2011 Rewind

As ever, I am late. A tradition passed down in the Spraggons family tree. 2011 had been and gone. Forgotten about already by most. And here I am in February, doing what most had finished by the first weekend in January. My 2011 Rewind.

Worry not though kind readers! This will be less of a dictation, and more a presentation to you. Below I have cut/copied and pasted my statistics and notable scores for each site I played on.

Online

Stars was a bit of a bitch in 2011 to say the least. I felt I ran way below Expected Value (EV) in some pretty huge hands/situations, and this was confirmed by my stats on Hold'em Manager. It's hard to get an exact idea of how you "ran" over a year playing MTT's because you could run well below EV for every single tournament, and then run pure in the Sunday Million/WCOOP, not lose an all in, and the stats may be scewed and say you ran above EV for the year. I suppose it comes down to them elusive two words, sample size! WAIT! I'm not moaning here, I just want to show some statistics and then justify why they may be low, high, different from last year etc etc. Throughout 2011 on Stars my HEM stats show I ran at 82% of what my EV should have been. How bad that really is I'm not too sure. I have nothing to compare it with, and have not discussed it with anyone. All I know is $18,000 profit on a site that I play my most volume isn't what I was hoping for at the start of the year. I also know that with the huge field sizes Stars have, it is going to be tough to have a great year without running above EV in a number of situations (i.e. Deep in big tournaments) . And I remember just not running good enough deep in a number of big tournaments, where the difference between winning and losing the all in was just huge ($ wise). That's not to say it is all down to me not having as much luck as my opponents. I know I am still a step behind the best players out there. Although my game is ever improving, as it has to stay near the top in this game, I know it needs tweaks to constantly be at the top with the best.

There will be no moaning about running below EVon Party Poker though. I ran good, I played full of confidence, and the weak fields meant for a good year. In 2010 I believe I finished the year with $3,000 profit from Party, so it just shows how "swingy" MTT poker can be. I had what was (until January 2012) my largest ever score, winning the $530 High roller outright for $27,500. I am a little surprised I only played 640 tournaments total for 2011, and will look to play a lot more in 2012. I done enough in them 640 to be ranked 7th for the year, which is nice :)

We all know what happened with Full Tilt Poker last year, so I won't go over all that again. I had a mini heater just before they were closed down, and therefore have quite a large amount of money stuck on there. Because the US Government are involved it's a painfully slow process. Any news about the whole affair has been drip fed to us over the last 6-7 months. News of a Takeover, has raised hopes I will see my money again, but until it is all set in stone, all I can do it wait with everything crossed.


Live

Below is a list of the tournaments I played in 2011 and their Buy-in's.


UKIPT Nottingham -£560 (Total Package value $1500) ^
UKIPT Manchester - £550 (Total Package Value $1500) ^
WPT Barcelona - 3500euro*
WSOP Main Event -$10,000*
Venetian Deepstack - $330 (£210)
Dusk Till Dawn Monte Carlo - £1,090*
DTD Grand Prix - 60euro (£50)*
GSOP Greece - $1650*

*won buy-in/package via on-line satellite, therefore won't be deducted from total profits.
^Pokerstars includes the value of tournament packages won via online satelites in total prize money/profits on Official Poker Rankings. Party Poker does not. The value for the 2 UKIPT packages will therefore be deducted from yearly profits below.

Total = £210
Cashes = 325euro (£270) -- LOL!
Profit/Loss = +£60

2011 Total Profit: $114,576 (+ Live cashes $462) (- $3000 Live Buy-ins) = $112,038 

Wrapping it up:


Overall I can't be disappointed with how 2011 went. I made a large amount of money, doing something that 90% of the time I love doing. I'm my own boss, I play when I want and I have huge freedom from playing poker. It definitely has it's pro's and con's of which the advantages massively outweigh the disadvantages, and I am lucky to be able to play essentially, a card game for a living. 2011 was a little less lucrative than 2010, but I won't be losing any sleep over it.

I was able to Travel to some great places, and stay in some fantastic hotels/resorts, and hope I can continue to qualify for Live tournaments in 2012 and onwards all over the world.

