So Far So So-So at Walsall

Just got back from Walsall yesterday. I played the £300 and £500 freezeouts and i am going back for the £1500 main event on Saturday.

The £300 NLHE started really well for me, running my 7k starting stack up to 42.5k after 3 hours - that was massive at that stage - really huge stacked on my table with most having around the 13k mark and next biggest being 22k. I felt compelled to get aggressive and be the 'big stack', calling raises at will and re-raising late position raisers and not backing down if i felt my oppo was weak or if i sensed i was in a 50:50 coup. This ultimately led to the dessimation of my stack down to 30k by the 3rd break and i was pretty much back in the pack again fighting to stay above average.

I made the final day but went back 15th in chips out of 18 with little option but to move all in at the first opportunity. I got lucky when i finally moved all-in attempting to pinch the blinds with 5h6h against the chip leader's 99 when i turned and rivered a boat but he got his revenge five hands later when my 10-10 was no match for his KK, especially when he flopped a third king. - so that was me done in 13th for £300 - not even a 'cking profit!

However, my good mate Thewy won it in style and with total class. - £18,500! - 5% to his coach (thats me) and i was well in profit for the week without having to actually get a result myself.

The £500 comp was a non-event for me. I played fast and loose early and combined that with some timid folds and suspect calls i soon worked my starting 8k up to a whopping 3.1k by the time our table broke - grrrrrrrrrrr.

I prolonged tournament death for a bit longer before falling on my sword by calling all in with 8-8 in the cutoff to Latif's mid position raise. - He showed JJ and hooked another one on the flop and i was done for the day.

Never mind, there's always the main event, where i hope to repeat my achievements of february this year or even go one better. - you never know, even a blind pig can find the occasional acorn.

The Internet Cold Turkey Continues

This post works best if read pretending you are that annoying geordie fella who voices over big brother.... "day twelve and all is quiet on the internet poker front"

Since my tantrum of twelve days ago, i haven't folded an e-card in anger and don't intend to for some time yet. I sometimes get the urge for a game but i am fighting it. Plenty to do in and out of my new house at the moment, so no excuses for falling into long boring sessions in front of the computer screen.

My live results have really perked up too - as i knew they would! 5 live games in eleven days (4 at Notts and 1 at Walsall - i have made three final tables and won a seat to the Walsall £1500 main event this Sunday coming). The omens are good as this is how i netted £38k in february - i knuckled down on my live game in the weeks prior, strung a few small results together and got in to the main event for less than £100 in the super sat. A full recollection of that result, the thoughts of the day and the battles and encounters that i had along the way can be found in the earlier posts of this blog. I hope to report more of the same next week.

Richard & Judy Talk Poker!?..... How Painful!

Alright... so i am admitting i have nothing better to do than sit with lappie on my knee watching Richard & Judy in the afternoons but after i have had my bacon buttie and settled down to watch Deal or No Deal with Noel Edmonds i can't be arsed to move plus in the last week they have had two guests on that i thought might be interesting so i sat and watched (i really wish i hadn't) .... Mike Reid (Eastenders and all round funny man) and John Thompson (Fast Show, Cold Feet). However they both began telling R&J that they are poker addicts and that they really love the game etc etc. - queue interest from the tall smug one (Richard) and the fat ageing alchoholic one (Judy). - apparently they love poker too, especially when they go all in! - wow, i love the crap shoot all in aspect to poker too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Apparently, Mike Reid (just what are his poker credentials?) has released a DVD that not only tells you how to play poker but (and here's the best bit)... it tells you how to win at poker!.. whatever Mike!, whatever!

Now John Thompson is showing the annoying couple how to play Texas Hold'em! - OMG i have never witnessed anything so painful to the ears an eyes in all my life - i found it insulting!

When, where, how will this saturation of poker into the popular media stop! - I want to hear poker players with credentials talking poker i don't want to hear failed commedians, actors and useless celebrities telling me how they know when someone's bluffing and how its all in their DVD! - F**K OFF!


__end of rant__

I Really Can't Take Any More!

Ok...
this is it, i am making a decision - i want no further part of the action! I am tired of losing and am tired of not trusting internet poker sites.

