I realize that we poker players are sort of in our own recession at the minute. My customer base is low, and it's easy to see why. Black friday, the Bot situation etc. have made it difficult for people to want to pay the kind of money it takes to hire a coach.

So to make it easier for your average grinder to be able to afford a decent coach, and to encourage business for myself, of course, I have decided to lower my rates from $400/hr to $245/hr. That's all folks.

-Jude

I'm not going to lie people, i am in serious pain. I am currently in by far the biggest nose-dive of my poker career. How far below ev i'm running doesn't do justice to just how horrible i've been running. Its sickening. I won't rant on, just leave you with a few hands where i think/hope i played it right but don't know for sure.




Poker Stars $50/$100 No Limit Hold'em $25 Ante - 4 players
The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked.com

Hero (SB): $9900.00
nutsinho (BB): $16263.00
thecortster (CO): $12693.00
MrSweets28 (BTN): $25472.00

Pre Flop: ($250.00) Hero is SB with Q A
1 fold, MrSweets28 raises to $300, Hero raises to $1000, 1 fold, MrSweets28 raises to $25447 all in, Hero calls $8875 all in

Flop: ($19950.00) T 8 2 (2 players - 2 are all in)

Turn: ($19950.00) 5 (2 players - 2 are all in)

River: ($19950.00) K (2 players - 2 are all in)

Final Pot: $19950.00
Hero shows Q A (high card Ace)
MrSweets28 shows 5 5 (three of a kind, Fives)
MrSweets28 wins $19948.00
(Rake: $2.00)


IPoker Network $10000.00 No Limit Hold'em - 2 players
The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked.com

ISO9002 (BTN/SB): $9570.68
Hero (BB): $20122.00

Pre Flop: ($150.00) Hero is BB with Q A
ISO9002 raises to $500, Hero raises to $1500, ISO9002 raises to $4500, Hero raises to $20122, ISO9002 calls $5070.68 all in

Flop: ($19141.36) 3 5 8 (2 players - 1 is all in)

Turn: ($19141.36) K (2 players - 1 is all in)

River: ($19141.36) J (2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $19141.36
ISO9002 shows A Q
ISO9002 wins $19139.36
(Rake: $2.00)


IPoker Network $5000.00 No Limit Hold'em - 2 players
The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked.com

oovoo99 (BTN/SB): $7844.00
Hero (BB): $16465.50

Pre Flop: ($75.00) Hero is BB with A K
oovoo99 raises to $150, Hero raises to $500, oovoo99 raises to $1350, Hero raises to $16465.50, oovoo99 calls $6494 all in

Flop: ($15688.00) Q 6 3 (2 players - 1 is all in)

Turn: ($15688.00) 4 (2 players - 1 is all in)

River: ($15688.00) 5 (2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $15688.00
oovoo99 shows K A
oovoo99 wins $15686.00
(Rake: $2.00)


IPoker Network $5000.00 No Limit Hold'em - 2 players
The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked.com

refracmalo (BB): $11893.00
Hero (BTN/SB): $7867.00

Pre Flop: ($75.00) Hero is BTN/SB with 4 5
Hero raises to $100, refracmalo raises to $300, Hero calls $200

Flop: ($600.00) A 3 2 (2 players)
refracmalo bets $350.00, Hero raises to $850, refracmalo raises to $1550, Hero calls $700

Turn: ($3700.00) A (2 players)
refracmalo bets $2150.00, Hero calls $2150

River: ($8000.00) K (2 players)
refracmalo bets $7893.00, Hero calls $3867 all in

Final Pot: $15734.00
refracmalo shows 2 2
refracmalo wins $15732.00
(Rake: $2.00)

Sorry its just a moaning blog entry but i badly need to vent right now, peace all.

Hey guys. I'm sure most of you who read HSNL on 2+2 know i have thrown out a NLHE challenge open to any Irish player. Here it is

Hey everyone, i've been bored lately and want a challenge, so i've decided to make an open challenge for bragging rights to the best irish-born NLHE cash game player alive(HU or 6max), along with a side bet of $10,000 to make it interesting. The bet is open to any Irish citizen.

Terms of the bet are, if HU, a series of matches totalling 5000 hands with either 3 or 4 tables(i will leave this up to the challenger), stakes ranging anywhere from 3/6 to 25/50. I suggest 5 1k hand sessions every day for 5 days but this is up for discussion, whoever finishes up more after 5k hands is the victor.

