Heads up World Champion!

Well not quite, but a £10 Heads up Shootout (32 players) was taken down tonight.

In between organising Poccer, I have had little time to play poker, so I thought why not try my hand at something I know I am half decent at. 5 heads up games later and a nice £144 to add to the bank account.

I have given up on the Tournie points over the last week or so, but just want to ensure that I am in the top 50 for the month, to ensure two freerolls for the CPC. That is one holiday I am definitely going on this year!

Thanks to all those people who have been getting teams together for Poccer, it looks like we are going to have some of cryptos finest coming along. It does not matter how good a footballer you are, this day is going to be a lot of fun, so please get a team together and come along, or just let me know you want to play and I will find a team for you.

ClintonO

Introducing POCCER

I have mentioned a few times in the past that my poker hours have been getting shorter and shorter due to the starting up of a couple of businesses. Well finally I am in a position to talk to you about one of them.

Welcome to POCCER. (www.poccer.co.uk)

Poccer is a very simple concept, its designed around the ultimate day out. I have asked a number of pals to describe their perfect day out, most (there were a few odd ones, that I cannot publish!) were very similiar, a kick about with their mates, a few beers, a game of poker. Women were mentioned in a few, but that was out of hope more than anything!

From this moment, Poccer was born and work has begun to make it a reality. Its been a long time in the planning but finally I am happy to announce our first ever event.

Its only a small event in Birmingham, but I am trying to get together 16 teams (of 6) to take part in the first event. Details are on the web site (please excuse the site, I have created it myself for the moment, until the proper site is launched in July)

If anyone is interested in getting a team together or helping me in anyway, then please let me know. I am certain it will be a lot of fun for all involved.
Clinton.Orchard@virgin.net is the email address to contact me.

ClintonO

A few days off, but another final table

The previous post related to the bad luck I was getting in one tournament on Monday, I did not manage to win that, but a 13th place and a cash was testament that you should never give in.

Tuesday through Thursday were nights off from poker as my work is relentless at the moment.
Last night though, it was a welcome night off and another attempt at the $20k.
I started fantastically well and was leading at the first break and the second. With less than two hundred players, the game was destined for an early finish.

After a couple of big losses, I scrambled onto the final table with only 11k in chips, 9th place was about 30k. I did however managed to finish 6th with a $1000 payout, I managed to get up to fifth place, when with A9, I got all my chips in the middle against 44. A nine did hit the board as well as and ace, but unfortunately a four, meant it was game over.

My leaderboard points will be well down this week, with only two nights, played out of five, but the aim is to finish the month in the top 50.

ClintonO

Is it Sunday?

3 hands in one tournament within 5 hands!

dealt to ClintonO [Qh Ad]
Alnugget1: raises to 605 and is all-in
Kiml2108: folds
DaJazzMon sits back
Bbb777: folds
Pipes2007: folds
Gazzza110: folds
DaJazzMon: folds
danutz84: folds
ClintonO: raises to 1180
Roquefort: folds
Returned uncalled bets 575 to ClintonO
----- FLOP ----- [3h Ah Td]
----- TURN ----- [3h Ah Td][2d]
----- RIVER ----- [3h Ah Td 2d][Qd]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
ClintonO: shows [Qh Ad] (Two Pairs, Aces and Queens, Ten high)
Alnugget1: shows [Jc Kc] (A Straight, Ace high)
Alnugget1 collected 1240 from Main pot

dealt to ClintonO [Qh Qd]
Kiml2108: raises to 60
Bbb777: folds
Pipes2007: folds
Gazzza110: folds
DaJazzMon: folds
danutz84: folds
ClintonO: raises to 180
Roquefort: folds
Alnugget1: folds
Kiml2108: calls 120
----- FLOP ----- [Kc Ks 5s]
Kiml2108: bets 210
ClintonO: raises to 540
Kiml2108: calls 330
----- TURN ----- [Kc Ks 5s][Tc]
Kiml2108: checks
ClintonO: bets 3325 and is all-in
Kiml2108: is all-in 685
Returned uncalled bets 2,640 to ClintonO
----- RIVER ----- [Kc Ks 5s Tc][Td]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
ClintonO: shows [Qh Qd] (Two Pairs, Kings and Queens, Ten high)
Kiml2108: shows [As Ts] (A Full House, Tens full of Kings)
Kiml2108 collected 2855 from Main pot

dealt to ClintonO [Jc Jd]
Roquefort: folds
Gazzza110 sits back
Kiml2108: folds
Bbb777: folds
Bbb777 sits out
Pipes2007: folds
Gazzza110: calls 50
Spatzbar: folds
DaJazzMon: folds
Vampdog: folds
ClintonO: raises to 250
Gazzza110: calls 200
----- FLOP ----- [6d 9s 4d]
ClintonO: bets 2465 and is all-in
Gazzza110: is all-in 485
Returned uncalled bets 1,980 to ClintonO
----- TURN ----- [6d 9s 4d][2s]
----- RIVER ----- [6d 9s 4d 2s][Kd]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
ClintonO: shows [Jc Jd] (A Pair of Jacks, King high)
Gazzza110: shows [8d 9d] (A Flush, King high)
Gazzza110 collected 1495 from Main pot

Still in though! Its the £2k guaranteed, any odds on winning! 10000-1!

ClintonO

Sunday was not so bad after all!

A 12th place in the WSOP final ($598.50) and my second final table in the £40k (10th - £600), gave a positive end to the day.

I was very happy to make only my second ever final table of the £40k, I was just very disappointed to go out in 10th again.

I had JJ in the button and ran into AA in the small blind, unfortunately the better hand winning, what was cruel was that the last time I got to the final table of the £40k, I went out in exactly the same way.

All in all though, a decent weekend of poker.

Leaderboards Update
For the last week, I achieved 1093 points and came 7th for the week, I was very happy with this. Third place was 1445, so I need to improve a lot to get there, realistically though, I can't see myself getting that many points.

Monthly Leaderboard is looking good at the moment, with the top 50 my aim, I am currently sitting in 21st with 1405.
For the year I am currently in 45th, which is again a good effort.

ClintonO

Guess what day it is

Losing Hands : AA to 77, TT to 77, AK to AJ all pre flop. Then AK to QQ on a AK23 board, followed by.

----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to ClintonO [8h 8s]
ClintonO: calls 50
Bomber010: folds
Forest013: raises to 150
Wigglenig: calls 150
Rebmit: folds
Pau240642: folds
ClintonO: calls 100
----- FLOP ----- [Js 8c Jh]
ClintonO: checks
Forest013: bets 880 and is all-in
Wigglenig: is all-in 335
ClintonO: is all-in 783
Returned uncalled bets 97 to Forest013
----- TURN ----- [Js 8c Jh][Qs]
----- RIVER ----- [Js 8c Jh Qs][Qh]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Forest013: shows [Qc Ad] (A Full House, Queens full of Jacks)
Wigglenig: shows [8d Kd] (Two Pairs, Queens and Jacks, King high)
ClintonO: shows [8h 8s] (A Full House, Eights full of Queens)
Yes its a Sunday!
I really should not bother!

ClintonO

$20k Guaranteed Winner!

Dear Clinton,

Thank you for participating in the tournament "$20K Guaranteed SAT 4715724", on May 12 2007 11:44PM GMT. Congratulations! You placed 1st and won 6000.00 USD!

My 5th win in the Littlewoods main daily event. Incredibly the time I won it was the same as my first two titles. 00:44. It was destiny!

I had never got going in this tournament all night and had always been towards the back of the field. Approaching the final table I moved up a little but was pratically last when the final table was decided.

G@briel 117,023
Bountyboy 92,218
Trikky 48,997
Lee27015 48,571
Micdav001 37,617
wingwong 34,496
HotTub2 32,095
ClintonO 29,603
Hood69 28,660
Bouffard 28,218

Lots of work to be done and with only $400 for 10th and $6,000 for 1st, a big difference in prize money.

Its was 36 hands before we lost anyone bouffard losing all in with A9 against A8. In that time I had taken down 4 hands and had moved my chips up slightly to 32k.

3 hands late a bizzare hand, my 42 was in the muck, wingwong moves all in with 22k (Ah,9c) HotTub2 goes all in for 52k (7c,7d) and Bountyboy calls with (Jh,Jd)
Flop comes 555 and the turn is a further 5, giving wingwong, quads with an Ace kicker.
HotTub goes out and wingwong moves up to 71k.

We lose Lee in 8th place and as short stack I make my move.
I am dealt my best hand in ages (Js,Qc) and move all in and I am up against (Tc,Td). Its a race.

Board As, 3s, Ts. Its all over he has trip tens, but wait I have the flush on. Turn 7h, River 8s!
Fantastic, I survive and move up to 42k.

wingwong and Hood go next and its down to 5.

G@briel has been bullying the table 214k. Bountyboy 131k, Trikky 91k, ClintonO 49k, Micdav 12k.

Micdav despite doubling twice goes next and then a decisive hand for me.
Bountyboy has 42k and I have 40k. Blinds are 3/6k and he goes all in UTG, I have KQ and decide that I have to make and stand, he had KT and I double up and shortly after we are 3 handed.

I then win my second race of the night, with my TT beating Trikkys AJ and we are heads up.

Gab has 371k, I have 126k. I have won my previous 4 heads up in this tournament, so I am quietly confident and also have nothing to lose being such a long way behind.

The Heads up lasted for 67 hands.

The first 20 hands not much happened, I took one pot of 38k with a 6h,3s bluff, lost a 49k with bottom pair.
My stack fluctuated between a low of 55k up to about 145k. At one point, the board was a straight flush in order!


----- RIVER ----- [Jh Th 9h 8h][7h]

G@briel: shows [2c Qd] (Straight Flush, Jack high)
ClintonO: shows [8c 4d] (Straight Flush, Jack high)

At 55k I won 13 out of 16 hands, to double my stack.

After 50 hands it started to get a little looser, we both ended up all in with A7 to a split pot.

Here are the last 14 hands. Blinds 4k/8k

Hand 54 (9d,9c). 105k vs 391k. I call the 4k, hoping for a raise, he checks. Board (8s,Jc,Th) I have a open ended straight draw, he checks, I bet 16k. He moves all in, I have 80k back. He has been aggressive all night, he could have missed, he could have a part of it, but I decide I definitely have 8 outs x 2 cards, plus the other two nines, roughly 40% if he has a jack or a ten, with 80k to win 130k. I have the odds, I call. He had (Tc,4s), I am behind, but a Q on the turn gives me my straight and I am right in it.

