Little taste of what's to come.

Just thought I'd keep you guys updated with how things are going and what posts are going to be coming up soon. This is mainly because there isn't too much happening right now, I'm grinding pretty hard at the moment as I know I'll have to take a fair few days off in the next month orso and I want to get as much volume in as possible before that happens.

Poker-wise, results are ticking over quite nicely, but they could be a lot better. As I mentioned in the previous post, I've had a fair few near misses in recent weeks, so there have been shots at solid 4-5 figure scores. Only a few days ago I made a deep run in the PLO8 MicroMillions event as well but got short and lost a flip to finish 50th out of around 5k entrants, which gained me a ton of TLB points to help towards my prop bet but doesn't particularly help the cashier balance. I've also had some NLHE turbo runs that ran out of steam towards the final 2-3 tables, all of which could have turned a decent month into a great one.

On Saturday evening I'm going to the Pokerstars VIP Live Event here in London so expect a full write up, probably on Monday as I'll either be grinding Sunday or dying of a hangover. I don't really want to a miss a Sunday, especially when I'm on a good run of form so I'll attempt to stay half sober at the event but I can promise nothing with an open bar at my disposal! If any readers are going to be there, definitely give me a shout and we can grab a beer. I'll be taking pics and posting them here so keep an eye out.

I'll post a summary of November at the end of the month and hopefully we can get somewhere near achieving the goals I set but I'll need to get a move on to do it. The profit goal is achievable but will need a small bink to get me there, hopefully by shipping a red label and killing two birds with one stone. The 180 goal has been seriously helped by Pokerstars' addition of $11 Progressive KO 180s, which are an absolute gold mine. I'll probably write a whole post on how awesome these are but needless to say, there's money to be made.

So that's just a small update of what's going on, sorry there's nothing really interesting to talk about. I want to write a post where I go over a few hands to, maybe 1 each of NLHE, PLO and O8, to get a bit of discussion going, let me know what you guys think of that. Until then, good luck at the tables and possibly see some of you on Saturday!

Red Label Heartache

So far this month has been littered with Red Label near misses and considering one of my goals this month was to ship a Red Label, whether it be a Big/Hot/Omania etc, it's been quite infuriating that I've gotten so close recently.

I started the month with a final table in the $5 Omania. The PLO Omania's are slightly different to the Big/Hot tournaments in the sense that you don't have to win 30 flips in a row to make it deep, you can actually slowly grind up your stack. Where you do need to gamble though is shoving AAxx preflop, especially in the $5 Omania as the skill level can be so low that you regularly have to flip against KKxx, QQxx or random assorted rundowns. Also due to the Pot Limit structure, the final tables actually play very shallow so although I came into it as 3/9, I lost one decent sized pot and was automatically a short stack. I managed to ladder up a few spots but could only manage 5th. My stable have managed quite a few deep runs in the tournament but so far our best result has been a 2nd. We'll get there one day.

Then last week I made a deep run in the Hot 16.50. As with most turbos I ran pretty hot for most of the tournament but I just couldn't keep it going til the end. I ended up 15th after A5s < Q9o SB vs BTN after flopping a FD against his no pair so it was pretty soul crushing to watch him make a runner runner straight. Normally coming so close in a Red Label is depressing enough but when you're grinding pretty much full time, the $8k up top could really help things.

Now here comes the real heart breaker. I went deep in the MicroMillions special Sunday Storm this past weekend, and not just kind of deep, I mean super super deep. Out of 50,000 entrants I finished 46th. Truly soul destroying. Obviously I run hotter than the sun, including JJ > QQ soon after the bubble and getting two folds after shoving 3BB from the BTN with 24o. The $500 for cashing that deep turned what was actually a pretty awful Sunday into a winning session but again, seeing the $36,000 first prize only 45 players away and after outlasting almost 50,000 other entrants really hurt.

The month is not over however, I still have close to 2 weeks to win one and with all these deep runs and numerous other decent cashes over the course of the month, I wouldn't bet against myself to win one. In addition to the Red Labels, the MicroMillions is only halfway done so I'll still have a ton of shots to win a big name tournament, in fact the PLO8 event is today and that seems like my best chance to ship one of these. If I go deep I'll be sure to update my Twitter (@Grimiscool) and there will definitely be a brag post on here! Good luck at the tables everybody and speak to you all soon!

My Grind Tunes

Just thought I'd give you guys a little insight into what I listen to when I grind. Normally I put in quite long sessions, so the kind of music I like to listen to needs to be quite upbeat to keep me energized and also have a somewhat repetitive so that it doesn't take away too much focus on the tables, so although I like hip-hop and such, I never listen to it when I grind. The genres I do tend to listen to are techno, drum n bass, garage and dub-step. I'm not a huge underground guy so most tunes I listen to are fairly mainstream but I'm definitely open to anything people show me. Here's a little taste of tunes I regularly listen to.

1. B-Complex - Beautiful Lies

I first heard this tune on a poker video actually so I've always somewhat associated it with grinding. It's become one of my favourite tunes because it's got a lot of rise and fall so when the beat drops, I'm instantly energized no matter how late into the session it gets.

