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What's the worst that could happen?
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Every Thursday at 15:00 ET (20:00 GMT) I run a $10+1 private tourney on Stars mostly for myself and some mates I play poker with down the pub. But attendance has been pretty sketchy lately so I'm throwing open the invitation to any Leggoists who wish to join us and win enough to keep you in Happy Meals for the next day.
Tournament is under Private > Red Lion Notts Game #141447452. Password is redlion
This tourney runs every Thursday and who knows? You might be lucky enough to get some 5NL side action! All welcome!
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As I have mentioned in my blog before, I am incredibly lazy. My first thought upon waking sometime in the afternoon is usually something along the lines of, 'oh Christ, not again...' before pulling the duvet back over my head. So playing nearly 2.5K hands this evening was good, since it wasn't too taxing and I played in short, sharp sessions rather than one long grind. This definitely suits my style as I start to lose focus after an hour or so 8-tabling.
Big hand of the night
I'd been waiting to get into bed with this spew monkey all evening, but he just wasn't putting out. Eventually though, the following occurred - possibly my biggest pot at 50NL.
Poker Stars $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players
The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked.com
Hero (CO): $105.60
running 6 (BTN): $61.40
808mlee (SB): $49.50
awk134 (BB): $88.25
smittycurler (UTG): $16.05
taylor725 (MP): $47.50
Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is CO with 4  4 
1 fold, taylor725 raises to $2, Hero calls $2, 2 folds, awk134 calls $1.50
Flop: ($6.25) 4  3 6 (3 players)
awk134 checks, taylor725 checks, Hero bets $4.50, awk134 calls $4.50, taylor725 folds
Turn: ($15.25) 6 (2 players)
awk134 bets $8, Hero raises to $26, awk134 raises to $61, Hero raises to $99.10 all in, awk134 calls $20.75 all in
River: ($178.75) 8 (2 players - 2 are all in)
Final Pot: $178.75
Hero shows 4 4 (a full house, Fours full of Sixes)
awk134 shows 3 5 (two pair, Sixes and Threes)
Hero wins $175.75
(Rake: $3.00)
Fishy idiot cracks my aces. Bigger fishy idiot calls with aces.
Poker Stars $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 5 players
The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked.com
orlovgraf (UTG): $98.85
Jhaas26 (CO): $15.80
Hero (BTN): $54.80
schnipes (SB): $31.40
Berrell (BB): $69.65
Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BTN with A A
2 folds, Hero raises to $1.50, schnipes calls $1.25, 1 fold
Flop: ($3.50) 2  6 J (2 players)
schnipes checks, Hero bets $3, schnipes calls $3
Turn: ($9.50) Q (2 players)
schnipes checks, Hero bets $7.50, schnipes calls $7.50
River: ($24.50) 4 (2 players)
schnipes bets $19.40 all in, Hero calls $19.40
Final Pot: $63.30
Hero mucks A A
schnipes shows 5 3 (a straight, Deuce to Six)
schnipes wins $61.30
(Rake: $2.00)
Check-raise bluff of the night
Now I dunno if this is good or not, comments on betsizing etc. welcome. Guy was aggro and knows how to double-barrel. Good spot to turn my hand into a bluff?
Poker Stars $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 5 players
The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked.com
djscaper (UTG): $30.30
kieffammax (CO): $25.75
OC Mike10 (BTN): $56.25
Hero (SB): $60.75
hockey1122 (BB): $30.75
Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is SB with 8 8
2 folds, OC Mike10 raises to $1.50, Hero calls $1.25, 1 fold
Flop: ($3.50) 3 6 6 (2 players)
Hero checks, OC Mike10 bets $2.50, Hero calls $2.50
Turn: ($8.50) K (2 players)
Hero checks, OC Mike10 bets $6, Hero raises to $16.50, OC Mike10 folds
Final Pot: $20.50
Hero mucks 8 8
Hero wins $19.50
(Rake: $1.00)
Slowplaying. What's that?
I pretty much hate what I did here, since villain is rarely raising the flop with an ace.
