upcoming injection must mean this post has well and truly jumped the shark.

Thanks for reading and good luck to Burnley in the big game of the weekend away at their rivals Blackburn Rovers on Sunday.

Back soon...

Bye C/runners...

2009-10-15T18:23:00.003+01:00

My crap month at the virtual felt continues.After pulling back a little from being 25buy-ins down I managed to play seven turbo's the other night without cashing.Last night I only played a couple of games and cashed 2nd and 3rd.

Cardrunners seem to have a problem with my credit card payment this month.I called the card co and although there are no problems at their end, Cardrunners cannot process a payment manually and I need to put my details in again.I've learned a ton from Jackal69,Braminc,Dirtybrasil and co from watching their sng vids but the main focus at Cardrunners is cash games and I'm a turbo sng donkey these days.I'm still a member of Floattheturn ( formerly sng icons) and one training site payment per month is probably enough for me at the moment.

The real training I should be doing is making more use of ICM calculators to help improve my end game.I first discovered ICM via Sitngoplanet and even knowing a little of the basics helped my game.I'm not into Maths though and rely on feel and experience to try and make the correct ICM decisions.I also like to think I've a decent feel for game flow too ( much easier when only 3-4 tabling)and that helps boost my roi.I must admit too, that so called experts on forums stating that you simply need to "learn ICM" to profit at sngs are full of crap,implying it's like some sort of times table like you learn at school and once you know it you'll be expert.

At the end of the day ( it's 11.59pm ) the most important factors when doing any kind of ICM calculations are the hand ranges you put your opponents on.

Ok,cutting this short as it's 7pm and I haven't eaten yet.( Nacho has of course!)

Tonight it's Motorstorm Pacific Rift online.Back soon.( and yeah I am old enough to think Brothers in Arms was a fine album!)

Back to the Grind....

2009-10-12T19:51:00.002+01:00

I’d love to say I’m back feeling refreshed after a two week break from work, but the truth is I’m feeling almost jet lagged after getting used to late nights and long lies.

Tempting as it was to get away for a few days, I simply enjoyed relaxing and taking it easy. Long walks for Nacho, online poker,football,PS3 gaming and mindless net surfing were the order of most days. I also hit the Alea casino last weekend for another go at their 3pm , £22 turbo tourney which attracted over 70 runners. My AJ didn’t improve v 88 all in pre flop with less than ten big blinds left and that was that.I intend giving it another go this weekend as I’m starting to feel a bit more comfortable playing live.

As per my September results post I ran well and posted a healthy profit over relatively few games.Going into October I knew I wasn’t going to continue averaging $7 profit per $22 game ,but I wasn’t immediately prepared for the the kind of bad run you wouldn’t believe was possible unless you play a lot of sng’s. The 25 buy-in downswing I suffered at Party back in March certainly helped me cope better this time, although it’s hard to stay sane when you can almost call out in your head the 2 outer card your opponent requires and bang it arrives by the river.( over and over again)

I’ve never ever believed online poker is rigged in any way, but playing 2-3 tables I began to notice I was being dealt the same hand ( sometimes even the suits matched) on two tables at the same time on a seemingly regular basis. When I started to point my mouse at the wee boat on my screen saver photo to try and ensure I was dealt a better hand ( I did it once and of course was dealt KK so it must work ) I knew it was time to stop being silly and get back to focusing on the poker.

The company I work for are still offering a years salary to anyone who wishes to leave by the end of this month. Part of me wanted to use my time off to try and 4-6 table for 6-7 hours and see if I had it in me to consider jacking in the 9-5.In reality I played approx 100 games over the last 12 days which isn’t bad for a hobby player,but comes nowhere near the 70-80 sng’s I’d need to play per day if I wanted a decent full-time income. Of course I was in holiday mode over the last two weeks and perhaps if forced by circumstance I would have enough self discipline to get up at 9-10am and put in 6-7 hours of multi-tabling.The chances are though that I’m just not cut out for endless hours of grinding and I’m far better off just making a few £k every year as a hobby.( cutting back to 4 days per week is a more serious proposition)

October 31st is the 5th anniversary of my real money online poker playing adventures and after making $15k last year, ( including $4.2k Mtt cash) some quick addition shows I've slipped back to only making $4.5-$5k over the ( nearly) 12 months since Nov 1st '08.I've only played approx 2800 sng's over that period and realistically if I'm only going to play about 200-250 games per month then I can only expect to be making around $400 profit.

