http://www.PokerAsiaPacific.com

Here are the blogs that I’ve written so far for Poker Asia Pacific.

That Winning Feeling
Boosting the Bankroll
Learn to Close
One Year as a MTT Grinder
Slow Start in Vegas
Deep Run in Caesars Palace Main Event
Cashing at the Venetian

As always, make sure to support us by Like our Facebook page and head to Poker Asia Pacific daily to catch all the latest and most relevant poker news from our region and beyond!

One reason I became so lazy with Tilted Behaviour was a lack of motivation to write on a personal level, but the biggest reason is that I have been working on a joint project called Poker Asia Pacific.

http://www.PokerAsiaPacific.com

Poker Asia Pacific is a poker news site targeted at the Asia Pacific region of Australia, New Zealand, Macau and the Philippines with the people behind it being the ones involved in Asia Pacific poker since 2007. Not only do we have the experience, skills and knowledge, we also have the drive to operate a website that provides a constant stream of the most relevant news from the region and the poker world.

Unlike other poker news websites driven by corporate greed in an effort to squeeze every dollar out of the players and the industry, we are a company run by players for the players. Yes we are hoping to make money eventually, but for the time being we are funding everything ourselves and dedicating our own personal time to provide you the best poker news website.

There are many ways to support us … Like our Facebook page and head to Poker Asia Pacific daily to catch all the latest and most relevant poker news from our region and beyond!

Thanks for supporting Tilted Behaviour over the past few years, and I hope you can continue that support by getting behind Poker Asia Pacific where my blog is now located.

Unlike the previous four years which saw me hit the gamble within a few hours, I just didn’t fell the urge this time as I opted to go shopping or get hungover instead.

And hungover I did, as last night completely destroyed me, and when I woke up this morning, I swore death had arrived! Mateusz and I grabbed some lunch before jumping on a Pai Gow table where I made some money before eventually falling back to even.

Mateusz returned to his beloved slots and I decided to hit the poker room to take a seat in their lone $1-3 NLH game for $300 which had six players before I joined. One of the first hands I saw was a 100bb pot with middle pair after he called the flop with a backdoor gutshot before turning second pair and calling a substantial check-raise which ended up being good on the river.

That very player a few hands later opened to $16 from early position and I made the call with 6♠ 6♣ from the cutoff as the big blind called too. The K♠ Q♠ 6♥ saw a c-bet of $16 before I popped it up to $42. The big blind passed, but the original raiser made the call before calling off his last $50 on the turn of the 8♣. The river landed the J♣ and I scooped the pot to move to $406.

I then won a smallish pot with King-Queen in a straddle pot when I flopped top pair and got one street of value. As Mateusz returned to signify the end of my session before we had to head to dinner, I opened Q♣ Q♥ to $12 and got three callers to see a Q♠ J♠ 9♥ flop fall. I continued for $22 which found one fold before the player on the button made it $72. The small blind passed, and with my opponent having $90-ish in his stack, I decided to put him all in because of two reasons – firstly I didn’t want to fold regardless of if he had it, and secondly because regardless of the turn (mostly) I was probably calling it off.

I shipped, he called, and the turn and river landed the A♠ and K♠ … YUK! He slammed down his J♣ 9♦ for bottom two pair as I was pushed the pot to move over $620 before eventually cashing out for $618 several hands later.

We headed out to Henderson to Donnie and GG’s house for a cookout with some of our mates including DK, Cory, Kristy and Andrew.

GG cooked a slamming BBQ which included hamburgers, hot dogs and steaks as we ate a bucket load of food out in the backyard before setting up around the fire to talk shit and play a jumbo group game of Lodden Thinks.

It would be five hours before we’d eventually decide to vacate the premises as Mateusz and I made our way to New York New York to catch up with some of my mates from Geelong; Davo and Frog.

As Frog put it in a text message to me … he was chasing skirt … but with Davo gambling away at a roulette table, we decided to join him before persuading him to the Craps table. I quickly lost $100 and we moved back to a different roulette table where both Davo and Mateusz lost some coin as I made a quick $100 before BlackJack was the next stop. Davo went busto as I made a small profit before moving to the Pai Gow tables to join Mateusz.

Once Davo joined us, some cocktails were ordered as we slowly saw our stacks swing up and down. Eventually we decided to call it quits as I finished up $100 for the table and for the session as we left Davo to break the bank on the BlackJack tables.

SCOOP
Played 8 events; cashed in 1.
Buy-ins: $290
Cashes: $52.56

(in total)
Played 22 events; cashed in 4.
Buy-ins: $629.50
Cashes: $182.08

miniFTOPS
Played 8 events (including multi-entries); cashed in 3.
Buy-ins: $512
Cashes: $295.21

(in total)
Played 23 events (including multi-entries); cashed in 6.
Buy-ins: $802
Cashes: $464.66

These results are down right pathetic from my viewpoint. Whether I have been running bad, playing worse or a combination of both, it’s quite shattering that I put up such disappointing results on the scoreboard.