I think this is a good time to give a shout out to a few people that mean a lot to me, and that I would struggle to get by without. Firstly, my parents. After graduating from university in 2007 with a degree in Business Studies, I was just setting out on my poker career. I was making small amounts of money playing tournaments and Single table tournaments. I knew I had the right mind set and ability to be able to do it for a living and was completely in love with the game. They obviously pestered me to get a job and use my degree, and I was forced to send out CV's to get a 'real' job. I come from a Middle Class background, and my Dad worked his arse off to provide me, my brother and sister with a nice house in a nice area, nice holidays and generally a very good quality of life. My Mum done a great job in bringing us all up, and would do absolutely anything for all 3 of us. So seeing me playing a card game for a living was hard for them to take and understand at first. I can imagine telling friends and family, that essentially I gamble for an income was tough when they were asked "what's Ben doing with himself now then?" After the results consistently came rolling in, and they realised that what I was doing wasn't down to luck, and I was making a (reasonably) steady income that was 5 times (or more) as fruitful as what I could be receiving stuck behind a desk (with the bonus of enjoying what I do, not answering to anyone and visiting places I would never usually get the chance to) they became a little less hesitant and have since been nothing but supporting. They always ask how I am getting on, and although my Degree is gathering dust, I know now they are proud of me for being able to do something that I really enjoy. I hope in the near future I am able to repay them with a really nice treat. OK, that's enough about my parents, I love them very much, and wouldn't swap them for the world, but I'm worried about breaking my keyboard as I am getting a little emotional.

Side story: In the middle of writing that, I got a phone call from my Dad saying him and Mum have ran out of petrol on the way to a shopping trip 10 miles down the road. I have to go and bail them out, after being told many times by my Dad I "shouldn't let my petrol run down too low because it drags through all the crap at the bottom of the tank.. yada.. yada!" Was fun using that quote on him whilst passing him the Petrol Can haha! 


OK, I'm starting to wonder why I am doing this, because It's not as if I've won an award, or I've hit a pivotal point in my career to have to start thanking people, but I've started... and as I don't have James Corden in the room to cut me off like he did with Adele at The Brits, I will quickly finish..

My girlfriend Char is just the best. She puts up with a lot from me, and I am going to take this opportunity to thank her for that. She does get the Perks of coming with me on my travels when she can get it off work, but I wouldn't want it any other way.

My elder brother Craig is always great to have with me when I go away. He has come with me to Vegas the last 4 summers, and often stands railing me when I'm in a tournament. It's love having him with me, and I will always remember our trips to Vegas. He's one of my best friends, and we always have a great laugh, usually on someone else's expense because they vaguely look like a celebrity or someone we know haha!

Poker aside, I have to mention my Big sister too, Cara. She is super caring like my Mum and She has always looked out for me and Craig and I love her very much too.

Back on the poker track, I have to mention a good friend of mine Liam Dolman. I am often talking to him on MSN during an online grind, and many times he has stopped me from tilting whilst in a tournament, kept me company and made me laugh speaking his normal rubbish haha.

I don't really speak to people about poker, unlike most Regs. There is one person who is an exception to this though, who I met up with in Vegas a few years ago. James 'Jimbomber' Finnigan. He's a great lad and was willing to help me when I was first getting started, he used to crush in the old Paradise Poker days, and I am sure he will be crushing again very soon. All of the old Paradise crew deserve a mention: Hammer, Sprout, Dempsey, Spaggy May.

That's it, apologies if you thought that last bit was soppy drivel but I felt it was a good time to mention these people that have helped me throughout my Poker Career. There are many more Top Beavers that I love to bits outside of poker (Seaweed, Eddy etc) but I'll save that for when I win an EPT or a WSOP Bracelet ;)

I've made a little slideshow of a few of the places I went to in 2011. See you soon! x

WPT Dublin Trip Report (Jan 2012)

NEW: Glossary of Terms: Confused about an Acronym or Poker Term? Click Here!

The next stop on my rather lucrative lame Live Poker travels was Ireland, for the WPT Dublin. I had been to Galway (West Ireland) a couple of years ago for a UKIPT event, which took the same tone as many of my Live Tournament experiences and ended on Day 2, near the money, in an ugly manor. Don't worry, I won't go there. In between that trip and this trip I had lost my Dublin V Plates on a stag do, which also ended in an ugly manor. A very different kind, but again, I won't go there!

