Sep 26th - £100+£10 NL Hold'Em - Western Club (Acton)

In order to be a success at poker there are certain 'pre-conditions' you must adhere to. Any attempt to play whilst digressing from the following list will lead to your demise at the table in a rapid like fashion...

1) Don't drink too much either before or during the game - Makes the game fun but forget about winning as your brain contains nothing but thoughts of sex

2) Don't eat too much either before or during the game - Your body becomes pre-occupied dealing with the food in your stomach and loses interest in the though processes that go into playing poker.

3) Be relaxed and WIDE AWAKE - Being snoozy leads to no coherant thoughts whilst playing as you're too busy thinking of bo-bos.

So having broken 2 of the three rules, as set out above, in last nights £100 NL game at the Western I lasted precisely three hands...two of which I passed.

I ate pie & chips (very nice it was too) 1hr before play commenced, had stayed up till gone 1am on Monday night, up at 6.30am Tues AM was ready for snoozies BIG TIME!!

Hand 3 then and I'm in late position with 6d-7d. An EP player raised the blinds up to 250 and I was the only one to flat call. The flop came 3h-5d-7h. My opponent led out to 200 and I flat called thinking he had a hand like A-K, A-Q, A-J etc and was seeing where he was at!

With top-pair I should have perhaps raised here to see where I WAS but food & snooze kicked in! The 8h fell next.

I wasn't too concerned about that as now I had a straight draw AND a pair of 7's. I immediately bet out to 600. My opponent called. Hmmmm???

The 5c fell on the river, pairing the 5d. I had two pair and was feeling happy. My opponent though immediately bet out 1500. WTF! I couldn't fathom that. No way did I put him on a 6-9 or a 4-6 (for the straight) after he'd raised from EP at the start. A bigger pair was certainly possible but why bet it when the board had paired up? No way did he have a 5 either!

Maybe he was trying to scare me off the pot...uh...we'll see about that! 'All-In', I announced ans shoved my 4k+ chip pile into the middle.

He turned away in disgust...turned back and called!! He flipped Ah-Jh for the nut flush and I was gone...mind you I was in snooze land for 10pm!!

Entries ->44 - Place -> 43rd - Loss -> £110 ($203) Profit/Loss for 2006 -> +$13988

(As from 7th August rate of exchange is calculated at £1 = $1.85)

----------------------------------------------------------------

The rest of this week will be taken up by 3 events on-line.

Tonight...Wed 27th...I'm playing in the $300 PL Hold'Em event on Pokerstars. Tomorrow the $100,000 guarantee event via the Gutshot website and on Saturday I'm playing in my first Partypoker 'MONSTER' $100,000 Weekly free-roll event. Not really a free-roll as I had to qualify via a $10 satellite but for a $12.5k 1st prize I'll take what I can get!

I'll do a brief write up on each event over the next few days but you'll find me on all sites as UKPOKER!

Sept 23rd - £100+£10 NL Hold'Em (Gutshot)

Another freeroll! Tonight was the £100 freezeout down at the Gutshot club. I got there quite early so jumped in a cash game where the most surprising thing was that they were raking £10 out of £200 pots!! Scary!

Anyway...I win £103 so the £110 entry fee was no great shakes. 4k in chips and a 25 minute clock meant a fair bit of play. 120 runners as well. Nice!

I started off like a train...picking up pot after pot. My first 'all-in' of the night occured about 20 mins in and went like this...

I get dealt the 10d-7d and flat call the 50 in blinds. Theres about 4 of us in and the flop comes 5d-6d-7c. Now as soon as this falls there's no way I can get out of the pot! Could you? Anyway...

The player to my immediate right bets out to 500. I'm not pissing about with top pair and flush draw so I raise to 1500. Now HE comes back over the top of me for another 3000 and suddenly I'm all-in. He calls and flips Kd-Jd. Ooooerrr!

The turn is the Ah and the river the 8h. I'm now upto 10k in chips and sitting pretty.

At the first break I have 16k. At the 2nd break I have 12k but still above average.

The next big hand I get involved with goes down like this!

