MetalWolf

@GR1ZZL3R Got it! Nice one. I’ll message you and @theMachine tomorrow night with schedule link and a few terms and conditions lol cheers everyone for having a go!

Afraid not!

Another good guess @pinki (I went both places you mentioned recently) but sadly not correct in this instance!

Good guess but nope!

BOOM 1% to @theMachine ! Who wants the other?

How do you mean machine?

Closest by far! First clue then. It is two different locations on the Welsh coast. 1% shares each to the two that get each location or 2% if someone gets both!

None correct yet

No #UOSprep today because it’s raining all day 😛 Competition time though! First person to name the two locations in the photos will get a free 1% stake in my €500 UOS schedule! You have until 12pm GMT tomorrow afternoon (Wednesday) Open only to people who have previously contributed to the blog likes/comments etc

#UOSprep

#UOSprep

Great video. As you know I’m a big fan of the hero call and trusting instinct. Especially at live events when everyone stares open mouthed saying wow and you’re just casually stacking chips thinking ‘like a boss’. And if it goes wrong and you look like a clown it’s just as easy to use that to your advantage in a later hand too lol

Ah don't worry @GR1ZZL3R I won't be burning myself out I'm taking a well earned break for the next few days. I won't start serious again til Thursday probably. You going to be playing much of the series? I know mate it still hurts to talk about it. Hope we don't finish with a whimper now! Thanks and Good luck!

It feels like a while since I made an impact in poker. A lots changed in life since the good days of final tabling Glasgow and cashing Dublin and a few curve balls have certainly been thrown my way. I've even played poker in different arenas, different sites looking for some motivation but you all know that life and circumstance plays a huge role in every hobby that we love. Especially when you are a tournament player and can't just get up from the tables at a moments notice. However, things are going to change again. I have had a promotion at work, life is back on track and I am itching to get back to the sort of volume I was playing at the start of the year (1331 games in first 6 weeks as opposed to 284 in the next 6 weeks). I'm ready to make an impact again and UOS is just around the corner. Life permitting I am going to play the full LOW and NANO schedule. The goal is to win a leaderboard. Anything else I will be rough on myself as a failure. Let the prep begin!

I have hardly been seen playing poker recently for a number of reasons. The points reset, lack of motivation, busy life etc. In the first 6 weeks of the year I played 1331 games. In the next 7 weeks I played 284. It's not a particulary good time for me at the moment. I would love to play more poker but I just have other things to think about. Nevertheless here's the stats that I really hope i can start adding a lot more to very soon! Tournaments played: 733 (375 sats) ITM: 220 / 30.01% Total buyin: €3537.05 Total Cashes: €4291.92 Tournament Profit: +€754.87 ROI: 21.34% Tournament wins: 11 1x Galaxy Nano - 90 Runners 1x 1k Dark Matter - 103 Runners 3x Singularity - 87 / 128 / 37 Runners 1x 1k Moonwalk - 119 Runners 1x Deep Crazy Moon - 38 Runners 1x Zenith - 73 Runners 1x Shooting Star - 63 Runners 2x Community Game (€25), (€1) Hexapro 1: Played 218 won 99= +€76 2: Played 414 won 143 = -€22 5: Played 207 won 79 = -€32.5 Hexapro Profit: +€21.5 Cash 4NLH: 17 buyins +5.96 profit 4PLO: 15 buyins +10.74 profit 10NLH: 8 Buyins -16.89 profit 10PLO: 10 Buyins -8.74 profit 25PLO: 1 Buyin -25 Profit Cash Profit: -€33.93 Total Games Played: 1623 Total Yearly Profit: +€742.44

Haha thanks for the compliment! I wonder if they knew how to play poker in middle earth 😏

@sgriff you were absolutely right mate and your presence was missed! At the time I didn’t think much of it but on reflection and thinking of the structure of events last year it felt like a real step backwards. As you say, it’s a long way to go to only last a couple levels, or otherwise potentially expensive. Hope you enjoyed watching the wolves instead though lol Thanks for the good luck message and hope to see you and Julia at an event real soon!

