Saturday 28 July 2007

Im lazy, newcastle update.

Well im posting this 1 week late! I do apologise but its better late then never eh?

I arriveth in newcastle very excited because its been a while since my last poker festival.

The first tourney is just a 300 quid double chance.

The blinds went up 45 mins and increased quite a lot each step, so a lot of skill is sucked out of the game this way, also only a 7k starting stack.

Anyhow, i won one pot the entire tourney and the pot was about 500 :(. Nothing i can do, i just could not get in any favourable situations! Oh well, let me talk about the main event.

In the first two levels i manage to increase my stack from 10k to 17k without ever putting many chips in danger, i have been playing a lot of hands preflop in late position. As soon as i get back i destroy 8k in chips with a terrible play.

I raise in the CO with JQs. Big blind calls (quite a tight player).

The flop: As 10h 6s

He checks so i obviously bet with my flush and straight draw. I think i bet 600 and he calls.

Turn: Jd And he fires 2k in chips at me. Now he only had 4.5k in chips left, and i should have called since there isnt much fold equity. Yup i raise him all-in and he calls with AJ and i dont improve.


Well over the next 8 hours or so nothing amazing happens, i build up to about 35k in 5 hours but ending up coming to day 2 with 23k. My key hand of day 1 hand to be when mid position raised 3x, guy to my right calls so i also call with 109o using position to my advantage.


Flop: 10d 9s 6d. First player bets, second player bets half his stack, i give it about 30 seconds to see whats going on (i also dont like betting allin straight away here, looks very amateurish hehe). So i eventually go allin, first chap folds and as the second guy calls i say "you can ONLY have two overcards and a flush draw"
Well i was right, and it was the only hand that fit because of his playing style (he was tight and was too unlikely to have 1010 or 99, and wouldnt have called the raise with 66). He didnt improve and that is what kept me alive.

Day 2 is my sob story. I have 2/3 of the chips of average so nothing desperate but i will need to open up early, which i did. The very first hand i open for 3000 with K9o on the button since everyone folded. Both the blinds call me which is not what i wanted!

Flop: K98. Lovely jubbly.

BB fires out 4k at me, making the pot 13k (9k + 4k). I decide the best play here is to go allin, with two spades on board it is too dangerous to call or raise small. So i raise for 16k more allin. The sb folds and BB says "I have to call"

He turns over KQ which is great news i guess, the turn is a 10 and river is a jack making him a runner runner straight, sick!! Infact what makes it worse is im left with 500 chips, not enough to make up the SB!!!!

Well time to throw the 500 chips and go home, infact i do. I go allin with 85 to be raised by 77. First card out was a 7 but i fluke a straight on the turn, yeehaw! Well let's not get too excited since i have 2300 chips now. The very next hand (only the third of day 2) i pick up JQ of hearts "All-in". Call, call, call and call. 5 way action, at least it will be worth winning.

Board: K 10 3 2 and...





Yes the Ace, give me those chips!!! Up to 12k now, i cannot believe this lucky comeback, still, since it costs 2700 a cycle i am nSave Noweeding to throw my chips in again. After folding for one round i bung it in with 93 of diamonds from the CO. BB says "your ahead but i call" and he turns over K8 of hearts (but they were soooooooooooted!). We both make full houses but his is stronger and im out of the tournement.

Never mind, for such high expectations i don't cash, but i do make £3500 in the side games which is always nice.

Next stop, Luton!

Tuesday 10 July 2007

WCOOP schedule out!

Well first things first, ive been looking forward to the WCOOP for a while now.

Here is the schedule, ive highlighted tourneys i am playing. I wont be playing anything other than PL/NL holdem and im also away at the end of september for the EPT london.

1 Sep.14 Friday 15:00 NL Hold'em [6-max] $215
2 Sep.14 Friday 16:30 PL 5-Card Draw $215
3 Sep.15 Saturday 15:00 PL Omaha [6-max] $215
4 Sep.15 Saturday 16:30 2-7 Triple Draw $215
5 Sep.16 Sunday 16:30 NL Hold'em $530
6 Sep.17 Monday 15:00 PL Omaha w/Rebuys $320
7 Sep.18 Tuesday 15:00 Limit Hold'em $215
8 Sep.19 Wednesday 15:00 Limit Omaha H/L $530
9 Sep.20 Thursday 15:00 NL Hold'em w/Rebuys $215
10 Sep.21 Friday 15:00 NL Hold'em Match Play $320
11 Sep.21 Friday 16:30 Razz $215
12 Sep.22 Saturday 15:00 HORSE $215
13 Sep.22 Saturday 16:30 PL Hold'em $530
14 Sep.23 Sunday 16:30 NL Hold'em $1,050
15 Sep.24 Monday 15:00 7 Card Stud $320
16 Sep.25 Tuesday 15:00 PL Omaha H/L $320
17 Sep.26 Wednesday 15:00 NL Hold'em [6-max] $320
18 Sep.27 Thursday 15:00 7 Card Stud H/L $530
19 Sep.28 Friday 15:00 PL Omaha $530
20 Sep.28 Friday 16:30 NL Hold'em Triple Shootout $530
21 Sep.29 Saturday 15:00 HORSE $5,200
22 Sep.29 Saturday 16:30 Limit Hold'em $1,050
23 Sep.30 Sunday 16:30 NL Hold'em Main Event $2,600


My poker life has been a bit of a bore lately, i went to Walsall last night to play a £15 rebuy just to get back into the live sync. 15th/95 is ok i guess, i wansnt interested in the money, just getting back into live since i havnt played for a while.

