Set-Up

Several people have asked me recently for a photo of my set-up, but I've been a bit lazy at getting around to it.

I have recently upgraded to:

3 x 30" Dells
Quad processors (2.40 Ghz)
2.00 GB of RAM
150 GB HD
NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT Graphics Card
NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GT/GTO Graphics Card

The Quad processors seem to reduce the lag that you often see when using Full Tilt with PAHUD.

I set PAHUD to use CPU 2 and 3, and Full Tilt to use CPU 0 and 1. (Task Manager --> Right Click Image Name --> Set Affinity...)

The 3 x 30" may seem like overkill (as you could easily use just 2 x 30" and play 9 tables on each quite comfortably) but I like the larger table sizes as there is plenty of room for the PAHUD stats.

There is definitely an advantage to using a tiled display rather than an over-lapping cascading set-up, as it allows you to keep an eye on everyone else actions, and therefore pick-up on vital reads/tells.

At a guess, the whole set-up would probably cost around $6k if purchased from scratch- probably closer to ₤6k(?) if purchased in the UK.





Muppet of the Year 2007: Narena

I can only remember mis-reading the board once before on the river while multi-tabling. In that previous hand I held the 2nd nuts (JJ on a Jh 3h X 3 Yh board) and just called the villain's rivered flush bet because I had missed the board pairing on the turn!

Last night's hand was just as bad- I just didn't see that I had 2 clubs and thought my call was with TPTK! I ended up leaving $100 on the table- what a fucking muppet!

Full Tilt Poker, $1/$2 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 9 Players
LeggoPoker.com Hand History Converter

UTG: $119.25
UTG+1: $154.20
UTG+2: $364.90
Narena: $240.60
MP2: $20.70
CO: $199.70
BTN: $88.80
SB: $242.25
BB: $200

Pre-Flop: Qc Ac dealt to Narena (MP1)
UTG raises to $4, UTG+1 calls $4, UTG+2 calls $4, Narena raises to $18, 5 folds, UTG calls $14, UTG+1 folds, UTG+2 calls $14

Flop: ($61) Qh 8c 7c (3 Players)
UTG checks, UTG+2 checks, Narena bets $32, UTG folds, UTG+2 calls $32

Turn: ($125) 6d (2 Players)
UTG+2 checks, Narena checks

River: ($125) 2c (2 Players)
UTG+2 bets $88, Narena calls $88 <--- Great call with the nuts!!

Results: $301 Pot ($3 Rake)
UTG+2 showed 9c Tc (a flush, Ten high) and LOST (-$138 NET)
Narena showed Qc Ac (a flush, Ace high) and WON $298 (+$160 NET)

December Update

Due to having been ill at the beginning of December I have only been back at the cash tables for 12 days now. Excluding last Friday when I don't remember losing a grand as I was drunk, I have made $10,660 in just 47 hours (~+230/hr) which is just over 10BB/100 (5ptBB/100) across 16 tables.

I think the break did me good as, for the most part, my reads have been better than ever. I've been managing to squeeze out some great value bets with marginal hands on fairly dangerous boards, and I've also made some decent lay-downs IMO; although not everyone agrees! (See below)


Four-of-a-Very-Kind

I had a pretty good night yesterday- making $2,300 profit, after having been down $700 at one stage. I played 5,773 hands and hit quads an amazing 10 times! (8 of which went to showdown.)


Three-King Hell

A couple of days ago I made an unusual play with a set of Kings. I played the hand extremely passively and then laid it down on the river to what I know was a set of Aces.

I posted the hand history up on the 2+2 forum and, as expected, I received a lot of flak for it.

Main thread here.

Another thread here.

The posters that thought it was played very, very poorly can be categorized as follows:

1. Decent experienced players who understood my explanation but just didn't agree (at least with part of it)- which is fair enough. I respect most of their opinions and so I'm interested in what they have to say.

2. Presumably-winning players (many at higher stakes) who are very narrow minded and lack either the ability to understand the reasoning, or lack the ability to want to understand it.

