Thick as thieves!

Raising Pots

I'm still here, still at $5NL. That's good right? Haven't had to drop back down in levels. Yep, still here and still enjoying the level but have realised I'm not invincible. I never thought I was but when you have a heater has hot as the one I was on since I started this level you can't help but begin to think you are. Heaters are great, every pair flops a set, every draw hits and you make loads of money. So what's the opposite. Well, a cooler obviously. I don't think I've been on a cooler this week, indeed I have done quite well, but there is definitely an icy front approaching, the last few sessions of this week have certainly been chilly. I even put the central heating on in Pokerlifter Towers to thaw this frost but it's coming...I just have to push through it. One good thing about it is I may be able to grind my way through as the next couple of weeks are going to say an exceptional number of hands registered. You see, those nice folks at Full Tilt Poker have repeated their 'Take 2' promotion from last year and all that needs happen is to play 9 out of the next 10 days and they'll give you a nice $25 bonus. So this means that I need to play every evening bar one this week until next Sunday to get it. Should be easy.

Got an interesting email on Friday from Full Tilt Poker telling me that:

'The Full Tilt security department has recently concluded an extensive investigation and we have determined that some of your opponents were in violation of our site terms. We have permanently closed all of the offending accounts. In cases of proven cheating, 100% of the confiscated funds are returned to the players that were victimized'

That's right! Someone has cheated Pokerlifter out of some of his money! $12.65 to be precise! So this was a nice little bonus and the forums were buzzing with people having got got the same email, some players receiving $1 or $2 whilst others got over $2,000. It would appear that FTP closed down a number of Bot accounts that were plaguing the site. Well done FTP! Really reassuring to see that the integrity of online poker is being maintained.

So, the all important tale of the tape:

Hands: 3,802
Hours: 9.12
BB/100: 0.38
Total Winnings: $1.45
Total Rakeback: $9.17
Reimbursement: $12.65

Total for the week: $23.27

A profitable week once again but a truly dismal amount of volume at the tables. Lowest volume since August 27th and no excuses really. To be fair, I knew the 'Take 2' promotion was coming and that I'd be able to get the volume in there so no big deal. Crucially though, $1.45 is the net sum of my week's poker profits. Not good. Not good at all.

Lifting Weights

Who's that chap in the gym writing notes. Why that's Pokerlifter. Yes, notebook in hand I have been gymming this week and really enjoying it. Sat here feeling pretty stiff and pleased with myself. I mean, I haven't done a 10k run in under an hour or anything amazing like that, but I have had a good week. Crucially though, I have decided to make notes about what I am doing. For the last few weeks I have too often gymmed with no real idea of progress or what I lifted last week/month. So, I've jotted some things down so that when I go next week I know what to lift. There are not a great deal of notes to combine into this blog post right night but I'm hoping there will be next week.

It's really time to get serious about this. Christmas is exactly 9 weeks away. 9 weeks is a great amount of time to truly get into some shape and make some progress. When I write my 2010 summary I will look back on this post with a smile, for today dear reader, is where things have really come together.

I may also be including something new into my week as a motivator and something a bit different. Very near to Pokerlifter Towers is a leisure centre that always has a banner outside advertising a Martial Arts class. This is something that I have always had an interest in and really enjoyed whenever I have done it, however I've never really been able to fit it in around work and my other commitments. However, this one is different as it is on a Thursday evening at 7:30pm or a Saturday morning at 10:30am. Either of which I could do, so watch this space next week as I may well be doing some Kung Fu fighting on here. Maybe it will help with my occasional tendency to go tilt monkey...