3 cup finals in 6days/politics

I had a mini downswing the last few days of April which meant it wasnt quite my biggest month ever, but still very acceptable. Maybe it's just variance, but I really feel my game has been upped a level this year. My EV adjusted bb/100, is 19.6 so far which is super crushing.

Thanks to all the people who contacted me about staking/coaching. 3 people from PKR who I dont even know. Unfortunately Im obviously not able to take on many people.

I actually took on 3 people, all of which are close friends. 2 are fairly newbies so Iv just got em started playing micro stakes on rush poker so they can play a ton of hands and get a feel for it. I gave some basic strategy, but Ill go into it more after they've played a bit more. Then we'll go through all they're HH's and start by getting them decent pre flop stats and then work on cbetting. The other person is my mate Dan, who has a very steady win rate up to NL100. But like alot of players has to withdraw regularly so is unable to build up a roll.

Next week Im playing in 2 pool finals. One is the Pompey league team cup, the other is the pompey individuals. We've already won Div 1 so has been a successfully season. Then on Saturday (my birthday) I shall be off to Wembley once again for the FA cup final. Had an amazing day for the semi's, and am really looking forward to it. Even though we're massive underdogs, you never know. No one gave us a chance against Spurs.

I want share my thoughts/views on the recent general election. If you find politics boring or arent interested in my opinions, feel free to stop reading and fuck off :)

First of all I want to say that Im quite open-minded. I tend to have strong views on alot of issues but am also open to debate and am not to stubborn to be swayed by a reasonable argument. Going into the election I tried to be completely unbias and make up my mind based on polices/manifesto's and recent history.

Here's my thoughts on the 3 major parties:


Lib Dems

I really like Nick Clegg. I think he has the perfect image to lead the party. And its because of him the liberals had a surge in the polls prior to the election. Obviously they didnt achieve as much as they had hoped, but I think this is largely down to tactical voting.

However, their policies are far too left wing. For a start they want an amnesty on immigration (lol). We should be kicking the fuckers out, not letting them in. We have far too many unskilled, non-english speaking people in this already. We need to have much more control on who comes in to our country.

They're also very pro Europe, and want to eventually take us into the euro. Any economic expert will tell you this would be a disaster for us with the amount of debt we currently have. We'd end up like Greece. They'd want to give even more power away to Brussels, which is ridiculous. Why should we be told how to run our own country.


Tories

Lets face it, David Cameron is a bit of a prick. He's not in touch with real people and has a very punchable face. Despite him, I really think they're policies are much more in line with what we need right now. We have to cut spending. We're up to our eyeballs in debt and we cant cant keep trying to spend our way out of it.

They want to stop JSA for people who refuse job offers. We have far too many spongers in our society because they've been allowed to get away with it for so long. They're also the only (credible) party committed to cracking down on immigration. This alone wins my vote.


Labour

Looking back over the past 13 years, it boggles my mind that people will still vote for them. The following points are facts about the labour party/Gordon Brown:

• They've more than double national debt. This is despite us having a very strong economy during they're 1st two terms. On this point alone, people should be very concerned.


• They took us into 2 wars that the majority of the British people didnt want. Then they havnt given our troops the best (or even acceptable) equipment they need/deserve.


• They've let every tom, dick and harry in regardless of whether or not they speak English or have skills that would benefit our economy


• They created benefit Britain. We now live in a society that in alot of cases your better off sitting on your arse doing nothing (yeh i know, thats rich coming from me). If a teenage whore pops out some sprogs they get more money in benefits then some respectable hard working people earn. Plus a place to live at the taxpayers expense. NB there's tons more examples I could use on this point.


• They've signed over a shitload of power to Brussels with no referendum's (which they promised us), because they know thats not the public want.


• Gordon sold all our gold reserves for 10% what they're worth now (economic genius)

I could go on talking about they're stealth taxes, the banking crisis and Ed Miliband being a complete and utter vile slimeball. Talking of vile creatures, doesnt Hazel Blears have an uncanny resemblance to Dolores Umbridge.

This country needs change. Our countries on its knees about to be raped. Yes the Tories fall short on some issues but whats the alternative? 5 more years of the same shit? Im lucky enough to be in a position where I can just fuck off somewhere else and live, which if Labour and Lib Dems form a coalition government, I may well do along with a lot of others. At this point people who completely disagree with me will be thinking good riddens ha.

If you've read on this far then I hope your well

Jamie

Quick update

Last month I played some awful poker. Id stopped reviewing my sessions for a while and when I eventually went back over my sessions, it made me feel sick at how bad I played/gave money away. Iv always tried to work really hard at my game but the past couple of months I kinda havnt. Maybe I got a bit complacent after a great January. Anyway Im back to working hard, and Iv been super crushing this month. Im hoping to surpass my January winnings, which would obv be very nice.

