Well, the rest of the week didn't go so well. I took a few nasty beats around the bubble or just into the money of a few tournies and ended up losing $884 for the rest of the week, putting me $279 down for the week. Not too disappointed though. Still putting in plenty of deep runs (deep for the small field sizes) and I am confident that if I keep playing my game the top 3s and the wins will come.

One hand that does haunt me was in the Cake $109 on Friday. I am top 3 in chips with about 40 left (about 200 starters). I get JJ utg and raise it about 2.4x. A played in late position re-raises. I am pretty sure that he is not making this play light but I have the odds to set mine. Of course the flop comes rags and here is where I lose the plot completely. Instead of just check-folding, I somehow convince myself that I should lead at the pot to make him fold AK but laying down to a re-raise. Sure enough he shoves over the top and I <STRIKE>fold</STRIKE> call and he shows me AA. WTF? I called? But that wasnt the plan. I REALLY need to stop falling in love with my hand in these situations - it is sooooo weak.

Today started off disastrously! I seem to be incapable of playing sensible poker in the Million and once again there I was, putting in raised from EP with marginal hands, unable to fold to 3 bets. I went out in the first 20 minutes, which is a record for me I think. Also played the Cake $100k and built up a bit of a stack early before overplaying QJ on a Q high board and running it into AQ. Went out of my last tournament with QQ vs A7 just before the money bubble which put me in a thoroughly bad mood.

Then, what do you know? I play the $50 $4k GTD on Party and take it down for the 2nd Monday running. Not only did I take it down, I demolished the final table, knocking out every single player from 8th to 2nd, including 4 players in 4 hands:

#Game No : 8238682828
***** Hand History for Game 8238682828 *****
NL Texas Hold'em $55 USD Buy-in Trny:46535207 Level:13 Blinds-Antes(2,000/4,000 -100) - Monday, July 13, 08:08:33 EDT 2009
Table $4K Gtd Speed (1713645) Table #1 (Real Money)
Seat 10 is the button
Total number of players : 7
Seat 5: BlindBoyBurt ( 24,000 )
Seat 3: Kolven123 ( 24,234 )
Seat 7: RaphFranchin ( 26,752 )
Seat 9: Spiderbait29 ( 35,551 )
Seat 6: paris351 ( 41,780 )
Seat 2: quagmeyer444 ( 68,353 )
Seat 10: xkr_burns ( 37,330 )
Trny:46535207 Level:13
Blinds-Antes(2,000/4,000 -100)
quagmeyer444 posts ante [100]
Kolven123 posts ante [100]
BlindBoyBurt posts ante [100]
paris351 posts ante [100]
RaphFranchin posts ante [100]
Spiderbait29 posts ante [100]
xkr_burns posts ante [100]
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to BlindBoyBurt [ Ks Ah ]
BlindBoyBurt is all-In [23,900]
paris351 is all-In [41,680]
RaphFranchin folds
Spiderbait29 folds
xkr_burns folds
quagmeyer444 folds
Kolven123 folds
** Dealing Flop ** [ 8d, 6d, 4s ]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 7d ]
** Dealing River ** [ 8h ]
BlindBoyBurt shows [ Ks, Ah ]a pair of Eights with King kicker.
paris351 shows [ Jh, Ad ]a pair of Eights.
paris351 wins 17,780 chips from the side pot 1 with a pair of Eights.
BlindBoyBurt wins 54,500 chips from the main pot with a pair of Eights with King kicker.
Game #8238683491 starts.

#Game No : 8238683491
***** Hand History for Game 8238683491 *****
NL Texas Hold'em $55 USD Buy-in Trny:46535207 Level:13 Blinds-Antes(2,000/4,000 -100) - Monday, July 13, 08:08:56 EDT 2009
Table $4K Gtd Speed (1713645) Table #1 (Real Money)
Seat 2 is the button
Total number of players : 7
Seat 5: BlindBoyBurt ( 54,500 )
Seat 3: Kolven123 ( 20,134 )
Seat 7: RaphFranchin ( 26,652 )
Seat 9: Spiderbait29 ( 35,451 )
Seat 6: paris351 ( 17,780 )
Seat 2: quagmeyer444 ( 66,253 )
Seat 10: xkr_burns ( 37,230 )
Trny:46535207 Level:13
Blinds-Antes(2,000/4,000 -100)
quagmeyer444 posts ante [100]
Kolven123 posts ante [100]
BlindBoyBurt posts ante [100]
paris351 posts ante [100]
RaphFranchin posts ante [100]
Spiderbait29 posts ante [100]
xkr_burns posts ante [100]
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to BlindBoyBurt [ 2c 4h ]
paris351 is all-In [17,680]
RaphFranchin folds
Spiderbait29 folds
xkr_burns folds
quagmeyer444 folds
Kolven123 folds
quagmeyer444: no i guess not
BlindBoyBurt folds
paris351 does not show cards.
paris351 wins 24,380 chips
Game #8238684199 starts.

