seymour:cards

Interested in social media?

2010-09-05T10:08:00.002+01:00

If you are then check out four/sixty. [ mutterings and musings on social media ]

http://www.foursixty.com

all change!

2009-08-19T23:03:00.005+01:00

poker is going well at the moment, but one of the things i like to do periodically is change the room i'm using. i usually find it helps keep me fresh, interested and allows me to hunt new fish! with online poker being a largely solo pursuit, a visual change can often refocus the mind and give your game a little kick up the backside. there is nothing worse than getting lazy, lazy costs money!

since poker is the same everywhere its a pretty easy thing to do, just my roll, neteller and away we go! i've decided to download the poker software over at 888 and give it a go. its been a room i've been meaning to try for a while now and it seems like a good time to kick it up a gear.

i'll let you know how it goes, probably post a review once i've put in some hands there.

high stakes report

2009-08-17T23:49:00.003+01:00

the last 7 days on full tilts nose bleed tables has been intense to say the least! if you have been following any of the action you will have seen the same familiar faces as well as quite a few new ones.

it seems that since the highest action has moved from the $500/$1000 tables down to the $200/$400 and $300/$600 with ante tables a couple of the almost there players decided to step up to the mark.

now don't get me wrong, the players stepping up are at the top of their game, players like aejones or cole south, however in the past these players have had a pretty tough time at the very highest stakes. so the fact the action droped down maybe made it all the more compelling for them to take a shot. and what a shot they have taken. in the last 7 days some of these players have been on sick heaters, just ripping through the likes of ivey, antonius and durrrr.

taking a quick look at highstakes db you can see that the big winners in the last 7 days are

> martonas, up a staggering $1.6m
> richard ashby, up over $1m as well
> aejones, clocking in at just shy of $900k

but when there are big winners there has to be big losers, and there are

> durrrr, down $1.5m in 7 days. after pulling himself out of the $4m hole he found himself in he is now stuck again!
> patrik antonius, down $1.4 million although he is still very much in the green for the year
> din_fru, running bad and down $1.2m

the action has been mad and the play has been unreal. not mentioned above is cole south, but he has been tearing the plo tables in recent weeks, so do not be surprised to see the red pro book some big wins in the coming days.

also worth a quick mention is the return of matusow to the high stakes online tables. maybe matusow felt the new blood sitting would be easy pickings. sorry mike, i'm sure they were happy with the $140k you donated yesterday!

poker copilot review

2009-08-11T07:02:00.000+01:00

i've spent enough time with poker copilot 2 now to review the product, so here we go :)

synopsis

a stand alone poker tracking and analysis program that runs on the native mac os. its currently prices at $59.99.

highlights

> hud display

> hand and opponent analysis

> hand re-player

> performance tracking

> supports cash and tournament play

> works with pokerstars and full tilt poker

software

solid software with a simple and user friendly interface. i haven't experienced any problems since downloading and installing the program and have never had any issues with hand tracking or hud performance. from my experience poker copilot is stable and effective, in other words it just works :)

features

all the basics are there and if you only use the top-line features of any hand analysis and tracking program then you won't even notice. however if you like to play around with your and others stats then you'll start to notice some omissions, some big, some small. here are a few examples;

> there is no a date range option meaning you can't analyze how you performed over the course of the month

> you cannot break out table performance both in hud and in general. its therefore hard to see how you and other players are performing on a table by table basis.

> there's no $/bb toggle against the hands that you have played, ie. i have currently lost 9054 bb playing a/k suited. what's that in $?

having said that, the features that are missing are few and far between. there is more then enough functionality in poker copilot to add value to your game.

future

here's the thing, poker tracker 3 is meant to be released on mac in the early fall of 2009. that's only a few months away. pt3 is a great program, has been used by a lot of players in the past, and will certainly set the benchmark for mac poker tracking and analysis software. what happens to poker copilot? well they have a few months to prepare and if they can up their feature set sufficiently (which i know is possible) then they will have a chance.

overall

poker copilot is a decent program for the mac and does provide us mac users with a native option. as i said previously, its a solid and effective program that undoubtedly stable. its easy to use and does the foundation work very well. if you are desperate for some mac hand analysis and tracking then you can do no wrong by purchasing this product.

seymour:cards gives poker copilot 7/10

will obama free online poker?

2009-08-10T03:06:00.001+01:00

while there were many regrets american citizens had about the policies of the bush administration, one of the toughest blows came to online poker players in the form of the uigea, the unlawful internet gambling enforcement act. this act made it illegal for banks in the united states to do business with online gambling sites, which spelled the end of online poker in the united states for a number of sites.

uigea and poker

online poker players were outraged, specifically feeling that it was unfair for online poker, which can be proven to have a vital skill element, to be lumped in with video poker and other online casino games that are entirely luck. this was especially grating to online poker fans when considering the fact that forms of gambling that benefit the government, such as horse racing and state lotteries, were still considered completely safe and legal.

obama’s response

many poker players whooped that obama would ride in to the rescue. as a democrat, it was hoped that he would be less morally conservative and as a poker player, it was hoped that he would recognize the merits and distinctive character of the game.

the future of online poker

it remains to be seen what will happen. it seems likely that the current question now is not “will obama free online poker?” but “when?” when the white house posted a website asking citizens to post their most important issues for consideration and for people to vote on these issues, legalizing online poker was voted the number one technology issue and the number eleven issue overall.

when will obama free online poker?

this is a new administration with much to do in the wake of the last administration’s failures with respect to the economy and other issues. obama needs to choose and time his battles carefully. however, when the time is right and the right bill is introduced into congress to restore the legality of online poker, it is almost certain that president obama will sign it. when he does, online poker players will be free to come out into the light once more, playing on their favourites sites with no fear of persecution, hopefully ever again.

pokerstars offers $600 sign up bonus!

2009-08-07T00:41:00.003+01:00

anyone else notice the 1200% increase in the new player bonus at pokerstars? i first spotted something strange last week on pokerstars italia where they were offering a 600 euro bonus. interested to see if that was the norm i jumped over to pokerstars.com but alas, the sign up offer still sat at a paltry $50.

then, on wednesday i noticed that my banner execution , see below right, had refreshed and was promoting a $600 offer. again i jumped over to pokerstars.com and yes, there is was in big bold letters! interestingly enough though, the banner creative switched back to the wcoop less than 24 hours later! strange!

so what does this deal signify? from my point of view its a very aggressive message to the market. pokerstars have seen huge growth without offering the same level of sign up bonus as full tilt, party and other poker rooms yet now they have entered into the financial incentive space. was new player growth slowing at pokerstars? is this a big push by them to really turn the screw on their closest competitor, namely full tilt, as their bonuses are now exactly the same?

either way it great for new players, not so great for me as i already have an account, although hopefully an influx of fish will be my return on investment.

it will also be interesting to see if and when pokerstars promote the new bonus. the banner creative changing to the bonus and then back to the wcoop could suggest two things, one that they don't want to take any attention away from a big marketing property, the wcoop. or this is only a soft offer, in which only those consumers affected by pokerstars other marketing activity will be exposed to the bonus message rather then pushing it out with heavy investment for everyone to see.

either way people, the offer is there, its good and if you don't already have a pokerstars account it is definitely worth exploring.

top 5 poker players of all time

2009-08-03T21:31:00.001+01:00

a question that is often asked but almost impossible to answer. regardless of that i thought i would give it a go, here are my thoughts on the who the best poker players of all time are.

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>phil ivey
after the 2009 wsop finished, all bar the returning final table of the main event, it has become clear just how good ivey really is. with 7 wsop bracelets and a chance to take down an 8th come november, plus an astounding record playing in the highest cash games around, ivey is the pinnacle of the poker illuminati. if ivey can keep his hunger alive then who knows where this man can go.

>phil hellmuth
love him or hate him, hellmuth, the most polarizing player in poker is also the most awarded player in wsop history with 11 bracelets to his name. each of his 11 bracelet wins may have been in hold'em but you cannot deny that that he is an incredibly astute player. his self awarness proabably exceed that of any other player and hellmuth, who has cultivated his poker brat image over the years knows exactly how to exploit it to his advantage.

>doyle brunson
one of the patriarchs of poker, brunson has defined the modern game. with skills honed on the dangerous and cut throat texas poker circuit brunson has seen it all. with back to back wsop main event wins in '76 and '77, 10 bracelets in total and the defining poker text to his name (super system) brunson has done more for the game than any other poker player alive today. he may be 76 years old but doyle is ever present at the big games in bobby's room and still teaching the young guns a thing or too about the game he loves.

>stu ungar
equally talented and troubled. stu ungar had a unnatural ability for all card games. winner of the wsop 3 times in 1980, 1981 and most impressively in 1997 after a 16 year absence filled with alcohol and substance abuse. ungar was a widely feared and highly aggressive player constantly putting his opponents to tough decisions. we will always be left wondering what he could have achieved if it wasn't for his self destruction. stu ungar, poker legend.

>tom 'durrrr' dwan
potentially a controversial inclusion but its hard to ignore the young internet juggernaut that are steamrolling the highest games online. durrrr has emerged at the forefront of the internet generation and his rise to the top has been both rapid and a roller-coaster. with daily 7 figure wins and loses a regular occurrence for the young poker star, its his ability to deal with his high variance style and maintain his a game when many others would have imploded. whether or not dwan will still be playing poker in 20, 10 or even 5 years time remains to be seen but right now its hard to ignore this raw talent.

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i realize many of you will have your own opinion on who the top 5 poker players of all time are and i invite you to share your thoughts in the comments. as i said, its a nigh on impossible question to answer but given enough feedback we can get a better idea of what the overall feeling is.

can this be played slower?

2009-08-02T07:53:00.004+01:00

villain is laggy and has been three betting a lot. we have a history, getting stacks in pre-flop previously where i held ace king suited to his sevens.

i fully expected my three bet to be called but whats the correct play after he called the flop cb? checking seems bad on this board since i wold have to call any bet with my over pair. thoughts?

Poker Stars $0.10/$0.25 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 214658
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BTN: $25.25
SB: $25.00
BB: $20.00
UTG: $24.65
Hero (MP): $31.05
CO: $47.80

Pre Flop: ($0.35) Hero is MP with Q Q
1 fold, Hero raises to $1, CO raises to $2, 3 folds, Hero raises to $6, CO calls $4

Flop: ($12.35) J 3 3 (2 players)
Hero bets $11, CO calls $11

Turn: ($34.35) T (2 players)
Hero bets $14.05 all in, CO calls $14.05

River: ($62.45) 8 (2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $62.45
Hero shows Q Q (two pair, Queens and Threes)
CO shows J J (a full house, Jacks full of Threes)

CO wins $59.45
(Rake: $3.00)

rounders to rounders 2

2009-07-29T08:12:00.008+01:00

with rumours that a sequel to the seminal rounders is being thrown about in hollywood i thought it would be worth remembering what made the original the stand-out poker movie of our time.

> a great cast, norton, damon, malkovich, janssen, turturro, landau etc. a selection of a listers and legends coming together and delivering a believable and interesting dynamic on screen.

> it wasn't set in vegas. new york added emotion, grit and realism to the movie where as the neon lights of vegas would have blinded the audience to the real struggle portrait in the movie.

> actually watching people play poker took a back seat with the tension and bravery of the game coming to the fore.

> there was no ridiculous quad aces getting rivered by a royal flush moment

> its was about the grind, the emotional roller coaster, about trying to make it playing poker. something that all players can relate to on one level or another.

at the end of the movie damon went off to chase his wsop dream in vegas. i would hate to think the sequel would continue exactly where the last left off, i feel it would be an anticlimax to the power of the originals script. the story in vegas may make a nice intro or even form itself through flashbacks, but for me, the grind in new york is far more compelling than any bright vegas has to offer. here's hoping that rounders 2 doesn't become a traditional hollywood over the top sequel.

mac poker: your options

2009-07-29T04:24:00.007+01:00

how many people play poker on their macs? how many of those players only use native mac software? what are you left with? probably not a lot in all honesty. online poker is predominately a pc orientated pastime, and even those brave enough to use a mac likely run windows via bootcamp or parallels.

however it doesn’t need to be this way. ss a new mac user and one that was absolutely against running anything not built for mac osx i went in search of options, and what follows is what i found. i hope that my research can help guide others that are in the same predicament or are tempted by a mac but find playing poker on the platform daunting.

hardware
i’ll keep this brief as i’m not here to sell the benefits of an apple mac as a system, needless to say if you are thinking of buying a mac you have the same opportunities available too you as you would buying a pc namely a desktop or a laptop. i’m a laptop fan myself as it gives me the flexibility to play poker wherever i please, plus I always have the option of buying a separate screen if I want to take advantage of a bigger viewable area. apple do a great 24inch screen, it may be a little more expensive then adding a standard pc monitor but if you are really that price sensitive then you probably won’t be buying a mac in the first place.

card rooms
of the hundreds of card rooms out there these days there are only 2 that offer native mac support through downloadable software. the alternative to downloadable software is insta play, which is essentially playing within your internet browser. i for one prefer the piece of mind that comes with running the card room off local machine software, meaning you have a choice of pokerstars or full tilt poker.

pokerstars
pokerstars is my favourite cardroom for tons of reasons which i won't go into here, however if you would like to read a full and impartial review of pokerstars then click here.

full tilt poker
full tilt is the second of the two cardrooms offereing native mac support and was actually the first in market to offer it. again, a full review is available if you click here.

hand analysis software
this is where life becomes a little tricky on a mac as the major programs do not currently support native mac osx. there are a number of strands appearing on the major poker forums that poker tracker 3 for mac is well under development and being a big fan of the software i very much hope that this is true.

while waiting for pt3 though, there are 2 alternatives that you can try. both offer 30 day free trials and are resonably proced if you decide to go ahead and purchase the full version.

poker copilot
poker copilot is the software i have mentioned previously in relation to mac poker. they are about to poker copilot 2 with a number of upgrades direct from consumer feedback. things are looking promising for this mac native hand analysis package and i will be putting together an indepth review over the next few weeks which will be available here.

flopzoom
flopzoom is the second piece of mac native software i have found. check out their website here. i currently have no experience with this piece of software but have recently seen some improvements that make me want to test it. if i do take the plunge then a review will appear here. in the meantime any comments or experiences with flopzoom are welcome.

summary
in conclusion, at first glance the opportunity to play and analyse your poker on a mac seems fairly limited. however once the surface has been scratched it becomes clear that there are a variety of options available to the mac owner. so don't sit around fretting mac owners, fire up some of the quality software available to you and get playing poker.

music to watch the cards go by

2009-07-27T00:14:00.000+01:00

poker can be a lonely game. you’re a lone warrior battling in solitude with only enemies for company. many a poker player therefore finds solice in music. a constant companion that can lift spirits or deepen despair.

but can music alter the way you play? can upbeat, high tempo music make you play more positively? and conversely can slow beat, angst esq music make you play more passively? recently i’ve been experimenting to test just this.

this morning i fired up some tables and chose some head candy to be my soundtrack of the session. i found myself tapping my foot to the beat and feeling high spirited. generally the poker session went well. there were no notable bad beats and i ended about half a buy-in up. good result.

this afternoon i continued my musical experiment and spun some placebo, one of the most teen angsty bands i have ever listened to. this time there was no foot tapping to be seen. instead i found myself screaming along to teenage dirtbag et al, and having a good time with it. the poker session again went well and i finished up about 15 bb.

this evening i thought i would try one more time and again the tables came up and i the needle went down on some matchbox twenty. being one of my favorite bands there was a fair amount of air guitar going on which was a little distracting. again the session went well. i played solid poker and finished up about 60 bb.

