February update

So the graph doesn't look great... Overall I lost $16 and ran at 0.3 BB/100. I started the month carrying on at Party, but I moved up to $50NL and it stopped being so good to me. I lost about 6 buy-ins and decided to try my hand at PokerStars.

At PokerStars I think I have been playing really well, if slightly too tight. But think have not gone my way at all! I haven't been unlucky, and have suffered no memorable bad beats, but I have just had no good situations. I think I got AA or KK about 15 times in a row without winning or losing a pot over 10BBs, and then I got KK all in against AA. Also, there were four occassions when I flopped a set, three times with only one other opponent seeing the flop, and all four times I was behind, got all my money in and didn't hit. But as you can see from the graph this partially corrected itself in the last session and I managed to stack 2 people with sets and got all-in with QQ v JJ. Friday night fun.

Anyway I think I have been playing really well at Stars, despite the small win, and so I will stick there and attempt to build up a nice healthy stack of FPPs. My taget is to be able to buy an ipod with FPPs by the end of May.

As well as this I have tried to do a little spinning this month. I got a free $50 on Mansion after completing a crappy quiz and managed to withdraw $140 before losing the rest, and Titan gave me $5 free and I managed to withdraw $80.

So overall I think I will stick to $50NL at Stars and see how that goes. I'm feeling optimistic!

January Update

I started out continuing to play 25NL on FTP and it was it's usual mix of small wins and small losses, none of which was very exciting. About midway through the month though I decided to check out PartyPoker, and they have been very good to me! I am running very well there, and in total over the month I played just over 11k hands and ran at 4.8 bb/100 (although at Party I ran at over 100BB/100!)

I also played a few tournies. One night I couldn't sleep at all and do decided to play a shit load of $2 and $5 STTs. I ran so badly! It's unbelievable, and my SharkScope graphs now look rediculous. I ended up losing just over $100 and I was pretty pissed off.

Another night when I couldn't sleep though I played a $5 MTT on iPoker and ended up coming 4th for $170. I was pretty annoyed, as I got all-in with TT v AQ, and had I won that I would probably have taken down the tournament for $700. Oh well, I can't complain turning $5 into $170.

So overall I am about $330 up for the month, and on about $2700 overall. I will continue to play what I want, when I want and hope the cards contonue to go my way!

Crappier December

December has been good, but not in poker terms. I have been way too busy - I've got a new job and obviously it's Christmas, so I have not even managed to play 8k hands this month. Over this I managed to win an impressive $5.51! Wow! That's 1.33BB/100 hands! I have been fairly unlucky, and am about $100 down in luck according to Poker EV, but still a crap month.

I have no real motivation to play at the moment, so I'm setting no targets or requirements for January. I'll just play what I want, when I want.

Crappy November

After a brilliant start, November was very poor. I ended up playing nearly 24,000 hands which is well over what I expected, but I started to 9-table and also had a couple of days off work when I played quite a few hands. Overall I ran at 1.89 BB/100 hands, which is very VERY poor. At $25NL I ran at over 6 BB/100, but -0.99 at 50NL which really bought me down.

So in December I will not play any $50NL! Hopefully I will win steadily and gain confidence and then in the new year I can get back to $50NL.

So anyway the bankroll hasn't been growing very well, but then last night I was with a friend and we got bored of grinding and tried to spin-up some money playing HU cash. We each put in $10 and started playing $50NL HU. We very quickly progressed and after about half an hour we were playing $1000NL against Grimstarr. Not much happened against him and we cashed out with about $250 so $115 profit each. Nice.

So with that, and about $100 in rakeback, the bankroll is now on almost exactly $2400.

The plan for December is to play over 10,000 hands, not to play cash games over $25NL, and to run at over 4BB/100. Here goes...

Very Slow

I played on monday, more 9-tabling $50NL and ended up down about a buy-in. I can't remember any key hands, but it was pretty frustrating. I haven't really been enjoying poker that much recently, and I am trying to think of ways to make it a bit more fun.