I suppose I've also made a small step up from the Stars $16's to the Party $22's and have also had to adjust to playing 10 seat single tables games instead of the 18 man games I played previously.After reading a 2+2 thread on how the Party $22's are infested with solid regulars perhaps I should be grateful I'm making anything at all there!

I do plan on using poker winnings to pay for the usual stuff like council tax,car insurance,Rangers season ticket etc when they come round next year so I don't want to blow through my whole roll but I do plan on taking bankroll management a bit less seriously at times and taking a few more shots.( playing a few $55's and one $109 sng over the year is just too nitty!)

Back soon...

Compare the titles.com

2009-10-04T17:26:00.003+01:00

2-1 to the Scottish Champions today at Ibrox v celtc.Wheeeeee!

Monthly Stats

2009-09-30T14:44:00.008+01:00

Party $4907 ( + $700 over 94 sngs) Pokerstars $554 ( + $206 over 14 sngs,2 mtt's and an RTR HU forum win) Full Tilt $95 ( =)

Total $5556 ( + $906 for Sept)

Party Graph for Sept

Muddy Mildred

2009-09-25T17:12:00.002+01:00

Wheeeee.That's me off work for the next two weeks so apart from a stats post at the end of the month I'll be taking a break from posting here.

It's been a quiet week although I did drive 30 miles last night to go out on a movie going date with another hot looking Internet chick.She seemed a nice enough person ,but despite her good looks I didn't feel any spark at all and we seemed to be opposites in too many ways.Opposites can and do attract but she seemed a bit of a cold fish too and it was easy to tell we weren't on the same wavelength.( she doesn't watch Family Guy,said she's a morning person and likes to keep busy on holidays for a start) We watched "500 days of Summer" which was actually ok as far as rom-coms go although it did cross my mind to take a long "toilet trip" all the way home at one point!

We'd only exchanged one email before she gave me her number and arranged a date so I'm not too bothered that it didn't work out.The last hot chick and I exchanged quite a few emails/texts before meeting and I did feel there was a definite connection there before she got cold feet due to me telling her about my poker hobby and her thinking I'm probably a gambling loser type like her ex.( insert wee rolly eyes thing here!)

To far more important matters now and it's been confirmed that the "Striker" cartoon will no longer be carried in "The Sun" everyday.I've followed the fortunes of Nick Jarvis and Warbury for years. At least they go out as Champions League winners! Muddy Mildred indeed.

On the poker front things are still going quite well for this month despite me playing relatively few games.

Ok,thanks for reading.Back in two weeks...

Played with Wurld's Number Onest Sicko!

2009-09-20T13:24:00.007+01:00

My cousin Two Pies came back to mine after our trip to Kilmarnock to watch the Gers draw 0-0.We played some Motorstorm,watched a ton of football on the box and later in the evening Two Pies was happy to watch as I hit the tables.

I felt like a change of pace from turbo sngs and opted to play in the Stars $55,$80k gtd and the $11 mtt ( $15k gtd I think) too.I've not played a $55 since I cashed $4.2k for a 5th place in one last July and the first few levels were so slow I remembered why I play turbo's.

As the post title is not " I won $$$!!!" you've probably guessed there's no tale of glory from either game.I did find it quite amusing that after moaning in yesterdays blog about the dozens of monotonous " x is such an ill sicko" threads on P5's that I should end up playing at the same table as Shaun Fucking Deeb in the $80k.I'm sure the worlds number one ranked Mtt player was bricking himself at facing the mighty Zagga and it wasn't long before he donked out in a face saving move to avoid the embarrassing pwnage which was coming his way.( I really don't need to add a wink or a smiley there do I?!)

