Oct 27th - £100+£10 NL Hold'Em - River Card Club (Stanmore)

Tonight I decided to visit another one of the newer poker clubs that have opened around London in the past few months! The 'River Card Club' in Stanmore Middx is set above a Bradford & Bingleys close to Stanmore tube station and about 5 miles from where I live.

A £100 freeout was advertised and whilst this type of event might draw 50+ runners down at the Western Club this particular event could only muster 14 runners and that was despite starting the event at 9.30pm (advertised as an 8.30pm start). Apparently Monday night is their 'busy' night with 60+ runners turning up for their £10 rebuy comp!

Anyway...the club itself is nicely decorated with around a dozen or so tables in play, a bar area where tea, coffee & soft drinks could be gotton free of charge and, as per the norm in the newer clubs these days, a bank on computer monitors for Internet poker play.

So 14 runners it was then and with 5k in chips and a 20 minute clock I was hoping for a much better show than of late in my 'live' play as its been rotten!

When form isn't going your way its easy enough to tell. The raises I was making were being called in two or three spots and the flops were being missed completely. I dwindled down to 3200 points when the following hand came up...

With blinds at 100/200 I get Kc-Jc in MP and flat call the blinds. Three of us saw the flop of J-7-5. There was a bet from EP of 300. I raised to 1000. It was passed back around to the original raiser who, after a moments thought, went all-in covering my chip count!

Knowing very little about the way these players play I felt as thought I was ahead so called. My opponent flipped 7-7 and that was that!

Knowing that form can return at any time I just have to keep playing and hope to see it again soon. In the meantime all I can do is keep playing!

Entries ->14 - Place -> 10th - Loss -> £110 ($204) Profit/Loss for 2006 -> +$12282

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

Oct 24th - £100+£10 NL Hold'Em - Western (London)

Before my poker night at the Western last night I took it upon myself to go and visit 'Loose Cannons'...the brand new club opened up by Roy Houghton & friends Catman (why they call him that I still don't know) and Sonny Osman! Being situated under the railway arches close to Cannon Street railway station in the city of London the place is ideally situated for the city types who prefer to go straight there from work!

It has its own bar, restaurant and of course, plenty of space to play poker. The obvious question is 'will it work'?

'Loose Cannons' have decided to take a different route to operating a club than others in that their aim is to charge a £91 'quarterly' membership fee! Once this is paid then no other charges are payable. No 'juiced' tournaments, no 'raked' pots, no table charges for playing...infact no other charges at all! Sounds great eh?? The only problem could be the coughing up of the £91 to start with!

In order to get the show on the road, as it were, the club offers founder members a membership fee of £18 till Jan 23rd after which time the £91 becomes payable for continued membership. Because of various promotions the club are having between now & then I was happy to stump up the £18. Would I have been happy to stump up £91?? In a word...no! Will I be happy to pay £91 in Jan? The jury is still out!

The presence of a membership fee ensures that the club can operate as a private members club where much can happen without the long arm of the law intervening. Unlike the Gutshot, say, where pots are raked and the Gambling Act 1968 needs observing (licences etc) no such provisions are required at Loose Cannons but will the imposition of a £91 quarterly fee, payable up front, encourage or discourage potential poker players to join?

There is an undoubted air of wonder about this point of imposed membership fees!

Of course this all could change quite rapidly if Gutshot, who's court appearance to fight the injustices of the 1968 Gaming Act comes before the Hight Court in early January 2007, actually WIN their case. In an instant this would legalise all such clubs throughout the country which have sprung up as a result of Gutshots continued defiance and the 'membership fee' would become an obsolete requirement overnight!

If, however, Gutshot lose their case then Loose Cannons would suddenly have free run of London as the authorities would undoubtedly clamp down rapidly on other like-for-like operations leaving Loose Cannons the only 'legal operator' of a poker club for miles around!

In the first instance though its about getting feet through the doors and I was surprised to be given membership number 1194 as that would indicate that 1193 other like minded bods had already joined!

I'll report back on what its like to play there in a couple of weeks time when I take part in the VC's £5k added event. For now though I thoroughly recommend you take a look as poker playing in London in 2007 may about to change forever!


Meanwhile.....


My 'live' poker experiences of late have been poor to say the least. If it wasn't for Full Tilt and the decent MTT results I've been getting there of late I'd be well down on recent activities!