Blinds are 350-700 and I'm on the SB. I look down to see Jc-4s. An instant fold in usual circumstances. The player to my right though was a chinese guy who'd been playing a lot of pots then giving up on it, usually by the turn card. Everyone folded, back to me, so I flat call the blind. The chinese guy checks and off we go...

The flop is As-Ks-5d. I bet out to 700 as its usually better to do theses things rather than let your opponent get free cards...especially when you, yourself, have doggy doo!

Surprisingly he immediately re-raises to 2k. Now this stunk to me as I was PRETTY sure he didn't have much and was thinking I had nothing either. So I went all-in!!

Well that did it...he got up from his chair...walked around a bit...oooed and aared then finally CALLED!! Argh!!

He flipped A-3. Ok...so I'd been caught big time but when the turn card brought a 3 I suddenly had 4 outs for a straight. An 8 appeared on the river and all I could do was chuckle to myself...or was it cry...I don't recall!

Entries ->120 - Place -> 48th - Loss -> £110 ($203) Profit/Loss for 2006 -> +$14191

(As from 7th August rate of exchange is calculated at £1 = $1.85)

Sept 22nd - £100+£10 NL Hold'Em - Sportsman (London W1)

After a nice win on the magic wheel the £100 NL REBUY event at the Sportsman became more of a buy-in fest than usual. I really don't like rebuying more than twice at this game but by the time the dust had settled I'd spent £510 and zippo to show for it!

For the first hour I was card dead to the extreme. Virtually EVERY hand I got dealt contained a 2 or a 3 in it and the best hand I got was A-7. Trying to wrestle aligators with one hand tied behind your back is not the best way to play so I tried to make the best of a bad job and found that bluffing with hands like 8-4 and 9-5 just didn't work too well.

So...3 rebuys later and I finally get lucky when my A-8 doubles through a Q-10 on a board of 7-8-10-A-9 and I'm off to the races. My stack builds to 11k and its into the last three hands before the rebuy period ends when this happens...

I get J-J, in LP. With blinds at 100-200 theres a raise from across the table to 500. I immediately re-raise to 1500! So far so good! The original raiser then RE-RAISES another 4k! Ok...alarm bells went off and I should have passed but a picture pair looked ever so yummy after the trash I'd been getting so I decided to call fully intent on dumping if an Ace or a King hit the flop.

The flop was 3-4-7. My opponent immediately goes all-in for another 4k. I'll have 1500 left if I call! Theres a big gap between a 7 and a J so, of course, I'm obliged to call. He flips over A-A (what else?) and I'm toasted.

The worse value rebuy at the Sportsman is the £100 add-on as with blinds at 200/400 on return to the table you're in effect buying 5 bets! I took it anyway as I was still on a freeroll.

Three hands after the break I'm outsky when my made straight gets beat up by a made flush! Ain't life grand?

Entries ->60 - Place -> ??? - Loss -> £510 ($944) Profit/Loss for 2006 -> +$14394

(As from 7th August rate of exchange is calculated at £1 = $1.85)

Sept 17th - 19th - Various Western events

I had a fun night tonight!

Arrived at the Western at around 5.50pm, straight from work, and plugged straight into the 'Full Tilt' website to where I signed up for both the $50 NL and $10 NL turbo events that kicked off at 6pm. I also signed up for the 'live satellites' to the £100 event taking place later on.

Despite bad intentions I was still involved in both the FTP events after one hour of play so had to roll myself over on the 'live' satellite side.

The $10 event desintigrated but at 8pm I was still in the $50 event and approaching the final table.

The 'one handed' satellites were starting so I got one of the dealers to play my hand for me!

Luckily for me I won it...my 2 card holding of 2-4 flopped a straight on a flop of 3-5-6! So I'm into the main £100 event with an outlay of £22!

Meanwhile back in the $50 event I ended up in 3rd spot picking up $562 which I converted to £250 cash.

And so to tonight event....

Holding Kh-9h I flat call the blind of 50 and see a flop of K-Q-9. Nice!! (or so I thought) Its checked to me and I bet out 300. Its passed back around to the player to my immediate right who RE-RAISES me another 1000. Hmmm!!

I immediately put him on some holding like K-J or Q-J so was happy to call hoping for a dead card next!

