Poker: Casino trip 31st July

Myself, Jon, Andy and Bill went to Maxims Casino in Reading for the Texas Hold'em £20 re-buy tournament.

There were 41 runners (after they all turned up!) on 5 tables and with plenty of re-buys the prize pool was fairly chunky with £60 for 10th through to just over £1000 for 1st place.

Andy was on my table, seated two to my right,  Bill and Jon were on two other separate tables to begin with, but when Jon's table was split up he was seated on Bill's table (to Bill's right)

I had a elderly gentleman to my immediate right... reportedly 92 years old ! but he was a bit spaced out and seemed a little confused at times.   With or without his glasses he had trouble seeing the cards and insisted on flashing his hole cards around when he was in a hand (despite being told!)  

Things were quiet for me to begin with.  I limped in a fair bit but folded to any bets on the flop.   The whole table seemed to be playing like this in the beginning, so all very pleasant and friendly.     It didn't last and found myself sitting on the BB with K-5 and checked to see the flop.  Amazingly the flop was K-7-5 !   The SB checked, so I also checked.  There was a small bet which SB called but I raised it up and only SB called (the elderly confused gent)   The turn was a blank and saw me all-in and the SB called.  He showed A-7 (1 pair) to my 2 pair but the river was another 7  leaving me a little disappointed and down to 300 odd chips.   Luckily I could re-buy when below 2000 chips so reloaded

It all went quiet again for me but managed to raise a couple of times and take the blinds, then found myself with K-K and heads up against elderly gent again.   He wasn't lucky this time and decided not to re-buy after I took all his chips (well, got my chips back!) although now had Andy to my immediate right

Andy was doing well, mainly by flopping a low straight and getting all-in with it so by the break I was on around 7800 chips (unfortunately had bought 7000 of them) and Andy was on 17000 odd and Jon was on around 7000   The average was 7600 so wasn't in bad shape.

After the break the table tightened up a bit as expected, but all of a sudden there was a raise which Andy called from the BB.  The flop was A-K-x and Andy bet out, was re-raised then immediately went all-in.   After a long think, he was called.  The caller had A-Q but Andy had A-J    With no improvements Andy was down to around 1700 chips !

A few hands later I was on BB with pocket 4's and the same fellow made a standard raise.   I thought he was playing a little loose after his big win,  so decided to call.  With a K-x-x flop I was a little worried about the K but decided to bet out and was called.     The turn was another low card, so bet out again and was called again, so was pretty sure I was behind and checked the river (another low card)   He bet out 500 but decided I had to call in case he was on A-x type cards, but he showed A-A !!   This left me with around 5000 in chips, so still plenty of play left.

Somewhere around this time, there was a huge discussion going on on the next table (Bill and Jon's) about someone going all-in out of turn... the tournament director was called for a ruling... not sure what it was all about or the outcome, but seemed to involve Bill !! 

With the blinds up to 400-200 I got K-Q in the BB.   There were three limps then Andy decided to go all in for 700   Unfortunately for Andy it was automatic calls for everyone and 5 players saw the flop of Q-9-x   With 3500 in the pot and only appx 3000 back, I decided to go all-in and got called by the lady to my left.  Everyone else folded so we all went on our backs.   Andy had pocket 4's and the lady had Q-7  so I was in good shape.   Unfortunately a 7 came on the river, putting both myself and Andy out of the tournament !!

It was not long after that Bill joined us on the tables and soon after Jon was also out.... so not a great show for the CamberleyBoyz in the end

Approximate finishing positions were

Andy 31st
Mike  30th
Bill      25th
Jon     20th

In the end, I felt there was only one hand where I wasted my chips and had two bad beats at key times, so felt happy with my overall performance on the night, although obviously disappointed with my early exit.   Already talking about going to on the Sunday £50 freezeout tournaments :-)

I didn't even have a great night on the Blackjack or Roulette, so ended the night down.... but not too much, so still have got most of my casino fund intact ;-)

Music: Glastonbury 2008 and subsequent CD purchases

I didn’t go to Glastonbury myself, but recorded a load of sessions from BBC TV coverage.   Have finally caught up and seen all the recordings and thought  The Verve were definitely one of the highlights of the whole weekend.   For me, JayZ was the lowlight and didn’t deserve all the hype but there you go….

