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

Technorati Tags: Poker

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

Holiday : Devon 2008

Went to Brixham in Devon Saturday 21st June for a week, so here is diary of our activities

Saturday 21st June

The day dawned dull and drizzly, which kept up for the whole journey down. We left around 10:30am but the run was surprisingly clear, except for a section around Stonehenge (I guess due to the Solstice being this morning!) so despite stopping a couple of times, we arrived at the bungalow around 3pm. First impressions of the immediate area was that of a council estate, but actually wasn't all that bad really. The bungalow was big and clean, but you could tell it was owned by an elderly lady.

By 4pm we were walking into Brixham town to see whats what. We are staying at the top of a hill on the outskirts of town, so is quite exhausting 20 minute walk, but amazing views on the way down. Our route takes us through a picturesque park as well. It is still drizzly and very windy, but quite refreshing after the journey. On arriving in the town, seems there is a trawler race, so the pubs are packed with drunk trawler men, who are also protecting about fuel costs (lucky us) ! We had a walk around, got cold and wet, so had a nice cup of tea in a cafe on the harbour front. Then decided to have Fish and Chip supper, which was most excellent :-) This gave us the energy to walk back up the hill to the bungalow, it certainly is a steep climb!

A short rest sees us fit and healthy enough to venture out again (back down the hill, again!) but this time to a pub for a drink or two..... enough lubrication to get us back up the hill (didn't seem so high or steep this time)

Sunday

Woke early and out by 9:30am ! Not raining, but still windy and cloudy (with Sunny spells) Walked around Battery Gardens after getting a paper and sat to have a nice read in the Sun whilst looking at Tor Bay below us. Walking round the headland found an isolated craggy cove, which was great, but very steep hill to climb back up for lunch back at the bungalow. Also managed to watch the French Grand Prix before going out for another walk where we found a beachy cove for future reference (not exactly sunbathing weather today) After a rest back at the bungalow, went out to find dinner. Tried the local pub, but they don't serve food after 4pm on Sundays (would have been OK any other day!) so ended up at the local Holiday Park where the restaurant was open to non-residents. Food was OK, but the main advantage was that we didn't have to climb a big hill to get back to the bungalow. Got back to the bungalow knackered by all the walking done so far, so just enough strength to watch Top Gear and a bit of footy

Monday

Up early again.... must be the Sea Gulls waking us up I think... also the bed is tiny double compared to what we are used to ! Out and about by 9:45am and went to Paignton Sea Front for a walk. Cloudy, cold and windy today, although starting to get Sunnier by the time we left around midday. Went onto Compton Castle and had a good look around, but not very big place so only there a couple of hours, so ended up at Totnes for a nice lunch by the river.

After lunch we walked up the high street (which is steep uphill climb!) going to the museum, buying an Ice Cream, finding a bear shop and going to the Castle before running out of time in the car park

Back at the bungalow feeling knackered again, but force ourselves walk into Brixham to find a pub for a drink. Walked back via the closest pub to our Bungalow before the hill climb to take away some of the pain of getting up that hill!

Tuesday

Up even earlier and out on the road by 9:15am heading for Kingswear. Parked the car at the top of a steep hill !! and walked down to get the ferry to Dartmouth and at the shops by 10am. Walked around a bit then stopped for elevenses This gave us the energy to walk to the Castle and have a good look around. Back into the town in time for lunch and found a lovely tea shop to stop in "The Singing Kettle Tea Shoppe" and had a nice lunch (albeit a little expensive, but certainly worth it)

After lunch we did the rest of the shops, couple of parks and nice views walking along the river, then went back on the ferry just in time to look in the Bear shop in Kingswear, so now have a new addition to our furry family (called Charlie so I'm told)

Once we had walked up the hill to get the car and got back to the Bungalow, we were knackered (again!) so drove to a local Carvery pub/restaurant... unfortunately it is curry night, so no nice roast turkey for dinner. The normal (non-curry) menu was OK, so had a decent enough dinner.

After dinner, had just enough left in the legs to have a walk along Paignton sea front before heading back.

Wednesday

There was a knock on the door at 7:30am as the fuel delivery man wanted access. We had been told about the delivery but was expected around 8:30am and he should have gone to the bungalow 4 doors down for access.... oh well, its Sunny spells but still very windy, so can make the most of an early start

Went to Berry Head to start off, which had Napoleonic/WW2 forts as well as lots of wildlife to see. The guillemot colony was incredibly noisy and there was a RSPB post where the very helpful lady had telescope and binoculars set up to allow anyone to take a closer look.

Then went to Coleton Fishacre which was spectacular art deco interior to the house and fantastic views around the gardens (up and down hills again!) before going back to base for a well earned cup of Tea and a quick snooze!

Around 3pm set off into Brixham for a long walk to Shoalstone Beach then back round to the Harbour (and back up the hill!) returning around 5:30pm for another well earned cup of tea.

It's been a long day, but with the local Weatherspoons pub firmly in our minds, we set off back into Brixham and had a decent meal in the pub. Only slight problem was the air con in the pub was set to super cold, so was glad I had my jumper with me!

After the meal we had a slow meander round the harbour to let the food digest, before fueling ourselves with a swift pint in the pub for the walk back up that hill

Thursday

Decided today is our "rest day" so are intending to spend the day at the beachy cove by the lifeboat station. Despite the sunny weather promised by the BBC the previous evening, it looks just as windy and cloudy as the previous days.... so decide to lay in bed until 9:30am. Didn't leave bungalow until 11am so got to the beach around 11:30am. Quite warm and sunny by now, but lots of clouds about. Leave beach around 1pm and go back to the bungalow for lunch. Then walk back down and get the first cream tea of the holiday. Get back to the beach, but actually around 4:15pm by now and no sign of the sun, so only stay half hour before walking back to get ready for dinner.

