Author Topic: Aces and Agony - An APAT'ers blog of the highs and lows of poker ( and life!)  (Read 109615 times)

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amcgrath1uk

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Try playing a bit more? I would assume (after playing in vegas together a bit) that you kind of blinded away a bit?

Perhaps putting yourself in a position to win more pots would help?


It is pretty much what I thought, but it is tough to get yourself out of the mentality...
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amcgrath1uk

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Having a minor break from poker at the moment. No specific reason apart from being busy with other things.

For those that don"t know, Mon-Fri I look after my brothers place while he works down south, which means I don"t get chance to play during the week even when I"m off work. It means I can generally play live every other weekend, however being busy this weekend and in 2 weeks time means a break which is good I think.

Yesterday I played golf for the first time ever. The occasion is a memorial for family members we have lost. There are 3 main prizes. Overall winner after handicap, nearest to the pin on hole 3, and longest drive on hole 12.

The course we played at is called Castle Hawk in Rochdale, and is basically an 18 hole course, all par 3"s barring one par 4 ( hole 12). In my group of 5 players, I teed off 3rd, and obviously, there are quite a few watching at the first. Now, I know nothing about golf, and the 1st is 120yd hole, and downhill. From the half bag, I have a choice of 3, 4, 6 iron or sand wedge. Choose the 6 iron ( some take woods) and connect damn well. It lands, well, about 50 yards past the hole! End up shooting a 6, as I do exactly on average over the 1st 9 holes, some 5s some 7s. I get nowhere near the pin on hole 3, and on hole 11,I managed to take a 9! So step up on hole 12 last, there have been a couple of huge drives but off the fairway. I step up just as the last group of us catches us up, so there"s about 12 people in total watching. Somehow I manage to smoke one, and on a 255yd hole, it lands just 20yds short of the green. So I do end up winning something!

The best rounds after handicap were 66"s, I shoot 113, or 85 nett which I"ll be honest, I"m very happy with that!

Tonight is the closing ceremony of the Olympics, I"ve watched as much as I could, enjoyed every minute of it, and cannot wait to see the end. Hate to see it finish but loved the show that we have put on!
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amcgrath1uk

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Ch....Ch....... Changes


Long post alert

I"ve always been absolutely mad on sports. As in, I"d play whatever, whenever I can. Football, cricket and rugby league  were the main 3 I"ve played, however I"ve dabbled at athletics ( several events), basketball, hockey to name but a few.

Sports were what I looked forward to, daily, weekly, monthly, as a youngster and certainly into my late teens, it pretty much drove my life. I could play sports all day without getting too tired, I wasn"t the biggest fan of running but, certainly with football, I could read the game from a very early age, meaning I always seemed to be in the right position at the right time. I guess this is why, at a very early age (8ish) I was put in at centre back for my primary school as the non-marking one. Still remember lots of the results from my first 2 proper seasons of football at primary school. Even in slightly smaller nets on 80% size pitches, we destroyed pretty much every team we  played. We only lost 2 games in 2 years, one a severly snow affected game and another in the QF"s of the Greater Manchester Cup, losing in a highly controversional match.

Several of the players in my team also played club football, I was invited, made the team straight away as well as being made captain. 6 of us from primary school played for the club side, again we were fairly successful, generally finishing top 3 without ever winning the league or cup ( there was one outstanding side who were basically impossible to beat). After a few seasons, getting to 13/14 some were being picked up by the local professional clubs. In one such game, I received my only outfield serious injury, fracturing my patella ( knee for those who don"t know). As there was no pain, and not much could be done to help repair it, I was playing again in 6 weeks.... SILLY eh?

I was fairly sensible, started playing in goal for my school side ( at high school we were a rugby league school) and seemed to do ok. Until I was in my late 20s, it"s where I played. I seemed to be a flair keeper, making amazing saves, making amazing cock ups.

The big point of all this is..... I"ve always had a huge metabolism, and masses of energy, so ate what I wanted when I wanted. As over the last few years, my job has become less physically demanding and I really don"t find time to do anything remotely tough in terms of a workout, I now find myself the least fit I"ve ever been and my belly is growing in size. I intend to do something about it. I"m not going to set myself lofty goals ( ie London Marathon although I"ve always wanted to do it), I"m going to start off realistic and just initially get started with exercise again. My long term goal will be to raise a sh*t load of money for the MacMillan nurses, who helped my family so much when my dad initially got cancer, and then as he deteriorated until he passed away. It was a long time ago now, but their support was exceptional ( even though I"m probably only realising this now).

Being a poker player ( recreationally) definitely doesn"t help this, but I am finding myself playing less and less apart from APAT events, and have pulled back my online play to minimum levels compared to what I have done in the past, so the balance is probably coming back in my life allowing myself more free time to do so. Doing shift work definitely doesn"t help, but I"ll just have to plan better!

