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
Monday, 31 March 2008
Saturday, 29 March 2008
Fishhook Leaderboard
Check out the Fishhook Home Game Leaderboard - Click on the image to see it properly.
The rankings are based on games won, but don't let that fool you - check out who is in the money and who is chasing to get back in the black!
Another indication that we have a strong player, is their return on investment. This is calculated based on the return (as a percentage) players have received from all their buy-ins. For example, if a player had played two, £10 buy-in games, and was currently £20 up, their ROI would be 100%.
From the 1st July, we'll implement a point system, similar to the charity game. We'll still track the above stats, but players will also get points for winning games, coming second, and coming third (3 points for a win, 2 points for second, 1 point for third) - that way we can keep an eye on solid players who keep getting to the heads-up, but can't seem to nail it (Cough**Kermit**Cough).
jT
A Professor and The Mountain becomes a Volcano!
It was short-handed this week at Pokerbrat's, as BT and Poker Princess broke down with a flat tyre... a likely story!
Anyway, it was down to Pokerbrat, Kermit, myself and Pokerbrat's girlfriend, who've I've nicknamed The Professor... as she's a teacher and a solid player.
Mountain turned up an hour into the game, missing three re-buys!
Kermit busted-out, and I lost all my chips twice in the space of ten minutes! First time, my pocket 8s were cracked when Pokerbrat's Ace, Queen caught two aces on the board, then when my own suited Ace, Queen failed to improve against the Professor's pocket Kings. It was looking like the first pot was staying in Casa Pokerbrat one way or the other as I doubled up both of them early on!
My game was shithouse from then on, even with a re-load to 30,000 chips. I was out first when I gambled as the short-stack with Queen, Jack only for Professor to catch an Ace on the flop.
Kermit got VERY lucky when he pushed all-in with Ace, rag, got a call from Pokerbrat, who turned over pocket Queens. The board gave Kermit four clubs and he doubled-up with the nut flush.
Mountain was slowly but surely building chips and Professor was making some moves but not getting any callers.
Pokerbrat pushed all-in after a raise from Kermit and after thinking about it for a year and a half, Kermit called with another Ace, rag. The brat turned over pocket Jacks and this time they held, crippling Kermit until he eventually lost to Mountain's outside straight.
The brat had come back from nothing to almost even chips with Mountain, and after taking out the Professor, was dominant again.
It has to be said, Mountain was blinding away, and often folded his small blind. Eventually he was forced to move with an average hand and the brat took down the first game and an £80 pot.
Fairplay to Mountain, he turned up an hour into the game, played solid and made it to heads-up in only his third game with the Fishhook crew! The Professor was also solid in her debut and it will be interesting in future games if we get Lethal, Poker Princess and the Professor at the table... Probably Kermit's worst nightmare!
Second Game
Pokerbrat was busted early when he pushed with his top pair and walked straight into Mountain's trip 7s... the Mountain was now chip leader!
The brat came back strong, gradually stealing chips and winning showdowns with some solid play. It has to be said, he was on form and every time his chips were in the middle and in jeopardy, he always had the strongest hand. Of course his luck didn't always hold out, but his decisions were bang on.
The re-buy period ended and I was chip leader with the brat only 9000 or 10,000 behind me. The blinds were 1000/2000 and I was dealt Ace, Queen off-suit. A nice starting hand. I tried to limp-in but the brat raised it up to 4000. I was the only caller and the flop brought a couple of clubs, in 10, Jack, rag. I was looking good with the straight draw, so called the brat's bet of 12,000. The turn was another club and I was surprised when the brat pushed all his chips in the middle.
I turned my cards over, showing my Ace, Queen and of course the Ace was a club so I had straight draws and flush opportunities. I worked out quickly that I had at least 12 outs, any King, any club or and maybe even pairing my ace should do it, unless the brat already had the flush of course.
I counted my chips and if I lost this one, I'd be left with 9000 chips and of course, Pokerbrat would be almost certainly unstoppable with over two-thirds of the chips in play.
I took my time, or as we like to call it... I took a 'Kermit Pause'.
Eventually I pushed my chips in and as it was my deal, I stood-up, burnt a card and then flipped over a King of clubs... YES!!! The nut flush!
The brat turned over his pocket Queens, gutted.
What's incredible here, is the odds of the Pokerbrat having pocket Queens again, only to have them cracked by a club nut flush again, that needed four clubs on the board, AGAIN!!! I'd love to know the odds of that!
Once again though, the brat had his chips in the middle when he was ahead.
Kermit didn't last too much longer, so Mountain was down to the heads-up two out of two!
With my chip lead, I didn't think it would be long, which was a big mistake because the Mountain was a 'move' machine, pushing all-in nearly every hand and really putting pressure on me. Before I knew it, he was ahead of me in chips, so I knew if I made a stand, and it went wrong, I'd be out the game!
He made some amazing moves, in one hand for example, I'd flopped top-pair (Jacks) but had a shitty kicker. I threw it away when Mountain pushed all-in, convinced he was on Ace, Jack or King, Jack and the bastard turns over pocket 2s!
We called him 'Mountain' because of his Rocky debut and yet here he was throwing his chips in with any face card.