I've decided that December will be an STT month. I will start by 9-tabling the $6 turbos, and hopefully move up as the month goes on. I'm planning to play 500 in the month.

Until then I have been playing some $25NL 6-max, not really to make any money, but just for a bit of fun. So far it has been going pretty well, and I'm up about $50. So, again, no real movement to the bankroll.

Bankroll ~ $2300

Slow Weekend

I didn't have that much time to play this weekend, but since playing on Stars I am trying to reach SilverStar by the end of the month so I had to squeeze out a bit. On Friday night I got in from the pub and was way to drunk to play poker, but managed to win about $20. Looking over the hands in the morning though, I could've won a bit more.

On Saturday I played for about an hour, but lost about $20. Exciting stuff.

Then yesterday I played another hour and won $35. The only hand I remember is when I got all-in BvB, I had AK and he had A5 for a $50 pot. Nice.

So the bankroll is still about $2300, and I have now earned 500 of the 1500 FPPs needed this month.

Won a bit back

I kept playing a few sessions on FTP, winning $30 in the first one and losing $30 in the second. Pretty exciting stuff. I have found in that past that when I am running really badly it often helps to try a new site, so I thought I would give Stars another go. It means I won't be getting rakeback or getting ironman points, but the ironman rewards are fairly shit anyway, and the Stars FPP are much better.

The session went very well. I only had $380 on there and as my Neteller is bugger I couldn't deposit anymore, so I played 3 $50NL tables and 6 $25NL. The $50NL tables were pretty dull, but I couldn't misson the $25NL ones!

Firstly I got all in with AcJc v KQ v K4 on a Kc-Q-7c flop and hit a club on the river. Then I got all-in with 98 v 56 v AcJc on a 9c-8-7c and hit an 8 on the river. God times. I also managed to pick off a few bluffs and finished up $128.

The bankroll is now just under £2300, so still some way to go to reach this months target!

My worst session ever

I really shouldn't have posted about how well November was going, it's really fucked me up! I earned my 200 points yesterday and was about $30 up and decided to do some other things. Then a bit later I had an hour to kill and sat down at 9 tables.

Within 5 minutes I was $100 down. Firstly I raise AA and get 2 callers. The flop is J-4s-5s. I bet $3 and a blind raises to $14. The other folds. Most people will not play a set this fast, and I push. He calls with 44. Ouch.

After this I was a bit pissed off and called a raise with Ad10d. The flop came Kd-Jd-5. I got all-in against 2 other people, one holding AK and one with KJ, but I couldn't hit. Another $50 gone.

I managed to regain some self-control and continued to play, but soon I lost another $60, $30 on AQ v 10 10 on a Q-10-x flop, and $30 on a flush draw and overs v TP. Bugger.

Now I was pissed off! I closed down FTP and opened up Stars to see if thing would go a bit better. Early on I raised AhKh to $2, and the BB made it $15. This raise doesn't look strong! I pushed and he thought for a bit but called with Kc-5h. I flopped an A, but he hit runner-runner clubs for the nuts. Another $50 gone.

So I lost about $180 in total yesterday. I know that playing $50NL I can easily have days where I lose 4buy-ins, but it still has pissed me off so much! I am now only $58 up for the month! I think I will take a break for a few days, just yping this has made me feel angry and that doesn't seem to be a good mood to play poker in!

Bankroll ~ $2120

Booked a Win

I played last night and was a lot more focused and patient. I got all-in early with AQ v AJ on a A-A-10-8 board, overbetting massive, knowing that he couldn't fold an ace and hoping that he didn't have AK/A10/A8. I then doubled up with 88 v KK on a 8 high flop. Both pretty standard.

After a few more little pots I was up $120, but I had to play for a bit longer to get my 200 points. Then things started to go a bit worse, I played AK very badly and lost $20, and I let a very aggressive player keep betting into my AQ on an A high flop, but he caught his set of 7's on the river.

So overall I ended up $58 and got the required 200 points, so pretty happy in general, and back over $2.3k.

