I'll be back

But not until next Saturday. Off to Fishguard for a week's holiday. Hoping to see some whales off the coats of Wales. No internet access, unless the neighbours are a bit lax with their wireless security. So, for the first time, I'll be missing the bloggerment tourney :(

A word from our experts

I enjoyed this hand, but probably should have extracted more chips. How would you have played it?

This is the late stages of a STT, the other guy has been playing fairly tight throughout.

Seat 3: stephenrhall (6400 in chips)
Seat 6: Kingpin1988 (4480 in chips)
Seat 9: able222 (2620 in chips)
able222: posts small blind 50
stephenrhall: posts big blind 100
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to stephenrhall [Tc Ah]
Kingpin1988: raises 200 to 300
able222: folds
stephenrhall: raises 200 to 500
Kingpin1988: calls 200
*** FLOP *** [8h Ad Th]
stephenrhall: bets 300
Kingpin1988: calls 300
*** TURN *** [8h Ad Th] [As]
stephenrhall: checks
Kingpin1988: bets 300
stephenrhall: calls 300
*** RIVER *** [8h Ad Th As] [Kd]
stephenrhall: checks
Kingpin1988: bets 400
stephenrhall: raises 600 to 1000
Kingpin1988: calls 600
*** SHOW DOWN ***
stephenrhall: shows [Tc Ah] (a full house, Aces full of Tens)
Kingpin1988: mucks hand
stephenrhall collected 4250 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 4250 | Rake 0
Board [8h Ad Th As Kd]
Seat 3: stephenrhall (big blind) showed [Tc Ah] and won (4250) with a full house, Aces full of Tens
Seat 6: Kingpin1988 (button) mucked [Js Kc]
Seat 9: able222 (small blind) folded before Flop

Intermission

Check out Otis' report on Barry Greenstein multi-tabling at the WSOP.

Here's Stephen, with the weather

It has been pissing down. I was supposed to be taking my daughter up to the local reservoir yesterday, where my brother in-law was going to take her sailing. I know you get wet out on the water, and that's fine, but I was going to be sat on the shore watching. As it happened, she slipped coming downstairs and bruised her back, removing any inclination she had for going sailing, and giving me a get out of jail free card. Typically, come lunch time, the sun came out, and I could have had a nice afternoon sitting in the sun reading. Oh well, a chance to get the washing outside to dry.

More rain again this morning, as I'm getting the electric scooter out of the garage for my wife to do the school run. At least it stopped for her to take the kids. She got soaked a few days last week, and sitting on a scooter, not moving (except by the power of electricity), one gets cold quite quickly.

Holiday in South West Wales next week, so hope the weather improves.

And now, in more detail....

So, another Sunday, another Britbloggerment, and I was not at all happy with my performance. I could blame it on being tired - my wife is home, but can't walk more than 10 yards, the kids have activities galore (I'm going to cub camp overnight on Friday, I've packed my tent!), and I'm sick of ironing (and I'm not very good at it). However, I think it more likely that I just played badly.

Things started well, with this hand early on:

Dealt to stephenrhall [Jd Jh]
stephenrhall: raises 80 to 100
weegem: folds
Al Eleven: raises 180 to 280
Spid: folds
mikesaban: folds
Luckbox21: folds
lzfsb3: folds
stephenrhall: calls 180
*** FLOP *** [8h 6h 3h]
stephenrhall: bets 320
Al Eleven: raises 950 to 1270 and is all-in
stephenrhall: calls 940 and is all-in
*** TURN *** [8h 6h 3h] [5s]
*** RIVER *** [8h 6h 3h 5s] [Tc]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
stephenrhall: shows [Jd Jh] (a pair of Jacks)
Al Eleven: shows [Ts Qs] (a pair of Tens)
stephenrhall collected 3110 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***

Al Eleven had just said his wife was dragging him out, so, I felt there was a good chance he didn't have much, and my Jacks held up. He says he expects me to return the favour next time!

