Across the Felt and Under the Gun

The 12 Days OF Vegas Pt:6

2010-04-28T22:04:00.001+01:00

Vegas Day 11.

With this day being the last day of poker playing (the 12th being a travel day) I decided to head to where I had been most successful during my time in Las Vegas, the Golden Nugget. I sat down and got a feel for the table, there were a few players I had to keep my eye on and a couple of players whom would be donating to my personal poker fund. Once such player was sat in trap 8/9 and was a non believer, he would call any body as long as he had a pair or he would raise if he had anything more or thought if someone else was bluffing. About an hour and a half into my session I picked up AKos whilst this fella was the big blind everyone folded around to me and I decided to make the standard raise of the table at that time $12, having already established a strong image everyone folded to my raise except the big blind, who I knew would call.

Flop – 3, 9, A.

The BB checked and I bet $20, he thought about the bet and I could see his mind telling him to fold, but his will would not be broken and he convinced himself that I was bluffing and trying to steal his money. So he went all-in for an additional $60. Needless to say that this was the moment I had been waiting for and called he turned over 9, 10 os and with a king on the turn and no nine on the river i watched as the bloke was felted for the third time since I had been at the table. Of course he just reloaded.

Soon after I found KK I make my standard raise and I get one caller

Flop – 586

I lead out with a continuation bet about three quarters of the pot my opponent folds and I show. About nine hands later I find AKos I make my standard raise and this time the old lady in the corner called. Similar flop this time im first to act so I bet about three quarters of the pot asgain she calls.

Turn – J

I check and the old lady follows suit

The river is another low card I bet $50 which is about 70% of the pot she calls without hesitation and tables 99, I muck. She read me like my Nan and must have known I had missed.

Near to the end of my session I kept getting premium hands in the hijack seat much to the annoyance of the BB this went on for 6 orbits AA, KK AK QQ KK I would raise and show when everyone folded; then this happened with JJ. The hands was just about to be dealt when the opponents says to me please don’t raise my BB and I said ok. Being the token Englishman at the table I decided to honour the request of my opponent. I flat called with JJ, which is a 70% of the time move for me. The button decided to raise to $12, the BB mumbled and called so I re-raised $48 this really put the buttons nose out of joint and he stubbornly called.

Flop – KQQ

I check ready to show and throw the cards away, the button checks also

Turn - J

I bet$60, the button raise all-in for another $32 so I call. Button has JQ and I am drawing dead
I stand up and leave with a small loss for the day but happy I’ve had fun whilst staying in Las Vegas although next time I will not be staying as long, as nearly two weeks is nearly one week too many. I might well be going back for the Las Vegas marathon in December if I can get time off.

The 12 Days Of Vegas Pt:5

2010-01-24T18:58:00.005Z

Vegas Day 10.

I woke around lunchtime and headed to the Golden Nugget after Brunch at Binion’s. I managed to find a full table and a seat with my name on it. I sit down next to a regular, someone who I have seen playing every time I come here. I have him down as a professional, all the dealers know him and so do a lot of the other poker salary players. I overhear a conversation between him and the card room manager that he requested a move to another table. I find out about half an hour later when he gets moved back after the other tables’ collapse that he had moved because of me. I personally think that he is blowing smoke up my arse. I leave shortly after with a good profit for the day mainly from these three successive hands.

Hand 1 - 32os

I was in the cut off and had not played a hand for quite a while I raised to $11 and both small and big blind called me

Flop

10d, Qd, 7s

As both blinds checked to me I decided to do a continuation bet of $20 the small blind called and the big blind folded. I put the small blind on a draw.

Turn

Kc.

The small blind checks and I reevaluate his possible hand range to a flush draw. I figure that he would call most bets to hit so I decided to check to see what the river brings, if it is not a diamond then I would bet if it were then I would fold as I am sure that the small blind would bet.

River

5s.

Perfect. The small blind checks and I bet $60 he folds and I so my bluff. He then confirms my assessment of his hands and shows 9d6d.

Hand 2 - KQs

With a raise from under the gun of $16 and one caller before I get to be my turn I decide to call. Three players see the flop.

Flop

As, 2s, 9d.

The raiser was first to act and was not shy about betting out. $25 made the middle man fold. I decided to spend a little from my last hand to speculate.

Turn

Qh

Not the card I was after but not a bad card either. My opponent bet another $25. Now with $126 in the pot he gave me more than enough odds to call for the flush.

River

6s.

As the card is over and I have made my hand I figure that the action would be check bet fold, but to my surprise he moved all in, so I called. He showed Ah6h.

Hand 3. - AJos.

My last opponent re-buys and posts the big blind. A couple of limpers so I decide to raise to $12. There are 4 callers including both blinds.

Flop

Ad, 7h, 10d.

Everyone checks to me so I bet $40 to push away anyone with a flush draw. Apart from the big blind who calls me, everyone folds.

Turn

3s.

The big blind moves all-in. This makes me think and review all the previous action. I almost fold but then I remember that he could be trying to push me off with a draw as revenge from the last hand. I decide to call as doing so would still leave me in profit for the session.

River

8h

I show my ace and he shows his flush draw and mucks.

Vegas Day 9

Binion’s was the flavour today and the tournament went quite well, I managed to get to the final table without too much hassle but I was short stacked. On the first hand of the final table i was on the button everyone had folded to me so I pushed with Ah10h. Unfortunately the big blind woke up with a couple of ladies and with no ace on the board I was down to 900. I waited with no avail for a good hand but folded everything until I was under the gun. I decided to push blind. The blinds were 300/600 and I pushed for 900 one player in mid position who playing was a little erratic raised to 1400, bearing in mind that the average was around 18,000 I was surprised to see everyone fold. He turned over J,10. I revealed my blind hand of 6,8os. Neither of us hit and I was sent to the rail. No more poker for the day.

The 12 Days OF Vegas Pt:4

2010-01-15T06:10:00.003Z

Vegas Day 7

After a relaxing sleep and a slow start to the day I headed over to the Golden Nugget. I have been finding the action at the G.N. easier than Binion’s so I usually started at the G.N. the only problem was that, as limit was very popular here, I did not always get the option of No-Limit, but today there was one table of NLH so I sat down, unfortunately nothing jumped out as odd play everything was normal, people over playing potential qualifying high hands.

High hands at the Golden Nugget like many places hand to adhere to certain criteria. The pot had to be bigger than $20 (Binion’s $10) in order for the house to rake more than the $1 towards the high hand collection. The winning hand must play both cards. High hands were everything from quads upward, so to qualify for quads the player must have a pocket pair. If the high hand was a straight flush then the player must use both their cards 7h, 9h. with the board being 6h, 8h, 10h, x, x.