Bad Weekend

Poker has gone pretty badly this weekend. My A Game partner is back in the game, and so on Friday we tried to take down a multi. We played the $11 rebuy on Stars with a top prize of $12k. However, with 180 getting paid, we ended up busting in 186th with AQs v AA. Nasty. We did get very lucky earlier though when we got all-in with J5 v AJ v AA pre-flop and managed to triple up.

Then on Saturday I had a little time to play. As I didn't have long and I still wanted to earn the 200 Full-Tilt points for the Ironman competition, I decided to 9-table. It was all going pretty well and I was about $100 up until I lost the biggest pot that I have been in for a long time.

I had a stack of $80 and called a min-raise with 99 UTG+1. The button and blinds also called. The flop came 9c-8c-6. UTG bets $2, I make it $10 and the SB check-raises all-in for $80. UTG calls all-in for $20 and I'm not good enough to fold top set. SB shows 7c-5c and UTG shows Ah-7h. So I just need the board to pair! The turn is 6c - paired the board!... but gave SB a straight flush... bugger.

So I actually ended up about $30 on that session, but I was pissed off that it could've been $100 (or $200 if I won that hand).

On Sunday I played a bit more but I was tired and impatient and it was awful. I ended up losing about $100, and it could've been easily avoided. One time a very passive player bet and then re-raised me all-in on a A-10-6 board when I had A6. He only has A10, A6 or a set here, but I called and he had A10. Then I flopped 2 pair with 82o out of the BB on a 8-7-2 and was unable to fold when I was obviously beat. He had 87. Gutted.

I'm not quite sure what the bankroll is on now but It's not great, I guess about $2250. I need to stop tilting and play focused!

On the plus side I now feel comfortable playing 9-tables, and should be earning decent rakeback.

The bad run continues

I played for about an hour and a half last night and lost about $50 - not too much but still very annoying. I did get paid $42 for rakeback for last month though, so again the bankroll hasn't changed much.

It all started so well. An MP player limped and I made it $2.25 on the button with AQ. The BB called and MP re-raised to $9. I find it impossible to respect a limp/re-raise if it does not come from UTG or maybe UTG+1, and thought he was making this play with a lower PP. I therefore potted it for $29, and he pushed. Now I have to call, and I was wrong, he had KK. But I flopped QQ. Nice.

I also got fairly lucky winning a 50-50, getting all-in with AsQs v 85o on a 8s-4s-2 flop, hitting a Q on the river.

Then it went wrong though. I couldn't lay down AA on a 10 high flop, and he obviously showed 10-10. I felt that he could've easily played JJ/QQ the same though, so I wasn't too annoyed at how I played.

I then moved down to $25NL to practice 9-tabling. I found it pretty stressful and lost another $25, so I think I will stick to 6 at the moment.

I feel like a need a break to FTP to get over this downswing, but when I am earning rakeback there and trying to get enough points to get ironman medals, it seems a waste to change, so I will stick around and hope my hands turn around soon. I can't blame luck, as I have actually run very well! This month I am actually up $100 more than I should be according to PokerEV. That makes losing even more annoying, oh well.

Inevitable

After the last post it was pretty obvious that my good run was going to come to an end. I guess I couldn't expect to run at 14BB/100 for the whole month, but I would've liked it to have lasted a little longer!

I played for a couple of hours last night and had a few nasty situations. In one hand I got stacked with KK v AA, but I think I played it pretty well. I played it so that he could've easily stacked off with QQ/JJ there, but oh no, he had the aces. I then lost half a stack with 33 v Q8 on a 3-Q-Q-8-6 when I bet the pot on every street, putting him all-in on the river. I also had to fold QQ after investing about 30BB when it was fairly obvious that I was beat. At this point I was down about $120, and not very happy.

However, I did then hit one nice hand. UTG limped and a fairly TAG player UTG+2 made it $2.25. It folded to me on the button, and I made it $8 with QQ. UTG+2 calls. The flop is 3-9-8. UTG+2 check-calls $10. The turn is a 6. I felt that this player was pretty trappy, and could easily have AA/KK here. a set was unlikely, as he didn't seem quite aggressive enough to raise 99/88 pre-flop UTG+2 with a limper. Anyway, I couldn't afford to give him a free card and so bet $20. He pushed, but with only $13 behind I had to call. Luckily he showed TT, and missed the river.

