Really struggling to find a winning bet today for ‘D’, so for now I shall leave it. There certainly isn’t anything I like on the horse front anyway. That said, Kenny’s mum looks like a horse and I like her, but that’s not what I meant.
My “real” bets today:
The first of two Dettori rides for me today, the spectacularly named, Langham-esque Fat Boy in the 16.30 at Ascot. The return to sprinting should favour the selection as he was a multiple winner over 6f last season and he’s proven at this level. Not proven on softer ground, which is a slight worry as it’s been raining quite a lot at Ascot, but still worth a point I feel. The official ground at the minute is Good to Soft.
In the 17:05 at Ascot, Bankable looks a sure thing. I had this as a 2 point bet in my notes overnight and Matt Doyle has done exactly that this morning. Bigger things are expected of the selection and it’s form suggests that it has every chance of a repeat course and distance win. You couldn’t ask for a better jockey, in Frankie Dettori. The only reasons I haven’t plumped for three points are the size of the field and the possible threat of The Snatcher, who won well last week.
Moving to Pontefract and the 17:15, another one that Doyle has picked this morning that was in my notes overnight (Scott will be loving this, I can hear him now – “All you do is copy Matt Doyle lolz!!11!) in the form of Force Group. I feel much better about this one now that Pitbull has withdrawn, so I will be backing it. It’s had success over course and distance (though on slightly better ground) and as it was an apprentice race, there’s no penalty for it. Furthermore, the jockey / trainer partnership have a strike rate of 30.43% for the last few years, with a level stakes profit of £18.21.
The weather is in serious danger of messing these bets up. I can just picture getting in from work tonight and absolutely raging at myself for going ahead with these. I’m going to hang on as late as I possibly can before placing the bets, so don’t be surprised to see an update saying I haven’t actually placed any!
16:30 Ascot
Fat Boy @ ??
1 pt
Non runner
17:05 Ascot
Bankable @ 2.65
2 pts
Didn't see the race, was out working. Seems to have won by a length and a half. Scoop! Return: 5.30 pts
17:15 Pontefract
Force Group @ 2.98
1 pt
As above, but a 3/4 length result. Return: 2.98 pts
[15:40 Update] Still waiting to place the real bets, but I'm going to place 1 point on Distinction in the 15:55 at Ascot, for my A-Z game only.
15:55 Ascot
Distinction @ 4.0
1 pt
Never really got into it. I'd looked at it the night before and left it, but backed it because of some late market support.
[16:01 Update] Fat Boy has withdrawn, so I won't be on that!
[16:40 Update] Placing the bet on Bankable and Force Group.
Roundup:
A-Z total: -9.43 pts
Days passed: 9
“Real” total: 11.37 pts
Wednesday 30 April 2008
Tuesday 29 April 2008
'D' Day
My bets for April 29th, starting with the A-Z game:
Dark Missile looks like the class horse in the 16:40 at Bath and she was unlucky in her last outing. I was going to go with 3 pts but the trainer doesn’t have that much success on the turf, much preferring the all weather. The jockey / trainer combo has yielded a £38.38 £1 level stakes profit for 2008 so far, at a strike rate of 31.25%, which is obviously positive, but most of that is on the all weather. The only flipside to Buick’s (jockey) meagre 5.00% strike rate on turf, is that he is 1/1 at Bath, his only turf win this campaign! I’m going to cautiously include this as a real bet too.
Had a brief scare this morning when I saw Matt Doyle tipping (2 points) the other ‘D’ in this race, but it’s since withdrawn. Of course, that has messed the price of Dark Missile up nicely – was 2 overnight and is now just 1.72
16:40 Bath
Dark Missile @ 8/11 (Betfred)
2 pts
Morinqua seemed to love the soft ground and none looked like catching it, Dark Missile ran okay but it looked like it did need the extra furlong that it usually runs over. Came 2nd, pretty disappointed.
“Real” bets:
In addition to my A-Z bet, I have a few fancies.
Opposing the favourite in the 15:30 at Southwell looks a good bet as it ran horrifically last time out. Key Partners looks the best option dropping back down to selling company, especially with Sophie Doyle taking a very handy 7lbs off it’s back. She’s been profitable to follow on the all weather this year (£9.50 from 11 rides, £1 level stakes) and when linking up with this trainer, she’s had 2 wins and a place from 3 rides.
In the 16:10 at Bath, everyone is raving about the favourite Naughty Thoughts. It was unlucky last time out in coming third and still almost caught the leaders. I had a look at opposing this favourite initially (with Friends Hope at a big price) but the more I look, the more I can’t see past the selection.
Welcome Releaf looks a good thing in the 17:00 at Southwell. It finished between Imperial Sword and Balerno at Yarmouth and those two ran good races again yesterday, Balerno winning and Imperial Sword third, half a length behind. Today’s extra furlong should suit, if his breeding is anything to go by. No concerns about the jockey’s stats either and he’s won on this nag before.
15:30 Southwell
Key Partners @ 3/1 (Bet365)
1pt
Great start. Key Partners travelled so well under a perfect, patient ride and as soon as she got to the front, the favourite rallied a little but she only gave KP the most gentle of whips and it responded. I'm delighted with this, punters were steaming into the favourite and it went off odds on. Sadly, I could have got closer to 4/1 if I'd waited until just before the off! Return: 4 pts
16:10 Bath
Naughty Thoughts @ 2.6 (Betdaq)
2 pts
Not a good performance by Naughty Thoughts. I want to offer the soft ground as an excuse (the weather has actually changed the official going) but it was "unlucky" last time out too and I'm not sure how many excuses it has left. Note Hayley Turner on the winner, doing her best to fuck me up as per usual. 2 pts loss.
16:40 Bath
Dark Missile @ 8/11 (Betfred)
2 pts
As above.
17:00 Southwell
Welcome Releaf @ 3.65 (Betdaq)
1 pt
What a torrid run. Didn't want to go in and was unsettled early doors but it did respond to a couple of taps from the jockey and it did seem to want to get in front, once it settled down. A good ride actually by the jockey, for me. Won by a length. Return: 3.65
Roundup:
A-Z total: -8.43 pts
Days passed: 8
“Real” total: 6.09 pts
A reasonable day, the weather at Bath has harmed a couple of my picks, annoyingly the two pointers, but still, profit for the day. I'm away to see if I can find a 'D' on the evening card. I was thinking about Ryan Day beating Stephen Hendry in the snooker but last time I looked, he was 7-1 down. Think I'll ditch that! And doesn't Scott's bet on Hendry at 52 look massive now? Good luck, Campbell.
Dark Missile looks like the class horse in the 16:40 at Bath and she was unlucky in her last outing. I was going to go with 3 pts but the trainer doesn’t have that much success on the turf, much preferring the all weather. The jockey / trainer combo has yielded a £38.38 £1 level stakes profit for 2008 so far, at a strike rate of 31.25%, which is obviously positive, but most of that is on the all weather. The only flipside to Buick’s (jockey) meagre 5.00% strike rate on turf, is that he is 1/1 at Bath, his only turf win this campaign! I’m going to cautiously include this as a real bet too.
Had a brief scare this morning when I saw Matt Doyle tipping (2 points) the other ‘D’ in this race, but it’s since withdrawn. Of course, that has messed the price of Dark Missile up nicely – was 2 overnight and is now just 1.72
16:40 Bath
Dark Missile @ 8/11 (Betfred)
2 pts
Morinqua seemed to love the soft ground and none looked like catching it, Dark Missile ran okay but it looked like it did need the extra furlong that it usually runs over. Came 2nd, pretty disappointed.
“Real” bets:
In addition to my A-Z bet, I have a few fancies.
Opposing the favourite in the 15:30 at Southwell looks a good bet as it ran horrifically last time out. Key Partners looks the best option dropping back down to selling company, especially with Sophie Doyle taking a very handy 7lbs off it’s back. She’s been profitable to follow on the all weather this year (£9.50 from 11 rides, £1 level stakes) and when linking up with this trainer, she’s had 2 wins and a place from 3 rides.
In the 16:10 at Bath, everyone is raving about the favourite Naughty Thoughts. It was unlucky last time out in coming third and still almost caught the leaders. I had a look at opposing this favourite initially (with Friends Hope at a big price) but the more I look, the more I can’t see past the selection.
Welcome Releaf looks a good thing in the 17:00 at Southwell. It finished between Imperial Sword and Balerno at Yarmouth and those two ran good races again yesterday, Balerno winning and Imperial Sword third, half a length behind. Today’s extra furlong should suit, if his breeding is anything to go by. No concerns about the jockey’s stats either and he’s won on this nag before.
15:30 Southwell
Key Partners @ 3/1 (Bet365)
1pt
Great start. Key Partners travelled so well under a perfect, patient ride and as soon as she got to the front, the favourite rallied a little but she only gave KP the most gentle of whips and it responded. I'm delighted with this, punters were steaming into the favourite and it went off odds on. Sadly, I could have got closer to 4/1 if I'd waited until just before the off! Return: 4 pts
16:10 Bath
Naughty Thoughts @ 2.6 (Betdaq)
2 pts
Not a good performance by Naughty Thoughts. I want to offer the soft ground as an excuse (the weather has actually changed the official going) but it was "unlucky" last time out too and I'm not sure how many excuses it has left. Note Hayley Turner on the winner, doing her best to fuck me up as per usual. 2 pts loss.
16:40 Bath
Dark Missile @ 8/11 (Betfred)
2 pts
As above.
17:00 Southwell
Welcome Releaf @ 3.65 (Betdaq)
1 pt
What a torrid run. Didn't want to go in and was unsettled early doors but it did respond to a couple of taps from the jockey and it did seem to want to get in front, once it settled down. A good ride actually by the jockey, for me. Won by a length. Return: 3.65
Roundup:
A-Z total: -8.43 pts
Days passed: 8
“Real” total: 6.09 pts
A reasonable day, the weather at Bath has harmed a couple of my picks, annoyingly the two pointers, but still, profit for the day. I'm away to see if I can find a 'D' on the evening card. I was thinking about Ryan Day beating Stephen Hendry in the snooker but last time I looked, he was 7-1 down. Think I'll ditch that! And doesn't Scott's bet on Hendry at 52 look massive now? Good luck, Campbell.
Monday 28 April 2008
'C' you Jimmy!
I'm going to cheekily have a bet tonight on 'C' as I've spotted a nag on the evening card. This could round off a pretty good day on the A-Z front. I've put it in a seperate post to distinguish it from my day's real betting and 'B' action.
Frankie Dettori has a ride at Windsor and it's odds on with most of the bookies. The second favourite has a good pedigree but no experience and the rest are no threat on paper. Checklow has an entry in the Derby and made a good start (third) in what looks to have been a strong maiden. Very hard to see past it. As you will likely know, I'm not a fan of maidens and as such I won't be including it as a real bet, expecially not odds on!
19:40 Windsor
Checklow @ 1.56 (Betdaq)
2 pts
The briefest of scares, needed whipping just to get it moving but once it took hold, it was a comfortable winner. After spending so long on 'B', it's nice to get off 'C' after precisely 2 hours. Despite being encouraged to "play the rush" by the missus, I'll leave it until tomorrow to start on 'D'! Return: 3.12 pts
Roundup:
A-Z total: -6.43 pts
Days passed: 7
“Real” total: 4.44 pts
Frankie Dettori has a ride at Windsor and it's odds on with most of the bookies. The second favourite has a good pedigree but no experience and the rest are no threat on paper. Checklow has an entry in the Derby and made a good start (third) in what looks to have been a strong maiden. Very hard to see past it. As you will likely know, I'm not a fan of maidens and as such I won't be including it as a real bet, expecially not odds on!
19:40 Windsor
Checklow @ 1.56 (Betdaq)
2 pts
The briefest of scares, needed whipping just to get it moving but once it took hold, it was a comfortable winner. After spending so long on 'B', it's nice to get off 'C' after precisely 2 hours. Despite being encouraged to "play the rush" by the missus, I'll leave it until tomorrow to start on 'D'! Return: 3.12 pts
Roundup:
A-Z total: -6.43 pts
Days passed: 7
“Real” total: 4.44 pts
Football Quiz FTW
Since I'm not actually playing any poker at the moment I thought I'd do something constructive and post up a Football Quiz I created a month back and had forgotten about.
There is 30 questions and when you have your answers feel free to PM them to me on the DUPS or blonde forums (or simply in the comments box if you aren't a member of either forums). I'll then post how many you get right in the comments box. Highest score gets a pint from me (one day). Good luck, and enjoy.
Football Quiz
1. Which player scored a hat trick in the English Premiership this season but ended up on the losing side?
2. Name the three most expensive transfers involving Scottish players?
3. Which team won the UEFA Champions League in the 2003/04 season defeating Monaco in the final?
4. Who wears the shirt number ‘5’ for Chelsea?
5. Which country does Man City striker Benjani represent?
6. FC St. Gallen are a team playing their football in which country’s top flight?
7. Name the 3 Premiership clubs that Yakubu has played for?
8. Which English side play at Bloomfield Road?
9. Which German has made the most appearances in the English Premiership?
10. Name the last English manager to win the English top flight?
11. Which English Championship side are nicknamed ‘The Iron’?
12. Which club were relegated from the Scottish Premier League last season?
13. Who are the current German Bundesliga champions?
14. Who is the all-time top goalscorer in the English Premiership with 261 goals?
15. Who were Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink’s first English club?
16. Maritimo are a club side from which country?
17. Which Italian player won the European Golden Boot last season?
18. Which player after transferring in January this season became the player with the highest total transfer fees?
19. The FIFA World Cup final in 1982 saw Italy beat West Germany 3-1 in the final but who were the hosts?
20. Who were the last English club to win the UEFA Cup?
21. Which team in the Scottish and English first class leagues has the longest name?
22. From which club did Man Utd sign Brazilian Anderson?
23. From which team did Rangers sign striker Daniel Cousin?
24. Which Premiership stadium has the lowest capacity?
25. Which player in the Liverpool squad has the most international caps?
26. Which team has won the UEFA Cup in both of the last two seasons?
27. Which club’s stadium in the English Championship has the largest capacity?
28. Which player’s last 5 permanent clubs has been Sheff Utd, Leicester, Blackburn Rovers, Newcastle Utd and Manchester Utd?
29. Which Scottish club play their home games at Firhill Stadium?
30. Which Spanish side play their home games at the Mestalla?
Scott
There is 30 questions and when you have your answers feel free to PM them to me on the DUPS or blonde forums (or simply in the comments box if you aren't a member of either forums). I'll then post how many you get right in the comments box. Highest score gets a pint from me (one day). Good luck, and enjoy.
Football Quiz
1. Which player scored a hat trick in the English Premiership this season but ended up on the losing side?
2. Name the three most expensive transfers involving Scottish players?
3. Which team won the UEFA Champions League in the 2003/04 season defeating Monaco in the final?
4. Who wears the shirt number ‘5’ for Chelsea?
5. Which country does Man City striker Benjani represent?
6. FC St. Gallen are a team playing their football in which country’s top flight?
7. Name the 3 Premiership clubs that Yakubu has played for?
8. Which English side play at Bloomfield Road?
9. Which German has made the most appearances in the English Premiership?
10. Name the last English manager to win the English top flight?
11. Which English Championship side are nicknamed ‘The Iron’?
12. Which club were relegated from the Scottish Premier League last season?
13. Who are the current German Bundesliga champions?
14. Who is the all-time top goalscorer in the English Premiership with 261 goals?
15. Who were Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink’s first English club?
16. Maritimo are a club side from which country?
17. Which Italian player won the European Golden Boot last season?
18. Which player after transferring in January this season became the player with the highest total transfer fees?
19. The FIFA World Cup final in 1982 saw Italy beat West Germany 3-1 in the final but who were the hosts?
20. Who were the last English club to win the UEFA Cup?
21. Which team in the Scottish and English first class leagues has the longest name?
22. From which club did Man Utd sign Brazilian Anderson?
23. From which team did Rangers sign striker Daniel Cousin?
24. Which Premiership stadium has the lowest capacity?
25. Which player in the Liverpool squad has the most international caps?
26. Which team has won the UEFA Cup in both of the last two seasons?
27. Which club’s stadium in the English Championship has the largest capacity?
28. Which player’s last 5 permanent clubs has been Sheff Utd, Leicester, Blackburn Rovers, Newcastle Utd and Manchester Utd?
