The Beast Who Stole Xmas...

Congratulations to The Beast for winning the Pomme Xmas Tournament. He took home the impressive trophy, not to mention the lion's share of the £6000 pot!

Cat Thrasher was runner-up and secured his place as the overall tournament champion at the Pomme. The guy ALWAYS seems to be sitting on the final table!

It was actually the Beast who eliminated me from the final table in 10th place. Ace, King proved to be a dog for me TWICE in the big game.

The first time it pumped me, I was chipleader on my table just before the break and flopped a King on a relatively harmless board... except for the fact my opponent was sat on pocket Kings!

Still in good shape after the break (40,000 chips) I went card dead for an hour or so and skulked onto the final table as the shortstack (£32,000) with monster blinds of 4000/8000.

I pushed with King, Queen suited and picked-up the blinds so at least I could wait for a good hand for another 10 hands or so.

I looked down at Big Slick and decided it was another pushing hand in my chip situation (and chose to ignore how it had taken a slice from me earlier in the tournament). One of the chipleaders, ClaireBear, raised it up to pretty much all my chips and then The Beast came over the top. I was happy to be in a situation where I could trebble-up so pushed them all in. I was even happy with their hands - ClaireBear had Ace, Queen and The Beast had pocket 10s.

I'd make that move a thousand times against those hands, but I couldn't find an Ace or a King so the 10s held and put the Beasty Boy in a healthy chip position.

My one consolation is that I eliminated Rocky earlier in the tournament, who pushed all his chips in with pocket Kings, the Donk... and of course the Cowboys were no match for my Jacks, especially when the set came on the flop! Ouch, sorry Rocky! They are called Hooks for a reason you big gilled, bottom feeder! Of course I am kidding, that was very unlucky and everyone at the table felt genuince sadness at the loss of such a poker personality from the tournament. That beat was bad for The Rock, but consider BeataBlock for a moment... his Kings were cracked by the Beast's pocket 9s, when the Grinch flopped QUADS!!! YEOWCH!!!

My new favorite seat in the cash game is seat one... you get the button when the game kicks off and the dealer insisted on dealing me pocket Aces twice and pocket Kings twice, so at least I ended the day 300% up!

More details coming on the FHP Online League at Uncover Poker today...

PLUS the WINTER SERIES dates have been confirmed and I will be releasing details of that league shortly too...

AnteVirusjT

Happy Sunday at The Pomme...

The £30 + £30 tournament was going well for me. I hit the final table with 30,000 chips and unusually, the whole table (albeit some begrudgingly) decided to chop the £3000+ pot between all 10 players, so it was £300 in the bag and we played on for the points and the remaining £120.

Of course we all played differently when the money was all but gone, and I called two all-ins with 5, 6 suited to hit two pair and take down the pot. I then pushed again with Ace, 8 and rivered a full house making me 2nd in chips. I was keen to improve on my previous 5th place finishes and this boat put me into at least 4th place, so I was happy.

Eventually, I find myself heads-up with the chip lead and we agree to chop the remaining £120 too. I then bluff off most of my chips and go all-in blind to a (not surprisingly) 2nd place finish... my best placing yet, although I accept that if we hadn't chopped the money with 10 players left, I probably wouldn't have made it so deep... I certainly wouldn't have pushed with 5, 6 suited!

Onto the cash game, I'm steaming (and felted) pretty early on when I'm re-raised after popping the pot with pocket Jacks. A third player calls (unbelievably bad call) for all his chips with Queen, 9 suited and flops his Queen. The Re-Raiser had Ace, 10 off but fails to find his Ace from Space! The winner loves being Suited and Booted my boy (apparently)!

I re-load and get my revenge on the very same player when he bets at me all the way to the river with his Ace, Queen only to run into my Ace, King (an Ace came on the flop and the board paired on the river). Shame.

I'm card dead for three hours, missing nut flush draws and open-ended straight draws but I'm happy with a HUGE laydown I make pre-flop. I very rarely lay down Ace, King pre-flop but the other player just seemed so strong and I felt he must have been holding pocket Kings or Aces. I popped the pot and he re-raises me for £120+. I hate throwing away £50 when I'm holding Big Slick, especially when a player throws another £100 into the pot. I ask him "Are those Aces or Kings?" and he says "Aces". I tell him I believe him and show my Ace, King as it hits the muck. He is gracious enough to show the table his pocket Aces.

I'm card dead for another hour and we hit the final three hands of the night. The first hand is my Big Blind and as per the rest of the night, it's a raggedy piece of crap and I fold.

Penultimate hand and I'm dealt pocket 10s. A few callers limp in and then Shaky pops the pot. I call and we're heads-up. The flop is a peach, 9, 10, 3 rainbow and I check my trips. Shaky bets the pot again and I Hollywood the call. He even comments on my Bond-esque acting skills! The turn is a 6, still a rainbow board, so nothing is beating my set. I check again and amazingly, Shaky pops the pot for £300+, which puts me all-in. I can't call quick enough and show my trips and he turns over Ace, Queen - drawing dead.

