I'm a fan of Sky Poker. I like the speed of the tournaments (from 650 players to heads-up in under 150 minutes!). I like the live TV every evening with its fine array of commentators and guests. I like the interactivity: not only can you get your emails read out live or on "The Club", but several regular players have been invited onto the show. I was disappointed when GetMintedPoker Live stopped its live show (All hail the Axxeman!) but, technically speaking, Sky's show is a great improvement.
I guess another important reason I'm an SP fan is that I've made money: over £4,000 since I invested £140 in September. Most of that is from tourneys, but lately, as my tourney form has sagged, my cash game has improved. I was up £600 in 11 days (until I c*cked up last night and gave £150 of it back). Nothing bigtime, but :-)
Monday, 14 January 2008
Thursday, 10 January 2008
Poker v Scrabble
Because I've spent the evening playing poker, when I sat down to write a blog post about a Scrabble tourney I've just been to (as a spectator) I found myself comparing it with poker tourneys. One important difference is I don't fancy eating a dictionary, which is what most of those guys have had to do in order to play at the top level. That's one of the great things about poker: anyone with an average IQ can learn to play it well in a few hours, or at least well enough to be able to win a few cash pots or get a money finish in a tournament.
A bit of a flat evening, pokerwise. I came in the money in the Velocity, but the tourney was spoilt by a system crash at Sky which meant that most of the players (i.e. the ones playing through their TV boxes) got cut off. So coming in the money wasn't much of an achievement! (Though I did already have a healthy stack when the crash happened...) Meanwhile, even though the tourneys were continuing, it appears that the live TV show couldn't show any of the action. Not sure why not - I wouldn't have thought that the two systems were connected.
A bit of a flat evening, pokerwise. I came in the money in the Velocity, but the tourney was spoilt by a system crash at Sky which meant that most of the players (i.e. the ones playing through their TV boxes) got cut off. So coming in the money wasn't much of an achievement! (Though I did already have a healthy stack when the crash happened...) Meanwhile, even though the tourneys were continuing, it appears that the live TV show couldn't show any of the action. Not sure why not - I wouldn't have thought that the two systems were connected.
Monday, 7 January 2008
Up
Just gone out of the Bounty Hunter. :-( Sky have increased the number of entries, up from 650 to 800, with 90 places paid and a first prize of £1584.
Happy coz I made a profit of £160 in one hour on a £1 cash table last night. This was after - as usual - losing half my stack to begin with. (I flopped a set of 2s - Geomax flopped a set of 5s.) Luckily a loose guy called p*****1972 quadrupled me up by going all-in against my pair of kings and my set of 10s, and when he left, a kid called s******ter took his seat and made a bad attempt at representing an overpair to my 88 on a 46T9J board and I took a £136 pot. Making such a good read sent me to bed a happy chappy. :-)
Happy coz I made a profit of £160 in one hour on a £1 cash table last night. This was after - as usual - losing half my stack to begin with. (I flopped a set of 2s - Geomax flopped a set of 5s.) Luckily a loose guy called p*****1972 quadrupled me up by going all-in against my pair of kings and my set of 10s, and when he left, a kid called s******ter took his seat and made a bad attempt at representing an overpair to my 88 on a 46T9J board and I took a £136 pot. Making such a good read sent me to bed a happy chappy. :-)
Sunday, 6 January 2008
Bollocks
So much for the rules of poker... Tired and on tilt (After my bad beat in The Open, I lost two big pots on two different sites when guys with A6 made reckless calls and outdrew me) I got all reckless myself and threw away over £100. So tonight I'm going to have a go in the Sunday Showdown and then call it a night. Back to work tomorrow anyway.
Watch the tourney live online here.
Watch the tourney live online here.
Poker Rules
1. Play your game. Don't let one hand or one player throw you off.
2. Don't play tired or drunk. Etc. You need to concentrate.
3. Be patient. If you're bored, play two tables, surf the net, whatever.
4. Luck beats weakness. Did he just limp/check/call? Then bet again.
5. Don't call an all-in bet unless you're sure you're ahead!
More later. Putting them here to remind me!
Today's bad beat: The Open tonight, did something stupid to get myself low-stacked, worked my way back up to average chips. I raise all-in with two pair, guy calls hoping to catch an ace...
2. Don't play tired or drunk. Etc. You need to concentrate.
3. Be patient. If you're bored, play two tables, surf the net, whatever.
4. Luck beats weakness. Did he just limp/check/call? Then bet again.
5. Don't call an all-in bet unless you're sure you're ahead!
More later. Putting them here to remind me!
Today's bad beat: The Open tonight, did something stupid to get myself low-stacked, worked my way back up to average chips. I raise all-in with two pair, guy calls hoping to catch an ace...
