Holiday : Hastings – August 2009

At the last minute, we decided to take a UK summer holiday, deciding on Hastings for no other reason that it is on the coast and we haven’t been there for about 20 years !

We went to Cottages4you.co.uk and found a nice looking place at Pelham Crescent

Saturday 15th August

Left at 12:45 and arrived around 3:15pm so not too bad traffic   M3 was the main trouble spot !   Flat is on the 4th floor, up steep windy staircase… need a rest by the time you get to the top !   Flat is small but functional.  Bedroom is at the back and is quiet as it looks out onto a cliff face,  the living room on the front overlooking the sea so can spy on activity on the sea front :-)  Shower room is a bit small and a bit smelly ! 

Walked out to find the supermarket to get our supplied but ended up wandering aimlessly until we found the tourist information.   Once we had our supplies, went for a walk around the old town, where there seemed to be millions of Fish & Chip shops, so inevitably the smell got to us and we had to have a fish and chip supper.   After that we found a pub in which to steel ourselves for the long trek up the stairs to the flat.

Sunday

Laid on beach as was bright, but is very windy.   Sun was out then got cloudy, so at 11’sis went to find a coffee shop (there are loads around :-) )  Came across the Station and theatre so picked up some brochures then went back to beach as Sun is out again now….. just got to think about where to go for Lunch now…..    Ended up having a Sunday lunchtime Carvery at the Royal Albion pub, as amazingly although there were lots of places doing Sunday Roast, none seemed to do Chicken (which is what we fancied)   After lunch had another lay on the beach, but by now is VERY windy, so after an Ice Cream went back to the flat for a rest from the wind and a nice cup of tea.

In the evening, just went for a long walk round town and found Alexandra Park, which was very pleasant, then to the pub for some refreshment

Monday

Not sure if it is going to be Sunny or Cloudy, so prepared ourselves for a Walking Day and planned route through Hastings Country Park   We went from one side to the other along the Coast, which had spectacular views, but hard work up and down the hills… was very sunny and hot !   We came out in Fairlight Cove so found a pub called “The Cove” for a well earned rest and drink.   We then came out along a road and hooked back up into the Country Park and got back to Hasting about 4:15pm covering appx 10 miles in total.   Needed and Ice Cream and rest on the beach to recover.   Although no clouds, is VERY windy so only stayed half hour or so, time enough for a quick paddle and a rest

As feeling a bit worn out, only managed to struggle down the stairs to the Italian Restaurant next door to the flat, but was very nice meal

Tuesday

No wind today, so declared it to be a “Beach Day” especially after our previous days excursions.

Did get a bit windy, but hired a couple of deck chairs and wind break for the day and was perfect.   The clouds cleared and was glorious day (out of the wind)   Even got too hot, so had several dips in the sea to cool off

After lunch it was back to the beak, with our relaxation only interrupted by the need for Ice Cream

For the evening we had a brief walk round the Old Town and ended up at a Pub called “Ye Olde Pump House” which was very Olde Worlde but did decent food, albeit with slow service

Wednesday

Today is our “History and Culture” day.  It’s nice and Sunny with no wind, so going to be a scorcher.   Started out at 10am for Hastings Castle then time for 11ises at the West Cliff Case.  Walked through to the new town to go to the main Museum after which had a sit in a park at the top of the hill for our lunch break.   Our punishing schedule then took our from 2pm until about 5pm to see a selection of small Galleries and museums, but some were not open on Wednesdays and ran out of time to see others, so not entirely successful but certainly got in  a lot of culture and history in the course of our day !    Ended up at the Fisherman's Museum on the beach front after which we had to rest on the beach.  Did take some photos whilst resting so it counted as “culture” :-)

After our mandatory cup of tea at the flat, went out for the evening meal to what was meant to be the oldest pub in Hastings in the new part of town (seemed a bit odd to me but thought it worth a go!)  Unfortunately they stopped doing food at 3pm and didn’t look all that historic, so ended up in the Weatherspoons pub opposite

Thursday

Designated a “Shopping Day” (not sure who came up with that idea!) was bright and Sunny, but very windy again

Hit the pavements around 9:50am (someone woke up early due to the excitement I think)  and went to the new part of town first.   Stopped for lunch around 1pm then hit the Old Town, then back to the new town again as is late night shopping on a Thursday !

Despite some temptations for both of us, we ended up only spending about £25 on the whole day… of which more than half went on food and Ice Creams !

We didn’t fancy going far for our evening meal, so went to the Old Town to “Lathams Brasserie” which was very nice and very filling  !

Friday

Woke up to a grey and heavy rainy day !  Today is our “Rest Day” but doesn’t look like we’re doing much resting on the beach, so ended up going back the Culture we previously missed.   Went to the Shipwreck Museum, then the Aquarium, then a walk up the hill to the Caves…. after which was time for our lunch so decided to have Fish & Chips again

Feeling very full, we then walked round the shops in the new town, then up to St Leonard's.   Was a nice walk, but as a destination was quite disappointing, especially as it’s very windy along the sea front

After couple of hours walking, we are ready for our mid afternoon coffee and cake (or two cakes in my case!)

We finish off with another walk down the beach and take in the Lifeboat station (and shop!) All in all an exhausting “Rest Day” !

We have also decided to leave Hasting this evening rather than early tomorrow, so pack up and leave by 6pm, arriving home around 8:30pm having taken the scenic route (A25 rather than M25)

Overall, we had a lovely restful holiday, where the most we really had to think of was where our next food or drink was coming from :-)

Poker : Mansion Poker progress report

In my previous Bankroll/sponsorship entry, I had been playing 4 days and made good progress.

Unfortunately since then, I have gone a bit backwards in terms of hit rate, but has been quite interesting experience so far.   In 10 days I have managed to play a total of 51 STT games (mix of 6 and 10 seaters), cash in with 19 of them, giving me a profit of £88

I am finding that the $20 level of STT relatively “easy” in that although most games are tough, there are normally at least a couple of “donks” who will play reckless and hopefully give you all their chips :-)   

Last night was quite tough for me though, as I went through what seemed like a huge number of bad beats in several games, all at the bubble stage so ended up going from chip lead to being out on the bubble  (actually, looking back I have finished on the bubble 8 times of the 51 games!) !!!   Still, that’s Poker, as they say….

It is quite tricky to play lots of games, one after another, but most of the time is quite fun and most definitely absorbing all the time

Unfortunately am on holiday next week, so will not be having any more games until Monday 24th at the earliest… just hope I don’t forget how to in the meantime ;-)

Will keep you updated how things go in a few weeks time…..

General: Nice meal out

Went to Clocke Hat Restaurant last Saturday.  The service and ambience was superb, choice and quality of food and drink was marvellous so had a wonderful meal.  (even being the driver didn’t detract from the experience)

Was there any downsides ?   Well, it was a bit pricey, but for a special occasion it is well worth the expense in my opinion

Poker : Bankroll/sponsorship

Want to play poker for free but still have the ability to earn from it ?   

You either need to grind away at the freerolls, or try to get someone to sponsor you

Luckily there are some places that will consider sponsoring you, but you need to be able to prove you’re good enough (and put in quite a few hours of effort on a regular basis of course)

I am currently registered with Black Belt Poker (http://www.blackbeltpoker.com/) but they haven’t opened up the grading process there yet for the sponsorship, but also came across Bankroll Supply (http://www.bankrollsupply.com/) that looks fairly interesting

For the Bankroll Supply, I need to play for a month to prove myself.   So far I have managed to play 21 STT and cash in 10 of them !   Fingers crossed :-)

Poker : Home Tournament – August 2009

Its a typical English August evening… yes, it’s pouring with rain ! but that did not dampen the spirits nor enthusiasm of the Poker players :-)

The evening started out with brisk business for the re-buys as everyone is in the mood for gambling it seems.   I sit back for a while but no cards come my way and find myself drawn into some dodgy draws because of the pot odds.   Soon find myself rebuying as draws don't materialize and am not getting any good hands to raise it up with pre-flop.

As the end of rebuys approaches I am delighted to see pocket A but have just had a rebuy so on 500 chips.   Sean before me goes all-in for 500 so I follow suit and we are called by two others (fairly typical for the night)   The pot gets checked down to the showdown but there are all low cards and a flush possible…. sure enough Sean has has hit his flush and takes a large pot.   In typical Sean style,couple of hands later he is sticking all the chips in the middle but this time looses to Roger, who is on fire tonight !

Sean does show some control by folding to my raise all-in when we are blind on blind, but Derek rabbit hunts the flop cards and Sean's J-7 would have flopped a full house (I was ahead with A-T) 

My big win of the night (I don’t remember winning more than 2 or 3 pots all night) was with 6-4s on the SB   There are about 5 to see the flop, which comes 6 high, so I lump in a pot sized bet and get one caller.   The turn is a K but I only have a few chips left so they go all in and to my surprise win the showdown with my 6 !   That gave me about 2000 chips and is about where I was when rebuys stop.

