Junior Talks Poker.. Blog Style!

Well......, why not?!

2007-10-06T14:18:00.000+01:00

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!

This Online Poker Tournament is a No Limit Texas Holdem event exclusive to Bloggers.

Registration code: 3070723

If ever proof were needed!

2006-12-16T22:05:00.000Z

Haven't played on-line for nearly three months as proper work has taken over of late. I was a bit bored this evening so played the $100 freezout on stars and managed 3rd from 309 runners! - $3100 in my account that they hope i'll blow on the cash tables :-)

Its a fix i tell ya, you come back to a site and they give you a result :-)

Hope your all well, if anybody has bothered to blow the dust off this blog in the past three months.

Merry Christmas the lot of yer!

Media Whore

2006-09-07T15:04:00.000+01:00

Well, not quite! I am hardly the Ben Shephard (chumpy-faced smug-grinned git) of the poker world, but BBC Radio Nottingham did ask me to come on their Breakfast Show again this week and talk about on-line gambling's attractions and pitfalls etc. This is the second time I have been on their show, I posted about the first time here.

Basically, some professor in Nottingham is doing a study on on-line gambling and what makes people want to play - its a look into their motivations and reasons for doing it and they just wanted someone with a bit of background in on-line gambling on there to talk about it and to give their opinion - so i said yes. - obviously. I wasn't on for very long and I've not listened to it but I think it came out ok, if you really have absolutely nothing else to do, you can listen to it here on their 'listen again' feature. (It was on about 8:45am).

I'm still writing articles for UK Pokernews and Sports Betting News which i am thoroughly enjoying - seems like a few of my tips haven't been far off either :-)

I've hardly played on-line poker at all in the last few weeks and I suppose I have missed it a little bit, but I think a break from the e-felt for a while can only be a good thing. You don't realise how much of a grind it can be day to day until you take a step back and start doing other things away from the laptop and away from the tables. I'll be back! - but for now I am enjoying a little time off from it, at least I can't get bad beated, tilted or suffer stupid swings if I don't play :-).

Talking of swings, I was blog surfing the other day and came accros this little treasue (which I have now bookmarked). I thought it was a wind up at first but apparently it is real! - How on earth can these sort of swings and yoyos allow you to sleep at night, especially when he goes on about needing money for 'rent' - it seems like he needs his money for other things and really should be grinding the lower limits but who am I to judge? - maybe i'm getting old! - i'm just glad its someone else and not me - it's a cracking read though, and he deserves an award for his services to blogging and impatience!

Good luck at the tables!

I'm due a huge slice soon

2006-09-01T16:47:00.000+01:00

My luck in the MTT's is just bang out at the moment, I'm not going to bore you or dwell on it but honestly i seem to be losing just about every big key pot i play, whether it be on-line or live. I am the first to admit when I think I am playing badly and I am not affraid of taking stock every now and then and analyising my game but at the moment I honestly think I am playing just about as well as I can but I am not getting the frequency of results that i use to. I am accumulating chips steadily, I am making the correct lay downs in the correct situations and I am 9 times out of 10 getting it in with the best of it and if i don't get it in with the best of it then I usually have a huge draw! - But i just can't get a decent result! - wtf is going on?!. If by miracle of miracles someone doesn't suck a 2-outer on me and I make a final then I just can't get my bad-beated ass past 7th! - it's frustrating the hell out of me! There has GOT to be some string of luck lurking round the corner somewhere... surely!

Anyway, that's the Hellmuth bit out of the way, aside from playing poker I have been doing some more writing for UK Pokernews and they have asked me to do some writing for their sports betting site called... Sports Betting News. I am thoroughly enjoying this, its almost like a dream job, i get to read about sport and poker all day, scour the betting, poker and sports sites and then write about it. - pretty good huh? I'll be doing something most days on the sports betting side so keep checking it out and maybe have a punt.... I cannot be held responsible for any tips that may spew there way on to the page though :-)

good luck!

The Nemesis & Journo

2006-08-28T17:08:00.000+01:00

Sounds quite a good name for a local pub yes... err, well maybe not!

Anyway, the reason for the title is I have decided that in the poker world I have a nemesis. I am not a naturally superstitious person and I believe that there should be no reason why one person should hold some sort of curse over another. I often hear the words, “oh, he’s my nemesis” and just think to myself… shut up you fish! What you mean is that he’s better than you at poker and he beats you out of your pension every week because your fundamentally crap at the game, but for the first time in my life I am with these fish and am starting to believe that maybe there could be such a thing as a nemesis. Here are some dictionary definitions that just about sum it up perfectly;

1. Something that a person cannot conquer.
2. An opponent or rival whom a person cannot best or overcome.

Now, I am not saying I am being outplayed here, what I am saying is that there is one guy I play quite regularly with that I just can’t beat and it is purely down to bad luck on every occasion.

I played the £500 freeze out last night at Gala Notts and yet again, I was knocked out by this same foe. I have a good poker memory and as like most people it remembers the bad and unjust better than the good and legitimate. However, that aside, no matter how hard I strain my brain and summon the dark grey matter to provide an example, I cannot think of an instance where I have conquered this nemesis. I can count 6 examples of where I have been dispatched by this same enemy, five of which involve woeful bad play on their part (not mine) coupled with sickening outdraws administered by the poker gods, who are clearly acting some retribution on my ass for something I did once! The other involves me running a perfectly good AK push into a fortunately found AA in the BB. There is quite simply nothing I can do. Here's where I turn into Hellmuth momentarily... I played near perfect poker last night for 3 hours in the £500 freeze out at Notts and built my 15,000 starting stack up to 26,500 without really breaking a sweat. Average chips was around 20,000 and the blinds were 400-800 on a 45 minute clock, so I was looking for a metaphoric pitch for the night and was thinking about bedding down for a couple of hours unless I found a monster. Then the following hand occurs, which whipped the proverbial rug from under my feet;

The action folds around to the villain (a very loose, clueless player who couldn't fold a paper napkin) who raises to 3,700 one from the cut-off. He has about 40,000 and by some divine intervention is the table chip leader. I am on the button with AA. I give it a dwell, ask for a re-cap on the amount of the raise and I make it another 10,000 to play leaving me with 12,000 behind. I didn't want to give him a cheap option of calling and hitting something on the flop and I wanted to make it look like I had enough chips behind to fold to an all-in (he loves to re-raise me and anyone he thinks may be an 80/1 shot or better to fold). I also thought that even though he is simply not capable of a fold himself, he may actually get out if I move right in here, and I didn’t want to give him an excuse to pass. The villain thinks for a good couple of minutes and tells me he would like to put me all-in. - Much obliged tyvm sir and all that, "I call". Due to my tight image and the fact this is a slowish paced, well structured event, I would fully expect any other player here to have KK but he (not to my surprise really) turns over JJ, the rest is history and the Nemesis strikes again. I was pleased to see he showed some class though by smiling to his next door neighbour and later telling everyone who would listen how he bust me and how he takes me out of every comp etc etc.

Anyway, it’s a bad beat, they happen, that’s poker but I am starting to think I need to fight the curse, shoot down the nemesis and that whenever I play against this guy from now on I am going to take some ridiculous gambles, push my luck and generally look to act some revenge, surely I am owed some fortune – it all evens out in the end I’m told!

Oh, and the journo bit….?

I’ve started doing some writing for UK Poker News, so thought I would put a link to their site on the right hand side and a couple of links to my articles on here from time to time.

Good luck at the tables and try to avoid those losers that tell a story and it just ends up being a disguised bad beat! – Tossers!

Shef-failed :-(

2006-08-22T11:29:00.000+01:00

After my last chirpy post about the overnight situation at Sheffield's Summer Festival, this one will be a little more somber.

I returned to day 2 with the chip lead (all be it a marginal one) and left about 2 hours later with nothing more than an all-over numb feeling and double my buy-in scruffily shoved into the back pocket of my jeans. Its not like i murdered my stack, its more a case of i never got going and nothing really happened for me. Perhaps i tried to force it a little and press home my chip advantage on the table (although on reflection, it wasn't that much of an advantage as nothing more than 5 BB's seperated the top 4 players and no-one was too far behind to cause a problem). Playing on tables of 7, you're never really that far from the button when not in the blinds, which encouraged me to get busy early, which also on reflection was perhaps a little reckless and i had to lay down AJ and 44 to all-in re-raises within the first half hour. This put me on the back foot and i slipped down right into the pack again. I managed to re-raise my neighbour all-in just prior to the final in a battle of the blinds, which got me up to 40k(ish) (he showed AQ and folded, I mucked J4 and smiled) and i soon after stumbled into the final with 38k with the blinds at 2k-4k and an average stack of 50k. I was 7th out of 10 starting the final and the chip leader probably had around 100k, so i had room to play but wasn't in great shape really.

I lasted all of 1 hand in the final when i was dealt AK UTG+1 and raised to 12k. Everyone folded apart from the BB who was 2nd in chips. He pushed all-in and i wasn't folding for my last 36k with blinds at 2k-4k and me having to pay them next hand. I put him on 10-10, JJ or QQ and couldn't refuse a race for what the pot was offering and the pot woul have made me chip leader once more, so i called. He turned over J-J and i missed. - OUT!

It felt like such a failure. All i could think about coming back for day 2 was how useful £10k would be to me at the moment and how even a three or four way chop would do nicely. I didn't anticipate failure and a few scraps to take home but i suppose that's tournament poker - you can die at any moment! I analysed it all the way home but i don't think i can play it any differently. I am not cold folding AK, although i suppose i could have limped with it UTG+1 and checked out the action - its marginal. Any thoughts anyone?

Notts Gala have a £500 NLHE over the BH weekend that i am toying with the idea of playing. £500 is at the top end of what i would willingly ante up for a tourney so i guess i'll just see how i feel about it later in the week. Maybe i'll just buy a lottery ticket on wednesday and see how i'm running. :-)

Sheffield Summer Festival £300 NLH - Overnight Situation

2006-08-18T10:53:00.000+01:00

F***ing rain woke me up after about 3 hours sleep and there's no chance of getting your head back down when your bedroom is on the top floor in the roof! grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.....

96 runners, great structure, plenty of atrocious pokering by some and after a proper struggle early on and hours of infuriating grinding i am now in good shape. There's 14 left on 2 tables of 7 (10 get paid). First prize is just a smidgen over 10k, so there's plenty to play for. We played until 4am and surprisingly some of the shortstacks decided to hang on and didn't do their finest kamikaze lemming impressions as is what normally happens in these 2-day jobbies, - perhaps they were watching Tikay at Luton!?

I have 56k in chips (average is about 35k), which is either the chip lead or very close to it. I had 77k at my peak (2.5 times the average) about 70 minutes before the end but had a mis-read with 10-J when i thought I had pocket jacks (obviously) and a minor accident with 9-9, where i raised in late position only to be heftily and quickly re-raised by my next door neighbour, who was one of the only two players at my table who could seriously damage me, so i folded and he showed J-J, so i guess i dodged a bullet there!

I've got some ironing to do and have to take up the wooden flooring in my hallway so the concrete floor underneath can be leveled and the wood floor re-laid tomorrow. - Rock n' roll!!

Nice Call Sir!

2006-08-15T14:12:00.000+01:00

I have been playing a bit more live poker recently as I was getting fed up with the on-line game and i didn't want to turn up cold to the £300 F/O at Sheffield on Thursday having not touched a playing card for the best part of 2 months. Although playing in a few smaller live games just prior to a decent sized tournament is reasonable preparation for getting the routine and feel back, it can also be counter-productive, especially given the huge gulf in the types of game played, their respective structures and the standard of player you are likely to encounter. I am expecting the Sheffield freezeout competition to be fairly tight (by South Yorkshire standards), you get 5000 chips and 45 minute levels (blinds start at 25-50) and the players will vary from 'reasonable' to 'pretty decent', with the odd good player sprinkled into the mix. However, the Notts £30 No-foldem holdem re-buy bingo chip chucking contest is somewhat different; 2000 chips, (blinds starting at 50-100) 25 minute levels and players that range from 'newbie' to 'useless' with a few notable exceptions that can play a little bit. Here's an example hand to give you the flavour:

About 1/2 an hour after the re-buys finish, so you're out if you make a mistake!:

Blinds 200-400, average chips is 9500. A pot develops in typical Notts style with 8 limpers (yes EIGHT). I am UTG+1 and the only player not wanting to see the flop with my 8-4o (an immediate insta-call for most of the table) but hey, i'm way too tight for these fellas!

Flop is Qh-9c-9h

Its checked round to the cut off who has around 18k and announces "Raise" and puts in 2500. Before anyone else can act one of the other players (not the dealer) declares in a not too friendly manner that it should be "3200"as this is the "pot". There's a few murmours of agreement from some and there is no thought from anyone that the player hasn't made a mistake worthy of the death penalty after all and may actually only want to bet 2500 into a 3200 pot. But as this is a Notts pot limit game it seems that betting exactly the amount of the pot is the only accptable bet in this casino - something of a local practice or custom). A player is seen to be something of a weirdo or a maverick if he starts betitng anything other than whats in the pot! FFS! Anyway....He gets 3 callers! (how many 9's in this deck!) I am starting to think there must be some big hands out here (who's trapping who?)

Turn is 8s

Its checked back round the the aggressor who again announces "Raise" and puts in 4000 (more arguments ensue about the size of the pot but they all call anyway except the guy in the SB who reraises all in for another 4500. They all call the reraise and as everyone except the aggressor is now all-in they turn their cards over.

Player 1 (the aggressor) KhJh
Player 2 (calling station 1) 10h-8c
Player 3 (calling station 2) 3-3
Player 4 (reraiser) 8h-10s

The river is the Qd and the K high aggressor takes down a monster!

Analyse that f***er if you will!

Not a 9 in site and no-one even has a Queen. The guy with 3-3, really can't be serious but he did get rivered i suppose (it's unlikely he's made a good read here though, he probably just couldn't find the fold button!) I particularly like the guy's back raise with 8h-10s (is he colourblind?) once he catches the 8 on the turn. I wondered for a minute whether he thought the guy betting out would fold for the 4500 extra into a 30k pot but i don't think anything like that would cross his mind - perhaps it was a value bet with his 9's and 8's?! - who knows, after all 2 pairs is a monster hand right?!.

Anyway, despite struggling to conceal my mirth at the above hand, I finally busted out when i pushed my 8BB's all-in with AQs from mid position only to be called by K4o on the button by a guy who only had 10BB's himself. Is this the worst call ever?! Anyway... he spiked a King and all i could say was "nice call"................................................................................ You fucking MUG!

I am still at a loss as to how he makes this call, my only idea is that he either;

1. is incredibly stupid and mistook his 4 for an A and didn't want to admit it
2. is incredibly stupid (i guess this is a given) and thought he was ahead after i had pushed all-in with Q3 15 minutes earlier to double up when i only had 5BB's and was on the button in an unraised pot. Its amazing how bad players really can't see past the cards in poker. They don't see the difference in the scenarios or situations or how stack size and position affects nearly every decision in tournaments. He probably just thought "oh this guy raises with Q3 so my K4 has him nailed - right?" -.... Wrong dickhead!

Oh well, there's always another day.

Good luck all, here's hoping you don't run into K4!

For The Good Of The Game

2006-08-10T12:29:00.000+01:00

It's the final of the 2006 WSOP pokerthon later today. It’s taken 8 days to get from over 8500 hopefuls and a scattering of absolutely no-hopefuls to the final 9 poker gladiators who are going to battle it out for $12m in dirty US greenbacks. - Nice!

Chip leader is former Hollywood agent / promotions dude Jamie Gold who has over $27m in chips (about 1/3 of the chips in play). Obviously a clear favorite but wait, what’s this?! - He says he doesn't want to be famous so he may just dump his chips when heads up and deliberately come 2nd! - wtf?! - Apparently he doesn't need the money and $6m would be just fine thank you very much! - What a twat!! - If he didn't want to win the fucking thing then why enter? - So I say for the good of the game lets hope he gets cold decked and bad beated early doors and goes out on tilt in 7th or something.