so what did i learn? well in regards to the genre of music affecting my play, very little. but i did realize the importance of poker to me as a solitary warrior on the felt covered battleground. good music can interrupt the monotony of playing poker, it can provide moments of escapism and distraction without you ever really losing concentration. it adds to the enjoyment of poker and is an undemanding companion to the grind. so fire up some tables, spin some tunes and let you and your music take on all comers!

mac poker

2009-07-25T12:31:00.005+01:00

i've always been a pc guy. ever since i convinced my parents to buy a pc back in the mid 90's, a gateway pentium 75. it ran windows 95 and i loved it! since then i've gone through one other desktop and 3 laptops. my last being a dell xps m1330 which was only purchased in 2007. in fact read my review of that purchase here.

unfortunately my lovely dell had a problem. deep inside its bowels the graphics chip, which was mounted on the motherboard, generated too much heat which eventually shorted its host. dell were kind enough to replace it the first time it happened but it has since happened again and although i'm sure dell would replace it once more i can't live with an erratic pc.

near where i work there is a big glass store with an enticing fruit mounted above the door. that store is the apple store. i popped in a couple of times during my lunch hour to play around with their machines and ended up falling in love! not only do macs look gorgeous but the operating system is so smooth and user friendly. applications open quickly and easily and nothing crashed or blue screened.

so guess what, i bought one! well i actually bought two as i bought my wife one as well so she wouldn't try and steal mine! i bought myself a 13 inch mac book pro and it is one slick piece of kit.

problem is with a mac is that there isn't a great deal of choice when it comes to poker software. only full tilt and pokerstars offer native support and none of the big hand analysis packages run on mac osx. i know you can run windows on your mac via bootcamp but to be honest, why would i slow down my system and eat up all its available resources to run windows.

luckily i'm a big fan of pokerstars so i have no problem placing my entire roll there, the hand analysis software however is something that i miss, even if its just for analyzing my own play as opposed to tracking others. poker tracker have mooted releasing a mac osx version of pt3 but no dates have been set. after a few searches however i came across a piece of software called poker copilot. it built for mac, and although it is fairly basic vs pt3 or holdem manager it does go someway to filling the void. i've only been using it for 24 hours but i have to say that i had zero problems setting it up, it hasn't missed any hands, hasn't frozen or had any other compatibility tantrums. something that neither poker tracker or holdem manager can claim, at least in my experience.

so all well so far then. i put in a couple of good sessions today and am up 2 buy-ins, nothing to do with the mac but at least i'm playing again. i'll definitely post a review of both my new mac and poker copilot as i log a few more hours with both, but in the meantime if anyone was considering a mac but was worried about their poker suffering, i wouldn't! poker lives, and it lives on the mac!

the top 5 things all new poker players should consider

2009-07-24T01:05:00.015+01:00

new to poker, still learning the ropes, confused by it all? If you find yourself nodding your head and you want a little advice about what to think and where to start, then I hope the following five handy insights will set you on your way to a long and successful poker career.

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>bankroll
the bankroll or roll as its affectionately known. a subject that has been heavily debated by many. what is under-rolled or playing outside your roll? whats good bankroll management? questions that, in my opinion are best answered on a personal level rather than trying to broad brush stroke everyone. the key for any new player really, is not to gamble anything they can’t afford to lose. once you have determined that then if you follow my advice the rest of the decisions that you will need to make initially will almost be made for you. do remember though that your bankroll is your means to play poker. don’t make the mistake of calling your life money (ie. the money you need for food, rent, baby essentials) your bankroll, because its not. your bankroll should sit outside of all other financial obligations and just be there for poker. once its big enough and you are winning on a regular basis then you’ll be able to take money from your bankroll to add to your life money. in other words, poker will be a source of income, now that’s a good thing.

>poker room
so you have your bankroll and you are ready to gamble, but where do you play. there has been an absolute explosion of poker rooms in recent years, with skins such as ipoker and microgaming seemingly adding new rooms almost everyday. beyond just the room itself there are other factors to consider, such as rakeback, traffic, security, customer service and ease and convenience of depositing and withdrawing money. rake back is probably one of the biggest influencers in a small stakes players choice of card room, mainly because it helps offset the rake, which is the house take on each hand that is played. there are varying rake deals available ranging from 20-60% depending on the volume you play, and in part, the desperation of the room to attract new players. if you are interested in looking at the rake back deals that are available then I would recommend looking at those offered by rake the rake. i’ve had nothing but an excellent experience with the team there and they will offer you the same level of service. personally though, after trying room after room, shifting my roll around, there is only one place that I play at these days and that’s pokerstars. pokerstars doesn’t offer rakeback and to be honest there new player sign up deal is pretty lame but if you can see past those factors for a moment you will see that they have 1) the highest average traffic of any card room, over double that of its closest rival. 2) lots of fishy players to cash in on. 3) they have the best customer service I have experienced anywhere, always helpful, prompt and effective. 4) they are secure and safe, you won’t have any problems depositing or withdrawing money, they don’t slow down processing to hang on to your money a little longer and there aren’t any ridiculous security requirements to withdraw either like some rooms. pokerstars just offers the best product in the marketplace by a long way and that is why they are number 1. if you want my advice then play there, at least to begin with while you are finding your feet, and then experiment with other rooms once you are comfortable with the whole online poker process.

>tournaments or cash
the next big decision is whether to play cash or tournaments. new players often ask what the difference is, after all you are playing the same game in both. however the dynamics of cash vs tourneys, as they are affectionately known, are vastly different. the biggest difference is that you can’t reload in a tournament if you lose all your chips. if a player sucks out on you then that’s it, your chance at the money is gone, however in cash you can simply buy back in and wait for the fish who sucked out on you to make the same mistake again and give you your chips back. there have been many occasions where i have seen a particularly bad player get lucky time and time again, building up a huge stack of mine and others money only for me to play patiently and eventually take all his chips off him making a very tidy profit in the process. that obviously isn’t possible in a tournament. however single table tournaments, called sit and go’s (sng’s) are a good place to learn the ropes in poker. your loses are limited to the buy-in and it gives you a chance to play with the safety net of always knowing where you stand financially. my advice is to experiment though, find your groove, develop your style and see where you are most profitable.

>stakes
the question of stakes has more to do with your bankroll then anything else. you would have seen me mention bankroll management above and deciding what stakes to play is a big part of this. the general rule when playing cash is that you have no less than 20 full buy-ins for whatever stake you are playing. so for example if you are playing nl20, or no limit holdem with a max buy-in of $20 then you should have at least twenty times that in your bankroll. so $400 minimum. the max buy in is usually 100 times the big blind, so for nl20 you would have blinds of 10/20c. the small blind being 10c and the big blind being 20c. there is variation to the 20 buy-in rule for example there is less swing in limit holdem then there is in no limit holdem and more swing in heads-up then in ring games but personally i always like 20-25 buy-ins in my account to absorb any bad runs i go on.

>style
lastly, there is the question of style, or how exactly you are going to play poker. so are you a loose or tight player, are you passive or aggressive. generally being aggressive is always better than being passive. all of the top pro’s are aggressive players and they put their opponents under a huge amount of pressure because of it. the difference between loose and tight is more personal in my opinion. loose players get more action but get themselves in many more difficult spots. if you are a great reader of the game then you’ll have the skills to find the right play in those tough positions, if you aren’t then you’ll see yourself making a lot of mistakes. tight players generally see less swing in their game but are easier to read and therefore don’t always get paid off on their big hands. i suggest finding whatever you feel most comfortable with and practicing as much as you can to develop the instincts and experience you need to succeed.

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so that concludes the 5 key elements to consider when starting out in the world of online poker. i won’t lie, there is a lot to learn, but it will be a hell of a lot of fun. i still remember firing up my first real money sng and busting early on. i didn’t really know what was going on but it was fun, and i fired up another one straight away with pretty much the same result! But after about 4 or 5 goes i took down my first sng and the buzz was great! not long after that i moved to cash games and that has been where I have stayed ever since.

however your journey begins though, just have fun and remember, we all started in the same place!

high stakes report

2009-07-22T02:14:00.002+01:00

for those of you that read my high society post yesterday, you would have seen the not to difficult to predict prediction that when tom ‘durrrr’ dwan returned to the online tables the action would pick up. it seems it has already come true! as the $200/400 games raged yesterday turning a little crazy as they went on, it was nothing compared to what was to come. as the games turned down right insane once durrrr and david benyamine sat down. durrrr proceeded to go on a crushing marathon taking down any and everyone that got in his way. what made the action even sicker was the number of deep multiway pots taking place, which naturally durrrr seemed to take down. if the gamble continues then we could see a new biggest pot even at these stakes.

once the carnage had subsided and the dust had settled there were a number of victors with brian townsend, richard ashby, rafi ‘howsitfeellike’ amit all posting a profit but it was durrrr that sat proudly at the top of the pile banking in excess of $800k for the session. hopefully this is the beginning of some sustained high stakes action, as the railbirds have been feeling a little neglected over the past 6 weeks.

high stakes report

2009-07-21T04:20:00.003+01:00

In the last month di dang aka urindanger has been seen playing at far lower stakes than his usual $500/1000 game. the action right at the top was pretty insane prior to the wsop with tom ‘durrrr’ dwan and gus hansen driving much of the gambling. however since pokers biggest event began back in june the action has all but dried up.

recently though, even with the return of gus to the tables, it’s the $200/400 stakes that have seen the most action. a combination of the old guard and new challengers looking to make the leap to the nose bleed stakes has resulted in some high octane games running. it also seems that di’s break from the sick and swingy upper echelons of high stakes online poker has done him a world of good. in fact urindanger is up over $800k in the last 5 days alone. this smoking hot run has helped di erase his previous loses (as recorded by highstaksdb) which topped $1.9m and he is now up by over $650k for the year.

hopefully we’ll see the action continue over the coming weeks and with durrrr still to return, maybe the biggest games will start running once again.

watch out seymour is about!

2009-07-18T04:45:00.002+01:00

i'm coming back! after a prolonged absence, over a year really, i'm on the road home! and when i return i aim to bring seymour:cards back to the top of the blog pile, lol!

i'm currently looking at freshening things up a little, dusting off the cobwebs, adding some more functionality and things. you may, depending on how often you visit, see a couple template changes, although i think that i am close to deciding on the new look.

so whats gonna happen once i'm back, well firstly and most obviously i'll be sharing my poker exploits! again i'm not gonna be setting the world on fire but i hope my passion for the game comes across and for once there won't be any mentions of bad beats!

secondly i want to help new players navigate the online poker world and find the love for the game that i have. i'll be writing a series of posts on my poker journey and the things that i know now which i wish someone had told me when i set off.

thirdly i'll be sharing my view on the latest poker news and also posting some interesting insights into the world of online high stakes poker as the action has been pretty frickin insane so far this year and its likely to get better and better.

so make sure you come back soon, post you comments and enjoy the content.

all the best out there!

poker glossary: the letter a

2009-07-17T09:38:00.004+01:00

ace-to-five, ace-to-six
methods of evaluating low hands.

act
to make a play (bet, call, raise, or fold) at the required time. it is seymour's turn to act.

action
> a player's turn to act. the action is on you.
> a willingness to gamble. i'll give you action or, there's plenty of action in this game.
> a bet, along with all the calls of that bet. for example, if one player makes a $5 bet and three other players call, he is said to have $5 "in action", and to have received $15 worth of action on his bet. usually this term comes into play when figuring side pots when one or more players is all in.

action button
a marker similar to a kill button, on which a player places an extra forced bet. in a seven-card stud high-low game, the action button is awarded to the winner of a scoop pot above a certain size, signifying that in the next pot, that player will be required to post an amount representing a completion of the bring-in to a full bet. for example, in a stud game with $2 and $4 betting limits and a $1 bring-in, a player with the action button must post $2; after the cards are dealt, the player with the low card must still pay the $1 bring-in, then when the betting reaches the player who posted the $2, he is required to leave it in as a raise of the bring-in (and has the option to raise further). Players in between the bring-in and the action button can just call the bring-in, but they know ahead of time that they will be raised by the action button.

action card
in texas hold 'em or other community card games, a card appearing on the board that causes significant betting action because it helps two or more players. for example, an ace on the flop when two players each hold an ace.

action only
in many cardrooms, with respect to an all-in bet, only a full (or half) bet can be reraised. anything less than a full (or half) bet is considered to be action only, that is, other players can call the bet but not raise it. for example, seymour bets $100. bob calls. harvey goes all in for $119. when the action returns to seymour and bob, they may only call the extra $19; they cannot raise it. harvey's raise is called action only.

active player
a player still involved in the pot. if there are side pots, an all-in player may be active in some pots, but not in others.

add-on
in a live game, to buy more chips before you have busted. in tournament play, a single rebuy for which all players are eligible regardless of their stack size. this is usually allowed only once, at the end of the rebuy period. the add-on often offers more chips per dollar invested than the buyin and rebuys.

advertising
to make an obvious play or expose cards in such a way as to deliberately convey an impression to your opponents about your style of play. for example, to make a bad play or bluff to give the impression that you bluff frequently (hoping opponents will then call your legitimate bets) or to show only good hands to give the impression that you rarely bluff (hoping opponents will then fold when you do).

aggressive, aggression
leading or raising rather than calling or checking.

air
> in lowball, "giving air" is letting an opponent who might otherwise fold know that you intend to draw one or more cards to induce him to call.
> nothing, as in, that last bluff was with total air, or I caught air on the river.

all in
having bet all of your chips in the current hand.

angle
a technically legal, but borderline unethical, play. for example, deliberately miscalling one's own hand to induce a fold, or placing odd amounts of chips in the pot to confuse opponents about whether you mean to call or raise. a player employing such tactics is called an "angle shooter".

ante
an ante is a forced bet in which all players put an equal amount of money or chips into the pot before the deal begins.

ante off
in tournament play, to force an absent player to continue paying antes, blinds, bring-ins, or other forced bets so that the contest remains fair to the other players. go ahead and take that phone call. we'll ante you off until you get back.

courtesy of, in part, wikipedia. click here for more poker information.

pokerstars review

2009-07-17T09:37:00.001+01:00

pokerstars is the largest poker site in the world, offering massive volume in cash games and tournaments and action at almost any game and limit 24 hours a day.

it really sets the standard in the industry as far as tournaments go, with an unmatched selection and sit-and-gos at all stakes starting up virtually every second.

pokerstars also offers good promotions and an exceptional loyalty program, with a huge selection of merchandise, special events and qualifiers to all major poker tournaments.

the software is also top-notch and offers fast play, high reliability, great multi-table options and a high level of customization - it pretty much sets the bar for the industry there as well.

if you're looking for a downside, though, it's probably the inconsistent competition. because of the huge player base, the opposition can range from super soft at one table to unbelievably aggressive just the next table over.

lower limits and tournaments are still flush with bad players, say up to the $6 and $11 SNG level, but there are literally thousands of strong players trolling pokerstars daily looking to make a living, so expect some tough competition scattered throughout your games.

if you like more obscure poker variations, pokerstars is for you, with a wide spread of games offered - texas hold'em, omaha and seven-card Stud in all versions, h.o.r.s.e., h.o.s.e., 2-7 triple draw, five-card draw, razz, 2-7 single draw lowball, badugi, 8-game, mixed hold’em and mixed omaha hi/lo. by the time you read this, they've probably added more.

overall, pokerstars keeps its spot at the top of the industry for traffic by offering a real "feel for poker" and responding rapidly to player feedback.

bottom line, it does what it does very well, and if the competition wasn't so tough at the higher stakes and there wasn't the occasional inconvenience that comes with such a huge site, it would be tough not to rank pokerstars higher.

real-money player statistics as of july 2009 show 22,500 ring-game players at peak hours and 155,000 tournament players at peak hours.

hits
> offers a $1.5 million weekly guaranteed, largest in the world
> massive satellite, ring game and tournament spread
> large and well-known pro team to rail, chat and play against
> great software
> very responsive to player feedback, adding new features, games and tournaments often

misses
> only offers e-mail support
> tough opposition in high-stakes tournaments and cash games

review courtesy of poker listings, for more inforamtion visit their great site here

full tilt poker review

2009-07-17T09:36:00.000+01:00

launched in 2004, full tilt poker is now by far one of the biggest and most famous poker sites online, growing daily and always pushing to build its reputation as a market leader.

adding to its visibility and prestige is of course "team full tilt," the site's main sponsored pros and the bulk of its ownership group, including poker legends howard lederer, chris ferguson, allen cunningham, phil ivey, mike matusow and andy bloch.