In the end I only finished down about $45, which could've been a lot worse. After the previous post the night before, I played for about another half an hour and won about $40 so the bankroll hasn't really changed. I just need to get back into winning ways!

I am trying for the ironman thing on FTP at the moment, although I don't really understand it. I opted to go for the medals instead of the freerolls, but I have no idea which is better. I think so far I have 4 days with over 200 points, and 2 more with over 100. I'm not sure how much I will get to play this month, but I expect i should be able to reach Silver status.

That's it really, now about $80 to make until I can move up!

Good start to November

I know this post is going to jinx it and I will now go on a 20 buy-in downswing, but November has been going pretty well so far! I've only played $50NL full ring on FTP and after only playing for about 4-5 hours so far this month I am up over $280 and about another $30 in rakeback.

I have to get about another $70 until I have made 10 buy-ins at $50, and then I can move up to $100NL. I did use to play $100NL, but it was a long time ago and I didn't play at this level for a long period, and so I am a little worried about moving up. I know that if I lose 2+ buy-ins in a session then I would be pretty pissed off. But I just have to go for it. I might start by playing 3 tables of $50 and 3 of $100 to slowly mix it in.

Having said that I will probably go on a horrible run now and won't get anywhere near moving up. It's always the way, I have a bad spell and think I should give up poker, but this is completely forgotten when I have a winning spell. Then poker seems so easy. Hands like these enforce this...

- UTG+2 posted his BB. It is folded to be on the button and I make it $2.25 with TT. Just UTG+2 calls. The flop is A-4-3. He checks, I try to take it cheaply with $2.20 and he calls. The turn is a T. He check-calls $7.50. The river is another 3. He checks and I push for $38 into the $25 pot. He thinks and calls with A5. +$47.75

- I get AhJh in the BB. MP makes it $1.75 and the SB calls. The SB has $230 and is playing very loosely and seems to be tilting a bit. I have $75 behind and want to get in hands with the SB, and just call. The flop is 2h-6h-2d. SB bets the pot ($5.25) and I call. I want to see what MP does before I commit anymore. MP folds. The turn is a 9h. SB checks, I value bet $15 and he calls. The river is 10h. SB checks. Now on a paired board I could be beat, and the SB is definitely the type of playing who may have called with a 2 out of the SB. But he is also the type of player that could never fold Kh here, so I push for $52. He thinks and thinks, so I know I'm ahead. Finally he calls, and shows... 5h3h! Nice. +$72.30

Well the bankroll is currently at about $2350, so the aim now is to hit my monthly target early and try out some $100NL before the end of the month.

October Update

Here's October's graph. As you can see I had a really awful spell, where I dropped 6 buy-ins in very quick succession, but I think in all honesty that it was my fault. I was playing poorly and started to tilt, and that's not a good combination. According to PokerEV, I should've also won about $115 more in the month, and so I obviously ran fairly badly too.

Overall I played just over 12,000 hands and made 2.8 BB/100. From this it should be obvious that I didn't reach my monthly target of $2200, but with rakeback and some bonuses I did get fairly close. I ended the month on about $2075. I am over $2k! Woohoo!

After the awful swing at 50NL 6-max, I dropped down to $20NL 6-max and made a bit of a killing, making nearly $100 in under 2000 hands. However, when I moved up it continued to frustrate me, with hands like this.

- I raise to $2 UTG and UTG+1 makes it $6. It's folded to me. UTG+1 had been very tight, he had only raised pre-flop once in about 80 hands, and had never 3-bet. I stupidly decided to trap. The flop was 2-3-Q. I check, he bets $10 and I push. He insta-calls with 23s and I don't catch up. Grrr, how the hell does he 3-bet my UTG raise after playing so tight?

