Dublin up

I popped over to Dublin at the weekend to play in the BoylePoker IPO. I nearly backed out with a bad cold, but glad I made the trip. The $250 NLHE main event was good fun, despite not cashing, and was another marker by which I could measure how much my live game has come on. I felt like I played pretty well for the first few levels but never got the right spots to chip up and make a deep run. Ah well, that’s how some tourneys go.

Then I tried my luck in my first ever live PLO tourney. The 165 euro buy-in was probably too big to enter for a first tournament but I did pretty well and although I made some fundamental errors and probably played too tight it was a learning experience and a fun one too. Will definitely have to play more soon. I may even play a bit more online.

But what made the weekend worthwhile was meeting up with some fellow On the Railers and just having a great time chatting, drinking and hanging out together. It felt like being on holiday rather than heading out to a poker tournament – and made for a refreshing change from many other festivals I’ve visited recently.

The funny thing about playing live is that I sort of enjoy it when I’m there but I always get the itch to get back online. I feel comfortable in my flat, with hoody on and mug of tea in hand, clicking away furiously across four tables and feeling totally in the zone. I know I have to play more to improve and make some money. I’ve been neglecting the game a bit recently so I’m going to aim to put in some cash hands this week and then have a day of tourneys on Sunday. Hopefully I’ll run good and win big. I feel ready for some success…

Live and let die

I played a live freeroll at the EPT a week ago and was reminded of why I play live poker so infreqently. Down to the final table with one seat up for grabs in a £1,000 tourney, I was doing okay in chips but everyone was getting short-stacked: it was shove or fold time.

An older guy to my left had been ribbing Greg Raymer (who for some bizarre reason was also playing) and trying to ‘outplay’ him. He talked between hands, during hands and was generally acting like a complete prick. When he did knock Raymer out by accident – bluff-shoving which actually turned out to be a value bet – I knew it was only going to get worse. In his ridiculous Cockney accident, which made him sound like one of the old gangsters in a Guy Ritchie film, he started talking about how he hates online players and how they constantly keep shoving all-in. I knew he was going to hate me.

True enough, just as I fell below 10BBs I started shipping it in and scooping up the massive blinds. He started having a go at me, saying we should play flops etc etc blah blah and I knew it was going to end with him calling me down light. As it was the final hand was my 88 vs his AT and he naturally flopped the straight. I went away thinking that in his head he probably thought the natural order was restored and the ‘correct’ play was rewarded.

My main problem with live poker is the reason most people choose to play – to make it a social game. But if you hate most people at the table (and let’s face it there’s a lot of rotters in casinos) why would you choose to play outside the house? Maybe a good compromise would be for everyone to be banned from talking…