The site's famous catchphrase is "learn, chat and play with the pros," and they definitely live up to it, with the main sponsored team plus with a growing list of full tilt "red pros" found playing regularly at a variety of limits.

for the regular player there's action at virtually any game and limit 24/7, with games offered including texas hold'em, omaha, omaha hi-lo, seven-card stud, seven-card stud hi-lo, five-card draw and razz.

full tilt poker is also one of few sites with mixed games like h.o.r.s.e., h.a. and h.o.s.e. in both cash games and tournaments, making the game variation one of the most extensive and impressive online.

full tilt poker's software has some very innovative functions, is very stable and features excellent graphics - definitely measuring up as one of the best in the industry. The cartoon avatars are a bit tiresome to look at after a while, but not a huge obstacle to overcome.

same goes for the perpetual spamming and $5 transfer requests in the chat wherever the pros are, but that can also easily be turned off.

for those that want to look like the pros, the points shop is excellent, offering players all sorts of ftp merch that can be bought with their full tilt poker points.

overall, full tilt delivers what you expect - plenty of tables and games to pick from, a strong pro presence to give you the cool "poker experience" and a chance to watch some super sick games at the marquee $500/$1,000 no-limit hold'em tables.

the hard work and huge advertising budget has definitely paid off, as real-money player statistics as of July 2009 show 10,500 ring-game players at peak hours, and 70,000 tournament players at peak hours.

hits
> $8 million in guaranteed prize money each week
> accepts u.s. players
> great points store with full tilt poker merchandise
> chance to play with famous full tilt pros
> great mini-view functions for multi-tabling
> supports completely automated import of tournament and ring-game data to poker tracker

misses
> very tough competition at higher levels
> no-download software isn't available

review courtesy og poker listings, for more inforamtion visit their great site here

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2009-07-17T05:08:00.001+01:00

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update, whoop!

2008-09-04T14:11:00.004+01:00

been finding my poker feet again lately on titan. so far so good although things could have gone a little better, my aces full of fours was obv going down to quad 4's, sigh!

will share some more once i sort out a few things like poker tracker 3, anyone used it? any good?

also found the following blog which has been making me laugh over the last couple of weeks, one/angry/kid

worth a gander if you're feeling a little angry!

less than a week until vegas!

2008-07-25T13:08:00.002+01:00

getting myself set for vegas now, i leave early next week for my whirlwind 3 day business + pleasure trip.

i'll be staying at mandalay bay which i'm quite happy about as it looks pretty cool from what i've seen. no idea if they have a poker room, i'll suss that out on the ground otherwise i'll head to the bellagio.

also organising a table at tao as well. a friend has a fair few contacts in vegas so is sorting that stuff out.

other then that its going to be a mad dash between meetings and the felt.,,or the slots if i'm really time pressed.

it will be a good first taster regardless and since my total expenditure for the trip will equal what i lose, if i lose, you can't really beat that!

lets hope i hit a lucky streak while i'm there

challenge seymour

2008-07-02T10:18:00.003+01:00

still travelling and haven't had the time to really bust out a serious session but have been dabbling. finding it really hard to motivate myself however when i only have 30 mins here or 45 mins there. just not enough time to get into the game, get some reads and make moves.

i think i may have a solution though. today mansion sent me a software cd containing a mighty $15 worth of free moolah! now its not a lot but i quite fancy playing with this little roll and seeing where i get too. i'll start at the micros and work my way up and hopefully take over the world without spending a penny.

hopefully i'll kick that off shortly and fill you all in on the progress.

now back to travel...boring....except i have to go to vegas at the end of the month for a meeting....vegas baby!! can't wait, its gonna be a blast. i won't have a ton of free time but i'm gonna make the most of it. i'll probably try and only sleep on the plane ride out and then back again! not sure where i'm gonna be staying, organised by the corporation, but i probably won't be the bellagio...if its not then i'd like it to be here!

on a final note, it seems wombol has reinvented himself, or is in the process of doing so. he's started a new blog called social supremacy check it out if you have a minute. its not quite poker but its interesting none the less.

anyhoo folks, good luck at the tables

bank roll boost?

2008-06-14T07:33:00.003+01:00

was wondering the other night how i was gonna boost my roll rapidly, and then, as if by the power of god the answer arrived, by email via burkina-faso...

"Dear Comrade,

How are you today? Hope all is well. Please be informed that I have decided to contact you for a fund transfer transaction worth the sum of US$10,500,000.00 into your reliable bank account as the sole NEXT-OF-KIN to the foreign deceased customer of our bank (an International Billionaire French Businessman) who was killed with his entire family by PLANE-CRASH in Central England atmost 3 years ago. Since his death occured, no body have show up as his next of kin for the claim because the account is untraceable.

Upon the investigation I carried out from his records, I found out that his foreign business consultant whowould have trace the account died earlier before the deceased. Therefore, this is a confidential and sealed deal.

For thesuccess of this transaction, you should apply and act as the onlyexisting NEXT-OF-KIN to the deceased which our bank will replace the deceased account information through proper documentation in position ofyour own account.

This transaction is risk-free, it will never harm your good reputation in your society because no one can trace the account, and on the instant of the transfer of the fund into your account, the chapter of this transaction will be closed entirely.

Note that in a business of this nature, the bank dont want to know yourdifference between the deceased country, religion or believe because our bank inheritance law is against that. So, it is a preference for us achieve this success without any problem.

Please note down that once the fund get transferred into your account, you will take 39% of the total sum while the rest will be for me as I will arrange myself down to your country to take my share.

I need your urgent response and include your private telephone/mobile numbers for easy communication.Please reply if you can be trusted in this deal.

Thanks,

Mr.ADAMA KADIOGO"

how can i possibly turn this man down, he seems very nice and even wants to protect my good reputation in society. i'm going to contact him right now!

euro 2008 sports betting

2008-06-09T11:58:00.001+01:00

anyone else get that tingle of disappointment as the czech republic vs swizzleland game kicked off on saturday? i certainly did, if only england were there, but then after 20 mins of the game i actually felt a little relieved i wouldn't be subjected to the stress and disappointment of england crashing out to a ronaldo penalty or some other dismal result.

with renewed enthusiasm i've decided to step back into the long forgotten waters of sports betting. i've steered clear of sports betting since the world cup because quite frankly i'm shite at it!! but nows the time to give it a little go me thinks.

i've deposited £25 into blue sq and i'm gonna see where that gets me. i'm not going to set the world on fire but it makes the games a little more interesting. my plan is to place a £5 bet on the results of each days games to improve my odds a little.

yesterday i put £5 on germany and croatia to win and tripled my dosh so good start. not sure about todays games yet but already looking forward to it.

normality?

2008-06-02T11:59:00.001+01:00

finally i feel like my feet have touched the ground! may has been a total whirlwind and i've had to neglect a fair amount of stuff in my life, including this blog. but hopefully i'll be able to stay in one place for longer then 5 days in june so i can get a bit of normality back.

on the poker front i have played 0 online hands in may, how mad is that, nothing, zip, nada! i did manage to play some pokes on the plane to seattle though, its about 9 hours or so direct with ba and i was sitting next to a colleague who hosts a regular poker evening with some of his mates. he was larging it about his skills so we played for about 2 hours or so with some travel chips that he had. we were only playing 10/20p blinds but i still managed to take about £30 from him which i was very chuffed about. can't say any of it was luck either, just none of his lines made any sense so i was happy to call him down with as little as 2nd pair and i was often right to do so.

when in seattle i went on a mega shopping spree as well, spunked a fortune. got myself a brand new 32gb ipod touch which i'm rather pleased with. i love the fact its wifi enabled so i can log onto the net wherever there is a hotspot. also got some kick ass trainers for the gym which i'm addicted too. i hate it when i miss a workout now as i feel sluggish and shitty. also went mad on clothes, jeans, t's, polos and the like. i don't like buying shirts or suits in america because, if i'm honest, the sizing’s are just fecked up! its either tent like, too long or its double breasted which i just don't like.

also been playing around in the world of psychological and physiological dynamics. really interesting stuff and how, just using really basic stuff you can change the way you are perceived. since i was at a conference there was ample opportunity to play with peoples heads that i would never see again and i got quite a lot of it working pretty quickly! think there is good applications in the poker world as well, obviously in the live game as opposed to the online one but should be worth exploring.

hopefully june will be a little better for my pokes journey, will update soon.

international jetsetter!

2008-05-13T09:15:00.006+01:00

may has been a whirlwind. i've been travelling so much for work i haven't had time to catch my breath. i've been to sweden, ireland, france, germany, russia and on sunday i head off to seattle for a week. given the rediculous amount of flying and sleeping in hotel rooms my poker has suffered, in that i haven't ben able to play poker. am really hoping to rectify that in the next few days to get one sess in before i fly out to the usa, but its touch and go.

on another topic, it looks like 88% concentration aka ed hollis' blog is the community's favourite, narrowly pipping the women adverse amatay. i've put up a new poll as we begin to build up to the wsop so please take a look and vote.

other then that i've just been enjoying the heat streak that seems to be over london at the moment. i don't know how long it will last but its so nice to get out of bed at 6am ready for the trudge to the gym and be greated by the nice warm rays of the sun. cheers me up a little.

anyhoo chaps, great to finally post and hope all is well out there in pokersville

babe of the month : april

2008-05-01T09:31:00.003+01:00

i've jumped all over the place trying to decide who aprils babe pf the month should be and its a pretty tough choice. but after watching 'into the blue' again the other night i have decided that jessica alba should be aprils babe of the month.

so there she is, just lovely :)

how many employees does it take to hang a picture?

2008-04-28T15:22:00.000+01:00

this isn't poker related but i think its a great way to highlight how rediculous big businesses really can be.

i currently work for a huge american company employing over 100,000 people globally, half of which in my opinion are wasted resource and here is some evidence to back that up...

on friday a guy came round to hang two pictures near our photocopier, which he did. later on friday 2 further guys came round to inspect the pictures and decided to rehang them 2 inches lower then they already were. today (monday) 2 women came round to check all the pictures that were hanged on all the floors, it didn't look like they were happy! later one of the women and 2 guys came back round and she showed them where they should be hung. then later still another guy came round to move one of the pictures from being next to the other to under the other.

so far, 2 days 5 visits and 7 different people have been required to hang 2 pictures.

wasted resource, of course not! and this may not be over yet!

a few days off

2008-04-23T09:13:00.003+01:00

i've been feeling a little strange about poker the last few days. i feel like our relationship his hit a funny patch for no real apparent reason.

as i'm sure most poker players will agree, we have a love/hate relationship with the game. sometimes we love it (usually involves winning) and sometimes we hate it (mostly involves losing). for some reason i've slipped into the hate category with no significant losses to shout about.

i think these ups and downs are natural, amatay seems to go through 6 or 7 of these daily so i guess i'm allowed one! i'm probably going to take the rest of the week off playing and hopefully get my gggeeerrr-roove back and go from there. i've also got another idea in my head which i'm working on. for those of you who don't know me, i tend to come up with a fair few ideas/hair brained schemes to make some extra dolla and am currently trying to do that as well, hehe. none of them ever work but its normally fun finding out and i always learn a new skill.

cheers fishsters, oh and some nice voting action going down around my poll, keep it up!

your opinion matters

2008-04-17T11:32:00.002+01:00

yes it does, and i want to take advantage of what you peeps out on the interwebs think. to do this i'm going to run a monthly poll, eyes right, which will ask a simple question for you guys and gals to vote on.

i've started with a simple blog poll but ultimately i'd like to hear your suggestions on what you feel are valid questions. the next poll will begin at the start of may and i'll share the results each month.

in the meantime please take 30 seconds to answer the current question and we will see where we end up.

hhmm, not fairing well

2008-04-16T11:52:00.004+01:00

just finished a huge session for me and didn't perform as well as i had hoped. down just under a buy-in, which is not catastrophic but still a loss.

found a super huge mega fishie though, the whole tabl was there just to milk this guy playing aomthing like 85/50/2. i lost a buy-in early when his monster 6/4 off beat my a/k but managed to make it back with another a/k all in pre to his 8/9. picked up a few other pots here and there but even though he was a mega fish he was hard to play against because you never knew where you stood against him. plus with everyone else being so aggro with him you had to pick your spots pretty carefully.

on other tables i didn't have a great time either, a few pots here and there but in general i just wasn't hitting anything and there were too many calling stations to really bluff at a flop.

i did start noticing, more clearly then before, certain lines other players were taking and how strong they really were. if i had ben able to enter more pots i think i could have exploited them some more but i just wasn't comfortable opening with the mighty 7/3 or q/2. really need to forget my cards and just play the player but its a weird feeling!

thats about all for now. have a work night out tonight...which i'm paying for and won't be drinking at because i'm still on meds. boo!

slightly dying

2008-04-13T11:15:00.003+01:00

no poker news to blog about but i have managed to get some evil sinitus infection from my never ending cold.

i caught a cold about a month ago which i got over about two weeks ago then instantly caught another one! aarrgghh, so annoying, the second one was a little worse but i thought i was getting over it. how wrong i was, i woke up on thursday night/friday morning and literally couldn't breathe. i've never had acute sinitus before but this was fricking awful. I mean, one side of my nose had swollen shut and the other was clogged with snot....nice! i kept thinking i was going to suffocate and it totally freaked me out.

since it was like 2am friday morning and there is nothing i can do i watched some tv, went on the net and then tried to sleep but had no luck so got up and wandered the flat until about 6am when i started to get ready to head to the docs. got to the docs at 7:45, had some antibiotics by 9, went to work, came home from work as i was fecked and have been slowly tried to get better.

i'm still a little fooked, can't breathe properly and had to leave the charlton match at half time because i thought i was gonna pass out but there is a little progress here and there which will hopefully see me right in the next couple of days. I managed to sleep for 5 hours last night for the first time since thursday which has made me feel a bit better but i really need to get some decent shut eye if i am to recover. so frustrating.

i might get some pokes in later if i feel any better but otherwise its another day away from the tables which is putting me behind my monthly goals. coupled with the time i have missed at work recently i've got tons to catch up on there which further fooks me up. mother feck sticks!! oh well, health first, pokes later.

stack a donk

2008-04-10T10:36:00.007+01:00

today i performed my first ever proper stack a donk. the stack a donk play permeates a lot of the videos on card runners and up to this point i've never had the opportunity to perform it.

for those of you not familiar with the play its not simply getting it all in with the best hand or making progressive pot sized bets until its in the middle. its a play where you release the initiative with the goal of calling that lovely juicy bet you expect.

here is my hand history with an explanation,

Table Greycrest (6 max) - $0.25/$0.50 - No Limit Holdem

SB posts small blind [$0.25]
BB posts big blind [$0.50]
Seat 3 (BTN) has the button.
Seat 1 : MP with $41.70.
Seat 2 : CO with $98.30.
Seat 3 : BTN with $43.25.
Seat 4 : SB with $56.60.
Seat 5 : BB with $80.10.
Seat 6 : Hero with $52.25.

