May Summary

Got in another hour of poker last night, and made another $50 mainly from Cake $2/4 and $3/6 tables. No real excitement except one guy who would randomly decide that he’d play a hand aggressively no matter what cards he got or what hit the board. He showed down 26o a couple times on very scary boards (which had hit me), so I’ve marked him for future reference.

Thought I’d better post my May summary as I won’t be posting on the weekend. Turned out to be my best month ever, pulling in $1,750, and not really putting in too many hours. No significant bad runs like the last month, and I’ve been madly clearing the 24 bonus.

Finished the month on $8,500, mainly playing on the small $1/2 and occasionally $2/4 tables on 24 to clear my bonus via raked hands (rather than the usual raked amount or points schemes), as well as a chunk of $2/4 and $3/6 on Cake, thanks to the latest reload bonus there.

The gain of $1,750 for the month was made up of:

Bonuses: $520

• William Hill: $50 for 5 hours play bonus
• Cake: $70 reload bonus
• 24: $350 sign up bonus
• Big slick: $5 sign up bonus
• Party: $45 reload bonus

Rakeback: $40

• Sun: $0
• Cake: $30
• William Hill: $10

Poker winnings / (losses): $1,190

(a great result, and I guess a bit of a heater, considering I didn’t play a huge amount)

For June the goals in order of priority are:

• Clear as much of my 24 bonus as possible ($500 remaining)
• Play my 5 hours on William Hill for the $50 bonus
• Clear my last $90 on cake (and actually cash out some from there!!!)
• Clear a chunk of the $445 remaining on Big Slick
• Clear some of the Sun bonus - maybe $20 (through double up SnGs mainly)

Current bankroll: $8,500

Cash out methods

Firstly, I actually played for another hour - this is looking like a huge week compared to most so far! Again managed to start down about 25BBs when the usual muppet sucked out a 3 on the river to give them trips versus my AQ flopping an A. Also lost when my nut flush draw hit the flush on the river, which also paired the board, sinking me with a full house. I did get revenge on the muppet later though when his flush draw hit on the river but turned my K9 on a K9xx board into a full house.

Found my saviour on Cake though, who appeared to be a complete maniac, and I had the prime position sitting on his left! In the 3 hands I tangled with him, once I had the nuts, which he bet and called all streets to show down with nothing, next I had top pair/top kicker, and again he showed down with nothing, and the final hand I had only A high, and he again bet into me with nothing. He actually left the table after the first one, and someone else at the table chatted 'damn, I wish that guy reloaded'. About 5 seconds later he reappeared on the table in the same seat!!! Just when I was about to leave too, but when he reappeared, I decided to stay till he busted out ... which didnt take long.

Anyways, I pulled in about 40BBs all up at $2/4, which is a fairly nice return after the negative 25BB start. Haven't quite played enough hands to clear any more bonus, but it shouldn't be far away.

Okay .. cash out methods. I've finally decided to actually cash out some of my bankroll. I will still keep it separate from any other funds, but invested and earning interest. May as well have my bankroll growing rather than just sitting there on poker sites or neteller not earning any interest at all. I actually received my prepaid card yesterday from Neteller, so will do my first cash out soon. Hopefully it goes smoothly!

Current Bankroll: $8,450

An interesting, but somewhat useless stat

Only played a 20 minute session, and pretty much went nowhere. Started off down when one guy hit his set of 3s on the river to my KK. Also got hammered by another guy hitting his runner runner gutshot straight to my AJ pairing the J on the flop. However, I grabbed it all back when they kept on chasing incredibly bad draws versus my made hands. Unfortunately I had to leave when the fish were still biting pretty hard.

I had a quick look at my Pokertracker stats, and found that i've now played 100 'sessions' at $1/2 on 24poker. A session effectively being any block of continuous play on a single table .. so if I was 3 tabling at the same time, it would count as 3 sessions. Over those 100 sessions i've won 56% of them (my interesting stat of the day). Given that i've been winning unusually well on 24 at around 4BB/100, maybe that does sound a bit low. However, i've played approx 4,000 hands in that time with an average 'session' of only 40 hands which could explain a lot of the losing sessions as there will be huge variance in short sessions. Actually, if I really think about it, 56% is actually showing a pretty big edge for limit poker. I'm sure for no limit the stat should probably be higher, but maybe it is quite reasonable for limit poker.

