Goodbye 2007 , hello to 2008 - a whole new year for playing poker

The end of another year of poker playing, so time to see how I fared... particularly in relation to my intentions from last year !

Financially, 2007 was not a great year for me, being around $650 down for the year (Internet poker) I started well in January (despite playing a lot of HORSE tournaments) but a couple of larger than normal buy-ins (without cashing in) and trying to qualify for Ladbrokes Cruise and Late Night Poker tournaments substantially drained my bankroll.

October was the first month where I decided to follow a more professional approach to bankroll management so my losses were only $25 in the last 3 months of the year, which is much more like it and probably reflects where I feel I am at with my game.

My live casino games in 2007 were two £10 rebuy tournaments (only documented one of these trips) and one £200 freeze-out, but didn't cash in any of them.....

The monthly game was pretty successful in the end, being about £26 up on the year, so am pretty happy with that...... (despite missing out on 2nd place trophy)

So for 2008, my resolutions will be to :-
1. Continue with the stricter bankroll management
2. Apply the bankroll management to the live casino games as well as online !
3. Be more selective about the "special" tournaments I play in (although rule 1 will naturally limit the MTT games I can play in anyway)

I think applying these rules will allow 2008 to be my breakthrough year in terms of financial improvement and hopefully give me a solid basis on which to start pushing my game to a higher level.

Whatever happens, I am sure I will be enjoying it, and is still a cheap hobby :-)

Cars: which car to choose.... the final decision !

After a lot of umming and ahhhing.... I decided to go for the Lotus Elise R but without the sports pack and 4 point harnesses.

In a slight twist, after I placed the order it turned out that the 2008 specification has changed (compared to the 2007 spec) in that the Touring Pack is no longer standard on the Elise R, so then had to decide if I really wanted the leather and extra comfort. In the end I thought I better had, as it will be an everyday car. Being given the opportunity to change the order, I nearly decided to go for the Sports pack as well, but have to be a little bit sensible :-)

I am expecting the car in March, but even now am starting to get excited.... seems I made the right choice then :-)

Poker: Home Tournament : December 2007 and end of year thoughts

The game went ahead as normal, but unfortunately I got side tracked and only just got around to doing the write up !!

Naturaly I have no recollection of the details now..... so apologies to anyone who avidly reads the write ups, you will have to miss one

Steve made the final table, so got the years consistancy prize.... there was a small worry a little later as there was a possibility he would make the top two and have to give the prize back ! but when he got knocked out in 5th it was no longer possible.... he did take 3rd place in the championship though (bumping me into 4th place in the process and just by 1 point ... dammmittt.... )

Bill got taken out in 6th, and as Jon was still in the match, Jon became undisputed 2007 Champion with Bill in 2nd place. Well done to both, well deserved in both cases and also shows that two opposite styles of play can both do well in the longer term (some may say Bill is just a lucky sod, but you wont hear me saying that ;-) )

Looking back over the year, everyone seems to enjoy the games and so decided to leave the structures as they are for 2008 (why fix something that ain't broke !) The points system is a huge success and although everyone still wants to get into the top three... most are more concerned by getting the points rather than the cash (a good sign I guess) Interestingly the finishing order by cash winnings was Bill, Derek, me then Jon (rather than Jon, Bill, Steve then me by points)

For myself, the year got off to a shakey start, but my run of results in the second half of the year put me into contention for the last game. It all starts again next year of course, so I have high expectations of myself and expect to do well again :-)

Can't wait.....

Cars: Which car to choose ?

I really want a Lotus but decided to test drive some other sports saloons to see if anything can tempt me away from the Lotus

The Mercedes was a good car, but was auto only, felt bulky and you do feel a little isolated from the driving experiance by the electronics

The BMW was a better, but didn't do it for me

Vauxhall's VXR8 is a serious contender to the Lotus and could be considered a practical option in comparison. It is a big car though.... and doesn't even have a sunroof... but could live with that

So what is it to be ???

Ummmm, still not sure actually..... I need to decide in the next few days......

Cars: BMW 335i M Sport (convertible) Test Drive

I am thinking of the Saloon rather than the convertible, but this was the only demo car they had that was similar. They were only able to give it to me for one night, so have driven it 38 miles in the dark (and slightly dank conditions)

First impressions are overall good, with the biggest problem being the seat ! The wrap round padding for the sides is great and makes you feel really dialed in to the car, but found the padding under the top of the thighs a little uncomfortable and slightly disconcerting. I didn't really get time to fiddle with the seating position to see if it could be improved, but made me wonder if I could live with it or not.

The performance seemed to be pretty good and the car felt stuck to the road. I hadn't got used to the dimensions of the car, but did feel fairly confident in placing the car in the road.

Compared to the other cars, it did seem quite compact and low slung. There was plenty of room for the front passengers but no way would you get anyone behind me in the back and the boot was pathetic (but these would only be an issue with the Cabro)

The only other criticism was the heavy steering at low speeds... I don't see the missus being able to manoeuvre the car unless she takes up weight lifting ! (that might be a good thing :-) )

Overall, a good car with a couple of niggles. In all honesty I am prejudice against BMWs (for no rational reason) and this car is not good enough to overcome these feelings.... so will it be the VXR8 or the Elise ?

Cars: Vauxhall VXR8 test drive

Imagine my surprise and delight that I was able to get a Vauxhall VXR8 for a three day test drive, and that my three days also spanned a weekend !

My first impression was that this car is a powerful beast !! but the driving experience was tempered by uncomfortable seats and a HUGE steering wheel (the rim must be at least 2 inches in diameter so very difficult to get a natural feeling grip on the wheel)

The plus points of the car are its obvious power, performance and handling. Looks-wise it is a little bit OTT with the spoiler and meaty looks, but is by no means offensive to view.

On the negative side, the seats and steering wheel are the big put-off, but also suffers a little from a twitchy ride, restricted visibility backwards via the mirrors and also the HUGE A pillars block the forward vision. The indicators/wiper stalks are also reversed from most cars, so is a bit annoying at the moment.

Having said all that, now I have driven the car for a few days and experienced it in various driving conditions, I have finally managed to adjust the seat to find a position that does feel comfortable and have also adjusted my grip on the steering wheel and think I could live with that as well now.

As the other negative issues are all relatively minor and would get used to them over time, I think this car would be a serious contender if I don't get the Lotus ! The wife is not too keen though, finding it noisy and uncomfortable (not compared to a Lotus though :-) )..... so she hopes I like the BMW that I am testing next week !

For me, the VXR8 would likely have been crossed off my list had it only been a normal test drive, but the extended experience shows the car does grow on you over time

Cars: Mercedes C350 sport test drive

As I am looking to change my Subaru in March, I am test driving some cars so I can place my order before Xmas for my new car.

First up was the Mercedes C350 Sport which I had for two days

Unfortunately I only got to drive it from home-->Work-Home in the dark on wet roads so couldn't really push it too hard, but got a good feel for it

Being a Merc, it was auto gearbox only, in this case with the flappy paddles as well. The car was about what you expect from a Merc. Refined, comfortable, quiet and a huge amount of power and torque from the silky smooth V6

There were no "faults" with the car as such, other than no manual gear box..... but didn't feel involved and felt the weight/bulk of the car when I did push on down some country roads.

In the end, if it was the only choice of car I had, then I would be happy with it... but am not convinced it is for me

Computing: Cisco Certified !

I have fancied achieving Cisco Certification for a long time, but only recently could I justify the time and money investment.

It seems I have been studying for years for my Cisco Certification exam (CCENT) , but probably only the last 4 or 5 weeks. I bought three books to read, although in honesty I have only really read "CCENT/CCNA IDNC1 Official Exam Certification Guide" thoroughly (ISBN 1-58720-182-8)

Having read the book, I bought a Cisco CCNA Lab kit from eBay, which consisted of a 1600 Router and 1900 Switch. Unfortunately the switch was useless as it had the old operating system but at least provided me an environment I could use. The Router was good as it allowed me to review and practise the commands.