** Dealing hole cards **

Dealt to Hero :

Sklansky group: 4
Hero raises to $1.75
MP calls [$1.75]
BTN folds
SB folds
BB folds

** Dealing Flop ** [Potsize: $4.25]

first you need a flop of sheer greatness for you yet one that looks like it would have missed you completely

Hero has 15 seconds left to act
Hero bets [$2]

first make a weakish bet, you must be first to act and you must lead here as checking doesn't have the same effect

MP raises to $4

oh no, please don't min raise me! obv he has something, so have a little think and make a reluctant call, sob

Hero calls [$2]

** Dealing Turn ** [Potsize: $12.25]

Hero checks

oh no, a high card, i'm so scared of it i must check and give up on the pot...please don't bet heavy here as you'll just take the pot away from me you big strong bully player!

MP bets [$35.95, and is all in]

oh no! you didn't listen to my pleas to check behind and now you have gone all in betting 3 x the pot to take it away from me. what should i do, oh what should i do...

Hero calls [$35.95]

oh go on then, i'll make a crying call because i missed that board like you thought and you are totally out playing me after the flop...oh hang on, is that a full house i have, wait, does that beat a pair of deuces? oh it does, wow. aren't i lucky! i think you just been stacked my donk friend :)

MP shows :

Hero shows :

** Dealing River ** [Potsize: $84.15]

MP shows two pair, Fours and Twos
Hero shows a full house, Eights full of Fours
Hero wins the pot ($81.15) with a full house, Eights full of Fours

*** SUMMARY ***

Total pot $84.15 Rake $3
Board: [4h 4c 8c Qh Kh]
Seat 1: MP showed [2s 2d] and lost with two pair, Fours and Twos
Seat 4: SB (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: BB (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: Hero showed [8h 8s] and won ($81.15) with a full house, Eights full of Fours

back to nl50

2008-04-07T12:27:00.004+01:00

so after a horrid nl25 session i decided to have a little go at nl50, not in a tilty way but because i had already withdrawn my roll from pokerstars ready to go into my ftp account meaning i would be rolled for nl50 shortly. so although not officially set for nl50 i decided to go ahead anyway, bbbrrraapp!

so far so good, have been reviewing a few nl50 vids on cardrunners to get my head on right and eliminate some donkfish mistakes. going into nl50 though i was already 3 buyins down from my last escapade so need to get that back before it really matters.

second, first impressions are much the same. there are a few more iron men about but the play doesn't seem that much better. people are very hard to bluff (which has cost me) but i've been getting good action when it counts.

so stats since i have made the move are as follows, small sample size but am happy so far, i wouldn't go as far to say as i'm crushing, in fact i would say i'm no where near that, i've enjoyed 99% bad card which i've managed to lose a little on and 1% awesome, smack me square in the face with the deck and call me shirley good cards which i've managed to get paid off on!

nl50
442 at 14/11/3
+$115.80
26bb/100

the above also includes my first ever $100 day, woop, makes me wonder why i'm not a professional :)

thats about all for nows i guess. got no correct answers for my pop quiz, not even close answers so you can all stay in the dark and i'll have the slightest of edges over you all when we play, ah ha!

sometimes poker can be such a c*nt

2008-04-05T17:40:00.008+01:00

Stacks:
UTG with $39.35
MP with $30.90
CO with $25.00
BTN with $34.85
SB with $24.40
BB with $25.00

Blinds: $0.10/$0.25
Site: Full Tilt Poker

Dealt to BTN:Q♦ K♦

Preflop:
UTG raises to $1
2 players fold.
Hero calls [$1]
2 players folded.

Total folds this street: 4
Potsize: $2.35

utg was a fairly tight aggressive player, i was happy to see a flop from the button here and see what develops

Flop:
A♦ 3♠ 6♦
UTG bets [$2.35]
2 players fold.
Hero calls [$2.35]

Potsize: $7.05

i thought i would float the guy here as we were both pretty deep and i didn't give him credit for an ace so i was going to re-evaluate on the turn

Turn:
3♦
UTG checks
Hero bets [$3]
UTG calls [$3]

Potsize: $13.05

great card for me, with the check i'm thinking he's scared of the flush but i don't want to lose him, half bet should suffice and it did

River:
J♣
UTG bets [$7.25]
Hero raises to $18
UTG raises to $28.75
Hero calls [$10.50] [ all-in ]
Uncalled bet of $0.25 returned to UTG

the rest is great, i raise hoping to get him to come over the top which he does and i'm actually smiling to myself as i had been stuck before this and this would make good.

Results:
UTG shows :
3♣ A♣

UTG wins the pot ($67.05) with a full house, Threes full of Aces

conclusion, what f*cking muppet raises from utg with a/3, and then luckboxes out with a turned full house. sooooooo soooooo sick, the poor guy got berated by the table after that and i had to leave as i could feel myself about to expload with rage.

pop quiz

2008-04-03T12:34:00.005+01:00

fellow fishies, its pop quiz time. think you know your poker numbers? then post your answers in the comment field;

1. how many possible hands can you be dealt preflop?

2. how many possible hand combinations are there after the flop has been dealt?

3. how many hands beat your pocket jacks pre-flop?

over to you, if you dare!

poker and life

2008-04-02T14:33:00.002+01:00

well i managed to escape any major embarrassment on april fools day, although i did believe that they had discovered flying penguins in the falklands for a little while. luckily i didn't mention it to anyone and my gullibility went undetected!

been doing quite a lot recently outside of poker which is good, been catching up with a lot of friends for a few bevs, been screaming at charlton a fair amount (not so much fun) as they throw away their chance at the play-offs, got a bbq on sunday with some buds although i hear its going to rain/snow, have booked a trip to go zorbing with my fiancee which is likely to be a laugh or make me sick and am heading away for a few days soon to stay in a castle up norf and just disconnect a little. so all in all been a good few weeks with even more planned in.

also back at the gym after a three week lay-off because i had the lurg. feels good and healthy again although i'm aching all over as well...but thats a sign of progress!

pokerwise i've just finished a little session and made just over a buy-in. quite happy with myself running at about 15bb / 100 which is above where i wanted to be. have also taken steps to consolidate my rolls so should be taking another better prepared shot at nl50 in the next few weeks.

also just watched a heads up match between green plastic and annette_15 which was pretty cool. green plastic was steam rolling over annette before he kinda out thought himself and made a few mistakes for annette to pull it back. i think green plastic was up by a little overall but could have been much much more if he slowed down a little towards the end.

thats about all at the moment. hope all else is well in blog land and thanks for reading

march results

2008-03-30T16:39:00.003+01:00

cash games
nl25 (full ring)
1495 hands for -$4.55
-0.61bb / 100

nl50 (full ring)
1043 hands for -$148.90
-14.28bb / 100

nl25 (6 max)
2255 hands for +$36.70
3.25bb / 100

total
4793 hands for -$116.75
-1.77bb / 100

full tilt bonii +$40
full tilt rakeback +$4.19

total march -$71.86

---
2008 to date +$135.76

wow, not a great month really looking at the results, but if you looked at it from a learning perspective and an overall game improvement position this month would be far ahead of all the others combined. as you may have seen i completely ripped my game apart and started again and i'm feeling really good about it. every aspect of my game has improved and from a long term point of view i should be able to substantially increase my winnings from losing so heavily this month as it really kick started me to look at my game critically.

for me, next month is hugely important. hopefully it can really be a defining point in moving up the levels. my usual volume targets stand but once i've won about $50 more i'm going to combine my bankrolls and take another, better financed shot at nl50. hopefully with my game improvements over march i can make nl50 my new permanent home.

i'd also like to up my win rate from around 3bb / 100 to more like 8-10. i don't think this is gonna be a huge problem as i feel my new style of play can sustain this, but only time will tell.

so with that said i think i'm done for march now, hope everyone enjoyed better results then me and see you at the tables in april.

babe(s) of the month : march

2008-03-26T18:01:00.005Z

its been a tough one this month, and i've actually had to settle on two babes of the month, oh no i hear you cry, two hot chicks :( sorry peeps

firstly due to her return in some awful yet sometimes lingerie-tastic tv ads i've decided that march's first babe of the month is myleene klass.

i'll probably post her infamous shower scene from i'm a celeb for your pleasure as well, but until then here she is!

secondly, there is a certain red hed out there that tickles my fancy and who sprung to mind after i saw her in an easter weekend movie, and thats the rather naughty lindsay lohan! enjoy people

retooling - review

2008-03-26T11:40:00.000Z

so i've retooled my game now and i just wanted to really review the process and share my thoughts on my game as honestly as possible throughout the process.

before retooling:
looking back on the way i played before i'm surprised i made any money! hows that! i was really tight and selective about the cards i played and i never made a move on anyone unless i was tilting and just got lucky they didn't have the goods either.

the way i played, i really grinded, waiting ages for those premium hands only for everyone to fold to my raise as it was the only one i had made. i got lucky on some instances where some donkfish would play a long with me and i'd stack him but those occasions were pretty rare and i think playing at 3bb/100 provided that point.

so why did i play that way. well probably because of slansky and malmuth! play tight, play super tight. give credit and only show down the nuts. thats all well and good but in nlh you rarely get to see a showdown so waiting around for the cards and the play to align so i could show down aces really didn't help me on a path to a steady profit :)

looking back, i really sucked, and i mean really sucked! most poker players blame the cards, suck outs, bad beats or the poker gods and i did the same. but guess what, it was me. i was just a bad player!

post retooling:
right now i love my game. i'm really happy with the way i play, my reads, my aggression, my table awareness and many many other things. the retooling process was well worth the effort and the strange feeling of admitting to myself that i wasn't a winning player or would never move beyond the micro stakes.

i will however say that since i started retooling i have run bad in places and you only have to look at the two hands i posted a few days back to see that i'm not making it up and i'm not lying to myself. reviewing the session where i lost $46 or about two buyins you can clearly see that the biggest pot a lost outside of those to $25 a piece coolers was $2.25, there were no mistakes in between, no chasing draws, no calling when i was behind, i was just playing solid grade 'a' poker and it was working.

i had another little session just to see if the above wasn't true and to see if i hadn't learnt as much as i thought and the results are as follows

nl25
106 hands at 17/16/8
+$39
74bb/100

verdict: crushed!

so with that said i look back over the last week where i basically erased everything i had learnt right or wrong and approached the game as a total newbie. i invested about 8 hours running through videos in detail and probably the same playing 2 tables and my understanding of the game has increased sooo much!

there is still so much more to learn but right now i actually feel like i have the foundation of a game that i can build on, get better and ultimately move up the levels and make a profit. the futures bright, the futures poker, hehe!

retooling - report 4

2008-03-22T16:02:00.001Z

so i've watched all of the videos on playing nl 6max as a solid tag player and i have learnt a shag load! seriously, all those hours spent on the train reading slansky and malmuth were wasted compared to watching 5 hours of solid video coaching!

after the last video there were a few more areas in my game that i in hindsight needed some work and they are

1) table selection: i was totally looking for the wrong things and now after a little experimentation i think i'm back on track.

2) slow playing: thought i was well cool, innit, for slow playing my aces. financially its not true, have had my eyes opened here.

3) value betting: i was either missing value or looking for it in the wrong spots.

so my final retooling session went pretty well and i think i plugged the holes from the last session

nl25
235 hands at 11/9/9
+$28.05
24bb/100

verdict: crushed once again! really felt on fire today. my play was solid, i kept putting the donks on hands, picked my spots and crushed anyone that tried to play back at me! think my stats were a little low but really wasn't picking up anything and as the videos said, forcing it at the micro stakes usually back fires, which is pretty much what happened last session.

key hands:
did i lose value here?

so with that said, i'm pretty pleased with how following the video series turned out. there is still a ton more to learn and there are loads more videos to watch but am pretty pleased with where i am. i think once i practice this style a little more and get really comfortable with the plays a good next step for me is to see where i can open up my range a little more. will let you know how that goes.

gonna watch rounders now and critique matt damons play...donkfish!

hurting a little at the moment

2008-03-20T20:23:00.003Z

was completely motivated, fighting to get at the tables, ready to apply everything i have learned and then this happened. feeling totally dejected now :( did i play either of these hands wrongly?

i know that its variance and making donkfish calls keeps the donkfish coming back but come on, could i not have scooped one of these? all my hard work for the day gone plus more, meh

sat down, very first hand and this happened, total cooler

pocket snowfish

then after going on a little raising with nothing run and enjoying a little 3 betting i get this hand and i was praying the donkfish had seen me being aggressive so i could stack him

pocket cowfish

and to round it off, do i have any beer in the house, course i effing dont!

retooling - report 3

2008-03-20T12:45:00.002Z

so i've watched the 4th video in the five part series i'm following and again its pulled out some seemingly obvious points that i need to tweak in my play

1) table image: i always thought that this was something only the high stakes players needed to worry about but as the micro players get better the more attention you need to pay to your table image.

2) hand reading: i also need to define peoples range a little more and use the turn card as the defining point in the hand where i can really narrow down a holding.

3) timing tells: again not something i have ever really looked at in detail but its another weapon in my armour.

so after watching the vids i hit the 6 max tables again but didn't fair as well this time

nl25
363 hands at 12/11/6
-$32.90
-18bb/100

verdict: overall i felt i played ok, there were some big holes in my game as i was trying to put 4 hours worth of videos in to practice and it backfired in places. i was also playing at some massively loose aggressive tables which didn't help my game at all, and i was defo not getting the help of the deck. however i think i learnt a lot from this and it will help me put down some stronger foundations as i move forward from here.

key hands:
why did i slow play this? stupid mistake
felt my aggression here was fine and just got unlucky

so yes, it was a loss, but i have identified my leaks and can move forward from here with them plugged. one video to go now and i should be back on track.

retooling - report 2

2008-03-19T21:17:00.001Z

so very happy with the results of my first session after erasing everything i had learnt and starting again. i then watched the third video in the 5 part series and pulled out a few more areas i need to address, as follows;

1) flop texture: harder to read then i thought, spotting the nuts is the easy part but evaluating it with your oponents range was something i wasn't doing often enough, or i just gave them credit far too often.

2) continuation betting: simple right? i thought so but continuation betting when you have missed or are out of position combined with the flop texture is tricky.

3) building value in a pot: get the money in when you are ahead! easy to do when you have poc aces but i never considered their range vs mine in any given situation. for example maybe a/q off is massively ahead of their range, so build value earlier!

so after my second retooling session my results were as follows;

nl25
150 hands at 11/11/26
+$10.05
13bb/100

verdict: very happy. the tables i played at were a lot tricker this time, with the majority of players playing full stacks and having decent lag stats. it kept me on my toes but i still owned the hands i played. the reason for the massive aggression factor above is that not one hand made it to showdown, in fact i don't think there was one hand i played that i didn't take down on the flop! and i picked up some decent hands to 3 bet a fair few time. again, played near 11 vpip and 11 pfr, this may be where i net out at, only time will tell, 300 hands just isn't enough.

key hands:
much better aggression from me here
my aggression pays off

so although its only 2 sessions i already feel my game has improved hugely. really highlights the massive leaks i had previously. the first hand posted above is a prime example, i would never have 3 bet just 48 hours ago! two more videos in the series to go and i'm very much looking forward to continuing this upward momentum!

retooling - report 1

2008-03-17T10:30:00.009Z

right, so i have watched the first two videos of a five part series on cardrunners to help me play in a more optimal way and exploit the fish-er-roos that swim down at the small stakes to micro stakes.

after the first two videos there are a number of areas that i have identified that need to be addressed pre-flop to improve my game. these areas are;

1) opening up my range: looking over my stats i am defo tight nitty. its why my big hands get paid and why my stack slowly but surely dwindles and i'm easily exploitable. i need to open this up more.