Having seen some good bands that I haven’t previously encountered, obviously decided to buy some albums, so ended up getting

The Ting Tings
elbow
Editors
The Raconteurs
The Pigeon Detectives

Also got  Kaiser Chiefs and The Best of REM CDs whilst in the shop as they were cheap ! (obviously like the bands as well!!)

Have only listened to The Ting Tings so far, which is a great album and glad I bought it…. just got to listen to all the others now… as I only get to listen to one album a day (one I get around to putting them onto my iPod) it will take a little time, but will hopefully be worth it

General : Kung Fu Panda

We went to see Kung Fu Panda Saturday night.  I wasn't sure how much Adult humour there would be, but actually the film was very watchable and thought it was hilarious in a lot of places.   The training and fight scenes with the Panda were in particular very funny. 

The story was mainly predictable and had a few moments of American preachiness, but don't detract from what is an easy going, light hearted fun film.... definitely worth seeing (for adults) and kids will probably enjoy it as well !

Cars : Goodwood Festival of Speed

This Sunday we went to Goodwood Festival of Speed.   Left the house around 9am and after a nice relaxed drive, arrived around 10am.   Came in the South entrance so first went to the Paddock to have a look at the cars.   The F1 cars were all waiting in the holding area, so had a quick peek at them (from a distance as it was packed!)  Then went around to Goodwood House itself, and saw a huge crowd there as well... turned out Lewis Hamilton was about to address the crowd, so huge around there and he soon came out.  He did a nice interview and got the crowd going

Then walked towards the Cartier "Style Et Luxe" but the marshals were cordoning off a section of the drive... turned out Dougie Lampkin was shortly going to utilise the space, so we hung around and then saw him do some amazing feats on his Motorbike... including jumps and turns on the roof of Goodwood House !!

After that we did look at all the lovely cars in the Cartier area, which this year included several of James Bond movie cars....

Had a look round the Supercar paddock, which was packed !   This year does seem a lot more crowded that when we've been before (the event was sold out), maybe due to more F1 teams that ever before and the "Lewis effect" ?

Managed to see some cars going up the hill, then decided to have lunch after we walked up to the Upper Paddock

Seems to be a lot more going on generally, more "experiences" you can go on and lots more for Kids to do.   The rally stage at the top of the hill was bigger and catered more for the spectators than previous years, but also meant it was a lot more crowded than before !

Back down the hill we saw Nick Mason in a Mercedes-Benz W154 at close quarters and Adrian Newey ran past us, also caught glimpse of Steve Rider, so saw more celebrity than ever before as well.   Also got around 100 photographs of various cars (mainly) so only a small selection here!

Around 5pm we decided to leave, so ended up back at the car around 5:30pm.  The journey back was horrendous, with nose-tail traffic form the car park to the other side of Midhurst, then again around 2 miles or so before the A3 traffic lights... so ended up taking 2 hours to get home

The event itself was great though, so next time we go it'll be on the Saturday which should be less traffic !

Poker : Annual Satellite 2008 - Final Result

It seems we have been waiting for the final for an age, but at last the evening we have all been waiting for has arrived!   