This did lead to bad play along with a betting tell, if someone raises to just over $10 then tries to check it down then it is quite easy to place them on a group of hands. Equipped with this information and reasoning I played for 2hrs before the table broke around lunch time and I left with a small profit of $85.

At 2pm Binion’s was holding their usual tournament so as I was already in profit almost to the buy-in so I decided to play. About half an hour in just as the blinds were going up I found myself on the button with AsKs. There were two limpers so I decided to build the pot with an oversized bet of 500 I got one caller.

Flop – Kh, 3s, 7s.

The opponent was the perfect opponent to have in this situation, she was overplaying everything and was also relentless with betting and not allowing any cheap cards, she bets out the pot 1200 which I immediately push all-in. she calls and shows, Kd, Js.

Turn - 10d

River – Jh

I decide that every dog has their day but if she keeps thinking that hitting 9.55% is good play, then good luck to her.

Vegas Day 8

Today we headed to the strip, I only managed to play at three casino’s the first one I cannot remember its name but It held tournaments every two/three hours for $40 with a starting stack of 1500. Very similar to the pub poker which we play over here. The number of runners was in single figures which meant it would be a winner takes all SNG; I walk out of the casino with my money back after making a deal once I had got to heads up. I then head over to Caesars Palace where I end up playing one hand for 3 hrs it just so happened to be within the first 5mins. I was dealt AQos there was a limp before me so I decided to follow suit, the player to my left raised to $15 so we ended up four handed to the flop

Flop – Q, 7, 8.

The first player checks the second bets $20, just under half the pot. I call as the flop was rainbow so there was no need to stir the waters. The player to my left goes all in, he has all the other players covered. I feel it is a “go-away” bet he does not want to be called. The first player folds. The second dwells and calls all-in. I was watching the player to my left when the call was made and I noticed he was not happy, so I called aswell.

Turn - 2,

This put a flush draw on the board.

River – J.

The player who called first showed A,8. The player to my triumphantly flipped over 9,9. So I turned over my top pair and scooped in the pot for almost a triple up. I left about 3hrs later with double my buy-in.

I headed over to Treasure Island for the outdoor show of pirates getting assess kicked by a bunch of women, whilst singing and dancing. The poker room was one of the smallest I’ve come into in Las Vegas. The standard of play was defiantly below par and I lost my buy-in.
My hand was AJ I was in the cut off and raised to $12 only the button called me.

The flop J, 5, J.

I checked raised the button all- in and showed him my J – after consulting with the deal if this were allowed as we were heads up. The button called after saying he was feeling lucky. He got instant service on the turn

Turn – 10.

That’s right he called me with an under pair after I showed him a jack. So I handed him my chips and left the card room before I hit something or someone, bloody idiot. Time to go back and sleep.

The 12 Days Of Vegas Pt:3

2010-01-08T21:56:00.002Z

Vegas Day 5

I pop along to Binion’s in the morning as I have found this to be the most profitable time of day, I sit down with $100 and find myself with no hands to talk about for 3hrs I eventually bust out and head to the tournament desk for the 2pm tourney. The Saturday 2pm tournament is the only guaranteed prize pool of $5,000. As the buy-in was $100 the starting stack was 10,000. My table consisted of the usual crowd, we had two internet players, one old timer a couple of young men who were here for much more than gambling and were telling everyone of their exploits, a few women folk and me. I got too involved in a hand early on and busted out. I was in the cut off seat and up against the Big Blind who was one of the internet players.
My hand – 4s6s
With the blinds still at 25/50 I raised to 275 the BB called.

Flop – 10, 9, 6.

As the BB checked I bet 500 a little under the pot expecting either to be raised so I can fold or to win the pot right there. The BB called. Because of the action that had taken place up to now I assumed that the BB had a hand in the region of JQ.

Turn – 4.

BB checked and I bet 1500 with my two pair not feeling entirely happy about the situation, something did not feel right but I could not put my finger on it. The BB called.

River – 4.

The BB quick as a flash pushed all-in. I tried to think of his hand there was no flush possibility as the board was rainbow, the 4 could not really be considered as a scare card, I had to go with my earlier judgment and assume that he was trying to push me off with a missed straight draw and two over cards. I called and he showed me 94os. Now it all made sense except the preflop call, bloody maniac.
I wondered around the casino until a space came available on the cash game where I made up for my losses of the day with a little extra thanks to 94.

The hand I got lucky with made me smile when I first looked at it first card 9s the second 4s. I said to myself ok 94 let’s see how good you are. I was in the cut off seat the table had been quiet for about 45mins with nothing major going on I had managed to grind up to about $180. The player UTG raises out to $15 it gets one caller so I decide to call and see a flop the SB re-raises to $36 UTG calls other player calles with $110 in the pot and only $21 to call I decide that I’m live and call. Just before the flop comes down the SB pushes all his chips in and informs the table he is all-in.

Flop = 4, A, 4.

UTG folds as does the other player. I think about what kind of hands would do what he did and push all-in before the flop and came to the decision that aces would not so therefore I’m ahead and must call. Now because this is a cash game I don’t get to see what im up against – which I don’t like

Turn – A

Now the only thing that is going through my head is why the f*ck did I play bloody 94. I’m such an idiot etc….

River – 6.

SB mucks and I win. I over hear an conversation later to find out that he had pushed with KK, rest assured I will think twice before opting to play 94 again. I’m not saying I won’t, but I will think twice.

Vegas Day 6

This day I played in both the Golden Nugget and Binion’s – after going to church first.
Golden Nugget was a success I doubled my buy-in of $200 and still made a lay down against a stubborn old fool after throwing over $180 into the hand. Im the small blind my hand was KsJs. Everyone had limped and so I decided to charge them all tax with a raise to $16. Two players called and the rest folded

Flop – 4d, Jd, 8c.

Top pair time to lead out 2/3rds of the pot $32. Both opponents called.

Turn – Kc.

Top two pair, time to make a meaty bet. $50. Stubborn old fool min raises me to $100 Button calls – not what I had expected, I could shove here but the Button has been very tight and might be slow playing trips so I opt to check call and not go too crazy.

River – 7d.