Iv realised that the difference between my 'A' game and my 'B' game is huge. When playing my A game, i think my winrates well over 20bb's/100. My B game however, is so fucking bad that I think I actually struggle to break even, which is shocking considering the standard at 1/2. I need to find a way to play better even when Im not feeling it. I should be able to do ok just on auto-pilot (not that I want to get into the habit of auto-piloting).

gl

Jamie

Staking?

Recently Iv been really bored of poker. I used to love just playing, now I play because I have to. It's seems a chore to actually sit down and play.

Iv decided to stake/coach a couple of people. Not for any financial reasons, just because it'll be something different, a challenge. Whilst I dont claim to be a great player, with a wealth of knowledge/experience to offer, I do think I could take most people to a level where they can comfortably beat NL100 (maybe higher), providing they work hard and are not a retard. Seriously as long as you can walk and talk at the same time, you should be able to make money from poker.

Iv already got a few people interested, and if anyone else is, drop me a text, facebook msg or w/e. All I ask is that you have a least a basic knowledge of the game, and are prepared to work hard to improve.

The past couple of days have gone quite well. Im up 7 buy-ins, but still havnt been playing that great. I think Iv missed some value in certain spots.

Love you all

Back to the grind

Havnt been playing much poker the past few weeks. I just wasnt enjoying playing which lead to February being my 1st losing month in a long time. Although after rakeback, I was only down a couple of buy-ins.

This month Iv mainly been playing some rush poker on full tilt, although the 1 time I played on PKR, i had a very bad session. In a previous blog I mentioned that Id busted my roll on FT. Well, I had exactly $41 left from rakeback. So Iv just been goofing around, 1 tabling whilst watching tv. I started at .10/.25. I was soon upto over $100, so decided to move upto .25/.50. Within 1 week I had over 1k, without playing above .25/.50. Iv since then played some .50/1, but have just about broke even. The difference between the games I found to be quite big. At NL50, there's no 3/4 betting light at all. It's very straightforward. At NL100, everyone seems to be super aggro. I swear my button opens get 3bet over 50% of the time. And if I 3bet on the button, Im getting 4bet a ton.

Even though I can play 4-5 times as many hands, I dont think my hourly rate is as high as it is on PKR. The games are tougher so my winrates alot lower. Plus the varience is alot higher. I think ill stick to PKR, and just play some rush poker for fun, or if Iv only got 20mins to play or w/e. Im going to start grinding again 2day, Iv actually missed playing (i dont count 1 tabling low stakes as playing, just fun). I need to get back into the zone :)

I watched some sport relief the other night, and I couldnt help thinking, why the fuck would anyone give money to these people. Seriously, if I lived in poverty, and/or had HIV I wouldnt bring a child into the world. It's so unfair. Stop fucking breeding, you scumbags!!!

Another thing that annoys me about charity's is how such a small % actually reaches the 'victims'. Although Id never give money, I would like to actually go and physically help them. Like go help build a school, or a well, or whatever. That way you get to see the difference you make.

Saw shutter island the other night. It is absolutely awesome. Iv never been a fan of martin scorsese's films but I highly recommend you check it out.

Also congrats to kingand77, on his 22k cash in the party 300k.

Sigh

Had a break-even couple of weeks. Im running nearly 1k below all-in ev so Im not too bothered. Been coolered quite a bit, and lost 90% of flips but meh, whatever.

I posted some hands below, Iv got loadz more standard hands I could post but I guess there's no point posting them really. Just stuff like AA v KK and sets vs oesfd.

http://weaktight.com/2058756 - Seriously, how can anyone not be able to beat 1/2 with players like this playing. You dont even have to be good to beat it. Im not.

http://weaktight.com/2058754 - Here I make a big tankcall. The big over-shove had flush-draw written all over it. He's almost always checking his sets to me. Sometimes he shows up with a bigger jack (or smaller), but getting just over 1.5-1 i need 40% equity vs his range which I think I just have. Trouble is, even if Im ahead he will still have decent equity.... ill pokerstove it later.

http://weaktight.com/2058760 - I insta shove river, I find that fish tend to read that as bluffing the missed flush

http://weaktight.com/2058766 - I like my flop and turn play here. My river value bet is just horrible. Im not getting value from anything. He has Ace's up alot or other 2 pairs.

http://weaktight.com/2058762 - Sigh.

http://weaktight.com/2058764 - Bigger Sigh.

http://weaktight.com/2058759 - Can I play this differently?