After the break I am still struggling to get any cards worth playing, especially when calling the BB is 10% of my chips !   I put in a couple of calls to see flops cheaply with mediocre cards, but the flops are never good to me so end up folding.  I do remember winning another hand but that only took me to about 2500 which is probably my peak of the night.   Luckily other people are in worse shape than me, and Derek is the first one out.  It was probably a relief for him as he’d been in pain with his cracked rib all night !   Immediately after, Jon on the other table gets knocked out to continue the reigning champions dire season  (Jon, you must know how Lewis Hamilton feels :-) )

Steve and Sean are the short stacks on my table, both now in the blinds.  Steve makes a move for the pot, but Sean's not great hand is better than Steve’s so another player goes down

More or less the next hand though, Sean is taken out by Simon and Karen gets busted out exactly the same time by Alex on the other table…. slightly spooky ? ;-)

Now with 9 players left, everyone is hanging on for the final table and it looks like I will be the bubble boy… however Bill (on his normal form) helps me out by busting Jock and Alex on the other table, just as I wake up with A-Ks on the BB   Lee has just raised but I am calling but unfortunately his K-K holds up and I am out in 7th

The final table of 6 is unusually early, Bill and Roger have large pile of chips and Steve W, Lee and Simon are under pressure now the blinds are 1000/500  

Steve W and Lee are early casualties and we are already down to 4 with two rounds left to play

It doesn't take long for chips to start flying around, mainly Bill’s but he hits a run of luck to double up against Roger.    He then gets lucky to take out Andy (who had been quiet all night as he was doing well… I am sure this has happened before!)

Roger gets busy as he is the short stack, but despite winning a couple of hands to get into 2nd, he runs into a better hand against Simon and is out in 3rd (receiving all the loose change in prizes , including Sean and Karen's coppers)

The final heads up is interesting but Bill’s luck has finally run out…. he is getting reasonable hands, but Simons are always slightly better….it is all over with 4 hands to play as Simon has enough chips to fold to a win, but even though the hands are played out Bill cannot persuade Simon to take any risks and Bill finishes second with Simon taking another deserved win

Great game, very lively tonight so can’t wait for the next one

General: Cinema “Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince”

Went to see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince last night at the local Vue cinema

I thought it was a good Harry Potter film, engrossing and following the book (so far as I remember) but Lynn thought it a bit disappointing.   In some ways I do agree, but only in so far as the book on which it is based is slightly weak.    Also the film did not have the climatic ending of the book, so maybe that contributed as well

There were good “scary” moments and some good comedy moments in the film, so I think a bit of something for everyone.   Harry Potter fans will certainly want to see the film, those not familiar with Harry Potter will probably not have a clue what is going on though :-)

Poker: EPT Barcelona again

Last time I did OK, but still not getting the top prize, but this time round there were 18 people in the running, but I finished 13th after 20 minutes !

Just didn't get any good luck.... most pots were raised so only playing a few hands, but one hand I dropped around 400 of my 1500 starting chips when my A-T was re-raised by a really tight player.... my bet on the A-x-x flop got no respect and he went all-in on the river.  I was convinced I was behind so folded...

After that I was always struggling and ended up going all-in with 5-5 and was disappointed to see a call then re-raise all-in which was called.... one player had Q-Q but the other had K-J and hit 2 pair on the flop then full house on the turn so was victim of poor timing !

I don't have enough FPP for another go now... so will have to pay to try next time !

Poker : WCOOP announced

Pokerstars have announced the World Championship Of Online Poker (WCOOP) schedule, starting 3rd September 2009

Like I did before with the Spring event (SCOOP), I am hoping to Satellite my way into one or two of the events, so will update this blog with any activities (particularly if I get lucky !)

Music: Elkie Brooks at Camberley

On Saturday we went to see Elkie Brooks at the Camberley Theatre with Simon and Lil

I know of Elkie, mainly through her Vinegar Joe albums, so wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but within 30 seconds of her starting to sing, I knew we were in for a good night of music !

Elkie was singing brilliantly, with complete disregard for her age… and was also bounding round the stage like a youngster :-)

The first hour of the set was mainly the classics, which were great… the musicians and Elkie singing were fantastic, but after the break they focused mainly on the blues and in my view was even better

Only problem with such a great performance is that I will now have to take a look through her back catalogue and get a couple of albums !

Poker: Last chance for Late Night Poker qualification

After last night's late night and a busy day at work, I was ready for bed by tea time, but this is the last night for qualification to Late Night Poker so decided I had to give it a go.   My last attempt to qualify was not a great success and so playing whilst feeling fatigued and watching Friday night TV doesn't sound like a recipe for a great game either.....

The game kicks off at 7:15pm with 1464 entrants and the top 27 progressing to round 2.    There is a mix of players, some who seem not to have turned up and those who are chucking in their chips at every opportunity.    I am trying to play sensibly, but get some semi-decent hands that I have to call a raise pre-flop, but throw away on the flop to an all-in bet (when I miss) so my starting stack of 1500 is soon down to around 900.     Luckily I get a good run and start hitting flops, so by the first break after 45 min's am in 101st place out of 727 remaining players with 6315 chips (avg 3020)

I have the luxury of being able to bully when an opportunity appears, but mainly just be tight aggressive and push like crazy when I think (or know!) am ahead.   Overall I am doing OK, although get lucky a couple of times when I go in behind, but also find myself throwing away a huge number of rubbish cards that would have been winners... two full houses on the flop, several flushes and straights by the turn - never seen so many monsters thrown away in one game before !

The second break at 9pm sees me 46th from 190 with 16'916 chips (avg 11557) so still doing OK

The game starts to get a bit tighter now, as most of the idiots have been taken out so have to think a bit more, which is a bit tricky for me tonight... but not feeling so tired now after a couple of beers !

The next break is 10pm and I've been a bit up and down... but now in 26th from 70 with 34'671 chips (Avg 31371) so still hanging in there.      It starts to get a bit more loose, aggressive now, as the people in the relatively short stacks have to attack more to move up the rankings.... I manage to stay around the 20th to 30th mark and am 23rd from 49 players at 10:25pm

Down to the last 32 things are very tense.   I limp with T-9 behind 4 other limpers as there is a lot of value and am happy to see a 9 high flop and straight draw for me.    One player min-bets but I decide it's make or break time as think it unlikely he would have an over pair to the flop and go all-in   Unfortunately he had T-T and I don't improve so am out in a gut wrenching 32rd place after 3.5 hours playing time !

I am very disappointed I didn't get through, but on reflection it is OK as had I got through round 1, as then I would have to play round 2 tonight (starting at 8:35pm) and would need to finish in the top 18 out of 390 entrants to go through to the final round.  

The final round is on Sunday night at 7:35pm which only the winner out of 115 players will actually go through to the Late Night Poker TV tables !    They are certainly not making it easy this time round !!   Maybe I won't bother at all next time... it seems more likely I could win the lottery than get to the TV tables :-)

Poker: CamberleyBoyz descend on Casino

At last we managed to get another casino trip organised.  It has been nearly a year since my last trip and very, very nearly a year since the CamberleyBoyz went to the Casino, so about time !

My evening started out with my customary luck on the Roulette but also the Blackjack this time, so unless my Poker night is disastrous, I have won enough to pay for my Poker already :-)

There are 40 runners and the CamberleyBoyz consists of myself, Derek, Jon, Andy, Alex, Sean and Karen so confidence is high that some of will meet on the final table

I can’t remember much about the game overall, but I do remember that I was doing quietly well to begin with and peaked at around 5000 chips but then hit a bad patch when I bottled out with top pair and average kicker and frittered more chips away, suddenly finding myself very low in the last three hands before rebuys ended.   I ended up going all in and loosing the 2nd last hand, then sticking in my 2000 chips blind on the last hand but won it !   So in the end, I spent £50 on the poker and had won £60 before so did have enough winnings to cover my nights entertainment :-)

After the final add-ons, the average stack was around 5000 and the chips standings at the break are:

• Mike 5400
  Jon   4900
  Alex 10’700
  Sean 4000
  Karen 3000
  Derek 2500
  Andy 4100

Things get a bit hazy after that, but with the seat moves I now have Jon and Karen on my table…. and manage to take out Karen when I get dealt A-A !

There is soon more table consolidation and I’m on a table with Sean and Alex.   Things are getting tense and play is tight, then Sean goes on a bender and doubles up… .then soon sticks it in the middle again but gets knocked out this time (in around 15th ?) 

At last we have the final table, with myself, Alex and Jon all making it to the last 10 players.   Only the top 7 should get paid, but the table agrees to pay 8th, 9th and 10th £20

This is just as well as I get a bit too aggressive with pocket 3’s and get called by pocket 9’s   The 9 on the flop and runner-runner to make the other guy a flush was all a bit unnecessary in my view, but I was always behind so take 10th place and £20 prize

Just time to spend my £20 on roulette and get a drink, then Jon is out in 9th.  He has 4-4 against 8-8 (same guy I went out to) but again does not improve and is out in 9th.

By the time we leave Alex playing, there are only 7 players left.    In the end Alex split 1st and 2nd place prize money when they got heads up

Approximate finishes were:

Derek  30th ?
Andy   28th ?
Karen  20th ?
Sean  15th ?
Mike  10th  (£20)
Jon     9th     (£20)
Alex   Joint 1st !  (£590)

Not a bad showing from the CamberleyBoyz overall, and congratulations to Alex on a hard fought and well deserved top place finish

Poke: Late Night Poker qualifier

As there is little time left to qualify, thought I'd better have another go at the Late Night Poker qualification.

Started out OK and got as little above starting stack, then dropped some and then won a few hands, so by the break was 361 out of 978 (1743 players had started) with 1557 chips (avg 2929)

I managed to survive well after the break and had actually got to around 4500 chips when I flopped two pairs when on the BB (8-4-x flop)   Bet out and got two callers but the turn was a 2.   Shoved all my chips in and got a caller from some idiot with a flush draw (which the turn had given him) but of course..... (after all it had to be a bad beat story this time...) another spade came on the river and am out in around 831st place   

Damn shame, but it didn't cost anything so shouldn't be too upset... :-(

Poker: EPT Barcelona - 2nd try

After the first try to qualify for EPT Barcelona, I couldn't wait to try again ... so had another go tonight.

