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My name is VBlue and I'm a Pokerholic.

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VBlue:
As it"s Online National League day, I thought I"d bump this to see if I can get any love at all.

I will catch up on the other bloggers next week.

VBlue:
An alternative view on last month"s and an eye on more live poker:

Watching While Others Win

Snoopy, Black Belt Poker"s roving (rover?) reporter delivered a fantastic series of live blogs from the WSOP over the last month or so. I have been taking my iPhone to the bog in the morning and ceremoniously checking out the updated exploits of the BBP team. The Main Event has been particularly enjoyable.

I also got to watch Sam Razavi"s Final Table appearance, after enduring about six weeks of the high rollers event, on the TV coverage of the Aussie Millions. It was worth the wait...(for those who haven"t seen the "coverage" all I can say is the UKIPT Cork event should be a little more entertaining).

Then I found myself tracking Werrrrd and Mike Shaw in the UKIPT Brighton updates online this weekend. I also followed Werrrrd"s tweets, which was fun. I can highly recommend the Werrrrd translator for anyone who struggles with the lingo. In fact, thinking about it (and I don"t know Mr Drew other than through his online persona) is he not absolutely made for Twitter? I mean, 90 characters should do him for most of his talking day right? (Please someone who does know Tom back me up here as I fear I may be taking the piss without the appropriate license).

I"ve also noted the amazing value that BBP offered to those who played the BBP London Live II event, with a Vegas freeroll for all attendeees. The WSOP Warrior Master League saw another, Hasmukh Khodiyara, and Mega Satellites more, in fact Greg Moore - who made $50k+ profit and bagged a return seat next year due with further thanks to the BBP value range (not to be compared to Tesco"s or other inferior value ranges).

I also keep my eye on the BBP boards and Carey Hollick, surely her middle name should be poker, by all accounts seems to always do well at the sats.

So, all of this got me back to thinking about my last blog post, about whether I really care about playing bigger events or what goes on away from my own small-stakes online activity. There has been some discussion on the boards of late about the strength of fields at the bigger MTTs and I"m starting to wonder if I could mix it. I"m also well aware that some bad players run good at these events and go deep and you have to be in it to have a chance of the run (no reference to any of the aforementioned BBP guys;)

I also miss out on a lot of local live events, where I reckon, without any deep thought on the matter, that I have an edge and am probably better than at least half the field and no worse than hardly anyone there.

So, I think when I have got another 6 months under my belt and ploughed through some DC videos, got some more online MTTs under my belt and if I can keep on improving then I"m going to try and get myself into some live poker next year. Of course, the BBP badge seems to be some sort of charm at the moment and I hope to get a little bit of good fortune to help me.

On DC videos, I have just taken up MTT Principles with daaaaaang16. I just hope the series picks up after #1 and #2. It is not so much the content, more the delivery. He confesses to being new to presenting videos, but he seems under prepared and spends a lot of time pausing and swallowing a rising beltch. His tone is pretty dreary too. Poor when compared to some Dojos I have attended online and I would be personally pretty embarrased if I had put these first two out myself.

It looks like Latoya Flewellen has got a good thing going with regards to sweat sessions and some other stuff she has thought out for the BBP community members. I have been previously involved with some attempts to get some things going along these lines with some success and some difficulties too. Latoya has really got hold of this by the scruff of the neck and her contact with the BBP community so far has been excellent. This has definitely got legs and is another great opportunity to better your game. I will be fully onboard and getting involved with this wherever I can.

To get away from poker for a short minute, The Piranah and I found out that our baby will be a boy, so obviously I am looking for Everton babygros and am already planning all sorts in my head. I want to impart all my knowledge and worldly wisdom (stop smirking) and really want to teach my lad all I can and give him the best grounding and foundation to build his own life. I love getting involed in anything my step-daughter is learning about. I was thinking of some basic maths the other day: "you have a flush draw on the turn and your opponent has lead for a three-quarter pot bet into 400. Calculate your pot odds, and your EV should you call and get him to call a pot-sized bet should you hit on the river".

