Hi Glopslart and thanks for replying, the tournaments are 6 max normal speed 1 table I haven't played in any other format except for freerolls and token tournaments.
Total bankroll is down about £60 due to losing buy-ins on tournaments, mainly on PKR, cash tables I only play one at a time I'm not a grinder don't have time or money for that, I can usually make my buy-in on NL10 and about half buy-in on NL25, NL10 is probably my level at the moment, I'll take your advice and do some study.
I've only been playing a couple of months btw.
Notifications
Clear all
:fouet::fouet::fouet:
The usual battleground - the 2 euro HUSNGs on i-poker. It's the first hand, and I am in the BB. The SB goes all-in. I stare at my awful, awful hand: AA [off-suit].
I know I have to call, but I know I will lose. The opponent had shoved with KQ, and duly collected an extra one of each by the river. Over the last couple of months, I would have done better to fold pre-flop.
I have stopped playing on playtech software as I almost never get a hand I can win with I only play on PKR now maybe that's down to my lack of experience as only been playing since October.
Update, I have gone down to NL2 today and got it up to $6.49 then it went down to $4.34 so I left the table, I got too greedy then the cards went against me.
I entered a freeroll and finished 77th out of 1558.
Merry Christmas 
Stack:$249.12 
I have been having another downswing. The number actually flatters the truth of the situation as, with exclusive regard to the 2-euro HUSNGs, my stack would now be at about $232. Downswings come anyway, and I keep reminding myself that at least I didn't go back to a stack of $8, like once before. However, there have been aggravating factors on top of the usual tilt.
Netbet software
For newer members who might be unaware of the history, Netbet is the successor to Poker 770, and part of the i-poker network. Netbet, like its ancestor, is the site which is promoted most heavily to PS members. Also for the benefit of newer PS members, PS is owned by the i-poker operation.
The ancestor site was notorious for snags and disconnections - read the threads in these very fora. The successor has thoroughly kept up that fine tradition. The other day, I spent most of the afternoon and part of the evening being continually disconnected while trying to grind. The worst of it was that I was not overtly cut off: I was instead compulsorily 'sat out', and had to watch while strong hand after strong hand was folded on my behalf by the software. This did wonders for my mindset in a game where mindset is alleged to be significant. I have said it before and I will say it again : if Netbet was a car or washing machine, would anybody buy it?
There is some joker, whom I still suspect of being an i-poker plant, who actually started a thread recently in these fora, praising Netbet for its bonuses and introductory offers. Well dude, they need to get the people in somehow, in order to persuade them to play on that clunky software.
And they are using your own money to fund those offers and bonuses. The rake at all basic levels is extremely high, and i-poker actually raised its fees significantly around the start of the year. I myself am due for a bonus of $250 shortly. Am I impressed? Nope, as I have earned maybe 5 or 6 times that amount for Poker770 and its successor in order to qualify for the bonus.
There is more I would like to write about the past few days, but it's way into the small hours here in the UK, and I need some sleep.
Freerolls and Twisters
In connection with my last post, my stack is higher than it might have been because of the I-poker Twister SNGs. I have an instinctive suspicion of anything that has been so heavily promoted, and would not have contemplated using my own money for them. However, the I-poker freerolls have been rejigged, so that Twister tokens have become the prizes.
Accordingly, I started playing freerolls again, to see if I could bag some tokens, and to get the feel for MTTs. I would run a freeroll, while simultaneously playing my regular HUSNGs.
There were some strange experiences. In fact, the strange is normal for the freeroll community. In one typical session, I went all-in with JJ. An opponent, who was adequately chipped so that he did not have to call, chose to challenge me. He turned over the monster hand of 7,10 - offsuit, naturally. Just as naturally, at least two more 10s popped onto the table. It may even have been three 10s: all I know is that, after two, my mind shut down and I stopped counting.
Anyway, I eventually found myself with 10 Twister tokens, some for one euro and some for two. I blew them in one session, winning 5 Twisters. Had I paid real money for the tokens, I would have ended up with a modest profit. My impression of the Twister population is that it is much less educated than the HUSNG population, and that HUSNG skills are definitely transferable. If I can repeat the process with the next crop of tokens that I plan to harvest from freerolls, I may actually want to risk my own pennies.
The aces, the aces ....... 