This time there were 18 players for the off.    After a reasonable start, I had got up to 1860 chips and 4th from 17 players by the 2nd level.   I then had a key hand, whereby with A-A I got it all in against two other players, who had Q-Q and J-J would you believe !   Of course a Q came on the flop, but luckily that player had been short stacked and I actually won more chips than he did from the 2nd pot    Even so, by the end of L2 I was in 3rd with 2350 chips (avg=2454)

L3 saw me get a good win and got to 2nd with 4755 chips by the end of this level

L4 was same solid play and we got to the top 9 players    As before, only 1st place gives entry to the next level, but top 9 get their stake back.... so will definitely be able to have another go !     Funnily enough, the 6th place finisher hadn't been at the table all game so you don't even need to turn up to win back your stake !

The end of L4 sees me with 7630 chips and 2nd place from the last 5 runners   Chip leader is 7700 so very close at this stage

The next level sees two more players quickly go, and one player is down to around 3000 chips..... but the key hand saw me with Q-J in the BB... the chip leader min-raised (as normal) so I called.  The flop of Q-J-2 was good for me, so raised the flop and bet the 4 on the turn.   The 5 came to give possible flush and was re-raised when I bet out, but folding now left me with only 2000 chips, so called anyway....  unfortunately this is not even a bad beat story as he had A-Q so was always behind !!    Ended up with 3rd place, so getting closer.

Oh well, try again next week I guess........

Poker : mid year report

Having been reminded about my objectives for this year when writing my previous post, I thought it a good time to review my main objective for this year, which is to break even in my day-to-day online game

On re-reading my end of 2008 musings, I realised  that I am veering off my intended route a little bit, but overall am keeping to my strategy

So far this year, I have managed to be more strict with myself on my Bankroll Management Strategy, but this at least has resulting in less violent swings in my fortunes.  

At the end of May I was down on the year, due to one very poor day in January, which was the only time I really ignored by Bankroll strategy as well….   just goes to show….  Luckily for me, June was an excellent month with a couple of really good results, which has really given me a great chance to achieve my desire of at leave break even this year as I am now up $200   

Whilst I am not really all that worried about it (as it is still a cheap hobby for me) I really believe my game is better than my results and think most of my “leaks” have historically been due to playing at a level over my bankroll and getting involved in too many “new” games, like the HORSE and 8 game.

This year however, I am determined to keep within my bankroll and am now comfortable with the games I play (I often win the 8 game or HORSE games….) so just need to keep my discipline and get lucky :-)

Poker: EPT Barcelona or bust !

In addition to my so far feeble attempts to qualify for Late Night Poker, my other main ambitions this year are to break even for the year. but more importantly to qualify for an live EPT event.   Pokerstars are running satellite qualifiers for EPT Moscow in August, but the one of interest to me is EPT Barcelona in September.  

 

I have just over 1000 Frequent Player Points (FPP) which you accumulate  by playing on the site, so was delighted to see a qualifier game for 1000 FPP with one player going though to the next round for every 10 players.     It was kicking off at 5:30pm so a decent time of day as well, so signed up !

In the end there were 16 players so only the winner goes through and 2nd-7th places get their 1000 FPP back as a prize.   The standard of play seemed pretty good, with most players being Tight Aggressive (TAG) and respectful of the others.    First hand I got K-K ! but wasn't expecting any action to my raise... as it happened someone re-raised me.    I nearly went all-in but decided to just call.... but when there was no A on the flop I bet out and took a good size pot.  The very next hand I got A-Ks so raised and the same player as before re-raised... again I just called but this time there was an A on the flop so bet out and he folded again !    Next hand I got A-5s and decided to raise again (mainly for the comedy value)  This time everyone folded.....

After that it was back to the normal rubbish to mediocre cards, so played it tight and steady.

It only took to just before the first break, before we got to the prizes (7 players) so I was now guaranteed at least another chance as I get back my stake but really needed to win it.   I'm 4th with 2310 chips (Avg 3428) so feel I have a chance

With a couple of short stacks, it doesn't take long before we are down to 5 players  (Avg 4800 chips)  I am now 2nd with 5270 and chip leader has 10'335, so still in there but have to get aggressive     Luckily I soon see pocket T's and re-raise a shorter stack who calls with A-4   The flop and turn are blanks making me about 94% to double up... but of course the river brings the heartbreaking A to take me down to about 690 chips !

Couple of hands later and the blind approaching I stick it in with Q-Ts but the lucky fellow who took my chips calls with Q-J and I'm out in 5th.    Obviously finishing 5th, 7th or 2nd are all the same, so had to go for the win.   Felt I played pretty well and had that A not come on the river would almost certainly have got to down to the final 2 (and who knows after that!)

At least I still have all my FPP intact and will be trying the same again before too long (probably next week!)   Lets hope for better luck next time.....

Poker : Home Tournament – July 2009

It was a hot night in Camberley and the silly season was upon us :-)

A crazy night of poker ensued, from what started out as a fairly typical night for me….

I started out steady but Jon was quickly scooping up the chips and getting a good size stack from the beginning.   I then had a good run of cards and managed to get a load of chips, some from Jon, Alex and Roger (so far as I can remember)  

By the break I was on around 6000 chips and looking strong, Jon had fallen back a bit, as had Alex and Jock who were a bit low on chips.  Roger had the double buy in to keep him going.

I was still going great and was hitting cards, but then Jock got busted out by Jon and Derek came to our table to keep the numbers even and my luck changed !   Derek’s first hand on our table  I had pocket T and raised the pot.  Derek in the SB called and Alex folded.   The flop came K-K-J and as Derek only had around 1000 left and the pot was 2700 I just put him all-in.  Of course he had K-T so immediately called and took a decent pot.   Couple of hands later I was on BB with K-T, Derek called from button and Alex was all-in from SB.   The flop came Ten high, so Derek and I checked, the turn of 9 saw me check call Dereks bet of 1000, and same on the blank river    Derek had pocket 9’s of course, so took out Alex and a load of my chips… leaving me quite short

Later in the game, Derek gave a load of chips to Jon, but Jon gave some of them to Roger… but now Roger was taking my chips as well, but that was my own fault for calling on the SB with 8-3 and getting a straight draw…..

Now dangerously low in chips, I was happy to hear that Lee was knocked out as this meant I had made the final table !   

I was actually the low stack on the final table, but Steve only had a few extra chips and was in the BB !   He didn’t get any luck and was out in 8th…. Derek was next up in the BB with a low stack and also got taken out so I am going up the rankings fast !   In the BB I had 1000 in already and 200 behind, but with 5-2 it isn’t looking good for me… not even the 2 on the flop cheered me up, but Jon, myself and Andy all checked it down to the river and to my surprise and delight… I won the pot !

Giddy with success, (and with the blinds now up to 2000/1000) the very next hand I see an opening when everyone folds to my SB, so go all in against Karen with Q-7s   Unfortunately my timing was a little out, as Karen was sitting in BB with A-A  which held up and I was out in 6th (albeit better finish than I was expecting!)

With the high blinds, Andy has to take a chance and shoves his chips in but doesn’t have enough chips to scare Roger off who called with K-4s   The K on the river is enough to see off Andy and the last 4 players have only 4 hands left to play   

Jon is almost all-in on the SB so automatically calls even though Roger raises…. but his desperate gamble doesn’t pay and Jon is out on the bubble

Sean is last in chip count so goes all-in from the button to win the blinds, next hand sees Roger all=in against Karen but although starting out behind, Roger hits his hand and leaves Karen with around 1400 chips

The last hand is a classic, with Sean all-in from the button, Karen folds to retain a few chips, but Roger calls.     Sean would have won by folding and Roger was guaranteed 2nd by folding, but fair dues they are both up for it and play anyway… Sean having A-A against Rogers Q-Q !!  No-one improves, so Roger takes 3rd, Karen 2nd and Sean wins

It was a lively game tonight and a bit more raucous than normal… must be the heat :-)  Certainly produced some exciting Poker so will have to turn up the heating next time ;-)

Poker : Late Night Poker is back !

I was delighted to discover that the “Late Night Poker” series is coming back and Full Tilt are running freerolls for online qualifiers.  See http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/late-night-poker for full details

I had a go last night (freerolls run at 7:15pm UK time) but only managed about 900th out of 2000 players.  The last hand was a bit annoying as a donkey player went all-in, a short stack called and I had pocket 7’s so decided to call as well.   The donk had T-4 and the short stack had A-J so I was in fairly good shape, especially with the flop of 8-8-Q and a blank turn… but the river of Q gave everyone a higher two pair!!  I would have almost tripled up for the river and been in good shape to get into the top 27 players who go to the next round….    Oh well, at least it didn’t cost me anything.   I expect I will be trying again :-)

Holiday: Weymouth - June 2009

Saturday -3 hours to arrive    Nice apartment.   Hot and sunny.   Went round town & got provisions, unpacked then went out to dinner at Ship Inn on Quayside (nice food large portions)

Sunday - decided to have a beach day, but had to buy me some swimming trunks.   Hot but a little windy at times, Veterans parade in the morning, very busy everywhere.   Evening went to pub 50 yds up road for Carvery (Nothe Tavern), which was large portions and very nice... managed a pudding as I didn't have a starter this time

Monday - nominally a shopping day as expected heavy rain, but morning dawned bright & sunny, albeit a little bit cooler with the stronger wind..... but ended up on Beach again in the morning.   After lunch only had half hour or so as the sun went behind hazy cloud.  So ended up having a nice cream tea and walked round shops.  Went out for Fish & Chip supper on the quayside in the Fish & Chip restaurant

Tuesday - Market day in Portland so get the tourist bus from the square, which took in the Olympic venue and the castle before stopping at the market... the views from the bus and from the top of the hill where the market is were spectacular !   Weather was cold in the wind, but otherwise sunny and warm all day !   Got the bus to Portland Bill, where was spectacular views but not much else, but did have an overpriced lunch at the local pub there before going back on the bus.    Once back, we had a nice cup of tea then decided to go to Nothe Fort   Was good to wander around and take in the spooky "dungeons" and the fantastic views from the top level.   Went to the square for a local pub grub, which was OK then had a nice walk around town ending up at the local pub !