Hand 55 (Kc,Kh) 211k vs 286k. A monster hand at last. He calls from the small blind, I raise to 24k, he calls. Flop 6h,4h,7c. I bet 32k he moves all in, its an instant call for me. He turns over J7. Turn is a 3, river a King. I have doubled again.

Hand 56 (4s,Tc) 422k vs 75k. I call, he checks. Flop 472, I have second pair, he checks, so I bet 16k. He moves all in for 66k. Its 50k to call, I have second pair, I call mainly because the rush has taken over me, he has J7 again, but wins this time. I overplayed it, but second pair heads up is not a bad hand. I was trying to end it too quickly.

Hand 57 (As,9s) 348k vs 149k. I need to catch my breath. He folds

Hand 58 (Td,6c) 353k vs 144k. I see the flop, but miss, he bets out, I fold.

Hand 59 (Qc,4c) 344k vs 153k. He folds

Hand 60 (Qh,2h) 349k vs 148k. Again I am allowed to limp in and see flop, he bets, I completely miss.

Hand 61 (Kh,8h) 343k vs 157k. I call a raise, the flop is Jc,2s,2c. He bets out again, I decide to give it up

Hand 62 (As,8h) 323k vs 174k. I call, hoping for a raise. He checks. Flop 6,6,J. I bet he folds

Hand 63 (Th,Td) 332k vs 165k. My third decent pocket pair in ten hands, will this decide it. He moves all in!. I have to call. He turns over Ah 2d
Board Kh,4h,6c,6s. He comes the river he has 3 outs, Ad! SICK!

Hand 64 (Qs,5c) 167k vs 330k. Its all going wrong. I give up the hand after seeing the flop.

Hand 65 (2d,3d) 158k vs 339k. I call a raise, miss the board completely and am losing my grip on this game.

Hand 66 (2c,2s) 141k vs 356k. He moves all in and at this point I take my chance, he has As5c, Board comes 7c,2h,Jc. Its up for grabs again!

Hand 67 (Qh,Th) 282k vs 215k. He calls, I check. Flop 9c,2s,Js. Open ended for me. I check, he bets 8k, I call. Turn is the magic Kh. I check, he again bets 8k, I call. The river is the 7d. I bet 32k, trying to look like a steal, he moves all in. I call with the nuts. He turn over T8 for a lower straight and I win my title.

----- RIVER ----- [9c 2s Js Kh][7d]
ClintonO: bets 32000
G@briel: raises to 190204 and is all-in
ClintonO: calls 158204
----- SHOW DOWN -----
G@briel: shows [8h Ts] (A Straight, Jack high)
ClintonO: shows [Qh Th] (A Straight, King high)
ClintonO collected 430408 from Main pot

It feels great to be in the winners enclosure again!

ClintonO

Dream Team Update

Congratulations to Jonathan 'Onny87' who took down 1st place for the team last night in the Dream Team II tournament run by BadBeat.

After 17 weeks of the event (3 to go) we are sitting nicely in 4th place of the 32 teams and perfectly set up for the live final. We are a long way clear of 5th place, but a little way behind 3rd, so it looks like 4th place will be the finishing position, but this is far superior to the 12th we finished last year before winning the live event.

The key to the success so far has been a real team effort, no one player has been outstanding but 4 of us appear in the top 30 on the individual leaderboard.
ClintonO '10220pts' 10th
M.M.'8740' 18th
Onny87 '8580 19th
FISHMAC 7300 30th

I am also pleased to announce our team for the live event.

FISHMAC - Aggressive maniac, like a squirrel with his nuts, this boy gathers chips like no-one else, also our most consistent player.
Onny87 - Our new signing, last nights winner, fresh from the EPT Monte Carlo, the backbone!
Injustice - Mr SunDeshi, charming, witty and loveable, winner of the $20k on Wednesday. We almost lost him half way through the season, on fire at the right time.
Heffernan - The man himself, flying over from Germany for the occasion, our Aussie Millions 5th place finisher - Mr Hans Vogl.

Unfortunately I cannot be at the final due to a prior commitment in Barcelona, but it would be an amazing achievement to make it two wins out of two. Good Luck Guys!

In other news the blog has reached Croatia and now has visited 34 countries.

ClintonO

Well I am not winning

But at least I am coming second.

Tonight it was a £1.5k event and it was worth £460, which all helps! Unfortunately KQ was no match for QJ!

They have started a leaderboard on Cryptologic for all of the poker tournaments, now there is no way I am going to be able to win this, because I can't compete with the full time players.

Last week I finished in 195th position with 330 points.
I am hoping to improve on this, after day 1 I have already achieved half of last weeks total and have 166 points.

For the month of May, I have moved up to 69th and 170th for the year 2007. It is difficult to set a target here, but a top 50 for the month, gets me in 2 cpc freerolls, so that seems like a good a target as any, plus a top 100 for the year, well I will give it a go.

I was due to start the Ladbrokes Poker Cruise tournament today, but got no notification that the team had been accepted, so we start week 1 with 0 points! That should not be too difficult to improve on!

ClintonO

A really strange week

Before today my MTT form this week has been awful, I have been too quick to take down pots, trying to play 4 hour long tournaments like a STT. However my cash games have been nothing short of exceptional.
I have comfortably paid for my MTTs and posted a very tidy profit. It is possible that playing more cash games has interfered with my MTTs. Maybe you can't do well at both at the same time!

I have found though that I have been expecting to lose, when the chips are in, I can seem to call the cards that are going to beat me. I believe it proves the importance of confidence, when you think you are going to well you do and vice versa

Since the new leaderboards have started, I have not been able to do anything in MTTs, also my software now crashes every 30 mins! Not ideal.

Tonight though, finally my MTT game improved a little. 3 Final tables, an 8th, 4th and a 2nd. $1.5k, $2k and £1.5k respectively. The 2nd I started a long way behind heads up, got in front and then all the chips went in on a race. I could have avoided this and was frustrated that I did not win. £500+ was a nice reward though for these tournies and finally I feel a little relief that my MTT game is still there.

I have also played a few STTs today and managed to win both £50 6 packs that I entered. The £20 & £30s though I cannot master!

I am avoiding the online scene tomorrow to plough on with my poker ventures, but hope to get an opportunity to play on Monday.

Thanks for all the feedback
ClintonO

Stop Press - We have have reached Russia!

I am delighted to say that today my blog has reached Russia via a visit from Tomsk. Thats now 34 countries!

Thanks for your comments so far, although I would have to point out to Alex that Scotland is in fact part of the UK.

ClintonO

Who reads my blog?

A break from the world of poker for the moment, lets find out a bit more about you!

I was intrigued to find out who reads this blog, so if you do, please let me know, tell me who you are, what you do, why you read it and anything you would like to see on here or that I can help you with.

Here is what I have managed to find out so far.
This blog has been read in 33 countries in 2007 - Belgium, Ukraine and Estonia are the last three countries to join the list.

The top ten readers of this blog are as follows.

1) UK - London, Oxford, Solihull, Glos and Nottingham (top 5 regions)
2) Norway
3) Canada
4) US
5) Ireland
6) Denmark
7) Spain
8) Hungary
9) Sweden
10) Germany.

France are just outside the top ten!

My blog's readers are increasing, with increases month on month since I have started monitoring it at the start of the year.
April saw a 14% increase in unique numbers from March.

Do remember if you have not yet set up a Littlewoods account if you use the link on the right hand side and let me know, I will ensure you get 30% rakeback for your trouble.

ClintonO

Losing Patience

This week I have found myself not playing to my best and this has been due to not being as patient with the game.

When I play I am probably playing too many games, which restricts any edge I might have. Also I am fully expecting to lose when my chips go in. When you lose to runner runner twos and you call it in advance you know its bad!

Still that being said I managed four final tables in the last few days, including a nice payout in the $50k guaranteed on the playtech software (although not having antes in play is a bit odd).
I also qualified for the $530 WSOP final today, but that seems to have been cancelled and money funded to my account.

I have had a decent week though, suprisingly mainly due to some cash games I have played.
One thing that has been enjoyable is actually spending any money won! It certainly feels better when you have something to show for any winnings. A laptop for the missus and 10 days at the Bellagio paid for. Yes spending the money is definitely the way forward.

Right whats to play for at the moment.

Well I must admit I am not a big fan of the changes at crypto with the guarantees. The £12k is now the $20k for the same price, so thats £2k gone. The £8k is now the £6k, another £2k gone, whilst the £4k is now the $7k, so another £500 gone. It seems that as everyone is increasing their guarantees, Cryptologic are lowering theirs - whats going on!

Also the latest Leaderboard tournament, (I am very happy to see that St.Kitts is back on the agenda this year, it is a great occasion and one that everyone should try to qualify for) there is a weekly stt for the top six MPPs earned, three for the most pts in tournaments and one for the £40k winner. The winner gets a CPC lite seat. Well having every single tournament counting towards points, as well as having the top MPP earners, is just rewarding those who can play all day long and does not encourage people to play more, we need more players, the last leaderboard structure was much better.

I do like the look of the Golden Cup, I just need to qualify for them!

I will do an update with any May bonuses, but heres some tournaments to look out for.

Crypto wide.
Mon 30th April $1k free for just 1MPP. This is a terrible value tournament, with over 2000 players already registered - give this one a miss.

The £40k every sunday. Crypto could really do with getting this back up to £50k or $100k.

Golden Cup 4th June to 10th June, this has qualifiers every day and looks well worth taking part in.

Littlewoods
Every Wednesday - Winners Choice tournaments. This tournament gives you the chance to win a £1000 seat in any UK event, plus £200 in expenses. This is a great little tournament, that just needs 10 to run. Its costs £70 and is well worth it, whenever it has run it has had between 10-13 players. Check this one out.

Playboy
There is a great poker chip set available through Playboy (as well as other things!) They have three freerolls a week, one on a Tuesday and two on a Thursday, where they give the chance to win money and points. Never many in it, might be worth a look.

Dusk till Dawn
Every Sunday at the moment there is a $1k GTD for just a $1. There was only 35 players last week, worth checking out.

Betfair

Every Sunday they run a Passport Stamp, this is similar to the Winners Choice on Littlewoods, it costs a little more $165, but has a slightly bigger prize $3k. If you can stand the software, its worth checking out.
There is also a freeroll with Poker Player magazine on the 13th May.