Online poker is absoloutly shocking for me, ive withdrawn all my money online for the time being and will just give the odd tourney a shot, im fed up of not making any money online.

Sunday 1 July 2007

Sunday night tourney

Decided just to play the $300 tourney on betfair tonight, its small field of 150 made it appealing to me.

I have never had a lot of chips, ive just been looking on ways to survive may way through.

Nothing special until the bubble comes. 18 get paid 23 left.

***** Betfair Poker Hand History for Game 224979683 *****
NL Texas Hold'em $300 Buy-in + $20 Entry Fee, Level:12 Blinds(800/1,600-75 ante) - Sunday, July 01, 20:39:58 GMT 2007
Weekly $50k GTD #80885
Table 3 9-max (Real Money)
Seat 6 is the button
Total number of active players : 7
Seat 2: Lambohov ( 30,532 )
Seat 3: hankipanki ( 24,380 )
Seat 5: james5tom ( 29,259 )
Seat 6: swansen ( 50,409 )
Seat 7: DollarDice ( 20,104.50 )
Seat 8: merly ( 31,740 )
Seat 9: pot is back ( 19,615 )
Tourney Level:12 Blinds(800/1,600-75 ante)
hankipanki posts ante [75]
james5tom posts ante [75]
swansen posts ante [75]
pot is back posts ante [75]
DollarDice posts ante [75]
merly posts ante [75]
Lambohov posts ante [75]
DollarDice posts small blind [800]
merly posts big blind [1,600]
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to DollarDice [ 8h, 9h ]
pot is back folds
Lambohov folds
hankipanki folds
james5tom folds
swansen calls [1,600]
DollarDice calls [800]
merly checks
** Dealing Flop ** [ 7h, 9d, 5c ]
DollarDice bets [5,325]
merly folds
swansen raises to [10,650]
DollarDice folds
Returning uncalled bet [5,325] to swansen
** Hand Conclusion **
swansen wins 15,975 from main pot

Well im sure a lot of you are thinking, wow what is he thinking folding this. Well, i am probably up against an overpair which makes me a 2-1 dog, i have the odds to call his raise on the flop...but whats the point, i have

Here is what i think about the hand. Swansen is a solid player who has shown down very strong hands so far. It really looks like he has limped on the button with an absoloute monster. If he has an overpair, i am a 2-1 dog, i have the odds to call but to call an extra 5k i will only have 8k in chips. That is pretty devastating if the turn isn't a 6, 8 or 9.

So i thought i would wait for a better spot.

Soon 21 left and i am pretty short stacked with 16,000 chips (I'm in 19th). I plan on pushing a lot here since a lot of people want to protect their chips and increase their chances of making the money (Of course this is -EV though, the top 3 prizes is where its at)

Well, with my strategy i fall at the last hurdle. I pushed with A9 on the button when i was short, the SB had QQ and i didnt improve. GG

***** Betfair Poker Hand History for Game 224989376 *****
NL Texas Hold'em $300 Buy-in + $20 Entry Fee, Level:13 Blinds(1,000/2,000-100 ante) - Sunday, July 01, 20:58:58 GMT 2007
Weekly $50k GTD #80885
Table 3 9-max (Real Money)
Seat 7 is the button
Total number of active players : 6
Seat 2: Lambohov ( 47,172 )
Seat 3: hankipanki ( 23,080 )
Seat 5: james5tom ( 30,084 )
Seat 6: swansen ( 62,059 )
Seat 7: DollarDice ( 20,704.50 )
Seat 8: merly ( 22,940 )
Tourney Level:13 Blinds(1,000/2,000-100 ante)
Lambohov posts ante [100]
hankipanki posts ante [100]
james5tom posts ante [100]
swansen posts ante [100]
DollarDice posts ante [100]
merly posts ante [100]
merly posts small blind [1,000]
Lambohov posts big blind [2,000]
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to DollarDice [ 9c, Ad ]
hankipanki folds
james5tom folds
swansen folds
DollarDice goes all-in
DollarDice raises to [20,604.50]
merly goes all-in
merly raises to [22,840]
Lambohov folds
Returning uncalled bet [2,235.50] to merly
** Showdown **
DollarDice shows [ 9c, Ad ]
merly shows [ Qs, Qh ]
** Dealing Flop ** [ Td, 6s, 2c ]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 5h ]
** Dealing River ** [ Qd ]
** Hand Conclusion **
merly wins 43,809 from main pot with three of a kind, Queens

-Dan

Wednesday 27 June 2007

Variance! ARGHGHGHGH


Ok here pictured isnt my real poker grapher, but probably isnt too far off right now.










After my week break from poker i was desperate to get home to play some HU, which i did.

I played for 6 hours straight earning myself a tasty $5000 playing 500 and 1000 Hu's. I then see the donk at the 2000 game that i had been crushing earlier, well i dunno but i got beat twice. I think i decided to play really poorly all of a sudden. Im pretty fuming right now and i am trying to decide wether to play another when i get a call from my mate asking me if i want to go down the pub WOOHOO! 3 hours later we stagger home and i go against the 10th poker commandment.

Thou shall not drink excessively and play online poker.

Ok well my mate was watching me and i decided to play 2x $500 matches, which i won both SOMEHOW. Anyhow i brag to my friend saying how easy this game is and that i just won an easy $1000 when he points out to me that i played 2x$2000 games. Well i guess im not going to turn on the pc if im this drunk because i couldnt even play the right bloody game. LOL Mis-clickaments!

