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Thongs, Tattoos and Jumbo Blinds
2008-01-28 16:28:00
"That's Wrong!" exclaimed Danny who was opposite to me on my second table."Eh?"Danny motioned for me to turn around. A huge argument had broken out on table 2 about where the button should be, following the arrival of new players. One of the argument participants, a lady of larger physique, was leaning over the table to make her point. In the gap between her short top and hipster jeans was revealed a thong complete with elaborate tattoo. Now I'm the first to admit I'm probably two stone over my ideal weight. However, I do not run around town wearing a half length vest top, as displayed with some aplomb by Carl Weathers, during the beach love-in between Apollo and Rocky in Rocky III (http://static.flickr.com/56/162294130_95 867564c9_o.jpg)."For Faacks sake, we're wasting time" screamed the lady."You're wrong luv" said one of her opponents jutted a finger in her general direction.The wise old owl Houghton rolled his eyes and wandered over to dissipate the row.Anyhow - welcome to ...
More About: Blinds , Tattoos , Thongs , Jumbo

EI-EI-EI-0..........Up the Poker League we go......
2008-01-25 11:38:00
An eventful evening...........2nd place, 22 points, £430, a big suckout and an unbelievable cash hand to report. Tournament first - 24 runners for the 3rd installment of the LC poker league. A veritable table of death to begin with - Shazbo, Tom, Volcano, The French Professor, Chewitt and Maniac Tony. This was a table to treat with caution, so I poked around for 2 levels and was down to 3,000 chips when this hand occurred. Chewitt flat calls, as does Shazbo. I call in the small blind with K2s and Volcano checks his option. Flop 10, 2, 2 - ding! I check, as does Volcano and Chewitt. Shazbo bets out 600, I flat call and the Volcano pushes. Folded back to me, and I am a bit apprehensive as there are 2 hearts on the board and Volcano went out last week reraising on the nut draw, and this wouldn't be a bad spot for it. I have no choice but the call, and Volcano is drawing thin as he turns over 92. The hand played itself really, and was a cold deck for the Volcano but I'm up a...
More About: Poker , League

Amusing Cash Hand
2008-01-22 15:41:00
So................Volcano raises to £3 in a 50p/£1 cash game as he has been doing most of the night. He has about £250 behind after running nicely early on in the game. Folds round to Mad Viv who calls in the blinds. Flop 9, 9, Q.Viv checks, Volcano bets £10 (an overbet). Mad Viv goes all in for £80 (a HUGE overbet). As Volcano ponders Viv shows quickly displays over the 9 "Jamie Gold 2006 stylee". Volcano says "I saw that"..............and................... ...calls............ with Q10? Viv takes the pot and Volcano suffers the ridicule of the table. We were lucky not to see an eruption, but the fire has been doused by a promising start to the year, and in justification of the call Volcano confided that he was "a bit pissed". Without doubt an early nominee in the "worst call of the year" category, and given that the caller could see the opponent's key hole card, will be almost impossible to beat.Rewinding back to the tournament, and it's another "nearly" event for me...
More About: Cash , Amusing , Hand

Cliches and Honest Dave
2008-01-16 12:51:00
The LC dealer "Honest Dave " detests poker cliches. I imagine this is because he has heard them so many times over the last 3 years, but clearly once you have identified something that winds someone up you must pursue it relentlessly. When playing with Dave, A9 v KJ becomes "almost a classic race". Any time the blinds go up when it's your big blind, you must say "Always on my blind", even if it's the first time is has happened in the tournament. In games involving Dave, players "drown in the river" and "turn boats". I also have a theory (as yet untested) that Dave will detest the use of Deuce for a "2", Trey for a "3" and "Knave" for a Jack. Tomorrow night I will attempt to incorporate these whenever he is in earshot and report results. With a bit of luck I will "turn a boat, treys full of deuces", or hit a "straight to the knave". :) :)Anyhow, updated yearly performance:PROFIT/(LOSS) USD 2008Live Holdem (Local) 34Live Holdem (Internataional) 0Live Omaha (Local) 0Live Omaha (...