Eventually I dropped about 10,000 chips behind and I had to make a stand. I was dealt Ace, Ten and when Mountain pushed, I called. He flipped over Ace, 8 so at least I was ahead. To my relief, they held and a few hands later, my paired 7, took Mountain out... Phew!!! I thought it was going to be an expensive night as far as the home game goes, but the £50 pot left me £10 up.
Fairplay Mountain, heads-up twice and almost nailed me in the second game.
jT
Anyway, it was down to Pokerbrat, Kermit, myself and Pokerbrat's girlfriend, who've I've nicknamed The Professor... as she's a teacher and a solid player.
Mountain turned up an hour into the game, missing three re-buys!
Kermit busted-out, and I lost all my chips twice in the space of ten minutes! First time, my pocket 8s were cracked when Pokerbrat's Ace, Queen caught two aces on the board, then when my own suited Ace, Queen failed to improve against the Professor's pocket Kings. It was looking like the first pot was staying in Casa Pokerbrat one way or the other as I doubled up both of them early on!
My game was shithouse from then on, even with a re-load to 30,000 chips. I was out first when I gambled as the short-stack with Queen, Jack only for Professor to catch an Ace on the flop.
Kermit got VERY lucky when he pushed all-in with Ace, rag, got a call from Pokerbrat, who turned over pocket Queens. The board gave Kermit four clubs and he doubled-up with the nut flush.
Mountain was slowly but surely building chips and Professor was making some moves but not getting any callers.
Pokerbrat pushed all-in after a raise from Kermit and after thinking about it for a year and a half, Kermit called with another Ace, rag. The brat turned over pocket Jacks and this time they held, crippling Kermit until he eventually lost to Mountain's outside straight.
The brat had come back from nothing to almost even chips with Mountain, and after taking out the Professor, was dominant again.
It has to be said, Mountain was blinding away, and often folded his small blind. Eventually he was forced to move with an average hand and the brat took down the first game and an £80 pot.
Fairplay to Mountain, he turned up an hour into the game, played solid and made it to heads-up in only his third game with the Fishhook crew! The Professor was also solid in her debut and it will be interesting in future games if we get Lethal, Poker Princess and the Professor at the table... Probably Kermit's worst nightmare!
Second Game
Pokerbrat was busted early when he pushed with his top pair and walked straight into Mountain's trip 7s... the Mountain was now chip leader!
The brat came back strong, gradually stealing chips and winning showdowns with some solid play. It has to be said, he was on form and every time his chips were in the middle and in jeopardy, he always had the strongest hand. Of course his luck didn't always hold out, but his decisions were bang on.
The re-buy period ended and I was chip leader with the brat only 9000 or 10,000 behind me. The blinds were 1000/2000 and I was dealt Ace, Queen off-suit. A nice starting hand. I tried to limp-in but the brat raised it up to 4000. I was the only caller and the flop brought a couple of clubs, in 10, Jack, rag. I was looking good with the straight draw, so called the brat's bet of 12,000. The turn was another club and I was surprised when the brat pushed all his chips in the middle.
I turned my cards over, showing my Ace, Queen and of course the Ace was a club so I had straight draws and flush opportunities. I worked out quickly that I had at least 12 outs, any King, any club or and maybe even pairing my ace should do it, unless the brat already had the flush of course.
I counted my chips and if I lost this one, I'd be left with 9000 chips and of course, Pokerbrat would be almost certainly unstoppable with over two-thirds of the chips in play.
I took my time, or as we like to call it... I took a 'Kermit Pause'.
Eventually I pushed my chips in and as it was my deal, I stood-up, burnt a card and then flipped over a King of clubs... YES!!! The nut flush!
The brat turned over his pocket Queens, gutted.
What's incredible here, is the odds of the Pokerbrat having pocket Queens again, only to have them cracked by a club nut flush again, that needed four clubs on the board, AGAIN!!! I'd love to know the odds of that!
Once again though, the brat had his chips in the middle when he was ahead.
Kermit didn't last too much longer, so Mountain was down to the heads-up two out of two!
With my chip lead, I didn't think it would be long, which was a big mistake because the Mountain was a 'move' machine, pushing all-in nearly every hand and really putting pressure on me. Before I knew it, he was ahead of me in chips, so I knew if I made a stand, and it went wrong, I'd be out the game!
He made some amazing moves, in one hand for example, I'd flopped top-pair (Jacks) but had a shitty kicker. I threw it away when Mountain pushed all-in, convinced he was on Ace, Jack or King, Jack and the bastard turns over pocket 2s!
We called him 'Mountain' because of his Rocky debut and yet here he was throwing his chips in with any face card.
Eventually I dropped about 10,000 chips behind and I had to make a stand. I was dealt Ace, Ten and when Mountain pushed, I called. He flipped over Ace, 8 so at least I was ahead. To my relief, they held and a few hands later, my paired 7, took Mountain out... Phew!!! I thought it was going to be an expensive night as far as the home game goes, but the £50 pot left me £10 up.
Fairplay Mountain, heads-up twice and almost nailed me in the second game.
jT
Tuesday, 25 March 2008
Never Muck Your Hand - Even if you miss!
I've seen players lose chips (and sometimes cold hard cash) three times this month, because they mucked their hand for no good reason after the river card had been dealt.
Twice I wasn't in the hand, but once I was the lucky recipient of tens of thousands of chips with my 7 high (I missed my draw!)
