WBCOOP event #1. Live updates.

With two hours to go, the countdown has begun. Watch this space for live updates. All time stamps will be local (GMT) rather than the pokerstars clock.

00:03 And i'm bust. Shove CO with 14BBs with KT. BB calls with AT and holds. GG.

23:55 3.8k. Break time. Bad timing, I just want to double or bust.

23:51 4.3k blinds 125/250. Not enough to open raise, but i'm too impatient to wait for spots to reship.

23:50 4750, 99 beats KQ all in pre. Time to yo-yo

23:48 2k. KT loses against KQ on TxxK board. Sigh

23:47 Down to 20BBs. Gonna play aggro to get a stack back

23:45 Down to 5k. Made an aggro 3-bet with KJ against a medium stack and had to call their shove. They had aces obv.

23:41 9.2k again, A7 busts KT :)

23:40 7.3k. 3 limpers, I raise to like 1.3k in BB with 88. First limper min reraises "£^%^&^$. I call and miss my set on a bad looking KQx flop.

23:35 Back up to 9.5k. Probably playing too many hands. Oh well.

23:31 Down to 9k. Paid off a straight when I had top pair when the flush draw missed.

23:30 T3 fish just busted. :(

23:27 3 bet button with AQ. Back up to 12.3k.

23:25 Played a hand bad. 11.6k

23:20 12.8k. Think I cost myself some chips

23:14 12k. Played a couple of insignificant pots. Gonna see if watching How I Met Your Mother alleviates my boredom.

23:10 Up to 12.5k. Sucked out pretty good on the fish on my direct right, but that should serve as punishment to him for playing 85s OOP in a 3-bet pot.

23:07 Flopped a set. 6.5k.

23:05 Break is over and i'm still bored. Sigh.

22:58 Just looked at EPT Deauville results. Elky got deep in a tournament and didn't close? Madness. Bored of this break now.

22:55 5.5k at break. Raised 88 and checked down on scary board. "fish" found a call preflop with T3 suited. Thanks for the chips.

22:52 5k. Made a flush in limped pot. Limper paid me off with AK, no pair no hand. Good limp with AK. Same guy who min 3 bet my UTG raise. Now labelled as a "fish".

22:51 4 people sitting out on my table now. And by the looks of things it's going to be a while until those dead stacks get blinded out. Glad shaniac is one of them

22:50 5 mins without playing a hand. Getting bored again now.

22:45 Wow, that was a weird hand. Raised AK utg, button min 3 bet, I call. Flop 732 again, check check. Turn 7, check check. River 8. He doesn't have a pair, so i make a 1/7th pot v-bet/block bet, and he folds. Maybe a misclick pre? 4.5k

22:42 Up to 4k. Made another floaty bluff. Raised a limper with K9. Flop 732, they donked I called. Turn J, they bet the same amount, I call. River Ace, they bet the same amount, which is like 1/7th pot or something, I raise and they fold. Easy.

22:41 Up to 3k. Took a bite out of the fish on my right with AK.

22:38 It's the sort of bluff I try in small stakes tournaments and get snapped by Q2 or something and feel really stupid.

22:36 2140, risked all my chips on a bluff. Raised HJ with A8o, BB called. Flop Qxx, BB donks, I float. Turn K, BB checks, I bet BB calls. River a T, BB bets 1/10th pot, I shove, BB folds. Easy.

22:33 Nearly got to play a hand there. Nearly. Damn poker is boring.

22:31 Guy on my right is pretty bad and is getting a lot of chips. Hopefully i'll be able to feed on that stack.

22:28 Getting grumpy now. Maybe i'll just go to bed. Need to wake up early tomorrow anyway. These thoughts are not conducive to tournament success.

22:25 Bored of single tabling now.

22:22 Back up to 1.8k in the WBCOOP. 89 beat A6 :)

22:21 Out of the $8.80. Damn my luck. TPTK against set.

22:20 Blog playing up. watch this space

22:13 down to 1345, 88 no good vs A3 on K32. Sigh

22:11 Brilliant, 1700 entrants works out at ~$3 equity each. Good chance I won't bother with any of the other WBCOOP prelims at this rate. Sorry Pokerstars

22:10 Up to 4.2k in the $8.80. Made a thin river value bet with A8 on AxxKQddd and got paid. Always nice.

22:08 Down to 2125. Had KQ and whiffed.

22:07 Up to 2225. Flopped top pair, but board ran out bad so couldn't get value.

22:05 Other open shover just got knocked out. No easy chips for me :(

22:04 Shaniac just got moved to my table, but he's sitting out. Hopefully Mr Schleger will stay that way.

22:02 And he's out, but someone else has started shoving. Hopefully i'll win those chips.

22:01 Guy at my table just open shoved. that's a good sign.

21:59 Seating is done. Don't recognise anyone at my table, and only 3 sitting out.

21:50 Ok, let's try again with this $8.80. 10 minutes until WBCOOP starts. 1700 entrants? How can there be that many active poker bloggers? And who reads all these blogs?