Mansion

Still great value the $100k tournaments are going strong, I don't know why I don't play these more!

Blue Square.

There is a freeroll tonight, which gives you a free bet for just taking part.
There is a $50k GTD rebuy every Friday, which is well worth it, as well as a $250K Gtd at the end of the month.

Sky Poker

They are running another Primo event on the 1st June, it has doubled in price £55 to £110, but they have doubled in prizes - £25k to £50k. I played in the one last time, whilst I lost out with a flopped set to a higher flopped set, just outside the money. This is a sixpack tournament, well worth playing as the standard was not great.

Bodog

They are running a $100k GTD tonight, it clashes with all the other big tournaments, so there may be some value.

Poker Stars.

These guys are supporting the Amateur Poker Tour (APAT), they run a tournament every two weeks where you start with 5000 chips. Well worth having a look at. There is a link on this blog.

Crazy Poker

These guys are running a $200k GTD tonight, for just $50, it is a rebuy, but well worth the effort. This moves to $250k GTD next week.

Full Tilt

Bracelet Race. This is a good one for me, as I am not playing the main event (WSOP) this year, but one or two of the smaller ones. This gives 2 $1.5k seats and starts at 6.30 for just $75

Amco

They are joining in the $100k GTD scene, with theirs at 7pm, no ideas on numbers.

Poker Panthers

Also another 100k this time in Euros, a 6.15pm start for them, 200 Euros the entry.


I have also found out that during my stay in Vegas, it coincides with the Bellagio Cup. They have events on every day and this is something I fancy a shot at.

Right time to plan the week ahead!
ClintonO

KQ off the new nuts

Down to the last 30 in the £12k last night and I saw two amazing deicisions with KQ off suit, one of them taking me out in the process.

We were in level 9 and the blinds were 200/400 antes 50.
The first example was UTG raised to 1200, 2nd position reraised to 7000 and all in. Both players had been reasonably tight all game. Then the guy in 4th position calls half his stack with KQ. UTG folded and he was up against JJ and won.

The next was my demise, loose player with 10k bets 1200 on the button. I look down at AJ diamonds and move all in with 9k. I think its a blatant steal attempt, so I will prevent that happening again, by defending and I have a decent hand if called. He thinks and then calls me for almost all his chips with KQ. I have to say I am happy but shocked when he calls, especially when two more diamonds hit the board, but a queen ruins the day.

Apart from a complete bluff, I am not sure what he was beating, but c'est la vie. I now have to reevaluate the mixed marriage holding and question is this the new rockets!

ClintonO

£12k efforts

I have played the £12k for the last two evenings and have had a pretty good run both nights.

On Monday, I finished in 11th position (for the 4th time - that joins 1st and 15th as the position I have finished in the most!), winning £120.

I took a gamble calling a short stack with A4 with 12 players left, which I thought it was an any two cards move, he actually had 88 and that rightly held up. With 11 left and only 10k in chips, I moved with AT and ran into 77 and unfortunately despite hitting a Ten a seven ended all hopes.

Last night I finished just out of the money. I was short stacked for the most of the 2nd and 3rd hour. I fought and battled for whatever chips I could get. I finally got my chips moving when my AK beat KQ, and then next hand I had JJ and got all 6k+ in the middle against AT. The eight high flop was looking great, but a Ten on the turn and another Ten on the river arrived, a little bit harsh I feel!

I also booked my trip to Vegas last night, prices have been gradually increasing, so I decided to get in before the rush.
Its not the rio or the main event this year, but I have booked myself into the Bellagio. I have a wedding to attend, a lot of fun to be had, plus a serious amount of poker to play and to be honest I cannot wait. It is time to win some money playing live after all!

ClintonO

Responding to criticism

Apologies for not updating my blog, I truly have been snowed under with work, both in my day to day job and also with future plans that I have.

One thing that makes this game of poker so special, is that everybody has an opinion, you can be sure your right and somebody else can think the same and at the end of the day who is to say who is correct.

I have not played anywhere near enough as I would like over the last two weeks, but when you want to get on and you also have a young family, somethings got to give, at the moment its the poker.

Taking on board some of the comments of late. The first was reference a WSOP qualifier, where I raised with A9 and was reraised all in. I called about 2/3rds of my chips and was up against JJ and hit an Ace. Quite simply I got lucky. If I had known he had JJ, I would not have called. But then if I knew he had JJ, I would not have raised him in the first place.

There are sometimes you have a feeling that a play is right, nothing scientific, not a read, but it just felt right. This was one of those occasions and I got lucky. It is not a usual play by me, but if you play the same way all the time, then you will be figured out far too quickly.

The next comment was from David. David, my blog is purely a tale of my journey in the wonderful world of poker. I try to share my learnings, success and failures in the hope that I can encourage other players to play the game, improve their game and ultimately end up feeling as much for the game as I do. If Mike really does read this blog, then I am flattered. I have played at the Palms but not in the ultimate poker challenge.

The final comment is in reference to a thread started on the betfair forum, where a number of people have decided to pass a few comments on me.

If possible I would like to say a few words on this. Firstly I have no issues with anyone commenting on me, anything that is constructive and I can learn from is greatly appreciated, any critiscism as I have said, everyone is entitled to their opinion.

STTs - My stats are poor, they are there for all to see, I do not hide them, with rakeback I am in a minor profit over 1000 games. I do not take them as seriously as I should and that is my failing. I am confident that I could make a small profit at this game with the right dedication, but certainly no where near some of the profits that a lot of people are making.

Online names - I have one name ClintonO, that is it, I do not play under any other names. On some sites there may be a slight variation (Pokerstars - ClintonOh), but they are almost identical. I do not feel the need to hide my identity, as if you know who you are playing, then I need to improve to beat you. By keeping only the one name, it forces me to get better.

Playing for a career - I have made some good money from playing MTTs, but there are so many better players than me out there. I am still learning the game, a game that I enjoy and of course it would be great to do, but realistically, it is a fantastic hobby that has really helped me with extra income, meet some fantastic people and shown me a whole new world, but at the end of the day, there are other things that I am better at.

Live Cash - Unless you count a 5th place in a MTT at the Monte Carlo Hotel in Vegas, then no I do not have one! I would love to cash and it remains on my objectives list. My next attempt will be in one of the $1500 events at the WSOP. I am not playing the main event this year, as a close friend is getting married in Vegas in June and that is more of a priority.

Littlewoods Legends - This was an idea that I had to try and encourage more people to play the game of poker, get more people experiencing live events and use it as source of knowledge - a training camp if you like where those more seasoned players could pass on their learnings. I asked Andy to get involved (007apr) because he is one of many people who has helped me develop my game. I also felt that by getting a team of people together, then it would help the experience and also meant that when you got to a live event, there would be team members there that could advise you what to do and help you relax when you play live for the first time.

It was an idea that I started putting into place at the end of last year, I started a web site, as I got further down the road, but it was something that I put on the backburner as I have other ventures on the go that take priority.

It is my intention to do something within the world of poker, which ultimately will be there to help and enhance peoples enjoyment of the game. I will be involved in a couple of ventures that will start over the next few months, I will share this with you as they get closer to launch.

I do not claim to be a legend of the game in terms of playing poker and I never will be. If however I can continue be successful that would be fantastic. My main aim is to provide for my family, enjoy my life, enjoy this great game and help others whereever I can.

I hope that you can continue to enjoy this blog, please offer advice or criticism where you can and please say hello when you see me on the tables! Good Luck to one and all.

Clinton O

Playing to a minimum

I have kept my play to a minimum this week as I start to regain my strength following whatever illness hit me the previous week.

I have played a number of fixed limit cash games, to try and improve my understanding of this game, ahead of the online Golden Cup games on Cryptologic in June. I have come out level for the week so far, winning some and losing others. I still need to work in this area.

Tournament wise I have played one game a night for this week. Two WSOP qualifiers, where I have bubbled twice, river troubles unfortunately. I also played in the £12k last night, where I am happy to report I reached the final table, but dissapointly went out in 8th for £360.

I was determined to do well last night, after one of my dream team colleagues predicted that I would not! I had an up and down game, moving forwards nicely early and getting up to 10k in chips, before losing half with AK to A8, when I tried to get too clever for my good.

I fought my way up the leaderboard and got fully paid when flopping a straight, against top pair.
As we approached the final table, I made a couple of moves, which did not pay off. I ended up putting my stack in with AT and thankfully hit the required Ace to beat KK. How nice to actually win when behind.

The final table was quite evenly balanced and although I was in 9th place, my 35k was not too far behind the leader on 65k.
The table was quite aggressive early on, with the top 3 locking horns nearly every hand. Opportunities to get involved were very limited. I put in a couple of reraises to keep up with the blinds, but found little cards and opportunitues to do so.
After we had lost two players, my stack had diminished to the mid twenties and I found 88. I moved all in on an early raise and found myself up against AK. The first four cards were blanks, but the inevitable ace made an appearance on the river.

If I had won that hand, I would have been sitting comfortably with 50k+ and in a great position to move forwards. I am happy with another final table appearance, but would liked to have gone further. The way the table was playing, I felt that I would get paid with any reasonable hand and therefore a more patient game was the right play. I do question my tactics in all games I play and look back on my game to see whether I needed to play more aggressive. I always find that the most profitable way to play is the opposite to the way the table is playing and therefore I am comfortable with the way I played it.

I feel that I am still playing well at the moment and have reached ten final tables in the last week from not that many games. Lets hope it all continues.

ClintonO

Aces running bad again!

Three pocket rockets, three times all in pre - 3 losses! Ak,77 and T8. Great!

The only other tournament last night should have been a big pay out.
The tournament was the $50k guaranteed on Blue Square now part of the Playtech network.
Entries made up $43k, so whilst it was not the mansion it was still good value.

21 players left, sitting in 6th, it was all looking good. KK vs QQ, did not help me and then AK to A9 finished me off. $375 for my efforts, but is should have been a whole lot more.

Still not feeling great, so keeping this short.
ClintonO

So close to two in two

Five tournaments played tonight, two final tables and 23rd in the £12k, not a bad effort.

The main tournament of the night was the Bad Beat Dream Team, where after being right amongst it two weeks ago, we had a bad week last week, when half the team were away.

