Decisions....

After some thought, i decided it's best if i leave poker to one side for at least a year. I am going to miss it dearly and will miss the rush i get when i play but i figured something needed to change. Also, some of my friends think that i am addicted to poker. I think nothing of it and say that it's not true. But in ways i think i am...

That for one is a good reason to stop, addiction isn't good. This break will test me. But the main reason for this absence is education. As some of you may know i do attend college and ever since i started playing poker again, everything i do seems to revolve around it and i find myself far behind when it comes to work. I really need to concentrate more and get through the year without any distractions.

I hope to return next year, once i complete my course, and i still hope to take a year out after to see how i fair at being a full time fish


Yours Truly

portdeco20

GET IN!!!!

An absolutely fantastic two days of poker....

Started off with, as i mentioned, $26. With some well played heads cash i finished the day with $139. This morning i played 2 $3 KO tourneys on FT and made the final table in one of them...that's two final tables in 5 tourneys :).

I came a disappointing 2nd after being a HUGE chip lead when i ran A3 into A2 all in pre flop...with him managing to make a full house....I made about $50 in that tourney and about $12 in the one the night before. Again, today Ive been playing heads up making small profit but boosting my roll up to, and over, the $200 mark, so i am extremely pleased with how I'm playing at the moment.

Just waiting for variance to bite me in the arse and when it does I'm sure it'll be a pretty horrific and bloody womb. But until then I'm just going to continue playing how i have been lately.

Yours Truly

Portdeco20

A Little Update...A Good Result

Here's how i got on in the 21 games:


tourney place prize


1 1st $4.50
2 1st $4.50
3 5th $0.00
4 1st $4.50
5 9th $0.00
6 5th $0.00
7 5th $0.00
8 4th $0.00
9 9th $0.00
10 8th $0.00

Right, as you can see i started off quite nicely, winning in 3 of the 4 games i started. After this though, my form dropped like crazy and found myself in situations i wouldn't normally get myself into.

After these 10 games, making a little profit i decided to quit there.

I remembered how i built my roll into the $1000's last time on tilt. I achieved this by playing heads up games of 25c/50c and above. To start, as my roll was less than $30 i bought in for $20 against an opponent who was sat in for $50.

It wasn't long before i accumulated a lot of his stack leaving me with about $40 and him $30. Then this hand come:

My BB and i raise to $1.50 with As 4s
He re raises to $2.50 and so i call the $1 extra
Luckily the poker gods bring a low all spades flop...he checks to me and i bet under pot (around $2.50) to look like its a weak bet. he goes ahead and makes the call.
Turn is the queen of clubs and he leads out for $8.50, i run my time bank down to make it look like i hard a hard decision and just call.
River is a blank and i know i cant lose as i have the nuts...my slow call, i think, brought along his next bet, which was all...i was glad to call and show the winning hand.

After boosting my roll $50 i decided to play another opponent at the same level. again i continue to trap and make another $10-$15

I'm going to keep playing these until i go bust or my roll reaches $500.

At the moment its just over $80

Yours Truly

portdeco20

The New Plan

My roll on stars is doing ok, but I'm struggling at the moment with full tilt. With only $26 left Ive decided to take some action and built a plan.

My exact roll is $26.86, with this i can buy into 21 games of one table SnG's at $1+$0.25.

Payouts in these are as follows:

1st: $4.50
2nd: $2.70
3rd: $1.80

I am going to play 21 games and see how my roll bares after these.

As for stars, I'm going to play cash games as i seem to be doing quite well in them. Also may try some mtt's as i love the big fields and great cash prizes.

Yours Truly

portdeco20

Swimming Along Nicely

At the moment, i can't complain really. Since my last post last week i have managed to place 2nd in a 90 man SnG knockout on Full tilt which saw a significant boost in my roll. From there i have won a few one table SnG's or placed in the money a couple of times.

Last night was the RTR heads up cup. It was good to play in such a friendly environment. Although i was a bit disappointed in drawing rickyrosa in the first game as it saw the welsh against the welsh. This was over quickly, first hand actually when i picked up jacks. Ricky hit top pair (tens) on the flop and the money went in. This saw me through to the quarter finals where i was to play dD (resdent evil). It was all about even until i think i stepped up my game a little and accumulated a slight chip lead. It was when we had both hit top pair on the flop that the money went in. I wasn't comfortable calling but i was pot committed. It was dD that had the better kicker but unluckily for him a 6 came on the turn to give me two pair. Gg dD.

Lukybugur was my next opponent in the semi finals. And from the start i was dominated, tried to pull too many bluffs and he caught me out. Gg luky, vwp.

Just a shout out to cloud who won (again). vvwp mate...well deserved =).

