VEGAS: 18th August (Poker)

Day/Night 2: Thursday 18th August (Poker)

SESSION #1

Bill's Gamblin' Hall

$0.50/$1

Bought In For: $60

5:45PM - 9:45PM

4 Hours

The schedule today was to visit the four poker rooms at the south end of the main strip (Mandalay Bay, Luxor, Excalibur and Tropicana) but I felt that a warm-up at the cheapest cash game in town was necessary first. With just two tables in operation I was placed at a seat straight away and settled down. True to its wild west theme, the felt resembled planks of wood to give it that rustic character and the chairs and carpets were well-worn to give it that rough feel as well. The atmosphere started off light as a drunken guy regaled the table with his story of getting searched by the cops, when getting off the coach, and them finding a small amount of dope on him. He claimed he was in Vegas to make money but his wild play indicated otherwise. When he left, the table became a much quieter affair. Generally speaking, ABC poker did the trick and I was surprised at how easy it was to read the players. My main source of income came from a questionable player in Seat 7:

Key Hand #1

I'm in late position and I look down at K 10. I can't recall the preflop action (I think I may have made a small raise) but the flop came K 10 x with two hearts. With a total of four players still in, it's checked round to me and I throw in a $12 bet which is called by the SB in Seat 7. The rest fold. The turn comes a harmless looking card and the villain checks, as do I for deception. Ok, maybe not the best move with two hearts on the board, but there it is. The river then comes 6h and the villain throws in a $25 bet. Now if I was actually on the ball and fully in tune with the action I may have read him for hitting his flush BUT, unlucky for him, as I was concentrating more on the way the villain was handling his chips and sensed weakness, I insta-called - for him to show K J for top pair/ok kicker. It was only after the hand, when the guy next to me noted that the heart brought a possible flush, that I fully realised what the villain was trying to do!! I dunno, those fancy plays are just wasted on bad players eh?

Key Hand #2  

My second big pot occurred about 3 hours into the session while up against the same villain (Mr Represent Flush). UTG in Seat 9 is all-in for his final $4. UTG+1 then decides to call the $4 as does Mr Loose in Seat 2. I then look down at QQ, ponder my move, count out some chips, and throw in a $25 raise in order to prevent anymore cheap calls and to try to get more players out of the hand. Mr Represent Flush then decides to go all-in for the rest of his $40 stack! Mr $4 Shortstack keeps his cards, of course, and it's folded round to me for the no-brainer call for an extra $15 or so. The dealer lays out all five cards and I spot the queen for a set but there is also a possible straight out there. The bad news is that a player makes that straight but the good news is that it's NOT Mr Represent Flush - who was possibly on revenge tilt as he shows the A 10.

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Overall, I was quite surprised at how easy it was to read the players. Many were super-tight rocks and so it was fairly easy to boss the table a little bit. I did have to watch out for Mr Loose a bit, the one of two half-decent players at the table, but he did make obvious and fairly predictable moves; while the other seemed to lose out a lot by not value-betting his strong hands enough on the river. One last thing I noticed was that my takings seemed low for the poker I was playing and I only realised later that this would be due to the 10% rake and the large amount of chips I seemed to be duty-bound to donate to the dealer. 

Waitress service was good but my only complaint would be that it did get VERY cold later on in the session. I endured this for about an hour or so and although I went there for the warm-up, I actually had to leave in order to do so!

Profit/Loss For Session: +$77

Profit/Loss For Day: +$77

Profit/Loss For Trip: +$77

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SESSION #2

Mandalay Bay

$1/$2

Bought In For: $250

11:30PM-1AM

90 Minutes




After picking up a reward card from MGM it was on through the walkways via Excalibur and Luxor to Mandalay Bay. This venue was certainly the most comfortable and refined of the three poker rooms visited today with its soft lighting and more expensive furniture and fittings. With about 7 cash games running I was seated straight away and bought in for $250 but immediately sensed that things would be tougher here than my last session. The table was fairly quiet but friendly on the the few occasions there was communication. For the first hour it was a case of folding with the occasional limp thus generating a fairly weak/tight image and this kind of got me "stuck" during the session. There was only one key hand to speak of, which occurred after about an hour, but this was not particularly exciting:

Key Hand #1
I look down at 7 2s in the Big Blind and it's checked all round - I elect to check. The flop comes 7 7 x and mid-position, a fairly decent player, throws in $6. It's folded all round to me and I just call, electing to continue going with my passive image. The turn is a blank which I check, continuing with the passive image but hoping for a raise (which doesn't come). The river looks harmless and the only way I'm going to get paid now is to throw something in myself so I make it $10. I'm surprised to see the call, which means he must have had something half-decent, and I scoop in a small pot which gets me back to break-even point on the session.

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After this, it was just a case of folding hands until 1AM when I leave about $20 down on the session. The players here were definitely the strongest out of the three rooms which may account for why I played so passively and why I never really felt comfortable about making any moves. In saying that though, there were enough soft-spots to make me feel unthreatened overall and in retrospect I, perhaps, could have made a few moves to take down a few of the uncontested pots.

Profit/Loss For Session: -$20

Profit/Loss For Day: +$57

Profit/Loss For Trip: +$57

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SESSION #3

Excalibur

$1/$2

Bought In For: $100

1:30AM-3AM

90 Minutes



Like the Luxor I'd not previously read many positive things about the Excalibur and, as such, entered the room in a prejudicial frame of mind and with low expectations. With the time at 1:30AM, feeling a little tired and just needing to tick one more poker room off the list, I bought in with a scared looking $100 and waited to see how fortune would smile (or frown) on me. It turned out to be the most fun table of the evening so far with a great variety of friendly players from all walks of life. Due to this there was no tension or awkwardness and, as it proved to be my most profitable session of the evening as well, it turned out to be a thoroughly enjoyable experience.  Oh, and it's always nice to hear the ladies say that I have a beautiful accent as well :-)

With just two tables on the go, I was able to dive straight in and soon discovered that the table was super-super loose. The players just weren't as clued in as the Mandalay Bay lot and there seemed to be all-ins every other hand. Wild.

Key Hand #1
The first key hand was really a confidence boost more than anything else. It's early doors and I look down at A J. I raise it to $10 in mid-position yet still get two callers from the SB and BB. The flop comes K x x and it's checked to me. I read them as holding junk and fire out a $20 c-bet and they both insta-fold, kind of telling me that they're probably on some sort of really bad fit-or-fold strategy that thinks nothing of playing out of the small or big blind with marginals. 