Tonight it was not looking too hot with just me left and 3 of the bottom with 32 left.
I fought my way up the leaderboard and ended up on the final table with a nice chip lead. After a slow start the final table exploded.
I ended up heads up 100k - 150k with the blinds just at 1500/3000.

The heads up was a real battle, I took the lead back in hand one, and then got 180k - 70k in front.
I made a couple of mistakes at this point, not putting in a river bluff to back my previous bets and then not reraising when my I believed my middle pair was good. Problem was with blinds so high I believed I could win.
After playing for an hour, we ended up all in I had KJ and was up against 99, unfortunately I lost and left myself with 20k. I managed to two double ups and was back in it with 120k, when I had JJ. At this point it was really heating up, if he had any sort of hand he was moving.

I raised with JJ, as he had a tendency to go over the top of me, he did as usual reraise, I moved all in and got called with 66. No 6 for the game, but alas there it was 2nd card out.

2nd place and 5000 pts for the team alongside almost $700 for my efforts. The good form continues, just a shame it was not another win.

ClintonO

Back in the Winners Enclosure

It been two months in coming but after 5 final tables in 5 days, a win is back under my belt. A belt that has been tightened a notch this week after being ill!

It was not the £12k unfortunately I managed 24th place and a cash finish, tried to make a move before I got too low and ran into a better hand. Not suprisingly I fared better than the infamous 'shymanic' who finished back in 40th.

The tournmanent win comes in the £800 GTD, the first time I have ever played in this.
Only 35 runners and a cash prize of £320, but a win is a win!

I hit the final table in 2nd position with 7.2k in chips. Chip leader had 8k. Only one short stack at 1.6k, the rest had over 4k each, so there was to be plenty of play.

The top 5 get paid and by hand 42 of the final table the bubble has burst and 5 remain

Pokerboy1 (5335) Tight, aggressive
Hickok#10 (8085) Loose, survived all in with JJ versus AA Hand 7 final table
Airlibird (23062.5) Chip captain, using chips very well.
ClintonO (11082.5) (fill in your own comment here!)
Poiree (4935) Very Tight, I donated chips to him in a SB vs BB battle.

Hands 43-45 (37,76,43)Airlibird throws stack around with little resistance
Blinds 300/600 Hand 46 (K7)Hickok all in for 5.5k called by Poiree. Hickok T8, Poiree KK. Board 38AT5 - Ouch - Down to 4
Hand 47 (A5)- I raise from SB with A5, take blinds
Hand 48-49 (K5,J7) Pokerboy is shortstack and moves all in twice with no callers
Hands 50-51 (72,J8) Airlibird uses his stack again
Hand 52 (52) Pokerboy moves all in again, Hickok instant calls. Its T9 vs A5, Board 495Q6 - Pokerboy doubles
Hand 53 (92)Hickok all in
Hand 54 (Q4)Hickok all in, called by Airlibird. Its QT vs A5, board helps no-one 3 left
Hand 55 (52) Airlibird takes blinds

Stacks now
Pokerboy (10k)
Airlibird (34k)
ClintonO(8k)
Time to start playing, any cards please!
Hand 56 KdJd Best hand I have seen in 30 hands, I raise, Pokerboy all in. I feel I am comitted at this stage and call. He turns over 22. First card is J. Back in it
Hand 57 KhQs Airlibird limps in, I check as I know he will bet in to me. Flop JdTc7c. Nice flop for me. Airlibird bets 1200. I call. Turn Ad. Bingo. Two flush draws out there also, so I raise to 3000. He calls as expected. River is a 3rd club. He bets 1200 again. It feels weak, but he could be worried about the flush or milking it. I call, he turns over J8 for two pair

What did I learn here, well he bet he out with top pair, there is an opportunity to slow play later (called my raise when Ace hit the board, I had checked preflop), I also believe if I had raised on the river he would have called.

Hand 58 55 I put Pokerboy all in, he has J2 - No Jack appears - its heads up (25k vs 27k)

Hand 59 (T5) time to find out how to play the heads up. I limp. He checks - Flop 266. He checks I bet and take hand. He is not usually that weak, he had absolutely nothing.

Hand 60 (42) He raises, I fold
Hand 61 (93) I limp again, I need to check his tendency to raise weakness. He checks. Board KhTh8h. He bets, nothing of board and fold.
Hand 62 (Q7) He raises, I fold - Blinds still 300/600 and both have big stacks, I persuade myself it is okay to fold here
Hand 63 (2c7c) Reverse strategy - I raise, he calls. Flop 6s9c7s. I have middle pair and backdoor flush draw, it could be worse. He leads out with 1200. I am assuming he thinks I have missed the flop. I reraise to 3000. He waits to the very last second before moving all in. He could have hit something, have both straight and flush draws, or just put me on a total bluff. I don't like it but there is plenty of time left I fold.

Chips Counts (19k vs 34k) - I am 4 hands from Victory

Hand 64 (8cTc) He limps for the first time (weak or strong?) Flop QdTd3c. I check middle pair, he also checks. (Weak or very strong?) Turn Th. Bingo! I check to not scare him away, he bets 800 (stringing me along, or still weak) I call. River 5c, That helps noone, I lead out for 2400, he then min raises to 4800. Beating me is full house, or a ten with a better kicker (includes a 3 or 5) I have trips heads up, thats a monster hand, the chances of him having a ten are very remote. I can't put him on a full house, I move all in. He calls Q7. (2 pairs)

This time he did not bet his top pair, he only bet when it was possible he was behind and called a reraise when I show strength. I know I will win this game

Hand 65 (5s7s) Will test for tilt mode, I call he checks. Flop K32. He checks flop, I also check
Turn Jd. He checks, he says he has nothing, so I bet and take pot.

Hand 66 (Qd9h) He calls, again I become suspicious and take the flop. Qc5dKd. Happy with the flop middle pair and flush options. I check he bets 800, that keeps me interested I call. Turn Ad.
Another good card, I am drawing to the nut flush and its unlikely he has an ace. I check, he bets just 800 again, I call. (What are these minimum bets, I would tend to see strength, but I am really believing these are weak) River 9c. No Diamond but two pairs. Only a monster hand has me beat, I bet 2400 he calls with 88. Those bets are weak, he is betting min bets with a flush draw and 3 overcards out there

Hand 67 (5h6h) I limp, he has never raised me yet preflop, so lets see it. Flop Qh6d7s. Again some help with bottom pair. He checks, lets see another. Qc. More than likely my 6 is good here. He checks, so I bet 1600. He moves all in for another 6595. If I call and lose I will still have a 32k to 18k chip lead, so that is a good reason to call. But what does he have. If he has a queen, surely he calls and milks it. A seven would he not have bet earlier, my guess is nothing much, I believe I am in front and make the call. He turns over K2. River is a J. The tournament is over!

Victory at last!
ClintonO

£12k in running

Playing one game tonight to try and get back into thinking straight, however I am still feeling really under the weather. Can barely keep my eyes open.

I am playing the £12k and found myself in the top ten, when this hand happens. Let me know what you think. I am chip leader with 10k in chips on this table. My opponent has 3k in chips.

At least I am already feeling sick, as this would have made me ill.


dealt to ClintonO [Ac Ad]
butch_dk: folds
Anonpg1: folds
Garry2011: folds
Shymanic: raises to 600
ClintonO: raises to 1500
DontPanic: folds
Fukineasy: folds
Sparky065: folds
Super_fox: folds
Shymanic: calls 900
----- FLOP ----- [2d 8d Qs]
Shymanic: bets 1453.25 and is all-in
ClintonO: calls 1453.25
----- TURN ----- [2d 8d Qs][2h]
----- RIVER ----- [2d 8d Qs 2h][5s]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Shymanic: shows [2s As] (Three of a kind, Twos, Ace high)
ClintonO: shows [Ac Ad] (Two Pairs, Aces and Twos, Queen high)

Time to plan my revenge!
ClintonO

A Live Win

As promised I managed to win the local football team poker match. I needed a little help on the river with the final card mind! AT vs QT all in pre flop, with me having a 60-40 chip lead.
A queen came on the flop, but an Ace on the river. Phew!

I still see a number of people that complain about online poker and the randomness of the cards.
Well in this one live game, I saw a two outer hit 3 times on the river. One hand with four players in that had two sets and two straights. A flop of 888, when someone held K8. Someone else lose to running tens. Live poker can be as sick as online poker at times.

I have not played barely at all since Friday as I have been hit by some bug, that has made me feel like I have been hit by a truck. I do hope to play again soon.

Two great pieces of news today from Cryptologic.

1) The Caribbean Poker Classic is alive and well and will be held again in 2007.
2) The Golden Cup Series of Poker (GCSOP) is to be held across Crypto from w/c 4th June

Full Details below

The £500,000 GOLDEN CUP SERIES OF POKER (GCSOP) is a one-week event consisting of seven separate poker tournaments, beginning on Monday, June 4th and running through to Sunday, June 10th.
Win a piece of the £500,000 guaranteed prize pool and take part in one of the most anticipated Hold’em series online this June...the GCSOP.
The GCSOP offers a range of buy-ins in No Limit and Fixed Limit Hold’em to meet the hearts of online players at all levels. Additionally, players will get triple chips (4500) for the preliminary events, with 10,000 chips for the final event. Blinds will increase every 20 minutes for preliminary events, and every 30 minutes in the £1000 Golden Cup Final.
In other words, there will not only be tremendous value for players, there will be plenty of play with a ton of room to manoeuver!
Best All-Around Player (BAP)
THE GOLDEN CUP IS ALL ABOUT THE SEARCH FOR THE BEST!
The top 15% of finishers in each of the seven tournaments will earn points towards the Best All-Around Player (BAP) awards. $30,000 in cash and prizes will be given away to the top four BAPs!
RANK
PRIZE
1
$10K CPC packagePLUS $5000 cashPLUS the Golden Cup award
2
$10K CPC package
3
$4K CPC Lite package
4
$1000 cash
The BAP will be determined using our tournament points system which considers tournament buy-in, number of entrants, and of course, individual finish in that event. Results will appear the following day in the poker lobby area.
BAP Points earned = Tournament Points x Buy-in.
BAP Points are only awarded for the June 4-10 finals.
The GCSOP recognizes excellence in tournament play.

This is the first time this has been bought to crypto so enjoy it.

Littlewoods are once again offering £100 for 1000 MPPs this month, so make the most of that. No Codes necessary.

