I've just taken a call from Brian at Titan Poker ...
Instead of the $45,000 in EPT Tournament Buy-Ins and expenses, they've offered me an alternative of $40,000 (approx. £20,350) in cold hard cash, paid into my Titan Poker Account and available for withdrawal immediately.
I had calculated that I was likely to be spending around $15k of my prize on travel, accommodation and food etc. (PCA in Bahamas accommodation alone was $8.5k) and was having to take 3 weeks off work and away from my famiy. Although I would still LOVE to play in EPT Events (and I will one day), at this moment in my life (having just got married, with a couple £k in credit card debt and a sizable mortgage), I've opted to play it safe and accept the cash!
I will still be holding some of this money in my various Poker Accounts and playing in tourneys that I wouldn't otherwise have been able to afford - all forthcoming online and live APAT Events and satellites for the GUKPT, EPT and WSOP Events.
And I still have the trip to London for the personal training from Annette_15 in the WSOPE Training Camp to look forward to.
Tuesday, 15 January 2008
Sunday, 13 January 2008
$2000 BlueSq / APAT Welsh Amateur Championship
I've just had a phone call from Brian @ Titan Poker. He apologised for the lengthy delay in contacting me about my big win. Apparently it has been caused by the girl who looks after the VIPs and Sponsored Players (Team Titan) being in Australia with the team for the Aussie Millions. I was assured though that I would be contacted shortly after she returns and that I would be offered the choice of EPT Events although certain ones - the ones where there will be a strong Titan presence at - would be recommended to me.
Now back onto more of the normal stakes stuff ...
Last night I played the $2000 Tourney on BlueSq just to keep me amused whilst I read and constantly refreshed the APAT Forum. At 11pm we were down to 350 and I saw that it was gonna take around another 60-90 minutes to make the money ($2) at 200. With prizes only being reasonably worthwhile at top 10 ($80) I predicted a 2am finish if I went the distance. Julia was just going to bed when I was dealt 88 and faced an All-In for all my chips pre-flop. I called thinking that if I won this hand I'd be in the top 10 in chips and if I lost it would be an early bed. I lost to QQ and an early night it was. No problem!
I was reading and posting on the Forum all day yesterday throughout APAT Welsh Amateur Championship. Leading the way with only 38 remaining after day 1 is Poker Player, Poker Presenter and Model Liv Boeree - website def worth a look (www.livboeree.com)!
One of my picks for the Gold Medal Wayne 'ThePiranha' Gardiner says that it was just not fair that he had to be sat beside her for 3 hours yesterday. I really feel for you Wayne ... !
Day 2 lines up to be every bit as exciting as yesterday. I'll be here keeping track of it all through Tighty's excellent updates at http://www.apat.com/forum/index.php?topic=1042.0
Now back onto more of the normal stakes stuff ...
Last night I played the $2000 Tourney on BlueSq just to keep me amused whilst I read and constantly refreshed the APAT Forum. At 11pm we were down to 350 and I saw that it was gonna take around another 60-90 minutes to make the money ($2) at 200. With prizes only being reasonably worthwhile at top 10 ($80) I predicted a 2am finish if I went the distance. Julia was just going to bed when I was dealt 88 and faced an All-In for all my chips pre-flop. I called thinking that if I won this hand I'd be in the top 10 in chips and if I lost it would be an early bed. I lost to QQ and an early night it was. No problem!
I was reading and posting on the Forum all day yesterday throughout APAT Welsh Amateur Championship. Leading the way with only 38 remaining after day 1 is Poker Player, Poker Presenter and Model Liv Boeree - website def worth a look (www.livboeree.com)!
One of my picks for the Gold Medal Wayne 'ThePiranha' Gardiner says that it was just not fair that he had to be sat beside her for 3 hours yesterday. I really feel for you Wayne ... !
Day 2 lines up to be every bit as exciting as yesterday. I'll be here keeping track of it all through Tighty's excellent updates at http://www.apat.com/forum/index.php?topic=1042.0
Friday, 11 January 2008
Bankroll Management
One of my New Year Poker Resolutions was to practice Bankroll Management. Given that I usually only deposit £30 or so into BlueSq at a time to play in the APAT Online Series, I realised that I should be building my bankroll at a much lesser level than the $0.50/$1 I usually play.