The key thing though, I think, is that my winning sessions are showing significantly bigger wins than the losing sessions are showing losses.

So overall what does it tell me. Hmmm ... not much :)

However, of probably more interest, is that i've cleared $500 of bonus in those 4,000 hands, which equates to $0.125 per hand, or $12.50/100 or 6.25BB/100. That alone is a pretty significant return. It will be a sad day when it runs out after I clear the final $500!

Current Bankroll: $8,300

Monday night table selection sux

As expected, available tables on a Monday evening Aussie time really sucked.

For 24poker, there was only one limit table running between the $1/2 level and $3/6. It seemed juicy enough, with about 65% of players seeing the pot, so I added myself to the waiting list as it was currently empty. An hour later when I had finished my session, I was still sitting at #1 on the wait list. ARGH

In the mean time, however, I had fired up Cake, as at least there's normally one table there I can join as well between $2/4 and $3/6. Well, no, not this time. There were no $2/4 tables running and one $3/6 table which had 4 players sitting down and 19% of players seeing the pot. Dont see how that table could be profitable so I gave it a miss for a start. There was one juicy $1/2 table going so I jumped on that for want of a better offer. I had notes on a couple of the players and had them marked as easy money (green). I found myself sitting on the left of a massive fish, so had the opportunity to take a few notes -

• HUGE FISH, called raise 43o in the CO. Limps almost every pot. Will always see a turn, but folds to a turn bet if unimproved. Will bet only if has a hand. Will actually raise preflop with TT+ but nothing else. Chases all gutshots.

Unfortunately for me, his 43o hit a straight when an A hit on the river to pair my AQ preflop. He also managed to hit a flush draw and a few two outers. He quit the table when i was down by 25BBs!!!!! I had to rebuy in, as the table was still fishy even without him.

I then decided to check back in at the lobby, and noticed he had moved to the $3/6 table and had $120 sitting in front of him. Here's my chance to make some cash back!! So I jumped on there for the next 40 minutes. There was another big fish playing on the same table as well, who I had some notes on.

• Limp PF any pos with weak A or any 2 suited. Folds flop to raise. Calls raise with weak A. Will shut down to aggression even if he has near nuts or nuts!! Chases gutshots every time.

Unfortunately though, my seat position wasn't good as I was sitting to the right of the two big fish. I figured however, that since they were so bad, and the two to my right were not raising or 3 betting much forcing me to fold, I'd still make a decent profit.

First few hands on the $3/6 table, I saw my original fish hit a runner runner flush, and a gutshot straight holding 84o. Luckily for me, I wasn't involved in those pots, however, his stack was now over $200.

From then on, he didnt manage to suck out on many hands, and I relentlessly value bet with any reasonably strong holding, and continually bet the turn, no matter what card had hit. One hand I think I had 96s, missed the flop, bet, he called, turn was another blank, I bet hoping for a fold, but he called. River was another blank, so I checked and he checked behind, and I won the hand with 9 high. Its beyond me why he was calling down with 7 high and no draw.

Anyways, each pot wasn't too big because of the serious lack of aggression, however, I made about a 15BB profit on the table, before his $200 stack ran out. So I took nearly half of it, which I can't complain about. At the same time i'd won back my 25BBs on the $1/2 table, and had made another 5BBs on top of that mainly due to that table staying very fishy, and a number of my big hands holding up.

On bonuses, I think Cake must be looking at my account every time they want to announce a reload bonus. Every time my remaining bonus to clear is down to $10, they release a new bonus. This time 25% up to $100. So I made my $400 deposit to maximise the potential bonus. The session tonight cleared my final $10 of the previous bonus, so it looks like i'll continue to play Cake when there aren't enough free tables on 24poker.

What I also like about Cake is that their rake structure is actually quite good for low fixed limit poker, roughly comparable to fulltilt or stars, and a LOT better than ipoker or microgaming. Oh and the rakeback is 33% which is not too bad either.