29. Which Scottish club play their home games at Firhill Stadium?
30. Which Spanish side play their home games at the Mestalla?
Scott
Week 2
I've had an okay first week. I'm in profit, mainly thanks to Diablo at Perth and I've been a shade unlucky with a couple. I've also had a couple of shockers, but you can't win them all. The A-Z game hasn't gone so well, I feel I've been a bit unlucky with a couple of the football games, but then I've also placed a couple of poor value bets. I set out to have fun only, I didn't care about maximising value, the idea was to gamble with gay abandon to help focus me on my "real" betting, but now I feel like I want to win, so I might cut out some of the crap bets. I say might, because if I do that and start making shitty bets out of my real roll as a consequence, I'll be going back to mindless GAMBOOOL!
Anyway, enough blether, here's what I like today:
A-Z:
I had an absolute dead cert for 'B' today (Bormo) but Alan King has pulled out all of his runners due to the weather, so I've had to scour for another. Blue Tomato appeals to me in the 15:30 at Yarmouth, because the forecast rain didn't appear and this one likes it firmer.
15:30 Yarmouth
Blue Tomato @ 5.1 (Betdaq)
1 pt
Looked a bit fucked by halfway, responded a bit to reminders and into 4th, but never catching the leaders. Money came for a few before the off, including the selection. Was a good race. Might have a look for another 'B' bet later, desperate to get onto 'C'.
Okay, after the spectacular failure of the last one, I'm going to try Beat Seven in the 17:40 at Windsor. Tony Elves of the RP likes this one and I'm clutching at straws, so let's GAMBOOOL!
17:40 Windsor
Beat Seven @ SP
1 pt
Hooray, finally off 'B'! Never saw the race but it's come in by half a length. Took SP as Beat Seven and Daddy's Gift were constantly exchanging favouritism. Both went off at 11/4, as it happens the best I saw at Betdaq was only 3.65 anyway. Return 3.75 pts. Now to look for 'C' bets!
"Real":
In the opener at Yarmouth, I feel it's worth opposing the favourite, as it was green when winning last time. Sir Billy Nick looks a better option at the price, with the return from suspension of Shane Kelly and a useful, light weight. Yaddree is a threat, but I'm hoping it needs this run to get going.
In the 16:30 at Yarmouth, the likely winner looks like Greyfriars Abbey. The RP casts doubt over the attitude of a couple of the runners in the race and who am I to doubt the RP? Abandon is a threat but has had nearly a full year off the track so I'm thinking it will be rusty.
I started out looking to oppose the favourite (Kingsmaite) in the 17:55 at Southwell, as it steps up in class and seems to prefer running a place than winning. But looking at what to oppose it with, I really couldn't see much beyond Limonia, who also enjoys running places. The horrific all weather form of the jockey on Limonia put me off massively and looking at the stats for Philip Makin (Kingsmaite's jockey) for 2008 so far, it makes far better reading: better than 25% strike rate on the all weather (24/94) plus a £42.20 level stakes (£1) profit. Coupled with the trainer, the strike rate improves to 34.62% (9/26) while still returning level stakes (£1) profit of £32.37. I'll go with the favourite.
14:00 Yarmouth
Sir Billy Nick @ 4.0 (Betdaq)
1 pt
I'm taking some positives from this. The favourite failed to place, so I was right to oppose. I was right also not to go with Yaddree, as it was 2nd (admittedly in a photo). Sadly, Sir Billy Nick was pish (and drifted right out just before the off, to something like 6.5!). 1 pt loss.
16:30 Yarmouth
Greyfriars Abbey (Dawn Sky withdrawing adjusts my odds from 2.84 to 2.48, pretty annoying. Upping the bet to 2 pts now. Further update - managed to get 2.71 for my 2nd point, that reduction factor on the first is ridiculous!)
1 pt @ 2.48 (Betdaq)
1 pt @ 2.71 (Betdaq)
This was horrendous! Drifted right out to over 3.5, needed the hood to go in, travelled awfully and then just as soon as it looked like making a move, it got squashed against the rail. I swear to god, I don't think I can do any right today!
17:55 Southwell
Kingsmaite @ 4.7 (Betdaq)
1 pt
Good ride by young Philip Makin and travelled the best of all the horses, it deserved it. Limonia needs a longer trip judging by that single run. Won by 2.25 lengths. Returns 4.7 pts. Two quickfire winners, my luck has changed!
Roundup:
A-Z total: -7.55 pts
Days passed: 7
“Real” total: 4.44 pts
Anyway, enough blether, here's what I like today:
A-Z:
I had an absolute dead cert for 'B' today (Bormo) but Alan King has pulled out all of his runners due to the weather, so I've had to scour for another. Blue Tomato appeals to me in the 15:30 at Yarmouth, because the forecast rain didn't appear and this one likes it firmer.
15:30 Yarmouth
Blue Tomato @ 5.1 (Betdaq)
1 pt
Looked a bit fucked by halfway, responded a bit to reminders and into 4th, but never catching the leaders. Money came for a few before the off, including the selection. Was a good race. Might have a look for another 'B' bet later, desperate to get onto 'C'.
Okay, after the spectacular failure of the last one, I'm going to try Beat Seven in the 17:40 at Windsor. Tony Elves of the RP likes this one and I'm clutching at straws, so let's GAMBOOOL!
17:40 Windsor
Beat Seven @ SP
1 pt
Hooray, finally off 'B'! Never saw the race but it's come in by half a length. Took SP as Beat Seven and Daddy's Gift were constantly exchanging favouritism. Both went off at 11/4, as it happens the best I saw at Betdaq was only 3.65 anyway. Return 3.75 pts. Now to look for 'C' bets!
"Real":
In the opener at Yarmouth, I feel it's worth opposing the favourite, as it was green when winning last time. Sir Billy Nick looks a better option at the price, with the return from suspension of Shane Kelly and a useful, light weight. Yaddree is a threat, but I'm hoping it needs this run to get going.
In the 16:30 at Yarmouth, the likely winner looks like Greyfriars Abbey. The RP casts doubt over the attitude of a couple of the runners in the race and who am I to doubt the RP? Abandon is a threat but has had nearly a full year off the track so I'm thinking it will be rusty.
I started out looking to oppose the favourite (Kingsmaite) in the 17:55 at Southwell, as it steps up in class and seems to prefer running a place than winning. But looking at what to oppose it with, I really couldn't see much beyond Limonia, who also enjoys running places. The horrific all weather form of the jockey on Limonia put me off massively and looking at the stats for Philip Makin (Kingsmaite's jockey) for 2008 so far, it makes far better reading: better than 25% strike rate on the all weather (24/94) plus a £42.20 level stakes (£1) profit. Coupled with the trainer, the strike rate improves to 34.62% (9/26) while still returning level stakes (£1) profit of £32.37. I'll go with the favourite.
14:00 Yarmouth
Sir Billy Nick @ 4.0 (Betdaq)
1 pt
I'm taking some positives from this. The favourite failed to place, so I was right to oppose. I was right also not to go with Yaddree, as it was 2nd (admittedly in a photo). Sadly, Sir Billy Nick was pish (and drifted right out just before the off, to something like 6.5!). 1 pt loss.
16:30 Yarmouth
Greyfriars Abbey (Dawn Sky withdrawing adjusts my odds from 2.84 to 2.48, pretty annoying. Upping the bet to 2 pts now. Further update - managed to get 2.71 for my 2nd point, that reduction factor on the first is ridiculous!)
1 pt @ 2.48 (Betdaq)
1 pt @ 2.71 (Betdaq)
This was horrendous! Drifted right out to over 3.5, needed the hood to go in, travelled awfully and then just as soon as it looked like making a move, it got squashed against the rail. I swear to god, I don't think I can do any right today!
17:55 Southwell
Kingsmaite @ 4.7 (Betdaq)
1 pt
Good ride by young Philip Makin and travelled the best of all the horses, it deserved it. Limonia needs a longer trip judging by that single run. Won by 2.25 lengths. Returns 4.7 pts. Two quickfire winners, my luck has changed!
Roundup:
A-Z total: -7.55 pts
Days passed: 7
“Real” total: 4.44 pts
Count The Pennies...
Well, I'm probably going to embarass myself by admitting to this, but as my activities tonight directly involved my bankroll and this investigation, it is in all of our interests that I report back on what exactly I have been doing...
This evening, with little else to do, I fancied playing a bit of poker, but nothing too serious, feeling a bit lothargic, and thus not wanting to do any significant damage to the hard work I had done with my bankroll during the week. Looking at the Sit and Go listings on 'Stars, very little caught my eye on the STT front, so I investigated their interesting array of Multi Table action, and bearing in mind my earlier objectives, I opted for the 45 player $1 + 0.20 game !!!
As ever, it was a case of playing Tight/Aggressive with premium hands, and found myself prospering without having to put in too much effort. I managed to observe some of the most suicidal play I have ever seen at a poker table, although I suppose when you consider the buy in was little more than 50 pence (which is probably what one spin on a fruit machine costs these days) there is not really too much point being too critical in analysing the play.
On the penultimate table, the play tightened up somewhat, with the top 7 paying, the prospects of a cash prize saw some of those souls resume control of their scant senses, and I was able to pull some moves. I made a nice double up from the loose big stack with my pocket nines, (s0rry mate !) and made it to the final table with just over 10k in chips, enough to place me second.
I took a couple of the short stacks out, and we were down to the cash. It was when we were five way that the shit hit the fan. With the blinds at 400 / 800 and an ante of 50, they were well worth stealing and one of the medium stacks had been doing it on a number of occasions and was less than 2k behind me. I was delighted to see him push his 8600 into the middle of the table as I looked at KK in the small blind.
Obviously, you all probably know by now that he outdrew me, and suffice to say, yes, his A7o flopped one of his 3 outs. Down to 1700 or so, I had little more than two big blinds, and I shoved them in with my next hand; QJo, and with 3 callers, I was out with $4 to show for it. Far more than I anticipated to be honest, so the bankroll is now upto $56.90. Oh, and before I forget, I also made another 0.06 Euros playing the freeroll on T6. That account is now standing at a big 0.12 Euro. Penny chew, anyone ?
Thanks for reading,
Mountain Man
This evening, with little else to do, I fancied playing a bit of poker, but nothing too serious, feeling a bit lothargic, and thus not wanting to do any significant damage to the hard work I had done with my bankroll during the week. Looking at the Sit and Go listings on 'Stars, very little caught my eye on the STT front, so I investigated their interesting array of Multi Table action, and bearing in mind my earlier objectives, I opted for the 45 player $1 + 0.20 game !!!
As ever, it was a case of playing Tight/Aggressive with premium hands, and found myself prospering without having to put in too much effort. I managed to observe some of the most suicidal play I have ever seen at a poker table, although I suppose when you consider the buy in was little more than 50 pence (which is probably what one spin on a fruit machine costs these days) there is not really too much point being too critical in analysing the play.
On the penultimate table, the play tightened up somewhat, with the top 7 paying, the prospects of a cash prize saw some of those souls resume control of their scant senses, and I was able to pull some moves. I made a nice double up from the loose big stack with my pocket nines, (s0rry mate !) and made it to the final table with just over 10k in chips, enough to place me second.
I took a couple of the short stacks out, and we were down to the cash. It was when we were five way that the shit hit the fan. With the blinds at 400 / 800 and an ante of 50, they were well worth stealing and one of the medium stacks had been doing it on a number of occasions and was less than 2k behind me. I was delighted to see him push his 8600 into the middle of the table as I looked at KK in the small blind.
Obviously, you all probably know by now that he outdrew me, and suffice to say, yes, his A7o flopped one of his 3 outs. Down to 1700 or so, I had little more than two big blinds, and I shoved them in with my next hand; QJo, and with 3 callers, I was out with $4 to show for it. Far more than I anticipated to be honest, so the bankroll is now upto $56.90. Oh, and before I forget, I also made another 0.06 Euros playing the freeroll on T6. That account is now standing at a big 0.12 Euro. Penny chew, anyone ?
Thanks for reading,
Mountain Man
Sunday 27 April 2008
Another Day...Another Dollar
Well folks, that's back to back STT wins for me now, with a win in another $5 + 0.50 game. To prove I am no one trick pony, today I took on a Fixed Limit Omaha8 game, and won quite handsomely, with few outdraws to report, I am pleased to say ! The bankroll is now standing at a healthy $54.10, and with a few more cashes, I will hopefully be able to turn around with "mission complete".
Although I am only playing steadily, and one game at a time, I am finding it to be more profitable to do it this way, than in my methods of old, where I would play countless numbers of games; and / or multi table. Personally, I have found that I tend to either become stressed, or play far too loose and thus rarely make a sound return on my investments. The only key rule to remember when only playing one STT at a time is to keep sane (lol) and remain patient. If you wait for the hands, then 9 times out of 10, the game will come to you. If you really can't keep still while you play poker, then occupy your mind with something else on the side such as the very addictive "Football Manager".
Thanks for reading,
Mountain Man
Although I am only playing steadily, and one game at a time, I am finding it to be more profitable to do it this way, than in my methods of old, where I would play countless numbers of games; and / or multi table. Personally, I have found that I tend to either become stressed, or play far too loose and thus rarely make a sound return on my investments. The only key rule to remember when only playing one STT at a time is to keep sane (lol) and remain patient. If you wait for the hands, then 9 times out of 10, the game will come to you. If you really can't keep still while you play poker, then occupy your mind with something else on the side such as the very addictive "Football Manager".
Thanks for reading,
Mountain Man
Just a quickie
Have woken up late and am working all day, so it's another quickie from me.
Today's bets:
A-Z:
14:10 Brighton
Brenin Taran @ 2.06 (Betdaq)
1 pt
Very worried by the second favourite, but I've added this bet in as I'm desperate to get off 'B' and it gives me another chance. My main hope for the A-Z is the next bet.
Update: Brenin Taran took the lead with 1.5 furlongs to go but was pulling hard and the smoothly travelling Smokey Storm (the one I was worried about) got up with a well timed run, to win by a head. Boo.
16:00 Wetherby
Bafana Boy @ 2.39 (Betdaq)
1 pt
I thought this had a chance when looking last night, but was worried by Silver Seeker, so I decided to leave it. By chance, I have just noticed that SS has withdrawn, so I will have a point on the selection to try and move onto 'C'. In fact, I like it so much now, that it's going in my "real" bets.
Didn't see this one, but it's come third. Frustratingly, the winner was Ballyhale. That was a 16/1 shot though, not sure anyone saw that coming.
"Real":
16:00 Wetherby
Bafana Boy @ 2.39 (Betdaq)
1 pt
As above. 1 pt loss.
17:25 Brighton
Peopleton Brook @ 11/1 (William Hill)
0.5 pts e/w
A very close race and the selection looks a big price. Something of a value bet.
Didn't see the race but looks to have been nowhere near. 1 pt loss.
Roundup:
A-Z total: -9.30 pts
Days passed: 7
“Real” total: 3.74 pts
Today's bets:
A-Z:
14:10 Brighton
Brenin Taran @ 2.06 (Betdaq)
1 pt
Very worried by the second favourite, but I've added this bet in as I'm desperate to get off 'B' and it gives me another chance. My main hope for the A-Z is the next bet.
Update: Brenin Taran took the lead with 1.5 furlongs to go but was pulling hard and the smoothly travelling Smokey Storm (the one I was worried about) got up with a well timed run, to win by a head. Boo.
16:00 Wetherby
Bafana Boy @ 2.39 (Betdaq)
1 pt
I thought this had a chance when looking last night, but was worried by Silver Seeker, so I decided to leave it. By chance, I have just noticed that SS has withdrawn, so I will have a point on the selection to try and move onto 'C'. In fact, I like it so much now, that it's going in my "real" bets.
Didn't see this one, but it's come third. Frustratingly, the winner was Ballyhale. That was a 16/1 shot though, not sure anyone saw that coming.
"Real":
16:00 Wetherby
Bafana Boy @ 2.39 (Betdaq)
1 pt
As above. 1 pt loss.