So thats all good, im up $5000 on 1 night but it unfortunatly goes downhill the next day. I bloody suck right now and cannot beat what i like to call the "deceptive player". You get a lot of them at mid-high stake HU games and i saw a lot of them at barcelona. If you do not treat these players correctly they will sting you. If they have nothing they bet, and often mix up their bet sizes, if they have a big hand they check. Of course if you are not playing well this can get very frustrating as it seems they are getting a lot of good cards.

Well after 3 days of stupid poker i am level, which isnt the end of the world after winning a lot but i might add that i decided to play 5/10nl too.

I built to a stack of 2k when someone didnt believe me when i flopped top set with QQ.

Ok so then i raise with J10 on the button and get a caller from the BB with a big stack.

The flop is a 69Q so i continuate with a $40 bet into $60 which gets raised from $40 to $110. I then call. The turn is a king which brings two spades and two hearts. He checks and i bet $200 when he raises allin for about $1600. Pretty MASSIVE raise but i was loving it.

The river paired the king and he turned 66 which was when i turned my stomache. FACK!

Ok, not much going on in my poker life for the next 10 days or so, but will keep updated on anything interesting (or not so) in my poker life.

Thanks,

Dan

Wednesday 13 June 2007

Online suckage

As soon as i got back from barcelona i played a lot of HU online. I played a lot better than before and this is probably down to confidence.


Infact from June 1st-6th i won abut $20k playing HU (Just $500 and $1000 sng's). I spent the last 3 days giving $6k of this back, so its time for a break from HU online.

Sometimes when i am running well for a month or so i get really bored, since everything is so repetetive! When im bored i play really bad poker, so, for now im going to play lower stakes until i can care about poker.

Im currently sitting at a $4/$8 limit table (full!) to hopefully minimise any losses. Hope all goes well...

Dan

Sunday 10 June 2007

£1000 main event- i got sicked.

Ok so this £1000 main event is a 15000 chip double chance, lovely this is very deep.

At first i looked at my table and thought it would be tough- was i wrong, with blinds of 25/50 the standard preflop raise was 600-950, crazy eh?

Anyway the only hand i picked up was JJ and i managed to flop the nuts, but the chap wasnt interested. I bluffed off 10k of chips towards the end of the second level and was left woth 5k chips.

On one hand i limped with 99 UTG for 200, after another limper a new player to the table makes it 700, about 4 people call including me.

The flop was 368 with two hearts and everyone checked. The turn brought a 6 which was a second club, i bet 1500 which got raised to 4500 by the original raiser. I must have thought for 5 minutes because i couldnt figure out what was going on; well i figured i was pretty short and had to make a stand which i did, i only had 1600 more than the 4500 raise so i went allin, the original raiser then froze and i smiled. So basically i know he has nothing, infact, the crazy thing is- he folded! WOW how stupid lol.

So i pretty much doulbe up there when i raise in middle position with aces, it comes back to the chap who limped UTG and he re-raised me. This young player is a very good player and i thought he had AK or KK, in which case i just call.

The flop comes 1087 with two diamonds and he announces allin. I INSTANTLY call. He turns over J10 of diamonds, yikes! He is a 60% favourite but i somehow managed to miss all those bullets and doubled up again, this time i have over the average of 21k, i have about 24k.

Anyhow i look over my shoulder and i see a player who is kind of well known with an absoloute monsterous stack, this player is pretty terrible too, but still he had 175k in chips when the average is about 25k. I said to the table that it would be a dream to be moved to the right of him, about 10 seconds later the card room manager announces that the big blind at the table is to be moved, thats me, and its also to the right of this player. UNBELIEVABLE!

So the break soon commences and i have 30300 in chips which is about average, but still this is quite deep since we will be coming back to 400/800 blinds, my plan is to play lots of hands for cheap after this donkey.

FIRST hand back he raises to 2400 and i call with 67 of diamonds, not the strongest of hands but i can certainly crack a hand with this, everyone else folds.

The flop 3d 5d 6c. HOLY S***!

He bets out 5k and i go allin for my 28k, he pretty much instantly calls and flips over AcQh.

Well, i mean, if i want to get my chips in good this is the time, im infact a 89% favourite, also this goes to show what a complete and utter donkey this guy is.

The turn- Qc

The river- As.

Absoloute killer right there, i am absoloutly sickened and leave the casino in disgust. There was only an hour left of play for day 1, that was a good chance to get to a final table for my ranking points. A good finish would get me into the top 10 in europe, but for now i am going to have to settle with my 14th in europe and try again at my next live tourney- in the newcastle GPUKT.

Thanks for reading,

Dan

Thursday 7 June 2007

Midland masters. Day 1 & 2

Well back to my regular casino, walsall.

First tourney is a £200 freezeout and i am going to see if my new TAG approach is going to work.

To be honest i dont have much to say about the tourney, i picked up a set early on and picked up a lot of small pots to stay just above average for a long time, when the blinds started hitting the 600/1200 stage i was getting slightly short.

After 2 limpers from early position i shoved with 33 since i only had 11 big blinds, everyone passes.

I know have about 19k with 800/1600 blinds when a crazy hand occured.

UTG raises 3x to 4800, im next to act and i shove with AhQh.

The player to my immediate left who has about 30k chips says "call". Well i about crapped myself because this usually means aces lol.

Comes back to the chap UTG who passes quickly, so i turn to my right and say "have you got a pair mate?" He says "yep".