I was in a cash game (thankfully out of the hand) watching a player throwing plenty of chips into the pot and he had a caller the whole way to the river. Four hearts were on the board and both players checked on the river. A young player, and one who had been making moves all night, claimed he had the flush, and the other player mucked his hand without turning his cards over and the young player simply mucked his hand, without showing, which he was perfectly entitled to do. Did he have the flush? We'll never know! NEVER MUCK YOUR HAND UNTIL YOU HAVE SEEN THAT YOU ARE BEATEN: POKER PLAYERS LIE!!!
I asked the player later if he had the flush and he smiled and said, "I always have the nuts."
A few weeks later in a cash game, two players bet the whole way to the river card. The board was something like Ace, Ace, Queen, Jack, 3 (no flush) and after the 3 hit on the river, a player bet-out. The other player called, and the betting man turned over Ace, Queen - very happy with his full house. The other player mucked his hand in a rage and was clearly pissed-off.
The dealer collected all the cards and re-shuffled, ready to deal the next hand. Another player asked the loser what he had, and he claimed he had Ace, Jack - Very unlucky as he too had a full house but was just pipped to the post by the Aces over Queens.
Unfortunately for the loser, in his anger to muck his hand, he forgot the house jackpot, which is, if your Aces full house is beaten, and both hands are shown after the river, you win £500 from the house! He may have lost a £100 pot when his Aces over Jacks was beaten by Aces over Queens, but he lost £500 for mucking his hand in anger. EVEN WHEN YOU ARE BEATEN - NEVER MUCK YOUR HAND IN ANGER - IF YOU GET A BAD BEAT, SHARE IT!
And finally, a hand I was involved in where a sneaky move won me a huge pot when I had nothing.
I was second to act against Scrooge McDuck and he bet pre-flop, on the flop and on the turn. I was chasing a straight, intending to bluff on the river if I missed. I flat called the whole way and by the time the river card hit, there was about 30,000 chips in the pot. I put Scrooge on two face cards and I was hoping they weren't paired.
When the river hit, I pushed my chips together as if I was about to push all in, and I was amazed (and relieved) when McDuck mucked his hand before I even got the chance to make the bluff! He was first to act and instead of checking his Ace or King high (I'm assuming) - he simply mucked, giving me all the chips and allowing me to muck my 7 high! NEVER MUCK YOUR HAND UNLESS YOU ARE FORCED TO!!!
I don't know if Scrooge McDuck had a face card, but I'm betting he was ahead of my 7!
jT
Twice I wasn't in the hand, but once I was the lucky recipient of tens of thousands of chips with my 7 high (I missed my draw!)
I was in a cash game (thankfully out of the hand) watching a player throwing plenty of chips into the pot and he had a caller the whole way to the river. Four hearts were on the board and both players checked on the river. A young player, and one who had been making moves all night, claimed he had the flush, and the other player mucked his hand without turning his cards over and the young player simply mucked his hand, without showing, which he was perfectly entitled to do. Did he have the flush? We'll never know! NEVER MUCK YOUR HAND UNTIL YOU HAVE SEEN THAT YOU ARE BEATEN: POKER PLAYERS LIE!!!
I asked the player later if he had the flush and he smiled and said, "I always have the nuts."
A few weeks later in a cash game, two players bet the whole way to the river card. The board was something like Ace, Ace, Queen, Jack, 3 (no flush) and after the 3 hit on the river, a player bet-out. The other player called, and the betting man turned over Ace, Queen - very happy with his full house. The other player mucked his hand in a rage and was clearly pissed-off.
The dealer collected all the cards and re-shuffled, ready to deal the next hand. Another player asked the loser what he had, and he claimed he had Ace, Jack - Very unlucky as he too had a full house but was just pipped to the post by the Aces over Queens.
Unfortunately for the loser, in his anger to muck his hand, he forgot the house jackpot, which is, if your Aces full house is beaten, and both hands are shown after the river, you win £500 from the house! He may have lost a £100 pot when his Aces over Jacks was beaten by Aces over Queens, but he lost £500 for mucking his hand in anger. EVEN WHEN YOU ARE BEATEN - NEVER MUCK YOUR HAND IN ANGER - IF YOU GET A BAD BEAT, SHARE IT!
And finally, a hand I was involved in where a sneaky move won me a huge pot when I had nothing.
I was second to act against Scrooge McDuck and he bet pre-flop, on the flop and on the turn. I was chasing a straight, intending to bluff on the river if I missed. I flat called the whole way and by the time the river card hit, there was about 30,000 chips in the pot. I put Scrooge on two face cards and I was hoping they weren't paired.
When the river hit, I pushed my chips together as if I was about to push all in, and I was amazed (and relieved) when McDuck mucked his hand before I even got the chance to make the bluff! He was first to act and instead of checking his Ace or King high (I'm assuming) - he simply mucked, giving me all the chips and allowing me to muck my 7 high! NEVER MUCK YOUR HAND UNLESS YOU ARE FORCED TO!!!
I don't know if Scrooge McDuck had a face card, but I'm betting he was ahead of my 7!
jT
Friday, 21 March 2008
Pokerbrat & AnteVirusjT Heads-Up Twice!
It was a great home game tonight. We played two, deep stack , £10 buy-in games with re-buys in the first hour.