Well played on making FT. Yeah I agree that taking the low variance route would of been the best option especially with the package on the line. Fine to take a stab pre against two weak plays but the flop is awful and I think I just give it up. All or nothing rather than Cbet. I probably even check in the BB pre and be prepared to lose the blind and see what the other online qualifiers strategy was going to be first. Best to look for a better spot to 3bet that stack size allin pre or attack the other qualifier when he's got BB and ante in. Yep true that's another thing I forgot to point out is the crushing ante when going down to short handed. Everything just felt too quick.

PART THREE There are many things in life more important than poker. One such thing is Wolves trying to beat Manchester United for an F.A cup semi-final place and a first cup appearance at Wembley for 30 years. Today, Saturday Day 1B, was the day! We spent the day walking round MK playing games in the arcades, having drinks in the ‘Spoons’ (Wetherspoons is a very popular pub chain for those not from the UK) and having a pretty amazing buffet meal in the center. It was a really good day overall but was it about it to get better? We went back to the hotel to watch the match as it was my son’s bedtime at kick off (even though he stayed up for the match in his Wolves colours!). Wolves were amazing and Man Utd managed to grab a late stuffy goal to make the scoreline a flattering 2-1 in Wolves favour. The beers were going down great and I was buzzing. Afterwards I managed just a few pages of a book by a resident Unibet favourite before falling asleep, though I can assure you falling asleep was more because of the beer rather than the contents of the book! On the Sunday we spent a few hours on the park with the little one before walking out into the countryside for a quick drink in a lovely pub before I wanted to get back to the casino to see what was going on. It was community freeroll time! I have to just mention here that, though there was only a few of them, the Unibet staff were brilliant and I even must have spent a couple hours overall chatting to Leo. They always put the player’s first and are always happy to talk or help. I even got some congrats from them on Wolves win! I’m also not just saying this because they gave me a free cap :Haha: The community game had some good prizes and bounties up for grabs as Leo and Kasia also played so 12 of us squeezed round a table to do battle. It started off really well for me as my Aces allowed me to double up against 66’s but it ultimately ended up like most other Unibet tournaments. Losing a few flips and then @triceraatopp finishing me off :Rofl: I left before the end to make sure I got into Jeppe’s online community games that you all have me to thank for. I asked at the table if anyone was playing the online community games and Leo looked at me pretty stunned. He, and many others, didn’t realize they were on the Sunday and hadn’t set them up. He quickly got on the phone to Jeppe to get them sorted only about an hour before they were meant to kick off. Good job I mentioned it! Back at the hotel room I managed to bust all of the community games in total failure except for the €1. At least I can say I went to MK and won a tournament.

Yep. Sorry forgot to mention that about sizing. I agree with you and Endboss that my bet sizing was pretty poor in that hand. 1200 raise wasn't enough. 2100 into 3400 wasn't enough. 5500 into 7500 I don't think is too bad in general with only a river to come and me having a pretty good board. Would keep in draws and possibly even a 3 but yeah given his style I may as well have just bombed it and gone for maximum value.

@EndbossThanks for feedback it's great to get others views and all views are appreciated. I totally agree that in hand one it is disasterous to play the hand any other way in which i did up until the river. I just ask the questions to drive discussion. I agree with your river analysis as the safest thing to do but I still don't think it's clear cut. I think i give him too much credit and think he may be able to fold a better hand. But, I also don't think you follow the blog very much if you think I have no Kx in my range 🤣 I think a lot of expoitive players can turn up with a king here. Me personally would call the preflop raise on the button with KQ,KJ and possibly even worse if I think the conditions are right. And having made those calls I often don't fold a 2 4 4 flop. I often float because a tonne of his range is going to check/fold a turn bet. As you say, played like it was it looks like I have a mid pair so by betting pot we are playing a game of whos mid pair is bigger and I think it's a risk I'd be willing to bet with, but is it a risk he'd be willing to call with? I don't know the player well enough to know the answer. He was the guy that called down the 88 I mentioned for over 100+ BB's total with absolutely nothing so yes in hindsight he probably calls anyway. But then that also probably adds all A high calls to his range and I could be bluffing with the best hand lol I certainly agree that the safest thing to do, and one which you are going to win sometimes anyway with is just playing it the way I did. I really appreciate your feedback as it makes me assured I'm not just being a fish lol You made the final table didn't you? What were your thoughts on the overall blind structure?