Bill and Mick were eager and waiting at the club when I turned up , Bill in his suit and tie "to distract the opposition" :-)    Bill's pre-game prediction is me and him heads up, but him taking the title.... yeah right ;-)

Karen, Sean, "Andy x" and Alex completed the 7 seat final table (Bill and Sean bought in for £50 but no-one else was available to fill the final available buy-in seat)

My recollections are probably vaguer than normal as I got dropped off and was drinking !   From my recollections, the first level was a tense affair with a not much action and only small pots being played.   I wasn't getting much in the way of cards, so was playing pretty tight.   Second level was much the same, even Bill was playing tight and was paranoid about Karen, often folding whenever she bet out.    Karen was doing nicely when she played a hand, betting a small amount on each round and taking the pot uncontested, although three or four times Sean called her down on the River, but believe Karen won all these confrontations!

The third level was key for me, when on the button there were 5 callers of the 75 BB so with A-Q os raised another 500.    Sean called and everyone else folded.   The flop came a nice A-6-5 but had two spades so wanted to make Sean pay for any draw he was on.... so put in 1000 bet.  Sean quickly went all-in for another 2000..  My tournament was ruined if Sean had A-K or trips, but had to call... and was actually quite shocked to see I was way ahead as Sean had 9-8 hearts.   My A held up and Sean was the first casualty of the night.  

With a large chip lead I played more passively to the break where the chip counts were (roughly)

Me 6500, Mick and Andy 5500, Alex 4000, Bill and Karen 3500

As the blinds went up I got some good starting hands and was often taking the blinds, so managed to get up to around 8000 chips, but then in a few hands it all went horribly wrong.   Bill was short stacked and went all-in.  Can't remember the details but I must've had a hand as I called and am pretty sure I was ahead pre-flop... but Bill hit on the River and doubled up.   A hand or two later and I was BB and checked when Mick made up the SB.    We both checked the 8 high flop and I bet out 1000 into a 600 pot when a J came on the turn (complete bluff) but Mick went all-in (dammit....)  As I had absolutely nothing I couldn't call the extra 2000.   A hand or two later I was up against Andy.   I thought my A-x was ahead on the low flop and turn but we were both checking.   On the River a K came and Andy came out betting, so had to fold that one as well.   I was now down to around 2800 chips in one round !!

Things went a bit quiet for me, but there was plenty of action for the other players.   Andy busted out Karen then Mick got busted by Alex (I don't remember the details now, for those in the know feel free to add a comment)   Despite my low chip count and desperate times, Bill is adamant the last two will be him and  me, with him taking the win

With the blinds going up all the time and now 1000/500, I finally get a hand I feel has a chance to win something when under the gun, although it was only A-T os went all-in for around 2500 .  I was dismayed when Andy and Bill called.... seemed like I would be in trouble.   The flop gave me an A but with Andy going all in for another 3000 or so made me think I was out-kickered....  Bill thought for a long time and then called.   Andy's K-8 was in deep trouble and Bill had 2nd pair or something like that, so I was ahead !    Andy didn't improve so Bill took the side pot, but my A held up to triple me up and I was right back in the game with three players left !   I had around 9000 chips in total which was just under average... Bill was chip leader and Alex had around 7500  (?)    

The action didn't stop and somehow I took out Alex and had a large chip lead over Bill playing heads up.  

Unfortunately my chip lead didn't last long when I put Bill all-in pre-flop with A-J and he called with Q-T   He hit Q on the flop, and another Q on the turn and we now have pretty much exact chip counts (14000 each with blinds 2000-1000)

We then have a couple of hands where its folded pre-flop or just called down and small pots, then the last hand of the night starts with me getting J-T and raised to 6000.  Bill goes all-in and although I have a feeling I am behind, have to call for my last 6000.  Sure enough Bill has A-T and the A on the flop seals my fate.  

Spookily enough we have our Winner!!

Bill takes the trophy and title of CamberleyBoyz Annual Satellite Tournament 2008 WINNER !

What can I say, I was up and down like a yo-yo and thought I was out first, out in 5th, then winning it... but can cope with 2nd place finish (for this year anyway :-) )

Bill played his normal way and managed to amass enough chips to survive when things went against him, so fair dues - a well earned victory.   I think he was pleased with the win as he carried the trophy around with him the rest of the night !