In the first game it was a tough field with newcomer, John 'The Mountain' Michel joining us for the first time, Pokerbrat was on top form, Kermit was making some moves, the Fish was fishing, Scrooge McDuck took early chip lead, Lethal was playing tight and I kept hitting the cards.
My streak gave me the chip lead towards the end of the first hour and I'd trebled-up before the re-buy period ended. Kermit and The Fish had to re-load in the first game taking the pot to £90.
I have a chance to take Pokerbrat out and call his King, 10 with my King, Jack. He hits a 10 on the flop and I hit my Jack. The turn gives him another Ten and he doubles-up. This is bad news as he's dangerous with chips.
Kermit made a gutsy all-in call with Ace, King and was happy to see Pokerbrat with Ace, 5. The flop brings dead cards, but the brat turns or rivers a 5, taking Kermit out.
I'm desperately needing a double-up and I push with pocket 7s, when Pokerbrat raises pre-flop. The brat is the chip leader by some way so I'm hoping for a call, as I get to double-up and take some of the brat's chips. I get my wish and I'm pleased to see Ace, Jack as I always prefer to have the pair going into a coin flip. I flop my trips and river a full house so am back in the game in terms of chip stack.
Pokerbrat takes out two guys in one hand and by the time it gets to heads-up, he is a 2-1 chip leader.
We both adopt a push or fold strategy and rarely get to see a flop. I work my way back to even chips and then it's crunch time. I'm tempted to give it the Scotty Nguyen "If you call it's all over baby." Pokerbrat pushes all-in and I turn over my first card - King, so I insta-call and turn over my second card, 4... shit!
Pokerbrat has King, 2 so I am slightly ahead and breath a sigh of relief. Bastard flops a 2... shit! I turn a 4, putting me ahead again and I think the river brings another King, so I take down the first game and a £90 pot (after Pokerbrat takes his buy-in back for coming in second).
Extremely happy, I play too loose in the six-handed, second game, and have to re-load twice. Scrooge McDuck's luck is just as bad and his double re-load takes the pot to £100. At the end of the re-buys, I'd doubled-up but was way behind the chip leader, Chris the Fish, who had been enjoying some crazy calls. Before one of my re-buys, I move all-in with suited Ace, 2 and Fish calls me with King, 8.
I hit a two on the flop, so I'm looking good but you guessed it, the Fish rivers his King, AGAIN!!!
Kermit and me are in a similar position chip-wise and after my raise pre-flop, he pushes all-in. I'm looking at Ace, Queen but with Kermit's tight (as a frog's ass - hence the nickname) image, I wonder if it's enough. I take a long time to make a decision and start drawing tells from the frog. He doesn't seem to want the call but is acting like he does. The problem with Kermit is, he's so negative sometimes, he could be sat on pocket Kings and he's convinced you've got Aces so genuinely gets nervous in these situations anyway. I turn my cards over and ask him how he feels. To be fair to him, he doesn't give much of a reaction but he does reach for his drink, which I take as an insta-call, so push my chips in.
He turns over Ace, Queen and we watch a flush-less board hit, and split-up the pot, both a little relieved.
Kermit is taken out soon after the re-buy period and Scrooge McDuck is unlucky against Pokerbrat with four cards to the nut flush on the flop, a potential straight and the potential royal flush on the board for him! Any Jack would give him the straight, any heart the flush, and the Jack of hearts the royal flush! With two cards to go, he would be mad to fold and he calls only to see black cards turn and river him out of the second game. 8 or 9 outs and he misses! Unlucky.
The Fish is in the chip fryer soon-after, although he looks-up the brat repeatedly, revealing some big moves and giving us all some free information on the brat's range of cards that he's happy to risk his chips with, but it's the Pokerbrat who out-fishes the fish in the end! Good for the rest of us, bad for the Fish and the brat.
Mountain played really well in the second game and using a combination of the table image he built-up during the first game, and some good cards, he makes it to three-handed with Pokerbrat and myself. I need to take Mountain out to bring me about even in chips with the brat.
Mountain makes the fold of the night, when his flopped flush is crushed by a fourth club that gives me the Jack-high flush. I bet big on the river, and he folds his six or seven high flush. He lost a lot of chips as he bet-out right through to the river but he's still in it and made a great fold.
I'm on the big blind and The Mountain calls the 8000 to see the flop. I decide to try and outplay the newcomer and raise without even looking at my cards. The flop is 10, 10, Jack. Mountain bets 12,000 and I call without looking at my cards. The turn is a Queen. Mountain bets most of his chips and I decide it's time to take a peak at my cards. I have a Jack and an 8 so I have top pair and a potential straight. I call the 12,000 and see another Jack on the River, giving me my full house. Mountain pushes all-in and is really unlucky, as he shows pocket Aces. Although out the game, The Mountain has shown some sophisticated play in his debut, making an incredible fold and slow-playing pocket rockets, which could have paid off for him if the second Jack hadn't hit.
Pokerbrat and I are heads-up again, for £100 this time. In the second game it's winner takes all, as there will be no third game and the house rules are that you only get your buy-in back if you play the next game.
It's getting late and all the other players have gone home so the brat and I face-off with 150,000 each.
It goes back and fourth for well over an hour and by 4am, it's not looking like anyone is giving up their chips. I fold pocket tens on a suspicious board that could have trips or a flush but apart from that, we don't get involved in any major hands.
The sun is threatening to peer over the horizon so we agree to split the final pot straight down the middle, leaving me £100 up for the night and the brat £40 up.