Not the card I wanted to see as there is now a flush possibility, so I check the SOF goes all-in for his last $150 he is very animated. The Button folds (AhKh – I found out later, and wonder why the flop call). The stubborn old fool might as well be doing the dance to Saturday night fever, either that or he has just spilt coffee in his lap, normally this SOF is like the statues of Easter Island so I don’t take too long to show fold my hand. As the SOF is raking in all the red chips he turns over his hand Qd6d – fish.
Later that day I opt for the evening tourney at Binion’s, I ebb and flow loosing with AJ and AK against Q7 and QJ both to flushes I make the final table short stack and push with 88 after the cut off raises half my stack, he calls with his fingers in the cookie jar Kh5h. he gets instant service with two pair on the flop and I'm sent to the rail.
Just before I retire for the night I sit down on the 1/2NLH at Binion’s, a few hands in I’m on the BB with JJ. I raise to $16 I get one caller in mid position.

Flop = 8, 8, 6.

With flops like these, I with an over pair will find out where I’m at very quickly with a bet, I figure a little more than half the pot should do it. My opponent goes all-in for an additional $250. It does not take me long to fold he turns over 88 – bloody idiot, he could have milked me for some more if he had just slowed down. He collects the High Hand prize and is the talk of the table for the rest of the night while I lose the rest of my chips to the occasional better hand or out draw.

The 12 Days Of Vegas Pt:2

2010-01-04T20:02:00.002Z

Vegas Day 3

This day involved two tournaments ad one stint of cash, all were unproductive and nothing really sticks out. The first tourney was at Binion’s $60 it just seemed that no matter what I had someone either already had better or called and caught better regardless of the implied odds. I busted out within 45mins and headed over to the Golden Nugget for the $65 + I add on or re-buy $40. My run of nonchalant hands continued. When I was low on chips I re-raised all-in with 45os and was called by both AK and AQ both opponents checked it down

Flop – 10, 3, 2.

Turn – 8.

River – 6.

Much to the disgust of the table I hung around the tourney until the first hand after the break where I re-raised all-in with QQ and was called by KK, neither of us hit and I went to the rail.
I returned to Binion’s to see if I could recoup any of my losses and gave up 2hrs later $290 down.
The following day was New Years Eve and I opted for the $100 buy-in starting at 2pm in Binion’s. I played tight buy very aggressive and made my way to the final table with a little under average chips. I won a few hands and knocked a few players we made a deal for the bubble and which I dually knocked out. I was now sitting on the second largest stack, the largest being to my left. Within the space of 10mins he had donated his stack to another player with a series of marginal (at best ) calls. We were now down to three players, the big stack had me and the other player easily covered and played the big stack very aggressively. The hand that took me out of the tourney was 34s, I was in the BB the chip leader called and the small blind folded, we both had been avoiding playing a hand with the big stack as we both were even in chips and hoping the other would be knocked out.

Flop – 3c, Ad, 3h.

I bet the pot hoping to scare the big stack away but he did not take long to re-raise me all-in. I did wonder if he had the other three, but called anyway. He turned over Ah, 10s. and got instant service on the turn.

Turn – Ac.

With no three on the river I went to the rail with a modest profit. The payouts were 1st - $950, 2nd - $560 and 3rd - $365. I did like the structure of the $100 buy-in tourney and will be playing it again. I saw the New Year in on the strip with about half a million others. Very loud!!

Vegas Day 4

New Years Day

Was spent resting from the festivities of the night before and learning how to play craps, an enjoyable social dice game which is good fun. I would like to study the game a little more as it has a lot of potential.

The 12 Days Of Vegas Pt:1

2010-01-02T03:54:00.003Z

Vegas day 1

After a day of traveling around the world, arriving in sin city at midnight I opted for a good night sleep. Downtown was so different during the day time yet as soon as you enter a casino you could only tell the time by close observation of the flow of punters chancing their luck. Around 10 am I arrived at the poker room in Binions after sampling the “legendry Binions Cheese Burger” for my breakfast. I sat down on the only $1/$2 NLH there were two other tables in full flow both were $2/$4 LH I decided not to go too crazy and opted for $100 buy-in. After 3hrs I walked away with $311 and the only hand that sticks out was with an old man who looked as new as the carpet and as stubborn as the dirt that lies within.
After about 50mins I was in mid position with 10,10 and the old timer was the small blind. Everyone had folded to me I raised to the standard raise of $12, it was my first raise on this table. I got 4 callers.

Flop - 7d, 6h, 2c

The old timer bet out $25. I min raised and he called whilst everyone else folded

Turn – 8s

The OT checked, I went as to move all-in and he shoved all his chips across the line before I could do anything so, with a quick glance at the dealer and no need for any communication I knew it was still for me to act, so I checked.

Final card – 9c

OT checks, I move all-in and he folds muttering how I lucked out on him. He gets up and leaves the table before the next hand.
In hindsight I think he was angle shooting hoping that I would not bet and so I wish I’d have called him.

Vegas Day 2

I pop along to Binions the next day to try my chance at the tournament. They have 4 each day at 10am, 1pm, 6pm and 10pm. The two 10 o’clock games were 4000 with blinds at 15mins for the first hour then going to 20min blinds thereafter. And were $60 the other two tournaments were $100 and started with 10,000 chips 20 min blinds expanding to 30min after the first hour. We ended up having 27 runners and I ebbed and flowed until the final table where I had a few good hands in succession to become one of the chip leaders. When there were still seven players remaining on the final table four people went all-in the hands were AK, AQ, A6 and JJ. JJ stood the test and he promptly knocked the three other players out, the tournament paid to the top three places so we suddenly arrive on the bubble, with a little ducking and diving I knocked the bubble out and had chipped away at the big stack. I also killed off third place to have a 3/1 chip lead but then some serious ugly dealing happed I had AQ and was facing a raise so I re-raised all-in and was facing AA, a few hands later I had 88 I raise five times the BB and was called.

Flop – 2c, 2d, 2s.

My opponent checked and I went all-in as to make any kind of continuation bet would be committing me anyway. He called and showed K2. I was knocked out in 2nd place.
Later that day I popped into the Golden Nugget for a little cash play I lost $200 in quick succession to the same guy ($100 at a time) and left before I would lose any more to the luck box,

Firsthand – 88

I call in mid position as I don’t want to let the table think I’m an aggressive player
Four people see the flop with no raise.

Flop – 7d, 8h, Jc.

I find this flop difficult with no raise preflop so I decide to go slow unless I house up. Button bets 3/4’s of the pot I call everyone else folds

Turn – Js

A good card for me and an opportunity to check-raise, the button bets $18 and I min raise he then goes all-in which has me covered so I call for the remaining $48 and he shows me J8.
He sucks out on me after me reload and I leave, to chance my luck back at Binions.
The last cash game for me on day two was at Binions and I lost $140 and went to bed the only hand that stuck out in my mind from that session was about half way through the session just before the evening tourney started. I had AdKs, I was on the button there were a lot of limpers so I decided to raise more than normal to $26 I narrowed the field down to two callers

Flop – 10h, Jd, Qh.

