i could blog about poker now, but i won't.
i'm going to carry on blogging about gambling addiction. it's far more relevant.
three months ago i realised my period was late, did the test and lo! there was the little line saying i was avec child. quick glass of vino, couple of ciggies and two more tests. both positive.
delighted, mr donk v happy too, a couple of months earlier than planned (work committments) but hey, who cares?
so, baby good. pregnancy less good. being a carrier BAD. i am not good at treating myself well ---- all that stretched in front of me was months of sobriety, no smoking, no such fun. what to do when work's tough? what to look forward to at the weekend? etc etc.
disney's best animators couldn't have drawn the cartoon light bulb pic that appeared above my head as clearly as it appeared to me. if i were sober, surely i could re-install t'internet? poker could be what i looked forward to.
so i began again. and it's been better, esp during the week, when i've been turning off computer 11pm, not 2am, have only played 1 - 2 stt, not 3-4. and def no drunkedn entries into mtt at midnight on a weds.
So where's the problem... the prob is the mtts at the weekend. out of maybe 40 i've played, i've cashed ONCE. once....
why? ok, big stuff coming up. just not now. but v soon
Monday 17 September 2007
Thursday 30 August 2007
Strange Times
.....it's thursday night, so while monseuir donk gets a five-a-side work out, i get the flat, and the remote control, to myself.
nothing better, to be honest, than a thursday night. the only other time i get to myself is during the 2 1/2 hour round trip that's my daily commute, and that really doesn't count....
So back to the strange bit. I'm watching cricket. voluntarily. on my own ;-) this one day stuff's alright. i've been coerced into watching most of the earlier matches (games) in this series (?) and i've found myself slightly committed. i can do all the hand actions now and even tried a tentative "we're tighter in the field than they were" last sunday. i was right, apparently. hehe.... it helps that right now we're batting and this end of day stuff seems to be the best bit of it.
anyway. poker. things not so amiss chez donk that i'm not playing poker too. obvs. been small stakes, stt'ing. two games since last blogged. won one, second in tother. 'stars roll on the up. currently in a 18-way sng.
wish me luck.... x sd
nothing better, to be honest, than a thursday night. the only other time i get to myself is during the 2 1/2 hour round trip that's my daily commute, and that really doesn't count....
So back to the strange bit. I'm watching cricket. voluntarily. on my own ;-) this one day stuff's alright. i've been coerced into watching most of the earlier matches (games) in this series (?) and i've found myself slightly committed. i can do all the hand actions now and even tried a tentative "we're tighter in the field than they were" last sunday. i was right, apparently. hehe.... it helps that right now we're batting and this end of day stuff seems to be the best bit of it.
anyway. poker. things not so amiss chez donk that i'm not playing poker too. obvs. been small stakes, stt'ing. two games since last blogged. won one, second in tother. 'stars roll on the up. currently in a 18-way sng.
wish me luck.... x sd
Sunday 26 August 2007
BRM
so - going keep a track of my stack.
best place to start - how much i have now.
on ip. so i'll start there: $100
best place to start - how much i have now.
on ip. so i'll start there: $100
Ouch
Tonight, I donked as much as i have ever donked in one night
my problem? well, it wasn't that i was playing badly. in fact, there were quite a few good moves, some strong folds, nice stategic thinking and uncharacteristic periods of tightness
my prob was simply that i got caught in a sunday night fever. for once, i'm not exhausted out of my brain, and no work tomo. a deadly combo that saw me buy into half a dozen of the big sunday tourneys, when i couldn't afford to buy into one.
it's all to do with the dreaming. and the itch. the itch is easier to beat than the dreaming. the itch is all about finding anything other than playing online poker really boring.
it's two in the morning. i started playing at 5pm. that's nine hours. actually, i don't feel as self-loathing as i could. considering.
so what do i want out of online poker? not this. i need to rethink, regroup. i can't carry on losing money. money has never been the issue before. it will be soon, very soon.
so what do i want from online poker? honestly, i want lots of money. money i won't come into any other way. as a past time, it's ok, but not great. i'd rather be addicted to exercise ;-) or be a bit OCD about cleaning.... actually, i'd take suduko, fell-running, anything would make me feel better than this does.
as i went to sign on for my first game, my husband said "if you're losing, keep it small" - i thought, hah! right. knew from the start what was going to happen. though maybe not the extent of it.