I did make a switch to grinding 50NL on PokerStars for this week and averaged ten tables per session and did manage to stretch out a little profit even after a bad final session. The one chance I did have of redeeming my terrible downswing since Black Friday was a deep run in the $22 Big on PokerStars.

With 3,800-players, I ended up busting in 14th place after having a good stack going into the final two tables for a little over a $300 payday where $10,000 was on top for first. So close, yet so far, and there won’t be any chance for me to ship some justice for another couple of months when I return home.

I however am in the former group as the first week (plus one day) hasn’t seen me go too well across both SCOOP, miniFTOPS and my normal MTT schedule.

SCOOP
Played 14 events; cashed in 3.
Buy-ins: $339.50
Cashes: $129.52

miniFTOPS
Played 15 events (including multi-entries); cashed in 3.
Buy-ins: $290
Cashes: $169.45

Personally, they aren’t the worst results with one week ahead and roughly twelve events remaining that I’ll play. However it is my normal schedule that has been hurting the most. I’ve been bricking everything, or when I do have ridiculous days (went 10/29 on Thursday and 9/23 on Friday) I still manage to somehow lose money – a mix of no deep runs and cashing in the smaller events that I’ve played.

It got me thinking of two different options that I have to try and curve this downswing.

Firstly, since Black Friday, my best and most consistent results have come in the bigger buy-in events. Cashed allright in the $109 BIGGER and hit four consecutive cashes in the $55 BIG as well as a few cashes in the $22 [1r1a]. With many mid-stakes grinders saying how soft the fields are in these types of buy-ins, maybe I should stop playing all the stuff below (from $3 rebuys etc to $11 etc) and just play the bigger buy-in events although my bankroll wouldn’t stipulate this to be the best option.

So far, I’ve only received criticism for this thinking, so I drummed up another idea.

Maybe I should return to cash games. This mainly came around with my want to become a SuperNova, and although I’ve been monitoring my daily VPP intake, I know that playing my regular schedule of MTTs would make it virtually impossible. Running the maths on cash games however means that I could easily make it in a few months without a heavy grind commitment.

The transition may be a tough one to make, but playing cash for the majority of my online career – as well as live – I think I’d be able to adjust. However one of my best mates I work with gave me an idea of staying focused and motivated, but just tinker my MTT grind and play satellites for SCOOP. We both know I have a fairly decent strategy for them, and it means that I can try and dink some medium and even high seats and sell them or shot-take without too much of a hit to the bankroll.

So taking this all into consideration, this is my plan for the final week of SCOOP and final week of online poker until after the WSOP.

I’ll of course continue playing the SCOOP events I had intended to play (gotta make some money for my backer or he may get mad haha), but also grind satellites in an effort to boost the bankroll while also giving myself the opportunity to win a seat to a SCOOP Medium or High event and shot-take or sell it. Finally I’ll start grinding a few tables of cash games to see if I can make the adjustment both to my game and thinking/motivation behind playing.

I have to say that even through this downswing, I’m doing my upmost to stay super motivated and focused, but deep down it really kicks you in the stomach. Forgetting about that stuff, this week is a new week, and anything can happen!

Good luck to all those out there and I hope someone in my Skype-grind sweat-chat dinks something!

With 38 events gracing the 2011 SCOOP schedule over three different buy-in levels starting tomorrow, I plan on playing roughly thirty events ranging from the $5.50 rebuy to the $109 main event. I definitely don’t plan on doing any shot-taking by playing the medium or high events, but if my normal MTT grind doesn’t get in the way, there is a good chance I’ll play a few satellites here and there.

Although someone is buying half my action after I made them a little bit of money during the recent miniFTOPS, the series is still going to cost around $900. Hopefully I’ll not only just profit, but I don’t think winning six events is too much to demand right?

And speaking of miniFTOPS, that is also on for the next two weeks with forty-five events in their schedule, but unlike my heavy SCOOP schedule, I’ll just play a handful of events in a hope to dink a silver jersey.

For everyone else out there on the SCOOP/miniFTOPS grind … good luck!

Ever since I won the $4.40 [1r1a] on PokerStars and came fourth in the $26 NLH on Full Tilt Poker, my online bankrolls have slowly been declining. Although I shipped the $60 Tuesday Turbo at Crown and then followed that up by chopping the $100 Mixed Holdem (NLH/LO8) on the Saturday, I truly want my best results to be on the virtual felt leading up to the WSOP.

Today for example saw me run like complete cactus shit! I went 3/47 over both sites and virtually no money. The worst part was that I was eliminated from 22 tournaments courtesy of a three-outer or worse.

