I've been too busy working to get much [any] time in at the cash tables, which is where I tend to make-up the BR ground I lose in the tournaments.
A quick, but depressing resume of what I've been up to:-
Black Friday
Yes... I was one of those melodramatic souls that made a run on Full Tilt and Stars... after lots of anxious introspection my withdrawals... were deposited HOORAY... now what?
Super50
So I decided to use a sizeable portion of my bankroll to play in the Super50 at Dusk til Dawn. As I think I've said before, Dusk til Dawn is an amazing poker club to play in, with some fantastically structured tournaments - in particular the Super50 is a great tournament - decent field, nice structure and stacks. However... it really didn't help my state of mind getting my entire stack in on the first hand and not-winning. Ok, I didn't lose either, but as far as omens go it certainly wasn't propitious!
I managed to stay true to form and played [consistently] badly throughout... but saved my finest [bad] moment to the last hand I played - trying to bluff a solid player off a flopped full-house with air - inspired really... just inspired by these guys:-
Hendon Mob Forum League
I last wrote about the Hendon Mob Forum League the last time I made a final table - funny that. Since then, there have been two more league matches - the last two games in the league. The first was a double-stack Pot Limit Omaha [PLO] tournament. I'm not very good at PLO - it's best to admit it - I play draws too aggressively - which isn't necessarily a losing habit, it's just that I play non-nut draws to aggressively, which is. The final league game of the season was a triple-stack Hold 'em tournament. To be fair to myself, I played this fairly well, and didn't make many stupid moves throughout the first two hours - went out to a decent player with a decent hand in a decent spot, so I'm not going to beat myself up too much about that... stupid f**king idiot!!
However... not everything has gone wrong in the league. Once the final scores-on-the-doors had come in, I'd managed to scrape into position for the second play-off (runners-up play-off); and had managed to cover my costs for the season with tournament winnings from the league - so actually achieved my two goals from the start of the season.
I also think that my overall poker game has improved quite a lot during the nine months I've been playing in the league games. They are a great opportunity to play a range of poker games and formats, with a decent group of players, cheaply. I'd recommend anyone to come and try it out next season, if you want to learn to play tournament poker on a budget.
My cash game has also improved during the same period (mostly since xmas, really); and I'm confident that I can take it forward once I get the time to begin playing again, properly... in about two weeks time - HOORAY!!
The two league play-offs that I'm in take place tonight and tomorrow - the first is the runners-up play-off, for finishing 22nd in the league; and the second is the 'league loyalty' play-off for competing in 33 of the 34 scheduled games. Each play-off is a winner-takes-all tournament, with a $2,500 tournament prize for first place. Given the players that I'm competing against, I'm not expecting to win both tournaments ;-)
However, I have been motivating myself during the week, to give myself the best shot. I really shouldn't give away all my secrets, but suffice it to say, it involves eating several bananas (they can work wonders) and sporadically listening to this:-
With this sort of preparation, it's almost unfair on the other players... good job I didn't have also have a tangerine, otherwise it would have been tantamount to cheating!
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