Luckily I was also able to go on the official Cisco course with Global Knowledge in Wokingham
The course was great as it gave good hands on experience with some "proper" Cisco boxes and also gave the WAN routing as well. It also gave further confidence as the instructor was adamant the exam is based on the courseware rather than the book (the book goes into a lot more detail than the course itself!)

After a week revising after the course I went to the exam. I was feeling a little nervous as the exam itself consists of multiple choice (Which I am used to) but also gives you simulation questions where you have to remember roughly what you need to do and then go and do it ! Most of the multi choice questions were fairly straightforward and felt I knew the answers to most of them. For my first simulation I struggled to remember some of the (very simple) commands to begin with, but used the help and managed to get back on track.... in the end the tasks were quite straightforward but not knowing how many more of these questions to expect, I was worried about running out of time. As it turned out, I only got two more simulation type questions and they were both quick and straightforward, so actually finished with 15 minutes to spare.

On clicking the button to end the exam and get the results, the wait seems interminable (around 30 seconds probably!) but I got the good news that I had passed :-) My score was 909 out of 100 (804 was the passing score) so had actually passed with margin to spare

I am very pleased to have got this first level certification and now hope to take the second stage (ICND2) to achieve the full CCNA certification (then maybe the Firewall Specialist) Of course, this would all be after learning the new Oracle technologies I need to understand, so a busy year or so ahead for me !!

Poker: Home tournament : November 2007

Only a quick update today,as being slightly snuffly still from my cold, I dont remember much !

11 players for this increasingly tense tournament. My recent run had me in a good position to take the lead of the championship but my form wasn't great this month. I played quite steady, albeit a little agressive, but with Sean and Bill on my table, there was always a showdown. In the end my raise in early position with KTs on the first hand after the rebuys stopped was my downfall. Sean reraised and bill called all-in which made the decision to fold quite tricky (as both players could have been behind) In the end I did call for another 1000 and the flush draw on the flop made it an easy all in for my remaining chips. Seans pocket KK was a great hand and beat me, but Bill's AT took the main pot and I was first out.

The game was quite close but Alex was soon out then Bill took out two players in one hit to get us down to the final table.

Steve was down to big and small blind when he went all in under the gun, but tripled up. Soon took another couple of big pots and before anyone realised we were down to the final three players. Jon was happy to see Bill out in 3rd, with Steve and Derek having a battle but Dereks chip lead and aggression soon taking the top spot

Jon is favourite to take the top spot, Steve is favorite to take the consistancy prize, but the 2nd place spot is wide open to about half a dozen players, so all to play for in December !

See statgenie for the full analysis

Poker: Home Tournament : October 2007

Although the turnout was a little disappointing (compared to the rest of the year) the game dynamics were very different which led to a different atmosphere and different play for a lot of people, so very interesting game.

Some things didn't change though, with Bill being all-in for the first three or four hands.... although unusually it was often against an also all-in Alex !

Jon and myself were noticeably playing very tight games but I seemed to be getting some cards to play with ! I won a fair few chips early on, but later on gave a chunk of them to Jon when he re-raised by QQ all-in with J9 and hit straight on the river !! I was quite low for much of the game after that with only around 2500 chips at the end of rebuys, although was probably around 4th in chip count of of the 10 players at this stage

It took ages for the first two players to go, and we played with 8 for a long time also (or it seemed a long time!) but the increasing blinds were starting to hurt so the players were dropping quickly. I am a bit vague on the details now, but managed to knockout Roger, then Jon taking me to the chips lead... then Darren and then Andy to win the game with time to spare ! Not sure how it happened, but was either superior playing skills or I just got lucky at the right time (know which one I prefer to think ;-) )

The league positions are looking fascinating now... and although there are only two to play, there is still a lot to play for !

See you all next time (results at http://www.statsgenie.com/Poker/ as normal)

Cars: Brooklands for e-Type Jaguar day

Today was e-Type Jaguar day at Brooklands Motor Museum (http://www.brooklandsmuseum.com/) As the E-type (http://www.web-cars.com/e-type/index.php) is one of my all time favourite cars, I just had to go and take a look at them :-) Brooklands Museum always has a magic feel to it for me, so really enjoyed walking around looking at the old Jags

After our picnic lunch, as per our normal schedule, we also walked round to Mercedes World (http://www.mercedes-benzworld.co.uk/) and Lynn decided she likes the £65k SLK 55 better than the £115k AMG SL (yes..... the colour was better !)

Having enjoyed the cars, on the way home we dropped in on a new house development at Chobham Lake, just for a laugh...... £475k for a 2 bed terrace house is a lot of money to me, even for the semi-rural location..... and you don't even get allocated car parking spot ! (you have to buy at least the £600k 3 bed terrace to get 2 parking spots allocated) (http://www.surreyproperty.com/photos2/Large/003DSC_0210.jpg)

Oh well, will have to fill out those lucky lottery numbers on Saturday again....

Poker: Home Tournament : September 2007

Results and league standings available at http://www.statsgenie.com/ as normal

This months is the quarterly no-rebuy, no-limit format so tends to be a more tense, tight and serious affair.....being down to 9 players as well, I thought the game would be over quickly tonight, but turned out to be a wrong assumption

The game was tense and tight, although lots of table chat going on as well (Bill, don't forget to do that quote for Sean :-) ) Mick started out the early winner of several reasonable sized pots so looked to be his night. Andy had lost a few chips then decided to make an all-in lunge at the pot when I raised with my A-K. I also had a few more chips than Andy, so decided to call, with Andy showing 9-8 suited.... I was ahead and neither improved, so Andy was first out and the only one with no points tonight!

That set me up nicely but continued to play quite tightly. I built up a nice stack of chips but then had a run in with Jon and dropped back down to third in chips. Jon then took a big chip lead with everyone else being slightly below average except Mick and myself by the break.

As the blinds went up, there was more action, but everyone was still playing tight, solid poker.... Bill managed to survive three all-ins by splitting the pot, normally by hitting a miracle card on the river... but Derek's luck deserted him and got taken out by Mick by a cruel card on the river

After the second break the blinds were high and only Jon had enough chips to sit back and relax for a while. I decided to step up a gear and won a couple of uncontested pots to get a good sized stack. In the final round, there were still 5 players left, although Mick immediately got taken out, then I got lucky as Darren decided to make a stand when I had him dominated and that left 3 players. Steve got whittled down and was out next, leaving Jon and I to play the last 4 hands of the tournament. I won the first couple of hands and with the chip counts almost identical was over aggressive on the 2nd last hand with T-7 and when Jon called my pre-flop raise we were both committed to play out the hand. The flop was checked, but Jon bet the turn. I had to make a crying call and sure enough, Jon had paired his Jack and took the pot and a well deserved victory

Phew, another points/cash finish for me which does my league position the world of good (that's what it's all about :-) )

The game overall was great, it seemed everyone was really on their best game tonight which made it fascinating and huge fun to play, so well done to all

Even better, we only have to wait three weeks for the next game :-)

Holiday: Spain - September 2007

We went to La Carihuela on the Costa Del Sol for a week last week and had a lovely time.

The journey out was uneventful and was in the bar by the beach before 6pm (local time) so was a good start to the holiday :-)

Most days followed a pattern of Breakfast, Beach, Lunch, Beach, walk (to Torremolinos or the Port at Benalmádena) then Dinner....... so didn't have to think to much about what to do

Weather wise, apart from Thursday every day was hot and Sunny (about 35 C) Thursday was cloudy until late afternoon (but still hot!) but had previously decided this was to be our adventure day, so we walked around Torremolinos town and along the beach.... (OK so wasn't all that adventurous ;-) )

In many ways we were sad to come home, but actually after a week of sun and heat we had had enough already so wasn't a great wrench really.

