Author Topic: Keeping Warm in Winter  (Read 257060 times)

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AAroddersAA

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Re: Back to reality - 2011
« Reply #105 on: February 10, 2011, 18:23:44 PM »
Premier League Darts starts tonight. 13/8 on Taylor to finish top is available. There has to be huge value in this surely?
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Fatcatstu

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Re: Back to reality - 2011
« Reply #106 on: February 10, 2011, 18:27:52 PM »
Not gonna happen. Too much quality round about the premier league now.

Webster, Lewis and Anderson are all capable of dismantling taylor on his day, and taylor hasnt looked good for ages now.
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duke3016

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Re: Back to reality - 2011
« Reply #107 on: February 10, 2011, 19:03:39 PM »
Well Lewis plays Taylor tonight - so that will be the benchmark.....

Fatcatstu

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Re: Back to reality - 2011
« Reply #108 on: February 10, 2011, 19:06:03 PM »

Well Lewis plays Taylor tonight - so that will be the benchmark.....


indeed!

and i am missing it to go play sodding poker! FML!
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AAroddersAA

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Re: Back to reality - 2011
« Reply #109 on: February 10, 2011, 20:32:50 PM »
Taylor looked pretty good in winning the players championship last week. He has to be favourite.

Good efficent start from Webster, very good second game though.
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AAroddersAA

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Re: Back to reality - 2011
« Reply #110 on: February 11, 2011, 22:30:47 PM »
Was off work today due to having to go in tomorrow. So I thought I might as well play poker.

Played a shed load of hands online today. Basically started at 11am and played the first session was going along on 5 tables probably a pound or two down but basically nothing was happening, then got 6-3 suited in the small blind. Folds to the button who limps, I complete and BB checks, flop comes down 3-6-2. Ah thats nice, bet out and get called by the button, I put him on an overpair as there is no flush draw, turn is another 6 - BINK. I bet again. He calls. River is an ace, well that annoying as his range is full of overpairs and the ace is a scare card, if I check though he is just going to check behind so I put in a small value bet, he insta shoves.......weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. I call. He obviously has AA. WTF. HOW? So I lose £20 there.

Fortunately I get KK myself on another table not too long after this. Raise to 80p and a call in front of me, I stick in a raise to £3. Original raiser shoves on me, not again? I call he has JJ, yippee, oh that will be a jack on the flop then.

I am then £40 down for the day, I continue and pull back about £15 after hitting TPTK with AK against AQ. Then I lose most of that on one hand where I raise, with AJ, C-bet on a raggy flop. Hit my ace on the turn and fire twice into a calling station only for him to show up with two pair. I end my morning session down £41.

I take a break and feel a bit annoyed about the way it is going overall. I consider switching sites to Betfair or Pokerstars, but decide to stay where I am as I already have some points on the cash for points offer and the whole point of moving from "Stars to Sky was to suuport Blonde and try and help make their sponsorship a success.

So I log back on, fire up 5 tables and away I go. I drop about $10 early just doing standard stuff raising and c-betting, then I hit TPTK against a player who I feel I have a good read on. I bet and he calls. I am now fairly confidetn I have the best hand and fire out big on the turn. He agains calls. The board is Ace high and I am pretty sure I have the best hand. When he checks to me on the river I have got him pinned down on the smaller ace, I am just convinced of it. I fire an overbet all-in. Instacall. $%^&. He shows me AJ. Oh wait a minute AK beats that, I actually won a pot.

Not to long after this though I get dealy KK on another table. I am first to act I think and I make the raise to 80p. A reg who I consider to be decent 3-bets me to £3. I 4-bet to £10 and he shove, I call. He obviously has AA. I think at this point I kind of got up swore at the screen looked at the flop and said "oooh a king - get in there" and sat back down. So now I am only £10 down on the day.

I take a quick break and fire up again

I recover the £10 and go ahead (only by a couple of quid but I am still up, which is usual lately). At this point though my confidence is high again.

