Yeah, I wasn't kidding about that scout thing...

I've noticed I always have good poker sessions after I get laid.

Aren't monks supposed to be abstinent or something?

Kenny, combining poker and getting laid is a recipe for disaster. The paper cuts alone are potentially horrific.

Monk
xxxxx

OK, first June session, I put in 2 hours of PLO and PLO8 at 2 of the crypto sites (bonus clearing) and Empire. Empire was really juicey tonight, the 100PLO8 at Crypto was too, but the PLO high was a little slow as it seems to have been lately. I made a small profit at PLO8 at Empire and a decent one at 100PLO8 at Interpoker. A very small loss in the 100 and 200 PLO games meant I won $110 for the session. I felt my play was very good throughout, not quite top notch but I made some decent moves and laid down at the right times much better than I have been doing lately. I feel the tables are quite tight at present, at Crypto especially, at the times I'm playing so perhaps I need to up my game, as well as taking on some bigger tables.

My big hands were all nice scoopers or 3/4ing hands at PLO8, and I was fortunate not to get scooped or 3/4ed myself when opponents had a shot at it. I seemed to quite frequently find hands that connected some sort of draw to my nut low, and pushed them hard. I also made one close call (flop KQ4 with two hearts, I had A982 with A2 hearts, opponent I had position on bet pot). My thinking was, a low card on the turn would give me odds to see another and thus the backdoor low improved my prospects and pot odds, and also I felt this opponent was rather aggressive so I suspected with plenty of money left I might just get a pay-off if I hit, and so far I wasn't sure he had anything as good as trips. As luck would have it, the turn was beautiful (6h), he bet the pot, I had a tough decision to make to milk the rest of his money but decided it was probably best to move in now, in case he had something like a weaker flush with A2 which might get away on a bad river, or something like a set with a weaker flush that I had to make pay. He had AKJT with a lower flush, and so in that respect I got lucky with the turn but got paid off very nicely.

A little later I was a bit annoyed to flop the nut low plus a flush draw and top pair, bet all the way and find my opponent calling me down on the river. The flop had been 734, and a 5 on the river ensured we both split with A2, when he had no equity for high throughout. I missed out again later as a river induced a split when I had been 3/4ing on the turn.

At PLO high, very little of interest happened except me losing to ANOTHER one outer (for the 4th time in a month or two). I raise maximum preflop with AKKJ, flop comes K88 and it checks round. Turn brings the third 8, and of course someone has it which costs me another $30 or so to find out.

Anyways.... June's session so far....

Winnings: $110
Hours: 2
Winrate: $55/hr

$2k+ would be very useful for June, to put me ahead of schedule for the first 6 months of the year and give me a bit more money for house buying.

Monk
xxxxx

Well, dya want the GOOD NEWS, or the BAD NEWS? Tough, you're getting both.

The GOOD NEWS is that I'm still winning, it seems, despite the (apparently) currently tight-ass tables, although the BAD NEWS is I've been a tiny bit nonplussed with poker, and probably close to stuck in a rut, hence my lack of activity here for a while. However, the start of a new month and the promise of a ton of tasty bonuses has whet my whistlte again (errr, so to speak) so I've put in a few solid sessions last few days for the first time in about a fortnight.

Yesterday I had a bit of an annoying session, although I only lost $220 or so, and a bit of a crisis of confidence as my rut and apparent break even stretch from the end of May continued. Today, however, I won a stack of cash, played (I feel) excellently throughout and, although my team got beat 7-1 in the 5-a-side football this afternoon (I'm in goal so at least I was able to break my brand new gloves in by picking the ball out of the net 7 times), I'm much more happy with things.

It's pretty much the same old story, with 200 and 100 buyins, PLO and PLO8. I had considered a quick look at NL again which I may still do sometime this month after my recent lack of interest in things, but when it's all going well I still enjoy omaha a ridiculous amount so for now things are looking good. I mixed in some $25 buyins today because there didn't seem to be enough loose tables at the higher end of things, and I ended up with a comical stack approaching ten buyins on one after a few hours (mainly due to one LAG idiot who had more money than sense) so that was a pleasing and bonus-releaing aside! I also got lucky today that, for once, in the big games (The $200 and E200 PLO and PLO8) I seemed to win consistently and solidly. Perhaps most handily, I've only freed up £50 worth of the rather large stack of bonuses I have lined up in June, so there should be another $400 of that to come in the next week or so. Nice.

Right, so here's the stats so far.... Don't forget, my ever-exciting 6 month recap is on its way come the end of June! I bet you can barely control your indifference....

JUNE SO FAR:
Winnings: $760
Hours: 7.5
Winrate: $101/hr or so.

Monk
xxxxx

Well, another solid (if tiring!) day's poker.... put in a bit of a mammoth (for me) single stretch of 4 hours tonight... I find I generally do this when I'm within a couple of hundred hands of finishing a party/empire bonus at the end of my normal 2 or 3 hours and decide just to play on to finish it for completeness' sake on the 25PLO8 tables or something similarly daft. Yeah, obsessive-compulsive, that's me.

Anyhow, I felt I didn't always give the best account of myself today, at the start of my session I lost a buyin pushing hard with middle set in PLO against a check-raiser.... The guy had earlier butchered a hand so badly I had him down as an idiot, but the check raise obviously spelt danger and the board was so draw-heavy (and I had no draws!) that even if he didn't have the top set he likely had a draw that would've been in decent shape against me, so I was putting my money in either as a collosal underdog or slim to reasonable favourite, poor play on my part, getting excited at the prospect of finding a "big" hand to attack an apparently weak player with. I also made one or two slightly careless errors (the worst of which was calling off $15 with A2 nut low... only to realise as the pot was pushed to my opponent that it was a PLO HIGH table! An error I almost never make...).

However, I got the rub of it when a couple of big hands held - from memory, I had one big pot in PLO as I called down a big turn bet 3-ways with a nut flush draw and gutshot to the nut straight, gutshot to the non-nut wheel; as it turned out, I had 10 outs from 36 cards to come so it was a perfectly good call, but I got lucky as the magic spade arrived and I stacked the $300+ pot on a PLO100. I also later found KKTTds, raised preflop, and was able to checkraise all-in on a KQ8 rainbow flop.... My opponent was, on this occasion, the guy on the wrong end of that horrible dominating situation, set over set, and I stacked another $220 or so. I also picked up one big scooper at Inter in the 100PLO8 game, although for the most part PLO8 was quiet today.

Not much happening in the 200 games so I stuck to 100 mostly tonight, varying between 7 tables of that and then losing one table and mixing in 2 25PLO8's at party in the background to clear the bonus a bit quicker (though I made a few bucks there too). Alas, about 3 hours into my session my hands went hideously cold, I didn't see a thing for ages and lost $150 or so without playing a big hand of note. All the same, I freed my Party bonus, some crypto money, and won a little on the tables (though in the end probably only 50 bucks or something lame). Still have my rake rebate to look forward to, plus another $150 or so of Crypto bonus (and, I guess, any others offered this month) so I should only need another $800 at the tables to break $2k this month. My house buying has alas appeared to have hit rough waters AGAIN, more legal issues and so I might not need to be clearing up my finances so quickly after all. All the same, a strong June would be nice to set me up for the 2nd half of the year, and hopefully well on target for $30-40k for the year. Not bad for a couple of hours a night, I guess.