He then confidently flips 44. LOL! What the hell is he thinking, oh well race time.

I smile when the flop comes 89A.

Turn J.












River 4.

It was 20 minutes before the day was over, how painful, i finish 21st and storm out of the casino. Not happy!

Well day 2 is next, the £300 double chance freezeout, again i play pretty tight and after 2 hours i still have my starting stack which is fine. After some cool maneouvering i climb to about 20k in chips when i get AA UTG. Yep for once i decided to limp and the guy 3 seats after me says "All-in" Fine, but the blinds are 400/800 and he has 16000 chips. All pass to me and he flips AK. Im pretty sure he said Merry Christmas. My AA held up and i had quite a large stack.

Its getting late into the tourney and i have been with the same few people as when i started, including two tight players that give away what they have depending on their bet sizes preflop.

On one hand the chap to my right raised about 2.5BB so i just assumed he was weak, i was on the button so put in about 1/4 of my stack with 56. I was absoloutly confident he would fold right here, the blinds were high...any move meant all of your stack but he then announced a minimum raise. Oh god, its great relying on your reads isnt it. I spend a lot of time and announce to the table im laying down Queens (hehe).

Well the other player who i said makes his raises compared to his strength raises just 3xBB in early position (this player im even more sure) So i look down at 55 in the SB and push about 5x his bet, the blinds were super high and this was really worth it, also there is only about 30 minutes until the day is over so it would be really nice to take this down. He passes immediatly whilst flipping 99. Lovely :)

Well the first day of the double chance is over and with only 23 left, i have 60,900 chips and the average is about 31k so im doing good.

Final table here i come!

Sunday 3 June 2007

I hate stars

After playing a couple hands badly i get myself down to 70k or so in chips, a lucksack has raised about 3 hands in a row showing KK xx and K6. So on the fourth time he raises i triple his bet with 99.

He re-raises and i call, he has KK again!

His hand holds and i bubble. Top 270 paid and i come 273rd, nice!

Stars tourney going well!

Your current position is 5 out of 1045

I took down a huge pot with QQ. I thought there was a chance he had JJ too *phew*

PokerStars Game #10251016727: Tournament #51167608, $200+$15 Hold'em No Limit - Level VI (300/600) - 2007/06/03 - 14:19:36 (ET)
Table '51167608 148' 9-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 1: danistheking (35670 in chips)
Seat 2: mrvogt (12950 in chips)
Seat 3: champQ (12355 in chips)
Seat 4: wild_man_187 (25725 in chips)
Seat 5: Mitchdubai (15975 in chips)
Seat 6: semifull (20325 in chips)
Seat 7: RAYNEE. (8575 in chips)
Seat 8: Akab (15700 in chips)
Seat 9: Golden_sun (20350 in chips)
Golden_sun: posts small blind 300
danistheking: posts big blind 600
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to danistheking [Qs Qc]
mrvogt: folds
champQ: calls 600
wild_man_187: raises 1200 to 1800
Mitchdubai: folds
semifull: folds
RAYNEE.: folds
Akab: folds
Golden_sun: folds
danistheking: raises 3600 to 5400
champQ: folds
wild_man_187: calls 3600
*** FLOP *** [Jd 4s 6c]
danistheking: bets 6000
wild_man_187: raises 14325 to 20325 and is all-in
danistheking: calls 14325
*** TURN *** [Jd 4s 6c] [Qd]
*** RIVER *** [Jd 4s 6c Qd] [6h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
danistheking: shows [Qs Qc] (a full house, Queens full of Sixes)
wild_man_187: shows [Jh Ah] (two pair, Jacks and Sixes)
danistheking collected 52350 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 52350 | Rake 0
Board [Jd 4s 6c Qd 6h]
Seat 1: danistheking (big blind) showed [Qs Qc] and won (52350) with a full house, Queens full of Sixes
Seat 2: mrvogt folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: champQ folded before Flop
Seat 4: wild_man_187 showed [Jh Ah] and lost with two pair, Jacks and Sixes
Seat 5: Mitchdubai folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: semifull folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: RAYNEE. folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: Akab (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: Golden_sun (small blind) folded before Flop

PHEW!!!!!!!!! I have a great stack now, im also plodding along with 11k chips, just above average in the party $300k tourney.

My new tighter approach is playing good, i dont know why i bother LAG at times.

The $480 tourney on poker.co.uk

Down to the last 5 and i came across this crucial hand when i was short stacked.


Seat 1: luc_scrote (2685.00)
Seat 3: Big Brad (9702.00)
Seat 4: ingevoldw (11941.00)
Seat 5: Golf_Flop (5761.00)
Seat 6: gtrebbi23 (2411.00)
luc_scrote post SB 75.00
Big Brad post BB 150.00
** Deal **
luc_scrote [Jd, Kd]
Big Brad [N/A, N/A]
ingevoldw [N/A, N/A]
Golf_Flop [N/A, N/A]
gtrebbi23 [N/A, N/A]
*** Bet Round 1 ***
ingevoldw Fold
Golf_Flop Fold
gtrebbi23 Fold
luc_scrote Raise to 450.00
Big Brad Call 450.00
*** Flop(Board): *** : [As, 10c, Ad]
*** Bet Round 2 ***
luc_scrote Check
Big Brad Bet 450.00
luc_scrote Call 450.00
*** Turn(Board): *** : [As, 10c, Ad, 8c]
*** Bet Round 3 ***
luc_scrote Check
Big Brad Check
*** River(Board): *** : [As, 10c, Ad, 8c, 4s]
*** Bet Round 4 ***
luc_scrote Check
Big Brad Bet 900.00
luc_scrote Call 900.00
*** Showdown *** : Rake: 0.00 Total Pot: 3600.00
luc_scrote [Jd, Kd] Pair of aces, king kicker Win: 3600.00
Big Brad [7d, 6d] Pair of aces Win: 0.00


Last 3: I am on 7000 chips compared to 12k and 13k, these two players are quite weak and i should be able to climb to 10k soon.

