GREAT NEWS!

After a week of secrets i can finally announce that my gorgeous girlfriend and myself are now expecting a new baby!

I already have two beautiful girls and a little boy would be perfect to finish off the varz family and getting so excited. weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Emma is about 8 weeks atm and in very early stages but cant contain the excitment for much longer. Even tho dirty nappies, crying and all that is invevitable its all good fun!

WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Im Back

Well after a very lengthy break from poker and no update posts for 5 months i'm glad to announce im back on the scene.

The plan for this break was not to play any poker after booking our first family holiday to turkey in May. I figured that although the last two-years have been fairly sucessful profit-wise, i didnt wanna risk losing any funds that i really should be keeping for my hols.

Like all shitty un-thoughtout plans this wasnt the case i actually found myself spending more with the extra time i had with the gap poker left in my life. I also missed the nice cashouts i got to used to whilst playing.

SO enuff is enuff IM BACK.

I havn't had the oportunity to play live yet with all the xmas rush for prezzies as well as working! But i plan to hammer the tables in 2010 and get back to enjoying my poker.

Ive been playing on Virgin Poker 0.25/0.50 cash for the past week or so and have started off really well. No doubt ill be discussing different situations or posting hand histories in the future.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION. WILL BE BACK SOON

Circus First Tuesday of the Month £50 F/O - 07/07/09

Flock in numbers.... As I have mentioned before in previous posts the first Tuesday of the month in Circus casino is the £50 freezeout competition that is one of the most popular games in Newcastle. I have played this game a few times before and always has an awesome attendance. This Tuesday was no different as I decided to head down and get a taste of the action. The game started with 100 runners which increased to 110 after late entries. The game was filled with familiar faces and plenty members of the NPF were there. Some the NPF players were - Team Dobbs, Koyte, Looseman, Mark Trett, FullTilit, Buzz, Kidha, Roscopiko, Mr. Entertainment, John Devlin, Ohmahha, Avkid, BossHog, Jimmy Chipmunk, Txtrevb, Apokerlypse, Stumpy, Madasawasp, NRH and Gimac. Some other noteable players were - Ray Chan, Steven Lui, Gary Collins, Dave Knight, Lk Johannson and the in-form Ali.

Off on the wrong foot.... Started the game with a decent table with some recognisable faces. On my table was Koyte, Cecil, Dave Knight and Mr. Entertainment. So with Koyte and Entertainment on ya table you can be assured some fireworks, friendly rub-downs and overall decent crack. This definately proved to be the case as Koyte came out with some cracking one-liners that nearlly reduced me to tears.

I started badly in this game and managed to lose 1.5k of my 9k starting stack in one hand in the first level. This is normally something that I detest. Players whom get too involved early on when the blinds are so low really narcs me. Nevertheless UTG player open bets for 300 and action is passed around to me in the cutoff. I check my holecards and reveal Q-Q. I feel the best move here is to re-pop but I decide to flat thinking if i see a scary board I can release quite easily. I flat and we both see a flop of 8-7-2 all hearts (Neither of my Q-Q are hearts). The UTG player C-bets 350 and I still think I am good on this board and should of raised to find out. Instead I flat and the turn is an A. Now I have to think im beat and convince myself im finished with the hand. Then the UTG player checks his option. I determine his range between A-J to A-A although I cant be sure for the length of time i've played with this lad. So i check behind thinking maybe hes done with the hand. The river is a brick and the UTG leads out for 600. I know the only hands im beating in his range are 10-10, J-J and a bluff is unlikley. Yet i convince myself to call and he tables A-J FTW.

Mr. Entertainment bust out early in this game to Koyte in a crazy but cold hand. Koyte limps UTG as does half the table into Mr. E's BB. Mr. E. looks down at his stack and announces raise. He makes it like x5 BB to go and Koyte is the only one who calls. They both see a J-high flop. After some thought Mr. E open shoves the flop only to be confidently called by the already generously stacked Koyte. Mr. E tables Q-Q and Koyte K-K, with no further help for craig, Mr. Entertainment busts out early and increases Koytes stack to 20k+.

I never played a hand for a while but lost another BIG hand in the 3rd level with KQ when I flop a Q and the other fella calls me down with A3c and hits runner-runner flush. nice. He said he was sorry and thought I was bluffing which made me feel REAL better. lol. So i was down to 3.5K from 9K starting and felt as tho this wasn't going to be my night. With the break quickly approaching and afterwards running antes been introduced I knew I had to make something happen pretty quick to stand a chance in this game.

I picked up a few small pots but not the double up I needed and waited patiently for any sort of playable hand. I managed to claw myself back to 8k to come back to after the break. Which i felt was just enough to work with and make something happen.

Droppin like flys..... After the break people seemed to be exiting the tourney every couple of minutes as the numbers continued to drop. Early on I won a few uncontested pots and was sitting on 10k. Second level in after the break I was involved in a tasty pot when my flopped two pair was couterfeited on the river and forced me to pass leaving me with only 6k! This left me chasing now with the blinds ever increasing and antes taking full effect it was a shove or pass game for me now, real make or break. Were down to 64 players and seemed to be dropping out like flys (including Koyte), I had to avoid been one of those flys.

Dave Knight whom I know is a good player and has been playing a sort of LAG approach open bets from early position. Action passes to me in the SB and I look down at 6-6 my thought process is that Daves well-stacked and his range here is pretty wide, although not an ideal situation i needed to make a move and this could be an opportunity i cant afford to miss. So i shove my 6k stack into the middle and after some humms and harrs Dave makes the call and tables 4-4. Great result for me as i couldnt of wished for a better chance. I won the hand and got the double up I needed. I was now sitting on 14k with the average about 16k.

Soon we were down to 40. I won a few more hands and with a stack of 21k my table was broken up. I was moved tables and found myself on a really tough table. On my table was S. Lui, Proff. aka Batman, Ali, NRG, S. Collins and Jimmy Chipmunk and few other solid players. My second hand at the table im UTG+1 and look down at K-K i lead out for 6k with the blinds 1-2k only to be raised by the button for 8k more. I hollywood a little and ship my stack in the middle. Only for the inital raiser to pass for 7k more. He said he had AQ but was getting like 4-1 and a questionable pass. Anyways ill take that and was now sitting on 35k.

that one race too far... Down to the last 30 and the blinds and antes were so big that this was no longer poker. This was a shove fest and a case of time to get lucky. After winning a few uncontested pots and a few blind+ante steals i managed to keep myself afloat with 35k. Then this one lad who had pushed his stack 3 out of the last 5 hands pushes again around to my BB. I look down at 9-9 and make the call for 14k. He tables KJo and first card out is the J. No help for me and a massive dent in my stack leaves me on the verge of an exit. With 24 players left action is passed to my button and I ship my 10k hoping for the blinds or a lucky double up. S. lui calls from the BB with 9-9 and houses up! Night Night Varzee but a decent game overall. 24/110 aint bad but not the cash i'd hoped for.

All-in-all really enjoyed the banter of this game with plenty from the likes of Koyte, DC, Mr. E and others at my table. Even tho this game always develops into a crapshoot feel like i will definately play this game again in the future.

Looking forward to Saturday for the Team game where we have entered a Staff Team "G-FORCE" watch this space for future post.

Dont Have a Cow...

