Back...

Ok so I am back after a blogging sabatical. Happy belated new year to all and apologies for my lack of bloggage maintenance over the past few months. I really needed the break and was doing money left right and centre on the tarbs of cyberfelt. As all us aspiring world champions know though when that clock hits midnight on 31st December everything that has gone before, all the bad beats and poor bluffs, all those coin flips that have gone against you during the year justgoneth are forgotten and expelled to the very back of the memory banks. The new year brings a new slate, new promises, new opportunity in life and across the minefield that is the green felt.

So as far as poker goes I have done my pieces playing in the biggest games possible for my roll, anywhere up to 25/50NL with just over 2k. Here i got into a slightly favourable situation with QQ vs AK after it had gone blind, blind, call, raise then me to act with the bitches. In went the 2.3k, i had good fold equity here vs any hand that wasn't KK or AA. The raiser obv snap calls with AK but the EV of my play is positive because I am a slight favourite in the race plus I have the fold equity as there is $300 or so in the pot when I decide to jam. Anyway the flop comes AKJ and i dont improve. GG

So know I have decided to go back to grass roots poker playing 3/4 tarbs of 1/2NL, the odd game of 2/4NL and some more MTT's when I have the time. I have purchased the gold package of Cardrunners - what a site!! the best $100 i have ever spent imo. CTS' videos are genuine World class, I have definitely paid for the subscription by putting some of the plays into practise. I have also forked out the 50 doll for pokertracker, mainly to keep an eye on my ststs and records rather than to 'spy' on my opponents. I will prolly use it to build a database of my regular opponents soon but I find it quite a hard tool to use, lots of features etc....what do you guys use it for most? Any neat features that you recommend on there? Would be pleased to pick up some PT advice from anyone that is running it.....

I havent been pulling up any trees at 1-2 recently but have prolly won just over $1000 in a month of play, bearing in mind i am prolly playing about 8 hours a week just at weekends....so not too bad but i reallyt want to ramp this up by playing at least one day in the week aswell as the weekends.

I went to the full house in Reigate last saturday night for my first live game in about 3 months. Played in their £40 semi freeze and managed a final table before running a massive pre flop bluff and being called behind with AQ.....my 62o failed to improve and off to the cash table i headed. The owner of the club has seen me before around the home counties cash poker scene and warned the table before I sat down, cheers for the free publicity imo. Very first hand I re raise pre flop with q9 suited, get 2 callers and 3/4 bet the pot on a flop of J47, get two folds and show the play for even more publicity. Anyway from then on I am chased in every pot im in by all and sundry with people justed dying to iron me out. The murg busts his stack with KK all in on the flop which contains 2 clubs and no ace to AcQs when i comes running clubs, the murg has infact got the King of clubs aswell which makes this hand more sickening. I leave half an hour later with about £130 profit from the table and we make a tired trip back to Basingstoke.

I'm off to Vegas in April for the Calzaghe fight, should be a crack and will be my first time out there....any recommendations fellas?? Staying at the Venitian but will hopefully check out most of the card rooms during the stay.

On a bloggage note, great to see Amatay doing so well as a live fish, knew a player of his concentration and ability would do well. Good to see a friend of a friend Jonny Rutherford enter the scene...who used to come to the game I held in Basingstoke (and infact won a £1000+ first prize there) Link me up Jono and will have to arrange a trip back to the fullhouse for some felt sparring! Congrats to Yorkie and Burnley for prooving that they are men......

Good to be back, will post some recent hands soon aswell btw.

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