General: Cruise holiday round the med (week2)

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


• Saturday 26th May (Civitavecchia, Italy)

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

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

• Sunday 27th May (Sardinia)

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

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

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

• Monday 28th May (at sea)

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

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

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

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

• Tuesday 29th May (Cadiz, Spain)

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

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

• Wednesday 30th May (Lisbon, Portugal)

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

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

• Thursday 31st May (Vigo, Spain)

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

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

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

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

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

• Friday 1st June (at sea)

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

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

• Saturday 2nd June (going home)

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

• Final thoughts

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

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

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

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

Poker: Annual Satellite - Final table

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Poker: Casino trip for £200 Holdem NL freezeout

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Poker: Home Tournament - May 2007

There are "only" 12 of us playing tonight... seems hard to remember back to when we played with 5 or 6 players in total now !

I had Bill and Simon W on my table so decided to keep my game tight and solid...... calling with medium hands and raising with good hands. Bills game was his normal aggressive style and was the table banker in the first few hands (buying in 4 times in the first 6 hands!) My first move came when I raised with A9d and got two callers. Flop was bad for me, but bet out around 3/4 of the pot and only Bill called. We checked it down to the end and my A high was beaten by Bills pair 4's (or similar) Despite my early feeling of optimism it looked like being one of "those" nights.....

A couple of hands later I got pocket 8's so played in the same way.. ie raised pre-flop (got two callers - including Bill again!) and when checked to me I bet out, despite there being an A on the flop. This time both players folded and took one of the few uncontested pots of the night !

Mick had a great hand when he got pocket 9s and ended up all in on the flop. Two other players battled it out on the turn and river, but Mick had made quad 9's so tripled up !

There were loads of high hands coming out in the first half hour.... we saw straights, several full houses and flushes abound..... Simon hit quad 5's as well... all we didn't see was the Straight Flush tonight. Having said that, we still saw hands where pair of 3's took a pot :-)

My best luck came when I had J9 and flopped the straight. Bill went 200 and Mick called all-in. I flat called hoping Darren would also come in but he made an inspired fold. Bill and I checked the turn but Bill didn't bet the river either. Having around 500 chips left and the pot being around 600 decided to bet 200 as I didn't think Bill would call an all-in. As luck would have it he did call the 200 and I took a great pot which set me up for the night.

My hands didn't hold up after that and my chips dribbled away. I did make a couple of good folds where I felt like being more aggressive, so think I played very disciplined and on form game. At the break I took the add-on and had around 1400 in chips. I think most people had around the same except Simon who had around 3000 and Bill around the same

After the restart Simon W got busted out by Bill on the first hand of the restart which was not unusual, but Simon W had played what seemed to me like a solid game this month, rather than a more loose aggressive style he often seems to play..... but then it was against Bill :-)

I got dealt QQ under the gun, so made my standard raise which prompted Darren to go all-in. Everyone else folded so Darren showed his A-7 suited. The flop gave a flush possibility to Darren, but the A came on the river, leaving me with around 450 chips and on the 200 Big Blind. The poker gods were smiling at me and gave me KK ! Simon and Mick called the blind and I went all-in. Only Simon called and showed A-9, and yes the A came to take me out in a "how did that happen" 11th place. I really felt like I was playing well tonight and two cruel blows had conspired to take me out implausibly early.

Life goes on and so did the game.... there was a lull in the action until Andy and Andy W got taken out and so we were down to the final 8 players

Simon was quickly out in 8th, then Roger seemed to hit a purple patch and took out two players in one hand and had a huge chip lead. He was also very conscious about tournament strategy and was very determined to finish in the money! So much so he busted out Steve not long after as well !!

The last four were very cagey and the blinds were starting to hurt..... it was a tense last round with the chips passing around but everyone lasted to the final hand.

Darren had least chips and was all-in on the blind anyway... Bill put Jon all-in who called. Roger was guaranteed 2nd place anyway so folded. Unfortunately for Roger, Bill had the best hand which held up and Bill took the win. Jon got the third place, which made a change from 2nd :-)

Another great night of poker for all, with many highs and lows...... we'll all be back to play some more so see you then

Poker: Annual Satellite - Semi Final playoff

There is only one prize in this game, so was very tentative and tense overall. As the blinds went up the action got a little more exciting but in the main the chips were moving around the table and no-one was taking any big lunges at the pot.

After the break the chips seemed to be dribbling more towards Jon than anyone else, especially when Lynn fell foul of Jon having a better hand and Lynn felt she had to go as her chips were shrinking.

A similar trend continued and soon JOn had 3/4 of the total chips, with Darren and Steve both very low. Darren managed to take out Steve but was still way behind in chips.

An epic battle ensued but it all changed in one hand with Darren sucking Jon into doubling him up and Darren was suddenly chips leader. There was only one hand after the second break, with Darren taking Jon out and earnt his place in the final !

It was an entertaining game, very tense but then the sudden explosion at the end..... Jon seemed shell shocked but another second place in the game afterwards revived some of his spirits but also was depressing as it was another 2nd place rather than 1st ! (I wish my problem in Poker was always finishing 2nd.... I always seem to finish 8th ! :-) )

Results in Statsgenie as always

The final is soon upon us..... see you there

Gambling: More "free" money from Betfair

I am feeling pretty pleased right now as I decided to take another "free" £5 from Betfair. This time I had to place a £5 bet on any horse race in the next week to be credited with the "free" £5. In a similar fashion to my last "free" bet (http://sceaga.blogspot.com/2007/02/gambling-betfair-free-bet-finally-pays.html) I have to deposit £10, but it always seems a no brainer for me, as I get a free shot at winning some money.... or maybe I am just a sucker for Betfairs marketing ploy!

Looking at the horse races, I found a race with only 6 runners and two clear favorites. Checking Sporting Life's predicted odds for the race, one horse in particular stood out as 5/4 favorite (2.25 in decimal odds) but on Betfair it was currently showing as 3.3, with the other horse at 2.8, so stuck my £5 on that one. Checking the race results after the race, my horse was 4th and had not improved very much on the odds either ! (the horse at 2.8 odds won) Just shows how much faith to put into the predicted odds I guess

I was not too despondent as I had a shot and still have my £10.... but wait, I have got £15 in my account.... not sure why but Betfair have credited me £10.... must be my early birthday present, so decided to use it :-)

My previous experience (http://sceaga.blogspot.com/2006/06/gambling-how-to-go-bankrupt-with.html) has shown me to only gamble on what I know..... I was thinking about using my Greyhound "system" again, but that had lost my money last time... betting on Horses I do enjoy but takes a long time to prepare (to do it properly) .... it is the end of season matches now, so Football started to draw my thoughts (despite my terrible record on football bets!).... but in the end was curious enough to look at the Zero Roulette in Betfairs casino. Basically it is online roulette but without the zero on the wheel.... seems a good investment as I know about roulette :-)

I am a little uncertain how Betfair make any money with these "Zero" games, but decided to transfer in my funds anyway and have a go. The one drawback I found was the minimum bets were quite steep (for a limited bankroll like mine) but ended up staking £10 on the first spin and collecting £15, and managed to repeat this trick on the 2nd spin as well.