2) open limping or over limping: i just get nothing from these plays, i don't get any information, i don't take control of the pot and i give myself a weak image on the process.

3) never reraising: even with my monster hands i never reraise pre-flop. don't know why, i need to get more money in the pot when i'm ahead and protect my weaker hands by controlling the pot more often.

4) position: yes i knew how important position was but i never applied having position in the correct way.

so to my first retooling session, stats are as follows;

nl25 6max
149 hands at 12/11/8
+$20.55
27bb/100

verdict: crushed! big word for only 149 hands but i played exactly the way i wanted to and got the result i wanted to too. i think my stats of 12/11 are good, i think they will naturally go up as i was getting a lot of trash hands in the session and will probably net out at around 15-18 vpip with a pfr of 14-17.

key hands:
biggest pot won
biggest pot lost

overall i was a lot happier with my play, i felt i was controlling the pot and the table when i wanted to and pressured other players a lot more therefore causing them to make mistakes such as the big hand above.

i also felt that my pre-flop game was a lot more natural and effective. i played correctly in all the spots i was put in and the end result was a winning session. there were a few occasions where my post flop play was a little weak but the videos haven't covered that yet and i don't want to continue to play the way i was before so in instances where i wasn't sure or they were marginal i folded.

next stop is post flop play so hopefully i can improve that and make better judgement calls moving forward.

retooling my game

2008-03-17T07:31:00.005Z

i think my recent horrid run at nl50 has really opened my eyes to where my game is at. i was out of my depth at times, making stupid calls, playing weak and generally doing the total opposite of crushing!

with that in mind i've decided to totally retool my game. there is a great selection of videos on cardrunners that will hopefully reset my head and get my playing in the most optimal way. to do this i need to drop back down to nl25 and also swap to 6max. now is probably the right time to do this as i'm very motivated and don't see any long term winnings coming from the way i am playing at the moment.

what i'm going to do now is watch and internalise a video at a time and then play a short 60min session, 2 tabling only and see where it gets me. after each session i'm going to share my results and thoughts and hopefully further ingrain the thinking and play into my subconscious. i'll combine the first 2 videos together as part 1 is very much an intro so there should end up being 4 'reports' on how my game takes shape.

so watch this space, the first report should be later today and hopefully it will have a positive return on investment!

question?

2008-03-15T13:17:00.000Z

anyone else hate 6/3 off suit, i do...aaaaa lllooottt!

nl50, the drama continues

2008-03-14T15:58:00.003Z

still taking a shot at nl50 and the differences are coming through and i'm starting to adjust my natural game. so far i've noticed the following;

1) tighter - the games have tightened up a little i think, not by much but i would say players ranges are a little tighter so you need to be playing hands that can withstand a little pressure

2) aggression - this has shot up from nl25. players really push marginal hands on the flop and also play their draws aggressively, especially flush draws

3) floating - never really noticed this at nl25 but have certainly seen players floating and pushing on the turn

4) shortstacking - geez, its everywhere, really hard to find a game with all players sitting on a full buy-in. funny thing is, players seem to be shortstaking with 50-60bb or so but aren't willing to commit as easily as they do in nl25. think this is defo -ev

still looking for more differences and no doubt i'll continue to spot them as i play there but the good news is that i've managed to wipe out the disastrous start i had at nl50 and turn the month around to be in profit...just :)

also still unsure what to do with my first rakeback. any suggestions would be helpful!

my first rakeback

2008-03-12T09:57:00.005Z

so woke up this morning, saw i had a few emails in my inbox, rubbed my weary eyes and noticed they were both entitled full tilt poker fund transfer. panicked, screamed a little that someone was trying to hack my account, ran in circles for a few minutes, before discovering it was a transfer of funds into my account!

(this is leapfrogs 'my first computer' and my killa setup, bo!)

happy that money was going in rather then out i read a little more and saw it was my first rakeback payment of $4.19. i double checked to see if the decimal place should actually be one space to the left, and then when unfortunately sure it wasn't i still felt rather pleased with myself.

the question now really is what should i do with the money, i can't let my first rakeback payment just slide into my account unnoticed. i feel i should take a risk, stick it on a 180 sng or try and satellite into a bigger satellite, into a bigger mtt into the main event maybe?

suggestions welcome as i only ever play cash games so if people know of some small tornies etc that i can buy into on ftp then please let me know.

nl50, thoughts

2008-03-09T21:43:00.002Z

well took a much postponed shot at nl50 today. didn't really go to plan but have to say the play at this level isn't really that much better then n;25, or at least the tables i was sat at weren't.

i did find that draws were played a lot more aggressively which put me on the back foot a little and meant i lost some pots i should probably have won if i was a little more aggressive.

i'm happy to say the random pots are still present, for example i got myself into a battle of the blinds with a/5 on a a/j/3/4/5 board...i wonder what the small blind had, ace two of course, you couldn't write this stuff!

anyhoo, although i'm slightly underolled for nl50 i'm probably gonna take a few more shots before i decide if i need to drop back to nl25. i certainly wasn't blessed with any hands and i know where i went wrong and those leaks are easily plugged. hopefully i can run well and make the move a permanent one. fingers crossed!

the end of high stakes poker?

2008-03-07T10:21:00.002Z

so after losing and watching some card runners videos i decided to try and rail some pros on ftp. i didn't expect any big names on there as the timing wasn't right but as per usual mike matusow was there...he's always online!

he ended up switching to play some stud from the omaha game he was playing and must have run into a friend of his as they started chatting, and then the subject of high stakes poker on gsn came up. the thread was all very cryptic and i've included below in its originality, spelling mistakes and all. my only editing is removing all of the dealer and ftp updates that come up in the chat box as well.

what do you guys think, could high stakes poker really be over?

Dealer: Mike Matusow mucks
Dealer: Mike Matusow wins the pot ($600)
Dealer: Hand #5528221137
Dealer: Mr_BigQueso antes $100
Dealer: Moish5 antes $100
Dealer: Mike Matusow antes $100
---
Moish5: mikey baby
Mike Matusow: sup baby
Mike Matusow: weeeee
Mike Matusow: how u been bud
Moish5: good
Mike Matusow: cool
Mike Matusow: u home
Moish5: mikey you should get ome on high stakes
Mike Matusow: i will
Mike Matusow: loooks like no more hsp
Moish5: what hsp
Mike Matusow: its gonnabe pad high stakes cash games
Mike Matusow: on nbc
Moish5: not no limit
Mike Matusow: yes
Mike Matusow: and hu challenges
Moish5: high stakes limit games
Mike Matusow: but be nl caash
Mike Matusow: nl
Moish5: i want to play with you helmuth
Moish5: victor
Mike Matusow: ok let me callmori
Mike Matusow: illtellhim u alot of fun and see if we can ge tu
in
Moish5: ok
Mike Matusow: i think it be great
Moish5: sammy eli
Mike Matusow: lol
Moish5: i need the fame you need the money
Mike Matusow: dont want to loose or be tough to win need
some nits
Mike Matusow: lol

meh

2008-03-06T20:37:00.003Z

just had a horrid session, dropped 2 buy ins in an hour. nothing went right, no cards, no flops and any move i made got called down. even when i had a hand which was twice, somehow my donk of an opponent would play some random hand and get smashed in the face by the deck!

feeling rrrreeeeaaaallllyyyy tilty at the moment and want to jump back on the tables and try and win it back. musn't though, am gonna watch the other half of the muddy waters vs green plastic head up match on card runners to cheer myself up.

farking donkeys, aarrgghh

does it get any better then this?

2008-03-04T14:05:00.004Z

has been an eventful start to the month so far. i'm hoping march will be a turning point or at least a stepping stone month for me with only positives coming from it. so far three good things have happened

1) it is roughly 6 months before the lovely christina milians birthday, so even though i'm clutching at straws here is another looooovely pic of her

2) i've taken the plunge and joined cardrunners, have started to watch the videos and read the forum. seems to be a wealth of info out there, plus its quite enjoyable just to watch some of their pros crush the higher stakes even if its way out of my reach for now

3) just had another profitable session which gives me a little buffer in my roll and i'm thinking of taking a shot at the next level. i'll probably play a few more hands at 25nlh just to clear the next bonus level on ftp but then i'm thinking i'll take a shot. if i lose then i'll drop back down and start again but am feeling good about my game at the mo and if confidence is high its worth a gambol. watch this space

hhhmmm, cardrunners

2008-03-03T12:26:00.003Z

so i've decided to take the plunge and get a cardrunners sub. i've only ever heard good things about it but have always been tentative about what i could actually get out of watching the videos, i mean surely reading those light hearted and easy going slansky books is as good as it gets, right?

the tipping point came on thursday when i had some spare time and watched a taylor caby heads up sample video. now i don't even play heads up but just watching and listening to his thought process totally blew me away. i mean you always hear about playing the player and not the cards, and you always see the pros on shows like high stakes poker playing, what looks like, some random two cards, but watching this video actually demonstrated how little cards mattered and what the pros must be thinking when they play.

yes, he wins some big pots with his big hands, but watching him call a 3 bet with 10/8o then floating the guy before taking the pot away from him on the turn with total air was amazing!

so hopefully i'm going to sign up today and get going with the coaching videos as well and becoming as active as possible on the forum. then it won't be long before i'm crushing ivey on the $500/$1000 nlh heads up table of death on ftp!

february results

2008-02-29T15:00:00.001Z

cash games
nlh25
4290 hands for +$70.55
3.29bb / 100

pokerstars bonii +$50
full tilt bonii +$20

total february +$140.55

---
2008 to date +207.62

crazy month again, i wasn't in profit until the last week of february and then finally my patient aggressive play was rewarded with some of my bigger hands getting called and holding up. with things finally coming together i've actually managed to post my best month profit wise so far in my short poker career. add in a few bonii and i'm pretty chuffed with it.

reviewing my hands i see that i probably could have performed even better then i have if it wasn't for some truly horrible suck outs. thats variance i guess and i was rewarded in the end by continuing to make the right decisions. i did however have one suck out of my own when i ran my jacks into kings, bad thing was i new he had me beaten but i pushed over the top anyway and managed to hit a third jack on the river :) i thought i was never going to suck out on anyone but i finally did. woop woop

i'm seriously considering getting a subscription to cardrunners at the moment. i watched an introduction video and i have to say i remembered so much more from that one video then i do reading chapter after chapter of dry poker books! anyone else out there have a subscription and think its worth it?

think thats about everything for feb, thanks for reading and commenting this month. hope march is good to everyone, unless your playing me!

babe of the month : february

2008-02-28T08:16:00.000Z

not been in the news recently but has always been a firm favourite of mine with some great music videos like dip it low, and a movie where she's a cheerleader, man of the house!

february's babe of the month is none other then christina milian

enjoy her loveliness

can you spell?

2008-02-26T12:49:00.002Z

...well if you can then alpha-bet may be for you, especially if you like to play with words.

grub smith, regular poker columnist for poker player magazine, and of fhm fame has only gone and given up his day job to take the world by storm with a new kind of gamble!

thats right, it seems that grub has taken one of the bizarre ideas he presented in his column and has made it a reality! imagine crossing poker with scrabble and basically you have alpha-bet.

does it have a future, who knows, will it take the world by storm, maybe not but if you are just plain curious check it out - alpha-bet

profit...at last

2008-02-24T17:29:00.002Z

finally i'm in profit for the month, its been a rollercoaster thus far but just rounded out a session leaving me one fith of a buy-in up for the month!

would have been a lot more if my qq didn't get done over by 5/8o, i mean i'm sure the guy new that my pre-flop raise, and re-raise of his flop bet meant his pair of fives were good...and he was half right when he hit an 8 on the river!

anyhoo, in prof, thats all that matters!

thanks fish-er-roo's

2008-02-22T14:02:00.003Z

have been moving some money about between poker accounts and thought that even though i play at the micro stakes there is no reason why i shouldn't enjoy my winnings. i know i won't be splurging any time soon on a house, a fast car, a trip to vegas or even a picture of dogs playing poker, but there is one thing that my winnings will let me enjoy...

...thats right fish-er-roo's, tonight i have $6 of poker winnings burning a hole in my pocket and i'm gonna enjoy one on the donkeys. so here's to mr 7/8o all in on a 9/q/a board, or miss i can't lay my 2nd pair down regardless of the bet to me. you may suck out on me more often then i like, but tonight, one beer at least is on you!

oh aces, i love/hate you

2008-02-20T20:06:00.008Z

thought i'd log on for a quick sess tonight to try and recoup some of my losses from my spew fest the other night. i found myself a few decent tables and sat down ready for action.

i few hands in i'm dealt the loathsome pocket aces, i'm sitting one off the hijack so min raise to try and get a little action from a blind at least and draw 2 callers, one little scamp being a short stack. flop comes down dry and my pot bet is swiftly raised all in by shorty. no hesitation on my part, call and...

aarrrggghhh! ...or so i thought, but then i remembered the words of short-stacked shamus and ryverrat who commented on my last aces nightmare. with that in mind and a few woo saa's i was back to normal within seconds. just glad the scamp was a shorty so i had a shot at a speedy recovery.

a few hands later and i picked up the dreaded aces again. straight away i feel petrified i'm going to experience more of the same, or converesly no action at all. either way i was ready to laugh it off. much to my surprise i got the action i wanted on almost exactly the flop i dreamed of. all the money went in and the only thing i'm scared of is some poc 8's.

no poc 8's (i don't think i would have been able to hold it together if he did have 8's though) and my aces are good and i felt my poor little opponent, woo hoo! some semi faith in aces has been restored, there is still a long way to go but job done for now!

full tilt poker

2008-02-19T09:29:00.002Z

so i've been playing at full tilt for a couple of weeks now and i thought i'd write a review of my experience thus far.

i joined full tilt after being a regular stars player but finding that at my micro limits there was little to no chance that i'd ever clear any kind of bonus as a reward for my play. with this in mind i thought a little trip to full tilt with the chance of recouping up to $600 sign up bonus plus the 27% rakeback was worth my while.

software
i like it and i don't. having plied my trade at the super smooth pokerstars you come to expect absolute finesse. full tilt software is good, don't get me wrong but there are things like, the sound effects not matching up to the animations, or the inability to get hand histories emailed to you instantly that seem like bigger problems then they are after playing at stars.

i know people talk about online sites being rigged, and i don't subscribe to this, but i have to say the random number generator at full tilt does seem to produce some crazy action! i mean i've had some serious bad beats since playing there, but i also seem to get dealt a lot more premium hands, or at least high hard hands. i used to enjoy massive barren spells at stars with not even a k/jo. at full tilt i seem to get a couple of face cards every few hands.

overall though, the software is good, its not stars good, but its easily second best. my pokeroffice client works perfectly with it and have had no problems, just small irritations.

traffic
full tilt is the second largest site behind pokerstars, recently overtaking party poker to take the title of number one challenger to stars dominance. i only play micro limits at the moment and traffic down the bottom is strong and steady. i must admit its rare that i find an open seat at any of the full ring tables but after jumping on few waiting lists i'm usually playing within 5 minutes.

play
i thought full tilt had fairly decent players, that was my understanding after reading the reviews, but after playing the micro limit tables i have to say its not true. i mean, its great, there are fish-er-roos everywhere, swimming around with not much clue. players down the bottom seem quite happy to call an all in with a/10h on a 3c 6s 9h board vs my qq, there is obviously nothing you can do when they hit a runner runner heart flush but apparently if you keep putting the money in ahead you'll be a long term winner! given players fishee tendencies it means play can be quite erratic with swings up and down in every session through odd calls and bizarre suck outs. it makes bluffing or reading opponents fairly hard but of you can adapt your game to the fish-er-roos play you'll be laughing.

support
only needed support once and that was to get some hand histories sent, they were emailed fairly promptly which was great. i did notice that the format of emailed hand histories is different to live hand histories giving me some database issues but all got fixed fairly swiftly.

usp
unique selling point that is. it has to be the pro's, full tilt has millions of them and its dead easy to watch them play. only the other night i railed durrr vs. ivey on the $500/1000 nlhe table of death. crazy sums of money were changing hands and durrr was enjoying most of it. i love this feature on full tilt and often surf around looking for some pro's after a session just to enjoy some high stakes action.

overall
i have to say that so far i'm enjoying myself on full tilt. its very different to stars and i sometimes jump back over to enjoy the finesse of the stars client but full tilt feels more like what poker should be. if stars feels like sitting in a monte carlo casino then full tilt is like your in a saloon throwing chips about, sipping whiskey while packing a 6 shooter! if i can handle the random beats and crazy action i'm sure full tilt will become my new permanent home and i recommend you give it a try.

wow!

