RakeTheRake, the rakeback professionals, offering up to 60% rakebackRakeTheRake, the rakeback professionals, offering up to 60% rakeback
(Don't forget to clear your cookies before clicking either link - Tools, Internet Options, Clear Cookies)
If signing up for an account with RakeTheRake as a result of this blog, please state 'referred by 'RTR17009' in the extra info box and email me at bitterandtwistedindividual@fsmail.net with the last 3 digits of your RTR account number. That way you'll earn me a referral bonus on top of your rakeback and help me to finish my challenge just that little bit quicker, and I'll be able to identify you for percentages in my WSOP seat at 75% of cost price when the time comes (see 'Sharing the challenge love', Jan 2008)......
Many thanks!!

*Note added 5/1/08 - Should I complete the challenge and, lo and behold, cash in the Main Event, 10% of my profit goes to Macmillan Cancer Support via http://www.stoneyandfriends.co.uk/

Sunday 12 October 2008

The pain, the pain, the pain........

Full Tilt Poker Game #8448540465: Table Palos (deep) - $0.25/$0.50 - No Limit Hold'em - 20:01:41 ET - 2008/10/11
Seat 1: sshilton2 ($99.50)
Seat 2: caranape81 ($26.45)
Seat 3: MasterBlasta78 ($54.70)
Seat 4: vlrhsgo ($100)
Seat 5: SG3KSG ($130.80)
Seat 6: CA Prime ($113.50)
Seat 7: brodie82 ($129.80)
Seat 8: Tromulator ($100)
Seat 9: RustyOzz ($19.55)
RustyOzz posts the small blind of $0.25
sshilton2 posts the big blind of $0.50
The button is in seat #8
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to SG3KSG [7d 5d]
caranape81 folds
MasterBlasta78 folds
vlrhsgo folds
SG3KSG raises to $1.50
CA Prime folds
brodie82 folds
Tromulator calls $1.50
RustyOzz calls $1.25
sshilton2 folds
*** FLOP *** [Tc 4s 6s]
RustyOzz checks
brodie82 has been disconnected
brodie82 has reconnected
SG3KSG bets $3
Tromulator raises to $9

RustyOzz folds
SG3KSG raises to $129.30, and is all in
Tromulator calls $89.50, and is all in

SG3KSG shows [7d 5d]
Tromulator shows [3s 5s]
Uncalled bet of $30.80 returned to SG3KSG
*** TURN *** [Tc 4s 6s] [8s]
*** RIVER *** [Tc 4s 6s 8s] [Ac]
SG3KSG shows a straight, Eight high
Tromulator shows a flush, Eight high
Tromulator wins the pot ($199) with a flush, Eight high


*Snort*

Back to square one in one hand. Arse.

Thursday 9 October 2008

Just a quickie...

Awoke this morning with a crazy urge to play poker, and as today is my day off, I thought 'why the hell not!!'

Just the one, a $10 + 1 SnG on Full Tilt, and managed 2nd for a meagre profit of $16. Still, it's all welcome, and we're still moving in the right direction (albeit very slowly!!). Should really have won it having gone 3 handed as chip leader, but a couple of nasty turns soon had my stack dwindling. Last hand HU was a bit of a mare as well, my underpair was counterfeited when the board double paired on the river, giving oppo's Ace high the nod. Still, a cash is a cash, soon be playing the proper stakes again!!

Tempted to play a local £25 freezeout on Sunday night, more to say hello to a few old faces than anything!! Problem is, I've also got a fishing session planned for the same evening. Hmm, choices, choices!! I'll keep you posted......

Until the next time (which may be a while again!!), be lucky and keep that PMA going!!

Sunday 7 September 2008

Anybody know where to find.....

.....Full Tilt hand history from within my hard drive? I have no idea lol!!


Anyways, had another little go (around 200 hands) last night while Mrs SG was out painting the town red, and having put the little 'un to bed at about 9pm a quick 0.10/0.25 deep stacked cash session was in order.

About half an hour in, one of my favourite types of players joined the table. You know the sort, limps any two cards every single hand, checks when he hasn't hit, bets small with a marginal hand, bets big with a decent hand and refuses to fold a pair once he's invested a few cents into the pot? I love this kind of opponent, as it suits my playing style on a cash table down to a tee. Wait, wait, wait, hit a big hand and let 'atc man' hang himself. My opportunity came around an hour into the session, when I was involved in a three-way pot with a 3bb early position raiser, atc man flat called and I also flat called from the big blind with 7c 5c. A rainbow flop of A75 put a wry grin on my face, and a check to early raiser saw him putting in a half pot bet. Flat call from atc man, I'm hoping he's got a weak ace and put a 3 x check raise to find out if early position raiser is just continuation betting. A quick fold tells me what I need to know, but atc man again flat calls. Bingo. safe-ish card (Jack) on the turn so I out in a half pot bet myself, flat call from atc man, cool beans, I've got him by the nads, my two pair is looking good here for certain. A deuce on the river and I'm home and dry, or so I thought. A 3/4 pot sized $15 bet was quickly raised all in to make a total pot of $108 should I call, and I was left scratching my head. No flush or straight possibility, maybe he's got a strong Ace and thinks it's good? Maybe he's flopped a bigger two pair or a set and has caught me out, wp gg? I'm certainly thinking there's a good chance that my 7s and 5s are good so put the call in, only to see oppo is holding A2. D'oh!! To add insult to injury, atc man then proceeded to leave the table almost instantly. Nice!!