The two players checked to me. Because of the flush draw I bet $60 as not to give anyone the odds to call for the flush. The small blind called and the other chap folded.

Turn – 5h.

The small blind bet $120 and I folded.
Two hands later the fish left for the tournament and was seen exiting the card room within 20mins from the beginning of the tournament, that made me smile, I left a short while later and retired for the night.

The Meadows

2009-12-20T15:18:00.003Z

Nine o’clock on a Tuesday morning at the end of April 1981, and according to the giant illuminated figures at the top of the Mint hotel the temperature was already 92°. At the entrance of Binion’s Horseshoe Casino stood the famous horseshoe itself, seven feet high painted in gold, and enclosing within its arch a million dollars in ten-thousand-dollar bills. The hundred dollar bills are neatly ranked and held, for whatever foreseeable eternity, in some kind of super-Perspex – bulletproof, fireproof, bombproof – the perennial dream of the Las Vegas punter visible to all, although not quite touchable.
The million-dollar horseshoe reflected the glare of the morning sun on Fremont Street. Behind it were the gloom and movement: a long, low, rather shabby room, full of noise, smoke and, unlike the other casinos at this early hour, full of people. Women in halters and men in cowboy boots and Stetsons jostled each other around the roulette and craps tables, rattled the armies of slot machines, and perched in semicircles before the blackjack dealers; even the seats in the little keno lounge were mostly taken. At the back, there was already a crowd along the rail that separates the casual punters from the area that, for five weeks every year in the last decade, has been set aside for poker.

Excerpts from “The Biggest Game In Town” by Al Alvarez – great book and an enlightening read.

I will be shortly travelling to 'The Meadows' or, in spanish, 'Las Vegas' for New Year celebrations and poker. I will be giving myself strict guidelines as to when I should or shouldn’t play. I will also try to post more information on key hands throughout different tourneys. This will be the 3rd time I have visited the promised land and I hope to continue my success as so far I have always left in profit, albeit once was only $2 – damn roulette.

Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.

2009-11-23T07:19:00.002Z

We often read in articles that in order to be successful at poker we must be patient. What some players fail to understand that we must be patient not only hand by hand but game by game and session by session because poker does not reset the figures whenever you go to sleep, the cards don’t forget because they don’t remember in the first place and finally you are never “owed” a flush because you are drawing for the 5th time without hitting.

Too many players think that there is a quicker way rather than waiting. Too many players are like Infantry men who are waiting for a lift on the 5th floor to go down to the 1st. They push buttons up and down because they believe that they will get where they are going quicker. No matter how nicely I try to tell them (on my way up to the 7th floor) that they would have been quicker if they only push the button for the direction they wish to travel (and you have to be careful telling these guys) they just don’t understand why it would slow them down. They don’t understand that the lift would have one less stop. They believe that because they got on the lift quicker they will get to where they are going quicker. They also find it annoying and believes that one of their mates are pulling a practical joke when the lift opens on the 5th floor on the way down and no one is there.

My last session was not very successful I played 1 MTT, 2 SNG’s and a cash game to boot all live – I lost every game, not all down to bad play but lessons were learnt. I played the whole evening patiently but as I was evidently going to be down I decided to give myself a stop loss limit so the night may end in the black but not too much. So I headed back home reminding myself to be patient, got in my lift and went straight up to the 7th floor, it was 2am and all the soldiers were asleep.

Just a short blog, but be patient and another will arrive.

Image is Everything

2009-11-13T14:04:00.000Z

Well maybe not everything, in poker being able to walk the walk and talk the talk can be very helpful but, you have to remember that all the gold chains, Rolex’s and other kinds of bling won’t make you a poker player any more than scalpel will turn a tree surgeon into a brain surgeon. You’ve got to be able to play the game to win. But in the tactical play, image is sometimes all you’ve got at your disposal to win pot. It may be all you have to get your opponent the false sense of comfort he needs to bet into your power-house.

Last time I played Funk Poker I was able to secure a wild and crazy player image. I decided that by using this image it would give out a completely opposite image from my regular rock like facade. So when I returned this week and played the same game against predominantly the same players I had ALL my value bets paid off as well as most of my premium hands. And I also managed to obtain a place in the payouts. I was knocked out going against the big stack with JJ vs. 66.

Certain images can be a little too much for some players. Last week I also realised that pointers I gave the volunteer dealer at my new table could have put that player on tilt, let me explain.

The image of a jobs-worth

In 1995, when the late Ken Flaton was contending for the championship title in Atlantic City he was given a choice and his decision made him very unpopular. One of the players at the final table, a veteran player, suddenly needed to relieve himself in the bathroom. He kindly asked the other players permission to step out since the tournament rules did not allow for the clock to be stopped before the end of the hour. All players except ken agreed, he said no and explain later that this man knew from experience how to pace himself. He should have known not t drink so much coffee. If he had to go while the game played on he was free to do that, but the tournament did not have to stop for him. The blinds were high and the championship was at stake. What happened was that the other players at the table, as a favour played slowly so that the man did have time to go and return. The man came back angry at Ken and on tilt. Ken ended up winning the tournament. Ken looked at this as an example of using the rules to your advantage. If enforcing the rules puts another player on tilt, so much the better.

Funk Poker = Fun Poker, Drunk.

2009-11-07T01:01:00.004Z

I have been slowly recruiting more players into the poker world, to shine a light onto the game and to persuade people that poker is fun and should no longer be considered taboo. To start off I have had to convince these newcomers that they are not going to lose vast amounts of money and that they will be enjoying themselves in the process, a win-win scenario.
So I have guided them towards low stakes tournaments. These are generally held in public houses to increase profit with sales on what would normally be a quiet night. I generally don’t drink very much or even very often, but my new recruits have haggled me to a compromise; they will come and play if I also attend and drink. I decided I will allow myself a night of non profit poker once a month in the form of a cheap tournament.
The results were interesting;
I have previously played in these types of tournaments and found that the games are incredibly loose almost to the point where nobody folds, now you have to realise that even though our opponents play ultra loose this will not prevent you from winning in the long run. These types of tournaments are potentially the most profitable games going around. Skill is still a very important factor just as in the higher priced tourneys. People who think that these types of games are unbeatable and associate them to bingo will lose, not because of the game but because of the decisions that they make when playing against uber loose players.
My mission for the night was to attempt to bust myself out but not just to throw the chips away. As I recall this tale you have to keep in mind that before I had even sat down I had already reached my standard limit where alcohol was concerned (2 pints)
First hand UTG with 74c blinds 25/25 and everyone with starting stacks of 4000 so I decided to call as you should always play the first hand. The player to my left raises to 100 then the next re-raises to 250 followed by another re-raise this time to 1000 everyone folds round to me, as I had made the decision to play the first hand as well as my reasoning of they must all have high cards so I must be live, I called. So did the other two players Pot = 4050

Flop – 7d 10c 4d

With two pair I decided to try for a check raise, so I checked the player to my left went all in the two other players folded and I decided to call.
“I’ve got the flush draw” he says as he lays down AKd
“That’s ok, I'm drawing for a house” I say placing my cards down.