My +1 was once again my beautiful girlfriend Char. We flew out from London Luton, and arrived, lunch time at The CityWest Hotel. The Hotel was grand with a golf course, vast grounds, and an old vintage style building and décor. It seemed a nice place to stay for the next 4 nights.

We had our complimentary glass of champagne (I usually hate the stuff, but it was ok) had dinner, got used to our surroundings, and finally hit the hey. I watched a training video that I had downloaded onto my iPad in bed. Fail to Prepare, Prepare to Fail! 


Apologies for the thin "I have an iPad brag". I was lucky enough to win it in a twitter competition before Christmas. They're so good! (bold, italic, enlarged AND underlined to express my point!) They are great to have at the poker table too. Music, internet, video's/films, games and social media at the slide/tap of a finger. Perfect for preventing the blow-ups! Whether or not I looked a bit of a tool with it at the table, I don't care, it's a great machine. Anyway.. enough of the Apple loving...

Day 1 began on the Thursday. I had a very good sleep, mainly because Char didn't manage to set the alarm correctly (Women!!). This meant that we missed breakfast, so we grabbed lunch before I made my way to the poker room for the 2 o'clock start.  It was just the single day 1 that took place in a big conference room inside the hotel we were staying (as they often are). The Buy-in was 2500 Euro's.

The table looked pretty good to start with. The one empty seat was later taken up by the late Matt Perrins (He's not dead, he was just late). We were 10 handed to start which is always annoying. Especially as I started off in the 8 seat, and they then added a ten seat, meaning seats 1 - 5 had plenty of room and the rest of us were pretty much sitting on the dealers lap.

The WPT structure is deep, as you'd expect. The starting stacks were 30,000. First hand of note was @ 50/100. I had K9dd in the BB, and peel after a middle position (MP) open and a call. The flop was 8JQ with one diamond. SB checked, I thought about leading, but checked, and the opener checked back. Turn was the Jd, SB checked, I lead for just over half pot, the original raiser folded and the SB called. The turn was the 8d, giving me the K high flush, but making the board a rather ugly 8JQJ8. I was confident the SB didn't have a boat after checking to me again. Most likely he had a Q or AT kind of hand, so I made a thin value bet, and he thought for a while before folding.

At the next level (75/150) from UTG+2 the guy 2 to my right (1 to the left of Perrins) opened to 450, and I called in position with KJss. The flop came down ATT one spade, He c-bet, I decided to float, and called. Turn was an ace, and I made a small bet, under half pot when he checked to me, and it took it down.

We came back after the first break and the blinds were at 100/200. Nothing much had happened at the table.  Seat 6 (The guy from the previous hand) opened to 525, Seat 7 3-bet to 1400. Seat 6 had been one of the more active players at the table, and Seat 7 had 3-bet on more than one occasion previously, I look down at KTss and decide it's a pretty good spot to 4bet. I make it 3500. I should mention, Seat 6 had previously bluffed down to around 15k, in a spot where it was pretty obvious his opponent had it. Expecting it to go through a very large amount of the time, after a while in the tank Seat 6 made a 5 bet to ~7200, Seat 7 let go, and obviously so did I. Oops!

After that hand it seemed I didn't get much credit at the table, during 100/200 and 100/200/25 I opened and then folded to a 3bet a couple of time, I failed with 2 c-bets and, then 3-bet the button vs Perrins and he 4-bet me back, and I let it go. I think I had a pretty hand vs Perrins, and should have just flatted and played the pot in position, no biggy though, I had not had a pair yet (except 33 which I had to fold pre, 3 on flop obv) and was confident I could get paid when I had the goods.

After those 2 bad levels, I returned to the table at 150/300/25. Straight away things were looking up, as I looked down at 77. I peeled from the button after UTG opened. The flop brought AKJ though, and I folded to his C-Bet.