To close, we have been discussing names, paging through baby name websites. We are looking for something different. I have Spanish parentage and we are drawn to Spanish first names; had it been a girl we had some really nice ones picked out which had some other meanings that hit with what we wanted. The boys names I"m not so enamoured with on the whole. We are going with The Piranah"s Father"s name for the middle name - John. Roscoe is leading the day for the first name. Please let me know if you think this sounds good or whether our son will grow up hating us for saddling him with this monicker for life. I"m already aware of the The Dukes of Hazard reference.

VBlue:
Back to Blackboard

Some people advocate just putting practical time in at the tables over time spent pouring over strategy articles, forums, hand posting, and training videos. I think I work better when I take a methodical approach to advancing my knowledge and understanding of the game and then consider its practical application and add one buidling block at a time.

A few people, myself included, have used the Black Belt Poker fourm to share their frustrations of either playing bad, running bad, or a bit of both. Some have confessed to putting in hours upon hours of time working on their game and having nothing to show for their efforts by way of an inflated bankroll or financial withdrawls. I certainly had a frustrating time when playing 1300 single-table tournaments since last Summer, with not a single dollar to show as a profit.

Firstly, I think that one area that poker players really need to learn and understand is the variance associated with the games that they play. Learn and accept that as part of the game and you will play with a clearer mind that if you are playing a winning strategy, you will come good. I think it"s also very important to have some realistic expectations, without setting financial goals, in poker. If you expect, because you have won say $100 over 30 $5 STTs to make $3,000 over 1000 games then you need to think again.

Also, I think it is important to think about the type of poker you play and whether or not you have the ability to live with the variance that that particular game-type and format delivers. 6-max cash or full-ring cash? PLO vs NLH vs FLH. Turbo STTs, 180-mans, DoNs, or MTTs. There are lots of options and it pays to spend some time understanding why one may suit you over another. Also, if you only have one or two sessions per week and play only one table, do not expect to make much money at micro-cash, for example.

For me, I played STTs for a few reasons. I wanted to reach and attain Orange belt level on the Black Belt Poker rewards system and felt this would be achievable multi-tabling in the time I had made available for poker each week, but only if I played the turbos, rather than the standard format. I also felt comfortable with the structure as I was working on my ICM game and wanted to get to this stage of the tournament more quickly where I felt my edge would be.

I switched to MTTs afterwards, as I had started to learn how the variance worked and realised I would really need to be playing a much larger volume of STTs than I could now commit too and could not live with putting in another 6-12 month period with the potential to make little or no money. If I have the time to play somewhere nearer 500 games per month than I might return to them.

With MTTs I"ve found that, at the lower-stakes, I have started to spin up a nice bankroll and observing the play of my average opponent in these games, feel that I can sustain a pretty high ROI and actually see some money in the bank.

So now you have considered variance and found a game that can deliver you some considered and realistic expectations, what about developing your game? Well, as I alluded to earlier, I firmly believe in a careful and methodical approach.

I think some players, as I certainly have, may suffer from trying to swim in the ocean of poker knowledge that exists out there, rather than firstly putting on your armbands and getting in the learners" pool. I have been watching some Deuces Cracked videos. It is not just about listening to the ideas and watching the hand examples. It"s also about really understanding when to apply that knowledge, and when not to. What are the nuances to look out for that signal now is the time to pull that particular move? What will you do when something from left-field comes at you that was not covered in the classroom representation you have been shown? I have watched each video twice, going back to take some personal notes and find that this is when the new information really starts to click into place.

Like all good theory it is not an answer in itself and this is where the advocates for learning by putting it into practice comes into the equation for me. Now it is time to start to adopt your new knowledge and to allow the teachings to influence your in-game decisions; little by little. If you are playing MTTs, like I am, perhaps you might want to begin by looking at whether you"re always c-betting when you should and considering all the various factors that the board, pre-flop action, position, stack sizes, and opponent reads can throw into the mix and influence that choice. Maybe you want to learn how to use a Heads-up Display like Hold'em Manager or Poker Tracker. Or you may want to get into calculating equity and utilising pokerstove. Whatever area you choose to work on, focus on that area alone.

I am certainly not afraid to strip my game bare and never over-estimate my ability in any one area. OK, I think my ICM game and short-stacked game is pretty good from having played a good volumes of STTs, but it could improve. I think my pre-flop hand selection is good, but I definitely don"t play optimally pre-flop. Be honest about your game and it"s weaknesses.