I still have another $500 to clear in bonuses off 24 as well. Should take another 6 weeks or so at the rate i'm going.

Current bankroll: $8,300

Super session followed by frustration

Played a good 3 hours on the weekend - I know - a bit unusual, but I had some free time.

Started off with getting a normal amount of starting hands, however, every single one seemed to hold up. Draws were hitting, my big cards were pairing, made a couple straights and got called down by the fish regularly.

For the first hour and a half I think my BB/100 was around 45 ... huge for limit poker, and over 4 tables.

Then .. back to reality. One of my key fish who had been giving me money time and time again managed to hit a 2,3 or 4 outer six times in a row!! ARGH.

I could see myself getting more and more annoyed, but was still playing well. In the end the fish left the table, so I ended up quitting as well when there were no longer enough juicy opponents. I cleared about $100 in bonus, and still managed to end up a couple hundred, which is quite good - although it could easily have been $400. Won't complain though - still a decent return for the time invested.

Current bankroll: $8,200

Stats - the river

Thought i'd better have a quick check of the 'more details' summary on pokertracker, just in case I have developed any more leaks in my game.

On a quick view, only 2 stats really stood out. My AF on the river was only just over 1, and my fold to a river bet was 30%.

It looks like probably i'm not value betting enough on the river, and should have a slightly higher AF, but as compensation, i'm calling down a lot of river bets. I suspect i'm taking the theories of not betting when I will only get called by a better hand and checking to induce a bluff on the river to the extreme, and it may actually be a leak.

I will have to make sure I am getting this right. Might have to refer back to the stox or shorthanded books to brush up on the theory as well.

Anyways, only played briefly on the tables, and made about 20BBs on the $1/2 table. Was well up on a $2/4 table before I missed about 3 draws in a row, and managed to have my QJ dominated by KQ in a stealing situation. Disappointing not to end further up, but any positive session is a good session :)

cyas next week

Current Bankroll: $7,950

Lessons from the fish

I had a quick half hour session on 24 with 2 or 3 $1/2 tables open and one $3/6 table on cake.

There was a bit of chatter going on in the chat box on a 24 table and one of the fish called me an idiot for folding on the river – “why not call the river when you’ve already called the flop and turn?” he then asked. I had missed my OESD into 2 players and I wasn’t closing the action. Had a bit of a chuckle to myself as I noted him down as easy money, and didn’t reply as I’d prefer it if he thought I had no idea. Won about 15BBs off him over the next 15 minutes which was handy.

My cake table that I’d opened up showed 70% of players per flop so I couldn’t really pass it up, particularly at the 3/6 level. Since Cake doesn’t allow pokertracker, I had a quick look at my notes next to each of the players. As luck would have it I had a seat to the left of a guy I’d marked as ‘green’ which means easy money. Looking at my notes on him showed – “super aggro player. Will bet all streets with air inc river. Will reraise in the BB with J3o. Generally should call down with pair or better.” So I had great position on basically a maniac, and there were also a couple other fish on the table I’d also marked as green.

Started not so well, with me having at least top pair and top kicker in two of the first three hands. With maniac betting all the way, and me raising the early streets and calling down, both times he showed a rivered gutshot straight. So straight away I’m down about 10BBs.

About two hands later I’m dealt with KQ in the BB. Folded to maniac who raises. I obviously reraise, which he calls. Flop was AA7 which didn’t really help me, but was a little scary. He bet, and I raised, he reraised which made me think maybe he did have an A, or possibly a pocket pair. Based on my notes though I figured I was still a chance and he could easily be K high or worse. So I went into call down mode. He then bet the turn which was another A, and then bet the river which was a K. At this point I know I’ve got the second nuts and am only losing to him holding the last A. I ended up just calling instead of reraising, which I’m not sure was the right thing to do. He showed down QJ giving me a decent pot.

Won a few more pots against him and eventually got into a 3 way pot with 33 in the BB. One limper, he raised, I called, limper called,. Flop was something like 678, which wasn’t the prettiest flop, but not a complete disaster for me. He raised the flop as per usual, and normally I’d muck here, but figured I could be in front so threw in a raise. The limper folded. Turn was a T, which did really suck, however he checked, so I figured I’d raise to take down the pot. Unfortunately he called. River was another 7 giving me 2 pair. He checked and I checked in behind with him showing down KQo. I’m not sure if I played the hand quite right, although I’m happy with the flop reraise to force out the other limper and potentially clean up some outs.

