Poor Night at the League
I was eliminated from the League tournament in short order as is the standard. I played the hand badly - I decided to limp AQ UTG and then when it was raised and called in a few spots opted to…
Cash games
68 posts
Suited Gappers
I played at the pub again last night and continued my upswing with another £600 win. I realised when I dealt myself pocket Jacks, that it was the first premium pair I had seen since my second last Luxor session…
Vegas - Luxor cash game fun
I put in a 6 hour shift at the Luxor yesterday, with Shaun and Neil, and we all came away with big wins (I finished on a $1100 stack from a $200 buy in). The best way to approach this…
Vegas - Binnions
I first met Shaun in Planet Hollywood as he was coming to the end of a 36 hour cash session. We got on like a house on fire and spent today with his mate Neil playing cash in Binnions. They…
Midweek Flurry
After keeping my head low for the first half of the year, this week saw a veritable flurry of activity on the poker front, as I managed to play Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Monday was an online HA cash session…
Tournie Bug
I played the Irish Open main event in both 2007 and 2008, but haven't played for the last 2 years, as I have found myself drifting into cash games and spending a huge amount of time on there (with limited…
How To Write Off a Weekend
Well this weekend wasn't much fun. The cash game on Friday night went on continuously till midday on Saturday, and since I'm an old fogie these days I didn't see much daylight between then and this morning. In fact I'm…
Home Game Hat-trick
The home game I hosted this weekend was a marathon, lasting from 11am Saturday till 7am Sunday morning. I had a stormer, winning the £40 warm up event, the £50 heads up tournament as well as the £100 main event.…
Bankroll Booster
I put in a very strong performance at the LC during my last outing, both in the tournament and the cash game. The tournament saw a total of 8 players with a £100 entry, and we added running antes at…
Stop the Roundabout!
Quick blog post on the cash game from Thursday night as promised. I have had a creeping suspicion for some time that my regular cash game was playing a bit too big for me, and this was confirmed last week.…
Memento
I have this.............condition. I can't make new memories...........memories can change the shape of a room, it can change the suit of a card. Memories can be distorted. They are just an interpretation. Hand1 Blinds are now 800/1600 and I have…
Darlo Sainsburys
I'm up just outside Newcastle this week, staying with Shazbo at her parents' house. We ventured into Darlington yesterday to buy some bits and bobs for the week and it's an odd place I can tell you. We were given…
Carbon Copy
I went to the Loose Cannon last night for our private £100 tournament followed by cash, and it was an exact replica of last week. I bust out of the tournament in short order, before winning that money back and…
Pravda
I stand prepared in the centre of the ring, my yellow hammer and sickle emblazoned on my red shorts giving me a source of extra mental strength, as I await my opponent. My wife Bridget sits impassively six metres away,…
The Dogs of War
In early 1994, it was fair to say Everton had completed their fall from grace. The halcyon days of the mid 80’s seemed a long time ago, and the Toffeemen were staring at the relegation trap door. At this point…
The Shackles of Zion
During my school days I was in a number of classes with a Pakistani chap called Kashif. He was very highly strung, and had some fairly strange ideas about things. As a result of his suspect temperament, he was by…
Empire Debut
A number of people have recommended I give the Empire cash game a spin, so I finally made it down there last night with the Baron for a quick £1/£2 cash session. The game didn't seem particularly weak to me,…
Vegas P&L
So the dust settles on a fun, if unprofitable trip to the gambling capital of the world. The disappointing aspect was that I never got going in any of the five serious tournaments I entered, never making it past half…
Vegas Day 9 - Time to Leave
I didn't manage to play any real poker yesterday - I was exhausted after stumbling back at 6:30am from Planet Hollywood with The Don who had postponed his flight by one day. Instead I chilled at the Spa and had…
Vegas Day 6 - Blue Man Group Embarrassment
Went to Blue Man Group last night - clearly I was very tired and hungover, with the squits, after an all night session with the guys the night before. Unfortunately, I scored the 1000-1 shot of being picked for audience…
Vegas Day 2 - Cash Game Woe
After my early WSOP bustout, I went to join the guys at the MGM playing a cash game. The Nit wanted to be on his own table (and sure enough ground out $150 but me, Devski and The Baron located…
LC Cash Game Invitational - Episode IV
Tonight sees the latest installment of the all stars cash game at Loose Cannon. Similar to high stakes poker, the player pool has been revolved this week - out go Devski and the Nit. Making their first appearance for ages…
Vegas Schedule
Nearly that time of the year again, so I have put together a provisional schedule of the tournaments I will be playing in Vegas. In addition to the below, I've got a $1500 cash game budget, plus $600 set aside…
Library Poker
I popped down to the International with David and Big Mark to play the £50 tournament on Thursday evening. I had been trying to organise a cash game, but Mark seemed keen to get some tournament practice in ahead of…
My Little Black Dress
Whilst on the throne, I am a big fan of reading the National Enquirer. Not only does this keep me abreast of the latest developments in K-Fed's world, but I can also have a look at the fashion section. How…
Weekend Laziness
As usual, my resolve to play the International £100 tournament on Saturday night crumbled to dust. Once I was out of London, I simply couldn't summon the motivation to go to Old Street and play the event, so I spent…
Bob The Builder Homegame
It sure is nice to get out of Bobsville once in a while. I love my job as the Mayor, but it's great to get out in the country from time to time, to get some fresh air and experience…
Minority Report
The future can be seen. The system is perfect. It's never wrong. Tuesday 31 March. 19:00 DASH AND ARTHUR: "The cash game at the Loose Cannon followed the usual pattern for me. A strong start, followed by a tailing off…
Full Tilt Trip
Master Computer Lederer: "You shouldn't have come back Jimbo" Jimbo launches sixty four MTT tournaments Lederer: "That isn't going to do you any good, Jimbo" Lederer: "Stop, please. You realise I cannot allow this!" Jimbo "How are you going to…
Volcano - The Movie!