When adopting new strategies also ensure that you are not getting ahead of yourself by building a complex game strategy where a more simpler approach will be more effective. No point in adopting level four thinking when you are playing someone who only understands level one or two thinking. As Nik Persaud tells us in his excellent Fundamental Theorem of Poker lecture series on Black Belt Poker, always play at one level above your opponent.

The other learning material I have been educating myself with has been Nik"s lecture series. I take a highlighter, read and re-read the section that I struggle with first time round (some of the maths takes me two or three reads) and then I take my own notes to refer back to. Again, I"m prepared to put in the time and effort to properly understand each concept and not just read it once and claim to have been elightened as to a new way to win at poker.

Currently, my biggest driver has been my self-motivation. I think that this brings everything together for me. I know what I want, I have a fair idea of what I need to do to get it, and I make a committed decision to do just that. I also make sure that I keep a balance and ensure that there is time for other important achievements.

I have just returned to learning Spanish, so have a couple of sessions per week teaching myself something which I should have done long ago, being of Spanish descent. I am also ensuring I have time for some physical exercise after too many years being mostly inactive. The nursery and other home improvements have taken up a fair amount of time too and the expenditure has been one of the motivating factors behind my focus on improving my poker game and delivering some returns. Having a new addition to the family less than four months away certainly has provoked me into taking action.

Good luck to anyone who continues to work for their goals. Just remember also that the road to success is littered with failure. As long as you remain committed to the end result, but flexible in your approach to achieve it, and learn from the mistakes you make on the way, then all of us can get what we want from this game of poker and life.

To finish with this month, I am very excited to announce a partnership between Black Belt Poker and Northern Poker Stars of West Cumbria. I have worked with the private members" poker club for several years in a number of areas inculding, hosting live tournaments, promoting events, running their Facebook page and delivering web content. I first contacted Neil Channing when he was at the Aussie Millions 2010 to tell him about Northern Poker Stars. I wasn"t sure at this stage what I wanted from him, but Neil assured me to be patient as there would be something of interest to us in the future.

I contacted Neil again some months later and then waited until after the Aussie Millions 2011, and the appointment of Chris Edwards to make progress towards a deal. I convinced NPS owner, Ken Johston, that Black Belt were the coolest kids on the block and some eighteen months later we have agreed a partnership for BBP to not only host our online games, but also to bring some very exclusive live events to the poker players of Cumbria. We have some strong players who have had some decent live tournament results at DTD, UKIPT, GUKPTs, etc.

I have endured a lot of criticism, obstacles, and much worse in my endeavours to bring legalised poker tournaments to various locations within my local area. Northern Poker Stars have continued to enjoy increasing success in the West of Cumbria and in Carlisle, culmintating, this July, in our largest, and Cumbria"s only ever five-figure, prize pool (our nearest casinos are in Tyneside or Lancashire).

I now believe that all the hardwork and knocks have been worth taking and I look forward to being at the forefront of continuing to bring the best in live and online poker to our local players.

duke3016:
Very well done on the organising front - nice one, hope you are getting the recognition for that.....

VBlue:
Winkers

I"ve been left wondering if there"s much to blog about over the last couple of months, as I"m only playing the odd bit of online poker, with a single trip to the pub for a game which never really happened.

As I"ve been involved in the local pub poker scene for several years now, I often get asked to come to games as I know a lot of players locally who may have interest and I have plenty of tables, chips, cards, etc. I"ve just realised whilst typing that not once have I mentioned my enigmatic personality and searing wit as any reason for the invite! I haven"t got out to a local game for a while due to working unsociable hours and preferring to spend my poker playing time online, with much better rewards on offer. I ended up taking longer to get my equipment to the pub, setting up the game, blind structure, and rallying players, only to find six of us sitting down for a £5 game. Of course, 99 v QQ was no good and shoving AKs into Aces ensured an early return home.

Online, I have been continuing to hit the MTT tables and I am continuing to have next to no luck. The most interesting of these games was my local poker clubs fortnightly online league game. The numbers are only usually around 15 each time, but we think we will improve this next year with some league changes, an adjustment to the format, lower buy-in, and some added prizes for those playing the league. We also think we have a formula which means players will keep playing right throughout the entire season, or at least most of it.