I have written before on this blog about how AA is one of the worst starting hands you can have. I feel sick every time I see them. If I am in the BB, I feel relieved when the SB insta-folds. If I am in the SB, I feel relieved when I raise and the BB insta-folds. Everything else is horror.
All that follows happened in one evening. In one individual HUSNG match, I was dealt AA twice. The first time, they were smashed by a flush. The second time they were smashed by a straight. In another match, my raise with AA was met with a 3-bet. I four-bet, was called, and a Q fell on the flop. I suspected pocket QQ, but you have to go with the probabilities, which dictated AQ. All the chips went in, and I found he had KQ. My confidence was not shaken, however: I remained fully convinced that the guy would find a third Q by the river - which is precisely what happened. The last time, at very high blinds, I went all-in with AA. I was called by J9o. I immediately knew I would be smashed by a straight. I expected something like a Q-high straight. Instead, I received 5,6,7,8,9, with the 8 coming on the river to complete a gutshot.
All this I have to accept as normal. This is why I punch out strangers on the street, and walk naked into my supermarket.
Originally posted by Glopslart
Stack:$249.12
I have been having another downswing. The number actually flatters the truth of the situation as, with exclusive regard to the 2-euro HUSNGs, my stack would now be at about $232. Downswings come anyway, and I keep reminding myself that at least I didn't go back to a stack of $8, like once before. However, there have been aggravating factors on top of the usual tilt.Netbet software
For newer members who might be unaware of the history, Netbet is the successor to Poker 770, and part of the i-poker network. Netbet, like its ancestor, is the site which is promoted most heavily to PS members. Also for the benefit of newer PS members, PS is owned by the i-poker operation.
The ancestor site was notorious for snags and disconnections - read the threads in these very fora. The successor has thoroughly kept up that fine tradition. The other day, I spent most of the afternoon and part of the evening being continually disconnected while trying to grind. The worst of it was that I was not overtly cut off: I was instead compulsorily 'sat out', and had to watch while strong hand after strong hand was folded on my behalf by the software. This did wonders for my mindset in a game where mindset is alleged to be significant. I have said it before and I will say it again : if Netbet was a car or washing machine, would anybody buy it?
There is some joker, whom I still suspect of being an i-poker plant, who actually started a thread recently in these fora, praising Netbet for its bonuses and introductory offers. Well dude, they need to get the people in somehow, in order to persuade them to play on that clunky software.
And they are using your own money to fund those offers and bonuses. The rake at all basic levels is extremely high, and i-poker actually raised its fees significantly around the start of the year. I myself am due for a bonus of $250 shortly. Am I impressed? Nope, as I have earned maybe 5 or 6 times that amount for Poker770 and its successor in order to qualify for the bonus.
There is more I would like to write about the past few days, but it's way into the small hours here in the UK, and I need some sleep.
As with Pokerstars, Netbet won't load on my machine (64bit machine win8.1)
Stack: $236.86 [$486.86]
In a state of shock again. Everything that could go wrong yesterday duly went wrong. The only thing that went right was that I only got dealt aces a couple of times and GOT AWAY WITH IT. My opponents folded either pre-flop, or on the flop, not realising that they would crush me if they took their hands to the river.
Apart from that, I had more bad beats than Sir Max Mosley, more bad river experiences than Lewis and Clark, and more coolers than a refrigerator showroom.
I got my $250 USD bonus from i-poker for having flogged my brains into the ground with them for over two years, more than doubling my stack. Now watch me grind it into dust.
Originally posted by Glopslart
Apart from that, I had more bad beats than Sir Max Mosley, more bad river experiences than Lewis and Clark, and more coolers than a refrigerator showroom.
These are the nuggets of gold that I come back for. Good luck with the double-stack! 
Stack: $501.10.
Greetings, my ever-loving public .
OK, so where am I? I am still playing the 2-euro regular speed HUSNGs. The factors are these. I received a $250 USD bonus from Netbet, and I made about $18 from playing Twisters with free tokens. My previous 'best', pre-bonus and pre-Twister, was about $272. I am therefore still suffering from my downswing, to the tune of about $40. A balancing factor is that the USD has appreciated recently against the farty, pathetic euro in which i-poker games are denominated. That is to say, if I win a 2-euro game, it translates into fewer dollars and cents than previously.