Yours Truly

Portdeco20

Milestone Post

Im happy to announce that this is my 100th post on this blog. This blog has now been running a good 9 or 10 months and has kept me going through the year. I would like to thank everyone who reads it, posts on it etc etc...



I will be continuing to use it to track my poker progress and keep you updated. There has been lack of updates because i haven't played poker since christmas.

Im currently grinding out a small roll as of last night, on very low stakes. Instead of giving you values, i will give you percentages, as values will look puny in my case. As of last night and this morning i have increased my roll by 25%, so its started quite nicely.

Some news i wanted to share: After i have completed this course im on, im going to take a year out and play poker full time and see how i cope, if it goes well i will continue, if not i will still have my qualifications. My course wont be completed for another year and a half as of now though, so still awhile.

will post soon

yours truly

portdeco20

BLAAHHH!!

Here i go again, ranting and raving at the 'shit' play that gets lucky at low stakes. It gets so irritating! How many times do the poker sites want to reward the fish just so they will stay and make them more money?? And yes, i do think online poker is rigged, maybe not all, but some sites for definite. Blah blah blah at all the people who say it isn't and its just variance or whatever!! Ive lost my last 3 rolls, wasn't much to lose but still pissed off. Although i cannot play as well as i used to i still think i can play better than a lot of the players on these sites. But i like to play against stronger players because at least they know when to fold!

Everything is looking up though on the 'non-poker' side of things just to mention. I now have two jobs to earn me a bit of money, the new one is working behind the bar at a local pub which i quite like, you get to socialise while working which is alright. Working Christmas eve which is an ass but can't wait for Christmas day....just a big laze and a lush meal....and i got 3 =) here we come weight watchers ;)

hope you all have a good one

laters,

yours truly

portdeco20

Sincere Apologies

Don't really know where to start this post so I'll start by saying sorry. Sorry for displaying my last post and not telling you guys whats happening, sorry for not being around as much as i was (RTR and bloggerment..etc...). There was a reason for not being involved with poker for the past months and that reason was depression.
November particularly was a distressing month for me. Me and my girlfriend had split up (again) but this time for good, i had fallen out with a few people from my football team and had to leave, i had suffered from paranoia which almost saw me quitting my course, and to top that a relative that has helped out my family an extraordinary amount over the last few years had past away. This not being enough to smite me, but i was also on a very bad run in poker for the few days in which my bankroll lasted.
It wasn't until early December, after taking some great advice off friends, family, colleagues, and such that i overcame a lot of this, a new start i felt was in order. I managed to sort my head out.
This sudden burst in self esteem saw me through my problems. i decided to stay on my course, now not caring what anyone thinks of me. I have found a new girlfriend who had also split with her boyfriend at a similar time and so we came to help each other through it which made it alot easier. I am also awaiting a confirmation of my transfer to a new football club which happen to be top of the league in the same league as my previous club. and i have accepted death as an inevitability.
On the poker side of things, i am currently grinding a small bankroll at low stakes just to build things back up again. Everything now is looking up again and i am very happy as opposed to weeks ago.
As for Christmas and new year coming up soon, i would like to thank everyone who has supported me, everyone who has read my blog and everyone who i know. I would like to wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy new year x x

ATB

Yours Truely

portdeco20

It's All Come Crashing Down

Ive Been Tagged :(

That Scottish rebel mair tagged me and I'm not happy about it! lol.

If you get tagged it means...

A) Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog
B) Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself
C) Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs
D) Let each person know that they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog

so...random things about me....

• I won the welsh indoor athletics championship when i was 14 or 15, went on to British finals but couldn't make it because i was ill.
• Ive only ever had sex with one girl once...lol....because I'm not a man whore amatay...not because i can't get any!
• I have every episode of friends on DVD.
• I like to play the guitar, and sing!
• I am genuinely a nice guy ;)
• My curtains have flowers on them lol (ones from when i was born- i get the mick taken out of me!)
• I would love to be a psychiatrist, i like helping people with their problems.

Sorry guys, tom (gravedigger), felix (thanks for all the fish), check in the dark, dremeber, spid.....had to be someone, now get tagging!!

still need advice to the previous post guys!, struggling big time :(

Changing my game

Some changes are good

<<<< some are not!

I feel now that a change in my game is needed, to do this I'm going to ask my readers for a few pointers. I'm wondering what allows all of you to play the best poker possible. What allows you to concentrate fully on the game at hand and have 100% focus when needed. My play is lacking, i can feel i am just another fish playing low stakes and not even excelling at that!!


My play is going downhill apart from when, now and again, i get the occasional outburst of pure genius shown in tournaments mostly.


Can i get some feedback please:


Is there anything you do before you play that helps you to concentrate?? do you listen to music whilst playing? are you talking on msn while playing? multi tabling??