Someone remind me in JANUARY next year that I need to get the 2009 tournament underway!!

Footnote : there was a cash game after with Sean, Karen, Alex, Bill, Mick and myself.    It was a hectic and frankly bizarre game (Bill could hardly see his cards by now and Mick wasn't much better ;-) ) with Sean ending up with all the chips and winning the entire £75 fund.... at least that paid for his nights entertainment :-)

Cars: My old racing car !

Sold my race car to Samir at the end of 2005 season who has had a lot of success with it since.... but seems he had a "spectacular" with it last season!  You can see the video from the car behind at http://youtube.com/watch?v=FJdRAzUCV00&feature=related (about 3/4 way through)

Luckily seems he recovered well (according to the article at http://www.tmcmotorsport.co.uk/Samir.htm) although Samir's own web pages (at http://www.entiaracing.com/index.htm) don't seem to mention it....

Music: GuilFest 2008

Went to GuilFest 2008 for the first time yesterday (Saturday)   We had hoped to go by train, but the last train back was at 11pm (and the station was around 30 mins away) so didn’t work out and we had to drive.   The weather forecast was bright but with sudden downpours and as there was a monsoon style shower around 8am on the day, we decided to go prepared for rain and shine !

The car journey there was relatively easy and the queues to get wrist bands were negligible (in contrast to the Reading experiences)  so were in the site by around 2pm. 

 We had a walk about and soon found the site to be reasonably sized with lots going on.  GuilFest seems aimed more at families and definitely has a more laid back feel.  Apart from the main stage, there was a mini version up the hill, plus four tents for bands (various sizes)     Even the toilets seemed more civilized, although by mid-afternoon there were perpetual long queues for the ladies!

After our trawl around the site, we settled down at the main stage for a rest in the lovely hot sunshine and to watch “Little Man Tate” who were quite good, “Hoodoo Gurus” who were a bit better, then we saw 3 songs of “Wills and the Willing” before I got fed up with them and we went off to find something more interesting to watch.

We ended up watching “South Parade” in one of the tents who were young but were pretty good.  The only thing I didn’t like was that they did a cover but perhaps they didn’t were too new to have enough songs to do a whole set !   We also caught a couple of tracks from “Nylon Sky” who seemed to think they were Limp Bizkit (particularly as they covered one of their tracks) but weren’t all that great.

After eating our squashed sandwiches we made our way back to the Main Stage for the two groups I was particularly looking forward to seeing

Kula Shaker came on at 7:50pm and did a great set of all the popular tracks, plus a few new ones.    The were great and sounded really good… with Crispian Mills putting on a good show, make me pleased I already got their previous albums as I want to listen to them again!   Will probably get their new one as well !     When they went off I was quite surprised, but looking at the time, they really had played an hour already….

There was a bit of a break until headliners Blondie came on, but were well worth the wait.     They played for over their allotted 85 minutes… more like 100 minutes.   They played most (or all) of “Parallel Lines” (which is now released) and Debbie Harry was wonderful and got the crowd going with her interaction and bouncing around the stage.    When you think of Blondie, you tend to think of Debbie Harry’s singing, but the band were really on good form in the show as well.   Overall, an oldie but definitely a goldie !  (probably buy the album as well)

GuildFest itself was well organised, lots of things to do and see and was worth going to see for sure.  The only slight irritation was getting out the car park at the end, but not enough of a problem to stop me wanting to go again sometime.

Poker: Home Poker Tournament - July 2008

As there are only 10 players this time, we all play on one table.   This tends to give a really weird dynamic to the table and this, along with the fickle nature of the Poker Gods, produced a really exciting (and soul destroying for some) game!