Last night at the Western was just one of those nights where 'form' meant that I was outdrawn in two successive pots, in quick succession, and there endeth my night!

The mere fact that they occurred on hands 1 & 3 of the evening meant I could concentrate on the FT $150 event which I'd bought into in a moment of madness (seeing a prize pool of $30k for only 200 runners helped)!

So here's how it went down...

I get drawn in seat 4. Button goes to seat 1. Blinds are 25-50. I have 5k in chips.

Hand 1 : Jd 8d.

I flat call the 50 blinds and three of us see a flop (SB, BB & me) of 8h-3h-2c. SB bets out 100. BB folds. I raise to 300. SB calls.

(I have top pair nice kicker. I believe that the SB bets here to attempt a cheapy hoping that anyone with a stronger hand than his will be put off slightly by his bet and simply call. I put him on a flush draw and raise as I want him to pay for the draw. The fact he merely calls re-inforces my view that he's 'looking' for something)

Turn : 4c

SB bets out 300. I re-raise another 600. SB calls.

(Ok..he's now definately looking for something...probably the flush. Maybe I should have raised him to 2k??)

River : Jc

SB bets 600. I re-raise to 2000. SB calls. Showdown.

(I have two pairs. No flush came for the hearts and he's flat called again. Surely I must be winning??)

SB flips 7c-3c for runner-runner flush. I'm befuddled and down to less than 2k already!

Hand 2 : I pass

Hand 3 : 7s 8s.

(I'm on the BB now. The guy who knocked me for over 3k last hand raises to 250 in LP. I flat call. Two of us see the flop!)

Flop : 8c-6c-3s

I bet out 300. Original raiser calls.

Turn : 9c

With the straight draw now in play I go all-in. He insta-calls and flips Ac-5c for the nut flush!

Woe is me!!

Entries ->55 - Place -> 55th - Loss -> £110 ($204) Profit/Loss for 2006 -> +$12486

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


Meanwhile....


Back over on FT's $150 event I finally succumb in 60th place when my 6-6 gets run over by A-K. This after I was beaten up when my 9-9 got squished by K-Q and my 10-10 got squished by J-J. Ah those 50/50 balls...don't you just love'em!!

(I ain't counting the 10-10 v J-J!!)

Oct 17th - £100+£10 NL Hold'Em - Western (London)

Its been a while but tonight was one of those nights when I couldn't get out of the starting gate. It doesn't help, of course, to have the UK's biggest fish in poker (Koresh) on your table who calls with anything with spots on and will ALWAYS bet the flop nomatter what comes, but the cards were not on my side tonight and when that happens there's very little you can do!

The evening started brightly enough as I collected £1000 from the cash desk by way of a cashout from Full Tilt! Handy that the Western acts like a cash point for them so money can be put straight onto your account and whipped out in a matter of minutes if you get lucky! I'd come 2nd in Monday nights $25 NL event which paid me $1800. No way am I having that sort of dough floating about the on-lines so that was cashed in!

The £100 NL game at the Western was, this week, attended by 53 bods all anxious, no doubt, to get their hands on the £2k first prize. At the end of level 1 I had 4700 in points from a starting stack of 5000. I had hardly played a hand!

Level 2 saw me call Koresh's 'over raise' to 1000 with Ad-10d but had to let it go on the river as the board read 9-7-7-K-J and Koresh decided to go 'all-in'. He then turned 9-9 and moaned that I hadn't hit my cards...as you would!

At the end of level 2 I had 3200. And so to my demise on level 3...

With blinds now at 100-200 and holding As-10s I raised it up to 1050. All passed to Koresh who, like any good minded fishy, inst-called with some do-do or other. Its always nice to get a call from Koresh :)

The flop came 8-6-4 and immediately Koresh went all-in. Of course Koresh could have anything so I duly called for my last 2k in chips. 'So what part of that crappy flop have you got?', I asked. 'I have the 6', he declared as he turned 9-6 offsuit. No surprise there really!

The turn card was a Jack, the river another 4 and I was out! The fishy had its own rod this time!

Entries ->53 - Place -> 37th - Loss -> £110 ($204) Profit/Loss for 2006 -> +$12690

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

Oct 10th - £100+£10 NL Hold'Em - Western (London)

You work your bollux off getting into a position of strength and then it all disappears in a puff of smoke!

