"..where she stops nobody knows"

Hi, back again with another post.

BR has climbed MASSIVELY this week to $753.13 .......... That's all of $1.91 up on last week Much better than the recent loses thankfully and it only took 5713 hands too!
That's back to 1/2 way to my eventual target of $1,500, just $741.87 to go!

A hand I thought interesting this week.

The play throughout is standard until the river. I raise pre and villain in the BB defends. His range here seems to be capped with no 3 bet so I am likely ahead of a smaller pair or an Ax.

We get a paired flop and I have the overpair, villain checks and I bet 1/3 pot and he calls. No real reads on villain here, it may even have been his first hand at the table. I see his call as standard not really giving me much information, AJ hits (I hope anyway) and pairs above 66 will probably call to see if I bet turn.

Turn seems a blank although TT makes a set, he checks and I bet 2/3 pot this time and he calls.

River puts 3 to an unlikely straight on the board (KQ or 78? unlikely!). He checks again and I decide to bet 1/2 pot ..... then I change my mind and go for 2/3 pot ... I again change my mind, couldn't really say why but something was nagging at me so instead I check behind.

Was I supposed to bet here, and if so how much?

GG Poker - $0.10 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 5 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BB: 100 BB
Hero (UTG): 202.6 BB
CO: 144.6 BB
BTN: 195.6 BB
SB: 43.4 BB

SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.5 BB) Hero has Q:diamond: Q:spade:

Hero raises to 2.5 BB, fold, fold, fold, BB calls 1.5 BB

Flop: (5.5 BB, 2 players) 6:spade: J:spade: 6:heart:
BB checks, Hero bets 1.9 BB, BB calls 1.9 BB

Turn: (9.3 BB, 2 players) T:club:
BB checks, Hero bets 6.2 BB, BB calls 6.2 BB

River: (21.7 BB, 2 players) 9:club:
BB checks, Hero checks

Thoughts always welcome, particularly before you look at the spoiler.

Thanks

Fagin

Here I go again with another update -

BR last week $753.13

BR this week $902.28

A huge profit of $149 this week. Can't say I've been running massively well, lost AA vs QQ and QQ vs AK but have been winning most of the time when I have gotten it in good. Was looking at it over the last few days thinking of cashing in my rakeback to get me over the $900 as my BR's not been this high since I started the blog but resisted and still have just over $40 to collect at some point. Likely to leave it until its over $50 which will take another 2 weeks as I'm getting about $5-6 per week at the moment.

A conversation with a friend (non poker player) got me thinking. She said that I seemed to be addicted, playing 2 - 4 hours per day, watching poker vlogs (been following Brad Owen since about episode 35), reading articles, watching hands and clips on You-tube etc. So been thinking about my reasons for playing and thought I'd put them in here
1) To earn some cash - not thinking huge sums but just happy to keep growing my BR for now - perhaps thinking of having a way of earning some pocket money when I eventually retire!
2) To keep my brain active - I'm over 60 now and keeping my brain active is very important. I do sudokus also and enjoy puzzles and computer games which all help. Poker is more "real time" though and the money gives it some meaning!
3) I enjoy the game and it's challenges - important as if I didn't enjoy it it would be a chore and I've got enough of those already lol
4) It helps me to feel at least a small connection with a word wide community who all have at least 1 common interest.

Not aware of any particularly interesting hands this week but will look out for one for next week.

I'm almost certainly going to lose my Gold status next month due to taking a week off earlier this month but no worries.

Take care all

Fagin.

It sounds like you've had quite the journey in poker, from building up your bankroll on 888 to navigating different sites and games. GGPoker seems like it's treating you well with those missions and spins.

Hi marcunek, thanks for dropping by.

I suppose it has been a bit of a journey over the years and not nearly finished yet I hope. GG seems reasonable, I ultimately got nothing from the missions themselves but the chase to achieve them was interesting.