I was down to one table when my 1010 fell to 77 in the $11 game ( no cash for finishing 653rd!) and after making the money in the $80k I opened out my game a little to try and add to my stack and give myself a chance of making the final table and cashing big.When I picked up Aces ( I had 20bb) with blinds at 500/1000 I joked with Two Pies that I'd better check the lobby to see where I was going to finish when they were busted....which of course they were when 99 spiked a 9 on the flop.218th from over 2000 starters aint bad but I needed a short break from the felt after that hand to let that sick feeling in my stomach pass.The only minor consolation was that I cashed for $103 but sadly three cashless $16's later soon ate that profit.

It was back to the Party $22's and $33's to finish and a couple of cashes mean I'm still sitting up a few hundred dollars over about 50 games there this month.I mentioned yesterday that I'm sometimes reluctant to grind a ton due to the fear of running badly and hitting another huge downswing.I listened to a 2+2 podcast the other day and one of the young hotshots said that he was running badly and his solution was to play more games.To non poker players that would probably seem like he was chasing his losses but his quite sensible logic was that he's a winning player and the only playing more volume helps ride out any short-term luck as skill will always win through in the end.I like that thinking.

Only one more week at work before I'm off for two weeks.Still no new talk of sabbaticals at my work and I've been tempted to raid the poker roll to grab a few days in the Dam or even a week away in the sunshine.The Dam is so expensive though that I'll probably just enjoy two weeks worth of long lies,lazy days and taking a break from posting here.

Back soon...( song is actually by Malcom McLaren not the Pistols though it's from the Great Rock n Roll Swindle film)

Donkey Call Alert!!

2009-09-18T18:08:00.002+01:00

A quick 10 minute pain free visit to the dentist,celtc getting pumped in Europe and another winning night at the tables.Life is goot!

I was due to visit Mother Acorn last night but the last time I was over I hadn't shaved for a couple of days and she's now decided doesn't wish to see me unless I'm clean shaven.She's in her 60's now and this is her latest nonsense after her emails re what I should wear to my Uncle's recent Birthday bash which was held in a country pub.They go away to the US for a fortnight next week and hopefully I'll at least catch up with my Dad before then.

On the poker front things continue to go well for the moment.I did go 4-5 $22's without cashing but managed a couple of back to back wins to boost my roll nicely.Runs of 4-5 games or even slightly longer without cashing are almost everyday occurrences when playings sit n go games, however after previous downswings I'm very aware that 4-5 games can turn into 12-15 games or even hundreds of games without making a profit.If you touch fire as a child you wouldn't do it again and that may be part of the reason why I don't put in as much volume as I should.Every time I go a few cashless games I feel the heat of another possible downswing!

There's a great thread on P5's this week on emotions in poker.( makes a change from the usual crap about who the "Super illest sicko beast" is this week)
Emotional control at the tables is a huge part of the game and something I feel I deal with pretty well most of the time.I have only been 2-3 tabling recently though and I think that's partly to help me keep a lid on my emotions as well as allowing me to be able to pick up reads and play my best game.

Here's a wee hand I may have played like a donkey.I'm almost certain sng software such as Wiz would hate my call here and on reflection I think it's ok but marginal.Any thoughts/comments appreciated!

After paying my big blind of 400 I have 985 chips left.If I fold this hand I'll have 785 chips after paying the small blind in the next hand.If I shove ( assuming it's folded to me) the big blind will have odds to call and even if I somehow fold I'll have no fold equity against any of the other players when I finally do make my move.

The player raising seems to be a regular ( tight early/loose late in general) and his/her all in shove didn't seem incredibly strong.Of course a hand like 1010 totally dominates me here but I felt there were a lot of Broadway/high card combo's in his range and a lot of low-med pairs too, therefore I wouldn't be too far behind if I called with my 97 getting 3-1 to do so.I'd obviously have preferred 97 sooted or a far better hand to call off the remainder of my stack with , but as in life I can only play that hand that's dealt to me.Winning the hand gets me right back into contention and gives me much needed fold equity too.

