How to run Realllll Bad.........

Another week played and gone. Well actually not really true. I lost a few days with the back playing up and a couple of appointments took it out of me. Gutted to still be losing days but at least I have managed to play some poker on the challenge.

Overall I had a losing week, which could not really be helped and will give you the hand in question in a second. But I played some aggressive poker and managed a bit of respect from a couple of players who I mentioned were always 3 betting me pre. I got round this by 4 betting and if called, pot bet the flop if out of Position or shove the Continuation bet if in position. I don't get too much hassle now. I didn't manage to play any 25/50c this week and played x4 tables on the 12/25c tables and the total rake for October at just short of €80.

So overall it was a losing week and the figures are played 1865 hands this week and I am down €11.59 for the week, but still up €70+ for the month. But losing 3 days to pain didn't help matters, and next week I am up north to visit family via the train, so there will be no poker till the 26th Oct.

Ok the hand that broke the camel's back......
Funny enough it involves AA which seems to be a pattern. I guess with AA your more than likely to win a major pot or lose it.......
So I 3 bet when early Position player raises and guy next to me calls with the other player also calling. The flop comes J 9 2 rainbow and a check for early guy and a pot bet by me is called by the guy next to me and the early guy folds. I put the player on AJ ish or set 9's or of course 2's. The turn is another 9 and we both check, I check because I wanted to look weak with the check knowing I beat any 2 pr. The 9 doesn't really scare me and I don't put him on Jacks, but still set 2's is still there though. The river is another 9 giving me 9's full with Aces. I beat a set of 2's now and me not thinking hes got Jacks puts a half pot bet out, and he thinks and shoves. Happy Days hes prob got 9's full of jacks now and I have beat. Pretty chuffed that I played it well.
But to my horror he shows 9 7 off. W T F how can you call a big 3 bet pre with 9 7 off...... Not knowing what the 1st raiser was going to do. So he ships the pot and its not long before I close it down with fear of going on tilt. I don't know how the hell I ran so bad all night on all sites but I did and closing it down was the right thing to do.

There was a hand earlier in the week which I was quite pleased with, which involved 6 3 off and me calling the raise pre and seeing a flop of A J 7 rainbow. He bets out and I raise and he thinks for a while and calls. The turn is a 2 and he checks and I again bet about 60% of the pot and again he calls, leaving not much behind for both of us. The river brings a nothing 4 and he checks and I shove. He thinks for an age and folds telling me he's got KK..... Happy days..........

So I will update the blog in 2 weeks when I have returned from up north and fingers crossed it doesn't take too much out of me.

So the 1st week back..........

Well I have been playing at higher stakes after I changed the rules, and straight away I noticed the play was very different to the €10 buy in tables I had been playing.

Still with very good BRM, I elected to play the 25/50c tables, and straight away I was rewarded with the biggest pot of the challenge so far. Yes I did get lucky when my AA rivered the higher set of 8's which he flopped. The final pot was €108 which I managed a punch the air with delight moment.

It then proceeded to go downhill from then on and 8 days later after that pot I am now just €11.60 up for the month. I peaked at €66 up from the 2nd Oct and have currently played 4477 hands.

I have noticed like I said at the start the play is far much tougher, and at the moment I don't feel comfortable playing 25/50c so moved down to the 12/25c tables normally playing x4 tables at a time. I am currently trying to release a bonus on PKR at the same time, so this stops me somewhat opening and playing further tables.
But even on the 12/25c tables players are 3 betting all the time preflop and I have 1 guy who 3 bets me everytime I raise a pot, which of course is a problem when I raise light anyways. I need to show him a bluff or 2 to stop him dead. There are still good spots and I take advantage of these. But overall I am happy with the play now it just means I have to start over again with the note taking.

Although not really important my rakeback deal is much better for me playing these limits, and have raked a massive € 54.25 so far and still only the 9th day of the month.

I will update again sometime in the week, but overall happy.

Its been a while................

Hello people.
Its been a while since I blogged, and truth be told the depression was really bad. I have not played any of the challenge for a while now, and one of the reasons apart from the depression was because the play was a struggle. I struggled to reach the €100 rake required for rakeback and no matter how hard I tried I just could not win enough to get out of that level.

So After I brief re-think I have decided to alter the goal posts some what.

I am still very B/roll orientated, but the main change will be the buy in into a cash game.
Before it was I could not sit down to any table unless I had 100 times the buy in, ie €1000 in order to play a €10 cash game.
So now I am going to stick to what Jesus Ferguson did, and that was to play with no more than 5% of his B/roll in any cash game.
This now enables me to play the higher games of 25/50c tables until I reach €2000 and I can then move up to the €0.50/€1 tables.
I am also hoping I dont have to grind it out so much either trying to reach the €100 rake.

Also, I have decided to update this blog every so often, and not everyday. Again I started to struggle updating this every night and became a chore in the end. I am still going to be updating, but now only twice a week.
I hope this gives the reader a bit more insight into how I play and not have to read daily blogs of basically the same thing over and over again.

These are positive changes, and I want to have the hunger back that I first had when I began this challenge.