So Annoying

Tony Greig (1946 - 2012)

- Born 6th October 1946, Queenstown, South Africa
- Played 58 Tests for England (1972 - 1977)
- Captained 14 Tests
- 3,500 Runs
- 141 Wickets
- Died 29th December 2012

An excellent commentator and a good guy. Will be missed.

Is It Gonna Happen?

I'm hardly playing these last few days and winding down for the year but there is still a shot at the 100BI month:

2013 Plan

I thought long and hard about the idea of chasing SNE in 2013 and it was very close but in the end Stars switch to Weighted Contribution has put paid to that and VPPs are just too hard to come by at the levels that I play and want to play.

Instead my goal will be to improve my game, move up levels and win. I will target the 400k VPP mark which is something that I have never achieved in a calendar year before.

I also want to play more regularly in the live scene and at higher levels. In 2012 I played like once a month but from Feb onwards I want to work towards playing once a week and also to go to a few new venues like FOX and DTD.

My $$ target will be to make $20k pure online winnings + all the FPP/VPP bonuses for hitting 400k VPPs. I also want to win $5k in live games.

That's pretty much it..!!

GL to all in 2013

Who's Slow-Playing Who?

Christmas Is About Giving

Poker Stars $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players


BTN: $64.11
SB: $116.54
Hero (BB): $54.79
UTG: $101.68
UTG+1: $89.14
UTG+2: $96.91
MP1: $31.46
MP2: $51.38
CO: $31.10


Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BB with J J
3 folds, MP1 raises to $1.50, 1 fold, CO calls $1.50, 1 fold, SB calls $1.25, Hero raises to $7.19, MP1 calls $5.69, CO calls $5.69, 1 fold

Flop: ($23.07) K 2 J (3 players)
Hero checks, MP1 bets $10.50, CO raises to $23.91 all in, Hero raises to $47.60 all in, MP1 calls $13.77 all in

Turn: ($95.52) 7 (3 players - 3 are all in)

River: ($95.52) 2 (3 players - 3 are all in)

Final Pot: $95.52
Hero shows J J (a full house, Jacks full of Deuces)
MP1 mucks 6 6
CO mucks A Q
Hero wins $0.72
Hero wins $92.30
(Rake: $2.50)

Merry Xmas....!!!

Wait, What??

Just when you thought you'd seen it all..

 

Last 2 Million Hands

There's No Way He Has An Ace Here

200,000 VPPs - 2012

200k done..!!

I also somehow managed to have my longest grind day ever on the virtual felt racking up over 18k hands:

In terms of hours it is not quite as long as my mammoth grind day but that was in live poker.

With the 200k VPP bonus money my roll is now nicely padded for NL100/NL200. I will start adding a few of these tables to my longer sessions and continue with ZOOM(9x tables of NL50/NL25) for shorter sessions. I have been playing a bit of 6max on ZOOM (NL50) and am doing okay there. If I get really comfortable with 6max then I can carry on ZOOMing as 6max runs 24/7 at NL100/200/500.

He Did Just What I Wanted Him To Do

I love it when you just let aggro players hang themselves. Someone must come along for the ride here...

Yup, here he is....

I'm pretty sure he will bite here if I show weakness, especially with those crusher shades that he is wearing in the pic. I check to trap and he bets half pot.

I don't mind either a call or a Jam. Maybe a call would be better and then let him continue to bluff. I jammed and he snapped with what I guessed was a 'Q' but no.....

What A Sporting Year For Great Britain - 2012

In the year that Great Britain hosted the Olympics we have seen some amazing achievements by our sporting heroes.

Bradley Wiggins has just been crowned BBC sports personality of 2012 by becoming the first British winner of the Tour de France. He then went on to win Olympic Gold in the Time Trial. He has 4 Golds in total over the years.

The other notable 2012 winners include:

Jessica Ennis: She won Gold in the heptathlon at the London Olympics. In doing so she also made a British and Commonwealth record score of 6,955 points. She is also a former European and World Champion.

Andy Murray: After a few failures in big finals Andy finally won his first Grand Slam when he beat Novak Djokovic in 5 sets at the US Open. He also won Olympic Gold beating Roger Federer in the final.