His attempts to get rid of his chips didn't go too well, as he then quadrupled his 10 chips up to 40 with 2 4o (flopped a pair of 4s) and then hit a straight with 67o to move up to 110. Eventually though, he had to go, his 63d unluckily beaten by ATo ;)

The next landmark was being dealt the hammer. Lzfsb3, short stacked, raised preflop, and I of course re-raised him. A flop of KK4 and he puts the rest of his chips in the middle. I call, and he shows 7c2s, so we split the pot.

A couple more players out, and one table closes. Joining us are Rosie, PokerMunk3y and simonjjj. A few hands later I'm dealt AdQs on the button. Rosie raises 3BB, and I reraise. I flop of 7c 6d 7h, and I raise. Rosie says "Ok, I give it a try" and pushes. I take a guess that she's holding something like AT or AJ, but, my reading is often not very good. I have her covered and decide to call. She shows 9Tc, and a 9 on the turn puts her in front. However, a queen on the turn puts her out, and I find myself the chip leader.

Around the same time BurnleyMik pops up in the chat, also having just gone out. I took a look at the state of the game overall, and noticed that Lousaban had gone out second, and, as Al Eleven doesn't have a blog, asked if she would be looking after the monkey. Mike didn't think much of that idea.

Things started to go down hill at this point. I was dealt the hammer again, and, raising pre-flop, the short stacked weegem went over the top. I called, and discovered I was not lookng too good, against his K9c. I did get a 2 on the turn, but as he'd already flopped top pair, that wasn't much good. First big lump of chips donked off.

I went card dead after this, until after some time I was dealt AJ. I raise 4BB up to 500. Simonjjj went all in with his 795. Spid called, and so did I. Flop was 4s 9s Qs.

For reasons I can't satisfactorily explain I went all in with my last 1357 chips. Spid called, with a pair of jacks. Simonjjj had a pair of tens. A ten on the river gives Simon a set, and all my chips.

League table to follow, after the weather report.

First, the Headlines

I played crap.
I busted out in 13th place.
Congratulations to ResdentEvil who won, and Acorn and Mike, who were second and third.
Kronsdat bubbled.
Al Eleven did the walk of shame.

More later.

Bye Bye Monkey!

Another Sunday, another Britbloggerment, and this one was tight! Nobody wanted to look after the monkey for a week (he's hard on the curtains), and nobody was taking risks. Eventually, after much stealing and folding all round, first out was The Edge! QQ beaten by KK. Pop over and say hi to the monkey. After that is was like a dam had burst, the relief not being first out loosened everyone's play, and more players soon left the table. Next out was Mike, followed by usual high flyer TanOrpheus. SuffolkPunch, who is off to Vegas shortly on behalf of The Sun and Pokerstars, was next to go in 11th place, as my JQh, with the help of a queen on the turn, beat his A6s. He's looking for small investors in his bankroll - got $10 to spare, pop over and take a look. Last to go before the final table was the better half of team Saban, Louise.

So, for the first time for a few weeks, I made the final table.

Next out was Weegem, as, short stacked, he called BMs raise to go all in with QK. BM showed AJ, and neither improved, putting Weegem out. A few hands later I was dealt AA, and raised 3BB. Kronsdat re-raised to go all in, and I called. He had ATo, which had been a very successful hand up to now, but got no help from the board. Out in 8th.

With the blinds increasing, and my stack falling towards the back of the pack, I was dealt JKo in the big blind. Spid raised 3BB, and I went over the top. He called and showed 88. The flop was blank, but a king on the turn put me in front. The following 8 on the river put me out in 7th place.

In 6th was PokerMunk3y, and out in 5th, after a fabulous run up to the break, was The Cloud. Nothing seemed to go for him after the break, but another final table for him. This weeks bubble boy was BurnleyMik! Whenever I'd glanced across to his table early on his stack seemed to be varying wildly, but once we got to the final table things settled down and his stack built steadily.

Onto the cash places, and ResdentEvil was 3rd. In second was Spid, after some solid play, and this weeks winner is....simonjjj!!!!. Taking stick throughout every tourney for his avatar, he kept his cool and took the title!

Turnout was down this week, only 14 instead of the usual 18 or 19, but it was still just as much fun.