Big stacks went at it ALL-IN on a flop of 345 66vsJJ and JJ holds.

I finish 3rd for $1200. Lots of up and downs.

Next up, the party $215 and stars $215.

Sunday tourneys!

Well someone asked me to make a blog entry about me and my internet poker. So tonight i am going to enter a few tourneys such as the $480 tourney on poker.co.uk, $215 on party, $215 on stars and maybe a few others.

Ive already played two $500 heads up today and lost them both, the first was against a good player and the second was against a complete retard that nearly put me on tilt. Goddamnit, oh well i won about $7k last night at $500 and $1000 heads-ups.

Oh btw i hope you all like the new layout, its more clear and fits a lot more text on screen.

The $480 tourney on poker.co.uk is already down to the last 6 with last 3 getting paid, not a big tourney but ive played well so far, taking a very tight approach which has worked well, the standard of players is very low!

Ill update later on how i do.

Dan

Wednesday 30 May 2007

The final.

Ok so ive had to catch up on a few entries after my flight home so im going to make this short and sweet.

Firstly me and jeff did an even chop so we were playing for pride. I came into this game with a totally different attitude, it felt like i didnt care but lets see what happens.

I have one hand to note from the whole game. Yes, 1.

The pots were all very small until i limped with J7.

The flop came KQ2 and we both checked

The turn brought the 10 of spades (a second spade). He checked so i thought this was an easy chance to take down the pot with a 500 bet, jeff checked raised me which didnt make sense at all, i then re-raise putting about 5000 into the middle, i was shocked when jeff called, i thought he had two pair or something. The river brought the 9, my straight woohoo! But Jeff then bets 4500 at me, now the river has brought a possible flush, i ran through my mind of the possibilities and realised jeff could have spiked a flush, but the bet was too small to pass, he could be value betting his straight so i call with the great pot odds.

He turns 72s and im now short stacked.

In the end i fire my last 4000 chips in with J10 and jeff calls with K8s and hits a flush, good game and congratulations to jeff, the world heads up champion of 2007.

I will be back next year, next stop is the midlands meltdown at walsall.

Semi-finals.

This is my big game. If i lose this i end up with either 20 or 30k. If i win, i will probably end up in the final with Jeff Kimber and do an even chop for 90k each.

After a slow start i win lots of small pots including this one:

Me: 22.

I limp, opponent raises and i call in position.

Flop K33. Check Check
Turn 4. Check Check
River 8. Check and i bet 500 for value hoping he calls me with A high and he raises to 1500 so i call and he shows Q5 :).

About 1h30 into the game this pot arose.

I limp with 310. Opponent checks.

Flop 234. Opponent bets and i call.
Turn 2. Opponent bets big and i call again.
River 9. Opponent bets 4500! I hesitate and then call.

He turns Q5 once again.

This player was quite crazy at times but i had a read on him for sure.

At this point i had around 24k in chips and my opponent had been making some unorthadox raises.

He limps and i look at As10s so i raise to about 2100. My opponent now makes a fuss, walks around the table and announces allin. Ok so i thought about this for a bit, i knew he was weak but i wasnt sure if As10s is the kinda of hand i want to see his hand with since it isnt a massive favourite over many hands. Anyhow i call and he flips 7s4s. Flop 7xx he wins.

Im down to a miserable 8k in chips and shortly go allin with A3 because the blinds are now 500/1000. He calls and turns KK! How bad do i run!?!?!

Flop 245. Lol. Maybe i run good eh?

After taking a few small pots its almost back to level again!

I find 1010 on the button and limp. My opponent announces all-in. I pretty much instantly call, i think i might have said call before he said all-in im not sure. He turns over A7 and the board doesnt help him, it was a pretty good game i must say, we were up and down with our chips stacks like nothing else. GG.

Just before i go back to the hotel i watch my friend Jeff Kimber in the other semi's. It was over very fast when jeff checked 93 in the BB to see a flop of 933. His opponent was very unfortunate to have J3 but hey, thats poker and that also means that i get an even chop for the Main prize.

Sunday 27 May 2007

The BIG game.


Quarter final match-up.

Dan carter vs Dave "The devilfish" Ulliot.











The match was scheduled to start at 3:30pm, well that was never going to happen so i ended up having something to eat, talking to micky werning at the bar, having a few interviews and then finally watch devilfish on the piano for about 30 minutes.

Finally things got started and i was going to take a slow and steady approach to see how the devil wanted to do things. I very quickly dropped to 16k or so because i couldnt pick up a hand.
One hand to note was when i picked up K9 in the BB, i called 400 more with the blinds at 100/200.

The flop came Kd8c3c. I checked, the devil bet 800 and i made it 2400 to go. He pondered and called, after this call my intentions were to slow down since i was out of position with a mediocre hand, the turn paired the 3 and the river paired the 8, both streets were checked down and devil turned 1010. He was not happy at all i had hit a 3 outter! But a decent amount of money went in after the flop.