Good enough reasons to call here or is it still essentially pure donkery to call here with 9 high? ( I've not hidden the result but obviously it's irrelevant)

***** Hand History for Game 8420407032 *****
NL Texas Hold'em $22 USD Buy-in Trny: 47481332 Level: 5 Blinds(200/400) - Monday, September 14, 00:32:03 BST 2009
Table Speed #1330156 (Real Money)
Seat 1 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 4: Acornmn ( 1,385 )
Seat 5: AussieGizmo ( 3,920 )
Seat 3: biggio69 ( 2,220 )
Seat 7: huntress0 ( 4,385 )
Seat 1: lokko555 ( 4,060 )
Seat 8: what_A_RuN ( 4,030 )
Trny: 47481332 Level: 5
Blinds(200/400)
** Dealing down cards **
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Acornmn [ 9s 7c ]
AussieGizmo folds
huntress0 is all-In [4,385]
what_A_RuN folds
lokko555 folds
biggio69 folds
Acornmn is all-In [985]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 8d, 6h, Qd ]
** Dealing Turn ** [ Ts ]
** Dealing River ** [ Kh ]
Acornmn shows [ 9s, 7c ]a straight, Six to Ten.
huntress0 shows [ Kd, Qc ]two pairs, Kings and Queens.
huntress0 wins 3,000 chips from the side pot 1 with two pairs, Kings and Queens.
Acornmn wins 2,970 chips from the main pot with a straight, Six to Ten.

All Time Low

2009-09-17T18:05:00.004+01:00

Not only was it Nacho's 5th birthday the other day but it's also almost exactly two years since I moved back to my flat after 3yrs living with the ex.My only feelings for the ex these days are ones of anger and frustration over her plans to move to England and leave her 15yr old daughter ( Step Acorn) behind.I took Step A out for dinner last night and she's pretending she doesn't care and will be fine.The ex has another child ( in his 20's now) I never met she left to live with his Dad years ago and Step A reckons it's just her turn now.The ex has also shown no interest at all in seeing Nacho or hearing how he is after asking me to take him full time since back in May.I just can't understand that mentality.

Anyway it was great to see the wee one and I even got a hug from her as I dropped her off.( perhaps the free dinner,celeb mag and £10 helped!) I showed her the pic of Nacho I have as my mobile phone screen saver and got the verdict "cute pic,shit phone"! I also lost street cred for never having heard of her current favourite band,"All Time Low" but will hopefully gain some kudo's by giving her their cd when I give her a lift tomorrow.I am tempted to call my ex or even write to her regarding her plans but I doubt any contact with me would change her mind and if it was a phone call I can see myself losing my temper very quickly indeed.

I arrived back home just in time for Two Pies arrival to watch Rangers away game to Stuttgart in the Champions League.Rangers didn't seem to turn up for the first 20 mins but we clawed our way back into it after going a goal down and scored a cracking equaliser to take a point from the 1-1 scoreline.

Things that have got my goat part 9901010120:Listening to the radio on the way home the other night there was a report about a guy who had been sprayed in the face with cs gas by the police at close range after he had already been arrested and restrained.Radio 5 live said there was footage on the BBC website and that his parents were shocked by what had happened.I was shocked too, especially as he was only arrested for being drunk and disorderly....until they mentioned that this poor innocent had also allegedly spat in a paramedics face.Of course there were no interviews with the paramedics parents to get their views on how they felt about their son/daughter being ( allegedly) assaulted by this vile piece of scum as they were trying to do a professional job.

It's quite right that the gas in the face incident is being investigated because we live in a civilised society and can't let ourselves always be reduced to the lowest common denominator,however tempting, but my guess would be that there's more to this story than first meets the eye.( no mention of why paramedics were required in the first place etc).

Ok,enough for now.I promise to post an actual poker hand in my next post...

Raise the River HU Win

2009-09-14T18:43:00.002+01:00

After a fine prawn dinner last night I fired up Stars for the $10 RTR forum Heads-Up challenge.I played Rubbish in the first round of the shootout format and managed to come back from an early tonking to take the match down.Next up was Rchpro and I had the advantage of watching a few of his final hands v Burnley Mik before we started.All I'd really picked up was that he seemed a solid enough player and he gave me a tough game before I finally made it through to the final v online pro and blogger Amatay.