Key Hand #2
We're half-way through the session and I'm chugging along nicely. I'm in mid-position and look down at 2 2. The $4 straddle is on and it's a limp followed by another limp. It's a no-brainer limp from me but then Mr Annoying, on the button, chucks in $15! There are a couple of callers so, priced in, I reluctantly call for value by putting in the extra $9 into the $60 pot.

Bosh - the flop comes A 4 2 for the flopped set. It's checked all round to Mr Not-So-Annoying-Anymore who falls unwittingly into my trap by throwing in a doomed $25. It's folded all round to me and with Mr Not-So-Annoying-Anymore holding about $30 or $40 behind, and knowing it's a crazy table, I decide to put him all-in for the rest of his chips. He calls while uttering, "You haven't got the set have you?" A 10 hits the turn and a 10 hits the river to give me the full house - and so I give him the bad news and take down a healthy pot and a cheerful $110  profit.

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I play a little bit longer but with the time at 3AM, I call it a night and cash in $220 for a $120 profit on the session. I then walk back to Harrah's a happy man.

Profit/Loss For Session: +£120

Profit/Loss For Day: +$177

Profit/Loss For Trip: +$177

VEGAS: 18th August (General)

Day/Night 2: Thursday 18th August (General)

After just four or five hours sleep it was up this morning for my free breakfast from Starbucks. This is a freebie that comes with booking through expedia and allows me to grab anything worth up to $9 from Starbucks each morning as a breakfast. This just involves getting in the lift down to the foyer, exiting the lift and walking a few steps to the Starbucks' line and (today) picking up a small coffee, a croissant and a cream cheese bagel and then taking it back up to the hotel room to be eaten in the privacy of my room. All very convenient and totally free!

My hotel room is so massive that I was able to do my morning jog inside the room and then, after writing up the notes on yesterday evening's adventures, it was onto the first stop today which were the Venetian Canal shoppes. (Don't ask me why they spell "shops" that way.) One word on this: elegance. We're talking fashionable designer shops, art galleries, mock Venetian architecture such as pillars and arches along with canals and a piazza - and all topped off with Michelangelo-style painted ceilings! Again, we also had the daylight sky effect giving off that surreal early evening ambience and I would say it was a pleasure to walk around. Ultimately you could say it's just a shopping mall but, with all the above PLUS added gondolas and singing gondoliers who break into operatic song for the benefit of those who are being ferried around, it's a magnificent mall with a huge twist! The place is also heavy on classical music with music gently issuing forth from the speakers (outside and in) as well as songs being sung from performers in the main square (piazza?) dressed in their harlequin, jester outfits and all their finery.

From here, it was a fairly hot trek north up to the Wynn casino. This fairly new casino consists of a large squarish area with the main colour scheme being a deep royal red (predominantly from the carpeted areas) and gold (mainly from the many chandeliers and lamps that hang down). After a quick peak at the poker room and a wander around the huge impressive corridors that surround the outdoor pool (more polished marble floors and a royal red and gold colour scheme) it was back across the walkway and onto the fashion-show mall for my first major purchase - that'll be a $5 pizza slice from Sbarro. A swift move via Treasure Island and a peak at the Venetian poker room and I was back at Carnaval Court for a cheeky purchase of a huge $4 can of Fosters and a recharging of the batteries back in my Harrah's hotel room. All told, I was having a magnificent time and I still hadn't yet gambled a cent!

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This evening it was time to get my feet wet with a bit of poker and so with the time at 5PM I made my way to play at the southernmost poker rooms on the strip starting at Mandalay Bay. Not, however, before popping into Bill's Gamblin' Hall for Session #1 - a little $0.50/$1 warm up. (The cheapest no-limit hold 'em stakes on the strip.) 4 hours later it was onto the MGM to register for this rewards card...

...and then on through Excalibur and Luxor to Mandalay Bay. With the time at 11:30PM and a huge Starbucks coffee to revive myself and to give me that added kick, it was onto Session #2. One thing about this walking malarkey is that whereas the locals seem to think it crazy to walk such long distances, it's all a novelty to me and I love it!

Now although I was a little tired after Session #2 at Mandalay Bay and faced a long walk back, I realised that I had only visited 1 room out of 4 on my itinerary. This meant I really needed to play in at least one more poker room before knocking it on the head for the evening so I stopped off at Excalibur's poker room for Session #3 - and in the end, I'm very glad I did!

The long walk back was fine although it was apparent that, with the accumulation of drunken behaviour going on, the weekend wasn't too far away. Strange, while walking down the steps of the walkway that connect Bally's to Bill's, a heard a young girl yell "Excuse me?" to me as she was going UP the escalator in the opposite direction. I ignored her at first but then she said it again, clearly wanting my attention. Yeh right, I just gestured indicating that I was traveling downwards and that it would be hard for me to respond to her unless I made an idiot of myself. Yeh right, we all strike up a conversation with a complete stranger while going up an escalator and they're going down! Alarm bells, much!

With the time at 4AM, I entered my room totally exhausted but still wishing to celebrate my opening triumphs at the poker table with a beer. Perhaps wisely, I opted for the more sensible choice of crashing out for a good night's sleep.

VEGAS: 17th August (General) - Part 2

Day/Night 1: Wednesday 17th August (General - Part 2)

When you've just arrived in Vegas after a 15 hour door-to-door journey, including a 10-hour flight and lots and lots of WAITING, and you are recuperating in your hotel room - it's a bit like being a kid all over again on Christmas morning; except this time, you can get up and go downstairs to unwrap the presents whenever you want! The problem is, the sensible "parent" side of you feels you need to rest and wait just that little bit longer; while the kid in you is screaming to get out there to enjoy the delights!

Being the sensible, restrained type, I attempted the nap that I needed but, being completely unused to the hum of the air conditioning, didn't manage to get a great deal of rest and must have had forty-winks for just an hour or two after about 6:30PM. By this time though, I was ready to venture forth and to unwrap those presents! 

First on the agenda was just a quick once-over of my "home base"; that'll be a case of getting my bearings of the casino floor of Harrah's. Once I got the hang of this and worked out where everything was, including where the lifts were to my floor, it was time to hit the streets! Fortunately, the most relieving part of my first impression on walking out was that the heat outside was certainly bearable. Hot, for sure, but bearable. Also, far from being "dead" (which I heard, from some sources, was often the state of Vegas in August) this place was positively buzzing!

After getting used to so many members of the public drinking and smoking both inside and out, it quickly became clear to me that people are just here to have fun and that people are friendly and that the place is 99.99% safe. As an outsider coming to Vegas for the first time I was a little apprehensive but when it comes to safety it was like going back in a time-warp to the 1970s and to my seaside home-town of Bournemouth on a beautiful summer's evening where people are just strolling around and where a certain element of youth are just in high spirits and are happy to be there. The atmosphere was GREAT!!