I do like the spins, they are relatively easy to play, just have to get lucky now and then. It's all about managing a short stack and I have a ton of experience of doing that live. I have been told by friends in the past that I am dangerous to play against when I have a short stack lol. When comparing my stats in them against some of those in the top 100 I find that I compare quite well as regards "top finish, middle finish and bottom finish" percentages. I will probably set aside another day to just play them soon. You have to be prepared for the repeated suck-outs against you but they seem to even out over time.

I did like the old format for the "Battle Royale" tourneys but I don't enjoy the "Mystery" version so don't play them, not even with the "daily freebie" tickets.

Cheers

Fagin

Sunday evening update time again. Strange week this, I started out playing NL10 cash and over 739 hands I managed to drop over $60. Couldn't win at showdown because they always beat my kicker by 1 pip or rivered the best hand after calling 2/3 pot bets on Flop and Turn and all my bluff attempts were getting raised or shoved on

Gave that up for a lost cause and switched to spins (although the bad beats are even worse there). I played 463 x $1 Spins and finished ITM in 169. According to PT4 I made $69 profit but that's not reflected in my balance for some reason.:f_frown:

No particularly interesting hands that I can remember, playing 4 spins at a time it's often a case of shove 4bb on 1 table, fold another, fold another shove 2.5 bb on another and oh, I have 9bb on the first one and I'm HU, I must have won that shove whatever it was that I had, ok fold, next table is a shove etc... Repeat for 45 mins then play out the last 2 or 3 and have a break.

Take care all

Fagin

Hi all,

apologies for missing the planned update on Sunday, I was admitted to hospital during the week and had some, arguably more important, things on my mind.

Back home now and hopefully on the mend so should update as normal on Sunday.

Take care

Fagin

Hi all, back with the usual Sunday update.

Poker first - not played a lot due to the hospital admission but managed to post a small profit of just over $6 for the last 2 weeks so that's positive at least lol. Had a few losing sessions prior to the enforced break and a few better ones since. No particularly interesting hands, got a big win of $27 in one hand this evening with KK vs JJ which was nice and pushed me back into the positive after losing with AA vs KK yesterday. Nothing special just standard AIPF stuff.

Ok, on to the hospital ....... The injury I got 3 months ago has still not healed, actually gotten worse, foot still too swollen for me to get a shoe on :f_frown:, so my GP referred me to the Surgical Decision Unit at a local hospital. A dozen X-rays and an ultra sound scan later they said they were admitting me there and then and would operate the next morning!

Turns out I had a 10cm x 3cm x 3cm cavity in my leg that was full of infection that 4 courses of oral antibiotics had not reached. Got operated on and now have an empty cavity that is getting redressed twice a week at home. I was in for 5 nights due to needing IV antibiotics but am home now and hopefully on the mend.

Not been at work for 3 months and missing the crew I work with and the summer is one of the best times at my job so missing out on that too.

It sounds nice to be at home for 3 months but not being able to do many of the things that I would normally do is frustrating. My garden looks like a jungle, my dog has put on 3Kg from not getting her normal walks, (I've put on 6Kg myself), and I'm still not able to drive again (physically I could manage it but if some idiot was to hit my car then I doubt my insurance would cover me due to my leg injury).

Unlikely to regain my gold status due to the hospital admission but no worries, I'll get it back next month. The Drs tell me it could be another 3 months before I get back to work again so I expect I'll be putting in a few hands daily for a while lol.

That's enough rambling for now

Take care all

Fagin

Nice Blog Fagin keep strong, you have good reasons to play and this is so important

Hopefully the operation was a succes this time. Good luck with the recovery.

Cheers for the support folks.

All looking good so far with my leg, no signs of any further infection so should heal nicely, albeit slowly.

As for having good reasons to play .. I doubt I could play virtually every day without having good reasons and on top of that of course I enjoy playing poker. Having good reasons makes it easier to cope with the downswings and also makes the upswings even more enjoyable in my opinion.

Heard the other day of a regular live game about 25 mins drive from me so hopefully I might get to look that one up sometime soon.

Take care all

Fagin

Hi all, back again with another update.

Not great news on the poker front, reporting a loss of $30.72 this week. From a starting BR of only $200 I am still up with a current BR of $836 so can't really complain too much. No real big hands mainly betting a load of big draws that missed and having my pairs and sets getting outdrawn by villain on the river. Just poker!