Anyways I ended up winning about 15BBs there, clearing another $50 in bonuses on 24, and winning about 25BBs on the $1/2 tables, which was a pretty big win rate for such a brief period of time. Thank you fishies :)

Current Bankroll: $7,900

A loose table on microgaming?

Finally found a loose table on microgaming, with three players with a VPIP greater than 60. Usually I end up playing on fairly tight tables on microgaming, and just hope to break even whilst clearing the bonus for pure profit. Unfortunately, even though they were super loose, they were killing me early, showing down some bizarre two pair hands (like TT22) and a few unlikely straights (hole cards like 95o, 45o etc and rivering the gutshot).

I kept at it for about an hour though, and got most of it back on that table, as well as making a small profit on another couple tables. I have to check tonight as to whether i've release another one lot of $50 or two of my bonus money there. I'm hoping two, but I cant remember if I already claimed the first lot.

I also had a massive run of premium starting hands on a 4 handed table, which I couldnt leave straight away as there were two super tight players to my left who were basically handing me their blinds every time, and one fish directly on my right, who was also donating. They eventually started playing back at me, but on this table I won a good 20BBs in a pretty short amount of time. I generally try to avoid 4 handed tables, as the rake becomes a killer as soon as you get too far below 6 players, but in this case I figured it was worth hanging around. I quit as soon as it became 3 handed. It was only a $1/2 game though, so not a huge amount of money involved, but did clear a bunch of raked hands towards my bonus.

Current bankroll: $7,700

Discipline

Played a fairly short session, which was fairly up and down. As per usual a few nasty suckouts. I don't think I actually played any hands incorrectly. Lost a 3 way pot with KK v AA, and another when my AK hit the K on the flop, however my opponent's 88 hit another 8 on the turn.

What I really noticed about the session was my level of discipline around table selection. Played very briefly on Cake when I went onto a table with 4 players, and managed to get the seat to the left of the biggest fish. About 20 hands later when I was up about 10BBs, the fish quit, and I then automatically quit at the next blind without even thinking about it. I was actually quite pleased with this, given I know that many people would just keep on playing when they are up. But since the table was no longer good enough for me to have a significant edge i'm happy that I simply quit it almost on autopilot. I must have done it enough times for it to be ingrained on my psyche.

Overall the session was okay and made about $50. Could easily have been more but I was a little unlucky with a relatively low VPIP, low WTSD and slighly below avg W$SD for the session. The pots I did win though, were obviously a little above average.

4 tabling 24 poker for 20 mins also would have racked up a few more hands, so my next $50 bonus release must be very close.

Current Bankroll: $7,650

Tilt!!!

I think I got in around 3 hours in total since last Thursday, which is pretty good for me.

Started off absolutely terribly dropping a good 40BBs at $2/4 inside half an hour, mainly by going fairly card dead, and every flop missing me, and every muppet calling down my continuation bets with something like bottom pair and no kicker, which still beat me.

Also managed to lose one hand where I had QdQc in MP. One limper from early position so I raised. The button called so it was 3 to the flop. Flop is Qs7d4s. Limper bets out, I raise, button calls, limper calls. Turn is 7s, which fills me up, and completes a potential flush draw. Limper bets, I reraise, button reraises, limper folds, I reraise. River 7c .... the only possible card for me to lose to ... I bet, button raises ... shit ... call ... 4 of a kind beats my boat. This clown had actually played A7o to a raise. Had called with middle pair and a potential flush draw on the board that he didn't have a piece of, had raised and called the cap on the turn ... F me!!! He sucked out another 3 or 4 hands as well which was pissing me off, whilst giving it back to the other players. Anyways, I guess i'm sorta lucky in that its the first time i've actually lost with a full house.