Beautiful...

Up £1000 on the day give or take a few quid.

Friday is HEAT 5 of the FHP Autumn Series and the week after that, it's the £1000 final table and more interestingly, The BOUNTY HUNTER TOURNAMENT... see below.

jT

Big Pomme Cash...

Luck isn't about hitting big hands... we all get big hands.

Real luck is hitting big hands when other players are hitting monsters too, only not as strong as yours.

I went out of the tournament on Sunday one before the final table. I thought that was unlucky.

The first hand I play in the cash game I get Ace, 6 suited and flop top pair (6) and four to the flush.

A guy bets, I call and another player calls. The turn is a blank for me. The original bettor puts all his chips in and I call, as does the other player. The bettor flopped two pair and the other player in the hand was chasing the flush, so clearly he was drawing dead. I hit my Ace on the river for a stronger two pair and trebble-up... nice one.

I then take Scallops chips when my King, 10 hits a 10 on the flop and the nut flush draw. I don't like the Ace, but I don't think Scallop has it so I call his all-in. He turns over pocket 9s and I river the straight.

I then have an insane run hitting full house after full house. I felted The Beast when I rivered a house beating his own weaker house. That's the real luck, he knew he was beat but it's one of those hands you can't lay down.

I'm then in a monster pot with another player. I raise it up with pocket Queens and get three callers. I flop a house when Q, 6, 6 comes out on the board. I check, another player checks and someone takes a stab for £40. The player to my right raises to £100 and I call. The original bettor folds as does the other original caller. The turn is a blank and the guy bets another £200. I call. On the river, it's a blank for both of the flush draws on the board and the player bets £200. I raise £400 and he calls with his trip 6s. MASSIVE POT.

And my luck goes on and on and on. In another big pot, a player flops a King with his Ace, King and pushes all his chips in. I call with pocket Kings!!! 

I cash in £1550 up on my £150 original buy-in.

Not bad...

jT

The Vic... and 5th Place seems to be a trend!

I love business trips to London and that's for one reason and one reason only... The Vic.

The Vic is the mecca for poker in London, even with swanky new casinos popping-up all over the place like the Empire, the Vic is still considered home for players like Neil Channing, Vicky Coren and the Hendon Mob.

The Vic is usually pretty good to me in the cash games, in fact I had my first £1000 win at The Vic.

Last Tuesday, I couldn't check-in to my hotel quick enough so I could jump straight into a cab and head off to the Vic. I got there just after 7pm and found the poker room buzzing and long waiting lists on most of the tables.

As I had time to kill, I signed-up for a Quadruple Qualifier Touranament for the GUKPT events later this month. The Buy-In was £120 and the winner won four seats to the main Hold-Em events in the GUKPT hosted at the Vic, including the 3000 main event. Seemed like good value to me, so I registered and sat down with my 1500 chips. By the end of the re-buy period, I was sat on 4000 chips and feeling good about my play. I stole a few pots and won a big showdown with trip Queens.

In the first hand of the freezeout stage, I flop top pair with a pretty good kicker and get flat called all the way to the river, even after making it pretty expensive to come with me. The guy had flopped middle pair and rivered two pair... I was gutted. I was left with about 700 chips and pushed with Ace, 7 suited. The same player called me, this time with pocket Jacks and I couldn't find an Ace or flush, so was eliminated. The guy went on to win the whole thing, which is amazing considering his play.

The good news is, I got to play some cash from about 9pm onwards. One of the great things about the Vic, is that it is situated in an Arabic Quarter of London and the Arabs are ultra aggressive and seem to take a re-raise as a personal insult and will often push all their chips in with nothing, seemingly to prove a point. They seem to prefer to lose all their chips than fold. Happy days!

I sit down at a £1/£3 table (£200 min) with the minimum £200 and am very pleased to look down at pocket Aces. I raise it up to £12 and get three callers. The flop is a peach - Ace, 9, 9. So I flop a full house and short of someone holding miracle quads, I'm looking good!

I check, and the player to my left checks, the next player bets £50 and I flat call, making it look like I am on a draw (two hearts on the board). The other two players fold and the turn is a blank. I check and the guy throws out £100. I flat call again, but make it look like I really don't want to call!

The river is another blank (If I was chasing hearts) and I quickly throw out the rest of my chips. He insta-calls with Ace, King and I show my rockets.

I run good for about an hour, hitting straights, flushes, two-pair and another full house, and run my £200 up to about £900.

I then go card dead for hours and lose a couple of hundred. Anyway, to cut a long story short, I cash-in about £500 up, which is good enough for me!

Outside the Vic, a snow storm is raging, which is kinda odd for October!

POMME TOURNAMENTS

I've finished 5th in the last two Pomme tournaments in a row... which is cool, but annoying at the same time (I wanna win one!)

Last week, the £30 + £30, 5th place finish earned me £160 and this week, the £50 + £50 generated £500, which ain't bad. It would have been £225 but we chopped when we got down to the last 5 players.

