Oh Blogger. How I've been ignoring you.

I haven't had a huge amount to write about poker-wise. I've not played anything big in 6 months and am not even venturing down to the casino. I should start up again though. Instead the only regular live cards I play is in the pub. That's going alright though it has been a while since I won a game. I'm making final tables more often than not so the wins will come eventually.

Next month I'm playing UKIPT Newcastle. The standard in the north east is very high indeed. I'd say it is the strongest area of the country in terms of ability. So perhaps I haven't picked the best stop of the tour to lose my UKIPT virginity.

Later this month is the LVTC live final - myself and the team I'm in have not done great in the online qualifiers and as a result we'll go in to the event with 6k stacks but on a 45min clock there is enough room to grind the stack up.

In African news, I spent 3 weeks out there and I've done a pretty comprehensive write-up here: http://www.gamblingnetwork.com/forums/general-chat-fun/14683-toms-tanzanian-diary-2011-a.html

I probably made a mistake with it all though - at the start of the year I had around £3,500 in my Africa fund which is more than I've ever had in the past. As such I felt it would never run out and so when I was in Tanzania I got involved in dozens of projects. Now however I'm down to just £130 on the kitty. The money has been used well but there is a stream of issues constantly arising. Currently these are:

• Getting sponsorship for a secondary school child



• Ensuring 2 ex-students at the blind primary school have access to secondary education



• Supplying a blind man with bags of cement so he can enlarge his house



• Supplying food to families in particular hardship



• Buying a plot of land to build a house for a family. The money for the building is already secured.

So anyone have £500 they want to send me? It was worth asking! Fundraising will take place later this year but the problem is you help people solve their issues and then not only do they have more problems that need assistance but other people come forward as well. It is a little like battling the Lernaean Hydra. You solve one problem and two more problems replace it.

LOL Pub donkaments

There isn't a huge deal to report poker-wise from me - I'm probably just about break even this month. I've won my local pub game for the past two weeks and the top-heavy pay structure makes up for other losses. Yesterday there was approx £75 in the prizepool from a 27runner game and I got £40 for first. However I've been donking my money away in drunken cheapo cash games. I think I have a 'it is only a fiver, so let's ship it in' gambling mentality which I need to break free from.

I go to Tanzania on Thursday for 3 weeks so will be taking an enforced break. Having said that, a guy out there wants to learn how to play. He has railed me playing micro SnGs before where a win at that low level equates to about 3 weeks work. I will have a go at teaching him but I won't have the spare time to plough through hundreds or thousands of hands. For the final four days of my trip I'll be joined by Kieran who I know through poker - though he isn't much of a gambler which means it won't be a HU or prop-bet fest.

The break will do me some good I think - last year it was when I got back from Tanzania that I went on a crazy run. Fingers crossed the same happens this time as well!

And to go back to yesterday's game... I have never ever run so good. I only had two pocket pairs the entire game: 22 and 44, but time after time I got my chips in bad and came out ahead. On the final table I caught numerous 3-outters. Poker is so much easier when that kind of stuff happens.

This might be my last update in a while. I'm not sure whether to do Trip Reports In-Running when I'm away or do them on the Gambling Network Forums or not do them at all.

Onlineaments

I've not had a proper session online this year but I think tonight will be the night. I'll likely play approx 20 MTTs on Boss ranging from the freerolls and €0.10+r up to the €20 deepstack. The ICOP game this evening is a €40+r which I am perhaps rolled for but would not feel comfortable playing if I am going to be 9-tabling.

I've recently joined FTP so I can check their Rush tournies. So far so bad. Ive played a dozen or so tournies without a cash. They are fun to get a poker fix but I doubt I'll play sufficient games to really get to grips with the strategy involved. I've run pretty bad in them - whenever I get a big hand someone either has a bigger one or they do me in with rubbish they should not be playing. I am at the $1 and $4 level and so the games are full of idiots which makes it harder to learn. At least in a non-rush format I can beat those stakes so I'll likely stick to what I know best.

My live game has not been great of late. I did however ship a stud tourney last week - the first time I've played stud outside a HORSE environment. I haven't won or even cashed in Gala in my last half dozen visits. I'll be spending March in Africa though so will be having an enforced break which should do me some good. Having said that, someone out there wants me to teach him how to play the game - I think that will be a difficult challenge.

Weeee for steaks!

Two guys I have percentages in have binked in the past 24 hours. My slices aren't vast but I'll have turned $50 into $450.

It has been so long since I had a return from someone's BAP. It also means my Stars account will be topped up as it had dwindled to under $50. I'll no doubt spunk it all away trying to sat in via Steps to live stuff.

So thanks Paddy and S4ooter!

Amsterdamned

My plans to play a €100 tourney in Amsterdam failed. I arrived at the New Holland Casino at 7pm and the game kicked off at 8pm but all the 100 seats had been sold in advance. I never considered this might happen as it doesn't happen to regular casino games in the UK. It also turned out to be a €100+10 single rebuy. I only had one free night amongst the four I was in Amsterdam so I didn't get the chance to check out games in other parts of the city. There were cash tables in another room, but the cheapest was €2/€4 NLHE, so I gave it a miss. Also, the players I saw walking around looked like they knew how to play.

Playing in Amsterdam was central to my New Year's poker resolution to play poker in three different countries this year. I will be going to Tanzania in a few weeks with a poker player but I dont know if a HU match will be sufficient for me to count that country. Can I also include Scotland later in the year as they are hosting both a UKIPT and (I hope) a CBMPT and chances are I'll play one of them.

So now no poker is planned until Bolton for the APAT team champs this weekend. Well, I might be at the local pub tonight for the £3 buy-in two-30-player-games-in-an-evening-crapshootalolament and I'm playing a live £20 STT tomorrow.

Deep and weep

I played a proper live deepstack game at the weekend: 30k in chips with 4x60mins and then 30 min levels. All this for £25. Not too bad at all.

I was optimistic about my chances but I busted after about 5 hours. I was on the wrong end of a few coolers. My exit had me flopping a flush and he had a set. We got it in on the turn only for the river to pair. Earlier I had lost a fair chunk when I was the one who had the set and he made his flush. In another hand I turned a set but had to lay it down after a guy had raised-pre with J9 and then called a reraise and my magical set-making T on the turn filled his gutter-ball. Poker is a sick game.

It was fun though playing so deep and I wish I could have done a bit better.

Looking to the coming weeks – on Thursday I’ll be playing a €100 freezeout in Amsterdam. The following weekend I’ll be playing the APAT UK team championships in Bolton and then it is the turn of Star City for another team game. For both of which I’ll be representing the Gambling Network Forum. They should all be cracking fun.

2011

I've set myself some 2011 goals:

Play two UKIPT events
Play a live event with over a £500 buyin
Learn how to play from the SB
Win 10 times in Gala
Play in three different countries
Final table a CBMPT
Final table an APAT
Win a live game with over 100 runners
Play more sats/steps and get a WSOP package
Win a monthly title in the pub league
Get staked less and use my online roll to fund live entries
Finish €5k in proft on PCUK

All simple, right? If I achieve half of them I'll be happy enough. 2010 was a fantastic year for me - I had some CBMPT success and my win rate in my local Gala was approx 1 win in 6 games (with average fields of approx 60). I'm not going to assume that 2011 will be even better, cos 2010 could have just been a luckbox year, but some success would be very welcome. I've got the 2011 goals off to a reasonable start though with two wins from three games at Gala.