The Source.... I was recently reading an article from "Bluff" magazine where there was an article featuring this story. I read, watch and study alot of poker information everyday and find Bluff mag to be very useful for all sorts of stuff including daft stories like this one that can put a smile on your face.

The story isn't about Poker btw but does feature an element of it. The Bluff. Everyone loves a bluff and the feeling when it pays off. Here is an example of an eccentric "Life Bluff"

The Story.....

It all happened in Ireland back in the late seventies. These two lads, Gerry Fitz and Connor Grady, had taken a drive upto Dublin Mountains to chance their luck on a bit of rabbit shooting. The time time of the year was late spring and the hour was close to seven in the evening. Even with the stretch in the day the two boys knew they had little or no time to make a kill, but certain etiquette prevented an immediate slaughter. It was common courtesy for casual huntsmen to seek permission from the residing farmer for the right to relieve his land of resident rodents, (cute little bunnies my bollocks, they're just big rats thats what they are).

Anyway to make a long story painful it was decided Gerry would do the necessary while Connor waited in the motor. So the bold Gerry legged it across the field to the farmhouse and knocked on the door. A Worzel Gummage type answered and listened attentively to Gerry's request.

"No problem at all son" replied the man of the soil, "and when will you be wanting to do this shooting?"

"Eh, tonight if you wouldn't mind"

"So you have your guns with you now?"

"Yea we do" replied a slightly worried Gerry.

"Well you might be doing me a little favour then. You see I have this old mare in the barn and God bless her but she's at deaths door and it would be only humane to put her outta her misery - nineteen years old she is and worn out from giving birth to fourteen foals in her time. My dilemma is that the thieving bastard that calls himself a vet wants twenty pounds for what boils down to two minutes work and a (with a) small syringe. So I was thinking that seen as you have the guns with you and all......"

"No problem boss" said Gerry "Consider it sorted."

On the way back to the car Gerry decided that such an oportunity couldn't be passed up.

"So, how did it go?" asked Connor?

"The old fucker said no and then went on to give me a lecture about Dublin bastards like us thinking we owned the place and carrying on as if we could do what we wanted."

"I dont believe you", said an incredulous Connor.

"Give me the shotgun," said Gerry reaching into the car and grabbing the double barrel.

"Ah Jesus Gerry hold on there" pleaded Connor, "What are you thinking of doing?"

"Im going down to the old fuckers barn and I'm going to shoot his horse", said Gerry striding back across the field.

Despit constant calls for restraint by Connor the two heroes had soon enough find themselves face to face with the decrepit old mare.

Without hesitation Gerry shouldered the twelve-gauge and wasted the animal. An eerie silence followed before Gerry turned and handed the gun to Connor with the words "That'll teach him!"

"D'ye know what" said Connor, "Your Fucking right, he shouldn't be allowed away with it."

And with that he turned the gun on a nearby COW and BLEW ITS HEAD OFF!

High Stakes Poker "The Second Sitting"

Been the bigger man.... Well first time i've had to post on my blog and start off with an apology. Not only do I feel it necessary to do so, but feel it necessary to do so THREE TIMES!

Firstly, I apologise to all of you that took part in this game and have been awaitig a post that has took me 2 weeks to complete. I have been really busy with alot of family time then returning to work and havn't found the time as well as fitting in my usual online cash hours.





Secondly, I would also like to apologise for the lack of content in this post. As time has past various hand details and analaysis has become clouded and would be unfair to get vital information wrong to which I would undoubtedly been answerable for, day after day when at work. This I couldn't be arsed with therefore I'm afraid a summary is all I can offer on this occasion.



Thirdly, I would mostly like to apologise for my behaviour on this (supposedly friendly) HSP session. I was bang out of order during the end of the night when my antics can only be described as PHIL HELLMUTH esc. (pic right) as i berated my mates and told them how bad their play was and that they are clear poker donkeys.


My comments were aimed at two people in particular as I witnessed terrible plays time and time again. So instead of keeping my gob shut and taking advantage of this I felt it was my place to degrade them in front of everyone unecessarily and making myself look like a tit in the process.

I never meant to cause any upset or offence lad and fully accept the responsibility for my actions and asure you that this will NEVER happen again! I invited you into my home and treat you with disrespect. I can assure you this will NEVER happen again.



Brief play.... The night started off really well as less is more in terms of people with only 7 players in comparison to the 107 we had in HSP1 the atmosphere was calm but sweet as we played the poker game that we all hoped for. In this game were the following - Varzee, George, Jess, Sparky, Stevie G, Jon and Ryan.

After some early action the play was half decent that even saw people laying down pairs post flop, lol. George and Marc. S seemed to involved in a few big pots that saw Marc lose 2 max buy-ins pretty quickly. George was also involved in a massive hand with Jon when Jon 1-outer'd George on the river for his full house to keep Jon from becoming pretty deep.

I dont want to discuss many hands for the reasons i've stated above and dont want to upset people anymore than I already have. I took some brief PocketCam footage that was a new idea but wasnt used to it's full effect. I now know how well this could work it'll definately be a major feature on the next episode of High Stakes Poker (used properly unlike footage below)

Winners and Losers... The end result was not about the money for me, I feelt as though i'd lost more than that. Anyway i ended up -£45, Sparky -£120, Stevie -£30/60, George was a big winner with over £100, Jess was the biggest winner again (girl got game) over £100 although Ryan -£60/90 he managed to spunk alot on the last hand with air which didnt please Jess as they were splitting cash.

Overall..... It was a big learning curve for HSP as we discovered that less people work, less drink also works, pocket cams could be great and if ya dont act like a tit could be a great night. I think the idea of playing cash against work collegues was always gonna hit some stumbling blocks and feel that a different format will be the best option for the next session. In the form of a freezout or a rebuy tournament where losses wont be too personal and headhunting will be appreciated. Not sure on the details yet but be sure this will happen soon.

Keep a look out for more High Stakes Poker......

Sunday Circus Comp

I started a 12 day holiday from work on Saturday and had a cracking first two days. The sun was blazing and good quality time with tha missus and the bairns was just what I needed after work after work and more work. I had a really busy time after dealing the GUKPT and some lengthy shifts to boot.

I had already been to Newcastle once on Sunday after spending all day shopping with my little family whilst turning into a lobster at the same time. I got back home and was hungry for a game of poker. After finding out their would be definate appearances from Ridla and my old friend Mounty this was enough of and excuse to play, not that i needed one.

Meet, Greet and Register - I arrived at Circus about half an hour before the game was due to start and wasn't at all shocked to find just 8 people had registered. Not because this was an unpopular or shite game but this is the norm for Circus. Players either pour in with 2mins before start time or register late, mainly cos they've bust outta the 4.30pm Aspers game. The game was £20 + £20 giving an optional 1 rebuy or 1 top-up. 6k starting stack + another 6k if required. Upon arrival I was greeted by Mounty who was the eager beaver playing for his first time in Circus. I got myself registered and players began to turn up as well as some familiar faces - Ridla, Jimmy Chipmunk, Apokolypse, Paul Hart, Crazy Chef, Johnny the Greek, Rob Taylor, Riaz and a few more (sorry if ya wern't mentioned cant have a post of just a list of names. lol. ok i forgot ya). Names were drawn and the tournament started with 58 rising to 69 after late registrations.