I started off okay, but went bust just before the re-buys ended when I got two callers pre-flop with my pocket Kings. I was looking good after the flop when no Aces came out but the turn put three diamonds out there and a player was sitting on the nuts with Ace, Jack of diamonds... Nice hand.

So £100 for a re-buy and the add-on and I'm sitting on the minimum chip stack for the freezeout period. I sit tight for an hour and players are being eliminated left, right and centre and before long we're down to two tables. I steal some dead money, as I have just enough chips to put the blinds off from calling with raggedy hands.

We're down to the final table and it's push or fold time. I get lucky a few times and steal some blinds and then get called in a key hand with Ace, 9. The player had 7, 8 suited and I turn an ace to double-up.

We're all playing mega tight and it's taking a fricking age to get rid of the short stacks. Catthrasher has a nice trebble-up to take the chip lead and sends two players home. We agree a prize for 6th and 7th place, so players are pushing with weak hands and before we knew it, we were down to 5 players.

The chip leader suggests a chop of £500 for four of us, with him taking £1000 and a play-off for the remaining £900 and the points. Happy days!

I take the money, and find Ace, 5 suited under the gun. I push my 40,000 in and get two callers, one with pocket 8s and one with Ace, 9 suited... Bye bye!

The 8s hold and take out me and the other player.

After 5 hours of poker, my cash game sucks and I push all my chips in after a flop gives me an open-ended straight and four to a flush. One player had a better flush draw and another had two-pair, which improves to a boat on the river.

I'm looking forward to the FHP game on Friday, new WPT tables, tournament software back in action and plenty of chips on the tables!!!

WATCH THIS SPACE...

We'll be hosting ONLINE TOURNAMENTS for FHP members at UNCOVER POKER later this month - more details coming soon...

And I've seen the mock-ups for the FHP clothing line and they look AMAZING!!! We're not talking simply a few poker t-shirts here, we're talking a top quality brand here, with Ts, shirts, hoodies, caps, longsleeves and much, much more... you will likey a lotty!!!

jT

Aces a Curse at the Pomme...

I was involved in the sickest hand ever yesterday in the cash game at the Pomme.

I was sat at a crazy table, lots of loose play and nobody particularly worried about pushing all their chips into the middle.

I'm dealt pocket Aces (both red) and decide to limp in as I am sure that someone is going to raise it-up. Sure enough, someone makes it £10 to go. Someone re-raises to £30 and two people call before me. I announce a raise and throw my £30 in. The pot is £156 and I push all my chips in. Players fold around the table but I get a caller. Now, I didn't realize someone was still in the hand so I flip my cards over, showing my Aces. I'm gutted as I do myself out of another potential caller. The player thinks about it and calls, flipping over 4, 6 suited, even though he SAW I WAS HOLDING ACES!!!

The other player was holding Ace, King. Anyway, the lunatic flops a 6 and rivers another one for trips and I lose a £700 pot.

Within 20 minutes, the same player is involved in another massive pot. He is raised on the flop, which doesn't look particularly dangerous and then is put all-in on the turn. He calls, and flips over his own pair of aces. His aggressive opponent shows an open-ended straight and sure enough, he hits his straight on the river, taking all the chips.

Wow, solid poker...

7th Place Finish in the Big Game...

It was the Big Game on Sunday at the Pomme... £260 buy-in and about £7500 in the pot. Starting stacks were 20,000 chips.

I drew a tough table with some solid tournament players but got some pretty good hands early.

I flopped trip 4s in the big blind and checked around to an aggressive, experienced player who bet out 4000. I made it 10,000 and he folded.

I then called a small pre-flop raise with pocket 2s and flopped a set. The Beast bet out and I raised it up. Fold.

I find King, Queen in the big blind and find myself heads-up with an aggressive, young player. The flop comes 3, 3, 3. I bet out and he flat calls. The turn is a 6. I bet again and he flat calls again. The river is another blank and I fire a third bet and the kid pushes all-in. I fold and he shows a bluff with something like 7, 8.

The same player who made the above bluff, loses most of his chips (and some of mine he bluffed off me) in a big hand and is left the short stack - and I find another pair of 2s in the hole in the next hand. It's folded around to me in the small blind and the kid in the big blind. I raise it up and he flat calls. I put him all-in blind before the flop is dealt and hit another set of 2s! He calls as he is pot committed and is drawing dead, so he is eliminated.

Another small stack gets unlucky when I raise it with Ace, Queen suited and he has Ace, King. I get my straight on the river eliminating another player.

The table is broken-up and we're down to the final 20 players or so. I spend 4 or 5 hours floating between 30,000 and 40,000 chips, never really hitting a big hand but managing to stay above the average chip stack.

The blinds and antes mean that every pot is worth winning and I pick-up some dead money with all-in moves.

After about 6-7 hours, I'm on the final table (10 players) and sitting on around 25,000 chips. I'm in all or nothing mode and push in with Ace, Queen and get no callers and then pocket 7s and get no callers.