I then found a juicy $3/6 table on cake, which I decided to join at the same time. Played about 50 hands, and had one of the hottest runs i've ever been on. I saw 22 flops, of which I won 10 without a showdown and of the remaining 12 hands i won 10 of them at showdown. (and was actually a little unlucky to lose the other 2!!). That more than made up for the previous losses.

Oh yeah, my tilt story ... almost forgot

Had another session later, where i'd like to point out a small tilt inducing sequence of hands. Folded to a very aggro player (almost always bet all 3 streets) to my right who raised my big blind as expected. I was holding A6o, but with his steal % over 50% I figured i'm not in bad shape. I guess I made a mistake in not reraising though. Flop was J87 rainbow. Hmm i've whiffed here, but he could easily be betting air. I just flat called (probably also bad in hindsight). Turn 9 which gave me the bottom end of an oesd. At this point I figure any A, and any 5 and fairly likely any T, and possibly a 6 is going to be good. So i figure I have maybe 15 outs, and can't fold to his turn bet. River is a sweet 5, which he bets. For some dumb reason I didnt raise that river. Not sure what I was thinking. Made a lot of mistakes that hand. He shows QQ, and was not particularly happy.

Next hand that villain limps in, and the BB checks. I fold in the SB with T6o. Flop is Th9h2s, which villain bets. BB calls. Turn 10d. Villain bets, BB calls. River 2c. Villain bets, BB calls. I'm guessin that villain probably has just the two pair on the board, with maybe an A high kicker. Villain turns over Q7o (WTF .. limp with that???) and loses to 94o. I dont think he was happy again. (and pity I didnt limp!!)

Next hand i'm on the button, and same villain is in the BB. I look down to see Qh8h and when its folded to me I raise hoping to steal. Unfortunately SB reraises, which kinda sux, but to my surprise villain cold calls 2. Flop is Qc7h4h. So i've hit top pair, and my flush draw is very much alive. SB bets, and villain then raises ... Hmmm wtf can he have? maybe trips? Anyhow, I reraise, and SB caps. Villain and I call. Turn is a sweet, sweet 2h. SB bets out .. hmmm maybe he has a flush as well? More likely a big pair I think. Villain flat calls it, so I raise. SB then folds saying KK is not enough against this action in the chat box. Villain then wakes up and reraises. Hmmm ... trips? maybe he hit the flush draw as well? He's been over aggro before though, so I decide to cap the turn with the Q high flush. Villain calls. River is Jc. Villain raises. Hmm maybe he has a better flush? Probably not, I figure i'll stick with my initial read, so I reraise. He calls and shows down 9h8c, for a hand that is 9 high ... ummm WTF ... well I guess that's what tilt does to you - you play like an absolute muppet... and donate a $90+ pot to me :)

I'm glad he was the one tilting and not me, but I guess it does show that tilt can make you do some crazy things!!

Anyways, overall, ended up about $100 for the weekend. Should have been more but had one other session later where I managed to miss every draw and had some very rude bad beats. But you get that sometimes.

Current Bankroll: $7,600

Maybe I smell?

Played about 40 mins or so, but bugger me, if every time I sat down at a table it would be empty within 10 minutes. I cant remember pissing people off, so maybe I stink?

Found one great $3/6 table on Cake, with a players seeing flop a bit over 60%. There were 2 people on their that I had noted as fish, but unfortunately the biggest fish of all was the person who left to allow me to get onto the table. I found myself sitting to the left of an almost maniac, who would steal raise every time. Luckily for me on a couple steal attempts I happened to be holding an Ace and obliged him with a 3 bet, and also managed to flop an A on 2 occasions. Ended up making about 10BBs there.

Couldnt find much on 24poker, so sat in some fairly tough games, purely to clear bonus rather than expecting a profit. Ended up a little down on those tables, but overall up for the session. I think i'm about halfway to clearing my next $50 bonus as well which I might clear tonight with any luck.

good luck for the weekend everyone. i'll be back next week.

Current Bankroll: $7,500

A quick stats check

After another 1 hour session which went down before going up to about a $20 profit. I was not able to table select at all which was very irritating. Sometimes being on Aussie time kinda sux, as there are relatively few tables running (none on crypto!! none at $1/2 on 24poker!! about 5 on bigslick but with % seeing flop < 30% which looked too tight). I did manage to get one fish on my right though on one table, who consistently called down with nothing, which did allow me to recover my early losses.