Decided to drive to Stoke Gabriel based on looking at the map (looked like it may be quaint and on the river), but the two pubs in the small town didn't appeal so ended up back at the Carvery pub we went to before. Unfortunately no carvery being served tonight, but did have a reasonable meal from the normal menu. As the weather is looking a bit like rain, decide to go back to base and walked down the local pub

Friday

Forecast is to be wet all day, although it looked kind of OK when we woke up. Still cloudy and windy, so decided to go into Brixham where we had a walk then a Fish & Chip lunch. Decided to come home early, so packed up and left around 1pm, arriving home by 5pm after an uneventful journey home

We both enjoyed the holiday and were glad we went, but both felt the hills on our legs ! It was a shame the weather wasn't better but didn't really have an impact on us, apart from making us decide to cut half day from the stay down in Devon on the Friday. Overall it was a good holiday and a nice rest. Certainly is a very beautiful part of the country and well worth seeing and experiencing

Poker : Annual Satellite 2008 : Semi Final result

With two men and two women, it had the hallmarks of a classic battle of the sexes. With three tight/passive players and a relative unknown in John, the pace from the start was "leisurely" By level 3 we were still looking for a hand with some action... so far there had been a lot of calling and checking.... John was even reading the newspaper, although it was a bit of a tell as he put it down when he got a good hand !!

Sure enough John puts the paper down and bets 200 pre-flop.... Karen and Steve call and the turn is 8-3-J. Everyone reverts to type and check, and also everyone checks the A on the turn. A J falls on the river and John bets the pot to take the largest pot of the night so far.

Karen's strategy for the game seems to be to see a lot of flops and make lots of minimum raises, but seems to be working now as she is taking a lot of small pots uncontested.

Bit of excitement when 9-T-Q flop comes, as Steve and Lynn start raising. The turn of 8 is followed by J on river, giving both the straight, but its checked down as they both are playing the board.... Steve had a 9 and Lynn the Q, but the split pot was quite large This is soon followed by more action after the 5-5-7 flop is checked, the A on the turn doesn't prevent Lynn from calling and the Q on the river really makes it hot up as Steve takes the 1500 pot from Lynn with A-Q to Lynns Q-7

Level 4 continues the action, as John has finished reading his paper and calls with everyone else for a family pot. Its checked down to the river and Johns pot bet of 500 takes it uncontested. He shows his K high bluff. Johns relatively low on chips now, but his more aggressive stance falls foul when Lynn goes all-in on the turn and shows a made flush and Johns drawing dead

At the break the chips levels are: Lynn 5700, Karen 4600, Steve 3800 and John 1900

Karen and Lynn start what becomes a game long battle, with Karen betting 500 into 1500 pt and taking it down., but before that develops we see Steve John and Lynn getting a A-K-A flop. John bets 500 into 600 pot but gets called the turn and river bring J-5 and John is all-in thinking his J is good for 2 pair, but Lynn has hit her straight and sends John packing

We are now at level 6, with Karen still min raising and lots of checking going on. Lynn checks Karens min raising but on the river Lynn puts in a strong 1000 bet on K-6-8-A-9 board. Karens turn to let go and Lynn takes a good pot. Soon after another Lynn/Karen pot evolves with Karen min-raising and Lynn calling. With the board J-5-9-3-K Lynn sticks 1000 into 2000 pot and takes down the pot again

The next level sees pressure on Steve with the short stack. Lynn bets 500 into 2000 pot and Steve calls. The 9 on the river gives it to Lynn, so Steve under more pressure now. Its then Karens turn to bet 1000 into a 2000 pot and pushes Lynn off the pot The last hand of this level sees Steve pushing all-in although its only for another 600. Lynn and Karen both call. The flop of Q-9-8 doesn't make Steve look happy, although the girls check down the turn and river of 2 and 3. Karen takes the 6000 pot, knocking out Steve and giving a 2:1 chip advantage to Lynn

Lynn has around 4500 chips left, so it's soon over as a couple of hands into level 8 sees unraised flop of 7-2-3 Karen bets out 2000 and Lynn calls all-in Lynn's A-K was ahead pre-flop but Karens 6-3 is ahead. The turn/river of 2 and Q don't help Lynn so we have our winner

It was a well fought game by all and although it was a steady start, it had moments of brilliance, aggression and thought

See you at the final table !

We did have a quick cash game afterwards, and one hand was hillarious. We were down to 4 players and blinds of 25/50. Bill folded and Sean immediately went all-in for 2050. There was no way I was calling, but needled Sean a little about how he overbet the pot and was only going to get called by someone way ahead. Lee in the Big Blind insta-called with pocket A's and Sean giggled as he showed his 7-2 off suit. The first card turned was another A, but a 7 gave Sean a miracle runner, runner out. The turn paired the board to give Lee the full house, and the 7 on the River gave Sean a consolation lesser Full House.

Poker : Home Tournament - halfway there....

Reflecting on the statistics for the first half of the season there are some interesting patterns emerging (You can see the spreadsheet at http://homepage.ntlworld.com/sceaga/Poker/poker_2008.xls)

Sean seems to like finishing 11th, Mick has one 8th place and four 7th places and Alex seems to love finishing 2nd :-)

The least consistent finisher seems to be Darren with a 1st and a 14th, although Roger is close behind on this measure (1st and 13th) with a gaggle of players with 9 place differences (including me!)

If we ignore the players who only played one game, the highest average finishing position is Andy at 3.8, with the next closest person being Derek with 5.2 (maybe Andy consciously talks his game down so much to lull us into a false sense of security!)