Saturday, 5 January 2008
Idiot savant
Last night I played for a couple of hours at Tony G's site. I put down $200 at a 10-handed table. The usual pattern ensued: lost half my chips, then eventually got up to $220. Very tired, I should've got out, but instead I somehow managed to lose the whole lot...
(I've been a big fan of Tony's ever since I saw him in the Paris WPT event on TV a couple of years ago. He still plays in some of the tourneys on his site, but not as often as he used to.)
Tonight at Sky Poker was almost a perfect night. I came 16th in The Open, then I made a profit on three cash tables, and then... Mr Stupid strikes again. I'm in profit on another table, but call all-in with a low flush. Actually I had a flush and a straight, and my hand looked so pretty I couldn't bring myself to fold it, even though if I had done I'd now be £50 richer.
So, I really am a quite-good player. I know before I throw all my chips away that that's what I'm doing. I just need to stop myself doing it!
(I've been a big fan of Tony's ever since I saw him in the Paris WPT event on TV a couple of years ago. He still plays in some of the tourneys on his site, but not as often as he used to.)
Tonight at Sky Poker was almost a perfect night. I came 16th in The Open, then I made a profit on three cash tables, and then... Mr Stupid strikes again. I'm in profit on another table, but call all-in with a low flush. Actually I had a flush and a straight, and my hand looked so pretty I couldn't bring myself to fold it, even though if I had done I'd now be £50 richer.
So, I really am a quite-good player. I know before I throw all my chips away that that's what I'm doing. I just need to stop myself doing it!
Thursday, 3 January 2008
A Night Out
To the Grosvenor at Junction 10 for the £30 Treble-Chance Freezeout tourney. Plenty of runners and a £1000 first prize. After three hours I went out calling all-in with KQs against Ace-rag. It was half past midnight and half the field were still there, so, two hours later, I'm sure they're still playing. That's the trouble with normal tourneys - they take a long time. I don't like the two hours that are virtually wasted at the start of a rebuy tournament, and this tourney was just as bad - registration closed at 9.15 but by 11pm absolutely no-one had been knocked out. I know most people (me included) want some entertainment for their £30 but this is crazy.
Anyway, I was reasonably happy with my play. Early on a girl called Kelly won a pot with KK and the next hand I raised all-in in front of her with TT and she called. Yup, she had kings again and I used up one of my chances. Undeterred, soon after I raised with 58s, flopped the flush and showed my cards. I made the break with average chips.
Gradually things got more lively. My end of the table was quiet and full of rocks, but at the other end there was one aggressive player, who was joined by another and then another as people were moved between tables. A couple of times before the break I chickened out a bit, in situations that online I would've bet. But no damage done.
The third of the three was a very good loose player. Just after he arrived, low stacked, he pushed all-in with a gutshot, and the guy who called him wasn't best pleased when the magic card came on the river. After that Mr Loose took the table by storm - he had the gift of the gab and took full advantage. In one hand I had pocket fours and bet postflop even though I didn't connect - the girl and Mr Loose called. The I bet again and Mr Loose called again. This reminded me of a recent hand in The Open, where I'd eventually called all-in with 44 and I was right - the other guy was bluffing with an ace. But this time I just couldn't go through with it.
Anyway, I was grinding pretty well and maybe avoiding risks would've seen me into the money. Dunno. I do know that I played okay and I'm looking forward to going back soon.
Anyway, I was reasonably happy with my play. Early on a girl called Kelly won a pot with KK and the next hand I raised all-in in front of her with TT and she called. Yup, she had kings again and I used up one of my chances. Undeterred, soon after I raised with 58s, flopped the flush and showed my cards. I made the break with average chips.
Gradually things got more lively. My end of the table was quiet and full of rocks, but at the other end there was one aggressive player, who was joined by another and then another as people were moved between tables. A couple of times before the break I chickened out a bit, in situations that online I would've bet. But no damage done.
The third of the three was a very good loose player. Just after he arrived, low stacked, he pushed all-in with a gutshot, and the guy who called him wasn't best pleased when the magic card came on the river. After that Mr Loose took the table by storm - he had the gift of the gab and took full advantage. In one hand I had pocket fours and bet postflop even though I didn't connect - the girl and Mr Loose called. The I bet again and Mr Loose called again. This reminded me of a recent hand in The Open, where I'd eventually called all-in with 44 and I was right - the other guy was bluffing with an ace. But this time I just couldn't go through with it.
Anyway, I was grinding pretty well and maybe avoiding risks would've seen me into the money. Dunno. I do know that I played okay and I'm looking forward to going back soon.
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