I'm not there to watch and won't be following it at all but I’ll be sort of secretly funking for Allen Cunningham (2nd in chips with $17m) - again for the good of the game. - He seems a decent chap, obviously an outstanding poker player (you only have to look at his record and results to see that) and he plays the game the way it should be played – quietly going about his business, accumulating chips, reading the game and doesn’t brag, boast, shoot his mouth, talk trash or disrespect his fellow players; he’s one of the good guys of the game (like Greg Raymer) and it would be nice to see him take it down. Although if he does it would be interesting to see whether PokerStars will be able to wrestle him from the Full Tilt stable to become one of their World Champ Ambassadors – I very much doubt it this time!

Full chip counts for the final are below – robbed from somewhere, I can’t remember where!

1. Jamie Gold - $25.7m
2. Allen Cunningham - $17.7m
3. Richard Lee – $11.8
4. Erik Friberg - $9.6m
5. Paul Wasicka - $7.9m
6. Doug Kim - $6.7m
7. Rhett Butler - $4.8m
8. Michael Binger - $3.1m
9. Dan Nassif – $2.6m

Good luck all!

Pokerbility Odds Calculator

2006-08-09T09:59:00.000+01:00

I've been messing about recently with a new odds calculator called 'Pokerbility'. It instantly works out the odds of your hand and the odds of it improving to a better hand by the river and it also tells you the probability of your opponent having a certain hand - its quite scary how fast it works! Oh, and for those really lazy folk and those that are learning the game it also suggests what your next move should be (check/fold/raise/check-raise/check-fold/limp-call/re-raise etc.) You do need to configure it though to whether you want to play tight/loose/aggressive pre-flop, post flop etc but it does adapt to your style of play over time. It also works on most internet card rooms and they are adding more every week.

I have never really used one of these poker odds calculator thingies before but thought i would give it a try and to be honest it was real eye opener and its excellent for cash games in particular for checking whether you are getting the right price to draw and what your odds of hitting are. Anyway, enough of this shameless plug!... Its free to anyone who signs up through one of their affilated poker rooms - thats how they make their money but when you sign up there are varying deposit bonus options (as long as you use their bonus code) so as far as i can see everyone's a winner! if you fancy giving it a go just click on the link on the right hand side of this blog in the 'links' section.

good luck!

Live and Kicking

2006-08-07T10:06:00.000+01:00

I made a return to the live scene last week. I played the Notts Gala £50 NLHE (with 2 optional re-buys) last Thursday. 67 runners, I managed 5th for £500. Not bad I suppose considering my lack of live action recently but I suppose it's like riding a bike really - you just never forget. I really enjoyed it and it made me realise what I miss about the live game - the banter, the atmosphere, the ability to get a feel for a player or make a read based on anything other than previous actions and betting patterns - I like to be able to watch a person's behaviour at the table and get a read that way. Its amazing what you can pick up if you're attentive.

The structure of the competition is actually one of their best on offer for the week. Its still comparatively dire but they have time constraints and they have to get it finished so there is no point in moaning about it. 75 minutes of rebuys (3 levels of 25 mins) starting with 5000 chips and blinds at 50/100 so by the time the chip throwing is done at the end of level 3 we are at 200-400 and an average stack of about 12k when your allowed to in effect pay for 15k's worth of chips - still OK i suppose. However from here on in it gets spicy and it becomes important to manage a short stack (short compared to the blinds) well, pick your spots well and duck and dive - refusing a gamble or turning down a potential 50:50 is just not an option. I managed to accumulate well and stayed above average all the way down to the last 3 tables. I started to get low and was moved tables as lowest chips*. I had been card dead for about 3 levels now and with the blinds doubling every 25 minutes you can imaging that this is like running backwards. Anyway, long story short and I triple up with J-4 in the blinds when the board comes 4-4-8 and I am seemingly invisible to the rest of the table who have started a raising war all around me with 9-9 in the cut off and fuck knows what UTG and UTG+1. I then get a short stack push from early position with A-10 and I have AA on the button, i give it the chin scratch, puppy dog eyes and make a seemingly reluctant call for half my stack but can't persuade either of the deep stacked blinds to triple me up again and i just win a good pot (although i would have been out had the BB called with his Q6s!! - he's a pure gambler and thought for a good minute before mucking).

I then manage to cruise to the final table of 10 in 7th place. I am below average, have less than 10BB's (so has everyone except the 2 chip leaders) and have drawn seat 3 which means i am straight into the BB for 8k of my 67k stack. I need to move but so does everyone else - this has fast become a Turbo SNG and it was my plan to play the final exactly as that. I duck and dive, grind and push my way up the ladder as players fall to the chip leader who seems like he is a one-man wrecking crew who actually knows it is his night. Meanwhile the short stack at the start of the final who started with just 10k in chips with blinds at 4k-8k and in the UTG seat now has over 130k!! and is in 2nd place. I make my one mistake of the entire competition with 7 left by having to fold to a reraise preflop when I shouldn't have even been trying to win the pot in the first place. - In what was all-in or fold poker, this was a bad play and i was pretty disgusted with myself. I was left shortish again and in need of a double through. A couple more players had been gobbled by the blinds and with 5 left i found an unraised ready to be nicked pot staring me in the face from the SB, unfortunately i had Q3 staring back at me from the hole! I quickly considered my options I had 60k, the pot was 24k and the blinds were 2 minutes away from going up to 10k-20k. The BB had the same chips as me and easily enough to fold so i just stuffed in and he called after a dwell with Q-Ks and i was gone.

All-in all a good return to playing live. - I'll be going again this Thursday and then playing at Sheffield next week. I was going to try Luton's fessie this week but to be honest i just can't be arsed with the drive down the M1 and the fact that i would have to make arrangements to stay over should i get through to any day 2's. - lazy i know but so what!

WSOP
I think we are into day 5 or 6 now of the main event and to be honest I'm bored of it. There are about 40 left and i have heard of 3 of them. I don't know any of them and i don't care or give a shit who wins the fecking thing. - maybe its about time everyone stopped giving a toss about this event - the prestige has gone from it. 8500 runners is just too many. I can't see it happening though - apparently you can already win seats for WSOP 2007 on some sites! - WTF?!

Anyway - be lucky!

*Gala still insist on moving the lowest chips when balancing tables. - yes its totally unfair, yes it creates a seat of death situation and yes they refuse to listen when you offer them a fair alternative of moving the BB to the next available BB on the short handed table. I have told them that moving the short stack makes no more sense or is no more fair than moving 'biggest feet' or 'longest hair' but still they are tied by corporate rules or something like that....... sigh!

You Little Whore!

2006-08-02T11:10:00.000+01:00

I discovered the world of bonus whoring this week. I was getting a bit fed up of playing on one site and the beats were becoming infectious and many so I thought a change of scenery might do the trick (its nothing to do with my play you understand :-)) I took a look around to see what i could find. I was quite pleased, it seems like every site under the sun wants a piece of me and i suppose providing you have the time and the initial investment it can be quite worthwhile setting up new accounts with a variety of different sites that offer sign up bonuses. It can also be a good thing playing against new players with different styles. I registered with Neteller and cashed out 1/2 of my stars balance into there and have spread the love around my new poker homes. I've set up 4 new accounts and am occupying my time playing on them for long enough to earn my bonus (most sites have a stipulation for how many hands or how much rake you have to generate before you get the bonus, which i suppose is fair enough - no-one likes to be hit and runned, not even multi-million dollar corporations. Wish me luck!

WSOP....

Congrats to Foxy on his 3rd place finish in the $5000 PLH event - a nice chunk of change for a top bloke :-)

Could and Should Do Better!

2006-07-26T15:52:00.000+01:00

Well, it’s coming up to the end of July now and to be honest I really could do with seeing the back of it from a poker perspective. I’ve performed pretty badly online (yes, what’s new I suppose?) I have made a profit so far but that’s not the point. The point is my hourly rate probably equals that of someone in the third world who picks peanuts out of shit for a living – and that’s just not good enough!

I have been looking at my stats and figures for the past few months and I have just realised I haven’t played live for 6 weeks. That’s probably the longest I have gone since I discovered the game in back 2002. There are many reasons for this including principally a lack of form, the quality of the games on offer at my local casino, increased recent expenditure off the poker table, which is draining the bank roll and one main reason…. I just can’t be arsed to drive the 22 miles there and 22 miles back. I haven’t really missed it to be honest but I should make the effort to go more often, so I’ll probably make a visit next week sometime. Poker just isn’t the same on-line and I really should be keeping my eye in as I may play a few events at the upcoming Luton and Sheffield festivals and I don’t want to go into those looking like a frail internet newbie.

The WSOP goes on (without me) :-( but I was pleased to see John Gale win a bangle this time around especially after his agonising second place last year. It seems there is some British form emerging just prior to the main event – let’s hope we can get a British World Champion – good luck fellas!

WSOP No Go

2006-07-21T15:01:00.000+01:00

Well I didn’t manage to snag a late seat to the WSOP as I finished about midway in the Stars 150 seats guaranteed when my short(ish) stack lost a late position coin flip with QQ against AK. I did beat over 4000 people but finishing 2617th isn’t really something to blog about is it?!. I am disappointed but it’s not a huge disappointment. Especially in light of a lot of the blog reports I have read recently about the various problems players are having out there with the Harrah’s organisation and attitude towards the players. I have heard tales of them refusing to change marked decks, altering structures and formats of events only minutes prior to kick off and issuing bans and ejections for anyone with an opinion they don’t like. If you add to this the huge crowds and the long waits for available STT’s then I would probably rather not be there and even if I was there I would probably be over at the Bellagio or Orleans, playing the competitions they have to offer, which last year were very good value, well run and were not a complete circus.

I guess I’ll just carry on grinding at the e-felt for now and leave the bling-bling hunt until next year.

Congratulations to fellow Midlander Peter Costa for his two cashes and his final table in the Omaha Hi-Lo and congratulations to all the Brits who have managed a cash so far also such as Carlo Citrone, Julian Gardner, Nick Gibson, El-Blondie, Ian Woodley, Joe Beavers and a few others I can’t remember. I just hope one of them can emulate Sir Lawrence Gosney of Leeds’ effort from last year and win a pretty bangle. Good Luck fellas.

PokerStars 150 Seats Guarenteed

2006-07-13T20:43:00.000+01:00

The Vegas jealousy is getting too much. I keep reading reports of the action and its bringing back memories, therefore I am having one last ditch late effort to get a seat. I am playing in the PokerStars $370 satellite with 150 seats guarenteed on Sunday. I managed to get in for $9 in a $3 rebuy earlier today :-) Who says this poker lark is expensive?!!

Aside from the odd microstakes-supersat I've been griniding away at the PLO tables with some success, turning enough profit each week to keep me and Pokergirle in bread and water. We've spent shed loads on the house recently getting it furnished and looking like we actually live there. We've been in over 9 months now and have only just taken delivery of a table and chairs, so no more TV meals on laps from now on.

I've read quite a few blogs recently - alot of those bloggers that i keep tabs on are in Vegas at the moment. You can check their blogs by clicking on the links on the right hand side of this page. Check out Milkybarkid, Rob Sherwood, Shane Schleger.

good luck

Vegas Jelousy

2006-07-03T14:36:00.000+01:00

I can't believe its been 12 months since i was flying to Vegas for last years WSOP. Sadly, I won't be going this year. Although i say 'sadly' as i thoroughly enjoyed my time out there last year, there are many things i won't miss about Las Vegas....

I won't miss the busyness of the Rio and the crap customer service and attitude from the staff, there immoral practices regarding the with-holding of taxes from UK players.

I won't miss the tip culture! - everytime someone says 'hi' they want a fucking dollar from you! - piss off! and do i look like i can't open my own taxi door?! - so why should i pay someone else to do that for me?!

I won't miss the taxi driver's going the long way round and eeeking out every cent from you in fares and practically begging for tips. - here's a tip..... Take me the shortst route and i'll thank you, appreciate it and tip you, take me the long way round and i'll hate you, want to kill you and will not tip you. You lose in the long run Mr Cabbie.

I won't miss the heat. - Unreal!

There are lots i will miss about Vegas though and I really wish i was going. Good luck to all those that are there or are on their way.

PokerStars Banner

2006-06-26T12:37:00.000+01:00

I had an email from Pokerstars earlier this week asking me if i would like to have a banner on my site that linked to their site and become an affiliate. I believe this was probably offered to all bloggers who entered their second annual blogger championship earlier this month. As it was incredibly easy to do and the instructions were idiot proof I decided to take them up on the offer - I can't really see what harm it can do and who knows it might even generate a few quid! - Once you have managed to generate 100 frequent player points i get $75 in my account, which i will split 50:50 with you.

They (Pokerstars) are offering a new player only 100% deposit bonus at the moment so i guess now would be as good a time as any to get signed up on what is probably the best on-line poker site - IMO of course :-)

I am still plugging away on the PLO tables and even managed a modest cash out last week. - things are looking up! I am not sure how many hours i will get in this week as i have some golf arranged and the World Cup is hotting up now but i am sure i'll manage enough time on the e-felt to pay the bills and keep the roll topped up. - Come on England!

Blog Surfer

2006-06-14T10:03:00.000+01:00

Nothing much to report really. Although i do seem to be hitting some form on-line now i am back playing PLO cash (4 tables of $1-$2). I have really cut down my sessions now and as soon as i hit 100 minutes i stop for at least half an hour. If i was playing well i get back on there if i was playing bad i take a longer break go for a walk, do something else and take my mind off it and it seems to be working. I feel fresh everytime i log on to the tables this way and my concentration doesn't slip like it always does when i start putting in 2-3 hour sessions.

I've been totally wrapped up in the World Cup and have probably only missed 2 live games so far. I'm really looking forward to England's 2nd game tomorrow, i expect a better performance and a few more goals this time round.

Anyway, i've come across this new site with hundreds of poker blogs on it. Its amazing how many poker players have blogs!! - Some are dull, some are crap and some are very good in deed. Check it out! You can literally spend hours reading about other people's bad beats!! :-)

http://www.troutblogs.com/directory/10.html?sr=80&pp=20&cp=5

2006-06-09T13:43:00.000+01:00

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker!

This Online Poker Tournament is a No Limit Texas Holdem event exclusive to Bloggers.

Registration code: 1500252

Rising Stars Interview - Part 2

2006-05-25T14:19:00.000+01:00

UK Pokernews have the 2nd part of my 'Rising Stars' interview on their site now if you fancy a gander. (Link Below)

http://uk.pokernews.com/news/2006/5/greg-hill-interview-part2.htm

I played the Â£100 re-buy at Sheffield last night but finished about mid-field. I suppose it was a bit disappointing really after a good start in the rebuy period but I went totally card dead for the next hour, and an hour is a long time in these comps as they are played with 20 minute levels. By the time I departed the average chip stack was 8000 and the blinds were 400-800!! - A tournament really not suited to me I'm afraid. No play, no edge, no fun!

I've decided I am not going to play any more tournaments now unless the structure is favourable for me and I feel I am getting value for my outlay. Although these fast paced chip chuckers build the pot up nicely I just don't find it fun when you still have half the field remaining and average chips has only 10 BB's.

They have a Â£300 F/O tonight and tomorrow is the Â£750 F/O. They should be better comps but unfortunately i am unable to play - at least my lungs and eyes will get a rest from the unbelievable smoke levels tonight!

Rising Stars Interview.

2006-05-21T12:59:00.000+01:00

UK PokerNews recently contacted me to do an interview as part of their 'Rising Stars' series. I, of course duly obliged and here it is (link below) for those that are interested. Talk about dragging up the ghost of tourneys past - they just won't let me forget that bloody call against Ram in the WHGP will they!! :-)

http://uk.pokernews.com/news/2006/5/greg-juinor-hill-interview.htm

Was hoping to play a few nights of live poker this week as the real pokergirlie is away with work but have a stinging sore throat and feel like dog shit so may just stick to the on-line grind. If only they wold ban smoking down at the Gala then i'd probably still go but can't risk the throat getting worse!

later

The Fun Is Almost Over

2006-05-18T10:50:00.000+01:00

I've not updated the blog for a while and wouldn’t be surprised if people have stopped checking whether it’s been updated or not – but hey ho, what do you expect from a lazy shit like me?!