3. Inexperienced/average-at-best players (the majority of those that posted) who, again, are narrow-minded and often just fucking clueless.

(Very few believed that I played the hand well, although a few agreed with the river fold.)

The thing is, the experience obtained from playing so many hands enables you to make accurate reads, at least for the most part. Apart from the pre-flop cold-call, I think the hand was played as well as possible against that particular player with the read that I had.

Anyway, feel free to join the queue and berate my play if you so wish! :)


Muppet of the Day #9: Tonycoca

Full Tilt Poker, $1/$2 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 7 Players
LeggoPoker.Tonycocam Hand History Tonycocanverter

SB: $232.35
BB: $109.95
UTG: $323
Hero (UTG+1): $200
MP: $322.55
Tonycoca: $60
BTN: $144.70

Tonycoca posts $2
Pre-Flop: As Jd dealt to Hero (UTG+1)
UTG calls $2, Hero raises to $12, MP folds, Tonycoca calls $10, 2 folds, BB calls $10, UTG folds

Flop: ($39) 6h Ah 8h (3 Players)
BB checks, Hero bets $24, Tonycoca raises to $48 and is All-In, BB folds, Hero calls $24

Turn: ($135) 9d (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

River: ($135) 5d (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $135 Pot ($3 Rake)
Hero showed As Jd (a pair of Aces) and LOST (-$60 NET)
Tonycoca showed 7s 6s (a straight, Nine high) and WON $132 (+$72 NET) <---- Bottom pair/ shit kicker, no heart, and no Fold Equity. Well played. :)


Muppet of the Day #10: Karina Jett

Full Tilt pros aren't exempt from winning a Muppet of the Day Award either, even if they are pretty. :)

Here is Karina's web-site.

Full Tilt Poker, $1/$2 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 8 Players
LeggoPoker.com Hand History Converter

SB: $242.65
BB: $218.60
UTG: $267
UTG+1: $78
Karina Jett: $149.55
Hero (MP2): $249.80
CO: $768.45
BTN: $340.95

Pre-Flop: Kc Ah dealt to Hero (MP2)
2 folds, Karina Jett calls $2, Hero raises to $10, CO folds, BTN calls $10, 2 folds, Karina Jett calls $8

Flop: ($33) 7c As 4s (3 Players)
Karina Jett checks, Hero bets $20, BTN folds, Karina Jett calls $20

Turn: ($73) 3d (2 Players)
Karina Jett bets $56, Hero raises to $142, Karina Jett calls $63.55 and is All-In <---- I was pretty sure that she had hit her kicker here (and was sure that she didn't have a set) but I couldn't find a fold.

River: ($312.10) 9d (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $312.10 Pot ($3 Rake)
Karina Jett showed 3c Ac (two pair, Aces and Threes) and WON $309.10 (+$159.55 NET)
Hero showed Kc Ah (a pair of Aces) and LOST (-$149.55 NET)

Please Move Along. Nothing to See Here.

Well, I've achieved my poker goals for December so far. This is partly because I missed three days due to my PC being upgraded. (Reinstalling all of the poker applications, restoring the PT database, and creating the PAHUD cache takes fucking ages.) Mainly though I've been ill since the start of the month so I've played very little poker.

December Goals

Here's what I wrote at the start of November:

I don't intend to play as much poker this month. I'm going to focus more on working out, boxing and playing football. I also want to ensure that I'm fresh and full of energy each day so that I can play more with my daughters. So poker will have to fit around everything else.

I plan to start earlier each day meaning I can finish earlier so that it's not lunchtime before I go to bed! I may also play during the afternoon a little when the tables are a little tougher so I expect my BB/100 will be lower this month.

I didn't really meet these goals, so I'm going to make an extra effort this month.

I have hired a personal trainer friend of mine for the month to ensure I get to the gym each day. I also have a boxing training so I will try and box at least three times a week.

I am determined that poker will take a backseat this month. It's so easy to let it engulf your life which, even if you're winning, isn't such a good thing.