Anyway after this, and reading a few other blogs etc, I decided to switch to full ring games. Before going travelling I only played full ring games, and although I ran at about the same BB/100 rate, the variance was wildly reduced. Reduced variance sounded very tempting! Also, you play many less hands, I can easily 6-table, and so actually see more hands per hour.

For rakeback I thought I would give FTP a go. Here's the results...

- very first hand starting back on FTP and playing full-ring and I get 44 in the BB. An MP player makes it $1.50 and only I call. The flop is Q-J-4. I bet out $3, MP makes it $9 and I push. He insta-calls with AA and misses. Full ring was meant to be! +$47.25

There have, however, also been some horrible hands...

- There are 2 limpers and I make it $2.75 on the button with QQ. The SB and both limpers call. The flop is an attractive A-Q-5. It checks to me, I bet $8 and just the SB calls. The turn is a K. I'm not really worried about J10, but a nasty river now could lose me the pot, so I bet big and the SB calls again. The river is a 6 and the SB again checks. I definitely can't put them on J10 now, and so I push. The SB thinks... and calls with KK. -$50.20

Overall though I am enjoying full ring. The decisions seem much easier and I am earning a good amount of rakeback. At the moment I am running at about 8BB/100 but that is over a very small sample.

My target for November is to keep playing $50NL full ring, to play over 10k hands and to get my bankroll to over $2500! Let's hope it happens!

Shitty Month

So my aim for this month was to get to $2200. This is no looking extremely unlikely, as I am currently on about $1650. The month started well, and after a couple of days I was about $150 up, but then It started going badly wrong. A few days later and I was $150 down for the month.

I realised that I was playing badly, and that my technique of playing very loose and passively pre-flop on iPoker was not a winning strategy. I changed it all around, and started to play really well, but the bad streak followed me...

- UTG limps and I make it $2.25 on the button with KK. The SB pushes for $6.25 and the BB calls. I make it $18.50 and the BB pushes. I call and he shows QQ. The SB shows AQ. The flop of A-9-5 meant I had lost the main pot, but the larger side-pot should be all mine... NO! A Q on the river! -$34.55

Anyway I was going to make this post into a list of badbeats, hoping it would purge my psyche and enable me to get back to winning ways, but it doesn't seem like the right thing to do. I am feeling a lot more positive now, I have dropped down to $25NL breifly just to recoup some losses, and it's going a bit better.

I also played in the blogger tournament. When I saw that we started with 10,000 chips, 1300 runners and only about 30 good prizes, I couldn't really be bothered. I dossed around a lot, made some rediculous plays and managed to get into 9th place with 300 left. At this point it was getting late, and I was still finding it very hard to play sensible and focus, and so I let a friend take over for me.

He ended up getting pretty unlucky, and busted in about 75th with KK v 88. And for that I win a duffel bag and a pack of cards! Brilliant!

Bankroll ~ $1650

Blogger tournament on Sunday!

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!

This Online Poker Tournament is a No Limit Texas Holdem event exclusive to Bloggers.

Registration code: 7775217

September Done

So here's my results from September. Overall I played about 7k hands and averaged 8.6 BB/100 hands. Since the last update I stuck with iPoker but opened a new account on Noble poker so that I could work off a bonus whilst playing there. It was going pretty well until I had an absolutely awful session. I think it happened because I forgot how to win at iPoker. Although it is really bad poker, I think the best way to win there is to be very passive pre-flop and just wait until you hit monsters and get paid off. It's boring but it's profotable. Anyway, I tried to play aggressively and lost about $190 in an evening, and twice I had AA v KK which both held up. Here's a few hands...

- This hand I am a moron. For some reason I am convinced that the BB is weak, just because he re-raised me twice pre-flop in the last 20 hands. Anyway, I get 66 in the cut-off. UTG+1 makes it $2 and I call. The SB calls and the BB makes it $8. UTG+1 folds and I decide to push. The BB calls with JJ. -$54.60

- I make it $2 UTG with KK and the cut-off makes it $4. I re-raise to $14 and he calls. The flop is Q-9-4. I bet $10 and the cut-off pushes. I am usually ahead here and call, but he has QQ. -$50

- UTG makes it $2 and it is folded to me in the BB. I make it $6.50 with AK and he calls. The flop is Kc-Qc-4. I bet $10 and he calls. The turn is an 8c. I check and UTG pushes for $37. This is an easy fold. I call and he has 44. -$43.05

I didn't really lose any other big hands, but I was just c-betting against people who won't fold and it cost me a lot.