Loose Cannon Sit and Go Night
2008-01-16 11:47:00
Only 8 runners for a couple of sit and gos at LC on Tuesday night. Regulars were myself, Shazbo, Rhys (the welsh rock), Professor Geoff and the two uber agressive players Viv and Tony. Added to this the dealer Honest Dave agreed to play. We also had a new player, Paul, complete with Bon Jovi haircut (think Keep The Faith album, as opposed to the unruly mop that was Slippery When Wet).I chopped with Dave for the first game, and placed second in the next to Tony, so was happy with £100 profit to claw me level for my live play this year.Not much to report but a couple of interesting hands from the games:Hand 1Bon Jovi raises UTG to 300 - all pass to me in the big blind and I call with J10 off. (I am playing 3k and BJ is sitting on a stack of 6k after Tony blew a gasket and called his all in with 6 8).Flop Q, 10, 2 rainbow.BJ bets 400 into it. I call (this is a loose call as BJ has been playing tight, but I feel if I hit a 10 or a J I can double up here if I play it right).Sure en...
More About: Night , Cannon

Online Weekend
2008-01-14 13:00:00
Had a very successful weekend online, to get the year off to a winning start. Decided to brave the Omaha cash tables for the first time and was pleasantly surprised at my standard compared to the rest of the table. Bare in mind I've only ever played a handful of times live and never online, so my only real knowledge came from holdem and the three Omaha books I have read so far. I sat down with 200 USD and turned this into 600 USD within an hour, just by playing the big starting hands, as well as take off hands such at 9-8-7-6. Hit some nice draws but mainly just called with big wraps or the nut flush draw, when given the price, and this seemed to work well. It was only a 1/2 table, so you only needed 200 USD to sit down, but some people didn't seem to understand the difference between a strong holdem hand and a strong Omaha hand. Numerous times I was paid off by people holding 2 pair to my straight/nut flush. One session of hands is clearly too small a sample to conclude anything,...
More About: Weekend , Online

NPL - Pictures and Commentary
2008-01-11 16:59:00
You can see pictures and commentary of the NPL event blogged below here:http://www.pokernews.com/live-report ing/2007-npl-uk-open/event-5-main-event/d ay1/ It features my hands with De Wolfe, Carter and Ho, as well as the blind betting fiasco on the final table. There's also some pictures of my good self, and even one of the dashing Roy Houghton :)
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Memories - 2007 NPL Open Main Event, London
2008-01-11 15:36:00
I'd won enough online over the previous 2 months to justify the hefty £3,400 buy in for this one. There were disappointingly ony about 35 runners, although it was crammed with pros (De Wolfe, Judah, Colclough, Tony G, Dan Carter, James Dempsey, Sonny Osman, Tilly, Helppi, Jedika, Demitriou) so it was to be a very difficult tournament to play in. The upside was it was played at my "home ground" the Loose Cannon poker club in London . My first table contains "El Blondie" Dave Colclough, Nicky Jedika, Dan Carter and James Dempsey. Not a promising placing, but given the strength of the field do be expected I think. I was card dead from the start - not even suited connectors. I was so inactive I was beginning to feel like the weakest link at the table. Colclough was continually raising into my blinds and I wasn't enjoying the tournament at all. After 2 blind levels, down to about 9000 chips I decided enough was enough so began to raise with trash. It worked as everyone had me pe...
More About: Event , Open , Main , Memories

Memories - 2007 WSOP Event 47 - $2000 NLHE
2008-01-11 12:22:00
I shut the blog down half way through last year, so I thought I'd blog 2 major events I played in the second half of the year not that I am restarting in 2008. I went into the WSOP event feeling good after several strong cashes in the casino tournaments. The field for my event was 2,800 from memory. Now the first thing to say is that the standard at the WSOP is abysmal. I don't have a problem with it, as I don't think there is any difference between somebody coming to Vegas to punt 2k on roulette and someone who wants to gamble it up at the WSOP and maybe hit lucky for the big pay day. As long as you are ready for this it is fine, but it does mean there are a lot of bombs to avoid as you pick your way through the field as you will see.........I was the first to take my seat, and the rest of the table fills up with young americans with caps and ipods, one Scandi and some older guys who I expect to play tight. I guy covered in tattoos sits 2 to my right (he is significant and...
More About: Event , Memories

Loose Cannon Poker League + Arnie
2008-01-11 10:19:00
Poker league finally off and running. I think if it hadn't started last night it would never have happened, but we got a field of 16 and most of those will return next week I think, plus a few others so it should build from there. The usual faces were in attendance - Carl, Alex, Sharon, Tom plus a couple of faces from the past Kay and Bo who played in the LC league the previous year. Both of these players are typical young agressive players, although too reckless at times.The league is a £75 buy in standard tournament. However, points are also allocated depending on where you finish and there will be a 36 man play off at the start of June to determine who wins a seat to the WSOP Main Event. The more points you accumulate, the more points you start the final with.I have never had a more boring tournament. I played for nearly 3 hours busting in 7th place (I think). My biggest pair was 77 and the only other hands I got were AQ once and A10 (if you can call that a hand) twic...
More About: Poker , League , Cannon