Turn – 8c

“I’ve got a flush draw too” smiling like a drunk Cheshire cat.

Final Card – Jc

“And I’ve hit, unlucky mate”

It transpires that the players who had re-raised to 1000 had A7 and with his continued standard of play was out 3 hands later.
I must apologise as from this point onward I receive another pint and my memory goes a little fuzzy, I do however remember getting to the last two tables and after knocking out a few more unlucky souls on the way.
One thing you must also realise is that at these low stake events you will not find any dealers until the final table so before you survive to that point most tables are self-dealt.
Upon arriving at one the last two tables we had a player whom had volunteered their services as a dealer for the table, I watched as the hand finished and complemented this dealer on their efficiency, not that I am any kind of judicator. I then followed the complement by a few pointers which were not received well, maybe it was my delivery but what do you expect I was up to 4 pints at this point. So I found myself dealing, 1st hand I had dealt myself AA and showed the table along with a “Bruce Willis” type of smart arse comment “yippie kia yay mother f*cker, this what happens if I'm dealing.” I continued to bully the table until I was knocked out by a player who had slow played KK, what made me smile was that everyone cheered when I was knocked out. I had obviously achieved putting everyone out of their comfort zone and on tilt.

The Demise Of Poker – Greed

2009-10-13T03:44:00.001+01:00

We all know how to play certain hands in particular position against different opponents, yet some times for some unknown reason (soon to be explained) we don’t. I’m not preaching on some soap box from afar as the finger is also pointing at me!
Let me set the scene...
I'm in a tournament over an hour into it with well over the average stack. I'm in the BB and have a very tight and aggressive image I also have QQ. The fellow to my left (UTG) limps into the pot (100/200 blinds) he has been limping into and calling small raises in about 75% of all the pot since the beginning then he is followed by two folds and a raise to 800 (AQd) the action folds back round to me and I re-raise to 2800 UTG folds original raiser dwells, counts his chips and decides to go all in for an additional 4975 (this player has raised a few times before in this tourney and has shown good hands but not great hands so I elect to call) leaving myself with just under 4000. Of course he spikes an Ace and takes the pot – standard. I don’t consider myself on tilt as I am happy that I got the Neanderthal to put his balls on the table only to discover that mine were bigger and being held by the lovely ladies Judith and Argine, the Queens of Hearts and Clubs. Anyway half an hour passes by and I have manages to double through when I find myself staring down at Charles and Cesar The two red kings – Cesar is the one with a knife in his back – and then it hits me I feel like I am owed a lot of chips where the ladies have let me down the men will surely stand and be counted so it is time to get greedy, the table has had a raiser neigh on every hand for the last round so I decide to limp expecting a raise. We end up going 3 handed to see the flop me the BB and the Button as there was no raise. The flop decides to give me a flash back to the two ladies which earlier fail to help me along with a suited deuce (QhQd2d) BB checks I figure I have to check as I need to see if the Button has a Q and if he does then he’ll surely raise to push out the flush draws. so the flop ended up being checked, the turn brought a blank (7c) BB checks so I decide to bet (1400 in the pot) and I bet 1800 Button folds and BB re-raises because of the double check with the flush draw present I do not believe he has the Q and I re raise All in only to hear an instant call and Q8os shown leaving me drawing to 2 outs, standard. All I can do is congratulate the player for his well timely check and head back home giving myself a telling off for getting too greedy – if I had pushed preflop then I would still be in but I got greedy

Baby Needs A New Pair Of Shoes

2009-10-08T02:38:00.002+01:00

Tonight I got invited to a new potentially regular poker game. The room is no bigger than a prison cell and we still manage to squeeze two tables in so 18 players could play.
It is a £10+3 freezeout with a starting stack of 4000. 15min blind levels with the "option to re-register" (including vig) within the 1st hour thus allowing the organisers to gain maximum profit! Hosted by the next roulette nation girl or so I'm told.
Ok not perfect but as long as you have a good run of cards and are playing against reasonably competent opponents then you have more hope of lasting longer than a chocolate fire guard. Unfortunately tonight was not the case;
In the forces they have an expression "red arse" meaning to be so new that their bottom is still red from when their mother smacked them as a child. Tonight I was on a table full of red arse's the only problem with playing players who have absolutely no Idea is that they have no idea. When in such circumstances there rules which I believe you must follow in order to survive:

1. Never bluff
2. Never bluff
3. Value bet at every opportunity
Now, following these rules, I stack my chips off to 94os and J7c respectfully. I rebuy and then lose my entire stack as I move all in with AKs having two pair and get called by A 10 who hits a runner runner for a flush.

I would like to remind you of what I wrote in my first blog entry...

“Perfect poker play is; knowing what everyone else has and playing accordingly”

My question to you now is can you play perfect poker against players when they don’t even know what they’ve got. How are you supposed to know if they don’t? If you can’t then should you go to such evenings, upon reviewing tonight I feel that if I were to venture to another night out like tonight then I will not be able to play properly so why put myself into situation where I might as well be rolling dice hopping to get lucky.

If i didn't have bad luck then I'd have no luck at all

2009-09-18T02:55:00.007+01:00

Every time I deal I see players both good and bad talk so much about luck.

You are not unlucky, you’re not lucky either and neither is any other player particularly lucky or unlucky.