PART TWO Down to hand analysis then and unfortunately, given my short venture, I don’t have many to choose from! The first one was very early on but cost me a decent part of my stack. Blinds 100/200/200 An active player in UTG+2 raises to 400. I am on the button with 22 and decide to call when it folds to me. BB calls and we go three handed to the flop of 2 4 4 BB checks. UTG+2 bets 1200. I call. BB folds. Turn 2 4 4 K UTG+2 fires 2100. I call. No flush draws possible. River 2 4 4 K 4 BB tanks for ages. Checks. I check and lose to 66. I thought about this hand a lot on the night. Should I have raised the turn. Should I have bet pot on the river. My problem was I showed annoyed emotion when he checked to me which instantly ruled out all other options I had except check. In hindsight if I reraise the turn I probably win the hand there and then. But do I want to? He MIGHT call 55-QQ. He obviously calls a K and (surely) we fold out all A highs. I could have A4. I could have 22. I could have any pocket pair which he will be cautious about holding 66. I could float the flop with a few kings in hand. When the river comes he tanks for ages. When he checks it feels like he has showdown value. I think if he has A high he barrels big and obviously he does that with a 4 (only A4 would make much sense) and KK/AA. I think I’m actually a lot more inclined to call a bet if he barrelled. I feel checking narrows his range to 33/55-QQ. If I put a pot size bet it’s going to look like I have a K, a 4 or complete air. There isn’t much air in my range so I probably would get the fold and in hindsight I think this is what I should have done. Checking still allows me to beat A high, but I lose to a few hands that I’d probably get a fold from if I bet pot (33/55-88, anything above 88 might sigh call out of spite if nothing else). Situation wasn’t ideal as it’s rare and not something you regularly prepare for but I can hold up my hands and say mistakes were made on my part. If it doesn’t come a 4 I’m value betting or moving allin over his third barrel. Second hand was a bit later on but devastating to my stack. Blinds 200/400/400 Maniac player UTG 1 calls. I bet from the cut off to 1200 with 10 10. He calls and the flop is 3 7 9 He checks. I bet 2100 He calls. Turn is 3 7 9 7 He checks. I bet 5500. He calls. River comes 3 7 9 7 K He bets 7k. I call and lose to KQ. Should I call the river? It does look like a value bet but then if he’s willing to float KQ after two barrels he could play anything. Could also be a blocker bet with a small pair but unlikely. This guy must have been chip leader at this point and floated everything. He hit everything he needed and ended up busting a player in a 200+BB (blinds 400) pot moving allin for 30k on the river with 88, on a board of 23737 and getting called…. And winning?! He said he bet it for value cus he knew the guy would call with worse…. Ok then… Anyway, back to our hand it was clear in my head that I really could be up against anything from 10 8 to A3 and wouldn’t even be surprised to see 7 2. Sigh call, sigh muck, sigh curse of one’s luck once again. I had no better luck with my bust out hand. Blinds 300/500/500 (or something like that!) It folds to button who raises to 1300 and has 18k behind. I move allin for 9k more from BB with 99. He tanks for ages and makes the call with A 5. An ace hits the flop and we bust. Very standard. From me, not from him. Speculative call at best from him given stack size but I guess we were still in the rebuy stage so he had that as an excuse. Short and not so sweet! My unmotivated mental state with poker definitely ended up playing a big part even though I said I would go in fresh and treat live as completely different. As soon as I had that first piece of bad luck with the 22 I couldn’t control my emotion which narrowed my range. Very unlike me and I’m annoyed at myself. I plan to take a couple weeks break now with the odd game here and there to try and work on my ‘A’ game. I wasn’t just there to play the main though and you can find out what else happened in MK in final part of the report to be written very soon!