Recently

Here's some hands Iv played recently.

http://weaktight.com/2037122 - My line here is pretty standard I think. Just calling his 3bet pre is fine as well. Not really sure what villain's logic is though.

http://weaktight.com/2037127 - I mix my play up a bit by not cbetting the flop, In the few orbits Id been at the table Id opened a couple of times then check-folded the flop. On the river I just milk him for a cheeky value bet.

http://weaktight.com/2037131 - I go for the check-call on the turn bcos I think once he's called the flop he has an Ace or set at least 90% of time. Betting it put me in a horrible position. Bcos Im a good player I hit my nut card the the river. I think its villain dependent on what line is best. Against a good player Id probably check to him as he'll be value betting AJ+ and a set (although the hand would have played out differently vs a good player). Im sure this guy's calling with any Ace here so I just shove.

http://weaktight.com/2037142 - Yuck, I should be folding here. At the time I thought, QJ, J10, Q10, 108 were all in his range, in which case my plays fine, but I think this villain would just check-call the flop with those hands.

http://weaktight.com/2037215 - 100% Standard

http://weaktight.com/2037223 - A typical friday night on PKR

http://weaktight.com/2039230 - At face value this looks like a complete spew, but Iv played alot with villain, and he plays at 30/18 with a 3bet % of 8.4. He'd already 3bet me when a few times when Id isolated the fish, and I really felt he'd have done it here with 99 and 88, and maybe even 66. I also think villain is calling pre with hands like 10Js, QJs, KQs, Q10s, so I think he has a ton of combo draws in his range. I go with my read but obv Im a lucky fish who cant fold an overpair

Some HH's

Iv decided Im gona start posting some hands from some of my sessions. These are from a session Iv just played.

http://weaktight.com/2031404 - This is why I love PKR

http://weaktight.com/2031416 - This guy obv doesnt like money, but got lucky and took some of mine.

http://weaktight.com/2031409 - Not sure about my flop play here, maybe I should just lead out. Villain was very aggro and barrelled alot so I go for the check-raise on the turn.

http://weaktight.com/2031441 - I assume villain found a fold with either AK or KQ. Maybe I missed value but I like my small turn raise, with his stack I thought he'd either shove or have to call river shove.

http://weaktight.com/2031545 - A nice gift

http://weaktight.com/2031304 - I think my line here is standard?

Sigh

January ended up being my my most profitable month ever. I ended the month with my biggest day ever as well. I ran at 28bb/100 over 16k hands. Some of my profit came from Full Tilt. I wanted to try out their new rush poker as it looked pretty awesome. I deposited $600 and ran it upto about 1.3k playing .50/1 in a couple of sessions.

February hasnt been as kind to me. I decided to take some shots at 2/4 over the weekend. Played a ton friday night. At one point I was stuck 1.6k but was running 1.1 under ev. I took break for an hour then came back and ran a little bit good and ended up only $300 down but still $600 under ev. Played a bit the past couple of days and Iv played so fucking bad. It'd been easier if I just walked down the street and handed out money to people. I actually cringed at some of my decisions when reviewing a session in Holdem Manager.

I also busted my FT roll in about 1.5k hands after moving up to 1/2 . It was kinda a brutal session, with some very sick hands. But the last few hundred I just tilted off. Rush poker's not the game to play if your tilted/playing bad. In total Im stuck just over 2k this month, which considering how bad Iv been playing, isnt that bad. Im not too bothered about this, it's brought me back to reality. I just need to re-focus and ill start crushing again.

Only morons think online poker's rigged

A lot of people believe that online poker's rigged. Generally these people have a low IQ. They're either old 'live players', or just dumb fish who get a few bad beats. Now, as a logical and rational thinking person, I obviously dont think for one minute its rigged.

The past month Iv had great results, running at 27bb's/100 over 14k hands. I dont think its possible to achieve this winrate without running somewhat decent, no matter how well I play. Iv evidently been on the plus side of some coolers and been in nice situations, whilst avoiding getting coolered myself as much as would be considered standard.

I was on a 14 session winning run and, as I generally only win about 65-70% of sessions, this is mathematically unlikely (obv not complaining about this). After the 14th winning session I cashed out some money. Since then Iv run so bad its unreal. Iv been 1 or 2 outered 4 times in under 400 hands. I get my money in good but just know Im going to lose. Dont get me wrong, Iv only lost a few buy-ins so it no real big deal from that point of view. Ok so its just variance, evening itself out right? But this seriously happens EVERY SINGLE time I cash out. Like always. Not once has it not happened since Iv played on PKR.

Why does this happen? It has to be coincidence of course. Any other reason implies PKR are doing this deliberately. Or it could just be in my head and it becomes psychological. It really does get to the stage when I actually consider just leaving my money in there and just borrow some.