City 100, Loose Cannon
2008-01-10 16:21:00
Another City 100 tournament at the Loose Cannon . Both the tournaments prior to this one have been big successes with 60+ fields and a good solid structure. The field was down to about 45 for the latest installment, but that still offered a prize pot of 4.5k so worth playing for. My table was full of familiar faces - Beverly Pace, Carl "the volcano" Kibblewhite, Hugh Mullally, and Mark Skrypec. Luke Hallard was seemingly following the 1970's trade union mantra of "last in first out" as he arrived half way through the first blind level and was gone about 15 minutes later. I didn't really see many cards to begin with so limped with suited connectors and took down a few pots when nobody seemed to want to bet the board. I also tested the volcano's patience when holding on to AK longer than I should have and hitting on the river.I'd worked my way up to 6500 (from a 4500 start) when I look down in the big blind and find AQ. The big blind is 200, but the button makes the odd decis...

2008 off and running
2008-01-10 15:57:00
Blog is back folks. 2008 should be a promising year as a few of my non poker related issues should be resolved in the next month. My poker year will pretty much run from March 2008 to February 2009, as February is when I should get enough funds available to take on some pretty chunky tournaments. I'll start keeping a record of monetary gains or losses then, but in the meantime I'll blog away on any events played at Loose Cannon, Gutshot or home games.The 18 months to December 2007 can be regarded as a monetary success despite being tricky on a personal front. If I hadn't played the bigger tournaments I'd be 18,000 USD better off, but I think I've become a better player because of it and it has put me in good shape for the year ahead.The schedule for the year is as follows:March: Irish Open, DublinApril: UKPT, NewcastleJune: WSOP, Las VegasSept: Gutshot WSOP, LondonNov: UKPT, BlackpoolDec: UKPT Grand Final, LondonFeb: EPT Dortmond/Copenhagen (depending on the year's succe...
More About: Running

Irish Open Dublin - Main Event
2007-06-14 11:46:00
I arrived in Dublin on a hot streak, after having a lot of £300/£400 winning weeks on the bounce (almost enough to pay for the Warsaw event), so I was feeling pretty optimistic. In addition I was staying in the same hotel where the event was to be staged (The Burlington) so it was very convenient just to pop downstairs to play, and have all my stuff up in the room. Whereas Warsaw was a pretty low key event, Dublin was rammed with famous faces. Dan Harrington, Phil Laak, Jennifer Tilly, Antonio Esfandiari, Roland De Wolfe, Dave Colclough, Ram Vaswani, Andy Black to name but a few.I sat down on my table with my 10k in chips. The table looked reasonably easy - a few locals, a few internet qualifiers but an ominous empty seat next to me. Sure enough a few hands in, WSOP bracelet winner Max Prescatori arrive complete with Italian bandana and Azzuri football shirt. Most Italian players are a pretty poor standard but not this chap - as illustrated by his 2006 Vegas win. Max actuall...
More About: Event , Open , Main , Irish

EPT WARSAW - APOCALYPSE
2007-06-13 17:26:00
Then it all got out of hand. I hit the bar for more whisky before heading to the cash tables. My memory is a bit fuzzy after that, but I was told/pieced together the following sequence of events.I bought into the cash game for 1,000 zlotys. I drank a bit more whisky while playing. I then began drinking white russians with a new swedish buddy (he helping me reconstruct the rest of the evening the following evening). After several hours, I stood up and then fell over next to the table. I was helped up and stumbled to the toilets. I was then found unconcious on the toilet floors by my worried swedish chum. He brought me round and I went outside to get some fresh air. I came back and the bouncers wouldn't let me in. I thought my chips were still on the table so kicked up a huge fuss threatening to "tear the casino down by its foundations" (!?) Bouncer decided to appease me by going inside to find my chips. He said they weren't there so I accused him of theft and said "the ...
More About: Apocalypse

EPT WARSAW - REPORT (Part 2)
2007-06-13 17:05:00
Returned from a frankly disappointing dinner (some Polish cold meat affair) and hit the whiskies. Figured things weren't going well so I might as well reduce my chances further. I am under the gun and look down at the magical American Airlines (AA). I limp. Disaster! 5 callers and the big blind checks. I've arsed this hand up royally. Flop K hearts, Q hearts 9 Diamonds. (I have black Aces). I bet the pot, leaving about 4,000 behind. Tony Chesa pushes all in. I call - I am ahead but he has many outs - straight and flush possibilities. It holds though and I double through to about 14k. Relief and some playing time.The blinds are now 200-400 with a 100 running ante so I am still not out of the woods by a long stretch. I promptly go card dead. I drink some more whisky. I fold AQ to a raiser. I drink more whisky. A straight laced German asks why I am not taking it seriously. "Zees is my career and you are playing vile drinking". He is worried I'll bad beat him when...
More About: Report , Part