Very shortly i picked up 1010 on the button, i limped for 300 and the devil made it 1100. I didnt think long and put in 3500. He seemed really frustrated and it took him a long time to call, i can say...i really didnt want him to call, i was just showing him who was boss since he was playing very aggressive preflop.

All of a sudden the chips were even for quite a while, i picked up KK on the button and limped again and ended up seeing a flop. The board came Q high and the devil came out with a bet that i strongly re-raised, he showed bottom pair and passed so that was a nice little booster.

The VERY next hand i pick up AA, the devil limps for 300 and i make it 1200 in total, he calls quite quickly.

Flop: 6c6d3c

BEAUTIFUL!!!!

Well im going to stick to my original game plan and letting devil take the lead, i check but he also checks. That didnt work!

Turn was a 2c. I had to bet now, there is now a club and straight draw on the board, i make a bet of 1500 which gets raised to 4500, well i slow down again for 2 good reasons. One is, if he has a 6 i am paying him off as least as possible and two, if i slow down i look weak and if the devil is bluffing i can entice him to bluff, so i just call.

The river is a Jd. I check and the devil bets 7000! WOW! I think for a few moments and call, the devil says "If you call you must have me" and he holds his cards over the muck whilst i flip my bullets. Now is the break, he wals away very frustrated whilst mumbling "Hes so lucky...aces....blah blah" lol.

After the break i now have a 32k-8k lead and can take a new approach with the increased blinds (200-400) I can steal a lot of small pots to put him under pressure, the devil dwindled to about 6k when i decided to raise to 850 with Q8. The devil calls and the flop comes 8d 7s 2s. The devil comes out firing 4.2k allin!! I think for a moment to see if its worth calling this overbet and think that he cannot be ahead so i call. He turns over 510 of spades for a flush draw.

The turn and river are complete blanks and i have taken the devilfish down!

I dont feel ecstatic after beating him, it just feels kinda weird. That was the shortest match i have played at just over an hour...all others lasted a good 2-3 hours. Im not saying it was an easy win because it wasnt, i guess the timing for my big hands was great.


Please comment on my blog entrys, i enjoy reading them, thanks

-Dan

Friday 25 May 2007

In the Quarters

Well i arrive in the casino ready for my 3rd game and i am playing the guy who beat the previous world champion. I quickly drop down to about 11k (like i do in every match!).

I had to make a stand quite early on, i was getting no hands at all! I get A7 in the BB and re-raise his button to about 3.6k leaving about 4.5k behind, the flop came 9102 and i pushed it allin, he INSTANTLY called and fipped QJ which is a bit of a monster i guess. Mickey wernick was behind me calling the cards for the turn and river.

He shouted Three!!! Turn was a 3
He shouted Five of clubs!!! River was a six of clubs. Haha love you long time mickey.

This player from sweden was very aggressive and i was finding him tough, so i just waited around for a hand. On one particular hand i have A6 in the BB and call a raise (he raised every button!).

The flop came 245 and i check-called, i then announced that i will check blind on the turn! He checks when the 5 pairs up.

The river was an 8 and i checked expecting to win it there, but he put in a bet of about 4000 into 4500. I was really puzzled and thought for a long time, i pick up a tell on him as i am about to call(i was going to fold hehe) and decided i better call. He flipped 10 high WOOT!

Very shortly after i called a raise with K5 to see a flop of K55, i check called the flop and then check in the dark again! (Last time i did that i had ace high, i am a genius!) He bet, i hesitated and called, i then checked the river again and put all my chips in when he bet, he thought and folded.

That hand crushed him and gave me a chip lead, i managed to limp raise preflop with QQ and he chucked all his chips in, i instantly call and he only has A10. My hand holds.


Round 4 and i have a player from spain, i learn quickly that he plays very tricky.

I get bluffed off a big pot when i call with A9 in the BB. It comes out JJ9 and i check raise from 500 to 1500. He calls. The turn is a 5, i bet out big and get re-raised a substantial amount, i had no idea what to do and eventually passed, he showed me K10.

I was being bullied and out-played and my chips were running short, just like the previous player so i made a move. I called a raise with 33 and saw a flop of 224, i let him bet, which he did and i raised about 3/4 of my stack. I mean if he has a higher pp when raising every button then gl to him, he folded after about 5 minutes.

The big hand arose when i had about 17.5k in chips.

I was in the BB with QJ, he limped so i raised it up to around 1800 with 200/400 blinds, he thought for a while and called.

The flop brought J32 and i bet out 1800 which got raised to 5000. It took me a good 10 minutes to decide to call, i was unsure what to do. The turn was a 10d and he announced allin once i had checked. I thought for a long time again and called, he turned over 66 and obviously, i was delighted. He was then crippled down to 5k in chips and it took about 40 minutes to knock him out after that.

Im so ecstatic now, devilfish is my likely opponent in the next round which will be on tv and i am guaranteed €11,250 and some lovely european ranking points!

I had a chat with devilfish after-

(Its funny because ever since round 1 we were saying "see you in the quarters") and i said, its great that a 2 brits are in the quarters, but its a shame that you are going out and he said "Im shakin in my boots"

The quarters are played on sunday and i shall update then!

-Dan

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Round 2, Fight!

Round 2 is about to commence, nothing much to say but i have met the chap who i am playing and the game starts on time!

I got off to a terrible start, terrible. Infact after the first blind level i was down to something like 10,000 in chips (20k starting stack). Ive had to let a big pot go when i play a mediocre hand aggressively out of position.