Poker : Home Tournament - June 2008

I was lucky to make the game this month... had it been the previous evening then I definitely wouldn't have made it as I was in bed with "Man Flu" but felt OK by the next afternoon (albeit maybe I shouldn't have bothered in the end :-) )

The game started off fairly briskly on my table (probably because Bill was on it !) although Bill managed to fold several winning hands in the first level, including what would have been four tens !! My play was not on top form but was also hampered by Bill calling down and hitting his hand. I managed to dodge his 7-3 when it hit trip 7's on the flop, and didn't push hard enough when I was ahead and ended up laying down a couple of hands by the river, so my chips were disappearing fast. Derek on the other table took his top up first, but I soon had to do the same. Even then my bad run continued and was down to around 900 chips. Luckily I hit A-K and went all in after a couple of callers and took a reasonable pot without having to play. I then got Q-Q and went all in again, this time Alex called me with K-J and didn't improve so I was back in the game with nearly 4000 chips

My memory is very woolly about the proceedings (due to the cold unfortunately) but by the break I was up to around 5000 chips, with Roger on around 6000 and the others slightly under chip average.

The restart started seeing some action on the other table, with Steve busting out first Sean (at least it wasn't after two hands...) then Steve W in quick succession. I was the lucky one to change tables, but was 2nd in chips to Steve (who had a huge stack) The first hand on the new table saw me with A-9 suited, so put in a standard raise. Derek quickly called behind me but the others folded. With flop of T-9-x I was hoping Derek had missed the flop and with the pot at 2300 put Derek all-in for his last 2200. As it turned out Derek had missed the flop but called with his A-J. I was a little disappointed to see a J on the turn and blank river, so was down to around 1500 chips. A few hands later I was down to 1000 and the blinds 500/300 I had to go for it, but on the other table Bill went out in 10th so I tried to hang on to make the top 8 for one point. Unfortunately my 9-3 on the big blind didn't hit the flop and had to fold to Andy's bet (he showed Pair so was the right choice) then the Small Blind saw me all in and taken out in 9th.

The final table started off with some technical problems with the tournament software, which was resolved when I realised I had managed to turn on the keyboard lock ! That's what a lack of Adrenalin does to you when you got a cold. The play was tense and cautious, as the blinds were starting to hurt most people. It took some time, but with the blinds at 1000/500 Darren found he had to go for it..... but Steve took him out ! Mick followed suit the next hand, but Simon taking the scalp.

Andy was getting some stick for moaning about not getting any picture cards (he had only got 4 all night apparently), but suddenly got an embarrassment of riches when he seemed to have nothing but pictures and was taking down some pots.

As we came into the last 20 minutes with blinds at 2000/1000 Derek was the next victim by Alex this time. The action died down a little and the chips were being passed around, but for the last few hands there was an explosion of activity as Roger came alive and hit some stonking hands. First took down Simon to get a large number of chips, then went all-in again on the next hand. Steve decided to call and Andy chose to stick in his remaining chips, despite having the option to play tournament strategy and let the others fight it out. As it turned out, Andy made the wrong choice, as Roger hit big and took both out, Andy being 4th by having less chips than Steve who took the 3rd place prize money.

With Roger a huge chip leader over Alex and two hands to play, it was all over. Roger took the deserved win and an sure Alex was happy to have seem Roger blitz the remaining players to promote him to 2nd.

Another exciting and enjoyable game, which leaves the leader board wide open at the half way point.

Andy (who never has any good hands or any good luck according to himself) is at the top of the leader board with 100% point's finish record (how did that happen !) but the top 8 are split by only 12 points, so a win could take anyone anywhere in the leader board, so all to play for and should be an exciting rest of season. The title can literally still go to anyone.... !

Travel: Visit to Stratford

Went to Stratford-upon-Avon Saturday, on the way to Nottingham..... had a nice walk about but was dismayed (well one of was) to find the Teddy Bear Museum has moved to Wimbledon !! Still managed to find a shop that sold bears, but also found a nice tea room for Tea & Cake :-)

We had a lovely weekend away, coming back Sunday. The cruise there and back at 60mph on the motorways did have one beneficial effect (other than me not getting ear ache :-) ) and that was achieving an incredible 48.75mpg in the Fiesta !!) Won't see that kind of fuel consumption when I'm on my own in the car I bet !!

Poker: Annual Satellite 2008 : Heat 4

Martin was luckily able to get a heat together at short notice (thanks) so went round to officiate. Martin, his friends Andy and John, plus his son Luke and his friend Chris being the players.

Level 1 started quietly with little pre-flop raising, and any raise pretty much taking the pot.

Once the blinds went up, Martin seemed to wake up a bit and start sticking in some raises and all-ins!. He mostly took the pot uncontested but then Andy called him pre-flop, called on the flop and stuck in a re-raise on the turn. After some thought Martin folded.

Chris and Luke had so far also been busy texting on the mobiles which got them some stick but as the action hotted up they seemed able to "fold" their mobiles... Chris played his first hand and although he hit his flush and had a showdown was only a small pot.

Went back to the standard call, call, raise, fold, fold scenario with Martin being the aggressor a lot of the time. Andy came back at him again and showed KK when the pot was taken uncontested.

The Kings kept coming up as Andy re-raises Martins pre-flop raise to 1000. The flop comes Q-9-4 rainbow and when Martin checks, Andy goes all-in and takes a sizable pot. He shows KK again!