Sitting Arrangements - I was sat on table 1 seat 6 with a couple of recognisable faces. Ridla was at my table as well as another Circus Regular Chris (Packard)Both of which are good players. I know Chris likes to mix it up alot so some obvious tussles between us was inevitable. Also at my table were a few unrecognisables but soon realised the bloke (youngish indian fella, we'll call him Doug for comedy value) to my left was anexperienced if not decent player due to pre game and realtime table talk. There was one more person whom I had the pleasure (others not so) of sharing a table with was the unformidable Jean Barr. I could spend all day talking about Jean. Her background, style of play, history and so on but guessed it would just be easier to show this video. This is Jean...

Early Stages - The first few levels of this tourney really set the standard for this table, with check/call been the popular move of the game for alot of the players. lol. I understood the blinds were tiny but it was still impossible for a raise to get through without several callers (always including Jean). I kept out of the may for most of the first few levels playing very few hands, allowing alot of the others to gamble with their rags trying to catch a massive hand then trying to get paid. I picked up 8-8 in UTG of course got like 4-5 callers including Chris in the BB. Flop come 4Q2 and Chris leads out for 250, I know Chris is more tha capable of making this play with a 4 or a 2 so i call and to my amazement everyone passes. We both check turn and river and my 8's r good against his 4. Standard. I took down a few other standard pots and finished the break with 8k just above my starting stack. I used the option top-up method giving me 14k to come back to.

After the break...We get back to buisness after the break with a few players down and some new arrivals. We had Joe Peel make an early exit through Jean when she limp/calls Joes 2.5k push with QJs and strikes again. I thought the play after the break would improve due to the fact no more rebuys were possible. This was not to be as time and time again players were limp/calling with 7-3, 10-2 and other garbage from all positions. This was not a problem I just needed to get a hand to get paid.

The next big hand for me saw me in the cutoff and Jean's BB. She was rushing to get back after just nipping out for a cigarette so we slowed the dealer down to allow her in. We all wanted her in. lol. UTG player makes it 2k to play with only 1.8k behind. The action is passed to me. I squeeze my hand to reveal A-A! I think for a few seconds decided wether I want to isolate or invite Jean into this pot. On normal circumstances i'm isolating 95% of the time but this time was different. I smooth call the 2k and hope Jean comes along for the ride. She looks at me and says "I would like to see a flop but i'll pass". So its me and the UTG player heads up. Before the flop is even dealt he ships his remaining 1.8k into the middle and announces he's all-in regardless. I insta call and flip over my aces. His pocket 10's are not looking good and an ace on the flop sees him drawing dead to running 10's. I scoop that pot and another player exits.

The Ridla was involved in a pot with Jean that made him cringe. I dont agree with the way it was played and he would agree but the boi done good and got away pretty cheaply as there is no way Jean can pass. The hand played like this (Quoted from "The Riddlers Tales" his own blog

"I'm in the small blind with K4 off and see a flop 5 ways.. Now, having been killed on the FT against Loosey with J4, i decide not to go too mental with a flopped set (KKJ). I bet out about 2 thirds of the pot, Chris (Packard) calls, and Jean calls (as expected). Either that or i checked to Chris, who bet out.. i can't remember. The turn brings a queen and knowing i have 2 others behind, i check.. as does everyone else. The river brings a 10, putting KKQJ10 on the table.
It turns out Jean has called the flop bet (on a KKJ board) with 9 2 off and hit a straight on the river, we're both left shaking our heads, and im just pleased i didn't go to town with my trip kings, because Jean simply does not pass.. ever! She of course once again had an excuse to back it up though: "Well i just thought, well.. just because".. what a fcking chestnut that is. Oh right ai, just because eh? why the fck not.. what a psycho. At this point i was beginning to wish i had actually been knocked over by that dosey woman on friday. The odd time she did manage to pass preflop i nearly fell off the chair..."

Read More from Ridla @ http://dollars-nonsense.blogspot.com/

Action, Prezzies and Hero's... - I was sitting quite healthy with 40+ players remaining and increased my stack further from some action a few prezzies and hero calls. The first one was against against Chris. After two limpers Chris raises to a stard 3 and a half times the blind. Im next to act and look down at A-Ko. I dont want to give away the strength of my hand by re-popping him and on a dangerous board can let this go without too much hassle. I flat. Everyone elses passes and we are heads up. We see a flop of 4-Q-J. Chris open-checks and I fire a 3/4 pot size bet. Chris thinks for a while and raises. I feel hes just trying to push me off the hand and can float him unless a dangerous card hits the turn. I flat and the turn changes nothing with the 2d. He leads out for 5k with only 4k behind. Now I start tanking. Could my read on the flop be so wrong? I wondered if he could pass for his extra 4k if i shove. After an age of thinking I come my decision based on a few factors.

1. Chris knows that I know he purposely displayed he was pot commited and a shove would be suicide unless I had the goods (of course my A-high wasn't the goods). Thus a shove would show real strength.

2. I sensed weakness on the flop and only called so i could continue if the turn bricked, which it did.

3. If my shove is called i'm obviously behind but could still have 10 outs for the best hand with an A,K or Q (more likely the A was no good) but still leaves between 7-10 outs.

4. The size of the pot was just making this move a profitable one against a player like chris imo.

5. I had enough left behind if i was to lose that would keep me very much still in this game.

So, I shoved my stack over the line and waited for Chris' decision. He hummed and harred and said that I must be ahead and eventually mucked his hand. I later found out that I actually WAS ahead and he had A-10 and was making a move. It was potentially a good move by him but on this occasion was found out. I trusted my instincts on the flop and it paid off. This was a nice pot and put me on about double the chip average.

The gift and hero call came against a player that was moved to our table and had only been there for about 20mins. He was Glen (not the geek) a circus regular. Glen leads out and gets two callers. I look down at K-K. I make a decent raise and Glen calls everyone else passes. The flop comes Q-5-9. Glen leads out for half his stack and I admittedly hollywood a little then re-pop enough to put him all-in. Glen calls and to my horror table 8-6 for a GutShot straight draw. I avoid the 7 and pick up another decent pot that can only be described as a GIFT.

A little help from your friends... After 5 limpers including Jean and Ridla I found QQ on the button. If raised to a decent amount to hopefuly get heads-up or take it down there and then. I was shocked to see call, call, call. I reckon people were getting restless and wanted some action. The action got to Ridla and prayed for him to give me some protection by re-raising and getting rid ov tha fish. He thought for a while and announced he was all-in. I got what I wanted and re-shipped to make sure we were heads-up. He tabled AJ and no help for him say my Queens hold up and take out a good lad. Shame it had to be him but dont think he minded too much.

I went into the second break as chip leader shortly after that hand with 26 people left.

Road to the FT... The next few levels were pretty boring for me. Became card-dead and everytime in position there were previous raises so there was little opportunity for steals. I didnt need to get involved too much anyway. I was sitting on my stack a little too much tho and soon went down to two tables after my table was broke up.