Tonight was really about sticking to my itinerary and getting my bearings as to where things were on the strip. I also needed to get a sense of distances between the casinos and what was doable and what wasn't as far as covering those distances were concerned. My first "mission", therefore, was to visit all the casinos that were not equipped with a poker room and to pick up a $1 chip from each one. 

Casino Royale - This is the first casino you get to when heading north from Harrah's. It's a tight, compact, fairly dark and small casino. There is no pretentiousness about this place and you are right there on the casino floor as you step in straight off the street. Here I spotted the $1 margaritas and, after my visit to Palazzo, dropped in and joined the line. In fact, as I'd queued for such a while I ordered two! I guzzled down the lime one while sitting at one of the slots. (It's sweet flavoured slush basically but not a bad hit for a dollar.) Then I started on the strawberry one as I ventured back out onto the strip.

Palazzo - A walk north up past the Venetian and then up a long drive gets you to Palazzo which, in stark contrast to Casino Royale, oozes class and sophistication. As the sister casino to the Venetian all is opulence, golden and plush with a soft beige and golden decor to give it that added class. The Palazzo is spacious with plenty of room between table games to roam around in and this creates a more relaxed feel and is more conducive to taking your time. Many stylish and, no doubt, expensive restaurants circle the casino making it more a destination for the higher rollers.

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As I made my way back south down the strip, a rocky volcano type erection between Mirage and Treasure Island started rumbling and spewing forth lava (well, more like water with orange lights projected on it to make it look like lava) and this certainly livened up the walk and got the crowds buzzing. The east side of the street, dominated by the views of the huge Caesars Palace and Bellagio, are where the main concentration of crowds are. It's odd though, because you seem to walk for an age and yet still you have these magnificent buildings towering over you - testament, I guess, to their huge size and grandeur.

Paris - With the sky painted on the ceiling and subtle lighting effects streaming through to give it a surreal daytime glow, Paris certainly had a unique feel. (Later, I discovered this effect is used in many indoor places around Vegas.) With the legs of the Eiffel Tower breaking into the casino floor as well as a square with a fountain in the middle, fashionable cafes bustling for business and dark green roofs covering the table games, also gave Paris a bit of "war-time" character. The shiny cobble-stone floors as well as the dark green and gold pillars also gave the place a kind of classic 40s feel. 

 Cosmopolitan - This is the newest casino on the strip and unfortunately, due to its lack of character, was my least favourite of the five I saw today. Sure, it's sparkly and polished as you enter and the cascading crystals that drape downwards from the ceiling as you walk in is impressive. The shiny chrome screams affluence and expense, of course, but it just has the feel of yet another new night-club opening in town. Its long structure does make it easy to navigate, at least, but no amount of immaculately tended sparkle and polish will win me over. One for the chic, beautiful and very rich.


As I continued my exploration I noticed that Vegas certainly is very pedestrian friendly. Although it seems like you can wait an age for lights to change (and I was forever paranoid about getting nicked for jaywalking) they do make it very easy for you to get around. With its user-friendly walkways and beautifully maintained shiny sidewalks, the stretch from Cosmopolitan to New York/New York on the west side of the road is also probably the most uninteresting. The Aria, for sure, was impressive to look at from one of the walkways as it towered above but, unless you're into the architecture of skyscrapers or shopping malls, this stretch won't grab you by the balls.

New York/New York - This was the last of the non-poker room casinos and, like Paris, is a thematic casino based on a world-famous city. With its famous landmarks, its exterior is one of my favourites of the strip. As you would expect, its interior boasts many references and motifs of the Big Apple. It has many restaurants selling pizza, a few with the inevitable decor of the 50s diner and a few saloon bars. It has a few bars around the outside (including a few Irish pubs) and a large bar area in the centre. 

With the time at around 12:30AM, it was time to saunter back to Harrah's. I peaked into Bill's, O'Shea's and Flamingo on the way back but these were to be visited properly on another day. I finally arrived back at my hotel room at about 2:30AM and I realised I had only spent $9 since arriving ($5 for the chips, $2 tip for the Bell Trans driver and $2 for the margaritas). One last thing I liked about the whole exercise was that EVERY cashier made an effort to fish out the newest and nicest looking $1 chip. Yep, I think I'm gonna enjoy this place!

VEGAS: 17th August (General) - Part 1

Day/Night 1: Wednesday 17th August (General)

The journey to Vegas went exactly according to plan and just how I imagined it to be. Checking in and printing the boarding pass the previous day was a master-stroke as this allowed me to change my seat from a view of the wing of the plane, with the added inconvenience of passengers sitting next to me, to a window-seat towards the back of the plane with a clear view AND with empty seats next to me. With it being a late morning flight, I was able to see those clear views of the landscapes from the beginning to the end of the journey including the amazing Greenland coastline and the breathtaking forms of the central states of the USA. Perhaps I could have eased up on the dodgy food though, which may or may not have had something to do with the splitting headache I was hit with in the last few hours of the flight.

Touchdown, at about 2:15PM, was smooth and it was the dark and enormous pyramid, along with the sphinx of the Luxor, that proved to be the most distinctive building viewed from the runway but this also contrasted nicely with the golden panelling of the outside of the Mandalay Bay hotel. From reading and researching about this place so much - there it was in front of me, just a short drive away! Customs was as smooth as everything else and then it was a case of bracing myself for that Las Vegas heat that I'd heard so much about and, man, that didn't disappoint! Less like an oven and more like a fiery furnace, it was like walking out into the climate of another planet! What a scorcher!!

Finally, it was onto the last leg of the journey - the Bell Trans mini-bus ride to Harrah's. Firstly, I was picked up by a bus that took me to another part of the airport to be picked up by a second bus. The driver though, really appreciated that first impressions count and really made me feel welcome as a newcomer to his city and said I was going to have a GREAT time. We even chatted briefly about the UK and the Vegas women. Anyway, I appreciated the warm welcome as it's always a plus when you're greeted by someone in the right spirit and who puts you at your ease.

I was then dropped outside a different terminal for the connection to my next Bell Trans bus and this was a slightly less positive experience as I had to wait about 15 minutes in the searing heat and then another 15 minutes or so inside the mini-bus for more passengers to arrive. What also annoyed me a tad was that the windows had those horrible perforated wire meshes embedded inside them so that, with all of those thousands of tiny holes in the way, it made it difficult to see outside. This meant that my first view of the strip, with other passengers possibly thinking I had some sort of mental deficiency, had me quickly shifting my head backwards and forwards in a maniacal manner so that I could make out the detail outside.