However, I thought i'd better have a quick check of my stats, as maybe i've developed a leak or two in my game that is costing me.

I have played about 2,400 hands on 24poker, so I know, a very small sample, but a quick look at my overall stats shows:

• vpip: 27.5
• wtsd: 36
• W$sd: 51
• AF: 2.3
• PTBB/100: 0.8

That actually doesnt look too bad - maybe the AF is a touch high and the vpip marginally low but that could easily be just variance over such a small sample. I'd prefer the PTBB/100 a bit higher, as it was running at 3 earlier - but that is probably not sustainable. Hmm .. maybe I need to drill down a little further.

At $2/4 i've only played 300 hands:

• VPIP 23 (ack too low)
• wtsd 27 (ack too low, and even worse given the low VPIP which should skew this higher)
• W$SD 55 (actually higher than normal - but due to playing fewer hands and who)
• AF: 3 (turn af 4.5!!! river 2.1!!! - way too high)
• BB/100: -1 !!!!

At $1/2 i've played about 2,100 hands

• wtsd 38
• W$SD 50
• bb/100: 1.5
• AF: 2

So it looks like my $2/4 results are skewing my overall figures. Such a small sample would simply be variance I believe, although based on a quick look my aggression is way too high at 2/4 - maybe i've been bluffing too many turns with continuation bets, and even firing a 3rd bullet on the river. I'm also not going to showdown enough at $2/4, which could be simply i've been missing the flops.

The $1/2 results actually look quite good and closer to my long term stats on any other poker site. I will continue to watch the $2/4 statistics though. I can remember I had a TAG on my right the other day which may have contributed to a lower WTSD, and a lower VPIP at $2/4.

Current Bankroll: $7,450

Could have been worse ....

Suffered a couple huge bad beats in approx $80 pots, which are still relatively large for me.

I found a great table to play on for about 1.5hrs, where I had a fish on my left, who had a VPIP of 96%!!! He also had a WTSD of around 40%. Unfortunately for me though, he also had a W$SD of over 70% ... WTF is that??? How can you win almost 50% of the hands played over about 150 hands??

Anyways .. my two nasty beats were:

Betting capped preflop with me holding JJ. Flop is J high - sweet!! (although 2 suited) Fish happened to be holding AJs which was even better, although he did have a backdoor flush possibility. Flop raised and reraised. Turn was a blank, which was raised and reraised. Of course his backdoor flush hits on the river ... FFS

2nd nasty beat was where I held QTo in the big blind, one raiser and 2 cold callers. I called and flop was JT2r. I raise and get 2 callers. Turn is another T - bonus so now there aren't too many hands in front of me, and I raise and get reraised. Hmmm. River is an 8, which my opponent raises ... maybe he hit his OESD? My crying call has him showing down T8s ... FFS

Also managed to lose with AA 3 times and KK once. Frustrating!!!

Had a few other big hands where a flush completed on the river and someone would show down suited trash to beat me. Of course all my flush draws missed. GRRR. So all in all I would be down $100, however, at the same time I cleared $100 in bonus from 24poker to effectively break even. I had to leave when the fish had doubled his starting stack, which also pissed me off.

Anyways. Might play a little more tonight and see what happens. Hopefully I can find some more fish who dont luck box on me!

Current bankroll: $7,450

A new king of the fish

Played for maybe 45 mins total, but couldn't find a decent table on 24poker or Bigslick. Found a table that had one fish (although I didn't know it at the time), a couple rocks, one TAG and one quite loose but aggresive player.

Figured i'd probably quit after one orbit, given the relatively poor table until I was dealt QJs in MP. Fish called my raise from the button and the others folded. I completely whiffed the flop, but made a continuation bet which got called. Turn was a K, which didnt help me at all, but I figured I'd take a punt and fire another bullet. Very disappointed to get called. River didn't help me at all, and didnt complete any draws that I could bluff to, so I figured i'd have to check/fold. To my surprise my fishy mate, who is now king of the fish checked in behind, showing down 9 high and didn't have a draw either on any street. OMFG - maybe this table ain't so bad.