I saw on a poker forum that someone had used extranormal.com to construct a scene where one player is complaining to another about a bad beat he received. For anyone not familiar, extranormal is a fun site that allows you…
A New Personal Best
It's always a credit to yourself when you beat a previous lifetime best, so last night I was delighted to break my longest urination record, behind Pret A Manger at Mansion House. The effort clocked in at 3 minutes 42…
Thursday Tournie/Cash Game Nutter
The £50 tournament at the LC on Thursday drew a healthy field of 22 this week. With only 2 free tables we had alternates - a feature not seen at LC for a long time. I played VERY tight for…
Turning Point?
Finally some good news to report on the poker front. Followers of this blog will know it's been a wretched start to the year for me, but last night saw me post a sizeable £1,050 cash win at the Loose…
Stuck in Neutral
As so often this year, a patch of encouraging play is followed by a below par showing. I played a £1/£2 round of each cash game at LC on Tuesday night, and have only just got round to blogging it…
Thousand big blind cash pot
We have started a new Tuesday night cash game down at the Loose Cannon, with 25p/50p blinds and a £100 max sit down. The core participants at the moment are myself, Dev, The Baron and Steve, a young player who…
DTD £300 - Fistpump Bust Out
Myself, The Baron, Dev, Fluke, Jalfont and Volcano all made our way up to Nottingham this weekend, to play the Dusk Till Dawn monthly festival. After a fairly heavy Friday night plus some gokarting, we made our way over to…
The Long Way Home
I managed to make it to the Loose Cannon last night, despite illness, for the £50 tournament and a spot of Omaha/Holdem cash. After leaving at a sensible hour, I took the standard taxi back to the flat and fell…
Tonight Matthew I'm going to be..........Rafael Nadal
Saturday saw Sir Mike's home game in Kew. We had 12 runners for two tournaments - a £60 round of each, followed by an £80 deep stacked Main Event. Unfortunately for me, the high point of my night was taking…
A day of positives
After getting some positive news on the job front, my mind was free to concentrate on the poker last night, and it showed with strong performances in both the £50 tournament and the cash game. I didn't cash in the…
Burning Money
In 5 of my last 6 cash sessions the format has been the same - make steady profit for the first few hours when sober, before drinking compulsively and ending up a few hundred down. For some reason my brain…
2009 Preview
I had intended 2009 to be a real make or break year on the poker front, in that I'd play in a number of EPT and WPT events as well as the WSOPE and WSOP Main Events. However, the fragile…
Quarterly Review - hmph
A pretty dire quarter comes to a close, with me registering my first losing 3 month period in over a year. $5,300 was the damage, and results in a disappointing end to a good year on the poker front. Consequently,…
Jekyll and Hyde
There is an awful duality to my cash game play these days, which needs to stamped out. On the one hand, when there are strangers on the table, I play an aggressive, yet strategic game. An analytical approach, with a…
Short Stacking
A very brief update as I'm feeling a bit uninspired today. I seemed to spend the entire tournament short stacked at LC's £50 League night yesterday, and must have been all in about ten times during the course of the…
A Different Kind of Bluff
I tried something a bit out of the box last night, which didn't work, but I hit a 4 outer on the river to save the day. I popped down to the Loose Cannon to play the £10 rebuy tournament,…
Poker Creationism
Day 1 - Light & Darkness Day 2 - Water & Land Day 3 - Sun & Moon Day 4 - Birds & Sundry Sea Creatures Day 5 - Cattle & Insects Day 259 - Jimbo finally breaks even at…
Jody's Home Game
Saturday night saw a trip to Cheltenham for Jody's home game. Seven runners pitched up - myself, Shazbo, Jody, Debs, Sir Mike, The Baron and Fluke. It would turn into an epic session. We started off with two tournaments, with…
Losing your way in Queretaro
Nowadays, Queretaro is an economic powerhouse by Latin American standards. Conveniently placed on Highway 57 and 45, it is a portal to both USA to the north and Western Mexico. Now home to multinational companies and the top Mexican universities,…
Plugging The Leak
Well the cash game was a big success last night. I got rid of a ton of bad habits, including my big leak, and ended up £350 up after tips and rake so probably significantly more in pure poker terms.…
So-So
