The powerfully ominous title of this threadblog has no connection to my own life and experiences. Mostly, I am the one who answers the door after doing my belt up and struggling to reach a vertical base from the bean bag. I enjoy writing and have both attempted and also often ponder writing a blog, but I've found I'm too busy being lazy to maintain one. 2+2 is the website I waste more time on than any other, so if it doesn't happen here on a regular basis then it will never happen.

I'm probably going to write about books and TV, maybe some football (real football) and politics but basically whatever I feel. Even if I'm the sole reader of the blog then I'm happy. It's about the process rather than the product.

Maybe I'll have some poker in it too but I'm kind of at the point where after eight years I'm only excited by new experiences and who knows when they may occur.

I've been playing poker seriously for about 7 years. I am not a professional, neither am I a recreational player. My chosen terminology is 'serious amateur' or 'semi-professional'. Recreational implies a more casual emotional investment, intimating the primary aim is enjoyment. I enjoy poker, especially the community and following the circuit and the high level scene, but I definitely don't enjoy playing as much as I used to. I don't think you can play 3,500 tournaments and still feel the same thrill of discovery and excitement in tournament 3,501 that you did in tournament 15.

I guess my proudest achievement is to be profitable in an environment where the majority are unprofitable. I supplement my income and buy a few things I wouldn't be able or would feel guilty putting on a credit card otherwise. A couple of small scores on Hendon Mob.

My mini 15 minutes of poker fame (ie. getting retweeted by strangers for a couple of days) was being the creator of this:

That video was hilarious.

I made an extremely rare foray into the live poker scene yesterday when I played Day 1B of the GUKPT Goliath - £120 BI with £200k GTD. Starting stack was 25k with 40 minute levels. It’s a fantastic tournament, really soft field and I gave myself a shot to make a big run but due to a very strangely played hand I lost a lot of momentum and chips. Nothing happened in the first 3 levels, the defining hand of this point typified how things were progressing for me – flatted 88 out of the BB, check check on KJ8, then I check raised the K turn only for another King to hit the river and I check folded.

I got my 20k in on the turn during Level 4 (100-200) with KJ on KJ89hh vs 84hh and held. Over the next few hours I grinded up to 70k in unspectacular fashion, before being moved to the live streaming feature table. This was a great experience – it’s not exactly Lon and Norm on Tuesday nights but it’s cool playing under the lights. Unfortunately the RFID technology wasn’t working/switched on, but the 15 or so viewers (!) got to see me put on a clinic and go from 70k to 220k. I busted a guy on the final hand of the feature table and then were moved back to the outer tables. After busting another guy I had 270k on 1500-3k and would be in the Top 5 stacks in the room (that stack would be good for 10th place at the end of Day 1B going into 3k-6k.)

Then came the weird hand that I’m actually reasonably happy with. I opened the cut-off to 6k with A6dd and the BB, a young hoodie kid who seemed semi-competent 3-bet out of the BB to 18k. I’d raised his blinds a couple of times before and I sensed that he was ready to ‘fight back’. He had around 180k and was the 2nd biggest stack on the table. I think this is a dream 4-bet spot – he’s wide, I have the Ace blocked, my hand isn’t good enough to flat, I can threaten his tournament life, and if he 5-bets I can shrug and get on with it – 40k is a reasonable risk. After a 15 second tank he did the unexpected and flatted. I hated this – obviously it’s ridiculous to say, but I would actually rather fold to a 5-bet, even with position. When I 4-bet I thought I’d either win 30k or lose 40k, now the spectre of a greater loss is upon me. What’s his range here? Can he have QQ+. Is he flatting lower pairs because he doesn’t want to stack off? Is he spewing? I didn’t know what to think. I planned to check back an A flop and fire every other flop, and we got a 542 rainbow with one diamond. He checked and I strongly contemplated checking back. If he does have 99 or something he’s probably going to get it in here, and I don’t want to have to fold overcards, a gutshot and a backdoor flush draw. Despite this temptation I felt like betting outweighed checking. Surely I can get him to fold all his no-pairs and there are no draws he can feasibly have. I bet 50k and he tanked for about a minute. He seemed to go through all of the motions – grabbing the calling chips, thinking about putting his whole stack in, and playing with his cards like he was going to fold. I don’t think this was Hollywood – with hindsight he probably was considering all of the options. He finally flatted. He has now invested 90k of his 180k. I couldn’t see how he could ever fold now, especially as I can’t put him on a draw on the flop. The turn was the Jack of spades, and he checks. I feel like if it was the Jack of diamonds I would have found the shove. Instead I check back. If he has flatted with 66-TT I can’t see him folding to the Jack with 50% of his stack in. If he somehow has a stubborn AK I can probably get him of that but it seems so unlikely. It smells like a trap. I check back and the river is the King of clubs. He thinks for 10 seconds and bets 70k, leaving 20k back. Hand over right? I fold quickly and he proudly flips up….

73 of spades.

I still have 180k on 1500-3k but I lost my momentum and ability to cower the table (!). Whiffed a few flops, got 3-bet a few times, doubled a 10bb shorty in a standard spot and ended up shoving 75k from the button on 2500-5k with 10 minutes left to the end of day.

Beat: Had tons of chips in Level 12 only to bust in Level 16.
Brag: Don't have to go back to Coventry.

He flatted your 4b with 73o . Was he on supertilt from a previous hand or something?

Haha, he seemed decent as well. His flop play is bizarre as well, it's a clear check raise all-in.