Nicola Adams: She became the first woman to win an Olympic boxing Gold medal.

Ben Ainslie: He is now the greatest Olympic sailor of all time becoming the only person to win medals in 5 different Olympics. He has won 4 Golds.

Mo Farah: He became the first Britain to ever win an Olympic distance Gold and also became a member of a very select group who have done the double by winning both 5,000 and 10,000 metres.

Sir Chris Hoy: Britains most decorated Olympian wit 6 Golds in cycling and 7 medals overall. He is also an eleven time world champion.

Rory McIlroy: Currently world number 1 and a 2-time major champion in golf winning the 2011 US Open and the 2012 PGA Championship.

David Weir: This guy has won an amazing 6 Gold medals at 2 Paralympics including 4 in the summer at London. 

Sarah Storey: An awesome Paralympian, she has won numerous medals at both swimming and cycling including 11 Golds.

Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee: The Brothers won respective Gold and Bronze medals at this years Olympics.

Carl Froch: He became IBF champion after beating Lucian Bute in May 2012. He also reached the final of the super Six World Boxing Classic in December 2011.

GG Team GB..!!

Stacking A Racist

I don't if this guy is a racist but his screen name will be highly offensive to some. So, I stacked him for my South Asian brothers and sisters :)

From Busto to Robusto: Episode One (Poker Story)

An interesting film, it is 2 years old now but I only just saw it. I'm pretty sure some of you will be able to relate to a lot of the stuff mentioned in here. It's in 3 parts:

Mayan Calendar End Of The World 2012 (21/12/12)

Make sure you have fun in the last week of your life. See you at the other end......

Got a blog? Want more readers/hits? Find out how by reading these blogging tips.

Want to see some of the most baller pc/poker set-ups? These are pretty awesome..!!

A Costly Misclick

About once a month or so I make the same stupid error and I begin typing a note on a villain without toggling off Table Ninja and end up raising or shoving random shit.

This time it was against villain who limped and then re-raised from the small blind vs my big blind. As I began to write 'limp' I forgot Table Ninja was on and 'L' is assigned to raise and spewed a lot of chips......

Surely Not Another +100 BI Month.......

Back to back 100 BI months? Surely not possible.....

Sneaky Sneaky

Dude tried to trap me with his sneaky check back on the flop

A Good Float??

Regardless of the result should I be folding this pre or maybe on the flop or did I play it perfectly?

The Re Re-Iso

This is not a move that I use too often but I know some regs are using the Re-Iso move to take down dead money in pots. I am making notes on who I suspect and hitting them back wit Re Re-Iso's.

I Isolate here with a medium holding:

A Reg that I have a note on as a suspected re-isoer does just that. Having a note means that he has previously done this:

I decide to click it back:

He tanks and folds and now has a new note attached to him: 'Re Iso Bluffs from sb'...

December So Far.......

A real choppy start, graphs all over the place:

Stacking Villains You Hate

There are some villains that annoy the hell out of you.

Maybe its someone that always stacks you or someone who is really lucky and sucks out on you a lot or someone who is just tough to play against.

Its good when you get one of these guys.

In the following hand I finally get a villain that I have had a hard time against :)

Summary of the 2013 Pokerstars VIP Rewards Club Program Changes

Summary of the 2013 VIP Club Changes

The changes listed below are permanent, and will go into effect on January 1, 2013 (unless otherwise noted). New Monthly VIP status & rewards: ChromeStar

A new monthly VIP status named ‘ChromeStar’ will be introduced, between the BronzeStar and SilverStar VIP statuses. The monthly VIP Player Point (VPP) requirement to achieve or maintain ChromeStar VIP status is 100 VPPs.

ChromeStar VIPs will have all the same rewards and benefits as BronzeStar VIPs, plus free entry to the new VIP $5,000 Weekly Tournament and access to the 100K Privilege Freerolls. These freerolls will also be available to SilverStar and higher VIPs. Decreased VIP status Requirements for SilverStar and GoldStar

The monthly requirement to achieve and maintain SilverStar VIP status will be decreased to 500 VPPs. This represents a 33% drop from the previous requirement of 750 monthly VPPs.