Not really played in anything of note recently, just the odd trip to Gala Nottingham without much success in the comps. I’ve been putting a fair few hours in on-line and actually thought I had it cracked for a while – building up a nice wedge on Pokerstars playing sit n’ go comps, multi’s and heads up NLH only to fall foul (again!) of my horrible indiscipline on the cash tables. For some reason I always do this – I build up a nice roll slowly, pat myself on the back and think I am starting to get there then all of a sudden I manage to do a whole load of my dough playing too many tables and way above myself on the cash tables, get a few beats and all of a sudden I am fed up with it again and cash out what profit I have left. I mosey around for a few days, do a few bits around the house, get down the golf course and eventually get fed up of not playing poker. I then re-deposit what I took out and start again. I suppose that’s my only saving grace – I manage to cash out before I lose the rest.

Anyway, I said 16 months ago I was only going to do this (the poker sabbatical) for a year maximum, see how it went and review my situation again, so I have already exceeded my planned time frame by 4 months. I’m getting to the stage now where I am starting to have horrible thoughts about returning to work and getting some guaranteed income coming in again – its amazing how a mortgage and several other direct debits each month can get you thinking differently and how it can definitely make you play differently! Bad beats start to equate to more than just disappointment and annoyance, they begin to represent a potentially unpaid bill or a down-grade on what furniture you buy for the house, you can be out shopping with your beloved for a trivial thing like a toaster and you start to campaign for the £30 Morphy Richards over the £120 Dualit that your girlfriend wants – its just not right! – When you’re at work and you have a poker win, you don’t mind spending the extra £90 for the Dualit but when you don’t work and you derive your income from poker, that extra £90 represents a % of a buy-in to next weeks freeze-out. Maybe its time for a change – I mean who wants to live like a hermit for the next 30 years, multi tabling at $3-$6 for the rest of their sane lives? I just don’t know how some of these guys do it. Now, if I was sponsored and had the roll to play big live festival events each week it would be different, but I haven’t, so it isn’t! – end of!

I’ve started looking for any jobs that might take my interest with a view to turning anything down that looks like it might annoy me within a week of starting – (it really doesn’t take much to tilt me up in an office!). Hopefully I’ll find a nice cushy contract recruitment job for 6 months, earn a few quid and have another few months off, we’ll see.

In the meantime, its Gala Nottingham tonight for my weekly donation to the student’s great unwashed benevolent fund, then it’s off to smoky, cramped Sheffield for their ever popular festival next week. – I’ll keep you posted. – Honest!

You Lazy Blogger! The Blogsters LifeCycle.

2006-04-21T12:41:00.000+01:00

yup, its official, i have become a lazy blogger!

I have been reading other poker blogs now for about 12 months and have noticed a trend or blog life cycle occurring. It goes something like this...... 1. The birth: (Start with immense enthusiasm, funny tales from the felt, stories about how you cant stop winning, regular twice weekly updates). 2. The rise: (Traffic increases, people comment on the content, plaudits from peers and keenness shows no sign of waning - blogtastic!) 3. A dip: (A few bad beats, a couple of stale sessions, maybe a bit of burnout and you start to only update weekly at best - questions are asked as to your commitment to update and you subsequently decide to get back on it! 4. The renaiisance (A couple of quick flash posts, interest returns and your updating weekly again! woohoo!). 5. Re-Dip (Can't be arsed again, "who reads this shit anyway"? - don't post for weeks, your playing like a twat so why bother telling anyone?) 6. Lazy Blogger (Realisation that your a lazy blogger, you've neglested your updating, its time for another renaissance - and so it goes on....)

Anyone recognise this cycle or is it just me?....

Oh well, at least i have realised i have become a lazy blogger but in truth i haven't got much to write home about. - The daily on-line trawl continues, win a bit, lose a bit win a bit more.

I played live last night at Notts in the weekly £50 (+ 2 rebuys) game and came 15th out of 63. I was so card dead i could have suspected foul play or invented some sort of conspiracy theory.I know i am selective in the hands i play but this was just embarrassing! When i did finally play a hand (limping with 66 UTG i caught a set on a 6-9-10 board, got all my chips in and managed to finish 3rd when my oppo's turned over 10-10-10 and 7-8 respectively) - CHIIIIIIIIPS! I then limped in mid position with 8-8 and when everyone checked the JJQ board and a beautiful 8 fell on the turn, i again managed to get all my chips in against my oppo holding JQ!) - CHIIIIIIIIIIIPS! I did manage to duck and dive after that but never really threatened. Despite being given a total of 15,000 chips for my £150 i peaked at 17,000 but still managed to nurse my micro stack for hours and finish in 15th. What a grind! - Not bad i suppose to say i was set up and raped twice early doors and never saw a decent hand for 5 hours.

Although i am mainly a live player who is trying to master the on-line game, it was weird actually seeing a live playing card on green felt as i hadn't played live for 6 weeks!!!! - thats just too long! I actually really enjoyed it and it was good to be back amongst the smoke, cold coffee, noise and banter so i am gong to make more of an effort to get out and play.

later
lazy boy!

Poker On The Radio?

2006-03-29T13:46:00.000+01:00

Surely not!.....

Well, i am telling you, it happened! - I was invited by BBC Radio Nottingham to appear on their Breakfast Show yesterday morning (Tuesday28th March) to talk about on-line gambling, on-line poker, the pitfalls, the merits etc. - There was nothing really in it for me as such but it sounded like fun so i thought why not.

Why me? i hear you ask.....Well, it turns out that my phone number was given out to a producer or researcher or someone connected to the show by my dear old mother of all people at an awards ceremony earlier this month (she won a BBC short story competition). - Mother's huh! :-) . Not satisfied with introducing me to my girlfriend over two years ago and practically setting up a blind date, she's now pimping me out to local media. It turns out the researcher and her got talking about gambling and the recent application by Mansfield Disctrict Council to have one of these 12 new UK super casinos in the town when she mentioned to him that i had quit work to become a gambling poker playing black sheep of the family and that i would be happy to talk to them about it. - consultation not required of course - mother's know best :-)

Anyway.... Despite having doubts about whether or not to go, off i trotted to the studio and it was all quite strange and surreal. I used to host the breakfast show on Newcastle Student Radio (NSR 107.5fm) when i was at University there and i kind of had that set-up pictured (dark, dingy, full of empty beer cans, discarded play-lists, fag packets, empty cans of red-bull and a room the size of your average bird cage.) However, this was proper Radio and it was all very professional, state of the art offices, equipment, computerised jingles, plasma screens and a professional sober presenter and people that knew what they were doing.

I was introduced to the presenter, who asked me a few questions. He introduced me to the listeners and we got going. He played a clip of some American kid called Ryan, who had gone broke and had started chasing his losses and was now back waiting tables at some restaurant. We talked about his plight, the dangers of gambling on-line, the merits of gambling on-line and then we talked about my last 12 months, my story, where i used to work, what i had done prior to finding poker and how much money i had made from the beautiful game. It was all done and dusted in about 5 minutes. - I am not sure what benefit it will be to the listeners or in deed how interesting it was to the audience but they asked me to do it, i said "yes" and it was good fun.

I think you can listen to it on the BBC Radio Nottingham website 'Listen Again' feature if you have Real Player loaded on your PC.

I haven't heard it yet and haven't got real player but i am told i sounded like a sensible chap and came across well. Maybe i should ask them for a job if i go broke :-)

You can click on the below link to read the article they have done about me.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nottingham/content/articles/2006/03/28/gambling_man_feature.shtml

Hands Up.... Are You a Fish or a Coach?

2006-03-22T16:05:00.000Z

Hands Up…………………..

………………..If you’re a fish…… ><((((‘)…….. or are you the coach?

Now a fish isn’t probably something you would admit to being is it?! - (Why is it that fish have such a bad name in the poker world anyway?) – I happen to quite like fish, such tranquil, simple creatures that get to spend all day swimming around in cool water without too many cares in the world. – I think it’s about time we gave the fish some respect and pick on some other animals, like err…. Donkeys or pigeons or ….Camels maybe? - no offence meant there Keith. :-)

The Poker Coach Outbreak - They're breeding like rabbits!

Everyday, I surf the poker press, other poker blogs and poker forums and it is amazing how many times I hear tales from these now rapidly increasing breed of poker coaches on how they made such and such a ‘world class’ move but fish A or fish B was too god dam fish smelling to fold his fishy pair etc. When I play on-line I quite often read the chat, which seems to be full of useful titbits and information and tips from obviously great players (I mean surely you have to be great to tell another player how to play – right?)…. So why are these great players playing the $22 Sit and goes?

When I play live I listen to the players talk and to say it’s a £50 re-buy I am amazed at what great players populate the game – I mean I am assuming they are great players because they give a post mortem of EVERY hand and are so kind as to tell the others what they should have done to avoid losing that last pot.

Overall, what I read and hear on a regular basis is quite frankly scaring me. It seems like there are no bad players around anymore, everyone is now qualified to coach others and even those players that have been playing for five minutes and are 15 yrs old are calling their opponents fish! I am becoming more and more confused as to how I can possibly win at this game when it appears that everybody knows everything there is to know already and even those players and forum posters who populate the micro tables and $1 re-buy comps offer their wisdom and tell tales of how they would be playing such huge levels as $1-$2 if it wasn’t for the ‘idiot calling station fish’ that they come across and can’t beat everyday.

Anyway, rant over, I suppose it’s a game of opinions after all. I am just off to walk my pet fish round the block. – cheers!

Re-living the Embarrassment – The TV Horror Show.

2006-03-16T09:24:00.000Z

Since the final of the William Hill Poker Grand Prix, which was filmed back in October 2005, there hasn’t been a day that hasn’t had me thinking back to the way I played and how it could have been oh so different had I just been a little more cautious, shown more composure and just taken it a little easier. I crashed out first in the final of the competition which I worked and played so hard to get to. It’s not the going out first that truly bothered me; it was the way in which I went out. I often lie in bed or sit on the sofa thinking of how I blew my chance at some serious money, recognition and maybe even the attentions of a lucrative sponsor. However, I never felt I could properly grieve for my loss and exorcise the demons until it aired on the TV and I got to hear what some proper players thought of my play (not that I consider or take note of the opinions of Lucy “shudda gone all-in” Wocach) but Andy Black is someone I have met a few times and have respect for and was interested in hearing his views along with those ‘players’ and friends that watched the WHPGP on the TV.

The general consensus amongst those I have sought an opinion from (and some that I didn’t) is that after building up an early chip lead, I then played my one massive key hand very badly in deed. For those that didn’t see it, - it went like this…

I raise 3 * BB from mid position with 10-J (everyone is playing really tight so I want to get busy early to try and build up some chips, and I assume everyone else has me down as ‘the tight guy’). I get called two seats later by Ram Vaswani, who has already called one of my raises and re-raised me once – I know he has drawn a great big target on my forehead and is deliberately going to try and outplay me – so I am in my mind ready to stand up for myself.

The flop came down as 8-Q-K (not bad, I have an open ended draw)…. but I am not sure what to put Ram on in his position. I should have led out here with a standard continuation bet but I didn’t. I guess it was because I felt Ram was going to re-raise me anyway and I was out of position against the only player on the table I didn’t want to get involved with – weak I know but I guess these were my reasons for not betting. I checked. After my check, Ram led out with a predictable 2/3rds of the pot bet. I seriously thought about check raising him here but I had convinced myself he may just call or move all-in and with it being early on in the game I didn’t want to over commit (I guess from Ram’s point of view that’s the power of being a known fearless aggressor and all-in merchant – it can occasionally stop people betting against you. I opted for a call knowing that if I could catch my open ended draw I would take the lead in the pot but I also hoped would leave ram with two-pairs or maybe he had a set of eights already – to tell the truth I didn’t really give Ram’s hand enough consideration, I was too busy playing mine and fighting off the bad play demons in my head.

The turn brought a jack, which leaves me with an open ended draw and a pair (albeit third pair) – I thought about making a bet here to try to represent something but I didn’t think he would believe me so I went for a check again hoping he would slow down and let me hit again for free. It wasn’t to be, he bet again but I read his bet as a weak follow up designed to get rid of me (I know he is capable of continually firing at a pot). With this in mind I wanted to define my hand here – did he have anything? – I check raised him another 3 times his bet – I wasn’t going to be pushed around. He thought for a moment and then called – I now knew he had a hand – perhaps two pairs (QK, QJ or maybe a set of 888).

The river was so cruel it almost brings me to tears. It came a 9, which made my straight on a no flushing un-paired board. I thought I really had him now and bet for value on the river fully expecting him to reluctantly call and show me something worse and shake his head at me catching up on the river but my daydream was broken by an immediate shout of “all-in”. OMFG, I couldn’t believe it and I almost shovelled the lot in without even looking up but I re-checked the board just to be sure. – No pair on it, no flush was possible; there were five cards there so we had definitely reached the end of the betting. Then all of a sudden, the horror hit me, although I had made my hand I had failed to account for the possibility of A-10 (which was the nuts), I had 10-J, which was the second nuts and I had assumed it was good enough (ram wouldn’t play A-10 in that spot would he?). I didn’t know what to do. I had no option but to replay the hand bet for bet in my head to check for the possibility that Ram could have A-10. The way he played it just didn’t lead me to that hand – it was the flop bet that fooled me – I thought he would check and take a free card on the flop but he bet his gut-shot draw, so I immediately put him on some of the flop and the fact that he only called my check raise on the turn with the absolute nuts totally baffled me. I really thought with the nuts here he would go all-in at that point. I eventually deduced that we had the same hand (10-J) – I told myself that he called my pre-flop raise with a good drawing hand and bet his open ended draw on the flop and when I checked again he bet his pair and open ended and then moved all-in on the river with the straight hoping I had a set of KKK or QQQ or something.

I decided my read was good and once I have made a read I like to stick with it. Although I wouldn’t normally call thinking it would be a split pot at best if the pot was smallish but the pot was huge, we had both put so much money in that getting my share back was definitely worth calling for. My other main thought was that I knew Ram to be a mover (just watch his heat – it was brutal) and I knew he wouldn’t be scared of going out first (see last years poker million heat too). He could well have been playing on the fact that I didn’t want to be first out and survival meant more to me than most of the players at the table. Third and probably worst rationale of all was that I didn’t want to be seen folding such a powerful hand on the TV and getting outplayed in front of so many people, I would never be able to hold my head high having been bluffed out of such a key pot with the SECOND POSSIBLE NUTS! – So I called and to my chagrin he showed A-10 for the F***ing coconuts. – Bollocks!

I have never been so deflated, embarrassed and full of disappointment at the poker table – nothing can get anywhere near the anger I felt at my own actions and the annoyance the poker gods for such a cold decked set up. I was inconsolable – it meant so much to me.

I suppose now its out in the open and the program has been aired I can begin to move on and forget about it. I will learn from how I played this hand and hopefully it will make me a better all round poker player and I will come out the other side a better man.

Happy Anniversary

2006-03-09T15:47:00.000Z

Last week marked the anniversary of me quitting ‘proper work’ and opting for a life of smoke filled card rooms, hotels, travel, blinking avatars, bad beats and poker stories. In some ways it seems like only yesterday that I was handing in my resignation letter, banking my wad of Walsall ‘wonga’ and booking my flights to Vienna filled with anticipation, excitement and hope of a future as the ‘next big thing in poker’ – well, I could have been :-). Although it does literally seem like yesterday, when I look back on my experiences and remember the games I have played and places I have been it also seems like an eternity ago too – I guess 12 months is a long time in poker.

I thought it would be useful for me to outline my thoughts and reflections on this experience mainly for myself as a reminder but also as a guide for anyone thinking of taking on such a journey themselves. – So it reads clearly, I’ll set out some sub-headings….