As I believe discretion is the better part of valour (and also believing my luck will not hold out much longer!) , decided to withdrawn my entire £25 and so ended up with £15 profit on the deal :-)

Overall I think the "free" bet is a great idea and am definitely a sucker for it, but it has been kind to me overall and have managed to luck into turning a profit most times (I would previously have dropped the whole lot on stupid bets afterwards ) This time round I think I was quite sensible about what I did with my balance (although some may argue that withdrawing my £10 would been an even better idea rather than playing roulette !) so will be pleased for Betfair to give me another opportunity for "free" money in the future :-)

Travel: Business trip to Cairo

Sunday 15th April
All went to plan getting to the airport and arrived at checkin 2 hours before the flight as expected. Had a slight concern when the Egyptian clerk didn't seem able to check me in. After frantically pressing lots of buttons, muttering to himself, he called the supervisor over who pushed a couple of buttons and printed out my boarding card.... phew panic over !

The flight was good and was only 10 minutes late taking off. I was nervous about the arrival process but once in the Air they issues the entry card and customs card to fill out. My Marriott "meet and greet" was immediately visible in the arrivals hall once I stepped off the bus and proceeded to very quickly and efficiently buy my entry visa, get the passport stamped and through to the baggage collection. The bags from my flight were already on the belt but had to wait ages for my bag but it did come eventually. He then escorted me to the Mercedes taxi which took me to the hotel.

The first taste of Cairo driving was very interesting. It was very reminiscent of my racing days and the white lines in the road seem to be used only as a suggestion. Despite there being only three lanes, as there was physically enough room for 4 cars... the Egyptians will be very efficient and create 4 lanes of traffic ! All you have to do is took the horn as you whiz by slower traffic and it seems to ensure everyone avoids each other. You can overtake on any part of the road and dodging in and out of the lanes is essential for best progress. All this at around 120 kph (80 mph)
What I saw of the hotel was very nice, but went straight to the room to unpack and sleep.

Monday 16th
The team manager (Sharif) picked me up from the hotel in his new BMW 320i The state of the majority of the cars and driving style would have discouraged me from owning a nice car, but he was certainly a capable driver and enjoyed his driving.
The offices were on a newly built industrial estate and had shopping mall nearby were we went for lunch. The normal American chains for eating and drinking were there, alongside the Egyptian local brands.

The class started OK and first days training was on schedule. In the evening Shariff drove me back and insisted to take me to dinner. The restaurant was "oriental" which in Egypt means Egytian food. He ordered a variety of appetisers to give me a chance to sample many different flavours. Some were nice and some were not to my taste, but was well prepared and nice ambiance to the restaurant. Didn't feel very hungry and was quite tired after the day so was probably not very good company and didn't eat much.

Tuesday 17th
Went outside the hotel to meet the taxi driver. The cars can only stop to let people in and out the cars briefly, so wasn't sure how it would work so went down 5 minutes early. Then saw the taxi driver walking around with my name on a card... apparently he thought we were to meet at 8am, but wasn't a problem.

In the office things started to unravel as some of the copying (estimated at 4 hours) had failed overnight. Switched the course around so started to talk about day 3 topics, then the power went for a few seconds and they had to restart the copying again ! Went out for another lunch "hour" (more like 2!) and struggled through the day but ended up getting some stuff done so had a chance to catch up tomorrow. Weatherwise there was a sandstorm, which apparently only happens two or three times a year, so there was some debate about where to go for lunch. We ended up in the local mall again as it was indoors.

The Egyptians seemed to expect to be taking me out each evening so seemed surprised when I said I would not go out tonight. I hope this was not taken as a huge insult ! but really wanted a relaxing evening and early night.

At the hotel I nearly didn't bother to even leave my room, but did decide to go downstairs to eat. Had a nice BBQ chicken meal in the American Diner restaurant in the hotel. It didn't come with anything, so was just Chicken but actually was enough for me as still not feeling hungry. Being quite early decided to go to the Casino in the Hotel. Ended up spending 100 USD on the Stud Poker (didn't get any good luck when I needed it rater than bad play) but had an enjoyable and relaxing hour.

Back in the room I utilised the in-room broadband to have an even more enjoyable and relaxing couple of games of Poker (and only lost 4 USD) :-)

Wednesday 18th
Managed to progress on the class during the day and went to lunch in the mall again. The Egyptians often have lunch at their desks, but seem to really enjoy the times they go out !

In the evening three of the lads on the course took me out into Egypt downtown. The plan was to meet at 7pm have a tour around and then eat at 8pm, unfortunately the traffic was worse than normal, probably due to everyone staying indoors the day before due to the sandstorm... It took an hour to get to the spot where we were meeting, and Ahmed was another hour later... so in the meantime we toured around some of the ancient mosques and shopping streets. It was interesting to see although it started to rain slightly. By the time we had finished the rain was more persistent so was getting soaked through, but luckily we could get back to the car to go to the restaurant. We went to a park, which is quite high so got some beautiful views of the city in lights. We first we to the restaurant by the lake, but this restaurant was open air and as it was still raining we went to another restaurant. I tried the Veal Kebab which was very nice. In the end we ate at 10pm but was back in my room by midnight

Thursday 19th
Despite warnings from my colleagues that the rain may mess up the roads (it only rains 3-4 times a year) the taxi picked me up at 8am and was in the office by 8:25am which was earlier than normal.... this in spite of the taxi having an accident just after leaving the hotel.... someone went into the back of us when we had stopped for traffic, I thought it would take ages to sort out, with lots of talking and police involved, but in the end it was a quick conflab then we went on our way. I was also taking photos during the journey and the Taxi driver kindly (but unnecessarily!) pulled over for me to take photos on the equivalent to their motorway. I took a couple of quick photos and thanked him, but didn't feel like taking any more photos in case he stopped again!

The day was bright and sunny so lunch was taken outside one of the cafes in the Mall. Apparnetly the weather is normally too hot to sit outside so was unusual to be able to take in the air this time of year.

In the evening we met up at a French/Italian restaurant owned by one of Sharif;s friends. I was also presented with some gifts from the colleagues I was training and from Sharif himself to thank me for going there and training them. It was most unexpected and generous of them, especially after all the time and trouble they had gone to ensure my stay was enjoyable and entertaining. The food was very nice and even managed some of the desert this time.
Sharif also took me to a local bar for a drink (not all restaurants serve alcohol) which was heaving, as it was the end of the week for most people. Got back at midnight again, but was already packed and ready to go.