A few hands in at my new table I lead out in early position with A9c. Action is passed around to Ali who is a circus regular who calls. We see a flop of 10-7-4. I continuation bet and ali calls. before the turn was dealt i decided i was gonna fire one more bullet then give up if called. The turn came an 8 giving me a very well disguised up and down straight draw. I fire again as planned and yet again Ali flats. I now pray to make it otherwise i gotta give up on this decent size pot. River is dealt - 6! weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. I make my straight and there is no way Ali can put me on it either. I obviously fire again but nicely in relation to my previous bet sizes. Ali says "U've got AK or AQ so i call" I table my straight and Ali whinges that this was a disasterous suckout. He showed J10 for top pair mediocre kicker. Does he not understand that all i done was c-bet, improve to a up n down then make it on the river. I had 11 outs on the turn so y shouldn't i shouldn't i bet. Maybe hes upset because i didnt check so he could bet, so i would have to fold. lol. He could of raised at any point and i'm done. He let me get there IMO if anyone played bad it was him. That was the last real hand i got involved with until the Final Table. We agreed a bubble prize of £40 then once the last person was knocked out we went for a quick break.

Final Table Time............ I started the final table with a few people i recognised. Paul Hart, Ellie, Riaz, Mr. Chaudry and the lad I named Doug whom had sat directly next to me all of the way through the tournament even after moving tables 3 times. Now he was sitted to my left.

First Hand of the final table and I picked up A-K UTG and open-bet. I got one caller, C-bet the A-high flop and took it down. Very next hand in the BB action passes to Riaz in the SB who puts in the extra to see a flop. I look down at J-J and fire a tidy bet. Riaz passes and accuses me of stealing. lol. Certainly the rep i needed.

I was second in chips and wasn't long before the first two dropped in pretty standard races. Down to 8 and sat out for most of the time. I stole a few times but no real action involving me. We went to 5 handed after an hour or so and remained that way till 4.30am. The short-stack was always doubled up and chips were just been passed around. I managed to maintain second in chips after a couple of uncontested pots.

I was involved in a hand with mr. chaudry where i could of lost alot more than i did. I raised on the button with AK for mr. chaudry to limp-call from UTG. Flop comes down Q-Q-A and mr. chaudry leads out. I flat wondering if he would lead out in this spot. I know hes an inexperienced player but cant decide. The turn is a K which is irrelavant if he does in fact have a Q. He checks to me and I check behind hoping for a massive payday if he does have a Q. The rivers a blank and he checks to me for the second time and i immediately check behind and think my A-K is good. He shows Q-10 and scoops the pot. Was pretty pleased with the minimal damage tho.

After some interesting play and no-one budging Doug eventually exited to when someone pushed on him on a A-high board. He held A-Q and made the call. The other bloke tabled A-10 only for the turn and river to bring running 10s and give Doug his exit. He played well throughout and seemed a decent player.

We were four handed and just about level on chips as the blinds were sooo big that any lead was irrelevant. Paul hart suggested a chop and it would pay £350 each. Everyone agreed as it was really late and probably of went to a chip count anyway.

I was happy with the cash and another decent result in Circus. Overall it was a good nite.

Aspers 1-2 PLH on a Friday!

The Night is young...

I decided I was gonna go back to Aspers Casino in the gate Newcastle after a lengthy absense. I hadn't played in aspers for ages due to the fact that Circus casino has been offering the best value in both cash and tournament poker.

I figured that going and playing some £1/£2 PLH Cash on a friday night had real potential to make a few quid with the amount of pissheads aspers attracts on a weekend. So that was the plan.

It got to like 7-8pm and was ready to go out. Knowing fine well the cash action in Aspers doesnt really start till like 11pm I needed something to fill a few hours in. I thought i'd play a friday night tournament and had only two options. 1. Play £20 NLH F/O at aspers with 130+ runners "or" 2. £15 + 1 rebuy or topup NLH game at circus with about 40-50.

Clowns in the Circus...

I went for the Circus game to pass some time until going to Aspers. I dont wanna go into too much depth about the tourney as it turned out to be one that I would like to quickly forget. lol. After experiencing a table full of fish for the first few levels I made it to the break with about 12.5k and and average of about 9k, so was getting by.


I came back from the break with the intention of loosening up and playing in an aggressive way to try and intise some of the fish to gamble. First hand after I sat down i looked down at KQ on the button. With the blinds at 100-200 and only one limper before me i made it 900 to play. The Small blind passed but the Big Blind shipped all-in over the top forcing me to pass my K-high.

The very next hand and two limpers action gets to me in the cutoff. I look at my hole cards to find exactly the same hand! KQ. I decide to take the same line and make it 900 to go. This time both blinds pass, as does an early limper. Yet i recieve my one caller. We both see a flop of 3-K-10. He leads out for 400 and i raise to 1400. He insta-pushes his stack of 15k in the middle after announcing hes "all-in". I think for a while and reluctantly pass my top pair as its for my tournament life and dont have too many hands beat. I show my K and he shows QJ for an up and down straight draw. Nice to know I was getting respect for my raises. lol.

Ok, after losing a few thousand in the first two hands we were onto the third hand after the break. There was an early position limper (Jed - anyone whos played with this bloke knows all too well his play is limp-fold or check- call all the way with even undercards. total salmon, tuna and stickleback rolled into one.) and action passed to me in late position. I squeeze out my hole cards to my amazement! KQ again!! 3 hands in a row!! So this has now become comical and decide to bet out again for the same amount as the other two hands. 900 to play. The blinds both pass and action is on Jed. He announces "You raise everyhand!" and pushes his stack into the middle and im re-shoved for the third time. I now think they're taking the piss here like and my tilt cant take it. I cant pass here although i should. So I ship my stack in and table my KQh. Jed waits a few seconds and turns AA for a little slow roll to add salt to my brutal wounds. Obv he wins the hand leaving me with 3K. lol

By this point I've lost any enthusiasm for this game and just wanna get out of this Clown filled Circus. Very next hand I look down at one card and see a K! I chuckle to myself and believe the other card could be a Q for comedy value. Anyways I ship my 3k in after only seeing one card and Im promptly called by the monster that is A4. lol. I turn both cards over and hold Kc10d
The board is fired out and as it turns out I make a four-card flush with my K for the second nuts. Would of been sweet if the A4 hadnt been the Ace of clubs. I managed to laugh it off after my earliest ever exit from a live tournament.

From Fish to Sharks.....

I went up to Aspers with GotTilt4 at about 12pm to play cash. We started off a feeder table that was quickly filled. The main table looked pretty tough and full of sharks although I still wanted a seat as I had no idea how any of the players at the feeder played. I sat down with £140 and were joined by unknowns apart from a few I knew that were waiting for a seat in the 5-5 game (Michael Tedder and Latif). I was card dead for most of the game and didnt really get involved at all in the feeder table.

GotTilt4 got involved in one hand with Latif that was a little tasty. Latif straddled to £4 and GotTilt4 raised the pot after a few limpers. Then Latif re-potted from his straddle and the usual speech play started. The re-pot wasnt really a re-pot at all it was an overbet. Of course in PotLimit H this cannot happen but as usual Latif owned the table and stopped the dealer sorting it out announcing "Leave it if the lad is calling he is pushing anyway!" this was a valid point as if GotTilt4 was to call he'd be pot commited anyway. GotTilt4 thought for ages as Latif is soooooo unpredictable. In the end all money went in pre-flop and GotTilt4 found his QQ behind to Latifs AA. No help and Latif scooped. Soon after Latif moved to the 5-5 game where later on lost a £2000 + pot to Raj that looked canny fruity.