How did it start?
I had been playing some really good poker (IMO) at the back end of 2004 and had managed some nice results at Nottingham in the £20 and £30 competitions. This form continued into 2005 and in February I managed to win the monthly £100 PLH competition for £7500. The following week I played a £50 super satellite for the £1500 main event at the Walsall ‘Midlands Medley’ and managed to scrape a seat. I played the best poker of my life in the main event a few days later and managed to get 2nd place winning £36,800. For detailed trip reports on this competition click this link to get to the start and then work chronologically through the archives for the rest as its in parts 1,2 & 3.

http://juniorpoker.blogspot.com/2005_08_01_juniorpoker_archive.html

Armed with enthusiasm, confidence and a tentative offer of some sponsorship I jacked in the job, I paid back all my student debts and my car loan and took what was left of my new found wealth off to Vienna for the E-WSOP.

Where have I been?
I decided that my best strategy of achieving some sponsorship, recognition and results was to ride the wave of my recent success and form. I planned to top load my schedule and play as many main events and high profile tournaments I could reasonably afford without crippling myself – although I knew I was nowhere near bank rolling myself correctly but I was taking a shot at the big time and didn’t have time to think about a little thing like bank roll management. With this in mind I travelled to Vienna, then on to Dublin, stopping off at Sheffield, Luton, Blackpool, The Vic, and back in the sky to Jesolo (Italy). I then hopped over to Las Vegas for the WSOP, which was an amazing experience. My final big competition of 2005 was the made for TV, William Hill Grand Prix, which was filmed at the Enfys TV Studios in Cardiff – I think I made quite an impression! It’s been a fantastic journey, filled with some good results but a lot of disappointments, I’ve met some great people and some of the inevitable toe rags as well but I’ve pretty much loved every minute of it.

What have I learnt?
I feel like I have learnt a tremendous amount about myself, other people and of course about the beautiful game. I feel like a much better player than I was a year ago and it’s become obvious to me that you never stop learning at poker and no matter how good you think you are there is always someone capable of outplaying you or worse still – getting lucky!

What have I achieved?
I feel I have achieved a lot over the past twelve months. I have won more money than I ever thought I would, although nowhere near as much as I would have liked since my 2nd place finish at Walsall. I have managed to sustain a living from the game, move out of my parent’s house, pay off all my debts and generally live how I wanted with no pressures of work. I have found a game that I think I will love forever, I have met some great people and some new friends and I’ve even been on the television :-). What more could I want?!

What have I enjoyed?
There is no doubting that life outside of the 9 to 5 grind is one that cannot be underestimated or undervalued. You can do what you like, when you like (within reason). Get up when you want and generally you are your own boss. There is no rush hour traffic, no office politics and no annual review with the boss and best of all… there’s no tax.

What have I disliked?
There is a downside to the lifestyle though. It can get a bit repetitive and boring when not travelling around the circuit. If you’re at home for a few weeks then long sessions of internet poker tend to ensue, which can be boring. However it’s only a small downside and I guess if your disciplined, have plenty of other things to do and structure your days correctly there are huge benefits.

What’s Next?
The main difference to my life now and my life 12 months ago is that I now have responsibilities; I have a beautiful girlfriend who I want to spend time with rather than be sat in a room passive smoking with ugly old timers. I have a mortgage, a house to furnish and upkeep and bills to pay. I decided to invest a lot of my winnings in a house and consequently I don’t really have the bank roll now to continue travelling around the poker ‘circuit’ and can no longer stump up the big buy-in’s to main events that I use to – I pretty much pick and chose when I want to play and have to budget my gambling spend. Maybe I will be back at work soon – you can’t live off fresh air forever! Or maybe there’s a huge win just around the corner… who knows? I will continue to write poker articles, update the blog and play as much poker as I can when I can. Whatever happens, it’s been an experience so far, one to remember and draw on in the future – here’s to the next 12 months of poker.

The Poker Whisperer.???

2006-02-28T11:32:00.000Z

I like to surf the 'e-poker' press and other blogs daily and am intrigued as to who the poker whisper is on ukpokernews - any ideas folks.??

I have so far ruled out:

1. Tikay
2. Me
3. Camel

Anyway he says some nice things about me in this article here http://uk.pokernews.com/news/2006/2/poker-whispers-february.htm

and has a regular monthly musing on ukpokernews.

Answers and speculations in the comments box please.

William Hill Poker Grand Prix - Trip Report

2006-02-24T15:11:00.000Z

As my previous post stated i was on the box on Tuesday night and for those of you that watched, you would have seen it was a very satisfactory result against a very tough field. I have done a trip report for UK Poker News for who i occasionally write. this can be viewed by clicking

http://uk.pokernews.com/news/2006/2/william-hill-grand-prix-greg-hill.htm

I hope you enjoy.

The final is in 3 weeks time (Tuesday Night's on Sky Sports).

I'm On The Telly This Week - The William Hill GP

2006-02-20T12:15:00.000Z

On Tuesday night at 22:15pm (21st Feb) my heat of the William Hill Poker Grand Prix is airing on Sky Sports 2 at 10pm and it is repeated on the Wednesday morning at 03:15am, again at 08:00am (skysports 3) and again at 12:30pm on Sky Sports 2.

If you haven't been watching the action in the 6 weeks prior to this then you really are missing out. This is the best ever line up for a 'made-for-TV' event and the best structire as well. Most Tv tournaments have fast structures and become crap shoots, which are over after about 75 hands. - This is different. 10,000 starting chips and a 45 minute clock - this was poker at its very best with total room for moves and every weapon at the players disposal.

The line up....

Seat 1 - Barny Boatman
Seat 2 - Patrik Antonius
Seat 3 - Robert Cooper
Seat 4 - Jani Sointula
Seat 5 - Christer Johansson
Seat 6 - Greg 'junior' Hill (thats me.)
Seat 7 - Brian Wilson
Seat 8 - Marc Goodwin

A real quality field - A WSOP bracelet winner, a WPT winner, an EPT winner, a Hendon Mobster, an on-line millionairre and a good looking young lad from Notts!

Hope you enjoy - i personally can't wait.

Taking A Cyber-Break

2006-02-13T15:57:00.000Z

No!.. i haven't decided to go on a virtual reality holiday (although i am sure they are available if you googled hard enough!) I am merely deciding to give on-line poker a break now for at least a week. I am not gonna play one single game until next Monday (20th) and even then if i really don't feel like playing,.. i won't.

I have been in some horrible form of late and feel that i am 'going bad', meaning that i am only seeing the negatives, i have no confidence in my on-line game and am looking for excuses for my bad luck, clutching at straws and at times am questioning the integrity of the deal on some on-line poker rooms (surely no card room would risk their licence to print money by enhancing starting hands and manufacturing action flops??!! - i'm still suspicious but just can't see why they would take such a risk of damaging their reputations for a few extra quid).

I need to get that hunger back. I always look forward to playing but because i have been playing so much of late, i can't help but think i haven't been at my best or my freshest whilst playing, thus i have been making tired plays and stale decisions.

I'll most probably be at Sheffield on Wednesday for their £100 re-buy comp and the following week i will be at Walsall for the £300 freeze and maybe the £100 re-buy and of course i may give one of the super-sats a go with a view to getting a seat in the main event. Lets see if this little break from staring at the screen of lappie gives me some renewed vigour and helps me return to some form.

Cosmic Connections – Is Brain to Brain Communication Really Possible?

2006-02-09T12:26:00.000Z

You will notice from the tone of my last blog entry that I am not currently in the best of 'nick' luck-wise. On the table of good fortune, I am quite literally the short stack. This current run of form has been happening solidly for about 4 weeks now but I would say it has been happening for about 3 months on and off. I know there are ups and downs in the game but this is the longest ‘down’ I have ever experienced and it seems like a piss-taking ‘down’. A ‘down’, where the poker gods are really having a dig at me, testing my remaining resolve and my true faith in the skill factor. But, what has really got me thinking these last few weeks is if there really is a connection or a form of communication between state of mind, the poker gods and the cards, whether they be actual plastic coated Kem variety or the floating e-cards that dance around the screen in front of our eyes.

I pose this question as my run of bad luck just isn’t normal and I really am in a very negative frame of mind right now – I don’t expect a hand to hold up, even if I am an 85% favourite – and that’s scary! It is not just a case of running a big hand into AA or having my KK cracked by AQ (that is happening regularly), but it is far more bizarre than that. It seems like whatever needs to transpire and whatever the odds of it happening… it happens! People catching perfect-perfect to beat me, or someone moving all-in with nothing to spring my trap and they hit their miracle 2-outer. I am not blaming the internet as it has been consistently happening live too but as I play more hands on the internet it seems like the e-deal is to blame. It is getting to the stage now where when I am all-in and my opponent flips over his rags, I say to myself (as an example) - “right NO Jack” – a jack being the only card they can hit (whether it be the 3 remaining jacks or the 2 remaining jacks in the deck) – I stare so hard at the screen and want him to miss so badly but ...., and as if by some cosmic communication via my brain through the ether, down the internet connection and into the servers of whatever site I am playing on – it finds that jack EVERY F**KING TIME!!!

I was watching something on the TV the other night about the powers and electricity of the brain and have heard it said a few times before that if someone believes something so strongly then they really can truly make it happen – and if one person's mind can connect on exactly the same frequency level as another person’s brain then surely they can communicate without actually talking. Look at the connection some sets of twins have with each other – one of them breaks a leg and the other one feels the pain too - and they could be hundreds of miles apart and not actually know of the injury to their sibling. So why not for example, when I think so negatively at the screen and virtually pray for a card not to come does it arrive? I am going to research into this and report back – hopefully I will learn some mind reading skills along the way :-)

Cheerio

P.S. I still haven’t found that witch I’ve been looking for! – Or maybe it’s because I didn’t buy that lavender off of that Gypsy woman standing outside M&S in Newark! – Who knows?

Well, I must have F***ed a Witch!

2006-02-03T16:27:00.000Z

..... either that, or i have murdered the wife of a poker god. Something has certainly happened in my subliminal or subconcious or within my dejavous outer-life parallel aoura (am i sounding like Phil Laak yet?!!)

I can't begin to tell you the current extent of my bad form, my bout of the badbeats and the strength and suction power of my suckouts at the moment - its just a serious tale of woe, a real real real sad sickening run of form.

Now, I am not pretending that my problems are greater than anyone elses in real life, I am only talking about a game of poker after all - (i still wouldn't swap places with a homeless destitute, a New Orleans old-timer or a drugged up lady of the night working the street of Sheffield - they've got real problems!!) but in terms of playing poker, whether it be for fun (it isn't that right now!) or for a living, I HAVE got problems, i really am right at the back of the luck queue! I am not even asking for any good luck to come my way - i feel i am good enough to make a profit through good play and not have to rely on good luck, however i just don't want any BAD luck - its all i ask from time to time.

KK seems to be the main culprit. In the past 3 weeks i have re-raised all-in with this hand 8 times, each time i have been a favourite at various % levels ranging from 84% to 67%, however it has only stood up once. It has been cracked by A-10, A-8, JJ, 44, QQ, A-K and 88. Now what am i doing wrong in life or more importantly in the game to be suffering here. Every single time i move all-in i am doing it against players that still have enough chips to pass, i interestingly enough haven't once had to call all-in with KK - every time i have been either first in with it or i have re-raised with it.

AA hasn't been fairing much better. (5 All-ins and only 2 victories). The worst of all was just today - a real moment to reach for your sick bag. I was playing a large multi on pokerstars and there are two of us on the table with similar chips - we both have 10k, the chip leader in the tournament has 18k, and with blinds at 100-200 we are both not really in need of a gamble at all. However, the ultimate situation occurs - i have AA and he has KK and all the money goes in preflop (it wasn't played slowly either, he makes it 700 and i move in for 9875!!!!) - My all-in reraise surely tells him i have a monster and i don't want an accident but he duly calls with his KK anyway. The flop brings another ace and i think "drama over - i will be chip leader in a matter of seconds when the chips get moved around however the turn brings a ten and the river a queen to go with the jack on the flop and the king in his hand!!! - so there you go, he beats my AA with KK without even spiking a king - and to cap it off and really take the piss, the pokerstars software deals me AA the very next hand and allows me to push all-in with my remaining 575, only to be called in 2 spots and have it cracked this time by Q-8o who makes a straight by the turn. - What have i got to do FFS!!!!!!!!!!

I really don't want to continue and i know those that have bothered to get this far will be greatful for that, but i really haven't even scratched the surface here! - day after day, week after week i just seem to be outdrawn for fun - people are spiking 2 and 3 outers for fun against me. Its getting so bad now that i even expect to lose when i have the over pair - i really can't see it standing up against the under pair that has called my all-in.

I don't want to make this a badbeat blog at all - i hate those types of blogs, they bore me but this is a diary of whats happening with me in the game and right now this is how i feel and this is what's happening - its sick and the sooner i find that witch and f**k her agin, the better.

adios

I'm Saying Nothing

2006-02-01T17:47:00.000Z

I decided to deposit some money into my pokerstars account recently and have been playing a few multi table tournaments (MTT's) on there and the odd Sit N Go with varying successes. In my opinion pokerstars has the best range of MTT's on the net in terms of regularity, stakes, chip stacks and blinds. I also feel it has the best software, graphics, user friendliness etc.- in short its my preferred site to play on. I have, however noticed that it is infested with loud mouthed poker coach, know-it-alls, who seem to believe it is their sole function at the table to discuss strategy, their hands, other player's hands and in general verbally spew their entire game plan onto the cyber-felt in front of them.

I hadn't really thought about this much until a couple of nights ago and to be honest i have in the past myself been guilty of lambasting my opponent for a weak call or asking why matey boy "has just done so and so in that position", or showing a hand because someone asked me too. I had just accepted it as part of the game and wanted to vent my anger at the 'poisson merde' that just called my all-in with rags and got lucky. So it took a totally innocent and genuine barrage of questions from a complete novice to get me thinking about this subject.... picture the scene.....

Now, this may sound a wee bit sad but the real pokergirlie, my adorable girlfriend likes to sit and watch me play on the net... partly because she is learning to play and partly because she thinks she is better than me (probably not far wrong on current form) :-( - only joking.... she is a complete novice but enjoys to watch - the point to this diversion into my evening currciulum with the real pokergirlie??....

- Well, I was playing on one particular table and it was particularly 'knowlegeable' - full of loveable (not) americans all telling each other how fishy they are and how in deed they 'own' each other "i own you daaawg" (what on earth is a daaawg anyway?) (This speach play in my opinion is as good as declaring to the table that they are capable of moves and bluffing) etc. etc. - you get the picture. I am looking on in amusement at the chat box when i hear the following question.... "Why are they all talking about their hands?" i respond with, "oh some players just like to do that when they think they've been clever and made a bluff". Question 2.... "But, why would you do that, surely they are giving away their tactics aren't they?", Response 2.... "errr, well I suppose they are". Another five minutes of poker 101 for begginners ensues on the screen in front of me when in my left ear i get Question 3...

"Did that guy just show his hand?" - response 3... "errr... yes darling, you can do that if you want" Question 4.... "But why would you ever do that? Response 4.... Well, I didn't really have one! At first I just answered the questions defending the other players actions and not really thinking about it, but as the game went on, the coaching just became more and more frequent and to be honest it annoyed me that these guys were discussing all the hands (some that they weren't even in) and were telling some of the other players, who were quite clearly useless or new to the game or both how to play and what not to do etc. It triggered something inside of me (the stubborn bone i think) and I have therefore decided that from now on at the poker table (either live or online) i will only talk about issues unrelated to the game and i will never show a hand to anyone unless i can see it being of benefit to me later in the game (i will never show a hand just for the sake of it - i just can't see what value at all there is in doing this)

Anyone think this is a good or bad strategy or am i just getting old, grumpy, fed up and annoyed at being out of form?

Answers on a picture card please.....