Sigh.

Its such a fickle game, and Im a dumb fish

Well done Rich Dawkins

I wana say congrats to my mate wellsie for his 13th place finish in the masters last night, which made him over $1100. It was by far the biggest tourney he's ever played, so its a huge cash for him. And considering he earned the $270 entry fee by satelliting in for $1, its not a bad ROI. He usually plays micro/low stakes cash games and does pretty well, so now he'll be playing a bit higher and with a bit of help from yours truly I reckon he'll soon be crushing .50/1 :)

As for pool, I actually won last week although unfortunately the team lost. I still didnt play that great, but have since been practicing loadz and am starting to cue really well again. I really wana get back to my best (or even better), to the way I was playing when I had my England u21 trials.

The thing is with both pool and poker, I really hate not being able to produce what I know Im capable of. Its not even about winning, its about being the absolute best I possibly can and not make any mistakes. I was recently thinking about buying a dart board and taking up darts. I suck at it, but thought it'd be fun to see how good I can get. However, I think it'd end with me having to play constantly until I could hit a 9 darter with my eyes shut. Id never play any poker.

Oh and Im still completely crushing :)

You sad bastards

The reason I keep a blog, is because i enjoy have somewhere to put my thoughts down. Its hard to talk to people about poker, unless of course they also play for a living or have a decent knowledge of the game. In fact Vikki gets annoyed at me because I wont tell her how Im doing, Whenever she asks how my day went, ill always say 'it was ok' regardless of weather iv just lost 1k or w/e, yet ill put it in my blog for everyone to see.

Anyway, its really weird that, so many people actually read this. I sometimes meet people who I havnt seen for ages, or who I dont really know that well and they're like, oh i read your blog. Although, most people say they dont have a clue what Im goin on about half the time when I talk about poker. I think maybe that playing poker for a living intrigues some people and I guess I can see why. Also recently a few people who I play against online also mention that they read it. Im glad I can entertain some people. Although if I get many more followers I will have to start charging a monthly subscription.

Im absolutely loving poker at the moment. It feels like every time I sit and play a session, I cant help but win. Iv not been having huge sessions where I win 1k+, in fact my biggest win this year is only $770, but this week Iv played 9 sessions, winning 8, and all 8 have been $150+, so Im having consistent wins. Im currently up 1.8 putting me 3.4k this month, which isnt bad considering I didnt start playing till the 8th. It feels like all the hard work Iv put in is finally paying off :)

Poker good, pool bad

Iv had a pretty decent start to the year making just over 1.6k so far. Iv made a few changes to my game. Iv always played quite tight and in some situations I gave up a small amount of ev in favour of taking the lower-variance option. Im now playing more aggressively and so far my results have been good. Iv also been able to take advantage of my nitty image, so alot of the regs are giving me more credit. Obviously this will soon change and they'll start playing back at me more, so then ill have to re-adjust.

As good as poker is, my pool is bad. Since playing for my new team Im playing so retarded. If you dont know me, then pool is quite a big part of my life and I love the game. I think when I played for my old team I was like big fish in the small pond if u like and was really relaxed and confident. I had nothing to prove and I could always play my A game. Although I dont get nervous or anything now, I think maybe I feel I have something to prove. So Im gona start practicing a lot and try to regain some form. Iv lost my last 2 games so will probably be dropped, but that's fine, as long as I play well when I get another chance. If anyone fancies going down the club for some practice give me a text or summat.

Love you all

Jamie

Enjoy it while you can...... our country's white again !!

I hardly played at all over xmas and new year. I had family staying so didnt really get much chance. I like to be relaxed and have peace and quiet when I play. It meant missing out on alot of juicy xmas action but I enjoyed spending time with every1.

I was going to start playing again last Monday but my computer had a virus so had to get that fixed. When I eventually started playing again, I started off fine, making about 1.1k over the wkend, but have donated about $600 back the past 2days. Back to the joy of swings. Im trying to make a conscious effort not to focus on results much. Iv always had a tendency to let my downswings effect me so I need to keep reminding myself that thats what my bankroll is for, to handle variance. I know as long as I play well in the long run the $$ will come.

Im really trying hard to put in a ton of hours but I find it really hard. Its nothing to do with laziness (although I am quite lazy) , its because I just cant concentrate for very long. My attention span is zero, like a fucking child's. The trouble is you cant just blag it playing poker, not like an office job or w/e when u dont have to be focused 100% of the time. If you switch off for a bit, you can be stuck 1k before you know it.

As for this blog title, I guess its a little controversial, so if it offends you then tough. If your that easily offended your obviously not the type of person who I like and therefore I really dont care what you think ha :)