Journey home was also uneventful and even got home in time to watch the England match :-)

Great holiday, deliberately slow paced and relaxing, just what was needed to recharge the batteries

Music: Newly aquired CDs

It has been a while since I bought some new CDs, (although am sure I bought some more recently than last year ! http://sceaga.blogspot.com/2006/06/music-recent-additions.html)
but have been listening to the 5 CDs I recently purchased in the car over the last few weeks, so can now reveal whether they were sound investments or not (pardon the pun!)

Keane : Hopes and Fears
Good CD. Lots of the songs on it you would recognise..... mainly laid back and some inspirational tracks. Overall well worth the listen and has longevity

Lily Allen : Alright, still
Heard a few Lily tracks on various music shows on TV, etc... so knew some of the songs. The first time I listened to the album, I found it amusing but was worried I'd get bored with it after a few listens... as its quite basic structure to the tracks and quite naive sounding production. I needn't have worried, as after several listens I still enjoy a lot of the tracks (have got bored with some though...) I am just worried about poor lily's state of mind, as the lyrics are quite vicious in places !
Overall a good buy and still happy to listen to it

Hazel O'Conner : Breaking Glass
Always liked this soundtrack, takes me back to my youth :-)
Songs are still relevant today and music is pretty lively in the main. At on £2.99 great value as well

Muse : Black Holes & Revelations
Fantastic album, been meaning to buy it since I saw Muse on TV playing some tracks from this album... Great inspirational stuff....songs are spinning round in my head when not actually listening to it :-)

Arcade Fire : Neon Bible
Heard couple of tracks on radio and TV, slightly wacky but very likeable. Problem with the album is I only like the two tracks that they keep playing on the radio and TV... the other tracks are not all that good (in my view)
The one album of the five I could do without

All in all some great music to listen to, must get my music budget sorted out so I can buy albums more regularly

Poker : So many tournaments, not enough time....

Having had a bit of a "rest" after my so far unsuccessful attempt to qualify for the Ladbroke Cruise (http://sceaga.blogspot.com/2007/06/poker-ladboke-cruise-weekly-final.html) I decided this week to have another go, so loaded up my account again. My first evenings work paid off and managed to win half the fee for a daily final. Thursday night I dropped a little but still up so far overall...so progress is slow but steady.....

Next thing I know, I get an email about the next Late Night Poker series qualifiers which look really exciting (http://www.partypoker.com/tournaments/late_night_poker/)

I really want to get into BOTH of these live finals, so am going to have to get creative with my poker playing time (and maybe a bit lucky as well :-) ) Its very exciting to be a poker addict at the moment, with so many quality tournaments to play for.... can't wait to get cracking !

General: Gym Regime

Having suffered last year with "Joggers Knee" (aks Runners Knee http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/articles/article.aspx?articleId=438&sectionId=10 .... at least I didnt get "Joggers Nipple!) so decided to join the Gym from January this year and go swimming instead of running on the road.

Unfortunately after several months of swimming 4-5 days a week, I started suffering from "Swimmers Ear" (it is quite funny really, but actually is pretty painful! http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/articles/article.aspx?articleId=272 ) so settled on a new regime of mixed activities which will hopefully be easier for my poor body to cope with

I guess I've been doing the new regime around 5-6 months now, so decided to take stock of where I am at....

Monday (Running)
Run at 10 kph for 20 minutes plus 5 minutes cool down. Total of 3.8 km covered. Peak at 154 bpm

Tuesday (Rowing)
20 minutes plus 3 minutes cool down at maximum resistance (the hard seat gives me a sore bum, else would do more cooldown :-) ) Do around 30 strokes per minute and cover 5000 metres

Wednesday (Cycling)
Pedal at around 80 rpm at level 11 resistance (25 is the maximum setting, so a little bit of a wimp) for 20 minutes plus 5 minutes cooldown. Cover 9.5 km and peak at 134 bpm.

Thursday (Swimming)
Swim 20 lengths in around 20 minutes. Do alternate breast stroke and crawl, with 1 minute rest after 10 lengths

Friday (Running again)
Same as Monday

I normally make 4 times a week, but often do all 5 days.

My weight in the morning was 12 st (75 kilo) and my tummy/waist ration was 91cm/96cm = 0.948 (just below the recomended 0.95 !!)

So what does all this mean ? Well, hopefully it means I am fit and healthy... but maybe still need to cut down on the vast qualtity of chocolate for the truly healthy lifestyle (like that's gonna happen :-) )

Will re-check these stats in another 6 months or so to see how I improve (or not)

General: Day trip to Arundel

As the weather forecast was hot and sunny we decided to go to Arundel for the day (http://www.sussexbythesea.com/arundel_general_info.asp?menu=1)

It only took about 75 mins to get there and easily found a parking spot, albeit deciding to pay in the long stay car park ! It was a lovely town steeped in history, so decided to walk round the river first. The towpath was pretty busy with people, but turns out the pub on the river just out of town was having a Bath Tub race and we got there just as they were about to start... seemed like all the townsfolk were there ! As it was so hot, we didn't go on the full walk up the hill and round the lake, and ended up just doing a couple of hours walking by the time we got back to the car, just in time for lunch !

We had taken our picnic so found a nice spot to sit in the shade by the river and had a lovely leisurely lunch with great views.

With the choice of walking round town or going round the castle, Lynn prefered to look round the shops !! Lot of antique shops, 9 pubs and a generous assortment of restaurants and cafes abound, but was old English feel to the town.... especially with loads of Morgans buzzing around the roads as well. Looked like there was a Morgan do on at Goodwood and Arundel seemed like it was a place for all the cars to stop at for some reason.

Was definitely a nice place to visit and was lots for us to do and see... most of it we didn't do or see yet, so will have to go back another day :-)

Cars: Brooklands Club Lotus day

Brooklands held a Club Lotus day, so of course I had to go and check it out !

Got there around 11am, and was worried that no Lotus were in sight.... but rounding the club house, there were some, albeit only 6 cars ! 3 x 7's, an Elise and a couple of Elans

Took some pictures, but bit disappointing turnout... although soon after, some more did turn up so by the end of the day there were around 25 cars there to see and I think most models were reprosented. It was only a static display, but they moved around occasionally so you did get to see and hear them

After lunch we did also go into Merceded world again and sit in the £150 K AMG mercedes :-)

It was a loverly day, with great weather as well, so great day out. Was a little disappointed there weren't more Lotus to see and that they didn't do the hill climb, but you can't have everything I suppose

Looking forward to our next trip to Brooklands

Poker: Home Tournament : August 2007

Slightly down on numbers this month, but also see the welcome return of Colin to the fold.... and Martin also managed to make it as well.... and with only one of the White clan, the evening had a different feel to it.

My tournament got off to a dodgy start... dealt pocket 3's first hand decided to raise... but ended up with 4 players all-in ! Sean took the first hand and went on to start calling with all sorts of rubbish (normal game for him then ;-) )

My chips kept going down, but got a breakthrough against Roger and managed to get a bit of a stack together, but never really got a stack going through the early levels. In the last session before buy-in I managed to accumulate more chips, so went into the break with around 3000 chips (slightly above average) Alex had been struggling all game and had lots of buy-ins so inevitably needed two buy ins at the break (as did Andy)

After the break Alex raised and I put him all-in with my pocket 4's which he called with A-6 Nothing came to help either of us, so I managed to take Alex out. Couple of hands later I put Andy all-in and we had another race, but this time me having two overcards. Luckily one of my cards came and I took Andy out as well... giving me a decent number of chips. Unluckily for me, I then get a good hand and only Sean calls my raise. My AQ looks reasonable with KQ5 flop, but Sean calls my flop bet and goes all-in on the turn. I decide to call and of course he has the K, and my AQ gets turned over by K-6

The final table is with us quickly this evening due to the number of players and only Mick has less chips than me, but at least I have made it into the points. Two players go out in quick succession and I am roaring up the points positions by not playing a hand. I win one small pot uncontested which leaves me with 2000 chips and the blinds 500-300

I look for a place to go all in and soon get a good opportunity. My 76 on BB sees two 7's on flop. Roger bets the flop and both me and Jon call. The 6 on the turn means I want Roger to bet out again, but he checks. Having only 1500 and a huge pot, I go all in and Jon calls me with a straight against my nut Full house.... so nearly tripled up

A couple of hands later I am lucky to take Roger out when I hit a card on the River and I am chip leader and in the money

It is definitely my night tonight, as I flop a straight draw and Jon prices me in to see the turn when I hit the straight. He bets out and then calls my re-raise but he has no hope and I take a massive chips lead. I even manage to dodge Jons AA next hand, although it got done by Dereks K-5

It was soon all over, when I take out both Derek and Jon, so Jon gets another 3rd place but I make my first win of the year !!