In some ways it was nice that the passengers requiring a drop-off at the Rio and Palms were dropped off first as this part of town was not on my "to-do" list and it gave me a chance to see these hotel/casinos up fairly close. My highlight, though, was when the bus circled a block to exit the Flamingo casino and when a silhoutted outline of the magnificent Bellagio hotel suddenly loomed large and towered above and over the bus in all its glory; spectacular! (Even through those bleedin' thousands of holes!)

With no line to speak of, check in at Harrah's was super-smooth and the clerk was really friendly and made sure everything was exactly in order and answered questions with a smile. With two queen-sized beds and plenty of space to roam around in, the room itself was fantastic. Ok, the view was of a multi-storey car-park but this was not a problem as a fine view is not particularly one of my top requirements. With the time at 5:15PM (1:15AM London time) it was time to try to get some rest.

Here is that view from my hotel window:

Pics And Chips

Yesterday, after a 10 hour flight, I arrived back at Gatwick after a fantabulous trip to Vegas. As I mentioned in my last post, a full trip report of what I got up to along with reports on all poker sessions will start tomorrow. Suffice to say, the trip was an overwhelming success as I managed to visit, and play in, all of the 20 poker rooms along the main strip. The one condition I set myself was that I was to spend a minimum of 30 minutes in each of the 20 poker rooms - and this I managed to do in the first week of the trip, leaving me the freedom to choose whichever room I wanted to play in during the last 3 days.

Before I show all twenty of the $1 chips from each room, I thought you'd like to see a few pics of...

WOBBLE'S WHIRLWIND WHISTLE-STOP TOUR OF VEGAS

1. This is the Harrah's sign, situated in the back entrance, of the hotel I stayed in during my 11 day trip:

 

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2. This is one of the many harlequins/jesters that adorn the entrances to the Harrah's casino: (The jester is on the left.) 

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3. This is the exterior of the New York/ New York casino situated on the most spectacular crossroads in the whole wide world: 

 

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4. This is a picture of the most stylish casino (The Bellagio) on the left and possibly the most famous (Caesars Palace) on the right:

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5. This is a picture of the famous little fella who hangs around O'Shea's doing his thing:

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And here are the $1 chips from each of the poker rooms that I played in:

AUGUST - UPDATE #8

This month has been all about Vegas and over the next couple of weeks, starting from tomorrow, I will be doing a retrospective trip report of what I got up to and how I fared at the tables on a daily basis. I also wish to post a screenshot of all the $1 chips I collected along the way and I'll try to get that done later on today.

In the meantime, it's that time of the month again - when I need to post up my monthly results so without fiurther ado, here is the news:

MONTH--------LIVE POKER---------ONLINE POKER------TOTAL(MTH)---RUNNING TOTAL

January----------   + £960   ----------------   - £520   -----------   + £440   --------- + £440
February---------  + £740   ----------------   + £60    -----------   + £800   --------- + £1240
March------------   - £230   -----------------   + £810  -----------  + £580   ---------- + £1820
April---------------  + £70   ------------------   - £700   -----------   - £630   ---------- + £1190
May--------------   + £370   -----------------   - £90   ------------   + £280   --------- + £1470
June-------------   + £340   ------------------  + £440   ----------   + £780   ---------- + £2250
July----------------  -£220  --------------------   +£100  -------------   -£120  ------------ + £2130
August-------------  +£285  ------------------  +£240  -------------- +£525  ------------ +£2655

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On the live poker front I guess I played it quite safe while out in Sin City, particularly towards the end of the tour where I chose to protect my early success and not to take any huge risks. Maybe, if I didn't have to report back via the blog, I may have thrown more caution to the wind but there it is. On my next visit to Vegas it will be more about longer sessions in my favourite poker rooms, hopefully at higher stakes and/or with higher buy-ins, and less about cramming in so many sessions at so many poker rooms along the strip.

My online poker stint, this month, occured at the beginning of the month while holidaying in Bournemouth and also had the element of protecting an early success about it. Again, next year, when I end the blog experiment, it may be more about playing a higher volume of hands and not having such a "nitty" attitude to the balance and the bankroll thing.

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September will see some interesting changes. First off, after a six week break, I'll be back to work on the 5th and diving back into another academic year. Although it's always hard to return to work after such a long break, there's only one way to treat the return after such a cracking summer and that's to be 100% positive about the whole thing. 

Secondly, in the middle of the month, the daughters will be packing off to university and flying from the nest to get their first taste of independence. This means there'll be a lot less distractions around the house and will hopefully allow me to focus on developing a heavier multi-tabling approach to the online game.  

 

Last Day In Vegas

It's my last day in Vegas folks and it's the winding down process. Poker proceedings have been called to a halt after I've locked up a $500 profit and blew the "surplus" $122 yesterday at Bally's after my nut flush ran into a full-house, followed by a tilt-induced all-in on a flush draw which didn't hit!

Tonight, it's the Penn & Teller show at the Rio but not after I've picked up a few souvenirs and downed a few beers and had my last roam of the strip. I've got $400 of my budget left which means I guess I've got to see if I can spin up a few $$s at the blackjack tables. I guess it'll be a bit surly to come to Vegas and NOT engage in a bit of -ev gambling! (Don't worry, I don't think I'll be risking more that $100.) I've done a few photos so I'll be putting them up on the blog when I get back.

So, after a disappointing end to my poker tour with a nasty cooler and then a tilt-induced all-in with a flush draw, I don't think I need be downhearted. My great start has more than made up for this and with all 20 poker rooms visited and loads of memories it's been an amazing trip.

Tomorrow, it's the long flight back. I think the plane will do a circular route around the outskirts of Hurricane Irene so that's fine. My next post will be done when I get back to ol' London Town.

Until then...

Uncle Wobble. 

All You Need Is Love!

Ok peeps, a full trip report will be forthcoming on my return to blighty but in the meantime, with just the Thursday evening and the Friday and Saturday to go, I may have reached poker-playing overload.

Anyway, to ease the pressure I have visited the box office at Mirage and bought myself a ticket for the "Love" show AND the Rio for the Penn & Teller show. Also, while travelling back from the Fremont Experience today I looked up at the Stratosphere ride that swings you around from god knows how many feet and I decided that I'd like to TAKE THAT RIDE!! Tomorrow I think I just may be up there!

On the poker front, although up nealry $800 on Tuesday night, recent progress has been slow and I'm now down to $622 profit (with $30 on my rewards cards). This leaves me with a dilemma: (1) Do I go the stop-loss option and give myself just $122 to play poker and as a worse case scenario leave Vegas a $500 winnner? (2) Or, should I just throw caution to the win and buy in for full amounts and try to win big against the wild weekenders in true Vegas fashion?