I decided at that point to stand up, make myself a stiff whisky and coke and have a bit of a breather. Now that I only play one table I can do this whenever I like and find it really helps to keep things on a level head, rather than stewing over happenings while playing multiple tables. A few minutes, some deep breaths and a replenished stack later, I sat back down and continued the session. Fortunate enough to hit pocket Aces, 7s and 2s and 4 hands, flopping a set with both the 7s AND 2s (whoop!!), I also pulled a couple of daring (but properly thought out) bluffs and managed to end the session with a profit of $17.75, not ground-breaking but it could so easily have been a loss of $50!!

It's sessions like this that restore my faith in my own ability (I'm not good at poker, but I can certainly play the game to a fair level) to overcome adversity and make a steady dollar here and there as long as I keep a level head. I think that is the biggest flaw in my game by far, sometimes I just go off the rails and pull silly moves that are very unlikely to get through. if I can keep that under wraps, I'm halfway there!! Rakeback on Full Tilt definitely needs to be sorted out, I'm liking the software, the liquidity and the vast range of playing styles on there, it is certainly keeping me on my toes whenever I play. Onwards and upwards!! I'm hoping to delve into the world of 0.25/0.50 relatively soon, still micro-stakes by most people's standards but when you've only got a bankroll of $200, it's needs must!!

Until next time, be lucky!!

Friday 15 August 2008

Not much to report.....

H'okay!! Played an hour or so on Wednesday night while tying up some fishing rigs, again on the 10c/25c NL deep stack tables at Full Tilt. Threw away 30 or so dollars on a couple of mis-timed oop river bluffs on scary boards, trying to represent the hand that I'm (now) pretty sure my opponent was actually holding as both times they responded by putting me all in. D'oh!! Almost made up for it later on though, when on the right side of a $50 pot with made flush vs 2nd nut draw on the turn, thankfully oppo didn't hit and I was almost back to square one.

One thing I have noticed about Full Tilt - What is it with all the minimum buy-in hit and run pikies on there? Buy in for 20bbs on a 200bb table, get it all in at the first half-decent opportunity then leave the table straight away. Am I missing something? Is this really a viable way of being profitable or is it simply gambling with numbers and hoping for the best? I've seen it so many times since I started plaing again that I'm thinking there must be some sort of strategy to it, it's that commonplace on FT. Somethig to think about while I munch on my KFC tonight anyways!!

Good luck, until next time...

Thursday 7 August 2008

Pssssssst......

Well, hello again blogging community!!

Apologies for the delay in getting 'back on it', it took a little longer to get over the burnout blues than expected!! The good news is, I no longer hate the game of poker, so will be resuming the challenge, woo hoo!! I think when I embarked on it, I went all out like a bull at a gate, shouted about the challenge to anyone that would listen, and hammered it every single day. Totally the wrong way to go about a long-term challenge, lesson learned!!

I've played probably 3 or 4 times in the last 6 months (has it really been that long?), just an hour or so here and there when I've got nothing better to do. Up until Tuesday night I'd managed to gradually expand a referral bonus of about $30 up to the heady heights of $57, nothing spectacular but it was a consistent small profit each time I played (I've gone right back to roots now, only playing 1 table and everything!!). Tuesday came along, I finished my work for the evening and was stuck for something for do, as baby Shannon was asleep by 7.30pm and my wife was out enjoying a few drinks with her sister. 9pm came and went, so on went a quick spin up on Full Tilt (I'm still using the Your Poker Cash account, the rakeback has finished now so if I'm going to restart the challenge in earnest that'll need to be looked into). By the time Mrs SG got home at 12.15pm, I'd spun the $57 into $189.55 on a 0.10/0.25 no limit table, and was feeling jolly clever!! The best part of all though, without doubt, was that I'd spent 3 hours playing poker and didn't want to smash anything, which is how I'd got to back in February. Excellent news, hence the challenge restart.

I'm not going to shout about it, I'm not going to hammer it every day, I'm only going to play 1 table low level cash (for now) and I'm certainly not going to be setting myself targets anymore (I get enough of that at work!!). A few things that haven't changed, however, is the fact that I'm still aiming to turn $10 into $10,000, I'm still going to give away and sell percentages, and I'm still going to give 10% to Macmillan when the challenge is complete. I'm just shy of 29 now, the new aim is to make it to Vegas by the time I'm 40. If I manage that I've succeeded, and will be a very, very happy man.