Not many hands this week, only 1,567 as I have not really been feeling it. Been a case of log on and play for 25 mins or so and having dropped $5 or $10 from not being able to hit anything I've logged off and just left it. Did this a few times and then just not played for a few days.

I think its partly down to the reality of facing not being able to get back to work for another 3 months getting me down a bit. This might seem strange to some, particularly those who are younger but I really enjoy my job. I work outdoors all day, I have little oversight and most of my work is self-directed. There are only 4 of us there and we all get on very well and are all there for the love of the place and the work. Summer is the best time there being outdoors in good weather and I'm going to miss all the best that the job has to offer this year :f_frown::f_cry:

Woe is me and all that. I'll hopefully get over it in a few days and will be back to the tables with a vengeance

Hope you all are doing a little better than I am managing.

Take care

Fagin

Time for another update ... Not played this week as I decided I needed some time off poker to leave me free to sort some other things out. There is currently some debate as to whether I will have a job to go back to when my leg heals as the business is struggling but that will just be a wait and see from my point.

On the plus side I now have a new PC :f_drink::f_drink:

When playing Spins I was finding that I would see the "spin" and then the table immediately open with me on the Button or in the blinds and it being my turn and my timer almost out! I would at times have to click the bet button 3 or more times to make a bet and the cursor would jump across the screen making it difficult to do much at all. Lag, lag and more lag. I now have an up to date PC (previous one was over 10 years old!!) with larger screen and new keyboard and mouse and so far all seems well.

Looking forward to getting back to Poker next week.

Take care all

Fagin

So back with another Sunday update ... ''a day late and a dollar short'' to quote Martin Brundle.

Been frustrating to say the least over the last week. Down to $781.68 which is not good. Most of the losses are due to 4 hands, all involving QQ. In the first 3 I got it in with QQ and lost all 3. That was against AQos, AKos and 22 (he rivered a set), they lost me approx $27. That all happened in about 10 mins playing 4 tables so I left shortly after due to not feeling that I was in the best frame of mind to continue. The next day I got it in with AA vs QQ and he flopped quads losing me another $15 or so.

Just not been happening for me on the tables. It seems that to win a hand I have to bluff as If I let them see a R they will win

The new PC is working out great, bigger screen so easier to see everything and NO LAG!!!

The District Nurses who are dressing the wound on my leg confirmed that I'm not likely to be back to work before the end of September which has not done a lot for my state of mind. Starting to get a little stir crazy now but hanging in there just about. At least I can walk my dog which helps, gets me out and about for a couple of hours a day.

Should be back to update on Sunday.

Cheers

Fagin

Hi all, back again with another update. A significant change this week as I finally made a profit :f_drink:. Only $3.64 but at least its a profit!

Not played much, only 2297 hands as not really been feeling it after the last few dire weeks. In my head I have a count of my getting it AIPF 13 times, 11 of them with the best hand, 1 with the worst and once with a 50/50. I won only one of those 13 even managing to lose the 50/50 to a flush. It's runs like this that get me down. I know I'm making some good decisions but I'm not seeing any benefit from that. I know we play a game that I can play perfectly and still lose but it still gets to me after a while. Just a matter of getting a few wins under my belt and that will help.

Had a hand this evening, can't post it as not yet got PT4 on my new PC but I had 99 and raised in EP. Villain calls in MP and we see a flop HU. Flop comes something like 3710r and I check, MP bets 1/3 pot and I call. T brings a K and we go check, check. R is an off suit 2 and I bet 2/3 pot. Villain thinks for ages and calls with 88, I was looking for the fold but considering what he had I'll take the call lol.

Have fun all, catch up next week.

Fagin

Well, another quiet week as far as number of hands played, only 1,806. Not really been feeling it and when I have played I've done very badly. Mostly due to poor decisions on my part but some bad luck too. The only AI hand really was with AQ. Got it in on the river confident that I was ahead and was called by AQ for an expensive split pot. The end result is a $47 loss from last week so down to only $734 now!