Cash Out Before I Bust Out

2006-01-23T14:38:00.000Z

I have taken the drastic preventative action of cashing out my entire on-line balance before i go and lose it all. I have been having a horrible run on the internet in the last two weeks - just sick!, but its all the more dissappointing as its on the back of 5-6 weeks of steady bank roll building, good cards, good play and disciplined solid poker. I was managing to pull in a nice amount each week and even started paying myself a weekly wage (10% of my on-line bankroll), everything was looking rosey, but thats all gone pear-shaped. Maybe i was beginning to think the game was easy and that all i had to do was boot up lappie and the money would attract to me like a magnetic force but i suppose just as you get compalcent and cocky thats when the game gives you a good solid bite to the arse and in short.....I just can't win right now - i seem to bubble in every sit n' go i play, if i make a final in a multi, i don't get beyond 8th and every time i flop a strong hand in a cash game it either gets busted or someone is sat there with the stone cold coconuts waiting for me to pay them off with second best - its been a horror show!

I can feel myself getting annoyed, the red figures are increasing and all i can see is the big minus sign alongside the monthly profit figure. I have therefore decided to cash my remaining on-line bank roll out and just give it a rest for a while - I keep telling myself its a life-long game with peaks and troughs, win some, lose some and i know i am easily good enough to win in the long run and i have proved that to over the past 3 years but perhaps i need a break to renew the passion for the game and break the monotony of daily losses and endless bubbles, we'll see.......

later

Happy New Year…. But What To Expect?

2006-01-09T09:32:00.000Z

A big Happy 2006 to everyone. I have had a nice week off over the new year period to recharge the batteries, see the family and friends, get things done around the house and go shopping for a few bits (since when did a toilet roll holder become worth £20?!)

I have played very little poker for nearly two weeks now but am officially back to ‘work’ as of yesterday and looking forward to a profitable and enjoyable year. I am unsure of what to expect and have thought about some targets but am finding it difficult to set myself a marker for earnings and achievements.

2005 was a fantastic year for me. I had some excellent early-year live results, which meant I could finally give up the management jargon and the long sessions of bull-shit bingo in the office and get down to doing what I enjoy the most… playing poker. I quit my dull job in March and set off on a mini poker tour taking in venues such as Vienna, Dublin, Venice (Jesolo), Las Vegas (WSOP) and played lots of the European circuit events in the UK at Sheffield, Blackpool, Walsall, Luton and The Vic (London) and have had an absolute ball along the way, meeting some great guys and gals and managing to earn a few quid too. As much as I would like to carry this on through 2006, I am simply not going to be able to as I have used a lot of the money I won in 2005 for non-poker related things. I have paid off all my student debts, which were actually a fair amount less than what most students now leave university with (average student debt as of 2005 is a saddening £13,000!). I have bought a car outright rather than getting one ‘on tick’ and in September I moved in with my girlfriend and bought a house – and they don’t come cheap! So, lumbered with a mortgage and the unavoidable outgoings that owning a house brings, I just don’t have the bank roll to take on another euro-tour like I did in 2005. This obviously hinders my live earnings potential as the prize pools I will be competing for will be much lower in 2006, however the fields I will be playing against will be smaller and hopefully not as tough. I will also save a few thousand quid on expenses over the year. Sigh….. If only there was a lucrative sponsorship deal on the horizon! :-(

With all this in mind, I do have some targets I can share, although the figures may have to be revised depending on my situation and financial means throughout the year. I always like to make any targets I set achievable and realistic that way you can feel good about yourself when you meet them and you are striving for something that isn’t beyond you in any way. They are all designed with one main principal aim of avoiding work and staying in the game for as long as possible.

1. Practice good bank roll management

2. Continue to commit to paying yourself a weekly wage based on % of bank roll

3. Avoid small (<£50 crap shoot re-buy comps) – look for well structured freeze-outs or double-chance competitions

4. Continue to work on and improve your on-line game

5. In any competition or internet session, remain focused and disciplined and always try to play your best game at all times.

6. Attempt to satellite your way in to the big competitions on-line (e.g. WSOP, WPT, EPT and even the Grosvenor main events)

7. Win a European ranking event (outright, no deals)

8. Profit of over £??,000 for 2006 (I do have a financial target but would prefer not to publish this)

So, there you have it, my targets for 2006 based on my current bank roll and personal situation, all I got to do now is go and play some good poker and win some money.

Good luck for 2006 everyone! – Lets hope it’s an Annus Amazingus.

An Even Newer New Cash Pot P.B.

2005-12-30T16:37:00.000Z

Now, i'm not one to chirp ... (honest), but as a way of a confidence booster and to remind myself upon looking back at this diary that one day i could in fact play poker i am going to post whenever i crack my P.B. at the cash tables.

One of my latest logs was of my new cash pot P.B. ($1670) playing $2-$4 PLO - well, i've gone and pipped it.

However, this time it was playing $5-$10 PLO and again holding AAXX.

I am sat in the big blind with $1200 (starting stack plus re-loads = $800 so i am up $400) and i am holding AcAs6c8h - not much to tell your nan about over the left over turkey but.... 8 limpers! (yes!, the whole table wants to see the flop!) - Now normally i would like to just take a flop with my hand but decide there is enough dead money out there to be able to sufficiently augment the pot and make the bet to a size that only a few of the callers would match, so i bet the full pot. - 3 callers, all with deep stacks! - i decide immediately that i am very much prepared to abandon this hand if i get an unfavourable flop, miss completely or get any heat from my oppo's. - Omaha is such a dangerous game if you try and force marginal and weak hands - you need to hit that flop.

The all important board Jc7c6h. Ok, so now i have bottom pair (so what!) and the nut flush draw (very good). I decide to bet out about 2/3 of the pot, i still don't want to go crazy with this hand, i don't want to make the pot too big for someone else and there could be a set out there, two pairs or just about anything - it is omaha after all. - ... i get two callers (gulp!) and prey for a club....

The turn comes 6d, which pairs my 'dangler' - eek, now i'm really involved and have enough of this to justifiably go broke - (a strange way to look at it i suppose but thats the mind of a cyberfish). I am just thinking how much to bet when the first caller in the SB moves all in for $470. I am now really not sure what to do as i have another player behind me who is also deep stacked. Usually when the board pairs in omaha, you can forget your flush draws but something told me mine still might be good. I also fancied my 666 to be good too and i knew i could always redraw to a bigger full house if i was beat. I just had to think what my opponents could have....

On the flop, I didn't put either of them on JJJ 777 or two pairs as they would have pushed all-in on the flop here with those hands as they probably knew i had AAXX and with there also being flush and straight draws out they couldn't take the risk of not protecting their hands here. However, i did now have a horrible feeling that the sb had 67676 but i am sure he would trap check and let me bet here with that hand. I decided his all-in was a bet that he didn't want calling and i put him on 666 - the same as me and as i had an ace kicker, i went ahead and called. Thankfully the other opponent folded. - i am really not sure what i would have done here if he had gone all-in over the top of me - but; (a) thankfully that didn't happen :-) and (b) he showed enough weakness by just calling on the flop to suggest he wasn't having anymore of this hand - i thought he could only call with jacks full - and i had pretty much 99% discounted him to have that hand.

I was happy to see that my opponent had TcTs8c6s .. so, his hand was 666 (same as me) with a flush draw (which i had covered to the nuts), an inside straight draw and pocket tens - so his only outs were a 9 or 10 - which he missed :-) and the fat P.B. pot of $1712 was pushed to yours truly.

So there we are... my 666 held up and another lovey omaha pot won with AAXX.

The moral to the story?...... get your money in with the best of it and hope to get lucky sometimes

Let's Let Off Some Steam...........Tilt!!

2005-12-29T10:49:00.000Z

Ok, so i have been doing really quite surprisingly well ont'internet recently and am happily building a nice little bank roll up on-line. However, every now and then i slip back into my cyberfish alter-ego and play so badly and loose that i have to physically slap myself and remove that horrible creature that isn't really me from the controls of the laptop.

Oh yes... I can tilt, and sometimes it can be quite unstoppable - an amazing urge to deposit my hard-grafted dough into the sweaty mits of some fat bearded Salem inhabiting trailor trash comes over me and consumes me like a contageous bug. Just this morning i had managed to win $400 in about 40 minutes playing $2-$4 PLO, i then came second in a $109 6-pack, which i should have won. - Just a minor niggle but one that was poisoning the feel good juice at the back of my brain. I didn't want to play anymore this morning, but just felt the need to go blow off some steam in a $1-$2 NLH cash game. - its amazing how expensive 'steam' is these days!....

I loaded up $200 already knowing that it may only last as long as my thinning patience would allow. It all started well until the table at-it merchant raised in late position ($10) for the 5th consecutive round. I am on the button and back raise the cheeky git with 8s-5s to $26. To my surprise, he calls (he had folded the previous 2 times) - now i know he has something and i could be in trouble but the flop could always help me (that's not me... it's the fish talking).

The flop came down 8-Q-2 (woohoo, i made a pair!) but he bets out $30 - this looks like a feeler bet with top pair, weak kicker (he wants to know if i have the over-pair or does he have top pair top kicker and he knows he has me?.. only one way to find out) so obviously having switched to 'loose-goose' mode i decide to let him know that i do in deed have AA or KK (as he already hopefully suspects) and back raise him another $60. - are you following this?..... your asking yourself whether i am the worst player in history?! - well, here's the news....just some of the time i am! He dwells for nearly his full time allowance and moves all in. Now i know for a fact he has AQ or QK but i am pot committed and have little left behind so move the rest of my stack in knowing that i am about a 4.5/1 shot to catch up (a loose fish like me knows all the odds on re-draws, live cards and back door catch ups). - Yes!!, total fish play i know but it happens sometimes.

Anyway,... i now have all my money in with 8-5o against AQ on a 8-Q-2 board just because i could't be bothered to move from the sofa and take a break and resist tilt.... or worst still fold 8-5o because i know i am behind- back to the old Greg! - i was disgusted with myself... until, wait, what's this?....... a lovely 5d on the turn! - yes!!... i caught up. i tell myself it was a great call, i had the odds and i read him for AQ beautifully. All of a sudden, i feel like Gus Hansen at a WPT final table, until another diamond on the river sends me deservedly to the chip tray and i am disgusted in myself again and severely dissappointed in my lack of patience and discipline. In with the worst of it - flopped enough to keep me interested, luck gave me hope on the turn, only to be crushed by a better hand on the river. - herein lies the evolution of the fishy hand.

So its back to basics for me. A little talking to over a nice cuppa tea and i'm ok again now. I really do recognise my tilt signs very well, i know instantly when i have that urge to do something stupid... i guess its just another step to learn to control them and respond to them accordingly. One day, maybe i'll be grown up enough to do that.

New Cash Pot P.B.

2005-12-21T07:20:00.000Z

Chirp alert!!

I was playing a little $2-$4 PLO game on bluesq last night - well i say little..... everyone was sat with $500+ and it was all action. I decided to sit with $200 and see where i could get myself.

I don't get to play much in the evenings as i have more important things to do like eat, watch telly and entertain my lovely girlfriend but her train had been delayed (thanks GNER) so i decided to play for an hour or so to pass the time before going to fetch her from the station.

What struck me about playing in the evenings is that it seems there are some much more lose players and players that are willing to gamble - you just don't seem to get this during the day. I had actually had a bad day on-line up to this point and was down about $450 so (although determined not to chase) I was keen to reduce the arrears.

I won a few minor pots and stole a few here and there, which put me up to about $320, I then made about $300 on a pot where i turned the nuts (the A flush) and had the guy to my right betting into me - i put him on a smaller flush (perhaps the K flush) with a set. Normally i would re-raise here but the pot was getting quite big, i didn't have a set or draw to anything bigger so I decided that with the hand i put him on, he wasn't going to fold and i didn't fancy the board pairing on the river for a suck out so i just called to see what happened. The board brought a rag to guarentee me the nuts and to my surprise he bet again. We were both deep stacked and i knew he couldn't call if i moved all-in so i min raised him for another $140 on the end and he reluctantly mucked.

This meant i was up to over $600 in less than 30 minutes and considered quitting but these guys were gambling and I had a tilter two to my right who had just reloaded with another $500.

Then this hand occurred:

I am dealt AdAc4d7s in 2nd position. Under the gun (UTG) limps, i think about raising but on this table, i knew they would all call anyway so there was no chance of thinning the field but i knew if i limped as well someone behind me would definitely pop the pot, so i limped with the intention of re-raising if someone raised. Immediately the guy in 3rd position bet the pot ($24), seat 4 folds, the blinds both call as does the UTG limper.... back to me.

I re-raise the pot now hoping to take it there and then or to at least go heads up with the initial raiser. It wasn't to be! The initial raiser goes all in for $260, the short stack next to him goes all-in for value and the UTG limper to my right calls the $260 as well leaving himself with $400. This was a funny situation for me here as I now think i am facing another player with AAXX, another player with KKXX and a third player with some sort of sick suited gambling wrap thats bound to suck out on me. I seriously consider folding as the guy to my right has more chips than me and i can see my whole stack of $550 ($350 profit) going into the middle after the flop with the worst of it. I decide that i obviously can't be behind in this situation but i could easily be outdrawn or the other guy with AAXX could catch his much better supporting hand (or workable danglers as i like to call them) - my thought process contained the words, "gamble", "value", "odds" and "you have AA FFS" and i couldn't bring myself to pass, so in it went.... the whole lot, all you can eat baby!

The pot + side pots = $1670 and i couldn't believe the junk that was turned over in competition for this monster.

Q8K9 - 4 different suits
4568 - 3 different suits
JcJd6c9h - the only guy who could seriously hurt me.

I guess by me and one other player limping, one player raising, several callers and then me re-raising had led to a domino effect of value calls and pot odds, although the guy to my immediate right with a deep stack should really have folded... especially when he turned over JcJd6c9h!!! I was fearing the worst but the side pot was bigger than the main so as long as i didn't lose that i really didn't mind. I didn't want to see a Jack or 3 clubs. The straights were unlikely as alot of cards were duplicated and i had a couple of blockers with my 4-7.

I just shut my eyes and hoped to see the money come my way..... it did, the AA47 held up for the 2 biggest side pots with the main pot of $190 going to the billy low stack who made some sort of little baby straight.

So that was my biggest cash pot win to date $1480 at a $2-$4 game - WOW!!

I am not in a rush to go and beat it but it certainly was a buzz.

chirp over.

6 in a row!

2005-12-16T09:37:00.000Z

Last night, I decided to have a bash at the bluesq.com heads up duel. Basically there are prizes for the top 3 performers in each division in December. You can play lightweight ($5 and under), middlewight ($25), heavyweight (£50 & $100) or super-heavy weight ($200+).

Being your average joe, I had a go at the heavyweight section and played 3 $50 HU matches. I won all 3 and so decided to try my luck at the $100 ones- i may have gone higher but didnt want to go out of the division as it is consecutive wins in the same division that gets the prizes. I played 3 $100 ones and guess what?!..... I bloody won all them as well. - woohoo. I thought about trying for seven in a row last night but time was getting on so i decided to head for Gala casino for some live action - i wish i hadn't though as i played like a blind, hungry fish.

I resumed the duel again this morning at the $50 level and lost my match :-( - end of story!?... well, maybe not, according to the leaderboard on the website i will be in 2nd place, which gains entry into a $500 buy-in event just after xmas, so it may be worthwhile after all.

I am having a go at the $200 level next and am up to errr... 1 in a row at the moment but that is a 100% record. 5 in a row is best in class here so may give it a crack.

Back On It!

2005-12-08T15:55:00.000Z

Yes, after nearly 3 weeks of internet poker cold turkey i am officially back on it. To be honest it did me good to take a total break from playing with the cyber fishies and actually start to do other things during the day than sit in front of the computer screen watching infuriating blinking avatars flashing (at times it felt like laughing) at me.

I decided to take stock of my game (internet game that is, they are totally different beasts) and analyse my results over the past year. It shocked me to realise that of the 9 sites i had folded an e-card on, i actually only made a profit on one of them (that being the bet365 rounders). All of the other sites i had just been a constant source of donations into the cyber coffers of those e-sharks just sat waiting for me to do something daft - they didn't have to wait long! - beleieve me!