Unfortunately, part of me says that the loss will give me more pain than the win will give me happiness so it just may be the former. One of these days I'll just break through that barrier and become a baller or a crusher instead rather than an ordinary small-timer.

Anyway, after all this walking around on this non-poker day today (Stratosphere, Riviera, Circus Circus, Fremont Experience, Rio, Gold Coast Palms to get the $1 chips) it's a 24 ounce Miller Light and off to the Hash House A Go Go for a big fat dinner and a read of Bluff magazine.

I reckon I'll just take out that $122, oh AND I've still got the $100 sit-down at blackjack to treat myself to.

Vegas Baby! Vegas!!

Chugging Along In Vegas Baby!!

After nearly a full week here in the most amazing city in the world, I have just two more poker rooms to visit (Treasure Island and Wynn) which I'll visit today to make the full 20. My busy schedule has taken me all over the strip and I've crammed in a total of 25 sessions, each one between 30 minutes and 4 hours long. Every visit has been a new and unique experience with the full spectrum of players and variety of gameplay.

We've had the dead serious and the totally crazy; the action tables and the rock gardens; I've been on tables where I've bossed the table to oblivion and tables where I've been beaten up so much I thought I'd need to call an ambulance; I've been on one table where I've never laughed so much while playing poker and another where you couldn't meet a nicer or decent set of people; I've had a few classic tumbleweed moments after opening my mouth - and I've even been on a table where I hit quads for a nice bonus!.

All this in a variety of 18 poker rooms within walking distance and with their own unique style and special ambience from the madness and party atmosphere of O'Shea's to the nightclub environment of Planet Hollywood to the beautifully stunning and stylishness of Bellagio and Venetian.

All this with more to come!

Vegas Baby! Vegas!!

The Greatest City In The World

Right, so I've been in Vegas for 3 days. I've got about 12 minutes internet time for $5 so I'm just gonna do the Cliff Notes version and type up the full retrospective reports when I get back to London.

1. Having a blast! It's the greatest city in the world for sure.
2. Room and hotel is superb.
3. Itinerary is out the window as are the Poker Room reviews I was going to do.
4. Days, so far, have mainly involved lots of walking and playing poker.
5. Here are the rooms I've played in so far in the order visited:

Bill's
Mandalay Bay
Excalibur
Luxor
Bally's
MGM

--MOST FUN: Excalibur
--BIGGEST WIN: Excalibur
--BIGGEST LOSS: Mandalay Bay
--COLDEST: Bill's
--TOUGHEST TABLE: Luxor, MGM, Mandalay Bay
--SOFTEST TABLE: Bally's, Bill's, Excalibur

6. Not played blackjack yet - too much walking and exploring.
7. It's all about the fun and the strip is 99.9% SAFE!
8. Temperature is very hot but not as hot as expected. (I've walked from Harrah's and back to MGM/Mandalay Bay SIX TIMES!!
9. Strolling with a huge can of lager along the strip is one of the most sizzling and fun experience you can have.
10. Sleeping when I need it. No point in trying to sleep when you just aint tired.
11. Players at the table have all been friendly and there has not been a single unsavoury character.

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IT'S ALL GOOD BABY!!

Countdown To Vegas... 1 Day To Go

In the words of the first line of Peter, Paul & Mary's classic song, Leaving On A Jet Plane, "my bags are packed and I'm ready to go" but unlike the last words of that song there aint no hate about getting away folks! I need this holiday like the Yin needs the Yang and the Yang needs the Yin, I'm telling ya now, but let's just lay down a few ground rules so I don't go and get carried away:

1.   Apart from Day 1, I'll try to keep to my four casinos per day schedule in the first six days.
2.   7PM-7AM will be the time to play poker. I'll try to avoid playing outside of these times.
3.   I'll allow myself a couple of heavy drinking sessions - but take just $150 out with me and no more.
4.   Blackjack - There'll be a $200 stop-loss limit on this for the 11 days. (Who knows? I may even win.)
5.   Roulette, craps or any other casino game besides poker and blackjack will be a no-go area.
6.   Slots!? These don't interest me in the slightest and I won't be touching these with a barge-pole.
7.   There'll be no plan to take in any shows - unless I get a sudden overwhelming urge.
8.   Fine dining will not be my thing. It'll be all-you-can-eat-buffets, cheap restaurants and Subway for me.
9.   Loose women and hookers are off the menu.
10. Writing up of room reviews, trip reports etc will be done in the afternoons after my sleep.

--And those are the rules.

Needless to say, apart from going out while a bit tipsy, I'll only be attempting to bring my A-game to the table so it'll be a case of making sure my head is screwed on right after any losing sessions - this will be absolutely essential. Also, on the first night, I may just allow myself a little cheap cash game play at Bill's just as a warm up. (I believe the min buy-in there is $20!!)

So now, it's just a case of getting a good night's sleep before I'm off to the airport tomorrow morning for my 11AM flight. Hopefully, I can find a reasonable internet place, while in Vegas, to keep the blog up-to-date and to let y'all know how I'm getting on.

Here's to an enjoyable and, hopefully, profitable trip!!

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UP UP AND AWAY FOLKS - WOOHAY!!

Countdown To Vegas... 2 Days To Go

It's now Monday afternoon and with just 2 days to go now until lift-off, I've just been making sure that all necessary chores have been done. Earlier today I had myself a nice haircut (a number five with a trim on top), bought myself a nice new sweater and exchanged a few ££s for $$s. Live poker was certainly calling as I strolled the streets of the west-end but I managed to resist the temptation to play and headed straight home.

With mid-August upon us I have to say I have played very little poker overall this month, consisting of just 2300 hands of mainly nl50-nl100 online cash games and just a couple of live sessions (one £45 freezeout and a 5 hour session of 50p/50p at the Gala Casino in Bournemouth). As I really don't envisage playing anymore poker before lift-off let's just take a look at the old scoreboard:

MONTH--------LIVE POKER---------ONLINE POKER------TOTAL(MTH)---RUNNING TOTAL

January----------   + £960   ----------------   - £520   -----------   + £440   --------- + £440
February---------  + £740   ----------------   + £60    -----------   + £800   --------- + £1240
March------------   - £230   -----------------   + £810  -----------  + £580   ---------- + £1820
April---------------  + £70   ------------------   - £700   -----------   - £630   ---------- + £1190
May--------------   + £370   -----------------   - £90   ------------   + £280   --------- + £1470
June-------------   + £340   ------------------  + £440   ----------   + £780   ---------- + £2250
July----------------  -£220  --------------------   +£100  -------------   -£120  ------------ + £2130
August (1st Half)-- -£15  -------------------  +£240  -------------  +£225  ------------ +£2355

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Psychologically speaking, the last figure on the chart really does give me the lift I need as just over a few weeks ago I was destined to take a balance of under £2K with me to Vegas. Just the fact that I'm above £2K for the year gives me that extra confidence boost I need as I fly out to the city of dreams.