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amcgrath1uk

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Re: Aces and Agony - An APAT'ers blog of the highs and lows of poker ( and life!)
« Reply #93 on: September 08, 2012, 14:24:02 PM »
Not much to report recently. Only played twice live in the last month, last night flopped 2 pair twice and lost quite simple really. Had a 6th in a Weds night a couple of weeks ago for a min cash, playing ok without playing particularly well.

Started to get to grips with what I"m playing on stars now, still $11 or lower tournies, with some 180s thrown in. Playing lots of 8 game and Horse tournies as I seem to go ok in them.

Had a 2nd in a $8 8game, and a 3rd in a $4.50 180er, and a 20th in an $11mtt which was a good, but frustrating result.

Coming up, looking forward to the Chezger home game, see if I can repeat or improve on my cash last time. Also not too far off Glasgow now, which I"m well looking forward to, as I missed Cork and DtD I"m looking forward to spending time with quality people again!
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Laxie

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Re: Aces and Agony - An APAT'ers blog of the highs and lows of poker ( and life!)
« Reply #94 on: September 09, 2012, 10:26:04 AM »
Ger says I"m not allowed to cook this time.  I"m screwed if I"m made sit at the table to actually play poker, so you"re sure to do better.   :D

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Re: Aces and Agony - An APAT'ers blog of the highs and lows of poker ( and life!)
« Reply #95 on: September 09, 2012, 14:30:44 PM »

Ger says I"m not allowed to cook this time.  I"m screwed if I"m made sit at the table to actually play poker, so you"re sure to do better.   :D


Feck that.

The best part of the last Chezger game was the trip around ASDA Queensferry!

Need I say more?
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amcgrath1uk

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Re: Aces and Agony - An APAT'ers blog of the highs and lows of poker ( and life!)
« Reply #96 on: September 09, 2012, 19:09:11 PM »


Ger says I"m not allowed to cook this time.  I"m screwed if I"m made sit at the table to actually play poker, so you"re sure to do better.   :D


Feck that.

The best part of the last Chezger game was the trip around ASDA Queensferry!

Need I say more?


Feck that indeed, it"s gonna be a long night so food is a definite!!!
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Laxie

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Re: Aces and Agony - An APAT'ers blog of the highs and lows of poker ( and life!)
« Reply #97 on: September 09, 2012, 20:41:24 PM »



Ger says I"m not allowed to cook this time.  I"m screwed if I"m made sit at the table to actually play poker, so you"re sure to do better.   :D


Feck that.

The best part of the last Chezger game was the trip around ASDA Queensferry!

Need I say more?


Feck that indeed, it"s gonna be a long night so food is a definite!!!


That trip around ASDA was, errrrm...memorable.  And for the record - I was SOBER at the time!  lol  

Picture two very large mean looking biker dudes covered in tattoos.  We sure can pick "em.  Obviously Joobs chatted these guys up whilst Adam, JonMW and myself stood looking on.  Not sure how it came about, but I called one of them a Queen followed quickly by some version of a fumbled apology for fear they"d kick my arse.  Instead of getting crushed, the other one leaned in to me and whispered with a wink and a grin, "You"re right...he is."  Now I reckon I"m safe, can"t help coming out with..."Phew.  Thank god.  Was worried my gaydar was broke."  

Really shouldn"t be left out unsupervised.   :D

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Re: Aces and Agony - An APAT'ers blog of the highs and lows of poker ( and life!)
« Reply #98 on: September 09, 2012, 21:56:41 PM »
You called "em both Tattoo Queens. Then tried to backtrack and call them Tattoo Kings instead.

Then the bigger one said to Joobs "she was right the first time..."
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Laxie

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Re: Aces and Agony - An APAT'ers blog of the highs and lows of poker ( and life!)
« Reply #99 on: September 10, 2012, 09:03:39 AM »

You called "em both Tattoo Queens. Then tried to backtrack and call them Tattoo Kings instead.

Then the bigger one said to Joobs "she was right the first time..."


Ah yeah, forgot I had managed to include both of them.  If you"re gonna do it, do it right...

amcgrath1uk

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Re: Aces and Agony - An APAT'ers blog of the highs and lows of poker ( and life!)
« Reply #100 on: September 18, 2012, 13:25:54 PM »
Not huge amounts to catch up on. Not had the chance to play live at all, so everything has been online.

Playing the 180s on stars generally with some small mtt"s when I fancy it.  No major ups or downswings, just a small downswing at the mo.

Managed to bink another 3rd in the Irish online Omaha, despite having very little experience of the game :) Being dealt AAxx several times definitely helped, and lost the majority of my chips 3way with QQxx vs AAxx.