My only real strategy throughout was to mix things up and try and stay on the front foot as often as possible.Amatay was my toughest opponent and I had to adjust rapidly to stop him running over me completely.Eventually I min-raised KK,Amatay shoved with 77 and I snap called to take most of his chips.( amazed Stars didn't deliver a 7 on the river!)

Including those three heads-up matches I've now won 6 in a row sngs on Stars and I half expected the poker gods to even things up at the Party $22's.I wasn't wrong as I had KK and QQ busted by Jacks,ran QQ into AA and couldn't win a flip either for my first few games.I watched a Braminc training video and loaded up a couple more $22's before bed.I did have one quite funny delayed bad beat moment when I was heads up in one game and down to the last three in the other.In the first game the villain had me slightly covered as we got it all in.I had KK and he showed K4.I switched my attention to the other table and remember feeling suprised when the "Congrats you've cashed for $$" popped up on Table one.Maybe he didn't have me covered afterall.....or maybe his feckin K4 rivered a straight and I'd taken $60 for 2nd instead of the $100 I was expecting to see! At least I took other one down!

Ok,the s-man is coming over this evening and I've arranged to pick up Step A and take her for dinner tomorrow night.Any any ideas how to make conversation with a 15yr girl who seems to give one word answers to any questions thrown at her? Seriously though I'm really looking forward to seeing her.Not being part of her upbringing after splitting from her Mum a couple of years back has been very hard to deal with and I actually feel quite proud that the wee one still wants to see me.I can't have done that bad a job helping to looking after her when I stayed with them.

Anyways thanks for reading.Back soon...

Three in a row

2009-09-13T14:23:00.006+01:00

It's strange how the human mind works.I feel like I should be posting today as I've had a decent run at the virtual felt over the last couple of nights and yet there doesn't seem much to say.Well apart from moaning that Sharkscope is still tilting me hard by failing to record more of my Party sng cashes! I played just two $22's late yesterday afternoon,taking a 1st and a 2nd just as the s-man arrived for our weekly ps3/movie fest.Sharkscope missed both results.

If I was organised I'd probably keep my own spreadsheet to calculate my actual roi/hourly rate on Party, but I've grown so used to using Sharky for tracking my sng play on Stars ( almost 100% coverage) that apart from keeping monthly stats I've never bothered with any other records.

Anyways after the s-man arrived yesterday we fired up the PS3,got stuck into Motorstorm Pacific Rift and managed to squeeze the Bond film "Quantum of Solace" in too.The s-man was also kind enough to help me get a new ad up on my blog and also to inform me that my Ipod Nano thingy can play video podcasts too.( I thought it was audio only) I've just downloaded "The Damned United" vid podcast and it works! I loved the book and will be getting the film out to rent soon."I wouldn't say I was the best manager in the business. But I was in the top one." is one of my favourite Cloughie quotes.

When the s-man left I fired up a couple of $27 sng's on Stars and took down both of them to boost my Stars roll to just over the $500 mark.Having won the last sng I played on Stars the other night( a $16 sng)that makes it three wins in a row which makes a change for me on Stars as I've run horribly there over the last few hundred games.

So far then it's been a decent month at the virtual felt, mainly thanks to running well this weekend.I've only played about 40 sng's so far though since Sept 1st and really need to crank up the volume and get grinding more.When not running like total crap it's easy to get carried away and lose track of the fact that I make around $2 per game regardless of short-term results.If I'm going to keep that mindset during downswings then I need to keep thinking that way when things are going reasonably well too.

Plans for this week? Well I haven't seen Step A for a couple of weeks as she's not been going to her Dads so I've offered to take her out for something to eat next week to catch up.Rangers first Champions League game away to Stuggart is on Wednesday night,I've got the dentist on Thursday and a ticket for the Gers away game on Saturday.

Back soon...

Friday Update

2009-09-11T18:57:00.002+01:00

I watched Scotland blow our World Cup qualifying chances in typical Scottish fashion the other night after going down 1-0 to a late Dutch goal.We played well and should have beaten them, however earlier losses to the footballing giants of Norway ( "You only sing when you're fishing") and Macedonia meant we failed yet again.Taxi for Burley...