Once you have done that you can also get the same from UK Betting and $50 from DTD for 250 MPPs but you will need the code DTDAPR.

Betsafe have a bit worse value but you can get $500 for 3500 Mpps.

ClintonO

5 final tables in 4 nights

2 more final tables last night, not the $3k last night, but the bigger £12k and £8k tournaments. Where is the leaderboard competition when you need it!

It was £480 return in both tournaments - 7th in the £12k and 5th in the £8k.

I do have a really good record at the end of each month, when I have not won much at the beginning. Its that look at the records and seeing a very small figure in the profit column that inspires me to do something about it. £960 last night and $1500 from the previous three evenings has helped address the balance.

A night off tonight as its my football clubs poker night. It won't be for large amounts of money, but I fully intend to win!

ClintonO

The 10pm $3k tournament

I really believe I should just stick to this tournament, maybe they could rename it for me lol!

I have a 50% strike rate for reaching the final table, reaching the top 4 on 12 occasions.
Last night I reached my 3 consecutive final table, eventually losing in a heads up battle. I was dissapointed not to win, as my record in heads up is quite good.
I led the tournament from the first hand to the last three people.

When it got to heads up I was 75-45k behind, the guy I was playing hit a jack on the river to survive against me when 7 were left. I turned around the lead very quickly, but lost a lot of chips with TT to KQ. At the end I played a limp reraise, but unfortunately ran into JJ. Dissapointing but another $850 in the bankroll. 9th,3rd and 2nd in the last three nights, I will play it tonight, but dont expect anything, as I am going to do well in the £12k and £8k!

The debate on the QJ hand continues! Excellent to get so much response on this one. I fully except all the criticism and comments. I have to agree that I played it quite weak, but just some instinct alongside the pot odds told me it was right!

The last comment referred to being blinded away and not going out with a fight. I do agree with this sentiment. Whilst I was in Dortmund there was part of me that wanted to survive as long as possible. However I also was willing to put my chips in when it was possible. I was all in with 3 hands that I usually would not be. Due to the nature of the table, someone was all in everytime in the lasts 60 hands. Also the great thing about this game is that you are always learning. As I approach 2 years of playing the game, I have never stopped learning.

I need to get more live experience and that is my plan whenever I can. I have only played 6 big live tournaments to date and this is one area that by playing more, will help my all round game

Please keep the comments coming in and continue to share any advice you may have.

ClintonO

Aces continue to cost me

Last night, two tournaments and three times I run into Aces!

In the 12k I was down to the last fifty, when I was dealt KK, I thought I played the hand absolutely brilliantly until my opponent turned over AA! LOL! I bet he thought he played it exactly the same and ended up with my chips! I have ran into AA a lot with Kings recently.

I have just seen a further comment on the play I made last night with QJ. In this situation I could not put my opponent on a pocket pair of Jacks or above, or indeed a hand that would have me dominated and therefore with 6-4 pot odds, I have odds to call against a possible combination of small mid pair, ace rag or total bluff. I think it is also knowing who you are playing. My belief from experience is that Dewi would have not pushed all in with a premium hand, if I was playing Jamie 'FISHMAC' it would have been a lot more difficult to make that call, as he would push there with a much wider range of cards, which makes him so difficult to read. He could have easily gone all in there with Aces or 45.

My improved form continued last night in the $3k. I finished in 3rd place with $500+, but am dissapointed I did not finish in the top 2. I started well and was chip leader early on. I then lost over half my stack with QQ to AK, meaning I had to adjust my game.
I managed a double up just before the final table when my AA beat QQ and again when I flopped a set of 9s against 8s.
On the final table, the short stacks got themselves knocked out fairly early. When we were down to five players, I called a raise with 77. The flop was 9TT. With just 5000 in the pot, one guy bet 7500 of his 10000. It just felt wrong, so I moved all in. To my suprise he then folded leaving himself just 2500 chips. I am amazed he did not call, but I obviously got the read correct.

With 3 left, I was in 2nd place. Chip leader was on 80k, I had 36k with 3rd place on 10k.
At this point any luck I had ran out.
The chip leader was using his chips well. After I had lost 10k and there was another raise from him, I had to move over the top with my 76 to which he folded. Chips were back up and I was going for the win.
I have AK against the short stack, he has 3T all the chips are in the middle and the 3 is paired.

Two hands later I get 77, the short stack raises, I reraise he has AA. I fight my way back to 25k from 10k over the next 10 hands, without a showdown. The chip leader raises yet again, I am over the top with my 44. He turns over AA. How many times am I going to run into AA this week! Still my second consecutive final table in this tournament. A win is coming.

Dissapointment last night as the Winner Choice final was cancelled due to just 8 runners (10 required) First prize is £1200 for a live event in the UK, which is a great prize if you have just 10 players. For some reason it appeared 20 - 25% of the network decided to watch the England game last night! Why!

A quick word on Monte Carlo, a few friends of mine have all survived day 1A. Well done to Mihay, Desh and Tony Cas. All below starting chips (12,6 and 12) but great to be coming back to play on Friday.

Good luck today to Martyn, Onny and the legend Tony Chessa.

Tonights its the Dream Team tournament, (lots of pressure with half the team missing) the £12k on Littlewoods and I am also going to enter the Mansion $100k at 9pm.

ClintonO

comment from tonights game

Not sure if this was a comment from Dewi himself! lol

Interestingly enough before tonight I read an article about Dewi on blondepoker and he was referring to his love of alcohol!

I have played Dewi many many times I also think he is an exceptional player.
Tonight though this was the circumstance. Early call from Jas in seat 2, he had just won 3 of the last four hands, so I felt his call was nothing to be concerned about. QJ hearts on the button for 8% of my stack it was worth a call to flop something nice.

Dewi then moved all in from the big blind with a massive overbet. 2000 chips into a 600 pot. He does not have a premium hand. He also knows that Jas would have called with little and I would have raised if I had a big hand, so by moving he was adding 25% to his chip count without showing his cards.

Dewi was in short stack mode, he had previously moved all in twice in the last two rounds, once unchallenged, the second from earlier position with just A8.

So I have 1220 left. I have a chance to move to 3040 with QJ hearts against a player who does not have a premium hand and is capable of making a move with any 2 cards, especially with the weak play in the hand to date.

Therefore in this circumstance, I felt that the 6-4 odds I was getting was the right odds to make the call.

I hope that explains my logic!
Cheers
ClintonO

Starting to enjoy the game again

The poker feeling is starting to come back again. For the last couple of days I have played my poker with a clear head and full of positivity and all of a sudden it becomes an easier game.

There has been nothing exceptional to write home about. I finished 15th in the £12k last night for £120. Got short in the first hour, recovered to a nice stack, blew half of it trying to push someone off trips with 32, but generally enjoyed the game. A bit of luck in the final stages and I could have done well. I just never got above the 20k mark to really make a go at winning it.

I made the final table of the $3k on Monday night, again not much than a £100 return, but it was nice to get that final table feeling again.

The only other two games I played I went out with KK to AA.

My STT challenge was starting to look good, after my initial 2nd place to break the super tilt, I then won my next game a £20 STT. I thought I would keep this run up and found a nice $60 STT to play. 3 levels in we were down to 5 players, I had doubled my chip stack and was sitting in second place and controlling the table, it was very comfortable.

Then I got dealt pocket Kings, under the gun, I raise to 150 (blinds 25/50), the player to my left goes all in for 670 chips and then the chip leader moves all in also. Standard isolation play I am guessing, unless they were buddies. Short Stack has A6, fair enough there was 225 in the pot, worth making a move. Our chip leader has 78 off suit. Even if out short stack hits an ace, I am losing 670 to him, but making 1500 from the chip leader.

Flop 456. Out in 4th. What on earth can you do about that. The only consolation is that from having 80% of the chips in play, the 87 man still managed to only come 2nd.

Disappointed that I did not make Super Hot at first attempt, but I will try again. I need to get my Sharkscope stats up by £400.

Tonight, I am definitely playing the £12k on Littlewoods as well as the Winners Choice tournament on Littlewoods. I have got a plan of action in place again, so this has given me more focus.

I would however like to get back in the Winners Enclosure, that I feel is not too far away.

Whilst I am on, I would like to wish all my dream team buddies success in Monte Carlo, four of the team are out there, it would be wonderful if one of them can do something special – Good Luck guys.

ClintonO

Super Tilt to Super Hot

No I have not achieved that but thats the short term challenge.

I look at my Sharkscope stats over the weekend and was disappointed but not suprised by my records. I only play STT when I am limited by time and therefore do not treat them with the respect they require.

Somehow though I have managed to go 8 games without placing in the money, even if I am not taken it seriously thats still not good form, besides my stats say -£400 for profit, which is also unacceptable by even my relatively moderate ability.

The weekend was nothing to write home about. Two games on Friday - £12k was in the top five most of the tournament and then with 50 left, my KK gets beaten by T9. A 9TT flop did not help! I did manage the top twenty in the £8k, which was nice as at one point I was down to 116 chips! However, I got myself back into a position to win it, so it was ultimately dissapointing.

Saturday was just the £12k and I really should not have bothered. I was watching Casino Royale at the time, now they had some hands! Could I borrow one!

On Sunday I played the last qualifier for the £40k and won that, so I was in for just £12. (Here again though I recovered from 200 chips to 44000) I started really well, adding a 1000 chips in the first three hands. In level 2 though I had a SB vs BB confrontation. I had 55. I limped, he raised to 120 which I called (BB 30). Flop 344. Very unlikely he has hit that. I go for the check raise. I check, he bets 200 into the pot, as I hoped, plus the bet looks too big. I move to 500. He thinks and then moves all in for another 1100. I have him covered and would have 1100 back. I dont think he has hit the board, but there has to be a chance he has a bigger pair. I don't think the chances of the pair are bigger than the odds being offered, so I call.

He turns over A5 and hits a 2 for a straight, just great, I then get called a fish for my troubles.
I manage to double with AQ vs KQ, but go out with 55 (hand of the night!) to 22. Board was 234.

I also had the WSOP final on Sunday night, but that did not go to plan. I was short and moved with QJ with a Q high board, other guy had two more queens - c'est la vie.

I have just seen the dream team table and at the half way point we are up to 5th place. We are currently sorting out our 4 players for the live final. I have lined up Jamie 'dream team specialist', Onny'flying out to Monte Carlo as we speak for the EPT grand final' and Heffernan'Aussie Millions Final Tablist. With one more place to sort out, we do have a great team.