Giving into temptation to just re-deposit, I use this as an opportunity to see what I can do with the $1 left in my account by seeing how much play I can have at the 2c/4c levels. The answer is surprising as I hit $10.82 within an hour - just 18c short of my goal of being able to enter the $11 APAT Czech Republic Open on BlueSq. Well, making that 18c is easier said than done and after donking back down to below $8 I decide it's time for a break.
I still want to play more poker as I'm home alone tonight, so I go looking for Tournaments where I can use the 3,000+ tournament points I've accumulated on BlueSq. I find a 10 seat 200KO Points satellite to a $2,000 Turnament Points BuyIn Tourney being run on Saturday night at 21:00. I give it a go and I take it down with some patient tight passive play in the early stages - whilst all the idiots still want to push with A6o pre-flop just because they have the button. It's now full at 2000 runners. At $100 for 5th, that's what's required in my eyes to make it almost worthwhile.
I'll be playing tomorrow night with one eye as always, on the APAT Forum. The Welsh Open is on tomorrow night and I will be watching it with interest. I'm gutted I didn't qualify to play in it and that, due to the amount of dosh we've splashed out over the past 3 months on Vegas, Christmas and Wedding stuff, me asking to rip another £200 out of the scarily low bank account to go play poker would really have landed me in the dog-house.
So good luck all, especially all the Scots and my picks on the Forum - Michael 'Plastikman' King, Wayne 'ThePiranha' Gardiner and Gordon 'GiMac' McArthur.
Giving into temptation to just re-deposit, I use this as an opportunity to see what I can do with the $1 left in my account by seeing how much play I can have at the 2c/4c levels. The answer is surprising as I hit $10.82 within an hour - just 18c short of my goal of being able to enter the $11 APAT Czech Republic Open on BlueSq. Well, making that 18c is easier said than done and after donking back down to below $8 I decide it's time for a break.
I still want to play more poker as I'm home alone tonight, so I go looking for Tournaments where I can use the 3,000+ tournament points I've accumulated on BlueSq. I find a 10 seat 200KO Points satellite to a $2,000 Turnament Points BuyIn Tourney being run on Saturday night at 21:00. I give it a go and I take it down with some patient tight passive play in the early stages - whilst all the idiots still want to push with A6o pre-flop just because they have the button. It's now full at 2000 runners. At $100 for 5th, that's what's required in my eyes to make it almost worthwhile.
I'll be playing tomorrow night with one eye as always, on the APAT Forum. The Welsh Open is on tomorrow night and I will be watching it with interest. I'm gutted I didn't qualify to play in it and that, due to the amount of dosh we've splashed out over the past 3 months on Vegas, Christmas and Wedding stuff, me asking to rip another £200 out of the scarily low bank account to go play poker would really have landed me in the dog-house.
So good luck all, especially all the Scots and my picks on the Forum - Michael 'Plastikman' King, Wayne 'ThePiranha' Gardiner and Gordon 'GiMac' McArthur.
Thursday, 10 January 2008
InsidePoker Freeroll Win - Tuition from Annette_15
Playing under the username 'undef361' due to an admin complication on BetFair from about 8 months ago, I've just beaten 245 other runners to win (according to page 13 of this month's InsidePoker mag), the package to Annette Obrestad's pre-WSOPE training camp in London, including travel and accommodation, personal tuition from Annette and a seat in a 6 man $1,000 shootout.
Sweet!!!
Tonight was probably as distracted as I've been whilst playing online poker. I had one window open watching and listening to the EPT's PokerStars Caribbean Adventure on EPTLive.com, and I was playing the Freerolls on Betfair and BlueSquare and I still managed to paint Julia's toes for her going away to her work's Grand Ball tomorrow night! Who says Men can't multi-task ... ?
