Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Day 3 off the Coffin Nails.

So I've punched 3 days off the death sticks.  The first 2 days weren't too bad as I was extremely busy.  But today was sheer murder.  My brother was around and he smokes.  The smell of smoke really triggered off some pangs for a ciggy but I managed to resist. 

I'm already an expert on quitting smoking after reading just about every article there is online on the subject. 
I'm using @2/3 nicorette gum /day (10-15 is the allowed dose).  My best friend is sips of water.  So far so good.


Poker
The bankrolls are heading back in the right direction on stars and i poker.
It's pretty hard to play while off the smokes as my concentration has gone out the window.  Today I thought I was reshoving about 20bbs with Aqo versus a 10 bb ep shove.  It turns out he open shoved 35 bb and I reshipped for 70 lol.  


Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Reverse Grinding

Both my bankrolls have taken a bit of a hit since last week.  Some bad play involved but mostly after reviewing my hand histories it seems as though I'm getting coolered a lot late in tournies.  Running AKs into AA and AQs always seems to find AA,KK,AK.

I've just binked 70th spot on the Pocket Fives Ireland leaderboard so I'm 2 weeks ahead of schedule on that 1.  As I said before the leaderboards are largely meaningless but I like to have something to aim for so my new target is to get into the top 5000 overall before the end of August.  I am currently 5668 and we'll see where that leaves me then in the Irish list.

I set up a new account on 3kings poker (entraction network).This was really just to give Chris Dowling a boost with his new sponsorship deal. I wish him all the best with this. I managed to ship a small plo tournie since joining.  I dont intend to play much on there as the software is simply crap.  It's a shame they wouldn't update it a bit because the games are really soft. I have an Irish eyes account on the same network as well but only use that for the Celtic Poker Tour Satellites which reminds me I have a ticket for the next one in Ballina.

I've also deposited 100 on Party but as yet haven't played there.  I am still considering leaving stars but the fact that I'm going to achieve Platinum star soon is keeping me interested.  Maybe if I could run a little deeper in a tournament and start to show a profit there I might feel a little better about the site.

I've had a second poker lesson and am planning a 3rd for later this week.  They're going well.  I do see improvement in certain aspects of my game and am working at chip accumulation spots.

Am still putting in some decent volume (for me) but feel like I am reverse grinding at the moment.  I feel like I'm on the wrong end of variance atm.  Hopefully this is the case and that I'm not just a complete numpty.

A big shout out to Fintan Gavin who shipped the UKIPT in Edinburgh.  I've only spoken with Fintan a couple of times but he seems like a sound guy.  Always nice to see the Irish goin well.

500 LAST LONGER

Alan Mc Intyre has some bets going in a thread on Irish Poker Boards that he will stay off the ciggies for 1 year.  He's offering odds of 2:1.  I decided I wouldn't take that action but would try a 500 euro last longer bet and try and quit the smokes myself.  They're pure feckin murder on the health and the wallet. I've had a few smokes with Alan at live events and he's a top notch guy.  Hopefully by the end of a year I will neither be collecting nor paying off on this bet.  I've told Alan in the forum that my starting date is next Monday but I think I'll bring it forward a bit.

God there's so many live events happening now.  I'm still sticking with my no live poker rule for now.  I might break out in September for the IPO or else November for JP's game.  JP always runs a great show.


Monday, August 1, 2011

1s Poker lesson.

Had my first poker lesson today over Skype and Teamviewer.  Michelle SatNav was helpful enough to do a test with skype before the lesson.  It went really well.  According to my tutor I have a reasonably solid grasp of pre-flop play and he showed me some spots where I can open up a little more.  We went through a couple of post flop spots also which I need to work on. 

Have put in a decent volume of @100 MTTs since last update. 
My stars roll has taken a bit of a hit down to $320 but my i poker roll has jumped to €623.72 so over all not so bad.  I am considering leaving stars atm. even though I have achieved silver star status (never played there much).  And with the reduced points this month gold star is easily achievable and platinum with a push. 
A lot of the smaller stakes tournaments are infested with sick grinders.  Guys playing up to 50 tournies a day.  So they are'nt as +ev as I thought, although there are a lot of soft players in them.  Will stick with it for another while though and see if my results improve.  Party poker seems like a good alternative choice.  I miss Full Tilt.

It was hard not to be at the EMOP this weekend but the lads on Irish Poker Boards kept us well updated.  They do a fantastic job.  Kudos.  Congrats to Dara O' Kearney on his fantastic short stack ninja grind to a 2nd place finish.  Congrats also to Mick Mc Closkey one of the faces of Irish Poker on his final table and to Mick Muldoon who put up a brave showing and for a while looked like he might take it down. 

My pocket fives rank has jumped to 77 so I'm on target atm to get into the top 70.  It's silly I know. The pf rankings don't matter much but I'm competitive by nature and I need something to drive me on seeing as I haven't set any other specific goals for myself.  

Am gonna do another session tonight and then the family are back tomorrow.  Will take a couple of days off to play with the kids and hopefully find a beach day.