Now, don't get me wrong, I am no mug at the poker table, i know i can play and i have won alot of money this year, which has allowed me to quit my job, move in with my girlfriend, pay off all my debts and generally stop feeling like i was still a student on the bread line.... However, my internet results were laughable, like really bad! So i did some research, asked alot of questions, talked to those that know internet poker, that win money and generally don't suck like me. My eyes were opened, i found it quite amazing what such seemingly little tit bits of advice could be so valuable - such simple things that most internet players take for granted i just didn't do.

I am a week in to my new approach to cyber poker and things are looking up. I initially went back to the rounders on bet365 as these were the only games i had shown a consistent profit on but i found them no longer to my taste during the day (when i mostly play), they didn't fill up quickly enough and although i would step up more often than not i found the whole process to be annoying as you are tied to those games and can't cash out until the top level. I found this to put too much pressure on that one game at the top so i decided to play elsewhere.

I now play mainly on bluesq at omaha cash, the odd MTT and SNG and its going ok. i am pretty much starting again now with a new view on things and a renewed vigour. - wish me luck!

So Far So So-So at Walsall

2005-11-25T11:52:00.000Z

Just got back from Walsall yesterday. I played the £300 and £500 freezeouts and i am going back for the £1500 main event on Saturday.

The £300 NLHE started really well for me, running my 7k starting stack up to 42.5k after 3 hours - that was massive at that stage - really huge stacked on my table with most having around the 13k mark and next biggest being 22k. I felt compelled to get aggressive and be the 'big stack', calling raises at will and re-raising late position raisers and not backing down if i felt my oppo was weak or if i sensed i was in a 50:50 coup. This ultimately led to the dessimation of my stack down to 30k by the 3rd break and i was pretty much back in the pack again fighting to stay above average.

I made the final day but went back 15th in chips out of 18 with little option but to move all in at the first opportunity. I got lucky when i finally moved all-in attempting to pinch the blinds with 5h6h against the chip leader's 99 when i turned and rivered a boat but he got his revenge five hands later when my 10-10 was no match for his KK, especially when he flopped a third king. - so that was me done in 13th for £300 - not even a 'cking profit!

However, my good mate Thewy won it in style and with total class. - £18,500! - 5% to his coach (thats me) and i was well in profit for the week without having to actually get a result myself.

The £500 comp was a non-event for me. I played fast and loose early and combined that with some timid folds and suspect calls i soon worked my starting 8k up to a whopping 3.1k by the time our table broke - grrrrrrrrrrr.

I prolonged tournament death for a bit longer before falling on my sword by calling all in with 8-8 in the cutoff to Latif's mid position raise. - He showed JJ and hooked another one on the flop and i was done for the day.

Never mind, there's always the main event, where i hope to repeat my achievements of february this year or even go one better. - you never know, even a blind pig can find the occasional acorn.

The Internet Cold Turkey Continues

2005-11-21T17:58:00.000Z

This post works best if read pretending you are that annoying geordie fella who voices over big brother.... "day twelve and all is quiet on the internet poker front"

Since my tantrum of twelve days ago, i haven't folded an e-card in anger and don't intend to for some time yet. I sometimes get the urge for a game but i am fighting it. Plenty to do in and out of my new house at the moment, so no excuses for falling into long boring sessions in front of the computer screen.

My live results have really perked up too - as i knew they would! 5 live games in eleven days (4 at Notts and 1 at Walsall - i have made three final tables and won a seat to the Walsall £1500 main event this Sunday coming). The omens are good as this is how i netted £38k in february - i knuckled down on my live game in the weeks prior, strung a few small results together and got in to the main event for less than £100 in the super sat. A full recollection of that result, the thoughts of the day and the battles and encounters that i had along the way can be found in the earlier posts of this blog. I hope to report more of the same next week.

Richard & Judy Talk Poker!?..... How Painful!

2005-11-16T17:49:00.000Z

Alright... so i am admitting i have nothing better to do than sit with lappie on my knee watching Richard & Judy in the afternoons but after i have had my bacon buttie and settled down to watch Deal or No Deal with Noel Edmonds i can't be arsed to move plus in the last week they have had two guests on that i thought might be interesting so i sat and watched (i really wish i hadn't) .... Mike Reid (Eastenders and all round funny man) and John Thompson (Fast Show, Cold Feet). However they both began telling R&J that they are poker addicts and that they really love the game etc etc. - queue interest from the tall smug one (Richard) and the fat ageing alchoholic one (Judy). - apparently they love poker too, especially when they go all in! - wow, i love the crap shoot all in aspect to poker too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Apparently, Mike Reid (just what are his poker credentials?) has released a DVD that not only tells you how to play poker but (and here's the best bit)... it tells you how to win at poker!.. whatever Mike!, whatever!

Now John Thompson is showing the annoying couple how to play Texas Hold'em! - OMG i have never witnessed anything so painful to the ears an eyes in all my life - i found it insulting!

When, where, how will this saturation of poker into the popular media stop! - I want to hear poker players with credentials talking poker i don't want to hear failed commedians, actors and useless celebrities telling me how they know when someone's bluffing and how its all in their DVD! - F**K OFF!

__end of rant__

I Really Can't Take Any More!

2005-11-11T16:19:00.000Z

Ok...
this is it, i am making a decision - i want no further part of the action! I am tired of losing and am tired of not trusting internet poker sites.

I have just played 7 hours per day for the last 2 days on pokerstars with no success at all. I feel I am playing well but can't achieve a result and further to my lack of success i have been logging my tournament and SNG departures as well as the beats i am receiving in the cash games. I can only conclude that not only do i suck beyond belief at internet poker (that has already been proven), but... I am also incredibly unlucky - do i sound like a loser? - well, thats because i am!

My last departure was a 2 outer on the bubble of a 100 SNG and i absolutely let rip - swearing and general shouting at the absolute top of my voice, laptop sent through mid air into the kitchen and my foot well and truly stubbed on the sofa. - My shout was so loud that one of the neighbours has just rung the doorbell to check out what was happening - nosey cow!

I feel there is no choice but to delete every single piece of internet poker software from my laptop (15 poker rooms) and just concentrate on my live game until after christmas. I have a very good record live, where i can look a guy in the eyes, have a laugh, smell fear and feel the strength of a bet. On-line this just isn't possible! - I am not a technical player, i play by feel and the net just doesn't do it for me... so, its over, no more, done, never again, deleted, game over, insert 10p. - Furthermore, i would never react to a beat in this way in a live card room and i don't like myself when i react like this so i am removing the problem and the risk of it happening again.

I am off to Ikea with the real poker girlie tonight to buy a new sofa then its to PC world for laptop repairs, then i'll stop by the 'big L' shop (a shop for losers) to buy a big holographic 'L' for my forehead.

Sunday, i'll be at gala for the £50 rebuy where i expect to get a result and will post the details on Monday.

thanks for listening

'the cyber-whinger'

BlondePoker Q&A

2005-11-11T12:18:00.000Z

My favourite poker forum at blondepoker.com are encouraging members to give answers to a series of questions to form a profile of each member as a reference guide for fellow 'blondeites'. Here's a copy of mine...

What is your BlondePoker username?

Junior or PokerGirlie (depends on my mood)

Which area do you live in?

Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire (although i class myself as a Mansfield lad!)

What is your marital status?

Single (but live with my girlfriend)

Do you have any children and/or pets?

Neither

When did you start playing poker?

Properly in 2002 - after i graduated. Before that - I played a little 1p-2p games at uni but we didnt really know the rules and everyone cheated - so i dont class that as proper poker.

Where can you be found playing live?

Mainly at Gala Nottingham but i get around alot to Napoleon's in Sheffield and the Grosvenor's in Walsall, Luton, Blackpool. I also travel around the rest of the UK and occasionally abroad playing alot of the Euro circuit events.

What is your favourite online site?

Pokerstars (but i can't win on it)

What is your handle there?

"_Jnr._" or "thecharge" or "Garageflower" (yes, i have 3 but so what, arrest me!)

What is the harshest beat you have inflicted on an opponent?

I'm not that type of player - i always get my money in whilst in front and seldom outdraw players. - you can class me as a solid rock type.

Who are your poker heroes?

I really like Daniel Negreanu for his attitude, thoughts on the game, style and results.

Who is your best friend in poker?

My Dad would be the person i talk the most to about poker (although he has totally different ideas about the game to me - he cant really play :-)). I am good friends with Tony Kendall - but he's a world-wide celebrity now and he don't mix with the commoners too much now :-). Julian Thew is also a very good poker friend, he is as nicer guy you could meet in poker and many young 'fullofattitude' players could learn alot from him in the way he conducts himself and behaves at the table.

What are your greatest accomplishments in poker?

Being able to give up my job that i really truly hated and be able to persue a life playing poker is probably my greatest accomplishment. Coming 2nd in the Midlands Medley at Walsall in February of this year - it won me a lot of money and really made my decision for me of what i was going to do for the rest of the year. Winning my heat and making the final in the televised William Hill GP this year against a truly world calss field made me very proud and i was walking on air for days.

What is your most embarrassing moment in poker?

Not really had many, i remember going back with big chips to the £300 freeze in walsall for the 2nd day and was back on the A38 within 35 minutes after doing the lot through terrible play and finally finishing it off by making a huge button over raise with K-10 (14 times the BB!) only to find fellow blondeite 'Hotdog' in the BB with KK writing his christmas list.

Which Blondepoker thread did you enjoy the most?

the 'Hello, I'm new' PokerGirlie thread... it worked a treat and exactly as planned - Colch Kiv, AdamM, RobHM, Ariston, Sunday8pm - i thankyou for your gullabilityness (new word)

The thing I love most about BlondePoker is?

The commaradary, the encouragement and the feeling of family and belonging. - i also love the fact that there are complete beginners and seasoned professionals and everything in between mixing with each other sharing their thoughts, feelings and opinions. - long may it continue.

My biggest pet hate in poker is?

I absolutely hate those players that chirp and cheer when they win a pot but are truly horrible when they lose or get outdrawn - i'm not naming names but i regularly play with a couple of players who are so badly behaved at the table. They swear at players, abuse dealers, throw cards and bang the table when they lose but as soon as they win a pot they are all sweetness and smiles - it is wrong! - anyone who loses with bad grace, behaves in this fashion but decides to win with smiles is a cancer to the game and action should be taken against them by the card rooms and casinos. I also really really hate smoking in card rooms - there is no need for it and smoking in card rooms should be banned.

What are your main interests outside poker?

Golf, football, my new house, messing about on the internet and errr.... poker.

Tell us something about yourself none of us would know

I could bore you with my golfing exploits and my +2 (better than scratch) handicap but i wont, instead i'll tell you that I suffer from diabetes (not many people know that) and have done since i was 16 (not an easy time to develop the condition). I inject myself with insulin between 4 and 5 times a day and check my blood sugars up to 6 times a day. It can be a real ball ache during long tournaments but you just learn to live with it.

What is your favourite pie filling?

Chicken and Mushroom

Who is your favourite singer?

Crispin Hunt of 'Longpigs' but i also like Cat Stevens, Paul Weller and many many more guitar based, singer and song writers. - I absolutely detest fake pop idol, x-factor type acts that the charts and shelves are littered with these days - it is ruining UK independent music as proper bands that play their own music and write their own songs don't get the chance to grow and shine in the current Uk music scene.

What is your favourite song?'

A Parting Gesture' by The Bluetones from their album Expecting to Fly

Who is your ideal man or woman?

Sickbags at the ready.... My ideal woman is my girlfriend.. she is strong, independent, loving, generous, kind, courteous and she is so supportive of everything i do. - she is everything i could want in a woman.Apart from her, i would have to at a push go for Keira Knightly.

What is your favourite holiday destination?

I usually combine going away with poker and recently went to Vegas and most recently Laughlin (both in the States). I havent really got a favourite destination, i think holidays are more about the people you are with and what you make of it.

If I could change one thing about myself I would?

I would become a winning internet player instead of the calling station, loose, indisciplined fish that i am right now.

Internet Poker? - I Suck?

2005-11-04T11:36:00.000Z

I was in Sheffield on Wednesday for the £100 PLH re-buy affair. Nothing to report about the comp as it was largely uneventful for me, i never got any chips and eventually had to gamble on a 50:50 shot which flipped the wrong side up for me and i was out. It was an enjoyable evening though and i ran into a few guys i hadn't really seen much of since Vegas and it was good to catch up and have a bit of a chat.

I was talking to Steve 'womble' Walmsley before the comp and like myself he has recently put work to one side in order to concentrate on his poker. We got talking about how much we have been playing and whether or not we thought we could make a crust playing on-line. In Vegas i had declared i was going to master the bloody game when i got home and become an English version of a Scandie whizz, raking in millions from the on-line gravy train. - so naturally Steve enquired as to my successes... I could only reply with a folorn look and declare that "i suck at internet poker". Steve, naturally now has more time on his hands during the day and has ventured onto the cyber tables and is breaking even (that would be a result to me!) Anyway, we concluded that you need very different skill sets for the live game and internet games. I am very much a live player who thrives on the banter and the action of a 'proper' game but i am looking for some advice from wining on-line players and am interested in their experiences, tactics and results and hopefully i can learn something that will help my own game...

so,.... what i am saying is if anyone wants to post some comments and offer some advice, i am prepared to listen (cap in hand, baking humble pie).

thanks!

Off to Sheffield this afternoon for the super sat to the £750 NLH freezeout with the competition proper starting at 8pm tonight - lets hope i can get back to what i know - the live stuff and winning!

The William Hill Poker Grand Prix

2005-10-27T17:28:00.000+01:00

I was lucky enough to be invited to play in the 1st ever William Hill Grand Prix last week. 56 players (and I mean ‘players’) would battle it out for the £150k first prize (buoyed by the £144k added by William Hill), but at £6k to enter I would only be in for 50% of the winnings as I decided it best and most sensible to sell 50% of myself to some nice friendly backers – I have a mortgage now you know and I got to be careful not to overplay my bankroll on too many occasions. I wasn’t initially in the competition and didn’t make the list for the first televised draw but due to some late drop outs (scared runners IMO :-) ) I managed to get in. I can’t tell you how delighted I was to be asked to play as I am sure this will be the event that everyone will be talking about in 2005 as the structure and line up was just phenomenal.

The event was being filmed at the Enfys studios in Cardiff by the same company that put together ‘Late Night Poker’ (the very program that first got me into this beautiful game). I traveled down to Cardiff on the Friday night as my heat was on the Saturday. I intended to get there late evening and just settle down for the night so I was fresh and ready for my heat, however… I spoke to my good friend Julian Thew (who was also playing) earlier in the week and he told me that the whole experience was just amazing (from the studio, the set, the green room, the food and the hospitality) so I decided to head down a little earlier and hopefully catch some action from the Friday heat.

When I got there, I realized Julian wasn’t bluffing… William Hill and presentable Ltd had put on an awesome show and really had gone to town on making this feel like a massively important event. The set was amazing and all the action could be followed live (without hole cards of course) by the audience and other players in the lounge style green room on a huge plasma TV from the comfort of a big plush sofa… yes, it was heaven. Friday’s heat ended around 10pm and we all headed back in the people carriers provided to the Hilton hotel in Cardiff city centre.

I knew the line up for my heat and immediately set about introducing myself to the rest of the guys I would be up against (I knew them but they didn’t know me sort of thing). I met Brian ‘the rookie’ Wilson who let me try on his WSOP bracelet (which looks a bit like cheap tat but on closer inspection is solid gold and contains real diamonds – wow!). Brian is a really interesting guy who hasn’t actually been playing poker that long but he’s full of confidence, enthusiasm and is a pleasure to have a drink with. I also ran into Barney Boatman, who is a real gent too and I met up with Marc Goodwin, who is big cash game player and mates with Dave Colclough and strangely enough he also knows the entire Warwickshire County Golf side, which I know so well myself and so love to beat. The Scandies in our heat were either flying in the following morning or were in their rooms playing a 1 million – 2 million limit hold em’ game.