Friday 20th
Woke up too early but dozed until the alarm went off. Was a bit nervous about facing the chaos of Eyptian Airports, but was heartened when my taxi turned up just as I walked out of the hotel (10 minutes early). The hotel concierge had suggested it would take 1 hour to get to the airport but the night before Sheriff said it would take 20 minutes. To my astonishment there was NO traffic at all and the streets were clear of people and cars - it was like a ghost town !! Sure enough ended up taking 20 mins so arrived at 8:40am There was a small shock when the taxi driver demanded 100 EGP to pay for the ticket to the terminal but luckily had Egyptian currency to hand.

Walking into the terminal building I faced the chaos. Correctly as it turned out, I assumed you had to take yourself and your luggage through a huge rugby scrum to get through one of the four gates the authorities had provided. You also had to put your luggage through the X-ray and show your passport and ticket to the single guard at each gate. Luckily (again!) they opened up gate 5 as I was queuing at gate 4 so got right to the front of the queue. Even so, it took me about 20 minutes to get to the queue for checking. Checkin was very quick and efficient once I had worked my way to the front. There were lots of desks (all flights from any desk) so it was puzzling why it took so long to process the people in front of me as it took about 30 minutes to process 8 or 9 people for my turn. The counter clerk had given me my "non Egyptian exit card" but I still had to fill in name and passport details, which I noticed caught out some people at the passport desk (the next queue) Again there were only about 10 people in front of me but still took about 20 minutes to get to the front of the queue... and again it took a very short time for the guard to look at my passport and stamp it. All in all it took just over an hour to traverse the chaos and enter the tranquility of the Duty Free zone. It takes about 15 minutes to walk all around the area. It has many good facilities for eating and drinking, not many shops but 2 WiFi zones ! This area seems very quiet and relaxed, with not many people around, so wonder where everyone has gone !

Just when you think nothing else can go wrong, there was one more surprise from Egytpair before I left. The gate for the flight was 2 on my ticket, but checking the main board it said gate 7. I checked with the desk and they said it was gate 2, so went along there. The gate said the flight was going to Paris, so went to gate 7 which said Heathrow so queued up there with some other Brits. We then got told it was Gate 2 after all, even though it said Paris... it wasn't until we got onto the Plane itself that I was really confident about where I would be landing.

Overall the experiance was very interesting and enjoyable. Cairo has many facets to explore and much to see. It would have been nice to have been there on holiday but having the local lads to show me around for the few hours available was definately a huge advantage. I would certainly be happy to go back there again if circumstances dictated, especially now have had the experiance of how to get through Cairo airport.

Music: Converting vinyl album collection to CD / Digital

I was on the cusp of ordering the Ion USB Record Deck (http://www.ion-audio.com/index.php) when I came read a review criticizing it for it's price, when an alternative is to simply plug in your existing Record Deck to your PC. I guess this wouldn't appeal to most people (and didn't originally appeal to me) but having unexpectedly bought my new Dell PC with Vista and Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic card (http://www.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=1&product=14066&subcategory=208), combined with the fact that I was trying to get rid of my old HiFi..... suddenly it dawned on me that I probably had everything I needed already. The only inconvenience is the size of the Amp and Record Deck, but then the USB record deck is not going to be small.... so I set out on my mission

I found some step-by-step instructions this URL (http://www.br0wn.co.uk/vinyltocd.htm) Ironically I knew I had the converter for Phono to 3.5mm jack, but couldn't find it.. so bought one from Maplin for a couple of quid (http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?ModuleNo=34196&doy=11m4)

I connected up my record deck to the Amp and then the Amp Tape out sockets to the 3.5 jack on my Creative Soundblaster Xtreme card (see photo above) I also ensured I had selected Phono as the recording output and I think that is it.....although of course the phono cable wasn't long enough so had the Amp and record deck on the floor, but ordered another cable from Maplin !! (http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?ModuleNo=31700&doy=11m4)

Having got the hardware sorted out, I downloaded some software as per the step-by-step guide.... but then suddenly thought I probably had some creative software already installed.... so a quick search discovered the software (see screen shot above) so just had to figure out how to set it up.

Used the THX Setup Console to switch to Audio Creation Mode mode and got the groovy looking screen when I launched the Console Launcher. I then started playing the record and heard my Album through the PC speakers !! Wow that was easier than I thought !

So now to record an album to PC I need to do the following:-

- Launch Creative Console Launcher

- Make sure I remembered to switch on the Amp

- Cue the record to start playing

- In the Console, set the Monitor to "Record" (to make sure I am in the right view)

- Hit the REC button in the Console as I lower the needle to the record

Once captured... I want to dump the output to CD, for which I simply use the Roxio Easy Creator Suite also included with Vista. I can edit the WMA files with WaveStudio (also included :-) ) if I want to... I did first time in order to split up the tracks, but not sure I am that fussed really.... will see how that goes

All in all, Windows Vista and Creative combined have made the task actually quite easy (in my view) !

For my birthday I am getting a Creative MP3 player and Belkin Wireless transmitter so I can listen to more music in the car.... really getting into this technology lark now :-)

Poker: Home Tournament - April 2007

I always look forward to the monthly game, but this month had the added bonus that Simon was driving and there is no work tommorow! Maybe this new strategy (of drinking more) will work for me :-)

The first hand I got KhTd and four saw the flop which was all hearts with the Ah. With the nut flush draw I put in a bet, with Bill calling but Jon re-raising all-in. I felt committed to the pot and had it been anything but the nut draw would probably have folded..... unfortunately Bill had already made his flush and called, Jon showing 2 pair. No-one improved so Bill took a good sized pot.

Second hand gave me AJ o/s so put in a raise. Steven called but Jon went all in again! Felt that I had a good chance and the pot was giving good odds, so called and Steve also called. Jon showed pocket J and Steve had AQ, no-one improved so Jon took a good size pot !

That set the tone of my night, with my good cards getting turned over (Jon's 55 stuffing my QQ), not connecting with any draws and wild stabs at the pot getting called....I did win one good sized pot which gave me some hope but never really got going.

After rebuys stopped it was only a short time before Alex took out three players in one hand! Jon moved tables to balance them up, but a couple of hands later Roger went out giving us our final table.... I had managed to make the final table !! albeit with only around 1300 in chips.

Alex had a massive chips lead with Jon and Simon W also having decent stacks, but actually the rest of us all had low stacks (mostly below 2000) I had drawn the button so had a few hands to wait for an all-in, but Steve on the big blind had to make a move which didn't pay off, so he went first but got a point... Derek followed suit soon after as the blinds went round... and finally it was my Big Blind. Unfortunately my 6-3 o/s couldn't stand a raise so had to fold and the blinds went up giving me a 500 small blind so was priced in when Jon called the BB. After the flop Jon put Bill all-in who duly called. Jon took the pot and took both of us out.

Of the 4 remaining players, Alex had increased his stack with Jon also a good sized stack, so it was no surprise when we were down to these two heads up. My offer to deal was probably immediately regretted by Jon as they ended up all-in and Alex hit his card to take a quick win

Actually we finished uncommonly early so the remaining 6 of us had a cash game for about an hour..... which was as wild and wacky as the main tournament but great fun

So another fantastic night of poker, little bit more expensive for me than normal, but definitely spent more on beer than the Poker :-)

Roll on next time

Computers: New Dell running Vista!