17:25 Brighton
Peopleton Brook @ 11/1 (William Hill)
0.5 pts e/w
A very close race and the selection looks a big price. Something of a value bet.
Didn't see the race but looks to have been nowhere near. 1 pt loss.
Roundup:
A-Z total: -9.30 pts
Days passed: 7
“Real” total: 3.74 pts
Scooping at Perth and heaven
A couple of days ago, I told you i'd just deposited on pokerheaven. I'm happy to report that from $40 im on about $140 - whats more - it was the omaha cash tables that did it. Dont know what happened but every hand I played was pure gold, people were calling my raises preflop, i'd flop top set or the best hand, and be paid off by worse hands every time, it was incredible. So I may be playing more omaha in the future.
I have a feeling its down to who is at the table. At a 5 man ring game, just 1 whacko tilting player is enough to make you profit. So I'll look for the crazies next time.
As we've all heard, I was at the perth races. We were all dressed smartly for the fine day, and I dare say looked a hell of a lot better than most people. I noted at one point that I happened to be standing next to a man in a full white tracksuit.
On top of that, the day out was great fun, and I'm sure I'd say the same, had none of my four streaming winners come in.
First race of the day I tentatively put £5 on 5/2 classic moon and scooped.
I had Cedrus Libani in the next, which fell, and again the favourite won.
I think the next race was yet another favourites time to win: Guns and butter, an unusual name, but a sure winner, and I had that one!!
My dads tip Rathowen failed miserably as it trotted home a disappointing 5th after favourite Go Slow failed to heed its own advice.
The race I liked the most was were Laertes was the victor, as a few of us had that bet, at good odds of 9-1 or similar, and there was much lolling as that one came in.
I then proceeded to place a lucky dip bet on Spirits Calling, again at 9-1, and was so distracted by that drunk guy falling over that I hardly noticed it was in contention. After that it was a case of "my spirits golling" when it cleared first by a head or neck or tail or cup.
I do have to brag, I'm sorry if you guys think its gay but you're going to have to live with it.
Those races largely paid for what was a very enjoyable day and night out. I wish we'd all been more alert and in the mood for 10 more pints but I was suckered in by that damned texas holdem gayem!
From the racing side of things I think the Scoop Troop were well into the plus taking into account all of our bets. Well done to us!!
I have a feeling its down to who is at the table. At a 5 man ring game, just 1 whacko tilting player is enough to make you profit. So I'll look for the crazies next time.
As we've all heard, I was at the perth races. We were all dressed smartly for the fine day, and I dare say looked a hell of a lot better than most people. I noted at one point that I happened to be standing next to a man in a full white tracksuit.
On top of that, the day out was great fun, and I'm sure I'd say the same, had none of my four streaming winners come in.
First race of the day I tentatively put £5 on 5/2 classic moon and scooped.
I had Cedrus Libani in the next, which fell, and again the favourite won.
I think the next race was yet another favourites time to win: Guns and butter, an unusual name, but a sure winner, and I had that one!!
My dads tip Rathowen failed miserably as it trotted home a disappointing 5th after favourite Go Slow failed to heed its own advice.
The race I liked the most was were Laertes was the victor, as a few of us had that bet, at good odds of 9-1 or similar, and there was much lolling as that one came in.
I then proceeded to place a lucky dip bet on Spirits Calling, again at 9-1, and was so distracted by that drunk guy falling over that I hardly noticed it was in contention. After that it was a case of "my spirits golling" when it cleared first by a head or neck or tail or cup.
I do have to brag, I'm sorry if you guys think its gay but you're going to have to live with it.
Those races largely paid for what was a very enjoyable day and night out. I wish we'd all been more alert and in the mood for 10 more pints but I was suckered in by that damned texas holdem gayem!
From the racing side of things I think the Scoop Troop were well into the plus taking into account all of our bets. Well done to us!!
Saturday 26 April 2008
The Casino Owns My Life!
The house runs so good at Texas Hold'em Shitfest Bonus. Lost a fortune there after having a decent run at Perth.
Scooped when one of my two selections, Laertes, wins impressively at 8/1. We got on at between 9-1 and 10/1. That was my highlight of the racing and was chuffed to have picked out a decent winner.
Found out that Kenny runs good at copying/guessing bets. Wp sir.
Found out that Jonny Spiers is a n00b when it comes to racing/life.
Found out that Dom is still gay.
Found out that burgers from the casino are very very decent.
So, picked out a few greyhounds earlier that won meaning I've pumped a few football bets on. Here is a few selections:
Sheff Utd 2.1 - edit: SCOOP.
Plymouth 2.26 - edit: SCOOP.
Carlisle 2.74 - nothing to see here.
Peterborough 1.92 - edit: SCOOP
Pass me the pennies please Mr. B. Ookie.
Scott
Scooped when one of my two selections, Laertes, wins impressively at 8/1. We got on at between 9-1 and 10/1. That was my highlight of the racing and was chuffed to have picked out a decent winner.
Found out that Kenny runs good at copying/guessing bets. Wp sir.
Found out that Jonny Spiers is a n00b when it comes to racing/life.
Found out that Dom is still gay.
Found out that burgers from the casino are very very decent.
So, picked out a few greyhounds earlier that won meaning I've pumped a few football bets on. Here is a few selections:
Sheff Utd 2.1 - edit: SCOOP.
Plymouth 2.26 - edit: SCOOP.
Carlisle 2.74 - nothing to see here.
Peterborough 1.92 - edit: SCOOP
Pass me the pennies please Mr. B. Ookie.
Scott
Perth aftermath / Saturday's bets
Yesterday was fucking awesome, one of the all time great days out. When I eventually get back to England, I will visit as many of the local courses as I can afford to, I live quite close to quite a few actually, including Southwell, Doncaster and York. But back to Perth – so many stories to tell, I don’t even know where to start. The old duffer who couldn’t work our camera, the drunk man falling about, the triumph of Laertes, Kenny not even knowing what nap means, but still cleaning up big time, Spierso’s inability to get a winner or a drink…
I toyed with the idea of not including my bets for the day in this blog, but as it’s supposed to be a log of all my bets, I think I have to. So here’s a quick run down of my betting at Perth yesterday.
14:05 – Justtheoneforyou, 1 pt e/w @ 15/2, placed third (second, but result adjusted due to interference) for a return of 2.5 pts (0.5 pts profit)
15:20 – Another Ambition, 1 pt win, came 4th. 1 pt loss.
15:55 – Rathowen, 1pt e/w, finished 5th. 2 pts loss.
16:35 – Getinbybutonlyjust, 1 pt e/w, came 8th. 2 pts loss.
17:10 – Stand On Me, something of a novelty bet as the trainer lives near my missus, we all put a few quid in a kitty to lump on at 20/1. It fell! 0.4 pts loss.
17:35 – my only winner for the day, Diablo. 4pts @ 10/3, 17.33 pts return (13.33 profit).
Overall: 8.43 pts
So that takes my “real” total to 9.61 points. Now, here’s today’s bets. No time for analysis as I’m meant to be working!
14:40 Sandown
Mahogany Blaze @ 8/1(Betfred)
0.5 pt e/w
Wasn't on ATR so I didn't see it. Was a value bet really, trainer/jockey in form, seemed a big price. Came 5th.
15:20 Sandown
Iris De Balme @ 5/1 (Paddy Power)
0.5 pts e/w
Didn't see this either, but Iris hasn't landed the big double. It did place though (4th) so I get my pennies back. Return: 1.13 pts.
15:55 Sandown
Rob Roy @ 4.7 (Betdaq)
1 pt
Finished second, wasn't worried by Medicine Path but didn't see Major Cadeaux winning it!
16:20 Punchestown
Franchoek @ 13/8 (Betfred)
1 pt
Disappointing run by Franchoek, think it's come 4th. Nowhere near the leader.
Going to add some pictures and videos of yesterday shortly, going to post this up now though as one of the races goes off soon. Plus I need to do some work in order to keep my job. Will update the post throughout the day.
Update [18:45]: going to put a point on Major Magpie in the 18:50 at Haydock. Only just seen this.
18:50 Haydock
Major Magpie @ 4.2 (Betdaq)
1 pt
Came third, I'm having a shocker today.
A-Z pick - Bookiebasher Babe, which ought to have enough to take this race down.
20:05 Wolverhampton
Bookiebasher Babe @ 3.1 (Betdaq)
1 pt
Good grief, came 2nd by a long way. Still on 'B'.
Roundup:
A-Z total: -7.30 pts
Days passed: 6
“Real” total: 5.74 pts
Some stuff from yesterday:
A ridiculous drunken guy, features falling over and awesome crowd reaction
Diablo tanks home, 7 lengths clear
Kenny and Scott
L-R: Jonny Spiers, Scott Campbell, Dominic Field, Will Walsh, Kenny McCreery. The guy who took it was an old duffer, couldn't work out how to use the camera. Hence the reason none of us look ready for the picture!
Orki Des Aigles, Jonny's pick, finally crosses the line, about half an hour after the rest. To be fair, it had fallen.
Spierso looks on, gutted at his inability to pick a winner in a one horse race...
Will and Scott, with ugly scenes in the background. Not sure which horse it was, but it collapsed en route to the paddock. The screens were up for ages, pretty sure that one is off to the glue factory. Sucks.
Kenny and Will enjoying bevvies.
Result of the steward's enquiry after the first race!
I toyed with the idea of not including my bets for the day in this blog, but as it’s supposed to be a log of all my bets, I think I have to. So here’s a quick run down of my betting at Perth yesterday.
14:05 – Justtheoneforyou, 1 pt e/w @ 15/2, placed third (second, but result adjusted due to interference) for a return of 2.5 pts (0.5 pts profit)
15:20 – Another Ambition, 1 pt win, came 4th. 1 pt loss.
15:55 – Rathowen, 1pt e/w, finished 5th. 2 pts loss.
16:35 – Getinbybutonlyjust, 1 pt e/w, came 8th. 2 pts loss.
17:10 – Stand On Me, something of a novelty bet as the trainer lives near my missus, we all put a few quid in a kitty to lump on at 20/1. It fell! 0.4 pts loss.
17:35 – my only winner for the day, Diablo. 4pts @ 10/3, 17.33 pts return (13.33 profit).
Overall: 8.43 pts
So that takes my “real” total to 9.61 points. Now, here’s today’s bets. No time for analysis as I’m meant to be working!
14:40 Sandown
Mahogany Blaze @ 8/1(Betfred)
0.5 pt e/w
Wasn't on ATR so I didn't see it. Was a value bet really, trainer/jockey in form, seemed a big price. Came 5th.
15:20 Sandown
Iris De Balme @ 5/1 (Paddy Power)
0.5 pts e/w
Didn't see this either, but Iris hasn't landed the big double. It did place though (4th) so I get my pennies back. Return: 1.13 pts.
15:55 Sandown
Rob Roy @ 4.7 (Betdaq)
1 pt
Finished second, wasn't worried by Medicine Path but didn't see Major Cadeaux winning it!
16:20 Punchestown
Franchoek @ 13/8 (Betfred)
1 pt
Disappointing run by Franchoek, think it's come 4th. Nowhere near the leader.
Going to add some pictures and videos of yesterday shortly, going to post this up now though as one of the races goes off soon. Plus I need to do some work in order to keep my job. Will update the post throughout the day.
Update [18:45]: going to put a point on Major Magpie in the 18:50 at Haydock. Only just seen this.
18:50 Haydock
Major Magpie @ 4.2 (Betdaq)
1 pt
Came third, I'm having a shocker today.
A-Z pick - Bookiebasher Babe, which ought to have enough to take this race down.
20:05 Wolverhampton
Bookiebasher Babe @ 3.1 (Betdaq)
1 pt
Good grief, came 2nd by a long way. Still on 'B'.
Roundup:
A-Z total: -7.30 pts
Days passed: 6
“Real” total: 5.74 pts
Some stuff from yesterday:
A ridiculous drunken guy, features falling over and awesome crowd reaction
Diablo tanks home, 7 lengths clear
Kenny and Scott
L-R: Jonny Spiers, Scott Campbell, Dominic Field, Will Walsh, Kenny McCreery. The guy who took it was an old duffer, couldn't work out how to use the camera. Hence the reason none of us look ready for the picture!
Orki Des Aigles, Jonny's pick, finally crosses the line, about half an hour after the rest. To be fair, it had fallen.
Spierso looks on, gutted at his inability to pick a winner in a one horse race...
Will and Scott, with ugly scenes in the background. Not sure which horse it was, but it collapsed en route to the paddock. The screens were up for ages, pretty sure that one is off to the glue factory. Sucks.
Kenny and Will enjoying bevvies.
Result of the steward's enquiry after the first race!
Friday 25 April 2008
Mixed Fortunes
I carried my poor form from this morning's $5 + 0.50 NLH STT into an identical game early this evening, and this time bubbled after not really getting into any kind of rhythm, and by this point, the bank roll was looking very sorry for itself, back almost to where it had started, standing at $16. Feeling a little downhearted, I waded onto a 0.10/0.25 NLH cash table, and proceeded to recoup my lost $5, and left it at that, leaving a pretty loose table, where things could have gone either way. Most likely, my measly roll would have gone down the toilet, so in the interests of this investigation, I took a couple of hours break to gain my composure and enjoy the latest instalments of Coronation Street.
I returned, and played a 1000 man NLH freeroll on T6 Poker, a site I am relatively new to, and rolled in 67th, winning a laughable 0.06 Euro's, I will decide what to spend it on later, probably a go on Dom's mum...with cash to spare ! After sinking a beer or two, I decided to have one last $5 + 0.50 NLH STT to try and finish up for the day, and after some serious grinding, I got down to the cash. Despite dipping down to as little as 840 in chips, I bounced back to win handsomely, and the roll took a welcome jump to $37.10 ! Hopefully this good form can be carried into my next session.
Thanks for reading,
Mountain Man
I returned, and played a 1000 man NLH freeroll on T6 Poker, a site I am relatively new to, and rolled in 67th, winning a laughable 0.06 Euro's, I will decide what to spend it on later, probably a go on Dom's mum...with cash to spare ! After sinking a beer or two, I decided to have one last $5 + 0.50 NLH STT to try and finish up for the day, and after some serious grinding, I got down to the cash. Despite dipping down to as little as 840 in chips, I bounced back to win handsomely, and the roll took a welcome jump to $37.10 ! Hopefully this good form can be carried into my next session.
Thanks for reading,
Mountain Man
Decisions are a made! ^_^
after sending a pretty lengthy email to a bunch of poker sites hoping for a decent response, my initial feeling towards Full Tilt were confirmed when they wrote me an epic reply (see below). Some others replied with generic responses and never addressed things i needed cleared up.... partylolpoker and those types.... fuck em, the lose my awesomeness on their site. so gratz to full tilt and some duder called mat. 1 Week to my raging attack on full tilts players!!!
heres the email response from full tilt, he was very thorough suffice to say, nothing compared to tims posts.
=================================================================
Hello Adnan,
Thank you for contacting Full Tilt Poker Support, and we are very
pleased to hear that you are considering Full Tilt Poker as your poker
site of choice.
Regarding our 100% deposit bonus, you are correct in that new players
will receive a 100% matching bonus up to $600 on their initial deposit
to Full Tilt Poker; however, this is not an instant match bonus. Players
will accumulate their bonus money by earning Full Tilt Points (FTPs).
This information is listed on our website, provided within the following
link:
http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/deposit-bonus-details.php
Also, please note that funding your account via player to player
transfers will not activate your deposit bonus.
How To Earn Full Tilt Points:
For each dollar raked from a pot, every player who was dealt cards for
that hand will earn one point. You can earn partial points if less than
one dollar is raked, and you can earn up to three points per hand.
Each point is worth $.06, so you can earn up to $18 per hundred hands.
While you have indicated that you play less cash games online, we can
assure you that for every dollar of rake that you pay in a tournament or
Sit n Go, you'll earn 7 Full Tilt Points, or $0.42 towards your bonus.
For example, a $50+5 tournament will earn you $2.10 towards your deposit
bonus.
You do not need a code to take advantage of our initial 100% deposit
bonus. The bonus amount will be automatically credited to your Bonus
Account where it will be held and released to your cash account in
increments of 10% or $20.00, whichever is less.