Just worked out that at least four of my team are playing the EPT Monte Carlo this week! Time to start playing better I feel!

Focus. That is the problem, I tried some fixed limit last night for an hour, one STT which I finished second QQ to K2. Two more twos! At least I am off of Super Tilt and reached 1 consecutive cash!! I am though just playing random events.

As of tonight, it is back to the planning and playing for a purpose. I will continue my STT challenge whilst putting together a tournament plan. April needs to see me back playing and playing properly. I miss my second income!

ClintonO

Further Dream Team Update

Congratulations to M.M who last night won the highrollers their first victory in the dream team event.

A fantastic performance which catapults us up the league table and right into contention, providing some much needed impetus for this event. The new Betfair software has not gone down well with the team, causing many issues and problems. Hopefully now we can pull together in the quest for retaining our crown.

Whilst we are in congratulatory mode, I only recently found out that Alex '--00--' won the $100k on Mansion last week, very well done to you sir.

From a personal point of view, with the little time I get to play poker at the moment, I may as well give up! Work has been the order of the day. I do hope to announce a new venture very shortly, this probably won't help the amount of poker I am playing but at least there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Only a few games this week. I managed a final table and 5th place in the $3k and I won another $77 WSOP qualifier for this sundays $530 final, but aside from that my few games have not materialised in anything fantastic.

March has been a very quiet month and following my great start to the year in January, February and March have not followed suit. Not because of anything other than the time and energy to play Poker have not been available.

Short term I do not see this changing, so I have to remain very focused on what I am going to try to achieve. I will consider my objectives over the weekend and come back with a challenge, so that in the limited time I have available, I can focus to the best of my abilities.

ClintonO

Dream Team Update

After two awful weeks, the team had their second best performance of the season.
Once again it was Jamie 'FISHMAC' who is driving is us forwards, with another final table performance - this time finishing 4th, taking him into the top 20 on the individual leaderboard.

I am doing my best to support him, last night finishing in 26th. AT vs KQ - all in preflop. Between us we account for over 60% of the teams total points. Come on guys! There are severe bragging rights at stake here.

At the moment it is a case of badbeat or running into aces which is knocking me out. I did not make the £12k last night - internet issues, so I could not go for 3 successive cashes.
I played the £8k, finishing in the last 60, but with A9 on the button found AA in the small blind.

I played two smaller tournaments last night, one on sky poker. Just 90 left of the few hundred who started. I have KQ vs 78 all in after Q6T flop. Next two cards 78!
A futher smaller tournament on crypto saw me with AK on an AKJ flop. I am put all in by T9! 9 on the turn, 9 on the river! What can you do!

I also played the $77 WSOP qualifier on Littlewoods. There was only 14 people and 1 seat for Sundays $530 final. I played very aggressively and ended up winning this tournament. I was quite pleased with the way I played in this event. I do feel that I am playing well again and can accept the way I am going out of any event.

I am hoping for a few good performances tonight!
ClintonO

Just short of final tables

I have been consistently making the money in tournaments recently, but not making the big finishing positions that I would like. A 24th place in the £12k on Tuesday, followed by 22nd in the £12k last night.

Tuesday was dissapointing, I had battled with a low stack for the first two hours, was 72nd out of 73 left. From this point I changed gears and I was in the top five for the a lot of the latter stages. I get A9 in the small blind. Then on a board 8A6A. Someone moves all in, for about half my chips. From the way the hand was played, I could not put him on an ace or big hand. I called and he turned over J3 diamonds. The turn had bought a second diamond on the board. Of course the the river was another diamond.

This left me with about 20k, blinds 600/1200. I raise to 4800 from the cutoff with KT. The big blind calls. He has 30k before calling, Flop 46T. BB checks, I bet 7000 in the 12k pot, from which I am raised all in. I am committed to the pot and call. He turns over 46 offsuit! Then hits another 6 for a full house.

Why he called 1/6 of his stack with 46 off suit I will never know, but he went on to win the tournament from this point.

Last night I doubled up early, but never got much improvement on this until the later stages. I peaked at about 24k, I get AA with just 14k left, I hope for action!.
Blinds 600/1200, UTG raises to 2400, 2nd pos calls. Heres the action, I am all in, guy next to me all in. The 2nd position is also all in. It ends up with 50k in the pot, enough to put me in the top 2. Its AA vs JJ vs TT. The J came on the turn and it was game over.

Two decent performances, two cashes, but just £12 profit!
I vow to do better tonight!
ClintonO

Back to Business

I got back online on Sunday night, with the aim of repeating my final table feat in the £40k last Sunday.

First up though, there was a $77 World Series qualifier to the $500 event later that night. I was happy to win this and take my seat in final.

The final started terribly!
AA first hand, what was I saying about wanting good hands. I reraise an early raiser which he calls. 3 clubs on flop, I have none. I bet he calls. Turn is a blank I put a big bet in after he calls. River is 4th club, he is all in. I have to fold. I lose half of my chips.

I recover to a good position when I am dealt 88. I raise to 4 xBB, three callers and big blind goes all in. I am convinced it’s a squeeze play and go over the top, I have him covered by 1000 chips. The others fold. He turns over AK. Much better than expected, but I am still a small favourite. An Ace is the 2nd card out and ruins that. I then lose another race and am out of the competition.

The £40k started slowly and I only doubled my stack to 5000 after 2 hours, when my TT beat AT with a ten on the board.
I had a great piece of fortune when my AQ in big blind, tangled with KK on the button. I managed to hit two Queens and marched onwards. I managed to make the money for the 2nd week in succession and 5th time in 8 appearances this year. I was towards the bottom of the leaderboard when there were 31 left. 30th is double the prize money of 31st so maybe not the best move, but I moved in with AJ clubs. I was called by 77. An ace on the flop was great, a jack on the turn was nice, but the seven on the river was sick!

Still a positive start back to online play.
I do not have too many aims for the moment regards online play. I just want to spend some time working on my game.
Littlewoods are generously offering £100 for 1000mpps this month. I have generated 500 in the last two days of play, so I am aiming to generate the rest over the next few days. I am going to hone some skills in the small cash games as well as some of the sit and go’s.

My live poker aims, revolve around winning something for the World Series and trying to get to the Luton and Nottingham GUKPT and GBPT events respectively.

ClintonO

Responding to Comments

A couple of posts this week have asked me about my final hand in Dortmund and also about preparation.

Firstly my final hand.
I started level 9 with just over 5000 chips. Blinds 400/800 antes 100. So I am looking to put my chips in at the first opportunity. My best hand from the first seven hands I received was 7 high and every pot had a substantial raise ahead of me. The hand where I was under the gun I had 5 high and did not fancy my chances. I decided that the best move was to go all in with the big blind. Here however two short stacks had already gone all in and a big stack had called them both. My 7 high was not going to have much hope here.

In the small blind with 76 and 500 chips already committed to the middle. It folds around to the button. He puts a small raise in. This was clearly an attempt to steal and my belief was that 76 is not going to be too much of an underdog. I had a small amount of fold equity but not much. The decision was I could put in 3700 to get back 9500. Against any random hand I had the odds and it was unlikely my hand would be dominated.

He called with J9, I also know he expected to be behind, so there was no fold equity.
The flop came 235, two diamonds. Fours, sixes and sevens are all working for me. The turn bought the 8 diamonds, so now diamonds and nines are also good. 22 outs I make that, that’s about as many as you can get. Unfortunately it was the King of Clubs. I was left to take the walk of shame!

Preparation.

By time I played my final hand, I had been at the casino for over 13 hours. You have to be mentally and physically prepared to play this game.

An example is Ram Vashwani. After about an hour, he said to a friend of his, my minds not on this today and started talking about what to do that evening. He had been reraised a few times and clearly he was going to have to work hard and put in some hours, this he was not prepared to do and bluffed himself out of the competition in level 2.

To do well in a big event, you need to watch your opponents, how they act, what they do, how they bet and this takes a lot of concentration. This you will need to do for 3 consecutive days, all at least 12 hours long.

You need rest and slow release energy from the appropriate food sources. (Try Jordans Frusli bars!)

ClintonO

Proof that I was there

Just a quick picture to prove that I was in Dortmund.

Thanks to Snoopy and the team at blondepoker for this. They do a great in running commentary of whats happening, so always worth checking out.

Despite having more than my starting chip count at this point 10350 (I know it doesn't look very much - the blues are 1000, reds 500), I am looking fairly bored!

I am hoping that Littlewoods got a new picture for me, they have been using the Caribbean Poker Classic 2005 one for too long now!

ClintonO

Early Reflections

6 hours on and its time to reflect on the days play.
Thanks for the comment 'not good enough im afraid'. It helps to look at the negative aspect of the day and the room for improvement rather and then the positives.

So what happened. Yes I did wait for some cards and yes I would expect better than I received. I played tight in the first levels and that was my intention. When the antes kicked in, I was going to open up more. I was comfortable that I would be able to do that on my first table.
When I moved tables in level 7, I was left with a table with 6 short stacks and 3 very large stacks. I made 3 all in moves with nothing and went down unchallenged.
For the last hour nearly every hand was all in, the opportunites I had to move were very slim.

The final hand, for the first time in 30 mins, no one in first 3 positions entered the pot, it folded around to the button, who was going to move with any two cards. I figured that 76 was not going to be a massive underdog and I was not going to let my chip stack deplete and further.

I obviously would have like to have done better, but getting this far was a step in the right direction for me.
I made more moves than I usually do, I took down a couple of pots that I was very pleased with to keep my stack up.

Being critical, I could have thrown my chips around more, but I also have to ask myself would that have made any difference. Yes I wanted to make the money and yes I am dissapointed.

On the positive side enough, I have learnt so much more from the live game that, it can only help me for the future.
Keep the comments coming, its the only way I can learn.

Cheers
ClintonO

EPT Dortmund Day 1b

At 3.45pm German Time, my first taste of the European Poker Tour took place. Was due to start at 3pm, but as I mentioned before the organisation was not good all week.

There were 257 players today, making the total just short of 500, but still a EPT record.
The whole building was full of big names and it was certainly going to be an interesting day.

Tisch (Table) 11 seat 3 was to be my home for most of the day, at least until level 7 when I moved to table 13 seat 3.

On my table the biggest name was Ram Vashwani in seat 7. I was delighted with this as it meant the table would be full of action, waiting to pay off all the big hands I was going to get.

