Seems some idiot reckons that my readers are interested in six million of the same advert for various willy products. I going to take a wild stab in the dark and say that they're not.

I'm suppose I'll have sort out some sort of moderation/human check into comment posting, otherwise this is going to get (even more) ridiculous.

Oh, and I'm home now - still a bit ill though. I can't believe this cold has lasted 2 weeks! But, I've got three weeks now to do nothing but improve my game and my bankroll, so bring it on :)

... more.

So I'm playing a $1.20/45 on Stars, and I raise 5xBB in late position against one mid-position limper. All fold, except the limper, who calls.

Flop comes J99. Limper checks. All standard so far.

I push for about twice the pot. Probably unnecessary, but at such low limits I really feel like I need to restrict his calling range with a large bet, plus I'm pretty much committed on most decent sized bets.

Again, this is pretty standard so far. Sometimes I'll get called by a stupid straight draw, but mostly the limper will let go of his junk or low pair.

He calls with J9. Pants. I need running AA or running KK, with about a 0.6% chance. I suppose I can console myself by knowing that his call out of position with J9 was chimpish, even if they were sooted.

Does that count as a bad beat? I mean, I know that technically I was ridiculously behind when the money went in, but was I unluckily unlucky that the flop hit him so squarely in the nuts?

... more.

Even though I still feel horrible, I'm going to look after some kids on a residential holiday for 10 days.

Hopefully I'll get better while I'm there.. or spread my disease around enough that everyone can sympathise with me.

... more.

Another Sunday has passed, and another $1,178,600 was shared out amongst the top 825 players from the original 5893, with first place earning a sweet sweet $173,843.50

Looking at the list of runners and their finishing positions is interesting though. Big names didn't fare so well - JohnnyBax (4458), sheets (3265), shaniac (2241), previous winners Rizen (3745)and goldy18k (4778).

This is to be expected though, with a field of almost 6000 players, it will take a lot of luck to go deep. Especially since these players will be playing to win, so are more likely to bust early (or finish deep).

What is more interesting (and unexpected) however, is having a look at some of the top finishers stats on SharkScope. SharkScope is a searchable database of SNG results, and is worth using to check out your opponents when you get down to the final table.

Anyway.. the winner of the million tourney was DeuxExMachin. He has played 19 S... more.

Bleurgh. Went away camping over the weekend, and have come back with a horrible cold. And a weird lump thing in my shoulder that needs looking at.

I'm away again between 17th-27th, so I can't imagine there'll be much in the way of poker between now and September. Which is a pain in the arse, since I really feel like I'm on good form now, and I need to grow my bankroll above the measley $70 or so it is now.

I came across this guide to winning poker online and "dominating" and "crushing" large field MTTs. While the guy has had decent results, I don't like the way that he suggests there is a simple "system" for winning.

It trivialises the game, and makes it look like anyone can make thousands of dollars. Surely the "system" is just to get good at poker? Not follow some cheat sheet strategy guide. Plus, he charges $127 for it, which is waaay more than any decent books on poker are - Harrington's aren't even nearly that price. <... more.

Heh. I enjoyed this. Sat down today to play some cash games - since I don't really have enough consecutive time to play SNGs recently - and was dealt AA first hand.

View hand in the re-player. Yes I know it's only $0.01/$0.02, but still - if I keep having hands like this, I'll be able to move up in no time :)

I hung around to take some more of this plank's money before he left. I really expected him to call my shove, seeing as he was getting very close to 3-1. Still.. he obviously wasn't thinking about odds up to that point, so why should he start now?

Some of the players at these lowest of the low limits are truly stupendously awful. I suppose they are playing for peanuts though, so I can't expect to encounter any serious skill. I'm finding the PokerStars 6 seat tables much easier than the 10 seaters on Paradise, s... more.

So we all know that PokerXFactor is great, and it offers some wonderful functionality, but wow is it expensive. $150 sign up fee (??), then a monthly $25 subscription.. To be fair, the fees for this go to the experts running the site, and is probably a fair price to pay for their advice (Still not sure about the sign up fee though!).

