Spew Monkey

I am really tempted to expose the name of the Regular who played this hand. I won't however as I want to play a lot more hands with him in the coming days and it's probably not the right thing to do

The way I played this hand is based mainly on one factor..... notes

I hadn't played with this dude for ages and forgot how bad he is. He had the old Green Tag however which always gets you rubbing your hands together

I will give my thought process after easch street


Poker Stars $100.00 No Limit Hold'em - 8 players

MP1: $157.35
MP2: $50.00
CO: $34.50
BTN: $102.50
SB: $54.95
BB: $111.60
UTG: $106.05
Hero (UTG+1): $112.75

Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is UTG+1 with Q K
1 fold, Hero raises to $3, 3 folds, BTN calls $3, 1 fold, BB calls $2

Nothing much to say here, KQs and I open 3x..... standard


Flop: ($9.50) J J 6 (3 players)
BB bets $6.50, Hero calls $6.50, BTN folds

Villain comes out insta betting and I now have a choice to make. I have 2 over cards and the flush draw and this is usually a raise. However there is a player yet to act. If the villain has a Jack I think I am around 30% favourite to catch my flush if we get it all in. I decide to smooth call. The 3rd player folds


Turn: ($22.50) T (2 players)
BB bets $22.00, Hero calls $22

Villain Insta bets faster than the speed of light. I mean it was like he had auto bet or something from a script program.

Now I have just hit my flush with the draw to the royal but I am far from happy. I don't think he would have played 66 so fast on the flop with the original raiser and another player left to act. If he calls pre with a J in his hand, the other card is likely a 9, T, Q, K or A. JT just completed his full house.

His bet sizing is really interesting and I am not sure what to make of it. Looks like he wants me to fold. Surely he would bet less with the stone cold nuts???? Against a lot of regs I would probably fold here

It was at this point that I decided to check if I had any notes on him... and I did. I had written 2 words, 'Spew Monkey', lol. He probably has a jack and no full house, I call.


River: ($66.50) A (2 players)
BB bets $80.10, Hero calls $80.10

The River is not a great card either for me as AJ just completed his full house. He overbets AI and again its instant with no thought what so ever. Now at NL100 when a reg does this, he has it, simplez. I fold here almost 100% of the time to a Reg.

I tanked and tanked and kept looking at the words 'Spew Monkey' calling out to me and made a crying call.... BOOOM , he had 99 and had gone crazy.


Final Board:  J J 6TA
Final Pot: $226.70

BB shows 9 9
Hero shows Q K

Hero wins $223.70
(Rake: $3.00)


Please feel free comment on how bad my thought process is........

Black Friday.....15.04.2011

Yesterday the 3 largest poker sites were indicted and closed down to American players by the FBI.

Executives at PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, Absolute Poker were charged with various offences including bank fraud and money laundering.

This is a terrible blow to all the online pros from the states who have effectively lost their jobs overnight.

This development affects all of us however as traffic volume will decline worldwide.

I'm not sure how the game quality will change until I grind today or tomorrow but this is pretty bad news for the industry which has thrived over the last 10 years

Panic has ensued in the poker community with particular reference to monies held on site accounts and whether they will be lost or not. Pokerstars released a brief statement to non-u.s players reassuring them that it will be business as usual for their games. I hope this is the case. I will still withdraw some extra cash tomorrow as a precaution

Poker will always have an uncertain future and as a poker pro you just have to accept that and be ready to move on in a blink of an eye. I'm sure people like Doyle Brunson can relate to you far worse stories of how things used to be as a poker pro when there was no online world.... bare that in mind

Even through the uncertainty there is one thing that is for sure

Poker will never die......

Watch Out For Cheats In Your Home Game

We all love a home game from time to time. They are fun, social events that usually only play for small stakes. However did you ever wonder about the new guy that turned up..... you know the mate of a mate. He seems ok but knows how deal and shuffle really well, like a pro.....

Keep your eyes open because he may well be a card cheat:

Back 2 Back Supernova VIP

Today I have made Supernova VIP for second time in consecutive years.

Maybe next year if poker is still alive I will go for Elite!!

At this rate I will hit 400k VPPs for the year. I want to push to get 500k VPPs and as I am now playing NL100 this should be achieveable

Lets see if I can make some money by keeping the fish in pots

Poker Stars $100.00 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players

MP1: $100.00
MP2: $55.70
CO: $139.15
BTN: $63.90
Hero (SB): $100.00
BB: $62.70
UTG: $125.75
UTG+1: $34.45
UTG+2: $54.60

Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is SB with K K
3 folds, MP1 raises to $3, 2 folds, BTN raises to $10.50, Hero calls $10, 1 fold, MP1 calls $7.50

Flop: ($32.50) 4 5 5 (3 players)
Hero checks, MP1 checks, BTN bets $15.45, Hero calls $15.45, MP1 raises to $89.50, BTN calls $37.95 all in, Hero calls $74.05

Turn: ($264.90) 8 (3 players - 1 is all in)

River: ($264.90) 3 (3 players - 1 is all in)


Final Pot: $264.90

MP1 shows Q Q
BTN shows Q A
Hero shows K K

Hero wins $189.70
(Rake: $3.00)



Unfortunately going up against the 77/26 Maniac doesn't always pay dividends as they flop straights when I am an 86% favourite to win the pot. If only I could run at EV sometimes!