Wednesday - today was forecast to be overcast and showers, so decided to go for a country walk     Of course it was hot and sunny, even the wind seemed warmer than normal.   Had a great walk round the coastal path and then cut back cross country and had a nice cup of tea when we got back to the coast.   Just set off back to town along the coast when it did start raining, pretty hard, especially in the wind.. but were well prepared (lot of people weren't)   After having our ice cream watching the rain, got back to apartment and had a nice cup of tea before deciding where to eat in the evening..... deciding to walk another 50 yds to the local pub as we were worn out !  (and it was Curry night)

Thursday - it's a proper Shopping day today.   Went out at 10am and started at the Brewers Quay shopping centre which took us until coffee time (11;30 !)  by which time it was hot and sunny again.    Went round town and got takeout sandwiches for lunch.  Had lunch on the beach as it was sunny, but still chilly in the wind and ended up with sandy sandwiches.   Did more shopping before mid-afternoon snack time when I had a cream tea    Back at the ranch, we were a bit worn out after over 7 hours shopping, but mustered up the energy to walk into town for evening meal.  After changing our minds several times, ended up at the "Moby Dick" on the front which did house special which was Chicken, Ham and Leak pie... yummy.  Also stopped off at the George Inn on the Quayside to try and complete the set of pubs which we had been in.... not many to go now!

Friday -  Designated our Beach/rest day but despite the good weather forecast it was quite gray and a bit windy but we went on the beach anyway.   Found a sheltered spot from the wind stayed until after lunch.   It was hot when the sun came out, but was all to infrequent and was otherwise a bit cool.    Went for a walk through the town and got a nice ice cream before talking a walk back through Nothe Gardens where it was a bit more sheltered from the wind.    Got back to the apartment a bit earlier than normal, so had a nice cup of tea and a rest.   Decided to go back to the Ship Inn for dinner, but in typical fashion we changed our minds (there is a huge choice! ) and ended up in a pub in town for dinner.   Wasn't fantastic food, but was OK (for the price) and had the bonus of the band doing their sound check which we ate (UB40 tribute band)

Saturday - after breakfast we just came home, taking about 2.5 hours as traffic was OK

Overall we had a lovely holiday and enjoyed doing the different activities.   There are a load of things we could have done but didn't get around to, so would be happy to go back there again

Poker : not a bad evenings play (it isn’t really work is it!)

I decided not to do a deep stack tourney today as it takes ages and I feel like I need my sleep this week !

Started off with a nice simple STT warm up game ($20) with 9 players, which got the blood flowing nicely, especially when I cashed in by getting 3rd place

After such a promising start, moved onto MTT with a 128 seater HORSE tourney, but had horrid cards and blew out in 118th place after 45 mins  (actually quite tricky to loose all your chips that quickly in a limit game !)

The main event was meant to be a $22 MTT with 1206 players.   I made a good start, but saw several rubbish hands that I threw away become monsters… saw several straights, couple of flushes and flopped two full houses (had I not thrown away the cards of course) and in the end only lasted a frustrated 55 mins and got to 755th place.   Did feel I was playing quite well, but the cards were not landing for me (or when they did, it was after I threw away my rubbish hand)

Just to blow off some steam, decided to enter the $4 MTT 180 player tournament.  Things started off OK, but then started a roller coaster ride, whereby my stack grew, then I got into a fight with someone and lost a load of chips, then built up the stack again and then lost a load… again I was seeing rubbish cards develop into a monster hand, with another flopped Full House thrown away in the first hour.   Luckily I was patient and by the first break (after 1 hour) was 11th with 6’048 chips out of 64 players (avg=4218)

Things were settling down and was able to focus and take control of the game (well most of the time anyway)   The end of the 2nd hour saw me in 5th with 11’739 chips (out of 30 player and avg=9000) and my low point after that was 7th at the 3 hour break.   By level 15 was 4th from 15 players and in the money, but the players dropped quickly after that and by the next level we had only 8 left and I was still in 4th    There were a few ups and downs for me, but the luck came to me when needed and didn’t hurt me too badly when it went against me, so after 4 hours was in 2nd place out of the remaining 3 players

I was not expecting to win, but got heads up with around 110’000 to 160’000 chips to my opponent   The heads up didn’t last too long, I managed to hit my hand after going all-in behind on the flop which put me in a really strong position, then couple of hands later called my opponents all-in when I had A-J against his 9-8 and the A on the flop was enough to see me to victory (in only 4hours 25 mins) !  

For what I thought would be a quick blast of a game, it turned into a marathon, but did gave me a healthy boost to my poker fund, getting $216 for the $4 investment…. I seem to be going through a purple patch at the moment, just hope it lasts a while longer :-)

Poker : Home Tournament – June 2009

The £10 specials are always interesting games, and this proved to be the same.   I was feeling a bit spaced out by now, after the late night and working all day, so will doubtless remember even less than normal for my write up !

My evening started well, by not being on the same table as Sean ! (who scuppered me in the last £10 special) although do have Bill to contend with.     My table was pretty laid back and solid in the main, especially in the early stages.   The first couple of levels I dropped around 500 chips from the 2000 starting levels, then won a hand or two and was a little up mid-way through the first hour.    I vaguely remember I get into a hand with Bill and take a good chunk of chips to get myself into a good chip lead on the table.   

At the break, I have a healthy chip stack, with the extra 2000 I think I’m around the 10’000 mark….  this stack gets bigger when I get 8-7 on the SB and only Karen on BB and Steve W see the flop.   The flop comes 7-x-x (3 clubs ) and I check then call Steve W smallish bet (even with top pair and flush draw I wasn’t sure I was ahead, but was relatively cheap to call)   The turn sees another 7, so I check call another bet by Steve, but then the river is a spectacular 8 !   so check call the all-in by Steve W, who had flopped a flush !   Talk about a bad beat !!

With players starting to drop like flies on the other table (Steve is knocking them all out!)   we are soon down to 9 players.  I get tangled up with Bill again, who calls my confident bets on each street… can’t remember what I had, but was ahead ! and therefore took the pot, took out Bill and we’re down to the final table

Jon is ecstatic as he made the final table for the first time this year !   Unfortunately he is first to fall, but at least he gets a point

Darren is short stacked and gets it all in on the flop with a flush draw (I think)  but doesn't improve and is next out

With the blinds now up to 1000/500 we see Alex making a big raise and takes down a pot uncontested and shows KK.  Next hand he makes another big raise but this time Derek goes all-in and Alex calls…. then shows KK again !    Derek has Q-J  so is in heaps of trouble, even the J on the flop doesn’t help… but the J on the turn certainly does., and Derek takes Alex down to about 1200 chips.    It is only a hand or two before Alex has to stick it all in but doesn’t get lucky and Steve takes him out

Karen gets taken out next by Derek but can’t remember the details now… and Andy follows soon after with a mad lunge at the pot with not much

This leaves us with three players and the blinds at 2000/1000   I had been OK chip wise but had given some chips away to Steve earlier so think I am down to around 17’500 (avg = 18’500) with Steve the chip leader. 

A few hands in, we see a key hand for me, when dealt 6-6 on BB I just call when Steve completes on the SB (Derek had folded)    The flop comes something like J-6-2 and Steve immediately goes all-in !   His timing is very unfortunate as I am insta-calling all-in for 20’000 chips   Steves A-7 is well beaten already, but I hit another 6 on the turn for quads and am now the huge chip lead !

With very few chips and big blinds, Steve makes a valiant but ultimately futile attempt and is out in 3rd

I have around 40’000 and Derek is around 16’000 and there is very little time left on the clock.     After a hand or two of exchanging blinds, Derek goes all-in pre-flop.     I had J-J but on checking the chip counts, if I double Derek up he will be slight chip lead so decide to fold as the timer signals the last three hands to play.    Next hand I have 9-7s but decide to call Derek's 4000 raise to see the flop.  Nothing comes for me, so fold to his bet.   I also realise that by now I can only just afford the 3000 blinds to be around 1000 chip leader after the next two hands, so need very good hands to justify doing anything other than folding.   Both my last hands end up being rubbish so fold and win by around 2000 chip difference in the end

I was delighted to win, just a bit disappointed not to be able to “finish the job” by knocking Derek out, but that’s the nature of a time constrained game I guess

Overall, it was a very enjoyable game.   Even the people knocked out early seemed to be enjoying themselves, especially those involved in the cash game !

League wise, we are now halfway through the season and I am points leader with 61, but Darren and Alex are not far behind with 42 each and Derek on 49 makes up the top 4

All still to play for… see you next time

Poker : Deep Stack tournaments

I have recently be playing in “Deep Stack” tourneys on my Wednesday night "online poker night"   This is where you get 5000 starting chips and the blinds go up every 30 minutes, so you need to be prepared for the long haul if you do any good !