Tonights £100 NL event at the Western was attended by 49 souls all looking for that first prize of close on £2k.

The start I had was indifferent. My J-J got squished by 10-10 when a 10 appeared on the flop (lost 2k) and my 9-9 holding had to be dumped after a flop of A-2-3 and a big bet (another 1k). Apart from that though things went well.

I got VERY fortunate on one hand. On the button, and with blinds at 100-200, I raised to 600 with 6h-2h. I get one caller. The flop is A-K-4 and my opponent checks. I bet 1500, attempting to look strong, and my opponent called. Ok...well that was that then...or so I thought!

The turn brought a 5. My opponent checked, as did I. Now it got interesting. The river card was a 3 giving me the most unlikely straight in history. Again my opponent checked. This time I bet out to 3.5k. No hesitation and my opponent called all-in but was properly disgusted at my hand. So was I!!

At the break I had 14k and moved quickly to 20k shortly after seeing off a couple of 'all-in' opponents with better starting holdings than they. Nice when the best hand holds up!

Ok...so there are 23 left and I look down to see 10-10 in LP. With blinds at 200-400 I raised to 1200 and got a call from the BB. The flop was 9h-3h-5c. My opponent immediately bet out to 4k. This, to me, looked like an obvious bluff to get me off my hand. Either that or he'd hit a 9 or something! Anyway I wasn't about to let him off cheap so re-raised all-in!

Surprisingly he called!! So what could he possibly have? It turned out he has the Ah-Kh. Nice hand sir!

Of course I now had to duck & dive. The 5d fell on the turn followed by the 2 of bloody hearts!

There is such a fine line between winning & losing that it can be difficult to retain your sense of rationale after being 'outdrawn' again. As a poker player you learn to live with it but its a real pain in the arse sometimes!

Entries ->49 - Place -> 23rd - Loss -> £110 ($204) Profit/Loss for 2006 -> +$12894

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

Oct 6th - £200+£20 Omaha FREEZEOUT - Gutshot (London)

Omaha...now heres a game! In a cash game its a virtal certainty that I'll end up broke inside 5 minutes. There's just so many combinations that can win it for you and just as many that you can lose with.

I tend to take tournament play a bit more serious though and tonights £200 Omaha freezeout at the Gutshot gave me both the highs & lows of tournament poker!

The game was a 3k 'Double Chance' FREEZOUT. Basically you got 3k in chips to start and could take the other 3k at any time during the first two levels or, of you hadn't done all your chips by then, you got the extra 3k at the end of level 2. I took mine immediately as it means I don't get scared about someone who's only playing a 3k stack as opposed to a 6k one.

I played a steady first hour!

In tournament Omaha I never raise with A-A in hand. Only re-raise! My first holding of A-A came just after the hour mark. I held A-A-J-3. In EP I flat called the blinds. Immediately to my left was a player who LOVED raising. He raised. All passed to me and I RERAISED. He flat called. The flop came J-3-6. (I'd hit my backhand for 2 pairs...J's & 3's). I immediately bet out! He called all-in and flipped J-6-8-9. His two pairs (J's & 6's) held up and I'd done 2.4k.

My next A-A holding proved more successful knocking out a player sat immediately to my right and I was moving along nicely. The hand that came about next proved pivital to my night!

Holding 3s-4s-9c-10c I flat called a small raise from across the table in LP. The flop came 7s-8s-2h. The initial raiser bet the pot and I assesed my hand. I had both the straight draw AND the flush draw. There was no doubt I was behind but if the bettor had A-A and NO flush draw I was undoubtedly the favourite. With this in mind I re-raised all-in (about 6k)

My opponent sat back and pondered. 'Set of eights?', he asked. 'At least!', said I. 'Ok', he said...'I call'. He flipped Ks-Js-6d-9c for a bigger flush draw and 2nd straight draw! Surprisingly enough neither of us had a pair!

The turn card was the 4c (giving me a pair of 4's)..the river the 8c. My pair of 4's took down a massive pot! My opponent was flabergasted!

For the next 3 hours things went well. We got down to 2 tables. 15 left and then I get Ad-Ac-9d-9h. Oooooer missus!! I'm in EP and flat call the 2k blinds. I have 27k in chips (just above average). To my left there's a pot sized raise. I can hardly contain my excitement! I re-raise the pot but my opponent (on 21k) then goes all-in!