King of the fish then proceeded to bleed chips rapidly, and also called down my AA when I was betting every street, and he held 8 high ...

The rest of the table being relatively tight actually worked in my favour and I was able to isolate the fish on quite a few hands. Ended up making about 20BBs from him, plus a bit more from another table, to end up a good $100 in a fairly brief amount of time.

I must be about halfway through my next $50 in bonus on 24 as well.

Current Bankroll: $7,450

Hate leaving the fish!

Only had time for a brief session before having to head out.

This time that proved to be quite annoying as there was one pretty big fish on the table, and most of the other players were pretty ordinary as well. The fish had managed to take a $40 pot off me, when my AK v his Q6o flopped K96r. Obviously a 6 would hit on the river as he called every street.

He gave that back pretty quick, and soon lost his $70 buy in. And then promptly reloaded with $150 ... I was absolutely spewing that I had to leave then ... i'm sure if i'd kept playing he'd give me some more cash. Ended up maybe $10 or $20, but for half an hour of play that's probably okay. Should be a bit closer to clearing my next $50 on 24poker as well.

Not sure how I went with my Bigslick loyalty deal last month. Have sent an email to my affiliate and am still waiting for a response. Will have to keep a close eye on that one.

Current Bankroll: $7,350

Crypto 5 bets+ on the river

Only played enough to clear my William Hill bonus of $50 for 5 hours of play, which took all of 15 minutes max this morning.



Pretty uneventful session, apart from one hand which basically gave me my profit for the session. AcTd dealt to me in middle position, so I open raise. Two callers. Flop is Tc8d2c (with two clubs), so i'm reasonably happy with that flop. The BB bets out, so I raise and both call. Turn is something like 4c, which gives my top pair/top kicker, and the nut flush draw. My raise gets reraised which I thought a little odd - maybe someone did hit their flush? Anyways, I call, and the river is Qc giving me the nut flush. Unfortunately for the other guy who decides to reraise my raise, he has the 2nd nuts. This is where crypto gets interesting - you can at least 5 bet, and possibly more on the river ... so when he 4 bets, I obviously 5 bet the river. Pity the guy didnt 6 bet, but I guess I can't be greedy.

Current Bankroll: $7,350

Sometimes you just run hot

Played for just under an hour last night, mainly on William Hill to do my 5 hours of play worth $10 per hour. Played 3 tables at once and cleared 2 lots of the bonus, and must be very very close to clearing the final $10. Wouldnt be surprised if it is already cleared when I next log in.

Anyways in that time I managed to win around 60BBs - although pity it was only at the $1/2 tables, but thats all you need to play on to clear the bonus, and at $30 per hour when 3 tabling that seems like a pretty good deal to me, given its very low risk.

My table selection was good, although I was a bit stuck for seat selection. On two of the tables there were two fish with VPIPs of around 55% and almost no aggression. On one of the tables, I had position on both the fish, but on the other table they had position on me which kinda sucked. Where I had the ideal seat, I won 40+ BBs. The other table was still a winning table, but nowhere near to the same degree. I guess it does indicate the importance of seat as well as table selection (although a very small sample I know).

There weren't too many hands of note that I can recall, although I did get called down a lot, when I was holding a good but not great hand (which ended up being the best hand) and got raised a few times when I was holding the nuts or near nuts, which is always nice. A few more bad suckouts than normal, but that was only because these guys were playing so many hands - but they also gave it all back to me and more.

Played my first Sitngo for a couple weeks, and managed to double my cash there. Only really played one hand where I called a couple limpers with 98s. Flop of 88J was looking pretty sweet. 9 on the turn just iced the cake, and added about 800 chips to my starting stack of 1500. Basically folded my way into the money after that, with only a couple pot steals, and one successful flop continuation bet.

The only real downer about the session was that it was mostly at the $1/2 level rather than something higher where i'd have made a lot more. But the levels I play at currently are driven by bonus clear rates / risk management more than seeking out the highest level to possibly play at.

