ManiMuscat Birthday: Prefer not to say Location: Perth, Aus ALL-TIME STATS (more stats) Total Entries: 8 Total Won/Lost: $0.00 Total Hours: 0 Earnings/Hour: $0.00 ARCHIVE Most Recent December 2010 (1) November 2010 (8)

Poker Blog for ManiMuscat

Most Recent Log Entries

December 21, 2010, 5AM:
No-Limit Texas Hold'em Tournament (10 Players)

Well it's been a while since I posted but I haven't forgotten you!
 
Cash games have been pretty cruel to me recently. I went up a level and had some solid wins. I think I may have gotten a bit cocky and the players knocked me down a peg or two. I lost a few buy-ins and decided to go back to tournament style to redeem myself.
 
I have considered myself a pretty good heads up player, so entered a few tournies to try my luck. I think I have figured out you need to win around 60% of the time to make a profit, and I just can't do that consistenly.
 
So......single table sit 'n' go's here I come. Playing nine handed tables with a smallish buy-in has been my preferred format in the past, so why not give that a go??
 
I have played a few games recently, the only down side is that you need to be able to commit the time to play and focus. So I have cut down on the number of hours played but have increased my winning average. I have recently played 4 tournies, won 2, came 2nd once and came last once. Coming last was hard, I went all in pre-flop holding AA and got called by AQo, only to see two queens on the flop. I guess I couldn't and wouldn't have played that any other way, you just have to gamble sometimes. On the other games I always tend to by shortstacked with about 6 players left, get a lucky break and double up and then increase the aggression. So long as I get some kind of playable hand you better watch out. Coz I'm either raising hard and shoving all-in to test your resolve. It's worked pretty weel so far so why change?
 
My favourite part in these games is the bubble and then 3 handed. People tend to be scared on the bubble and will generally fold good hands to any kind of serious raise, allowing me to build my stack. Once the bubble bursts and you are three handed, heck I've made the money so let's go crazy! I am more than happy to go all-in with JTo and put you to the test. It seems more often than not you will fold something like AQo or TT as my raise all in is pretty hard to call.
 
Keep in mind however that I don't get dealt garbage all the time. If you let me get away with JT0, then 89s, when you call the third hand with QQ I am gonna be holding AA or KK. I like to keep you guessing.
 
I just love sit 'n' go tournies!!!

Last Update: December 21, 2010, 5:50AM | Permalink

November 28, 2010, 5AM: at My house
Texas Hold'em

Steve is a menace!!!!

Last Update: November 28, 2010, 5:51AM | Permalink

November 28, 2010, 3AM: at My house
Texas Hold'em

Dummy spits are not cool!
Just spat the dummy on a winning hand against my good friend Tony. Not proud, feel kinda silly. Sorry tone.

Last Update: November 28, 2010, 3:11AM | Permalink

November 27, 2010, 1AM:
Texas Hold'em Tournament (10 Players)

Well I have just started in a 9 handed sit n go and an opponent was dealt AA. He eventually went all in on the turn and was beaten by a player holing 45o, a straight came down and he busted in 9th place.
 
WOW...poker can be cruel at times.
 
I plan to employ my tournament strategy to attempt to get past the bubble and into the money. The only downside to the strategy is that you often get to the bubble short stacked. You really need some luck to occur to double up before the money comes......oh well, here goes!
 
Another player got knocked out trying to bluff on the river after some big betting...and there was a King on the board. Risky stuff, and he payed for it with all his chips. He came eighth, the money is getting closer and I haven't played a hand yet.
 
I am tempted to go all-in when I get a hand, but I think I will get called on this table.......need to stop and think.
 
Played bottom pair from the big blind, came off second best and lost a fifth of my chips....damned blinds! I actually strayed from the strategy here, should have folded when the flop came down. oh well......
 
 
Coming second last and we are only on the second blind level.
 
Went all in with AJo, won the blinds. Played two hands now, and am still down big time.
 
A player just went all in on the river when a 6 came down, giving him a pair. A king was on the board and he got called by another king, so long brother. Down to 6 players, time to change gears.
 
Very next hand a pair of 10's was beaten by 75o, winner had two pair. Down to 5 now. I can almost smell the money!!!
 
Changed gears, started going all in, won two small hands. Slowly, slowly getting back in it.
 
Oh boy, went all in with A8 of hearts, got beaten by 66. Now I'm crushed!
 
All-in baby!!!!
 
Ok, came 5th. At least I wasn't the bubble boy.

Last Update: November 27, 2010, 1:51AM | Permalink

November 23, 2010, 10PM:
Texas Hold'em Tournament (4th out of 18 Players)

I have recently read a pretty good poker that goes into a lot of detail about how to succeed in tournaments.
 
I have had some good results in the past simply playing my natural game, but I was looking for an edge. Something that would consistently improve my results. The poker book I mentioned has kinda given me that.
 
Although finishing fourth is not all that amazing, I did cash in the game and I was well and truly short-stacked on the final table. Any tournament strategy will struggle to work if you don't get any good cards. I unfortunately did not get good cards in the match, but those mediocre hands I was dealt were put to maximum use!
 
I managed to stay out of trouble, stayed disciplined and employed the strategy very closely. I did however take a few chances a deviated in order to steal some blinds. I allow myself to employ a more informal approach when I am not ranked high in the stack sizes. Just stealing blinds 3 or 4 times will allow you to see another 20 or so hands. Very important when your chances of hitting a good hand are smashed by getting dealt rubbish.
 
I am going to try and play a lot more at this format, however the time commitment is always a challenge.

Last Update: November 23, 2010, 10:31PM | Permalink

November 18, 2010, 7PM: at Tony's House
Texas Hold'em

I play a home game with a bunch of friends, all with mixed poker experience and skills. All of the players are formidable and at times scary to play against and you need to be on the top of your game to make a profit.
 