If 6max, then it will be a 20k hand winrate prop-bet. To be played at either 3/6 or 5/10(any higher and there would be no telling how long it would take due to high stakes games not running).

I can do this on Full Tilt, Pokerstars or iPoker. If either participant wants to opt out out of the bet at any point, then they forego the $10k(though a lesser price may be negotiated), a reputable escrow will be agreed upon beforehand.

Will keep my blog posted on how it progresses.

Sorry its been so long since i posted here, i've had plenty of non-poker stuff going on. I don't want to get into it but i've had some health issues and long story short its intruding on my poker life. The upside to this is that if i was working at a normal job i almost certainly would have been forced to quit by now. I have worried in the past that at some point, poker is going to pass me out, its evolving at a rapid rate and every day there's more 16 or 17 year old prodigies discovering poker for themself. But in the last couple of months my fears have mostly been put to rest, basically it seems that(knock on wood)every time my opponents advance a step i have always managed to advance at least as much, i don't know how much longer i am going to be able to keep this up but i certainly hope i do like Nicolak has done and just keep getting better and better the tougher the games get.

I need this more than most of you guys reading this since i have no qualifications and no formal education. So my main mission now is to find something to invest in and not have to worry about the sky falling in the poker world, i was thinking of opening a cafe or something but i dunno, i guess time will tell, and for now i think i can just keep doing pretty well at msnl. I think even in 5 or 6 years time i should still be able to beat 200nl, and for the time being i am crushing mid-stakes, i feel like there are no 5/10 regs who could crush me(though it is hard to define a 5/10 reg since a lot of 10/20 regs and even 25/50 regs AND HU PLAYERS are moving down to 5/10 because its basically the biggest game on FTP that runs regularly.) And i am not sure but for someone who does not table select i would say i may have one of, if not the highest win-rate at 3/6 right now over a more than 100k sample (correct me if i'm wrong).

It feels like recently my thoughts on other players have been confirmed that every one i play with on a regular basis i see make blatant errors in their play, this makes me feel great about my own game, its when you don't understand whats happening that you can start to worry. You'll notice from the graph i am posting that my red-line is not as crazy-high as it usually is, i think i am doing an ok job of sacrificing some red-line for the good of my over-all WR. Obviously its not a big sample, 31k hands (unfortunately that is all i could get in for the last 2 whole months) but i am still proud of it on the whole





Couple of fun hands i played recently, this one was vs quiness, he is a solid reg and i feel like c/c'ing the flop is fine to do now and then, i was planning on c/raising at some point, i think if the river bricks i shove, but as it played out i would say he felt pretty pissed for not getting my stack.

Full Tilt Poker $1000.00 No Limit Hold'em - 5 players
The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked.com

Hero (SB): $2814.50
LifetimeUpswing (BB): $1270.00
Quiness (UTG): $1000.00
porktom (CO): $1000.00
michel230899 (BTN): $1279.00

Pre Flop: ($15.00) Hero is SB with J J
Quiness raises to $30, 2 folds, Hero calls $25, 1 fold

Flop: ($70.00) J T K (2 players)
Hero checks, Quiness bets $40.00, Hero calls $40

Turn: ($150.00) 5 (2 players)
Hero checks, Quiness bets $120.00, Hero calls $120

River: ($390.00) 8 (2 players)
Hero checks, Quiness bets $220.00, Hero calls $220

Final Pot: $830.00
Hero mucks J J
Quiness shows A Q
Quiness wins $827.00
(Rake: $3.00)

this 2nd one is vs Eunjong byun, who has improved his game quite a bit over the last couple of years i think(he used to be called feeling83 before he became a red-pro)i now think he is one of the better mid-stakes mass-multi-tablers.


Full Tilt Poker $600.00 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players
The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked.com

TKOTPAS (SB): $435.00
showdownaces (BB): $600.00
Eunjong Byun (UTG): $1305.20
porktom (MP): $1561.90
eantonya (CO): $641.00
Hero (BTN): $817.30

Pre Flop: ($9.00) Hero is BTN with K Q
Eunjong Byun raises to $18, 2 folds, Hero calls $18, 2 folds

Flop: ($45.00) 9 2 2 (2 players)
Eunjong Byun bets $30.00, Hero calls $30

Turn: ($105.00) J (2 players)
Eunjong Byun bets $84.00, Hero raises to $228, Eunjong Byun calls $144

River: ($561.00) 3 (2 players)
Eunjong Byun checks, Hero bets $541.30, Eunjong Byun calls $541.30

Final Pot: $1643.60
Eunjong Byun shows 9 9
Hero shows K Q
Eunjong Byun wins $1640.60
(Rake: $3.00)

it was kind of sick that he showed up with the hand i was trying to rep, i think my turn raise is fine to do, it has several merits, firstly i think i very rarely get shoved on by a decent reg when i raise the turn, so that locks up me seeing the river without having to call off an amount i don't want to, but i think my range can look very strong here since i flatted a utg open from and 18/13 guy and called a cbet, so unless i'm just making some elaborate play for the pot or turning some small PP into a bluff, i can rep boats and overpairs. Unfortunately he had me the whole way .