Bah - a mixed bag of poker last night. Just a quick update today: The positives: - Won £120 in the cash game - Secured a seat for the Virgin Poker Festival Main Event on 27th September (a deep stacked…
Home Game - Jet Lagged
I feel totally spaced out after the mammoth home game I hosted this weekend, which has completely messed up my body clock. The tournaments started at 12pm on Saturday lunchtime, and the cash game ended at 3pm on Sunday afternoon…
Home Game Preview
It's the next instalment of my home game on Saturday, and things are being run a little different from before. This time we have a festival of poker with four tournament events and 23 runners total, and even have full…
Good Goran, Bad Goran
1994 Wimbledon Final - Set 1 Goran Ivanisevic and Pete Sampras gingerly feel one another out. No one even comes close to breaking serve as both players are playing their "A" game, and it eventually goes to a tiebreak. Sampras…
Pickin' Strawberries
The strawberry pickers have it tough - stooped for up to 10 hours a day in the heat for an average of $8 an hour. This reward is pretty much exactly in line with the meagre profits I generated in…
Odds Aren't Always Everything
I think I made a decision which was technically correct, but strategically woeful, during the LC League match on Thursday night. The situation was as follows: 12 players remain, average stack is 7k, my stack is 6.5k. Blinds are 400/800…
3 Card Irish
Welcome to 3 card Irish, debuted at Loose Cannon last night. I've played this game before in a cash game, but never before in a tournament. The format was £20 buy in with optional rebuy/add-on. I ended up placing 3rd…
Home Game IV
The latest installment of the home game provided the usual mix of alcohol, a deep stacked tournament and a hyper aggressive short handed holdem/omaha/irish cash game. In attendance were myself, Shazbo, Fluke, Maltese Mike, Sir Mike, Honest Dave, Tom, Briony,…
Refusing to do a "Moya"
Whilst having my tooth extracted on Saturday, I was mulling over the content of Fluke's recent blog post, where he talks about the striking difference between tournament play and cash play (http://extremepoker.co.uk/). He, in fact, suffers from the opposite problem…
Following Ebbo's Wisdom
It's a new week, and I'm about to go and sign up for the gym. Hopefully I can make it there 3 times a week, either at lunchtimes or first thing in the morning. Besides being worried about my general…
Cash Game Anticlimax
I had pencilled in the Thursday cash game at Loose Cannon for a few weeks as my big cash session of the month. Unfortunately, it was a huge let down - I was card dead (not a single pocket pair…
TAGing with the LAGs
In poker, it is imperative to alter your playing style according to various factors in the particular game you are playing. In tournaments these are the blind levels, your stack size, opponent's stack size, payout structure and the players themselves.…
Dublin Warm Up
Not long till the Dublin trip now, so I've put together a schedule to get as much live tournament practice as possible before then: Monday 3rd: Gutshot £100 (40 runners) Tuesday 4th: BetterPoker £50 @ Loose Cannon (60 runners) Wednesday…
Getting away with it
On Friday night I made a basic poker blunder - I played a cash game significantly above my bankroll. I had intended to have a week off from the game to recharge the batteries but upon getting in from the…
How Many Real "Pros" Are There?
How big a bankroll do you need to go pro? A huge amount in my opinion. I think there are lots of young guys who set themselves up as professionals with bankrolls that are about 10% of the size required.…
The Magic Final Hand
Normally, during the last few cash game hands of the night people play hands they shouldn't, hoping for a last shot of adrenaline before home time. I've tried to avoid this trap as it has cost me in the past,…
Cash Game Improvement
Not much to report.................the tournament was a non-event for me. I grinded along short stacked for most of it, with few interesting hands to report. Eventually I lost the race which would have put me in the running against Professor…
EI-EI-EI-0..........Up the Poker League we go......
An eventful evening...........2nd place, 22 points, £430, a big suckout and an unbelievable cash hand to report. Tournament first - 24 runners for the 3rd installment of the LC poker league. A veritable table of death to begin with -…
Loose Cannon Poker League + Arnie
Poker league finally off and running. I think if it hadn't started last night it would never have happened, but we got a field of 16 and most of those will return next week I think, plus a few others…