Any poker books you recommend on poker strategy? any help to try and improve my game is gladly accepted, cheers

I Cannot Multi-table

First of all i just wanted to mention the bloggerment. I came back from the pub sitting with 1.1k in chips. I got lucky against mair, sorry about that. And soon lasted until the final table where it got to 4 players left. It folded to me in the SB, with rob in the BB, who was being quite tight i figured he was going to pass a lot of hands here, I pushed with a low ace and he quickly calls with QQ :( out i go.

After that i decided to multi-table a few SnG's and a few ring games. I did absolutely appalling in cash and soon went down about 5 buy ins, this bad luck/bad play continued right through until i decided to quit there on the cash table front. My ass got saved when i cashed in 2nd place in the last SnG i was in and brought me back up to just about even for the night.

Im going to play a few mtt's now and i hope to do well, because i could do with a decent result..its been a while and I'm due lol.

Few First Hours

I hit the tables late this afternoon and played some long hours right through late into the evening. I have played many SnG's and a few tournements aswell. I think i cashed overall in just 2 sit and go's out of something like 10, which aint to good, im not happy with that at all. As for the tournements, well they didnt go to well either. I didnt manage to cash in any despite reaching near the bubble in one of them.

So far, i must have only played 7 hours of poker at the most but ive seen enough cold decks to make an eskimo freeze, suffered so many bad beats to last me a few weeks and im just so sick of poker already. Also, i got so bored playing which i dont think ive ever felt before. I usually love playing!

Even though i have had some rubbish results in the past few hours i managed to place 1st in the last 18 player SnG i was in and that brought me break even to my starting roll (only $2 lost tonight) so its not all bad.

Back..

Hey guys! Im back blogging again. Still a lot a lot more poker to come from me.

Apart from the bloggerment, its been over two months since ive played poker and im not really sure how im going to get on, well no one does really but it seems all blank to me once again, much like it was when i started playing. This break, i think, will prove good for my results. Now all i have to do is try my best and hope i succeed.

My new strategy is to stay away from cash tables for the meantime and try to excel, at what i think my strength is, tourneys and multi table SnG's.

My first SnG on the first night back i managed to bag a 3rd place finish in a 18 player SnG, so started off on a good one. Thats all ive played tonight, hope to play again soon.

Just A Break

Everybody needs a break now and again. Im on a long break from poker and so i hadn't felt the need to be blogging as nothing interesting has happened. But im still reading, and im still checking to see how everyone is getting along.

I hope to return, and to return on good form. When i do is undecided.

I wish the best of luck to all my readers. ATB...portdeco20..x

Quick Update

Sorry for lack of posts recently, but i just wanted to update...with nothing really! lol. I'm on a break from poker at the moment, hope to resume soon but maybe not for a while depending how money issues pan out. You may notice i have taken many blog links off my site, this is because i either, don't read them or they have not linked me. If i have taken your link off and you want it back up just post on my blog....update's soon

My Sunday Night

it was all going on on friday night! The world blogger championship of online poker aswell as the bloggerment, does life get any better??

I started off well in the WBCOOP, was involved in 5 pots in about 18 hands and won everyone, but my biggest was when i raised pre flop on the button with A8 and i get called by BB. Flop comes 10 high with nothing particularly scary. He checks to me and i put my continuation bet of about 60% of the pot, i get massively re reraised and from then i knew he was either weak or had squat so i decided to just call his massive raise and again call his huge turn bet when it came to pair the board, you may think this is seriuosly bad play by me, but i was going with my read here, dont ask how i know he doesnt have anything i just followed instincts. When the fish overbet the river i shoved all in quickly and he folded instantly lol, and i caught absolutely nothing on the board but i probably had the best hand, maybe up against a small pair but i don't think so. Anyway, my success was short lived as a few hands later i shoved against a player i was re raising quite a lot pre flop, i think he got aggrovated and called all in with A8os, i held QQ and that ace hit the flop hard! and my stack was dented about 10k with only 6k left it was being eroded by the blinds and so i bet a large proportion of my stack (to emphasise i was pot commited) when i held 66 on the button when it had folded around, a shorter stack in the SB called and i get re raised from the BB and i was all in pre flop, 66 vs A5 vs 99 and no help...99 takes it....gg me. Just want to congratulate burnley mik, lou saban, and ace filled dreams for a great game, well played and well done BM and lou for finishing enough to bag some prizes!

I had the bloggerment to fall back on after i left the WBCOOP early, and it was a good turnout this week, thankyou everyone who turned up. Not many interesting hands really, got caught bluffing with 35s AIP vs 77, 77 hit quads! nh. made final table and bagged 7th place, more points for me =) again...would like to congratulate burnley mik for finishing 1st, an irregular occurance ;) but i cant speak because im just a bridesmaid!