In my next post I'll be laying out the ground-rules of my trip, how I intend to go about my business and what things I'll make sure to avoid.

Countdown To Vegas...3 Days To Go

It's now Sunday afternoon and I'm back in good ol' London town after a 12 day stay in sunny Bournemouth. True to my word, I've abstained from sitting at the felt (real or virtual) since Wednesday night but am really starting to get withdrawal symptoms and I'm finding it very hard not to throw a little bit into my PKR account - but I must be strong. (Well I do still have a Phase 3 ticket I can use.)

We're now just three days away until lift-off and I guess you could say I'm very much looking forward to my first trip to the bright lights of Sin City. I've actually been writing a few posts on what I intend to do - and what not to do - while out there but when I read them back, the Twaddle-Factor is so high that I don't think they're even worthy to post. I just need to get out there and get stuck in. This here Elvis song kinda sums it up:

A Little Less Twaddle Let's Get The Satisfaction

Dig those instrumentals baby! Oh Yeah!!

LET'S DO THIS!!

Vegas Trip Report: My System

With just 5 days to go to the big day, I've decided that to keep my hunger alive and to be fresh for the games when I get there, it's probably best to force myself to abstain from playing the game until touchdown. This shouldn't be a problem with the online game but I know I'll be tempted to play live when I need to go into London town early next week. As far as posting is concerned, I'll be trying to get on the internet every 3 days or so to keep the blog up-to-date. I've decided that I'll be doing two (retrospective) posts for each day; one for the non-poker related general Vegas experience, and the other specifically related to how I'm doing at the poker tables.

For the general Vegas experience, the title of the first few posts will read:

Day/Night 1: Weds 17th (GENERAL)
Day/Night 2: Thu 18th (GENERAL)
...etc etc.

For the poker related stuff, the title of the first few posts will read:

Day/Night 1: Weds 17th (POKER)
Day/Night 2: Thu 18th (POKER)
...etc etc.

Within the "POKER" posts the sessions will be divided up as follows:

EG.

Session 1 - Mandalay Bay - $1/$2 CASH - $100-$300 - $300 BI- 10PM-11:30PM (90mins)

Blah blah blah. Twaddle twaddle twaddle. Blah blah blah. Twaddle twaddle twaddle. Blah blah blah. Twaddle twaddle twaddle. Blah blah blah. Twaddle twaddle twaddle. 

+$58

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Or, for the odd MTT...

Session 8 - Caesar's Palace - $85 Freezout - 10PM-12:10AM (2h 10mins)

Blah blah blah. Twaddle twaddle twaddle. Blah blah blah. Twaddle twaddle twaddle. Blah blah blah. Twaddle twaddle twaddle. Blah blah blah. Twaddle twaddle twaddle. 
-$85

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As I intend to post my trip reports over on the 2+2 forums I'm going to do a final pre-Vegas post, on the day before I leave, that will sum up what I intend to get out of the trip.

Another Revised Itinerary

Now I know I've written a few posts on my Vegas itinerary and I know there has to be some spontaneity on such a trip but I've revised my itinerary yet again. Here, I have grouped the casinos into groups of four (five for the non-poker places) and I intend to visit one group per day in the first six days so that I pace myself and get to see every place. For each poker room, I reckon a minimum of 30 minutes to one hour of play is necessary to be able to write an informed review of each.

After the first six days, it will then just be a case of playing at my favourites. As always, the casinos in the southern strip are in green, the central area is orange and those in the north of the main strip are in blue. As I may be a bit jet-lagged when I arrive, my first day will probably be a poker-free day and a case of getting my bearings and soaking up the atmosphere so I'll just be visiting the places without poker rooms first (Group A):

GROUP A

 Palazzo

Casino Royale

Paris

Cosmopolitan

New York/New York

GROUP B

Mandalay Bay

Luxor

Excalibur

Tropicana

GROUP C

Venetian

Bellagio

Harrah's

Imperial Palace 

GROUP D

MGM

Planet Hollywood

Monte Carlo

Aria

GROUP E

Bally's

Bill's

O'Shea'

Flamingo

GROUP F

Caesars Palace

Mirage

Treasure Island

Wynn

Live Session #49: Back To Cash

Yesterday, as we had glorious sunshine here on the south coast, I decided to head into Bournemouth town centre for a small pub crawl of my own. Four pints later and with a steak and chips from Weatherspoons thrown in (Who says I don't do fine dining?) it was time to give the ol' Gala Casino a second chance.

After vowing to steer clear of their MTTs, their £5 rebuy tourney looked like fun at the time and seemed far too tempting to ignore so I went and signed up. Yep, it still had the atmosphere of a home game and I still felt like a stranger gatecrashing their little tournament so I promised myself not to rebuy and to see how far my initial £5 buy-in would last. One beer, five minutes and five hands later it was onto the cash games...

Ah, the cash games! After settling in with another beer and striking up a conversation with the guys next to me about being happy to be in Bournemouth cos of the riots in London, we were all soon merrily chatting away. From then on, with a few laughs and light-hearted comments about the hands, the whole experience became so much more friendly and civilised than those tumbleweed-like MTT tables and it was a genuinely more enjoyable night all-round.

Results-wise I would say it was more like a merry-go-round than a rollercoaster and, sitting down with a buy-in of £120, I kind of hovered between break-even and being about £50 up through the session. The main, key hand, happened when I was about £40 up. A new player had just joined the table and I looked down at K 10. The flop came 9 10 Q and I think it checked all round. The turn came a 10 and I raised which was called. The river came an 8 and I made another raise - but then got re-raised by the villain who immediately chucked in £20 which was virtually an all-in from him. Now, normally, a player who smiles at you wants a call and that is what this player was doing. He was new to the table and I had no reads on him and so had to put him on the Jack. I reluctantly folded and he showed 8 9 for the two pair.

Yes, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't annoyed as I folded the best hand which would have rewarded me with a healthy stack of around £200 and would have put me up £80 - which would have been nice - but that's poker. Anyway, the evening continued and I soon replenished my stack a little bit when I caught a nut, Ace-high, straight on the turn against a good player who had raised my £10 to £20 on the river which was a brick. I then re-raised him back another £50 which had him huffing and puffing and tanking for an age. He eventually folded - and showed - a pair of jacks which meant he made a good fold with a set of Jacks!