In the next two hours I am hitting hands, I get dealt AA three times and KK twice. I end up getting ahead but about £30 and suddenly getting away from hands where I am beaten is no problem, I am controling pots and pricing out draws like I am supposed too. I can"t remember all the hands, and Sky poker does not let me review then in poker tracker, but I end up winning £62 on the day, After being £50 down this is a great result and hopefully stops the rot right there.

I am very happy with my play overall today but am still annoyed with myself for making too many mistakes in general. I am fully confident if anybody had been watching this afternoon they would have said I was playing fine and nothing to be concerned about. I HAVE to play this game more often though. I know my A game is as good as anybodys (to be totoally honest I believe it to be better than the vast majority) but I play it about 10% of the time. My B and C game are probably worse than most peoples and, given the fact I am playing them 90% of the time, this is a big problem.

Online cash poker for the year is now -£44.07 (without cash for points)
Live cash is +£101 (2 sessions)

Online Tournaments are +£7.50 (11 Tournaments)
Live Tournaments are -£125 (2 APAT Tournaments)
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ForthThistle

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Re: Back to reality - 2011
« Reply #111 on: February 11, 2011, 23:59:33 PM »
Top result Rod...

chin up... you got it...
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TheSnapper

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Re: Back to reality - 2011
« Reply #112 on: February 12, 2011, 00:15:59 AM »
wp Rodders, like the Tommy Angelo A,B & C game quotes, wise words. The really tough thing about poker and reviewing a session is that results can be misleading but it seems you got unlucky in some spots, got lucky in others but overall, played well.
"Being wrong is erroneously associated with failure, when, in fact, to be proven wrong should be celebrated, for it elevates someone to a new level of understanding."

duke3016

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Re: Back to reality - 2011
« Reply #113 on: February 12, 2011, 00:36:37 AM »

wp Rodders, like the Tommy Angelo A,B & C game quotes, wise words. The really tough thing about poker and reviewing a session is that results can be misleading but it seems you got unlucky in some spots, got lucky in others but overall, played well.


[X] I get unlucky
[X] I get lucky
[  ] I play well

Nowt wrong Steve - keep grinding

AAroddersAA

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Re: Back to reality - 2011
« Reply #114 on: February 12, 2011, 08:21:45 AM »
Cheer Guy"s

Working atm but might play tonight if I feel like I can put in a decent performance.
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Newportlad

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Re: Back to reality - 2011
« Reply #115 on: February 12, 2011, 12:05:54 PM »
I"m playing the £35 at Les Croups tonight if you fancy coming along.
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AAroddersAA

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Re: Back to reality - 2011
« Reply #116 on: February 12, 2011, 21:43:30 PM »
Was working today so did not play poker during the day. I logged on at the end of the rugby and played for about two and half hours (5 tables). How bad were both Wales and Scotland in the rugby today? I am happy Wales won as we really needed to win after eight losses on the spin (although 6 of them were to the big three teams). Anyway Poker:-

Didn"t have many big hands but ended up £77 up. Which takes me back into profit for the year in online cash, and overall. Bit of a roller coaster this year so far. I think I made some good calls on the river and think my reads on the regular players is improving.

I did win a nice pot with KK where I got allin against A9 and JJ pre flop and it held up. I really wish I had poker tracker working so I could review and post the hands better. Again I feel I played well but a break from cash games is going to be coming up anyway as I am still a bit concerned about my recent poor play and last time I brought it back into profit I then dropped back down almost straight away so want to give myself the best chance to pull away. So taking a break even though I am very happy with today. I now have 1308 poker points and I am aiming for 2000 as that will give me £30 rakeback (or cash for points).

One hand I did misplay is the following:-

I have A3s in hearts and I raise (to 80p) from the button and get called by both blinds. The flop comes down 10d-6h-4h with two hearts. The SB bets £1.20 and the BB calls. I call as well and the turn is a blank and the SB again bets £1.20 and we both call. The river is 10h which makes my flush, the SB now checks and the BB bets £4.50. I then become scared of the paired board and flat call. He shows the 10 which was alway the biggest part of his range so I shoudl be raising on the river there. He probably would have called another £10 so maybe I lost some money there.

