Christmas Shopping

I'd booked this week off work a while ago, when I first started with my new job. Most people were clammering for the 3 days in between Xmas and New Year, which doesn't appeal to me as much.
Being daddy to a 2-and-three-quarters year old, this is going to be our first 'proper' Xmas, one where Mia knows what's going on, and will love her presents and have a better understanding of what they are. So, the week before Xmas is much more appealing to me and we get to do all the shopping (I started today - how early is that!!) and Santa's Grotto and all the 'being a kid again' stuff. Then, in between Xmas and New Year, I like going to work to get away from that 'what do we do' period when Xmas is over but New Years Eve is still a few days away.

So, all we need now, is to light the real, coal fire we have in our living room, dim the lights and put on 'It's A Wonderful Life' and Xmas is truly upon us. Ahhh, if only life was as ideal as this film. Actually, it probably is, if we want it to be.

Really getting stuck into the stats on Poker Office, bouyed by the great night I had at the tables last night. AQ won me a huge pot when 2 more hit the flop and my opponent had Q 10. The irony is that this was the first time I didn't raise it pre-flop, and the BB was a very tight player (21% seen flop over a couple of hundred hands), so he just checked his hand and would probably have folded to my 4 or 5 bb raise.
AQ is still in the negative as a stand alone hand, but the gap has been cut somewhat.

AK continues to frustrate and as my biggest single losing hand, I cannot continue raising 4, 5 or 6 x bb pre-flop, only to lose to much weaker hands that hit their 3 outs almost each time. My stats show that the only statistical chance I have of winning, is if my opponents fold pre-flop.

Other than AK, my game has improved with the statistical knowledge that Poker Office provides. I find where my weaknesses are, which position I'm not playing properly, opponents that will consistently call any raises with such regularity - there are plenty of ways to take advantage. And what's great - it cost me nothing. Well, I deposited and played at Empire for a week to get it, but breaking even and withdrawing my initial deposit (never liked playing at Party), I basically got it for free.
The biggest improvement has been my % flops seen, which I had no idea was so high. I'm correcting this and got my last 3 sessions down to between 23-25% - a big improvement on the 48% it was during the first part of the month.

For the record, my Overview stats for December show:

Hands 1573
hands won 17.61%
Flops seen 39% (but coming down!!)
Won $175.87
Won per hand 0.11c
BB/100 hands 15.61
Won flops seen 35.7%
Showdowns won 50.2
Pre flop raise 5.34

With nothing to really compare this to, it's difficult to try and picture a perfect score. If I'd lost money, I could be critical of my flops seen % being too high, and my pre flop raise % being too low. But the fact that my profit for the month is very high, I guess I have to be pleased overall.
Any comments or comparisons on these stats would be gratefully received.

Anyway, Cathy is working tonight, and I was looking forward to watching the Liverpool Arsenal cup game, but that's just been postponed, so looks like a movie for me.

Not sure if I'll post again pre-Xmas, so I hope all my readers have a fantastic Xmas and Santa brings you all you hope for. I also hope your 2007 is everything you wish it to be.

Bye for now.

All I want For Christmas

Christmas is nearly upon us, and as a new year approaches it's a natural time for reflection on the old one and hopes for the next.
I've been chasing my tail a bit these last days trying to find someone to take responsibility for the Million Minds debacle (apart from myself). It appears that the site was allegedly set up by a well known Scandinavian con man called Perter Rudbäck, which beggars the question that if I can find this out so easily, how was he allowed to get:
a) on the Tain network in the first place (OK, they did kick him off, but made no effort to remove their endorsement and logo from the MM site)
b) Be allowed to trade with Neteller despite the number of compliants received about non payment
c) also be credited by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission
d) be owned by a company called Parabol Ltd, who also have connections with Carlos Poker - incidentally, another poker site that have not answered an Email for the last week. They have removed all reference to Million Minds on their site since my first contact, an indication of guilt?

The only company that have tried to help me out from the above list is Tain directly. They have set me up with an account at Expect.com and put 100$ in as a gesture of goodwill.

Neteller have still to reply, but have advised that there is nothing they can do other than keep contacting MM and remove them from future use if they do not reply. Not a great help to me, but at least stops any future loss at this site. (Though if it is this easy to set up, what's to stop a con man setting up in another name?) So why exactly do we use Neteller? If I'd paid via a credit card, I would have some protection.

Parabol Ltd have said they will investigate as they were not aware of any complaints or issues (yeah, right) but have not responded to a single Email since, nor returned any phone calls.

The worst of the lot for me is the K. Gaming Commission. Their home page states: Integrity, Security, Accountability and Community. They have failed with me on every single point. Not once have they replied to my several Emails (two left on their comments section online).
They provide no security, no accountability, no integrity aand sure don't promote a feeling of community. If anyone knows of a way of getting through to them - maybe a 'well read' poker forum that may put pressure on them?

Anyways, just thought I'd update you as you may feel that one of the above bodies would give you some kind of protection should a company behave this way. The simple answer is no. Be aware.

Not played too much poker, I wasn't feeling to great about the game to be honest, and after getting Poker Office at the beginning of November and reviewing the stats last night, I discovered AK and AQ are the biggest leaks in my game, costing me the most and only winning on 33% of occasions over the past 2 months On almost every occasion, they appear to lose to any two random cards, Ax being the most popular. Very frustating to get your money in at around 70% favourite and losing 67% of times. Some were against already made hands, but the Ax is damn annoying as I have the villain exactly where I want him/her.
The positive thing about the last 2 months is a 80$ profit, but this profit does not come from where you would most expect.

My biggest winning hands are:
KK - 72.39$
QJ - 32$
A6s - 31$
88 - 29$

AA placed 10th in the league (Mainly due to flopping a set with one only to lose to a villian's runner runner str8) with 20$ profit. QQ showed a -17$ (bizzarely QJ through to Q2 all performed better) due to an overcard being on every flop I saw.

For the record, my biggest losing hands are:
74s (flopped a str8 and also flush draw so moved all in, villian called with just a higher flush draw and hit the river)
K6 (two pair both times losing to higher two pair)
QQ was third as mentioned above.

So, a little time off over Christmas, hopefully a little cheer will find it's way through to my game at some point. Cathy's mum is quite ill at the moment, so we are all hoping for a recovery in time for Xmas, and puts my issues into perspective.