The next hand of note was when it folded to Perrins who opened the button. I was the BB to his Button as the  guy in Seat 6 had been moved tables, and we were now 9 handed. I defended with Ac8x. Perrins had been having a tough time at the table and was down to 14k, I wasn't doing much better with around 17k. Flop came KJ9cc, I check expecting a C-Bet and am ready to give up the hand, but he checks back. An odd check on that wet board. Turn was a small club, which I decided to lead, having the Nut flush draw. He called, and the river was the Ts making the board: KJ9cc4cTs. I missed my Club draw, but had to have a stab and bet just over half pot and he tank folded. That made it 1-1 after he 4bet me earlier :)

With 1 minute left on the clock before the break, and blinds at 2/400/50 I find AK UTG and open to 900, UTG+1 (A middle aged Irish man, who seemed quite aggressive pre flop, making a few 3-bets, but seemed more of a casual player) made it 2400. I started the hand with 18k, he had me covered, and I decided I wasn't going to be folding this hand. I made it 5600. And after a little while in the tank, he folded.

Our table was soon to be broken, and the blinds were 300/600/75. I had 24,700 and was still yet to have a pair other than my 33 and my 77, I was "crying in" a nice rush.

I found what I was looking for. KK UTG+1. I decide to limp.. joke... I raise it up to 1300, and the Irishman from the previous hand calls. We end up 3 way to the flop after the station in the BB comes along too. Flop comes down: K82 !JACKPOT! BB checks to me, I continue for 2.6k into ~5k. The Irishman flicks it in and the BB goes away. Heads up to the turn, which is a 2, bringing a possible flush draw, but giving me the full house. I bet again around half pot. I think I sized it a little smaller here to keep him interested, but so the pot would be large enough to make a 3/4 pot size shove on the river if need be. He didn't call though, he jammed, and I snapped him off. He showed KQss and was drawing dead. Bit of a cold deck for him after flopping the case K, but hey-ho, I got my double up!

I took some blinds and got moved to a new table. Blinds 400/800/100

I had Dave Shallow 2 to my right (eventual winner), I recognised the player on my direct left, not sure of his name, but quite young, tanned looking, resembled Ronaldo a little bit. I've seen him at a few live events and assumed he was capable. Over the otherside of the table, there was a bald tall lad in his 20's that again I recognised and know is capable. He plays a lot of the UK events, seen him knocking about with Nick Abou Risk (UKIPT two time winner) and that "crew".

I sit down with around 53k, and open 44 1st hand from MP. The button calls. He looked Russian/Eastern European, I later found out he was actually English or Irish but didn't know that at the time. Heads up to the T77 flop. I bet half pot and he didn't take too long in calling. The turn's a rag, (2 or 3 I think) I chk, he bets 5500. I felt it was a float with overs a lot of the time, that would try to take it on the turn, and called. The river was another blank, and I checked to him a second time. He gave up and mucked after I showed my 4's. I see paint as he mucks. It was probably QK or similar. That takes me up to 62k.

No hands of interest happened from then until the end of the day, and I bagged up 64,200. I had played super patient and disciplined throughout the whole of Day 1 and got my reward when I doubled in the KK vs KQs hand. I was very pleased with how I played, making very few mistakes. I went to bed excited for Day 2, and with the feeling that my Live game was improving. I was actually learning from previous experiences.

Day 2

We managed to make breakfast this time, and inside the couple of hours between eating and the start of Day 2, I got ready and looked up my starting table.

It was SHOCKING!

I was in seat 2 (no, no, wait there! It gets even tougher!) I had Ben Vinson on my right in seat 1,  I had a very aggressive French player on my left in seat 3, I had the tournament chip leader 2 to my left (a well known PLO player apparently). The winner of the 2010 Irish Poker Championship was 2 on his left. Sandwiched in between them 2 was another semi-known player, who I forget his name. On the left of the IPC champion was a French young lady, who had had a few good cashes according to her Hendon Mob, and finally on her left was Dermot Blain. A very good Live player who recently final tabled the 2011 WSOP Europe. I doubt there was a tougher table in the whole room for the whole tournament. Everyone knew their onions. Luckily it was the third to be broken!

I find JJ UTG early on, and open to 2200 @ 500/1000/100. The girl on the button makes it 4800 playing 50k and I decide to just call. The flop comes AKx, and end up folding to her turn bet after the flop got checked through.