Winnings: $1030 (yippee! Early past 1k this month...)
Hours: 11.5
Winrate: $90/hr

Monk
xxxxx

Very

Well, after several phonecalls on Saturday night, it transpired that everyone I knew was busy/in Canada/not answering their phone, and thus my plan to continue my solid drinking session from the earlier eating-dinner-and-watching-football-on-the-TV period of the day was scuppered. So I hit the tables for a couple of hours (about 3, I think, including a few SnGs at the end with Tighty) and went for the same routine again - one 100NL at gaming club and a variety of PLO and PLO8 nonsense at Crypto and Empire.

For the second time in as many days, NL worked out great - didn't have any huge hands this time, but picked up enough strong cards, and one set, to make a nice buyin and a quarter profit. Did make one ugly play as my session wound down disappointingly, raised preflop with KK only for Q86 to flop; I bet it and my opponent raised the pot, putting himself all in. For some reason I surmised in a moment of genius that he had a set and dumped, letting him show his KQ. Ugh. Bit out of practice in NL, alas! It'll improve with a week or two of play, it IS 5 months since I've played the game to any extent.

Also did OK in the PLO and PLO8, although again I dropped a buyin late on in the PLO8 and perhaps chased marginal draws a little too much (as I have a tendency to do when I play with a few drinks in me), though I did feel I made a couple of creative bluff/semi-bluff type plays. Overall I won $300 or so to add to a similar amount won in an earlier session I failed to note from Thursday.

Today, (Sunday) enjoyed a strong afternoon session, although NL at gaming club was utterly dead. I did try out the minitable view to enable me to get it out of the way of the action buttons in my omaha games, overall it worked fine once I got the hang of it but my GCP software does have a tendency to freeze now and again and be unclickable, which is a real worry on tables that have no all-in feature. I lost a big omaha pot in that manner about 3 or 4 months back, when I had a 20-out draw on the turn and folded to a bet when I couldn't click the action buttons. Worrying. Anyhow, made a couple of regular double-throughs in the 100PLO at crypto, both as I held top set against lower sets, and picked off one bluff on the river....

PLO high 100, board was A[h] T[c] J[h] 8[c] T[h].... I'd bet the turn (if memory serves) with JJxx after a lack of interest in the pot, one guy who hadn't played much made the call. On the river He checked, I bet out my usual milking bet ($15 or so into a $30 pot) and he quickly re-raised me. I nearly, nearly folded here, but i'd had him solidly on a draw and, against my better logic, made the crying call, and won, as he held KQxx with the top flush in hearts. Horrible play by him, but he nearly got lucky and ran into someone who can drop the 2nd top boat. The board was so strong, with AA, KQhh and TT all beating me that I really feel a fold wouldn't have been bad at all here, especially against a player I didn't think was too bad, the thing that just swung it was the unlikely AA (he'd have bet at some point) and the fact that he might've been popping a bluff or AT. I really felt that a river check-raise screamed I was beat though, so I felt a bit lucky that I couldn't lay the hand down and dragged a decent pot because of the fact.

I realise my updating hasn't been so smart this week, AFAIK I've added a couple of 3 hour sessions and a 2 hour one, though I think I may have another 2 hours or so to add from somewhere, so I'm going to add a conservative 9 hours to my previous play time.

23 hours played
$1640 won
$71/hr

Having another strong month, and well on the way to $2000, which would be a welcome way to close out the first half of 2005. It's nice that I've cleared all my bonuses and won well at the tables in a little over a third of the month, so hopefully a strong month is in prospect, 3 or 4 k would be lovely but I might not get that much time to play in the second half of June so we'll see. At the current time, I'm liable to be having to pay out a big chunk of money on a deposit for my new apartment in August sometime, and move in in September, and so in the next three months $7-8k would be very useful. Think I'll need that money because, once the house clears, I'm going to need somewhere around $12k for various improvements and stuff over the next few months and then my big aim is to have enough by April 2006 to get a new car from the poker money (and of course trade my current one in). I'm a little worried that I seem to be winning nada at party/empire once more, and that cryptologic seems to be getting tighter, and that the GCP NL games aren't going to be quite as profitable for me as omaha has been, but hopefully I won't drop too far below $50/hr for the next few months. By the end of June I'm going to work out my yearly progress so far, and my hourly rate.... Really hoping I'll have broken $50/hr for the first half of the year, with $40/hr being me 2005 minimum (I'd hoped) and $50/hr being what I felt at the start of the year was the most I could hope for. Anyways, things are going well and I feel I've had a lucky couple of months, so I really can't complain.

Monk
xxxxx

Well, been a fun old evening, in a strange way not my most satisfying session ever, but I've bucked my usual trend of winning solidly for an hour or two before having a last hour of bleeding chips, and instead started badly with the tables hopelessly tight (and me needing to split my time between 4 different sites just to get enough playable omaha, and one NL, which was squeaky-tight anyhow), and finished with a monster run in the last half hour or so to go from probably nearly 100 down to almost $400 up. Tasty.

My usual mix was in action tonight, though I had to bring up some unusual tables as well (6-handed NLO at Gaming Club - don't generally like the NL tables as people move in preflop too often, or overbet any sort of made hand, but these were quite juicey, although I lost, as I seem to sometimes do when I play shorthanded omaha, which is very, very high variance compared to my usual full ring games)... The crypto tables were ugly tight at the start, but by the end I had 4 PLOs and a PLO8, which was loose but where I just couldn't seem to make a hand stick all night. Anyways, I'd played fairly mediocre all night, bit down, then these four hands came in quick succession:

PLO 100 Crypto

I have QQ45 with three hearts. Flop brings 367 with two hearts, giving me the nut straight with a nice flush redraw. I decide to be a bit cute and CR it from a middle spot. Button opens weakly, I raise as planned (probably not a smart CR as it totally gives away my hand, but I'm happy to take it down here and don't mind going all in on the flop because of my redraw). An apparently loose and rather maniacal huge stack calls. Turn is an offsuit J, he checks to me and I fire the full pot again of course. He calls. Eeeek! River brings a T, and he shoves his last $75 into the $250 odd pot. I am scared of 89 for some reason but of course I have to call - he has nothing much, what a stupid, stupid river bluff, when I'd already basically told him I had a straight. Never mind, not complaining.

Very next hand I raise AKQT preflop suited to the ace and king. Flop brings a lovely AK9 with two hearts (nut flush draw). I bet it, of course (not sure if a check raise could ever be good here? probably not, only hand I might fold that I actually want to is a 99). A short-ish stack moves in for $50 or 60 odd more. He flips up a very passively played AA, but alas for him I catch a J on the turn and my straight wins.

About ten minutes later I have AAxx, I believe I raised it preflop too. Flop came a cinch A73 and the same short stack from the hand before, who'd bought back in for another $50 or 60 odd, had the generosity to push all in with his A7, and didn't catch on his 0-outer.

Then, on the $200 table at the same time, I found AA22 on the BB, checked it and found a flop of T92 with two clubs. Though this is dangerous, I still bet pot and got called by one opponent. Turn brought a T, I decide to bet half (in case he had T9 or something, if he decides to play on I'm happy for him to put in another small bet on the river with a draw, and can fold if he suddenly perks up with what's likely to be a higher boat; note that I'd play the nuts more or less the same, so it shouldn't be a big read on me, I hope!), he calls. I think it's likely (given his short stack) that he's a little fishy and is on a draw, but who knows. River brought an 8 of clubs, filling most of the draws. I bet half pot again, a bit risky because he has a really irritating stack size - only another $20 or so, so if he raises I'll have to make a crying call. Handily, he didn't, merely paying me off with what I assume was the A high flush.

