Grinding the Bankroll Back

After the madness of the cash tables, spinning in $400 profit in less then an hour and then spending 4 nights giving it all back, I took myself off to a quiet corner of my apartment, and gave myself a damn good talking taking too!! Why the fuk am I wasting time on the cash tables, I am simply not controlled enough for them, and my degenerate gambling bastard side comes out too much. STICK TO WHAT YOU KNOW DAVO!! Which is the tourney grind. As I have explained I don’t like to run up a huge bankroll on sites so when I get a decent chunk it gets withdrawn and put straight into a bank account. I have already made a withdrawal from Pokerstars this month, and had ran the remaining $50 into $480 and then pissed all that away leaving me with $48 in the accountL. So in a situation like this there is only one thing to do, hit the low stakes tourney grind. I hit Stars at 6pm last night and registered for 8 competitions ranging from $3 - $5 buy ins, normally I don’t like to play that low but needs must.

The play was terrible in a lot of them, with players not able to fold hands, calling all in with Ace high on the turn and then spiking etc etc. So it all came down to one competition the $3 1.5k GTD 6 MAX comp, 2354 runners and I will say now I was surprised with the quality of play. Now before I go any further a good poker friend of mine Phil Blackwell deserves a mention here. Over the past few months we have been playing about 1 night a week on Stars and doing a % deal on various comps, we are in constant contact on MSN and this has improved my game no end. We are constantly railing each other, he offers me advice, knows when I am about to go on spastic monkey tilt and gets me to sort my head out. But it motivates me to play well as he either watching or playing a different comp which I have a cut in or vice versa. Last night I was commenting on his hand history and giving my opinion and he was doing the same, he also stepped in a bout 3 times to give me a slap and calm me down. TY Phil top man.

So with out going right into the finer details, about 6.5 hours in and we are down to 2 tables, I take complete control of my table and go from 600k up to 1.8 million as we hit the final table. I am 2nd in chips and can afford to sit back and let a few players exited, but I was so much in the zone I went straight to work at it, at my own cost. I messed up yet again deep in a competition, I call a raise with A8 hearts on the SB out of position from the guy 3rd in chips, the flop comes down 3c 4 c 8d, He bets out about half the pot and I 4 bet him wanting to take the pot there and then. He tanks and eventually calls, I put him on a strong A and he is being stubborn, thinking I am at it from the outset trying to control the table. Turn comes a 6c and I jam the pot trusting my read….. Which is wrong and he INSTA calls me with Kc Qc, the 8 on the river was no help, I am down to 200k.. IDIOT.

I manage to re-group and get my stack up to 700k, the play is very, very good for a $3 comp and I know I have a real up hill battle. We lose a player and I then attempt another crazy bluff to accumulate chips, I have K6 in the SB and raise the BB calls and the flop drops 10 3 10, I bet and he flats, I don’t put him on a 10, perhaps 66 or something like that. Turn brings an A, and I decide to check slam it if he bets, to represent the A, so I check he bets and I slam. He calls faster than a speeding bullet and show me 10 7. BOLLOX!! 200k left and I ship it in on the chip leaders BB with AQ off, he calls me with Q9, 3 outs and the first card out is a 9, no ace for Davo time for bed. $289 for my efforts in 5th place, which is a good ROI off $3, but I would have liked to take the $1100 first place prize, but it just wasn’t meant to be.

Normally I would be disappointed and dwell over this for days, but I am not, you live by the sword and you die by the sword, I made my moves and they didn’t pay off. $289 puts the bankroll back into a healthy place; I know I have made the right decision sticking to what I am good at “the tourney grind.” Plus my profit for the month stands at $913 so far, purely from tourneys. I am constantly having deep runs and feel as if another big score is on the cards.

Tonight it is the £50 F/O, 12k starting stack at the Blackpool G, myself and Jamboy will be attending, I will be free rolling as Steve owes me a buy in from all the way back in November at the GUKPT, and this will be the first live game I have played since then.

Good luck all……