I then tried out FTP a bit and made some of it back on a little beauty...

- UTG+1 makes it $2 and I call with 22. The SB also calls. The flop is 5-5-2. SB checks and UTG+1 makes it $4. I raise to $14, SB folds and UTG+1 pushes for $44. Insta-call. He shows J9. The turn is a 5 to give him a few outs, but he misses. +$45.55

SInce that awful night I haven't played much, but will stick to Noble for a bit but will play FTP when I feel like playing aggressively. The tournaments on Noble also look good. I played one the other night with 580 runners. 80 places paid and I ended up coming 81st, but as you don't even get your money back for coming 80th I wasn't too annoyed. I will try some more MTTs though.

October target - get to $2200

Bankroll = $1772.98

Up and down and iPoker

I played one more session on Stars, winning about $15 and unlocking my $75 bonus, and then I moved back to FTP to try to benefit from rakeback. To increase my rakeback, I tried to 6-table. I practised at $25Nl and it went well. My favourite hand was a beautifil little 67s...

- MP makes it $1, MP+1 calls and I can't fold 67s and call out of the BB. The flop is 7-5-4. I bet out $2, MP makes it $6 and MP+1 folds. I think I am against an overpair, but know 67s won't let me down, and so I push for $24. MP calls and amazingly I'm ahead - he has 66. The turn is a 7 and he is drawing to a split, but misses. +$23.55

Anyway I won about $85 in this session but when I tried to play $50NL, it just wasn't happening. I don't think I was playing well and I just wasn't hitting any hands and got pretty frustrated. I then decided to deposit on Party and try to work off a bonus. However, I was soon down $70 and had got almost no-where towards getting the $60 bonus, so I gave up on Party.

My friend then told me about how loose the games were on iPoker. I had played on Titan a couple of years ago and everyone used to be pretty tight, but I though I would give it another go...

- UTG makes it $2, I call on the button with 66 and the Bb also calls. The flop is 9-8-6. BB checks, UTG bets $5 and I make it $15. Just UTG calls. The turn is a J - not ideal. UTG checks and I mean to go all-in but actually just bet $35, leaving myself $6. UTG calls. The river is a 10. Pretty dirty. UTG puts me all-in and I have to call. He shows 9-10. At first for some reason I think it is a split pot, but then I see my $116 stack. +$58.05

Overall I have played about 5 hours on Titan and I'm up about $200. Some of this has been over the weekend though, but let's hope it's equally juicy during the week. The plan is to win $200 more on Titan and then try again on FTP. I want to try FTP again because I feel that I play badly on Titan, I see a lot of flops and I don't think it's good aggressive poker, but it seems to be working against the players there. But I don't want to get into the habit of playing, as soon I will be moving up levels!

Bankoll - $1747.23

All going swimmingly

I soon won back the remainder of what I lost at $50NL, and these were the hands that did it...

- at my very first hand at a table I get AA in the BB. UTG+1 makes it 50c, MP makes it $3 and I make it $11. UTG+1 folds but MP pushes and his QQ misses. +$22.80

- I make it $1 UTG with QQ and UTG+1 and the BB call. The BB is a dweeb. The flop is 233. BB checks and I bet $2. UTG+1 folds but the BB calls. We both check a K on the turn. The river is a Q! BB bets $2.75 and I push. He calls with 93o. +$25.80

After these I had won back enough to once again play $50NL. First though I decided I needed alittle MTT time, so I played 4 $4 180man STTs on Stars, and they went pretty awfully. In one I came 77th, but in the other 3 I went pretty far. With 18 places paying, I ended up coming 19th, 21st and 27th in the remaining 3. Nice waste of $18 and nearly 3 hours.