Anyhow, 2 1/2 hours played, another $375 cashed. And, to add to that, England demolished the old enemy Australia in the cricket today! Although it was a fairly meaningless 20:20 match, was still great to listen to that on the radio on the way home from work, so my mood's been pretty good on the whole!!!!

26 hours played (roughly)
$2010 won
$77/hr

YIPPEEE! Broken $2k already, hadn't realised that. That is great, considering I was expecting sooner or later I'd have to have a bad month, seems the last 3 or so have been getting better and better. Of course, could all go wrong tomorrow but with 2 and a half weeks left in June, I'm hopeful of keeping that winrate above $50 and perhaps adding a bit more to the 2005 winnings to put me a few thou ahead of my yearly target (was 30k but with a strong end of the month I'll be closer to on target for 40). I am aware that things won't always go this well, though, and that I haven't had a really bad week or run of sessions for a while; even my rough run at the end of May was basically just break even for a week or so. So fingers crossed the poker demons stay away a little longer and let me keep piling up those PLO buyins!

Monk
xxxxx

Fun session tonight. Getting nowhere for about 2 hours on some fairly tight tables (though a couple of regulation PLO double-throughs put me slightly up after a bad start when my AA48ds in PLO8 lost all-in preflop to some goon playing, unbelievably, 235J) and then for the third session running I had a big last hour or so and ended up winning a couple of big pots. For the record, it was the bog-standard combo of PLO8 and PLO at Crypto and Empire with my increasingly customary one NL table at Gaming Club.

Anyhoo, I felt I was playing well with limited luck (and on some occasionally solid tables) when this happened:

------HAND 1------
Game #516335444: Omaha High Pot Limit ($0.50/$1) - 2005/06/16 - 00:49:42 (UK)
Table "Maplewood" Seat 5 is the button.
Seat 1: gso420 ($28.50 in chips)
Seat 2: Bunk01 ($157.09 in chips)
Seat 3: Goodshot ($43.50 in chips)
Seat 4: Babacita ($95.50 in chips)
Seat 5: urgster ($37.50 in chips)
Seat 6: GnGranger ($99 in chips)
Seat 7: ME ($175 in chips)
Seat 8: Charismer ($249.50 in chips)
Seat 9: haba sits out
Seat 10: Squeeze ($110.50 in chips)
GnGranger: posts small blind $0.50
ME: posts big blind $1
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to ME [Qd Js Qc 5c]
Charismer: calls $1
Squeeze: folds
gso420: folds
Bunk01: calls $1
Goodshot: calls $1
Babacita: calls $1
urgster: calls $1
GnGranger: folds
ME: checks
----- FLOP ----- [7s 4d Qs]
ME: checks
Charismer: bets $2
Bunk01: calls $2
Goodshot: calls $2
Babacita: folds
urgster: calls $2
ME: raises to $18.50
Charismer: calls $16.50
Bunk01: calls $16.50
Goodshot: calls $16.50
urgster: folds
----- TURN ----- [7s 4d Qs][2h]
haba sits back
ME: bets $82.50
Charismer: folds
Bunk01: raises to $137.59 and is all-in
Goodshot: is all-in $24
ME: calls $55.09
----- RIVER ----- [7s 4d Qs 2h][Jd]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Bunk01: shows [8s 4h 2c 4c] (Three of a kind, Fours, Queen high)
Goodshot: shows [9d 6c 3d 5s] (High Card Queen)
ME: shows [Qd Js Qc 5c] (Three of a kind, Queens, Jack high)
ME collected $227.18 from Side pot #1
ME collected $151.50 from Main pot
----- SUMMARY -----
Total pot $381.68 Main pot $151.50 Side pot #1 $227.18 | Rake $3
Board [7s 4d Qs 2h Jd]
Seat 1: gso420 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: Bunk01 lost
Seat 3: Goodshot lost
Seat 4: Babacita folded on the Flop
Seat 5: urgster (button) folded on the Flop
Seat 6: GnGranger (small blind) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: ME (big blind) showed [Qd Js Qc 5c] and won ($378.68) with Three of a kind, Queens, Jack high
Seat 8: Charismer folded on the Turn
Seat 10: Squeeze folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Nice win, and from there someone decided to make a CARDINAL OMAHA SIN and chased a non-nut draw. Oh yeah, and then pushed all-in with no outs. Charitable.

------HAND 1------
Game #516446404: Omaha High Pot Limit ($0.50/$1) - 2005/06/16 - 01:10:01 (UK)
Table "Maplewood" Seat 7 is the button.
Seat 2: ogradyc ($93.50 in chips)
Seat 5: urgster ($39.75 in chips)
Seat 6: jkurri17 ($43.25 in chips)
Seat 7: ME ($390.59 in chips)
Seat 9: montanacp ($64.50 in chips)
Seat 10: Squeeze ($121.75 in chips)
montanacp: posts small blind $0.50
Squeeze: posts big blind $1
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to ME [Ks Td Ah Jh]
ogradyc: calls $1
urgster: calls $1
jkurri17: folds
ME: raises to $5.50
montanacp: folds
montanacp sits out
Squeeze: calls $4.50
ogradyc: folds
urgster: calls $4.50
----- FLOP ----- [3h Ac 4h]
Squeeze: checks
urgster: checks
ME: bets $18
Squeeze: calls $18
urgster: calls $18
----- TURN ----- [3h Ac 4h][Th]
Squeeze: checks
urgster: checks
ME: bets $72
Squeeze: raises to $98.25 and is all-in
urgster: folds
ME: calls $26.25
----- RIVER ----- [3h Ac 4h Th][2d]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Squeeze: shows [5h Kh 6c 7c] (A Flush, King high)
ME: shows [Ks Td Ah Jh] (A Flush, Ace high)
ME collected $265.50 from Main pot
----- SUMMARY -----
Total pot $268.50 Main pot $265.50 Rake $3
Board [3h Ac 4h Th 2d]
Seat 2: ogradyc folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: urgster folded on the Turn
Seat 6: jkurri17 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: ME (button) showed [Ks Td Ah Jh] and won ($265.50) with A Flush, Ace high
Seat 9: montanacp (small blind) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 10: Squeeze (big blind) lost

So in the space of a few hands I'd racked up $500 on this 100 buyin, and thus finished the day very well up. In the second hand I should in fact have bet less on the turn; I want the tall stack to call, and taking some heat off might let him in with a lower flush more easily. I had him on something like the hand he in fact had, so when that turn came I perhaps should've been thinking of ways to get most of his stack in, but I was on a bit of an aggression role and thought perhaps they'd think I had AAA and I might get a call anyways. Fun stuff. Another reason I can bet less on the river is because I now have top two pair, so if anyone has a low set they only have 4 outs (look at the board) and thus I can offer "pot odds" to chase a boat when in fact they're less than a 1 in 11 shot for it with that hand.

I had some bad moments, however, including some wayward moments at PLO8, perhaps I was a little aggressive at times and didn't really get the luck with my semi-bluffs as people kept calling with garbage and scraping half a pot. NL at Gaming Club was also a bit of a horror, the table was, as usual, insanely passive and I ran out as a loser in a few hands because of that.

First up, I have 99, limp in EP, 4 others see a flop of 268 with a flush draw in diamonds, so I pot it. I get one caller (poor player) with position on me. Turn pairs the 2, I bet 2/3 pot or so again, called. River brings a 4, I bet again, will fold if raised, he calls again and shows JJ. Didn't raise the damn thing once, eugh.