We both hate splitting the pot, but respect wins out and we know it could be a long slog!
Great games tonight with some solid poker, plenty of moves and some monster hands.
Welcome aboard, Mountain, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY to fellow-founders, BT and Renzo Hansford!!! You were missed!
jT
In the first game it was a tough field with newcomer, John 'The Mountain' Michel joining us for the first time, Pokerbrat was on top form, Kermit was making some moves, the Fish was fishing, Scrooge McDuck took early chip lead, Lethal was playing tight and I kept hitting the cards.
My streak gave me the chip lead towards the end of the first hour and I'd trebled-up before the re-buy period ended. Kermit and The Fish had to re-load in the first game taking the pot to £90.
I have a chance to take Pokerbrat out and call his King, 10 with my King, Jack. He hits a 10 on the flop and I hit my Jack. The turn gives him another Ten and he doubles-up. This is bad news as he's dangerous with chips.
Kermit made a gutsy all-in call with Ace, King and was happy to see Pokerbrat with Ace, 5. The flop brings dead cards, but the brat turns or rivers a 5, taking Kermit out.
I'm desperately needing a double-up and I push with pocket 7s, when Pokerbrat raises pre-flop. The brat is the chip leader by some way so I'm hoping for a call, as I get to double-up and take some of the brat's chips. I get my wish and I'm pleased to see Ace, Jack as I always prefer to have the pair going into a coin flip. I flop my trips and river a full house so am back in the game in terms of chip stack.
Pokerbrat takes out two guys in one hand and by the time it gets to heads-up, he is a 2-1 chip leader.
We both adopt a push or fold strategy and rarely get to see a flop. I work my way back to even chips and then it's crunch time. I'm tempted to give it the Scotty Nguyen "If you call it's all over baby." Pokerbrat pushes all-in and I turn over my first card - King, so I insta-call and turn over my second card, 4... shit!
Pokerbrat has King, 2 so I am slightly ahead and breath a sigh of relief. Bastard flops a 2... shit! I turn a 4, putting me ahead again and I think the river brings another King, so I take down the first game and a £90 pot (after Pokerbrat takes his buy-in back for coming in second).
Extremely happy, I play too loose in the six-handed, second game, and have to re-load twice. Scrooge McDuck's luck is just as bad and his double re-load takes the pot to £100. At the end of the re-buys, I'd doubled-up but was way behind the chip leader, Chris the Fish, who had been enjoying some crazy calls. Before one of my re-buys, I move all-in with suited Ace, 2 and Fish calls me with King, 8.
I hit a two on the flop, so I'm looking good but you guessed it, the Fish rivers his King, AGAIN!!!
Kermit and me are in a similar position chip-wise and after my raise pre-flop, he pushes all-in. I'm looking at Ace, Queen but with Kermit's tight (as a frog's ass - hence the nickname) image, I wonder if it's enough. I take a long time to make a decision and start drawing tells from the frog. He doesn't seem to want the call but is acting like he does. The problem with Kermit is, he's so negative sometimes, he could be sat on pocket Kings and he's convinced you've got Aces so genuinely gets nervous in these situations anyway. I turn my cards over and ask him how he feels. To be fair to him, he doesn't give much of a reaction but he does reach for his drink, which I take as an insta-call, so push my chips in.
He turns over Ace, Queen and we watch a flush-less board hit, and split-up the pot, both a little relieved.
Kermit is taken out soon after the re-buy period and Scrooge McDuck is unlucky against Pokerbrat with four cards to the nut flush on the flop, a potential straight and the potential royal flush on the board for him! Any Jack would give him the straight, any heart the flush, and the Jack of hearts the royal flush! With two cards to go, he would be mad to fold and he calls only to see black cards turn and river him out of the second game. 8 or 9 outs and he misses! Unlucky.
The Fish is in the chip fryer soon-after, although he looks-up the brat repeatedly, revealing some big moves and giving us all some free information on the brat's range of cards that he's happy to risk his chips with, but it's the Pokerbrat who out-fishes the fish in the end! Good for the rest of us, bad for the Fish and the brat.
Mountain played really well in the second game and using a combination of the table image he built-up during the first game, and some good cards, he makes it to three-handed with Pokerbrat and myself. I need to take Mountain out to bring me about even in chips with the brat.
Mountain makes the fold of the night, when his flopped flush is crushed by a fourth club that gives me the Jack-high flush. I bet big on the river, and he folds his six or seven high flush. He lost a lot of chips as he bet-out right through to the river but he's still in it and made a great fold.
I'm on the big blind and The Mountain calls the 8000 to see the flop. I decide to try and outplay the newcomer and raise without even looking at my cards. The flop is 10, 10, Jack. Mountain bets 12,000 and I call without looking at my cards. The turn is a Queen. Mountain bets most of his chips and I decide it's time to take a peak at my cards. I have a Jack and an 8 so I have top pair and a potential straight. I call the 12,000 and see another Jack on the River, giving me my full house. Mountain pushes all-in and is really unlucky, as he shows pocket Aces. Although out the game, The Mountain has shown some sophisticated play in his debut, making an incredible fold and slow-playing pocket rockets, which could have paid off for him if the second Jack hadn't hit.