Back to the cash games- I started $50NL again and played very tight, and I was rewarded but getting in some nice situation...

- I get AA on the button and make it $2. The SB makes it $13 and I just call. The flop is Q-9-5 and the SB pushes for $28. I insta-call. The turn is a K and I feel like I've been outdrawn, but an A on the river stops me worrying. The SB shows 10-10. +$40.10

- I get QQ on the button and make it $2. The SB makes it $6 and the BB calls. I re-re-raise to $15 and just the BB calls. The flop is 2-3-6 and the BB pushes for $34. I insta-call and he shows 88 and misses. +$52.75

- I get AA in the cut-off and make it $2. The button makes it $6 and it is folded to me. I re-raise a little too small, and only make it $12. The button calls. The flopis 8-6-2. I bet $16 and the button calls. The turn is a 9 and I push. The button calls with JJ and misses. +$55.20

There was one nasty hand where I'm not really sure how I played it...

- There are 3 limpers and I make it $3.50 in the SB with QQ. Just the last limper calls. The flop is 6-7-J. I bet $6 and get called. The turn is a 9. I'm not really sure where I am, but I push. He calls and shows 78. The river is an 8. -$40.10

Overall though I won about $150 at $50NL so I am pretty pleased. I also got $18.20 in rakeback on FTP.

Bankroll - $1497.19

Up to $50NL... and down again... (August update)

This is my graph of cash winnings in August. The first big drop is when I was playing awfully, and was down $100 in a session but managed to pull about $60 of it back. Then things were going pretty steady. I tried to play on Crypto again, but it just didn't work. I get rakeback there so I think I should play there, and they have recently introduced re-sizeable tables, but I just can't win there and don't like the look of it.

Then I thought I would give FullTilt one final shot, as rakeback would make a difference. Although I have always done really badly on FullTilt, I thought I should give it another go. Things started very badly...

- I raise to 85c on thebutton with 77, and the BB calls. The flop is A-10-7. The BB bets the pot and I call. The turn is an A. BB bets the pot again and I push. He calls with 10-10. Nice. -$23.60

...but after this everything went well. I found the play very poor and I won fairly consistently. After a good session, I decided to give a $24 MTT 6-max a spin, but sadly busted in 51st place (out of 350). The cash continued to go well, and I got to the point where I could move up to $50NL. I was feeling pretty confident, and it went like this...

- I raise in the cut-off to $1.75 with Ah5h, and the button abd SB call. The flop is 4-6h-4. We all check. The turn is Qh. We check to the button, who bets $5.75. The SB calls. I think this is a marginal call if I was drawing to the nuts, but with a paired board it is a horrible call. But I called. The river is Kh. SB checks, and I feel I have to value bet and bet $15. The button folds and the SB pushes. I pretty much know I am dead but can't fold. I call and he shows 44 for quads. -$46.75

- It is folded to me in the cut-off and I make it $1.75 with JJ. The BB calls. The flop is 10-7-5. The BB checks, I bet $2.50 and he makes it $8. I'm not sure on the best way to play this, but I make it $15, which I don't think is a horrible play, as I may have the best hand but can fold if he re-raises. He calls. The turn is a 10. Now I don't beat much, and we both check. The river is a 3 and he bets $11. The pot is now $44, and although I don't beat anything, I call. He shows 55. -$27.75

- UTG limps, the SB completes and I check the BB with A4. The flop is A-5-2. I bet $1 and UTG calls. The turn is a K. I check and UTG goes all-in for $20.75. This is such an obvious fold. But not to me, and I called. UTG had 34. -$22.25

So all together I lost $138 over 520 hands at $50NL - very disappointing. I played absolutely awfully, I thought everyone was trying to make a move on me, but I should've just been much more patient and have gotten to know my table before I made any big moved. Nest time I will be a lot more patient before I move up.

Anyway, Now I have to win another $100 at $25NL before I can move up. I have played one session and made back $43.95, so hopefully it won't take too long before I am at $50NL again.

Bankroll - $1260.84