Also cleared another $50 at 24poker, which still clears at the $1/2 level. Pity there's just not enough traffic on the site when I want to play there. I might have to start playing at the $2/4 level there as well, just to clear the bonus. Thinking about it, I probably will as long as I can find tables that are fishy enough. I have another 60 days to clear another $800 in bonus there so really need to pull my finger out. (And still have a stack to clear on bigslick as well!!)

Current bankroll: $7,300

A long session

Well, long for me anyways. Two sessions of nearly 2 hours for about 4 hours total play in a day.

Tuesday Aussie time though has to be the worst possible day for poker. Hardly any tables running on most of the sites that I play on, and the few that were running tended to be quite tight.

That being said, I did manage to find a few loose players here and there, mainly on party poker which actually had a few games running, although even there, the majority of the players were pretty tight and I had to close at least half the tables I opened up.

I had the usual horrible start, with a couple massive suckouts early, and my AQ not being good enough versus T2o ... not happy. Managed to drop a quick 20BBs probably in the space of 10 minutes.

However, one hand recovered the entire losses from the start of the session. I was dealt 44 in the BB, and there was an early raiser and 2 cold callers, so i've obviously called. Monotone flop of K74 gave me trips, but anyone with 2 clubs had hit their flush, and anyone with a single flop could easily outdraw me. Scarily the flop betting was capped with 3 runners still in the hand. The turn paired the board with a 7, filling up my boat, and giving me the third nuts, and now anyone with a flush or flush draw was drawing dead (except a hugely unlikely straight flush). The turn I bet out, and one guy actually folded (Dunno what he could have been on to call a cap flop bet, and fold to a single turn bet). The other player called, and the river was a sweet sweet club, which filled up the flush for my opponent, who happened to have the nut flush. Unfortunately for him, capping the river betting ended up being a big payoff for me.

Most of the rest of the sessions headed in an upwards direction, particularly when I managed to score some very rude flops - including my 76s in the BB facing a raise and cold caller hit a flop of 985r .. and remained the nuts for the whole hand, and also flopped a flush twice. Hmm when I think about it, there weren't actually too many outstanding hands. Just a lot of smallish pots where i'd have top pair versus a fish calling down with either top pair and rubbish kicker, or mid or bottom pair, and a few hands where super aggro guy called/raised with air and pair me off.

All in all, made about 60BBs, almost entirely on the $2/4 tables.

I must also add a quick comment on party poker. I probably had about 4 dropouts in the time I was playing which is not acceptable. Given that everyone on the table was also dropping out, I was sure it wasn't a problem at my end, however, go the usual response from party to check my connection, check my cookies etc etc. So I will be giving party a miss for a while as soon as the current bonus is cleared, until I get a really good offer, or some free cash back. It's damn annoying to get disconnected part way through a hand where you have a very strong hand!

Should clear another bonus or two in my next session with any luck, but only around $50 ... Hopefully I can find some tables that are actually running .. and remember not to make Tuesday a poker day in future.

Current bankroll: $7,100

Not enough time

Didnt really get to play again on the weekend. Although found maybe half an hour.

In that time I did manage to get 2 outered twice on the river, which did peeve me somewhat, as well as one guy in the SB calling my UTG raise with me holding AQs and him holding T5o, and obviously he hits his T and 5 on the river.

However, at the same time they did manage to call me down quite consistently when I was holding at least top pair or better, so they did donate another $50 to my bankroll, which I should thank them for.

I've got tomorrow off work, so should be able to play for 2 or 3 hours. Although poker tracker is giving me a virus warning at the moment so i'll have to find out what's going on there!!!

Current bankroll: $6,850

Start of May

Played for all of 15 minutes on 2 tables.

In that time hit AA twice, KK once, JJ twice, AQs twice. Split the pot with my KK when the board showed a straight A to T ... GRRRR, and lost one of the JJ hands when an A hit on the river, but the rest were comfortable wins, going to showdown but my lone opponent folding on the river. Made about 14BBs at $2/4 all up, so can't complain.

Made a few party points in the process although now i've hit my party point goal for the week. I believe you may need to be a rocket scientist to understand their new points system. Why they bother to make something so complex is beyond me. I suspect they have too many staff who are trying to justify their existence.

Back again next week. Good luck all.

Current bankroll: $6,800