This weeks league table! Only last week BurnleyMik was lamenting that he was behind all the regular players. This week he leaps up the table, passing Quixote8, Rosie, and weegem. Simonjjj takes the lead from the Cloud, and ResdentEvil moves up to 3rd.

Well played everyone, see you next week!

Simonjjj	44
the_cloud71	42
ResdentEvil	38
Zagga	34
TanOrpheus	33
PokerMunk3y	31
Spid	31
stephenrhall	24
Al Eleven	22
BurnleyMik	22
Quixote8	20
Rosie_m_t	18
weegem	18
cadmunkey	17
Katitude	14
Pokerdwarf	14
lightning36	11
mauzj	10
Daleroxxu	9
lzfsb3	9
mikesaban	9
Sir Fortune	9
Kennl	8
sookraboaby	8
LepRecon777	7
SuffolkPunch	7
lousaban	6
S.t.b	6
countryk	5
a104l9	4
Bluescouse	4
Kronsdat	2
AlCantHang	2
4everleeds	0
mookie99	0
Neil Ross	0
wadhead	0

Pokerstars' Loss

I've been meaning to write about this all week, but never found the time, but now I have, so here goes (by the way, trying my pet monkey in a different position this post, what do you think?)

Wil Wheaton has been dropped from Team Pokerstars.

"So What?" you say. He's not a big, successful poker player, why would they want him?

Well, Wil is the reason I'm playing poker. He's the reason the first site I signed up with was Pokerstars. He's also the reason I'm blogging, but thats not the point of this post.

I would think that Wil has been responsible for a substantial number of people signing up with Pokerstars. Even before he was part of Team Pokerstars, he blogged about playing there. He wrote with enthusiasm, excitement, passion. Enough so that I felt I had to try this game, if only to understand what he was writing about. What is a flop anyway, what was this river he was going on about. Where did this gun that he was under come from? So, I downloaded the Pokerstars client, and started on the play money tables. Then, after he joined the team, he started the weekly WWdN tourneys. So, I put some cash in, and played my first tourney. I think I was the 3rd person to bust out. But I'd caught the bug. And I'm still playing today. Mostly on Pokerstars.

Now its the World Series of Poker, and the only person writing on the Pokerstars Blog is Otis. Not that Otis is a bad writer, he's right up there with the best bloggers. But last year Wil added another element to the reporting, gave a different slant.

Whilst Wil was famous outside poker, within it, he, to me, represented us, the ordinary players, not the megastars. He brought us into that world, with its seediness, its bright lights, its characters. Without him on Team Pokerstars, they've lost that connection with the small time player.

I hope Wil keeps playing, and I hope he blogs about it more. Maybe one day he'll join our little ol' Brit Bloggerment tourney, but with an 8 hour time difference, probably not. Anyway, I'll still be reading his blog, whether he writes about his family, his dog, Teen Titans, his favorite book, or Poker. It was the first blog I regularly read, and it's still one of the ones I enjoy the most.

Actually, maybe now he can enjoy his online poker more, as, not being part of Team Pokerstars, maybe he can change his username and become anonymous once more, away from the idiots that hated Wesley Crusher, and turn up at the rail just to rain down abuse, and the people that just hated him for getting to be part of Team Pokerstars.

Anyway, for the best reporting on this years WSOP, drop by the Tao of Poker, and read Pauly's take on things, and learn which pros he's taken a piss next to today!

Going over to the Dark Side

I've just made my first music purchase using iTunes Plus - Apple's new DRM free music downloads, at double the bitrate. And it was the same price as the normal DRM encumbered, normal bitrate tracks. They're doing a special offer on a lot of albums, so I got Dark Side of the Moon for £6.99 (I typed the dollar sign first time, too much poker!).

Oh what a night

Last night, playing a ring game, I found one of those players you never want to leave your table.