Pokerbrat and I are heads-up again, for £100 this time. In the second game it's winner takes all, as there will be no third game and the house rules are that you only get your buy-in back if you play the next game.
It's getting late and all the other players have gone home so the brat and I face-off with 150,000 each.
It goes back and fourth for well over an hour and by 4am, it's not looking like anyone is giving up their chips. I fold pocket tens on a suspicious board that could have trips or a flush but apart from that, we don't get involved in any major hands.
The sun is threatening to peer over the horizon so we agree to split the final pot straight down the middle, leaving me £100 up for the night and the brat £40 up.
We both hate splitting the pot, but respect wins out and we know it could be a long slog!
Great games tonight with some solid poker, plenty of moves and some monster hands.
Welcome aboard, Mountain, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY to fellow-founders, BT and Renzo Hansford!!! You were missed!
jT
Wednesday, 19 March 2008
Channing and Boatman in the House, but...
... I've caught a cold the decks were so damn cold in the Vic!
BT and I were looking across the table for literally hours, with neither of us getting a bloody hand. It was ridiculous. Not to mention a little frenchman who was raising eight times the big blind almost every other hand, the little muppet.
It's a night of poker I'd like to forget so this post will be short. I had five monster hands all night - four of them turned into split pots and in one, I had the nut flush only to be beaten by a straight flush! Unbefuckinlievable!
BT's luck was not much better but I'll let him post his own tale of woe and misfortune.
It was cool to see Barney Boatman and Neil 'Bad Beat' Channing in person but that was slightly second best to the people we met earlier that day for work, namely Kevin Spacey, Gwyneth Paltrow, Damien Lewis, The Prince of Wales, the hot chick from the new St Trinians movie and the cool black guy from Heroes... ah, work is tough!
The poker highlight for me was playing hours of dealer's choice with BT on the train - we played Omaha, Razz, Seven Card Stud, Pineapple, Five Card Draw, and weird variations of all of those mentioned with Jacks wild! We even played a mental version of Chinese Poker where we were betting chips on each hand with winner takes all.
Anwyay to wrap up the Vic trip, it became clear that the frenchman and at least four of the other players were working together, little bastards. We were never going to beat that table, I just wish we'd clocked it earlier!
jT
BT and I were looking across the table for literally hours, with neither of us getting a bloody hand. It was ridiculous. Not to mention a little frenchman who was raising eight times the big blind almost every other hand, the little muppet.
It's a night of poker I'd like to forget so this post will be short. I had five monster hands all night - four of them turned into split pots and in one, I had the nut flush only to be beaten by a straight flush! Unbefuckinlievable!
BT's luck was not much better but I'll let him post his own tale of woe and misfortune.
It was cool to see Barney Boatman and Neil 'Bad Beat' Channing in person but that was slightly second best to the people we met earlier that day for work, namely Kevin Spacey, Gwyneth Paltrow, Damien Lewis, The Prince of Wales, the hot chick from the new St Trinians movie and the cool black guy from Heroes... ah, work is tough!
The poker highlight for me was playing hours of dealer's choice with BT on the train - we played Omaha, Razz, Seven Card Stud, Pineapple, Five Card Draw, and weird variations of all of those mentioned with Jacks wild! We even played a mental version of Chinese Poker where we were betting chips on each hand with winner takes all.
Anwyay to wrap up the Vic trip, it became clear that the frenchman and at least four of the other players were working together, little bastards. We were never going to beat that table, I just wish we'd clocked it earlier!
jT
Monday, 17 March 2008
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 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.
Saturday, 15 March 2008
The Mourant Charity Game: April - August
With the help of BT, Kermit and The Fish, I've organised a series of live, multi-table tournaments and all proceeds from the buy-ins go to charity (Headway, Cancer Research Jersey & Jersey Hospice).
The structure is pretty cool, and is especially good for anyone in Jersey wanting to improve their tournament game (me included, because I rarely cash in a live tourney).
Basically, I've got five heats, and at each heat, 35 points is up for grabs - 20 for the winner, 10 for second place and 5 for third place. The ten players highest on the leaderboard at the end of the heats, win seats to the final table in August.
Each heat carries a £10 buy-in (for 5000 or 3000 chips depending on the numbers) with £10 re-buys in the first 90 minutes. Demand is high and I filled the four tables in three days so opened a fifth table and that filled the next day, so we have 5o starters for Heat One on Friday, 4th April!
As it's a league, obviously it's best to play in as many heats as possible.
At each heat, we have some tasty prizes for first, second and third place (as the buy-ins are going to charity) including official WSOP chips, limited edition Hendon Mob chips, top quality poker tables, DVD players and much, much more.
Obviously everyone is playing to get to the finals and to win the Championship, which is a rather tasty trophy (see below) and a top prize (yet to be finalised, but probably something like a Widescreen TV or some other bit of gadgetry).
The final table is a deepstack 30,000 chip freezeout and before the cards are dealt, we'll announce who the 'player of the year' is based on the highest points on the leaderboard. If any of the finalists then go on to take the 'player of the year' out the final, they win a terminator prize! Obviously if the player of the year goes on to win the tournament, they get to keep the terminator prize in addition to the main prize and both trophies! Nice!
I'll be covering each heat, with photos and how the leaderboard is looking right here, as the tournament has been put together by the fishhookpoker crew and most of us, including Poker Princess and Pokerbrat, will be at the table trying to last longer than each other! It would be a little embarrassing if none of us made it to the final table in August!