Poker Stars $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 5 players
The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked.com
leftygrovev2 (SB): $51.35
JKNLP (BB): $79.10
OuT PlaY U11 (UTG): $28.55
lucky27cuss (CO): $9.20
Hero (BTN): $53.15
Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BTN with 4 4
2 folds, Hero raises to $1.50, leftygrovev2 calls $1.25, 1 fold
Flop: ($3.50) A 4 A (2 players)
leftygrovev2 checks, Hero bets $2.50, leftygrovev2 raises to $6, Hero raises to $16, leftygrovev2 folds
Final Pot: $15.50
Hero mucks 4 4
Hero wins $14.75
(Rake: $0.75)
But I'm getting there, y'know. Slow process and all that. Running at 11.91ptBB/100 at 50NL over 13K hands so far. 10.11ptBB/100 over 54K hands for my 'micro career' in total. |
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One day I shall start posting individual hands in order for the masses to scrutinise. After all I play all sorts of hands in all sorts of terrible ways, and I think the best remedy for this is prostrating oneself in public for a communal beating. I even posted this crazy example to 2p2:
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/69...-trips-410072/
It's possibly the only time I've ever limped at 50NL and I end up in a right pickle. Serves me right.
But enough of all that stuff, I know what you're here for. Graph porn! Because let's face it, that's what we're all here for. So here we are, my first 10K hands at 50NL. Completely unsustainable winrate of course, especially if I insist on limping with 46s. But then again, I'm finding the toughness of the games pretty easy overall. The magic formula seems to be just to squeeze from the button over and over until the regs start weeping for their mothers and decide to shove it all in over me with AQo when I hold kings (as happened about an hour ago).
Doomswitch imminent, I feel.
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I said at the start of this new blog of mine that I'd recap my experiences at 25NL and 50NL thus far since I began playing poker. For the purposes of the blog I began playing poker in November 2008 and not four or five years ago, since I managed to completely waste those years. In those halcyon days when thrusting young internet turks were racking up insane winrates at the Party NL tables I was randomly clicking buttons at the 2/4 limit tables, and continued to do so for an awful long time without ever really considering that this was a game I could make money from.
Ah well, we live and learn. Due to my impossibly slow progression through the limits I have only just reached the point where I'm a gnat's hair behind 10K hands at 50NL, despite starting at 50NL last month. So tonight I shall play a session that takes me beyond this and will post the results here for all to peruse verily.
Warning: this was a low-content post! Ha.
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Last week I made a decision to buy an iPod touch, and I decided to fund this decision through the means of winning at poker. An iPod touch over here costs £280 or just under $400, so I sat at my computer and fired up 8 tables of 50NL and decided to sit there until I'd won enough to buy one.
I gave up after five minutes, jumped on a bus into the city and bought the fvcking thing anyway. Feeling all 'web 2.0' I installed loads of applications including this new-fangled contraption called Twitter and duly began adding various celebrities of varying alphabetical status, which I gather is what one is supposed to do on Twitter so we know when Stephen Fry is about to brush his teeth, and so on.
As a result of all this I somehow ended up today in a $30 STT with Graham Linehan, creator of one of the best British comedies of all time, Father Ted. To any Americans reading, the avatar 'Mrs. Doyle' is not referencing who you think it is.
I bubbled. |
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Tonight I played my usual $10 private game on Stars with a bunch of mates I play every week down the pub. Shipped that obv, then afterwards one of them, just getting started out in poker, wanted to try some cash so joined a 10NL game and I sat with him. He left, and I carried on for a bit.
Anyway, with my winning 37/25 style I ran my chips up to over 1000BB. Yes, calm down Leggoists, I know that I'm your new poker hero.
Notice in the picture that huge fish on the right called 'Neptune04.' I mean, he might be my little brother and everything, and he might be some brilliant SNG donk, but can he beat 10NL where the real man hang out? Can he bollocks. |
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So November/December 2008 I tried for the first time in my poker career to 'grind' rather than flirt, and start analysing the game instead of randomly clicking buttons based on the movements of the planets.
I set my sights low, with $1K in my Stars bankroll I decided to hit the 25NL tables. I had about $3K behind in Neteller and various other sites should I have needed it and mentally I was writing off that $1K as the cost of learning. Although secretly of course I knew that I wasn't going to lose it as how exactly does one go about losing $1K at 25NL? I mean, if I couldn't beat that game... oh, pass the suicide.