I'm dealt AA in the SB.. I've been burnt a lot slow playing aces, so I decide I'm going to be aggressive this time. This is helped by a raise of 5BB from middle position, and one caller. I reraise, and am called by UTG, plus the other two. Flop is 42T rainbow. I put in a pot sized raise, and am re-raised by UTG. The other two fold, and I'm left to think what UTG is holding. Hopefully he wouldn't still be in the game after the pre-flop raises with a middle pair, so I put him on something like AK or KK. I decide to push, and go all-in. He calls. A 3 and a 7 on fourth and fifth street, and he turns over Ts Qh!

He then buys himself another stack of chips. Two hands later I'm dealt QTd. I raise 3BB, and get two callers - my friend from the previous hand is one of them. Flop is 8d 7s Kd. My friend raises, and I've got the pot odds to call with my flush draw. A queen on the turn gives me a pair, but I suspect my friend is holding a king. He puts a weak raise in, and I call. River is 9d. Once again I put him all in, and he calls. He's got KTh, and I take the pot.

Again he rebuys. Three hands later I limp in MP with KQo. Flop is 8TJ rainbow. I test the water with a raise, and once again the only caller is my good friend. The turn is the card I most want to see, a 9. I've got the straight, and he re-raises. I go over the top, but finally he appears to have learn't a little sense, and unfortunately he folds.

I finish the session with 6 times my original buy-in, most of it from this one player. I'm not putting his name here because I don't want him stumbling across this and know I'm looking for him, and I don't want to share him with anyone else!

Better late than never

Here, rather later than usual, is the Bloggerment league table, with Cloud's consistent good showings placing him top of the tree:

the_cloud71	37
Zagga	34
Simonjj	34
TanOrpheus	33
ResdentEvil	31
PokerMunk3y	27
Spid	22
Al Eleven	22
stephenrhall	21
Quixote8	20
Rosie_m_t	18
cadmunkey	17
weegem	17
BurnleyMik	16
Katitude	14
Pokerdwarf	14
lightning36	11
mauzj	10
Daleroxxu	9
lzfsb3	9
mikesaban	9
Sir Fortune	9
Kennl	8
sookraboaby	8
LepRecon777	7
SuffolkPunch	7
lousaban	6
S.t.b	6
countryk	5
a104l9	4
Bluescouse	4
AlCantHang	2
4everleeds	0
mookie99	0
Neil Ross	0
wadhead	0

Walk of Shame

Out first, and here's the hand:

PokerStars Game #10252997105: Tournament #51377170, $5.00+$0.50 Hold'em No Limit - Level I (10/20) - 2007/06/03 - 16:10:40 (ET)
Table '51377170 2' 9-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 2: weegem (1520 in chips)
Seat 4: mikesaban (1150 in chips)
Seat 5: simonjjj (1380 in chips)
Seat 6: Spid (1600 in chips)
Seat 7: Quixote8 (2320 in chips)
Seat 8: BurnleyMik (1390 in chips)
Seat 9: stephenrhall (1140 in chips)
simonjjj: posts small blind 10
Spid: posts big blind 20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to stephenrhall [As 8s]
Quixote8: folds
BurnleyMik: folds
stephenrhall: calls 20
weegem: folds
mikesaban: calls 20
simonjjj: folds
Spid: checks
*** FLOP *** [8d Td Qc]
Spid: checks
stephenrhall: bets 80
mikesaban: raises 120 to 200
Spid: folds
stephenrhall: calls 120
*** TURN *** [8d Td Qc] [Ac]
stephenrhall: bets 920 and is all-in
mikesaban: calls 920
*** RIVER *** [8d Td Qc Ac] [6c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
stephenrhall: shows [As 8s] (two pair, Aces and Eights)
mikesaban: shows [Tc 8c] (a flush, Ace high)
mikesaban collected 2310 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2310 | Rake 0
Board [8d Td Qc Ac 6c]
Seat 2: weegem folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: mikesaban (button) showed [Tc 8c] and won (2310) with a flush, Ace high
Seat 5: simonjjj (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 6: Spid (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 7: Quixote8 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: BurnleyMik folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: stephenrhall showed [As 8s] and lost with two pair, Aces and Eights

Got a monkey on your back?

Found a link on the Hendon Mob site to Vicky Coren's weekly poker articles in the Guardian. Here's a story for everyone on a bad run.