So if you make a one-time deposit of $100, your bonus will be released
into your account with each $10 you earn. If you deposit $200 or more,
your increments will be $20. At three points per hand, each of these
increments can be earned in fewer than four hours of play at one table.
You can see your cash total and bonus cash amounts in the Cashier
window. You will continue to collect cash until you have released all of
your bonus money. You have 120 days to earn the entire deposit bonus.
In regards to your hand history question, you will be pleased to know
that Full Tilt Poker offers players the ability to save hand histories
locally as well as request tournament transcripts via Full Tilt Poker
Support. Simply email us a hand or tournament number you are interested
in acquiring and someone will gladly send you the transcript.
As for saving hand histories locally, you can obtain a hand history by
clicking the "Options" tab in your Full Tilt software then the "Hand
History" tab.
Click on the "Save My Hand Histories" box found on the top-left to
checkmark it. This will enable your histories to be saved to your
computer.
You may change the file that the histories are saved to by clicking the
"Change Folder" button and selecting the folder in which you would like
your hand histories saved. You can also change the number of days that
your hand histories will save for.
Click "OK" when you're finished and you're all set!
Please note that this will not save your past hands. It will only save
the future hands that you play since the "Save My Hand Histories" box is
checked.
In regards to site activity, Full Tilt Poker is an international site
which is committed to offering its services worldwide. We cater to
players from all over the globe and have a very strong North American
and European presence. Finding games of your choice shouldn't be
difficult at any time of day. I encourage you to download the Full Tilt
Poker software and have a look at the volume of games in play at any
given time, or more specifically at the times which you expect to be
playing the most poker.
The vast majority of the time, Full Tilt Poker has players actively
participating in real money games for all forms of poker we offer (Texas
Hold'em, Omaha Hi/Lo, Omaha Hi, Stud Hi/Lo, Stud Hi, Razz, and HORSE).
Finding a variety of games to play will not be difficult.
As for reasons to choose Full Tilt Poker over the many other poker sites
available, other than the reasons already provided, there are many
advantages to being a member at one of the largest and most feature rich
poker sites in the world.
Full Tilt Poker has an amazing lineup of daily and weekly guarantee
tournaments, offers player loyalty programs (such as the Iron Man
Challenge and Refer a Friend option), and has an extremely intuitive and
user friendly interface. I strongly encourage you to spend some time
looking over information available on our website as it will certainly
give you a much better idea of what Full Tilt Poker has to offer.
Also, we understand your desire to speak with someone over the phone.
While Tilt Pay Support can address deposit inquiries on behalf of Full
Tilt Poker via phone, they do not have access to the information
necessary for general support.
Your general inquiries are best answered by email, as it allows us to
thoroughly research your concerns and track previous correspondence with
you. Response time may vary depending on the complexity and nature of
your inquiry. Rest assured however, that we will address all issues
brought forth to us.
If you observe chat abuse, feel free to email support@fulltiltpoker.com
with the contents of the chat log in your email. To copy the chat log,
simply highlight the chat area and click on CTRL + C then click on the
email body and click CTRL + V. This will assist us in taking prompt
action as we investigate the issue.
If you would like an immediate fix for players that are distracting and
bothersome, you can mute them. To do so, click on the plus sign icon
beside the chat box, select "Options" and uncheck "Player Chat" and
"Observer Chat." You can also mute them by right-clicking on their
avatar and checking "Muted."
Feel free to check out the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section of
our website to see answers to a variety of commonly asked questions:
http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/about-faq
We hope to see you at the tables soon, and if you have any other
questions or concerns, please let us know. We're always happy to help.
Kind Regards,
Mat
Full Tilt Poker Support
heres the email response from full tilt, he was very thorough suffice to say, nothing compared to tims posts.
=================================================================
Hello Adnan,
Thank you for contacting Full Tilt Poker Support, and we are very
pleased to hear that you are considering Full Tilt Poker as your poker
site of choice.
Regarding our 100% deposit bonus, you are correct in that new players
will receive a 100% matching bonus up to $600 on their initial deposit
to Full Tilt Poker; however, this is not an instant match bonus. Players
will accumulate their bonus money by earning Full Tilt Points (FTPs).
This information is listed on our website, provided within the following
link:
http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/deposit-bonus-details.php
Also, please note that funding your account via player to player
transfers will not activate your deposit bonus.
How To Earn Full Tilt Points:
For each dollar raked from a pot, every player who was dealt cards for
that hand will earn one point. You can earn partial points if less than
one dollar is raked, and you can earn up to three points per hand.
Each point is worth $.06, so you can earn up to $18 per hundred hands.
While you have indicated that you play less cash games online, we can
assure you that for every dollar of rake that you pay in a tournament or
Sit n Go, you'll earn 7 Full Tilt Points, or $0.42 towards your bonus.
For example, a $50+5 tournament will earn you $2.10 towards your deposit
bonus.
You do not need a code to take advantage of our initial 100% deposit
bonus. The bonus amount will be automatically credited to your Bonus
Account where it will be held and released to your cash account in
increments of 10% or $20.00, whichever is less.
So if you make a one-time deposit of $100, your bonus will be released
into your account with each $10 you earn. If you deposit $200 or more,
your increments will be $20. At three points per hand, each of these
increments can be earned in fewer than four hours of play at one table.
You can see your cash total and bonus cash amounts in the Cashier
window. You will continue to collect cash until you have released all of
your bonus money. You have 120 days to earn the entire deposit bonus.
In regards to your hand history question, you will be pleased to know
that Full Tilt Poker offers players the ability to save hand histories
locally as well as request tournament transcripts via Full Tilt Poker
Support. Simply email us a hand or tournament number you are interested
in acquiring and someone will gladly send you the transcript.
As for saving hand histories locally, you can obtain a hand history by
clicking the "Options" tab in your Full Tilt software then the "Hand
History" tab.
Click on the "Save My Hand Histories" box found on the top-left to
checkmark it. This will enable your histories to be saved to your
computer.
You may change the file that the histories are saved to by clicking the
"Change Folder" button and selecting the folder in which you would like
your hand histories saved. You can also change the number of days that
your hand histories will save for.
Click "OK" when you're finished and you're all set!
Please note that this will not save your past hands. It will only save
the future hands that you play since the "Save My Hand Histories" box is
checked.
In regards to site activity, Full Tilt Poker is an international site
which is committed to offering its services worldwide. We cater to
players from all over the globe and have a very strong North American
and European presence. Finding games of your choice shouldn't be
difficult at any time of day. I encourage you to download the Full Tilt
Poker software and have a look at the volume of games in play at any
given time, or more specifically at the times which you expect to be
playing the most poker.
The vast majority of the time, Full Tilt Poker has players actively
participating in real money games for all forms of poker we offer (Texas
Hold'em, Omaha Hi/Lo, Omaha Hi, Stud Hi/Lo, Stud Hi, Razz, and HORSE).
Finding a variety of games to play will not be difficult.
As for reasons to choose Full Tilt Poker over the many other poker sites
available, other than the reasons already provided, there are many
advantages to being a member at one of the largest and most feature rich
poker sites in the world.
Full Tilt Poker has an amazing lineup of daily and weekly guarantee
tournaments, offers player loyalty programs (such as the Iron Man
Challenge and Refer a Friend option), and has an extremely intuitive and
user friendly interface. I strongly encourage you to spend some time
looking over information available on our website as it will certainly
give you a much better idea of what Full Tilt Poker has to offer.
Also, we understand your desire to speak with someone over the phone.
While Tilt Pay Support can address deposit inquiries on behalf of Full
Tilt Poker via phone, they do not have access to the information
necessary for general support.
Your general inquiries are best answered by email, as it allows us to
thoroughly research your concerns and track previous correspondence with
you. Response time may vary depending on the complexity and nature of
your inquiry. Rest assured however, that we will address all issues
brought forth to us.
If you observe chat abuse, feel free to email support@fulltiltpoker.com
with the contents of the chat log in your email. To copy the chat log,
simply highlight the chat area and click on CTRL + C then click on the
email body and click CTRL + V. This will assist us in taking prompt
action as we investigate the issue.
If you would like an immediate fix for players that are distracting and
bothersome, you can mute them. To do so, click on the plus sign icon
beside the chat box, select "Options" and uncheck "Player Chat" and
"Observer Chat." You can also mute them by right-clicking on their
avatar and checking "Muted."
Feel free to check out the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section of
our website to see answers to a variety of commonly asked questions:
http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/about-faq
We hope to see you at the tables soon, and if you have any other
questions or concerns, please let us know. We're always happy to help.
Kind Regards,
Mat
Full Tilt Poker Support
It Had To Happen
OK, after placing in my first two events, I was hoping it would be third time lucky last night, and was looking for the win in my $5 + 0.50 NLH 9 man STT. Alas, it was not to be, as I crashed and burnt in sixth. With a run of hands which made even a Dundonian Prostitutes fanny look barren (in fact to quote a famous "Poker Pirate" the "Best hand I saw all night was Queen-Six") I ended up having to push my remaining 1105 chips in with K8o. Suffice to say, the big blind was not prepared to let his 200 chips slip away and felt the need to get involved with J7o. Suffice to say he turned a seven, and I was out offering a selection of frank views in the chat box, most of which amounted to little more than "Boo Hoo Hoo, FISH !"
So instead of hanging about and playing any more last night whilst being a bit tilty, I instead opted to continue playing Football Manager, which of course caused plenty more grief and stress. Of course, I will be looking to get back to winning ways later on today, and extending the bankroll from the $21.50 at which it is now standing.
Thanks for reading,
Mountain Man
So instead of hanging about and playing any more last night whilst being a bit tilty, I instead opted to continue playing Football Manager, which of course caused plenty more grief and stress. Of course, I will be looking to get back to winning ways later on today, and extending the bankroll from the $21.50 at which it is now standing.
Thanks for reading,
Mountain Man
And the 'B' goes on...
Well I didn't expect to be looking for a 'B' bet, I cannot believe that Bayern didn't get the win, especially when I got home and read the stats/reports. Still, what can you do? Especially frustrating is the fact that Pharoah has hit onto a dead cert today and it's name begins with 'C'!
So let's start with that, Corrybrough in the 14:25 at Sandown. The sire of this horse (Kyllachy) won this very same race in 2001 and went on to become a champion sprinter. The thinking is that Candy has the same sort of route planned for this one. He's in okay form just now too and the booking of 2006 champion jockey Ryan Moore is excellent news, noone has won more money so far this flat season and he's currently joint 2nd in the jockey championship (though admittedly, it's still early).
I want to go three points, but there's a niggle that it's dropping a furlong AND it's not yet run this season. I am going to play it a bit on the safe side and just go with two. I am taking the 2.72 as well, as I can only see that shrinking from what I'm reading.
Another 'C' that looks good is Captain Webb in the 16:10 at Sandown. The colt has three wins from three so far, two in April, and as such it's under a 6lb penalty, so it's well under it's real mark. The going looks like being good to soft, which will suit, but the price is a miserly 2.10 at present (Betdaq). I'm going to take the SP on this one, as I can see money coming for either of the Stoute horses and the selection may drift a bit. Of course, I'll no doubt look stupid tomorrow when it goes off 4/6...
14:25 Sandown
Corrybrough @ 2.72 (Betdaq)
2 pts
Won by 2 lengths, scoop. Return: 5.44
16:10 Sandown
Captain Webb @ SP
1 pt
Ended up 5th, the Stoute horses were 1st and 3rd.
So for the A-Z game, there's not much that grabs me. Seeing as I have a 100% failure record on the football so far, due to all three finishing as a draw, I'm going to cheekily back Brest to draw with Amiens. Brest (snigger, tee hee) look better on paper, especially with home advantage, as Amiens are absolutely dire, but Brest are hardly a model of consistency and have scored just 32 goals in 34 games this season (20 in 17 at home) so they don't really look like sticking it to struggling Amiens.
Brest have managed to draw 3 of their last 5 games, scoring a meagre 3 goals and Amiens have an equally tragic record, drawing 2 of their last 5 and winning 2 (but at home, to equally shit sides, both by a single goal to nil) scoring 3 goals also. Remember, this game isn't about doing what's technically correct in betting terms (backing draws won't win you much long term) but rather it's about the GAMBOOOOOL! I started looking at this match with backing Brest in mind but quickly decided it has 0-0 written all over it and seeing as I'm in a rut of picking matches which end in draws, why not eh?
Oddschecker, which is usually impeccable, tells me the best price available for the draw is 2/1 but that's bullshit, because I can see 3.5 on Betdaq. I'm going to request 3.75 overnight and see what happens in the morning. If nothing is doing bright and early, I'll take the 3.5 cos we (3/5 of the Scoop Troop plus assorted morons) will be enjoying Perth Races and muchos drinking all day tomorrow. Update: took 3.5
19:00 Brest vs Amiens
Draw at 3.5
1 pt
I can't get it right with the football just now, Brest won 1-0. Super annoying.
Roundup:
A-Z total: -6.30 pts
Days passed: 4
“Real” total: 1.18 pts
So let's start with that, Corrybrough in the 14:25 at Sandown. The sire of this horse (Kyllachy) won this very same race in 2001 and went on to become a champion sprinter. The thinking is that Candy has the same sort of route planned for this one. He's in okay form just now too and the booking of 2006 champion jockey Ryan Moore is excellent news, noone has won more money so far this flat season and he's currently joint 2nd in the jockey championship (though admittedly, it's still early).
I want to go three points, but there's a niggle that it's dropping a furlong AND it's not yet run this season. I am going to play it a bit on the safe side and just go with two. I am taking the 2.72 as well, as I can only see that shrinking from what I'm reading.
Another 'C' that looks good is Captain Webb in the 16:10 at Sandown. The colt has three wins from three so far, two in April, and as such it's under a 6lb penalty, so it's well under it's real mark. The going looks like being good to soft, which will suit, but the price is a miserly 2.10 at present (Betdaq). I'm going to take the SP on this one, as I can see money coming for either of the Stoute horses and the selection may drift a bit. Of course, I'll no doubt look stupid tomorrow when it goes off 4/6...
14:25 Sandown
Corrybrough @ 2.72 (Betdaq)
2 pts
Won by 2 lengths, scoop. Return: 5.44
16:10 Sandown
Captain Webb @ SP
1 pt
Ended up 5th, the Stoute horses were 1st and 3rd.
So for the A-Z game, there's not much that grabs me. Seeing as I have a 100% failure record on the football so far, due to all three finishing as a draw, I'm going to cheekily back Brest to draw with Amiens. Brest (snigger, tee hee) look better on paper, especially with home advantage, as Amiens are absolutely dire, but Brest are hardly a model of consistency and have scored just 32 goals in 34 games this season (20 in 17 at home) so they don't really look like sticking it to struggling Amiens.
Brest have managed to draw 3 of their last 5 games, scoring a meagre 3 goals and Amiens have an equally tragic record, drawing 2 of their last 5 and winning 2 (but at home, to equally shit sides, both by a single goal to nil) scoring 3 goals also. Remember, this game isn't about doing what's technically correct in betting terms (backing draws won't win you much long term) but rather it's about the GAMBOOOOOL! I started looking at this match with backing Brest in mind but quickly decided it has 0-0 written all over it and seeing as I'm in a rut of picking matches which end in draws, why not eh?
Oddschecker, which is usually impeccable, tells me the best price available for the draw is 2/1 but that's bullshit, because I can see 3.5 on Betdaq. I'm going to request 3.75 overnight and see what happens in the morning. If nothing is doing bright and early, I'll take the 3.5 cos we (3/5 of the Scoop Troop plus assorted morons) will be enjoying Perth Races and muchos drinking all day tomorrow. Update: took 3.5
19:00 Brest vs Amiens
Draw at 3.5
1 pt
I can't get it right with the football just now, Brest won 1-0. Super annoying.
Roundup:
A-Z total: -6.30 pts
Days passed: 4
“Real” total: 1.18 pts
I am Scott - King of Hats
Hello there! Thought I'd best post since this whole shizzle was my idea but I've not really had anything to post about tbh. As I write this it seems we have had 320 views of the blog - almost 100% sure that will just be us 5 logging in.
