Overdue Update

Been a while since iv posted, mainly been really lazy and just been putting it off. Well im home from Brazil a month now and I guess its been a pretty interesting/eventfull month.

Irish Open

Had a pretty soft starting table, bar Juha Helppi two to my left and a young american kid one to his left who seemed decent. So it wasn't too hard to accumulate a stack. Few hands of interest from Day one: 75/150 15k effective stacks. I open Jd8d to 400 from MP2 (I have been opening alot of pots and not done to showdown often) The button, a terribe Italien player flats, which he has done several times thus far, SB folds and the young american thinks a while before making it 1550. I think he had been looking to get in a pot with me/try outplay with me, it was also such a perfect spot to squeeze as the btn's range is any two cards almost. So I elected to 4bizzle him. I make it 3950, btn folds as does the young kid after some time.
Then got involved with Helppi for the first time. Stacks: me 17k Helppi 15k. I open KQs from the hi-jack to 525 at 100/200. He flats on the button. Flop Qd 7h 2h. I fire 825, he quickly calls. The turn is 2c. It goes check check (semi pot control/dont think he calls the turn with worse hands) river 3s, I bet 1700 and he calls after a small pause. I flip KQ and he mucks, he later said he had 1010.
Then got on the right side of a sick cooler which was nice. Three limpers at 150/300 and its on me in the SB, I peek down at AA and make it 1500. The in the BB is an old american man and he is your stereotypical old player, a massive NIT, he has about 10k. He thinks for an eternity and just calls. His call obv scared the table as all the limpers folded. Flop comes an enjoyable Ah Ks 8h. I bet 2400 and he calls without much thought. the turn is the 4s and I decide to just set him in (which in hindsight probably wasnt great as he was such a nit) and he literally took his whole timebank before calling and revealing......take a guess? AK, so sick, he said he nearly folded also.
This got me up to about 30k, hovered around 28-32k untill the last level of the night. Stacks me~31k...Helppi ~40k.....spewy BB~25k. I open J9o from the cut-off to at 300/600 to 1500, Helppi calls as does the BB. We see a flop of 7d9d10s. Helppi donks 2200, the BB quickly calls. I elected to raise to 8400 for a couple of reason: Helppi had donked two hands that went to showdown before, once turning up with top pair and the other showing up with a flopped flush draw. The BB was a complete Spaz and is call is almost always a draw/weak hand and finally from their point of view, me raising two players on such a drawy board and to show massive strength, I also had decent equity if either of them flatted. Anyway, my plan went horribley wrong as Helppi shoved on me and ofc I had to fold. In hindsight I should have just flatted the flop also, or just fold as the hand is gonna be tough to play on later streets multi-way. It seems super weak to just fold so I think flatting has to be the best option. This meant I finished the day on 21k, which I was a little dissapointed with but still meant I would be in fine shape to make run at it for day 2.
Never got anything going on day 2 and the structure really caught up with me. I had a few raises snapped off and also lost a 11k pot Bvb where I shoved on an 8bb stack with K5 from the SB, he had AQ and the board bricked. I then folded for what seemed like an enternity, as I had no hands and a 10-14bb stack. I finally found a spot to get me chips in at 500/1k, folded to me in Mp2 with 11,500 and 99. I shoved and somehow ran into QQ and AA, no 9 and that was that.
Overall I think I played well but perhaps fell victim to fancy play syndrome and times which cost me in the long run. But a fun experience and good to see/meet up with some people from online.

After the Irish Open played very little online but still managed some decent results. Winning two tounries for $12k total , thus prob 4-5k profit since returning home. Its nothing major but nice to be winning. Also managed to win a WSOP main event package on Ipoker which is sweet. Really nice to do it at first time of trying. I pretty much cruised it to be honest, had like 1/2 the chips in play with 12 left and 4 seats so I basically just kept the pressure on without doing anything crazy.

Will report on Manchester GUKPT soon, as it was unsucessfull it may be a while...
Nick

Update (Pretty cool tilte isnt it?)