Next game will be the Blonde league on Monday and I might even give cash a miss until next weekend and just play the two Blonde league tournaments next week.

Online Cash = +£33.46
Live Cash = +101 (2 Sessions)

Online Tournaments = +£7.50 (11 Tournaments)
Live tournaments = -£125 (2 Tournaments)
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AAroddersAA

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Re: Back to reality - 2011
« Reply #117 on: February 13, 2011, 19:53:35 PM »
Poker is, by it"s very nature, a game that can become all consuming. There is the obvious financial element to it, none of us enjoy losing money and when we do the immediate reaction is to try and get it back. This is especially true if we have lost money in a situation that we see as being "unfair", for example having our pocket aces outdrawn by a smaller hand. There is more to the game than that though, it is the way it always make you feel either at the top of the mountain or within the depths of despair.

When we are winning, poker can feel like the greatest game in the world. When playing online, logging on, expecting to win, and proceeding to do just that, can convince you that you are a great player (and that feels good). Your confidence grows and you find yourself playing hands well and therefore having better sessions and getting happier. Even taking a bad beat does not hurt because you are often still having a winning session and you just feel confident that you can still play well and win. Playing live can be very much the same, walking into a poker room and feeling like one of the best players in the room, and honestly believing this gives you a massive edge before you even start. When this feeling is backed up by a good result and good play it can get even better.

I clearly remember arriving at the Fritz in Dublin this year to play the APAT Irish Championship. I was coming off the back of 3 straight cashes in live poker, 2 APATs (including 2nd in the main event of the WCOAP) and a local tournament at Les Croupiers in Cardiff). I was overflowing with confidence. Play began and I started building a stack, I was making good reads and playing good poker, my hands were holding up and I was confident. I made day two and the final table, that evening as far as I was concerned, I was invincible.  I ended up coming second in that tournament the next day. The feeling of playing good poker and the cards being with us is not matched by much in the gambling world. That night I felt on top of the world.

Is it the money we win that pleases us so much? Well it is a nice bonus, but it is not the main thing that make for that feeling, it is rising above the competition, coming out on top against excellent players and just the overall feeling of winning. In November I was playing in the Blonde League, by the time this was nearly over I was in third place with the Jack Prime (who is a great player) in the lead. At that point we were both fully aware the league win was worth nothing but pride to either of us. However the way we both tried our very hardest to win it showed that pride means a lot to poker players, we both wanted to be able to say we beat the other. I ended up winning that league and even though I got nothing for it (the winner was to be named the Captain of the Blonde Poker team for Bolton, which I would have loved but obviously in the light of the offer from APAT could not accept), it still felt great. The fact that the run in was against Jack who is a mate of mine and somebody who I consider to be a better than good player made it better.

Coming top of the APAT national rankings, just a whisker ahead of my good mate Darren Shallis, who I consider to be overall the best player of all the APAT regulars was probably the biggest honour of my poker career. When I was confirmed as the winner it felt great, again it was not really worth anything, but I am still probably more proud of it than anything else I have done in poker and still take satisfaction from that.

So what is it that makes for that feeling you get when you are winning? I think it is a mixture of the self belief it gives you, the recognition you get from peers who you yourself recognise as being good and the pride you feel after a good result in a tournament or a really good cash session.

At APAT it is this that keeps driving us back to the tables. This is what makes us push for another result, another final table, and the holy grail of an APAT National Championship. This is what will drive me and many others to get on planes, trains and auto-mobiles in season five. To make the long journey to play that tournament which just could be the one. It is never going to be easy, the competition is fiercer than ever, but we would not have it any other way. The desire it to take on the best and to beat the best. The need to be the best.

Onward and upward


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pables

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Re: Back to reality - 2011
« Reply #118 on: February 13, 2011, 20:22:47 PM »
Great post Rodders!  :)
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technolog

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Re: Back to reality - 2011
« Reply #119 on: February 13, 2011, 22:35:58 PM »
Good post Steve. Nicely written. Would read again :)