Then later I get 55 and find a flop of 579. This was a tricky one, as a player before me bet out (pretty small) and I raised (minimum by accident!). The next guy to act after me than min re-raised. I put him on the straight because of that. The open better folds, and the turn pairs the 9. I decide to check, looking to put in a big river bet, depending on what happens. He bets out, a small one, and I call. The river brings an 8, changing little, and I decide to change tack and pot it, expecting he'll perhaps check a straight if I give him chance (yes, they're that passive). And no, he doesn't check the straight, he smooth calls with 77. Bizarre.

However, my bluffing radar was well attuned in the PLO8 on Party, as this hand shows, and I won about 200 in these games for a tidy profit there. I'm trying to build my BR up gradually to give me more confidence to play in the high-roller games where I'm probably going to have to go as my next step.

***** Hand History for Game 2212389403 *****
$100 PL Omaha Hi/Lo - Wednesday, June 15, 19:56:02 EDT 2005
Table Table 48874 (Real Money)
Seat 5 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 1: griffffter ( $82.52 )
Seat 2: papapug ( $88.5 )
Seat 4: ME ( $129 )
Seat 5: FCommunism ( $98.5 )
Seat 6: bdrp24 ( $97.9 )
Seat 7: chevaro ( $488.92 )
Seat 8: worldwide58 ( $219.03 )
Seat 10: ROHOROHO64 ( $0 )
Seat 9: I11eagle ( $99.75 )
Seat 3: FUTTOCK ( $99 )
bdrp24 posts small blind [$0.5].
chevaro posts big blind [$1].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to ME [ Qs Jh As 2s ]
worldwide58 folds.
I11eagle folds.
>You have options at Table 36565 Table!.
griffffter calls [$1].
papapug folds.
FUTTOCK calls [$1].
ME raises [$5.5].
FCommunism folds.
bdrp24 folds.
chevaro folds.
griffffter calls [$4.5].
FUTTOCK folds.
** Dealing Flop ** [ Jc, 7d, 6s ]
griffffter checks.
ME bets [$12.85].
griffffter calls [$12.85].
** Dealing Turn ** [ Tc ]
griffffter checks.
ME checks.
** Dealing River ** [ 6d ]
griffffter bets [$37.25].
>You have options at Table 36565 Table!.
ME calls [$37.25].
griffffter shows [ Ac, 2d, 2h, 9c ] two pairs, sixes and twos.
ME shows [ Qs, Jh, As, 2s ] two pairs, jacks and sixes.
ME wins $110.7 from the main pot with two pairs, jacks and sixes.
There was no qualifying low hand.

Right, well, here's the stats so far. And quite pleasant they look, too!

31 hours played
$2600 won
$84/hr

Monk
xxxxx

Well, I'm still yet to have a losing session in June (I think) and am winning and playing excellently; that's probably just as well given how badly I've just been stiffed for my car service.... all told, with replacement of the middle of my exhaust, two sets of brake pads and disks, my front grille and a few other bits and pieces, the cost came to a pretty staggering $1.5k (equivalent thereof £800). So a good month is pretty much a must to keep the bank account looking peachy. In other news, my apartment buying escapade seems to be going on apace, should be moving in in about 2 months at this rate, but I'm in no hurry.

Anyhow, yesterday my short afternoon session yielded $100 or so, and today I played after returning from my car hammering, and instantly cleared off about $400 of the cost in a good two hour session. I had time for one absurd hand (I had AA5Tss in 200PLO8, and got all of my $320 stack in against another big stack, at the time I was thinking rather foolishly but it was one of those pots where I couldn't find a good place to fold and where the money kept pouring in from various angles; ultimately, the other big stack turned over A239ds (EH???), making him not far off a 60-40 dog, which was pretty obvious; what he was doing I don't know. Alas, he swept up the low end, and I lost the main high pot to a short stack all in with Q346 (yep, I'm not joking... this was a 200 table as well) making a straight, but at least I rescued 250 of my stack by winning the high end of the $500 sidepot). Other than that, everything went pretty much like clockwork and I made some fine plays all the way, can't fault anything in particular, and got the cards too (mostly). Once more, my opponents kept happlessly getting all in with garbage in PLO8 but rescuing half a pot; however, a double-through in a E200 ($300) PLO game and some scraps here and there, together with a great last half hour at Empire, made it a decent session once more. Here's the big hand I mentioned... for what it's worth I think I played it badly, but once I made that first re-raise I was kinda committed not to show weakness by just calling, but I think I should probably have just taken a cheap flop in the first place. Luckily I wasn't up against AA2, unluckily I didn't win, although I put my money in in a +EV situation:

***** Hand History for Game 2220989668 *****
$200 PL Omaha Hi/Lo - Friday, June 17, 14:30:21 EDT 2005
Table Table 37324 (Real Money)
Seat 3 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 1: Freechill ( $286.5 )
Seat 2: ME ( $315.85 )
Seat 3: HQHIFI ( $195 )
Seat 4: Pizdets ( $231.85 )
Seat 6: DieOffdotcom ( $157.1 )
Seat 8: heywoodya ( $333.17 )
Seat 9: bbowa ( $311.93 )
Seat 10: easytime2003 ( $56.09 )
Seat 7: getty1942 ( $143.92 )
Seat 5: MUSICROCK1 ( $100 )
Pizdets posts small blind [$1].
MUSICROCK1 posts big blind [$2].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to ME [ Th 5s As Ac ]
DieOffdotcom calls [$2].
getty1942 folds.
heywoodya raises [$9].
bbowa folds.
>You have options at Table 48874 Table!.
easytime2003 calls [$9].
Freechill folds.
ME raises [$41].
>You have options at Table 48874 Table!.
HQHIFI folds.
Pizdets folds.
MUSICROCK1 folds.
DieOffdotcom folds.
heywoodya raises [$128].
easytime2003 is all-In [$47.09]
>You have options at Table 48874 Table!.
ME is all-In [$274.85]
heywoodya calls [$178.85].
** Dealing Flop ** [ 5c, 4d, 7c ]
** Dealing Turn ** [ Jh ]
** Dealing River ** [ Kd ]
>You have options at Table 36732 Table!.
heywoodya shows [ 3d, 9h, 2d, Ah ] high card ace.
heywoodya shows 7,5,4,2,A for low.
easytime2003 shows [ 3s, Qd, 6s, 4h ] a straight, three to seven.
easytime2003 shows 7,6,5,4,3 for low.
ME shows [ Th, 5s, As, Ac ] a pair of aces.
ME wins $259.76 from side pot #1 with a pair of aces.
heywoodya wins Lo ($259.76) from side pot #1 with 7,5,4,2,A.
easytime2003 wins $85.14 from the main pot with a straight, three to seven.
heywoodya wins Lo ($85.13) from the main pot with 7,5,4,2,A.

Here's my big E200 hand of the day; alas Cryptologic only allows you to rebuy once you have lost 20% of your starting stack (dunno why) so neither of us had the full 200 to bet. On the turn, I found it hard to credit him 100% of time with the straight, and I feel I made the right choice. At the time I didn't even think about it much because I knew there was more than a 1/3 chance he had something other than the straight, which would've made the play +EV. The river was nice to see even though it was unnecessary!