So, um, let me think. Right, my name is Scott and I am awesome at poker and I love to gamble it up at everything and anything. Some might say that is how I roll! I dunno. Anyways, my other interests include Mixed Martial Arts (just watching, can't fight), Football Manager, Pro Evo Soccer and I quite like food. Seems I also like fashion which sounds somewhat gay and I'm prone to wearing a hat which has led to the nicknames 'TheHat' and 'scotty2hatty'.
My blogging will consist of my attempt to actually play poker. Going to deposit onto Ladbrokes Poker in May after my 4th year uni exams and then smash the cash games. Probably starting at .25/.50 - hopefully I can spin quickly and efficiently. I'll also be blogging any sports betting I enjoy. This will mostly consist of football and greyhound betting. Unlike Dom I actually place a few bets that win.
The main reason for me posting now is that a few of the Scoop Troop are heading to the Perth Races tomorrow so I'd thought I'd post up a selection or two so everyone can lay them cos I run bad at horse tipping. Hopefully Horneris comes up with the goods as he said he'd hook me up with anything he spots in the morning. He runs good, I think. Taking a camera and beer will be enjoyed so should be a sweet trip with a few stories to tell afterwards.
Anyways, lay these:
Perth 2.05: Spartacus Bay
Perth 4.35: Laertes e/w
tata for now,
Scott
So, um, let me think. Right, my name is Scott and I am awesome at poker and I love to gamble it up at everything and anything. Some might say that is how I roll! I dunno. Anyways, my other interests include Mixed Martial Arts (just watching, can't fight), Football Manager, Pro Evo Soccer and I quite like food. Seems I also like fashion which sounds somewhat gay and I'm prone to wearing a hat which has led to the nicknames 'TheHat' and 'scotty2hatty'.
My blogging will consist of my attempt to actually play poker. Going to deposit onto Ladbrokes Poker in May after my 4th year uni exams and then smash the cash games. Probably starting at .25/.50 - hopefully I can spin quickly and efficiently. I'll also be blogging any sports betting I enjoy. This will mostly consist of football and greyhound betting. Unlike Dom I actually place a few bets that win.
The main reason for me posting now is that a few of the Scoop Troop are heading to the Perth Races tomorrow so I'd thought I'd post up a selection or two so everyone can lay them cos I run bad at horse tipping. Hopefully Horneris comes up with the goods as he said he'd hook me up with anything he spots in the morning. He runs good, I think. Taking a camera and beer will be enjoyed so should be a sweet trip with a few stories to tell afterwards.
Anyways, lay these:
Perth 2.05: Spartacus Bay
Perth 4.35: Laertes e/w
tata for now,
Scott
Thursday 24 April 2008
Introducing... Ken the Kensteroony KenMan Ken dude guy
Hey everybody!
I'm Kenneth, or Kenny, or Ken, or K, or .
Its been a while, so bear with me while I recount the last four months.
A few months ago I wrote a blog of my poker adventures on Pokerheaven. If you read it, we went through the ups and downs of building a bankroll of $40 by playing the 5-man cash tables.
Over the course of three months I managed to climb through various levels, following rules which I made up in the beginning.
On the whole it was a great success: I got rid of most of my nagging debts, and was able to afford a trip to Nottinghams increasingly popular 'Dusk Til Dawn' poker club, as well as drinking several Doms-body-mass (Dbm) in beers.
There were plenty of shenanigans on that most enjoyable trip, including me getting knocked out of the £50+5 within about 10 minutes, everyone being in a splendidly drunken stupor most of the night and eventually playing the .5/1 cash table where I was told to stop drinking, or play poker: but not both!
Coming back from the two-day trip a few hundred sterling lighter, I again found myself in somewhat of a cash crisis. Cue the RBS Student Credit Card.
If you know what I'm like, you'll know theres no way I'll get a job unless someone physically places me in one. So into credit I went, trying my best to spend as little as possible and of course failing miserably.
At the end of March our society holds an annual 'DuSoP' which is like the 'WSOP' only better. It is a three day celebration of poker, or used to be. Nowadays its a place where old friends long finished with university life can come back together in one place for one ridiculously drunken weekend, with poker as a background distraction. Whats a credit card for?
This may have played in my favour as I actually took the poker fairly seriously and refrained from drinking between the hours of 12pm and 7pm, whereas a lot of the good players did not.
I managed to find myself lucky enough to win both the 7-card stud and the HORSE events, which boosted my meagre capital enough to allow me to join in the alcoholic frenzies where I could.
After that madness, the UKSPC was soon here, and I was easily peer-pressured into attending. Long story short - It was ok. I broomcorned to the second day where I was knocked out quickly, spent another £100 credit, was fully exposed in a hotel corridor for 0.8 seconds , and almost got attacked by an ex-soldier.
As it turned out, thanks to DUPS' sponsors at Betfair there were two seats in the $16k guaranteed held most nights of the week (I think) - a good tournament, if you can afford the $100+9 price tag - which I had qualified for due to my FL victories.
I bubbled the first tournament. However, lo and behold in the second tournament, I was quite fortunate to come 2nd place!! I was delighted, and received a whopping £1700.
From rags to riches surely, yes? Sadly, no, as that little credit card I'd been ignoring was almost 'maxed' out, and then comes along the quarterly gas bill, followed by a rather large phone bill.
So this brings us to now; to the Scoop Troop. My plans here are to do the same thing as before: build up an awesome poker bankroll so that I can drink, eat and be merry.
I have already deposited into Pokerheaven, $40 as before, still have rakeback, again using the same set of rules.
This time however, if as before I build up a reasonable sum, I will be:
1)Playing some multitable tournaments (I havent decided which site yet).
2)Continuing to go up and up the stakes at the cash games, and see how far I can go. For gambling sakes. For fun. Will I reach $50/$100 NL? I doubt it. I probably won't even reach .5/$1NL.
But it will be fun!!
Well I've rambled on just about enough, thanks for giving me space to do this blogger.com.
Until next time, Ken.
I'm Kenneth, or Kenny, or Ken, or K, or .
Its been a while, so bear with me while I recount the last four months.
A few months ago I wrote a blog of my poker adventures on Pokerheaven. If you read it, we went through the ups and downs of building a bankroll of $40 by playing the 5-man cash tables.
Over the course of three months I managed to climb through various levels, following rules which I made up in the beginning.
On the whole it was a great success: I got rid of most of my nagging debts, and was able to afford a trip to Nottinghams increasingly popular 'Dusk Til Dawn' poker club, as well as drinking several Doms-body-mass (Dbm) in beers.
There were plenty of shenanigans on that most enjoyable trip, including me getting knocked out of the £50+5 within about 10 minutes, everyone being in a splendidly drunken stupor most of the night and eventually playing the .5/1 cash table where I was told to stop drinking, or play poker: but not both!
Coming back from the two-day trip a few hundred sterling lighter, I again found myself in somewhat of a cash crisis. Cue the RBS Student Credit Card.
If you know what I'm like, you'll know theres no way I'll get a job unless someone physically places me in one. So into credit I went, trying my best to spend as little as possible and of course failing miserably.
At the end of March our society holds an annual 'DuSoP' which is like the 'WSOP' only better. It is a three day celebration of poker, or used to be. Nowadays its a place where old friends long finished with university life can come back together in one place for one ridiculously drunken weekend, with poker as a background distraction. Whats a credit card for?
This may have played in my favour as I actually took the poker fairly seriously and refrained from drinking between the hours of 12pm and 7pm, whereas a lot of the good players did not.
I managed to find myself lucky enough to win both the 7-card stud and the HORSE events, which boosted my meagre capital enough to allow me to join in the alcoholic frenzies where I could.
After that madness, the UKSPC was soon here, and I was easily peer-pressured into attending. Long story short - It was ok. I broomcorned to the second day where I was knocked out quickly, spent another £100 credit, was fully exposed in a hotel corridor for 0.8 seconds , and almost got attacked by an ex-soldier.
As it turned out, thanks to DUPS' sponsors at Betfair there were two seats in the $16k guaranteed held most nights of the week (I think) - a good tournament, if you can afford the $100+9 price tag - which I had qualified for due to my FL victories.
I bubbled the first tournament. However, lo and behold in the second tournament, I was quite fortunate to come 2nd place!! I was delighted, and received a whopping £1700.
From rags to riches surely, yes? Sadly, no, as that little credit card I'd been ignoring was almost 'maxed' out, and then comes along the quarterly gas bill, followed by a rather large phone bill.
So this brings us to now; to the Scoop Troop. My plans here are to do the same thing as before: build up an awesome poker bankroll so that I can drink, eat and be merry.
I have already deposited into Pokerheaven, $40 as before, still have rakeback, again using the same set of rules.
This time however, if as before I build up a reasonable sum, I will be:
1)Playing some multitable tournaments (I havent decided which site yet).
2)Continuing to go up and up the stakes at the cash games, and see how far I can go. For gambling sakes. For fun. Will I reach $50/$100 NL? I doubt it. I probably won't even reach .5/$1NL.
But it will be fun!!
Well I've rambled on just about enough, thanks for giving me space to do this blogger.com.
Until next time, Ken.
Turbo Charging Into The Cash...Or Just Creeping ? You Decide.
Firstly, a quick apology for those screenshots in my last piece. I promise only to use them again if they are interesting !
Having little under an hour to kill this morning, I opted to play a quick game on ‘Stars to see whether my good fortune could continue, and add to my winning start. I had a couple of options; low level cash, a short handed STT, a heads up clash or a turbo STT. I opted for the latter. Also, with time being an issue, as I was expecting visitors, I chose to play one of the lowest stakes, the $3.00 + 0.40 NLH game, which, unlike most other hold em games on PokerStars, features ten players at a table.
The turbos start at the usual 10/20 blind limit with a stack of 1500 chips, but the blind levels are of course significantly shorter, as is the time bank. This, coupled with the low stakes makes for almost instantaneous action, and this game certainly delivered that in abundance. Although personally, I didn’t play a single hand in the first level, we lost a player in the fourth hand, with his 10 high flush draw called by a set of 4s on the flop.
My first playable hand came in level two, with the blinds at 15/30, where I picked up a very welcome pocket pair of bullets. I watched in glee in late position as no less than three of my opponents limped in. I made it 210 (7* BB) to play, and was a little concerned to see two callers, but none the less was happy to see a rag flop of 7c 5d 2c. It was slightly worrying to see “swayne11” push his entire stack in, but chances are often few and far between in Turbos, and although I knew he could well have had some powerful hands, such as a set, flush draw, straight draw etc, I felt on this occasion to show some bottle and made the call, thinking at best he had either an overpair or a draw, certainly not a set if he wanted any kind of value. Either way, I was delighted to see his pair of sixes, which suffice to say, the board gave him no favours, and I doubled up.
Although a couple of short stacks were on the verge of dropping out of the running, some loose play from the chip leader “baslagendijk” doubled both of them up, and the game was still very much an open thing. In the fifth level, I was happy to see 99 on the big blind, but less so when the button pushed all in and the small blind pushed over the top. To make the call would have cost me two thirds of my stack, and I made what I considered to be a fairly routine fold. However, I felt sick to the stomach to see their hands of 44 and 88, especially when both an 8 and a 9 fell on the flop.
By the time the sixth level had come around, half of the starters had fallen and the blinds were up to 100/200. The short stacks by now were at the stage that it was all in or fold, and I encountered a particularly barren spell of hands, certainly nothing to call these players with, and my stack took a hammering as four out of five of my big blinds were stolen from me.
Down to four players, I see 55 on the button, and push my remaining 2200 into the pot, and am called by “Amitville” with A10, who is similarly stacked, and thankfully I win the race, and am into the cash. With the blinds at 300/600 with an ante of 50, it is again a bit of an all in fishfest, with any meaningful raise being almost half of a stack. After passing chips around a bit, I make a play from the button with QJo, and my all in is called by AKo, and although I was happy enough to see live cards, neither hand connected with the board and I was out of the tournament.
On a positive note, I have cashed in two from two, and this tournament was less hard work than the previous one I played. The bankroll grows by a massive $2.60 (profit, the prize for third place was $6.00), and although this equates to little more than a half pint of beer, the account has increased to a total of $27. From small acorns… !
Thanks for reading,
Mountain Man.
Having little under an hour to kill this morning, I opted to play a quick game on ‘Stars to see whether my good fortune could continue, and add to my winning start. I had a couple of options; low level cash, a short handed STT, a heads up clash or a turbo STT. I opted for the latter. Also, with time being an issue, as I was expecting visitors, I chose to play one of the lowest stakes, the $3.00 + 0.40 NLH game, which, unlike most other hold em games on PokerStars, features ten players at a table.
The turbos start at the usual 10/20 blind limit with a stack of 1500 chips, but the blind levels are of course significantly shorter, as is the time bank. This, coupled with the low stakes makes for almost instantaneous action, and this game certainly delivered that in abundance. Although personally, I didn’t play a single hand in the first level, we lost a player in the fourth hand, with his 10 high flush draw called by a set of 4s on the flop.
My first playable hand came in level two, with the blinds at 15/30, where I picked up a very welcome pocket pair of bullets. I watched in glee in late position as no less than three of my opponents limped in. I made it 210 (7* BB) to play, and was a little concerned to see two callers, but none the less was happy to see a rag flop of 7c 5d 2c. It was slightly worrying to see “swayne11” push his entire stack in, but chances are often few and far between in Turbos, and although I knew he could well have had some powerful hands, such as a set, flush draw, straight draw etc, I felt on this occasion to show some bottle and made the call, thinking at best he had either an overpair or a draw, certainly not a set if he wanted any kind of value. Either way, I was delighted to see his pair of sixes, which suffice to say, the board gave him no favours, and I doubled up.
Although a couple of short stacks were on the verge of dropping out of the running, some loose play from the chip leader “baslagendijk” doubled both of them up, and the game was still very much an open thing. In the fifth level, I was happy to see 99 on the big blind, but less so when the button pushed all in and the small blind pushed over the top. To make the call would have cost me two thirds of my stack, and I made what I considered to be a fairly routine fold. However, I felt sick to the stomach to see their hands of 44 and 88, especially when both an 8 and a 9 fell on the flop.
By the time the sixth level had come around, half of the starters had fallen and the blinds were up to 100/200. The short stacks by now were at the stage that it was all in or fold, and I encountered a particularly barren spell of hands, certainly nothing to call these players with, and my stack took a hammering as four out of five of my big blinds were stolen from me.
Down to four players, I see 55 on the button, and push my remaining 2200 into the pot, and am called by “Amitville” with A10, who is similarly stacked, and thankfully I win the race, and am into the cash. With the blinds at 300/600 with an ante of 50, it is again a bit of an all in fishfest, with any meaningful raise being almost half of a stack. After passing chips around a bit, I make a play from the button with QJo, and my all in is called by AKo, and although I was happy enough to see live cards, neither hand connected with the board and I was out of the tournament.
On a positive note, I have cashed in two from two, and this tournament was less hard work than the previous one I played. The bankroll grows by a massive $2.60 (profit, the prize for third place was $6.00), and although this equates to little more than a half pint of beer, the account has increased to a total of $27. From small acorns… !
Thanks for reading,
Mountain Man.
'A' achieved, 'B' begins + I r t3h n00b
Haven’t really found much to bet on for Thursday. It’s frustrating because I’m keen to get out of the red after my slow start and also to recover from the disappointment of Ballagran. Actually, while I’m on the subject, I have a little tale to tell which will certainly amuse you. I brace myself for the piss-taking…
Remember how I said that the jockey of Ballagran won on Amberleigh House in 2000 and so that was a positive? Well it sure was positive for the eventual winner yesterday, 7 year old gelding Notable D'Estruval. I can’t believe I made such a n00b error – the jockey on Ballagran was Paul Carberry and the winner on Amberleigh House was Paul's brother Philip Carberry, who would ride Notable D'Estruval. That’s the danger of looking at the form after a few bevvies – don’t do it kids.
Anyway, my A-Z game has probably found an easy ‘B’, in the form of Bayern Munich. The media ridiculously underrate Thursday’s UEFA Cup opponents Zenit St Petersburg and as such, the odds will be miserly, but this A-Z game isn’t about finding the best value and building a roll, refusing to take poor value bets - it’s about fun and mindless GAMBOOOL! For that reason, I’ll be excluding the Bayern fixture from my “real” bets, but it looks something of a sure thing for the A-Z game.