I agree and it’s a good point about increasing The variance in a structure that is already pretty turbo. I was absolutely on the wrong side of variance throughout my short time in and even if I had multiple bullets to spend it would of made me think twice. It seemed unnecessarily confusing. I guess poker is about adaptation and its the same for everyone but it doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do.

MILTON KEYNES PART ONE As expected Milton Keynes was an unsuccessful for me. But that doesn't mean a good time wasn't had! So here is part one of the trip report I know you've all been waiting for! I got to the hotel at 3pm. I was to the north of Milton Keynes on Willen Lake as I had 6 months pregnant @Charl_xoxox and my 4-year-old son with me, so I felt it was a nice spot for them to relax and there was plenty for kids to do there. Nice view from the balcony in the room too! I would usually get a train, check in and arrive at the casino a lot earlier than I did but given the tournaments later start time than usual I travelled a bit later. More of my thoughts on that below. This was the first casino I have ever been in where I just walked in and into the main room without even having to sign up. Safe to say I walked through a little lost before seeing @triceraatopp and @Causality who I sat down and had a chat with. A really lovely couple and very friendly! They explained to me where I had to go to get signed up which I did and then proceeded to go to the poker room where Leo, Tambet and Kasia were. Had an awesome welcome from those guys and a bit of help seeing as both the casino (and Leo for that matter!) didn’t have me down as a qualifier! A bit of searching from Leo finally found me and he joked a more apt name would be MentalWolf – a name that was sticking by the end of the weekend. Given my often questionable play I am starting to agree! Speaking of which the regular Unibet rabble was arriving and Maestro broke the news to me that it was him, incognito, I beat heads up for the seat. This made me happy as I have massive respect for him and what he has achieved in such a short space of time, and last time we were heads up (that I know of) I lost a €100 ticket to him when I started with a big chip lead and he crushed me. On to the tournament and wait, what’s this? No 25’s? How am I going to do my GTO raises?? There was a lot about the tournament that felt weird or I didn’t like. First is felt quite turbo. I had worries about a really late finish because of the 6pm start but the levels seemed to race by on a half hour clock. I don’t necessarily feel that having a BB ante sped the game up and allowed more hands to be dealt but it may have been because I had quite a few tankers on the table. I didn’t like the blind structure. I found myself having to constantly turn to the TV to remind myself of what I should be putting in. Levels such as 100/100/0 and 200/300/300 feel weird and unnecessary to me and I really think having 25 chips in play would have been loads better to play some 25/50, 50/100, 75/150 levels, and get more play out of a 30k stack. It felt more like a one-day generic monthly casino event rather than a quarterly ‘big’ event. I get that there has to be a balance between speed of play, average stack, number of BB’s and the length of the tournament but many Unibet regs ended up firing off 2-3 bullets each and I think the structure had a lot to do with this. Whilst the sat crushers online can do that, a rec is going to feel disheartened by it. It was good for Unibet ultimately as the rebuys allowed them to just creep over the guarantee. For comparison, this tournament was over by 10:30pm on the Sunday and had a later start time. When I came 3rd in Glasgow it was about 3:30am and we started earlier but I heard so many comments from people who thought the structure was fantastic and I have to agree, it was. This tournament didn’t last very long for me - only 3 hours. So It’s possible I have a biased view because of that and I’m certainly not saying the set up was a disaster, but I honestly believe the structure needs some work. So, moaning out the way in part two we will do some hand analysis from my brief time in the tournament!

Plus look at the play on words I get to do by changing! hysterical! :Rofl::Rofl::Rofl::Rofl::Rofl::Rofl::Rofl::Rofl: Oh my aching sides! Good to see you're concentrating again and the graphs are looking good.👍 I've always wondered why pros play through the night shift and never really got a definite answer. Your thoughts on this one please. :wonder: @GR1ZZL3R i got Charl on a Saturday late night shift recently and she crushed it. Won sats without playing hands and making final tables. People rebuying in sats twice as many times as the seat is actually worth. The low stakes pool is mainly made up of drunken and tired gamblers desperate to give you money at those times lol wouldn’t want to be on the wrong side of variance there though!