With the conclusion of the excellent Live Broadcast from EPT and having donked off a slightly more than average stack in one hand on BlueSq with AK on a A57 board when I called an All-In of one of the chip leaders to lose to pocket 5s, I assured CELTICRIV (fellow Scottish APATer and general Neil tormentor Jim Lang) that all my concentration was now on the Betfair one. And it was ...
I felt as sharp as a tack despite feeling as if I've been ODing on Poker recently, making a load of great calls and taking the lead any time I saw a ragged board. I'm not sure how to get a Hand History up within Betfair so I'll try and replay hands as I have them in my head until I find out;
- final table with 9 left. Johnny Gibb (Divitts) raises All-In with 44 and is called by 99. He hits the miracle 4 on the river and we celebrate (tactfully of course). Next hand, the guy who's just had his 99 busted shoves in early position. Johnny shoves All-In too. SB calls too. It's KJo v Johnny's AA and BB's QQ. It's looking like Johnny is going to become one of the big stacks when the dreaded Q delivers a bout of Karma that "floors" him. UL M8, WP, GG and all that!
- with 6 left in and on the button with AKs, one of the tighter shorter stacks raises it up pre-flop. On a junk board (10 high) he pushed and I'm sure I'm good to call. He has AQ and I take it down to get to 2nd in chips.
- with 4 players left and with Q7o on BB, UTG min-raises and I get to see a cheap flop. It comes K7J. I check it to him and he bets out around 2.5xBB. I see this as weak and flat call. Turn comes 5h and I check it to him again. He checks. River card is another K and I'm now calling any bet he makes with my 7. He bets out 3/4 the pot and I have a decision. I just don't feel that he has a K or Q so I make the call. He shows AT and I take down a very worthwhile pot!
- I get to heads up with 100k in chips against 380k. I raise it up with any playable hand and get aggressive when I'm confident I have a read on TurtleTwo. With A7c I call his weak bet on the K94 flop thinking that my A high is still good and I'm likely to see the hand through even if no A or 7 appears on turn. The turn brings a low Club and I decide to check it to him again, fully intending to see the river as cheaply as possible. He bets out less than half the pot again and I'm priced in to making the call. When the last club hits the river, I'm now thinking I need to attack this pot hard hoping that he has been slow-playing a K and deliberately pricing me in on each street. My hand is well disguised here so I feel an overbet of 60k into the 52k pot should make him suspicious and curious enough to call. He does and I'm now chip leader!
- around 10 minutes later, in the final hand, I'm dealt 3d5d (I won the APAT Danish Open with 3h5c). He min-reraises (strength?), I call and the flop comes 9h7c3h. He shoves his last 95k or so in and I take only a couple of seconds to call with bottom pair - I figure he's got two overcards and needing to hit to make his hand so I call! He shows JhQh for the flush draw. No hearts come and I'm left looking at a second 'Congratulations You've Won' window in a week!
AWESOME!!!
Sweet!!!
Tonight was probably as distracted as I've been whilst playing online poker. I had one window open watching and listening to the EPT's PokerStars Caribbean Adventure on EPTLive.com, and I was playing the Freerolls on Betfair and BlueSquare and I still managed to paint Julia's toes for her going away to her work's Grand Ball tomorrow night! Who says Men can't multi-task ... ?
With the conclusion of the excellent Live Broadcast from EPT and having donked off a slightly more than average stack in one hand on BlueSq with AK on a A57 board when I called an All-In of one of the chip leaders to lose to pocket 5s, I assured CELTICRIV (fellow Scottish APATer and general Neil tormentor Jim Lang) that all my concentration was now on the Betfair one. And it was ...
I felt as sharp as a tack despite feeling as if I've been ODing on Poker recently, making a load of great calls and taking the lead any time I saw a ragged board. I'm not sure how to get a Hand History up within Betfair so I'll try and replay hands as I have them in my head until I find out;
- final table with 9 left. Johnny Gibb (Divitts) raises All-In with 44 and is called by 99. He hits the miracle 4 on the river and we celebrate (tactfully of course). Next hand, the guy who's just had his 99 busted shoves in early position. Johnny shoves All-In too. SB calls too. It's KJo v Johnny's AA and BB's QQ. It's looking like Johnny is going to become one of the big stacks when the dreaded Q delivers a bout of Karma that "floors" him. UL M8, WP, GG and all that!