------HAND 1------
Game #525460024: Omaha High Pot Limit (€1/€2) - 2005/06/17 - 18:55:36 (UK)
Table "Poppy" Seat 8 is the button.
Seat 1: topbrelan (€176 in chips)
Seat 2: Ivorlott (€174 in chips)
Seat 3: ME (€175 in chips)
Seat 4: WHHHHHAT (€184.75 in chips)
Seat 5: thegam (€129 in chips)
Seat 6: tjooh (€438.25 in chips)
Seat 7: Petezak (€405.71 in chips)
Seat 8: lee h (€68.75 in chips)
Seat 9: Gfunk (€180.57 in chips)
Seat 10: Robertooo (€674.09 in chips)
Gfunk: posts small blind €1
Robertooo: posts big blind €2
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to ME [Jc Ks Kh Qc]
topbrelan: calls €2
Ivorlott: folds
ME: raises to €9
WHHHHHAT: folds
thegam: folds
tjooh: folds
Petezak: calls €9
lee h: folds
Gfunk: calls €8
Robertooo: calls €7
topbrelan: calls €7
----- FLOP ----- [6s 9s Kd]
Gfunk: bets €4
Robertooo: folds
topbrelan: calls €4
ME: raises to €61
Petezak: folds
Gfunk: folds
topbrelan: calls €57
----- TURN ----- [6s 9s Kd][5d]
topbrelan: bets €106 and is all-in
ME: is all-in €105
Returned uncalled bets € 1 to topbrelan
----- RIVER ----- [6s 9s Kd 5d][Kc]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
topbrelan: shows [9c Jd 9h Ad] (A Full House, Nines full of Kings)
ME: shows [Jc Ks Kh Qc] (Four of a kind, Kings)
ME collected €378 from Main pot
----- SUMMARY -----
Total pot €381 Main pot €378 Rake €3
Board [6s 9s Kd 5d Kc]
Seat 1: topbrelan lost
Seat 2: Ivorlott folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: ME showed [Jc Ks Kh Qc] and won (€378) with Four of a kind, Kings
Seat 4: WHHHHHAT folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: thegam folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: tjooh folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: Petezak folded on the Flop
Seat 8: lee h (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: Gfunk (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 10: Robertooo (big blind) folded on the Flop

Incidentally, this plague of people playing sets passively in PLO seems to have been going on for some time now, and it's one I run into a lot. As far as I'm concerned my opponent played this hand horribly, but there you go. Passivity with sets just sucks.

Here's a pretty rudimentary PLO8 hand on the 200 table. It shows the benefit of pushing hard when you have one end of the pot all wrapped up and the something half decent for the other - the turn helped me but I'd have bet it again even if I hadn't made two pair. By the river I knew I had him at least 3/4ed most likely, and instead scooped a nice 200 spot.

***** Hand History for Game 2220779204 *****
$200 PL Omaha Hi/Lo - Friday, June 17, 13:22:59 EDT 2005
Table Table 37324 (Real Money)
Seat 10 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 1: Freechill ( $274.2 )
Seat 3: fuflo777 ( $152.98 )
Seat 4: Portal777 ( $158.1 )
Seat 5: sav12 ( $179.68 )
Seat 6: tsf53 ( $242.1 )
Seat 7: fjuno7 ( $150.65 )
Seat 8: pamjamrocks ( $192 )
Seat 9: easytime2003 ( $92 )
Seat 10: GAMBIT314 ( $340.31 )
Seat 2: ME ( $200 )
Freechill posts small blind [$1].
ME posts big blind [$2].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to ME [ Ad 9d 2d 8c ]
fuflo777 calls [$2].
>You have options at Table 36669 Table!.
>You have options at Table 36669 Table!.
>You have options at Table 36669 Table!.
Portal777 did not respond in time.
Portal777 folds.
sav12 calls [$2].
tsf53 folds.
fjuno7 folds.
pamjamrocks folds.
easytime2003 calls [$2].
GAMBIT314 calls [$2].
Freechill calls [$1].
ME checks.
** Dealing Flop ** [ 3d, 4h, 8h ]
Freechill checks.
>You have options at Table 36732 Table!.
ME bets [$11.4].
fuflo777 folds.
sav12 folds.
easytime2003 calls [$11.4].
GAMBIT314 calls [$11.4].
Freechill folds.
>You have options at Table 36669 Table!.
** Dealing Turn ** [ 9c ]
ME bets [$43.9].
easytime2003 calls [$43.9].
GAMBIT314 folds.
** Dealing River ** [ Kc ]
>You have options at Table 36669 Table!.
ME bets [$55].
easytime2003 is all-In [$34.7]
ME shows [ Ad, 9d, 2d, 8c ] two pairs, nines and eights.
ME shows 8,4,3,2,A for low.
easytime2003 doesn't show [ 4s, 5h, 2c, 8s ] two pairs, eights and fours.
easytime2003 doesn't show 8,5,4,3,2 for low.
ME wins $10.15 from side pot #1 with two pairs, nines and eights.
ME wins Lo ($10.15) from side pot #1 with 8,4,3,2,A.
ME wins $100.2 from the main pot with two pairs, nines and eights.
ME wins Lo ($100.2) from the main pot with 8,4,3,2,A.

One last hand for those of you who thought PLO8 is a hard game to win at.... Well, it IS, but perhaps against this guy it's about as difficult as getting Tightwad to drop his pants in a bar full of sailors. How this poor fella managed to throw away a whole stack in this appalling showing, I've no idea. I didn't even have to bet.

***** Hand History for Game 2221120091 *****
$100 PL Omaha Hi/Lo - Friday, June 17, 15:08:16 EDT 2005
Table Table 36541 (Real Money)
Seat 3 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 2: ME ( $113.45 )
Seat 3: fjuno7 ( $182.46 )
Seat 4: bigwill711 ( $16.87 )
Seat 5: adamtriman ( $132.82 )
Seat 6: mustlose ( $108 )
Seat 10: fourally ( $126.23 )
Seat 9: Big_Smooth ( $87.85 )
Seat 8: ego777 ( $97 )
Seat 7: dooterball ( $99 )
Seat 1: soriya2003 ( $99 )
adamtriman posts small blind [$0.5].
mustlose posts big blind [$1].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to ME [ 2c 4c Ac 8s ]
dooterball folds.
>You have options at Table 37324 Table!.
ego777 folds.
Big_Smooth folds.
fourally folds.
soriya2003 raises [$3.5].
ME calls [$3.5].
fjuno7 folds.
adamtriman calls [$3].
mustlose folds.
** Dealing Flop ** [ 7s, 3d, 5s ]
adamtriman checks.
soriya2003 bets [$10.95].
ME calls [$10.95].
adamtriman folds.
** Dealing Turn ** [ 4d ]
soriya2003 bets [$31.75].
ME calls [$31.75].
** Dealing River ** [ Jh ]
soriya2003 is all-In [$52.8]
ME calls [$52.8].
soriya2003 shows [ As, Ah, Qd, 6s ] a pair of aces.
soriya2003 shows 6,5,4,3,A for low.
ME shows [ 2c, 4c, Ac, 8s ] a straight, ace to five.
ME shows 5,4,3,2,A for low.
ME wins $99.75 from the main pot with a straight, ace to five.
ME wins Lo ($99.75) from the main pot with 5,4,3,2,A.

Way to play every street wrong, wrong, wrong. This guy should've lost $1 on this hand and contrived to piss away 99.

Anyhow, fun times and a fun month... and I've passed $3k barely halfway through the month! As I'm now at home this weekend (my trip fell through due to an unexpected appearance by my friend's parents) I should have further chance to play, although tomorrow night I should be catching the exciting last episode of Dr Who and possibly getting drunk after seeing Batman Begins in the cinema. Anyways, 4k would be nice to hit, or at least 3.5, to make sure I can cash 2k or so for the month!