The 5c fell. Great card for me...or so I thought! My one opponent then reaches for his chips and goes all-in! I just couldn't put him on 10-J so called. 'You got 10-J', he asked. 'Nope', I said turning over my K-9. He flips K-Q and I stand up only to see a lovely 9 fall on the river. Yes folks dreams DO come true!

For the next hour I could do no wrong. My holding of A-A got me another 7k in chips when against an all-in bet holding of 9-9 and at the 1st break I had 20k. At the 2nd break I had...er...20k!!

Card dead wasn't the word...I drifted down to 15k..its 12.50am and the following then occurs....

Down to 16 players. Antes are 600-1200. I have 15k in chips. I'm in LP and look down to see Jd-9d. I fully intented to raise and thinking it was my turn to act declared 'RAISE'.

What I hadn't seen though was that the player 2 seats to my immediate right had just thrown in a bet of 3600. The bet landed on the table the second AFTER I'd said raise. I had no notion of him being there as the player to my immediate right had just mucked his cards.

I argued that I wasn't aware that the player, two to my right, was raising as I hadn't heard the words raise from him. Infact he'd said '36 to play'.

I asked for a ruling!

The ruling was that I'd 'raised' out of turn and that as I'd declared 'raise' I must at least 'mini-raise' the 3600 initial bet.

Given that if I did that I'd be pretty much throwing my chips down the drain (as no doubt the original raiser would have sensed weakness and re-raised me straight back) I decided that the best course of action would just to then go 'all-in'.

At least this action would give my opponent the chance to pass if he didn't fancy calling the extra 12k and with Jd-9d I wouldn't be THAT much of a dog if he called with anything other than a pair higher than 8's.

As it turned out he called and flipped A-K.

The flop was A-K-10-8-3 and I was eliminated.

Some you win!!

Entries ->61 - Place -> 16th - Loss -> £110 ($204) Profit/Loss for 2006 -> +$15440

(As from 7th August rate of exchange is calculated at £1 = $1.85)

-------------------------------------------------------

On Sunday last I also visited the Western to play in the £50 NL game that had a guaranteed prize pool of £1000. Just as well really as it took a number of 'staff' to make up the numbers!

With only 20 runners only 3 would get paid. The clock was 20 mins and you started off with 3k in chips.

I started well and got an extra 1k in my stack before the wheels fell off slightly. Holding 9-9 I went over the top of a shortish stack (1800) when he raised to 300 with the blinds at 50-100. He called and flipped A-K. The usual suspect, an Ace, turned up on the flop so that was that!

I drifted down to 1200 chips before making a stand with 6h-4h. (Yes....I know!!) I get a caller with A-K again only this time my hand wins when the flop comes 2-3-4-5-9...my 6 giving me the bigger straight :)

Once I'd revved up with that hand I was determined to get a bit more agressive so did my usual 'I'm in charge' raise to 1000 with 4-4 in EP. The player to my immediate left decides his Q-Q is good and goes over the top.

I call (Yes...I know) and its goodnight from me when I fail to improve! No surprise there then!

Entries ->20 - Place -> 13th - Loss -> £55 ($102) Profit/Loss for 2006 -> +$15338

(As from 7th August rate of exchange is calculated at £1 = $1.85)

Sep 12th - £100+£10 NL Hold'Em - Western Club (Acton)

In any game where the outcome isn't decided until the very last second, or in the case of poker where the last card falls, there are a number of things that must go your way in order to both progress and do well.

Last week, at the Western, I got good cards and they held up nicely. Last night I got mediocre hands and with them goes mediocre luck especially as we had a Mr Hoover on the table who's every participation in a pot usually meant he'd be the one winning it!

After the first hand I knew it wasn't to be my night. I get dealt Qs-8s in EP, flat call the blind of 50, and by the end of the circle it was just me versus the big blind. The flop comes 8c-5c-2d.

Of course with top pair (even if it is only 8's) I feel somewhat secure knowing that I'm going to pound the pot and if my opponent has better then I'll soon know about it. The BB immediately bets out to 150.

Not wishing to give freebies I immediately raised to 500. He flat called.

I've mentioned before here that if I see 2 'flush cards' on the flop and I'm getting flat calls from a bet I'm making I'll usually put my opponents on a flush draw and act accordingly but the 2h, on the turn, pairing the board made me slighly uneasy. He checked, I bet another 500, and he duly called again.