I devoted even more time than usual during October to poker, really just to see how much I could make in one month. I made over $25k in total and I think I could repeat that (or close to it) for any month if I chose to. However, at what cost? Working nights is not something your body ever adapts to, and the resulting long-term health issues are not clear. Being tired during the day means that it's hard to get anything constructive done including working out and eating well. I also hate being tired when my daughters are round as I feel that I sometimes "short-change" them.

Amazingly my monthly expenses are over $8,000! (How the fuck can it be that high!!?) So as long as I make $10k then I won't have to sell the house and work the streets, so that is my poker goal for this month. Therefore, without putting pressure on myself to make as much money as possible, I should be able to concentrate on my non-poker goals.

November Report

November was my worst full month since I went full time nine months ago. I certainly didn't have the run of cards in general this month (tonight alone I was due an extra $1,000 from All In luck!!) but no complaints- I'm sure I had my fair share of luck during my $25k+ month in October. It all evens out long term.

My play was OK in general but I certainly had some spells of poor play too. I also moved up from 12 tables to 16 tables this month and that took a little adjusting to and it definitely hurt my BB/100 initially.

Total: $13,816

Hours: 173

Average Rate1: $80/hr

Average Rate2: $461/day

Rake Earned: $3,751 (included in above total)

Losing Days: 8

$1k+ Days: 11

Best Day: +$2,187

Worst Day: -$1,221

Total Hands: 138,832

$1/$2 BB/100: 2.91 (Last month was 7.91)

On the plus side, I had that $2k win in the Ironman freeroll. I also made $10.6k from a couple of sports bets; so it was a $24k profit month in total- just not all from poker! :)


Muppet of the Day #7: Curler98

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Narena [Ad Ah]
(Dealt to Curler98 [Kh Ac])
juicyjc folds
D97187 folds
Curler98 calls $2
juarino folds
Bigkawik folds
hogg420_661 raises to $16
SDDana folds
Narena raises to $30 <---- Original raiser was pretty short hence the min raise :)
eunlee728 folds
Curler98 calls $28
hogg420_661 calls $14
*** FLOP *** [3d 5c Js]
Narena checks
Curler98 checks
hogg420_661 bets $26
Narena calls $26
Curler98 calls $26 <---- Nice call
*** TURN *** [3d 5c Js] [Qc]
Narena bets $108
Curler98 calls $51.75, and is all in <---- Great vision. WP.
hogg420_661 folds
Narena shows [Ad Ah]
Curler98 shows [Kh Ac]
Uncalled bet of $56.25 returned to Narena
*** RIVER *** [3d 5c Js Qc] [Ts]
Narena shows a pair of Aces
Curler98 shows a straight, Ace high
Curler98 wins the pot ($270.50) with a straight, Ace high



Muppet of the Day #8: SONNIEGIRL

SONNIEGIRL became the proud winner of this prestigious award today- not for his/her/its play so much (although the small flop bet was terrible, but rather for his/her/its comment afterwards)

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Narena [Jc Tc]
fishouttawatta folds
Jman Returns folds
BareAce11 folds
giveusakiss folds
The Guok folds
27Fish checks
Narena calls $2
SONNIEGIRL raises to $10
CrazyMarry2 folds
27Fish folds
Narena calls $8
*** FLOP *** [Kd Qc 6s]
SONNIEGIRL has 15 seconds left to act
SONNIEGIRL bets $10 <---- Nice and cheap
Narena calls $10
*** TURN *** [Kd Qc 6s] [Ad]
SONNIEGIRL has 15 seconds left to act
SONNIEGIRL bets $36
Narena raises to $134
SONNIEGIRL calls $63.10, and is all in
Narena shows [Jc Tc]
SONNIEGIRL shows [Qd Qs]
Uncalled bet of $34.90 returned to Narena
*** RIVER *** [Kd Qc 6s Ad] [4c]
Narena shows a straight, Ace high
SONNIEGIRL shows three of a kind, Queens
Narena wins the pot ($239.20) with a straight, Ace high
SONNIEGIRL is sitting out

SONNIEGIRL: nice call on the flop <---- fucking muppet