As it happens I left my job a couple of years ago and ran a small business that shut down in August last year, so I approached things semi-seriously. I had money in the bank to live a year or so but my deepest, darkest goal was to get good at poker and sear my way through the stakes so I'd never have to work again and live a life of luxury etc. etc. Or at least, reach 100NL sometime this year. So off I went to 25NL, knees trembling, nervous fingers clicking the raise button, certain that everyone I was against was some uber-shark intent on outlevelling me every hand. Two minutes later and I realised this wasn't the case at all and that in reality everyone sucked harder than a blowjob from a vacuum cleaner.
I started playing 4 tables, that quickly became 6, that quickly became 8. Quite the achievement for a knackered old sod like me since on the one hand I have the attention span of a randy mosquito and on the other the propensity to get bored about two seconds into anything, ever. Fortunately these qualities seem perfect for multitabling and saved me from my past demons that involved raising any two cards and calling any two cards just for the fun of it, and would invariably ruin any session I played lasting longer than an hour.
I watched videos on Stox (Leggo is better though), bought a cardboard Buddha head to sit on my desk and stare serenely at me, and a maneki neko - or lucky cat - to wave its little arm and forever bring in good fortune (or customers, whatever). I'd never strayed much beyond 25NL previously but I've probably got 100k+ hands there lifetime as a slight winner so I was pretty comfortable at the limit. My goal was 40K hands by the end of the year, something I achieved as follows:
Redline was also above zero, which I understand is quite good for the micros.
So that's the abbreviated version of my 25NL story, with the longer tale transcribed for posterity in my old blog. I had no plans on hanging around 25NL, once I got past $1K profit with a bankroll of $2K+ I was heading straight for 50NL with an eager grin and wads of virtual notes stuffed into my pockets. That's where I am now, and have been since January. New places, new faces. My next post will recap just where I am at the moment. Am I winning? Am I a huge fish? Has my lucky cat run out of batteries? Find out in the next exciting update!
Thanks for reading. |
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Hello LeggoPoker, do you know what? I think it's time that I started a blog on this site. So here I am.
Standard introductory entry / The story so far.
Several years ago I was watching my little brother playing online at Party on my parents' PC. My brother is surely a 'degenerate' and watching him gamble literally dollars on the internet merely confirmed this fact. However I found the whole dynamic fascinating and decided to take a punt myself, diving into $1/$2 and $2/$4 limit, where I remained for the best part of two years. Who knows or dares to dream how much profit I accumulated in those heady days? Looking back, probably not very much.
Around this time I found myself visiting casinos. They seemed like a good place to go given that I was in my late 20s and feeling too old for nightclubs but too young for dinner parties. In fact, I was hooked. So hooked that I lived out the cliché, lost my money, quit casinos, decided to play poker again.
Now this may sound like it's leading up to the tale of how I 'rediscovered' poker, got good, made loads and have never looked back since but unfortunately this is simply not the case. I am not a great poker player and I have very little interest in the teenaged egos this game attracts like drunk girls at a stag party. I am just a student, and it is only recently that I have begun playing with any kind of real intent; the start of the long road to becoming a Zen poker master.
Having flitted about in my giddy schoolgirl way between numerous limits and games I settled in November 2008 at 25NL with 1K in my Stars account. I learned how to 8-table and beat that game like a red-headed stepchild. Since last month I graduated to 50NL and due to extreme laziness and complete lack of work ethic I have played less than 10K hands there so far. But I also came 2nd in the Leggo Poker tourney and won membership to this site so I've decided to drag my arse to the computer a little more often and attempt to blog about my sublime experiences at the microstakes tables I play in a gesture of self-motivation. I realise that the internet is littered with well-meaning blogosphere casualties but I hope that my posting routine will not fall too flaccid.
I was keeping a journal at http://thapunkprincess.livejournal.com but most of my friends list there have zero interest in this beautiful game so this seems like a more appropriate dumping ground for my thoughts and lack thereof. If you want to trawl back through the entries there then feel free, take in the scenery, but what I intend to do now is a brief series of posts recapping my experiences at 25NL and subsequently my game at 50NL to bring things up to speed.
Here we go, thanks for reading. |
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