The 9c fell on the river. He immediately bet out 500! I suppose the speed in which he bet threw me off and I called. He flipped the 6c-7c for the flush and, to be fair, I don't think I'd have put that hand down at any stage during the hand what with the flush AND straight draw to play with.

So down to 3500 after the first hand!

After the first level of blinds I held 3300. After the 2nd level I held 2800. Before the end of the 3rd I was gone.

I won't bore you all (and remind myself) with details of my last hand as I played it like a muppet and got what I deserved. Mr Hoover scooped mine, and another players chips, and it was au revoir on another night of poker!

Entries ->64 - Place -> 51st - Loss -> £110 ($204) Profit/Loss for 2006 -> +$15644

(As from 7th August rate of exchange is calculated at £1 = $1.85)

Sept 7th & 9th - Various - Western Club (Acton)

I don't usually do write ups for events that cost me £20. I mean...I'd be here all week if I blogged on about all the $10+$1 rebuy tournaments I'd played on PSTARS this year without success.

Whats £20 when its at home?? A couple of pints...A McDonalds & change...please!!

Anyway I just thought I'd blog about TWO small time beer events I played in at the Western Club last Thursday night and Saturday afternoon. This won't take long as I was 1st out in one and 2nd out in the other...just can't take them seriously!!

Thursday night was a £20+£2 NL freezeout with not only the prize money to play for but a chance at finishing in the top 2 to play for a seat on in a TV challenge event for forum members of participating cardrooms.

Anyway as I said...I was first out when my 7-7 got beat up by K-K. No outdraws just beat up! Better to go out like a lion than a lamb...who said that??

Saturday (1pm) saw a £30+£3 NL freezout as part of the 7-2 offsuit club event (see http://www.londonpokermeetup.co.uk/)

59 runners were contesting for a prize pool of just short of £1800 and I thought, after Thursday nights debacle, to try harder! We were given 5k in chips and a 30 minute clock.

Three hands in I get 2-2 in MP and flat call the 50 BB. Three players round the track and I hear 'two to play'. The bloke then tosses in 2 black chips. Its passed around to me and without a moments hesitation I call. The flop is A-K-J. I check. He bets 500 and I pass. Now this is where it gets interesting...

I look down in my tray and find that I'd thrown out two 1000 value chips. 'Hang on a minute', I said, 'I think I should have put out two 100 point chips?' grabbing 2 100 point chips from my tray. 'No', said my opponent as he was scooping in my chips, 'it was 2 to play...2 BLACK chips. 2000'!

The table around me looked as stunned as I did. I hadn't become accustomed to to colours of the chips and had given 2k away on a pair of 2's!! I couldn't believe it!

Suddenly I was on mega-tilt feeling like a total dum-dum.

Three hands later I get 7-7 and raise to 500. I get two callers. Flop is 6-5-2. There's a bet to 500, I raise all-in, and the third player calls. The initial bettor folds and my opponent flips 6-5 for two pairs.

Turn is a FOUR...river a TEN. I'm out...in 6 hands.

I was fuming over that '2 to play' call for ages afterwards.

ntries ->-- - Place -> --- - Loss -> £55 ($102) Profit/Loss for 2006 -> +$15848

(As from 7th August rate of exchange is calculated at £1 = $1.85)

Sep 5th - £100+£10 NL Hold'Em - Western Club (Acton)

"Congratulations Sir", said the dealer as I sat down at my drawn seat for the £100 NL Hold'Em event at the Western Club.

"Huh?", I replied. "You've already won the event... ", he went on, "as the players who have drawn that very seat you're sitting in has gone onto either win the event or finish high up in the prize money for the past two weeks now!".

Well I needed all the help I could get so I smiled politely and the game began. Strange thing occured! I was getting good starting hands...I was hitting the flop...I wasn't getting beat up by outdraws. Hmmmm...must be something to this 'seat' lark thing after all?

At the end of the first break I had 12k in chips (from a start point of 5k) and I hadn't broken sweat. Session two was a bit more iffy and my chips dwindled to 9k and then came a stroke of luck.