I was loving it; I felt part of the game and couldn’t wait to get going the following morning. Bed time for me - later than planned at 1:30am – grrrr! (Poker stories mixed with poker players and free booze = late night).

To be honest, I didn’t sleep that well, partly due to the noise outside my room at 3am but mainly due to some excitement and anticipation of what lay ahead for me the following day. When I finally got out of bed I had an hour for breakfast before our driver was due to arrive to collect us at the hotel. I thought I would be nervous but I really wasn’t – I knew I could win my heat; I just needed to stay focused.

We arrived at the studio and I was immediately called into make-up - WTF? (Oh well, I suppose wearing foundation and concealing cream is a small price to pay for being on the telly). The TV interviews were swift and I thought mine went well – probably a few too many ‘er’s’ and ‘well’s’ but we’ll see when it’s shown. I was then asked if I would pose for a few still shots and sign a poker table, which was to be auctioned for charity – of course I will, I couldn’t wait to get my name on the same table as all those stars. The charity table was an awesome site, with the baize almost full to the edges of the names of all the top players that had participated throughout the week. As my heat was the second last one there wasn’t much room left and nearly everyone had signed their names already. I just stood there looking at all the names and then it hit me… I was where I wanted to be, playing in a TV tournament with all the big names that I had grew up admiring and I just felt so at home and so ready to win. – Let me at em’, it was time to show the world what I was capable of.

With the sound checks completed, final foundation applied, instructions on how to place your cards on the glass completed it was over to 8ft 4inch giant Thomas Kremser to issue us with our final instructions. The excitement was building, the sound of riffling chips increasing and the fight for dominant male was about to begin – and I for one wasn’t about to let myself get eaten up and spat out by these guys. – “shuffle up and deal”.

You’ll have to wait until it airs on channel 425 in December though to see the action as I am not allowed to reveal who won or how it went but one thing is for sure it will make GREAT TV and I can’t wait to watch it.

The Grosvenor Grand Prix (sponsored by Bluesq.com) – Trip Report

2005-10-20T10:40:00.000+01:00

One of the best value tournaments of the year; I qualified along with 214 others for the 2005 Grosvenor Grand Prix, which was held at Walsall this weekend (15th & 16th October). This was the first time I had qualified for the event and was really looking forward to it. It’s a unique event in that you can only play by qualifying and you CAN’T buy-in to it. This gives the competition a unique feel to any other big prize pool event as the standard of play is moderate and none of the big names can come along and just stump up the entry fee – you have to qualify!

The event was split into 2 flights as Grosvenor had been caught out by the number of people qualifying and they didn’t have enough tables to accommodate the massive field of qualifying hopefuls… yeah right! They could have got us all in if they really wanted to and if course they kept all the roulette and black-jack tables running… Oh, and they also managed to squeeze in 3 cash tables, which obviously charged a rake! – Its really about time that casinos were required to accommodate big competitions properly and if they were going to lose money by doing so then the so called ‘sponsors’ and the take, take, take TV companies that film these events should make up that short fall by adding money to the competitions to cover the casinos costs and provide value to the players that they exploit. (William Hill excluded as they are running a ‘for TV only’ tournament next week with a whopping and fantastic £120,000 added! – big-up to William Hill and massive congratulations to them for taking the lead in looking after players and providing good value into a big tournament – more of the same from the rest would be nice!

Anyway… rant over – back to Walsall. I won my first coin flip of the day before the competition had even started by drawing a seat in the first flight, which meant that unlike 50% of the field I didn’t have to kill 7 hours before I could get my game under way – sadly, this would be the only 50:50 coup I would come out best in.

I had drawn a fantastic table in that it seemed to be full of nervous players that I didn’t recognise; therefore I expected the action to be very tight early on. The only faces I recognised or knew anything about were Phil “I would hate to win the WSOP” Peters and Paul “I can talk for England” Parker, so I really fancied being able to build a stack and run over the table, but to be honest I started badly. I was playing fast and loose but not really in a commanding fashion, it was more a display of stack self-demolition mixed with loose calls, all of which meant that at the first break I had doubled down rather than up and only had 5,000 of my 10,000 starting stack left – looks like a delve into my back pocket for plan B was required.

I met up with Stuart Fox and Tom “Red-Dog” McCready at the break. Tom had also doubled down but Stuart was in great shape with about 19,000. As poker players do, we discussed how it was going and I admitted to playing “like a ****” and not being able to stop myself. This, along with a quick look at the chips on the other tables seemed to kick me into action and I decided I was going back to my table with the sole purpose of playing good poker and attempting to at least get back to my starting 10,000 at the next break.

The 3rd hand back after the break found me staring down at QQ in 3rd position but UTG had limped (which I didn’t like). I had to define my hand there and then and made the full pot-sized raise – everybody passed except for matey boy limper who without hesitation moved all in – grrrrrrrrrrrr! It broke my already damaged heart but after a long dwell (Carlo Citrone style) I reluctantly passed the hand leaving myself with 2600 in chips and technically still in the game. I half thought I should have just called as I was so low in chips but in reality what hand could this guy have? And what else would he make that move with against the table low stack in a pot limit tournament? – I got my answer when he flipped over his AA accompanied with a smile! – Well at least I made the correct decision and prevented my exit along with adding 2600 to Mr Smug’s stack!

I managed to get a double up soon after the break. I then ducked, dived and pinched for a level and then doubled up once more through a great situation where I flopped two pairs in the small blind against another guy with a smaller two pairs in the big blind. All of a sudden I was up to 14000 and back in the game. I really had a feeling of satisfaction – I could have been out of this tournament about 19 thousand (no exaggeration!) times already and every time I took a step forward I seemed to take two steps back. I really felt that passing my QQ with only 2600 chips remaining had kept me in the game and could ultimately help me to go on and win the competition. – Sadly it wasn’t to be. Two big hands in the space of 45 minutes put paid to my dreams of progressing in the competition when my re-raise with KK ran into a monstrous A-9 and my re-raise with A-J against a perpetual thieving raiser failed to stand up when he made a value call with J-9 and spiked the 9 on the turn. – There’s nothing like a 3 outer to send you to the rail! – Grrrrrr!

Oh well, there’s always next week – looks like I am going from one grand prix to the next. I am a late entrant into the televised William Hill Grand prix with my heat being at the Enfys TV studios in Cardiff on Saturday 22nd October. It should be plain sailing really as I only have two WSOP bracelet winners, a Hendon Mobster and a European Champion in my line up so I expect to be in the final the following Tuesday. I’ll let you know how I do next week – providing that I am allowed – it could be that I am obliged to keep the result quiet until the whole show has been aired on TV – we’ll see!

Sorry?... Why be sorry to win?

2005-10-11T23:18:00.000+01:00

I decided to play the £15k guarenteed on crypto tonight - (£50 entry, 288 runners and £4200 for the lucky fish that wins it).

It started slowly as always and i managed to build my 2,000 starting stack up to a whopping 2,010! - thats huge for me and right in my comfort zone!

After the break, i managed to find a few hands and a few situations in which to press home my advantage and as a result i got paid and i began to build some chips. I made a good call with my JJ on a KsKc4s board after i was check raised all in by the small blind who had called my initial raise pre-flop and checked the flop to me. I just didnt feel he had the king (spidey sense you know!) and I actually put him on the flush draw - i was right, well almost! :-) (just call me mystic greg) he had 99 but i didnt care as my jacks held up and i was up to 8,000.

I started to pick up some hands and i was raising fairly frequently pre-flop but i had the goods each time. I could sense the table beginning to question the authenticity of my raises somewhat and eventually one of their number decided to put me through the ultimate lie-detector test (known as the all-in re-raise), as it happens i was holding AQ and i decided to fold.

The very next hand i pick up QQ in early position and make my standard raise and again i get re-raised from mid-positon by a different player. The re-raise bet is half my stack to call, so thats what i decided to do, - he has 9-9, so obviously i am a huge favourite in the hand. The board pairs and brings all low cards until that goddam, fecking, ugly 9 came on the river. I sigh and get ready for the next hand with the remaining chips (half the stack they use to be!) when.... (and back to the whole point of this post) My opponent types in the chat box "sorry", (grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!),

Oh my good god yes, this did provoke a reaction from me and a bit of a strongly worded anger fuelled rhetort back to the mungrel claiming to be deeply saddened by my great loss but it also did lead me to think.... why be sorry to win? - Surely this guy isn't so sorry that he wants to give me back my chips or offer me 50% of his winnings! - in fact the toe rag was probably running around his bedroom humping his dog when the 9 rivered! - so why say it? - i honestly dont think it was to wind me up, i just think it was an unecessarry throw away comment that in that sitaution isn't required but is oh so often used.

There is a moral to this story.... I urge fellow players in this situation never ever to say sorry. It is wrong, it winds people up and it means nothing! - you are not sorry! - My suggestion is to say nothing or perhaps say 'unlucky', but really saying nothing is the very best thing you can say.

How did it end? - if your not bothered then don't read on.

A very similar hand developed (in fact i was holding QQ again) about 25 minutes later when i was down to 12 big blinds and a further beat put me out of the comp. - tell me just how do you call a 7X the bet re-raise with K-Jo?

I went on to finish 27th for £75 - rubbish!

PokerStars Blogger Championship

2005-10-07T16:41:00.000+01:00

I have registered to play in the
Online Poker Blogger Championship!

This event is powered by PokerStars.

Registration code: 6505119

Sit N' Go's (The Cardinal Rules!)

2005-10-07T15:18:00.000+01:00

I have been playing a lot of sit n' go's recently but without the success i had about 9-10 months ago. I am still winning and feel they suit my game but i wasn't winning with th frequency i was used to so i dug out this little beauty i created about a year ago. It was a little self berrating checkilst that i created for sit n' go's. I swear by it! Maybe you'll find it useful, maybe not!

1. Play only Sit N Go’s and the odd MTT. Stay away from cash games – you totally suck at cash and will lose!

2. Patience is word of the day every day – you Muppet!

3. Do not get involved early on when the blinds are low unless you have a very good genuine starting hand.

4. No limping from early or middle position with shit connectors unless it is very cheap, you have good pot odds and the table hasn’t had much raising action – limping corrodes your stack!

5. If you have ignored point three because you are an idiot and you have limped with suited connectors, do not get married to your top pair! Only continue to the turn and river if you have hit two pair or have a pair with a 4-flush draw or you are up and down for the top straight. – Make sure you properly assess the odds, implied odds and value.

6. Do not make stupid bluffs when you are chipped up with four to go (five to go in a 2-table).

7. Do not make loose in-disciplined calls when you are chipped up with four to go (five to go in a 2-table) just because you can afford it. STOP PAYING PEOPLE OFF WHEN YOU THINK / KNOW THEY HAVE IT!!!!

8. When you bet out at a pot and you are called – think what they are calling with. If there is an obvious draw there then put them on that sought of hand. They may be calling with 2nd pair and a draw. If there is no obvious draw there then they could well have a monster like a set so beware. Don’t just blindly bet into people, bluffing all your money away!

9. Just because you are in the blinds it doesn’t mean you HAVE to get involved! – assess the hand for what it is. The cards don’t miraculously double in value just because you have money invested and you are in the blinds. - (Note to idiot self; playing after the flop whilst in the blinds means you are out of position!!

10. Do not get involved when you are chipped up with four to go (five to go in a 2-table) unless you have the nuts or are calling a smallish all in bet with an extremely good hand in order to knock out a player.

11. Play only one sit and go at a time!

12. Give it your full concentration in the latter stages (6 or less left and blinds increasing) – do not fucking e-bay, Hotmail or bank whilst playing!

13. Bluffing should not be done for entertainment or because you are trying to buy your way out of an earlier mistake. Bluffing is a science that will only work when there are few people to play against. You will know when the time is right, if the feeling is wrong and you know you’re probably going to get called then just fucking resist temptation and be patient!

14. When you get to the prizes don’t just go for coin flips and gambles, still keep it tight and trap. You want to win not just come third!

What’s in a question?

2005-10-07T15:15:00.000+01:00

I read an interview recently with a well respected and successful high stakes tournament player. He mentioned that he always likes to talk to his opponents during a game in order to gather information, which he can later use to support his decisions when playing against them. I thought about this myself and wondered for a while exactly what he meant by this statement and it wasn’t until recently that I realized that he was on to something here. At key stages in a game and in certain situations you can use the power of questioning to your advantage when trying to ascertain the strength of your opponent’s hand.

Now... I am not talking about pulling out your pocket hot lamp and interrogating a guy until he says something like “I’ve got aces, I’ve got aces now leave me alone” – because as we all know that aint gonna happen, we are playing poker not cops and robbers! What I am however trying to get across is that the best way to find out what somebody is holding in their starting hand is to process all the information you have available to you, for example what did he do pre-flop, how did he bet the flop, was he confident etc but also to generate some additional information that might not be immediately available through asking a question or two. The power of questioning and the subsequent responses you get will also add to this jigsaw of information that you are so desperately trying to piece together in a very short space of time. Obviously the guy you are facing doesn’t have to respond but what have you got to lose just by asking?!

Confused? Well… let me tell you about a hand I played very recently in the final of the £100 PLH event at Gala Notts that may help you understand exactly how asking pertinent questions at the right time will reveal much more information than you might think.

I am sat two from the button and haven’t yet looked at my cards. There are still nine players remaining and the chips are fairly evenly spread as we all have between 40,000 and 90,000 each. There is a mid-position raise by Greek Jack Dionysiou, who is a solid performer and capable of getting aggressive with a whole range of hands. We are playing pot limit with the blinds at 5-10K so he pumps it up to 35K. The action gets to me and I look at my cards. I have A-Qo and my immediate reaction is that this is marginal and I almost throw it away out of respect for the early raise. However, I am in an attention seeking mood so I place my ‘lucky’ medal on my cards and examine my stack. I have 75K and could throw this away easily and still be in the hunt but I decide that I haven’t seen many of Jack’s hands tonight and want some information on what he is up to, so I decide to throw him a question.

“How much more you playing there Jack?”

Now I know that he has another 50K because I already did a quick count when I glanced across at him but I need to ask him directly to see how he responds. Jack looks briefly down to his chips and says

“about another 80 thousand”.

Now let me tell you that jack is a canny character with plenty of savvy and I would bet that at all points in the game he knows to within one chip how many he has so his response seemed a little fishy to me as he has grossly overstated his remaining chip count. I decide it s time to get clarity on this and plump for another question. I pick up my remaining chips and hold them slightly off the table as if they are about to go in play and ask

“Looks more like fifty thousand to me Jack – are you sure”?

He immediately responds with

“well, I got more than you anyway”.

This comment seemed a little too defensive for Jack who normally likes to mix it up and happily calls re-raises at will. It seems to me like Jack is not fancying the prospect of a caller or a re-raise. I ask one more question just to get a reaction as I now think he could be on the steal with a weak ace and I say

“are you trying to talk me out of it”?

Jack didn’t respond as he now knows I got his number, he just shrugged and let out a little laugh at my comment. I don’t want to waste any more time as we are inevitably heading for a chip count and I decide it s time to make my choice. I put him on a weak ace or a small pair. If it is a weak ace then my A-Q is dominating and I want to get all my chips in against him. If he has a small pair then I am even money. Faced with the prospect of being at worst even money to take the pot and become chip leader I decide I am going to move all in for another 40K on top of his initial raise. There is a slight chance that Jack may pass his hand if I am dominating but I have now gained enough information to base my decision. I announce “all in”.

Jack called after a slight deliberation and flipped over his cards. Was I correct in my assessment of his hand? Well… he was stronger than I expected, he had 7-7. I went on to catch an Ace and take down the pot but that is irrelevant. What I did here and what the moral of the story is I took information from a person when it wasn’t necessarily or publicly available. I managed this through asking a pertinent question or two in order to try and assess the strength of his hand. This allowed me to make a decision on whether I wanted to risk my tournament on a move with a marginal hand or whether I should pass and fight it out later with a better opportunity.