My stack at the feeder never really moved after remaining card-dead and was praying for a hand against the now sat down geordie pissheads. I eventually caught a hand heads up against one of these lads and was called on every street with a gut-shot str8 draw only to get there on the river. typical.

My seat was ready for me on the main table and hoped for some real poker. I had to reload another £80 to sit down to give myself a chance against some stacked players. After moving tables my run of shitty cards continued but was involved in a few small pots that kept me a float.
Sqeeeezeee (sure ive been here before)......

A massive hand for me occured quite late on where I found a perfect spot for a big squeeze that failed me misserably at "High Stakes Poker - the opening night" a few weeks earlier. After 5 limpers into an unraised pot action is to me in the small blind with 8-9. I call the extra £1 and plan to see a cheap flop. The Big Blind makes it £10 to play and I plan to pass. Only one other player passed as all limpers called giving me great value to call. So i called the extra £9 and knowing action couldnt be repopped. We see a flop of 6-2-6 rainbow and i check. The BB fires a continuation bet of £30 into the middle. The open limper calls and everyone else passes. Now the action is on me and the sqeeze is perfectly set up for me if I can find the bollocks to make it. I put the BB on some sort of picture hand anything from AK-Q10 and the open limper on an overpair between 7-7 to 10-10. I manage to find my balls and ship my stack into the middle which is roughly another £150 to play with 9 high. The BB (C-better) instant passed as planned and action was on the flat caller. I know this bloke as i've played with him a few times before and know he's a decent player I also think that he thinks i'm a bit of a rock so my table image is perfect for this move.

He seems to take a lifetime over his decision and with my arse pulsating and my armpits becoming swimming pools I was praying he'd pass but knew he had better than I had anticipated by his speeches. After an age he passed and showed my K-K for a massive overpair and said I must of had 2-2 or a 6. So i scooped a decent pot roughly £240 for a move that worked yet was so dangerous. weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

I picked up a few more pots after that hand as my run of awful cards seemed to fade although I ended up a 6- hour cash session with once holding any premium hand. No big pairs, no AK-AQ and thank god no decent-marginal hands like KQ!!!!

Finished the night just in profit after a weird session but good to show my face in Aspers once again!!

DreamDobbs from the NPF does Britains Got Talent

As i touched on funny posts on the NPF in my last post. This is a great example of some great craic and funny shit from one of its members DREAMDOBBS.

Just couldnt resist adding this.....

NPF 1st Annual Awards

The Newcastle 1st Annual Celebration game was held at circus casino last night. This was a celebration of one year of the NPF existance and to get everyone together for a great night of poker. Unfortunately I was unable to attend due to work commitments. I was chuffed to find out tho that I was nominated for one of the awards.

NPF 1st Annual Awards Nominations

These are the final nomineesfor the 1st Annual NPF Awards.

The winners will be announced during the interlude at the NPF Birthday party on Saturday 9 May.

Cardroom of the Year - Aspers Casino, Circus Casino, Grosvenor Casino.

Poker Achievement of the Year - #1_Fish - Winning Full Tilt Monday, $1000avkid - Winning PokerStars Sunday million, Roll001 - Winning PokerStars UK & Ireland Open, teamdobb - Winning NPF Live League 2009, xenocode - Winning NPF Championships 2009.

Most Improved Poker Player - CanOnlyGetBetter, Irishimi, Mark Trett, MR ENTERTAINMENT, mrs card guard, teamdobb.

Most Constructive Forum Poster - Apokerlypse, Full Tilit, Jimmyb, Looseman, s2c,

Funniest Forum Post - Koyte's "The Chosen One", Phlmc's Happy Hour in Blyth, Roscopiko on Knighty Poker Theory, the card guard kid's unwanted items for sale, Varzee's Weird things can happen on public transport

Outstanding Contribution to the Forum (Special Award)

I didnt win the award as phlmc scooped it but was chuffed with the nomination. This is my post -

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Weird things can happen on public transport!

Ok, i had an experience on a bus a few weeks ago that i guess will probably never happen again! After the event i immediately wanted to tell people as it felt as though had the potential to be a decent tale. Wot stopped me was the fact that no-one wud probably believe me. Well im sorry im gonna put an end to it and post the event so 1. its off my chest (no pun) 2. hopefully make at least one person chuckle a little.

I decided i was gonna venture to Aspers for the 10+10+10 game on a wednesday. I dont drive and hadnt spoken to anyone else who wanted to play as well as picking me up, so the obvious choice was the bus!

When i got on the bus, it was pretty empty. I walked towards the back automatically going to sit at my usual spot (backseat). I always sit there so if i felt the urge to have a little pick ov my sneck or owt i wudnt face the embarrassment of been seen. lol. There was already sum1 there "Twat" i thought "no pickin 4 me!" so i made myself comfy in the four seats. For those of u who never uses buses these r the seats in a group of four with two facing each other. I was happy enough just chillin waiting to arrive in the toon for a game of cards.

About 15minutes into the journey the bus stopped at Dunston, near the Metz bar i think (Yes where gazzas normally seen mortal). I noticed there were two people gettin on. Two charvas! Well a m/f couple in their late twenties who looked rough as. Both badly dressed, looked as though they'd had a few n the can of special brew each was all the evidence i needed to support my opinion of these clowns. When they got on they came and sat right behind me! The seats between the back and the four seats which i was sat. Mighty stange place to sit when they had a full bus to choose from. Nevertheless i never thought much more of it.

Another ten minutes on id forgotten about these divvys and was thinkin about things that had previously happened that day, when i heard the charva lass say "U taking the picture of my tits properly?" My current thought process immediately ceased and wondered wether id really heard what i thought i had. Curiousity was getting to me but i remained diciplined and carried on minding my own buisness lookin 4ward and resisting temptation to turn around. The reason for this was i cudnt be arsed with a war with a pissed charva on a bus when all i wanted to do was play cards. Riskin a war for the sake ov a possible quick peak at someones tits wasnt giving me the correct odds. lol

Couple of minutes later the lass stood up an sat right in front of me! Staring straight at me "Hear we go" i thought. I automatically switch into defensive mode and was prepared for a war of some sort but it wudnt ov been the first time so i was sweet.

Staring into my eyes the lass said "Can u hold this for me" i looked up and she was holding her can ov special brew. "Ok no probs" i said. While she just smiled and began takin her mobile from her pocket. She then grabbed my knee n said in a crokey but charva like voice "U mind taking a picture of my tits?" I was stunned cudnt believe wot i was hearing and found myself in a no win situation. > 1. I agree n her lad (whos sitting behind me) starts kickin off which means i gotta put him on his arse and get myself banged up>2. I refuse n she kicks off then if i put her on her arse i definately get banged up. It was shit crack.

I realised i cudnt get away from this so i quicky decided to face it head on. I turned around to her lad "Is she for real? she wants me to take a picture of her tits". "Yea go for it if thats wot she wants i dont mind" he replied. Oh well quess its titty picture taking time for me!!!

I had just turned around and this charva lass had revealed all. She'd got her tits out! Im not talkin just bra in shit they were out in full glory with her looking as casual as you like waiting for me to take some photos. So i got on with the task at hand and took a photo. "there you go is that alreet for ya?" "well its a bit blurry can u take another?" "Ok if thats wot u want" i said. This time she was tryin her best to be sexy pouting her lips and licking her tit. I took another photo and without biggin myself up i took them like a pro. might have something to do with the fact my test subject happened to be one of my interests!