On the button I get J-J. I flat call the 400 BB. The SB, immediately to my right, then raises to 2k. There's a caller from across the table and I decide its time for a punt. "All-In", I announce and shove my 8.5k into the pot. The SB hums and aars then finally calls. The caller from across the table passes claiming to have A-K. The SB flips Q-Q! Oh dear, I think, but not to worry as the first card out on the flop is a Jack and whilst my opponent hits the rail I count upto 20k in chips and I'm loving it!

My chip count continues to go northwards, albiet quite slowly, and I'm upto 25k with two tables left when I get 10c-10s on the button. The player to my immediate right flat calls the 1200 blinds and I raise it up to 5k. Its passed around and he calls.

The flop is Jd-3d-7d. He checks! I go all-in and he thinks for a while before calling flipping 6d-6c. The 5s comes off the deck next followed by the ruddy Kd. That pot cost me 14k of my chips! I was back down to 11k.

I didn't get disheartened though and by the time the 10 man final table came around I had 15k left. Average chips was 35k so I didn't feel too much out of it!

On the final table the cards were hot for me big time. My K-K doubled through a non-believer who called with 7-7. My Q-Q grabbed another 25k in chips as firstly an EP player raised to 10k was followed by a caller for another 10k and I shoved all-in for 40k+. They both folded!

My A-K then took in another 30k against A-Q and before you knew it we were down to 3, at around 4.20am, with me on 130k, player B on 140k, and player C on 80k. Blinds were 3000-6000 and I get J-10 on the SB and make up the blinds.

The flop is 7-8-4. I check. Mr 140k bets 6k and I flat call. The lovely 9 drops on the turn. I check. Mr 140k bets 12k and I move all-in fully expecting him to pass. Unbeknown to me though the guy has 9-7 and has made two pairs. He calls! Oops...no 9 nor 7 on the river and I have 290k of the 350k in play!

The end is near. Mr 140k (now 10k) departs two hands later and at heads up my opponent goes all-in with J-5 versus my called K-5. No Jack to save him and I win £2500 with no deals!

Oooooooo....I'm good!! :)

Entries ->70 - Place -> 1st - Win -> £2390 ($4421) Profit/Loss for 2006 -> +$15950

(As from 7th August rate of exchange is calculated at £1 = $1.85)

Sept 1st - £100+£10 NL Hold'Em - Sportsman (London W1)

This particular Friday night at the Sportsman was more like a snooker pro's convention. With the filming of the new series of 'Pot Black' about to take place at the RAC Club in Pall Mall the following day it appeared that any snooker player worth his poker playing salt was set in his seat as the numbers topped off at 66 runners and there was no room at the inn for those late to the party.

On my table I get Mr Rock himself in Steve 'Interesting' Davies. Steves undoubted attributes as a snooker player are that he can wait for the right moment before making his move but in the world of 'randomness' that poker lends itself to implicitly he ran foul of a few 'bad beats' and was seen to be emptying his wallet on rebuys.

My efforts tonight never really got going. I took a rebuy after the first hand when my pair of 4's were no match for A-A and then again shortly after once my chips has gone back down to the 1000 mark where rebuys were permitted. With my budget now blown I had to sit and wait for a hand or two.

My first 'get lucky' hand was whilst holding Qh-Jh. A flop of 9-10-4 was checked all-around. A nice looking Jack fell on the turn so I bet out to 400 only to get re-raised to 1400 by the gentleman immediately to my right. I pushed all-in figuring my Q-J, whilst maybe not the best hand, had more potential, and was duly called. He flipped A-J and I duly patted the table only to see a Queen appear on the river and I scoop a nice pot.

My chip stack got to 10k where I then cruised to the break but after that it was all downhill as my initial calls, pre-flop, couldn't find anything post-flop to continue the hand with.

In desperation, more than anything, and with blinds at 300-600 I pushed in my last 5700 with K-J and got called by A-Q, as you would.

A low flop sealed my fate and another £310 hit the bin!

I really am going to have to evaluate these 'K-Q', K-J' type of hands. At the end of the day they give you nothing but grief!

Entries ->66 - Place -> 36th - Loss -> £310 ($574) Profit/Loss for 2006 -> +$11529

(As from 7th August rate of exchange is calculated at £1 = $1.85)