Basically on the river i had top pair on a somewhat scary board of AQJ76 with three hearts, he bet most of my chips and i had to pass taking note of his body language and perhaps a "tell". I think he is very strong here.

Well a few big pots arose here and there such as me playing very aggressively in position on a 952 flop and a Q turn, putting most of my chips in. James atkin and Paul jackson commented at the time that they were sure i had a set, i had king high :D

After the first blind level i did battle very well from 10k in chips to about 31k, just through stealing pots, i realised a few of this guys mistakes and capitalised.

Just when i thought i had this game wrapped up an interesting pot occured.

I limped with AsQd (Blinds 150/300) Now my opponent raised 600 more out of the big blind and i made a mistake by just calling (I think).

Flop: Qc8c3c

He bet out about half the pot(900) and i came over the top for about 2100 more. He then declared that he was all-in and i put my big chips into the pot instantly.

He turned over the nuts and i had to start all over again!

Well i did begin to lose it, and i must say, this game has been up and down like a yoyo. I won a crucial pot when i limped with 94o and got to see a flop of 445, all the chips went flying and he turned over A5. Beautiful.

Very shortly after when i have a chip lead of about 28k-12k i limped with Ac2c and saw a flop of 224. My opponent led out and i smooth called, the turn brought a 9 and my opponent bet strong again. The river, an ace! I have made a boat. My opponent bets about 6k leaving 3k back or so and i think...for about half a second and announce allin, i know he has to call and he does. He turned over J2 for trips and i take the second round down!

This match was a lot harder for me, my opponent was quite aggressive but i got through in the end.

Now it wasnt long until james had to play his match, after 10 minutes i think that he will take it down. Well i was wrong, there were no hands to note because i have never watched a player take so long to make a decision, i mean, he put me on tilt watching. I think the headsup lasted around 4 hours and i know that this guy james was playing was an absoloute card rack towards the end and james had gone card dead! Soul-destroying!!!

Oh well better luck next year james, i have 2 games ahead of me, i win the first i make the money, i win the second im through to the tv stages, woopie!

-Dan

Thursday 24 May 2007

Day 3 in spain.

Day 3, i have nothing to do today except watch a few of my friends such as james atkin, flushy (James dempsy), micky wernick etc.

Well lets get started on mr atkin, although i attempted to watch his game i was far more interested in a drink and conversation with the legend mr wernick, what a fine sir he is! Anyhow i knew james would win his game easily, he managed to get allin with AK on an A45 board against A10, well played sir!

I played a little bit of cash, decided omaha 5/10pl was a good idea where i donated 300 or so until moved to 2/5nlholdem for a few hands and got a bit back. I think i am not going to play the cash games anymore, im not running good live and the rake is soooo steep (€15 rake on one hand i played in!).

My day has finished in me walking down a few bars and meeting a few of the poker legends such as dave colclough, micky wernick, paul jackson etc and finish getting very drunk.

Tonight has been a very quiet night and i hope tomorrow will be more interesting with my round 2 of my heads up!

Will keep you posted!

Dan

Wednesday 23 May 2007

The rain in spain...

Falls mainly on my table.

Well firstly im going to start with the good news, i made it to the second round of the world heads up championship, yeehaw!

So heres my report on it.

Firstly i arrived early expecting an interview on camera with pete singleton, but we had problems getting into the casino which is a different story...
Anyhow we get in about 30 minutes before my match and i must say, for the first time in a very long time, i felt nervous about poker; maybe more excited than scared. So the seats are tables are drawn and i meet my opponent. First thing i do is shake his hand (which is also the start of picking up tells/body language/what type of person he is), his hand was very cold and sweaty...certainly a lot more than mine, i guess i thought this was a good sign.
When signing the release form i realise he has qualified online which is also good! His chips were stacked in a weird way and he didnt post the blinds properly.

Now lest get onto some poker hands, first hand of note was when i rivered my straight on a A645 flop. Turn was a 9 and river was an 8 to give my 67 the nuts! i bet, he raised and i re-raised for about 3k, i guess this wasnt a huge raise but i still wasnt sure what type of player he was. He had 85 for two pair but i shortly found out he would have probably paid me off for a lot more! This player would chase hard and also bet really aggressive at times that wouldnt make sense, apart from this hand.

Blinds 100/200

Me: 4d6d i limp
Opponent: Check

Flop: Kh Qd Jd

He bets 350 or so and i call.

Turn gives the 9d for my flush.

He now bets 500, so i make it 2100 which i believe is a good sized bet because i think he will call with a 10. He does call.


River Qh.

Board: Kh Qd Jd 9d Qh

As soon as the river hits he shrugs his shoulders, cringes his face and says "EUUUUCHHH!!!" I thought...is this guy serious!!! He now looks at me, smiles, glances at his chips and grabs 5 red chips (5000) and fires it in, i instantly flip over my flush and put it in the muck...he shows 10d2d. WOW!!!! I could have lost a lot of chips on the turn.

One thing led to another when i called a big river bet in a certain pot with bottom pair on a scary board and his chip stack is down to 8k. He then announces to his friend that he needs to go allin soon (which is not true...the blinds are 200 400 and there is plenty of play)

Here is the magic hand:

Me: Limp for 200 on the button with AJo
Opponent: Check

Flop: J85 rainbow.