Soooo, quite a bit to report on. Last week went very well, I had a bit of a sick day on Thursday.......I managed 2nd in the stars $100r for just shy of $11k. Was a bit gutted not to win but to get a result in such a tough tounry was nice (as the stars 100r is re-knowned for being one of the toughest mtts online). I defo ran super hot but also felt I played very well throughout. Then later in the evening I managed to win an Irish Open package which im really excited about. The bubble was horrible, there were two massive stacks, me and this other dude and we were both short and battling it out (obv with 3 packages available). It was pretty tense and we were 4 handed for ages, untill finally this hand went down. 500/1000 level, UTG (one of the big stacks) opens to his standard 3k, the shorty thinks a while and shoves his final 13k in from the button, th SB folds and I see KK, I ship in for 22k, UTG folds and the shorty reveals 22. What a great situation, im a 80/20 favourite for an Irish Open package........We then saw the horror flop of 2 4 5. I felt physically ill as the 8 of spades hit the turn. Two outs one time????? Oneeeeeeeeee timeeeeeeeee, the most beautiful K of diamonds hit the river. It felt great, but what a rollercoaster of a hand to finish.

I just booked my flight back to Dublin today and leave here on the 7th of April. The IO starts on the 10th, so I should have a day or two to relax before it kicks off. Should be a fun wknd as I know alot of people coming to play in it. It would also be really nice to get a result in my countries biggest tounrnament. I just have this image of me final tabling and having all my friends on the rail going mad........would be fun!

2 months into Brazil and Im really looking forward to getting home for a bit. Dont get me wrong Brazil was been amazing and I would defo think about coming back out here again, its a perfect spot to grind: good weather, cheap, amazing living conditions and the guys im living with have been great fun and a very positive influence on my poker ect ect. It will be nice to get home and hang out with some normals though (non poker ppl again).

As far as plans for when I get home and the future..........Will most likely move in with my Mum or Dad when I get back for 5-6 weeks before Vegas and just chill, put in some decent volume and hang out with friends ect (doing something about being FAT should also be on the agenda). I think I will try to arrive in Vegas around the 28th/29th of May, in time for event one basically. The house we are renting is sooo sick, 9 bedroom mansion 5 mins from the strip. Should be unreal. Id imagaine il spend about 4-5 weeks in Vegas, depending on how things go and probably play 4-5 events, again it depends on how nitty I am feeling. There is also a small chance I may be staked into some of the bigger WSOP events. That would be great if it happends but im not holding my breath. After I win a Bracelet this summer :) I think I and a few of the lads are gonna hit up Thailand for 3-4 weeks and basically get drunk every night and hit the beach everyday, sounds pretty perfect to me and take a complete break from poker. Need to get organising all this tbh, im really bad when it comes to stuff like this. Im really excited for the next few month.

I really do consider myself very lucky. I would have never thought a year and a half ago that I would be able to live the life I do now. And its all down to poker. I know im still very early in my career as a poker player but I feel proud of what I have achieved in a short period. Of course there is alot more to achieve and tbh it excites me just thinking about it. I crave getting to the next level and being competitive, this is why I think I have had sucess at this game.

Nick

Soooo closeeeeeee

Yooooooo. Came 24th in the $2.5 million on ipoker last night for $14.5k, there was 500k for the win, so im pretty crushed to be honest. Alot of people would read that and ask, how could you been dissapointed with winning $14,500? Well, because I play to win and really thought I had a great shot at it. The structure in the event was fantastic with a 30 min clock and I really enjoyed it. I think I busted about 10 hours in 3bet/committing by 22bb stack to a hi-jack (Nscuthome....good ipoker reg) raise with 99, he had AA, so gg me. Im never folding in that spot vs him, why couldnt he have 22 one timeee? haha, ah well not to be! At least I know I can compete in these bigger buy events. The big win will come!

As for the rest of the week it went pretty well also, I think I only played on Tuesday and Wednesday night. Tuesday I managed to final table the 50k $100r on ipoker but busted in 4th for $4k running AK into KK, fun cooler when there was 13.5k ftw. Also final tabled the 12.5k, but got in one ridic hand that I never came back from. I was 3/10 I think, mp1 limps (with 20bbsish) I look at AKs in the cut-off and make it 4x (30bb stack) the sb jams for 15bbs and the limper thinks and then re shoves. Hmmmmm, 3-1 and a chance for a gazilllion chips? Yes please sir! I also hold the nuts an ACE and a KING of the same sooooooot. Sb had KK and the Limper had AA. Haha, good times yo. Think I finished 8th or 9th after that slice of fun.