The updates won't be fast and furious (I imagine it's going to be a while before anyone twigs that I've restartes the blog to be fair!!) as I'm probably only going to be playing once a week, at most, but I will try to remember to update after each session to keep a log of how things are panning out.

Until next time, be lucky!!

Tuesday 26 February 2008

FREE MUNNY!!!!

Thought that if I'm going to leave the blog in suspended animation for a few weeks, I might as well leave it on a massive plug-a-thon. So, as a result, treat yourselves to a copy/paste of a couple of earlier posts, revolving around YourPokerCash and their free $50 bankrolls at Full Tilt, Party Poker, Absolute Poker or UltimateBet, the choice is yours.....




I found this affiliate link while browsing the t'interweb this afternoon, looks very interesting to say the least!! It appears that they are an affiliate that simply offers a one off $50 instead of rakeback to generate custom for the poker rooms. Might be worth a look?

http://www.yourpokercash.com/?addby=b169ae

I'm not sure if it's too good to be true (free money generally is!), but I've signed up at YourPokerCash and applied for the Full Tilt offer. Apparently it's pending at the moment, and may take up to 10 days. I'm happy to wait 10 days for some free poker dollars tyvm!! I've only signed up for Full Tilt to see what happens, if all goes well I'll let you know (and promptly sign up for UltimateBet and Absolute, lol). Possibly a decent link for anyone wanting to sign up for a Full Tilt / Absolute / UltimateBet account during the time that RakeTheRake cannot cover them during the time that it takes the UK Gaming Commission to get their act together? You will forfeit any chance of rakeback at these rooms in the future (unless you can do the old new account trick like at Betfair) but a free $50 is a free $50 and not to be turned down in my opinion!!
Enjoy!!

http://www.yourpokercash.com/?addby=b169ae

**NB When you have signed up for a Your Poker Cash account, you still need to click the blue 'Request' button at the room of your choice. Once this is done you will receive detailed instructions on how to download the software and activate your account.

**EDIT 21st Jan** Received in full, 10.35pm. Let's spin it up then shall we? There is also an extra $50 to be had depending on how many Full Tilt Points you earn, this is released in $5 increments and works out to be equivalent to 35% rakeback. Away you go!!!

**EDIT 22nd JAN** Scroll down a little bit and hit the 'Received Free $50 from Full Tilt last night' post in the Blog Archive, on the left for further info
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<



Congratulations, SG.

Your request for a Full Tilt Poker free bankroll from YourPokerCash has been approved! If your free bankroll is not in your account at the time you receive this email, please be patient as it may take a few more hours to hit your account. Be sure to qualify for our weekly and monthly promotions. Click the "Promotions" Tab on the YPC homepage for more details.

Minimum Activity Requirement:
1. When you receive your Full Tilt Poker Free Bankroll, you must complete 1000 Full Tilt Points before cashing out.

If you have any questions, feel free to send us a message by logging in to your YPC account and clicking the "Support" Tab at the top of the YPC homepage. Good luck building your bankroll!

Regards,
YPC Team

http://www.yourpokercash.com/?addby=b169ae

Bonus!! 10 minutes to sign up, 4 day wait while they verify my details (over the weekend too, so effectively 2 working days), $50 free. Good enough!! The 1000 FTPs works out as $142.86 in rake when playing MTTS and STTs (not sure about cash, FT appear to have a very bizarre rake/points system and I simply can't be bothered to work it out as I rarely play cash anymore), but for every 100 FTPs I earn a bonus of $5, which works out at 35% rakeback, up to 1000 points/$50. I'll have some of those onions tyvm!! The 1000 point mark is to stop people just signing up, cashing out and scarpering, fair enough if you ask me. It also gives me another avenue to explore when it comes to trying to buy a package from one of the poker rooms that has been involved in the challenge......

I'm highly likely to try to ramp it up playing way too high, but as it's a free $50 I'm happy to take the risk. If I lose it all, so be it.

So, there you go people, if you want a free $50 to start playing at Full Tilt, Absolute Poker, UltimateBet or Party Poker

http://www.yourpokercash.com/?addby=b169ae




Righty then, time to see if I can grind another challenge bankroll from the paltry $9 that's left in the Hills account/$8 in Betfair/spam the hell out of the YPC to get a $50 bonus in Full Tilt/if all else fails redeposit a few quid in Hills (AAARGH!! DEPOSIT?? THE SHAME!!!). The plan is to start the blog back up when I'm over $100 again, but hang 'The Rules' and just have a bit of fun with it instead of grinding away, that way the bored gamble-monster should stay away. I reckon it'll be for the best.....

Good luck all, hope to have an update or two over the next few weeks. Keep well, and keep winning :D

Thursday 21 February 2008

Well, that's the end of that then

Three very important rules for poker, gambling and life in general -

1 - Never play when intoxicated
2 - Never play when annoyed from outside influences
3 - Never play beyond your bankroll