Although he did not last long and was 2nd out of the 257 at the start of level 2. Raising all in with A5 on a Q235 board. The other guy had 33.

Level 1. Start 10000 chips, end 9875. A fairly uneventful level for me, lowest was 9700 highest 10300. I had one had of note QQ in the small blind, after about 20 mins, I reraised a raise from the cutoff and he folded. A premium pocket pair every 20 mins, that would be great 2.

Level 2. End 9925, I touched 11500 on this level. I hit AQ and raised with one caller. Flop was J high, I did a continuation bet and he folded. I also took a nice pot with AT, when the cutoff was trying to steal. I also had 88, but had to fold to two reraises and lost 500 when I flopped a flush draw

Level 3. End 9850. Nothing happened on this level, no cards, I raised a couple unchallenged with QT and KJ.

Level 4. End 8450. AK first hand, I raise and they fold. This is my only hand in two hours. I try to get involved with a few hand but to no avail.

Level 5. End 7775. I am starting to lose some ground. One hand of note AQ, again no action, as it was small blind versus big blind. I am going to have to get busy when the antes kick in next level.

Level 6. End 6050. I have never been so card dead.

Level 7. End 8100. Back on the road to recovery? I am still completely card dead. I have not had a pocket pair since level 2 and have not seen an ace since level 5. Chip leader limps into me on big blind I have 28. Flop 259. He bets 1000, I decide this is my time to make some inroads. I call. Turn T. He bets 2000, I move all in for my last 4800. He folds! Phew! Almost up to 10k.

Level 8. End 5700. I have moved tables. Level is now 300/600 plus Ante 75. I have no cards. I reraise all in with Q5 when button raises into me, he folds. I move all in with K7 on cutoff. Everyone folds. I just want any two cards to move all in.

Level 9. Its now 400/800 ante 100. I am in button, so I have a round to make my move. Hands are 53,42,54,64,43,75. All day long this has been happening. By time I get to the small blind, I have only 4200, although 500 of those are already committed and pick up the massive 76. It folds to the button, and he raises as I knew he would, I decide this is my moment and reraise all in. He calls with J9.

Flop 235. Any 7 any 6, any 4. Turn is an 8. Any Diamond will now also be a winning card. River is a King. Its game over and I make my exit. 87 players remain when I leave.

It was a great experience and will stand me in good stead for the future. I battled and fought as best I could. Two pocket pairs in nine levels, one AK and two AQs. That is not much to play with.

Thanks to everyone who supported me. I really appreciated the mention on the blondepoker site. Thanks for that. Unfortunately its time to get that early flight back home and concentrate on getting my World Series seat.

Take Care all
ClintonO

A day of Waiting

The organisation has not been the best at this EPT event.

Turning up at 1pm today to register for the main event, 3 and a half hours later still no resolution! No suprises that it was a late start today.

The setting is a bit odd, most people staying in hotels which are a 20 Euro ride away, every taxi seems to be 20 Euros! The casino and poker rooms are very seperate, the casino requires a jacket and tie to enter, how many poker players do you know that wear a jacket and tie!

Also a bit odd, is that is you want to go in and watch the event, it costs 60 euros, even for players! I fancied going to see the event and see how it was, but was not paying 60 euros for the priveledge. I briefly became a member of the press to check it out.

It was supposed to be a 500 sell out, but only 237 started today, I saw a number of big names arrive tonight, delayed 24 hours from the recent Goa tournament, so I am wondering whether they will try and squeeze 263 in tomorrow.

I had dinner tonight with Tony Chessa and John Kabbaj and am learning card games that I never even knew existed.

I would just like to say a big thanks to Bruce at Littlewoods again, no matter what is happening, he can never do enough for you.

Right sleep time now and get ready for the big day.
ClintonO

Day 1 in Dortmund

I am now successfully in Dortmund, eagerly awaiting the start of the EPT. My day is 1B, so I still have one day to wait.

Littlewoods as ever make the events as special as they can, by throwing in some champagne on the short flight over from Luton. Thank you Bruce!

It was nice to meet up with the two Tony's, Mr Chessa and Mr Cascarino. Although Mr Chessa was asleep for most of the day!

Tony Cascarino and myself went off to try and find and find a bar showing the Arsenal - PSV, but in Germany when Bayern Munich were playing Real Madrid, it was always likely to be in vain!

Instead we ended up at the Poker Stars party, which was nicely set out with a beach setting and a free bar (that always helps). They also showed all of the Champions League games on two minute rotations, with the results as they were though, I wish they had not of bothered.

I will check out the casino and poker room, later on today to get a feel for the layout and then have a relaxing day preparing myself for my first EPT event experience.

ClintonO

Dortmund Countdown

Its definitely starting to come together!
Another good performance last night, this time 17th in the £12k. I crashed out when my KK ran into that monster of Q7 spades.

The chip leader raises from the cutoff, I think I can call and then get him to bet into me.

Flop is T high with 2 spades. I change my mind and bet out not wanting to give odds for flush and he goes all in. He does have the flush draw. The turn pairs the board. Which means he only has 7 outs on the river, which of course he hits one of them. A win there would have put me onto 50k in chips and in the top 3.

Frustrating of course, but another good night. Again I believe I played well, I potentially made one mistake earlier when raising with AJ and being called by the big blind. I had been particular aggressive the four or five hands prior to this and was now chip leader. The board came J high but all hearts. I bet out to take the pot there and he went over the top with a check raise. It was only another 4k to call and it would leave me 15k back if I called, the pot was already 11k. I felt it could be on the draw, so I called with those good odds. He had AT of hearts and already made the nut flush.

Two decent performances in the last two nights, my confidence is growing slightly and at the right time.

The Littlewoods lobby has become filled with World Series competitions, which is great news. However anyone who wins the tournament will win a cash prize. I am really not sure how many people after winning $12k in cash, will then give that up to enter the World Series. I really don’t think I could!
If this is the same for all on line sites then the World Series numbers are going to be considerably down for the main event this year.

1 day to go to Dortmund and one fact I did not realise, it will be the biggest EPT event to date. I am eager to get playing now. Friday at 2pm cannot come soon enough from a Poker point of view, but I am very much looking forward to a few days off work!

ClintonO

Objective 2i) completed.

Well I hoped more than anything that I would achieve one of my objectives in March. Well last night I did, but it wasn’t the one I was hoping it would be, the cashing at a live event, it was the final table of the £40k.

Before I talk about that, can I just say thank you to the people that have commented over the last few days, wishing me luck in Dortmund. It means a lot, to know there are a few people that would actually like to see me do well.

I will be completely honest with you (as I always am!), the reason I write this blog is in the hope that some people either learn something or get some enjoyment out of it. There is no greater sense of achievement that being able to help someone reach their goals or achieve something that was previously beyond reach.

However, just this once I will gladly take up all the luck that is being offered to me, as cashing in this event, is something that I would like to do for my family who have always encouraged me, my new poker community who have done nothing but help me, Littlewoods who have always supported me and for once in my life, I would love to do this for me. Something that one day I can tell my grandchildren about!

I don’t believe I am good enough or anywhere near experienced enough at this game to be in contention for winning this event, but if I play at my absolute top game for two days, I am capable of making the money.

For those of you who enquired about placing bets on me, I would urge you to save it! However if you still fancy it then, if you ask Betfair nicely, I am sure they will give you a price of at least 200-1.

Last nights play.
My confidence in my poker ability before yesterday was quite low. I had not picked up my game in the last few days as I wished and traditionally Sundays were poor. I picked out 3 games that I would play for the evening to try and help the preparation.
The £40k on Littlewoods, the $200k on the Prima network and a WSOP ($1.5k event) qualifier on Full Tilt.

I had only previously ventured onto Full Tilt once, but I liked the idea of qualifying for a WSOP side event. It definitely gives me the excuse I need to get over to Vegas! With two seats available and a $69 entry I felt it was good value for money. That was until my trips were busted by a runner runner straight and I crashed out in 20th, when I was working out whether I was going to move up into the top 4!

Still a good event, which I think I will come back to.

Next up was the Prima $200k. First prize $44k. I played a game on Crazy Poker once, where I cashed so I decided to keep using it, for my odd venture away from Littlewoods. I had never failed to cash on this site (okay only 3 games played – but it sounds impressive). This was a $50 rebuy event, with an incredible 1694 runners.
I had moved to 5.5k from my initial 2k stack at the first break and took the add-on to move to 7.5k.
I battled and fought and never moved above average chips. I did get up to 35k at one point. I ended up pushing my chips in with A8 to be called by K6. My 8 on the flop looked nice, but the 7 and the 5 that followed meant I lost to my second runner runner straight of the evening. $200 and 133rd place for me.

Off to the £40k, the tournament I could never make the final table in, until now.
I got off to a great start. Dealt JJ I called a raise and a call. Flop 56T. Two checks, so I bet and get two calls. Warning signs go up. Turn is a J. Two checks again, I bet and get reraised by KipsterDK, I push all in and get an immediate call. He has 55 and was slow playing a set. A river J gave me quads and the perfect start, doubling early doors.

I was really happy with the way I was playing, laying down hands when I knew it was right too and using my tight image to keep my stack nicely above average.

When I got to 30 people left, I had fallen towards the short stacks and called an all in with QQ, I was up against AK and it held. My one and only coin flip of the night and it held.

By time it got to 11 places, I was only in 9th. I got AK in the big blind and the small blind had AQ. The chips were always going in the pot and the K on the flop was perfect.
I had played some really good poker and had made my first final table. I had about 70k and was sitting in 7th place, but aside from the top 2, it was quite close.
The prize money for 10th is £650, but first is £11k, the steps are massive. I need to be selective, as the money matters!

Then after 5 and half hours, I have a rush of blood, make my first mistake of the night and end up out the tournament. I have lost late on to bad beats, but going out because of own mistake, hurts so much more.

I pick up JJ in 6th position, no action so far. MNY75 reraises on the button. Now this player is the loosest player on the table. So far tonight he had had 180k in chips and went down to 60k by raising and then folding to reraises. He had just doubled up again and had me covered.
Also for notes, is that he has knocked me out of this tournament 3 times this year alone, always to massive suckouts.

The fact that he reraised me and not the other way round should have told me he had a hand I needed to fold, but I couldn’t. I had JJ on the final table, a serial raiser is at it again. My final table aggressive instincts had kicked in and I could not fold. I moved all in, saw KK and saw an end to my tournament.