I'm off to The Vic on Tuesday night with BT, so looking forward to taking down some cockney cash! I'm also going to the Pomme tomorrow night for the cash game, hoping to bulk up my bankroll for the Vic.
The structure is pretty cool, and is especially good for anyone in Jersey wanting to improve their tournament game (me included, because I rarely cash in a live tourney).
Basically, I've got five heats, and at each heat, 35 points is up for grabs - 20 for the winner, 10 for second place and 5 for third place. The ten players highest on the leaderboard at the end of the heats, win seats to the final table in August.
Each heat carries a £10 buy-in (for 5000 or 3000 chips depending on the numbers) with £10 re-buys in the first 90 minutes. Demand is high and I filled the four tables in three days so opened a fifth table and that filled the next day, so we have 5o starters for Heat One on Friday, 4th April!
As it's a league, obviously it's best to play in as many heats as possible.
At each heat, we have some tasty prizes for first, second and third place (as the buy-ins are going to charity) including official WSOP chips, limited edition Hendon Mob chips, top quality poker tables, DVD players and much, much more.
Obviously everyone is playing to get to the finals and to win the Championship, which is a rather tasty trophy (see below) and a top prize (yet to be finalised, but probably something like a Widescreen TV or some other bit of gadgetry).
The final table is a deepstack 30,000 chip freezeout and before the cards are dealt, we'll announce who the 'player of the year' is based on the highest points on the leaderboard. If any of the finalists then go on to take the 'player of the year' out the final, they win a terminator prize! Obviously if the player of the year goes on to win the tournament, they get to keep the terminator prize in addition to the main prize and both trophies! Nice!
I'll be covering each heat, with photos and how the leaderboard is looking right here, as the tournament has been put together by the fishhookpoker crew and most of us, including Poker Princess and Pokerbrat, will be at the table trying to last longer than each other! It would be a little embarrassing if none of us made it to the final table in August!
I'm off to The Vic on Tuesday night with BT, so looking forward to taking down some cockney cash! I'm also going to the Pomme tomorrow night for the cash game, hoping to bulk up my bankroll for the Vic.
Hook, line, and sinker!
How to catch a fish…
A couple of week ago we were all at jT’s for our weekly home game. It was half way through the night and I was bleeding chips, we all started with 30,000 and I was down to 15,000.
Chris ‘The Fish’ was dominating; he had generated a massive chip lead and started knocking people out of the game at will. The blinds were 400/800, I am the small blind and ‘The fish’ is the big blind, two people call, in my hand I have King and 5 of Clubs, so I call. The flop is the 10, Jack, and 8 of clubs. I have flopped the King high flush. Everyone checks and I bet the blind (800). Everyone folds apart from The Fish who, as always, loves chasing a draw. At this stage I have him chasing a possible straight, or he is 4 to the flush. The turn card is the 2 of Hearts, we both check.
The last card is the Ace of Clubs, which gives me the nut flush, and if my instincts are correct, ‘The Fish’ will either have a flush or a straight (10 – Ace). I gesture to move all in by placing my right hand on my chips and move them forward slightly, I then quickly pause before they cross the line and say: “I think you have the flush or the straight.” After 10 seconds I push all in, ‘The Fish’ thinks I have two pair, so if he has a straight or a flush, he thinks he has me beat. He calls, before I reveal my cards, I said the following:
“I flopped the King high flush, which turned into the nut flush on the river.” I turn over my cards and his jaw hit the floor. ‘The Fish’ turns his over, and he had the 6 high flush. He doubles me up, and within three hands; ‘The Fish’ is knocked out of the game.
The Lesson
More often then not, a fish will always take the bait with a little bit of misdirection. But beware of ‘The Fish’, he has a powerful bite.
A couple of week ago we were all at jT’s for our weekly home game. It was half way through the night and I was bleeding chips, we all started with 30,000 and I was down to 15,000.
Chris ‘The Fish’ was dominating; he had generated a massive chip lead and started knocking people out of the game at will. The blinds were 400/800, I am the small blind and ‘The fish’ is the big blind, two people call, in my hand I have King and 5 of Clubs, so I call. The flop is the 10, Jack, and 8 of clubs. I have flopped the King high flush. Everyone checks and I bet the blind (800). Everyone folds apart from The Fish who, as always, loves chasing a draw. At this stage I have him chasing a possible straight, or he is 4 to the flush. The turn card is the 2 of Hearts, we both check.
The last card is the Ace of Clubs, which gives me the nut flush, and if my instincts are correct, ‘The Fish’ will either have a flush or a straight (10 – Ace). I gesture to move all in by placing my right hand on my chips and move them forward slightly, I then quickly pause before they cross the line and say: “I think you have the flush or the straight.” After 10 seconds I push all in, ‘The Fish’ thinks I have two pair, so if he has a straight or a flush, he thinks he has me beat. He calls, before I reveal my cards, I said the following:
“I flopped the King high flush, which turned into the nut flush on the river.” I turn over my cards and his jaw hit the floor. ‘The Fish’ turns his over, and he had the 6 high flush. He doubles me up, and within three hands; ‘The Fish’ is knocked out of the game.
The Lesson
More often then not, a fish will always take the bait with a little bit of misdirection. But beware of ‘The Fish’, he has a powerful bite.