34.5 hours played
$3090 won
$90/hr

Great winrate, in fact I think it may well be the best of the year so far!

Monk
xxxxx

Bit of a disappointing session today, played an hour and a half but then had to stop because I was playing horribly and losing. It's nice and sunny outside so perhaps I should've gone and enjoyed that, rather than opting for a session at Empire and Crypto!

Had some harsh luck, most notably when some idiot re-raised me all in with two pair versus my nut flush on the turn and won a $150 pot with his rivered 4 outer. I fell into the same spot with one guy twice who kept limp-re-raising his AAxx preflop; I caught trip tens on the turn, bet 1/3 pot (maybe an error). With a whole bundle of safe cards likely on the river (only aces and spades which didn't catch my boat could seemingly hurt me), a non-boat flush card came and he was able to bluff me out of a big pot. Then I made a number of poor plays, loosened up and found myself getting a bit tetchy about things - several ugly hands later I found myself winding down $290. Not as bad as it might've been; in my last hand at gaming club one guy (in a NLO game) raised all in two hands in a row preflop - the second time round I decided I'd take a shot at him with KK33ss (not the best in the world but a favourite over most); he turned out to actually have AA but I caught a king on the flop to win the 180 pot.

However, I made two bad plays at the 100PLO table and lost a stack on both. This, on the face of it, looks about the worst but in truth I think it wasn't too bad. I was a bit annoyed that the guy in EP re-raised all-in on the flop, with such a weak hand that's a totally pointless move (although he was about a 55:45 favourite over me, it's notable that pretty much any hand I'll call a $18 bet with will be a favourite over his, so it really sucked) and ended up costing me when I could've got away from the hand cheaply on the flop. Perhaps calling that $19 was an error but he was all in and my hand can hit a lot of decent flops and I had position, so I guess it was marginal. When the EP guy re-raises all in I really have to call as it's only $62 into a 200 pot and so I'm likely to have over 30% equity all told. In fact, I had round about 31% for the $112 main pot and 45% for the $91 sidepot; so all told my EV for the whole thing is about $76 or so, having put $82 into the pot. So I guess it wasn't the worst play ever.

------HAND 1------
Game #535821344: Omaha High Pot Limit ($0.50/$1) - 2005/06/19 - 14:03:29 (UK)
Table "Maplewood" Seat 8 is the button.
Seat 1: KingZak ($30.50 in chips)
Seat 2: Growly ($81.08 in chips)
Seat 3: SlimOdds ($253 in chips)
Seat 4: Doyen ($162.50 in chips)
Seat 5: hit_man ($35.50 in chips)
Seat 6: ME ($82.25 in chips)
Seat 7: HITMEBABY ($216.99 in chips)
Seat 8: aybeee ($50 in chips)
Seat 9: thedarkma ($20 in chips)
Seat 10: hokie168 ($59.50 in chips)
hokie168: posts small blind $0.50
KingZak: posts big blind $1
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to ME [5d 4d 6s As]
Growly: raises to $3.50
SlimOdds: calls $3.50
Doyen: calls $3.50
hit_man: raises to $19
ME: calls $19
HITMEBABY: folds
aybeee: folds
hokie168: folds
KingZak: folds
Growly: raises to $81.08 and is all-in
SlimOdds: folds
Doyen: folds
hit_man: is all-in $16.50
ME: calls $62.08
----- FLOP ----- [Qs 8d 2d]
----- TURN ----- [Qs 8d 2d][4s]
----- RIVER ----- [Qs 8d 2d 4s][Jh]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Growly: shows [9s 8h 8c Tc] (A Straight, Queen high)
hit_man: shows [Ad 7h Ah Ks] (A Pair of Aces, Queen high)
ME: shows [5d 4d 6s As] (A Pair of Fours, Ace high)
Growly collected $91.16 from Side pot #1
Growly collected $112 from Main pot
----- SUMMARY -----
Total pot $206.16 Main pot $112 Side pot #1 $91.16 | Rake $3
Board [Qs 8d 2d 4s Jh]
Seat 1: KingZak (big blind) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: Growly showed [9s 8h 8c Tc] and won ($203.16) with A Straight, Queen high
Seat 3: SlimOdds folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: Doyen folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: hit_man lost
Seat 6: ME lost
Seat 7: HITMEBABY folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: aybeee (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 10: hokie168 (small blind) folded before Flop (didn't bet)


Unfortunately, shortly after this hand I butchered an AAss hand. Raised first in hand (first error) then someone in MP re-raised all in for his last 6 bucks. The same player who won the hand above called in LP, and I decided for some reason to re-raise when I could only get about a third of my stack in with the play, hoping that this bloke might reopen it (as he did move all in preflop with bloody 889Tss). Alas, he just called, I pushed in (pot-sized bet) on the KT4 rainbow flop, and he, of course, had a set of tens. Not very smart play from me, I feel.

So, had the 4 outer not hit early on and I hadn't played so fast and loose with those last two hands, I could've had another winning session, but alas my run has come to an end - as far as I know, this was my first loss in June and I think the way I played it's not surprising. Annoying given how well I've been playing lately but I guess these things happen and it's still not a bad month at all. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks I can push it up into the 4k region, but we'll see....

$2800
36 hours
$78/hr

Monk
xxxxx

Well, after that ugly session where I played like a goon, I returned for a much more pleasant evening run on Sunday and pulled back about $200 of my earlier losses playing some very solid poker. No huge hands but a lot of bits and pieces and a lot of wrecking the short stacks which seem to abound on the 100PLO tables at Empire, and I also enjoyed two hands where I bluffed the flop, got called, then hit a perfect card on the turn (once, the flop was low and uncoordinated, I pushed hard with KK and caught a K on the turn, then, I decided to represent AA on an ATx flop with my QJ98 and landed a broadway with flush draw on 4th street).

My session on Monday night was a real fun one, and continued my winning form in June. To date that rough one on Sunday was my only loser, and I made a great recovery from what was looking like a bad one on Monday to finish 200-odd up. Not a great profit but at one stage I was nearly 500 down at Empire, pulled that back by about 350 to a minor loss. Still, early on I was having some ugly luck at Empire, 3 times in a row I shifted a big chunk of chips on the turn with the nuts and then got caught by a draw on the river, and that in itself is very costly, I also had one hand I felt I played poorly on all streets:

I held KKQ9ss and raised the maximum in MP. Flop brought QJ5 with two hearts (I didn't have any) and the two players checked to me. I decide to pop it again, with some semblance of a hand plus good fold equity. One unknown on the button calls. The turn brings an offsuit 7. I have a bit of a tricky decision here but so far I have him on no more than a draw, and the 7 seems unlikely to have hit 2 pair. If he had QJ or something for a poorly played flop 2 pair then at least I have some outs. I guess I want him to fold a weak draw as people often tend to under pressure in PLO, so I bet the pot again. He calls. River brings a jack of hearts, pairing the board and putting the flush out. Once more, my opponent checks to me. I have $35 left with over $160 in the pot, and so, for some unknown reason, I bet $10.... A hopeless bet, really, because he'll call with a flush. At the time I was hoping perhaps he had a straight draw and will muck his hand, but I'm not making him fold anything that beats my hand, and simply preventing him bluffing if he has the one hand I can beat (a missed straight draw, which I actually had him on). I have to bet the pot (which might shift an unlikely AA or even perhaps a flush, with him thinking I have completed a boat), or check and call if he (perhaps) bluffs. Though in truth the best move was simply not to play like a LAG idiot all hand and waste less money on a flop that missed me, slow down on a turn when it's clear I've been "caught" and have little advantage even over a big draw, and then not play an ugly river so poorly. He turned over quad jacks, for an equally badly played middle set. The whole "passive play on middle set" is a bit of a plague, matching the whole "minimum raise preflop" thing which seemed to infest party a while back, which I find really hard to read because in my book it's just such an ugly way to play it. I mean, these guys are so scared of middle set being behind to top set that they.... Passively call along, thereby getting their stack in ANYWAY by the river and giving free cards to a draw? Seems flat out wrong to me, but there you go some of these guys do pay off my nut sets royally so I can't really argue, but on several occasions lately I've been shocked to see someone turning over a set or boat on the river when I've had them solidly on a draw all along...