Wednesday........Final tabled the Micro $100 freezeout and busted in 3rd for $650ish, nothing to interesting happend. Also final tabled the 50k $50r on ipoker, came to the final table 2/10 and then the horror show began. Cue horror show......Hand two fo the final table I open AKo utg+1 (with 190kish) at 4k/8k to 19k........folds to the chip leader in he BB who decides to peel a flop. Flop come As7s7d, he checks I fire 24k he smooth calls. The turn is Kc he checks again, I wap out 46k and he shoves on me, I called, ughhhhhhhhh...........can he really have a 7 here? Of course he had K7, FML. 10th place for $875. Also final tabled the 12.5k on ipoker again and busted in 6th for $800ish, was really short and got discoed on he final table and had to leave it, prob worked out for the best as I was on monster tilt from the 50k bustout. All in all a decent couple of days but could have been so much better (story of my life????)

Should really update about non poker stuff going on but Im tired and it feels as if I have been typing for ages. Will save that for the next time.

Untill then
Nick

Weeeeeeeeeeeee......I win monies

Well finally managed to ship a tounry this Sunday. It wasn't quite the sunday million but it will do! Manged to win the stars 20k 20r for $5k and change. Man it feels good to win again.

I started the final table as chip leader with about 480k. The average was about 250k. The start of the final table went awful, no one got knocked out and I continued to double up the shorter stacks. I lost 77 to AQ, AK to 66 and then finally 99 to 88(the guy spiking and 8 on the river, arghhhhhh). I dipped as low as 200k after this series of unfortunate flipaments, but although I felt hard done by I battled on and picked good spots to raise and 3 bet. Then players started to drop, me knocking one out with AJ to his A9 aipf. And before I knew it we were 3 handed. I was without a doubt the most aggressive player left as we got 3 handed and felt it was mine to lose. I got it in blind vs blind with 44 vs A7 and managed to hold and got HU with a slight chip deficit. I quickly turned it around with some aggression and a nice rush or cards. The money finally went in pre flop with me holding A10o and him K9. I made the flush and shipped the win. It is probably the win I am most proud of tbh. I am proud of the fact that after some really rough days I kept at it and remained confident. Sure the $5k is nice but its not the $ that I concerns me to much, its winning and playing to the best of my ability, and I feel like I did this here.

As for the other sunday mtts. I managed a cash for about $400 in the Warmup, I busted check raising all in with air on a dry board and our friend just had a set. gg. Played the Ipoker 250k also and im still unsure about the bustout hand. We were about 2 1/2 hours in, blinds at 150/300 and a 25 ante and this dude shoves for 3300 utg +1 (important note : he had been shoving close to every hand as he had lost a big stack and showed down 93o one of these hands) then Pokergirl1 in the hikack shoves for 8k, i peek down at 1010 and think things through (my stack is 9k btw). Pokergirl is a highstakes cash game player and is very competent. He knows out pal from utg+1 is shoving wide, therefore he must re shove wide. I eventually decided to call but managed to run into Pokergirls AA. Ah well, I knew it was close. Utg+1 had 78o btw! And finally I played the Micro 150k and didn't make it out of the rebuy period because our internet was fucking up. I played a reduced Sunday schedule because of this.

In other news, we moved into our new house in Brazil and its class. Big pool, BBQ outside, maid, chef (who makes me scrambled eggs on toast for brekky), massive tv so I can own the other mugs here at PES. In general its just a pretty sweet cribnest.

Plans for the next week or so? Mmmmmm, will probably play some online, which will include trying to sat into some of stars SCOOP tounrneys, some of them look so ill. Be nice to run good one time in one of these babys. www.pokerstars.com/scoop

Apart from that not much goin on here, missing alot of my friends and family at home. But when you have your own chef and the sun shines everyday its hard to think about going back to Ireland

Later

Nick

22 Years old.............downswing continues

Well, poker is still not going my way despite still being pleased with how i am playing. It hard to not to get down about it tbh. This sunday went pretty standardly, in that I continued to run poor. I really dont want the poker aspect of my blog to turn into me complaining about bad beats all the time, as I rarely do complain, but at the moment, it is taking the piss slightly.