so where from here? ok, mrs steaming donk. 30 days to sort it out. then quit, if needs be. i could write the rules i should play by, but i know them off by heart. BRM is #1. MTTs only when i'm not tired, when i can afford them, and with less than 500 players for the mo.
more ho hum'ing, ta for reading xc
my problem? well, it wasn't that i was playing badly. in fact, there were quite a few good moves, some strong folds, nice stategic thinking and uncharacteristic periods of tightness
my prob was simply that i got caught in a sunday night fever. for once, i'm not exhausted out of my brain, and no work tomo. a deadly combo that saw me buy into half a dozen of the big sunday tourneys, when i couldn't afford to buy into one.
it's all to do with the dreaming. and the itch. the itch is easier to beat than the dreaming. the itch is all about finding anything other than playing online poker really boring.
it's two in the morning. i started playing at 5pm. that's nine hours. actually, i don't feel as self-loathing as i could. considering.
so what do i want out of online poker? not this. i need to rethink, regroup. i can't carry on losing money. money has never been the issue before. it will be soon, very soon.
so what do i want from online poker? honestly, i want lots of money. money i won't come into any other way. as a past time, it's ok, but not great. i'd rather be addicted to exercise ;-) or be a bit OCD about cleaning.... actually, i'd take suduko, fell-running, anything would make me feel better than this does.
as i went to sign on for my first game, my husband said "if you're losing, keep it small" - i thought, hah! right. knew from the start what was going to happen. though maybe not the extent of it.
so where from here? ok, mrs steaming donk. 30 days to sort it out. then quit, if needs be. i could write the rules i should play by, but i know them off by heart. BRM is #1. MTTs only when i'm not tired, when i can afford them, and with less than 500 players for the mo.
more ho hum'ing, ta for reading xc
Monday 20 August 2007
long time, huh?
so - back online. 'ere goes
offline for four months. great times, guys, really recommend it. won't lie, losing internet was tough at first- not just for the lack of poker. the result however was positive, and not just financially.
played live three times in a cardroom in london. cashed 2/36 and 5/74. good, huh? more committed to live games. plus, it was donktastic, people talk about the monkeys online, come to croydon guys. soft as squashy, summer ripe peaches.
two points to note before i get onto my return to online poker.
1) all those things i never got done 'cause of playing online poker, i still didn't do. reckon i'm just bone idle. but i had a better time not doing them than i would have done if i'd've been glued to the laptop.
2) i've collected vices all my life. always done too much of everything and have never found a middle ground, it's always been excess or nothing, total immersion or quit. of all the destructive habits i've ever had, gambling has had the most detrimental effect. the damage to credit cards will long outlive the damage i've done to my liver. but that's not the scariest bit. when you gamble, you assume that there's this big thing that will change your life just round the corner - a big win. all else is deferred, including responsibility for money in the short term. without gambling, i lose my dreams, my prospect of real change. this is the problem with gambling; the only thing i really missed when i was offline was the loss of these dreams.
i went back online. about two months ago. there are reasons for this, all will be revealed.
how've i been doing? well, i guess there are two ways to measure this. firstly, there's the quantative results - the cash. then there's the degree to which it's affected my quality of life.
money: in two months,i reckon i've spunked about £600. i started off well, low limit stts, beating them consistently, sticking to my roll, sticking to stars. not been drinking and so've played a lot less, known when to turn off the computer -namely after first game, whether won or lost.
built a built up a bit of a roll and then donked it on a couple of mtts i shouldn't have bought in to. the bulk of the rest of the cash i've topped up in the last ten days, again to play mtts. haven't actually played many mtts, maybe two dozen. one cash, for not very much. maybe a 15/350? for $50.
life: yeah, poker's back, but it's better, it's ok. play less. have changed the email notification email on stars account so when i deposit the husband gets the notification. deferrring responsibilty or what?? but def dif, def better. not entering mtts in the week, no late nights.
just got to win a bit now, take a more serious attitude to game. or maybe be more frivilous and play micro stakes (like that's going to happen...) work on building stack so i can afford to play mtts where the prize money is enough to keep me committed. but can't be buying into these big mtts.
but all hail the return of the dreaming... tho' doing so poorly that even me, the ever optimistic donk is these finding dreams too improbable to really dwell upon
more to come. thanks for reading.
offline for four months. great times, guys, really recommend it. won't lie, losing internet was tough at first- not just for the lack of poker. the result however was positive, and not just financially.
played live three times in a cardroom in london. cashed 2/36 and 5/74. good, huh? more committed to live games. plus, it was donktastic, people talk about the monkeys online, come to croydon guys. soft as squashy, summer ripe peaches.
two points to note before i get onto my return to online poker.