EPT WARSAW - REPORT (Part 1)
2007-06-13 15:09:00
Arrived in Warsaw on the Wednesday night before day 1 of the main event a little nervous ahead of my first big tournament. Was determined to put in a good show, but didn't really know what standard to expect. Would it be out of my league? Hard to tell, but I'd played with Ben Roberts before and held my own so this gave me a certain amount of confidence. Anyhow drew a seat at table 3 out at the back of the Hyatt casino so I went to take my seat. I was first to my table so waited patiently for the other players to arrive. By the time my table had filled, I had Dave "El Blondie" Colclough opposite me, a french cash player to my right who seemed to be known to Colclough and Tony Chessa a couple of seats further along. These 3 shared banter throughout the tournament, but overall it was a very serious atmosphere.The table was very tight for long periods, so I didn't get involved too much before dinner (1st 4 hours) as I received few hands and when anyone raised they had an absol...
More About: Report , Part

Back after a Break Away
2007-05-10 13:43:00
Apologies for the lack of recent posts. Was unsure if anyone would read, but it seems there have been some visitors. I am planning on writing up the Warsaw and Dublin reports soon (there are a couple of interesting stories) if there is any interest, and will keep the blog updated a couple of times a week. If anyone wants the reports leave a comment and I'll write them up.Till later, perhaps.
More About: Break , Back , Brea

Quiet Night
2007-03-01 14:16:00
Ventured to Loose Cannon after a nightmare day at work, to catch the 9pm tournament. A £20 buy in and only 10 players, so pretty much a fun game. Finished up 2nd for a £40 profit and had a good heads up battle with an internet player who I see occasionally on the live scene. Went from being completely dominated at the start of heads up to nearly level, but went all in on a nut flush draw on an innocuous board, got called with a pair and didn't hit. Game over, but enjoyable all the same. One side note I got some cracking hole cards last night - AA twice, KK, QQ and AK which is unusual for me as I'm normally card dead all the time ;)Tonight is the resumption of the Loose Cannon poker league. I currently sit in 4th place with a month to play (although I'll be missing one week in March for EPT Warsaw). I comfortably have enough now though to make the top 36 for the final, and a chance to win a seat at a $1,500 buy in WSOP event. Would be nice to get my eye in before the big...
More About: Night , Quiet

Record To Date + Targets
2007-02-28 14:11:00
The record so far from playing amateur tournaments (up to £50 buy in) and one more advanced one with £100 buy in is as follows:2006 (October onwards) £3,750 profit, £4,400 winnings, 7 multi table victories2007 (To 28 Feb) £1,651 profit, £2,316 winnings, 3 multi table victoriesSo far so good. Dublin and Warsaw are costing me a combined £5700ish, so if I fail to cash in those I will be down for my career, but I would hope that even if this is the case, the experience will enable me to win even more regularly on the amateur circuit. Plus there is the bonus of the World Series for which I don't have to pay for but get 30% of any cash earned.I play mostly at 2 venues - the Western in Hanger Lane (Sunday nights, occasional Tuesday) and the Loose Cannon in central london, which is a fantastic club, if a little lacking in player traffic on certain nights.As mentioned in earlier posts, I have budgeted to play a number of glamour events over...
More About: Record , Cord

Set Your Sights High
2007-02-28 12:43:00
So............Poker World Champion 2012? That's the aim. A lofty goal admittedly, but the aim of this blog is to document my journey during this endeavour. It will hopefully provide me with the necessary discipline to achieve my goal by making any potential failures along the way public, as well as providing a little entertainment to whichever bored souls decide to have a read.First thing about me - I DON'T play poker online, so you won't find an endless stream of hand histories where "Powerblade" beat "Acesup" for a $35 pot by hitting a Jack on the river. I started playing seriously about 6 months ago. My strength is tournament play although I play live cash games from time to time. I aim to play a minimum of 22 "glamour" events over the next 6 years (i.e. buy ins of $5,000 plus). I aim for the venture to be self financing, but there is enough money in place to cover these buy ins if a nightmare run ensues, but if I manage to cash a few times the number of tournaments entered wi...
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