I am really pleased especially as I really felt I was up for it this time round.... and didn't play badly (admittedly did get lucky a couple of times, but hey... :-) )

As ever a great game, but have to wait an extra week for the September game, so looking forward to that !

Results posted to http://www.statsgenie.com/Poker/ as normal, make interesting reading...

Cars: Car profile

I have always been a keen driver, especially when someone else was paying for it ! So what cars have I owned over the years ? (in some form or another)

• Mini Clubman 1000cc (1980)
  Company Car. Engine kept having problems, rebuilt a couple of times. (don't know why, I never revved it more than maximum revs....)
  
• Austin Allegro
  Company Car. Surprising how many people you can get in an Allegro
  A different Austin Allegro
  Company Car. First experience of lift-off oversteer. Luckily Tree wasn't damaged..... car written off. Oops.....
• Citroen Athena
  Bosses car, used fairly regularly whilst I was "rested" from company car ownership..... first experience of 3 figure speeds (it was socially acceptable in those days) however was unable to think of suitable reasons to explain to boss why his fuel consumption halved whenever I drive his car..... so fun was seriously curtailed after various "discussions" on driving technique.
  
• Talbot Solara
  Company Car. Rubbish car, but permanently on the road again! Learnt about weight transfer when swerving to avoid truck pulling out in front of me. Luckily the barrier on the A3 Hook underpass wasn't damaged.... car written off....... probably did car loving humanity a favour though....
  
• Talbot Solara Series II
  Company Car. Very exciting as the first car I had from brand new. Also first one I had with 5 speed gearbox ! (it is some new fanged gadget, will never catch on..)
  
• BMW 316
  Company Car. Only had it for a month.... didn't want to give it back, as in those days it was cool to have a Beema
  
• Ford XR3i
  Company Car. Ended up with engine on fire when starting it one day, probably petrol leak in engine bay... write off of course (but not my fault this time !!)
  
• Ford Capri 1.6L Laser
  Company Car. First real experience of rear wheel drive. Also first experience of a big tank slapper.... luckily didn't hit anything, and my passenger ended up marrying me, so couldn't have been that bad :-)
  
• Cant remember what I had next (1990)
  Company car of some sort.
  
• Saab 900i auto (1990)
  Company Car. Working in London now. Daily commute, yuk.
  
• Saab 900s manual (1991)
  Company Car.
  
• Cannot remember (1992-94)
  Company Car. Some repmobile or other probably
  
• Rover 216 (1994)
  Changed company, this was obviously a company car !
  
• Rover SDI 3.5 V8 (1994)
  First car I owned myself. Changed company and decided to get car allowance. Only lasted about 7 weeks before it collapsed in a heap of rust and mangled bits (£50 for a car wasn't much even in those days)
  
• Renault 19 1.3 (1994)
  My car. Great car actually.
  
• Cannot remember (1996 )
  Company car. Doing high mileage so went back to company car.
  
• Renault Laguna 2.0 Sport (1997)
  Company car. Sport meant you got the "firm" seats (i.e. - your head doesn't touch the side windows when you turn the steering wheel)
• Saab 900 Turbo (1997)
  My car again. Changed company just as Tony Blair got into power... bound to hammer company car drivers, so I went for a car allowance. Very quick car (once Turbo has spun up that is, none of this namby-pamby low-pressure turbo rubbish)
  
• Lotus Elise (1997)
  "Our" weekend car. until wife wanted to sell her half..... Hmmmm, OK. Absolutely wonderful car though, would love to race one. (we all need to dream)
  
• Subaru Impreza Turbo (1999)
  My Car. mine, mine, mine.... one of the most reliable cars in the business, so why did it throw a rod through one of the cylinders then ? Complete engine rebuilt under warranty (luckily) Great car, but refused to be driven sensibly. I must be getting old as started worrying about my Driving License.
  
• Jaguar XK8 Convertible (2002)
  My car. Fantastic car, not just for posing in either. Only sold it to provide my racing budget (and some stuff for the house, but hey....) Might own another one again (or maybe an Exige would be better..)
  
• Land Rover Discovery Td5 (2003)
  Company Car. To tow my race car of course. Tax liability is a bit of a bugger, but you can't beat it for towing.
  
• Range Rover (2004)
  Company Car. Temporary arrangement from May-Sept. Unbelievably, you cannot buy a new Discovery at the moment !
  
• Jeep Grand Cherokee (2004)
  Company Car. Temporary arrangement from Sept 04- Apr 05 Auto gearbox, but fantastic V8 petrol engine. Great for towing and not bad in a straight line :-)
  
• Subaru Forester 2.5 XT (Mar 2005)
  Own car Can tow 2 tonnes and goes like stink as well

Gambling: Blackjack elimination tournaments

I have recently taken to playing the occasional game of Blackjack online, especially after a long Poker session (http://www.ultimatebet.com/blackjack)

Started playing the cash games, but found I either won a little or lost a lot! so now turned to the Elimination tournaments. These last up to 30 hands and are playing for a prize pool rather than putting cash in each hand. At the moment am having some success at the $1 games, so just a bit of fun really.... although there is some high standard of tournament play even at this level

In the main, anyone with good understanding of how to play a tournament (rather than playing normal blackjack) should do well, so will keep you posted as to progress in future posts

General: Harry Potter

Went to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix last night http://harrypotter.warnerbros.com/

Despite going to the 5:30pm showing, there were about half the audience who were couples without children in tow, so just goes to show the wide age range appeal of Harry (I am not the only big kid :-) )

The film itself was pretty good, no big surpises if you saw the previous films (and read the books of course :-) ) but certainly fan's will thoroughly enjoy the film and not such great fans (like the missus) will sit through it and enjoy it, so overall a winner I think

Cars: TVR at Brooklands

Today was a bit of a "Sport" day :-)

Went to the TVR club day at Brooklands Motor Museum (http://www.brooklandsmuseum.co.uk/) to begin with and had a good look (and listen !) to the TVR's that were displaying. There were all shapes and sizes so was very interesting to see. We wandered around the lines of TVR, then they all went and lined up for a photo shoot on the old banking, so we went up to the bridge and took some photo's then had some lunch before wandering around the rest of the cars. I was hoping to see the going up the hill, but didn't look like they were schedules to start until mid afternoon, so ended up leaving without seeing that spectacle.

There was also a Mercedes Club day happening at Mercedes World next door, so had a look around at the exhibits outside (and watched listened to the AMG rides round the track) Lynn wanted to look at the cars in the showroom, so went in but the GP was being shown on their TV's so didn't hang around long

Went home and watched the GP that I was recording, which was also great entertainment, then it was just a case of watching the end of the golf.

All this sport is very tiring so will have to have a little rest now !

Music: Bullfrog band

Simon and Lil came over for dinner this weekend and had happened to see that there was a Rythym & Blues band playing at the Four Horseshoes, so suggested we go over for a swift half and see if they were any good

As it turned out, the band was great and all had a really good time watching the band

Their web site is at http://www.bullfrogband.co.uk/ if you want to check them out

Poker: Home Tournament : July 2007

Back to the normal Pot Limit format this month, but a good turnout (14)

Not sure what has happened but everyone seems to have taken a sensible poker pill this month.... :-) Although the action was frantic as normal, we had very small (comparatively) number of rebuys and still had 9 people going into the last 20 minutes ! Everyone was playing good poker and some weird luck was going round this time....