I am very excited right now ! I have more or less got my new Dell PC running!

It has 300 GB disk, 4 GB ram and is runnign Vista Home Premium. I went for the 24" widescreen screen and indulged myself with the Soundblaster Xtreame sound and wireless mouse. It flies and is really fantastic !

The "gadgets" feature in Vista is really cool, but otherwise is more or less a new skin for XP (so far as I can tell right now anyway) Google earth satallite images look fantastic as well, so far really glad I bought it

I took the picture of my desk just to test how easy it is to upload pictures.... but I think it looks good too !

I installed and played game of Poker on Poker Stars just now.... hasnt improved my network connection as it dropped just as I was putting a raise in with A4 on a TT4 flop.... after NTL (sorry, I mean Virgin!) dropped the line, I got connection just in time to see another 4 on the turn (after my hand was folded) so would have won a sizeable pot with my full house..... in the end my AK suited lost out to A6 suited when a 6 came on the flop, so my luck hasnt improved either....

Oh well, never mind.... the graphics look fantastic even when you loose

Poker: Annual Satellite 2007 : Heat 4

There were only 4 of the White clan playing but still proved to be an entertaining and thrilling match.

After a tense start the brothers starting winding each other up, with Jon being a particular target by Ant. Ant had Jon wobbling a little bit with baits about Kings, which you probably had to be there to understand, but in the end Ant was the first out. Simon was low on chips and went all in with Darren. Despite being well behind, Simon hit his 4 outer on the river to double up and put him into a strong position.

A weakened Darren struggled to make progress and was next out.

There was then a battle of the titans, with chips moving back and forward between Jon and Simon. The chip stacks were pretty even and each was winning and loosing hands.

It took a monster hand for both to end the match.... Jon hit his K flush on the river after Simon had been betting (relatively) small amounts each round. Simon had flopped a Full House so Jon was always beaten, but had both played well to get to their relevant next round matches.

All to play for in the second place playoffs and the Final table is beckoning !

Cars: Brooklands Mini Day and Mercedes World

Despite loosing an hours sleep (clock changed :-) ) we managed to get out of bed and go to Brooklands for the Mini day. It was a lovely bright day, albeit a bit chilly in the wind.

We hadn't been to Brooklands for some time so it was interesting to see the new layout and entrance. You now loop round Mercedes World to get to the new Brooklands entrance, which is all now very smart looking. They haven't solved the car parking problems though, as the car park was very nearly full when we got there !

Going through to Brooklands itself we immediately came across loads of Mini's. There were old ones, new ones, modified ones, vans ,travellers, shortened ones.... seemed like there was the entire Mini population of Southern England there !

Soon after we arrived we could hear the sound of revving tuned engines, it was time for the hill climb.... so we went to see them roar up the hill (although some cars seemed to only just be able to make the climb !) We wandered up the hill and stood on the bridge to see the cars coming back down the other side and saw the old car parks full to the brim with even more Mini's... certainly was a popular day for enthusiasts

Eventually we had walked around all the Mini's and seen them climb the hill, so decided to go to Mercedes World to see what was going on there. http://www2.mercedes-benz.co.uk/content/unitedkingdom/mpc/mpc_unitedkingdom_website/en/home_mpc/MB_World_Brooklands.html It is a short distance from Brooklands itself, so made the short walk around and you can also see additional parts of the old race circuit as you walk around which was quite interesting.

Mercedes World is open 7 days a week from 10am- 6pm and looked very smart. The first car I saw as we approached the entrance was a Mercedes McLaren, which looks really smart close up (better than the pictures) Walking in you are greeted by hostesses who are happy to chat about the facilities and we were recommended to start at the top and work our way down, which we did.

The view of the track outside from the top was spectacular, especially as there are AMG Mercedes roaring around and also other cars skating around the wet ring, so was fascinating to stand and look out. The entire place was a huge showroom, with dozens of new Mercedes of all types, shapes and colours available to look at and sit in. Only the Mercedes McLaren and Maybachs are out of bounds (you can look but not touch!) All other vehicles including £100 k S classes and AMG SLKs are available for you to hop into and mess round with.

If you enjoy looking round new car showrooms then you will definitely enjoy Mercedes World, especially as you don't get hassled by any sales staff (they are there if you really want to talk to them) In addition to the new cars, there are some classic and race cars to see, although you can't sit in those.

I did briefly think about having 15 mins on track in a AMG SLK for £25, but decided not too this time, but looked (and sounded) great fun, so maybe something for another day.

All things considering (especially the free admission!) it was well worth visiting and very interesting. I guess we spent around an hour wandering round, but would probably equally enjoy another visit in future

Poker: Annual Satellite : Heat 3

Heat 3 was a riotous affair, starting with Mick's Daughter who was very pleased to see everyone and wouldn't settle to go to sleep (she is only 7 months old!) Eventually she retired home to bed and the real riot started....

Unfortunately Mick departed soon after his daughter, although loosing a few pots to an aggressive Bill, it was acually Lynn who finally took him out

It was all fairly even after that for some time until Derek put in a large bet into a raggidy looking flop. Roger said he had two pair but was convinced Derek had hit his straight.... but still called the sizeable bet. Dereks even larger bet took the pot uncontested and he showed his pocket 3's, pretty much a stone cold bluff ! This gave Derek a fair lead in chips, but was still anyones game.

Lynn found herself up against her husband again (oooerrr missus) but this time Bill had been agressive once too often as Lynn's ATs had already hit an A on the flop so she took Bill out of the running

It was Lynn all the way again, this time with Andy, who had not seen a hand all night, but Lynns AQ had hit two pair to take Andy's one pair with Straight draw out

At this stage Lynn was chip leader, Derek was second and Roger had around 1000 chips left.

Being short staked with large blinds, Roger was soon all in against Derek but Dereks dodgy hand was better than Rogers, and we were heads up already

The heads up match didn't last long, in the end Lynns cautious play drained her chips quite quickly, in the end Lynns pocket tens got taken by Dereks A3 when an A fell on the board.

Very entertaining game to watch with lots of action going on, and the participants seemed to enjoy themselves also....

One more heat to go then we get to the really exciting stuff !

Poker: Home Tourney : March 2007

This month is the first time playing the new rules No Limit, No Rebuy so have been looking forward to this for a long time.

Arrived at the club in plenty of time, luckily as it turned out because as I turned on the lights in the room, they all went out !! They couldn't work out which fuse had tripped, so offered us the committee room instead (upstairs) which provided a good environment to play in, albeit a long way from the bar and toilet. We were also short of the White clan... so was a bit puzzled by their no show and had to keep running downstairs to check they hadn't turned up and not seen the note I left on the door. This wasn't the nice relaxing, focused start I had hoped for.....