The last hand before the break sees Martin raising again, but Luke on the BB calling. Luke checks and Martins bet takes down a reasonable size pot

Soon after the break we have our first casualty. Chris had been sitting quietly most of the night, but raises from the button. Martin goes all-in and Chris calls. Chris shows the ladies (QQ) but Martin has the gentlemen (KK) ! No-one improves so Chris goes out in 5th place

Luke is now the short stack and sticks most of it (around 2000) into a 600 pot with the K-Q-8 flop and takes it uncontested. He shows A-4 (Martin shows A-6) so seems Luke has been taking note of his Father style and adopting it :-)

It is Johns turn to be small stack and lumps it all in when the flop comes 6-4-2. Martin calls with pocket 3's but doesn't improve, doubling John up.

The action is really hotting up as the blinds increase, and soon see Luke going all in on a flop of A-Q-7 He must feel pleased to get a caller when he shows his A-7 but his hopes are soon dashed when Martin shows 7-7 and takes down the pot.

Luke has 1000 chips, Andy 4500, John 8500 and Martin 6000

With the high blinds Luke has to get busy but manages to get a caller for his QQ. Andy's TT seem to be in trouble until the flop comes T-7-6 Two 5's don't help so Luke is out in 4th

The chips move around the remaining three players and it is all quite close, then Martin decides Johns all-in push on a board of 9-9-7-9-4 is a complete bluff...... but Martin shows K-3 and although John only needed an A to beat him, he actually showed T-9 so was way ahead from the flop..... so Martin finished 3rd and we are heads up !!

John has around 2:1 chip lead but Andy is playing very cagey. Lots of cautious play so its a tense time. The blinds go up to 1000-500 so neither player can afford to give up chips easily now so start seeing calls and raises pre-flop. Andy takes a reasonable pot and goes chip leader, but then John pulls one back and the chips are moving around.. eventually both players feel they have the better hand and all the chips go in the middle. Andy takes the pot and a well earned victory, but we'll see John in the semi's

Well done to all and see you at the next one!

Holiday : Dad's 80th birthday bash

Woke up Saturday at 3am with dodgy tummy, so had to go to the toilet... then again at 4am, 5am, 6am.... you get the (not pretty) picture, wasn't all that bad and could eat breakfast OK but feeling a bit tired from the interrupted sleep !

Saturday was hot and sunny. I drove up to Aldeburgh in Wife's car, so was getting lots of useful hints from the passenger as well as the Sat Nav... like when to brake, when to change gear... :-) but got to the destination in one piece in around 3.5 hours so not too bad considering it was meant to be the busiest day on the road for the weekend.

Stayed in the Wentworth Hotel and the staff were nice, room was clean and functional (with HUGE bathroom) so no worries there

The festivities started with Champagne and had fantastic meal, more than enough to drink (although I actually only had 2 or 3 drinks) and fun and games or entertainment. Ethan managed to win the Horse Racing DVD game we played, despite only being there for the first race :-) We had a nice walk back to the hotel which seemed to go ever so quick, maybe because it's mainly down hill !

Although the hotel bed was comfortable, Sea Gulls seemed to be scrabbling around the roof in the early morning so they woke us up with their calls, so hadn't really fully recharged my body with sleep ! Sunday had dawned with lots of rain and wind so when we went to Emma's to see their new additions to the house, we got a bit wet !! Then back to Margarets for lunch. Luckily lots of people wanted to watch the Grand Prix so saw that as well. Went back to the hotel for a well earned rest!! Back to Margarets for dinner, which was less people but much more good food, drink and frivolity. Despite intending to have only a couple of drinks and an early(ish) night, we managed to stagger back to the hotel around 12:30 (we think!)

Monday was a non-day for me as I didn't feel all that great.... had a dodgy tummy again, which was probably to do with over eating and over drinking with less sleep than I needed but managed to drive home in the wind and rain then sit in front of the TV for the afternoon..

It was a very hectic weekend and wasn't 100% fit all the time, but had a great time and seems everyone else enjoyed themselves as well :-)

Cars: Donnington Park touring cars

Went to Donnington Park to watch the Touring Cars Sunday. Unfortunately Lynn wasn't 100% so went up in her car so she wouldn't be "bumped about" but it was no big deal as the route was all motorway anyway.....

Got there in time to see the start of the first Touring Car race. Got a good view of the back of the track and saw some excitement.... although of course there was a lot action going on the track we couldn't see. After the BTCC race we walked around the track and watched the Seat Cupra race as we went around. The best view is from the far side of the track, where you can see the Craner Curves and the top of the hill, so watched some racing from there.

They also had some vehicles going round during the lunch break, so saw a new single seater and a white van going round at speed. (the white van having a Jaguar running gear and engine!)

When racing resumed, the rain which had been in the air all day, decided to become more persistent... so we ended up leaving early... but was certainly a worthwhile trip and really enjoyed the bits I saw. Next time we would take our camping chairs (which we had forgot, and assuming we are going in Lynns car of course) as the ground is a bit hard to sit on for any length of time!

General : trip to London

We decided to have a shopping trip to London last weekend, not sure how we decided to go... but nominally to go and buy me a Birthday present :-)

The first bit of excitement was at the train station at Ascot, where we saw the steam train... not sure what it was doing there but obviously some trip somewhere and lots of people were on board having their breakfast !

Once at Waterloo, we went to get the tube, but there are lots of lines closed due to engineering works and also an "incident" on the circle line, so it was confusing and crowded but we ended up at our first planned destination, Portabello Road. Coming out of the tube, there was a queue just to get out! There were hundreds of people walking up and down the approaches to and Portabello Road itself..... We walked up most of it, but wasn't a very pleasant shopping experience due to the crowds

We then went on the tube to Regent Street and found a nice cafe for lunch, then went into Hamleys! After spending a fair amount of time in Hamleys, we walked to Hatton Garden (as it was a nice day . Hatton Garden is the Jewelery quarter so majority of the shops were expensive Jewelry shops !