First attempt was 6th May in a $11 deep stack tourney.  This had 1026 players and I crashed out in 660th place after 90 minutes

Then decided to switch to the $22 deep stack tournament , so on 13th May sat down for a nice game for a couple of hours as there were only 152 players.   As it turned out, I did pretty well, so after 8.5 hours playing ! I finished in 6th place and took a nice $152 prize

Last week I played the $22 tournament but things went against me and finished 59th of 135 so a very poor showing

This week I did have had some more success !!  Seems my temperament is more suitable for the patient, long, drawn out game

From my 5000 chip starting point, I got some good hands early on and had built up my stack, which was just as well, as I ended up all in on the turn having flopped two pair and some clown with his flush draw hit his 1 in 6 chance to put me down to around 1200 chips !   As the blinds were so low, I managed to keep calm and play on, and was lucky to very soon double up with a good hand, then tripled up when I got lucky having gone all in pre-flop with a speculative hand and got 4 callers !

From then on, I just tried to maintain above average chips, but was going up and down a bit.... but over time was pretty well in control.  

One hand in the middle stages that stuck out was when I got A-Ks on the Big Blind.  There was a raise then a re-raise all-in and as the original raiser had a load of chips, decided he was likely to call even if I went all-in (which I seriously thought about) so decided to fold.   The original raised had T-T and the original all-in had A-6 so was happy with my choice when the blank flop came down, but when the A then K came, I was not so pleased.   I know made the right choice, but when the outcome would have been in my favour (like tripling up!), it still hurts...

As we got into the last 40 players, I had some good hands and felt I was playing well... and managed to get myself up into the top 6, where I pretty much stayed (with my normal loose aggression when I get a lot of chips!) until the end

After 5.5 hours play !  I am in first place with 102'131 chips out of 19 players (Avg = 37'631)

At the next break after 6.5 hours, I am still in 1st with 140'488 and 11 players left (avg=65'000)

Next break after 7.5 hours, I am still in 1st place, with 176'133 with 9 players left.   Avg=79'444   I want to now build up to and maintain stack of 178'750 which is the average stack for my target of a 4th place finish

8h 25mins into the game,  I drop to 2nd place – having dropped down to 134'533 chips (8 players left ) but suddenly it all goes nutty and chips leader takes out another player as well !   Chip avg=102'142  Couple of hands later and another player get really lucky and takes out someone else... I am now 3rd place from 6 so am getting excited…..

Next break (8 hr 45 mins)  I am 3rd now out of 6 players with 119'133 (Avg = 119'166 !! )  Starting to buzz now, but from drinking too much water I think !!

After 9 hours,  I am 5th of 5 players with 99'559 (avg = 143'000)  All to play for and blinds only at 4000/2000   News flash... just as I am writing this, I win a decent hand and now jumped to 3rd place with 140'509

Hit the 9.5 hour mark and a key hand.  I am in BB with A-Q (5000/2500 blinds) and button goes all-in   He normally flat calls good hands, so decided to call (I would also have about 40'000 chips behind)   Turns out he has 8-4s and neither of us improve, so I take him out and we are now down to 4 players and I am chip lead again at 267'128 (avg = 178'750)

Has it really been 9hr 50mins !   I am now 2nd of 4 players left , so have hit my target finishing place.   I have 236'996 (Avg=178'750) and the blinds are now 6000/3000    I am up and down a bit, was 1st for a while, then 4th, worked up to 3rd, then hit some cards and got aggressive and got to current 2nd place     Lynn is probably snoring her head off by now, but my adrenalin must be flowing... still drinking a load of water (it is very hot and muggy tonight) so also having to go to the loo every half hour as well !

After a 10h 25m slog we are now head up !!   I have 293'000 v’s my opponents 422'000  (357'500 avg)

Lost big pot with  my Q-4 against K-6 on a A-K-Q flop !    but a couple of hands later I have doubled up,  then managed to get back to about 307'000   Then my A-A holds up and win a bit more to take us almost dead even in chips

Then we have the key hand... I have J-5 in BB call a raise of 14'000....  flop comes J-T-3 so check and re-raise all-in when he bets.  He calls and shows A-T so I am way ahead.    The turn is a safe 6, making me about 90% certain to win the hand……. but the A on the river takes me out in 2nd place !!

After 850 hands and 10 hour 45mins playing time, I won $457.60 for 2nd place (first was $657.80)  

It is amazing how your expectations change during the tournament, most of the way through I would have taken a cash finish were it offered, but then being chips lead a lot of the time you hope to make the final table (9 players) then on the final table, still at the top of the chip count, you then hope to take 4th… having got to 4th I was gunning to win it…. and on the last hand thought I pretty much had won it !  It is a bit gut wrenching to get so close to the win, but ultimately happy to take 2nd place.  I am happy with my play and the luck evened out so can’t complain too much :-)

These deep stack tournaments may suit my temperament, but they certainly take time !     Mind you, the hourly rate of $40 isn’t too bad I suppose.

Poker : Satellite Final table results

At last the night of the Satellite Tournament “The Invitation Cup” Final table has come, everyone is keen to get cracking and the tension is mounting as people take their seats….

The first hand of the first level and everyone starts out quite cagey.   The flop comes 2-3-A (2 hearts) with three out the eight players still in.   The 8h comes on the turn and everyone checks, but the Jh on the river sees Sean all-in !!   Alex and Roger fold, but Sean shows his nut flush (so wasn’t a mad move after all :-) )

The first level is pretty tight, with a lot of calling and checking and most people having something half decent on the showdowns… for example a flop of T-6-5 (rainbow) sees everyone check, Darren bets 200 into a 100 pot when a 9 comes and Sean, Karen and Derek call.  We get a bit of action when an A comes on the river, with Darren betting 500 and only Sean calls with A, but Darren has A-T

Level 2 is much the same, but some risks are being taken…. on a board of 8-8-9-9 Martin bets 1000 into Derek who folds, showing 6-6   Martin shows Q-J !

Level 3 sees one of the first larger pots as Alex hits his straight to take some chips off Karen but restore himself to starting chip level (4000)

Level 4 sees Sean hit his flush again and take a good size pot, but the action is starting to come as Derek raises to 500 and Martin/Jon call.   The T high flop is good enough for Derek to bet 1000 and takes it, showing QQ

On the first break, there has been a lot of tough playing, mostly tight.   Roger has 2500 chips, with Jon on 4100, Sean 5000, Derek 5200, Karen 4000, Darren 4300, Alex 3300 and Martin on 3600 so not much in it at this stage

Level 5 is really where the fun starts, as the blinds are at 200/100 and some people need to catch up !   We suddenly see a spate of pre-flop raises but normally they take the pot there and then.   Alex raises to 600 and takes pot, then Martin… then we have 4 players see an un-raised flop, but Derek bets 600 and takes it down.   Then we see Martin and Alex take turns at raising and taking pot pre-flop again.   Sean is obviously not being believed as his raise is called by Martin and we see a flop of 9-7-6  Martin checks and Sean bets 1000, but Martin responds by going all-in !!  After a long think, Sean folds and sits there for several hands thinking about whether he made the right move or not…..

Martin is on form though as he manages to fold his A-Q against A-8 when the flop comes K-8-5

Sean is low on chips and the blinds are going up…. 4 people see flop of Q-T-5   Sean bets 1100 and only Martin calls.   The turn of 9 sees Sean all-in for his last 1400 and is called again.  Martin has J-9 to Sean’s J-T so Sean is way ahead !   Neither player improves so Sean survives and Martin is getting low on chips.   Soon after, Martin raises and Sean and Karen call.   The flop of K-8-5 sees Karen betting out 600, but Martin moving all-in.  Sean quickly folds, but Karen thinks for a long time before calling with her K-9.  Unfortunately for her, Martin has K-T and with A then 3 coming his better kicker holds up and is back in business, but Karen is now low stacked with 900 chips

Level 7’s sees the blinds at 500/300 and Roger calling all-in against Sean.   Rogers J-8 against A-K doesn’t look good on the flop of 9-4-4 but J on the turn doubles up Roger

With the blinds on their way to her, Karen launches all-in with 2 callers.   The board is Q-8-Q-8-A and Karen has  Q-J so triples up !   Jon and Alex split the top pot

Martin has been pretty steady all night, so when he launches a 2000 attack pre-flop he takes it down.   Couple of hands later his aggression pays off when on the BB with J-4 sees a Q-4-2 flop.  Alex, Martin and Sean all check, but another Q on the turn sees Martin bet 1500 and Sean re-raise all-in, but Martin call !  Sean has A-6 so was only slightly more optimistic than Martin, but the blank on the river sees Martin take a huge stack of chips and take Sean out first

Level 8 starts to see the nose bleed blinds levels with 7 players still in…   Martin uses his new found wealth to raise 3000 and take uncontested.   Then it’s Jon all-in with A-T against Derek who has to call as it’s only another 600 to him on the BB, so his K-3 has a chance… but Jon doubles up

Alex is all-in with 55 against Karen with A-Q   Neither improve so Alex is safe and Karen is down to 500 chips.   This leaves Karen to be all-in on the SB with 8-2 but is dominating Darren’s 3-2   Unlucky again for Karen, as 4 diamonds give Darren a flush and she is out !