When we did start I really had a fantastic few hands.... got dealt KK first hand and two people called my raise. The flop wasn't scarey so bet out and got one caller.... the turn wasn't an A so bet out again and took the pot. Next hand was A9 so saw the flop, although it was no good for me so folded, then the next hand got AA. Luckily Derek went with me to the river so I got paid off and was around 8000 chips (from the 4000 starting point) Settled down after that as the cards dried up. By now Martin had dropped to 2000 chips and was calling Dereks bets to the river. Derek put Martin all-in who called showing a pair, but Derek had trips so took Martin out after less than 20 mins play!

Unbelieveably I got dealt pocket A again soon after and bet sizeable chunk each round. Derek called all the way so thought he must have a pocket pair also. Unfortunately for me, his pocket Q hit a Q on the river and busted my A's putting me back down to around 4000 chips.

Bill looked to be in trouble when he went all-in to Darren. I had already folded my flush draw by then (which hit on the river) but Bill's full house got turned over by Darren's quad 4's ! Bill was left with around 500 chips, but after a couple of double ups (once against me!) he was right back in it.

After that I got some good draws which didn't hit and a couple of moves which didn't go anywhere and found myself struggling. Managed to double up once but by then it was too little too late, and was next out when my A-9 all-in raise got called by Derek and Bill with Derek's pair 4's ending up the winner.

Sean was busted out on the other table straight after me so we were already down to the last 8 players. As this allowed us to open up a cash game I didn't see much more of the main table action, but seemed like there was lots of action going on..

For me a bit disappointing result, but still thoroughly enjoyable.... roll on next month

Poker: Annual Satellite 2007 : Heat 1

I held the first Heat of the "Annual Satellite Invitation Cup" yesterday evening.

Martin turned up with his friend Dave instead of Sally, but they bought beer with them so was no problem :-)

My game plan was to play extra tight in the first hour, try to keep the pots small and see how things progressed. On the first hand I got dealt poker Q's and Darren acting ahead of me raised a small amount. Following my strategy I didn't re-raise and one other called (Lynn I think). The flop came K-x-x and Darren led out with a small bet. Not liking the King I decided to fold, and Darren took the pot uncontested, showing A-J. I was a little shocked Darren led out with a bet with nothing, but maybe that was the shape of things to come.

As it turned out the whole game was very tight and conservative, with little in the way of raising and mainly small raises. The early chips went to the two girls, both picking up some good pots. I gained a few chips here and there, bobbling along just above starting chips levels.

By the first break, Dave and Martin were the lower stacks, but still about half starting levels... Darren was the chip lead, with Viki and myself around starting chip levels

In the next session I found myself with KQ suited and up against Darren who had called my pre-flop raise. I missed the flop but it was high, giving me draws. Darren checked and I bet the pot. After thinking for a while he noted he thought he was ahead but folded, showing pocket 4's (he was right :-) ) A little later, I had pocket 8's and raised preflop and only Darren called. The flop was all lower than 8's so was happy enough to put in a reasonable bet, but Darren called. The turn came J and Darren went all-in. I had about 2200 chips left and it was 2000 to call. After thinking for a while decided I was probably ahead but not certain enough to call so folded and showed my hand..... I think he got me back for earlier as he just smiled... :-)

Incredibly it took until round 7 to lose a player. Martin went all in with a flop of A-Q-x with 6-5 suited. Lynn showed A-T which easily held up to take out Martin. At this stage, Lynn and Darren both had over 6000 chips, Viki was probably around 5000, I had around 2000 and Dave around 1000

Luckily for me the game was still playing tight, as I was on big blind with QT and saw a cheap flop. Wasn't happy to see A-T-x but everyone checked, and was more than happy to see a K fall to give me the nut straight (no flush) Unfortunately everyone checked again so had to bet the river, putting in a pot sized bet (1000) Lynn called me but my straight was good enough. This gave me some breathing space but still had to get more chips. Lynn and I were soon at it again, this time both showing A-T and split the pot (winning half the blinds each)

I then got into a pot with Viki and Dave when I was holding QQ. I was Big Blind again, Viki called, Dave went all-in (for not much more) and I went all-in. Viki decided to call and showed A-? Dave had 99. Luckily no A or 9 came and I took two out at once and got myself a good pile of chips.

Soon after, I was holding 5-3 and hit another straight on the river (after checking all the way down) and again Lynn paid me off when I bet.... so this put me well in contention with Darren, but then Darren took out Lynn leaving us heads up.

Darren had around 16000 to my 8000 and the blinds were just up to 2000/1000 so knew I had to be selective but aggresive to take the win.

The first couple of hands were a bit cagey, Darren folded without completing the small blind, I folded to a raise, Darren folded to a raise.... then Darren called my pre-flop raise and came out betting, so I folded.... then I got dealt 6-2 on the button and decided to take the blind... unfortunately Darren called and the flop came J-8-8. Darren bet 2000 so I looked at my hand as if I needed to make a decision before folding and lucky I did, because I actually had 8-2 !! (had misread my hand before) I did debate for a few minutes as I had 3500 chips left so folding was a possibility if I decided that Darren had an 8 as well (he would have a better kicker) the only other hand holding I was thinking about was A-J I decided to go all-in (which was always going to happen really...) and Darren called. Luckily he had A-J and another 8 came on the turn leaving me firm favorite to take the win. Darren's last 2200 chips went in the next hand which I called with QJ suited against A-5. The Q on the flop was enough and I took the victory

It was a great game and really enjoyed it (winning probably helped enhance my experiance) Everyone had played well and all seemed to enjoy also. I can now look forward to the final table in May and enjoy watching (or hearing about) the remaining heats..... I really feel confident it is my year this year (don't I say that every year) :-)

Poker: Reading Casino "Beginners night"

Myself, Jon, Andy, Bill and Sean all went to the "beginner's night" at Reading Casino last night. Got there 7:30pm just in time for registration. The game was £10 rebuy No Limit Holdem.... the fact you only had to pay £10 a go makes it suitable for beginners apparently :-)

We then hit the tables (well, me and Bill did anyway) My £20 investment in the "drizzle money away" machine that is Roulette was actually very good to me, so managed to walk away with £120 paying for my evening out already !

It was soon time to get down to the serious business of playing in the poker tournament. We started at 8:40pm with the maximum capacity 80 players, so might be a late night !!

My table was fairly tight, but with couple of the guys not afraid to make stabs at the pot. I played 1 or 2 hands in the first 20 as I had absolute rubbish. Eventually I had 9-8 os on BB and saw 8,T,J flop. Decided to bet out and as it was the first time I showed any strength, only 1 player stayed with me, who had A-K. My straight never came, but the 8s were enough to take a pot !