2008-02-17T15:54:00.006Z

thats pretty much all i can say. i've just experienced my worst losing session i've ever had and going over the beats i'm not sure what to say. i just couldn't buy a break, nothing went my way and i mean nothing. every hand i made got cracked. my aces full of eights got beat by aces full of nines, my aces high flush was busted by a straight flush, the list goes on and on.

then this happened and it sent me on tilt. i've never really been on tilt, maybe for a hand or so while i gained my composure back but i lost it with this and started hurling chips all over the place. i mean i couldn't throw them at people fast enough. i'm sure the full tilt servers had problems keeping up with the chips flying out my account. what a disgrace.

i think i need a little break. i may log back on later to try and recoup some winnings but i'm hurting pretty bad at the mo. god dam 9's!

check this out

2008-02-14T12:10:00.002Z

one for the boys, totally what i think the power of the web should be about, don't worry its work friendly direct daniella

does villains line make sense

2008-02-14T09:55:00.001Z

just played this hand and wanted your thoughts on villains (bb) line here and if you feel a call is justified. villain was playing 15/8 over a fairly small sample

Full Tilt Poker, $0.10/$0.25 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 9 Players

MP2: $7.05
CO: $13.70
BTN: $34.10
SB: $9.55
BB: $27
UTG: $5.15
UTG+1: $26.10
Hero (UTG+2): $26.60
MP1: $8.80

Pre-Flop: 5 5 dealt to Hero (UTG+2)
2 folds, Hero calls $0.25, MP1 folds, MP2 calls $0.25, 2 folds, SB calls $0.15, BB checks

Flop: ($1) 5 T 6 (4 Players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets $1, MP2 folds, SB calls $1, BB calls $1

Turn: ($3) K (3 Players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets $2.50, SB folds, BB calls $2.50

River: ($8) A (2 Players)
BB bets $8

runner runner flush?

oh the irony

2008-02-11T12:22:00.000Z

so just after i posted about getting unstuck i thought i'd hit the tables for a quick session, nothing too intense just a speedy hit and run. so there i was, about even when this happened

i'm thinking great, set over 2 pair, only four outs can ruin this, i'll take it down and off i go...then

awesome, i'm stuck again! anyhoo, i hung around and managed to get myself back in the green but i was so close to freaking out, i guess it was a good lesson in tilt control which i managed to pass but oh so annoying none the less!

whats more satisfying?

2008-02-10T16:12:00.000Z

i haven't been running or playing that well so far in feb. i've had moments of genius followed by bigger moments of stupidity leaving me behind rather then significantly ahead. the times i've been ahead its business as usual but when i'm behind there seems to be something strangely satisfying about it!

little crazy sounding but when i'm winning, i'm just winning. i don't impose any stop win system, i just play till i start to feel like i'm losing concentration and then i'll log off and chill out a bit. however when i'm stuck everything seems to become clear. if i'm far behind then i'll usually write the session off and focus on one single goal, and thats to get unstuck. as soon as i hit the green, whether it be as little as 10 cents i'll usually log off and feel extremely satisfied with myself. i feel like i've achieved something that having a winning session doesn't really give me. i feel like i've climbed out of a hole and played good solid poker to do so, as usually its loose wayward play that has got me in that situation in the first place.

i don't think its just me that feels this way, i think its universal. i think getting unstuck is a poker players mount everest, its never easy and requires real concentration, effort and self restraint, its a grind if you will. but when achieved it really is like conquering a nemesis.

so to me, getting unstuck is actually more satisfying then booking a straight forward winning session. i feel like i've saved myself and what ever the win is, no matter how small, feels like a resounding victory.

so here's to getting yourself stuck just to have the pleasure of unsticking yourself!

stress

2008-02-07T17:46:00.001Z

stress is something that everyone experiences throughout their lives. whether the stress comes from work, home or other its never a pleasant experience.

i'm currently hugely stressed at work due to problems caused by colleagues which i'm having to sort out. its the usual backroom staff screwing things up with absolutely no regard to what happens in the front office. the problem with workplace stress is that its constantly changing, one day it can be due to x the next day y. the following week it can be z, q and s, who knows! its therefore very hard to work out a way to deal with that stress because no two situations are the same.

professional poker players as a rule are subject to high levels of stress as well. this can stem from, amongst other things, wagering huge amounts of money on a single hand, being down to their last buy in or having their tournament lives on the line. however the advantage a poker player has is that there is really only a limited scenarios that can cause you stress. yea, sure you can argue that no two hands or tournaments are the same, but essentially the stress causing principles are the same. a bad beat is a bad beat, getting knocked out a tornie is the same regardless, so once a poker player has experienced these situations 10, 20, 100 times their stress reaction to them is diluted or reduced. Over time a great poker player experiences almost zero stress to any situation because they have been their before, and any sign of stress or an adverse reaction could be construde as a tell, obvioulsy not recommended.

you may wonder where i'm going with this, well my point is, that although a professional poker player may experience a higher level of stress then a regular 9 to 5'er in the earlier part of their career, i would say that the longer they play the less stress they experience, whereas poor old 9 to 5'er still has the same ever evolving stress quotient!

so my conclusion is that basically the more stressed i get on the 9 to 5'er side of the fence, the greener it looks on the other side. the only way to tell is experience both, which is out of reach for most but as it stands now, i'd rather be taking a bad beat on the cyber felt which i know how to handle then dealer with the muppets in the backroom!

commitment threshold

2008-02-05T09:04:00.000Z

i've been reading an interesting article on pot commitment and a players commitment threshold and have to say i think its probably one of my biggest leaks.

i often find that i'm dropping between 10-15% of my stack to see a turn card, which in nl25 is only a dollar raise pre flop and a pot size bet on the flop. so as you can see a very easy place to find yourself.

the article goes on to explain that whenever you commit or know you will have to commit more than 10% of your stack, that you have a plan in place before you do so. this plan should basically be the way you want to play the hand.

for example, say you call a raise from the cut off with k/jo and hit a jack high flop (js/10h/6s). this is great for you, your opponent checks and you bet the pot and your opponent calls. the turn is 7h and your opponent checks again. what do you do here?

the commitment threshold states that you have put in over 10% of your stack so you need to decide whether you are willing to go all in here. is top pair, second kicker a hand you are willing to go all in with?

you're probably thinking, why on earth would i consider going all in, well imagine you bet the pot again and your opponent check raises you. now you are in an extremely tough position, you could be facing either of two flush draws, a straight draw, a combo draw, set or even an overpair and you have committed over a third of your stack ($1 dollar preflop to call the raise, c. $2 pot bet on the flop then c. $6 pot bet on the turn with $25 effective stack)

folding after investing over a third of your effective stack here is a mistake, and getting yourself into this position is also a mistake and a leak.

an effective plan to deal with this situation could be keeping the pot as small as possible. the bet on the flop is fine but the bet on the turn can lead you into trouble, a check behind gives you a chance to avoid running into a flush or a straight depending on what falls on the river and should both draws miss you hopefully entice your opponent to bluff off chips which you can safely call at a reduced risk to your total stack.

what do you guys think? i've never looked at planning a hand in this way but running through the examples in the article it makes perfect sense.

any comments welcome

seymour cards has diversified

2008-02-04T13:08:00.000Z

not due to any demand, and probably not due to any sane reasoning but because i had some time on saturday i decided to set myself up on facebook!

thats right, seymour cards has gone facebook stylee. i now have a rather fetching profile and a bit of bla about me and my hobbies, don't know why i bothered but i wanted you all to know i have!

so far i have one friend, i don't know who they are, they asked me and because i didn't have any friends i decided to say yes...god thats sad and pathetic.

so if you wanna be my second friend then click here to see my profile. you can even take my wall virginity if you want, i'm easy!

january results

2008-02-02T16:57:00.000Z

cash games
nlh25
3018 hands for +$37.07
2.46bb / 100

party poker bonii +$30.00
poker office software bonus valued $79 (not included)

total january +$67.07

---
2008 to date +$67.07

so a bit of an erratic month in january. i can't say i played any better then average. i feel i ran well in spots and i played a patient game giving me opportunity to maximise some big hands, however there were stupid mistake in there that really dented the overall result in places.

i do feel that i'm slowly absorbing some of the more complicated concepts as i keep getting these eureka moments in strange places. i'll be in the gym or something and all of a sudden out of nowhere i'll suddenly be like, wow, now i get that hand, why didn't i see the implied odds there. or of course that play meant uber strength why am i calling when i should be folding! strange how these things must be working away in your subconscious and then pop to the from when they are done...like a microwave cooking a curry...ping!!

i need to sort out some serious hands in feb as due to my holiday i didn't get to play the amount i wanted. i also think i'm going to move my play over to full tilt so i can take advantage of the rake back, unless anyone can convince me another site is way better. i also want to post some simple strat stuff as well. nothing major but will get me thinking about poker properly.

thats all from me, me thinks. hopefully will kick off feb in style shortly

babe of the month : january

2008-01-30T16:07:00.002Z

think i'll make this a regular occurence if only to brighten up the page when i look at!

this month i've decided that the newly single (well she soon will be) cheryl tweedy cole is the babe of the month.

enjoy!

bad ending to the month

2008-01-30T09:52:00.000Z

down two buy-ins so far today. all to the same guy who seems to enjoy playing random cards 3 apart then rivering some odd straight while i'll hit top set or top two pair. lovely.

am currently a little irritated by this so am logging off to calm down...woo saa, woooo saaaa

edit: pulled some of it back, feeling a little better for it. think its time for another break from the tables, have some lunch and contemplate further how i 1) got stuck, and 2) get unstuck!

edit 2: clawed back a little more, stopping for the day now to see where i went wrong.

flying high

2008-01-28T11:41:00.000Z

well had some grand ambitions to play poker on sunday but failed due to the horrific state i was in post knees up on saturday night.

the wedding party was a good crack, 100 royal airforce guys getting sloshed in the officers mess went surprisingly problem free. i did plan to run off during the night and find myslef a plane to sit in but was sternly warned by my buddy that i'd be arrested by the military police and held on base which isn't quite as nice as being arrested by the regular police, so decided to give it a miss.

i ended up drinking black sheep all night and the following morning i was a mess. could barely talk or see. and was in such bad way i dragged myself to a little chef of all places to have a fry up. unfortunately even the magic fry up failed to help and i fell a sleep in the back of my car as i had to check out the hotel at 12.

feeling slightly refreshed a little later in the afternoon i headed home and watched the last few episodes of las vegas season 4 on dvd before ordering a curry and heading to bed.
10 hours kip later and i feel like a new man. hit the gym this morning and am just having myself a healthy soya latte before i have a few meetings!

i do need to get in one more decent session before the end of the month though so will aim to do that on wednesday before posting januarys results.

friday night session

2008-01-25T22:29:00.000Z

have a big night out tomorrow at a mates wedding party, prince willy wonka is gonna be there, its at raf lincoln where he is getting his wings, so stayed in tonight to play a few hands.

tried to push myself out of my comfort zone and play a bit more aggressively and see a few more flops. had mixed results. i doubled up early on but then really didn't hit any flops or get any draws so leaked chips for the next hour or so. took down one decent pot and then called it a night up about half a buyin or so.

i wanted to try and identify all the areas i need to improve my game, of which there are many, and start taking steps to address these. from tonights analysis i'm going to identify three as follows...

1) i limp too much. i need to foster a more aggressive table image to extract value on my big hands. too often i'll scoop min pots on my big pocket pairs and they don't come along enough to allow this to happen on a regular basis. i also find i get raised out of pots because i limp from an ealry position and can't justify a call and play the flop from the front. this is a major leak in my game that needs to be plugged.

2) i find myself checking too much. checking in places where only a bet will win it for me and therefore giving up too many small pots that i could easily take down. i seem to be continually petrified of big pocket pairs and need to put this out of my mind and play the player and the board rather than assuming i'm always beat. if i can learn to control the pot and keep pots small when i'm nervous then i'll put myself in a better place to see more showdowns on the cheap and win more marginal situations rather than giving up.

3) i need to open up a little more in the right places. sometimes i play so tight even aces aren't good enough! it minimises my losses sure, but it means i have to sit at a table for hours for just the right set of circumstance, with the right cards against the right players to make any decent cash. sure that really is grinding it out but its not positive poker and i leave a lot of money on the table that i could/should be taking with me.

so from now i'm i'm going to really concentrate on fixing these problems. i know i won't like making these plays some of the time but i think if i at least experiment and see how some of these plays work/make a difference then my overall game can only get better.

if anyone reading this knows of any common mistakes players of under a years experience make then please comment. i'd be interested to discuss with you.

poker gods are smiling

2008-01-24T09:27:00.001Z

now although they may have had nothing to do with it, unless they are really good friends with the tennis gods! they have to be looking down from way up there with a big grin on their faces because the world has been blessed with one of the hottest womens tennis finals in probably the history of tennis...unless you are a big fan of the epic navratilova vs graf era!

so for your viewing pleasure i present our finalists. firstly we have the gorgeous maria sharapova who loves to scream or squeak...or squeak scream when she plays the ball. shes russian but has lived in florida most of her life, hence the beautiful sun kissed tan. i don't believe you can buy her as a your russian bride on the internet but i haven't searched that hard.

next up is the lovely ana ivanovic from serbia. she is apparently a tennis miracle as she used to practice in a dried out swimming pool until some rich guy gave her a load of money to practice on a proper court. i do have to wonder what his motives were though when she looks this lovely!

so there you have it, one hot final. i'm pretty sure they will both try to sex it up as well so you, me and the poker gods should have something fairly nice to watch regardless of who wins, woo hoo!!

big pot with a marginal hand

2008-01-22T13:08:00.000Z

i have another hand i recently had the pleasure of being part of that i wanted to share. i know there is a mistake or two in there, so i'm sharing the hand and my thinking and would really appreciate any feedback on either my play or how you would have played it.