#Game No : 8238684199
***** Hand History for Game 8238684199 *****
NL Texas Hold'em $55 USD Buy-in Trny:46535207 Level:13 Blinds-Antes(2,000/4,000 -100) - Monday, July 13, 08:09:19 EDT 2009
Table $4K Gtd Speed (1713645) Table #1 (Real Money)
Seat 3 is the button
Total number of players : 7
Seat 5: BlindBoyBurt ( 50,400 )
Seat 3: Kolven123 ( 18,034 )
Seat 7: RaphFranchin ( 26,552 )
Seat 9: Spiderbait29 ( 35,351 )
Seat 6: paris351 ( 24,380 )
Seat 2: quagmeyer444 ( 66,153 )
Seat 10: xkr_burns ( 37,130 )
Trny:46535207 Level:13
Blinds-Antes(2,000/4,000 -100)
quagmeyer444 posts ante [100]
Kolven123 posts ante [100]
BlindBoyBurt posts ante [100]
paris351 posts ante [100]
RaphFranchin posts ante [100]
Spiderbait29 posts ante [100]
xkr_burns posts ante [100]
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to BlindBoyBurt [ As Qd ]
RaphFranchin folds
Spiderbait29 is all-In [35,251]
xkr_burns folds
quagmeyer444 folds
Kolven123 folds
BlindBoyBurt is all-In [48,300]
paris351 folds
** Dealing Flop ** [ 8d, Ah, 7s ]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 2c ]
** Dealing River ** [ Js ]
BlindBoyBurt shows [ As, Qd ]a pair of Aces with Queen kicker.
Spiderbait29 shows [ Ts, Ac ]a pair of Aces.
BlindBoyBurt wins 15,049 chips from the side pot 1 with a pair of Aces with Queen kicker.
BlindBoyBurt wins 75,202 chips from the main pot with a pair of Aces with Queen kicker.
Player Spiderbait29 finished in 7 place and received $236.50 USD
Game #8238684831 starts.

#Game No : 8238684831
***** Hand History for Game 8238684831 *****
NL Texas Hold'em $55 USD Buy-in Trny:46535207 Level:13 Blinds-Antes(2,000/4,000 -100) - Monday, July 13, 08:09:41 EDT 2009
Table $4K Gtd Speed (1713645) Table #1 (Real Money)
Seat 5 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 5: BlindBoyBurt ( 90,251 )
Seat 3: Kolven123 ( 17,934 )
Seat 7: RaphFranchin ( 26,452 )
Seat 6: paris351 ( 20,280 )
Seat 2: quagmeyer444 ( 66,053 )
Seat 10: xkr_burns ( 37,030 )
Trny:46535207 Level:13
Blinds-Antes(2,000/4,000 -100)
quagmeyer444 posts ante [100]
Kolven123 posts ante [100]
BlindBoyBurt posts ante [100]
paris351 posts ante [100]
RaphFranchin posts ante [100]
xkr_burns posts ante [100]
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to BlindBoyBurt [ Ad Ts ]
xkr_burns folds
quagmeyer444 folds
Kolven123 is all-In [17,834]
BlindBoyBurt is all-In [90,151]
paris351 is all-In [18,180]
RaphFranchin folds
** Dealing Flop ** [ Jh, As, Qd ]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 5s ]
** Dealing River ** [ 7c ]
paris351 shows [ 4c, 4h ]a pair of Fours.
Kolven123 shows [ Th, 6s ]high card Ace.
BlindBoyBurt shows [ Ad, Ts ]a pair of Aces.
BlindBoyBurt wins 69,971 chips from the side pot 2 with a pair of Aces.
BlindBoyBurt wins 4,692 chips from the side pot 1 with a pair of Aces.
BlindBoyBurt wins 58,102 chips from the main pot with a pair of Aces.
Player Kolven123 finished in 6 place and received $279.50 USD
Player paris351 finished in 5 place and received $344 USD

What are the odds of all those holding up?!?!?

Anyway, lets hope that sets me up for a better week than last week.

Week 1: -$229
Week 2: +$553 (after 1 day)

So I got up at 5.50am (AEST) to kick off my day with the 10r on Stars and the Bodog $100k (despite the buy in going up to $162). At 6.30 I added the Sunday million. This task was not made easier by having to change a nappy and feed my 8 week old son a bottle...when I said my wife supported this, I didn't mean she was THAT supportive!!