With so many players we were only doing around 9 hands every 30 minutes, so there was frantic action before the rebuys stopped, with lots of people seeing the flop and lots of rebuys :-)

   In one such hand, I limped in late position with A-3 (a little loose for me, but hey...)   The flop came something like A-J-8.  Andy and Sean checked to me, so I bet it out.  Steve called, along with the other two.   The turn was a blank and we ended up with all four of us all-in.    Bizarrely, myself, Andy and Sean all had A-3 o/s and split the pot three ways !

Alex could be considered fairly lucky then unlucky in one hand, where about 5 people saw the flop and most were all-in.  Alex had two spades and picked up a flush draw.  He hit the flush on the turn, but then the fourth spade on the river gave Derek the nut flush with his A

Jon was probably the unluckiest person all night, the main hand I remember was where he got all-in pre-flop with Q-Q   Sean showed A-x and Alex had 5-5    The flop was blank, but the turn brought Alex his 5 and his trips held up (did I just say he was unlucky ? ;-) )

Once the rebuys stopped and everyone had time to reflect... we started up again.  I had around 2300 chips, with Bill and Derek having largest stacks

Thinks didn't go to well for me after the break.. a couple of draws didn't come, no cards to play so had to sit back and wait.    Sean was first to get busted out and as the blinds increased Andy and Alex followed in quick succession.   Things started getting a bit tense as myself, Mick and Steve were all relatively short stacked compared to the others.... Mick decided to keep his unnatural consistency going and went out in 7th place (again !) 

My luck wasn't with me as was down to my last 500 chips after the blinds went through me and couldn't get any cards to play.   On the dealer button I nearly stuck it in with 4-5s when two other people called the blinds.   As it turned out, I would have won with a straight as the board came 2-3-4-Q-A so I felt gutted, but the very next hand I saw A-6h and with Bill calling the blind I went in.   Luckily for me I hit the A and have now got 2000 chips

Jon's bad run continued as he went out on a bad beat to Bill (who else...) can't remember the hand now, but by all means add a comment with your views :-)

The next hand saw me raising the pot with a decent hand and Steve calling all-in.  The blinds got out the way and left us heads up.    Can't remember the details now, but I was behind but hit the River to take Steve out and virtually double up.    

A few hands later, with Derek on the SB and Simon BB, I see A-2 suited and raise the pot when Bill folds.   Derek re-raises all-in and Simon folds.   As its only around 2000 more to call I have to go for it, and found myself against K-J, so was in better shape than I thought.   The first card turned was a K, but the turn brought my A and Derek goes out in 4th and suddenly I have slight chip lead !!  

As we all have similar chip stacks the game is interesting with chips passing around, but with the blinds at 2000-1000 and average chip stack just over 9000 there is some action going on.....

I manage to build up my chips so when Bill busts Simon, I have 14'400 chips to Bills 13'600 with 4 hands to play.    Bill wins one, then folds one but with 2 hands to play calls my large pre-flop raise (I have A-9)   I have hit top pair with my 9, so go all-in and Bill calls with 6-4 (!) and as he doesn't improve, we have our result !!

Full results and analysis at http://www.statsgenie.com/poker/ as normal

The single 10 seater certainly makes an interesting game, although can be a bit frustrating with it being Pot Limit at times.  

Next week we have the Poker Satellite final table, so not long for some of us to wait.    For the rest, I will see you next month

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Computing : I am now using a new editor for my blog postings

Technorati Tags: blogging live writer

I am posting my first post using Microsoft Live Writer, so lets hope it looks OK :-)

This is a GIF image that I just picked randomly from my hard disk.... apologies as I have no idea where it came from but just wanted to see how easy (or otherwise) it is to add an image and format/position it where I want to .... and it's very easy !

Of course HTML tables helps formatting, so have put an example below, just as a test

Title	Result
Complete gibberish	and here also

I must say, I am pretty impressed with the editing capabilities and will likely use this software for updates to my blogs in future !

Editors Note:   Editing existing postings seems equally easy... I am just adding this paragraph but there really is nothing to it