I am tempted to use the bankroll and move up to the 5-euro games. This would mean needing play fewer hours to keep Gold status - a tempting outcome. Second, I suspect the standard of play is no better than at the 2-euro games. I registered by accident for a few 5-euro games last year, and coped pretty well.
Observations.
The Aces, the Aces.
I have blogged before about what a crappy, useless, starting hand they are, and how I hate seeing them. I remain of the same opinion. I have now cracked other people's aces several times recently, with massive coolers. I have called standard raises with reasonable calling hands, to find that I have monsters such as trips, completed straights and completed flushes on the flop. One opponent explicitly commented in the chatbox that AA on i-poker hardly ever seems to hold up.
I am trying to be rational about this, given that pocket AA is allegedly an 80%+ favourite, heads-up against the field. My tentative explanation is that open-folds against AA, and insta-folds to a pre-flop raise, represent opposing holdings which are exactly in that part of the card population which is unlikely to grow into a hand that might crack AA. The hands which resist, the hands which pay to see the flop, are exactly in that part of the card population that might well grow to crack AA. Anyway, that's the best idea which I have come up with. The alternative is, of course, that i-poker is rigged:roto2:.
Sixes.
I have now had mine beaten a few times, and have beaten other people's sixes a few times. Nevertheless, there remains a very serious preponderance of victories with the 66 starting hand, and a serious tendency for a single 6 in the pocket to attract large quantities of its relatives onto the board. It 'shouldn't' happen. But it keeps on happening.
Hey Glop! I just read through your blog in amazement regarding your comedic writing skills. No jokes if you wrote about something that you actually liked and didn't make you want to cry and I imagine you could easily do it for a magazine of some sort.
However my question is as follows: Has this blog affected the way you play? If so for the better or worse? Do you think you would have kept your bankroll management the same and would you have put in more/less amount of volume etc? Has it forced you into studying? I guess im also asking if you are blogging for the poker or playing poker for the blogging.
Very well I hope you keep it up 
freshbro, greetings!
Taking your points in order -
It is arguable that blogging about the game has indeed made me think about the way I play, and may even have improved it, who knows?
My attitude to bankroll management is conservative. I spewed down to $8 while on mega tilt and while under the illusion that I was competent in stud. I am still thinking about moving up to the 5-euro games - it's a confidence issue. I am in a downswing and want to play through it first.
I am unlikely ever to put in serious volume BECAUSE I HAVE A LIFE [of sorts]. I don't have the choices that you young people have. I don't even like poker as much as my other game.
For similar reasons I study erratically - I watch the HU videos I find here, on YT, and in the free sections on specialist HUSNG sites.
I have actually forgotten why I'm here. I think I was offered extra dollars for starting a blog - there was a general offer.
Stack: $525.05.
Progress, yes, but only after ridiculous amounts of toil. I had a frustrating period where I kept shuttling repeatedly between $500 and $505, and a similar experience shuttling repeatedly between about $510 and $515. And all this for a stack the size of one of Dan Negreanu's small blinds. 
Stack: $478.87
I have not posted here for over a month and a half, and I have not played for real money for nearly 4 weeks. The reasons you will deduce from the plunging stack. [For guidance, at its best, the stack stood at the equivalent of about $540. If you don't have a life of your own, you can take the time to follow the history on my previous posts.]
I don't know if it was just a downswing, or whether some bad 'real life events' affected my mind-set and the resulting performance quality.
At any rate, poker started making me seriously unhappy. I decided there were enough sources of unavoidable unhappiness in my life: I did not need to go running after a completely avoidable source, especially one that consumed so very much of my time. Hence the silence.
Last night I logged back into Netbet and played a few freerolls, just to get used to the cards again. I endured the usual run of insane bad beats, but finished an unlucky second out of about 30-odd in of these shovefests. I have won a $5 Twister token to play with.
Will this drive me on to fame and fortune? Or shall I just retreat to the bottom of the garden and drive red-hot needles into my eyes?
I just wanted to post something on the blog to prove I am still alive. I have not been playing anything like as frequently as previously: there have been too many demands from 'real life'.
When I collect my thoughts, I want to share my experiences playing Twisters on i-poker and ask the community if the things I have seen are common.
I have reverted to my main money game: HUSNGs, regular speed. Having been unable for a while to crack the 2-euro games, I have moved up to the 5-euro games.