Then decided to go to Harrods, where we made the only purchase of the day.... a handbag.... no not for my birthday, it's for Lynn :-)

On the way home, we had to change at Ascot and decided to pop in the pub for our evening meal. The food was really nice and pretty reasonable so were pleased with our decision.

All in all a very nice trip out, despite not buying what we went out for....

Poker: Home Tournament - May 2008

It was a bit of a shock for some to see some GIRLS turn up to play :-) We also had Steve W join us for the first time, so welcome to everyone to the bonkers monthly game...

On my table, Bill seemed to start off in his normal style by getting all-in with Andy.... as it turned out his A-K against JJ was a close race but neither improved and Bill is buying in the first hand (now that isn't unusual) There is a lot of limping in (also as normal) so I am getting compelling odds to play quite loose and end up limping in with some rubbish like 6-4 but hit a straight and as Bill has called me, he ends up buying in again and I start building a good size stack. A few hands later, Bill is all in against against my two pair and the turn comes what I think is a blank but the river completed his runner-runner straight and takes a miracle win.... its going to be a long night...

My luck is actually pretty good, as its not long before I get K-7 on blind and flop gives me a straight draw. Alex gives me a cheap card and I hit the straight on the turn which we both check. The value bet on the river gets paid off and my stack is looking healthy again.

As the night progresses Alex builds up a good size stack, as does Andy. My stack starts to go up and down a bit but mainly down....

At the break, I am at around 2500 chips which is a little below average but not anything to worry too much about.

Incredibly, Jon is the first man out on the other table and stands around looking shell shocked.... but he isn't the only one out for long and Jock gets busted out by Andy

As the blinds increase it is starting to get expensive to see flops and Steve W suddenly springs into life by busting out Roger then Bill in quick succession. With a decent size stack he also starts putting in pot sized bets on the flop and suddenly has a huge stack ! Not bad for a beginner (you did say you were a beginner, didn't you ;-) ) Soon after, Viki gets busted out after a good show, so we are down to the final table.....

The final table sees Karen with the chip lead, Mick low stack but on the button and I have just enough for the BB but am one off the BB so have two hands to be all in. Seeing A-7 was enough for me to put my 700 chips. Lucky for me everyone else folds except Steve W who is obliged to call the extra 200 and shows 6-4. Luckily I hit a 7 and take the pot so can afford to put in my BB now ! I have to fold the next hand when there is some raising but go all in with A-4 on SB when everyone except Derek folds. Alex re-raises which makes Derek fold, but am not confident when Alex shows A-8 Luckily for me, the flop brings an A and all high cards, so we end up splitting the pot and I have got a full round to make a move with my 2000 odd chips now.

To my surprise and delight, the action really hots up, with Steve W betting out on all streets against Karen, he has to show a complete bluff on the end against Karen's pair A, so is the first player out from the final table (well done though, good effort) Turns out to be the start of Karen's Juggernaut ride over the table as she takes out both Mick and Simon on the next hand.... Simon with trip Aces was betting big but Karen sitting there quietly with Full House took a HUGE pot (Simon was likely 2nd chip leader at the time) I suddenly find myself in at least 5th place which was unexpected to say the least, but the winner is no longer in any real doubt....

Unfortunately I do not improve as I stick it all in with K-7 and get called by Karen and Andy from the blinds. With no pocket pairs, my 7 pairing the flop put me well in the lead but with Alex and Derek's support, Karen hit a T on the river, taking another two players out and leaving just 3 players.

It is all over bar the shouting as Derek find himself all-in with T-3 but this time it is Alex who is taking a player out

With there only being time for four hands, Karen continues her tight play and takes the well deserved win.

With 16 players it was quite busy, but a fantastic game with lots of action.... next month is the £10 special (no-limit, no-rebuy with 2nd chance) so that one should also be a cracker... can't wait !

Music: SliceThePie.com

I have recently taken up with SliceThePie.com which is a site that allows you to make money by listening to music and reviewing the tracks... what a fantastic idea :-)

The artists are all non-signed (the idea for the bands is to get finance) and you only get 3p per track to start with... but it is great if you want to get into new music. I have done around 50 reviews now, in around 2 weeks of occasional use, and am now a 2 star scout, which means I now get 5p per track review. At this rate, I will make a tenner by the end of the year :-)

The quality of the music is pretty high most of the time. The issue at the moment is that there is a mix of genre in the scouting room, and you have to review tracks randomly assigned to you and anonymously, so you have to listen to all sorts of stuff... country, rap, folk... although mostly indie rock so like a lot of it. I have discovered a couple of tracks which I would not otherwise have bothered to listen to but actually really like (one rap, one weirdy foreign one) so is opening my eyes ot a wider range of music..

All in all, if you have a spare half hour here and there during the week, like listening to music generally and have the patience to listen to then review the tracks, then you may find this interesting yourself.

More info on the FAQ page at http://www.slicethepie.com/About/Default.aspx

Poker : Annual Satellite 2008 : Heat 3

As the first hand started you could cut the tension in the air with a knife ! Having said that, everyone was eager to get into the action straight away and the first hand was a family pot to the flop. Karen bet out from the small blind (SB) and everyone called except Sean (!!) Only Alex and Karen saw the showdown with Karen's flush beating Alex's top pair to take down a reasonable first pot.

It had to come sooner rather than later, and sure enough we saw the first husband/wife battle on the next hand, with Darren pressuring Viki who very reluctantly folded on after seeing the turn.....