1) all those things i never got done 'cause of playing online poker, i still didn't do. reckon i'm just bone idle. but i had a better time not doing them than i would have done if i'd've been glued to the laptop.
2) i've collected vices all my life. always done too much of everything and have never found a middle ground, it's always been excess or nothing, total immersion or quit. of all the destructive habits i've ever had, gambling has had the most detrimental effect. the damage to credit cards will long outlive the damage i've done to my liver. but that's not the scariest bit. when you gamble, you assume that there's this big thing that will change your life just round the corner - a big win. all else is deferred, including responsibility for money in the short term. without gambling, i lose my dreams, my prospect of real change. this is the problem with gambling; the only thing i really missed when i was offline was the loss of these dreams.
i went back online. about two months ago. there are reasons for this, all will be revealed.
how've i been doing? well, i guess there are two ways to measure this. firstly, there's the quantative results - the cash. then there's the degree to which it's affected my quality of life.
money: in two months,i reckon i've spunked about £600. i started off well, low limit stts, beating them consistently, sticking to my roll, sticking to stars. not been drinking and so've played a lot less, known when to turn off the computer -namely after first game, whether won or lost.
built a built up a bit of a roll and then donked it on a couple of mtts i shouldn't have bought in to. the bulk of the rest of the cash i've topped up in the last ten days, again to play mtts. haven't actually played many mtts, maybe two dozen. one cash, for not very much. maybe a 15/350? for $50.
life: yeah, poker's back, but it's better, it's ok. play less. have changed the email notification email on stars account so when i deposit the husband gets the notification. deferrring responsibilty or what?? but def dif, def better. not entering mtts in the week, no late nights.
just got to win a bit now, take a more serious attitude to game. or maybe be more frivilous and play micro stakes (like that's going to happen...) work on building stack so i can afford to play mtts where the prize money is enough to keep me committed. but can't be buying into these big mtts.
but all hail the return of the dreaming... tho' doing so poorly that even me, the ever optimistic donk is these finding dreams too improbable to really dwell upon
more to come. thanks for reading.
Saturday 31 March 2007
Bloody bloody
I have no internet. I am in an internet cafe.
i searched through all the spareroom junk to find a contact number for BT. I dialled it from my mobile - turned out the number was already stored. i'd called it "bloody".
BT are, of course, absolutley bleeding awful. im every way. partly to keep you reading, and partly to rise up above it, i'm not going to chronicle the week i had with them on the phone. in the spirit of cool, calm rising-above, i just called them and cancelled all my BT services. We'll go to Sky - it'll mean a month of no net, but I feel very very good about not hanging with BT on the off chance that maybe another week of daily, hour-long calls might get me a bit nearer to online.
..... in truth, it's like i've lost a limb. and it aint just the poker. it's working from home, checking who's still in the EPT Grand Final, darnnit - watching the EPT Grand Final. What's worse - got a week off work next week and was hoping to give some mtts the due attention they never get when i play them when too tired.
*********************
and re my last post, which promised to let you know how i'd done in my half hour nlhe cash games - woke up the next morning and honestly couldn't recall. that's the life of a lush for you... if were going to make an intelligent guess, I'd say I spunked most of my ££££ that night .... BUT, before net went down, I had a nice little run on the cash games on crypto and THINK I'm up to about $300. could be wrong though, and have no way of knowing.
cheers guys, back with you when rupert murdoch comes good. go rupert! get me netted up, and all i'll suckle your demonic teat til til i puff my last breathe....
i searched through all the spareroom junk to find a contact number for BT. I dialled it from my mobile - turned out the number was already stored. i'd called it "bloody".
BT are, of course, absolutley bleeding awful. im every way. partly to keep you reading, and partly to rise up above it, i'm not going to chronicle the week i had with them on the phone. in the spirit of cool, calm rising-above, i just called them and cancelled all my BT services. We'll go to Sky - it'll mean a month of no net, but I feel very very good about not hanging with BT on the off chance that maybe another week of daily, hour-long calls might get me a bit nearer to online.
..... in truth, it's like i've lost a limb. and it aint just the poker. it's working from home, checking who's still in the EPT Grand Final, darnnit - watching the EPT Grand Final. What's worse - got a week off work next week and was hoping to give some mtts the due attention they never get when i play them when too tired.