9 hours on, I still feel sick about my play.

Aside from the positive of making the final table for the first time, it also felt good to be playing well again. A real timely reminder just before the biggest week of my poker career, that I do have that ability to make the money in Dortmund. However one other important factor, I need to be at my best for the whole tournament and one mistake could end my dream.

The next couple of days, I will just keep my poker brain ticking over, playing a couple of small tournament, before flying out midweek.

I have been told that, I need a new photo! The new issue of Littlewoods Full House has gone out, with my photo from the Caribbean Poker Classic 2005 on it. I have had a lot of abuse about this one, so I promise to get a new one. I hope Littlewoods have some nice clothes to wear!

Since starting playing poker in June 2005 this is my
Main Event Live History to date.

2005
World Series of Poker – Unplaced
Caribbean Poker Classic – Unplaced

2006
World Series of Poker – Unplaced
English Amateur Championships – Unplaced
Caribbean Poker Classic – Unplaced

2007
European Poker Tour Dortmund - ??????

Right that’s enough talk of Dortmund, I am already putting myself under enough pressure!

I wish everyone a successful week. I will have my laptop with me to give updates as we go, but if I can manage to link up with Blondepoker, hopefully they will kindly keep anyone that wants to know how I am doing informed.

ClintonO

Ept Dortmund Update

I have just had my starting date confirmed for Dortmund.
Its Day 1B Friday 9th March. 8 days time at 3pm, my quest for glory begins!

In other news Littlewoods have taken my advice and got a great new tournament starting, for those players like me that want to take part in more live events in the UK.

The details are listed below.

The Winners Choice tournaments offer a low cost qualifier to play in some of the biggest events in the UK. What's more, if you win the online qualifier, there's no need to be restricted to one live event, we give you the choice of where you want to play. Our recommended live events include the Grosvenor UK Poker Tour (GUKPT)

There will be a weekly final for £70 + £7 with one live package for every fifteen entrants. There's one package guaranteed!

Daily feeder satellites to this weekly final and STT satellites on the day will also be available so it's really easy to stake your claim.

How To Get There:
QUALIFICATION ROUTE £3 + £0.30 Daily THUNDER Sub-Satellites to Daily Satellite 6:45pm and 7:45pm (daily basis)
INTO £15 + £1.50Daily Satellites to Weekly Final 9:45pm Daily
INTO £70+ £7 Wednesday at 8:45pm 1 Prize for every 15 Entrie (Value £1050) 1 Winners Choice Prize Guaranteed

ClintonO

Time to make my March

The EPT Dortmund is almost upon us.
This is my opportunity to make a name for myself (hopefully positively!). My aim at the end of it is to be able to be found on the Hendon mob database, due to a cash in a major tournament.
I am still waiting to ascertain what day I will be playing on, but aside from knowing this I am relatively happy with my preparations.
I have not played more than the odd game here and there for quite some time. In the last few games I am definitely finding my game is coming back.
A few more games over the weekend and I feel that I will be ready but also fresh for Dortmund.

February has been a profitable month, but a quiet one. I definitely feel I played too much during January. The main highlight being the 2nd place in the highrollers event winning over £2k.

I was disappointed that I could not go for the leaderboard in a bigger way, I was just simply far too tired to maintain a level of play over the 20 days. Well done to Matt (Noseyboy) for securing his Monte Carlo seat. There are some real crypto stars flying over to Monte Carlo, good luck to them all.

I am still finding it a little difficult to get completely motivated for playing poker, but this is really due to the amount of things I have going on from a work point of view. I know that in order to play at my best I need to be free of distractions, or at least know exactly what I am going from a work point of view.

I do know for certain that I want to go back to Las Vegas this year, so when I return from Dortmund, Vegas becomes number one on the agenda. I am not that bothered about playing the main event (although it would be nice), but I would like to be there and play in a few of the events.

I will be playing tonight in the Dream Team tournament. The team have started playing in the last two weeks and we are moving nicely up the table. I am hoping we can continue this positive momentum. I will also play in the £12k, just to keep my poker brain ticking over!

ClintonO

Getting back into the swing

I played two games yesterday the £12k and the Bad Beat Team Event.

I enjoyed the £12k, especially doubling up first hand 88 vs A5 on a 678A board.
I played well enough, laying down AQ twice when it recent weeks I probably would have gone bust.
I ended up in 42nd, losing two hands on the trot JJ to AK and then AK to JT, both all in preflop.
AJT flop was a bit nasty at the end. Overall I played well and felt my head was getting back into the game.

In the dream team I had my best performance of the season, finishing in 10th place, earning $60 but more importantly 1000 pts for the team.

After six weeks, we have moved up to 12th place and with two good weeks on the trot its starting to look promising.

The top 4 players in the team so far
Jamie 'FISHMAC' 2790
Clinton 'ClintonO' 2300
Martyn ' 50kinred' 1900
Desh ' INJUSTICE' 1400

Whilst I am writing I have doubled in the first hand in the £12k for the second consecutive night, lets hope it ends up better than last night! AA vs AQ.

I had a comment a few days back reference making deals on cryptologic. The few I have made have always been honoured by all players, it has to be done on trust and so far everyone has been trustworthy.
I made a deal on bluesquare a couple of weeks ago, whereby the top 7 paid £50 each to 8th place, however whilst 4 of them honoured the deal, 3 decided not to.
So all I can say is get as much information as you can from the players you are making deals with.

ClintonO

A week off

Well a week has passed since I played any real poker. 2 hands in my bad beat team event on Thursday and an hour and a half in the £12k last night.

I have to say I am not yet feeling the overwhelming desire to rush back into playing. Bizarrely I am feeling more tired through not playing than I am when I am putting everything in to it. With 17 days to go to Dortmund, I still feel like I need a bit longer to recharge those batteries.

I am going to play very selectively this week before hopefully wanting to step up again next.

A quick congratulations to Sun_Deshi who has taken advantage of my absence by winning the £12k and moving 5-4 up in our mini competition on that tournament.
Also to ThierryH who was winning the leaderboard competition when I checked last night.

See you all in a few days.
ClintonO

Day 1 of break

Well Day 1 of the break did not go according to plan.

I had already qualified for the Highrollers six pac £215 entry so I had to play it.
Six pacs tournies are not my game, I am still adjusting to the amount you have to play.

This tournament was a very slow structure, allowing lots of time to play poker.
I was a shortstack throughout, but hung on in there.
All of a sudden I was on the final table. The top three get paid. I was by far the smallest stack.

I offered the table a split with 6 players left and again with 5, but they declined!

I doubled up with AQ against AJ, 55 against 22 and 33 against AJ. 4 left and I was around 3rd/4th.

My 77 then lost to AJ and one of the other guys hit a two outer to survive.
After an hour with 4 players, finally it was down to 3 players. I had won £1360.
With 3 left I was in 2nd, the short stack moved in with 83, I had t8, and the chip leader 9T. The board was 68387. I had trips, leader straight, but amazingly shortstack had a boat!

I then lost a massive pot with 3 left, QJ hearts vs AA and it left me with 551 chips against 23k and 59k. I don't know how but I managed to finish 2nd and take home £2040.

The guy who won it was called montcarlo, I don't think I have played against him before, but he played very well and totally dominated the final table. I lost with AJ against 33 for the final hand, incredibly the hand that had kept me in it before.

Right as Ross from friends so famously says 'We were on a break!'
Well breaks like these I can do with more often.

ClintonO

Time for a little break!

The Poker Gods are not shining on me at present!

I played a number of tournaments today, where going nicely in each, got hit by a 2 or 3 outer on the river. Recently my luck has not been in, so I am going to ease up over the next week or so.

Tonight I was playing in the £40k my bogey tournament, I had already had a couple of nasty little beats, I am dealt AA in the Small Blind and two people are already all in! Christmas has come early!


dealt to ClintonO [Ac As]
mrlort: folds
Sofia1979: folds
Loverat: folds
Myggebo: raises to 1795 and is all-in
Karl25125: folds
100k: folds
Rhaegar: raises to 3395 and is all-in
ClintonO: is all-in 1765
--burakki: folds
Returned uncalled bets 1,555 to Rhaegar
----- FLOP ----- [Qd Jd 3c]
----- TURN ----- [Qd Jd 3c][6s]
----- RIVER ----- [Qd Jd 3c 6s][9d]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Rhaegar: shows [Qc Ah] (A Pair of Queens, Ace high)
ClintonO: shows [Ac As] (A Pair of Aces, Queen high)
Myggebo: shows [Tc 8c] (A Straight, Queen high)
ClintonO collected 90 from Side pot #1
Myggebo collected 5535 from Main pot


However, I refuse to moan about bad beats as they do happen.
I am though going to take a little rest from this game. My sole focus is now the EPT Dortmund. I am giving up on the Leaderboard this month and aside from the Highrollers final tomorrow night, I am going to have the week off.

My game is about preparation, I have 25 days ahead of the biggest poker game of my career to date and its time to get ready and right now that means a break.

See you in a little while
ClintonO

Leaderboard Update

4 days in and I am sitting in 74th position with 107.95 points.
One more cash finish to record, a 25th in the £12k on Thursday.

It would have been better but my AK lost to an AJ which hit a runner runner flush after a A hit the flop.
Aside from that my MTT form has not been much kop.

I was going well in the $4k last night but my Aces were cracked by fives.
I also managed to miss out on the GUKPT in Walsall by three places again, I am destined not to qualify for that. It becomes a total crap shoot towards the end. Three times in three hands I had my chips in with the best hand but lost everytime. AQ vs KJ, AT vs QT and 99 vs AK.

I have had some success though, so its not all doom and gloom. I won a highrollers qualifier and am in Mondays £215 final. I also won the EPT Monte Carlo qualifier earlier today for tonights final.

Amazingly I have had a fair amount on the cash tables. I dont usually play on there and have been playing at fairly low levels, but have somehow managed to add £1k to my profits for February through cash tables alone. All I can say is that some people have been very generous to me.

I have just under a month to sort my MTT form out before Dortmund. Although February has been good from a profit point of view, I am not at my best and I know it. I have too much else that I am thinking about and therefore I am only playing at about 70%.
I did not have a great February last year so I need to work on why.
Looking through my records, my hot period is August to January and then go cold from February to July, so thats not good!

Time to find my MTT form, now where did I put it!

ClintonO