It was all action early on with the next hand seeing Alex check/calling Sean on a 9-9-x flop, but re-raising Sean's large bet on the River but Sean showed A-9 which had Alex's K-K well beaten so Alex's stack was already looking depressingly low.... but hope came the next hand when Alex hit flush on the River to overturn Darren's trip A's

Already into the second level, no-one stopped for breath as Karen bet out against Sean in another domestic.... despite thinking she had two pair a very scared looking bet on the River was called by Sean, who folded when Karen said she had two pair.... pointing out she actually had a flush was just an added bonus.....

There were a couple of hands of relative calm, before Sean and Alex started laying into each other on a K-Q-9 flop. Alex check calling Sean's bets on the flop and turn. When the river came down with a 9 to pair the board, Sean went all-in which was insta-called by Alex who shows K-9 for the full house, leaving Sean with 300 chips !!

The blinds went up and Sean immediately got done for a BB (which was folded to a raise) Lady Luck was obviously with the ladies, as Sean went all-in on the SB but was called by the two ladies..... the flop was J-7-2, another 2 on the turn and T on the river saw Karen take both pots down with her 4-2 off suit, busting Viki's 9-9 and taking Sean out in last place !

Viki was looking short stacked. With the blinds now 125/75 Alex raised to 500 from the button. Viki told Alex off for raising but called and Karen also called. To teach the big bully a lesson Viki bet out another 500, called by Karen but Alex took the hint and folded his A-Q on a flop 4-4-x Viki kept it friendly after that and led out with min bet on turn and checked River, showing A-4 against Karen's A-J, so all had a good hand but Viki made a monster and doubled up

At the break the chip counts were Alex 7000, Karen 6000, Viki 5000 and Darren 2000

Blinds are now 200/100 so Darren needed to get busy... so he raised with K-Q and Karen called with J-7 suited. With Flop of J-T-7 Karen called Darren's all-in bet and the J on the river was not needed and Karen had claimed another victim !

Viki's chips were dwindling again and Karen was getting aggressive with her chip lead and was hammering Viki. Karen picked up big pot by making a straight on the Turn, and a couple of hands later her pair 4's beat Viki's 2's With short stack, no luck and the blinds going up again, Viki was all-in against Alex who had pocket 5's. With no improvement on the board Viki went out a respectable 3rd place.... but she had the satisfaction of doing better than hubby !

The chips were exactly level for the heads up, and both players were being very cagey. Lots of calling and checking (and folding) It needed two good hands to get action going, and it soon came when the flop showed A-8-x all diamonds. karen was betting out but Alex called it down to the showdown, taking it with A against Karen's 8

With the blinds going up to 1000/500 Karen went all-in. Despite feeling he was behind Alex called with T-9 and sure enough was behind to J-3 Karen didn't need the 3 on the river as was ahead all the way to the showdown and took her back to 9'000 chips to Alex 11'000

After a few more hands of calling, check /folding, Karen was down to around 6000 chips and went all in. Alex said he was behind, but again called anyway (why can't you do that when playing me !) Karen was ahead (again) with her A-2 to Alex K-7 but the flop of K-8-3 put Alex ahead and the K on the turn killed it and gave Alex a bravely won victory. We'll see you in the final !

Poker : Annual Satellite 2008 : Heat 2

Oops, nearly forgot to post some words about Bill's heat ! It was a while ago, so only have vague memories.....

It was quite a tense affair to begin with (aren't they all :-) ) even Bill was playing a more considered, tighter game than we are used to seeing !!

We didn't see a casualty until after the break, when Roger got done by Mick. Bill could contain himself no longer by this time and got busted by Andy.

The three remaining players were playing steady and the chips were circling the table, but Andy was next out.

The chips were very even for the heads up, and again was very steady with a lot of calling and checking but Lynns chips gradually got pushed over to Mick, particularly when the blinds went up and Mick took a well fought win

Poker : Annual Satellite 2008 : Heat 1

My heat was the first to run and turned out to be an exciting affair. The evening got off to a friendly start with everyone limping into the first couple of hands. Overall the play was tight, which made for a tense game.

I started out well and built my stack up, but later played a couple of hands against Lynn where I was drawing and her pair held up to take away my chips putting me back to starting levels, that will teach me to try to fool the wife !

A key hand early on was my AJ against Simons AT when an A fell on the flop. The board cards were a little scary for both of us so the betting was steady rather than aggressive, but my kicker played and got my stack back.

Derek played a large hand against Lynn, but Lynn's inspired calling found her pair holding up against Derek and Lynn had a good size stack as well.

Simon was the first victim when his pocket A's got stuffed by Steve hitting a second pair on the River taking Simon out and giving Steve the chip lead.

At the break Steve was around 6000 chips, I was 5000, Lynn was 6000 and Derek was low stack with about 3000

As the blinds increased, the play became more cautious until two good hands came along. Derek decided pocket Q's was a good hand and decided to play with Lynn calling his raise. The river didn't look too scary so Derek went all in. Lynn thought about it then called with Ax Unluckily for Derek an A came and took him out in 4th.