After that I won a couple of pots, then found myself with about 3000 chips and A-8 suited. Four players saw the flop which was A-K-7 I called the minimum bet and 3 players saw the turn which was a 2. Called another minimum bet and was heads up with another 2 falling on the river. The guy bet half the pot, which happened to be all my chips and I was hoping he had A-Q or similar so would be a split pot...... so called..... unfortunately the 2 on the river, which persuaded me to call, gave his pocket 7s a full house so had to buy more chips !

Little later in the game I had Q-9 and flopped top pair. Called a bet and the turn was another Q. I was a little concerned about being out kickered, but called the all-in bet anyway as it left me with chips over, but the other guy had J-9 and had flopped a straight.... only the J on the river would help me and sure enough the poker gods teased my opponents good luck by giving me a J on the river and a split pot.... phew !

By the break and end of rebuys, I was on 3000 chips, compared to the average of around 3500 so not too bad. Jon, Andy and Bill were all around the same Sean just said he had lost count of his rebuys...

After the restart the blinds were now 200-100 so was starting to feel under pressure. Played steadily but wasn't really getting any hands. Limped in couple of times but completely missed flop each time. Blinds were either rubbish hands which missed, or got raised but never really felt like I had a good hand.

I had drizzled my chips away to around 1600 and the blinds were up to 400-200 now. Luckily I was on the button so could relax for a few hands... but no... the management decided to break up out table and I got moved straight into a BB - my luck was definitely not in, especially as my crap hand got raised to put me all-in pre-flop so didn't even get a flop for my money. Similar story on the SB, so sat there fiddling with my single 1000 chip waiting for a hand. Went all-in under the gun, and everyone folded so had the blinds at least..... then went all in a couple of hands later and got called by the lowest chip stack. Although I won the hand, felt a bit cheated that my decent cards didn't even double me up ! Got involved in another hand but had to back out, which put me back down to dangerously low level again.... then to add insult to injury the table got broken up again !

With my chip stack 2 x BB and on a table of 9 players again, I decided to not bother looking at my cards and stick in my chips when I was UTG again. Just got called by the button and the blinds both folded My Q-9 was up against AA ! My luck came back to me as 9 came on the flop to give me some hope, but had to wait for the river to see a Q and a double up.... if I had looked at my cards I may have felt a little embarrassed (perhaps :-) )

In the end, I got no good enough hands to push, so ended up slipping back to all-in blind. This time, although my A5 looked good, my opponents AT hit his T and took my chips, putting me out in 31st place

Only Jon was left playing, so went and played my new friend Roulette again. Managed to build up another £100 profit before blowing it on couple of big 44% chance bets neither of which came in for me.... but still managed to leave (2:30am!!) with a smile and my gambling fund increased

The £200 freezeout tournament looks very tempting now

Finishing positions
Sean : Out first
Bill : Next out
Andy : around about 35th
Mike : 31st
Jon : 12th

(Top 9 positions payed out.... £980 for 1st, £500 2nd, £300 3rd, down to £50 9th)

Poker: Online Poker Sites rating : Ladbrokes

Decided to rate the different Poker Sites I play on, as I often see questions on various forums about what are the best sites to play. I find different sites have different strengths and weaknesses, so will try to summarise my own views in this blog (over time)
Here is the first attempt


Ladbrokes
Good range of games and generally lot of players, so don't have to wait very long for STT or cash game of your choice. Nice range of tournaments including the Poker Million and Cruise !

Interface is OK, but I find it sometimes difficult to see the chip stack numbers and the amount of the bets, as the font is small and shows as white on green background. This is also the only software where I have intermittent but regular horrendous performance problems. Often during MTT but can happen anytime. Only recourse is to reboot PC which is not conducive to relaxed and focused play ! Also difficult to get hand history during the game.

Getting money in and out has good choice of methods and is fairly easy, so no problems there.

Overall rating : fair

Gambling : Betfair "free" bet finally pays off !

Despite my previous losses in Betfair with "free" bets, I decided to take up their kind offer of a free £5 bet, so duly deposit the minimum £10 !

I decide to bet on something looking like a cert, so Chelsea to beat Nott Forest in the FA cup is my choice and makes me 1.43 profit straight away - what a result :-)

Over the next couple of days, start doing my normal mistake of trying to create a book on horse races (funds are too limited to do this) but manage to get some winners and get odds swinging in my favour so build up my funds to around £20 an feeling quite pleased with myself for not crashing out as normal.

The 6 nations gives me a chance to bet on something I know nothing about (as usual!) and decide thast Scotland may beat a weakened England side, and bet accordingly. Fortunatley a chat with Simon (who actually knows a bot about Rugby) makes me change my mind so look at bailing out of my position. As luck would have it, the odds have swung against England so can lay off my bets and will win £1 if england win and 0.40 if Scotland win (just the draw messes my bankroll up) The English victory suits me but shows you should only bet of stuff you know about (didn't I realise this before :-) )

Switched to Greyhounds on the basis there is a 1 in 6 chance of winning, and again because of good odds swings in my favour and a bit of luck picking an outsider to win allowed me to build up my bankroll to around £65 .... not bad for a £10 investment. As I wanted to have another go at the Ladbrokes Cruise, decided to withdrawn my original £10 plus the £40 for the Ladbrokes Cruise... so my luck on Betfair has paid for my Poker bankroll, definately worthwhile :-)

For the remaining monies in my account, I have come up with a system for the Greyhounds which I am trying out at the moment.... so far it has taken me to £27 so seems to be working at the moment.... hopefully will be able to fund some more poker before too long......

Long live Betfair... it is the best thing since sliced bread :-)

Poker: Home Tourney : Feb 07

I was feeling relax and confident this month, right up until the first hand anyway :-)

I was on BB with 9-3o and saw a cheap flop, which brought a 3 but two overcards. Checked but a pot sized bet scared me off and only three players got to the showdown. Sean won with one pair and I was slightly sickened as the river would have won me a huge pot, but thats Poker.... The second hand I had something like T-2o and a pot sized pre-flop raise saw me muck the hand. The flop brought aT but would have looked scarey. Sean and Roger saw the showdown, and Seans pair of tens took it down (I would have split the pot with him!) Few hands later I got AKo and decided to raise the pot.... and five people called me ! I just got a draw to a straight so checked but Simon W put in a bet and ended up with 5 of us all in. Simon W had pocket kings, but Sean hit another 7 for trips on the river (so far as I remember) putting Sean into a massive chip lead and the rest of the table on around 500 chips ! That kind of set the tone for my game and for our table.... Sean kept putting in small raises and mainly winning , I was seeing a lot of middling cards and feeling obliged to see flops as there were so many callers but hit nothing. If I raised pre-flop ( I think I did once more at least) then I was getting lots of callers...

At the break, I had the minimum (double buy in) plus 100, i.e. 1100 chips which was the low stack, but not by much to most of the others. Sean had a huge chip lead with only Andy and Mick (I think) having a few thousand each

Bill the birthday boy was the first to take someone out from our table, but then his new lucky ring let him down and was the 2nd out on our table..... the pool table beckened

Surprisingly, I managed to hold on to my chips well. When all-in on the BB I didnt bother to look at my cards and Roger and Sean called. Sean put in a big bet to scare off Roger, and shows Q-3 (two pair) I flipped over Q-T (also two pair!!) so got about 2500 in chips. Bit of luck at last !