*********************
and re my last post, which promised to let you know how i'd done in my half hour nlhe cash games - woke up the next morning and honestly couldn't recall. that's the life of a lush for you... if were going to make an intelligent guess, I'd say I spunked most of my ££££ that night .... BUT, before net went down, I had a nice little run on the cash games on crypto and THINK I'm up to about $300. could be wrong though, and have no way of knowing.
cheers guys, back with you when rupert murdoch comes good. go rupert! get me netted up, and all i'll suckle your demonic teat til til i puff my last breathe....
Monday 19 March 2007
Cash HE
Finished my brief mtt run with a second place for £400 on Friday. I won't lie - I'd topped up a bit. First mtt blow-out since a month ago. But my run saw me up - and funded my way into the crypto £40k.
---- for the non-poker geeks, the sunday crpyto games is one of the only tournies a working European can take part in with a first prize over £10k+. Buy in £120 - I came 2nd in it once for 7.5 k!-----
Had qualified for it three weeks ago via a sat, and gone out in 90th. This time it was 72nd. GGRRRRRRRRR. Played well -- saw quite a few flops early doors, which seems to work for me at the moment. Cards with me and had some key double throughs. Then TIGHT TIGHT TIGHT, stayed in top ten/ twenty for most of game. Donk donk lots of chips on one stupid hand when we were down to about 110. In my defence, I managed not to tilt immediatley afterwards, but played my medium/ shortstack poorly and went out on a silly button move. I get fixated on M and xxx BB and push too easily when short.
So that's that.
Well, nearly..... Been playing $.15/$.25 NL holdem on crypto. i never play cash holdem, will sometimes mess about at micro limit pl omaha, but only ever for fun. til tonight had been gradually doing ok - adding $10 to my $20 buy in and leaving. two/three tabling. Tonight I lost $40, so that sucked. but --- for first time I think i understand how there's a profit to be made from grinding, and that it might be ok. also might really help my tourney play, you have to shift out of the "should be making a move soon" mentality, and also makes you think about making most/losing least in each pot
now, before i started writing, i'd been entertaining the idea of going to bed without revisting the cash games, but sod that - just half an hour.
here's a deal. i'll stake $60 over 3 tables and report back tomo
night night
---- for the non-poker geeks, the sunday crpyto games is one of the only tournies a working European can take part in with a first prize over £10k+. Buy in £120 - I came 2nd in it once for 7.5 k!-----
Had qualified for it three weeks ago via a sat, and gone out in 90th. This time it was 72nd. GGRRRRRRRRR. Played well -- saw quite a few flops early doors, which seems to work for me at the moment. Cards with me and had some key double throughs. Then TIGHT TIGHT TIGHT, stayed in top ten/ twenty for most of game. Donk donk lots of chips on one stupid hand when we were down to about 110. In my defence, I managed not to tilt immediatley afterwards, but played my medium/ shortstack poorly and went out on a silly button move. I get fixated on M and xxx BB and push too easily when short.
So that's that.
Well, nearly..... Been playing $.15/$.25 NL holdem on crypto. i never play cash holdem, will sometimes mess about at micro limit pl omaha, but only ever for fun. til tonight had been gradually doing ok - adding $10 to my $20 buy in and leaving. two/three tabling. Tonight I lost $40, so that sucked. but --- for first time I think i understand how there's a profit to be made from grinding, and that it might be ok. also might really help my tourney play, you have to shift out of the "should be making a move soon" mentality, and also makes you think about making most/losing least in each pot
now, before i started writing, i'd been entertaining the idea of going to bed without revisting the cash games, but sod that - just half an hour.
here's a deal. i'll stake $60 over 3 tables and report back tomo
night night
Thursday 15 March 2007
oi oi
too long, i know. here we go... some info
So,I haven't been entirely good. been topping up to play mtts. oooops. but i love 'em, you know. AND --- been covering myself. cashing enough so i've always putting back in what i've put out. right now, i'm approx $80 over, which aint bad considering i've been mtt'ing for a week.
if i could only stop making donk-calls, i'd've come nearer some big money. ho hum --- but actually, been doing okay and finishing deep... only final table was on a 110 runner, 3rd place so not mega bucks, but - loving it!
more info at some later, better, point
too long, i know. here we go... some info
So,I haven't been entirely good. been topping up to play mtts. oooops. but i love 'em, you know. AND --- been covering myself. cashing enough so i've always putting back in what i've put out. right now, i'm approx $80 over, which aint bad considering i've been mtt'ing for a week.