2. Ellie Goulding - Your Song (Blackmill Dubstep Remix)

I will not here a bad word said about Miss Goulding, everything she touches is Gould (get it :P) . She has the perfect tone for dub-step remixes, I can't really explain why but there are just so many of her songs that have had really successful remakes, her Starry Eyed remix by Jakwob probably being the most famous. Again a lot of rise and fall but all around just a tune.

3. Pendulum - The Island

I'll probably get some stick for this choice as Pendulum is a bit of an acquired taste but I'm a huge fan of theirs and I think this is probably one of their best songs. I love the pounding bass on this track mainly because my headphones are so terrible that I can't feel it unless the tune is really bass heavy.

So there's a little taste of what I like. Comment below with tunes you love grinding to as well, I really want to add new tunes to my grinding playlist so hopefully at some point I can get one long enough to last whole sessions! Remember to follow the blog and also follow me on Twitter (@Grimiscool) and feel free to give me a shout. Otherwise, hoping everyone has a big Sunday session and that I ship the Sunday Storm :)

Is Poker really Gambling?

I bring up this question because twice in the last week, I've had to defend the fact that the game we know and love, and spend so much time studying, is actually skill based and not on the same degenerate level of roulette and blackjack.

The first time was while talking to a recruiter, and here's the punchline, in the investment banking sector. I thought in this case, surely being a poker player would be a positive. In my opinion, the skill sets of the two occupations are parallel, one needs to assess the situation by assigning value to an asset, whether that be a stock or your cards, and then make a +EV decision based upon you assessment. We've seen so many people cross industries recently with great success so I thought including the fact that I'm a winning poker player in my application would be to my benefit. Apparently not, I had to defend the point that poker was not gambling, especially online poker, and delved into a list of reasons of why poker is a skill game based on logic, reasoning and mathematics. I specifically reasoned that poker cannot be gambling be otherwise no one would ever win, that by the law of averages, being a professional poker in the long run once you have played hundreds of thousands, or even millions of hands, cannot possibly exist unless there was a skill element. Hopefully my passionate speech and vehement defense of the game worked it's magic but that's yet to be seen.

The second occasion was when playing around with the settings on this blog. I was toying with the layout of the sidebars when I noticed I could place ads on the page and monetize the site. Being the money-grabber that I am I immediately sent off an application to AdSense in order to be considered for monetization but received a reply that I would not be allowed due to the blog containing gambling content. Besides the fact that according to their T&Cs I am actually allowed a gambling blog, I didn't think that a blog that contains my random ramblings and the odd trip report would be considered to be promoting gambling. I could maybe understand if I was a Pokerstars Pro promoting the site directly or something of that nature but surely a blog like this is harmless enough.

I imagine some of you readers have had similar experiences and I wonder what reasons you have given to explain that we are not just degenerate gamblers but intelligent logical thinkers who work extremely hard to make money at this game. Leave a comment below or tweet me (@Grimiscool) or of course you can just tell me, I imagine I have most of you on Skype anyway! Especially let me know if you've used Poker as a skill or interest on you resume to apply for a job and whether it seemed to work for you. Otherwise ladies and gentlemen, have a great weekend and hopefully a big Sunday for all you grinders. Good luck all!

November Goals

So I had a very decent October, profit of close to $4k. I managed to put in a fair amount of volume as well as some decent study time so all in all a very pleasing month. With Christmas coming up next month it's pretty important that November goes well as chances are I'll pick up a temp job in December, not so much for the money but it's good for my CV if I show that I didn't just sit around while looking for a career and there should be tons of jobs going for the Christmas period. Nevertheless, here's a few goals I want to attain for the month.

1. Profit of $5000

$5k is around the higher end of what I think I can achieve this month but you need to set lofty goals to keep you motivated. Obviously binking one of the Big/Hot tournaments will get me there in one swoop but I'm relying on a steady stream of O8 and PLO final tables to get me there. Although first prize in these tournaments rarely eclipse $500, they are pretty attainable and my edge in the games, especially on final tables, means I expect to make a 1st/2nd place at least once a day.

2. Ship a Red Label

A red label being a Big/Hot/Omania/Weekly type tournament. Last month I final tabled around 5 of these tournaments, 1 Big and 4 Omanias, but achieved a highest placing of 3rd. Unfortunately due to the structure of these tournaments, the average stack at the final tables is normally around 15-20BBs and even less for the morning PLO8 Omania. The first place prizes in these tournaments are always the largest on the schedules so not closing out is costing me a lot of money. I still haven't actually won one of these tournaments outright though, the best performance being chopping the Hotter 11 as chip leader, so I'm really motivated to bring one of these home.

3. Show a Profit at 180 Man SnGs

Solely turning a profit should never really be a goal but unfortunately in this case it is. I normally start loading 180s towards the end of my sessions when I have 1 or 2 deep runs left because after playing around 10 tables at once for 5-6 hours my focus tends to drop. By keeping the table count up I can maintain focus as well as increase volume. This tactic also works because many other grinders are also ending their schedules and as such the fields become softer. Lately my results in these 180s have been noticeably sub par and wasting a few buyins at the end of my schedule is definitely hurting my bottom line. Over the course of the month I intend to study 180s as intensely as I did before, when they were my main games, and hopefully show a positive ROI.