I get A8o in the Hijack seat and make it 2200. The Agro Frency in seat 3 3bets to 5200. He had just won a nice sized pot versus Vinson, jamming the river and getting a fold. He shortly after that asked me how much I was playing when we were not in a hand. I was confident he would be 3-betting light here a lot of the time, and raise it up to 12,600 expecting to take it there and there.

Being swiftly reminded that my opponent was from France, I was now in a huge pot, out of position with A8o as he had made up the 7400 extra and called my 4-bet. Basically my plan now was damage control, and I was most likely going into shut-down mode. The flop was AKxdd. Trying to assign him a range, I decided betting this flop would take it a good % of the time, and if I get any resistance, then I'm rarely ahead. I bet 9400. Smaller than my 4-bet, but big enough. Or not... he calls. The turn is a Qd making the flush draw get there, I check, he checks. The river is another Q. I see no value in betting my hand, and check after about a minutes thought. He checks behind (thankfully), I flip my A8 ad he shows A7cc. Nice flat! We chop the pot up.

To the delight of most players at the table, it breaks.

I have 55k and am seated at what appears a good table. I recognise one player, Chaz Chattha, who is seated 4 to my right in seat 5. There is a female sponsored by Bodog in seat 6 and a few players wearing badges, suggesting they are satellite qualifiers.

First hand I play I open the button with an ace to 2600 (600/1200/200) and get a hefty looking 3-bet from the SB, a Greek hairy kid with glasses. I let it go.

I chip down after failing to get a steal through, having the blinds go through me, and then this hand: I pick up T7cc and decide to open from EP (my first mistake). I get called by a qualifier in the hijack, who had been playing a lot of pots. Chattha also calls on the button. QTx flop, which I C-bet. Both players call. I check the blank turn, as does the qualifier. Chattha bets half pot, and takes it after a moments thought from the qualifier, he shows AQ.

My stack is heading in the wrong direction. A young lad in a hoodie opens the button playing 17bb and I jam 55 from the BB, he folds. That helps.

I have 37400 going to 8/1600/200

After the break, I get back to see JJ on the button but don't get any takers from the 2 agro kids on my left. Sigh!

I then find QQ in the cutoff. I make it 3400 and the BB defends (the loose qualifier I mentioned earlier). My C-bet on a K33 is enough to take the small pot.

Nice Rush! Back up to 45k @ 800/1600 and gaining some momentum. At this point there was 120 of the 320(ish) that started left.

Hairy Greek boy opens UTG to 3500, it folds to me. KK in the BB! Hello! I re-raise it up to 8800. He asks how much I got and jams after a little time in the tank. I am delighted to call off my 45,000 chips with the second best starting hand in the game, but to my dismay, specky twat has the aces. I brick and I'm a goner.

It happens. It's a cooler, you have to be on the good end of them once or twice to win a tournament. This time I wasn't, maybe next time I will. I'm forever growing in confidence with my Live game, and really enjoyed it. The 30k start stack, and added levels meant I could keep patient and was able to grind it out to put myself in the position to go deep if I had the rub of the green. As I say, maybe next time.

We were meant to go to the Guinness Factory the day after, but I've got a foot injury at the minute which had been aggravated, so we decided to do our own thing. We went to Dublin city centre on the tram, had a Nando's lunch, and sampled the black stuff (well.. I did, Char had a white wine) in a pub. I had the misfortune of having a crackhead girl sit next to me on the tram. I assumed it was just a young girl that didn't yet know the concept of personal space as she almost sat on me when she first sat down. When she turned to me with her gaping eyes and rotten teeth asking me for change, I then realised, she wasn't a young girl, she was a 20 something year-old. A disgusting thing, on something (probably everything), that was quite likely to steal my phone if I didn't put my hand in my pocket, but more likely to either head-butt me or piss herself. She got off at the next stop (thank god) probably a little annoyed at my reply to her question "No, sorry. I don't have any change." (I did, Ha!). Seemed like there was a few weirdo's in the City centre, same with most places I guess.

We made our way back on Sunday. No WPT title just yet, but we had a good trip and I will make a deep run at one of these soon. Mark. My. Words. :)

My next Blog post is in the process of being written up, and is about how my 2011 went. It won't be too long before I have it ready to be posted, so keep an eye out! Should be a good read. Lots of Stats.

Until then, thanks for reading, Ben. x