if i could only stop making donk-calls, i'd've come nearer some big money. ho hum --- but actually, been doing okay and finishing deep... only final table was on a 110 runner, 3rd place so not mega bucks, but - loving it!
more info at some later, better, point
Tuesday 6 February 2007
sober
.... oh, if only i was!
then i would write about the following:
a) poker stars vs all other sites, but esp crypto. stars so wins! sooo much slower and better. why do i play anywhere else?
b) live poker. for the fourth time ever, last night i played a formal live tourney. damn rebuys and damn reading others. i truly suck. please give me the anonymity of online. and the properness of freeze-outs
c) addiction. gonna go there some day. friends and family, be truly scared for me. poker world, read and relate
d) glossary. see point c) ... apparently people i know are more interested in my blog than poker peeps. AND apparently these friends and family know not what an sng is, why i might really need an mtt fix, and whether crypto is animal, vegatable or mineral... soon all will be revealed ;-)
update:
crypto: same as before. not been there since
stars: $77
bringing it... (as tyra would say)
xc
then i would write about the following:
a) poker stars vs all other sites, but esp crypto. stars so wins! sooo much slower and better. why do i play anywhere else?
b) live poker. for the fourth time ever, last night i played a formal live tourney. damn rebuys and damn reading others. i truly suck. please give me the anonymity of online. and the properness of freeze-outs
c) addiction. gonna go there some day. friends and family, be truly scared for me. poker world, read and relate
d) glossary. see point c) ... apparently people i know are more interested in my blog than poker peeps. AND apparently these friends and family know not what an sng is, why i might really need an mtt fix, and whether crypto is animal, vegatable or mineral... soon all will be revealed ;-)
update:
crypto: same as before. not been there since
stars: $77
bringing it... (as tyra would say)
xc
Sunday 4 February 2007
Update
I have been accused of blogging when i'm winning and keeping quiet when i'm down. this is unfair:
update: crypto: $48 stars: $66
proper entry to come
adios
update: crypto: $48 stars: $66
proper entry to come
adios
Thursday 1 February 2007
Full Moon
Well this is a poker blog right, but, heck, it's a blog written by a woman. and one with a teensiest hippy streak. so the full moon counts. it really does. i drink more, spend more, play more internet poker. play worse. much worse.
so avoiding the web and protecting the 'roll. please do project willpower my way... restraint is the only way i'll be able to protect my ££££ and be able to afford a buy in to a decent mtt sometime soon.
update:
Crypto: $144
Stars: $70
So doing ok, kind of sick of the crapshootery of crypto sngs. half the time, when you're 3 or 4 way in the shorthanded games, you might as well be spinning a roulette wheel. Fortunatley, luck's been on my side, and i've been doing a lot better there than at stars, where the structure's so much better.... puts me in mind of the one the one time i went to vegas... came back down in games of skill and up in game of luck ;-)
adios
but basically ok, playing well. not playing too much -
so avoiding the web and protecting the 'roll. please do project willpower my way... restraint is the only way i'll be able to protect my ££££ and be able to afford a buy in to a decent mtt sometime soon.
update:
Crypto: $144
Stars: $70
So doing ok, kind of sick of the crapshootery of crypto sngs. half the time, when you're 3 or 4 way in the shorthanded games, you might as well be spinning a roulette wheel. Fortunatley, luck's been on my side, and i've been doing a lot better there than at stars, where the structure's so much better.... puts me in mind of the one the one time i went to vegas... came back down in games of skill and up in game of luck ;-)
adios
but basically ok, playing well. not playing too much -
Monday 29 January 2007
Living Wrong
Ok ok, new post. About time too… and the time precisely? – Ladies and gentlemen it’s donk-a-buck o’clock, ten to tilt, half past steaming bloody maniac.
The combo of excessive anticipation and the absence of husbandly supervision saw me lose February’s £100 by Friday afternoon. I regrouped, took a walk and re-bought another $100. That had gone by the first Big Brother eviction of the night, so I re-bought again – another $100. Didn’t lose all of that….. Til Saturday. I wasn’t even drinking…. just rubbish.