4. Win my MicroMillions prop bet

PokerStars runs it's micro stakes tournament series again beginning the 14th November and to motivate myself to grind the schedule hard I have made a small stakes prop bet with a fellow O8 grinder. We made a similar bet for the MTOPS series and even though I had a steady stream of cashes throughout the series, my opponent actually won the HORSE event which pretty much locked up the bet. Hopefully I can do the same this time around as we all know $50 for shipping a prop bet is so much sweeter than the $5k orso for actually winning a tournament!

5. Only get really drunk twice

Hopefully this bet should be a lock. I drink a lot less now than I did at university but unfortunately that means my liver is out of practice and the hangovers are lasting a lot longer. Last month I lost a whole Sunday grind session because I was getting over a particularly heavy night and couldn't stomach focusing on a screen for the whole day. I say twice because I need to make two noticeable exceptions. Firstly, it's my birthday at the end of the month, which as we all know is a perfect excuse to drink too much. Secondly, PokerStars are running their second VIP Club Live here in London and last year I had such an amazing time that I cannot miss it this time around. Looking at the preliminary schedule, this year could get even messier than the last outing, so I'm pre planning my hangover this time around.


So there's a few of the goals I hope to attain this month. Obviously the "Find a real job" goal is still ongoing and the grind for that won't end until it has been attained, but for now these 5 poker/life goals will have to do. I'll post a summary of how I did at the end of the month and will probably reference these goals throughout November so be sure to follow to blog for regular updates. You can also follow me on Twitter (@Grimiscool) for general updates on life as well as other random musings. Until next time, here's wishing everyone good luck at the tables for November and speak to you all soon. Peace.

The Resurrection of the Blog!

That's right, I've decided to bring back this Blog from the dead and start posting again! I stopped writing the Blog just over 2 years ago and I'm not all too sure why, I think I down swung pretty hard soon after my last post and the thought of writing about how poorly things were going didn't really seem to motivate me. But that was 2 years ago and a lot has happened since so let's start by giving you a short recap.

So I left the Blog at the end of Summer 2011, the start of my final year of my undergraduate course. As any graduate will tell you, the final year of your course is usually an absolute bitch, and mine was no exception. I had almost no time for poker, let alone blogging, and didn't put a lot of effort into studying and attempting to improve me game. I still had a winning year but I can only imagine how badly I was playing and how I ran good in a few select tournaments in order to turn that profit. I was picked up by a large backing stable however it wasn't the right fit. The stable had many full time mid to high stakes MTT grinders and news of my final-tabling a $5 turbo was often overshadowed by a stable mate going deep in a Sunday Major. We decided to part ways but on good term and I do wish them the best of luck in the future. I still see many of the grinders at the tables and, from what I can see, they are all still decent winners.

I took a short break after ending the backing deal to decide how I wanted to progress in Poker. Did I want to go alone or stay backed, did I want to stick to MTTs or start playing cash again, was I going to continue on Stars or move to softer Euro sites, etc. After a good bit of deliberation and speaking with various backers and stables I eventually chose a backing deal with Global Staking, a large backing group based in America. I decided that I felt far more comfortable playing on stake and what stood out about the deal was the inclusion of a personal tutor who I could work with. I find the one on one coaching sessions extremely helpful at erasing leaks in my own game and really highlights how I can improve. 

Since then I have gone from strength to strength. I am currently having my best year yet results wise and am close to the goal I set myself at the beginning of the year of $25k profit on Pokerstars, largely in part thanks to the biggest score of my career to date, chopping the Hotter 11 as chip leader for $11k. I would have hit my goal very early had I not downswung in the Summer. I took my usual 3 months off to focus on exams and what followed was a lot of volume but with sub standard play. I got myself into a very large make up figure, especially considering the stakes I was playing but I managed to refocus, continue to study and grind my way back out of it. I always stress to players, downswings happen, the length of them depend on how hard you work. I was lucky enough to have a strong group of grinders around me for motivation as well as great coaching. 

I have continued with my strategy of mixing in both NLHE and PLO8 MTTs but recently I have included PLO to the mix. My backing group stake a few PLO specialists and after a few months of learning the basics and observing their games, I decided to take a shot at it an I've found PLO to be very lucrative. By adding in these games and also the 5 card variants, I have drastically increased my overall ROI and now on OPR I am showing large profit in all games, excluding LHE but who cares about that lol. I am currently playing full time while I search for a career after graduating university so I normally play 5 days a week but will probably cut down to 2/3 once I'm employed. 

I intend to update this blog a lot more regularly than I did before, mainly due to the fact I have a lot more time on my hands these days and thus less reasons not to write. And don't worry, future posts won't be as long. Hope you enjoyed reading and be sure to follow the blog. Later y'all.