We get together on average about once every two weeks, and have been playing together for alomst 2 years. I have had some amazing success at this table (once made a 900% profit) but over the last 5 or six games I have lost mutliple buy-ins and struggled to make an impact on the game.
 
Last night we played for about 4 hours, at times heads up but also with up to about 8 players depending on who wanted to play a hand. The game was very dynamic, Tony went all-in on the first hand and doubled up with a full house for example. Paulie pushed and called and often turned over the winning cards taking down some prety big pots. Steve was aggresive, disciplined and was thankfully sitting on my right.
 
I had decided prior to going that I wanted to make a profit and had to play some solid poker to preserve my stack. I wasn't involved in any huge hands, the best I had was an Ace high straight....but it did pay very well. I managed to successfullly bluff on the first three hands I was involved in, increasing my confidence and my heart rate.
 
I had my friends Steve to my right and John to my left. Steve has a very different approach to the way I play but I hold his abilities in the highest regard. He can fearlessly bet into you and push you off the best hand often. He can then change gears and slow play a monster, lulling you into a false sense of security and then taking all of your chips.
 
John can be downright scary at times and I struggle putting him on a hand. He does tend to call too often in my opinion, so can be good in a heads up confrontation when you have the nuts. I think the most difficult aspect to his play is that his betting patterns are pretty consistent, so he doesn't give any information and you just need to dive in and hold your breath. I have butted heads with John and come up second best on many occasions thinking I had him beaten, when all I had was the second nuts and of course he had "THE NUTS".
 
With these two players, whom I respect highly, on either side of me all night I had to work hard to pick my moments and win hands. I even laid down pocket Queens on the flop after raising 6 x BB pre flop from the button with two callers. The turn was checked around to me by the three players still in it, I bet hard testing the waters as an Ace came down on the flop. The betting went crazy from here on in and I am proud to say I made a good fold. Online I would have seen this to the river and lost a big pot....it's always hard to say goodbye to "the ladies".
 
I learned last night that having a plan, staying calm, picking your spots to make a move and being adaptable when the community cards come down worked better than just betting hard and crossing your fingers. I also only had 3 beers all night, so I may have had a clearer head than some of my opponents. I do not discount the ability of the other players to beat me up when they have had a few drinks however. At times it just makes them loosen up and makes them even scarier.
 
I love playing at these homes games and try to make it to every one I can. The guys I play with have all each had nights of amazing profit at one point or another, and I'm pretty sure they have all doubled up through me numerous times over the last 2 years.
 
Last night however I managed to double my stack! First time in ages and I have to say I hop this is an end to my dry spell. You know you have had a good time when you wake up in the morning and wish you could start dealing the cards again.
 
Lesson learned from last night: "Have fun playing the game, enjoy the company....and keep a very close eye on Steve!".....nice one brother.

Last Update: November 19, 2010, 7:36PM | Permalink

November 10, 2010, 2AM: at Rush poker
$0.05/0.10 Texas Hold'em

When i first played NLHE on Full Tilt RUSH it was great. Made a 400% profit in about an hour.
 
My last session however made me realise that it's not that easy to turn a profit in this format. I'm not sure what it is about RUSH but I keep going back and keep on getting hurt. I love the fact that you can play hands really selectively but if those hands don't stand up you get hit really hard.
 
I think I feel more comfortable multi tabling in standard 6 seated games. My limited success in the standard format although modest is far greater than rush.
 
Some how I think I will still go back however.

Last Update: November 19, 2010, 7:37PM | Permalink

November 9, 2010, 9PM:
$0.05/0.10 Texas Hold'em

Over the last week or so I decided to step up and play the $0.05/$0.10 cash games on PokerStars. I played pretty tight and had great success. I seemed to make most of my draws, called with top pair and won against obvious bluffs. It felt like I couldn't lose............
 
Now I have been playing long enough to realise that the good times won't last forever and I have just proven that concept today. I played in a similar style but did not hit any draws and was not able to muster up the firepower to push people off pots. I am still ahead for the week but it is obviously frustrating to be making the same winning moves and for those moves to get smashed by your opponent.
 
I just don't seem to be getting a break today.

Last Update: November 9, 2010, 9:17PM | Permalink

November 9, 2010, 6PM:
OK, here we go!!!!

Well...I have just signed up to Online Poker Log to start my own poker blog. I guess only time will tell how proficient and committed I am to posting, but it is something I have been thinking about for a while.
 
Some history....
I have been playing poker for a little over 12 months. I was never interested in the game at all as I found it hard to comprehend hand values, when to bet, how to play etc..
 
But then a friend invited me over to his house for a friendly home game. Due to a dramatic mistake on his part (he thought his cards were mine and went all in, my cards were great...his were not and he ended up losing) I had my first big win....a total of $40.
 
Well that was all I needed to get me interested. The feeling of winning was awesome and I just couldn't get enough. I started playing online whenever I could and it actually dominated all of my spare time for quite a while. I soon realised that spending every spare minute playing poker was probably not healthy, so I have eased off quite a bit lately.
 
Over the last week in particular I have decided to play quality poker, rather that quantity and it is starting to pay off a little.
 
Although I have not invested a huge amount of money over the last year I am still down and I am keen to turn this around so I can actually build a profitable bankroll and eventually afford to enrol in some serious live tournaments.
 
I have read a few poker strategy books which have helped me understand the intracies of the game, although I would still consider myself to be a novice. I think my biggest obstacle is the fact I don't have a lot of spare cash so playing bigger tournaments or higher stakes games can at times be difficult.
 
So come and visit my blog from time to time and I will try and post some interesting and humerous insights into my play.
 
Mani

Last Update: November 9, 2010, 7:14PM | Permalink

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