So, two nights - £200 ….there’s a bit of honesty for you. To anyone who’s read the blogs of the big higher rollers, this will seem like peanuts. It’s not peanuts to me – it’s almost half my spends for the month. Shamed-faced confessions to the husband on his return, who pointed out that he’s doing additional marking (he’s a teacher) over the next fortnight to try to earn a third what I’d lost in just 48 hours ;-(
….. Then a regroup and look at my finances. Am now restricted to £75 poker spends per month this year. I decided – oh the logic of the addict – that it was best to start afresh for Feb and put in that £75 rather than go a whole month without.
No chance of a poker-athon on Sunday with the watchful eye of mr donk on me… so cooked, sorted spare room, did tax and a couple of work things, watched Shipwrecked, Back to the Future and Shilpa winning Big Brother. Soooo much more fun that playing poker
…. Played three SNGS on crypto once I had started to repair the karmic balance, and with all my living right that day, won two of 'em. Of course.
Keep coming back to thoughts on addiction. Will write more about that soon…. Meanwhile, wish me luck on living right tonight.
The combo of excessive anticipation and the absence of husbandly supervision saw me lose February’s £100 by Friday afternoon. I regrouped, took a walk and re-bought another $100. That had gone by the first Big Brother eviction of the night, so I re-bought again – another $100. Didn’t lose all of that….. Til Saturday. I wasn’t even drinking…. just rubbish.
So, two nights - £200 ….there’s a bit of honesty for you. To anyone who’s read the blogs of the big higher rollers, this will seem like peanuts. It’s not peanuts to me – it’s almost half my spends for the month. Shamed-faced confessions to the husband on his return, who pointed out that he’s doing additional marking (he’s a teacher) over the next fortnight to try to earn a third what I’d lost in just 48 hours ;-(
….. Then a regroup and look at my finances. Am now restricted to £75 poker spends per month this year. I decided – oh the logic of the addict – that it was best to start afresh for Feb and put in that £75 rather than go a whole month without.
No chance of a poker-athon on Sunday with the watchful eye of mr donk on me… so cooked, sorted spare room, did tax and a couple of work things, watched Shipwrecked, Back to the Future and Shilpa winning Big Brother. Soooo much more fun that playing poker
…. Played three SNGS on crypto once I had started to repair the karmic balance, and with all my living right that day, won two of 'em. Of course.
Keep coming back to thoughts on addiction. Will write more about that soon…. Meanwhile, wish me luck on living right tonight.
Tuesday 23 January 2007
No Pain, No Gains
.... OR if it don't hurt, it don'work etc etc
Damn, it's tough not playing poker. 2 days so far, going to re-buy on Friday - a day early, I know, but husband is away and would be foolish not to make the most of that.
Someone else who hasnt been able to play games he'd like is Barrow boy Craig Metcalfe. Craig won a seat at the Copenhagen EPT in Noble Poker satellite. Noble Poker, bless 'em, had decided against actually booking any places at the event, so it was a no-dane-go for Craig. Good work, Noble - it's not as if it's a competitive market place.
.... it's been swings and roundabouts for the biggies in the online poker world. The weekend before last saw record activity at Stars, UB & Bodog. Then came the news that Neteller was pulling out of actvities with US customers and a lot of sites saw a steep downward swing. Hankies at the ready guys... the neteller boss, arrested last week, is so darn wadded that his bail was set at $5m. That'll be the exortionate charges on withdrawls and transfers then. I know loads of people rely on neteller for cross-site BRM, the rates attached to it have always struck me as criminal in their own right.
No organisation is considered beyond the reach of current scope of investigations led by the US justice department. Unable to go after the online companies themselves -- as they're based abroad --- the yanks are targetting the investors. Big Wall St players - including Deutchebank, Credit Suisse and HSBC (all of which underwrote online gaming co's when they first became public listingsin the UK) have been issued with supeonas as part of an increasingly active campaign.
Don't ever let anyone tell you this has anything to do with american right-ist puritanism. Wait til the biggest players in the US online gaming market are the likes of Harrah.com and talking to me about protectism instead
ho hum. off to re-read harrington in preparation for my storming return to the tables. counting the hours....
Damn, it's tough not playing poker. 2 days so far, going to re-buy on Friday - a day early, I know, but husband is away and would be foolish not to make the most of that.
Someone else who hasnt been able to play games he'd like is Barrow boy Craig Metcalfe. Craig won a seat at the Copenhagen EPT in Noble Poker satellite. Noble Poker, bless 'em, had decided against actually booking any places at the event, so it was a no-dane-go for Craig. Good work, Noble - it's not as if it's a competitive market place.