2 players are eliminated over the next hour and we hit the dinner break. I'm not the short stack, but I'm only sitting on about 35,000 chips (about 15 big blinds) and I'm waiting for my spots to see if I can double-up or at least wait it out to make the money (only the top 6 get paid).

A pro gets eliminated when his pocket 9s are crushed by pocket Jacks and there's only 7 left... one more player out and at least I get my buy-in back after 8 hours of poker! I regret my 'wait it out' strategy, folding when players are all-in, only to hit my hands on the flop and see worse hands winning huge pots. The blinds and antes are eating away at me and I need a hand to move all-in with.

My King, Jack runs into pocket Queens and I can't find another Cowboy so go out on the bubble.

My head is banging after 8 straight hours of concentration but I sit down at the cash game with £140 anyway. Twenty minutes later, I'm sitting on £1300! 8 HOURS FOR NOTHING AND I MAKE A GRAND IN 20 MINUTES!!! that's poker!

I push all my chips in with Ace, King suited when the flop gives me four to the nut flush. It was pure gamble but it paid off when I get two callers, one who had flopped the straight and the other with a big pocket pair. My third heart comes with the next card and I pull-in £600.

A few minutes later, I look down at pocket Kings. The flop brings no scary Aces, no straights and no flushes. Two players go all-in and I raise it-up £100 and get called. The turn is another King but puts a flush draw out there. I push all my chips in and the other guy folds. My trip Kings win the lot and I am now sitting on £1300 chips.

Not a bad day after all, although I was really hoping to hit the top three in the tournament. Ah well.

jT

Nice cash at the Pomme... and the Fish Hook Autumn Series is HERE!!!

After three hours of rags and disciplined folding, I found myself down from my starting stack of £158, to about £56. I was deciding whether or not to re-load for another £200 if I went bust or just go home, when I found pocket 9s. I push all-in and they hold against Ace, Queen suited.

The last Sunday of the month is no-limit at the Pomme, which can be fun... or expensive! Usually the cash games are pot-limit, which usually sees better poker but can be frustrating when you have great starting hands and can't shake the speculative players with pot-sized bets. To be honest, I like pot-limit cash games and prefer no-limit for the tournaments, but you can't beat the adrenaline rush of no-limit cash games.

A player experienced some serious bad luck after turning the nut straight and pushing all-in. He got two callers, one with a flush draw and one with trip 9s. The case 9 hit on the river for Quads and he was felted. He came back shortly after with some more cash only to find himself all-in against the same player with a paired  ace on the flop and a Queen kicker. His opponent had an ace too but only with 10 kicker. The turn was a blank but the river a 10, busting him again and he left understandably disgusted with the poker Gods for cursing him.

I grinded it out, back-up to my starting stack and find Ace, 10 suited. I flop a 10, which is top pair and the other player in the hand bets £30. I push all my chips in and he calls and flips over pocket Queens. I am dominated but hopeful for an Ace. Another 10 hits on the turn and another 10 on the river for Quads! The second player of the evening is felted and leaves cursing the game we love to hate at times.

I have about £350 in chips and limp in with Jack, 6 suited. The flop comes Jack, 6, 5 rainbow. The first to act bets £13 and the six players around the table call one by one except the guy two to my right who raises another £20 on top of the £13. The player to my right calls and I push all £350 into the middle. Everyone folds around to the re-raiser, who fishes for information and eventually calls. The next player calls all-in, although he only has about £100 left. There's over £800 in the pot and I'm pleased to see the first caller with a 6 and a 5 for a weaker two-pair and the small stack has an open ended straight draw. My two pair holds and I scoop in a massive pot and easily the biggest of the night on our table.

I win a couple more pots with some small pocket pairs and end up cashing-in for £930. Not bad!

FISH HOOK POKER AUTUMN SERIES 2008

The Autumn Series is booked at the Tipsy Toad Townhouse and Heat 1 is Thursday, 25th September - Cards will be in the air at 7:30pm.

Each heat is a £20 + £2 tournament with 20 minute blinds, starting stacks of 3000 chips and £10 re-buys in the first hour and an optional add-on at the end of the re-buy period.

The series is a league of poker, and cash and points are up for grabs at each heat. £200 will be held from each heat's prize pool and the top ten players on the leaderboard at the end of the series will play on the £1000 final table. So, at each heat, players will be playing for a £600 pot and a shot at a further £1000 in November.

See you at the tables...

jT

The 'Thursday Curse!'

I finally broke the 'Thursday Curse' last night.

In all the cash games I have played at the Pomme, I have NEVER won on a Thursday night! And I mean never.

Sundays, I've hit a grand three times, but I've been 'felted' every time on a Thursday. And it's exactly the same faces, the same format and as far as I know, I'm playing my same game.

Anyway, last night I finished 'up'. It would have been substantially 'up' too, but I lost a big pot when I flopped a low flush with straight flush possibilities. I was holding 5, 3 of Diamonds and limped-in. Three diamonds hit the flop including a 6 and a 4.