I wanted a lightweight replayer so I could share hands with friends quickly. PokerHand allows you to enter your hands, but does little formatting and, in all honesty, isn't very nice to look at and doesn't animate.

Now I'm not saying that my replayer is beautiful, but it does at least animate, and it's free. BUT:

• This is an early version, so it might not work!
• The graphics are mediocre. If someone wants to make them nicer, please contact me for details.
• It only works on PokerStars hand ... more.
  

Poker = gambling = debt

As I mentioned in my last post, I have some friends and family that think poker is like heroin - starts off great but soon you're addicted and up to your eyeballs in debt.

Of course, we all know it isn't like that. There are countless arguments on the web, all trying desperately to decide whether everyone should join the gambler's anonymous or not. This is my take on it all.

Poker = gambling

"Gambling is any behavior involving risking money or valuables on the outcome of a game, contest, or other event in which the outcome of that activity depends partially or totally upon chance or upon one's ability to do something." (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gambling)

So technically, poker counts as gambling. Assuming of course, that tournament chips have some value. Tournament chips don't have monetary value - only your finishing position does. But, given that (generally) more chips means a... more.

Poker has nothing to do with money. A very true statement.

As soon as you start considering your chips as actual money, you begin to worry about losing them. Once you're scared, you cannot play good poker, and so your results suffer.

This is why it's so important to play within your means, so that you can easily accept the odd loss and occasional downswing in results without it affecting your overall play.

I have a few friends and family that struggle to accept that poker can be managed and milked as a source of income. Part of that difficulty comes from the (misconceived) notion that whenever I'm playing, I always stand to lose all my money.

Of course, this isn't true. I (very) rarely risk more than 5% of my bankroll at any one time, and although I have had to endure a couple of downswings, I've never been in jeopardy of going broke, and I'm never too worried a... more.

I've seen Tony G play before, as I'm sure most of us have. I've seen him berate and belittle his opponents, and generally abuse them into playing badly.

While using verbal at the table can be a legitimate weapon to add to your arsenal, I think Tony takes it too far. Players in major events aren't allowed to swear at the table without suffering a rail-penalty. Why aren't they allowed to? Because it lowers the tone of the game. So why should Tony be allowed to do this?

Pokerschool by Tony G at 50outs

The answer is, he shouldn't. Where is the line drawn between table talk and ungentlemanly conduct?

... more.

July was my STT month since i've not seriously played them in a long time.
so here goes:

Monthly Stats	MTT buyins	MTT winnings	avg finish %	Profit	STT buyins	STT winnings	ROI%	HU buyins	ROI%	STT&HU profit	Overall Tourny Profit
July	$45.60	$77.68	41.90%	$32.08	$1,012.30	$1,169.00	15.48%	$141.75	5.82%	$164.95	$197.03

i'm pretty damn happy with my profit given this was my first month of them. i expect next month to be much better as i refine my tactics :) my mtt's have suffered a rare profit too, a few choice placings in the Punters Lounge league games kept my head above water. Look forward to next... more.

I played my 61st and last $1.20/45 of July yesterday, and came 6th. My stats for the month are shown below (looking as tidy as I can make them!). Lots of 2nd places, and only one 1st. I think I was bad lucked out of at least 2 wins though.. grumble..

	Payouts	Finish %		Stats
1st	$14.00	1.64	Total entries	$73.20
2nd	$10.00	9.84	Total prizes	$116.00
3rd	$7.00	3.28	Total profit	$42.80
4th	$5.00	0	Total ROI %	58.47
5th	$4.00	6.56		
6th	$3.00	3.28	Total hours	74.08
7th	$2.00	4.92	$/hour	        $0.58
8th	$0.00	1.64	Total tournies	61
9th	$0.00	1.64	$/tourney	$0.70
10th	$0.00	4.92		
			ITM %	        29.51
			FT%	        32.79
			Avg finish	14.05

I like my ROI a lot, as I've been checking out some STTer's stats recently, and they all seem to be much lower. That's probably due to the flatter payout structure of STTs of course, but I don't think I could hack an ROI of 20-30%. It becomes more of a grind with lower payouts, since you have to play more (or at higher stakes) to... more.