Bayern won the German Cup on Saturday and basically have the league stitched up, so they will be playing with confidence and more importantly, no real pressure, having already achieved a degree of success. They have scored 14 goals in their last 5 league games, 4 of which they won, the other being a 1-1 draw away at struggling Nuremburg, but we’re all allowed an off-day away from home. For Thursday’s tie however, they will have home advantage, but will be missing the prolific Luca Toni. This shouldn’t be too much of an issue against a side that have only beaten German opposition once before – Leverkusen in their quarter-final tie this campaign. That 4-1 away victory will have exposed them to the Bayern management and I fully expect them to be properly prepared, as they close in on a treble.
Zenit can’t buy a win at home at the moment, having picked up a meagre seven points from the opening six matches of their domestic league, lying 10th in the table. Factor in their lack of European pedigree – they are the only remaining semi-finalists with no European title to their name – and I think we have a relatively safe Bayern victory. The lack of Toni means I’m only going 2 points, rather than 3, but I am still pretty confident. I’ll wait until the morning for odds as they’re a pretty ugly 1.51 at Betdaq just now. It may be worth looking at some sort of handicap betting, we’ll see.
19:45 Bayern vs Zenit
Bayern @ 1.5
1 pt
Annoyingly this finished 1-1. The stats tell their own story: 18 Bayern shots to 8, 63% Bayern possession to 37%, 10 Bayern corners to 1 and 1 Bayern save to 13 [Soccernet.com] - why oh why to I keep getting "outdrawn" on football bets?! Okay, tomorrow is another day.
For my “real” betting, as I said before, nothing really grabs me. I like the look of Nice Dream in the 17:20 at Great Leighs, but Hayley Turner rides. For those who don’t know, I have a dislike of her because quite literally every time I back a nag with her on board, it loses. EVERY time. I won’t be touching that one, but I would with any other jockey. Proper in the 19:20 looks nice too, but it’s less than evens on the early tissue and I don’t know if I can be doing with such a lack of value. We’ll see how it looks in the morning.
Betting for betting’s sake then (note to self – try not to do too much of this) I will follow the Matt Doyle selection, seeing as he seems to have returned to form (two wins from two yesterday). He fancies Duke Of Touraine in the 14:35 at Beverley, a selection backed up by GG.com, Racing Post and ATR’s analysis. It seems the step up (only a furlong) in trip won’t be an issue thanks to his family tree and the fact that he gives some of his rivals a full stone in weight shouldn’t be too problematic as the jockey, who won on board last time out, claims a useful 7lbs. Under a 6lb penalty as it is and already “ahead of the handicapper” in the eyes of RP’s Spotlight. The 2.74 price, based on everything I’m reading, looks like it will eventually shorten so I’ll take it now.
14:35 Beverley
Duke Of Touraine @ 2.74
1 pt
Wasn't on ATR so I didn't see it, but it won by 3/4 of a length. That'll do nicely. Official SP was 11/8 too so I'm pleased with that.
Roundup:
A-Z total: -5.30 pts
Days passed: 4
“Real” total: -1.26 pts
I forgot to mention, I was chatting to Neil "Hairy" Stephenson yesterday and he was telling me about how he liked the sound of my football "tip" (AaB) and how he was going to back it but forgot. I accept no responsibility if anyone follows me into busto-dom, these are not tips, only a log of my betting activity. There, that's my disclaimer out of the way!
Remember how I said that the jockey of Ballagran won on Amberleigh House in 2000 and so that was a positive? Well it sure was positive for the eventual winner yesterday, 7 year old gelding Notable D'Estruval. I can’t believe I made such a n00b error – the jockey on Ballagran was Paul Carberry and the winner on Amberleigh House was Paul's brother Philip Carberry, who would ride Notable D'Estruval. That’s the danger of looking at the form after a few bevvies – don’t do it kids.
Anyway, my A-Z game has probably found an easy ‘B’, in the form of Bayern Munich. The media ridiculously underrate Thursday’s UEFA Cup opponents Zenit St Petersburg and as such, the odds will be miserly, but this A-Z game isn’t about finding the best value and building a roll, refusing to take poor value bets - it’s about fun and mindless GAMBOOOL! For that reason, I’ll be excluding the Bayern fixture from my “real” bets, but it looks something of a sure thing for the A-Z game.
Bayern won the German Cup on Saturday and basically have the league stitched up, so they will be playing with confidence and more importantly, no real pressure, having already achieved a degree of success. They have scored 14 goals in their last 5 league games, 4 of which they won, the other being a 1-1 draw away at struggling Nuremburg, but we’re all allowed an off-day away from home. For Thursday’s tie however, they will have home advantage, but will be missing the prolific Luca Toni. This shouldn’t be too much of an issue against a side that have only beaten German opposition once before – Leverkusen in their quarter-final tie this campaign. That 4-1 away victory will have exposed them to the Bayern management and I fully expect them to be properly prepared, as they close in on a treble.
Zenit can’t buy a win at home at the moment, having picked up a meagre seven points from the opening six matches of their domestic league, lying 10th in the table. Factor in their lack of European pedigree – they are the only remaining semi-finalists with no European title to their name – and I think we have a relatively safe Bayern victory. The lack of Toni means I’m only going 2 points, rather than 3, but I am still pretty confident. I’ll wait until the morning for odds as they’re a pretty ugly 1.51 at Betdaq just now. It may be worth looking at some sort of handicap betting, we’ll see.
19:45 Bayern vs Zenit
Bayern @ 1.5
1 pt
Annoyingly this finished 1-1. The stats tell their own story: 18 Bayern shots to 8, 63% Bayern possession to 37%, 10 Bayern corners to 1 and 1 Bayern save to 13 [Soccernet.com] - why oh why to I keep getting "outdrawn" on football bets?! Okay, tomorrow is another day.
For my “real” betting, as I said before, nothing really grabs me. I like the look of Nice Dream in the 17:20 at Great Leighs, but Hayley Turner rides. For those who don’t know, I have a dislike of her because quite literally every time I back a nag with her on board, it loses. EVERY time. I won’t be touching that one, but I would with any other jockey. Proper in the 19:20 looks nice too, but it’s less than evens on the early tissue and I don’t know if I can be doing with such a lack of value. We’ll see how it looks in the morning.
Betting for betting’s sake then (note to self – try not to do too much of this) I will follow the Matt Doyle selection, seeing as he seems to have returned to form (two wins from two yesterday). He fancies Duke Of Touraine in the 14:35 at Beverley, a selection backed up by GG.com, Racing Post and ATR’s analysis. It seems the step up (only a furlong) in trip won’t be an issue thanks to his family tree and the fact that he gives some of his rivals a full stone in weight shouldn’t be too problematic as the jockey, who won on board last time out, claims a useful 7lbs. Under a 6lb penalty as it is and already “ahead of the handicapper” in the eyes of RP’s Spotlight. The 2.74 price, based on everything I’m reading, looks like it will eventually shorten so I’ll take it now.
14:35 Beverley
Duke Of Touraine @ 2.74
1 pt
Wasn't on ATR so I didn't see it, but it won by 3/4 of a length. That'll do nicely. Official SP was 11/8 too so I'm pleased with that.
Roundup:
A-Z total: -5.30 pts
Days passed: 4
“Real” total: -1.26 pts
I forgot to mention, I was chatting to Neil "Hairy" Stephenson yesterday and he was telling me about how he liked the sound of my football "tip" (AaB) and how he was going to back it but forgot. I accept no responsibility if anyone follows me into busto-dom, these are not tips, only a log of my betting activity. There, that's my disclaimer out of the way!
Wednesday 23 April 2008
i r 3foot2, ALL HAIL FOOT
Guess I better get my foot in the door before this place is overwhelmed by tards. I’m adnan “3foot2” miah, u can call me foot it’s easier to type if u don’t have the numbers on
So Scoop Troop are blogging stuffs O_o
My blogging posts are going to involve two sites, Full Tilt and T6. On Full Tilt I plan on depositing £200 of my hard earned cash and work through the $20 single table shenanigans. Hopefully I’ll get my bankroll built up enough to raise the stakes and go far in the world of poker fame. With T6, its gonna be freerolling my way to a decent bankroll then moving on to Single table stuffs to see what I can achieve from nothing. I’m aware Chris Ferguson done the same thing, but he’s known as Jesus, a famous Jew…. What did people expect?!
Apart from avoiding chat bans I’m gonna concentrate pretty hard on this venture so hopefully my posts here will be positive and not rants about how shit my life is.
Try not to take offence to my banter, I’m not that homophobic or sexist or anti-Jewish, its just lulz and bulz and stuffz at the end of the day, newayz..... keep checking for updates as i'm sure things will be interesting in this journey where we try to become big bois.
<---- LOL HE SAYS HES NOT BENT?!!?!?
Kenny is gay
Well, to be perfectly honest, I am devastated that I haven’t found a winner yet. I was annoyed by a few things yesterday and I was in a crap mood all evening as a consequence. After thrashing the hell out of Mario Strikers and Baseball on the Wii and sinking a few tins, I feel invigorated!
To further enhance my chipper mood, here is a picture of Kenny wearing a skirt, a woman's dressing gown and nail varnish. The big queer. I believe you can enlarge it by clicking on it, to show him in all his homosexual glory.
Anyway, enough sinning and let's start winning. My bets tomorrow will be as follows:
Nottingham 14:55 - Cabinet. Matt Doyle has alerted me to this. Whenever I'm feeling in need of a winner, I turn to the Pharaoh of the Form and although his own form isn't exactly form-idable (!) at the minute, the RP are napping this too, which led me to believe it was worth a look. Matt reckons that this is the one nag in the field that will be "better than a handicapper" in the near future and goes on to point out that his 207 days off the track shouldn't be an issue as he won on his seasonal reappearance last time out and that the ground will suit. Good spot Matt. My own research tells me that, although it's pretty profitable to follow this trainer/jockey combo, it's not been their best few months and they're not great at all at Nottingham, so I'll be approaching this with a shade more caution than Mr Doyle et al.
Punchestown 16:15 - Kicking King. This is the race of the day, so I just have to have a bet on it. I think Neptune Collonges is probably going to win, it did well to come third in the Cheltenham Gold Cup and of course, it's the defending champion. But Mossbank is a real threat and I'm seeing 2.5 on the exchanges just now and I don't like that at all. Kicking King is a classy old horse and the word is that last time out, when he was massively disappointing, it was down to a back problem that the trainer reckons is now completely sorted. It's more than a bit GAMBOOOL to trust that the old boy does still have what it takes, but it'll be fun watching him try and if he DOES still have it, the two clear market leaders will have a hard time. A small e/w punt to keep it interesting.
Punchestown 16:50 - Ballyagran. This horse beat Clear Riposte comfortably on April 12th and of course, Clear Riposte narrowly missed out yesterday (by a nose from a brilliantly timed run by whoever was on board Bambootcha) which helps to back up the form no end. Although I couldn't see any real trends to the winners of this race, the last 3 winners have been eight years old (as is Ballyagran) and jockey Paul Carberry has won this race before, back in 2000, on Amberleigh House, so he ought to know his way round. The forecast 5/1 price makes it an attractive each way prospect.
I'm going to hang about until the morning to see what the prices are like, so don't be surprised if I remove any of these bets. Will also have a look at the 20:50 at Kempton as Al Khaleej could be worth a punt for my A-Z game, though it'll be hard to see past Resplendent Nova. I will leave that for now.
14:55 Nottingham
Cabinet @ 2/1 (Coral)
3 pts
OMG A WINNER!!!11! WTF?! Never got to see the race so I can't comment. Thanks to Pharoah for highlighting this, feels good to break my duck. Return: 9pts.
16:15 Punchestown
Kicking King @ 9/1 (Ladbrokes)
0.5 pts e/w
Mammoth performance by last year's winner and the punters were steaming into it before the race. It went off odds on and never looked troubled. Another big race by Snowy Morning to get second. Kicking King travelled nicely initially but when the front runners took it up, he was unable to keep up. Time to put him to bed, I think, I don't think we're ever going to see the KK of old.
16:50 Punchestown
Ballagran @ 5.8 to win, 1.93 to place (Betdaq)
1 pt e/w
I was quietly confident about this and was delighted to see punters hitting it just before the race, it shortened to 4.5 on Betdaq and Oedipe drifted to 5.5, pleasing me no end. As for the race, the selection travelled quite nicely but I noticed it was sandwiched a few fences from the end and another horse bumped it over a jump, I wonder if that's why it didn't dig in at the end. Came 5th, just outside the place spots. Oh well, unlucky.
Update: You win some, you lose some. I'm sure I'm not imagining it, I'm certain I remember Cabinet being at 3.7 on Betdaq last night and now it's 2/1 best price everywhere. That's pretty annoying. I'm now upping the bet to three points.
A-Z: I can't make my mind up on Al Khaleej, though I was surprised to see it installed as favourite. I expected Resplendent Nova to be favourite. It's a tight little race, that one, I don't think Al Khaleej can give 10 stone to the likes of Titan Triumph, either. I am going to go with Arctic Shadow in the 17:35 at Worcester. It dropped down in class for it's last outing and won under this jockey, who takes off a handy 5lbs. It's run a win and two places from 3 starts so far in 2008 but I'm quite concerned by Militant Man, so I will just back it each way as I can get 9/2, which all but returns the stake should it place.
17:35 Worcester
Arctic Shadow @ 9/2 (Ladbrokes)
0.5 pts e/w
Was at work so didn't see this, but it seems to have won by almost 4 lengths! So that's a bit of a result. Return: 3.7 pts.
A-Z total: -3.30 pts
Days passed: 3
"Real" total: -3.00 pts
Tuesday 22 April 2008
Off To A Reasonable Start
Recently, I had enjoyed good fortunes playing a variety of games on PokerStars and had turned an initial bankroll of $80 into just over $400 playing low stakes games. With this money, I opted to cash the majority out to enjoy the annual Dundee University Series of Poker, which would fund my buy ins for the three day event, along with my travel costs and some refreshments. After withdrawing £200 sterling, I was left with the princely sum of $16.40, which had remained untouched until today.
Firstly, I will briefly explain my aims and objectives. With this paltry sum, I am going to attempt to build it back up to a fairly significant sum once more, which can be used in the future as my bankroll for other “Scoop Troop” projects. At the moment, I obviously want to raise it as far as I can, but realistically, I would like to hit landmark figures, the first condition to not allow the roll to fall below $10, and hopefully increase to over $20, before upping the ante each time profit is made. PokerStars offer a range of both single and multi table tournaments in their sit and go stable, with buy ins as little as $1 + 0.10, upwards.
I opted to play it safe and enrolled in a $5 + 0.50 no limit hold ‘em 9 man S.T.T., with cash paid to the top 3. I sat down with a motley crew of players from all corners of the globe. PokerStars used to be overpopulated with American players, but has recently become infiltrated with many Scandinavian and German players in particular, and this was certainly in evidence on this table.
The action got underway with blinds of 10/20, with a stack of 1500 in front of each player. The usual nonsense prevailing in the early levels, with either half of the table limping in, or someone pushing their entire stack into a pot of 30 chips ! One player, in particular, “dsgnwrx” (nice name) comes across as being particularly loose, and proceeds to lose half his stack in the opening five hands. I stay out of the action early on, raising only with AKo in hand seven, and scooping the minimal blinds.
Although I wasn’t involved, hand 14 was the first meaningful display of the tournament, with “Bofrost” raising 5* Big Blind to 150 in middle position, and despite this strong raise, is flat called by two players, one of whom is “MadMaxLeo” (who has a rather striking Lion on his avatar). The flop comes 10 high; rainbow. The continuation bet of 240 comes from “Bofrost” who is then raised by “MadMaxLeo”, who perhaps should have really known he was in trouble when his opponent pushed the remainder of his stack in. Suffice to say, the large overpair of pocket kings held by “Bofrost” did not let up against the pair of 10’s with a nine kicker held by “MadMaxLeo”.
Personally, I had played no hands since the first five minutes, and had built up something of a tight image at this table. I finally see a playable hand of KK in hand 26, and raise to 250 total with the blinds at 25/50, and it certainly looked like I was going to get some interesting action as “MadMaxLeo” sat thinking. Unfortunately, it emerged this was not the case and he was merely disconnected ! No action. Three hands later, I look up to see QQ, and raise to 200 total in early position, but once more, none of my opponents want to join the party.