Sundays report

Sunday Warmup

Lost half my stack early blind v blind flopping top pair and calling down, should have folded the turn in hindsight. Not to worry, managed to rebuild and get it with 1010 vs 88 and double. Got my stack to about 17k at 400/800, when an aggressive player opened from the cut-off, i found AQs in the sb and shoved, pretty standard that the aggro player has AA there. gg and a fantastic start to a day of pokers.

Ipoker 250k

50/100 level, iv not really played a hand, have about 4.5k. Mp1 opens for 300, Mp2 calls, as does the button, im in the sb with Qc10c and also make the call. Flop comes down a fantastic

3s 9c Jc. Just an open ended straight flush draw. I check, as does the original raiser and then Mp2 fires out 3/4 pot, I have no option here but to shove, I do , he has AA, i brick, gg.

Ipoker 30k

Meh, this is really becoming a list of bad beats about how i bad i run, blah blah. 8k stack 300/600 level, get it aipf with QQ vs 88, you know the rest.

Ipoker 20k

400/800. I have been really cardead. Only have 9.5k and we are nearing the money. The table is very aggressive and there are quite a few short stack to act behind me, so I elect to limp utg+1 with QQ, i would rarely do this. Mp1 insta ships it in for 8.5kish and it seems my crafty plan has worked. I call and he shows KJs. Flop come a nice Q 9 3, tuns a 4, rivers a 10 and i nearly smashed the chair I was sitting on. Ugh

Sunday Millllllllllllllion

Not totally sure if i have the details fom this one right, but its close. I had a biggish stack and lost a flip with JJ vs AK. Was still fine tho. Nitted it up for a long period as my stack size didnt allow me to do alot. Then at 400/800 (some ante), I find AKo utg+1 with a stack of 12.5kish. I make it 2k to go, folds to the Bb who raises to 6400, im obv never folding here, I move in, he calls with 1010 and I miss. Youd swear I was making shit up.

Micro 150k

Managed a deep run in this and really enjoyed it up untill the bust out of course. With 1400 runners I would need alot of luck to win it I ran well throughout the tounry. Flipping well and also beating KK with JJ aipf. With about 30 left I was short, abou 8bbs and shoved utg with AQs, I ran into 1010 and managed to win to put me in good shape. I was feeling super confident. I went super cardead and again, my stack wasnt one in which I could freely raise alot of hands and play the style I play the best. I ended up busting in 19th, it folded to me in cut-off, i found Ah4h with just under 10bbs and jammed. The bb was very short (therefore I like this play more). The sb looked me up with A10 and that was that. Cant complain too much abut this one, not alot I could do. 40k for the win would have been nice though!

I also played the stars 125k but have no idea how I busted:)

Enough of that boring poker crap..............Friday was my 22nd birthday, thats ollllllllld. Anyway, had a steak for lunch on the beach along with a few colds ones. Then chilled at home for a bit, spoke to my parents sisters ect on Skype which waas cool. Then the night began! We headed to this restaurant called Lo, which is michelin star (or equivelent). It was class, even if I and CJ were under dressed. I had grilled paprika prawns for a starter which were awesome and rack of lamb with some sort of ravioli for a main. It was extremely flavoursome and rich in taste but I throughly enjoyed. I washed it all down with many a beer and the always refreshing mojhito.

After dinner we headed to a local bar. It was festival time so it was packed, all locals also. Brazilian tunes banging and everyone dancing. It was pretty cool, managed to meet few very friendly ppl and get a guys phone number who was gonna hook us up for an underground poker club in Fortaleza, sweeeet. Obviously I would have preffered to get a girls number on a night out:)

After a couple hours in the bar we hit the big club we had been to the previous week. The music was awesome and we managed to meet a nice group of girls and have a fun time. When the club closed it was bright.......what to do now? Have a morning swim of course, so we all headed to the beach for a dip, was fairly locked still loved it. Think we decided about 7am it was time to head back to Cumbuco. We jumped in a taxi and were home safe by 7.45. Really fun night.