WBCOOP

The World Blogger Championship Of Online Poker is going to be played tonight, many members of raise the river are playing and i wish you all the best. I hope someone from RTR takes down a prize because the prizes, although it will be tough, are definatly worth playing for. The tournement starts at 15:00ET...thats 8pm for UK'ers! and i wish you the best of luck.

also, bloggerment 30 tonight aswell :)

Roll's gone...tilt got the better of me

Past few days i have realised, despite being a profitable player (see sharkscope or official poker rankings) i am not a very good player. Why i say this is because i do not have the ability to keep my head. When i suffer a bad beat or numerous bad beats in a short time i chase my money on higher tables, i lose my head and i start playing really really badly. Im starting to get aggrovated by the fish when they make bad plays and get lucky and take it up with them in chat.

Why have i changed?? I used to be a quiet yet profitable player who could take a bad beat and carry on busting the fish, i could build my roll no problem and used to avoid tilt quite simply. I was able to tear up most of the 1 table sit and go's and make a healthy profit, i was able to use bankroll management effectively without steaming and needing to play higher. I think i know the cause and its similar to 'bluescouse' in my opinion. Ive been blinded by the higher stakes and now the stakes i play with mean nothing to me, which is where im wrong, it does mean something to me, infact its a lot of money to me. Ive lost the ability to understand the value of money and what im playing with. I dont think it is going to change and i dont think i can successfully build a roll from less than $200 because i end up losing it. Although this may sound that i am reconsidering playing poker as much as i do, which is true, i doubt i will change, i feel im addicted to poker already after a short period of time playing.

Also, i don't use any table selection, i jump straight into the game with no information on my opponents, no bankroll management and have no idea how i will get on. My confidence in my game has just plummited. All i need is a boost of confidence, a deep tourney result, a big win in cash, or just little things like a progressive income everyday, a 1st place finish in the bloggerment.....i just need to something, just to keep the faith.

Im 80% sure that most poker players have felt this way i am feeling now and i am very curious how they overcame this. Any help will be very much appreciated.

Bad Tilt, Bad Play, Why the Good Reward?

< thats how u avoid tilt! or make it better!

As you can see it didnt go well, but then again it did!!?? wtf are u on about lloydy?? i hear u ask!

Well, im not amatay! so i cant keep my head or just stop playing when i feel myself going on tilt. And i did, big time. I played 2 gurantee tournements and did absolutely shit fair do's. This put me on the edge and quietly steaming, then posting about it on rtr just made me flip, i was soon to open up a $0.50/1 table with more than half of my BR ($60) to sit down with. As you can imagine, i didnt last long! Not till i busted a fish then hit and run him, but i did wait until he left the table 1st, after a few more hands. Im not a big fan of hit and run but i knew if i stayed i was going to bust 90% of the time the way i was playing.

The hand!! ur screaming. Well unless you read my post on rtr you will not now how i bust this fish! firstly a $4 from my left, i bump it upto $15 with 99, i then get re raised from a pusher to my left who has me covered. The original raiser gets out the way and i dont even anticipate folding 99 in this spot the way my head is and i quickly push another $45+ into the pot willy nilly like

flop brings me good fortune and i hit a set of nines, there's an ace up there aswell, plus a jack on the turn and a blank on the river, I pray that he has not got JJ or AA, to my relief he turns over QQ for one sick bad beat by a bad player! That pot was $125 and i leave it there. That put my roll back upto $160.

Then i actually run quite bad 3 hands in a row, i say run bad, i mean i dont get lucky. I push all in with AKdiamonds on a 10 high flop 2 diamonds and dont hit, lose to 10J. Then a get AQ and raise pre flop, i get re raised for not much more than double what i bet, so i call and fold on a 9 high flop after he c-bets. The same player i re raise him with KK and i thought this was excellent timing for KK, i can make it look like i was steaming from last 2 hands, he comes over the top and i push. he insta calls and i lose to fukin AA, what are the fukin odds pokerstars??? 3 hands in a row and i lose all 3 with some premium hands! it was a good job this was at 10c/25c otherwise i'd be a broke man!

Quite depressed today tbh, my bro has moved to oz so i wont see him for a year or 2 depending how long he wants there! bit pissed off with the poker tonight, only good and positive thing is that i played amazing at footy today despite losing 2-1, my manager and the 1st team manager all gave us the talk 'im very dissapointed' and boy were they! 'im so pissed off cos i know u can do better but u didnt put the effort in' they say to the whole team, They then turned to me in front of every1...'lloydy, i was very impressed with the way u played today, u were the best on the fukin team' =) so i'll keep my head on this i think to keep me cheerful!

Also, i can't wait for the bloggerment now, ive seen the new league table and im determined to score more points! see burnley miks on links if u want to see the table.

sorry i cant post much positive stuff!

BR-$154