The way I look at it, I’m hoping that I get all my run bad out before SCOOP … I’m definitely hoping that’s the case!

With such a terrible day, and past few weeks on the virtual felt, I had to take a step back to review my game. Not my physical game, but my mental game.

You see, everytime I was copping a ridiculous beat I was smashing my keyboard, throwing poker chips or even punching the wall. I read this article however that made me see things a bit different, well really force me to turn my blinkers off as who doesn’t want to get their money in as an overwhelming favourite? If your aces get two-outered sobeit as you made the right play, and just got unlucky. Variance says things will even out in the long run.

Consequently here are a few notes I picked up:

Don’t care about results, as long as your play is fine, be happy.

Focus on the things you can control and in improving your game.

Poker is a lifetime game, so there is no point feeling miserable for a day because you lost a coin flip.

Do you want your ego stroked and to be comforted? Get on with it!

The final point more has to do when I would berate to friends about how bad I’m running or by posting these junkie hand histories. No point whining about things, just get on with what is important … as Charlie Sheen would put it … WINNING!

Never one to turn down a trip up the highway to do something, I joined him and Mateusz at Crown to play the $10 rebuy which I had proved victorious several weeks earlier. Since we were the first ones to sign up, we all started on the same table as our late arrival mate Brendo found himself fortunately on a distant table.

As we started the tournament with $100 worth of rebuys in hand, I told Tom that if he moved all in, I would move all in dark – unfortunately this would have been a great time to shut up as whenever he did move all in it was always with premium as I was left to work some magic with a 4♣ 2♣ or some other junk. Inevitably as we reached the end of the rebuy period, I was in for the clean amount of $100 – the most out of us four as we headed upstairs to the roulette tables so Tom could get a gamble fix.

I had two $5 chips in my pocket and chucked them on the table with one of them on the 29/32 and 8/11 split. Dink! The ball dropped in the 29 and I was returning to the tournament with $90 in hand – just $10 short of my tournament buy-in LOL!

I wouldn’t last too long however as my Jacks lost to Q♣ J♣ and A♥ Q♠ when an Ace fell. And since we decided beforehand that instead of a money last longer we would do push-ups on the tournament floor, I was bound to busting out 30 right next to the feature table where I had been eliminated. Mateusz would follow soon after and do 20, while Brendo finished it off with 10. As for Tom, he managed to luckbox a fourth place as I was located on a $2-3 NLH table where I managed to double up after floating with A♠ 5♠ for a gutshot, backdoor flush draw and ace-high and spiking the wheel on the turn. I raised the turn and he called, and I shipped over his bet on the river with him calling with nines. MBN.

The following day Mateusz, Tom and I went down to the park to re-live our days of playing football. We had a kick, strained a few muscles and pulled out some freaky goals before retiring for another year with some lunch.

Mateusz was working, so Tom and I ventured into Crown to play the $60 Tuesday Turbo tourney where I had made the final table a few times previously. I doubled early with Ace-Jack against a banana’s King-Ten before moving tables where the beautiful Leyla was dealing away. We must have had some connection because I found a double with Queens against King-Jack and then knocked out two players with my Aces against their junk as I was moved to the feature table.

I grinded away for a while, made a three-bet shove with junk because I’m the boss and eventually made the final table sitting second in chips with around 20bbs. With only the top eight being paid, things didn’t start well as I back-to-back hands when I was forced to fold after opening an Ace and then losing a pot when the big blind defended with King-Four against my Eights.

Once we made the money however – a measly $80 – I waited patiently and picked my spots doubling with Ace-King and Ace-Ten against the same player before we were soon three-handed as I held nearly half the chips. Play see-sawed back-and-forth before I was soon heads-up and offered the guy a chop although I held a nearly two-to-one advantage. Yes I know it’s a terrible thing to do since I held such a lead, but it’s something I do in small tournaments regardless of the chip situation (well unless its a 17-to-1 advantage).

Leyla returned to deal to us, but it wouldn’t bring the same luck this time as I lost Ace-Queen to his 10-3 to give-up the lead. With the average stack now at 10bbs Leyla exposed the K♠ which would have matched up with my 6♠ – and being short I would have pushed from the button. Instead I received another six, and when my opponent called with Ace-Three, I flopped a set and he turned an ace but would see the pot pushed to me … thanks Leyla.

On the final hand I woke up with Jacks and instantly called his 5bb ship only to be shown his Queens. Leyla had my back again though as the board bricked out until she dropped a Jack on the river … weeeeeeee!

For the win, I pocketed $734 to continue an outstanding record at Crown in 2011. So far I’m 4/7 with three final tables and two wins – hopefully I can notch a big result soon in a major tourney, and if I can put in another request, I hope it’s in a few weeks at the WSOP!