Why not try this a time or two in your next game and see how your fair – don’t do it every hand and with the blinds at 25-50 though or you might just get yourself lynched by the ‘lets shovel em in and gamble’ brigade.

The Biggie - Then there were 3!

2005-10-07T15:11:00.000+01:00

Once we were down to three players, myself and El Blondie had a huge chip advantage over Chris Singh and I knew whoever got his remaining chips would have a huge edge heads up. Chris began to play very, very, very aggressively. He had not played a hand all night and suddenly he began raising all in pre-flop every other hand. After about the 5th all-in he announced he was a crazy ‘terrorist’ (a nickname I now always use whenever I see him). If only Dave or I could find a hand to take him out with. The very next all in on my big blind I found QK and decided to take a stand, knowing that if I lost I would be still slightly in front of him in chips but if I won I would take him out and go up against one of poker’s true greats with a slight chip lead. I also fancied my QK was the best hand… and it was!- Chris flipped over the 8-10 of diamonds, so I am in front but he has 2 live suited and connecting cards which makes me about 60% favourite. The flop brought a 10 and no help for me and Chris doubled up – not a problem! I was still second in chips and felt ok. Chris didn’t slow down and began making big raises and all-in manoeuvres again and again until he overtook me in chips. El Blondie was waiting for a hand and me likewise. The whole texture of the contest had changed and Chris was dominating. Then the following hand develops in the blinds… El Blondie makes it 4 times the BB to go and Chris moves all in. Dave thinks for a while and decides to call, figuring his hand to be in not hat bad a shape. Dave turns over QK and amazingly Chris turns over the 4-5 of diamonds! - A 4 on the flop brings a grimace from Dave and I but a Q on the turn sends Chris out of the competition and sets a heads up clash between myself (the little know lad from Notts.) and one of poker’s real tough guy opponents (Dave El-Blondie Colclough).

Heads Up….

The heads up battle took longer to get under way than it did to finish. Dave had a huge 2:1 chip lead over me and I failed to make any head way at all in the battle. Every time I raised he moved all in or pushed me off the pot and every time he raised I had absolute rags. The final hand was a remarkable one. The blinds were really beginning to hurt me and I had to get aggressive or I was gong to just die slowly so I made some action and raised all in with K6 and amazingly got called by Dave with K7! I am not sure to this day why he called, unless he could sense I was at-it but he had me severely dominated in this situation. However, the board brought K6A, which put me in great shape and would have doubled me up to within reach of Dave. The turn brought a 3, which was a great card for me but the river brought another ace, which gave us both the same two pair but his 7 kicker was the decisive card and I was eliminated in 2nd place for a life changing personal best of £37,000!

In truth I was hurting inside a little but was really delighted with my result and my play. I couldn’t wait to go home and check out Poker in Europe.com to see my name in the results section and see where I stood in the rankings. I had achieved everything I had wanted to achieve from the 2 days and so much more. I was over the moon and had a real taste for the tournament scene. Could 2005 really be my year?

The Biggie - The Final Table!

2005-10-07T14:48:00.000+01:00

I was one of the short stacks going into the final but I knew that a double up would move me into the top 4, so my plan was to take a shot a doubling through early on. I knew the play was going to be cagey from the outset and decided that I was going to be the one making the early action. I nick the blinds a couple of times (not easy when they belong to El Blondie!), the button passes and I post the money that I have stolen.

I am then the recipient of the AK of hearts UTG and decide there and then barring a huge sign that I am miles behind, I am going all the way with this baby. I have about 15 big blinds at this stage so an all-in would be a huge over-bet so I decide to make a standard pot-sized raise. Everyone folds to the BB, who is young Scandinavian and top bloke Henning Granstad. He thinks for a few seconds and pushes all in. I think for a while and although I put him on a decent pair, something tells me he isn’t that strong (i.e. Not KK or AA) and being one of the guys shorter chipped than myself I read him for a move and the worst shape I feel I’m in is 50:50. I don’t like to play potential coin flips but saw this as a great opportunity to double through and get in the game so I called. Henning showed JJ and I flip over my AK and we race for the now sizeable pot. The board comes all low cards until the river brings my King! – Henning out in 9th and I double through.

I’ve now got chips and the confidence flows like a river through my veins. I begin to play, taking on all comers, steeling, re-steeling and generally dancing like Fred Astaire – it feels like heaven.

The rest of the players begin to freeze and the odd hand develops between them and I continue to play and look to accumulate chips whilst everyone else is sitting quietly on their chips. We lose a few more of the short stacks including Trevor Reardon and Justin Turner and suddenly we are down to 4 players. I look around the table and I am just chip leader, with El Blondie in 2nd, Stuart Fox in 3rd and Chris Singh in 4th.

Stuart and El Blondie clash and an all-in coup develops with A-J versus 99 respectively. The first card down is the jack of spades and Stuart punches the air but running spades for El-Blondie gives him a 9-high flush and eliminates Stuart in 4th.

It all becomes a bit of a blur to me as player after player keeps busting out. I glance up at the clock and prize structure displayed on the screen and suddenly realise I am guaranteed £20k. This was the first time I had even thought about the money – I had deliberately not looked at the board to try and maintain focus, making a note on my own watch when the blind intervals were due to increase. I was ecstatic inside, this would be a life changing amount of money, which could rid me of debt and allow me maybe to leave my job that I so hated. I had to maintain focus though as 2nd was £37k and 1st a whopping £70k!

The Biggie – Part 3

2005-09-04T14:25:00.000+01:00

Following my gargantuan tussle with one of European poker’s true scary greats, I embarked on a steal-fest, praying on the small stacks and picking off small un-contested pots along the way. I managed to run my good stack up to a big stack and no-one wanted to play with me as we were approaching the bubble. I think I pushed my luck a little too far in the end and lost a couple of good-sized pots and found myself doing a re-assessment and I decided to slow it down a little and hold out until the final as I was comfortably above average chips and there were a few low stacks around.

A few more players, including Action Jack, Ian McDonald, and John Shipley eventually busted out and we were down to that elusive place to be – the final table!

I racked up my chips and kept having to pinch myself. I was heading for the final table of my first ever big competition and I felt like I had a real shot at winning.

There was a bit of a delay in starting the final table as there was a TV table being set up with hole-card cameras and lights – very swish for Walsall! We also had to provide the organisers with a little information about us – what we had won, nicknames etc as we were to be introduced to the crowd (about 20 strong) as we came through the doors at the back of the card room (stars in their eyes style). It was all very exciting and I was itching to get going.

After all the pomp and ceremony and the really uninteresting introduction of a lad from Nottinghamshire with no pedigree who had qualified his way into the event, we finally got going. I had drawn seat 9, to my left was Dave ‘El Blondie’ Colclough and to my right was Stuart Fox and Henning Granstad – this was going to be tough!.. but I couldn’t wait.

The Biggie – Part 2

2005-08-27T17:49:00.000+01:00

Day 2 arrives and to be honest I was tired. I elected to drive home (75 minutes) rather than stay over and I really didn’t sleep that well but I’m cooking on adrenaline now and I aint going to let a little thing like sleep deprivation get me down.

I arrive at the casino early again and decide to get some food. I sit having breakfast with Justin Turner from Luton who is still in but low stacked and Garry Bush, who I didn’t really know at the time but was very friendly nonetheless – this settles me down a little but I was starting to feel the nervous anticipation of a long days poker.

38 players soon become 30 and we are down to 3 tables (the last 2 get paid). The play significantly tightened up now as we approached the bubble and I really haven’t made much ground and I can feel the need to make a move. I try a late position raise and get re-raised by John Shipley (he is a GREAT player who I’m sure can smell fear and weakness like a hungry lion) – I get the message, act like the pray that i am and fold. The very next round, I try again but this time I have a hand (A-J), I raise and he pushes all-in… grrrrrr! Again, I fold and he gives me that “don’t you ever learn” look. I am now really starting to feel like I am being out-played by these guys and decide that next time that Shipley fella comes for me I aint backing off.

About 30 minutes passes and I have took a few pots down uncontested and have built my stack back up to quite healthy, the confidence is back and I switch to ‘auto-steal’. Its Shipley’s blind again now and look down and see J-9. I make a smallish raise and it folds round to my nemesis. He gives that stare again but I decide to fix the stare back – he re-raises me about a third of his stack but this time I aint backing down! – The best way to deal with a bully is hit him right between the eyes, so I quickly wave my arms forward and say “I’m all-in”. I couldn’t quite believe what I just said, it was like it wasn’t me, it was like I had been possessed. I almost felt like apologising, taking my chips back and admit I was bluffing, but it was done now –I had moved all my chips in with J-9 on a pre-flop re-re-raise! – I just had to fix my stare and convince him I had a hand. He gave me that look that you see serial killers fixing their prison wardens with in the movies and I swear for just one moment, he was going to call. He thought for what seemed like an eternity and eventually he passed! – I think my huge sigh coupled with a reach for my water gave it away that I had nothing but he mucked, I had the chips and I felt like a Roman gladiator astride a dead lion, spear aloft with the crowd baying for more blood. – I had the taste for it, I could feel a gear change and the crowd weren’t going to leave disappointed.

The Biggie!

2005-08-27T11:50:00.000+01:00

Armed with gallons of enthusiasm and a plentiful supply of confidence I took my feeling of belonging to table 4, seat 5, where I find, amongst others, Tim Flanders, Shaf and Koresh. I look around and making his way to the table behind me is Willie Tann who sits directly behind me (back to back). I can’t believe how much I feel at home and don’t really have any nerves at all – I’m ready for battle!

I’m not sat down long, in fact it’s the first hand and I’m dealt 9-9 in mid-position with a couple of early limpers already in the pot. I decide to limp as well and hope to see a flop… with a big juicy 9 on it! The flop comes down J-4-9 (she’s there!) UTG checks and Shaf (a leery, loud, fast action player from Blackpool) fires out at the pot… on every street (the turn is a 2 and the river an A). I call him all the way and eventually re-raise all in on the river – he mucks and shouts for chips (it’s a double chance freeze-out) and I’m nerve free and up to nearly 10K with another 5K in reserve whenever I want them.

The first break arrives, I get my additional 5K and I am up to 29K and from a quick straw poll around the bar looks like I am in the chip leader – it surely couldn’t get any better!

Following the break, I keep it tight for a few hours, opening up when I get the opportunity and try to accumulate some more chips. My good friend; Tony Kendall arrives at my table and immediately points at me and then at my stack and declares to the entire table that “I am the biggest ‘at-it merchant’ this side of the M6”… I sigh, groan, protest but to be honest it ensured that a few of my big hands get paid off and I manage to win a lot of small to medium-sized pots when called with weaker hands (they got the impression I was at-it – thanks Tikay!) - In short it’s going exactly to plan.

The day started with 147 players and they all seem to be dropping likes flies despite the 10K in starting chips, low blinds and slow clock. We reach the end of play of day 1 at 3:30am and there are 38 players left, I am 6th in chips and have a lovely table to return to the next day, which contains Paul ‘Action Jack’ Jackson, Sonny Nirinja, John Shipley, Stuart Fox and Joseph Grech (I could have wished for easier opponents) but, hey, where playing for big money now… this aint no £20 re-buy!

Prelude to my first biggie!

2005-08-26T12:19:00.000+01:00

I arrived at Walsall early to ensure i wouldn't be late and to get a feel for a big event. I was so excited and at the same time a little nervous. This was my first really big poker competition and although i felt i could hold my own, i didn't really know what to expect. I knew the field would be strong and i knew that most of the big names would be there in search of some early season ranking points... I wasn't wrong!

I met up with my good friend (and now poker celebrity) Tony 'Tikay' Kendall for a coffee before the game as he said he would introduce me to a few 'faces' and help me get a feel for who was who.

I got to the bar and Tony was there talking to William Hill couple 'Smokin' Steve Vladar and his partner Xuyen 'Bad Girl' Pham. I joined them for a drink and immediately felt a part of the scene. I drifted in and out of conversation with them as my head span with the faces that i recognised from seeing poker on the T.V. and from reading poker magazines and internet articles. The Devilfish, Koresh, Simon Trumper, John Shipley, Dave Colclough to name but a few were circling like sharks ready for action. I felt a certian dread but a real tingle of anticipation and excitement and couldn't wait to get involved.

The start of something purple!

2005-08-25T19:26:00.000+01:00

January came and went and i was still stuck in monotonous office hell. I was working hard on my game and studying articles, books, internet forums (whilst in the office of course) all in the search of key bits of information and tips to help me in my quest for poker stardom.

Then came February............ 'the purple patch'

The first Sunday of the month is the £100 re-buy at Nottingham Gala. Poker was really starting to take off in the UK and Notts was no exception. Over 100 runners produced a £30k prize pool and yours truly took first place in a chip count for £7800 - my biggest ever win! Now my desire for the game was higher than ever and i was brimming with confidence and felt i couldn't lose. Armed with my new bankroll, I decided i would start and play some of the minor festival events in the UK for the next few months and see how we go.

The following week i drive to Walsall for the £25 rebuy super satellite to the main event of the Midlands Medley. There were 90 runners and it produced 3 seats.. and yes, i got one! This gained me entry into a £1500 buy-in event for just £25. - I couldn't have been more over the moon, i was delighted and of course brimming with confidence. - bring me Devilfish, Surinder, Rokach.. i'll take em all on!

2005 - 'The year of the Greg'

2005-07-31T22:20:00.000+01:00

2005 was a new year and with a new year comes the obligatory New Years Resolutions (NYR's). I had decided that this was to be my year, 'the year of the Greg'. I hated my job and realised i was never going to have the brass necked, hard faced qualities that it takes to be a personnel officer for the rest of my life (although looking people in the eye and pretending to care about their problems really set me in good stead for becoming a seasoned bluffer and mover at the poker table!)
I set about making resolutions that would make a difference to my life and focus on me and what was best for my interests. This is an abridged version of the lengthy list of 'targets' (NYR's) i set for myself:

1. Have an aim in life by Quarter 1
2. Have an action plan firmly in place and up and running by Quarter 2
3. Leave boring office job
4. Play more poker
5. write poker articles
6. Live the dream (i always include this but never know what I mean as I am an aimles bum and a waster)

Early on in the year i had worked out that number 1 really encompassed the rest of the targets and number 6 was really to emulate Anthony Holden and spend time as a professional poker player.... i just needed that big win to set me free from my monotonous hell at the office and surely 2005 would become 'The year of the Greg'.

In the Beginning....The Next Generation Anthony Holden

2005-07-28T12:04:00.000+01:00

Ever read a book written by Anthony Holden called 'Big Deal.. a year in the life of a professional poker player'? Well, that's where it all started. Ever since i began playing poker i knew it was what I wanted to do forever and ever since i read that book i knew i wanted to emulate the author and spend a year as a professional poker player.

For a couple of years i had played poker at my local casino with my father Geoff and the regular stoney, withered faced regulars in the £20 re-buy competitions on a Thursday. I had a real lack of understanding of the game to begin with but my passion for the game was beyond anything i had ever known, i simply couldn't wait for Thursday's to come around, i simply loved to play.
As my first few years went by, my passion for poker grew and grew. I began to play more often and started entering larger buy-in tournaments. I played the monthly £100 re-buy tournament at Gala Nottingham for the first time in 2003 and finalled as the big stack at my first attempt and proceeded to demolish the whole lot (chips that is.. not players) and went out 7th.

This wetted my appetite for more and gradually i branched out to some of the smaller UK circuit events at glamorous venues such as Luton, Sheffield and Walsall but sadly to no avail. But having rubbed shoulders with the big boys and having the taste for big time poker firmly planted in my mouth i carried on playing and studying the game and the hunger for more became stronger. At about this time i was reccommended the book 'Big Deal' by a regular at Nottingham so set about locating it on Amazon. I placed my order and within hours of opening its pages i was hooked and by the time it was finished i knew this was my calling.. it was where i wanted to be and what i wanted to experience, but stuck in my mind numbing office job i didn't have the means or chance to try it. - I just needed that one big win, that big score that would give me a chance. Would it be round the corner?..... you bet it was!