After she thanked me the charvas got off the next stop and seemed oblivious to the fact that they stunned my usual character traits into a 12-year old boi in a free sweety shop. WOW!

I spoke to the bloke whom id earlier called a twat for knicking the backseat for the remainder of the journey about whether wot had just happened was real! We had a few giggles to say the least.

I hope you enjoyed the tale and realise i wud have to be outta my mind to make this shit up! Oh n btw i finished 14th at aspers that night. Must ov had a couple of other things on my mind to make the final table!
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This post was wrote in September 2008.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HeKn1y-FsI

^VIDEO OF AWARDS

High Stakes Poker - Opening Night

Well... after alot of hype and aticipation "High Stakes Poker - the opening night" arrived.

This was a Grosvenor Staff home game that was played and organised by me with the intention of a regular game to be played every 3-4 weeks.


The game was set as a £0.10/£0.25 cash game with a min sit down of £5 and a £30 max.

Everything was ready: the table, chips and people. Now for the game! Start 6.30pm

If you build it they will come... - and that they did there was a total of 21 people there for the opening night of High Stakes with 17 players! This was many more than expected, as I had accounted for a few drop outs a few early exits. None of which happened so with a jam packed house and chips to be won theres only one way to go...

The Show must go on... - The following people were there from the start - Myself, Jess, Ryan, Glen, Paul, G-spot, Gus, George, Sparky, Jon, Rob and Kelvin (12). That meant the game got under-way with myself and Ryan railing the table waiting for a seat. Eveyone sat down with the max buy-in of £30

Blue Lights, Camera, Action.. - The game got underway with two action thirsty players Gus and Jon ending up all-in on the first hand! No exact details but after Gus' strong bet on the turn Jon pushed his stack in only to be met by a snap call by Gus with the nuts (nut flush). Jon immediately reloaded and an exciting start to the game. Not sure this was a great influence on the game tho as it sort of set a precident for the whole game with opening raises far too big in proportion to the blinds and alot of early gambling.

Reload, Reload, Reload - After alot of crazy action that I could meerley observe. More players seemed to be going bust and frequent reloads seemed to be occuring. This wasn't a problem as we had plenty chips and actions good but you could see this was getting a little bit too juicy. By this time more people were arriving and still no seats. In the end the extra players were Mark, Allan, Jim, Candice and Nathan. A "If ya go broke, ya back of the waiting list" policy had to be enforced just to guarantee that all players got a game!

Empty Bottles - By 9.30pm as well as the action the drinking was well underway. This became evident as huge preflop raises as well as multiple callers was taking place, so-so that i've seen less gamble on a roulette table. lol. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, winning/losing themselves a few quid and getting pissed at the same time. I still hadn't had a taste of any action but had plenty to occupy myself as i found myself chatting to the waiting players and introducing my daughters to everyone. With the house choca-bloc I couldnt really relax as much as i'd of liked.

Enter the Dragon (or dragonfly on this occasion) - I eventually got sat down at the table at 9:45pm at started my action with an immediate bet from early position. I didn't play a hand for a while until I was dealt pocket 10's. There had been a straddle two limpers an opening raise and 4 limpers before me so I shipped my stack to hopefully take it down or isolate. I wans't called on this occasion although the opening raiser (Ryan) said he nearly called me with K10 saying he knew i had nothing. I later told him I had 910.

I hadnt played a hand for over an hour as the action was just too feirce with overbets and 5 callers a regular occurance everyone was in the gambling mood. Problem was i wasn't picking up anything other than marginal holdings at best. There were hardly any spots to pick and floating was definately out of the question! I eventually picked up QQ in the big blind. The action went as follows - Opening bet, call, call, pass, call, call, call, pass, call. Action was on me and I was in no mood to mess around with my Queens and wanted to be up against just one player, so yet again I shipped. As everyone had a decision to make i felt as tho nearly everyone was hollywooding their decision. The original better (Jon) passed, but i got my caller (Sparky). We immediately went on out backs and Sparky tabled KJ! No help for him on the board gave me my double up and room to manouvre.

Juice, Loose, Aboot this Hoosse! - Some decent conflicts occured between players including Sparky and Jess, as well as Gus making steady profit from decent holdings. George seemed to run into brick walls everytime he ran into Jess and G-spots raises always seemed to be outdrawn forcing him to pass. Glen was the craziest calling alot and always outflopping his opponents it seemed as tho his lager was to him as spinich is to popeye! I was keeping well outta the way with unless i was prepared to gamble with some of the maniacs. (no offence lmao). Gus got the upper hand on Kelvin after calling his all-in bet with AJ. Kelvin tabled 9-9 only for the river to produce the J to brake Kelvin and bring an end to his night.

Squeeeeeezze - I was enjoying the atmosphere and banter at the table but was becoming increasingly frustrated at my lack of action. It was just before 1am and I hadnt played a hand for ages! I found a perfect opportunity to make a move. The Squeeze! Jon lead out in the pot for the usual large bet to which Glen flat-called. The action was on me and look down at 9-5 hearts. I decide to go over the top with my stack to take the pot down there and then for a £20 pot. The bet was £37 more and Jon entered the tank. Bare in mind i hadnt played a hand in ages had only shown three hands at this point two of which were QQ and the other K9 that was a small pot in which i won at showdown. I figured Jon has to have a monster in this spot to call, with Glen behind him to worry about also. To my amazement Jon called the all-in and glen passed. At this stage i can only put him on QQ or KK as he took too long for him to have Aces. Jon tabled his hand that revealed AJ diamonds! I was amazed that he can call here (unless he had a super read on me. yea right. lol) but thats ok as he has put his money in. I still wasnt THAT far behind and waited for a miracle board to get me out of this spot. The board actually brought two Jacks which was irrelavant anyway as Jon was ahead but killed any chance of salvaging something. Nice hand sir just hope you call me next time with AJ. lol ; ) I quickly reloaded and continued to grind it out. The worst thing was Jon left at 1 which meant our big hand was his last that didnt give me any chance of re-couping any of the money i donated to him. (To be fair to the lad he did say he was leaving at 1am before we even started the game so couldnt complain)

More Tilt than The Eiffel Tower - After the disappointment of the previous hand, the fact most of the money just left and the fact i hadnt really played sent me on Tilt. I was now in gambling mood and didnt really care about my A game which I clearly wasnt playing. To make matters worse Glen the most pissed person in the room was falling all over his stack but not only that was the biggest stack. It was a perfect opportunity to recoup my losses as he was calling anything and everything. But once again still couldnt pick up a hand. Jess took a canny bit off him and even took pity at one stage checking behind with her top two to win a big pot. Must point out that Glen is a top lad but on this occasion was errr just say a little tipsy.

