The worst read since The Da Vinci Code

Fourth Street Poker is closed for a bit due to licence renewal, and judging from what happened on the last night before the break, that's probably just as well. Biggest tournament yet - 50-odd people in a £30 freezeout. I had no cards, then got a pair of queens, with which I collected a couple of limps and the blinds. Then nothing again till I got in on a free blind with T3. Flop is T22 and small blind bets out.

This was where I made a monumental error. I'd already identified the SB as a pretty straightforward player, so I should have believed his bet that said he'd hit the flop. Instead I threw in a raise and he went all-in. I had a think but I didn't really have enough chips left to fold and called - he flipped up K2. As it happens, I hit a backdoor flush, but the river was the King of hearts, which gave my opponent a full house.

I then made my way to a £20 SNG, which had some of the better players in it (for some reason, most of the big names got knocked out of the main tourney early on). I then had the coldest cards I can ever remember - which drew comments from the other players who have seen me get very active in the side games previously. I managed to hold on till the final 4 (money was top 3) but eventually went in with Q8, only to find the BB with A8.

I've been doing pretty crappy in online MTTs recently - I've barely made the second half of one in the last two weeks. I've also taken a bath in NL cash games - nearly £500 down this month, including one memorable Saturday afternoon where I lost £260 in 2 hours. I got dealt 55 twice, made sets both times and yet lost to a higher set. Hopefully I'll have a change of luck next month.