In fact if you believe that you are of either persuasion, then you are putting yourself in a position where you might make bad decisions as a result.
You should convince yourself that you are neither. Luck is a label that can only be applied in the past tense, never in the future. The odds of any random event occurring are precisely those dictated by the laws of probability. If you miss your open ended straight and flush draw 10 times on the bounce then when you go for it the next time your chances of hitting it are the same as the first time you went for it or indeed the any of the other nine. If you consider how well you are running when making a decision then effectively you’re on tilt - the act of playing worse than you are capable.
People tend to think of luck as an unlikely event that has occurred in their favour against the odds. In reality, however, a likely event occurring in a person’s favour can also be lucky as there was still the possibility of that event going the other way
For example you’re in a game £1/£2 pot limit and you hold

AhKs

You raise pre flop and get called by an opponent who holds

JdQc

The flop comes

As 9d Jc

You bet and are called down all the way, scooping a modest size pot when blanks fall on the turn and river. Was this lucky on your part? Most people would say no, as you had the best hand on every street and you would certainly not think your opponent “unlucky” in this situation.
However, you were lucky in a sense. Pre-flop, you were only a 65% favourite to win the hand. On the flop, if both players go down to showdown, you are still only 76% favourite. The fact you won the hand when your chance of winning was only 65% or 76% was lucky. You got a better result than you would expect on average. To look at it from a different angle if the exact hands and flop happened three times your chances of winning all of them are less than 50%!

When we play poker, we don’t tend to notice when things go as planned. We don’t notice when our flopped hands hold up or our aces don’t get cracked or even the times our opponents flush does not come in. Yet we will take notice when we get unlucky. We soon forget about the times we were fortunate enough not to get outdrawn instead focusing on the one hand, lamenting out bad luck.

Surprise your playing poker!

2009-06-30T16:05:00.001+01:00

Last night all the dealers were getting ready for the first instalment of the “International’s Summer Festival” £50+£50 ROE all the tables were set, all the chairs were in place and all the cards were ready to go. I got called over to the table in the corner where all the dealers were sat down with 20 random coloured chips each.
“You in?” asked the dealer with cards.
“Yeah, what are you playing?”
The game was called “the game” which played like Cincinnati but with some twists. Everyone antied 1 chip, they were then dealt 5 cards and a flop. The lowest card on the flop was wild (I’m not sure what happens if the board comes 8,2,2, where the bottom two cards match) and if you wanted to stay in then you put a further 2 chips into the middle, then the last two community cards were dealt and then there was a show down, everyone is allowed to use up to 2 cards from their own hand like Omaha and the winner tales the pot of chips, this game went on for about 10mins with slight variations each hand. The TD (tournament director) came over and told the dealers to finish up, I had been running good, more or less every time I stayed in I won and every time I had folded I would have defiantly not won. I had just over 60 chips in front of me and was about to throw them in when something I had not expected happened. Some of the dealers started to throw in money for the amount of chips they were down, so I handed over 20 of my chips saying, there’s my buy-in and there’s my profit. Considering that I had no idea that I was gambling I had found the game great fun. But now that I know it is for monies I will have to wait till after my sabbatical to have another go.
The question I asked myself as I was now reviewing the hands played was would I have played the same if I knew that money was at stake? I’d like to think so as I hit a “true” straight flush (not using the wild card) 4 of a kind – twice!! But who knows....

Back to my relapsed sabbatical. Tonight I will be dealing the £30 rebuy for the main event, and watching both interesting and crazy poker. I will be dealing all week for the International’s Summer Festival before heading to Europe on tour for two weeks.

Take No Prisoners

2009-06-20T18:04:00.004+01:00

As the evening draws to an end and a new day is starting tournaments that had started around 8 are just coming to their most crucial part – The Bubble – it is during this stage that play slows down while everyone is waiting for the three, two or one more players to be knocked out. Once those players are eliminated, all the remaining will finish somewhere in the money.
If you are willing to be the last person to be knocked out of an event without any reward, then you stand a good chance of stealing quite a few extra blinds. Quite often play slows down so much that deals are struck in order to speed the game along.

This concept of making a deal for the “would have been bubble” cuts out such an untapped area of tournament play, as so many tournaments are now dealing for the bubble. I believe that making a deal for the bubble is wrong. Making a deal is not wrong, but a deal for the bubble is. It takes a slice from everyone else’s potential profit. If for instance the tournaments get heads up then the remaining two players will be tried and generally want the ordeal to be over and done with; and as a dealer I agree with splits.

Back to the bubble

This truly is the time the big stack to rein terror over the table. Everyone is waiting for the short stack to be blinded out or knocked out; everyone is folding everything waiting for someone, namely the big stack to attack the short stack, because no one wants to go home empty handed, no one want to tell their mates that they lasted 5 hours and went out with no reward for all their play.
This is the time the big stack should be attacking everyone else BUT the short stack, because all the time the short stack is in everyone else is afraid of going out, this is the time when the big stack should be protecting the short stack as well as taking their big stack tax from everyone else. This is the Big Stack’s “Hammer Time”. So all you big stacks when it comes down to the bubble, don’t make a deal.

Sabbatical

2009-06-09T16:55:00.002+01:00

I have decided to dedicate the next two months to observation and study of poker; both Hold’em and Omaha so I will not be partaking in any poker game, live or other. I hope that this period will help me rebuild my game as I feel at the moment my playing style has reached a level that I cannot continue without taking a few steps back. I believe that I play live so much more than online that I have developed errors that are common amongst live players. To name some of the main errors that I have come across and have assimilated, I have comprised a list.

Stealing too much in late position:

This is a major symptom of poker today. Too many players are being overly aggressive; winning Hold'em requires that you pick up the blinds every now and then. I feel that you don’t need to be constantly attacking the blinds especially in cash games as they are so small relative to the average stack size and to do so with relatively weak holdings can prove to be expensive, as you would end up winning the micro pots and losing the large pots. This strategy may work well against tight opponents but in poker today they a rare breed.

Isolating weak opponents too much:

This is another error of play today and another strain of the aggressive poker. Do not misunderstand my point, there is occasional value in isolating the weak player, however for this play to be profitable, you must get heads up with the weak player. Too often attempting to isolate one opponent will frequently bring other players in behind you. Then you may well be facing another bet from someone else who has position on you in an ever increasing pot.

Not understanding that some loose opponents are playing better than it seems:

There is an ever increasing breed of poker players who probably plays too many hands, but then plays their hands very well from the flop on. Most of these players do win and some of them do quite well. They are able to make up for their large hand selection through a good understanding of post flop play and their hand reading skills. However, if you were to just concentrate on their hand selection, you may well believe that these players are not very good. So be careful of someone who seems to be playing like a maniac and winning.

Defending the blinds too much:

They don’t call it a vicious circle for nothing. Players believe that because they steal blinds from late position that everyone else is “at it” as well and will elect to call and play a hand out of position with not necessarily a good holding, and they wonder why they are losing money.

My conclusion is summed up by something I once said to the guy who taught me to first play.