Seeing how much respect I am commanding at the table allows me to make the odd steal with hands such as KQ suited and small pairs, again without a caller. However, an ill advised move with AQ off almost costs me my tournament life as I reraise initial raiser, the aforementioned hooligan of the table “dsgnwrx” who immediately calls with AKc, and duly doubles up to leave me crippled with just 585 at the back in hand 56.
By this stage of the tournament, the action is down to five way with the blinds at 75/150, and I wholly expected to go out, if not the way of Broomcorn’s Uncle ! Stealing the blinds by pushing with K9s soon gets my back to the 1,000 chip mark, and I live to fight another day. My Big Blind came around on hand 63, and once again the small blind “Skylarblack” makes a move on me. By this point, I really have to make a stand with any two cards, and call them with J5o, hitting a 5 on the flop to outdraw their KQo and get me back up to 1620 in chips again, and it is clearly evident there is some luck on my side in this particular game.
Unusually, if a player gets a commanding chip lead in a low stakes S.T.T., especially close to the bubble, they can dictate the tempo and generally bully the short stacks, but on this occasion, the commanding chip leader “Bofrost” who was holding well over half of the chips in play was struggling to do so, and thus allowing short stacks to steal his blind and make moves they really should not be doing and was far too passive, but we will laugh about him in a short while.
Hand 79 was a turning point in the game. I was again down around the 1500 chip mark, and with only ten big blinds in my stack, it was time to make a stand with any pair or any ace ! I pushed with A4o, only to be called by the quiet “Bofrost” who showed pocket tens, but a board of 5s As Qs Ks 2c was enough for a welcome double up. However, the very next hand, I was dealt a similar blow to the one I had just inflicted, as I put the diminutive “MadMaxLeo” all in with my JJ, which he instantly called with A10o, again hitting his Ace. What comes around, goes around, I guess ! I was back down to 2050 in chips again. Boo !
Three hands later and “dsgnwrx” is dumped out with his pocket nines losing a race to “Bofrost” whose AK turned two pairs, and we were down to the bubble. This took an unusually long time for a low stakes STT, (about 25 minutes) and in a bizarre turn of events it was the massive stack “Bofrost” who was the one who didn’t make the cash after some very substandard play and an outdraw or two. I play it hard and fast, pushing my stack in with big aces and all pairs, and taking man sized portions of blinds and antes, which does my stack no harm at all. I double up with QJo when pushing from the button, only to be called by “Bofrost” with his rag ace, which holds true until a rogue jack appears on the river to put a dent in his stack. By this time I knew I was riding my luck, and settled back for some more conservative play.
The time came that the once great “Bofrost” was down to next to nothing in chips, and I put the pressure on him by pushing him in with my 87o from the small blind, hoping to get lucky. I was delighted when he called with 37c, and I made three of a kind to eject him from the tournament. More so, I was happy to make the cash, having been close to busting out on several occasions earlier in the game.
Firstly, I will briefly explain my aims and objectives. With this paltry sum, I am going to attempt to build it back up to a fairly significant sum once more, which can be used in the future as my bankroll for other “Scoop Troop” projects. At the moment, I obviously want to raise it as far as I can, but realistically, I would like to hit landmark figures, the first condition to not allow the roll to fall below $10, and hopefully increase to over $20, before upping the ante each time profit is made. PokerStars offer a range of both single and multi table tournaments in their sit and go stable, with buy ins as little as $1 + 0.10, upwards.
I opted to play it safe and enrolled in a $5 + 0.50 no limit hold ‘em 9 man S.T.T., with cash paid to the top 3. I sat down with a motley crew of players from all corners of the globe. PokerStars used to be overpopulated with American players, but has recently become infiltrated with many Scandinavian and German players in particular, and this was certainly in evidence on this table.
The action got underway with blinds of 10/20, with a stack of 1500 in front of each player. The usual nonsense prevailing in the early levels, with either half of the table limping in, or someone pushing their entire stack into a pot of 30 chips ! One player, in particular, “dsgnwrx” (nice name) comes across as being particularly loose, and proceeds to lose half his stack in the opening five hands. I stay out of the action early on, raising only with AKo in hand seven, and scooping the minimal blinds.
Although I wasn’t involved, hand 14 was the first meaningful display of the tournament, with “Bofrost” raising 5* Big Blind to 150 in middle position, and despite this strong raise, is flat called by two players, one of whom is “MadMaxLeo” (who has a rather striking Lion on his avatar). The flop comes 10 high; rainbow. The continuation bet of 240 comes from “Bofrost” who is then raised by “MadMaxLeo”, who perhaps should have really known he was in trouble when his opponent pushed the remainder of his stack in. Suffice to say, the large overpair of pocket kings held by “Bofrost” did not let up against the pair of 10’s with a nine kicker held by “MadMaxLeo”.
Personally, I had played no hands since the first five minutes, and had built up something of a tight image at this table. I finally see a playable hand of KK in hand 26, and raise to 250 total with the blinds at 25/50, and it certainly looked like I was going to get some interesting action as “MadMaxLeo” sat thinking. Unfortunately, it emerged this was not the case and he was merely disconnected ! No action. Three hands later, I look up to see QQ, and raise to 200 total in early position, but once more, none of my opponents want to join the party.
Seeing how much respect I am commanding at the table allows me to make the odd steal with hands such as KQ suited and small pairs, again without a caller. However, an ill advised move with AQ off almost costs me my tournament life as I reraise initial raiser, the aforementioned hooligan of the table “dsgnwrx” who immediately calls with AKc, and duly doubles up to leave me crippled with just 585 at the back in hand 56.
By this stage of the tournament, the action is down to five way with the blinds at 75/150, and I wholly expected to go out, if not the way of Broomcorn’s Uncle ! Stealing the blinds by pushing with K9s soon gets my back to the 1,000 chip mark, and I live to fight another day. My Big Blind came around on hand 63, and once again the small blind “Skylarblack” makes a move on me. By this point, I really have to make a stand with any two cards, and call them with J5o, hitting a 5 on the flop to outdraw their KQo and get me back up to 1620 in chips again, and it is clearly evident there is some luck on my side in this particular game.
Unusually, if a player gets a commanding chip lead in a low stakes S.T.T., especially close to the bubble, they can dictate the tempo and generally bully the short stacks, but on this occasion, the commanding chip leader “Bofrost” who was holding well over half of the chips in play was struggling to do so, and thus allowing short stacks to steal his blind and make moves they really should not be doing and was far too passive, but we will laugh about him in a short while.
Hand 79 was a turning point in the game. I was again down around the 1500 chip mark, and with only ten big blinds in my stack, it was time to make a stand with any pair or any ace ! I pushed with A4o, only to be called by the quiet “Bofrost” who showed pocket tens, but a board of 5s As Qs Ks 2c was enough for a welcome double up. However, the very next hand, I was dealt a similar blow to the one I had just inflicted, as I put the diminutive “MadMaxLeo” all in with my JJ, which he instantly called with A10o, again hitting his Ace. What comes around, goes around, I guess ! I was back down to 2050 in chips again. Boo !
Three hands later and “dsgnwrx” is dumped out with his pocket nines losing a race to “Bofrost” whose AK turned two pairs, and we were down to the bubble. This took an unusually long time for a low stakes STT, (about 25 minutes) and in a bizarre turn of events it was the massive stack “Bofrost” who was the one who didn’t make the cash after some very substandard play and an outdraw or two. I play it hard and fast, pushing my stack in with big aces and all pairs, and taking man sized portions of blinds and antes, which does my stack no harm at all. I double up with QJo when pushing from the button, only to be called by “Bofrost” with his rag ace, which holds true until a rogue jack appears on the river to put a dent in his stack. By this time I knew I was riding my luck, and settled back for some more conservative play.
The time came that the once great “Bofrost” was down to next to nothing in chips, and I put the pressure on him by pushing him in with my 87o from the small blind, hoping to get lucky. I was delighted when he called with 37c, and I made three of a kind to eject him from the tournament. More so, I was happy to make the cash, having been close to busting out on several occasions earlier in the game.
Despite making some good plays when down to three way, I am continually outdrawn by “MadMaxLeo”, but to be fair he had few chips on the first two occasions this happened. It was down to “Skylarblack” to remove him from the tournament, then it was down to heads up, which lasted only 3 hands, as I was not well endowed on the clay chip front.
To summarise, I was more than happy to place second, and take the prize of $13.50 with me, especially having had such an up and down game. My closing balance for this account was $24.40, meaning a profit of exactly $8 was attained. Hopefully we can enjoy more of the same, or hopefully one place better next time.
Thanks for reading,
Mountain Man
Thanks for reading,
Mountain Man
A Warm Welcome From Mountain Man !
Right, time for someone else to be in the spotlight before Dominic takes over this blog full time. (That’s not a slur on Dom, more an emphasis on how lazy the rest of us are). As you have probably gathered by now, I’m Tim (which isn’t short for Timothy, by the way) but am likely to be referred to on here by a whole host of names, such as “Mountain Man” or “Basil Francis” to mention just two. You will probably notice that I have a somewhat unique writing style, which could take a little bit of getting used to, but stick with it and we will be just fine. I have a background in writing, having edited three regular publications, including the University of Dundee newspaper “The Student Times”.
Although poker (both online and live) is my primary interest these days, it wasn’t until January 2005 when I first learnt the basics of Texas Hold ‘Em with the guys at Dundee University Poker Society (DUPS); whom had been playing in a city centre snooker hall, at which I was the manager. From then on, I have learnt much more about a number of other forms of poker, and enjoy playing most of them on a regular basis, albeit at very low stakes. DUPS became much more of an institution to some of us than others, and it has certainly moulded much of my recent social and private life; this is likely to reflect in a number of my entries to this blog. For more information on DUPS, see the link on the front page.
My first task within the confines of “The Scoop Troop” will be to look at trying to build a bankroll at an online poker site from only a small initial deposit, or in the case of a scenario where a small amount of funds are found in an account which has not been visited for a while. You know the score, you stop playing at a particular site as you fall out of favour with playing or simply forget about it, then revisit it a year later to find $13 or some other minimal amount sitting there. I will endeavour to show that it is possible to turn a random small sum into a respectable online roll once more, instead of just wading into the first NL cash table and banging it all in with any ace or pair. And if I don’t succeed in this task, I will certainly have good fun trying.
Following the conclusion of this initial investigation, I will be looking in more depth at one of the largest online poker sites “PokerStars”, particularly at what they offer for the lower stakes players in terms of “Sit and Go” Tournaments (both S.T.T. and M.T.T.); Official Tournaments; and Cash Games. I may also take a brief look at the world of freerolls too (as this can be classed within the confines of small stakes), but will leave most of the reporting on this subject to our resident freeroll king, 3foot2 (Adnan).
Final word from me for now. Small stakes doesn’t have to mean playing with a lack of sense and skill. Some of my most memorable tournaments and games of poker have been in low buy in events. I hope, from my ramblings on here I am able to demonstrate a perfect balance of fun and profit from online poker without having to risk significant sums of money to do so.
Until next time, be lucky ! Thanks for reading.
Mountain Man
Although poker (both online and live) is my primary interest these days, it wasn’t until January 2005 when I first learnt the basics of Texas Hold ‘Em with the guys at Dundee University Poker Society (DUPS); whom had been playing in a city centre snooker hall, at which I was the manager. From then on, I have learnt much more about a number of other forms of poker, and enjoy playing most of them on a regular basis, albeit at very low stakes. DUPS became much more of an institution to some of us than others, and it has certainly moulded much of my recent social and private life; this is likely to reflect in a number of my entries to this blog. For more information on DUPS, see the link on the front page.
My first task within the confines of “The Scoop Troop” will be to look at trying to build a bankroll at an online poker site from only a small initial deposit, or in the case of a scenario where a small amount of funds are found in an account which has not been visited for a while. You know the score, you stop playing at a particular site as you fall out of favour with playing or simply forget about it, then revisit it a year later to find $13 or some other minimal amount sitting there. I will endeavour to show that it is possible to turn a random small sum into a respectable online roll once more, instead of just wading into the first NL cash table and banging it all in with any ace or pair. And if I don’t succeed in this task, I will certainly have good fun trying.
Following the conclusion of this initial investigation, I will be looking in more depth at one of the largest online poker sites “PokerStars”, particularly at what they offer for the lower stakes players in terms of “Sit and Go” Tournaments (both S.T.T. and M.T.T.); Official Tournaments; and Cash Games. I may also take a brief look at the world of freerolls too (as this can be classed within the confines of small stakes), but will leave most of the reporting on this subject to our resident freeroll king, 3foot2 (Adnan).
Final word from me for now. Small stakes doesn’t have to mean playing with a lack of sense and skill. Some of my most memorable tournaments and games of poker have been in low buy in events. I hope, from my ramblings on here I am able to demonstrate a perfect balance of fun and profit from online poker without having to risk significant sums of money to do so.
Until next time, be lucky ! Thanks for reading.
Mountain Man
A-Z Day 2 / Punchestown Festival
Okay, here’s what I like today, to try and get away from ‘A’:
Weymouth travel to Aldershot Town apparently in good form (2 wins from 2, unbeaten in 4), but when you look a little more closely you notice that one of those wins was home to already relegated Droylsden and the other three results were against middling teams like Crawley and Grays. Aldershot have been in good form themselves. 3 wins and 3 draws in their last 6 home ties and 2 wins and 4 draws from their last 6 overall. They have now been promoted so will be playing without nerves, whilst the pressure is on Weymouth to guarantee safety. Also, Aldershot welcome back three players from injury/suspension, including 10 goal on-loan midfielder, Scott Davies. With the trophy being presented after the game, the Shots will be keen to celebrate in style. I am leaving it off my “real” betting as this time of the season, things can get a little unpredictable.
19:45 Aldershot Town vs Weymouth
Aldershot @ 1.74 (Betfair)
2 pts
Finished 0-0. Bit annoyed about this, even though it's not part of my "real" betting. Thought it was a stick on!
Got a few nags I like the look of today. I started out looking at Punchestown because it's the first day of the festival and, as I'm not working until 5, I'll be enjoying most of the coverage on ATR.
My nap is Pomme Tiepy in the 16:50 at Punchestown. This horse is class and I’m convinced it would have won at Cheltenham, had she not suffered the first fall of her career. It usually jumps well so I’m happy to forgive it that one mistake (even though it cost me money!) and she’s been rested ever since. A little rain overnight would have been nice as she tends to prefer soft ground, but according to her trainer, she has good ground form from her time in France so it won’t be the end of the world. With Ruby on board and a full stone in hand on the other runners, I’m more than happy to nap the selection. As I attempt to upload this, two horses have withdrawn from this race, which is pretty annoying as we’ll now get super shite odds!
Next up is an each way shout in the 15:40 at Punchestown. I started off looking at this because I was on Twist Magic at Cheltenham and most places seems to be talking it up to redeem itself here, but I’m not so sure. I think Fair Along is worth a small e/w punt, as Twist Magic finished behind the selection in that race at Cheltenham, along with Schindlers Hunt, Mansony and Newmill. First time blinkers will be interesting.
My final bet of the day is in the 19:00 at Towcester (Kerriemuir Lass) and looks set to go off as favourite, despite the forecast suggesting it’s a 4/1 third favourite. Lawrence Taylor of ATR makes this his nap and GG.com do likewise. I’m betting a little on trust here, but Taylor’s numbers add up and the two main threats usually race over a longer trip. Apparently, a change to front running tactics was what brought about it’s last success and it’s expected to follow up. Worth a punt, I feel.
15:40 Punchestown
Fair Along @ 11/2 (Ladbrokes)
0.5 pt e/w
Twist Magic did the job by just over a length. It didn't impress me and punters would have been sweating at times, but a win is a win and I probably should have stuck to my first instinct ;) As for Fair Along, it switched back to front running tactics and never looked in it. A failed experiment for me, but no great loss.
16:50 Punchestown
Pomme Tiepy @ 2.63 (Betdaq)
2 pts
Air Force One too good, ran pilalr to post. Pomme Tiepy was in touch and jumping okay but when AFO took it up a notch, PT didn't seem to have an answer. Pretty disappointed with this.