The blinds went up again and are becoming significant to all players. Lynn called from the small blind and I checked my 7-8 suited. The flop came an unbelievable 4-5-6 flopping me the straight! I bet after Lynn checked but she called. The turn was a 9 giving me a higher straight, but I bet a reasonably large amount and was slightly concerned that Lynn called again. The river was a K with no flush possible so I had the nuts and went all in when Lynn checked. She called again and revealed a Straight draw so I took a huge pot, leaving us heads up

Steve had around 6000 chips to my 14000. Steve played it cool and the battle was tough. My more aggressive style probably gave me an edge (as well as the edge of having twice as many chips of course !) After a bit of give and take, Steve seemed to not get any playable cards, so I accumulated chips from the large blinds. In the end Steve has no choice but to go all-in and I had no choice but to call. My 6-4 didn't look good, but was favorite against Steve's 5-3 !! I hit a 4 on the flop and took the game

Everyone played well so was an exciting game, but I can't wait for the final table now :-)

Poker: Home Tournament - April 2008

Everyone got their priorities right tonight, wives and jobs took second place and turned out for Poker instead :-)

For me, it was one of those nights where nothing seemed to go my way...... everyone on my table seemed to be in mellow mood so lots of limping and calling going on. I got a couple of decent starting hands in the early stages and raised but got called. Raised a couple of times with dodgy hands and got called (and then either got called all the way to the showdown, or I was put under pressure and folded) so my timing was not good !

At the break I had around 1200 in chips but felt good when I managed to double up with a legitimate hand in the first few hands. Just when things looked good and was accumulating chips, I hit two pair on the flop with A-2 in my hand for a A-2-3 flop. Went all-in and got called by Bill who had 9-5 (they were suited) and of course a 4 came of the River to send me out in 10th.

The game got quite bloody very quickly after that and we were soon down to a final table of 7, after Andy trounced his opposition on the other table to me. Incredibly Mick had the foresight to not stick his last 100 chip in when on the small blind and he was on the final table with a minimum of 2 points. Despite a gallant fightback he finished 7th when the Big blind came round

Things settled down a a short while, until Alex got a good hand and busted out Simon and Bill. It was tense for the final four, but then Andy got going again and busted out both Jon and Steve in one go, leaving us heads-up

The final battle was tight and tense, with only 500 chips between them. Most people were watching the action, well at least until free sandwiches were offered, then everyone went to get some grub ! The chip counts remained close for several hands until Alex made a move pre-flop but Andy went over the top. When Alex folded Andy showed pocket A so I was not the only one with bad timing tonight ! After that it was soon over and Andy took a well deserved win.

Despite a disappointing result for me this time, it was a great night of poker and looking forward to getting myself into a league dominating position with a good show next month !

Cars: Mini day at Brooklands

March is always a good month for Motor Sport activities, with the start of the F1 season, but also the first main event at Brooklands Motor Museum that we like to go to... the Mini day.

Although we went to the Mini Day last year it is a good event to go to, as it always seems to be well populated and hundreds of Mini's in attendance, so pretty much every sort of Mini you can think of was there to see..... there were large ones, small one's, old ones, new ones...... you name it, it was there ! The day was bright and dry as well, so perfect for walking around looking at cars (mind you, ANY day is perfect for walking around looking at cars in my view :-) )

After a few hours walking around looking at old mini's, we decided to do our usual trip to Mercedes World as well to look at new Mercedes. Lynn decided she likes the Blue SLK so maybe her next car. (The red one was no good and the AMG SL was too big...) We did disagree on which Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren we would prefer (when we get a spare £350'000 or so...) Lynn preferred the coupe but I would only consider the Roadster... that kind of argument I can cope with :-)

I really like going to Brooklands/Mercedes World as it is actually a cheap day out (unless you order a Mercedes) and there are a lot of cars, planes and Bikes to look at which is always fascinating. There is a real olde-worlde feel to Brooklands, and a real space-age feel to Mercedes world. Might also get around to having a go in those AMG SLK's next time.....they sound MIGHTY !

Poker: Home Tournament : March 2008

The first big game of the year arrives at last. I look forward to all the games, but the no-rebuy, no-limit games tend to be a more tense affair with no-one wanting an early bath, so is a very different game to the rebuy tournaments.

There are 13 players, with Jock and Trevor joining us for the first time. I really hope they enjoyed the game, but it seemed a brutal introduction to the group, coming in for the first time into the no-limit..

The game got under way and battle commences. My table is mainly tight and/or passive players so there is a lot of checking and calling going on. I start quietly and loose a few chips to begin with and ten win a small pot here and there (normally by raising pre-flop and everyone then folding !) Jock is on my table and seems comfortable, but then we see some fireworks with Darren, Jock and Mick seeing an unraised flop which came A-J-J Darren raises and Jock/Mick call. Another A comes on the turn (or river) and all three players are all-in. Unfortunately for Jock his pocket kings are no good and Darren/Mick split the pot with an A each. Jock's remaining 200 or so chips are soon eaten up, but he actually lasted longer than Alex who was first out on the other table (not sure what happened there !)

At the first break I am still at my starting chip level and see to be struggling to accumulate more! I start to get some good cards but still end up winning the pot pre-flop by raising, but suddenly find myself bubbling along at average chip count rather than starting chip count, so that was am improvement. Steve is getting very low on chips, so bully him off the small blind, then a couple of hands later we are all-in together and my hand holds up to give me a good stack of chips and the final table!

The final table starts out with a rash of bush outs. Trevor came to the table with only a few hundred chips, so is all in on the big blind and gets busted on the first hand, but did very well for a first show. Next hand I bust out Mick with Ax against Kx (I think...) as Mick was low stack. My good run continues and a couple of hands later Simon is low stacked and goes in with pocket 9s but runs into my pocket A's which leaves me as chip leader !

Five are left for the last round and the pressure is on everyone with 10'000 the average stack and blinds at 2'000/1'000 no one is safe.

Couple of hands in and Jon's good hand run's into Derek's better hand on the flop and we are down to the bubble. Incredibly I get pocket A's again and Roger obligingly goes all-in with AK, and despite a good draw on the flop, my A's hold up and I have half the chips.