A guy smooth called my bets all the way to the river and when no more diamonds hit on the turn and river I figured I was good, even though I had missed my straight flush - he had the nut flush and one of the cards I needed for my straight flush (the 7, I think). Ah well.

So how much did I finish up? £3.

Yep, I was in for £300, and went down to about £100 at one point, but cashed-in for the princely sum of £303.

It's not the amount that matters though, it's that I've finally crushed this curse.

A guy hit a Royal Flush too, which was sweet to see, especially as I wasn't in the pot! That's two in two months now!

jT

In the cash, and last chance saloon!

Had a miserable time at Heat 4 of the Mourant Charity Series - was chip leader at my table before the re-buys finished, shed my chips when a guy called my pocket pair with Queen, 10 (for his tournament life no less) and hit his 10 on the river. Short-stacked, I was looking good to trebble-up with trip Kings - I was all-in after the turn and got two callers. One guy had two-pair so he couldn't catch me but the other guy risked all his chips to hit a flush... and hit, taking me and the two-pair caller out of the tournament.

Next week is the final heat and I need to finish in the top ten to secure a place at the final table in August. If I win this heat, I win player of the year but I'd be happy just placing high to get a shot at the championship.

Tournaments aren't all doom and gloom though, I finished 2nd last week in the Fish Hook Poker £20 buy-in tournament and took home £200. Should have won it but was running out of time and patience.

Also hit my biggest cash game net win on Sunday at the Pomme when I cashed £1100 - I was in for £140.

The cards were insane - in three hours we counted 16 Full Houses, 2 Straight Flushes and Quad Kings. And it seemed to be one guy who kept hitting. He was at least £800 up at one point but left with nothing at 12:30.

I hit a couple of full houses, a nut straight and had better cards in two massive pots. In the last hand of the night I get AK and flop a King. There's already £260 in the main pot and then a guy with Pocket Jacks chases me to the river for another £400. Nice!

Fish Hook Poker is now a formalised Club, with articles, membership cards and an incredible website for members... Watch This Space!

jT

Quickest heads-up, Longest heads-up and a Straight Flush...

That's pretty much how the home game went on Tuesday.

Bad night for me, I was out third in both games, and had to re-buy in both games too!

Pokerbrat and Renzo were the heroes this week.

GREAT to see Renzo back in the game and on his game for that matter.

Lethal called me down on a couple of big bluffs in the first game and took most of my chips.

I had to re-buy shortly after, but doubled-up with the first Straight Flush ever at the home game. Pokerbrat re-loaded and didn't look back from then on.

I think Lethal was out first, then Renzo and with me crashing third, Kermit was the man to take on Pokerbrat heads-up... it lasted one hand! Pokerbrat taking down the win.

In the second game, the Brat re-loaded and then went out for a second time. He cut his losses and went home.

I went down to 3000 chips and brought it back to over 100,000.

The chips moved back and forth for a while but I chased too many straights. I did have one good hand, doubling through Renzo with my pocket Kings. He had 7s in the hole but the cowboys held.

The heads-up between Renzo and Kermit lasted a monstrous 2 hours!

Every time Renzo went in with the best hand, Kermit would hit and double-up. Renzo would then grind himself back to even, take the lead, then lose to a bad beat... over and over again. It was incredible.

In the end, a big hand held for Renzo and he won the second game.

Pomme

I'm really pissed-off with my game on Thursday night at the Pomme. I started off really well, making a call that could have sent me home £200 down in the first hour. I was dealt Ace, King and hit a King on the flop.

Pikey Chris makes a £51 bet and I re-raise another £51. He moves all-in and I'm already commited to calling so push all my chips in. He's chasing a straight and a flush but he misses and I river trip Kings. Phew!

So now I'm sat on over £400 in chips and I'm looking forward to grinding out another big win at the Pomme.

30 minutes later and I'm dealt pocket Aces, one of which is a heart. Eddie bets the pot so I re-raise the new pot. He calls reluctantly and when the flop hits he pushes all-in. I insta-call and find he is chasing a heart flush. It hits the turn so I need another heart to give me the nut flush. It's a rag, so I lose over £100 with pocket rockets to Queen fuckin rag.

I tighten up but every time I think I am making the right play, I'm beaten. For example, the Gay Blade who usually plays tighter than Kermit, is heads-up against my pocket 8s. The flop is 7, 5, 5 and I figure the guy only plays Aces and Kings so bet out. He calls me down all the way to the river and turns over 5, 6 - he flopped trips and was flat calling me all the way.

I'm starting to tilt a bit as I know I'm not playing my usual game. I pair a 7 on the flop against a regular who has been away (and I've never played against). He seems tight, in fact he folded a low flush when I had the King flush in an earlier hand, which is an amazing lay down! Anyway, I river another 7 and bet out £50 (there's well over £100 in the pot) and he calls, showing a straight I didn't even see on the board.