Today is Wednesday and we move into our new house tommrrow which should be cool, Gavin also arrives tommmrrow. As far as poker I just have to keep at it and not get too down. It`l turn around, I know it will!

A final note.............Managed to find a bar which shows English football..........weeeeeeeee. Great win for the pool tonight!

Laters

Weekend away and fuck off pokerrrrrrrrrrrrrr

After a few rough days at the office myself and the lads decided to take a little holiday. We headed to the nearest city, Fortaleza for the weekend. James (captain organiser) booked us a nice 4 star hotel on the beach front.

Friday night and we headed out for a night on the lash. Well, it was a night like no other I tells ya. We ended up in this mad area with about 5-6 bars with more hookers than iv ever seen in my life. For example, one of the bars, Cafe Del Mar, had perhaps 300 odd hookers, and some of them were the most amazing looking women/girls I had ever seen. Not many guys about either (few fat and bald scando's, but we were defo the youngest). We had a few drinks in a few of these bars, but that was all we did, paying for sex wasn't, or never will be on my agenda. It was a sureal place its gotta be said.

We then headed off to a nightclub, qued for 20 mins only to be told we couldnt wear flip-flops, fml. Back to the hotel for a quick footwear change and we were in business. It was a really cool club with so many different areas. We had a few drinks in the courtyard area and then met a couple of Brazilains girls (one of whom spoke english) and hit the dance part of the club for some leg shaking (dancing you mugs). Music was pretty cool, mix of trance and electro. Pity the girls Craig and I were dancing with couldnt speak English........severaly hinders ones pulling power. Still all in all good clean fun. Headed back to the hotel about 6am and decided it was time for a dip in the sea. The sun had just come up and it was awesome. Swam/chilled on the beach for a while (pretty ballbagged it must be said) and then hit hotel breakfast at 7am. I have no doubt we made a scene at breakfast, im pretty sure I overused the word 'Fuck' for what should have been family breakfast time, ah well, they prob didnt speak English:)

We chilled out the night after as we were all in bits (but mainly Craig because he cant hack the pace). A 30 min taxi ride home , which included bribing the police as we had no passports on us, this country is so corrupt its sick. I can only imgaine what would happen if I tried to bribe the police at home. lol. Anyway, we got home about 2.30pm on a sunday and I had big hopes for pokers, mainly the FTOPS main event.

I pretty much airballed everything. I started the day off by playing well, in the Warm up and the first of the FTOPS, got it in with KK vs AA in the wamup, flop 455, turn K (weeeeeeeee) river A(fml). Obv never folding only had like 18bbs, would have been nice to double in that spot though. Onto the FTOPS $120 K.O. Built my stack up nicely from 5k to about 22k within the first 3 1/2 hours. With about 1900 left from 9000 I got into a stickyish spot. I opened at 250/500 50ante, to 1250 from the cut-off with A10s. I had been super aggro but hadnt shown down any bad hands. The sb, who had 3-bet me previouly and I folded 77 decided to 3-bet me again, to 3850. He was a competent player and obv realised I was opening light, so he would defo be 3-betting light. I mulled things over and decided it was a pretty good spot to 4-bet (committing myself). I made it 13,800 with the intention of not folding. He used all his timebank and eventually moved in for 19k total (ugh).......I ofc called and he flipped AQo and I bricked, gg sir. Reviewing the hand, I don't think I would play it differently, I cant let myself be run over (as he had 3 bet me before) and I thought given the action he would need a pretty big hand to call. His call versus my range here isn't fantastic, I had no intention of gettin 40bbs in pre with A10, ha, but I did.

Next was my first spin at the laddies 150k 60r. I played well for the first two hours and managed to get my stack to about 9k. RedShark (very good, but insanely aggro scando) Opended from mid position at 150/300 to 750. I saw 88 on the button and elected to just call , I mean perhaps I should 3 bet here, but I felt with 30bbs I didnt need to be getting it in with just two 8s. Moving to the flop and it came a nice 8JQ. He bet out for 1200. I raised to 3400, he sets me in and I call, he shows JJ, gg. Not alot I can do there imo.