When I have a little spare time, I will explain why this makes sense, yes, seriously. So far the decision is justified.
Twisters
This is the first blog entry in a while. There's so much I want to write about, the trick is to prioritise and organise. First, Twisters. PokerStrategy.com offered me money to start up on an i-poker site a while back. Unfortunately there were restrictions on what games and game-types I could choose. For experienced suckers, whoopsie, I meant 'players', like me, this is a major chiz.
Being rubbish at ring games, and being excluded from the HUSNGs, I turned to Twisters, which ordinarily I would not touch. I bust myself down to a few pennies very rapidly. I think the total bankroll was roughly £18{GBP}. Either that is not enough bankroll to play even the entry-level games profitably to cope with the downswings, or my skill level is even worse than I had imagined it to be.
Another choice is that the game is even harder to beat than HUSNGs. One way of looking at it is that you are faced with TWO muppet-maniacs in each Twister, rather than just the one, as in HUSNGs. My gut feeling is that, if you have two maniacs to fight, one of them is likely to luck out and nail you.
On top of that, there have been what I have come to think of as the "usual" fruits of holding AA [and even KK] and shoving preflop: you get called by rags and lose to a blizzard of unlikely straights, flushes, trips, etc. While playing Twisters, I think I have only seen these big pairs win once. That is true both for my cards and for other players' cards. In Twisters, you often fold out your rubbish and have the chance of seeing the other two participants in action. Whenever I saw some happy camper shove and flip over AA or KK, my instant thought was: "Suckah, ya goin' doooowwwnnn." Which they did.
Perhaps there are some of you out there who are actually making money consistently at this game-type, but the nasty feeling remains with me that i-poker introduced Twisters as muppet rake-magnets for the gamblers among us, and not for the earners.
Stack: $412.31
I have been out of the game for over half a year. I just felt so burned out, had been playing unsuccessfully, and my 'real life' was making demands on me. A few days ago, I fired up Netbet and won two euro-cents on a 9-man freeroll sng. That of course made me feel like a champ, so this past evening I eased back into my old vice, regular speed HUSNGs. I won 4 out of 6 at the 1-euro level, so my profit is nearly two whole yankee dollah for the session. I don't know whether I will become a regular again, but here I am for the moment.
Stack: $424.56
Day 2 of what might be my return to the tables.
Played while too tired last night. 
More on track today. Made so bold as to move myself up to the 2-euro HUSNGs, with decent results. Laid a classic BB on somebody: I had to go all-in with A10o, and found myself against AQ. Two more queens dropped on the board, but I ended up with a straight. It makes a nice change to give, rather than receive. Later, I found myself making a straight flush to the jack of diamonds, dudes!. Maybe it's a good sign. Winrate: 21/31 so far.
Stack: $441.63.
I have continued to fiddle about with the 2-euro HUSNGs. 37 played at this level - 27 wins. 
. One of my opponents this evening is likely to be thinking I-poker is rigged. There were three hands in our match. 1500 chips each; regular speed. Hand one, I open-folded 36o. Hand two, I had AQo, with the Queen belonging to the tribe of diamonds. The SB min-raised to 40. I re-raised to 160. He stepped it up to 280. AQo is far from the nuts, but there are plenty of maniacs in these games, so I whacked in all the chips, suspecting I was ahead. The SB insta-called and flipped over the ferocious hand of 6♠:7♦:.
The flop came down 9♠:5♦:8♦: . Before the horror of the flopped straight had had time to register properly, the turn and river came down 4♦:T♦:. There was a brief pause while we registered the fact that my opponent had made a 7-card straight, as well as a small flush, while I had acquired a Q-high flush, then almost all the chips whooshed to my side of the table.
The fun was not over. My opponent still had 20 chips left - one whole BB. Next hand I naturally called him off with my mighty 6,10o. He turned over AQo. 
. I have blogged before about the curious power of the sixes on I-poker, and I suspected what would happen. Two more sixes duly fell on the board to complete this essay in degradation and horror.
My rematch offer was refused. :).
Stack: $452.36
HUSNGs [regular speed] at the 2-euro level: 56. Wins: 39. The win rate could have been even better. I catch myself making decisions that I know are stupid as soon as my hand has clicked the button. I should learn to use more of the time allowance in each hand.