The last hand of the level sees Jon all-in with 3200 (Q-9) Darren all-in with A-Ks (3800) and Roger all-in for 3000 (A-Qs)   Only a 9 is good for Jon, but after a flop of T-5-3 the 9 comes on the turn and Jon has suddenly leapt towards the chip leader and Roger is out

The last level has blinds of 2000/100 and chip counts of Darren with 600, Derek 5600, Jon 9900, Alex 550 and Martin chip leader with 10’400

Alex shows he means business by sticking it all-in first hand on the new level, but takes it down without a fight

Darren is all in and triples up with 7-7 so is showing that he won’t go down without a fight, but is all-in on BB all too quickly for 1800   His A-6 is up against Martins Q-J and the flop of 9-6-5 is good for Darren, but the fickle poker gods throw down a J on the turn to take out Darren

It’s all action now with just 4 players left,  Jon is all-in and takes the pot, Alex is all-in but gets called by Martin.  Alex’s Q-Q is against A-K so close race, although the Q on the flop doubles Alex up.  Martin is then all-in put gets no takers, but shows A-K again to prove he’s not really on tilt.    Alex and Martin on the blinds see an un-raised flop, but then Martin sticks it all-in when Alex checks and takes it down

Alex is all-in but Jon calls from BB with J-9   It seems to be a bad move with Alex showing T-T but the turn is good for Jon (again!) as a J falls for him (again!)   This leaves Alex in poor shape with just 1100

Derek can’t hang around with his 1400 chips but the blinds come round too quick and sees him all-in with 9-6 against Jon in SB with T-8   An 8 on the flop puts Jon more firmly in the driving seat, but then the T and another 8 come to really stick the boot in and Derek is out in 4th

Alex is in trouble now, and is all-in on BB with 7-4   Martins K-8 doesn’t improve but is good enough to take out Alex and give us our two final players

Martin has 17’800 and Jon is on 14’200

It is never really going to last too long, but there is a bit of to-ing and fro-ing  before we see Martin raise 6000 and Jon call.   The flop of J-9-4 doesn’t look too inspiring so it is no surprise that when Martin goes all-in to eagerly (out of turn) that Jon folds

Soon we have the key hand of the heads up battle when Jon raises and Martin re-raises to put Jon all-in, who duly calls.  Jon’s 8-8 is ahead of Martin’s K-Js until the flop which comes J-9-3  The turn of A is no good to Jon, but he hits his 8 on the river!   This gives him around 22’400 against Martins 9’600 chips so is an uphill battle for Martin from here

The last hand probably typifies the sorts of clashes we had all night, in that the un-raised flop of 8-7-4 sees Martin push all-in and Jon call.   Martin shows K-4 but is crushed by Jon’s A-4 and sure enough it is all over and we crown Jon our 2009 Champion

Well done to Jon for putting it out there and winning, but Martin was no pushover and showed the same discipline and strength seen in the heat to be a worthy runner up

Everyone played well and was entertaining to watch, so hope everyone who took part in the heats and final table all enjoyed the experience and will want to try again next year !

Onward and upward, see you next time.

Poker: Home Tournament – May 2009

I have had a bit of a mare for my last few sessions in April and first few sessions in May… felt I was playing well, but the cards were running against me.  However against this backdrop, my feeling of foreboding did not stop me from looking forward to the monthly game as normal :-)

As it turned out I got pocket 9’s a couple of hands in which held up and gave me a good chip stack early on, always nice when that happens !   Unfortunately Sean started out playing tight, so didn’t give him enough respect for a hand a little later and ended up giving him half my chip stack !    Easy come easy go…..

After that I kept bobbling along with around 500-1000 chip level and not much happening for me so as we got towards the end of rebuys, an opportunity came where four people was going all-in and as I only had around 600 chips went all-in as well with my J-8 but the gamble didn’t pay off so had to take the double re-buy to give me 1000 in chips for the first level after the break.   Jon, Jock and Karen also had 1000 chips, with Sean and Andy having the larger stacks

The first hand of the new levels sees Jock on the BB and managed to double up against Sean, so taking the pressure off him a bit.   The next hand I find myself on the BB with A-J but Jon sticks his stack in and everyone folds to me.   I guess I am in a race, but Jon could also have a better A than me, but have to take a chance.  Luckily Jon has pocket 8’s and I hit a Jack to take the pot and take out Jon !

With the blinds going up and more action going on, the chips start moving around the table as people have to play pots to ensure they don’t get blinded away.    A couple of people get knocked out on the other table, then Andy takes out Jock and we are down to the final table.. nice and early for a change !

On the Final table, Roger has only 300 chips (blinds are 300 / 150 !)  I have around 1600.  Karen and Steve are also fairly low on chips.   Bill is probably the chip lead but Alex and Sean also have larger sized piles.  The big surprise of the night so far is that Lee has not made the final table for the first time !!

It is inevitable someone will be knocked out early on with so many low stacks, and it turns out to be Karen who is busted out by Bill, who seems to be his normal aggressive, happy go lucky self tonight (some may say very happy and very lucky :-) )  

This seems to trigger a rush of people going all-in as Andy raises all-in on a flop of Q-T-9 (2 diamonds)  Everyone folds round to Bill who agonizes for quite a while, but decides to call (which was no great surprise to everyone else) As it turns out the pot of around 7000 will go to Andy unless Bill can hit another diamond, as Andy has A-K and Bill has 5-3 of diamonds.   The Turn brings a K for Andy, making him even more of a favorite, but the river is K of diamonds    As Bill calmly collects his chips, Andy has a bit of a moan, although in fairness his first of the night and not without provocation !

The next hand sees Roger all in against Alex (again!) but this time Roger gets knocked out, despite going in favorite.   I am starting to get excited now as I have only 1300 chips and the blinds are now 500 /300 so am climbing up the points by staying out of the action !

Being on the BB, Steve is short stacked and decides to go all in when a couple of other people call.   Unluckily for Steve, Alex is on a hot streak and takes another person out !

I have to fold my BB and SB leaving me down to 500 chips, 4 players left in and the blinds just gone up to 1000/500 so looks like 4th place for me…. however to my astonishment, Sean and Bill start re-raising each other and end up with Sean all-in on the flop.   Even more amazing (to me anyway) is that neither of them really has a hand and both missed the flop.  To my great advantage Bill is ahead and wins the pot with his A high, taking out Sean and gifting me 3rd place – what a result :-)

Even more surprising is the next hand with Alex on the BB he raises pre-flop and Bill calls.   With 7000 in the pot, Alex bets the pot and gets re-raised all-in by Bill.   With only around 1000 left behind Alex calls… and Bill inevitably takes out another player and I am 2nd with 500 chips left !!

Although everyone (including me) thinks it is all over, I double up on the first hand heads up….. then again as I am BB anyway.   When I double up the next hand as well, I am starting to think I might have a chance and Bill is feeling vulnerable and folds a couple of his SB… suddenly I am up to 8000 chips, then 10’000 !   We then get a hand where I have J-6 and flop comes A-5-4 then the turn comes with a 3 and crazily the 2 comes to make a straight on the deck on the river, so I decide to go all-in to represent me being desperate.  After some thought, Bill decides I have a 6 but calls anyway with nothing, so I now have 20’000 of the 25’000 chips !     The final hand is quite funny, as Bill is on the SB, looks at his cards and sighs/gesticulates as if he isn’t happy and calls.  I have got Q6s so push all in believing he has a poor hand… as it turns out Bill had something like T-4 but called anyway and I take a very unexpected victory !

To be honest I should not have won, but a mixture of patience and luck, along with Bill’s over zealousness gave me the victory (but I will take it anyway I can !)

Poker: Lucky day today !

I am working from home today, so decided to get my hair cut at lunchtime….. luckily for me the hairdresser had a lot of people waiting, so didn’t bother to get my hair cut and instead stuck my £8 into the roulette machine in the bookies :-)     Fortunately my lucky numbers got lucky for me and came out with £20   Nice result for 10 minutes work ;-) and can still get my haircut tomorrow !

Wednesday is normally my online poker night, so decided to enter a 180 seater $4 buy in SNG Hold’em tournament.   It was  a bit of a long slog, but was worth the investment, as I managed to get chips early on and then got myself up into the top 50% of the players and stayed there for the rest of the game.   When we got down to the last 18 (all of whom got paid) I was in 9th place but got some good hands and managed to win the tournament !!    This netted me $216 for a $4.40 stake, so a great return for me there as well.  I also felt I was playing well and not getting too much of either good or bad luck, so very satisfied indeed

All in all a lucky day for me today, but now worn out by all the excitement so going to have a well deserved rest and beer :-)

Poker: Satellite Semi Final playoff

Before the tournament, Mick had unfortunately had to pull out at the last minute, so ended up just the three of us playing for the final seat at the final table.

The first level saw pretty much every hand being raised by someone pre-flop so was a pretty brisk game to begin with.   On one of the early hands, my 5-x on the small blind (SB) didn't look much , but I called when Sean just called and the flop gave me two more !    I had to check but no-one bet... the turn gave me another 5 for quads!   I checked again and was pleased to see the A come on the river, especially when Darren bet out.....

Later on, my J-T looked pretty good on a A-J-x flop as Sean betting out didn't necessarily mean he had a hand :-)  I was a little nervous but called down to the river and was pleased to see Sean with J-7 and I took a nice size pot.   

With a reasonable stack I could let Darren and Sean battle it out for a few hands, but with only three players it was always going to be brisk....

A key hand came when I had K-2 suited on the BB and decided to call Sean's raise from the SB   Darren also called and I was  happy to see the 8-2-2 flop !    Sean bet out and I raised, but Darren went all-in with a total of around 2400 chips... prompting Sean to go all-in as well with 3025 in total    I was in a quandary but couldn't work out what Darren had.... I considered various holdings but had to call really.   Sean had K-K but Darren had A-2 !      Running A-A gave Darren the Full House, but at least I won the top half of the pot and Sean was out ! (in 45 min's !!)  

