Long update

So i haven't done a blog for a while and i guess this is just down to a pretty poor run at the tables. Things have gone quite badly in August and its a shame to report that it will be my first losing month of 2008, boooooo!
Picking up where i left off, i played 4 of the FTOPS events and failed to cash in any of them. I never really got going in any of the comps and wasn't close to the business end of things once. A Personal highlight however was busting Mike Mattasuw out the $240 6max comp when i 4 bet him all in pre with J8 V his AA, lol.
After that was all over i headed back to thanet for folk week, which as usual was awesome. Went out every night and the town was very busy but was nice to see all the lads from home with the banter flowing as usual. The annual half pint challenge was certainly the highlight of the trip (drinking a half pint in every pub in broadstairs) and it was achieved in record pace this year, with only 2 of the 13 starters being sick, not a bad ratio at the speed we were going.
I was back in sunny London just in time for my birthday which was a quiet affair, just the way i like it. We went to a pub in Canary Wharf for a few drinks then we went to Goucho for dinner which was excellent. The fillet steak was 9/10 and the red wine was some of the best i have ever had, will certainly be back there again.
The next day was the GSOP £100 nlh which was full to the 80 capacity. I was going along quite steady up t0 12,500 from my starting stack of 8000 when i find 10 10 playing 200/400. UTG limps and after some thought i make it 1500 from the CO, button and blinds fold and after about 15 secs the limper (who i knew nothing about calls). The flop comes Q 9 3 and the guy checks so i check behind. Turn is a 10 which obviously is always a nice sight and i see an even better one when he bets 3000, i move in, he snap calls and flips QQ, gg me!
Next day was the PLO £150 which was equally annoying as i bubbled in 8th with 7 getting paid, thought i played ok getting my fair share of luck on the way but i couldn't find a good spot towards the end. A big congrats to my friend Joe for taking it down and playing a very good tourney and a very well thought out heads up match. I also had a 15% swap with him which softened the blow of bubbling.
So the warm up events were a little frustrating but was still very excited about the 3 day main event which kicked off at 2pm on saturday. Also had quite a few friends in the tourney and a few big names as well including the hit squad and nick persaud among others.
As usual my day 1 was a lot of fun. I cruised up to 28K in the first two levels on what was a pretty weak table all things considered when i decided that i wanted to play a big pot with 97 soooted, lol. I raise in ep to 550 playing 100/200 and get 3 callers, standard. Flop comes 10 8 3 rainbow, bb checks i bet 1200 the 2 behind fold then the bb makes it 3200 leaving himself 10k behind. He had been playing a little fast so i figure i'll just move him in and take it down, he calls with a set of 8's and i'm down to 13K. I then lose 9K against a moron when he check calls a bet on the flop of 10 8 8 with AQ then check calls a bet when another 8 hits the turn and then bets 3K into a big pot when the river comes a Queen and i pay him off with a 10. So i was down to 4k playing 200/400 which was a small problem however i soon got things going again when i got it all in with KJ v 7x on a 9 7 3 board, jack on the river and i'm back in the fight. I double again with 99 v AQ all in pre he flops a flush but i then hit runner runner house to get up to 16K. Finally i find QQ v AQ blind on blind to get back to 30k and i start to wonder what all the fuss was about. The rest of the day was very smooth as i found a few hand and managed to 3-bet in some good spots to end the day with 42,700.
I had about average stack at the start of day 2 with half the field left and we were playing 500/1000/100 so still had some time. Lost 10K early but got up to 60k when i had 88 v 98 on a nice 9 8 2 board and from that moment things went very well indeed. Got my stack up to 100K showing down some big hands and running a few bluffs along the way and then a guy bluffed of his 50K stack against me when i had raised the A5 and it came A 4 5. Shortly after this the strangest hand of the tourney came up playing 800/1600/200. Folds to me on the button and i make it 4500 with A7 off, sb folds then the bb calls and bets 4k in the dark!! The flop comes 9 8 8 and i figure i'm still good so i make it 11K, he calls and then shoves for his last 20K in the dark, WTF?! So the turn comes a 6 and its decision time; running through the hand i think he hasn't got an overpair or a big ace having flat called pre. I make my read that he has J10, qj or Q10 so i call saying that i think ace high is the best hand, he shows Q10 and i win a very bizarre but also a very nice sized pot. With 2 tables left porno Mark gets moved to my left with a mountain of chips so i make a conscious decision to slow down a little and try to avoid playing to many hands with him out of position, thankfully he also seems eager to avoid playing big pots with me so we take it in turns to bully the table and we make it through to the final table as the two biggest stack.
The final table was crazy, i busted in a disappointing 7th for £2200 and Porno Mark smashed it up in record time to take the title and the £12000. Before the final table we had agreed to swap some % so at least i got another £1000 for that. My key hand came up playing 2000/4000/500 when i raised to 11K pre with J10 utg. Folds round to Mark in the bb who calls, flop KQ5 with 2 hearts, he checks i bet 20K he makes it 60K and i move in for 200K more thinking that he can only call with a set, KQ or a big draw like J10 of hearts or AJ of hearts. Shame for me he had one of those hands and i was busto, I don't really regret the way i played the hand cause the stacks were deep enough for the move, oh well.
Went out for dinner and drinks with Mark and a few others after to celebrate which was a lot of fun. Mark lost 3 flips in a row for cocktails which was a nice piece of poetic justice and we ended the night in Mahiki which was a pretty awesome club with the dj banging out some classics.
So that pretty much brings my life up to date, went to Roadhouse last night and got absolutely smashed having decided that dinner is for girls and a pint of gusiness and 2 bottles of wine would be a better idea, worst hangover of 2008.
So August is nearly over and we're now moving on to good old september. I've been getting a bit lazy of late basically just jerking off money on play.com, getting up at 2pm then watching peep show, inbetweeners, green wing and good old teachers instead of doing much work. So i'm going to try and be a little bit more productive this month and try and play over 50 mtt's and a hell of a lot of stt's and maybe even win some $. I also have two massive highlights to look forward to, first is WSOPE event 1 on the 19th which is £1500 with a decent structure can't fucking wait. Also going on a lads golfing holiday to Devon right at the end of the month which should be a good laugh. I've only played 3 times this year so i'm a bit worried about my game but a couple of hours on the range and a bit of happy gilmore and tin cup should have me ready to go.