.... it's been swings and roundabouts for the biggies in the online poker world. The weekend before last saw record activity at Stars, UB & Bodog. Then came the news that Neteller was pulling out of actvities with US customers and a lot of sites saw a steep downward swing. Hankies at the ready guys... the neteller boss, arrested last week, is so darn wadded that his bail was set at $5m. That'll be the exortionate charges on withdrawls and transfers then. I know loads of people rely on neteller for cross-site BRM, the rates attached to it have always struck me as criminal in their own right.
No organisation is considered beyond the reach of current scope of investigations led by the US justice department. Unable to go after the online companies themselves -- as they're based abroad --- the yanks are targetting the investors. Big Wall St players - including Deutchebank, Credit Suisse and HSBC (all of which underwrote online gaming co's when they first became public listingsin the UK) have been issued with supeonas as part of an increasingly active campaign.
Don't ever let anyone tell you this has anything to do with american right-ist puritanism. Wait til the biggest players in the US online gaming market are the likes of Harrah.com and talking to me about protectism instead
ho hum. off to re-read harrington in preparation for my storming return to the tables. counting the hours....
Monday 22 January 2007
First Prize: $34.....
.....Entrants: 4876
blessed is the world of freerolls. please dont think i won this, i just entered it.
mistakenly thought i had enough fpps to enter the krypto £500 freeroll. wrong. instead i used my last few stars fpp to buy me into this gem of a game.
made it to the last 1200. had above average chips but got overexcited with pocket jacks and a ten-high flop (my opponents had AA and QQ). especially gutted given i was only 400 places off the money. tho', in truth, the $.07 payout for 800th wouldn't have been enough to keep me playing this month. i was looking for 18th and the $.78 pay day that would have been enough to get together a $1 buyin for the $.01/.02
ho hum. bring on february, i got a good feeling about it
blessed is the world of freerolls. please dont think i won this, i just entered it.
mistakenly thought i had enough fpps to enter the krypto £500 freeroll. wrong. instead i used my last few stars fpp to buy me into this gem of a game.
made it to the last 1200. had above average chips but got overexcited with pocket jacks and a ten-high flop (my opponents had AA and QQ). especially gutted given i was only 400 places off the money. tho', in truth, the $.07 payout for 800th wouldn't have been enough to keep me playing this month. i was looking for 18th and the $.78 pay day that would have been enough to get together a $1 buyin for the $.01/.02
ho hum. bring on february, i got a good feeling about it
Sunday 21 January 2007
January
So, I started this blog a bit late. The Stop This Donk Steaming plan started already. On the 27th Dec, to be specific.
I ran out of cash about two days ago. On both krpto and stars i spunked $70 of my money in one night at the very start, both times drunk and playing sngs. i then spent a couple of weeks hanging round on the precipice til it was all gone. resorted to playing .1/.2 plo to string out last couple of dollars once i had less that a $3 sng buy in, but managed to lose my final few cents.
then i played fpp freerolls.
so that's it. some reflections:
1) i'm kind of glad i lost all my bankroll and am stuck without any way of playing til the 26th. lesson well learnt, and this wont work unless i'm learning lessons. also, it's a test of my discipline, assuming i dont top up before the 26th, i'll be really pleased with my month for that reason alone. any improvement is good, and just losing £100 in a month and sticking to self-enforced rules is great.
Specifics i have learnt:
a)The only mtts I've played this month have been fpp ones. i cannot afford to reguarly play the level of mtts i'd like ($50-$250). What's more, there are very few times in a week when spending entrance money on an mtt could be a good way to spend BR, because concentration required and chances of profit are limited.
b) I tend to win my first sng, and lose my money playing the ones after. got to just play one
so that's it..... playing a fpp mtt tonight, but that it til friday.
my plans for feb are as follows. try to just play one sng and then take a break. play sngs on stars rather than crypto as structure's better. aim to get stars sharkscope down. if i can just avoid that one evening where i lose it all ;-)
I ran out of cash about two days ago. On both krpto and stars i spunked $70 of my money in one night at the very start, both times drunk and playing sngs. i then spent a couple of weeks hanging round on the precipice til it was all gone. resorted to playing .1/.2 plo to string out last couple of dollars once i had less that a $3 sng buy in, but managed to lose my final few cents.
then i played fpp freerolls.
so that's it. some reflections:
1) i'm kind of glad i lost all my bankroll and am stuck without any way of playing til the 26th. lesson well learnt, and this wont work unless i'm learning lessons. also, it's a test of my discipline, assuming i dont top up before the 26th, i'll be really pleased with my month for that reason alone. any improvement is good, and just losing £100 in a month and sticking to self-enforced rules is great.