Unfortunately Darren had 2:1 chip lead so was a tough proposition

By the break we were roughly equal in chips, but was tricky for either of us to win a lot of chips in any one hand so was a long slog

It was inevitable that there was going to be two good hands before the chips went all-in... sure enough on a un-raised flop by J-8 looked good for a shove all-in when the flop came J high..... but Darren called... with J-4   Unluckily for me , high cards came and we split the pot !

With the blinds going up to 500/300 and my stack staying stubbornly around the 4500 mark (to Darren's 7500)  I had to start taking some risks, but a couple of bad calls and Darren getting more aggressive (probably with good hands)  saw me down to around 3500 and needing to double up.   Getting 4-4 on the button seemed like a good spot to go for it and Darren called with A-T   The flop was blank but the turn saw the T come for Darren and it was all over....

Well done to Darren for a deserved victory, commiserations to Sean who at least went out with a bang (and a good hand!)

I'll see you at the final table, but probably only as Tournament Director !

Poker : SCOOP summary

Playing in the SCOOP events was quite time consuming but was pleased I took part.,

I was particularly pleased to satellite my way into the HORSE event and the 8 game events as this made it very cheap to have a chance at winning a huge pot, which is pretty exciting prospect :-)

As it turned out, my best change of cashing was the $109 HORSE event which was also the juiciest pot to have a go at, so was a little bit of a disappointing result, but certainly enjoyed the chance and felt I gave it my best and had a chance to win

The 8 game and NL Hold'em events were also fun to play so overall am happy I spent the time playing the satellites and the games themselves, and certainly feel I got a lot of value for money

Next time I would probably play both the HORSE and 8 game events again, but not play the low stake NL Hold'em as it really is a crapshoot at the beginning.  Instead I will take the time and effort to try and satellite into the higher stakes game as the number of players is a LOT lower and presume in the main the standard of play will be higher, making it less down to luck.  The ability to use the FPP to qualify in the satellite events also makes it particularly attractive to try this

All in all, a good set of Poker events, well run by PokerStars and seemed very popular with the players.   I just need to play better and cash in next time :-)

Poker: SCOOP NL Hold'em event result

The last of the SCOOP events for me this time round is No Limit Hold'em which is the most familiar of the games, but also the one where you will generally need to get lucky somewhere along the line to do well in these huge field events....

As it turned out there was a massive 9657 player field which is  bit daunting.  You get 2500 chips to start and can have one re-buy then an add-on after one hour play.  

My basic strategy is to play really tight, then play any good hands strongly. but keep an eye on my relation to average stack as I don't want to fall too far behind the average

There is a mix of playing styles on my table, with a couple of loose players, a calling station and the rest seem pretty tight/solid

The early stages see me calling with reasonable hands and raising with great hands, but either way folding if I miss the flop.   I am not playing many hands so the chips are down to around 2200 when the calling station goes all in in early position.  It seems a bit weird move to win the blinds as they are so low.... anyone else I probably would have folded my AKo but thought it was likely I was ahead or 50-50 so called all-in.  No one else got involved and so it transpired I was up against 8-8   Luckily a K came and I doubled up so could go back into my shell and wait for the next big hand....

The calling station raised all-in a couple more times during the game, with 4-4 and 3-3 but was also raising a fair bit with any A as well as calling may of the other pots...l as he had already had his rebuy it seemed he was just an action junkie !

At the break I had 3890 chips and was 6523 out of 8026 players left (average was 5047 chips) so was a no-brainer to take the add-on.  When the session re-started I had 7390 chips against the 8001 average and had promoted myself to 4694th place with the add-on !

After the restart I got a couple of good hands and had worked my way to around 8000 chips when I got A-Qo on the button.   The calling station called but everyone else folded.   I put in a standard raise and the BB plus the calling station both called.    The flop came A-Q-2 (2 hearts) which was a great flop for me, but the BB player quickly went all in for around 6000 chips and the calling station called.   The BB all-in seemed a bit odd and I put him on a flush draw and he wanted to win the pot straight away, but the calling station was a bit trickier to read.   I thought his likeliest holding was A-2 (with his range it could even be just an A)  I did worry about trips but he had so far been all-in pre-flop with all his pocket pairs..... so I went all-in and got called.    As it turned out, the BB had the nut flush draw but the calling station had 2-2 so I was in poor shape, with 4 outs (16% chance)  The flush came for the BB on the turn which was irrelevant to me anyway, so went out in 4'694th after 90 minutes play

I was actually pretty happy with my play in this game as I had been steady and tight.  Although I was wrong in my read on the last hand, my reasoning was sound so percentage wise there was still a good chance I was going to be ahead.  Had I won the hand, I would have gone to 22'000 chips and had a good shot at making the money, so overall not to disappointed.  

Poker : SCOOP 8 game event result

I really enjoy the 8 game format so have been immensely looking forward to this SCOOP event ever since I managed to satellite through to the event

Despite there only being $25'000 guarantee there ended up being 2'178 players and a very generous payout to the top 50 players

There are only 6 players to a table, so quickly determined that the player to my right was solid/tight/aggressive, the player to my left and player opposite were complete idiots in all games except hold'em, and the other two were very tight so was difficult to get a read on them (but at least I knew they were very tight)

With the poor play of the other players, who were in most pots, I was feeling pretty comfortable and built up from the 5'000 starting stack to around 7'000 in a couple of rounds (the games were changing every 10 mins)     Then the terrible player to my left got a bit lucky in Stud and despite showing 6-4-6 actually had another 6 and 4 hidden so took me to the cleaners with his Full House as my 2 pair improved to a flush so thought I was ahead.  I was still left with around 5'300 chips at this stage so nothing much to worry about

Later on I had a great draw in the 7-2 triple draw but despite only needing one card in all three draws ended up with A high and my opponent had a K high to take a large pot !  

The Omaha pot limit crippled me as I kept getting decent starting hands but there was a lot of aggression from the poor players pre-flop so was calling them and not hitting the flop... not even a dodgy draw so had to give up the hand.   

At the break I was 1'501 out of 1'965 remaining players and 3'737 chips to the 5'541 average so not in great shape, although not bad enough to panic yet

Unfortunately for me my cards played tricks on me and kept being drawn in by good starting hands which didn't improve and was soon down to under 1000 chips with the blinds going up to 100 in the hold'em round.   Ironically my last hand was Q-5 on the BB which was un-raised so was happy to see Q-J-9 flop as I was already pot committed   My opponent had J-9 of course, so that sealed my fate and was out in 1'859th place after 85 minutes play

Not a great result and was very disappointed.  Overall there was not a lot I would have done different and felt I played the cards and the players fairly well.   The terrible player to my left had got very lucky on more than one occasion, (not just against me) which was where a lot of my chips ended up going.     I could have played tighter in the early rounds and would probably have lasted longer but in the end you have got to play your cards when you get them.

I have one more SCOOP event to play tonight, which is the No Limit  Hold'em so one more chance to cash in.  Let's hope I get more luck this time !

Poker: SCOOP HORSE event - results

Having managed to satellite through to the final for the SCOOP HORSE event (event #7) I was looking forward to taking part.

Checking the number of players of Saturday morning, I was quite surprised there were only around 400 players registered, as the $250’000 prize pool guarantee was pretty significant.   Logging on half hour before the game started, I was surprised again as the number of players had jumped up to a rather more substantial 2674 players !    This was more the number I was originally expecting, so the task ahead was no more daunting that I had originally envisaged in the end.

The first prize was a whopping $43’452 but even the first cash prize for 520th position was a very reasonable sounding $117 so settled down for what I was hoping to be a long evening of playing poker.

As you should expect me to say by now, I started off playing steady, but with a lot of aggression in the early rounds it was difficult to commit to a pot without it costing several bets on each street.   The problem with limit poker of any sort is that you can’t scare people off the pot and you tend to get a lot of callers, so the low blind levels encourage people to call you to the river with very little and they hope to get lucky and draw out on you (and often get good pot odds to try)   On the plus side, it does mean that you can be the person doing the drawing, as long as you have the chips to do it with

For the game itself, I didn’t get much luck in the early rounds so lost around 1000 chips from my 5000 starting point in the first half hour, but by the first break after an hours play, I was back to my starting stack size (average was around 5100 at this point)

The next session saw me get some good hands and got paid off by them, so got up to around 8000 chips with the average around 6000 and was happy to sit back and play tight, but with the blinds going up you can’t sit around forever, and by now committing to a hand was costing around 1000 chips to get to the river.    There are also some bigger stacks emerging on my table around the 20’000 mark and couple of them seem loose and aggressive.   I commit to a hand against one such stack in Razz, but don’t improve…but even so,  the other fellow had to hit a lucky card on the river to beat me, so took a large chunk of my chips and I was down to just below average chips again !