Anyway, i bid you all adieu. Thanks for readin' guys...
-Jude.

So i just made my first HU vid, its a 4tbl 1/2 match w a reg, an since its live its very fast paced, but i talk fast so hopefully you'll like it(oh and i godmoded it ).

In other news i've been running really good the last couple months, but right at the start of may i had a disastrous -69K day, just a std 25/50 HU match i guess, but its still a lot to lose for anyone i think. I dealt with it ok though, having the big upswing before helped a lot. Here is the garph...

I was just thinking the other day that if i had never gotten into poker my life would be just so indescribably different(albeit, worse), i just cannot stress it enough. But this month i hit my ceiling. 2010 started off horribly for me, with a $75K DS in early Jan. it was devastating, i did however take the attitude ''meh, i'll have it back in no time'', And fortunately i was right. I always have thought that one of the biggest reasons i have had as much success in poker as i've had(and i believe its a huge part of the reason for anybody's success or lack thereof in anything they do)is my mental attitude an outlook on it. Like people say ''you don't need to be good, you just have to believe'', or '' you don't need to be good looking, chicks dig confidence'', and throughout my life i have seen evidence piling up to back up those theories.

I know a lot of you think i sound like a fruit cake, especially the more scientific thinkers out there, but i can't ignore the evidence, the more i live, the more i see, a positive and confident attitude are all it takes to be successful(within reason obv).

This month of poker has been case in point, i played very few hands, and looking back over the hands i don't think i played my best game, i also ran below ev, but almost every time a situation came up in a hand where a lot of $$$ was on the line, i just had this feeling like ''don't even bother running out the board, just ship me the cheese''. And win i did, i know i am running very very good this month and next month might go horribly, but i still think that those who take a more posititve outlook on life, will generally attract more success.

Anyway enough ramblings from me, onto some poker. I played some interesting hands this month, a good 25/50 reg played me a lot of hands 4 tabling on ipoker, and he put me into some tough spots, but i obv won a lot off him, here is one hand that i actually posted on 2p2

It was very near the start of our matches so this was pretty readless. I do not like the river line i took, i much prefer just shoving, but when i checked, i decided it would be a mistake to fold...


$5000.00 No Limit Hold'em - 2 players
The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked.com

Hero (BB): $7111.50
BTN/SB: $7303.50

Pre Flop: ($75.00) Hero is BB with A A
BTN/SB raises to $150, Hero raises to $500, BTN/SB calls $350

Flop: ($1000.00) 4 3 7 (2 players)
Hero bets $600.00, BTN/SB calls $600

Turn: ($2200.00) 2 (2 players)
Hero bets $1300.00, BTN/SB calls $1300

River: ($4800.00) 7 (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN/SB bets $4903.50, Hero calls $4711.50 all in

Final Pot: $14223.00
BTN/SB shows 5 K
Hero wins $14221.00
(Rake: $2.00)

Here is how my month went, as you can see pretty variance free



Anyway, good luck everyone, i'll try to post more often. Jude.

Well i just thought i'd post a graph to show ya'll how its done, red-line style . So here is the last 220K hands i've played, i am not sure of what is a good BB WR, but i'd say 22,000 is pretty good considering i have 0 game-selection, and i've logged tens of thousands of hands against top regs(HU and 6m) i've filtered out 50/100 cos it makes the graph look shi**y cos i got godmoded by a fish at the start of the yr.



And in terms of $$$...and yes that is $200,000 below ev and still $1/hand.

Hello guys, i haven't been playing much lately, studying or posting anywhere, i've just been easing off a poker alot lately in general. The reason is mainly that i seem to be losing everything i play, this is for some an incentive to grind like there's no tomorrow until they get back to even, but not for me.