The first hand, which caused some controversy and about half-an-hour of debate following, saw me pick up AQs and open with a call behind and a 3-bet from the blinds. I had been reasonably aggressive at this point. I elected to flat call.

The flop brought me the flush draw and two overcards and I raised the lead from the blinds to be set all-in, after the player behind me folded, for about 2:1. I reckon I have 12 outs, so call. I took some extended berating for some time afterwards when I made the best hand, but not from my opponent. I then continued to cultivate an aggressive image and my main tormentor took to further berating when I had the cheek to call with A7 blind on blind and check-call the A high board vs air. I did play one hand poorly on the river, further justifying my tormentor as he filled up on the river and I raised when a call was the only play. The fact that I then got him to put it in from the BB with JT vs my utg Aces seemed lost, and when he made a straight on the turn card I "got what I deserved for going after him and variance will bite me on the ass if I continually target his blinds and he decides to with a hand."

Now the real dilemna is whether I send him a link to this blog. If he wasn"t 6"4", of "brick ****house" build, and my boss at our local poker club... The text the next morning asking if I had got over it and further comments on our website results page have obviously helped me to swallow seeing another potential MTT score slip away when I got it in with the best of it. (PS - I"m no longer using smileys so it"s up to the reader, including the boss, to detect any levels of sarcasm, or tongue-in-cheek remarks).

The game I have been most excited about playing regularly is a team game for which I put myself forward as captain at the start of 2011. This has involved recuruting players each and every Round, hijacking them in the chatbox on Facebook, posting private meesages and wall posts, and generally hounding them down to register for the game.

My team closed in on the top spot last time out with a win and 3 points. I had missed two rounds previously. I had become frustrated with some poor administration from the poker room they use and a later start time of 9pm had given me enough time to get a bit tilted from a previous game and I decided not to play. The following week, a long ten day work schedule had left me on empty by the Sunday and team numbers had dropped right off. The following week I had a word with myself and bounced back as team captain and got a team together with an impassioned rallying cry and they rewarded me well.

A single win last night could have put us level with top spot, dependant on other teams final places. I got off to my usual steady start. I seem to get a lot of respect in these games and don"t get played back at too much. I ended up denting my stack with TT v QQ. After some aggression I then ran AKs into Aces and that left me concentrating on a good start to my other Sunday night regular game - the $4k GP on ipoker. Our team of eight posted four top 18 finishes, where the points are on offer, and we ended up finishing 2nd place. A team from north of the border opened up another one point gap above us and we remain three adrift of them, two behind 2nd place, and a single point behind two others in 3rd.

The $4k usually pulls about 800 players and I run like a one-legged pigeon in this game usually. I have a single min-cash to console myself with thus far, after playing these for the last few months on and off. Last night I found QQ utg and got an insta-shove and flat-call behind so got my chips and had the best part of a treble-up against AK and 66. Top 30 in the first couple of levels.

The rest of the tournament went fairly smoothly. 3-bets were getting through. Flop c-bets were getting it done. I had QQ twice more, but got no action. So I just chipped up steadily and stayed above the average at the first two breaks.

I then lost with 77 v AT, but good aggression got my stack moving again and Aces beat 77 to get me back above avg. I then dropped my stack to 13 bbs with A8 losing to 77. Ultimately, I ended up losing with AJ v A7 and returned $12.03 with a finish around 70th.

Our partnership with Black Belt Poker is now starting to deliver some really exciting benefits for both of us and we have just recently agreed to bring a very special event to our players in Cumbria in February 2012.

Neil Channing will be hosting, what I believe to be the very first, Black Belt Academy outside of The Vic, London. The terms we negotiated with Chris Edwards have been very fair and I continue to speak so highly of all at BBP as the evidence keeps on presenting itself. We will follow in the afternoon with our monthly £25/£25 double chance tournament , with Neil staying on to play and add some value for our Orange belt players. We hope to see a massive turnout for both.

After at least 12 months of job searching, an opportunity has fallen into my lap. The bookies I work for has been purchased by Gala Coral. I will work for Coral Racing, my day-to-day job being largely unchanged, but the terms and conditions have improved considerably. Did someone say that Coral are sponsoring Late Night Poker now? There really should be a wink following that last sentence.

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