Anyway, the 10r and the $100k were pretty ho hum and I never really got any momentum going in either. In the Sunday Mill I built up a $60k stack in the 3rd hour before semi-bluffing off 35k in chips with KJ on a QTx board that bricked when my opponent got it all in with KQ. I managed to double up again before a flip which knocked my back to $25k and I ended up shoving A7 into KK to go out about 1,600th.

I also fired up the 9am $109 and trebled up early when I flopped a flush and TWO players shoved in front of me (with a straight and top pair). I then had a combination of great cards and insane opponents and by 2nd break I had c. 40,000 chips and was a top 3 stack. I then got moved to a VERY aggressive table - checking the OPR stats nearly everyone was a winning player at ave buy ins of $150+. Instead of tightening up and picking my spots I made the error of opening light from EP and having to fold when I got 3 bet. Eventually I made a stand, 4-betting all in with 66 and getting called by TT. The very next hand I had TT utg and got it all in against the same opponent with QQ and that was it.

That was a really disappointing end to my morning - there was no need to play the 66 the way I did and I still had a way above average stack which I blew in 2 hands.

SO this evening is the one evening I can play as the wife watches Desperate Housewives and Brothers and Sisters and I am not allowed to talk to her anyway. I played the $50 Turbo $4k GTD on Party and the $25r $8k on Titan (i-poker). I have a great record in the $50 Turbo and tonight I once again ran like a god, winning at least 3 30-70s and taking it down for $1,350. I am still pretty pumped, not so much for the amount of the win, but just that I have turned around what was looking like a pretty crappy day. As I type I am sitting 29/63 in the 25r, so maybe some more cash to come....EDIT: just gone out.

I think I am going to ditch the $100k and the 10r...getting up at 5.50am to play poker is just f***ing daft to be honest. There are plenty of other tournies that start later and there is nothing special about those 2 (apart from the overlay of course). Plus I am too tired at that hour - lucky I didnt stay up to watch Federer - Rodick.

I am going to keep track of results from today (despite the fact that last week was a winning one, there was too much cash going on and I dont know the exact result.

So today was:
Morning -$620
Evening +$1,225 (with 25r result to come)

Overall for the day (and week so far) +$605.

This first entry will probably be quite long, by way of both introduction and apology to anyone who can be bothered to read it.

The business I worked for went into administration 2 weeks ago, meaing I have no job. I am a well qualified Finance Professional and it is likely to take me 2-3 months to find another job. In that time, and with the support of my wife, I am attempting to replicate my earnings from my previous job through poker.

I have had some decent results in the past, but I have always lacked discipline. In 2006 I won a good chunk of money on Paradise, before it stopped US accounts and all the volume left. Last year I chopped a $1m tournament on Party Poker for $115,000. For that reason, my family will not starve if I fail in my attempt, but obviously I would prefer to succeed.

I posted on P5s looking for advice on what tournaments to play - I live in Australia, and will only be playing the mornings here. I then started onto describing my schedule etc. This gave me the idea of writing a blog for a number of reasons:

- I feel it is slightly self indulgent to post progress on something like this in PD
- for anyone who is interested, it will be easier to find
- but most of all, I am hoping it will instil some additional discipline in my game selection if I am going to be honest here about how I am doing

I have a had a good week so far - I am up about $4k on MTTs on Party but - to my shame - I have dumped about $1k of that at PLO. (Honesty!). This is the type of behaviour I am hoping that writing an honest blog will stamp out!

So, the parameters of my doing this "professionally":
- Monday I take shots! I will probably spend around $500 - $600 in buy-ins, including the Bodog $100k and the Sunday Million.
- Tues - Sun: I will probably play about 4 days a week and will play all tournies on Party Poker with buy-ins $30 up starting between 7.30am and 10am Sydney time. I will try to supplement these with the odd other mid-stakes MTT or 180 man on Stars. I will look for smallish fields (<300 to keep variance down)
- I will only not play if I have a job interview (obviously I will try to arrange these for the afternoon), or a family committment.
- I will play max 3 tables at once; I struggle with more than that, particularly with 2 kids running around!
- my target is to win an average of $2k per week. Obviously not $2k every week, but I am aiming to average that over the period I do this (probably 10-12 weeks).

Of course if I somehow pull off another big score (and it would probably need to be $50k+), then I might do this for the rest of the year and see how it goes.

I am now going to play the $50 speed $4k GTD on party, by way of making up for the fact that I wont be playing again until Monday!

Will try to post updates here a few times a week...wish me luck!!!