“They should have called this game patience”

Samson & Deliah

2009-05-31T03:15:00.004+01:00

For years, Samson battled the Philistines. One time, he was attacked by them; before the fight had ended Samson had killed 1,000 Philistines with the jawbone of a donkey!

Samson loved a woman named Delilah. He didn't know the Philistines had offered her money to trick him. "Why are you so strong, Samson?" she would often ask. Although she begged, Samson wouldn't tell. Finally, she cried, "You don't love me, Samson, or you would share your secret."
"It's my vow to God" he whispered. "If my hair is cut, my strength will go." When he fell asleep, she called the Philistines, and they paid her to cut his hair. Samson's strength was gone. The Philistines bound and blinded him. Later they threw a big party. But Samson prayed. And God gave him strength to push and collapse their temple. That day, thousands of Philistines died—along with Samson

Poker players often believe in lucky seats, dealers and trinkets. Which is why my mind on the long walk back from LC’s last Thursday evening was wondering if, just maybe, cutting my hair was a bad idea? (Apart from the obvious displaying my FA Cup size ears) what if my hair was my lucky charm.

Samson's hair was not the source of his power; it was simply an outward sign that his life was set apart for God's service. By the time Delilah had Samson's hair cut off, he had already betrayed his relationship with the LORD (and thus found himself in the sh*t)

I then came to my senses, that night I had lost most playing Omaha (a game I am still studying) and the last hand I was called by a rather inebriated player who believed I was ahead but called regardless. This brings me to another point that I have observed in my poker play - I have often played at the wrong level against my opponents, let me explain...
When anyone is playing poker they play at a level. They go like this (roughly)
1. I don’t know what I have got
2. I know what I have got
3. How far behind the best have I got
4. What has my opponent got
5. What does my opponent think I have
6. What does my opponent think, that I think they have
etc etc...
On my journey home I realised that I was in trouble from the start. At the beginning of the evening I was playing at a lower level than my opposition in the Omaha hands (Level 4 vs. Level 5) - and lost. Later when playing against the well lubricated, I was thinking a few levels too high (Level 5 vs Level 2) - and lost (the level approximations are only examples). I have come to the conclusion that the premium play is to be one level higher than my opposition. So with my lesson learnt I will be putting myself back into the action with my best foot forward.

From Park Lane to Brick Lane

2009-05-20T13:23:00.004+01:00

As much as I love this time of year with all its pomp and pageantry it does however discourage me from partaking in the finer things that life has to offer, like poker and as I'm sure you are aware that like drill; poker should be taken regularly to keep on top of your game. I managed to get a small number of games in these last few days both tournament and cash and in different locations around town, Sunday 1st day off in over 2 weeks so I headed off to the international. Seemed to be going fine until this hand

BL 300/600 - All fold around to cut off who raises 2400, Button (me) calls with JJ, both blinds fold because neither of us have played a hand in a long time.

The Flop 10, 8, 9 (rainbow)

My opponent bets 1500 – I call

Turn 2

My opponent checks and I push all in for 6000ish, after a few minutes he gets a chip count and after a few more minutes another player calls clock and during the 1 minute clock the tournament clock is paused and the dealer is a little unsure as what to do the tournament clock resumes 30sec later and just as the time is running out the other player calls (well past his allotted time) and shows QQ, river is a slight kick in the teeth as the J lands giving my already winning opponent a better winning hand

My second game came Monday afternoon with a 3rd place from 20 runners and not much to report.
Last night was a charity game where the prises were an X-Box 360, Manchester United signed football shirt and a Chelsea signed football shirt. My girlfriend took 3rd place to claim the Chelsea shirt while I was in a cash game with calling stations, the game might as well have been played with everyone anteing and then dealing all the cards out. I finished my evening of suck-outs with this hand against a player who had single handily ruined my table image earlier.
Blinds are 25/25p

I have A5h and my opponent 2nd to act raised £2 everyone folds and I elect to call in SB

Flop A 8 5

I check to let my opponent make a continuation bet which the obligingly did £5 and I raised to £20 they called

Turn 5

I check to represent a weak Ace they bet again £10 and I push all in for £35, they call.

River Q

My opponent proudly places QQ down and declares a house – I say nice hand and they mutter something about me not betting enough!!

The Duracell Bunny Is Running On Fumes

2009-05-10T18:24:00.004+01:00

Last year for about one and a half months I had trained my body to operate normally to a 48hr day rather than a 24, this proved quite profitable at the poker tables as I was in the middle of my day and fresh as a daisy and everyone else at the poker table was tired. Last night I had the opportunity to repeat this feat. Around 11pm I had just finished dealing Poker/Blackjack/Roulette to a group of students from the music colleges around London, it was a fun themed night based upon James Bond, at the end I was in high spirits and not in the slightest bit tired. I made my way to the Casino and sat down to play. After 5 hrs this electronic bunny had come to a point where battery power was not enough to keep its head above water. So I stood up and left, after experiencing this sensation I can clearly see two problems with long session play.

1) Clarity of thought no longer exists. This was evident in the other players when I first sat down, people whom I know to be quality players were not playing well, as they failed to realise due to tiredness that they were no longer playing solid poker and were unnecessarily bleeding chips, not that I was complaining :)
2) Playing many endurance sessions will begin to have a long term effect. That is, you will get burnt out and not be able to make the quality decisions you need to make even when you are well rested. I have seen it happen to some very good players they just lose the ability to walk away from the game when their session is turning into a vicious circle of loss

After an hour of sleep this Duracell Bunny had to go to work. Today I have drunk 1 coffee two espressos’ about 1.5lt of energy drink just to get stay awake through three parades and I am expecting my sugar crash any minute now. Time for a siesta!

Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo.

2009-05-09T19:00:00.003+01:00

Il buono, The Good;

On the Thursday night I decided to try a different tact to approaching the tournament. I have recently read an article which had different suggestions about how to play at the beginning of a tourney. First there is no question that in a regular poker game you should play reasonably tight. Of course there are exceptions, but those who play every hand will enjoy the action but not necessarily the results. Many successful tournament players are quite loose at the beginning of tournaments which results in either quickly accumulating chips or quickly busting out. I have previously found that I often go deep into a tournament only to find that my remaining stack is too small. Results on this new approach is definitely interesting but more experimentation is needed

il brutto, The Bad;

Was defiantly my out draw against Sir Mike.
I am in the cut off seat, the blinds are 100/200 and my remaining stack is just over 2000 more than 10 times the BB but not by much, everyone folds to me and I see A8os and with only 3 people yet to act I feel my hand is well above average for a four handed hand so I announce the immortal words “I'm all in”. The button folds, one down two to go, a promising start. The small blind gets out the way by throwing their cards into the muck as well. Which only leaves Sir Mike, who wakes up with a hand and elects to call. The cards go on their backs and no surprise to find out that AdQd has me dominated.

