Breakthrough

Man needs difficulties; they are necessary for health - Carl Jung

Well, somehow I managed to break the 30k barrier on FTP, and for the first time ever I think I am now a winning player on that site according to tableratings.com! Don't really know why the sudden change in fortune, but I'm not complaining by any means. Thinking about it, I haven't been playing as aggressively as I have in the past, and I think after playing so much deep-stack NLHE on UB my game is now much more conservative. Consequently my range when putting money in after the flop is now much more skewed towards monster than marginal hands, and I think this may be why the money is coming in.

On UB though my results haven't been quite so good, and I still occasionally find myself misplaying hands for 200BB+ which is really frustrating for this so-called pro. It's always against the super laggy or donkey players as well, as I fail to adjust correctly to their particular style and betting patterns. Post-game analysis continues though, and I believe my game is improving as the year goes on.

I've been dabbling in the UB Steps SnG tables, with some good initial results running a step 2 seat into a step 6 seat, which unfortunately I couldn't hold on to when I finished 7th. I plan to continue playing in them however, as aside from the chance to win a WSOP main event package they also keep my brain ticking over as it learns this new type of game. It certainly makes a change having to fold hands I'd usually happily go all the way with in a cash game. The players in general are pretty bad, especially at the lower levels, so that needs to be accounted for also. Will let you know if I get any further than Step 6.

In non-poker news, I went on my second snowboarding holiday in Italy's Claviere 2 weeks ago, and it was incredible! We spent a whole week there and managed to get in about 6-7 hours of boarding each day, and I was really pleased with my progress not to mention how much fun I had speeding down the slopes! My girlfriend, her 2 sisters, and their other (better?) halves were all their too, and we all had a great time exploring the slopes en masse or in twos and threes and all of us are keen to go again. I'm planning on investigating another trip this time in a chalet next season, and will be extending the offer to some of my other snow-inclined friends to join in.

That's for after what will hopefully be a long hot summer, and I'll need to put in plenty of hours to comfortably afford it - with the pound being so weak at the moment the food cost us a small fortune! Anyway, all the best at the tables and in the real world, will leave you with a very special player....

Full Tilt Poker - $1/$2 - No Limit Hold'em

Seat 1: BMoney76 ($203)
Seat 2: Subzero_666 ($330.60)
Seat 4: jangggo ($194)
Seat 5: cwalk2k3 ($221.35)
Seat 6: Flashish ($200)
jangggo posts the small blind of $1
cwalk2k3 posts the big blind of $2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Subzero_666 [Kc Ac]
Flashish folds
BMoney76 raises to $4
Subzero_666 raises to $15
jangggo folds
cwalk2k3 folds
BMoney76 calls $11
*** FLOP *** [6c 3c Qh]
BMoney76 bets $188, and is all in
Subzero_666 calls $188 - never called so fast in my life!
BMoney76 shows [Ts 7h] - errrr.....?
Subzero_666 shows [Kc Ac]
*** TURN *** [6c 3c Qh] [Qs]
*** RIVER *** [6c 3c Qh Qs] [Ad]
BMoney76 shows a pair of Queens
Subzero_666 shows two pair, Aces and Queens
Subzero_666 wins the pot ($406) with two pair, Aces and Queens
BMoney76 is sitting out
*** SUMMARY ***
Seat 1: BMoney76 showed [Ts 7h] and lost with a pair of Queens - lol!

Champion Characteristics: 1)Min raising T7o 2)Calling a 3 bet with T7o out of position 3) Pushing allin with no hand no draw. Bravo.