'We must have the same hand', I say! He nods and flips Ah-Jh-As-5s. Its a coinflip. The flop is Kh-10h-7d-4h-8s and I'm cratered 21k. I have 6k left!! Ooooo. That hurt!

Three hands later I get all my chips in the middle with A-Q-J-5. I get two callers. Flop is A-10-J-9-K and I make broadway to get myself back upto 18k.

Five mins later I'm all-in again with A-A-K-10 against K-K-Q-8. My hand stands up and I'm back to 30k. There are now 12 of us left with 9 getting paid!

Then the poker gods conspire against me!

Blinds are still 1k-2k and I flat call in LP with Q-Q-4-5. The BB checks and the flop is a marvelous looking Qh-3s-2c. I bet 4k. The BB calls. The 5c falls next. I bet 5k. The BB calls. Now at this point I should have got the message. I'd put in 11k already and he'd called me all the way. With what though? The Kc fell on the river. 'I'm all-in', said the BB!

I should have thought but I didn't and said 'Call' instead. He flipped Ac-3c for the nut flush and I was busted in 12th place. It was 2.20am and the £50 cab fare home made things slightly worse than they could have / should have been!

Entries ->57 - Place -> 12th - Loss -> £220 ($408) Profit/Loss for 2006 -> +$13098

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

Oct 6th - My take on the 'Unlawful Gambling Act - 2006'

From being called a 'weasal' to 'a bunch of monkeys' Bill Frist and lawmakers in the US decided, this past week, that it'd be a great idea to try and stop gambling on the Internet by making it as difficult as possible for punters to deposit money onto these 'unlawful' sites.

The 'Unlawful Gambling Act' was tagged onto some 'must sign into law' papers and, unlike in the UK where each piece of legislation must stand on its own two legs to pass, the Congress waved it through without debate.

The 'Land Of The Free' became 'Land Of The Not-In-My-Backyard' and whilst the practicality of the law may look tough to police there's no doubt the American lawmakers mean business when it comes to keeping as many $ inside the country as it possibly can.

Of course 'in practice' the law does not attempt to outlaw gambling on the Internet. No mention of illegality is seen in the bill that passed. By cutting off the money supply via credit cards and banks however the intent is there to demonstrate the lawmakers ability to crack down on the ability of Joe Soap citizens to spend their money as they see fit.

This 'half arsed' approach to prohibition though is fundamentally flawed in one major aspect.

With 3rd party money pushers (NETELLER, FIREPAY, MONEYBOOKERS etc) in play there really should be no problem whatsoever in funding on-line poker rooms by Americans or anyone else for that matter.

NETELLER, and the like, don't operate out of the US, they dont have a US presence and they're run in accordance with the rules and regulations of the country they operate out of. In NETELLERS case its the Isle Of Man.

By funding NETELLER directly this circumnavigates any direct reference to a gaming site and, as such, the banks etc cannot prevent these tranactions from occurring as they don't contavene and 'direct funding of gaming site' rules.

Of course the big name in on-line poker in Partypoker has informed its clientel in the US of its intention to quit the US immediateley upon the bill being signed into law by the president. This is entirely understandable as they are a public company, quoted on the stock market, and whilst they may have been happy to operate in the 'grey' area that existed before the US law was changed they're certainly not going to operate in an area that totally makes their product dodgier than it already looks. After all their CEO and directors will probably still want to visit the USA from time to time without fear of being arrested as soon as they land!

As for the immediate aftermath of the law becoming signed Bill Rini (www.billrini.com) has written a very good discertation as to what HE perceives as the likely outcomes. Makes grim reading in you're an American!

Meanwhile, back in the UK, our government is content to let its citizens continue to spunk its money whichever way it chooses and tax accordingly. The Gambling Act of 2007 comes into effect within 12 months and we're about to embark on a scenario of major casino expansions.

Gambling is good..except in America!

Oct 3rd - £100+£10 NL Hold'Em (Western)

20th out of 62 runners in tonights £100 NL event at the Western. No great shakes about the way I played although calling a 5k all-in bet from across the table with Jh-9h perhaps showed more of my mental state than anything else (I lost the hand)!