I'm now completely tilting and I'm left with £75.

I pair a Queen on my final hand and move in. I get two callers and watch them play against each other and ultimately one of them turns over a full house.

I leave really pissed off.

Tomorrow is a £75 freezeout at the Pomme so I'm going down to play in that and later on the cash game... this time I'll down a couple of Relentless and keep my head in the game.

AVjT

March Madness - But Business As Usual in the Cash Game

The March Madness Tournament at the Pomme lived up to its name. In the very first hand three players were all in.

I think I saw a flop twice in one hour without someone being all-in pre-flop.

It was crazy and after re-loading for a third time, I decided enough was enough, so ducked out of the game and came back later for sensible poker.

I wasn't feeling too good about poker when I sat down and bought £200 of chips, but I soon got into the swing.

I was dealt pocket Kings, and was very happy seeing a King on the flop. Scotty bet out at me the whole way, even betting £50 blind before the river. I was supposed to raise but was a dick and said "Call and raise" so the call stood. Scotty flipped over trip Tens, so my set of Kings was good.

I flopped a few trips tonight and made a flush, so was about £400 up at one stage.

During dealer's choice, a hand of Omaha flopped me a straight so I was doing well.

I had to move tables just after midnight and ended up losing close to £100 when my pocket Aces were cracked with a runner, runner flush. Worst thing about it was I made trip Aces on the flop, but I'm still pissed-off with myself for calling the final £50 bet on the river.

I won a few chips back with pocket Jacks and then ten minutes after the pocket Aces above, I was dealt another pair! This time nobody would stay in the hand, so I only made about £20... gutted!

Back on the original table, I flopped a pair of Kings, that turned into a Set. I got paid off so was back in the money.

Pocket 5s held-up in one of the last few hands of the night, and I ended up cashing in £745, which is just over £5oo up on the night, including the crazy bingo that was the March Madness Tournament!

Probably no home game this week as we have the first heat of the Mourant Charity Series at the Tipsy Toad on Friday. With 50 players, it should be a good night. We have WSOP chips up for grabs and all other proceeds from the buy-ins go to charity.

jT

Cold Decks & Pineapple

It was a pretty bad night at the Pomme for me, I lost a huge pot with an Ace, 8 suited when I was out-kicked by a 10 that went from a potential split pot to a straight when the river showed a Jack.

I was down £300 and tempted to call it a night. After the last few weeks I was still up £2000 and I figured I can afford a few weeks of losing £300 - but I couldn't do it! No way I'm leaving at 10:30pm on a bad call. And I've been down £400 before and brought it back up to £1000 profit. Say one thing about me, being down a few hundred quid doesn't throw me on tilt!

So I cashed another £200 and sat back down at the table. The deck was cold for me for at least an hour and I wondered if I was going to see a pair again. I watched Pokerbrat go bust and leave £100 down and I figured it would be a bad night for the Fishhook crew.

Dealer's Choice

My favorite time of the night, when Paul takes a break and the players pick the game. First up, Omaha, and it didn't let me down. This time I'm dealt a marginal hand, one that most people may even fold - QQ52 and the 5 suits one of the Queens. Thing is, I know I'm only gonna get one or two hands of Omaha, so I play it. Luckily nobody raises the pot so I limp in. The flop misses me apart from a 2 so my Queens are still the best cards in my hand... I also have an outside flush. The turn is a rag and the river gives me a Queen-high flush and amazingly, I take down an average pot.

We play another hand of Omaha, but I'm dealt crap and fold when someone bets on the flop.

Then we play 7 card stud and I'm looking good for a straight but have to fold just before the third down card is dealt.

Pineapple

A player chooses Pineapple, a game I've never played before. Basically, you get three cards in the hole and then the flop is dealt. You then get to throw one card away and play the rest of the hand like Hold'em. I really enjoyed it but it was a crap hand. I got 5,7,9 clubs, which could have been sweet on the flop but only gave me three to a straight when I threw away the 9. Anyway, I'm looking forward to playing that again, it's an interesting variation of poker I'd never come across before.

In the last hour, I take down a few pots, play some speculative hands, one that turns into a straight and one that gives me a fishy set of deuces. I didn't get paid in the latter as I said something fuckwitish like "Cheap to call," when someone made the minimum bet. I still got paid a little, but the guy called me a 'Plum' anyway and laughed at my comment.

Dolly Brunson

I limped-in with 10, 2, unsuited only to hit two pair on the flop. I checked, hoping to trap. The turn throws out another 10 giving me a full house. A guy raises it up so I um and ar and then call. The river throws out a flush possibility and the guy throws in £25, I re-raise £75 and he puts me all-in. I turn over my house and he shows a picture card flush. I double-up and get the only monster I see all night - well, monster with me winning anyway!

When I cashed-in for the night it was for £330, so I managed to claw back £130 into my £300 loss, finishing the night £170 down. Not the end of the world by any means, and I'm hoping the Vic on Tuesday will get me back into my winning ways.