I have just played 7 hours per day for the last 2 days on pokerstars with no success at all. I feel I am playing well but can't achieve a result and further to my lack of success i have been logging my tournament and SNG departures as well as the beats i am receiving in the cash games. I can only conclude that not only do i suck beyond belief at internet poker (that has already been proven), but... I am also incredibly unlucky - do i sound like a loser? - well, thats because i am!

My last departure was a 2 outer on the bubble of a 100 SNG and i absolutely let rip - swearing and general shouting at the absolute top of my voice, laptop sent through mid air into the kitchen and my foot well and truly stubbed on the sofa. - My shout was so loud that one of the neighbours has just rung the doorbell to check out what was happening - nosey cow!

I feel there is no choice but to delete every single piece of internet poker software from my laptop (15 poker rooms) and just concentrate on my live game until after christmas. I have a very good record live, where i can look a guy in the eyes, have a laugh, smell fear and feel the strength of a bet. On-line this just isn't possible! - I am not a technical player, i play by feel and the net just doesn't do it for me... so, its over, no more, done, never again, deleted, game over, insert 10p. - Furthermore, i would never react to a beat in this way in a live card room and i don't like myself when i react like this so i am removing the problem and the risk of it happening again.

I am off to Ikea with the real poker girlie tonight to buy a new sofa then its to PC world for laptop repairs, then i'll stop by the 'big L' shop (a shop for losers) to buy a big holographic 'L' for my forehead.

Sunday, i'll be at gala for the £50 rebuy where i expect to get a result and will post the details on Monday.

thanks for listening

'the cyber-whinger'

BlondePoker Q&A

My favourite poker forum at blondepoker.com are encouraging members to give answers to a series of questions to form a profile of each member as a reference guide for fellow 'blondeites'. Here's a copy of mine...


What is your BlondePoker username?

Junior or PokerGirlie (depends on my mood)


Which area do you live in?

Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire (although i class myself as a Mansfield lad!)


What is your marital status?

Single (but live with my girlfriend)


Do you have any children and/or pets?

Neither


When did you start playing poker?

Properly in 2002 - after i graduated. Before that - I played a little 1p-2p games at uni but we didnt really know the rules and everyone cheated - so i dont class that as proper poker.


Where can you be found playing live?

Mainly at Gala Nottingham but i get around alot to Napoleon's in Sheffield and the Grosvenor's in Walsall, Luton, Blackpool. I also travel around the rest of the UK and occasionally abroad playing alot of the Euro circuit events.


What is your favourite online site?

Pokerstars (but i can't win on it)


What is your handle there?

"_Jnr._" or "thecharge" or "Garageflower" (yes, i have 3 but so what, arrest me!)


What is the harshest beat you have inflicted on an opponent?

I'm not that type of player - i always get my money in whilst in front and seldom outdraw players. - you can class me as a solid rock type.


Who are your poker heroes?

I really like Daniel Negreanu for his attitude, thoughts on the game, style and results.


Who is your best friend in poker?

My Dad would be the person i talk the most to about poker (although he has totally different ideas about the game to me - he cant really play :-)). I am good friends with Tony Kendall - but he's a world-wide celebrity now and he don't mix with the commoners too much now :-). Julian Thew is also a very good poker friend, he is as nicer guy you could meet in poker and many young 'fullofattitude' players could learn alot from him in the way he conducts himself and behaves at the table.


What are your greatest accomplishments in poker?

Being able to give up my job that i really truly hated and be able to persue a life playing poker is probably my greatest accomplishment. Coming 2nd in the Midlands Medley at Walsall in February of this year - it won me a lot of money and really made my decision for me of what i was going to do for the rest of the year. Winning my heat and making the final in the televised William Hill GP this year against a truly world calss field made me very proud and i was walking on air for days.


What is your most embarrassing moment in poker?

Not really had many, i remember going back with big chips to the £300 freeze in walsall for the 2nd day and was back on the A38 within 35 minutes after doing the lot through terrible play and finally finishing it off by making a huge button over raise with K-10 (14 times the BB!) only to find fellow blondeite 'Hotdog' in the BB with KK writing his christmas list.