For me, it was mainly bad luck of course :-) I was playing normal style tonight and three key hands ruined my chances... one was against Joe, when I was all in and ahead with Joe looking for one of 8 outs post flop.... of course he hit on the River to complete a middle pin straight draw. Later on Andy W was all in against me and I was way ahead with A-2 in my hand and A on the flop, I then hit a straight on the turn, but the river put a straight on the board so we had a miracle split rather than me winning. In fairness I did then hit one bit of good luck when all-in against Joe with my J-5 against A-9, despite a 9 on the flop I hit runner runner to double up, although I was short stacked which was why I was playing J-5 in the first place :-) My last hand I was A-Q against Bill with 8-2, but the 2 hitting the flop was enough to take me out the tournament.

Talking of Bill, he took out 8 players.. partly though loose aggressive play and partly by pure luck (some people may say) His huge pot sized bet on the River convinced Andy he was bluffing but when the cards came over, he did have a hand (compared to Andy's A high if I remember correctly) but he also flopped a flush, a nut flush, Full House... the list seemed to go on. The chips were certainly moving around the table though

When we did eventually have a final table, the players fell quite rapidly. Alex had managed to cling on to maintain his 100% record of points scoring so far but went out in 8th place this time. Roger made some brave moves as lowest stack but ended on the cash bubble (4th)

The final hand saw Bill and Simon both needing to win at least the blinds in order to win, but as Jon had nothing to loose by going all-in as short stack, we saw all the chips in the middle (except the odd chips Simon had left over) It could have gone to any of the three, but Bill took the lot by hitting one of his cards to make pair 8's to take the tournament win and the lead in the League table as well !

Very close, tense (and in some ways odd) game but highly enjoyable (and cheap) night out

League positions are still very open, so anyone can still get a good run to win ! Roll on next month...

Poker: Ladbroke Cruise : weekly final update

Further to my previous post (http://sceaga.blogspot.com/2007/06/poker-ladbrokes-cruise-some-progress.html) I played in the Weekly Final today.

38 players started, giving 3 cruise tickets and 3 cash prizes for the top 6 finishers.

I started the game actually feeling quite nervous, but determined to do well.

The first hand I was on the button and with Q-8 decided to limp in as everyone else had folded. An 8 came on the flop so bet out when the blinds folded and took down the first pot... always a good feeling and gives initial confidence. I got dealt pocket Tens the next hand so raised pre-flop and just got 2 callers. The flop came with two diamonds, so decided to bet out when checked to me but both players called. The turn came another ten, so was confident I must be ahead so bet out again after both players checked, and this time only 1 called. The river was another diamond, and the player before me bet out half the pot...... I knew in my heart he made the flush but had to call and sure enough he had hit his 18% chance so I'm down to 1800 chips already (from 3000 starting point)

I didn't panic at this stage and played steady solid poker and managed to get back up to 2800 before having a couple of bad hands and slipped back to around 2200 again. Then I had some luck.... with an A-8 on the button I limped in and three diamonds came on the flop, and everyone checked. Another diamond came on the turn and I nearly missed I had made a Straight Flush !! To my joy the first player bet minimum amount and was called, so I made a small raise as I thought at least one would call... but no... they both folded so didn't make any money on my massive hand

After that I struggled but maintained over 2000 chips... although this represented the bottom 5 places....

After 50 minutes play, I got pocket nines in late position and although there was an initial raise, this player had been quite loose (he had all my chips in the second hand) so decided to re-raise and only he called. The flop came Q-8-8 so when he checked I decided to bet half the pot, but he re-raised me all-in. I only had around 900 chips back, and although he had been quite bullying on the table suspected I had to be behind.... but decided to call anyway. Sure enough he had A-Q and I went out in 31st place :-(

Bit of a shame it didn't work out, but on the bright side, do have a reasonable amount towards the next daily final... so will have another crack at it.

Poker: Ladbrokes Cruise... some progress !

Since our cruise holiday (http://sceaga.blogspot.com/2007/06/general-cruise-holiday-round-med-week1.html) I decided I had to try and win a place on the Ladbrokes Cruise again (http://poker.ladbrokes.com/pokercruise)

Of course I had tried and failed once before (http://sceaga.blogspot.com/2007/01/poker-ladbroke-poker-cruise-iii-journey.html) but really want to get on the ship again (it was a fabulous holiday!)

As before I decided to win my stake into the Daily Final (£66 buy in plus one £25 rebuy and one £25 add-on) by playing Cash games. I soon found I am still rubbish at cash games, although some of it may be not having the right bankroll to get into the large stake games.... the low stakes games really do seem to be a lottery ! In the end I decided to stick to what I am best at, so went back to playing Single Table Tournaments (STT aka Sit and Go's). As luck would have it I had a string of money finishes.... so it only took me 2 weeks to get my stake together for the Daily final

I played the Daily final this evening. 24 players started, and most seemed to be playing fairly solidly.. so I was playing my normal tight game. I had a few ups and downs, but managed to get to over double the starting chips (around 4500) towards the end of the first hour when the rebuys stop (thats £25 saved I was thinking to myself) On the last hand before the break I had 3-4 suited but decided to invest 100 chips in seeing a flop, mainly as I wanted to run down the clock to the break... the flop came A-5-J and the three players checked so I checked as well... the turn came 9 and we all checked again. The river was a 2 to make my straight, and to my surprise one player went all-in .... I had the nut hand so called and of course doubled through ! This meant I did not need to add on either as I as near the chip lead (so had only spent the original £66)

Whilst this was a result in itself, I continued to accumulate chips, partly by solid play but also a little bit of luck and people reading (most people were playing ultra-tight or were playing too loose when short stacked..

Making the final table was a breakthrough for me, and was in about 5th place at the time. I managed to take out a short stack which took me to 3rd place, where I stayed more or less all the time right to the end of the game.

The top 3 finishers win a ticket into the Weekly final on Sunday, in which 1 in 10 players will win a ticket to the cruise itself !! (it is a £660 buy-in normally) At the moment there are only 10 players in the final (although this may well go up)

So I will need to make sure I am fit and fresh for the game on Sunday evening... and will be crossing my fingers for a good game and have a chance to win that cruise

Poker: Home Tournament : June 2007

Fourteen players start this epic battle. The NL Freezeout game has definitely become a much different animal to the Pot Limit rebuy games and everyone is keen to do well and not go home early (although some people are more successful at achieving this than others as we will see...)

On my table, first hand I get dealt KK in the Big Blind so raise 300 and get three callers ! Fortunately the flop comes with a K but has straight and flush draws possible so decide to bet out large and pick up a great pot After that I fritter away chips gradually as no hands come to me.

Roger is playing a blinder of a game and knocks out Andy early on. In fairness, Andy's all in move with nothing more than Ace high may have been a little reckless as Roger's two pair actually wins him a huge pot for a change ! A few hands later I am drawing for a straight on the flop but decide to bet out and only Roger calls. Turn is K to make my straight but is a third spade... both me and Roger check and with the river being a blank I check again and Roger puts in a Pot sized bet. I cannot decide what Roger would have and being 2nd chip leader to Roger decide to fold rather than risk 25% of my chips. It doesn't all go Rogers way when the flop comes three clubs with four players in. After a round of checks, the turn is another club.... and the river makes a flush on the board so everyone takes their money back.... with Roger showing his pocket Aces

My luck kicks in again and start making hands. After raising pre-flop, I make top pair on the flop and bet strongly which only Simon calls. I am wondering what he has so check the turn and river, with Simon showing A high so I take a large pot again.