Anyhow, struggling coming into the end of my session, I suddenly hit a rich vein of form and got some big hands, and turned the whole thing around. The big weapon seemed to be hitting big hands from cheap looks in the blinds! Observe....

This one was tough on the other guy, who presumably was counting the money before I turned over the second best hand in the game.... However, at the time my thinking was "what a dumb river raise".... I know the guy had the 2nd nuts and the top flush but if he knows me he should realise that all that bet can do is lose money... no WAY I (or most decent PLO players, note that I have played well on this table so far) are calling anything other than the nuts to a raise on this board. Even if he thought I was bluffing or playing hard on a non-nut flush (after he foolishly checked the flop), it's still perhaps marginally better to just call, although it's close. Against ME, he should call every time because, as I say, I only call his raise with a winning hand. In any case, he misplayed the flop by giving a free card so I can't have TOO much sympathy....

------HAND 1------
Game #544077664: Omaha High Pot Limit ($0.50/$1) - 2005/06/20 - 22:28:46 (UK)
Table "Bramble" Seat 5 is the button.
Seat 5: Ma001 ($104.25 in chips)
Seat 6: ME ($315.80 in chips)
Seat 7: felipe52 ($102.50 in chips)
Seat 8: ttrtr ($63.50 in chips)
Seat 9: Panos73 ($137.50 in chips)
Seat 10: tjooh ($183.42 in chips)
ME: posts small blind $0.50
felipe52: posts big blind $1
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to ME [9c Kd Jc 4d]
ttrtr: folds
Panos73: calls $1
tjooh: folds
Ma001: calls $1
ME: calls $0.50
felipe52: checks
----- FLOP ----- [Kc Tc Qc]
ME: checks
felipe52: checks
Panos73: checks
Ma001: checks
----- TURN ----- [Kc Tc Qc][7s]
ME: checks
felipe52: checks
Panos73: checks
Ma001: bets $4
ME: calls $4
felipe52: folds
Panos73: folds
----- RIVER ----- [Kc Tc Qc 7s][3c]
ME: bets $12
Ma001: raises to $48
ME: raises to $129
Ma001: is all-in $51.25
Returned uncalled bets $29.75 to ME
----- SHOW DOWN -----
ME: shows [9c Kd Jc 4d] (Straight Flush, King high)
Ma001: shows [6s 2c 4s Ac] (A Flush, Ace high)
ME collected $207.50 from Main pot
----- SUMMARY -----
Total pot $210.50 Main pot $207.50 Rake $3
Board [Kc Tc Qc 7s 3c]
Seat 5: Ma001 (button) lost
Seat 6: ME (small blind) showed [9c Kd Jc 4d] and won ($207.50) with Straight Flush, King high
Seat 7: felipe52 (big blind) folded on the Turn
Seat 8: ttrtr folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: Panos73 folded on the Turn
Seat 10: tjooh folded before Flop (didn't bet)

This next hand was a smart flop play.... And shows the massive value of having an additional draw on a hand that's good but not the nuts. Here I could easily raise and re-raise (if I needed to, against a LAG opponent) with a non-nut flop hand because I had a double-gutter straight draw to go with it; even if someone had the top set I've got 9 outs to a straight or quads, and thus SOME equity if I get in real trouble. In any case, against the opponents in this hand I'd have pushed hard with 2nd set anyhow...

------HAND 5------
Game #544260184: Omaha High Pot Limit ($0.50/$1) - 2005/06/20 - 22:52:17 (UK)
Table "Bramble" Seat 7 is the button.
Seat 1: Derek017 ($54.50 in chips)
Seat 2: Belfast_J ($93 in chips)
Seat 3: ematic86 ($99 in chips)
Seat 4: micro ($119.30 in chips)
Seat 5: psycosapo ($43 in chips)
Seat 6: ME ($431.05 in chips)
Seat 7: felipe52 ($66.50 in chips)
Seat 8: ttrtr ($102.25 in chips)
Seat 9: Panos73 ($224 in chips)
Seat 10: tjooh ($178.17 in chips)
ttrtr: posts small blind $0.50
Panos73: posts big blind $1
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to ME [4d 5d 6s 4h]
tjooh: folds
Derek017: folds
Belfast_J: folds
ematic86: calls $1
micro: calls $1
psycosapo: calls $1
ME: calls $1
felipe52: raises to $2
ttrtr: calls $1.50
Panos73: calls $1
ematic86: calls $1
micro: calls $1
psycosapo: calls $1
ME: calls $1
----- FLOP ----- [4s 8s 2d]
ttrtr: bets $14
Panos73: folds
ematic86: folds
micro: folds
psycosapo: folds
ME: raises to $56
felipe52: raises to $64.50 and is all-in
ttrtr: folds
ME: calls $8.50
----- TURN ----- [4s 8s 2d][Kd]
----- RIVER ----- [4s 8s 2d Kd][Ad]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
felipe52: shows [Jc Jh 5s As] (A Pair of Aces, King high)
ME: shows [4d 5d 6s 4h] (A Flush, Ace high)
ME collected $154 from Main pot
----- SUMMARY -----
Total pot $157 Main pot $154 Rake $3
Board [4s 8s 2d Kd Ad]
Seat 1: Derek017 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: Belfast_J folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: ematic86 folded on the Flop
Seat 4: micro folded on the Flop
Seat 5: psycosapo folded on the Flop
Seat 6: ME showed [4d 5d 6s 4h] and won ($154) with A Flush, Ace high
Seat 7: felipe52 (button) lost
Seat 8: ttrtr (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 9: Panos73 (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 10: tjooh folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Odd way to win but there you go.

I then found TTxx in the blind in the 200PLO table. Not too great, until the flop showed T88... all I need to do now is restrict access to overpairs (who have two outs) and let in anyone with an 8 to catch a weaker boat than me. The way I often do that in this spot is to make a weak lead bet (especially when my overboat has several cards over it, in this case a J, Q, K or A, which can catch someone's overpair). I did it here, but perhaps made it TOO weak as I picked up 4 callers. The turn brought a 2, I decided to make life a bit harder by pushing in 1/3 of the pot, which should restrict access only to 8s. The river brought a 7, completing a possible straight flush. I bet 1/2 pot, one guy called, one short stack raised a few more $s all in, and we saw a three way showdown. Unbelievably, the all-in pusher had nothing more than a straight (better watch out for him in future), the other guy's cards I didnt see but I picked up a nice 200-odd pot.

YET ANOTHER blind hand got me back in the running over at Empire... Playing 100NL on a whim (principally because I seemed to be getting nowhere on PLO and PLO8) I found the unassuming hand of 45o in the blind... Here's what happened....


