I’d like to start out by saying sorry for just dropping off the radar for a while. I’ve had a bit of a shift around in my life. Basically, I got ask to help manage a friend of mine (singer), and I’ve taken on a couple of other bands since, and now I’m quite obsessed by it. What started out as something that could balance the poker, and I really needed something else to stimulate me away from the tables, has taken over. I have to admit that I love the music business, and I love the guys I’m working with, but this last week I’ve made a conscious effort to bring more poker into my life again!

I’m a bit tired now, but I decided to make the effort tonight and tell you about one hand that I played this evening, but first some background. I’ve decided to change sites, so I’m in the process of taking money out of Eurobet, and contemplating either sticking it back in Full Tilt Poker, or having a shot at Carbon. The rakeback is really good, and I hear the games are soft. I might give that a shot. So, while that’s happening I still have a couple of hundred dollars on FTP from before to make use of, and decided to play with that until my main bankroll is in place at Carbon or wherever. Obviously, $200 isn’t enough to play 50nl, so I’ve been playing 25nl. In fact it’s not really enough for that, but I feel I have a strong edge over these guys and took the risk.

The reason I’m leaving Eurobet is because of the rakeback. I should be getting a lot more than I do, but I’ve calculated that I’m only getting around 19%, which is less than what I had at FTP! It seems that nobody really knows how they calculate it, but the 2+2 forums have been discussing that it is weighted towards the losing players. Meaning if you lose money and play bad, you get more rakeback to tempt you to keep playing with Eurobet. Unfortunately, that means winning players don’t get the same reward. With Carbon offering 35%, and I’ve been informed they have a straight up spread, I think I’ll give it a shot. It all counts!

The hand I want to mention is when I had KK under-the-gun, and I open-raise to $0.75. It folds around to the small blind who flats, and the big blind folds. The flop is 33T rainbow, and I c-bet, the SB calls. Now, I only had 20 hands on the guy so no reads at all. He had played 50VPIP/33/PFR/2.0 Aggr.Fact., but that means nothing with so few hands. The turn is the 4h (2 hearts on table now), and I carry on betting ($3 into $4.25), and get called. I was now concerned that he had flopped a full house, but I wasn’t convinced, and I really doubted he had a 3, but what I seriously thought he had was a hand like AT or a pocket pair lower than mine as he didn’t re-raise me pre flop. It wasn’t until the river that it got interesting, when he check raised me all-in when the 9c came. Wow, did he have me all the way, or was this just his way of floating and trying to steal on the river?!?!? Well, it was a tough one, but my instinct was to call. If he had TT then well played sir. So, I call, only to see pocket 6′s!!! It was a nice try, but…

A nice little 31.41bb/100 winning session!

Also, I should mention that my poker did not die off totally when I was quite. I have been having coaching, in the form of a group session once a week for the last 6 weeks, with one of Leggo’s video coaches, Marvin Steele. Man he’s good. If you ever get the chance you have to have some coaching from him. Since I’ve had this coaching I’ve turned the heat up on my game, and it seems to be working. Obviously you’ll see for yourself soon enough (so long as I keep writing regularly!!!).

So, until next time!