It isn't over yet but we only have four hands to play until the end of the tournament... Darren raises and Derek calls all-in. My Q7 doesn't look that good, even with 2000 already committed, so let them fight it out. As it turned out, Darren was ahead and won with pair 4's... I would have made pair 7's ;-)

The final three hands are heads up, with the chip counts incredibly close... actually only about 500 chips between us (to my advantage) so everything to play for as the blinds need to be won. Unfortunately for me, I get dealt 8-3 twice in succession so Darren just needs to fold on the last hand to win... although we see the flop he duly folds to a bet on the flop so wins by around 500 chips.

It was a hard fought game throughout and very enjoyable. I am happy to cash in and be top of the leader board quarter way through the season, but with Darren, Jon and Derek all snapping at my heels, it should be an exciting season

Cars: At last, my mid-life crisis has arrived !

Yes, after what seemed a long process (albeit quite enjoyable!) I chose the car, picked the spec then had to wait for two months for delivery.... and yes the yellow colour really is that bright :-)

After three days I have got used to driving and living with the car, although I haven't got around to taking the roof off yet.....

Luckily I am patient, as I still need to rack up 1000 miles to run the car in before I can check out the full potential. At the moment I can only use half revs (4000 rpm) and half throttle.... but I am still already enjoying my country road route to work and looking forward to the weekend when I am sure I will find somewhere that needs to be visited (round trip to Edinburgh would sort out the running in period as well ;-) )

Poker : Home Tournament : February 2008

I was looking forward to this months poker (as normal) and felt quietly confident. Everyone was up for the game, especially Jon who had made sure his business trip to US was engineered such that he could fly back Wednesday to be available for the game (albeit slightly groggy)

The early stages for me were quite relaxed. Playing cautiously I took a couple of small pots and built up my chips. I got a good win and nearly doubled up, so could play more freely. Was happy to get all-in against Derek and Roger when my AK hit top pair. Roger had a draw and Derek had K3 so looked good for me when K-K-Q came on the flop. The 3 on the river stuffed me up but luckily Derek was a smaller stack so I took Rogers chips at least to leave me a reasonable stack. After more patient play, I built up some chips again, then called Micks all in bet as I was on the Big Blind. As expected I was behind, but hit one of my 8 outs and took a large stack.

After the rebuys ended, I found myself calling Rogers all in bet. Everyone had checked the flop so I didn't thing Roger had matched the A and my pair T were good - but as it turned out, he had the A so was well ahead of me. Resigned to dropping a fair portion of my stack, I was delighted (but a little embarrassed) to see another T fall on the river, taking Roger out the game

There was some commotion on the other table, with Sean and Simon both being taken out in one hand, when on my table an unraised pot pre-flop saw a flop of 3-3-2 Alex went all in so as I had A-3 wanted to get heads up and re-raised for half my stack. I was a little surprised when Jon asked for a chip count, then re-raised to put me all-in. Mick called as he was getting great value and I really felt I was in front so called quickly. Unfortunately Jon's pocket 2's left me needing a miracle 3, which never came and so Jon took three out and we had 6 players left for the final table.

Jon and Darren were the chip leaders, but Darrens seemed to ebb away. Steve played well to build up some chips from a very low level but his luck ran out to finish a credible 4th

Darren was the lowest chips at around 3000 when the blinds went up to 2000-1000. Andy showed no fear to go all-in against Jon but Jon had him beat and we were heads up.

Jon played very tight and Darren had no choice but to go all-in every hand and slowly Darren built up to around 12'000 chips with 4 hands to play (winning post was 17'000 chips) Unfortunately it was inevitable that Jon would find a hand he liked and check, raised all-in. Darren had to call and at least had 2 live cards, but Jon stayed ahead and we had our worthy winner and runner up. Pehaps playing with jet-lag is the way for us all to go :-)

Another great game and sees our 2007 champion now in pole position in the 2008 league table ! (hopefully not for long ;-) )

Roll on next month, this season look like it will be a scorcher!!

General : Gym update

A new year and a time for reflection on my Gym progress.. (also got a new heart monitor for Xmas, so gotta try it out :-) )

So why so long to update the blog, after all it is February.... well after 3 weeks with no exercise and overeating and drinking over Xmas, I felt pretty unfit for the first couple of weeks in Jan !! Also decided to up my pace a bit so wanted to get into that before measuring very much in a meaninigful way.... but here goes.....

My previous update was in August so hope to compare favourably to my activities then... my weight is just under 12 stone, so still consistant

Monday (Running)
Run at 10 kph for 25 minutes, then 12kph for 5 mins, plus 5 minutes cool down. Total of 5.2 km covered. Heart rate peak at 178 bpm and average 142

Tuesday (Rowing)
25 minutes at around 30 spm, then 5 mins at 35 spm, plus 3 minutes cool down. All at maximum resistance (the hard seat gives me a sore bum, else would do more cooldown :-) ) Cover 6286 metres. Heart rate peak at 169 bpm and average 136

Wednesday (Cycling)
Pedal at around 80 rpm at level 11 resistance for 25 minutes, then 5 minutes at 90rpm and level 12, plus 5 minutes cooldown. Cover 12.6 km. Heart rate peak at 151 bpm and average 133

Thursday (Swimming)
Swim 25 lengths in around 25 minutes. Do alternate breast stroke and crawl, with 1 minute rest after each set of 10 lengths. Heart rate monitor could be used in the pool, but didn't bother this time round

Friday (Running again)
Same activities as Monday, but heart rate peak at 181 bpm and average 152.... it seems harder at the end of the week as well !!

Overall, I think I am doing pretty well and will likely keep the same regime over the long term. I can't get up any earlier and don't want to arrive at work any later... so time is the main constraint. Will be having a BUPA health check later in the year, so will be interesting to see what they say about my fitness and general health