19:00 Towcester
Kerriemuir Lass @ 13/8 (BetFred)
1 pt
Well I never saw this race as I was at work, but according to GG.com, it was 15 lengths off the pace! Last time I trust someone else's tips!
Roundup:
A-Z total: -6.00 pts
Days passed: 1
“Real” total: -6.00 pts
Update:
I have had the shittest day ever. I overslept, I chose not to back Twist Magic, despite studying that race with backing it in mind (it won ofc), I backed Pomme Tiepy which was a big disappointment, god knows what happened with Kerriemuir Lass, I made a string of fuck ups at work and then I come back to find Aldershop drew 0-0!
This beer is going to taste fucking good, assuming I don't spill it. Probably have a couple, get my head down early and regroup tomorrow.
Weymouth travel to Aldershot Town apparently in good form (2 wins from 2, unbeaten in 4), but when you look a little more closely you notice that one of those wins was home to already relegated Droylsden and the other three results were against middling teams like Crawley and Grays. Aldershot have been in good form themselves. 3 wins and 3 draws in their last 6 home ties and 2 wins and 4 draws from their last 6 overall. They have now been promoted so will be playing without nerves, whilst the pressure is on Weymouth to guarantee safety. Also, Aldershot welcome back three players from injury/suspension, including 10 goal on-loan midfielder, Scott Davies. With the trophy being presented after the game, the Shots will be keen to celebrate in style. I am leaving it off my “real” betting as this time of the season, things can get a little unpredictable.
19:45 Aldershot Town vs Weymouth
Aldershot @ 1.74 (Betfair)
2 pts
Finished 0-0. Bit annoyed about this, even though it's not part of my "real" betting. Thought it was a stick on!
Got a few nags I like the look of today. I started out looking at Punchestown because it's the first day of the festival and, as I'm not working until 5, I'll be enjoying most of the coverage on ATR.
My nap is Pomme Tiepy in the 16:50 at Punchestown. This horse is class and I’m convinced it would have won at Cheltenham, had she not suffered the first fall of her career. It usually jumps well so I’m happy to forgive it that one mistake (even though it cost me money!) and she’s been rested ever since. A little rain overnight would have been nice as she tends to prefer soft ground, but according to her trainer, she has good ground form from her time in France so it won’t be the end of the world. With Ruby on board and a full stone in hand on the other runners, I’m more than happy to nap the selection. As I attempt to upload this, two horses have withdrawn from this race, which is pretty annoying as we’ll now get super shite odds!
Next up is an each way shout in the 15:40 at Punchestown. I started off looking at this because I was on Twist Magic at Cheltenham and most places seems to be talking it up to redeem itself here, but I’m not so sure. I think Fair Along is worth a small e/w punt, as Twist Magic finished behind the selection in that race at Cheltenham, along with Schindlers Hunt, Mansony and Newmill. First time blinkers will be interesting.
My final bet of the day is in the 19:00 at Towcester (Kerriemuir Lass) and looks set to go off as favourite, despite the forecast suggesting it’s a 4/1 third favourite. Lawrence Taylor of ATR makes this his nap and GG.com do likewise. I’m betting a little on trust here, but Taylor’s numbers add up and the two main threats usually race over a longer trip. Apparently, a change to front running tactics was what brought about it’s last success and it’s expected to follow up. Worth a punt, I feel.
15:40 Punchestown
Fair Along @ 11/2 (Ladbrokes)
0.5 pt e/w
Twist Magic did the job by just over a length. It didn't impress me and punters would have been sweating at times, but a win is a win and I probably should have stuck to my first instinct ;) As for Fair Along, it switched back to front running tactics and never looked in it. A failed experiment for me, but no great loss.
16:50 Punchestown
Pomme Tiepy @ 2.63 (Betdaq)
2 pts
Air Force One too good, ran pilalr to post. Pomme Tiepy was in touch and jumping okay but when AFO took it up a notch, PT didn't seem to have an answer. Pretty disappointed with this.
19:00 Towcester
Kerriemuir Lass @ 13/8 (BetFred)
1 pt
Well I never saw this race as I was at work, but according to GG.com, it was 15 lengths off the pace! Last time I trust someone else's tips!
Roundup:
A-Z total: -6.00 pts
Days passed: 1
“Real” total: -6.00 pts
Update:
I have had the shittest day ever. I overslept, I chose not to back Twist Magic, despite studying that race with backing it in mind (it won ofc), I backed Pomme Tiepy which was a big disappointment, god knows what happened with Kerriemuir Lass, I made a string of fuck ups at work and then I come back to find Aldershop drew 0-0!
This beer is going to taste fucking good, assuming I don't spill it. Probably have a couple, get my head down early and regroup tomorrow.
Monday 21 April 2008
Bad start for the A-Z!
Well, looks like my A-Z game got off to a bad start. AaB went a goal down on 27 minutes but their top scorer got his 13th of the season to draw them level, just before half time. Sadly, 1-1 is how it stayed.
As for the horse, although it came in as short as 7/1, it finished 2nd last, over 42 lengths behind the winner. I had a feeling it’d be spectacular, but not spectacularly shite!
Going to enjoy a desperate punt on Ashwood Daisy in the 21:07 at Nottingham. I know NOTHING about dogs, it’s just an attempt to get off ‘A’ on day one!
[Edit] Okay, that didn't even come top three. Won't be doing that again. I'm retiring to study stuff I actually know about, it's the start of the Punchestown Festival tomorrow. I will probably be on Pomme Tiepy, which was unlucky at Cheltenham (when I was on it!) and I will be scouring the cards for nags beginning with ‘A’!
Roundup:
20:10 Sedgefield
A Bit Chancy @ SP
½ pt e/w
Failed to place. -1 pt
18:00 Esbjerg v AaB
AaB @ 2.15
2 pts
Finished 1-1. -2 pts
21:07 Nottingham
Ashwood Daisy @ 4.8
1 pt
Didn't place. -1 pt
A-Z total: -4.00 pts
“Real” total: -2.00 pts
Days passed: 1
As for the horse, although it came in as short as 7/1, it finished 2nd last, over 42 lengths behind the winner. I had a feeling it’d be spectacular, but not spectacularly shite!
Going to enjoy a desperate punt on Ashwood Daisy in the 21:07 at Nottingham. I know NOTHING about dogs, it’s just an attempt to get off ‘A’ on day one!
[Edit] Okay, that didn't even come top three. Won't be doing that again. I'm retiring to study stuff I actually know about, it's the start of the Punchestown Festival tomorrow. I will probably be on Pomme Tiepy, which was unlucky at Cheltenham (when I was on it!) and I will be scouring the cards for nags beginning with ‘A’!
Roundup:
20:10 Sedgefield
A Bit Chancy @ SP
½ pt e/w
Failed to place. -1 pt
18:00 Esbjerg v AaB
AaB @ 2.15
2 pts
Finished 1-1. -2 pts
21:07 Nottingham
Ashwood Daisy @ 4.8
1 pt
Didn't place. -1 pt
A-Z total: -4.00 pts
“Real” total: -2.00 pts
Days passed: 1
Introducing moDtheGod and the A-Z challenge!
Okay, here’s my blurb. My name is Dominic (aka moDtheGod) and I founded the Poker Society that brought us all together in Autumn 2004. Although I’ve been out of love with poker for quite some time, I’m still fond of a flutter and I’ve been particularly interested in the nags since about August 2007. I’m still very much learning the game and hopefully, by contributing to this blog, I can keep a record of my success and more importantly, my failures.
I’m primarily going to be having a laugh but I will be logging all my bets from now on in here, horses or otherwise, with as much analysis as I can cram in. Hopefully I’ll learn a few lessons and sharpen up my eye for a nag.
I thought about setting myself a target, something amount to aim for, but then I thought “fuck it”. I’m just going to gamble myself silly and see what happens. I will however be playing an awesome game on the side, which I intend to start right away. I’m going to try and win some money for every letter of the alphabet! As this is a bit of fun, I’m going to treat it as separate from my “real” bets and bankroll.
The rules of the game: I have to win a bet on every letter of the alphabet, starting at ‘A’ and I can’t move on to the next letter until I have had at least one winner. I can place as many bets as I like per letter, but I can’t move away from my current letter until I have a winner. No laying is allowed, only backing. All markets are fair game: a horse whose name begins with the letter, a dog, a Big Brother contestant, a sports team, anything at all. I’ve decided that for people, I’ll use the first letter of their surname, for teams, I’ll go with the common English name (so AS Roma is ‘R’ not ‘A’) and for nags and such, I’ll use the first letter of the name. Of course, I am going to log how many days it takes me to complete the challenge (probably going to take me a year!) and how much I make or indeed, lose.
The obvious starting point for day 1 was a trip to GG.com to get a look at which horses are running, whose name begins with ‘A’. The ones that immediately jumped out at me were Amarillo Slim (for my poker connections), A Bit Chancy (for that is what this bloody game is) and Acertack (a name I was familiar with, but wasn’t sure why).
Turns out that Amarillo Slim is running in the 14:50 at Plumpton and it’s a Maiden. I try to avoid these kinds of races as a rule and looking at the horse, it looks like a complete piece of shit. Tempted to back it for a laugh, but I decline.
Acertack is getting on a bit and always seems to run a place, but even with the useful Sam Thomas booked for this one, it’s going to struggle to beat Massini Sunset, especially with young Charley Huxley, fresh from his Scottish Grand National triumph on Iris De Balme. Explosive Fox would be another to watch in that race.
A Bit Chancy runs in the bumper at Sedgefield, the very last race of the day (20:10) and even though these kinds of races are ridiculous from a betting point of view, I simply HAVE to have half a point each way because of the name. It would be a fabulous way to start the game if A Bit Chancy came in. GAMBOOOOL! The forecast actually has it as a 9/2 2nd fav but the early tissue suggests a much healthier 9.8. I will take the SP as I haven’t a fucking clue what will happen in the market!
My other bet for the day is in the Danish football league. Top of the table side Aalborg Boldspilklub (AaB) travel to Esbjerg forenede Boldklubber, who currently sit =7th in a league of 12. Esbjerg don’t appear to be in great form, having lost their last game to struggling Brondby. The two games before that were single goal victories against the sides who are bottom and 3rd bottom and the game before, they lost to the side who currently sit in =7th alongside them. AaB sit proudly at the top of the table, 4 points clear with a game in hand, although they did lose their last game to the side who are 2nd. That match, which they will be keen to bounce back from, ended a run of 8 unbeaten (7 wins) and their top scorer is just one behind the league’s top scorer. It’s worth noting that 25% of AaB’s away matches end 1-2 and 18.18% of Esbjerg’s home matches end 1-2 so if pushed for a scoreline, I’d plump for Esbjerg 1-2 AaB, but for now I’ll just stick to backing AaB to win at 2.15 (Betdaq).
In fact that sounds so good, I’m going to make it my first real bet :)
A-Z roundup:
20:10 Sedgefield
A Bit Chancy @ SP
½ pt e/w
18:00 Esbjerg v AaB
AaB @ 2.15
2 pts
Total: -3.00 pts
“Real” roundup:
18:00 Esbjerg v AaB
AaB @ 2.15
2 pts
Total: -2.00 pts
I’m primarily going to be having a laugh but I will be logging all my bets from now on in here, horses or otherwise, with as much analysis as I can cram in. Hopefully I’ll learn a few lessons and sharpen up my eye for a nag.
I thought about setting myself a target, something amount to aim for, but then I thought “fuck it”. I’m just going to gamble myself silly and see what happens. I will however be playing an awesome game on the side, which I intend to start right away. I’m going to try and win some money for every letter of the alphabet! As this is a bit of fun, I’m going to treat it as separate from my “real” bets and bankroll.
The rules of the game: I have to win a bet on every letter of the alphabet, starting at ‘A’ and I can’t move on to the next letter until I have had at least one winner. I can place as many bets as I like per letter, but I can’t move away from my current letter until I have a winner. No laying is allowed, only backing. All markets are fair game: a horse whose name begins with the letter, a dog, a Big Brother contestant, a sports team, anything at all. I’ve decided that for people, I’ll use the first letter of their surname, for teams, I’ll go with the common English name (so AS Roma is ‘R’ not ‘A’) and for nags and such, I’ll use the first letter of the name. Of course, I am going to log how many days it takes me to complete the challenge (probably going to take me a year!) and how much I make or indeed, lose.
The obvious starting point for day 1 was a trip to GG.com to get a look at which horses are running, whose name begins with ‘A’. The ones that immediately jumped out at me were Amarillo Slim (for my poker connections), A Bit Chancy (for that is what this bloody game is) and Acertack (a name I was familiar with, but wasn’t sure why).
Turns out that Amarillo Slim is running in the 14:50 at Plumpton and it’s a Maiden. I try to avoid these kinds of races as a rule and looking at the horse, it looks like a complete piece of shit. Tempted to back it for a laugh, but I decline.
Acertack is getting on a bit and always seems to run a place, but even with the useful Sam Thomas booked for this one, it’s going to struggle to beat Massini Sunset, especially with young Charley Huxley, fresh from his Scottish Grand National triumph on Iris De Balme. Explosive Fox would be another to watch in that race.
A Bit Chancy runs in the bumper at Sedgefield, the very last race of the day (20:10) and even though these kinds of races are ridiculous from a betting point of view, I simply HAVE to have half a point each way because of the name. It would be a fabulous way to start the game if A Bit Chancy came in. GAMBOOOOL! The forecast actually has it as a 9/2 2nd fav but the early tissue suggests a much healthier 9.8. I will take the SP as I haven’t a fucking clue what will happen in the market!
My other bet for the day is in the Danish football league. Top of the table side Aalborg Boldspilklub (AaB) travel to Esbjerg forenede Boldklubber, who currently sit =7th in a league of 12. Esbjerg don’t appear to be in great form, having lost their last game to struggling Brondby. The two games before that were single goal victories against the sides who are bottom and 3rd bottom and the game before, they lost to the side who currently sit in =7th alongside them. AaB sit proudly at the top of the table, 4 points clear with a game in hand, although they did lose their last game to the side who are 2nd. That match, which they will be keen to bounce back from, ended a run of 8 unbeaten (7 wins) and their top scorer is just one behind the league’s top scorer. It’s worth noting that 25% of AaB’s away matches end 1-2 and 18.18% of Esbjerg’s home matches end 1-2 so if pushed for a scoreline, I’d plump for Esbjerg 1-2 AaB, but for now I’ll just stick to backing AaB to win at 2.15 (Betdaq).
In fact that sounds so good, I’m going to make it my first real bet :)
A-Z roundup:
20:10 Sedgefield
A Bit Chancy @ SP
½ pt e/w
18:00 Esbjerg v AaB
AaB @ 2.15
2 pts
Total: -3.00 pts
“Real” roundup:
18:00 Esbjerg v AaB
AaB @ 2.15
2 pts
Total: -2.00 pts
Sunday 20 April 2008
The Scoop Troop
Hello ladies and gentleman,
Welcome to the blog of the newly formed 'Scoop Troop'. We're a group of guys who met at Dundee Uni through the Poker Society and are starting to part ways with people "graduating" and the like.
We thought it would be a decent idea to start a blog to track our poker playing and sports betting progress as well as general banter. We don't play high stakes, we don't play well, we don't win money but we do have fun.
Bear with us whilst the blog is in its infancy, hopefully everyone gets a chance to introduce themselves in the next few weeks and we can add full profiles and shit.
Should be a good laugh, with a mix of characters and writing styles so hopefully if anyone reads this they will enjoy it.
Thanks,
Scott
Welcome to the blog of the newly formed 'Scoop Troop'. We're a group of guys who met at Dundee Uni through the Poker Society and are starting to part ways with people "graduating" and the like.
We thought it would be a decent idea to start a blog to track our poker playing and sports betting progress as well as general banter. We don't play high stakes, we don't play well, we don't win money but we do have fun.
Bear with us whilst the blog is in its infancy, hopefully everyone gets a chance to introduce themselves in the next few weeks and we can add full profiles and shit.
Should be a good laugh, with a mix of characters and writing styles so hopefully if anyone reads this they will enjoy it.
Thanks,
Scott
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