By 2AM, the table got down to just 2 other players - who were fairly decent - so I called it a night while holding a stack of £155 - and it was off into the night for the 3 mile walk back to base. With the £5 taken off from the £5 rebuy we're talking a net profit of £30 for the night - not bad. It has to be said though that I really enjoyed the cash game table tonight as it was a much more friendly affair and I never really felt that my stack was in any sort of jeapordy.

Slowing Down For Vegas

Blimey, with all these riots going on around the country, it seems a bit trivial writing about wins and losses at the poker tables... but still, life goes on and all that. The day got off to a great start when I nabbed quad aces and actually got paid off for 'em! Not a huge win but here's yer screenshot at 6th street:

Huzzah!

But as time went on through the day, I eventually decided to cease my online poker operations for the month and to cashout my balance; not necessarily due to an annoying losing hand (although this did nudge me into making the decision) but mainly to protect my bankroll and to keep it healthy for Vegas. Yep, I've been very conservative with my bankroll this month playing mainly lower limits and just one live session (a £45 freezeout) but, with the help of both rakeback and the clearance of a reload bonus, I've managed to notch up a respectable £240 profit at the online game over the nine days. Here's a PokerOfficer graph, charting my progress: 

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So that's that. With online poker now put on the back burner, I intend to try my hand at one more live session before heading back to London and then onto Vegas on the 17th and that will probably be a £125 buy-in to a 50p/50p cash game session at the Gala Casino in Westover Road, Bournemouth on either Friday or Saturday. As I mentioned after my last live session there last week, they can stick their freezeouts right up where the sun don't shine.

Clearing A Reload Bonus

As my extended stay in the sleepy seaside town of Bournemouth continues I have to report that I have pretty much played wall to wall online poker over the last couple of days. My excuse for not going out has been the terrible weather but, with about 12 hours played each day of fairly tight ABC poker at mainly the 50nl cash games, I've managed to clear the last 20% of my PKR reload bonus and yesterday evening received this message:

Now it's always a nice feeling, to clear a reload bonus, but I wish they'd fix the fact that they always seem to shift the decimal point two places to the left when they show the amount awarded! The amount should, of course, read $94.

Anyway, on the subject of reload bonuses, my advice to anyone is to ALWAYS take advantage of a reload bonus. If you use common sense and don't get greedy or over-reach yourself when depositing, this really is a case of taking the free money. Yes, you have to rake a certain amount but if you're just playing your normal game anyway, it's nice to receive that little boost to your balance.

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In my case, two days ago, I cashed-out my initial deposit of £200 that I placed into PKR at the start of the month, and decided that, with my remaining $250 or so I would just play very tight, break-even, ABC poker in an attempt to clear the last 20% of my reload bonus and grab that extra $94. In the chart below, the wriggly line between the green blobs represents my progress during this process:

As you can see, I scooped a few juicy pots at the tail end of my effort to claw back to almost break-even over the two days but, with $94 received as a reward, I guess you can call it "mission accomplished." My only real regret is that, along the way, I think I must have blown about $30 at the demon game that is blackjack.

Anywhodeedoody, Monday morning has arrived, it's the third week of my summer hols and the time is 11AM on a fairly breezy and mild day. This leaves me now with three nice decisions:

1)  Shall I just cash-out my net profit for the month and be happy with my online winnings?
2)  Shall I sit on my enormous fat arse and play more online poker?
3)  Shall I get out the bloody house and enjoy the delights that Bournemouth has to offer?

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Well, ya know what? I think Issue 72 of the the WPT poker mag is out so I think I'm gonna just take myself off for a walk into Bournemouth Square and pick myself up a copy. Then I'm gonna just lounge around some of the pubs of Bournemouth with the other tourists, sink a few cool and sparkling beers and read all about poker! I LOVE my summer hols boys and girls!!

Wobble Gets A Smack

I tell ya, I've had a terrible day at the tables and I'm injured folks, injured. It all started with my first session of the day when my flopped set gets involved with a villain holding a flush draw. You can guess what happened but I'll show the action anyway:

And Induce...

...And fail. Actually, on close inspection, it WAS a royal flush draw so he did have plenty of outs and probably played the hand right. Lets just check the odds with Poker Stove (It might make me feel better):

Here's the flop stats:

And the turn:

This really doesn't make it so bad cos when the money goes in, I'm only a marginal favourite. The fact that I'm a much bigger favourite on the river is irrelevant really as it's out of our hands when the actual money goes in (on the flop) and that's the point where the big decisions were made.

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Now I feel a bit ashamed to say this but I think I let Jared down a bit after this when my following sessions proceeded to be a bit tilty where I played more of a B/C-game rather than my A-game and I threw away another $100 in the process - ouch. This made my graph (for August) look like this:

 

Now, of course, I need to do a post-mortem on why I allowed myself to donk off another $100 but in the meantime let's end on a positive. Here is a sixth street screenshot of the hand which you can see at the end of the graph where I get quad nines, a payoff and a much needed lift:

Better - but a lesson in why you should always top-up your buy-in :-(

Live Session #48: A Damp Squib

Yesterday, I decided to head into Bournemouth town centre to try my hand at the Gala Casino's £45 freezeout - and what a huge let-down it turned out out be! First off, I was a bit tilted before I even got there. Picture the scene... It's Friday night, you go into a pub and wait at the bar with no one else waiting and you think you've made eye-contact with the barman who is currently dealing with a fiddly order from a customer. You're waiting there for 5 minutes with NO OTHER customer in sight but it's bleedin' obvious that you are next in line. As the bartender finishes the fiddly order that seems to be taking an age, a couple of customers walk in and take their place behind the bar - and THEN... (you've guessed it) the barman goes to serve the customers who have just walked in and have been there for just a few seconds!!

What annoys me even more about this is when it doesn't even occur to the customer being served to say something like, "Oh, this gentleman was before me" or anything like that. Now, 9 times out of 10, I would stand my ground and say something but, you know what? I just couldn't be bothered and decided to go for the walk-out option instead. But as I walked on to a different pub, I did start to feel that it was a bit weak to let it pass and the fact that I didn't object actually annoyed me even more.

Anyway, I then went on to another pub and another little thing annoyed me. As I exited the establishment, quite a few other customers were leaving as well. There were a couple of security guards at the door and they said "goodnight" to the people in front; I exited next, not a word; then the people behind me exited and it was, "Goodnight, have a nice evening." Er... Am I some sort of leper or what?