21:44 And lost a flip and i'm busto. sigh

21:43 Played bad, down to 4.5k in the $11. sigh

21:26 Maybe tonight I will run good, just doubled up in the $11, TT>AQ. Nice to win a flip!

21:20 Loaded up an $11 tournament while I play WBCOOP #1, because i am a notoriously bad single tabler. Probably be busto before WBCOOP even starts though, cos i run bad in MTTs atm.

bwfwb g

Just finished playing poker for first time in a week. Had my graduation last wednesday, and returned from up north with a cold that has ko'd me for a week. Pretty much better now, but still have a stonking headache. Ended up over $700 last week, which wasn't bad as i only played monday and tuesday, but doesn't do much to help my bankroll growth. Up $200 today, but essentially even after paying for a trip to Prague. Misplayed a couple of hands, and got myself into a couple of dumb spots, but i knew i wouldn't be playing at my best until I can fully shake this cold.

Looking forward to going back to Prague with Warwick poker soc, last years trip was legitimately legendary. Hopefully get to play some poker too. I run bad in Europe so i'm going to aim to win at least the cost of the trip back while there. :)

First event of WBCOOP tonight. I expect a lot of people will be sitting out and it'll be quite soft, because it works out at less than $5 equity per person at the moment, and I assume most people with poker blogs are at least competent and thus not that bothered about $5. Be nice if I can run good in WBCOOP and use that to bankroll my SCOOP series.

Can't wait for SCOOP schedule to be announced. Assuming a similar line up to last years, I expect to at least play every low buy in (except for the $270ish HU), and will play a bunch of the mediums in the range of $100-$200. Don't really have the bankroll for $215s, but hopefully there'll be a couple worth a serious punt. Maybe i'll feel more adventurous by the time it rolls round and i've managed to get some serious grinding under my belt.

As regards grinding, in order to have a 6-figure year, I reckon I should be aiming for 2.5k hands a day, even without improvement/moving up. So once I get into the swing of 3k+ hand days, i'm hoping my 6-figure aim is no problem.

Week 2

Slow week, got myself into a nice $700 hole after Tuesday. Played some heads up and tilted and couldn't quit. Shame, I thought my mental game had come on leaps and bounds. Got back to grinding $100nl FR on stars and am now up $230 for the week. Pretty measly. Also, didn't play great or run good today. Managed to stack off with AK in a 4 bet pot on the flop with no pair, in a spot where villain always has an overpair, so that sucked.

Pretty annoying to only have a $230 week, when I know i cost myself a bunch of money.

Planning on a big week next week though, lol.

Damn tournaments

Geez, tournaments are so tilting. Played about $80 of small stakes big field tournaments and whiffed them all. Never once even came close to cashing. Didn't play great, but early on in these tournaments, when we have less than 30 BBs, i'm not looking to make any big folds. But this time they all had hands that beat me. Oh well, back to the grind tomorrow.

End of week 1

Just finished a session playing $100nl 6-max on party. This is unusual because nearly all my play recently has been full ring. Made $200 in 600 hands, but was pretty unhappy with my play. Missed a lot of value and stacked off way too easy in a couple of spots. Still gave me confidence, because those 6-max games seem a lot softer than I remember. Maybe i've gotten better, or maybe it's just cos it's sunday.

Still, +$1.5k for the week is nothing to be sneezed at (what does that saying even mean?), and I'm calling it a week now until tonight, when i'll play some massive field small stakes tournaments on pokerstars.

Plan for next week is to aim for $2k profit, clear my current bonus on party poker, and get 15k FPPs on stars so I can get myself my new computer :)

A quick hand from the session I played that I think I played quite well:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?5066659

I considered pot controlling on the flop, but decided there was too much value in a bet. And if i get raised, my hand isn't so good that I hate life and can happily fold.

I get one caller, the button. Now, he would definitely reraise AK preflop, and raise any set on the flop (especially 4-way), so I think he has a weaker king, a weak draw or a second pair hand. The 9 on the turn isn't the best card, but a bet gets value from all his draws and weaker kings. When he raises, I know that he knows that the 9 is a good card for him to try to represent. And the only 9s he can realistically have are 98s, T9s, that sort of thing. So i felt it was more likely he was turning a draw/float into a bluff. I considered jamming to protect my hand, but that felt a bit dumb to be bet/shoving KQ. So i call and check to him on a delightful river card to let him continue his bluffs. He shoves, I hope he doesn't show me 9x and call. Ship.

Against villains like this, I certainly need more concentration that most villains at $100nl FR, because in FR they don't bother trying to represent anything, or read your hand. If i'm raised on this turn on stars at FR, it's a snap muck.

more grinding

+$350 today. Played about 2k hands. Up $1.3k for the week now, with one day left. Although I hope to average $2k a week this year, I hope to move up in stakes fairly soon, increasing my earn rate. Furthermore, I've hardly broken my back this week putting in the hands. At a guess i've probably only put in about 20 hours. Can't wait for the weather to improve.

WBCOOP

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker! This PokerStars tournament is a No Limit Texas Hold’em event exclusive to Bloggers, you too can take part by registering on WBCOOP

Registration code: 615903