Update:
EFOP information.
To play at the Aviation Club de France you have to be a member and membership costs €150 and lasts only 1 year. I knew about this cost before I devised the package so I am not complaining about it.
I spoke to the club today and asked about juice. Juice is deducted from the prize pool but they were sketchy about how much. It seems to be between 5% and 10% dependant on the field size.
I spoke to a player in London last night who has played comps at ACF and he informed me of some strange rules they have there. So I am prepared for some potentially strange rulings and will not let these disturb my concentration should they happen.
First poker since December 23rd.
A cash game report so that you as investors can get inside the mind of SageDonkey and know who and what you are investing your hard earned cash in.
I played a cash game session last night in £1/£2 Dealers Choice and £2/£2 NLHE from 9 p.m. until 4 a.m. at The International in London.
I played really well in the DC and got about £400 up after 4 hours having been card dead for the first 90 minutes and £150 down. When I was £400 up I considered getting up and leaving because I am cutting down on the number of cash game sessions and the length of them this month so that I can prepare well for the upcoming comps.
But I decided to stay because there were 2 or 3 value spots still at the table and the only player who had the same or more chips than me, I had £900, was Jerome Bradpiece
http://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=r&n=61165 who I had deliberately seated myself in position against, so it was going to be hard for him to bust me in any of the Omaha games, despite the fact that Omaha would be his stronger of the games in the Dealers Choice rotation of games.
However, he did then stack me off in Superstud. (This is the five card dealt, player discards two, version of Stud 8)
On 5th street he had 355 showing as his up cards. I already had a made A2346 low. We both had rainbowy looking boards so flush draws are not really a factor here for the high.
A third player in the pot who was playing quite tilty had a mixture of filth showing on his board that was not low orientated so no threat to my low.
Pot was £300, Jerome bet the pot (£800 left behind), the short stack stuck his last £200 in and I shoved. I didn't love life that much because Jerome is rarely ever passing and he has two blockers to me making the 6 high straight so it feels like I am basically getting my stack in to chop the short stack's money with an outside chance of scooping the lot.
However, I always have to get my money in in this spot because it is +EV. Anyway, it turns out that Jerome was slightly semi-bluffing with A2355. Of course he hit the 4 immediately and stacked me off winning a £2.1K pot in the process.
I ran the numbers and I was an overall 55/45 equity favourite against him.
I was in for £500, I accepted the loss and rebought for £300. That £300 went quickly down to £200 when I missed the world on the river in 5 card PLO, again against Jerome. I had position on him so there was no point in jamming the turn because I was pretty sure he wouldn't pass to the jam but that he would lead most rivers or check call my value bet on the river if I hit.
I then lost the remaining £200 in one hand of Triple Flop Pot Limit Omaha when I essentially got it all in pre with a strong hand (I was pot committed on nearly any combination of the 3 flops) against a player who was on tilt and another player who kind of got sandwiched in the middle of me and the tilt player's pre flop raising war. The player on tilt had a weak starting hand but got there and won a £600 pot.
Now I am down £800 but I have played well, was ultra calm and focused and just accepted that this session had some elements of run bad in it that one has to expect from time to time and accept.
I rebought for another £300. The player who had been on tilt for a while continued playing very loose and I managed to fairly quickly get my stack up to £850 with 3 decent sized pots won mainly from him.
He then lost some more chips to another player and left. The game quickly went short handed with only decent regulars left in it so I decided to leave and move to the £2/£2 NLHE.
NLHE as I have previously pointed out is not my strongest game, although I am good at picking up live tells, good at assessing pre flop ranges and play a pretty solid if unspectacular TAG game in a NLHE cash game. I am far more aggressive in NLHE comps.
My record in the few sessions of £2/£2 NLHE that I have played at The International since July last year is good. I have now won 6 sessions, broken even in 1 and lost none.
I have game selected it well, usually only playing it in the early hours of the morning when some of the looser, drunker or lesser ability players have been seated in it.
Initially in the £2/£2 last night I lost about £100 over the course of a few pots that I got in with nice drawing hands or small pairs that missed. But all the while I was weighing up the opposition, looking for tells, and formulating a game plan against specific opponents. I then won some pots pre by 3 or 4 betting in position and getting it through.
Then I won a £150 pot and a £400 pot. I decided to leave as it was now the early hours, I was starting to feel a little tired and after all I had performed quite a steely fightback on the session as a whole having been down £800 at one stage.
I cashed out knowing that I was very close to even overall. The cash desk counted out the chips and I had £1105. I had made total buy ins of £1110, so £5 down for the session!
The International awards I Points (cash game player loyalty points) per hour of cash game played at the club. These can be used to purchase food and drink or as a credit towards tournament entries. I earned about a £5 worth of I Points. Plus during the evening I collected 5 alcoholic drinks tokens, none of which I used as I rarely drink while playing poker, I may have 1 drink occasionally over the course of a very long session if I am having food at the same time. So I guess you could say I was a winner on the session. ;-)
These drinks tokens are currently being given to players becuse there is a temporary alcohol licencing ban so alcohol can only be given away in exchange for a free token but not sold to players.
I am accumulating these tokens because on 14th January there is a fun £30 NLHE team event at the club. I am the team captain of The Gutshot Forum Team and I want to make sure that my team are well stocked with drinks tokens. This is one of the few events where drinking is prevalent because it is about having fun and there is lots of banter between rival teams.
So that is my update and report of how I have been playing. I am currently stepping up my physical fitness regime in preparation for the comps, the first one of which is the £100 P.R.O.P.S. on Tuesday January 10th. It has a nice structure, it being a 10000 + 15000 Double Chance with a 25 minute clock. (for only one buy in fee of £115)
Last edited by SageDonkey; 01-05-2012 at 05:06 PM.