As the blinds increase we start loosing players but it takes until after the 2nd break before we see the final table (with only 35 mins left to play) I am probably chip leader with around 15000 in chips, Bill is close behind and there are 2 or 3 short stacks with the remaining players having around 3-4000

It is not long before we have our first knockout. The flop comes 6 high with just the blinds in, Simon goes all in with A-6 and gets called by Bill with K-6. It looks like Simon has doubled up until Bill hits his K on the river to take Simon out. Soon after, there are four limpers to a raggedy flop and everyone checks. My Q-6 looks a bit better when a 6 comes on the turn, but still everyone checks. The Q on the river gives me what should be the winning hand, so when Joe puts in 1000 bet I am happy to raise it up, which he calls. My 2 pair hold up and Joe is out in 7th

It starts to become a bit of a crapshoot with small stacks going in all over the place. Andy W goes all-in and I am happy to call with my pocket Aces, but his K-5 cracks the aces when he makes two pair on the river. I also manage to double Jon up so my stack is starting to look vulnerable and a 4th place finish is on the cards for me !!

Luckily for me, Jon doesn't get any luck and goes out in 4th. With 3 players left and three hands to play it gets tense, but Andy goes all-in and my 8-3 goes in the bin to give him a slight lead in chips over me, but Bill is slightly ahead at this stage. The next hand Andy goes all-in again, this time I decide my K-4 is good for a punt and Bill dips out of the big blind. Unfortunately I am dominated by K-Q so have to settle for 3rd. This win gives Andy enough chips to win by folding the last hand and it is all over for another month

I was up and down all over the place, having good luck and bad... but overall am happy to be in the money places for the first time this year. We had it all tonight... bad beats, slow play and general riotous behaviour so another great game, with lots of action.

General: Cruise holiday round the med (week1)

• Saturday 19th May (Leaving port)

Left home at 12:25 to drive to Southampton. Journey was fine until we got within 3 miles or so, so it took about 1 hour to do this last part of the journey ! It took another hour to get on board once out of the car, but overall was quite a smooth experience so far. Slight annoyance was that the documentation said to arrive at 2pm (hence the huge traffic jams) but we could actually have boarded at 1pm

The room was nice and the balcony definitely a bonus worth having. To my surprise we had the lifeboat drill whilst still in port, but at least it got it out the way (good idea really) Had a walk around the ship to explore.... it is a HUGE ship, and has lots of stairs. Saw the ship out of Port then went to the cafe type restaurant (called the Windjammer) which is on Deck 11 with a lovely view looking out from the stern. Saw the Welcome Aboard show, which was very good (amazing acrobats) then by the time we had a drink in the plaza bar, were worn out so had early night.

• Sunday 20th May (at sea)

Woke after a slightly restless night. Squeaks and rattles in the room, caused by the choppy conditions in the Bay of Biscay. Ship is still rocking and Lynn has slight queasiness due to the sea conditions. Had a nice breakfast then as Lynn needed some air we had a wandered around, but is quite chilly outside.

Went for coffee in the Promenade Cafe (deck 5) which is all indoors and looks like a village street with all the other shops and large space. Lots of stuff going on around the ship, so attended a cosmetics talk at 11am, Discover Shopping show at noon (where to shop in Gibraltar and France) then a seminar on "Eat more to weigh less" at 1pm (very relevant on a cruise!) then found there is a series of talks from a Poker professional on improving your Poker at 2:30pm , so went to that.... difficult to fit in all the eating and drinking as we then went to an Ice Show at 5pm but this got postponed due to the choppy conditions, which gave us time to get a coffee and cake :-)

Then went for a game of putting on the 9 hole putting green, before having a rest in the Sun. Out of the wind and with the Sun now out, it was actually pretty hot now.

After a nice rest it was time to get ready for Dinner (Formal night tonight) We had the late sitting which was normally 8:30pm (or 8:45pm some nights) which seemed a little late to eat, but the alternative was 6pm, which seemed a bit early ! We were on a table of 10 people, with 2 elderly ladies (who were a hoot) an elderly lady with her daughter, an older scottish couple and one couple a little nearer our own age (but were probably late 50's) All were very pleasant and talkative so although the meals were around 2 hours, it went quickly and the food was excellent.

After dinner we went to the "American Drifters" show, which was OK but not great (was never a fan of the drifters really) then had to go to the Casino ! The Casino was quite large, with three or four Blackjack and Roulette tables, plus a couple of Stud Poker games as well as one Cash Texas Hold'em table (but this never got going until Midnight most nights) Managed to loose about $100 so went to "The Dungeon" which was the nightclub and had good atmosphere despite never being busy when we went there. After a few drinks and dances, managed to crawl into bed around 1:30am !

• Mon 21st May (at sea)

Woke up at 10:15am and went to Breakfast. Then found spot to lye on deck, but was cloudy and cold. Decided to make our video of the ship (as requested by Julie :-) ) and it took around 75 mins to quickly go around the ship. After lunch the sun had come out so sat in the Sun until it was time for my Poker lecture. Sat in Sun for a while after, then had a swim in the pool. The pool is quite small but is salt water so easy to just float about cooling off before going into the sun again. Then Lynn decided we needed to go to the Gym! The facilities are good, with a lot of running machines, bike machines and weights. They also have separate room for the various fitness talks and classes they run

The show tonight is before dinner, so time for nibbles just before the show which was very good. Popped into the Casino again but only lost $40 (and Lynn lost $10) Dinner was very good, then there was a 70's street party after which we went back to The Dungeon but got to bed not too long after midnight

• Tuesday 22nd May (Gibraltar)

Woke up about 9am and had breakfast. Went for long walk into Gib, up to park by the cable car, but decided not to see the monkey's Walked back via Museum and popped into various shops but didn't buy anything. Mainly cloudy today but with sunny spells, so quite nice to be out and about. Late lunch today (3:30pm!) then went on deck to watch the ship depart. Went to see the delayed Ice Show, which was spectacular and great stunts (probably good job they didn't try to do it with ship moving around a lot) Went to cabin to have a cup of tea and another well earned rest, as we are always using the stairs rather than the lifts to get around.... and we are on the 9th deck !

Decided to have dinner in the Windjammer then catch a movie "Talladega Nights" which was quite funny.... then went to the Casino and lost $50 on Blackjack :-( We were both tired after our excursion and exertion so ended up having an early night

• Wednesday 23rd May (At sea)

Woke up early (8am) and after breakfast went to the In-Line Skating for Beginners, but due to the high winds it was cancelled. Tried to walk around the running track on deck, but going round some corners was tricky as the wind really was strong. Tried sitting by the pool, but a bit windy and got a bit cold so had to move to a sunny spot a bit more sheltered. After lunch (and another rest) had a swim, then went to the Poker lecture, then had another swim and rest in the sun until time for a small snack and game of putting (busy, busy)

Time to get ready for Dinner (formal night) Ready a little early, so did a quick bit of shopping and quickly lost $20 in the Casino ! After dinner went back to Casino and had a longer session, turning my last $75 into..... $75 ! Yes my luck is turning... I managed to walk out the casino not loosing anything.... ! Getting up early tomorrow for a trip so get to bed around 11:30pm

• Thursday 24th May (Villefranche, France)

Up early (7am) and had breakfast in the room. Fantastic views of the land from the ship so looking forward to getting out. Got tender across to the coaches and onto Nice first for couple of hours.. it's VERY hot Walked up & down through market and along coast. Had nice coffee and saw roadies putting together the stage for a Motorhead concert that evening... shame I will miss it ! Went onto Cannes where the film festival was in full swing so very crowded and still very hot. Had expensive lunch (but nice) then wandered around the shops. Only had 3 hours so soon had to go back to the coach.... where obnoxious car park attendant insisted everyone walked around his little part of the car park, and objected to some people sheltering under the the bus stop for relief from the sun.... was quite funny to see him getting so excited about his job.

It was so hot, once back on ship just had time to glug some water before jumping into the pool to cool off.... it was great ! Then had another game of putting which I won (Lynn is still beating me 2-1 on games so will have to play some more!)

Decided to have dinner in Windjammer before going on deck to watch us leave port. It was beautiful to see the lights of the village as we left, but the photo's look rubbish. Popped into Casino to loose $25 then back onto deck for the midnight buffet. We weren't hungry so just took some photos.