- with 6 left in and on the button with AKs, one of the tighter shorter stacks raises it up pre-flop. On a junk board (10 high) he pushed and I'm sure I'm good to call. He has AQ and I take it down to get to 2nd in chips.
- with 4 players left and with Q7o on BB, UTG min-raises and I get to see a cheap flop. It comes K7J. I check it to him and he bets out around 2.5xBB. I see this as weak and flat call. Turn comes 5h and I check it to him again. He checks. River card is another K and I'm now calling any bet he makes with my 7. He bets out 3/4 the pot and I have a decision. I just don't feel that he has a K or Q so I make the call. He shows AT and I take down a very worthwhile pot!
- I get to heads up with 100k in chips against 380k. I raise it up with any playable hand and get aggressive when I'm confident I have a read on TurtleTwo. With A7c I call his weak bet on the K94 flop thinking that my A high is still good and I'm likely to see the hand through even if no A or 7 appears on turn. The turn brings a low Club and I decide to check it to him again, fully intending to see the river as cheaply as possible. He bets out less than half the pot again and I'm priced in to making the call. When the last club hits the river, I'm now thinking I need to attack this pot hard hoping that he has been slow-playing a K and deliberately pricing me in on each street. My hand is well disguised here so I feel an overbet of 60k into the 52k pot should make him suspicious and curious enough to call. He does and I'm now chip leader!
- around 10 minutes later, in the final hand, I'm dealt 3d5d (I won the APAT Danish Open with 3h5c). He min-reraises (strength?), I call and the flop comes 9h7c3h. He shoves his last 95k or so in and I take only a couple of seconds to call with bottom pair - I figure he's got two overcards and needing to hit to make his hand so I call! He shows JhQh for the flush draw. No hearts come and I'm left looking at a second 'Congratulations You've Won' window in a week!
AWESOME!!!
Tuesday, 8 January 2008
$45k prize update ...
I'm still waiting for Titan to get back to me regarding the $45,000 Prize. On signing up for and browsing the PokerListings.com website though I found the thread that first introduced the PL $50,000 SPECIAL Event way back on 29th October 2007. It read;
"Exclusive to PokerListings players Titan Poker is offering a huge $50,000 freeroll. First prize will take down a whopping $45,000 to be spent on 3 EPT events of their choice (Buy ins + travel expenses). There will also be $5,000 spread from position 2 on downwards!"
I've now started looking at the Schedule web page of the EPT website at http://www.europeanpokertour.com/schedule.html in the hope that Titan will come back to me very soon and ask me to make my choices.
I put it to other APATers to advise me. So far, if I'm allowed to take my pick from the Events which will be run over the next 12 months, I've been advised to choose;
EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo
EPT Barcelona
PokerStars Caribbean Adventure
If I get knocked out on Day 1 of any of these, at least I can go lie on the beach!!!
If you'd like to make your own suggestions, please feel free to post at http://www.apat.com/forum/index.php?topic=999.msg15730#msg15730
"Exclusive to PokerListings players Titan Poker is offering a huge $50,000 freeroll. First prize will take down a whopping $45,000 to be spent on 3 EPT events of their choice (Buy ins + travel expenses). There will also be $5,000 spread from position 2 on downwards!"
I've now started looking at the Schedule web page of the EPT website at http://www.europeanpokertour.com/schedule.html in the hope that Titan will come back to me very soon and ask me to make my choices.
I put it to other APATers to advise me. So far, if I'm allowed to take my pick from the Events which will be run over the next 12 months, I've been advised to choose;
EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo
EPT Barcelona
PokerStars Caribbean Adventure
If I get knocked out on Day 1 of any of these, at least I can go lie on the beach!!!
If you'd like to make your own suggestions, please feel free to post at http://www.apat.com/forum/index.php?topic=999.msg15730#msg15730
Freerolls
As I had donked off each of the three £20 deposits I made in December within 48 hours, I have been trawling PokerPlayer and InsidePoker for Freerolls. Last night I played two that started at 8pm - the Grand Prix on BetFair and the IP Freeroll on BlueSquare.