With the night drawing to a close I got involved in a hand with Nathan. Nathan is a good player and a top lad and played with him before so i should of known better. Glen opens the pot with some ridiculous bet (as always) I look down at QQ. I raise and hope that Glen will pay me off. Nathan then re-raises me and alarm bells ring. I reckon ive got Nathans range in this spot just about nailed. lol. He knows i can play and knows Glen calls regardless. So he must have KK or AA here. I felt aces but waited for the action to get to me. Glen passed (which in itself is amazing) and action returns to me. This is where my biggest disappointment lay as ive made these types of laydowns hundreds of times. So really i should raise or pass. Because I thought he had aces i should pass. I done neither and flated. We both see a 9 high flop and instead of waiting for him to do it (obv it was coming) I shipped on the flop only to hear the expected words "i call".
I looked at Nathan and said "You've got Aces havnt u?" Nathan nodded his head and seemed disappointed in me that I couldnt spot it. The Fact is I did but from my frustrations all night and the gamble in me desperate to escape this time I couldn't manage the right thing and lost my buy-in. Fully deserved. I was so annoyed at myself, but hey even the best of us can play bad. LOL (huge heed).


Over and Out - All in all the night was a huge sucess and a great kick off that promises to be a sucessful run of High Stakes Poker nights to come. From now on the nights will be limited to a set 10 players that will play for the whole night and players can change on different Poker nights. I think this way the game will be more about the poker and less a piss-up it sort of turned into.

The big winners from "High Stakes Poker - Opening Night" were : Jess, Jon, Gus and Glen - Big Well Done to all those players and to everyone else for their excellent behaviour and showing respect for the fact they were in my home and my family were there. Really enjoyed you all been there and feel lucky to have you lot as pals.

Next Time on High Stakes....... The next game is booked for the 2nd of June "The 2nd Sitting" and the following players will be taking part - Myself, Jess, Ryan, Jon, Paul, Gus, George, Sparky, G-spot and Nathan.

Those of you who havn't played in this game yet will get plenty of opportunity in future weeks as different people will play each time.

Looking forward to the next game and check back for future posts about

HIGH STAKES POKER

"The Second Sitting"

My Perfect Poker Table

I recently built my own poker table with a little help from my brother-in-law (ok alot of help). When I decided I wanted to make my own table I wanted it to be special so that not only would it impress others but something I would be proud of.

I planned the table and how it would be completed and although some ideas changed along the way, I am more than happy with the end product and the pictures dont do the product as much justice as it deserves.

This is a step by step guide on how we built the table and cant wait to get it in action for a game that makes its debut on the 6th may. This game will be £0.10-£0.25 cashgame at my house and will take place on a monthly basis. Stay tuned for the first post of "High Stakes Poker Episode1"

First Buying the Products - I bought the products from BnQ, Ikea and Grosvenor Casino.

1 x MDF Board measure to fit requirement of standard size table

3 x 2 Metre radiator pipe covers

1 x Black tape

1 x Insulating tape

1 x Staple gun with staples

1 x Roulette cloth

1 x GUKPT poker cloth

1 x Set of 10 Blue L.E.D. lights with round silver frame.

Step 1 - Measuring the Wood

Measuring the wood is probably the most important part. Using actual measurments taken from a poker table in the Grosvenor Casino. The curves were marked using the old method of a peice of string attached to a pencil.

Step 2 - Cutting the Wood

We cut the wood using a jigsaw making sure markings were followed to give an accurate shape.

Step 3 - Drilling Holes for L.E.D. Lights

After measuring the circumference of the table we divided that by ten marking out 10 places for the holes to be drilled giving an exact distance between each light.

Step 4 - Laying the Underlay

Laying the underlay was a little tricky but using a staple gun we wrapped the cloth as tight as possible around the wood making sure there was no loose or uneven cloth.

Step 5 - Laying the GUKPT Cloth

Once we were happy with underlay, next was the GUKPT Cloth. We used the same method as the underlay pulling the cloth really tight before stapling it down.

Step 6 - The Rail

We first fit the railing around the outside of the table cutting it to size as it went on.

After Cutting the rail to size we removed the railing table it together using the insulating tape.

Step 7 - Taping the Rail

We then taped the whole rail using black tape to give it a sexier look. We then slotted the rail back onto the table making sure it was a tight snug fit.

Step 8 - Fitting the L.E.D.s

We fit the L.E.D.s easily by poking a small slot in the cloth and pulling the lights through so the metal frame of the lights sat flush to the table. This worked so well.

After this we taped the excess wires to the bottom of the table using tape to just tidy things up.

Step 9 - The Finished Table

We were finished! We mounted the table onto my glass table in my living room thinking we would have to come up with a solution to fasten it down.

This wasnt a problem as the table sits pretty snug and is steady and weighty enough to just sit without extra support. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeee

So all that is left is for a game. The debut game is the 6th of May. For what I have named as "High Stakes Poker" watch this space for future posts on what happened at this game.

Played my first online tourney in 3 months last night on Party Poker. Online I just play cash but fancied a shot.

Tourney $9 entry to 5k guaranteed

618 runners - Finsished 3rd for £375 shiiiiiiiiiippppppp

weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Thanks for my railers in Jess and Stevie G

(Sorry for the lack of details)

£50 First Tuesday Game at Circus

£50 Freezout in Circus on the first Tuesday of every month is one of the best games in the north-east and with a decent structure and prize pool is one that is a must for poker enthusiasts.

Luckily for me I had already won a seat playing the £20 double chance freezeout taking the tourney down as well as the seat that is awarded with the first prize. FREEROLL

Im posting this a 3-4 weeks after the event so unfortunately i'm not going to go into as much detail about the tourney as I would of liked but certain hands aren't fresh in the mind and dont want post incorrect information.

Anyway, as I was freerolling the pressure was off for this game and could go into this game to just enjoy the action. There was a really good turnout with 129 runners + £500 added to the prizepool. Starting stack of 8,000.

Action was slow to start with until the third level when after picking a few good spots managed to increase my starting stack to about 13.5k. I had a couple of players on my table who I knew could play (A.Virabi and Ridla) but apart from the table seemed pretty weak.

First Major Run-in - Ok, the fella to my left seemed the rich business type whom didnt really care bout the game spending most of his time on the phone not even present at the table and generally not giving a fuck. On a whole his play was ridiculous. So action folds around to me in the SB with this phone geezer in the BB. I look down at AQ and decide to just limp to disguise my holding. He announces "I should raise but i'll check for you" So we see a flop of 27A. I check and he pushes his remaining 6.5k into the pot without any thought. I was stunned at this play. There was like 300 in the middle and he pushes for 6.5k lol. Ok I think for a little while coming to the conclusion he aint pushing with AK, Aces up or a Set in this spot and anything less I have beat. So I call and pleasantly suprised to see him table A10. A Queen on the turn has him drawing dead and a nice scoop for me. weeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

