Just busted out of the $109 $125k guaranteed Hendon Mob shoot out in 78 out of 1221 for $250 (not bad for my original $14 investment, but gutting beyond belief).

I started off really well when I managed to treble up on hand 16 with the nut full house against a lower boat and trips.

Got the stack up to about 14,000 at the second break. Then got moved to a table with I AM ARI (Bodog Ari) to my right. Got up to 23,000 there, before I got moved to a table with the top 3 stacks all to my right.

Got as high as 30,000, but folded AQ on a queen high flop after my continuation flop bet got re-raised by the chip leader. I am sure I was ahead. In a smaller tournament I would have jammed. Playing scared. Sums up tonight.

Had about 23,000 (average) when the bubble burst. Then couldn't get a hand and got anted away as the big stacks just kept raising and I had nothing to come over the top with.

Stole as many blinds as I could. Finally found KK UTG when I had $17k left. By this stage I am way behind the average (about 50,000), but I ran into AA and didn't get lucky.

I felt I really let things get away from me tonight. I was scared of bubbling and then scared of getting knocked out when I needed to build my stack or go home.

Thats the problem when you are playing above and beyond your usual level. Cashing is disproportionately important to the bank roll. If I knew that I was going to play in all the $100 to $200 buy ins, I could afford to be more aggressive, as I would when playing at my own stakes.

I have managed to get to two PLO final tables this week (small field tournys) and played scared (to place higher) in both of those (usually I only play to win at final tables). Aaron Bartley (FTP sponsored pro) was at one (a $33 buy in) playing very aggressively and it knocked me off my stride - I came 5th/69 after a long period of 5 handed play for $160.

There was also another player called Blackmetalhead who I think is an intenet pro at the final table. And Lee Watkinson also entered (last week the WSOP ME final table this week doing his bit for charity with the gutshot donkey).

Need to take a couple of days off now. Last time I got deep in a big buy-in tourny (on Party) I went on tilt for a month and lost $5k.

Although there, I was rivered in a monster pot by the chip leader with about 70 left when I had the 5th biggest stack. If I had won the pot or avoided getting involved, I would have had a real shot at the final table, as it was I was out.

Tonight was different. I never really felt like I was going to win it from the moment we hit the money. I was mentally knocked out about 30 minutes before I actually was, which is bad.

Have to remember I have been playing really well in tournys lately. Keep positive.

I've had a mixed bag of results since my last post.

I lost a few dollars playing cash games when tired. I have started to realise that the difference (or at least one of the differences) between winning and losing at the games which make up HORSE is chasing hands. If you stay in hoping to hit hands you will lose a lot of money.

Starting hand selection is key. At the hi/low games, some hands that look pretty ( eg JJ56 double suited at omaha) are actually pretty/very bad hands and will lose you both halves of the pot.

Played a whole bunch of tournaments this weekend. Highlights include:

• Winning a small HA tournament (no idea what that stands for) but its a mixed PLH and PLO hi game. Very small in fact $11 buy in, 24 entrants, 1st paid $120.
• Getting second in a a very small HORSE tournament. $55 buy in, 16 entrants, 2nd paid $240. I should have won this, I had a 2 to 1 chip lead going heads up, but through it all away in the omaha round. I simply don't have any heads up experience at these limit games - 1st paid $400.
• I won a satellite to the Hendon Mob shoot out event 1 on Thursday. Worth $109 - $15 buy in, 25 entrants.

Lows include:

• Coming 12/91 in a $5.5 limit omaha hi/low tourny - 3 hours wasted there - I was almost the very first person knocked out down to 3 big bets, but survived to go deep and win nothing.
• Coming 7/43 for $17 in a $15 satellite to the $109 Saturday $60k tourny on FTP, there were 5 seats and I had the chip lead with 8 left - that is just not acceptable to miss from there.
• Getting knocked out to a a horrendous bad beat in 350th place out of 1007 in a $26 tourny where I played perfectly and had that winning feeling.

Sort term goals - win Hendon Mob shoot out 1. Win seat to HORSE event at FTOPS. Win HORSE event.

Well Kirk Morrison was the last of my WSOP main event picks, Nordberg and Sorel Mizzi also made it to around about the top hundred. Not too bad, but ultimately no good.

I had a strange weekend. Lost $20 playing HORSE on Friday and $22 getting knocked out of the Razz tourny. After that I played some 5/10 Razz because Chris Jesus Ferguson was at the table. That was cool. I lost $34, although I was marginally ahead most of the time.

Yesterday I entered a $5 PLO high rebuy tourny and won it for $392.85 - there were 103 entrants.

I decided to take the Daniel Negreanu approach and invested $40 in the tourny, but it worked because I was in second at the end of the rebuy period with about 15k. Within half an hour of that I had 100k out of the 460k in play, with about 40 left.

I managed to maintain that level through to the final table. With about 5 left I found myself in third, but knocked out the other four in turn to take it down.

The tourny took 5 hours because there are no antes and short stacks can stay for hours without playing a hand.

I would have knocked out the 4th and 5th pace finishers much earlier if the big stack hadn't been inappropriately throwing his weight around with garbage - in doing so he kept pushing me out of the pots and doubling up the shortstacks. Ultimately though, this enabled me to knock him out later on.

I now have a stud high, a Razz, a PLO high and various no limit tourny wins to my credit. I also have the second in the HORSE tourny.

Tonight I began my quest to win a PLO hi/low tourny, but got knocked out in the first hand of an $11 tourny with trips and a six low, to a wheel - v poor play on my part.