After what seemed an age without a hand, my chips were dwindling so committed to a flush draw on a Stud hand.   By this time, a bet on every street was enough to put me all-in by the river and I was being called down by one of the big stacks (they can afford to be loose by this time!)   Luckily for me, my flush draw became a flush on the river so doubled up and had around 9000 in chips (around the average)    A little later I had one of those “dammit” moments, when I ditched a pretty awful Omaha Hi-Lo hand pre-flop of Q-7-3-3, only to see the other two 3’s come down on the flop !   There was significant action on all rounds of betting as well, so had I made a very loose call of the pre-flop raise then I would have made a huge amount of chips….. unfortunately making those calls is a long term looser so I definitely made the right choice…. but still feels sickening when you see the perfect flop for your mucked hand :-(

The next couple of hours saw me maintain just around or slightly above average stack.  By now the standard of play seems to be getting distinctly better than in the early rounds, with much better starting hands being showed down and more selective aggressive betting, so am pleased to be able to maintain my relative position…. but then a minor disaster !    On an Omaha round, I called pre-flop with a double suited starting hand, but then got distracted by the TV so glanced up to look.   I heard the beep to indicate it was my turn, so looked down and saw I had hit a flush on the flop, so bet out and called a raise from the one other player.    I bet the turn which was blank, but then realised to my horror I had misread the flop and only had a flush draw !  With another raise from my opponent, it seemed clear I was way behind so had to fold… but had given away about a third of my chips and was well below average stack now…..  Luckily it was only a few minutes before a break so had a chance to switch to the PC with the large monitor as it seemed I was getting tired and needed the clearer screen

The blinds are now getting high and my chip stack is definitely low, certainly any raise or calling a bet on the flop is committing me to the pot.   Luckily we are on a round of Hold’em now, which I am most comfortable with so hope I can pick up a few pots.  Unluckily I am not getting any cards so have to be patient.   On the BB I get dealt 8-4 and only the SB has called.   I consider making a move and raising, but he has a huge chips stack compared to me so decide to play safe and check.  The flop is a reasonable 9-8-3 rainbow for my hand but my opponent bets out.   Being the SB he could have any two cards so decide to re-raise to see how much he likes the hand, but unfortunately he calls….. the turn is a 5 which doesn’t seem like it would improve his hand (and certainly didn’t improve mine) so we both check.  The river is another 8 !  I am very happy with that, especially as my opponent checks to me…. so bet out.  His re-raise is a bit worrying but I have only enough chips left to call so am committed…. and am gutted to see his hand of 8-6    OK, so I was always behind, but it seems very unlucky that all four of the 8’s would come out

So my final result was 784th place out of 2674 runners and played for 5 hours 55 mins.  All things considered I don’t think I did too badly, but am still pretty disappointed with my result.  Overall I believe I played pretty solidly, although did make a few mistakes which certainly effected my finishing position as I felt I was playing well enough to have a good chance to make the cash prizes.

Oh well, will try again sometime and also have another couple of big tournaments to look forward to :-)

Poker : Annual Satellite - Heat 4

The final heat was being hosted by Jon, round Derek's house !

With only four players, all of whom could reasonably be ranked as "tight", you would think it would start out a tense, tentative match... and in the main you'd be right ;-) 

The first few levels saw a lot of unraised pots and first bet taking it down.   There was some aggression though, Derek raised 150 and got two callers.   The 8-7-3 flop didn't look promising, but Jock leads with 100 bet and Derek re-raised... but all folded and Derek took a reasonable size pot down uncontested.      Then we see Jock raise to 100 and Jon re-raising to 300 , only Jock called.   The Q-T-4 sees Jon check then re-raise to 1000 when jock bets.   The 2 turn doesn't seem to help anyone, but Jock calls Jon's 1000 bet.   The 9 on the river sees Jon ship all-in but Jock folds and shows A-J, Jon shows Q-Q so Jock made the right decision, although it left him with only 2175 chips left

We get to level 4 and see Jock raise to 200 and get called by Jon.   The Q-9-5 flop also sees a bet from Jock and call from Jon and with not many chips left the K turn sees a bet and call, then 8 on river which follow see Jock all-in and Jon calling.   Both have two pair, but Jon was lucky enough to have the higher two pair which he hit on the river !     

We are now down to three players and are on the first break.    Jon has 7800 chips, Darren 4800 and 3400 to Derek

The next couple of levels are cautious with lots of limping and folding to a bet.    There are some hands where it all suddenly starts to happen, for example at level 6 all limp to see T-4-2 flop.    All check then an 8 comes on the turn, at which point  Jon bets but all call.   The 2 of clubs on the river makes a flush possible but the 700 bet from Darren gets a call from Derek.   Darren has A-3 clubs for the flush against Derek's tip 2's !    Derek is down to 700 chips

Couple of hands later see's Jon raised to 700 with Derek on the blind, so has to call with Q-9  but Jon has K-9 and takes Derek out.

We are now heads up and Jon has 9300 to Darren's 6700 chips

The chips go back and forth with more raises pre-flop but more caution on the flop.     In an unraised pot, both check the 5-5-2 flop and the 2 on the turn   The 7 on the river sees Darren bet 1000 into the 2000 pot but Jon calls... Both have an A so the pot is split !

Level 7 sees a lot of caution and not much in the way of big pots, but Jon is being whittled down.  He goes all-in pre-flop with K-QQs and gets called by Q-3o so takes the 9000 pot and we're nearly all square again !

at the break before the last level, the chips stacks are 8000 each so can't be more evenly matched !

It quietens down for a few hands, but this time Darren is being whittled down.   Then Darren goes all-in with A-2 and gets called with Jon's K-J   The A holds up and Darren is dead even again at 8000 each

The next hand goes to Jon, then Darren gets all-in with 6000  Jon thinks, then calls with his J-8s and is doubtless happy to see Darren with T-6o   Unluckily Darren hit's and takes the pot leaving Jon 4000 chips

Then Jon is all-in with A-5 against Q-8 and without improvement this time, Jon immediately gets back to 8000

It was never going to last long, but  it was 15 minutes into the last round before we saw a final decisive battle.    Jon went all-in with A-K and got called by K-J  leaving Darren needing a bad beat, but the luck wasn't with him and Jon took the victory.

From a slow start, the game certainly built up to a fascinating and exciting finale, so well worth watching.   Roll on the Semifinals

Poker : Home Tournament - April 2009

I have really been looking forward to the Poker this month and was in suitably determined mood to make amends for my disastrous outing last month !  I had a feeling in my bones that I would do well so was feeling calm, relaxed and ready to play

A good omen was that there were no "wild" players on my table so was looking to play good solid poker.   Of course it didn't quite work out like that and found I was buying in three times in quick succession (still in the first level), but then my luck did change and managed to win some good pots to get a reasonable stack size.  There was a fair bit of action on our table, but the "wild bunch" on the other table were whooping and hollering and buying in a huge number of times.... Bill seemed to have a mountain of purple chips by end of the first level !!

I am struggling to remember the details now (as ever!) but do remember the last 10 minutes before the break saw a lot of action with Mick and/or Simon being all-in a fair few times to try and build up their stacks

At the break I was around 4500 chips with Karen being the chip leader on our table

With the break over the serious business starts and is no surprise that the "wild" table sees the first three knock outs.    On our table, Jon finds himself short stacked but has a couple of good double ups to build a good stack... only to get in with J-J against Darren's A-3s pre-flop and then saw the A come as the first card on the flop !   Darren improved to flush but had the pot wrapped up and left Jon very low again.  This time he couldn't recover and got taken out by Simon.  Within a couple of hands another three players got busted in quick succession and we have a final table already !

As I got seated at the final table, I was just telling myself I had to play solid, take my time, keep the pots small and don't take any risks... but the first hand I got pocket tens, so immediately raised the pot despite myself !!   Luckily everyone folded and I could tell myself off (again!) and settle down into the game

Lee has maintained his 100% record since starting but is taken on, and taken out as it turned out, by Alex who has a HUGE pile of chips .  

With blinds at 1000-500,  Karen who is now short stacked calls as does Darren but all else fold to me on the SB.  My 9-6s doesn't look pretty but am getting in cheaply so also call.    The flop is 9-5-5 rainbow so a good flop for me, but being out of position decided to check.   Bill checks but Karen goes all in for 2800 chips... Darren folds and I have to think as I have exactly 2800 chips left myself !     With Karen's range being quite tight, I decide to fold as I get the button next hand but was a close decision.   Bill calls and as it turns out, Karen had A-Q and takes a large pot with A high and is also now the chip leader.  I was a bit despondent, but still felt I made the right decision...

With the blinds going up to 2000 and me down to 2300, I have to wait for a good hand and hope it holds up in what would inevitably be a multi-way pot.   As luck would have it, I am dealt A-Qs in late position so still my chips in and get 3 other callers.    With a Q coming and no-one else having much, I have suddenly got 9200 chips !    Couple of hands later I get dealt K-K and re-raised Simon's all-in raise to get heads up with him.   Luckily my kings hold out and I knock out Simon and take my stack up to around 12'000.  This makes me 2nd chip leader to Alex, just at the right time as we have only about 5 minutes left to play

Bill is short stacked but doesn't get lucky against Alex "the destroyer" who takes out another player.   Darren puts up a solid defence and had several battles with Alex who was putting his huge pile of chips to work... but in the end got taken out by Karen in the last hand of regular time

With three hands left to play, Alex is significant chip lead with around 20'000 then Karen and myself are roughly level at around 12'500 each

My BB gets attacked by Alex's all-in so have to let it go, but Alex folds the button on the next hand and I decide to make a raise into Karen.  After a long think and advice from Sean ! she decides to go all-in, which I have to call.    My Q-8 isn't looking great against Karen's K-3 but the 8 on the flop seals our fates, giving me over half the chips and Karen has around 500 left   

The last hand is immaterial as I can take 1st place if I fold, which I duly do... but Alex takes out Karen to get an extra point to add to his assured 2nd place

It was very well played by all and certainly was a lot of exciting action going on....  can't wait until next time :-)