I was successful in neither, bullying the unbullyable shortly after I had taken down a few pots mixing and showing strength and aggression. My AQs from BB was called down on a QT3 board by 88 when an 8 hit the turn etc.
The BetFair table was an aggressive one in that any hands I played with had to be pushed. I hit middle pair and a flush draw on a rag flop with 56s on SB and committed to it. I was called by 99 and went out in 330th-ish.
Next game will be Thursday night's PokerPlayer Freeroll on BlueSquare.
I was successful in neither, bullying the unbullyable shortly after I had taken down a few pots mixing and showing strength and aggression. My AQs from BB was called down on a QT3 board by 88 when an 8 hit the turn etc.
The BetFair table was an aggressive one in that any hands I played with had to be pushed. I hit middle pair and a flush draw on a rag flop with 56s on SB and committed to it. I was called by 99 and went out in 330th-ish.
Next game will be Thursday night's PokerPlayer Freeroll on BlueSquare.
Monday, 7 January 2008
What a start to 2008!
Happy New Year to you all and welcome to this, my first Blog post of 2008. OK, it's my first blog post ever ...
I'm a 31 year old from Ayr in Scotland. I'm an IT Consultant by day and a poker player by night. I am also very proud to be a Volunteer Assistant Regional Manager and long-time Member of APAT (see www.APAT.com) where I post and play under the nicknames 'lukybugur' and 'G3LBOY'.
I've had my Blogspot account open for over a month now after I was introduced to this by some of my APAT friends - my main outlet for all the poker chat my friends don't understand. Due to Christmas etc. I haven't had time to post anything so it's one of my New Year Resolutions to use this to take better notes of my play, results, bankroll etc.
And I'm all the more excited about this first post as I start by telling you about the biggest win of my career / life so far ...
But, having signed up to Titan Poker through PokerListings.com and having racked up more than 250TPs, I entered the PL $50,000 Special last night (6th Jan). A little after 4 hours of play, I had made the final table from the 1315 entrants and was starting with slightly less-than-average chip stack.
My reading of the game was pretty sharp last night and I managed to find weaknesses in a few of the final 10 pretty quickly. From Seat 1 I managed to raise a few pots to steal some blinds throughout but it was Foxtrott11 in Seat 5 that was knocking the folk out!
With five remaining and with blinds as high as they were going (20k/40k), I found myself short stacked after calling down a pot with T7o from the BB with aaaarne (the SB) firing out suspiciously high on the Q87 flop, checking the turn (5) and pushing on the river. I lost around half my stack when he flipped over 96s and I recognised that as the first seriously damaging call I'd made so far.
I managed to double up with A3 against TT when an A flopped and made the final three going in as chip leader when I called and busted aaaarne's All-In with 88 with AJs.
We were three handed for a dozen or so hands when I looked down at ATo on the BB. SB shoved and I called, happy to see him turning over A9o.
Heads up lasted just 4 hands. First one I popped it up to 120k with 88 to which he folded. I folded one, he folded one then I look down to see 22. I min raise to 80, he pushes and I call. It's J9o against 22 and I'm trying to work out my odds when the first card out is another 2! I woohoo reasonably calmly considering, press PrintScreen a dozen or so times to make sure I'm able to record the moment and phone my parents even though I know they'll be in their bed!!!
First prize in this top heavy tourney is a "$45,000 Multiple Live Poker Package"! Once I hear what that means exactly, I'll be back on here.
Thanks for reading :)
Heads up lasted just 4 hands. First one I popped it up to 120k with 88 to which he folded. I folded one, he folded one then I look down to see 22. I min raise to 80, he pushes and I call. It's J9o against 22 and I'm trying to work out my odds when the first card out is another 2! I woohoo reasonably calmly considering, press PrintScreen a dozen or so times to make sure I'm able to record the moment and phone my parents even though I know they'll be in their bed!!!
First prize in this top heavy tourney is a "$45,000 Multiple Live Poker Package"! Once I hear what that means exactly, I'll be back on here.
Thanks for reading :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