Specifics i have learnt:
a)The only mtts I've played this month have been fpp ones. i cannot afford to reguarly play the level of mtts i'd like ($50-$250). What's more, there are very few times in a week when spending entrance money on an mtt could be a good way to spend BR, because concentration required and chances of profit are limited.
b) I tend to win my first sng, and lose my money playing the ones after. got to just play one
so that's it..... playing a fpp mtt tonight, but that it til friday.
my plans for feb are as follows. try to just play one sng and then take a break. play sngs on stars rather than crypto as structure's better. aim to get stars sharkscope down. if i can just avoid that one evening where i lose it all ;-)
The Rules
so anyway, poker forums are abuzz with the new year inspired talk of bank roll management. apparently it's key and noone ever became a winning poker player by topping their account up every other day ;-)
hendon mob quote "BRM only counts for winning players, it just helps losing players lose slower"
2007 is BRM year for this steaming donk. Here are my rules: on the 26th of each month i can top up each of my two accounts to a max of $100 in each. that's it. not the world's most sophisticated system, I know.
Discipline has always been my weak point, basically i play too much and i play when drunk and tired. the alcohol's the big thing. I'm hoping BRM will be the key to turning my game round. If it doesn't, then the amount i'm losing will be containable.
maybe maybe, at one point i will also be able to add cash out rules and rules about transfering between accounts (i dont have neteller) ... but right now that not really relevant.
tho
hendon mob quote "BRM only counts for winning players, it just helps losing players lose slower"
2007 is BRM year for this steaming donk. Here are my rules: on the 26th of each month i can top up each of my two accounts to a max of $100 in each. that's it. not the world's most sophisticated system, I know.
Discipline has always been my weak point, basically i play too much and i play when drunk and tired. the alcohol's the big thing. I'm hoping BRM will be the key to turning my game round. If it doesn't, then the amount i'm losing will be containable.
maybe maybe, at one point i will also be able to add cash out rules and rules about transfering between accounts (i dont have neteller) ... but right now that not really relevant.
tho
I am addicted to playing online poker. I am a losing player.
For a while, I kidded myself about how much money I was losing. The truth is, it was lots and there's no way I can carry on. Sometime I will chart my patterns of loss in the last two years.
But just to summarise.
I play at Krpto and Pokerstars
I primarily play sngs, mainly shorthanded. $10-20 - though very occasionally a bit more. On krpto, i break even. On Stars, where til recently i played a lot less, i am a bone fide fish. -37% !
I prefer mtts, I LOVE mtts. But in truth i'm rarely in the right mind set to play them well. I can't get motivated to play them to best of my abilities unless the first prize is over a grand (sterling). I have had over a dozen first places with fields of 100+. first prizes have been between £150 and £1600. I have had several other big pay-out final table finishes inc. £7,500 for 2nd in krpto's big sunday night game. Despite all this, mtts are prob where i lose the most money. scrap "despite this" and replace with "because of this" .... basically since i started getting some good mtt results, i've spunking away a lot of money on them.
i play some cash - exclusively plo. dont know why, just feels a bit refreshing. play .1/.2 - .15/.25.
thats it for mo
For a while, I kidded myself about how much money I was losing. The truth is, it was lots and there's no way I can carry on. Sometime I will chart my patterns of loss in the last two years.
But just to summarise.
I play at Krpto and Pokerstars
I primarily play sngs, mainly shorthanded. $10-20 - though very occasionally a bit more. On krpto, i break even. On Stars, where til recently i played a lot less, i am a bone fide fish. -37% !
I prefer mtts, I LOVE mtts. But in truth i'm rarely in the right mind set to play them well. I can't get motivated to play them to best of my abilities unless the first prize is over a grand (sterling). I have had over a dozen first places with fields of 100+. first prizes have been between £150 and £1600. I have had several other big pay-out final table finishes inc. £7,500 for 2nd in krpto's big sunday night game. Despite all this, mtts are prob where i lose the most money. scrap "despite this" and replace with "because of this" .... basically since i started getting some good mtt results, i've spunking away a lot of money on them.
i play some cash - exclusively plo. dont know why, just feels a bit refreshing. play .1/.2 - .15/.25.
thats it for mo
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