After a lot of cagey play and other peoples all-in's I survived until the 1000-500 blinds levels. Seeing A-8s and being BB next hand, decided to stick in my last few chips (about 1800) Only Sean called being BB and showed Q-3o The flop came with a 3 and so Sean took me out in 9th place ! Just to make it more annoying, Andy W was out on the other table a few seconds later, so had I hung on a couple more minutes would have made the final table.... oh well, when it isnt your night..... :-)

The final table started out tight, but with only about 20 minutes play left, the short stacks had to start playing... and they did ! Alex and Darren got taken out in quick sucession, but left 5 players to play the last four hands.... Sean on the button called, Jon called, but Steve went all-in. Sean then went all-in and Jon had a think Jon had around 6000 in chips so could have folded but put Sean on two overcards to the raggidy flop. Jon called, showing 2nd pair which was leading. The turn came down a Q to give Sean the top pair and with a blank on the river took out two players with three hands to play

Sean had about half the chips, but Andy and Roger both had about quarter each. On the second last hand, Andy and Roger went all-in with Andy taking out Roger and having a tiny chip lead over Sean. Whoever won the blinds on the last hand was the winner, so both players went all-in. Seans 3-4o looked in poor shape against two higher cards, but the turn gave Sean a straight and the win. When it's your night, it's your night :-)

For me it was a terrible night of poker, but did have a few chances so can't complain. I will have to re-think my strategy :-) Next month is our first No Limit, No rebuy of the season so is a different style of play anyway... giving me an extra month to think about how to cope if I get Sean on my table again ;-)

Poker: Ladbroke Poker Cruise III : the journey begins

One new year resolution I made was to try and get myself onto the Ladbrokes Poker Cruise (see http://poker.ladbrokes.com/pokercruise/en/ for details) this year (or onto TV event again)

To this end, I loaded my Ladbroke account with £30 and entered the $5 daily final satellites. With 3 minute blinds and rebuys for 30 mins, you couldn't hang about and the action was fast and furious. It was certainly a lottery rather than a game of poker after the first couple of levels, but I did OK until it got to the point where you were going all in or folding. I ended up 12th from 25 (top 4 went through to daily final) I had another go, but got fed up with the randomness of the poker playing, especially when I lost my all in bet, so didn't bother to rebuy and ended up 22nd from 24 this time.

It seemed to me that earning enough money to enter the Daily Final directly would be a better way forward, although at $66 plus one $25 rebuy and one $25 rebuy, it is not cheap ! I decided to go for the $22 five seat STT to earn enough money and started off very frustratingly with 3 second places, before crashing out early in the next game. With the Daily Final almost upon me, I had to go for the 10 seater hoping to win enough cash, but ended up 5th and only $8 in the account.

This time round I wasn't lucky enough to get in, but will have another go at getting into the Daily Final. My strategy is to play two daily finals and hope to get into the Weekly Final where 1 in 10 players will win a cruise ticket. I think that will be enough to show that I am not lucky enough to get in this year and move onto something else instead.

Will update progress after my next attempt.

Poker: Home Tourney : Jan 07 Flying start to the season

What a great start to the new season, it started out with a "new term" feel with everyone pleased to be back at the tables :-) but soon settled down to a familiar pattern of wild and wacky play with plenty of rebuys ;-)

For me, the game started great with the first hand seeing me all in with two other players and taking down the pot with the best hand. Little later on I got another goo flop on good starting hand and managed to get up to around 5000 chips fairly early on and was able to maintain this level of chips past the cut off break. As players dropped out, I ended up having to move tables and my chips started to dwindle. Couple of good starting hands turned to dust on the flop and wasn't taking huge risks against the White brothers still left in ! In the end, my AJ was looking in trouble when two players called my all in push, and although picked up a nut flush draw on the turn, the river was blank to see me out in fifth place. Because of my early win, I had the luxury of being able to play my normal solid style throughout the game but in the end it was not enough to get into the money, although obviously picked up decent number of points towards the season tally. Only spent couple of quid as well :-)

Other players I noticed in particular was Rogers good play. He didn't seem to get many good hands, until his AQ flopped a full house ! Andy was pot committed and Bill had hit trips, so Roger tripled up and that set him up to get well into the final table. Steve also seemed to be having a mare of a night and was looking for the record number of rebuys, until his fortune changed by winning a large pot unexpectedly just before I moved tables. This run of good cards and good poker skills (backed up by his new found lucky mascot !!) took him to a deserved maiden victory. Ant was playing very aggressively and kept trying to persuade everyone he didn't know what he was doing and making people fold hands by telling them he was going to fold (which was a binding statement :-) ) Whatever he was doing was working as it took him to a good 2nd place.

Please feel free to update this blog entry with your own views and comments about the game

Poker: End of the year so time for reflection

The end of one year and the beginning of a new one is often a time to reflect on the past and look forward to the future.... so further to my previous post "How Long does it take to become good at poker" (http://sceaga.blogspot.com/2006/06/poker-how-long-does-it-take-to-become.html) decided to analyse my previous (Online) poker results with a view to seeing how I can improve for 2007

2003 was a good year, being $250 up for the year, 2004 cost me $50 but 2005 cost me $300 and this year I spent a whopping $1000 !! I was a little surpised about the apparent worsening of my poker game so thought I had better look into why this may be.... is it me playing worse, the opposition getting bettter or what ???? Luckily $1000 is only £500 today, so about £45 a month habit, therefore still a cheap hobby (Motor racing was costing £5000 a year :-) )

Looking back at 2005 I found that I was playing lots of little games and winning overall, but when I stepped up to the $100 or $200 games I would only have bankroll to play one game and didn't cash in, so a couple of big losses effected my whole year of hard work with the smaller wins. This behaviour is easy to correct :-)

2006 has seen me settle into $20 STT tournaments as my "normal" level, so a bad run will see me lose more than previous years but also I am playing less games so this may be putting pressure on myself to "win" rather than just play my normal relaxed game ? Apart from that, this year has seen me play a more diverse range of games (I now play more cash games generally, but also Omaha and HORSE) so for these types of game am back to being a "beginner" so therefore not winning an average proportion of the games. Finally I have played six different sites (three regularly) during 2006 so wonder if this "flitting around" would effect my game, as it takes a little while to get used to a new interface which would distract from playing the games.

So those are all my excuses, what can I do to ensure I don't have a bad 2007 ?