When i am running bad or playing bad i just don't even want to be near poker. And so i thought it would be a good opportunity to take a little break, so i went and visited some friends and family a few hundred miles away in the county Cork, where 2 of my brothers AND 2 of my sisters happen to studying the same subject in a college there, which is pretty cool, so i just got a nice hotel and chilled out for a few days with them, today was my first day back and i started out with an early session in which i made a BI or so, then i started some tables with derekjc, who i think is a tough opponent but unfortunately for him i was running good today for the first time in a while, here are some match highlights....

Full Tilt Poker, $10/$20 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 2 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

Hero (BB): $4,637
DerekJC9954 (BTN): $7,492.50

Pre-Flop: K K dealt to Hero (BB)
DerekJC9954 raises to $60, Hero raises to $230, DerekJC9954 calls $170

Flop: ($460) 7 5 6 (2 Players)
Hero checks, DerekJC9954 bets $345, Hero calls $345

Turn: ($1,150) 3 (2 Players)
Hero checks, DerekJC9954 bets $900, Hero calls $900

River: ($2,950) 2 (2 Players)
Hero checks, DerekJC9954 bets $6,014.50, Hero calls $3,159

Results: $9,268 Pot
Hero showed K K and WON $9,273.50 (+$4,659.50 NET)
DerekJC9954 showed J K and WON $2,855.50 (-$1,768.50 NET)

I don't want to say my reasons for playing it this way but i had them

Full Tilt Poker, $10/$20 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 2 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

Hero (BB): $4,211.50
DerekJC9954 (BTN): $4,043

Pre-Flop: Q 7 dealt to Hero (BB)
DerekJC9954 raises to $60, Hero calls $40

Flop: ($120) 2 7 6 (2 Players)
Hero bets $110, DerekJC9954 raises to $330, Hero calls $220

Turn: ($780) Q (2 Players)
Hero checks, DerekJC9954 bets $625, Hero calls $625

River: ($2,030) 4 (2 Players)
Hero checks, DerekJC9954 bets $3,025, Hero calls $3,025

Results: $8,080 Pot
Hero showed Q 7 and WON $8,085.50 (+$4,065.50 NET)
DerekJC9954 showed J J and LOST (-$4,030 NET)

All i have to say about this one is i am not really liking his shove....

$10/$20 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 3 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

Hero (BTN): $4,224
DerekJC9954 (SB): $4,972
IIaCe4HuK (BB): $3,500.50

Pre-Flop: 5 6 dealt to Hero (BTN)
Hero raises to $50, DerekJC9954 folds, IIaCe4HuK raises to $180, Hero calls $130

Flop: ($370) 9 8 5 (2 Players)
IIaCe4HuK bets $250, Hero calls $250

Turn: ($870) 5 (2 Players)
IIaCe4HuK bets $600, Hero raises to $1,950, IIaCe4HuK calls $1,350

River: ($4,770) T (2 Players)
IIaCe4HuK checks, Hero bets $1,844 and is All-In, IIaCe4HuK calls $1,120.50 and is All-In

Results: $7,011 Pot
Hero showed 5 6 and WON $7,733.50 (+$4,233 NET)
IIaCe4HuK mucked T J and LOST (-$3,480.50 NET)

Nice!



Nice for a 1K hand sesh.

Finally i have a 2/4 ante 6m vid made and am planning to rec. the audio on it, i think its better than my first one, lots of 400BB pots so get ready. Good luck all. Jude.

Hi guys, so i have been really laying off cyberspace of late, my modem got blocked for 5 days a week an a half ago and instead of rushing to borrow one til mine got fixed i just said fuck it and took the longest break from poker i've taken since i started playing, it was nice to just relax an catch up on some break-time, sometimes i forget that while i have my dream-job it can also be incredibly stressful.

I also stopped posting on 2+2 several weeks ago in part cos the msnl mod locked the 2010 ftp regs thread which i started even tho i started it first. but whatever i wasted too much time on there anyway. its a shame cos there are so many cool and interesting guys posting on there, and it can be hard as a poker player especially one living in rural ireland to connect with people in similar situations.but i just had enough of the jealous bitter trolls who begrudge their fellow poker pros any success greater than their own,

And my departure came at a bad time since 2shae had just finally gotten himself perma-banned , that guy has really really proven himself to be a one-of-a-kind douche, i mean when he joined 2+2 i thought ''why is everyone being so hard on this kid? he doesn't seem to be doing anything too bad.'' So i pm'd him an told him to keep his chin up and ignore the haters, that they're not worth it etc. well since then i realise that he has gone out of his way to try to annoy as many people as he can, he also had the nerve to sarcastically comment on some hands i posted and patronise me like he's so experienced(lol hes been playing less than a year)but the final insult came the other day when he asked me to multitable him 3/6 HU, my normal game lately is a good bit higher and i know hes at least competent but i had nothing else on so i accepted, after the match i'm like ''gg'' an hes like ''god now i know why corbin likes playing you, so spewy, so-an-so call was soooo bad'' then he talked about how i was just a run-hot lag-fish who godmoded 10/20+, i asked him if he wanted to 4 tbl 10/20+ and he left the tbl an i was just like wow, WHAT a douche, anyway /rant.