No Pomme next week as it's Easter Sunday but I got the Vic Tuesday and a homegame on Thursday at my place.

Welcome to fishhookpoker blog!

What better way to open the fishhookpoker blog than by talking about my biggest cashgame win to-date!

Before all that, welcome to fishhookpoker blog!

fishhookpoker is a brand. Simple as that. It all started with the name and then a prop-bet that went wrong, but I'll talk about that in a future post! fishhookpoker.com comes from three poker players who play every week in a competitive homegame.

Anyway, onto the big score cashgame.

I've found that my game is more suited to live cashgames than tournaments and recently I took the decision to remove all online poker software from my laptop. I did okay online, even finished 9th, hitting the money in a 1000+ player multi-table tournament, but it just isn't the same as the live game.

Everyone has to have a grounding in the maths, it's unavoidable, but for me, it's the psychology that makes poker such an amazing game. I love reading people, looking for tells and above all, talking people into the wrong decision (or 'acting' them into the wrong decision for that matter!) My favorite book on poker of all time, is Mike Caro's Book of Tells, and one 'rule' that I always keep at the front of my mind in a tough game is to "Work out what the player wants you to do, and disappoint them."

So, I've played live tournaments at the Vic in London, in Vegas at the MGM Grand, and even in Grand Cayman on the beach (another story!) but it's in cashgames where I've hit the cash - in fact, last Sunday I won more money in a cashgame than the winner of the £20 buy-in tournament (which I crashed out of shortly after the break).

I've been lucky at the Vic too, walking out with £7oo one night after starting with £75, and then £900 the next night starting £200 down after losing the £700 in 20 minutes! (another story).

For Jersey folk, I'm obviously talking about the Jersey Poker Club hosted by the legendary, Paul, at the Pomme D'Or Hotel in St Helier. The tournament kicks off at 5pm every Sunday and they usually plan a range of tournaments ranging from £20 buy-in multi-tables with re-buys and add-ons; to the monster £100 buy-in freezeout. I've played in three tournaments and failed to cash. To be honest, there's some insane play, especially from players happy to throw their cash at the re-buys. But there are also some very solid players and it's in the cashgames that kick-off at 8pm every Sunday, and also on Thursday nights, that the quality play can be found.

The first time I played in a Pomme cashgame I was happy to cash-in £350 because it covered the cost of my bad tournament play and left me a little bit up. The week after that, I turned £200 into £800 and didn't dip below by original buy-in once! I had an amazing hand of Omaha, dealt AA99 with each 9, giving me flush draws with the suited Ace! I beat a Kings over Aces fullhouse with my own Aces over Kings fullhouse and took down a massive pot. Shortly after I cracked Linford's trip threes with a straight I made on the turn.

So last Sunday I had no expectations of beating that win, in fact, I thought I was due a bad night and for the first hour, it seemed I was going to get what I expected. I didn't see a single pair for hours and when I played speculative hands, I got pumped. Micky, an old cagey player, just beat me hand after hand. by about 10pm, I went all-in with pocket 8s, a pair at last! And yes, Micky hit his frickin King on the flop. So I was already £200 down and decided to get another £200 from the bank to try and break even. Always a risk this, but patience is the key, right?

Anyway, by midnight, an hour before the club closes, I'm down to about £100 in chips (£300 down) and enough players had left the club so the game was on one table of 11 players. And it was the tough, experienced players at that. I was already resigning myself to losing £300 that night and justifying it with my £800 cash-in the week before.

At midnight, every Sunday, Paul takes a break from dealing the cashgame and we have a few hands of dealer's choice (where the delear decides the game, I.E. Hold'em, Omaha, Seven Card Stud, Raz etc.) and this is where my luck changed.

I'll discuss the key hands in detail below, but essentially, in one hour, with three hands, I turned my £100 into £1200! Giving me my biggest cash-in to-date and in the last hand, the biggest pot I have ever been involved in.

Now I'm no Phil Ivey playing million dollar cashgames, but for a wannabe poker player, playing £10 buy-in homegame sit and go's, it was pretty amazing!

Dealers Choice (HAND ONE)

Someone asks me if I know how to play Omaha. I do, in fact, it's probably my favorite form of poker. The rules are similar to Hold'em but you're dealt four cards in the hole and HAVE to use two but ONLY two from the pocket. That means if you are dealt trips or quads, the hand is un-playable because at best, you have a pair.

Anyway, I'm dealt a marginal hand but I do have a suited Ace (clubs). Almost everyone at the table limps in with the blind. The flop gives me two more clubs for my flush draw. Someone raises £20 and I decide it's now or never with my small stack (£100) so I call, hoping to draw a nut flush. The turn gives me another club and the first to act moves all-in for almost double my chips. Of course I 'call' with my nut flush, hoping I'll get some more callers. The guy to my left puts the original raiser all-in and I sit back and watch the carnage, waiting to pull in my now tripled-up small stack (£300). The River is a blank and the guy to my left turns over the King flush and I show my Ace flush. He takes down the side-pot, covering the chips he threw into the main pot, and I start stacking my £300 in chips.

