Online woe and Luton

It is somewhat traditional in the world of poker blogs to fall into the trap of singing only when you're winning, of chiping from the rooftops when things are going well and going dark when the blackness overcomes you. I am going against that today because I have had a bit of success recently, but it is an evening of frustration that draws me to the keyboard.

Played in four tournaments tonight and got good starts in a couple of them before running into big hands when I had slightly inferior holdings (QQ v AA twice). Also got knocked out of two by pushing with small connectors when I felt conditions were right. On one table I'd been ultra-quiet and pushed for 7BB with 56 and walked into AK behind me and in the other I pushed from the BB against a serial raiser (raised nearly a quarter of pots on a ten-handed table over 100 hands) who'd woken up with QQ on the button. All a bit frustrating, especially as I could maybe have got away from the two QQ hands (if I'm being ultra-critical).

The next GUKPT event is at the Vic in a couple of weeks and I really want to play in it. Got to chip leader in last night's Blue Square sat with 16 left (three seats) and went out in 14th. Had 20K in chips, called a 4k all-in with 77 which was no good against Q9, then lost 13K when I pushed against a raiser with AK and he called with AQ. A queen on the flop, plus a flush draw (killing two of my outs) left me with shrapnel and I was gone soon after.

I am tempted to buy straight in at the Vic for £1K using my winnings from my last live tournament. Last month I won a satellite on Blonde for the £750 main event of the last Luton festival (6-seat sat, winner plays event for 50% of themselves, 5 other players get 10% each). It was a double chance freezeout and I lost my first set of 7500 chips against Albert Sapiano. I've never played against him before but know of his reputation as not one of the finest players in the world. Sadly, this meant I payed him off with AK on a rather dry flop when he had K3 for two pair.

I got up to 12K when I flopped the nut flush from the SB, bet out and got 4 callers! One of these came along for the ride on the turn (Albert again, natch) before folding on the river. A double up followed with an odd hand. A player in EP limped for 300, Dave Courtney limped and I squeeze it up to about 1000 with AK from the small blind. The original limper folds and Dave goes all-in. Now, I don't think there's much strength here, I'm certain I'm racing and I have him covered, so he can't knock me out. I call and he says 'Oh, I thought you had AK', meaning he thought I would have folded AK. I know some people have an aversion to call-in for a lot of chips with AK but the comment surpised me. Anyway, I hit against his 77 and was up over 20K.

I then entered a big long phase of not getting any cards but was able to resteal myself enough chips to stay in. For those not familiar with the term, a resteal is when you re-raise pre-flop against someone who has already raised. In the mid-late stages of tournaments it has become a vital skill to have. Everyone now knows that they should steal blinds and raise with crap, so these players can be pushed out of pots, as they are raising light. If you resteal, not only do you get the blinds, but you get the raise as well (typically 3BB). Therefore one resteal every two orbits will mean you increase your stack. If you select your targets well then these will get through. At Luton I barely opened a pot for about six hours of play, surviving purely on resteals, and never once getting looked up. Other players commented on my uber-rockiness - one dealer even said I was the quietest player she'd ever had on a table.

At the end of day one I had 27K, which put me 12th of the 18 who came back on the Sunday. I continued with the all-in resteals and eventually went out in 6th with a push with 55, called by A6. First card out on the flop was a five, but I got runner-runner flushed. The prize was £2,340, of which I kept half and gave £234 to each of my 'backers'. I did have fun and it showed me that there's nothing to fear in these big money tournaments, even though there were a lot of name players (one reason I'm thinking of buying in at the Vic).

With Luton coming soon after a good result at the Empire (made the money, but went out in 6th with KK v QQ and AT all-in pre-flop for half the chips in play), and internet poker being a sea of pain, I have to fit more live poker into my schedule. Tonight, being Saturday, should have seen me at the Empire but I'm bunged up with cold (as I seemingly have been since Christmas) so I've stayed in to torch $500 online.

Easter weekend will see me in Vienna for the APAT European Championship, and I should be playing at the GUKPT at the Vic so those are the next two things on the schedule for me.