Unusual for me to get my money in Behind - This hand was an interesting hand and took place pretty deep into the tournament. With only 40 players remaining out of the 129 that started the blinds had got pretty big and running antes well under way. This was an awful time to become card-dead. I had been moved tables and hadnt tabled a hand. In fact I nevver played a hand for over an hour apart from the odd blind steal. This table had quite a few well known players some of which had huge stacks and were respected players. Most of the action on this table was bet, pass, pass, pass or bet, raise, pass, pass, pass. Until the hand in question. UTG player limps and with that comes 4 callers to me on the button. I look down at 9 6 hearts and call for value. SB makes it up and the BB checks. Flop come 10 8 Q with two spades. Action checks to player in mid position who bets half 3/4 of the pot. I think for a while and think I can float if another spade comes or get paid massive if I hit my double belly buster of a 7 or a J. I call and everyone else passes.The turn brings the Ace of Spades. Bringing me no help to my draw. The player checks which gives me the perfect opportunity to represent the flush draw (given my tight image) and take down this already decent size pot. I bet 3/4 pot. The player in question immediately cringes and realises he's making a decision for his tournament life as his stack was the size only x3 my bet on the turn. I was aware of this and thought this would help me in taking down this pot. After about 4-5mins in the tank the player announces im all-in and reluctantly pushes his stack over the line. Now im the one in the predicament. Calling this players all-in would take a chunk out of my stack leaving me with about 10k which isnt much more than the starting stack and at this stage isn't great. After weighing up my options I decent im getting too good pot odds to pass, been positive he hasnt got the flush i know 8outs is enough. I call and table my 9-6 to his amazement as he tables his A-9 for top pair (no 9 spades btw). He starts to celebrate as the river is been dealt. BANG "Jack" on the river gives me my straight and a monster pot to go with it. It takes the lad a while to realise hes beat after convincing himself he made a great push on the turn. I believe his push was hopeful (soul read lol) and not a read on me regards my bet. Either way he was right but unfortunatly for him the pot was too big for me to pass. I got lucky but hey, cant complain.

Slow-Roll To The Max -After some big hands and a couple of hours I found myself in the final 24 of the tournament with a very healthy stack. I had 80,000 chips whilst the chip average was only 40k. I was in a position to walk my way to the final table or at least a cash as the top 18 places were paid. I was second in chips at my table only to have the luckiest player I have ever witnessed on my table. I'll paint the picture - Young Lad, Pissed, First Live Poker Game, Doesnt know what a BB. Im sure you've met the type. I asked this lad if it was his birthday or something as he's calling peoples all-ins with A3,K4,J9 and hitting everytime and eliminating player after player for fun. With him sitting with over 100,000 I was praying for a monster against this kid to wipe the smile from his face.

The hand started with the UTG+1 platyer pushing all-in for his remaining stack of 16,000 in relative to the blinds+antes this wasnt huge and not much more than the average opening raise at this stage. The crazy kid smooth calls as everyone expects and action is passed to me. I peel my cards and squeeze out "POCKET KINGS". Against any other player I would more than likely go down the route of calling the all-in and checking the remainder of the hand with the other player just to increase the chance of elimination of the UTG+1 pusher. Plus there is no reason I need to get involved with another bigstack. Against crazy kid I think he'd probably call with any old shite and pay me off massive. I could smell the double up of 80k to 160k and if i win that Ive gotta be one of the favourites to take this down.

So after some thought i ship my full 80k into the middle announcing "Im all-in". Action back on crazy kid and starts groaning, putting his hands over his face and muttering "I really dont wanna play a hand against you, I just dont know what to do" Once the lad announces that I know i'm miles in front and screaming for him in my head to call. After about 6 long minutes of groaning the lad says "If i dont play these cards, no point in playing" and calls. I immediately table my Kings and hope for no suckout until crazy kid eventually tables his cards and says "unlucky" FUCKING ACES! my jaw dropped and heart sank i didnt know wether to laugh or cry. I was gutted. I immediately stood up in disgust. By this time there was already a crowd of people around the table in shock from what they were seeing. No help on a board i cannot possibly remembervand thats it OVER.

If it was a player I knew or a player who knew what they were doing I probably wudda floored tha twat for the sickest slow roll eva but as the crazy kid had no idea what he was doing and I genuinly believe he nearly passed his aces I let it go. Looked at the lad, gulped, and said "Nice Hand". Taxi for Varzee please. lol

Overall was a cracking game and was pleased with the way I played the night was scarred by that last hand and maybe I was been greedy but in those circumstances would probably do the same again.

Nice pot for 0.25/0.50!

Party Poker - About a week ago I thought that it would be good crack to play private online cashgame against people I know. I am aware that this can be -EV if the players I'm playing against players that I know are good players, but for the crack. I searched different sites and only found Party Poker that accepts private cash games. I already had an account on their but never really played it as I was never keen. So I decided to stick a cheeky £80 that I transfered from my Devilfish account on there and see if I can get a cashgame going.

Fuck It - Ive never had time to organise a private game on there since but asked a few people on NPF (Newcastle Poker Forum) they seemed interested but think I chose a wrong time. Oh well Fuck it i'll just play 0.25/0.50 (my usual online game) after work for a couple of hours everyday (this is also the regular routine). Ive been running really well grinding it out and slowly increasing my inital £80 deposit and yet to go broke at a table.

Nice Pot for 0.25/0.50 - This morning I continued my usual routine playing two cash tables at 0.25/0.50 and within 20mins I sat with $79 and $66 respectively then a monster hand happened on one of the tables. (thavarz)

#Game No : 7950274806

***** Hand History for Game 7950274806 *****

$50 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Saturday, April 04, 03:27:42 EDT 2009

Table Table 125535 (Real Money)

Seat 3 is the buttonTotal number of players : 10

Seat 5: Nikolaga777 ( $10 USD )

Seat 8: PUNlSHERR ( $7.75 USD )Seat 2:

bmg1900222 ( $8.75 USD )

Seat 10: maxie_888 ( $106.26 USD )

Seat 6: mkdrew ( $23.23 USD )

Seat 9: pr0tman ( $44.58 USD )

Seat 4: robtaucher ( $107.01 USD )

Seat 1: smooke1905 ( $10 USD )

Seat 7: thavarz ( $66.43 USD )

Seat 3: tommmot ( $86.07 USD )

robtaucher posts small blind [$0.25 USD].

Nikolaga777 posts big blind [$0.50 USD].

** Dealing down cards **Dealt to thavarz [ Jd As ]

mkdrew folds

thavarz calls [$0.50 USD]

PUNlSHERR folds

pr0tman foldsmaxie_888 calls [$0.50 USD]

smooke1905 calls [$0.50 USD]

tommmot folds

robtaucher raises [$1.75 USD]

Nikolaga777 folds

thavarz calls [$1.50 USD]

maxie_888 calls [$1.50 USD]

smooke1905 calls [$1.50 USD]

** Dealing Flop ** [ Td, Qs, 2s ]

robtaucher bets [$4 USD]

thavarz calls [$4 USD]

maxie_888 calls [$4 USD]

smooke1905 folds

** Dealing Turn ** [ Kd ]

robtaucher bets [$11 USD]

thavarz raises [$39 USD]

maxie_888 is all-In [$100.26 USD]

robtaucher calls [$89.26 USD]

thavarz is all-In [$21.43 USD]

** Dealing River ** [ Jc ]

thavarz shows [ Jd, As ]a straight Ten to Ace.

maxie_888 shows [ Ks, Qd ]two pairs, Kings and Queens.

robtaucher shows [ 9s, 9h ]a straight Nine to King.

robtaucher wins $79.66 USD from the side pot 1 with a straight, Nine to King.

thavarz wins $198.79 USD from the main pot with a straight, Ten to Ace.

SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!!!!!

This was a nice pot and a welcome one. Looking back the $4 call on the flop looks loose but this player was continuation betting %100 of the time and knew if i made it he would pay me off he has connected with anything wasnt expecting the treble up tho. Great turn. lol.

So decent morning as I continue to run good with over £400 so far.