***** Hand History for Game 2236958182 *****
$100 NL Hold'em - Monday, June 20, 17:51:54 EDT 2005
Table Table 36534 (Real Money)
Seat 6 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 1: SRachuy ( $107 )
Seat 2: Rift13479 ( $221.55 )
Seat 3: Matt18535 ( $89.89 )
Seat 4: AssetStrippa ( $101.75 )
Seat 6: oOflushieOo ( $112.9 )
Seat 7: brentwayne ( $55.45 )
Seat 8: ME ( $98.5 )
Seat 9: FOLDEM0621 ( $115.5 )
Seat 10: stustustu ( $61.8 )
Seat 5: bignook ( $100 )
brentwayne posts small blind [$0.5].
ME posts big blind [$1].
bignook posts big blind [$1].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to ME [ 5c 4s ]
FOLDEM0621 calls [$1].
stustustu folds.
SRachuy folds.
Rift13479 folds.
>You have options at Table 36783 Table!.
Matt18535 calls [$1].
AssetStrippa folds.
bignook checks.
oOflushieOo calls [$1].
brentwayne calls [$0.5].
ME checks.
** Dealing Flop ** [ 9h, 2d, 3s ]
brentwayne checks.
ME checks.
FOLDEM0621 bets [$3].
Matt18535 folds.
bignook folds.
oOflushieOo calls [$3].
brentwayne folds.
>You have options at Table 36565 Table!.
>You have options at Table 36683 Table!.
ME calls [$3].
** Dealing Turn ** [ As ]
ME checks.
FOLDEM0621 checks.
oOflushieOo bets [$3].
ME calls [$3].
FOLDEM0621 folds.
** Dealing River ** [ 7c ]
>You have options at Table 36783 Table!.
ME is all-In [$91.5]
oOflushieOo calls [$91.5].
ME shows [ 5c, 4s ] a straight, ace to five.
oOflushieOo shows [ 9s, 9c ] three of a kind, nines.
ME wins $201 from the main pot with a straight, ace to five.

BAM. That's some draw to hit; at the end my opponent said that in all honesty he hadn't even seen it, so it must've been a kick in the teeth for him when I turned over the winner. The reasoning behind my river all in was a bit daft, but at the time it felt like a good move... I was thinking that his bets seemed like the bets EITHER of a calling station with a hand he liked (Ax on the turn, or perhaps something like 2 pair or A9 on the flop) who suddenly found a hand, or someone slow-playing a milking with a monster. That river makes NOTHING, and so it seemed to me like the ideal card to pretend to be a LAG goon (I hadn't been at the table long) and make a 4x overbet. My thinking was that he might just look me up out of curiosity with A-good kicker, that he might have two pair with the ace BUT only call if I bet the pot, and yet also call if I pushed all in. I didn't think there were a lot of hands he'd call a pot-sized bet with on the river that he wouldn't call that wacky all-in (any two pair, set or strong ace I thought might take a punt at it) and if he had less than any of those hands, the best I could manage would be a tiny bet. So, to my mind, for once (and REALLY for once as I've hardly ever been in a spot like this before) the ridiculous overbet seemed to make sense. In this hand, though, all the money was going in anyway from the first moment he didn't raise his 99 preflop (which I often wouldn't to be honest) so it kinda played itself.

Well, one more big PLO hand to show y'all (does anyone still read this journal anyway???). Normally I'd never make a minimum raise preflop, but I decided to mix my game up with it here for a couple of reasons: 1) it does no harm; my hand is statistically better than the ones who'll be calling so there's no reason not to increase the size of the pot, despite my poor position, 2) if I hit hard I can bet twice the amount on the flop, 3) it disguises my hand because no-one will expect me to have an AAxx hand with the sort of raise that people tend to typically make with drawing or wrap-type starting hands. In fact, I think I might make this sort of raise a bit more often in EP with hands like this (I do occasionally anyway). I know Rolf is a fan of doing it in the right circumstances.

Anyhow, I made the limp-wristed bet, got raised and after a ton of callers came along for the ride it seemed like I could lift in a big re-raise, perhaps limit the field and get some dead money in with a strong hand. Well, I did that, alas no-one let me get all-in, but the flop came about as beautiful as any non-ace flop could; the heavy preflop action makes it unlikely anyone has 45 (although in PLO you can NEVER be sure) and I'm favourite over everything else. My 6 makes 66 less likely, and surely no-one is fishing around with 22 or 33 (again, we can't be sure ). On the whole, it's MUCH more important to see off anyone with a single pair or overpairs and thus plenty of outs against my aces, then it is to protect the rest of my stack. The pot is so big it's an automatic all-in. Thankfully, the guy who called had nothing, no draw, no PAIR, nothing. Unbelievable, and very charitable (although amazingly, with omaha being such an odd game, he wasn't a million miles away from having odds to chase his runner-runner). Anyone with a 6 and 3 higher cards would actually have had odds to call so it's a good job someone with such an appalling hand got in with me...

***** Hand History for Game 2236961806 *****
$100 PL Omaha Hi - Monday, June 20, 17:52:42 EDT 2005
Table Table 36683 (Real Money)
Seat 6 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 1: Poolplayer46 ( $239.85 )
Seat 2: PhatimooseJr ( $45.8 )
Seat 3: NY_Rooster ( $201.85 )
Seat 4: terrpetz ( $60 )
Seat 5: euroskin18 ( $115.4 )
Seat 6: I11eagle ( $98.5 )
Seat 7: badboy1112 ( $97 )
Seat 8: pgountas ( $94.2 )
Seat 9: superlad ( $153.25 )
Seat 10: ME ( $115.25 )
badboy1112 posts small blind [$0.5].
pgountas posts big blind [$1].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to ME [ As Ah Qs 6h ]
>You have options at Table 36534 Table!.
>You have options at Table 36565 Table!.
superlad folds.
>You have options at Table 36534 Table!.
ME raises [$2].
>You have options at Table 36534 Table!.
Poolplayer46 raises [$7.5].
PhatimooseJr folds.
NY_Rooster folds.
>You have options at Table 36534 Table!.
terrpetz folds.
euroskin18 folds.
I11eagle folds.
>You have options at Table 36783 Table!.
>You have options at Table 36783 Table!.
badboy1112 calls [$7].
pgountas calls [$6.5].
ME raises [$35.5].
Poolplayer46 calls [$30].
badboy1112 calls [$30].
pgountas calls [$30].
** Dealing Flop ** [ 2s, 6c, 3d ]
badboy1112 checks.
pgountas checks.
ME is all-In [$77.75]
Poolplayer46 folds.
badboy1112 folds.
pgountas is all-In [$56.7]
** Dealing Turn ** [ Ad ]
** Dealing River ** [ 6s ]
>You have options at Table 36565 Table!.
pgountas shows [ 9c, 8h, Td, 5d ] a pair of sixes.
ME shows [ As, Ah, Qs, 6h ] a full house, Aces full of sixes.
ME wins $21.05 from side pot #1 with a full house, Aces full of sixes.
ME wins $260.4 from the main pot with a full house, Aces full of sixes.

Anyhow, not a great session but another winning one, and I can't complain after being well down for most of it. I'd like to get past £2000 (or $4000, which is a little more) for the month because the recent repairs on my car hammered me for about $1500. Yuck.

$3210
40.5 hours
$79/hour

Winrate is staying up near 80 for the month, which is a great effort after 40 hours. I can't help but feel with the Crypto tables becoming ugly tight since they brought in the micro limit games, that I'm doubtless due a rough run sometime soon! Lets hope I continue to win for a while though!

Monk
xxxxx