Friday, 14 March 2008
One for the ladies!
And I'm not talking about pocket Queens for once.
At last night's homegame, Leonie cleaned-up, bluffing a few of us into monster hands. In the end she split the pot £50-£40 with Chris the Fish, who was nearly out-fished for once!
There was some good poker last night although not from me in the first game.
Kermit took a chunk of my chips with a straight and then Leonie wiped me out completely.
I'm dealt pocket Kings and raise it up pre-flop. Barry 'Scrooge McDuck' and Leonie call and I'm loving the flop of 8, 4, 2. I move all-in and McDuck folds pocket 9s, a great laydown but Leonie calls me and turns over pocket Aces! Gutted, I put the kettle on and take the expected piss-taking on the chin.
Leonie was on fire and shortly after pumping me, she outplayed Paul the 'Pokerbrat'. Paul leads out the whole way, making medium to large bets but never enough to shake Leonie off. The flop brings 9, Ace, rag and Paul bets the flop and the turn. I think a Jack hit the turn and another 9 rivers.
Leonie must have made a face on the river, as both Pokerbrat and Kermit laugh at her reaction and confident she missed her hand, Pokerbrat moves all-in for close to 50,000 chips. At this stage Leonie is the chip leader anyway and we're all floored when Leonie calls and turns over a 9!
Pokerbrat was relying on his Ace to take down the whole pot and he got pumped on the river. He didn't take it too well, in fact he kicked himself over his bet on the turn being too small but personally, for me, it was the all-in move that was his mistake. If you thought someone had missed, why move all your chips in? A bet of 10-20K would have shaken her off if she'd missed and if she did turn out to have the nuts (as she did!) she would have got value, but not all your chips!
Pokerbrat went home in a huff and Leonie was now dominant.
Kermit and McDuck lasted a little longer but by heads-up, Chris the fish and Leonie were sitting with about 150,000 each in chips, so they split the pot and played high card for the remaining £10!
WELL DONE LEONIE!!! Her third game with the crew and her first win.
The second game was pretty quick, Chris managed to fish (there's a surprise!) Kermit out of the game when Kermit's two pair was voided when Chris rivered a King, giving him a better two pair!
Chris then made a questionable call when I flopped a 3! The flop was pretty bad, 3,8,9 pairing my 3 and I also had a Jack so I moved all-in hoping to take the pot down with a 'move with outs' (the blinds were 1000/2000 at this stage). Chris called with King, 6! My 3s held and he doubled me up giving me the chip lead.
I took him out with Jack, Queen in the next hand (he had Jack, 2)
I'll be playing at the Pomme on Sunday night at the cash game from 8:30pm and next week's home game is at mine from 7:30pm.
jT
At last night's homegame, Leonie cleaned-up, bluffing a few of us into monster hands. In the end she split the pot £50-£40 with Chris the Fish, who was nearly out-fished for once!
There was some good poker last night although not from me in the first game.
Kermit took a chunk of my chips with a straight and then Leonie wiped me out completely.
I'm dealt pocket Kings and raise it up pre-flop. Barry 'Scrooge McDuck' and Leonie call and I'm loving the flop of 8, 4, 2. I move all-in and McDuck folds pocket 9s, a great laydown but Leonie calls me and turns over pocket Aces! Gutted, I put the kettle on and take the expected piss-taking on the chin.
Leonie was on fire and shortly after pumping me, she outplayed Paul the 'Pokerbrat'. Paul leads out the whole way, making medium to large bets but never enough to shake Leonie off. The flop brings 9, Ace, rag and Paul bets the flop and the turn. I think a Jack hit the turn and another 9 rivers.
Leonie must have made a face on the river, as both Pokerbrat and Kermit laugh at her reaction and confident she missed her hand, Pokerbrat moves all-in for close to 50,000 chips. At this stage Leonie is the chip leader anyway and we're all floored when Leonie calls and turns over a 9!
Pokerbrat was relying on his Ace to take down the whole pot and he got pumped on the river. He didn't take it too well, in fact he kicked himself over his bet on the turn being too small but personally, for me, it was the all-in move that was his mistake. If you thought someone had missed, why move all your chips in? A bet of 10-20K would have shaken her off if she'd missed and if she did turn out to have the nuts (as she did!) she would have got value, but not all your chips!
Pokerbrat went home in a huff and Leonie was now dominant.
Kermit and McDuck lasted a little longer but by heads-up, Chris the fish and Leonie were sitting with about 150,000 each in chips, so they split the pot and played high card for the remaining £10!
WELL DONE LEONIE!!! Her third game with the crew and her first win.
The second game was pretty quick, Chris managed to fish (there's a surprise!) Kermit out of the game when Kermit's two pair was voided when Chris rivered a King, giving him a better two pair!
Chris then made a questionable call when I flopped a 3! The flop was pretty bad, 3,8,9 pairing my 3 and I also had a Jack so I moved all-in hoping to take the pot down with a 'move with outs' (the blinds were 1000/2000 at this stage). Chris called with King, 6! My 3s held and he doubled me up giving me the chip lead.
I took him out with Jack, Queen in the next hand (he had Jack, 2)
I'll be playing at the Pomme on Sunday night at the cash game from 8:30pm and next week's home game is at mine from 7:30pm.
jT
Wednesday, 12 March 2008
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
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
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