When i am playing poker i am in a kind of haze...not paying 100% to everything i guess...im really relaxed. Anyhow my opponent says the magic words "ALLIN" My eyes just lit up...i thought "Is this guy serious?!?!" I insta call and put my big chips in and the cameras come over. He turns over J2.

Thats pretty crazy i think, hes bet 8000 into 800 with a hand that can only get called by something hes losing to but meh, whatever, its his chips, maybe he had to catch a flight on thursday who knows?

Turn and river are blanks and i have made it into round 2!


I hope i have kept you entertained so far, if so, read on and listen to how bad the rest of the day went.

Firstly, since i had won the first round so fast i had enough time to enter the €1100 freezeout which by the way is the first big tourney i have bought myself into for a long time! I sit down at a table and out of the first 5/6 hands i raise preflop and take it down either preflop or post flop. So have already built up some chips. Then an interesting hand arose, about 5 limpers and i am on the button. I make a huge raise with my AKo (Which obv looks a huge steal.) and the guy who limped UTG now makes a raise for 2000 (5k starting stack). He threw it in with an angry manner and i know that he is just fed up of me bullying already, i instantly put my chips in with AK and he calls with his 88...i turn a straight and take the pot down when i river a flush too!

Very shortly the one and only Dave "devilfish" Ulliot joins my table...two to my left. Bloody brilliant! One of the most aggressive successful tourney players in the uk is to my left! I soon realise he really is a faboulous player too...taking some of my chips in the process. Well in spain nearly everyone at the table speaks...well spanish! So it was delightful for someone to speak english, infact he spoke to me quite a bit, well, we talked to each other non stop for about 4 hours hehe.

My chip stack lingered whilst dave was around, he made a re-re-raise against me with K2 (I had 24 but he doesnt know that ;)) which also cost him a lot of chips because another player was trapping with AK. He said "you realise you cost me a lot of chips there". He shortly went out after and i didnt play a hand for about an hour. I was at around 15k in chips which was slightly above the average when a really really nice hand arose:

4-5 limpers all in a row and i look down at bullets. Wow i love this...when you raise here people think you are at it! I shove a 3200 bet with 200/400 blinds. It gets round to the big blind who announces allin (He has 14k in chips!). Everyone gives me a smirk since they all think im at it. He flips over KQ and my aces hold up for a massive pot.
Now there is a swedish guy who has been semi-tight and aggressive with a few chips, he has started to make a few raises at me and ive really been putting him to the tests with re-raises.

I then make possibly one of the stupidest moves in a long time, and am really pissed off with myself.

Top 9 paid, 26 left. Average chips 16k, i have 29k.

Swedish guy limps, i limp with 4c7c on the button, sb folds.

Flop 2c5cJh. Swedish guy bets 1200 i call.

Turn Kh. Swedish guy bets quite big, maybe 5k.

I think shortly and get a massive pile of chips and push them in, swedish chap does the same thing and has only 700 chips left...so we get to see a river and i totally miss, he throws his last few chips in and i have to pass my 7 high for the 60k pot...one guy bursts out laughing and i feel really embarressed!!! I have no chips left and end up going out next hand. Hero to zero eh?!?!

Finally i then donk another 600 at 20/40 limit after losing 800 or so last night...ive yet to win a hand at the cash tables!!! What a disaster

If you have read this far, then i am proud!!! I shall most definitly update tomorrow to see how my buddy james atkin does in his first round, good luck to him!

Dan.

Tuesday 22 May 2007

Arriveth in barcelona!

Alright so i make it to the airport in one piece and meet up with my friend james who i am travelling with, shortly we board the plane and who do we bump into? Micky "the legend" wernick, Dave "El blondie" Colclough and Paul "Action" Jackson. After a short 2 hour flight we arrive in spain.

It wasnt long until we made our way to the casino where we got charged €4.50 to get in (WTF!).

After a few drinks i met up with pete singleton, also a sponsered player by poker.co.uk. Me and james went over to the cash games, they definitly looked juicy and there was plenty to choose from.

2/5PL Omaha
5/10PL Omaha
2/5NL holdem
20/40FL holdem

After a few moments we both thought we could easily crush the limit game, well infact we both played for about 2 hours tops...james took a profit of about 1BB and i was down a miserable 18BB (680). I didnt win one pot which is kinda depressing, i lost 100 on the first hand with top pair and from there i was just losing blinds...i hardly saw any flops! Jeeze, i hope i can crush these idiots tomorrow!

Well the main event starts tomorrow and i am playing an online qualifier in the first round so i have high expectations. Wish me luck

Dan.

Sunday 20 May 2007

Barcelona around the corner!

Well i have just got done with the 5th leg of the GPUKT (in which i did miserable) and am now looking forward to the World heads up at Barcelona.

The main event starts on Tuesday and i am flying out this monday coming up.

Heads-up is probably the strongest part of my game since i play it online so much, but have only ever played it live twice!

I must say i can't wait...i wont be playing much poker but it will be nice to get on the beach and enjoy some spanish sun!

Welcome to my blog! (A little about me)

Well ive always wanted to start a blog, so here i am.

Here i will be posting about live and online, although online stuff is pretty boring so i will concentrate on happenings at live poker festivals.

I started playing poker for fun at the age of 16, i used to enjoy watching my step dad play. I was making money at the game when i was 17 and decided that i would make a living out of it by the time i was 18.

I am sponsored to play live events every month by poker.co.uk which is great. I mainly play in the GPUKT (Grosevenor poker UK tour) but occasionly do other fun stuff.

My blog won't be entirely about poker since i will want to keep my readers interested!