The Ladies (HAND TWO)

With about half an hour to go, I'm dealt a pair of Queens. Nice! I'm last to act and the guy to my right, raises the pot, which is about £48. I'm pleased it's pot limit as I'd be worried with my Queens for any more. I decide I have to call with a pair of face cards but everyone else folds. I could have raised, but I had a feeling Al (a friend unfortunately) had Kings or maybe AK and I know he's tight so must have a good hand. I tell him "You better have Aces" so at least he thinks I have Kings!

The flop is perfect for me, Queen, 10 and a rag. I have trips (three of a kind) and I know I'm ahead. I'm not sure if my bluff about the Aces was a factor, but he clearly thinks he is ahead and bets the pot again (£118ish) and I declare my all-in for the rest of my £300. He 'calls' but reluctantly, and I tell him I have trips just before we flip our cards over - he has pocket Aces! Wow, no wonder he raised it up! He's gutted when he sees my Queens and the turn card is a Jack. This is bad news for me, as he now has more outs - another Ace would obviously kill my trips, but a King would give him a straight!

It's a rag, and Al can only shake his head as I stack my £600! Busted, Al shakes my hand and leaves the club, cursing pocket rockets as we all do when they're cracked! This is a good example of where pot limit helps lower pairs - if it was no limit, and he could have moved all-in pre-flop, I may have walked away from pocket Queens against a tight player. I was hoping to flop a set, and got my wish quite cheap at £48.

Last Hand of the Night (HAND THREE)

It's literally the last hand of the night and that's one of the interesting aspects of playing in a private club as opposed to the big casinos. I'm used to leaving when I want, which is usually at about 3 or 4am but at the Pomme, the dealer will state "Last three hands gents" and each hand, you're praying for something playable!

So I get my final cards, lift the corners and look at my own pair of Aces!

I'm mindful of Al's fate 30 minutes earlier but can't NOT play pocket rockets! Everyone limps in with the blind of £4 and when it gets to me I raise the pot, which is just short of £40.

A few players around the table moan at my raise - apparently we should all see a flop on the last hand. Tough... I've got AA and want to thin the field. Fold, fold, fold, fold, fold and for a moment, I'm worried I won't get any callers.

The guy to my right, almost reluctantly pushes £40 more into the middle. I have a player.

The flop is Queen, 10, rag with two clubs. I don't want the guy to suck-out a flush or a straight so I bet £100, happy to take down £80 profit right there.

He hates this bet so he obviously got a bit of the flop, maybe pairing a Queen. He shows someone to our right his hand and moans and groans. After a few minutes, to my surprise, he pushes all-in for about another £360! The dealer counts the pot and it's over £700! My call would push the pot to over £1100, the biggest pot I have ever been involved in for real cash! In-fact, even in a £100 sit and go online, the first place prize is only £700-£800 so my heart rate is through the roof!

He stands-up and I tell him I have pocket Aces. He tells me that he's ahead at the moment. I'd been watching this kid make moves all night, and showing the bluffs to rub it in to players he put off the best hand. He's urging me not to call, literally and with the size of the bet. At that moment I'm thinking I could walk away even, a little bit up in fact, or I could call and lose, and walk away £300 down, or of course I could call and win, and take down £11oo in one pot and cash-in £1200 after the hand!

I still think he's on a draw but my mind starts putting him on two-pair. I think over how he played the hand, and his hesitation before pushing all-in, then I remember Caro's rule above... he desperately does not want the call. I turn over my Aces, and he nearly falls over. I tell him I want to check if one of my Aces is a club. It is. This isn't really my reason for turning over the cards, I want to see his reaction to my bullets. I tell him even if he is ahead at that moment, maybe I'll get lucky with the flush.

I call.

He says "Good call" and turns over Queen, 6, of clubs. I can see his dilemma... he has top pair and a flush draw and if I'd limped in to that flop, I may have moved-in myself - but how did he call the £40 pre-flop raise with Queen, 6!?!

I'm praying so hard not to see a club, I don't even realise he makes two pair when a 6 drops on the turn. Everyone watching groans, I'm now way behind and I realise there are about 4 cards in the whole deck that can help me - another Ace, or another 10 (I later learn only three cards could have helped!)

The river is the 10 of hearts, I've made a better two pair with my aces and the 10s on the board! Wow, the guy is stunned and he just watches as I pull in over a Grand in chips!

I'm glad I raised it up pre-flop, as I later find out that someone threw away a 10 - had I slow-played, his trips would have taken down the whole pot!

So there you have it - Three hands in one hour turn £100 into £1200!

Tomorrow night is the usual homegame, this time hosted at Jamie 'Kermit' Pestana's Cassa! Tough field, we got a Rock, two calling-stations and a sneaky bastard!

I'll let you know what happens -

In a future post, I'll talk about the Charity Poker Tournament I'm putting together between April and August!!!

jT