Anyway, feeling a bit tilted by being totally ignored by the people of Bournemouth, I then entered the Gala Casino's £45 freezeout - and this turned out to be a pretty bleak experience as well! With about 35 runners, it soon became obvious to me, almost immediately, that this tourney was more or less a home game. Everyone knew everybody else on a first name basis and the vibe I got from the table was a resentful, "Who the hell does this geezer think he is who's come to play in our game!?" Really, if you're ok feeling like a stranger at a home game, where no one really wants you there, then you'd be fine. 

Here's a little picture to let you know what it was like... First off, no one really made any sort of effort to make me welcome or strike up any sort of conversation with me. Any comment I made or any casual remark I made went down like a lead ballooon. I tried to strike up a conversation with the fella on my right but all I got back was the folding of the arms and a pretty cold response. I then tried to make light of a situation with an old fella to my left but he also made no effort to be friendly at all. So there it was - and there it can bloody well stay for all I care. I have never been so indifferent about busting out of a tournament in my life and I certainly won't be rushing back to play their MTTs any time soon. Also, since when is it ok to shout out, for everyone in the casino to hear, "Send the next victim in please" as a player is busted? Which is what I got when I bust out to someone's AK v. my 99. Nice etiquette fellas.

As a result of all of this, I decided to pass on the cash games (which were all 50p/50p) and made my way home. Unfortunately, my grievance about my evening doesn't stop there. It was about 11PM and as three full buses drove past the bus stop I thought I'd walk the 3 mile journey home. After about 10 minutes, I saw a bus behind me that stopped at the lights and so I ran to the next stop making it pretty damn obvious that I intended to get on at the next stop. The bus passed me, stopped at the bus stop to let people off, but it did need about a ten second wait on the part of the bus driver for me to catch up. You've guessed it... He pulls off and away into the night leaving me to walk the rest of the journey.

But no, there's more... As I continue my walk I see a bus behind me and decide to get on for the last mile of my journey. Now I'm a fairly tolerant person but what is it about parents who totally ignore the unruly and obnoxious behaviour of their kids on public transport!? For god's sake, what is wrong with making an effort to interact with your own children so that everyone else can enjoy a stress-free and relaxing journey for chrissake!?

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Ok, so the post just turned into an angry old man rant but it really wasn't one of my most enjoyable evenings and it's nice to get these things off one's chest.

A "Thank You" From Jared Tendler!

For my sins, and for a few months now, I have gone back to posting on the PKR forums. Now I know this goes against my intention (in April) to stop posting on that site but I just couldn't resist it. Now a lot of my posts are tumbleweed affairs, mainly because I ramble on so much (that'll be the teacher in me) but also because I often write serious posts and the PKR forum just doesn't tend to be a serious forum.

Recently, I made a post initially asking for opinions on Tendler's latest book, "The Mental Game Of Poker." I left it 24 hours and in that time received just two genuine responses. Apart from a chap called MrStarch (a well-respected strong cash game player and writer) and the fine PKRDanski, no one really responded constructively to my initial request.

Later, after I posted links to my review, I did get an opinion of the book - from James666, one of the PKR pros. I also got fair responses from Deliiight (a very good MTT player) and Destacker (an excellent and very well-respected MTT player) but, apart from that one response from James666, zero opinions. Don't get me wrong, there are still fun discussions and banter on the forums to be had but when it comes to serious discussion, it just doesn't seem to be one of its strong points.

By contrast you have the 2+2 forums - and this brings me to my point. It's nice to get a bit of recognition or any sort of feedback after spending a bit of time writing reviews but when you get a "thank you" from the author for writing such a "thoughtful" review... well that just makes it all worthwhile. Thanks for the "thank you" Jared :-)

And The Heat Goes On

With plenty of help from Dusty and Jared my online game continues to pick up pace. In fact, I'm practically on fire baby! It may only be 875 hands but it does feel good to get the month off to a flying start. As I wrote before, I'm only mainly playing 25nl-100nl but this is because of the need to be a bit conservative with my bankroll before Vegas. Here's a breakdown of the amount of hands I've played at each limit and the profit/loss for each:

4nl     = 5 hands       (-$1.49)
10nl   = 1 hand         (-$0.15)
25nl   = 191 hands   (-$37.14)
50nl   = 309 hands   (+$121.32)
100nl = 369 hands   (+$359.11)

And here's my chart:

With a boost of a rakeback payment of around $45 it's all good on the results front. Mental game issues are completely non-existent as I feel I'm playing A-game poker everytime I fire up PKR and, as variance has been kind, tilt is just not part of the equation. I have to say, re-reading Dusty Schmidt's latest, and applying some of the principles outlined there, has really helped.

This evening it'll probably be a visit to the Gala Casino along Westover Road in sunny Bournemouth for a live session. MTT or cash game I wonder.

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ROCK ON!!

Tony G - Up To His Old Tricks.

We're now just three days into August and things are going well for me both in poker and in life. I'm currently holidaying in the sunny seaside town of Bournemouth and am having a really relaxing time consisting mainly of playing online poker, watching TV and being out in the sun to visit old haunts and sitting down with sparkling pints while re-reading Schmidt's "Don't Listen To Phil Hellmuth."

Now I know it's results-orientated thinking, and it may or may not have anything to do with the purchase of my latest book acquisition (Tendler's "The Mental Game of Poker") but since said book has arrived, my results have been nothing but positive. My last live cash-game session saw me win a £400+ pot to help me secure a profit of around £200 on the session, and I have also been flying with my online poker exploits.

Online, I have been playing nl25-nl100 (with a few Phase SnGs thrown in) and have been doing very well; it's a small sample size but here is my progress for the month so far:

Now I know this is a very small sample and that if Tendler were really my mental game coach he would be appalled at me for posting up graphs and thinking about results, but (being a huge egomaniac at heart) I just wanted to celebrate a good start to the month. I really, honestly want to start thinking and writing more about qualitative results in the future - Tendler would approve more of that. Still, I'm convinced that some of what he wrote MUST have rubbed off on me and I'm really feeling good about the game at the moment.

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So there it is. Ok, that was all me me me. Here's an interesting clip which was posted on the PKR forum where, between 17:30 and 26:20, you can see Tony G up to his old tricks again and where he comes up with a pretty low angle-shooting move against Hellmuth. (Give it time to stream by the way; it takes a while.) For me, it was a legal move by Tony G but a bit below-the-belt.

For me, it does show:

(1) That you must stay sharp at the table and be on the look out for angle-shooters.
(2) That you shouldn't trust ANYONE at the poker table. (Apparently they're friends!)
(3) That despite the move, it's good TV and Tony G does a good job in entertaining the masses.
(4) That we really do live in a dog eat dog world . 

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Ok, time for a stroll with good ol' Dusty Schmidt in tow.