But on to my video debut, its a 3/6 ante vid and i think you are gonna like it, i play decent an get into plenty of interesting spots, i think i explained my thought process pretty well too, it starts out a little slow cos i start with 2 tables but it picks up after a couple of minutes, let me know what you all think.

Finally january has been horrible for me, so far this is what it looks like, obv the last 4k hands are rush poker which is super fun, if you haven't tried it you have to give it a go


w sd



gl yo, keep up the grind.

Just got into a 50/100 match with some guy who appears to be crushing it judging by his ptr but i think hes got some serious work to do on his game to put it politely .

Anyway i ran farther under ev than i ever have before, observe...

IPoker Network $10000.00 No Limit Hold'em - 2 players
The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked.com

Hero (BB): $11044.00
BTN/SB: $9248.00

Pre Flop: ($150.00) Hero is BB with A K
BTN/SB raises to $200, Hero raises to $700, BTN/SB calls $500

Flop: ($1400.00) K J 4 (2 players)
Hero bets $900.00, BTN/SB calls $900

Turn: ($3200.00) 8 (2 players)
Hero bets $2300.00, BTN/SB raises to $7648, Hero calls $5348

River: ($18496.00) T (2 players)

Final Pot: $18496.00
BTN/SB shows T K
BTN/SB wins $18494.00
(Rake: $2.00)


IPoker Network $10000.00 No Limit Hold'em - 2 players
The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked.com

Hero (BTN/SB): $10000.00
BB: $34264.00

Pre Flop: ($150.00) Hero is BTN/SB with Q Q
Hero raises to $200, BB raises to $700, Hero raises to $1800, BB raises to $34264, Hero calls $8200 all in

Flop: ($20000.00) 2 A 4 (2 players - 1 is all in)

Turn: ($20000.00) J (2 players - 1 is all in)

River: ($20000.00) J (2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $20000.00
BB shows J A
BB wins $19998.00
(Rake: $2.00)


IPoker Network $10000.00 No Limit Hold'em - 2 players
The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked.com

Hero (BTN/SB): $10798.00
BB: $54728.00

Pre Flop: ($150.00) Hero is BTN/SB with A Q
Hero raises to $200, BB raises to $900, Hero raises to $2800, BB raises to $54728, Hero calls $7998 all in

Flop: ($21596.00) 2 2 A (2 players - 1 is all in)

Turn: ($21596.00) 4 (2 players - 1 is all in)

River: ($21596.00) 8 (2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $21596.00
BB shows 8 8
BB wins $21594.00
(Rake: $2.00)



IPoker Network $10000.00 No Limit Hold'em - 2 players
The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked.com

Hero (BTN/SB): $21718.00
BB: $11136.00

Pre Flop: ($150.00) Hero is BTN/SB with 7 6
Hero raises to $300, BB raises to $700, Hero calls $400

Flop: ($1400.00) J Q Q (2 players)
BB bets $1000.00, Hero calls $1000

Turn: ($3400.00) K (2 players)
BB bets $1900.00, Hero raises to $20018, BB calls $7536 all in

River: ($22272.00) 4 (2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $22272.00
BB shows 9 T
BB wins $22270.00
(Rake: $2.00)


IPoker Network $10000.00 No Limit Hold'em - 2 players
The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked.com

Hero (BTN/SB): $11990.00
BB: $21082.00

Pre Flop: ($150.00) Hero is BTN/SB with 3 4
Hero raises to $200, BB calls $100

Flop: ($400.00) 5 7 6 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $400.00, BB raises to $1100, Hero calls $700

Turn: ($2600.00) 3 (2 players)
BB bets $2600.00, Hero calls $2600

River: ($7800.00) K (2 players)
BB bets $17182.00, Hero calls $8090 all in

Final Pot: $23980.00
BB shows 9 8
BB wins $23978.00
(Rake: $2.00)

it really hurt like really bad, but whatever, can you imagine? $50,000 below ev in 1 200hand session?
Sighhh