SwingSwingSwing's Poker Journey

As you may know, PokerStars are hosting the World Blogger Championships of Online Poker, a series of free events just for sad buggers like me who blog about their poker experiences.

The first event, a no-limit holdem freezeout, was on Monday night and I bombed out fairly early. Last night was Pot Limit Omaha and despite never having played it before, I gave it a go.

And I cashed! 89th out of 1500-odd.

PokerStars have been encouraging participants to live blog and tweet their progress in the series and after two nights I have came to the conclusion that Twitter is a pile of self-indulgent wank. Come to think of it, blogging is a pile of self-indulgent wank but Twitter is an even bigger, more putrid, smellier pile of self-indulgent wank.

Not long after my last post, I had a bit of downswing. Between the 21st and 25th I played 17 HU SNGs and won a mere 4, including a run of eight losses in a row. This was enough to eradicate my winnings (again!) at the $5 level. Ahh, the perils of being a marginal winner.

But there is a happy ending to this tale. I have managed to get back to winning ways and recoup my losses and more. Played 26 and lost only 7 :-). Much better.

Overall stats at the $5 level:-
Played: 298
ITM%: 54.5%
ROI%: 3.5%

The plan is to continue at the $5s until I reach 20 buyins, then take a shot at the $10s.

Well, another two BritBloggerments have passed, with me failing to cash in either.

The PokerStars RNG has been having fun though. In last week's tournie, Zagga raised to 3x UTG with blinds at 50/100, Hammerheid reraised to 1000. I've got 2075 chips with AKs and decide to push to try and take down the 1400 chips in the middle. Both Zagga and Hammerheid call, with KK and AA respectively meaning me and Zagga are basically toast. Upon reflection, it was a terrible play from me. Zagga's UTG raising range with 20BB is pretty small and there is very little in that range that I'm ahead of. That combined with Hammerheid's reraise should have forced me to fold.

Last night's was even better. We're on the bubble with blinds at 100/200 no ante. I'm chip leader with 5570 and Kronsdat is the short stack with 2910. Kronsdat raises UTG to 600. I've got AA and I push. Kronsdat calls with TT and I'm a 81% favourite, basically as good as gets preflop.

Flop is TTQ. Dem Quad Bitches indeed.

I still have a workable stack though but managed to donk off a chunk when Mair calls my button min raise from the small blind and then calls my c-bet.

From that point, it's short stack ninja time with under 10 big blinds. I wield my ninja powers for another 21 hands and then decided to call Cloud's 10BB push from the button with A8. Cloud has KQ and hits his King on the river to bust me.

In other news, the HU SNGs continue to go well. I've played 14 since my last post, winning 8, bringing my overall ROI in the $5s to 3.8% and 5% across all limits.

Not much to report poker-wise.

Another two BritBloggerments have went by with me busting out on flips or 60/40s. Blah.

Finished second overall in the 2009 TMF UK league....which was nice.

Played in a $5000 freeroll which was a "gift" for completing a PokerStars market research questionnaire. I had thought this might have been a soft tourney with a small field. I mean, who bothers to respond to market research questionnaires let alone follow up on it? Yeah, nice thinking there, SwingSwingSwing. Over 9000 turn up. I finish a very respectable 135th, winning a massive $2.90. Yip, that's two dollars ninety cents for over three hours work.

Played a couple of HU SNGs. Won them both, giving me another six-in-a-row winning streak.

And that's it. See, told you there wasn't much to report.

It happened again last night. Not quite as satisfying as the one a couple of days ago as this time I got in with AA vs 55. But it's still quite nice to see Aces roll off on the turn and river.

Another quiet night poker-wise, just playing two HU SNGs while watching Rangers embarrass themselves and Scottish football again. Unlike Rangers, I won, taking my winning streak to six.

It's the first time I've won six a row in my HU "career". I've had plenty of five-in-a-rows but never six. So that was nice.

That wee run means my overall Sharkscope figures are back in profit for the first time in a while and I'm running at about 2% ROI in my HU games.

Urgh. I turn up for the Bloggerment and the poker gods decide to seat me at the table of death. I've got Cloud three to my right, BurnleyMik to my immediate left and Scotland's most famous professional poker player and abuser of Tesco facilities, Daleroxxu , just to the left of Mik. And last week's winner across from me. To make matters worse, dD was moved to my immediate right a little while later too.

With two good players to act after me, I played it tight. I took a couple of blinds of Mik despite his feeble attempts at persuasion and took a slightly larger chunk off Mik when I reraised his raise of my early position raise.

These gains were gradually lost and I found myself with my original starting stack with a couple of minutes left of 25/50. It's folded to me on the button and I make a standard raise with AKs. Dale, in the BB, pushes and I've got an easy call. Dale shows ATs so I'm ahead. But a ten flops and despite having 7 outs on the flop with a gutshot and the other three Kings, another 8 when I turn a flush draw, I somehow miss them all and out I go.

Ho Hum.

I didn't play much else at the weekend, just two HU SNGs which I won....which was nice.

So that's me climbed out of the hole in the $5 HU SNGs, back in profit at last.

My final opponent of that session was quite tough. I Sharkscoped him at the start of the tournie and saw a very impressive HU graph, a virtually straight line of rising profit. I lost a lot of chips early when I tried to run a stupid check raise bluff when I hit bottom pair on an AQ6 board. Stupid board to do it on and I had to fold to his all in reraise.

A few hands later, still at 10/20 blinds, he min raised his button and I pushed with TT. He called with A9 which I thought was a bit loose, and I doubled up.

My opponent did a good job of picking away at me for the 20 or so hands, pushing quite a few preflop and picking up small unclaimed pots when he didn't. I was dealt a pair of queens in the small blind. My opponent pushed preflop and obviously I called. He had KT and so I was a 70/30 favourite. The flop brought a ten but I was still an 81% favourite.....until another ten hit on the turn.

I messed up badly with TT on the button a short while later. I limped hoping that he would raise. But he checked. The flop came J85 and I bet, he called. We both checked the turn. Another J fell on the river and my opponent bet almost full pot. I just didn't see him having a Jack and playing it so passively on the flop, so I called. He had J5 for the full house and his passive play on the flop was because he had a monster. Doh.

I was down to around 700 chips and the blinds were up to 25/50 so it was getting near to push/fold time. I pushed with KTo and got called with K9o and doubled up, bringing things nearly level.

Flopping trip eights helped me get back into the lead and a passively played top pair got me some more chips when my opponent thought he could value bet his pair of fours on the river.

The knockout hand was nice. I pushed first in with K9s. He called with AJo. I hit a 9 on the flop and then made runner runner quads which was very nice indeed.

Bloggerment last Sunday - blegh. Made the final table but my short stacked push with K5s was not a match for a pair of threes despite having a gazillion outs on the flop.

Like a phoenix from the ashes, back from the dead, the second coming (or is it the third?), the eleventh Doctor, the reimagining, the blast from the past, the BritBloggerment is back!

Sundays, 9pm GMT, Pokerstars.