The less said about the ME the better, always card dead, never really above starting stack. 3 bet with AK and get a call, and we get it in on an AJ8 flop.. he had A8 sigh ( called 30% of his stack pre with it)

This weekend sees a trip to Chezger for my 2nd home game at Ger"s. Min cashed last time, this time the tables look tougher and with 36 of us, it"s gonna be a long one! Nice easy table draw for me. Raising into Ger, Mike B, Lax and Adam, and have Andy K and JP to my immediate right. JOY! So looking forward to it though!

Glasgow is not too far off either, all booked and sorted, travelling most of the way up with Rodders which is a huge bonus and should cut into the tedium!

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amcgrath1uk

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Re: Aces and Agony - An APAT'ers blog of the highs and lows of poker ( and life!)
« Reply #101 on: September 19, 2012, 01:07:56 AM »
Wiiiii

Finally managed a semi-decent result, and if I"d run a bit better 4 handed, I think I"d have had a slightly better result.

Hand 1

Blinds 8k/16k, shorty shoves for ~150k, I auto call in the blinds with QQ, he has AJ... 1st card A

Hand 2

We"re 3 way, CL shoves on my bb, I have KJ and it"s an auto call, delighted to see he has K8, flop K 9 7 which I"m happy with, can"t remember turn, 8 river :(

Still over $500 from an $11 tourny I"m pretty happy with, especially going onto the FT 8/9, definitely think I got tons of respect for my raises and 3bets which is always nice to see. Sets me up nicely coming into the weekend :)
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duke3016

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Re: Aces and Agony - An APAT'ers blog of the highs and lows of poker ( and life!)
« Reply #102 on: September 19, 2012, 11:33:45 AM »

definitely think I got tons of respect for my raises and 3bets which is always nice to see. Sets me up nicely coming into the weekend :)


Ya think  ;D

amcgrath1uk

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Re: Aces and Agony - An APAT'ers blog of the highs and lows of poker ( and life!)
« Reply #103 on: September 26, 2012, 14:31:05 PM »


definitely think I got tons of respect for my raises and 3bets which is always nice to see. Sets me up nicely coming into the weekend :)


Ya think  ;D


You were saying  :P

The inevitable downer after an epic weekend hit hard on Sunday night, and was exacerbated by a couple of tough days at work Monday and Tuesday ( which was supposed to be a day off), all meant I got out of bed at midday today  ;D

Travel was ok to Chester, no issues at all, met up with the gang as they were finishing off food and then it was off to Ger"s, for an hour of socialising before the game started. One of the most important things for me in playing poker ( certainly in my case playing weekends away), is the socialising with everyone before, during and after the poker. It was fantastic to catch up with people after missing the last 2 live APATs.

The table was fun, had JP and Andy K to my right, with JP raising my bb mercilessly.

Managed to start off ok, pocket 4"s being my strength, 1st time flopping trips, second time a FH. Only played one hand of significance with Adam as he was battering the table, his rivered straight killing my rivered 2 pairs.

As the tournament got deeper, managed to get a good few pots, and reached the final table comfortably, about 5th in chips. The major hand for me, was against Adam, where he basically put me all in on a very straightening and flushing board. I had 2 pair, and he"d played it more aggressively than previously, decided he"d got neither, and was very happy to be right. Ended up HU with the APAT legend Darren Shallis, and before it had started, it was over ( He had approx a 5:1 chip lead), I raised with Q9, he shipped, I snapped and missed. A quality night, nicely profitable, and with an amazing group of people. It has really fired up my love of live poker, and I"m really looking forward to Glasgow APAT, and meeting up with another awesome group of people!

To Ger, the biggest thankyou I can muster. The hospitality and friendship you have shown is simply awesome, and I cannot wait for the next one!
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amcgrath1uk

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Crikey has it been a month since I last updated this?

Glasgow - didn"t go too well for me, poker or personal wise. In the ME I did get up to about 23k at one point after the 1st break, however, as I was feeling absolutely awful,  I struggled concentrating, was constantly away from the table feeling lousy, sick and everything in between  ( which I never do), and was knocked out level 6/7ish. Just want to say a big well done and thanks to Rodders, for another amazing result, and for providing excellent company for the weekend!!

Online series - took me till Weds to start feeling well again, managed to win the HU after an epic 1st match with John Murray, won a big flip in the 2nd, KK on a K98 board with 2 spades vs AJ spades. Flopped a massive nut flush draw, turned it and got shoved on in the semi final, then won a huge hand early in the final and finished things off quickly.

With 13 left in the ME, lost a big hand AJ v AQ to leave me with under 800 chips. Somehow get on the final table with 50k, then lose AA v Shug"s 77. Think the AJ hand is the only hand I played poorly all night ( which was rightly commented on by Carl), a bit sickening to go out that way in 10th ( with no extra points or cash -8th would have been cash and got me 5th place overall and a freeby into another online ME)

After spending the rest of the week off work, I am feeling much better, and looking forward to Stoke. I don"t think I"ll be able to play much online or live until then ( just the odd occasion I think) as work is very tough at the moment.
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