Once again though all had started out quite merrily. To my immediate right sat Simon (Clint) Eastwood. I've known him from the early days at the casino I'd play in at Reading when a £10 rebuy was a big comp! Luckily for me he was more interested in the cash game that was going on across the other side of the room as he dumped his starting tank to me with A-J versus my 10-10.

At the end of level 1 then I had 12k in chips.

Between hands at the Western I was also attempting to play in the HM league over at Full Tilt! Luckily for me the Western Club has a bank of pc's which allow for Internet play on Full Tilt software so I was darting backwards & forwards between the 'live' & 'online' play. I ended up in 29th spot on the HM event!

At the end of level 2 I still have circa 11k in chips and with 30 left I STILL have circa 11k in chips!

So we're down to three tables and the fun starts.

I LOSE 5600 when my Jh-9h fails to overcome A-10, double through when my Qj-Jh beats up As-Ks on a flop of A-K-Q-4-10 then lose the lot!

Holding 10-9, in the BB, its me versus the SB. The flop is 7h-8c-Qh. SB bets 600, I shove it all-in and he calls with 8h-5h. So any non-heart 7, non-heart 9, non-heart 10 or non-heart Jack and I win. Turn is the Ac, River the 4d. Booooooooo!

I'm out in 20th. Next stop the Gutshot!!

Entries ->62 - Place -> 20th - Loss -> £110 ($204) Profit/Loss for 2006 -> +$13506

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

Sept 27th - Oct 1st - Various

Live play this weekend consisted of the £30 NL event up at the Equal Chance club in Walthamstow on Friday night.

The event was a £10k guarantee and altogether 120 of us poker fanatics sat down to play. With a £30 buy-in you got 1000 chips (pretty poor) but you were then allowed rebuys & DOUBLE rebuys when, and if, your chip stack got below 1000 points. After losing my 25 points in the SB first hand I was about to rebuy but realised the dealer didn't have change (you rebought from him directly) so put the £50 note back in my pocket. Just as well really as within the next 10 mins I had 6k in chips and was table captain...for all of another 10 mins anyway.

A couple of 'beats' later I'm back below 1k so DOUBLE-REBUY and have almost 3k to play with. At the break I have 10k and with a DOUBLE-ADD'ON I have 13k once we resume play and am looking good.

My A-J then gets rolled by 7-7 (lost 4k) then comes the big pot of the night...for me anyway!

I get dealy A-Q in MP and with blinds at 200-400 I raise it up to 2500. The guy across the table looks me up and down and calls. He has me covered! The flop is J-J-6 and I check...as does my opponent. A 10 drops off. Again I check...as does he. The river brings a nice big ACE. Again I check, looking for a check raise, and my opponent obliges by putting out a 3k bet.

Now, of course, I could always be walking into a big fat hand here but his actions suggested he held A-10 or similar. Rather than flat call I decided to put him to the test and go ... 'all-in'.

He takes a deep breath and calls turning over K-J. I'm getting very adept at putting all my chips into pots with the worst hand AFTER the river! Maybe I'll take up gardening!

The cash games were good though and I cleared over a grand! Life could be worse!!

Entries ->120 - Place -> 55th - Loss -> £150 ($278) Profit/Loss for 2006 -> +$13710

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

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In my last blog I mentioned that I'd be spending the weekend playing in some major on-line events. How did I get on???

Wed - $320 PL Hold'Em - Pokerstars - 292nd out of 1700+. Payout was 220. Big of a bugger really. I was cruising along at circa 11k in chips when in two hands it was all gone. My A-J got snapped off by A-Q followed by my A-9 against J-10 on a flop of 8-9-10.

Thur - $100k guarantee - Gutshot - 643rd out of 1100+. Made a nice start but got a bit greedy. Just me & SB who raised to 3*BB. I called with Jh-5h. Flop came 3-5-7. He bet. I raised all-in. He called! He flips A-7. Brilliant!

Sat - $100k MONSTER freeroll on Party. 1312th out of 4921. Actually this was good as it qualified me for the $1M MONSTER freeroll at the end of October. All I need do now is finish in the top 1000 of that and I'll be in the grand final next May! With no Americans there it'll be a piece of piss!

Sun - $215 NL Hold'Em on Party - 4700th out of 5100. Decided to let loose with 8s-9s on a flop of 10-J-6. My opponent held A-J so refused to quit...as you would!