Just a quick blog about moving down.

I’ve done it this week and played about 8k hands winning a ludicrous 16 buyins

Obviously I’ve run well but i’ve also played well and really fixed the problems with my game. Even more important than that i’ve got a lot of confidence back generally.

The main problem was I’d let my aggression slip and stopped thinking during hands. I was giving up too easily, not winning uncontested pots then foccusing on the big pots I was losing rather than the small/medium pots I wasn’t taking down I should have

i’m actually proud of myself for choosing to move down. as i said in my last blog this was a playing decision not a bankroll one. its tough to do in terms of your ego but i really really cant recommend it enough - playing in a game you know you can beat is great for your confidence but more than that it allows you more freedom to experiment and check what things work and what don’t.

anyway i’ll finish my self enforced 10k hands tonight then move back up this week.

in other news britain’s got talent has happened. i have to confess being totally sucked in having never watched it in previous years. its been terrific in every way - of course its manipulative, the people (including judges) not necessarily that talented and its all pointelss but seriously - what a great show

the susan boyle story is a strange one which may be looked back on as a watershed in terms of reality shows and fame generally, i just hope her story doesn’t end sadly as its become perfectly obvious she isnt equipped to deal with whats happened to her.

diversity were awesome of course - their coreographer is borderline genius (and this comes from someone who thinks most modern dance coreography is a bit silly - seriously look closely next time a music video is on, without the other people and lighting effects they’d all look pretty retarded)

that said the highlight of this or any other show this year was the dad from stavros flately running onto stage with a look of messianic determination…. i almost cried with giggles

If you’ve been playing for a while you’ll know how brutal poker can be

It’s brutal in a very particular way - it let’s you think you’ve got it tamed and that you’re it’s daddy then just when you’re winning big and everything’s easy it’ll knock you on your ass and stamp on your throat…it’s a lot like women; as I’ve always said poker is a fickle mistress

After things going really well for the first few months of this year with my PLO journey I’ve had a super rough two or three weeks. I was beating 1/2 and felt I had a good edge in the games but that’s all changed lately.

You join me on a 16 buy in down swing…which is not pretty. Luckily I’m handily rolled for the games and still well up for the year so that side of things is fine but the losing side is not fine - actually it’s really depressing. Playing in games where you think you should be crushing and its not happening is no fun.

The good thing is I know the problems and can fix them. I’ve become too passive and I’m not thinking enough when I play. I call auto piloting ‘zombie tilt’ TM and it’s something that can affect all online players. Just playing your hands, clicking and not thinking. The fact is I’m just not good enough at PLO to get away with that and it has to end….NOW god dam it!!!

Anyway I’ve decided to do something I’ve done a couple of times before in poker and drop down a limit. Im going to play 10k hands at .5/1 and focus on playing them really well and aggressively. This is more of a confidence rebuilding exercise than anything - I’ll let you know how I get on

Also if I can get my act together I’m going to head up to DTD this week and play the big 1k WSOP style event so I’ll keep you all in touch with that

Run better than me!!

hello team

hope you’re all sucking the nectar out of life and that

i worked the ‘black belt’ poker bootcamp this weekend. it was a good couple of days - its always share ideas about poker and see people learn. the star guest was phil laak - whose one of those people that, aprat from being a really nice guy, (over used phrase that is actually a big compliment) is also a really interesting different person with his own unique ideas. listening to him was extremely interesting - it rammed home to me that playing online over live you do lose the human side of the game a bit and those small subtle things that can make the difference in a hand

poker is strange for me at the moment - still playing a tonne of PLO. enduring a down swing in the cash games which is frustrating as i feel i have a good edge but i obviously have to look at things and work harder. im still having a good year though thanks to a couple of great plo tourney results - a win in a small tournament then 10th in a big $500 event for 6.5k which was pretty nice. People can play PLO so badly its scary…and really cool

I’m planning on playing the 1k at dusk til dawn in a couple of weeks as a warm up to the WSOP but that depends on me staying free of work so we’ll see

finally me and rich orford have been putting together a comedy podcast and its now up on the site (www.ontherail.co.uk if you’re reading this elsewhere) - check it out and let me know what you think

right this is a semi tedious i did this…then i did this blog as im tired and not feeling entertaining …. perhaps you could fill in some jokes of your own??

have a magnificent week