Not sure if this downswing is due to me not feeling it and thus playing poorly or if I'm playing poorly due to the downswing and that's why I'm not feeling it. Doesn't help that I found out early this week that when my leg eventually heals enough for me to go back to work, (I've been off since the 10th April and it's getting frustrating now), there may not be a job for me to go back to. At my age finding another job will be tricky to say the least, it took me nearly 3 months to find the one I have now and that was 7 years ago.

On the plus side the district nurse is happy with how my leg is healing and she says that very soon they will stop having to pack it out as the internal cavity is nearly healed! Yippieee

Still not managed to get PT4 moved over to this PC. I've hooked the old one and the new one up to each other but the new one didn't recognise the old one for some reason. Couldn't see anything at all, most strange.

That's about enough from me for now.

Catch you folks next week

Fagin

Hello Fagin,
I wish you a speedy recovery and a successful return to work. A person who works will always have a job. Good luck with the poker.
Hope the downswing goes away. If you can play your best game and ignore the downswing. You will feel better and satisfied. Good luck Fagin!

Cheers AlmightyTT, I appreciate the good wishes. Playing my best is the aim, just finding that getting dealt premium hands I'm starting to think 'how much is it going to cost me this time' instead of 'how much can I make here'. That mindset puts me on the defensive and I find myself playing more passively. I then notice this and get determined to counter it and end up playing too aggressive in the wrong spots. Sometimes I can even see it at the time but act in resignation, knowing I am beat because he just caught his 2 outer on the river having called me all the way with bottom pair dodgy kicker, vs my over pair, but I still call 'just to make sure'.

Changing that mindset has to be a priority, just need to figure out how to sort that. I've been here before and turned it around but somehow that doesn't make it any easier this time lol.

Going into work on Tuesday and will hopefully get some answers then but as I can't drive yet even looking for another job will be difficult (I live in a fairly rural area).

Take care

Fagin

Back again on another Sunday evening reporting another loss, just $7 this time so nothing major. I only played 1500 hands this week. Most of the play was reasonable getting me up by about $20 early in the week but hit a few bad spots on Fri and Sat and finished the week with a loss.

I felt I was playing better this week, making some good decisions on flop and turn, mostly raising instead of calling. It means settling for picking up a small pot rather than seeing one of my opponents outs hit the river and losing a bigger pot. It has been frustrating a few times when I'm in a multi way pot having hit one of those elusive sets and I bet the flop or turn just to see everyone fold and I get the minimum but its better than losing the max as seems to happen when I let them see a river.

No real news work wise, the owner is looking to sell up but whether that ends up being the business getting sold or just the land remains to be seen. If its the former then probably all good, if the latter then definitely all bad.

Have fun out there

Fagin

Hi, back again with another Sunday evening update.

BR is down again this week with an $11 loss, just missing draws and having opponents keep calling without the correct odds and hitting the river for their two or three outer. Was down to $696 yesterday and then had a run of good hands that pulled in some cash this morning. Cracked KK with AKs, hit 3 sets and got paid with one of them and managed to get a call from 2 pair on the river when I had a str8, all in about 15 minutes or so. Would have continued but had a visitor drop by that took me away from the tables and then by the time they left I had to get on with other stuff.

Have started applying for other jobs. My boss called last Monday and said that I would be going down to 3 days a week instead of 5. 3 days is not going to earn me enough to pay the bills so got to look elsewhere.

Have fun out there

Cheers

Fagin

Hi all,

apologies for missing my usual Sunday evening update, I had a phone call Sunday afternoon to let me know that my boss had passed away. Between contacting people to let them know the bad news and trying to figure out what happens now poker sort of took a back seat.

Poker wise dropped a few more $s and finished up with $708. Nothing special that I can remember although the weeks hands sort of lost meaning in the grand scheme of things. Back to playing today so we'll see how things go this week.

Work wise everything is just on hold. I'm not even sure if I even still have a job, if I'll get paid or if I should even be there. It's all kind of complicated at the moment. I'll update on all that when I can although I am looking around to see if there is anything else locally. Had 1 interview which seemed promising so you never know!

Take care all

Fagin