Flop

Kd – 7c – Jd

Sir Mike now has more out’s than you can shake a stick at

Turn – 4s

Still very far behind

River – 8h

And there we have it; I must be running well as I catch one of my two outs to win with a pair

il cattivo, The Ugly;

The Ugly – unlike the film came at the end of the night. Once I had got on the night bus, I sat down only to realise that the rather large incredibly smelly snoring old man defiantly had a problem with incontinence whilst asleep and every time the bus jerked forward or braked heavily pools of urine would go trickling by, I'm sure if I had been drinking then urine would not have been the only fluid to be moving around the bus

Where do they come from?

2009-05-05T02:20:00.002+01:00

4 hours of play has left me mildly amused. Tonight I think I might have just seen it all. I have come to the conclusion that the rules of how to play poker live should be explained again to everyone and possibly printed in mutable languages and posted up on the wall (especially house rules) as it is starting to get beyond a joke.

Along with the regular acting out of turn, talking about the hand in-play and forgetting to say raise when only throwing in one chip, tonight I had to endure people showing their cards to their friends who were stood behind them (which makes their hand dead), as well this hand....

We join this hand on the river, three people remain. Player 1 who acts first fires out his 4th bullet of this hand which is roughly ¾ of the pot, Player 2 debates and calls, then as the third player is thinking about what to do player 2 picks his cards up where player 3 can see them!! Enough was enough and once again this evening I had to play sheriff, I informed the dealer what was happening and the floor was called over. The floor in my opinion did not entirely get it right. Yes Player 2’s hand is dead and no player 3’s hand is live. In my opinion player 3 was not going to call until they had seen player 2’s hand (now with an unfair advantage, could also be considered collusion) and so surely both players 2 and 3 hands should dead.

I know previously I encouraged everyone to sit down on tables where people are not playing solid poker, and yes I did triple up for the night but when other players are slowing the game down so much with live poker playing errors and making most hands last 5+ minuets then it is ruining your profit margin for the evening, my advice to anyone seeing this happening is to keep on at the dealer and the culprits will either adhere to the rules or leave. Maybe it is me, maybe I’m just tired but I think that this is a valid point.

To Tip or Not To Tip

2009-04-28T22:36:00.001+01:00

Every once in a while the subject of tipping comes up both in poker literature and at the table and opinions have ranged from defending those players who almost never tip to giving ridiculous advice, such as £1-£2 games you should tip the dealers X amount with a small pot and Y amount for a large pot and if you are running bad to tip the dealer before the deal starts...

Now in my opinion there are so many things wrong with those statements.

Of course I appreciate being tipped but do not want to come across as begging, nor do I wish to feel bad when a player suggests that another should be tipping. By tipping you are thanking me for the cards, making out that I’m quasi responsible for them. This opens up a whole can of worms because if the dealer is responsible for the cards and is insistent upon a tip when things go the players way then surely he can be berated at when things don’t quit go the way the player wanted and I’m sure that no Dealer wants to be shouted at. Size of pots are all relative and there should not be a compulsory tip amount and there should not be a formula of the amount to be tipped .What’s more if you are running bad the last thing you want to hear is that you should be tipping!

As a Dealer I can tell you that if players did tip every pot that; a) What would have been a profitable night for a player might turn into a losing night and I would probably be out of a job due to the lack of customers. And b) I would probably be out of a job as I’m sure that there are better dealers who would come in and deal.
Of course there is a simple solution to this sticky problem

Tipping should not be allowed

I believe that casinos (Not card rooms*) should pay their help a decent wage and not expect their customers to do it for them. If this means that the rake (or table charge) goes up a small amount, then I am in favour of it. The extra amount of rake would only be taken out of the large sized pots anyway and would at most equate to a few extra pounds per hour off the players hourly rate, this idea would also apply to tournaments, just charge a little extra juice and then do not allow the winners to tip.
*the reason behind excluding card rooms is that I don’t work in a casino and as I’m writing this I can be biased :P

Funny Bones

2009-04-24T18:55:00.003+01:00

In a dark, dark city there was a dark, dark river next to the dark, dark river there was a dark, dark track along the dark, dark track was a dark, dark station under the dark, dark station there was a nicely lit very spacious poker club. Most of my stories will emanate from here, most of my thoughts; theories will come from the dark, dark space under my dark, dark hat.

The Fundamental Theorem of Poker (David Sklansky aka The Mathematician)

Every time you play a hand differently from the way you would have played it if you could see all your opponents’ cards, they gain; and every time you play your hand the same way you would have played it if you could see all their cards, they lose. Conversely, every time opponents play their hands differently from the way they would have if they could see all your cards, you gain; and every time they play their hands the same way they would have played if they could see all your cards, you lose.

Therefore perfect poker play is; knowing what everyone else has and playing accordingly.

Every time you play your hand the same way you would have played it if you could see all their cards, they lose.

I was once in a casino sat in a poker game in seat 8, I was ebbing and flowing and had been for about an hour and a half when two players came and sat at the same table; one a young lady, who was no lady and is what our friends over the pond would call a “skank” (a leopard lycra “V” neck top showing at least 60% of her assets) sat down in seat 5 and proceeded to flirt with everyone. A few minutes later a young man similar age came and sat in seat 7 next to me, he was very quiet and brought to the table about 50% more chips he had a big stack. After about half an hour I noticed that the two new players were in the same pots, when one folded or played so did the other, this got me thinking, having recently read a book (dirty poker – a must read for any dealer) I noticed that they were signalling to each other what each of them had, a further 15 minutes and I now had not one but three hands of information. So I did what any decent upstanding poker player would have done and played perfect poker with these two cahooting players and enjoyed every second! (I did try to tell the cardroom manager but to no avail)

Every time opponents play their hands differently from the way they would have if they could see all your cards, you gain.

“Ah I’m sorry mate if I’d have known that’s what you had I’d have folded”

“Dam I knew you had that, but I was ahead”

These should be music to poker players’ ears, the cries of a bad player someone who really did/does not know what is right from wrong sat at the table. This is what you should be listening for when entering a busy card room because at that table against that player, you gain. Once sat at that table and see it happen again and again then reassurance is needed; “Nice one buddy, well played, you’re on fire tonight!” then sit back and enjoy!