PokerStars update

I'm in a bit of a funk at the moment, nothing seems to be going my way which I mentioned in a previous post. Nothing happened with the dating situation, work hasn't been that busy lately and I haven't really been making any progress on PokerStars. I've been getting to the gym regularly which is the one positive but probably not eating as well/healthy as I would like or should be.

So for the last week, I've just been focussing on the $3.25 45 man games. I believe I'm playing well and making the right moves, they just don't seem to be paying off at the moment. My bankroll has been floating up and down around the $1000 mark.

I put in some longer sessions on Saturday and Sunday and things to be on the improve ... a little. Saturday was break-even'ish as I couldn't do any better than a 4th place finish. Sunday I played a few MTT's as well as the 45's and got deep in a couple, cashing 3 out of 4. My best finishes were a 39th out of 2132 and 53rd out of 2460 ... good to get deep but nothing spectacular as far as payouts go. I had my best chance in the first one, I got knocked out when I raised with 9's from early position and the big blind shoved over the top. It wasn't worth folding as I needed to double-up, he turned over ace queen and hit an ace on the flop and I didn't improve. If I win that hand I would have had a more playable stack and could make a run at the top 20 and the final table.

The 45's went a little better yesterday too, despite bubbling at least 4 times. I got one win, a third and a fourth. The win came against a competent player who stacked off with middle pair, mid kicker on a low board when I limped kings from the small blind. I was surprised he couldn't fold when I showed strength on the flop by re-raising and it essentially cost him the game.

The bankroll is currently at $1063 which is a little higher than it has been for the last 2 weeks. Hopefully I can get back over $1100 soon and keep heading upwards from there.

As work hasn't been that busy I've also been railing some of my favourite online players in PokerStars SCOOP. My boys Assassinato and Bond18 have been doing ok without breaking through for a major result but the comeback-kid Shaun Deeb took down a PLO event last night for $63K.

Nick Rainey, WBCOOP and VIP update

It was a quiet morning at work so I decided to play in event #3 of the WBCOOP on PokerStars.

In event #1 there was around 1600 players with 153 receiving tickets to the SCOOP. As I do, I finished about 180th, just short of winning a ticket. I played well despite taking a rotten beat early. I raised with queens, flop came 8 high and despite me showing strength someone couldn't fold ace 8 and rivered an 8. That crippled me early but I fought back strong, got back in the game but fell just short. The final hand was folded to the button who raised, I had ace king suited in the small blind and re-raised all-in. After a bit of thought he called turning over 6's and held knocking me out.

Today was a similar story. My first table had someone just shoving every single hand for the first 5 minutes or so. He sucked out on a few people but of course lost it not long after. From there, it was just stupid aggression from a number of players because we had a number of stacks that were sitting out. I was patient and picked my spots, re-raising when I normally wouldn't but my reads/ranges were right and I got paid off. I was shortish approaching the bubble and called from the small blind with 9 10 off vs 1 limper and the big blind who checked. Flop came 9 high so I pushed all-in, small blind folded but the donk who limped called turning over bottom pair ace kicker and of course the river was the ace and I was gone about 10 short of the money/ticket. SOOO frustrating.

There's a really good article about insane MTT grinder Nick Rainey (aka MI_turtle). I think it appeared in a British poker magazine and its well worth a read.

Also, my quest for Silver VIP status on PokerStars is going to be a battle. After playing the last few nights I'm just short of 550, still 200 short of the target. I'll play as much as I can tomorrow but I'm playing in the APL State Finals on Saturday and have an engagement party after that ... so that day is out. Sunday will have to be a mad day-long grind.

Quick bankroll update. I couldn't get any wins tonight and with a number of bubbles and min-cashes thrown in I'm currently around $550. I really want to get back over $600 which I was briefly earlier in the week.