Cash game results from the last few days (excluding the 5/10 Razz dalliance):

HORSE (-$20) 55 hands, 30 minutes.
Razz ($-11.70) 20 hands, 12 minutes

I plan to play more HORSE cash games. I will also try to win a seat to the HORSE event at the next FTOPS series in early August. I don't plan on playing any nl hold em for the forseeable future - the other games are so much more fun.

Its the start of Day 3 of the main event. 4 of my runners are still alive. My number one pick Sorel Imper1um Mizzi is flying. JC Tran and Nordberg are doing well and Kirk Morrison is hanging in there (still I hope).

My picks for the main event are dropping like flies. Sorel Mizzi and JC Tran had a good first day. Strange that only 5 players will be millionaires at the end. You get through 6,300 players, come 9th and pick up $500k and go back to work the next day - that would be gutting.

HORSE today +$61.65, 1.2 hours, 83 hands.

All money made at omaha in two monster hands. Some real donkeys playing tonight.

Lost badly tonight.

HORSE (-$47.25), 1.5 hours, 125 hands.
Raxx (-$24.65), 1.3 hours, 128 hands
Real time 2hours.

I lost most of the HORSE money at stud hi, when three hands in a row I had 4 to a flush after 4th street (plus in the 2nd and 3rd hands straight possibilities), but couldn't make it over the last 3 cards.

Not to worry.

Looks like the main event is going to get about 6,300/6,500 players, which probably equates to something like $7.5/$8 million for first.

Two of my picks definitely won't be winning: ZeeJustin Bonamo and Shaniac Schlegar are out.

Kirk Morrison and Joe Hachem are through to day two. I don't know about the others.

Played some 1/2 Razz today.

Razz (5) +$31.10, 1.4hours, 138 hands.

HORSE(2) +$36.50, 0.8 hours, 60 hands.
Razz(4) (-$10.30), 0.7 hours, 56 hands.
Real time 0.8hrs.
I made the money in stud hi tonight. Struggled at Stud8.

A friend and I have invested £1 on each of the following for the main event title:

1 Sorrel Mizzi
2 Justin Bonamo
3 Shane Schlegar
4 Alexander Stevic
5 Kirk Morrison
6 Alex Jacob
7 Joe Hachem
8 JC Tran
9 Peter Feldman
10 Phil Helmouth
11 Alan Cunningham

I am regretting some already. Odds are mostly 200/1 to 300/1 (which is rubbish really, even if there were only 3000 in the event).

The bookie had Howard Lederer at 40/1 (!!), Amarillo Slim at 100/1(!!!!!!) and Robert Varkonyi at 200/1(!!!!!!!).

I hope Barny Boatman wins even though I have not bet on him.

I think there will be 5,967 entrants.

Played some 1/2 HORSE today. I struggle a bit with both stud rounds at the moment. Sat out for some of the stud hi hands. Played well in the omaha and razz rounds.

Also played some standard Razz. Chip Jett was at the table some of the time. So not always the easiest game on the Internet. I was about 25 ahead, but lost a couple of hands at the end - decided best to call it a day at that point.

HORSE (1) +$51.50, 2 hours, 127 hands
Razz(3) +$10.25, 2hrs, 162 hands
Total real time played 2 hours.

Razz (2) 1.3hrs 106 hands (-$7.30).

Ok things have gone very wrong over the last few weeks.

I have decided to pay 1/2 Razz for the rest of the month to see how I can get on. I strongly believe that the players at this game are the worst on the internet. At this level most of the players are no limit hold em sex tourists (who don't have the first idea how to play Razz) trying something different.

I will track my results here to see how I get on (I need to start working out which games, if any, I am winning at (should that be can win at?).

Razz day 1: +$51.25 (77 hands, 1.1hrs)

More of the same.

1st tourny. $33 buy in, 51 entrants, 1st prize 580, six pay.

Having got to the final table with a marginal the chip lead, end up getting knocked out 7th when going all in with 8,000 (blinds 250/500) from the cut off with JJ. Button who has 200 more than me has KK.

The key hand was actually about 5 minutes before when my raise got called by a limper. I have Ad Jc. J high flop brings three diamonds. I check limper makes a pot size bet, I re-raise all in, he calls with Qd4d and I don't improve. I went from 13,000 down to 4,000 at that point.

Bubble boy again. I hate tournys where getting to the final table is not enough to get paid. And this is the first final table where I have bottled it for some time.

So I finished June with a balance of $679. I also have 2 x $26 MTT tokens which I won playing $13 heads up S&G's. So I am worth $731 in total.

I have been running bad and playing bad, particularly in cash games. But feel that I am playing better now (although I am not playing much cash).

I finished the month last night with a it of a come back, but the frustration continued..

I managed to win $28 playing 1/2 limit omaha8. And I then played 3 tournys at the same time with the following results:

• $10+1 nl HE 47/360 (36 paid)
• $5+0.5 HORSE 2/101 (for $101 - 1st ever 2nd place - I am getting much better at these mixed and low hand games)
• $24+2 nl HE 31/587 (for $52 - I want to cry - I got bad beated out of the tourny, when a $1000+ finish was beckoning).

In the $24+2 - I had 22,000 chips (about average with blinds at 400/800) when I picked up 77. I raised to 2,400 from mid position with 77. Called by 2 players with stacks around 11000. Flop 7 A 5. I go all in and am called by A 4. Turn 8. River 6 for the runner runner straight. I am down to $11,000 - should be sitting with 37,000.

4 Hands later in button still with 11k. I get J 10 suited. There is a raise to 2,400 from mid position. I call. flop J 9 8. I jam. Get called by 33. Turn 4. River 3 and I'm out.

The $101 I earned in the HORSE was the hardest earned $101 have ever made. Pleased with it. But the other tourny was the important one.

July can only get better.