The monthly requirement to achieve and maintain GoldStar VIP status will be decreased to 2,500 VPPs. This represents a 17% drop from the previous requirement of 3,000 monthly VPPs. VIP Club Hall of Fame: Expanded Lifetime Rewards

The VIP Club has been presenting players who earn 5,000,000 lifetime VPPs with customized TAG Heuer watches. This program has now been expanded to include the following benefits:

At 5,000,000 lifetime VPPs, players become part of the VIP Club Hall of Fame. An engraved TAG Heuer watch will be presented to them at a PokerStars Live Event, for example, the PCA or a VIP Club Live party. In addition, they will receive live English language support over instant messenger from senior PokerStars staff.

At 10,000,000 lifetime VPPs, we’ll create an experience unique to the player who has earned it. The player will also be provided with a cell phone number to call senior PokerStars staff for urgent issues. There is currently one player in this Hall of Fame bracket: Team Online member George Lind, who earned his 10 millionth VPP in September of 2012.

Summary of additional VIP Club Announcements

VIP $1,000,000 Quarterly Tournament 2013 dates

This tournament offers a $1,000,000 prize pool four times a year. Supernova VIPs can enter for free. The VIP $1,000,000 Quarterly tourney will be held on the following dates in 2013: February 16, June 1, August 17, and November 16.

Like all VIP Tournaments, the VIP $1,000,000 Quarterly can be found under ‘Tourney’ > ‘VIP’ > ‘All’ in the PokerStars game client.

VIP Benefits at the PCA 10th Anniversary

This year at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) Supernova VIPs will be offered free transportation from Nassau Airport to the Atlantis Resort. Supernova VIPs will be sent more information about this in November’s Supernova Quarterly Newsletter. Alternatively, you can email vipclub@pokerstars.com for more details.

Supernova and Supernova Elite VIPs will have their own priority line for the PokerStars bank. Further details coming soon.

Preview of VIP Club January Promotions

The promotions below are planned tentatively for January:

Race to be the first Supernova and Supernova Elite of 2013

Starting on January 1, there will be a race to earn 100,000 and 1,000,000 VPPs in 2013. Further details TBC.

2013 VIP Club Goals

During the month of January, players will be able to select a 2013 goal from 100,000, 200,000 or 300,000 yearly VPPs. Players who are on or ahead of schedule for earning their goal at various points later in the year will receive a bonus. Further details TBC. 

Where's The Bad Beat Jackpot?

November 2012 Review

I have really fought back this month after 4 months of crap results. I crushed NL50 for like a year before that downswing. Now I am back..!!

I made a few adjustments to my game and feel like I have played the best poker that I have ever played and the results have followed.

I have stuck with mainly ZOOM in November but that will have to change as I move up in stakes. At Full Ring ZOOM the highest level that runs is NL50 and if I want to stay with ZOOM then I will have to switch to 6max if I want to move to NL100.

I tried a bit of 6max and tbh I did really well but it was just too fast so I would prefer to just stick with FR and that will mean switching to the normal tables which will also mean longer sessions. I like ZOOM because I can play really short sessions and lots of them but with normal tables it takes time to start and stop each session so to be productive you must play longer. The advantage is table selection which you do not have in ZOOM.

I also have to clear the Deal Me In (DMI) bonus on Full Tilt Poker which is worth $750. I will download the trial version of TableNinjaFT and use it alongside HEM1 which is already working for FTP.

The final numbers for November are as follows:

209,124 Hands Played

22,036 VPPs

+$3,288 (Cash Game Winnings)
-$171 (Tournament Losses)
+$51 (Volume Pool Winnings)

--------------------------------------------------------------------

+$3,168 (Total Month)

The Ytd numbers are as follows:

1,427,824 Hands Played

185,320 VPPs

+$3,648 - Jan

+$3,213 - Feb

+$2,023 - Mar

+$2,072 - Apr

+$3,642 - May

+$5,120 - Jun

-$699 - Jul

+$664 - Aug

+$268 - Sep
+$1,175 - Oct
+$3,168 - Nov

--------------------------------------------------------------------

+$24,293 (Total YTD) 

During the month I was involved in a personal challenge to make 100 Stacks or Buy-Ins in a month which is something I don't think that I have ever done. I am pleased to say that I made it:

The final stretch for 2012 is upon us, GL..!!