Party Poker, $0.10/$0.25 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 8 Players

SB: $26
BB: $9.75
UTG: $24.39
UTG+1: $32.33
MP1: $34.49
Hero (MP2): $20.03
CO: $4.49
BTN: $26.57

Pre-Flop: K Q dealt to Hero (MP2)
UTG calls $0.25, UTG+1 folds, MP1 calls $0.25, Hero raises to $1, CO folds, BTN calls $1, 2 folds, UTG calls $0.75, MP1 calls $0.75

i'm in a late position here and feel a 4xbb raise should help give me final position post flop and push out speculative hands that can do damage on a bad flop for me

Flop: ($4.35) 3 Q 7 (4 Players)
UTG checks, MP1 bets $2, Hero calls $2, 2 folds

now mp1 limped in preflop so i'm not putting him on a high pocket pair or a/k, a/q. 33 or 77 are a possibility as well as a pair of face cards. he could also be semi bluffing a flush draw here. i'm not happy with my flat call as it gives me no information at all. mistake numero uno!

Turn: ($8.35) 4 (2 Players)
MP1 bets $2, Hero raises to $5, MP1 calls $3

the turn brings a straight possibility but doubt he would be semi bluffing a gutshot, i feel he either has a set or a flush draw here that he is still semi bluffing. my raise is to try and push out the draw and gain more information.

River: ($18.35) 4 (2 Players)
MP1 checks, Hero bets $5, MP1 calls $5

the flat call of my raise on the turn makes me discount a set. i feel if i check here i give him the opportunity to bluff a missed flush draw so my my bet here is to induce a call from a weaker queen or take the pot uncontested. i don't know what i would do to a re-raise here but i feel a bet is better then a check. is this mistake numero deux?

Results: $28.35 Pot ($1.08 Rake)
MP1 mucked Q J (two pairs, Queens and Fours) and LOST (-$13 NET)
Hero showed K Q (two pairs, Queens and Fours) and WON $27.27 (+$14.27 NET)

and there we have it, i take the pot but i felt uncomfortable throughout. any thoughts on how this could have been played better to get more info earlier?

is poker a sport?

2008-01-20T13:41:00.000Z

because if it is, is must be the only sport where you become less fit the more you play! all that time sitting at a table, hardly moving, drinking coffee, eating snacks. hardly what you would expect a sport to consist of!

for me, staying fit is massively important. if i'm not going to the gym on a regular basis i feel terrible. i don't feel awake, i can't concentrate for long periods of time, i feel sluggish and slobbish, and i don't find any of those feelings particularly appealing.

i've had about a month off from the gym enjoying the festive period and my holiday to sydney and have given myself a week to get over the jetlag, but come tomorrow its gym time. back pumping iron, grunting and screaming as i lift inhuman amounts of iron over and over again, pumping the guns so i can confidently give directions ;) and flexing the old tshirt muscles ready to get all the ladies swooning!! lol!!

one great side effect of staying fit is my poker game improves. i can sit for longer sessions, my brain stays sharp and i keep concentration which can so easily wander when playing at home. so given that i think i can safely say that hitting the gym is +ev

so i've put together a little muscle building program (i have a diploma in personal training) and am ready to get started in 24 hours. the first 2 weeks are going to be a little sh*t as my body needs to get back into the groove but its totally worth it. if nothing else i'm hoping if i play live the other players will be slightly scared of what my biceps might do to them if they call my re-raise! haha, better get some proper ones first!

i know its not directly poker related but i'm gonna post my current stats and goals here to keep track so here goes, i'll probably post bi-weekly stats or something; (first number is current, brackets equals goal)

12 week program beginning 21/01/2008

general
weight: 69.1kg (69.1kg to 75kg)
body fat: 13.6% (13.6% to 11%)

measurements
chest: 87.8cm (87.8cm to 96cm)
guns: 31.3cm (31.3cm to 35cm)
wheels: 53.1cm (53.1cm to 57cm)
waist: 84.5cm (84.5cm to 80cm)

let the pumping begin!

pull it apart

2008-01-17T14:17:00.000Z

here's one for all the fish-er-roos out there. here is a hand that i just had the joy of playing, take a look...

Party Poker, $0.10/$0.25 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 9 Players

SB: $25.12
Hero (BB): $23.40
UTG: $8
UTG+1: $13.70
UTG+2: $42.05
MP1: $3.95
MP2: $24.65
CO: $21.56
BTN: $24.93

Pre-Flop: T Q dealt to Hero (BB)
2 folds, UTG+2 calls $0.25, 4 folds, SB calls $0.15, Hero checks

Flop: ($0.75) A 8 T (3 Players)
SB checks, Hero bets $0.50, UTG+2 calls $0.50, SB folds

Turn: ($1.75) T (2 Players)
Hero bets $1.75, UTG+2 calls $1.75

what do you put him here? i felt i was looking at a/k, a/q he couldn't lay down or a flush draw he was over valuing

River: ($5.25) J (2 Players)

what do i do now, i'm first to act?
if my read is right do i check to induce a bet or bet out?
do i raise if he bets or just call?
do i lay it down if i'm re-raised?

let me know what you think, and i'll let you know what happened, plus what i think i should have done...showing that i feel i played the hand wrong.

party poker party...not

2008-01-17T09:15:00.000Z

who here plays on or has played on party poker? i've just signed up to clear a bonus and have to say the software is terrible!

first of all i hate the little characters sitting in their chairs, is this meant to make it more realistic? why can't i turn the little f*ckers off!

secondly, the layout of the buttons and the mechanic of the slider is just naff, if i try and raise to 3 times the bb, but can i get the slider to stop on that amount, no i fricking can't. the only amounts i can find are the call amount and then like 6 times the bb. so there i am sliding around for 20 secs before i give up and type it in while losing any credibility in the hand. yes, great if i have a monster, but sh*te if i'm trying to make a move!

thirdly, when i multi-table everything jumps around so much i don't even know what table i'm on. one second i'm looking at pocket aces ready to 3 bet and the next thing i know i've been bumped to another table that needs a move from me and i'm re-raising some short stacks all in with jack/four off! aarrgghh!!

anyhoo, on the plus side the play is just terrible, i remember reading somewhere that party poker did have a heavy quota of fish and at the lower limits its so true. i mean look at this hand here, and there i was feeling scared he had aces!

Party Poker, $0.10/$0.25 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 8 Players

UTG: $74.54
UTG+1: $0.19
Hero (MP1): $24.65
MP2: $25
CO: $8.98
BTN: $12.45
SB: $24.69
BB: $18.70

MP2 posts $0.25
Pre-Flop: K K dealt to Hero (MP1)
UTG calls $0.25, UTG+1 calls $0.19 and is All-In, Hero raises to $1, MP2 calls $0.75, CO calls $1, BTN raises to $12.45 and is All-In, 3 folds, Hero raises to $23.90, 2 folds

Flop: ($27.69) T 5 2 (3 Players - 1 is All-In)

Turn: ($27.69) 4 (3 Players - 1 is All-In)

River: ($27.69) 8 (3 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $27.69 Pot ($24.28 Rake)
UTG+1 mucked 4 A (a pair of Fours) and LOST (-$0.19 NET)
Hero showed K K (a pair of Kings) and WON $37.76 ($12.64 NET)
BTN mucked 8 J (a pair of Eights) and LOST (-$12.45 NET)

still even with all the fish-er-roos i don't think i can play there on a permanent basis, i would go f*cking insane! i'm sticking around until i clear my bonus then i'm out...for good!

kaizen poker

2008-01-14T13:36:00.000Z

i've been considering poker over the last few weeks and ways/opportunities to improve my game and thus make more money. this has led me to start comparing poker (as a business) to the tactics or philosophy's employed by some of the worlds most successful companies.

one of these companies, toyota, employs a japanese philosophy called 'kaizen'. kaizen is the search for continuous improvement. everyday, every employee from the ceo down is looking for ways to improve themselves and the processes they go through to become better and more efficient at their jobs.

now i think the kaizen idea could be applied to poker and help me to make small improvements everyday that will propel my game on a continuous upward trajectory.

let me show you how i think this applies. kaizen is based around 3 principles which i will outline below and then in red i'll demonstrate how i think that can be mapped to poker improvement;

1) consider the process and the results (not results-only) so that actions to achieve effects are surfaced

- review and analyse your play to establish why you won or lost so as to eliminate the negative aspects and increase the positive

2) systemic thinking of the whole process and not just that immediately in view (i.e. big picture, not solely the narrow view) in order to avoid creating problems elsewhere in the process

- don't look at your or opponents actions individually but build a picture or story around their play so you can spot patterns and anomalies and adapt to exploit these. this can be further defined by using r.e.m strategy and commitment planning

3) a learning, non-judgmental, non-blaming (because blaming is wasteful) approach and intent will allow the re-examination of the assumptions that resulted in the current process

- don't focus on the negatives such as bad beats or suck outs but instead look for the ways these problems can be avoided in future whether through changes in your own play or identifying signs in your opponents. and remember bad beats only happen when you are ahead thus you are making the correct decisions and will be profitable in the long run

so there it is, kaizen poker. to me this approach makes total sense. to improve requires learning and study on a continuous basis not periodically. only then can you adapt and improve to stay ahead of the game and maintain your position as a winning player.

to help me make this transition into my kaizen poker philosophy there are certain foundations that i need to put into place which i'm looking to do over the next week or so, and hopefully when i'm done i can start my journey to continuous improvement.

back from the land down under

2008-01-14T08:26:00.001Z

so after 22 hours on aeroplanes and a 12 hours stop over in seoul i am back in london! woo hoo...well not really as i'd way prefer to still be in sydney.

feeling pretty f*cked at the moment, have had about 3 hours sleep in the last 48. i've watched transformers about 18 times on the plane as well so can pretty much quote the entire movie and feel a slight aversion to my6 nokia phone at the moment!

on the plus side i'm feeling refreshed and ready to hit the tables again. hopefully i can get some time in tomorrow as there are some bonuses i want to clear and some software that i'm after. i might post a few pics of the trip if i can be bovved, usually my holiday snaps sit on my digital camera until i next go on holiday and am forced to save them or delete them!

anyhoo, will let you fishes crack on with work or play and i'm gonna check some email and see if i have any new facebook friends...doubtful!

my stag night

2008-01-11T00:41:00.000Z

since i devoted myself to my lovely fiancee and spunked sooo much money on her near flawless ring i've been wondering about whats gonna happen on my stag night. is it just gonna be beers with some mates, will there be a strip club (not overly bothered if i'm honest, infact preference is no). trouble is most of my mates who are now married have already done all this, some have even travelled to poland just to fire some guns (not at people in a sick hostel way but at targets in a well supervised environment!).

so basically what does that leave me then? well more of the same i guess until i found full house travel which looks like it could be the answer!

i need to get my best man on the case pronto and see if this could become a reality as not only will i have a wicked awesome time but i could also come home with some cash!

i paid star city's rent yesterday

2008-01-08T23:50:00.000Z

thats right, the little casino trip didn't go to plan. i went without any idea of what i was going to play and just donked around the slots, some random spinning wheel thing (not roulette!) and some other bingo game. well as you might have guessed i didn't win at any of the games, and i mean not once, nothing, zip, nadda. i didn't even manage to win a free spin on the slots. all the money just went in and that was it.

on a brighter note my fiancee cained the slots and managed to win back everything i lost. literally every machine she sat at dropped its first, second or third jackpot. just amazing really, she's pick a machine and it would win, i'd pick a machine and she'd sit at the one next to it and win, she'd pick a machine and i'd muscle her off it so she'd sit at the one next to it that i should have sat at and win! drove me crazy!

we do have a little tradition though where the winner on the day buys ice cream so i did end up with a free vanilla cone!

god i can't wait to get back to the tables though!

toyota racing development and golf

2008-01-07T09:00:00.000Z

i know what any winnings will go toward now! am currently in oz and saw a tv ad for toyota racing development or trd on the box. now i've worked in the motors industry before for another japanese firm and have never heard of trd. i did a little diggin and turns out its an oz exclusive arm of toyota producing high performance models based on learnings from their formula 1 and other racing teams.

now as a bit of a motors fan, and not that 6 litre v8 shise from the states but of tight, tuned high performance engines, i just had to check this car out. and you know what i think i've fallen in love with it! i'm thinking of moving to oz in the next 12 months and after a house this will be my 2nd purchase for sure.

sexy thing isn't it!

on the golfing front. well i'm not quite as good as i thought! shot a +46 first round, then +37 so was about $150 down. but played today and hit a respectable +27 vs my 36 handicap. my buddy played well below par as well hitting a +19 on his 14 handicap so i recouped most of my loses and am about break even. don't know if i'll get to play anymore while i'm here as am catching up with a few friends, hitting the beach and will also wander into the the casino here in sydney called star city. probably won't play any poker but might try my luck at some other table games. will let you know how that fairs!

2008 new years resolutions

2008-01-02T00:04:00.000Z

so here we are in 2008, and just like everyone else i'm going to be putting down a series of resolutions, goals or whatever you would like to call them to map my progress against where i would like to be at the end of the year.

2008 is going to be a big year for me and will hopefully form the foundation of some big things in 2009, i will post more on this in a post entitled 'taking a shot' later this month. therefore there will a number of study related goals as well as the obligatory 'increase the old bankroll'! i hope i can stick to what i outline below and i will be posting quarterly reviews/recaps on my progress as i really want the resolutions to be more then just a forgotten post.

so here goes;

1) play 4000+ plus cash hands per month

2) play at least one mtt or mt-sng with 100+ players a month

3) read at least one poker theory book a month, slanksy, malmuth et al. these will be no limit holdem books as thats my poker of choice. master one variant before trying another is what i say!

4) analyse my play and discuss with others. i want to know where i went wrong in every big pot i lost that went to showdown. feel free to get in touch if you would like to discuss anything.