Which Blondepoker thread did you enjoy the most?

the 'Hello, I'm new' PokerGirlie thread... it worked a treat and exactly as planned - Colch Kiv, AdamM, RobHM, Ariston, Sunday8pm - i thankyou for your gullabilityness (new word)


The thing I love most about BlondePoker is?

The commaradary, the encouragement and the feeling of family and belonging. - i also love the fact that there are complete beginners and seasoned professionals and everything in between mixing with each other sharing their thoughts, feelings and opinions. - long may it continue.


My biggest pet hate in poker is?

I absolutely hate those players that chirp and cheer when they win a pot but are truly horrible when they lose or get outdrawn - i'm not naming names but i regularly play with a couple of players who are so badly behaved at the table. They swear at players, abuse dealers, throw cards and bang the table when they lose but as soon as they win a pot they are all sweetness and smiles - it is wrong! - anyone who loses with bad grace, behaves in this fashion but decides to win with smiles is a cancer to the game and action should be taken against them by the card rooms and casinos. I also really really hate smoking in card rooms - there is no need for it and smoking in card rooms should be banned.


What are your main interests outside poker?

Golf, football, my new house, messing about on the internet and errr.... poker.


Tell us something about yourself none of us would know

I could bore you with my golfing exploits and my +2 (better than scratch) handicap but i wont, instead i'll tell you that I suffer from diabetes (not many people know that) and have done since i was 16 (not an easy time to develop the condition). I inject myself with insulin between 4 and 5 times a day and check my blood sugars up to 6 times a day. It can be a real ball ache during long tournaments but you just learn to live with it.


What is your favourite pie filling?

Chicken and Mushroom


Who is your favourite singer?

Crispin Hunt of 'Longpigs' but i also like Cat Stevens, Paul Weller and many many more guitar based, singer and song writers. - I absolutely detest fake pop idol, x-factor type acts that the charts and shelves are littered with these days - it is ruining UK independent music as proper bands that play their own music and write their own songs don't get the chance to grow and shine in the current Uk music scene.


What is your favourite song?'

A Parting Gesture' by The Bluetones from their album Expecting to Fly


Who is your ideal man or woman?

Sickbags at the ready.... My ideal woman is my girlfriend.. she is strong, independent, loving, generous, kind, courteous and she is so supportive of everything i do. - she is everything i could want in a woman.Apart from her, i would have to at a push go for Keira Knightly.


What is your favourite holiday destination?

I usually combine going away with poker and recently went to Vegas and most recently Laughlin (both in the States). I havent really got a favourite destination, i think holidays are more about the people you are with and what you make of it.


If I could change one thing about myself I would?

I would become a winning internet player instead of the calling station, loose, indisciplined fish that i am right now.

Internet Poker? - I Suck?

I was in Sheffield on Wednesday for the £100 PLH re-buy affair. Nothing to report about the comp as it was largely uneventful for me, i never got any chips and eventually had to gamble on a 50:50 shot which flipped the wrong side up for me and i was out. It was an enjoyable evening though and i ran into a few guys i hadn't really seen much of since Vegas and it was good to catch up and have a bit of a chat.

I was talking to Steve 'womble' Walmsley before the comp and like myself he has recently put work to one side in order to concentrate on his poker. We got talking about how much we have been playing and whether or not we thought we could make a crust playing on-line. In Vegas i had declared i was going to master the bloody game when i got home and become an English version of a Scandie whizz, raking in millions from the on-line gravy train. - so naturally Steve enquired as to my successes... I could only reply with a folorn look and declare that "i suck at internet poker". Steve, naturally now has more time on his hands during the day and has ventured onto the cyber tables and is breaking even (that would be a result to me!) Anyway, we concluded that you need very different skill sets for the live game and internet games. I am very much a live player who thrives on the banter and the action of a 'proper' game but i am looking for some advice from wining on-line players and am interested in their experiences, tactics and results and hopefully i can learn something that will help my own game...

so,.... what i am saying is if anyone wants to post some comments and offer some advice, i am prepared to listen (cap in hand, baking humble pie).

thanks!


Off to Sheffield this afternoon for the super sat to the £750 NLH freezeout with the competition proper starting at 8pm tonight - lets hope i can get back to what i know - the live stuff and winning!