I also watched the second half of the women's Euro final between Germany and England.The Germans apparently dominate women's football and I did feel a little sorry for the English girl co-commentating who insisted the gap between them and the Germans was closing with the score sitting at 3-2 to Germany...just before the German ladies rattled in another 3 to make it a 6-2 hammering.

On the poker front I played a couple of $16 Single table sng's on Stars and took down one of them.I'll probably return to Stars on Sunday for the Raisetheriver Heads Up Championship.I've finished first more often than any other position when playing sng's but unless the blinds start at 400/800 I'll be dead money as my heads up game is pretty weak overall.

I moved to Party afterwards ( still as Acornmn although a name change may be imminent)and played a $22 and a $33 before bed and crashed out of both.In the $22 I reraised a late position steal attempt with AK and lost to 87 before bubbling the $33 when my A7 fell to A4.I do quite fancy taking a proper shot at the $33's and will do so if the company I work for don't offer our department the sabbatical option this month as has been rumoured.I felt a bit unlucky after those exits until I read about the poor guy killed by a bus crashing through the window of a bookies in Manchester.Now that really is a bad beat.

Away from the poker I've been wondering about some of the dating site ad's I've come across recently.Some ladies state " No weirdo's or perverts" on their ads and I wondered how effective this tactic is.Do some blokes get half way through replying before spotting that line and thinking "Ahh that's a shame,she seems lovely but I'm such a perving oddball weirdo I'd better not get in touch"?

Ok,thanks for reading.Back soon...

Knowing Me,Knowing You

2009-09-09T18:27:00.003+01:00

I didn't play a hand on Monday night and last night managed to play six $22's without cashing.I didn't run well but probably didn't play that well either.One of my main leaks is that I'm terrible at folding big hands preflop even when I know I'm beaten and last night was no exception.I raised QQ from early position at the start of the game,faced a reraise from a random ( not a known player to me) and a flat call from a tight regular which just screamed Aces.I shoved over the top and didn't hit my 2 outer v KK and the inevitable AA.Doh!

As I was playing I came across an interesting thread on 2+2 about Party sng regulars changing their screen-names.I didn't even know it was possible, although it makes perfect sense as a number of $22/$33 regulars seem to have simply vanished from the scene.I do my poker homework (usually watching training vids) and spent an hour the other night simply checking Sharkscope stats and adding notes next to players already in games.All that work is is probably a waste of time if they're constantly changing.I do feel a bit exposed too knowing that other regulars probably know my game and I'm treating them as unknown randoms.I may only play a couple of hundred games per month but I have over 4k hands on some players so I assume some of them know me.

One advantage of playing on Party is that I can select where to sit in any particular game.Usually when a game fills the first few regulars to register always sit as far from each other as possible,preferring to have random fish on their immediate left or right.It's frustrating to know that those random fish could easily be top regulars who have simply changed names since I last played them.

I still think the Party $22's are quite soft, but now that I know the option is available I'm wondering if I should change my own screen name.Information is knowledge in poker and although I like to think I deviate enough from the ranges other regulars would expect me to be playing often enough to stop my play from being too predictable, flying completely under the radar could be a huge advantage.( well maybe not huge but any additional edge is always welcome).I'm not sure if there's an option on the screen or I'd need to email Party with an decent excuse to get my name changed.Of course my poker ego wouldn't like having to start over re Sharkscope stats but their coverage is so poor ( 80% and they've now missed at least six first place finishes) that I shouldn't let that affect my decision.

Not got much else today.Looking forward to watching Scotland play Holland tonight in a must win game for us if we're to have any chance of making a play off for the World Cup.

I was also sorry to read that Rosie is quitting her girliepoker blog, although I had a laugh at Joppa's comment ( tongue in cheek I'm sure) about Rosie being "full of herself".It's funny how we build up an idea of what someone is like in real life from reading their blog and how far off reality those impressions can be.Even reading Rosie's own words about crushing anyone who wished to verbally spar with her made me smile because whilst she's certainly nobody's fool, she's also a million miles away from being "full of herself" or aggressive in any way.Given our history I'll leave it at that, but I look forward to reading more from Rosie over at her Food Blog.( and one day I may even attempt to cook up one of those tv dinners!)

Back soon...