Trip report (and feb goals/january summary)

So anyway, i made my way over to Huddersfield train station, got my ticket and looked forward to a nice 2.5 hour journey all the way to nottingham. I wish things would go as planned one time, but no. They didn't.

First the train from Hudds to sheffield had to stop one stop early @ meadow hall, then the next train from meadow hall to sheffield was delayed, causing me to miss my desired train to nottingham and having to wait 45 mins inside sheffield train station for the next one to arrive. And when it did, that got delayed too. I quite clearly run bad @ life.

Anyway, after sorting out with the guys from FTR just to meet up @ the DTD instead of a few pubs first because i was running late, i arrived in nottingham and found myself a taxi and got a quick journey over to the DTD, looks pretty impressive from the outside. Wandered inside in my shirt+shiny shoes, registered and dropped my stuff off then into the poker room i went. And what a poker room it is! Definatly recommend all you poker degenerates out there to check it out for yourself. After entering the place, i got a cool tour of the place which was very useful (big props to the guy who gave me it) and then headed over to reggy for the £50+5 donkament.

Anyway, after regging, i wandered over to the bar area and found the rest of the degenerates (minus jim, who turned up a bit later) and introduced myself and made random small talk, online poker is rigged, my AA lost to KK etc etc ldo and joined in on the £10 last longer bet in the tourney.

When the donkament finally started i realised 130 or so had regged and i looked up @ the cash game area and wished i had just played there instead :\ Structure wasn't bad with 4k chips and 24 min blinds, ante's introduced @ 100/200.

So i take my seat, and come out with the usual humour that makes fish laugh before the floorguy annouced shuffle up and deal. I fold the first hand blind, because if not i always feel the need to play it + spew off 25% of my stack. Nothing really happened for a while expect i stole a few blinds and c betted down a few pots, bringing my stack to around 4500. The first interesting hand came up where some crazy guy that was playing 50% of his hands opened in MP and i called with T9s OTB, both blinds folded. Flop was 82J with 2 diamonds (i had spades obv), he fires 2/3 and i quickly call either to catch my straight or to rep a diamond if it hits. Turn is a blank and the action quickly goes check check. River is a diamond, he checks and i bet around 40% of the pot, he says something like "you made your flush huh, i fold" and shows a J. I smile and shiptehpot :) Shortly afterwards, my table breaks and i move a few tables to the left.

The new table seems quiet and a lot more serious, which sucks because i can't stop talking so i just talk to myself instead. I don't really play a hand until the 75/150 level where i look down @ 74s in the BB and UTG min raises, quickly followed by 2 calls. I call and check the flop blind, which to my delight comes down 5s 6s Ah, :D
Utg leads for 75% of the pot, next guy calls, CO folds and i decide to flat call (would have re popped it for sure in a HU pot) turn brings my flush, i check, UTG leads, gets a call and i move in. Utg quickly mucks, next guy tanks, convinces himself he's comitted and calls with A10 for the NFD with TP. I have the OESFD still so hes drawing to 5 outs and bricks and i scoop a nice pot bringing my stack to 12k or so.

From then on i go into my usual mode and start running over the nitty table with my std 2.5BB raises. A fun hand popped up where i raised J5os from the CO and the BB called. Flop JXX he check calls my Cbet. turn is a duece, we both see a river, which comes down a 5. He fires 2/3, i think about shoving but decide just to call and he complains to the table that i raise junk etc etc but win anyway. After this hand, people started playing back @ me, i think i got 3 bet pretty much every time i opened so obv had to go back into nitty mode until the 1st break.

I wander over to see how the rest of the guys are doing and fully expect to be way ahead of them and on my way to winning the last longer bet with my 17k stack. But no, they ALL have 10k+.. which i'd be really pleased about, but i want to win this bet! :P Oh and also, we try to post an updated on FTR, but apparently poker forums are classed as pornography, so that's a nogo.

Anyway, as soon as we go back, table breaks and i get moved yet again to a table with a cute looking girl and a load of guys desperatly trying to flirt with her. So i did the only thing someone of my class would do. I busted her :)

I then proceed to donate some chips by aimlessly bluffing 3 streets vs a guy i was sure had less than TP, and he did.. but called anyway obv.

I bust a guy when he shoves T8s MP, and i isoshove with AKs. Stack is still about 17k, and jonny is the first from the ftr lot to bust from the tourney and make his way to the cash tables. I play for about half an hour at my current table but get moved AGAINN, and get seated with some old guys with short stacks to my left and a young guy with a big stack to my right, perfect. One guy 2 seats to my left would open 5BB's with hands like 22 or AJ but only 2-3BB's with AA/KK so naturally every time he raised 5BB's, i moved in and picked up some dead money. Blinds hit 300/600/50 and i have a stack of about 30k, well over 20M so i'm pretty pleased with myself, seen as tho i suck @ tourneys. The only interesting hand on this table was when i raised 78os from the HJ and the BB called. The flop was 69T, he checks, i fire 2/5 of the pot, he shoves i call and again i get the familiar sound of "he raised with 78os, wtf etc etc). Stack is almost 40k. Blinds goto 400/800/50 and i get moved again, but we are down to 27 from the original 130, Mark + Rob have both busted, leaving only me and ian in contention for the bet.

My new table has a huge chip leader with a stack of around 85,000. I fail to get anything going at this table and just fold until we hit the final 18, then shove my 30k stack a few times @ the 800/1600 level and pick up blinds + ante's, until we finally have 14 players left.. 13 paid.. the fun bit! .... It didn't last long, some super nit decided to CRAI with JJ on an AXX board vs a guy who couldn't fold with AJ, bad move. GG. We get moneys.

I don't win a single pot until Ian busts out in 11th place (yey i win the bet), shortly followed by someone else busting on the other table, and we have our final 9 for the final table. I look @ my stack and realise i have 25,000 with the level @ 2000/4000/400. I sit down @ the FT, get AJos, and shove over an UTG raise and run into kings. My AJ doesn't hold and i bust in 9th for £140 or so i think.. lol donkaments. I wish the table good luck and make my way over to the £100NL table where i play for 6 hours and make around £120, after coolering Jim in a 200BB pot T4 vs 34 on T43, and splitting a 450BB pot with JT vs JT on 89QKQ (money in on turn).

We all get kicked out @ 6am and i manage to get home in around 2 hours ( yey i run good @ trains for once) and pass out for a while after eating loads of random snacks i find lying around, only to awake, eat somemore, drink lotssss of coffee and log on to post this before firing up a session! Which reminds me:

January summary:
I suck.
I'm a rakeback pro.
Play less tables.
Play better.
Stop spewing.
Profit.

Feb Goals:
Play a max of 6 tables @ once and work on reads and using HUD stats to maximum adv.
Play 50k hands.
Make $3k FROM POKER AND NOT RB.


Wish me luck/good variance, those of you still awake from reading all this :D