• Friday 25th (Liverno, Italy)

Woke up early (8:15am) had leisurely breakfast as our trip wasn't until after lunch. Wandered around for a bit before having a rest in the Sun. Had early lunch then went to Pisa on organised trip. It was baking hot, so not great to be out walking.. Very commercial by the monuments with lots of traders selling stuff, but the buildings are spectacular to see. You don't believe how far over the tower does actually lean, seems to defy gravity. Decided not to go up the tower as it was hot, crowded and expensive (and limited time) but got some good photo's from the ground. Back on board, we had tea then I went for swim to cool off again... good job the pool is there....

Saw the ship leave port then went to Windjammer for dinner. Popped into Casino with $50 and played roulette for a while. Had mediocre luck until decided to load up number 8 and it came in !! Went away with $140 so a good night at the Casino at last ! Went to show at 9pm then went to watch rock band "Adams Rib" who were pretty good (although killed Pink Floyd number) Went back to Casino and played Texam Hold'em for half hour ($2/$5 cash game) and ended the session $14 up Got to bed around 1am in the end

See the next installment in General: Cruise holiday round the med (week2)

General: Cruise holiday round the med (week2)

(Continues from General: Cruise holiday round the med (week1) )


• Saturday 26th May (Civitavecchia, Italy)

We had decided not to visit Rome itself, so walked into town on our own. Saw market, sea front and town square but not really much to see or do, so back on Ship for lunch and well earned rest.

Cloudy but humid and warm, decided to go to gym again for a run, then wanted to see film, but seemed everyone had the same idea and the screening room was full ! Instead we had nice cup of tea (and cake!) then had a quick kip. I then tried in-line skating for the first time and managed to stay on my feet. After a quick drink went to Dinner in the main restaurant and then to the show. Feeling a bit worn out so had early night (about midnight !)

• Sunday 27th May (Sardinia)

8:30am alarm for our organised trip. Had a photo stop on top of a hill to see the great views. Then walked through the city and saw the cathedral, museum and Roman amphitheater. Got back around 2pm so had late lunch and then a quick snooze (it wears you out all this walking and eating)

Played bingo, which was surprisingly good fun (I suppose because it is gambling!) then watched Ship leave port. Pre-dinner show today, so have to get ready for dinner, see the show then go to the main restaurant. Shows are generally all good quality and entertaining, although not sure I would have bothered if we had to pay extra :-)

Went to look at the British Pub party on deck but is wild and windy (the weather rather than the event) so went to the Casino where I managed to get a game of Texas Hold'em Turned $156 into $60 but time flew and had lots of fun.

• Monday 28th May (at sea)

Been choppy all night and the day dawns dull and cloudy (and very choppy) After breakfast went to a talk about Amber in the shops then hit the Bingo again (third time lucky ? No !)

Had a nice cup of tea (and cake) then Lynn wanted to look at the shops again so I went to the Casino and turned $60 into $160 so have reloaded my gambling bankroll a little :-)

Had a quick lunch then went to an Art Auction, but had to leave early for my Poker Lecture but Lynn stayed in the auction to get a free piece of art at the end of the auction (worth $45 apparently)

Just time for a quick shop and a nibble before we went to a second Ice Show, after which we did even more shopping ! Then had to have a rest, so got a cup of tea and Ice Cream (made a change from a cake) After a quick rest, we got ready for Dinner and then went to the show. Decided to have another early night (midnight)

• Tuesday 29th May (Cadiz, Spain)

Woke up at 9:30am for breakfast. Walked into town on our own. Long walk in the Sun but lots of shade around. Very beautiful city with lots of great sea views and city has warren of medieval looking streets. Accidentally did the coastal walk first (due to rubbish map) we didn't realise we had walked all way round back to our starting point, but managed to get good map from the tourist information point and navigated through the city streets. Had nice cup of coffee and ice cream whilst out.

Got back around 4pm after around 5 hours walking about in the heat., so went straight for a cream tea ! Then watched ship leave port from our balcony before eating in Windjammer. The show was a pianist who was very good, then there was a Mardi Gras in the Promenade deck. Then sat and listened to Calypso band for half hour but they weren't all that good, so had cup of tea and went to bed (another early night - i.e. midnight)

• Wednesday 30th May (Lisbon, Portugal)

Another day, another city tour... Had to get up at 9am for breakfast. Weather was overcast but warm, so actually nice to be out walking in the City. Got back around 2pm, just in time for lunch. Rested in room and watched ship leave port.

Had a quick go in the Casino and won $10 so had to have another rest until time for dinner. After dinner, went to the show, then back to the Casino where I managed to return to my loosing ways and dropped $70

• Thursday 31st May (Vigo, Spain)

Woke up late (10am) and walked into City on our own.... it's drizzling ! Walked through the old town which was very picturesque, then up to the Castle from which there were great views... and it's become Sunny again by now. Came back via shops and had nice cup of tea and a cake in El Carte Ingles, then found lovely park through which we walked back to the ship

Back on ship, had another cup of tea and cake then it is time for Bingo again. Went on deck to watch ship depart, but a bit chilly so went into the bar "19th Hole" on top deck to see the view (and happened to get a beer as well)

Lynn then wanted to shop some more, after which went to the Casino and managed to win $80.

The show was a classic group with a twist "Graffiti Classic" The music was great and their antics were amusing to keep you entertained even if the music wasn't your thing. Then went back to the Casino for Lynn to blow her $17 and I lost my $80, after which we went to see the Rock group for a rest and reflection on the evils of gambling.

There is the grand buffet to see at 12:30 and managed a nibble of a few things, so went to bed feeling very full, and the sea has turned choppy again !

• Friday 1st June (at sea)

Woke up 9:20am just in time for breakfast in the room (booked for 9:30) After struggling out of bed, walked around the shops as the weather is Dull, Cold and windy. Soon time for elevenses, so had cup of tea and cookie. Went to another Art Auction, quick lunch, then back to auction.... although I had to duck out early for my final Poker lecture... from which I had to duck out early to get to the grand final Bingo ($10'000 dollar prize must be won) Managed to miss Lynn, so went to Casino to see if she was there (well..... ) and blew my last $100 on roulette before Lynn caught up with me. Went for tea and cookie before doing our packing.

After nice dinner and show, we went to see rock band for the last time and had some drinks, getting to bed around 1am (but clocks go back one hour, so effectively midnight)

• Saturday 2nd June (going home)

Southampton is bright, sunny and warm.... we just had time for breakfast before being called to get off the ship, and only took 30 minutes from there to be sitting in the car. As its quite early (9am) the trip home is quick and uneventful

• Final thoughts

It was a lovely holiday, sometimes very relaxing and sometimes seemed quite frantic (although this was due to our wanting to do all the activities)

If the last part of the holiday had been sunny and warm then it would have been even better, but there was enough for us to see and do that the slightly dodgy weather on some days did not really intrude, but the Sun would have given us more options of things to do.

All in all, well worth doing and we definitely enjoyed the ports of call. Wonderful ship and crew

All I need to do now is qualify myself for the Ladbrokes poker cruise in January 2008, which is on the sister ship "Explorer of the Seas" round the Caribbean !!

Poker: Annual Satellite - Final table

At last the final table is upon us.... seems ages since I won my seat, but now we are all here and it's time to shuffle up and deal. Just hope that Sean, Jon, Derek and Karen who had all had recent illnesses don't spread more than their chips round the table :-)

I pull out the Ace for seating position which is a good start, and get a chance to see everyones mood before having to put any chips in. The mood seems tense and tight for everyone, but always see a flop, so just call the blinds with my pocket 3's and bin them when three overcards come, and thats my one hand for the first level . Meanwhile Sean decides to go all-in and wins the 50 chips, showing down pocket K's.... so there is some method to his madness.