As discussed in my previous posts, will ensure I have correct bankroll for the game level I am playing. This should ensure I can average out my results against bad runs and give more representative picture of my results (if I am still losing all the time will also have to drop down to lower stake levels!) If I have any really good runs, I will try to cash out rather than escalate the stake levels I play at, so this would ensure I dont just lose what I win (there are some gadgets I really want to buy in 2007 so this will be my incentive to win and cash out ;-) )

Will also try to first focus on my "best" game to build up my bankroll, before then spending my "winnings" on the more exotic games that I am trying to learn... also ensure that I only get into the lowest stake levels for these games as well as my win expectation is very low for these games until I get into them more.

Finally, will get around to reading the poker books I bought months ago ! Particularly for the HORSE games as I need help to master these !!

I think this plan will allow me to get my financial results back on track and reflect my level of play better, so lets see how it pans out during the year

In the meantime, thanks for reading and have a great 2007 (although not if you're playing against me ;-) )

Poker: Home Tourney December 2006 (and end of season report)

The 2nd chance No Limit Freezeout format always makes for a tense, exciting game for everyone and this time was no exception. Great plays being made and tight decisions being put on players so a fantastic game for all..... (well as far as I know... let me know if you feel different)

For my own game, I was playing quite tight to begin with, but had a couple of good draws which didn't hit to drain a few chips early on... then I had 5-4 o/s on the blind and flop came a poor looking T-8-5 (or similar) Darren W put in a pot sized bet, but I felt there was weakness and called, along with Simon W. The turn came another 5 so ended up all in against Darren, who show Q-5 and took the chips forcing my 2nd chance rebuy early on. After that things were a bit up and down.... but felt I played fairly well. With the blinds going up and my stack doing down, my K-3 suited looked quite good as I was on the blind but sensibly checked to see a low flop. All 4 players checked and the turn was a K. I thought I was ahead now, but decided to check. The river was a 6 so had no reason to believe I was beat and put in my last few chips, for Simon W to show 2 pair (hitting the 6 on the river!!) so it was all over for me.

The game continued and people started dropping like flies as the blinds became punishing, so we were soon down to 7 players. Play seemed to get more serious as the average chip stack was now 4000 to the 500/1000 blinds, so players had a chance to wait for hands. As I joined the cash game didn't see much of the action after that, but did see Darren W all-in pre-flop with pocket A's against Simon W with pocket K, the A on the flop made the double up for Darren certain.

The last hand of the game saw 4 players still in the game, but all going all-in to decide the places. Simon W took the hand, first place for the night and also the coveted 2006 trophy for league winner

Well done to Simon W for showing great spirit to win the 2006 title


The year stats make interesting reading:
Jon is "Mr Consistant" with 50% money finishes for the year and also average finish position of 4.7 (2nd only to Simon W)

My consolation for the year is third top finished by Average position (hammered by poor finishing the last two games) so looks good for me next year ;-)

Full information at http://www.statsgenie.com/Poker/ (CamberleyBoyz) as normal

Have a great Xmas and new year and hope to see you all bright and breezy on Thursday 11th January 2007 for a fresh start with the new rules

PS - Start telling your friends about the 2007 "Invitation Cup" tournament

Poker: Farnborough Club - November 2006

Went to TC Poker again last Thursday for a No Limit Texas Hold'em £50+5 tournament (2nd chance freezeout, see http://www.tcpoker.co.uk/schedule.htm for schedule)

Managed to get some of the guys together, so ended up with myself, Sean, Bill, Jon, Andy W, Simon W and Andy's father in law (Jo)

This is my narrative of the tournament events as I remember them, although additional thoughts and corrections welcomed

TC's seem to be getting the timings together better now, as the tournament started roughly on time and the breaks were only 20 minutes as scheduled :-)

There were 28 entrants, so making three tables. There were prizes for the top 5 players, around about 600 to first, then 300, 250, 200, 100 (or similar) I was on a table with Andy and Bill, the others were on another table together.

My initial strategy was to get in cheap if possible but otherwise play tight solid poker to begin with and see how things go, especially as the guy to my left I knew from before as a tight agressive player. As I was not getting any hands, it was easy to follow my strategy to begin with, but later on I was on the big blind and Andy put in a raise. I would have folded but he got called by 2 other players before me, so I made a quite loose call with T-4 o/s... but then saw a near miracle flop of T-7-4 albeit with 2 suited cards. With the possibility of a flush draw I decided to make a reasonable bet and to my astonishment Andy went all in. The other players folded but it was an automatic call for me. Luckily Andy had two high cards so I managed to virtually double up early in the game

This allowed me to sit back and relax, waiting for good cards. I kept an eye on the average chip stacks to ensure I wasnt getting below average, but otherwise was playing tight.

Did make one silly mistake when I was raising one hand. I decided to make a standard raise of 3x blind, so put in 1200 chips, but stated "raise 12000" ooops..... of course the dealer wanted me to go all-in (still had around 7000 chips at this point) but the players on the table kindly agreed they knew the bet I intended to make so I only had to put in the 1200. As it turned out everyone folded anyway so it made no real difference... but still decided to keep my mouth shut after that and just stick the chips in !

By the break I had about 7400 chips which was a bit above average

When my chips were dwindling a bit and so when I got pocket 3's decided to make a move so put in a decent raise after a couple of callers. Andy went all-in and the other two players folded. I was getting good pot odd's decided to call and saw Andy with two over cards. Andy hit his card on the flop, so was just putting on my watch to get up and go, when another 3 came on the river to give me the pot... phew ! Unfortunately my good fortune meant that Andy went crashing out

Later on I made another raise when the low stack was in the blind and he went all in. Even with Q9 I still decided to call as was getting good odds and could afford to loose the hand. He showed pocket 3's ! but I hit my 9 on the flop and nothing came to help him so took the hand.

We were down to about 11 players at this stage with the blinds around 1200/600 so was quite expensive to see a flop. Bill called an all-in move by the tight guy to my left, but actually Bill had Kx against Q4. Unfortunatly the 4 on the flop was all that helped either player and Bill was out in 10th place. Someone on the other table was out immediately after, so this left 8 players for the final table.

Myself and Jon were the only CamberleyBoyz on the final table, both with short stacks as well ! When I was big blind, Jon called from late position to see the flop. The flop came down A-5-6 (or similar) giving me an up and down straight draw, but was worried Jon had hit the A. I called his smallish bet on the flop but the turn didn't help me, so had to fold to his next bet. This left me with probably lowest stack at around 14000 chips.

As the blinds had just passed me I sat back to wait for a hand. One before the big blind I got dealt pocket A's ! I put in a normal raise, but the table was playing tight and everyone was folding. Luckily the big blind called.... with a flop of Q-J-6 rainbow, I was happy enough but whilst deciding how much to bet, the Big Blind player put in all his chips so was very happy to call him, especially when he showed K-T. Problem was that he hit a 9 on the turn giving him a straight to turn over my aces. I was definatley very disappointed but there was no other way to play the hand so was happy that I had got all my chips in whilst ahead and just got unlucky

Decided to go home after that, but Jon ended up in 2nd place (in the early hours again I guess) so well done to you

There will definately be a next time so start saving up again ;-)