Poker Stars $100.00 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players

UTG: $100.00
UTG+1: $200.50
UTG+2: $51.50
MP1: $100.00
MP2: $100.00
Hero (CO): $102.90
BTN: $246.85
SB: $24.75
BB: $45.00

Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is CO with Q Q
3 folds, MP1 raises to $3, MP2 calls $3, Hero raises to $12, BTN raises to $246.85, 4 folds, Hero calls $90.90 all in

Flop: ($213.30) 7 8 9 (2 players - 1 is all in)

Turn: ($213.30) A (2 players - 1 is all in)

River: ($213.30) 7 (2 players - 1 is all in)


Final Pot: $213.30

Hero shows Q Q
BTN shows T J

BTN wins $210.30
(Rake: $3.00)

This Is Why I Play Poker.......... + 70 Countries

Today I noticed my Flag Counter Stats. I had not looked at this in ages. I have had blog visitors from an amazing 70 different countires since installing this application.

70 Nations represent approximately a third of the planet. Wonder if I can get 100 Countries.... It's nice to know that there is poker interest all around the world


------------------------------------------------------>>>>



If any of you players out there were thinking that the games are dead then think again.

The hand below will show you how crazy maniacs are still swimming around our tables:





Poker Stars $100.00 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players

BTN: $135.15
SB: $100.00
Hero (BB): $112.85
UTG: $71.95
UTG+1: $100.00
UTG+2: $26.60
MP1: $100.00
MP2: $100.00
CO: $47.00



Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is BB with A J
2 folds, UTG+2 calls $1, 3 folds, BTN calls $1, 1 fold, Hero checks

Flop: ($3.50) J J A (3 players)
Hero checks, UTG+2 checks, BTN bets $1.00, Hero calls $1, UTG+2 raises to $4, BTN calls $3, Hero calls $3

Turn: ($15.50) K (3 players)
Hero checks, UTG+2 bets $21.60, BTN raises to $43.20, Hero raises to $107.85, BTN calls $64.65

River: ($252.80) 9 (3 players)


Final Pot: $252.80

BTN shows 6 Q
Hero shows A J
UTG+2 shows 8 A

Hero wins
Lolz......

March 2011 Review

Another disappointing month goes by. I am not even making enough to cover my monthly bills which amount to around $1,600.

Ideally I want to be making $3000+ a month to cover my bills with some extra cash to save or blow on whatever.

So what am I doing about it?
Well, one of my main issues has been tilt. In March this has been well controlled and I actually won at the tables for the first month this year. All be it a negligible amount. a win is a win!

I can see my tilt control getting back to its very best in April, mainly due to no more 24 tabling. I have now settled for playing between 12 - 16 tables max.

I am looking at receiving some coaching for NL100. I can beat all levels up to and including NL25 at over 2pt bb/100. At NL50 I win at around 1pt bb/100. However when I step up to NL100 I break even. This month I will for the first time ever seriously consider taking on a good coach. I will see how the first 2weeks go and take it from there.

My challenge to make the top 50 winners at NL50 for March failed as I moved up to NL100 pretty early into the month. For some reason I also started mixing in NL25 to see how that level was like. I won over the 20,000 or so hands I played at 8pt bb/100

I had a nice top 8% finish in the 5yr Anniversary Sunday Million which got me $355. I swapped percentages with other players so I had to distribute a small amount. Stars also had a 60 billionth hand promo giving out free cash. They also introduced the new Sunday Storm Tourney

The highlight of my month was a nice $1,500 upswing in the middle of the month. Unfotunately I was already in deficit when that happened so it just brought parity. I hope I can catch a nice heater in April. Target for April is to make $1,000 profit at the tables.


The final numbers for March are as follows:

103,000 Hands Played
20,748VPPs

+$106 (Cash Game Winnings)
+$234 (Tourney Winnings)
+$200 (Stellar Rewards)
+$150 (Deposit Bonus)
-$60 (Tourney Swap Distributions)
+$93 (Viper Sunglasses from PS Store)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
+$722 (Total Month)


The Ytd numbers as at the end of March are as follows:

356,000 Hands Played
95,815 VPPs

-$1,214 - Jan
+$1,075 - Feb
+$722 - Mar
--------------------------------------------------------------------
+$583 (Total YTD)


As you can see from the YTD picture I am failing to make anything really. I should have made at least $4,800 to cover my bills but I am more than $4,000 under that and living off savings. This can't go on for much longer. If it does I will have to get a real job come the end of the summer. Time to step it up!!

Also, due to my slow attainment of VPPs in the first 3 months I will now reduce my annual target to 500k VPPs

All the best for April