Level two sees me play another hand, but the flop doesnt help me and three other players in means its an easy fold. Meanwhile, we get some action with a 5,6,7 rainbow flop..... Sean raises to 1000 (pot around 300 at this point) then Darren goes all in. Sean calls and shows trip 5's but no good against Darrens made straight.... and 8 on the turn gives Sean more outs, but blank on the river sees our first casualty... it was just a bit unlucky for Sean he ran into a monster when he had a huge hand.

I find A-T in my hand and raised pre-flop, getting 3 callers (why do I always get multiple callers when I raise !) The flop is A-3-5 and it's checked to me, so bet 500 into a pot of around 1200 with only Jon calling. Jon checks again on the turn of a Q, so I bet 500 again and after a long think he calls. He does seem to be on a draw but can't quite figure out why he's calling me..... so slightly concerned... the river came down with a T so am a little happier, but wonder if Jon made a monster straight or was slow playing AQ With Jon checking to me again, I debate whether he is slow playing, but decide to bet again. After deliberating again he calls and shows A-2 Must admit I hadn't put him on that hand !! but pleased to take a reasonable size pot

At the first break, I have around 6000 in chips, with Darren on around 7000. The restart see's Bill calling Karen's all-in bet and his top pair gets trashed by Karen's two pair and Bill is second out. Whilst it is fair to say our two wilder players (in my opinion) went out first, I must also say they both went out on hands that I would probably have played in similar ways !!

The game goes back to tense and tight, and am a bit vague on my memories here..... I remember that Simon, Jon and Derek are all running at around 2-3000 chips stacks so are struggling a little, Darren seems to be playing ultra tight and I am just not getting any cards to play at this stage

Jon was the first one all-in with KQ and was against Darren with A5 (?) The flop came with a K so Jon shot into the lead.... but then A came so Darren was way ahead.... only to see a T on the river and Jon made an unlikely staight to double up !!

In the end something had to give, and it was Simon. He was being blinded away so had to make a move. Darren must have knocked him out (as he knocked out everyone bar 1 !!) but don't remember the hand.

On the last hand before the break, Jon found himself with low chips and a hand to play with, but Darren took him out and we went to the break with 4 players left. At the break I had around 6000 chips, Darren was in the lead with around 12000, Karen had around 9000 and Derek around 4000 (and the Big Blind of 2000)

Despite four players being left, the blinds would ensure that the action was fast and furious. Darren used his chip advantage to great effect and started frequently raising and betting the flops (and why not!)

I found myself with 3000 chips and on the big blind so called Darrens raise without looking at my cards.... showing K9 to Darrens A5, but no-one improved and I went out in 4th (again!) Derek was left with 1000 in chips so had a choice of playing the button or the big blind, but also failed to get any luck and went out in third. There was also only 1 hand with 2 players and Karen went in behind and inevitably Darren took her out as well

A great game, I felt I played reasonably well but Darrens solid game paid dividends this time round and deservedly took the top prize (and the coveted trophy)

We'll do it all again next year, but for now good bye and good luck (but it;s only 3 weeks to the monthly game ;-) )

Poker: Casino trip for £200 Holdem NL freezeout

The Casino was pretty quiet so just hoped there would be at least 6 people for a game... but 5 minutes to go before the scheduled off, and there are only 3 players ! Luckily there is a late rush of entrants and we have one table of 10 players for the game and kick off at 5:15pm

I had decided to take it slow and steady with my first objective of not being the first one out firmly in mind. We had 10'000 chips to start, 30 minute blind levels and 25/50 starting blinds so had plenty of time. For the first hand I was Small Blind and picked up KJ o/s so decided to play. The button made a minimum raise so thought I may as well see the flop and show my blind was not always going to be stolen ! Two others called and the flop came A-x-x all diamonds. I checked, then checked my cards and sure enough had the Kd All checked to the button who put in 100 raise, and having nut flush draw decided I could call, but everyone else folded. The turn was no help but had to call the 200 raise.... and the river was... no good either, so folded to the 500 bet. After that I had no cards and could relax for a few hands.

One of the players was seeing all the flops and calling down to the river or betting when checked to him (we'll call him "The Joker" as he had to be kidding most of the time). The hands he showed were rubbish starting hands, but was hitting his cards, and his frequent betting often took the pot uncontested so was building his chips nicely. In the first level I got a good hand and raised, with The Joker being the only caller. The flop was all diamonds (again!) but I had nothing When it was checked to me I bet out and surprisingly took the pot... so this put me back to starting chip count. A few hands later I flat called a minimum raise from The Joker when I was on the big blind with QT. Couple of other people called as well, and the flop gave me an up and down straight draw. I checked and The Joker bet a small amount so was getting odds to call, with the others folding. I checked again and The Joker bet out, but decided to call and hit my straight on the river... unfortunately there were also 3 clubs. I checked and The Joker bet out, so re-raised hoping he didn't go all in... but he just called and showed 2 pair.... phew, I had made a large amount of chips and was actually chip leader at this point.

A few hands later and The Joker decided to go all in on the flop when he had K-4 despite having missed completely and having no good draws. The caller of his recklessness had pocket A so he was the first one out (also giving me my first objective :-) )

It went pretty quiet after that with the remaining players all seeming to be pretty solid and mainly tight/aggressive. There was a Chinese chap who seemed to be a bit of a gambler, but even he was picking him moments and well capable of folding to a raise.

I continue my tight play but seemed my blinds were being attacked... unfortunately I was getting absolute rubbish on the blinds so had nothing I could defend with most of the time... I did manage to make a move on one of the chaps to my left when everyone folded to me on the SB, so raised with 8-3 o/s and nicked his blind, but it was tense times with 9 players still. My best starting hand early on was pocket 7's in late position, but the Chinese chap put in a raise to 1000 (blinds around 200 at this time) so decided to fold. Of course we saw a flop and it came 8-7-3 so would have taken a nice pot had I felt able to call.

My game continues to be steady with the occasional raise but the whole table was still tight/aggressive. As the blinds went up people started going out.... we saw AA get cracked by AJ when a 2nd jack hit the board taking a player out. The one lady player (who took out the Joker with AA) showed AA again to take a huge chip lead and cripple two other players chances. AA held up again against KK so the hand quality and play was definitely now of a high standard.

I had managed to maintain chips at around the average stack until we got down to 6 players when I started to slip behind, so tried to loosen up a little and be more aggressive. It was tricky to do, but managed to make a few more chips here and there.

Once the blinds went up to 1600/800 and I had around 10'000 in chips (still!) so time was running out for me... but luckily two more people went out in quick succession leaving 4 players (top three pay out - first place £1000, 2nd place £600 and third gets £400) The guy to my right had almost exactly the same chip count as me (around 8400 by now) I was pleased to see him go all in under the gun, so folded my rubbish. Unfortunately he took the blinds uncontested although he had to put in the BB now. I had almost persuaded myself to go all in this hand and JT looked tempting, but thought someone may have a go at his BB so decided to fold. Unfortunatley just the SB called and the flop came with two jacks ! The SB (Chinese chap) put in a bet but was re raised and he gave the pot to the guy on my right so I was now well down on chips and kicking myself for not going all in :-)

On my BB I looked down at A5 clubs, so decided to go all in..... despite the lady putting in a raise of another 3200 on top. She showed AK o/s and despite the flop coming down with 2 clubs, neither of us improved so I went out on the bubble ! At least it was only 9pm so could go home and have a few drinks now......

Overall I felt I played well and hadn't made any huge mistakes.... even in hindsight I feel I played the hands right, the only mistake I probably made was still going all in with the A5. I should have thought it through more and probably folded that hand, although it was a close decision as I had been raising her a lot when it was her big blind, and she had been raising my BB a fair amount as well.... but I would probably have done the same thing in the end as the blinds were about to go up as well

I had a good, exciting game and although I didn't go in hoping to finish 4th, do feel I had a good chance of winning and gave it my best shot. Worth £200 ? well, having had a good result on my last Casino trip to pay for half the entry fee, it was worth a go and have proved to myself that I am not a complete fish even in the bigger ponds :-)