5) be an active reader and contributor on the 2+2 forum. i'm setting myself a minimum of 1000 posts to achieve this

6) use tutoring tools and videos at sites such as cardrunners or stoxpoker to improve my play and decision making in difficult spots

7) have a bankroll of between $4000 - $8000 by the end of 2008. i don't care if this comes through winning poker, rakeback, bonuses or very welcome donations!

so there they are, 7 resolution/goals for 2008. i hope i can achieve them all, i will certainly be giving it a shot, and we will see where we stand in 366 days time (leap year!)

golf gambol

2007-12-29T03:46:00.000Z

well i'm here in sunny australia on a relaxing holiday but have still managed to find myself some action!

turns our some of my buddies here have turned into total golf nuts. we went down to the driving range yesterday and even though i have never really played golf before (i'm not counting crazy golf) but it seems i'm a bit of a natural! so like any good poker player i've decided to have a little wager away from the table and out on the fairway.

so i've managed to convince one guy to spot me 36 strokes, so a double bogey a hole while he'll plays off his handicap of 14. now given my performance at the driving range i think that i could probably go round in the high 90's to 100 giving me a serious edge. i'm going to combine that with a little stableford and i should be laughing.

we have agreed $5 a point and a $50 best score vs handicap wager and will be hitting the course shortly to settle things. i think this could be a nice little bank roll booster!

december results

2007-12-24T11:05:00.000Z

cash games

nlh25
2123 hands for +$60.90
5.74bb / 100

---
2007 finale +$21.71

so a good december in my opinion. i know i haven't set the world on fire with the dolla i have won but its a profit and am fairly happy with c. 6bb/100. if i can sustain that as i move up the levels then i will be chuffed.

there have been some rather dramatic swings as you can see above, some all ins that didn't go my way and others that did. i actually ran pretty much on expectation overall so i have made some bad decisions which i need to fix ready for 2008 and i plan to revisit all my showdown hands.

i did also want to post my last hand of 2007 (off on hols tomorrow) which i think is a great way to end the year

Poker Stars, $0.10/$0.25 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 9 Players

BTN: $40.30
SB: $30.50
BB: $4.95
UTG: $5.60
UTG+1: $14.30
UTG+2: $25.50
Hero (MP1): $20.55
MP2: $23.50
CO: $8.65

Pre-Flop: Q Q dealt to Hero (MP1)
UTG folds, UTG+1 calls $0.25, UTG+2 folds, Hero raises to $0.75, MP2 folds, CO calls $0.75, 2 folds, BB calls $0.50, UTG+1 raises to $2, Hero calls $1.25, CO calls $1.25, BB calls $1.25

Flop: ($8.10) Q A 6 (4 Players)
BB bets $2.95 and is All-In, UTG+1 raises to $5.90, Hero raises to $18.55 and is All-In, CO folds, UTG+1 calls $6.40 and is All-In

Turn: ($35.65) Q (3 Players - 1 is All-In)

River: ($35.65) 3 (3 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $35.65 Pot ($1.75 Rake)
BB mucked T 6 and LOST (-$4.95 NET)
UTG+1 showed K A (two pair, Aces and Queens) and LOST (-$14.30 NET)
Hero showed Q Q (four of a kind, Queens) and WON $33.90 (+$19.60 NET)

ship it!!

merry christmas everyone, hope santa brings you all pocket aces and i'll be back at the tables in the new year, although expect some new year goals to be posted shortly

christmas time, mistletoe and wine

2007-12-21T10:16:00.000Z

well the festive season is well and truly upon us now. for those of you that have real jobs (like me) and don't make a living playing poker then i think today is probably the last "official" day at work as christmas eve (monday) will be a joke.

i will be spending my last official day in the office mostly down the pub trying random festive english ales. so far i have had yule fuel, winter delight and santas helper. they all taste the same to me, i'm no connoisseur but they get me merry and thats the plan!

i'm thinking i'll be able to get one more cash session in before i head off for the sunnier climbs of sydney to see the other halves folks which should take me above 2000 cash game hands for the month. i'm pretty happy about that given time constraints. i'll post my december results on xmas eve to include that session.

other then that i just hope everyone has finished their christmas shopping and my cards are in the post. if anyone is overcome by the christmas spirit, a time for giving and sharing, and wants to give my bankroll a boost then drop me a line. every little helps!

simple really

2007-12-19T22:06:00.000Z

aarrgghh!!

fishy fishy fish hooks

2007-12-18T12:31:00.000Z

have just had my largest session ever in terms of hands for little old two tabling me. i don't think i could have had a colder deck. literally nothing, 8/3, 7/2, 10/3. nothing playable at all, i just grinded along for almost 3 hours stealing the blinds, woop woop, and folding about the only decent hand i got, below, although it was a beautiful laydown, holla!

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.25 BB (9 handed)

SB ($20.30)
BB ($24.65)
UTG ($15.80)
UTG+1 ($42.85)
MP1 ($4.90)
MP2 ($14.40)
MP3 ($16.10)
Hero ($24.25)
Button ($6.05)

Preflop: Hero is CO with Jc, Js.
1 fold, UTG+1 calls $0.25, MP1 calls $0.25, 1 fold, MP3 raises to $1, CO raises to $2, 3 folds, UTG+1 calls $1.75, MP1 calls $1.75, MP3 raises to $7.5, Hero folds, UTG+1 calls $5.50, MP1 calls $2.90 (All-In).

Flop: ($22.25) 3h, Qc, 8c (3 players, 1 all-in)
UTG+1 checks, MP3 bets $8.6 (All-In), UTG+1 folds.

Turn: ($22.25) 6c (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: ($22.25) Kc (2 players, 2 all-in)

Final Pot: $13.65

Results below:
MP1 has 9h Qh (one pair, queens).
MP3 has Kh Kd (three of a kind, kings).
Outcome: MP3 wins $30.85.

here's a little graph of december so far, not sure how much play i have left in me but i'll post my overall results on xmas eve or something. the sexy crash around hand 702 was thanks to my kings getting busted quattro times against ace rag. love it!

bad, bad, bad then good, but mostly bad!

2007-12-16T18:09:00.000Z

just had an awful session at the tables. i felt like i couldn't catch a break, had my kk busted 4 times, aces busted once and ak busted twice after flopping an ace or a king on a ragged board. most of it was thanks to some great 2 pair suck outs and of course just about every kk saw an ace hit on the river once we were all in.

but on the plus side i definitely felt like i learned a lot, is was a big session and for once wasn't scared of getting it all in when i thought i was ahead. i was gonna post some sick beats here but then this happened and although i won next to nothing and probably played the hand totally wrong (i was just in awe after the turn) at least i broke my duck...

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.25 BB (7 handed)

Hero ($24.85)
UTG ($24.75)
MP1 ($23.95)
MP2 ($5.75)
CO ($18.85)
Button ($14.75)
SB ($21.35)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 6c, 9c.
2 folds, MP2 calls $0.25, CO calls $0.25, Button calls $0.25, SB completes, Hero checks.

Flop: ($1.25) 7c, 8c, 8s (5 players)
SB checks, Hero checks, MP2 checks, CO checks, Button checks.

Turn: ($1.25) Tc (5 players)
SB checks, BB bets $0.5, MP2 folds, CO folds, Button calls $0.50, SB folds.

River: ($2.25) 3d (2 players)
BB bets $2, Button folds.

Final Pot: $2.25

Results in white below:
Hero has 6c 9c (straight flush, ten high).
Outcome: Hero wins $2.25.

continuation betting

2007-12-13T22:13:00.000Z

i have a dilemma. i'm finding more and more that my continuation bets are being put to the test. i could understand if i made this move on a regular basis but i don't which puzzles me even more.

now after a preflop raise in a late position and a flop that is checked to you a continuation bet, or follow through show of strength is a pretty standard play. there is a 67% chance that you will miss the flop so when you do, and especially when its a ragged flop, you would still expect to be ahead. so in goes the bet, and then all of a sudden you are check raised! wtf! what could this guy have, pocket pair? or is he just making a move? i find it extremely hard to judge where i stand and i was wondering what the consensus was on this?

to illustrate i have an example from tonight. what do you do? i called the re-raise and folded the turn. waste of money as i knew i would fold but...

1) what would you do in this situation on either the initial flop re-raise or the bet on the turn?

2) and what would you put him on?

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.25 BB (9 handed)

MP1 ($24.15)
MP2 ($24.05)
MP3 ($22.60)
CO ($21.80)
Hero ($24.40) Button
SB ($26.55)
BB ($35)
UTG ($5.50)
UTG+1 ($14.40)

Preflop: Hero is Button with As, Kc.
3 folds, MP2 calls $0.25, 2 folds, Button raises to $1.25, 1 fold, BB calls $1, MP2 calls $1.

Flop: ($3.85) 7h, Td, 5c (3 players)
BB checks, MP2 checks, Button bets $1.25, BB folds, MP2 raises to $3.25, Hero calls $2.

Turn: ($10.35) 4d (2 players)
MP2 bets $4.5, Hero folds.

Final Pot: $10.35

please, any feedback would be massively appreciated

goal update

2007-12-12T21:22:00.000Z

as promised here is a quick update on my goals. managed to bring the cash back to pretty much even but still need to play a stack of hands to get to the end. the challenge is taking longer than i would like mainly due to a crazy work schedule and xmas parties. need a bit of refocus and maybe a decent session this weekend

-----

the goals i have set myself is as follows;

nl25 9 handed ring games
single or double tabling only to ensure ability to learn from my and others play

1138 of 10,000 hands

$0.24 loss

sng 9 handed $5 + 50c

7 of 25

1st = 1
2nd = 0
3rd = 3

$11.00 profit

max $10 + $1 mtt with 100+ runners

0 of 10

final tables = 0
cashes = 0

more solid cash play

2007-12-11T21:06:00.000Z

had another session at the tables tonight. played solid poker again picking my spots and playing the table. i did catch some good cards and my one showdown saw me holding the nut full house but feel i'm reading the table well and most importantly playing my game.

one difference tonight was i picked aggressive tables with what turned out, a few maniacs! usually i try to avoid these tables as i find it very hard to gauge where i stand with mediocre cards even if in reality i'm ahead. however tonight with a little more concentration and the aid of the instant hand history i pegged most players and their potential ranges which made playing the hand post flop a little easier.

other then that not much to report, i was gonna bore you with the only hand i showed down but i won't...although it did rock! oh and i'm finally back in the black, not by much but it feels good to wipe out my fishy losses so i'll post a revised results position vs my earlier goals.

bit naughty but hey!

2007-12-10T12:20:00.000Z

so hit the cash tables again today, had planned to have a 2 hour or so session but that didn't go exactly to plan. after only a few hand this happened...

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.25 BB (8 handed)

UTG ($3.75)
UTG+1 ($24.05)
MP1 ($25.70)
MP2 ($20.70)
CO ($12.75)
Button ($24)
Hero ($24.75)
BB ($22.05)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 5d, 5s.
1 fold, UTG+1 calls $0.25, 3 folds, Button raises to $0.75, Hero calls $0.65, 1 fold, UTG+1 calls $0.50.

Flop: ($2.50) 5h, Tc, Js (3 players)
Hero checks, UTG+1 checks, Button bets $0.5, SB raises to $1.5, UTG+1 folds, Button raises to $5.25, SB raises to $10, Button raises to $28, Hero calls $13.25.

Turn: ($53.75) 8s (2 players)

River: ($53.75) Jc (2 players)

Final Pot: $53.75

Results below:
Button has Ah Ac (two pair, aces and jacks).
Hero has 5d 5s (full house, fives full of jacks).
Outcome: Hero wins $53.75.

so quite pleased with that little ditty! was also quite pleased with my flop re-reraise, the big factor for me here was judging the size of the bet that would bring on an all in re-re-reraise and it did exactly what it was supposed to. after that happened there was just a short prayer to the poker gods for no set over set and the money was mine.

so why was i naughty, well that happened after only 15 minutes and since i'm a little behind on my cash play recently i just couldn't resist the temptation to cash out while i was happily ahead so i did. i'll probably regret it in the morning as i restricted my learning and also probably my earning but once in a while its just nice to hit your objective after 20 mins and cash out and do something else...like top gear!

playing well

2007-12-08T23:00:00.000Z

so had me a little cash session tonight. am pretty pleased with my play at the moment. i may not have won a stack of cash but i certainly confused the table with my now standard tight loose passive aggressive image!

that aside i did play well and got my money in at the right times which i think was backed up by winning 71% of my hands that went to showdown. i feel this has been a weakness in my game recently in i seem to be calling with the worst of it. i've actually got a hand example below that i would love to get your thoughts on. i know i shouldn't have called the raise at the end especially with both straight and flush possibilities on the board but i couldn't believe i'd f*cked it up and had to see his cards.

please have a look and all comments are welcome, where did i go wrong? i think i should have played it faster especially with the smooth call on the flop, my turn bet should have been double what it was to push out the draw, but knowing the table i was on he would have called anyway regardless of my bet size!

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.25 BB (9 handed)

CO ($22.10)
Button ($22.15)
SB ($32.20)
BB ($15)
UTG ($14.70)
Hero ($24.10)
MP1 ($18.30)
MP2 ($14.05)
MP3 ($6.60)

Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with 6c, 6d.
UTG calls $0.25, Hero calls $0.25, MP1 calls $0.25, 4 folds, SB completes, BB checks.

Flop: ($1.25) Kh, 6h, 5s (5 players)
SB checks, BB checks, UTG checks, UTGB bets $0.75, MP1 calls $0.75, SB folds, BB calls $0.75, UTG folds.

Turn: ($3.50) 9s (3 players)
BB checks, UTGB bets $1.75, MP1 calls $1.75, BB folds.

River: ($7) 8h (2 players)
UTGB bets $1.5, MP1 raises to $4, Hero calls $2.50.

Final Pot: $15

Results below:
Hero has 6c 6d (three of a kind, sixes).
MP1 has Th Ah (flush, ace high).
Outcome: MP1 wins $15.

please let me know your thoughts, maybe we can all learn something.

review: dell xps m1330 notebook

2007-12-06T14:03:00.000Z

so my lappie has arrived and wanted to share my thoughts.

the first thing that strikes you when you open the box is the lovely dell laptop slip and a wonderful little leather organiser to keep all of your manuals and back-up disks. first thing i'm thinking is thats cool, the last laptop i bought came in a polythene bag!

opening up the slip and pulling out the m1330 you instantly see that dell has put a lot of thought into its flagship range and hasn't compromised on build quality. the shell is coated in beautiful matt black framed by brushed aluminium, and again when you open it up the brushed aluminum has continued through to wrap the keyboard and cover the palm rest.

pressing the on button sees the wafer thin screen light up which in incredibly bright. this is due to the way the screen is backlit using tiny leds as opposed to a long light tube at the base. to be honest i still can't get over the screen, the colours feel so vivid due to the brightness and its leaps and bounds ahead of my toshiba protege which i use for work. doesn't really make pokerstars look any better though, its still a naff 2d table, but at least its slightly brighter!

once booted up its pretty standard. its a vista machine, which i love, and it has all the bells and whistles you would expect. there is a tad to much dell software on there but i'll get round to uninstalling all that soon enough. i've ramped it up to have 4gb of ram and it is quick. i can easily multi table my 2 tables and play music at the same time! that was a joke people in case you weren't sure. i don't suppose i'll ever need 4gb for pokerstars software but its there just in case!

so in conclusion if anyone out there is looking for a new laptop i would thoroughly recommend the xps m1330 and the entire dell xps range. you get exceptional quality and power for what i feel is a reasonable price. plus the m1330 is under 2kg so easy to carry about if required. i've also upped my poundage at the gym so with bigger guns it should feel even lighter!

all i need to do now is cover the cost through poker! lol

rip chip reese

2007-12-04T23:11:00.000Z

david “chip” reese, born in dayton ohio in 1951, is dead. widely regarded as one of the best poker players in the world and the youngest player inducted into the poker hall of fame, he died in his sleep last night, reportedly of complications due to pneumonia.

reese won three world series of poker bracelets, including the inaugural $50,000 buy-in horse event at the 2006 world series of poker. he might have won more, but preferred big money, high-stakes cash games to tournament poker.

reese graduated from dartmouth college with a degree in economics and was accepted into stanford university law school. on his way out to california in 1974 reese stopped off in las vegas to play poker. after winning $60,000 he decided to skip law school and play poker for a living, and when asked about his decision, he uttered the now immortal line, “law doesn't have the same monetary incentive as poker."

you were a legend of the game and will be sorely missed. rip chip reese

big pimping!

2007-12-03T20:10:00.000Z

yes its time for some big pimping.

calling all fellow bloggers, i'm holding a link sale. thats right, for the rock bottom unbelieveable price of nothing i'm offering a link swap. all this could be yours if you just follow 2, yes just 2, simple steps.

1) leave a comment with your url for me
2) link me up on your blog

and thats it, i'll link you up the next time i log on. easy isn't it!

also, as if that wasn't enough, you can now subscribe to seymour cards by following the below link or clicking on the identical link under the networking tab. thats right every update at seymour cards delivered right to your rss feed free of charge. so don't delay, get subscribing!

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