The Ipoker 250k. Meh played this very badly. Made a bad/stooopid bluff early on and my stack went from 5k to 3200 when my bustout hand came. 75/150, dude opens utg+1 to 450(no reads), Tomgus456 (very good player)with 6k, flats in mp1. Im on the button with JJ and elect to shove. I have Tomgus range crushed here, and there is alot of $ in the pot. Anyway the opener had AA, so gg me. I dunno, I dont think I can fold JJ here with my stack size and I am not deep enough to flat as my hand will not play to well 3-ways. But tbh, I was a little annoyed at myself about this, as the dude who raised from utg+1 had been tight and was always gonna have a tight range from that position this early. Still unsure as to what I should have done as I hate being results orientated.

Sunday Millionnnnnnnnnn. Again managed to build a nice stack in this. 13,000 runers ha. Cant remember the exact details but, I think there was about 3000 ppl left, i had 35k i believe and raised from mid-pos with 33. The sb flats and we saw a 732 flop, he check called my flop bet, turn J, he check raised all in, I cant call fast enough and he has 77, coolered or what? gg

Ftops main event. Was sooo tilted from the other mtts by the time I got to this. Don't think I won a pot, blinded away until i squeezzed wtih 88 or some crap and lost a race to AQ. Rounded out a pretty awful Sunday, as even all the smaller mtts I played went awful.

Since Sunday I have played for the last two days and man its gone awful. Im not gonna bore you or myself with the bad beat stories, but seriously, I cant run worse. And im defo playing well as I have critiqued many of my hands with good players (as when things dont go well for me I feel the need to do this as I 2nd guess myself). I dunno what to do tbh, it is really tilting me as I as soooo competitive and hate to lose. It really affects me in life also. It gets me down bigtime. And people will wonder how I can feel down when im in Brazil living the life people dream about? I dunno, not winning at poker is alien to me. I'v have downswings and bad runs, of course I have, but never when I am playing as well as I am now. I guess il take a few days off, hit the beach and chill out, might even not play till Sunday, who knows.

Run better

Nick

Ummmmmmmmm

Couldn't think of a blog title, perhaps because it is 4am, ah well, i feel like writing so i will! Last few days been very frustrating poker wise. Got deep in several big tounries but couldnt deliver the big score.......why? Well its a combination of getting ul a few times and then making spewy/bad shoves preflop at times. Iv had some time to think/talk about my play with others and come to the conclusion that I am shoving and re stealing too wide ,its fine to do it versus aggro opponents in late position, as it will show profit but I have been doin it vs villians who have been nitty/tight at times. Im glad iv realised this now, because it could have went on alot longer and I was getting extremely frustrated with coming so close and blowing it.

Here are some of my results from the last week

12.5k Ipoker = 1st for 3.4k
Laddies 15k 50r = 4th and 8th I believe coming to about 2.5k
Stars 12k $55 6max = 1st for 2.4k
Tilt 75k $109 = 31st $400
Stars $50r = 11th $550 (FML)
Ipoker $50r = 11th $609 (FML)
Ipoker 12.5k = 11th $150......see a pattern?
Stars 70k $55 = 95th? $150
Ipoker 150k $109r = 80th for $375

Thats all I can think of from the time being, there were a few more but its 4am. Played a load of the FTOPS also, they are going horrif, ran pretty poorly in the 4/6 iv played and then played/shoved badly in the other two. In general though, I just cant seem to win on FTP, im sure itl happen soon though as I am now beating stars easily enough. Feel a big win is around the corner to be honest, just needed to tighten a few screws here and there. Dont get me wrong im still gonna play loose aggressive, but just tone it down a bit and pay more attention to other players.

Also trying to sort out house for Vegas for the summer. Found one thats pretty sweet, 9 bed, lol. Be sweet tho. Really excited for Vegas it has to be said, playing live almost every day will be saaaweeeeeeeeeeeet. Run deep in the main event one time please!

As far as life in Brazil goes, its still pretty sweet. Weather is flawless, food is a bit hit and miss at times though. Went for a burger today and it looked like a dead rat in the bun, I obv ate it but it was totally in bits. Talking to Paul-1 here on msn, the sicko is up at 7am playing a 20r! Top lad tho, learnt alot from him and love talking poker strategy with him. Im really rambling here, should probs get some sleep. Wonder should I play tommrrow or take a day off????

Nick