Edinburgh and all that

Summer is over and I ended it with a bang…well a binge to be more accurate.

I spent 10 or so days in Edinburgh and re-discovered the student within me.

Not sure how many reading this will have been to the Edinburgh festival or to Edinburgh full stop but if you haven’t then do! I haven’t been everywhere but of the towns/cities I’ve visited in the UK and Ireland it’s by far my favourite  – if we could move it a couple of hundred miles south I’d be there in a shot.

I was there for the latest leg of the UKIPT and then for some quality comedy festival time. The tournament went very well especially considering it was a brand new event for Scotland – next year I think it’ll be even bigger.

The festival was great except for deciding to torture my liver by drinking every night. I’m a complete lightweight and never really ‘drank’ when I was the age you’re supposed to drink so it was all a bit silly but a lot of fun. The comedy was very mixed – there are a lot of comics around these days who clearly belong in rock bands (as in they just want to be famous) and don’t actually have any material. But then there are also geniuses like Emo Phillips and the God that is Tim Vine. When Tim was told he’d won the best joke at the festival award he replied ‘I’m so excited I’m going to Sooty’s barbecue to have a sweep stake’…genius.

I have ‘a lot on’ at the moment. Lots of big poker tournaments are coming to London this month and the WCOOP is happening on line so there’s plenty of poker work . Also I’m working on some comedy projects and probably a couple of TV shows so it’s all a bit full. With all of that there isn’t much time for poker at the moment and I’ve reached a plateau with Omaha so I’m taking a break until I have time to focus on it properly. Will be playing a couple of live events in the next 6 weeks so I’ll let you know how those go.

Think that’s about it…..hope summer isn’t over for you and you can cling onto it for a few weeks to come!

nicks bits

Apparently it takes a day for every time zone you travel through to recover from jet lag. Well I must have popped around the world a couple of times because this trip back from Vegas kicked my butt. I don’t think it helped I went straight to the UKIPT in Brighton and managed not to sleep for more than about  5 hours for 2 weeks but still….. Several times I’ve been up before 830 and that just wont do!!

Brighton was great – the Rendezvous is a great place to play and did the tour proud. It’s also a cool place to be generally although it’s many times cooler during the week than the weekend when the hordes from London descend.

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Final WSOP fantasy game standings….Kara 45pts / Matt 37 pts / Nick 17 pts

I suck. I’ve been let down. Kathy Liebert needs to have a serious word with herself frankly it’s the last time she lets me down…

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I’ve had a shocking month on the playing poker side of things. It involved a couple of weeks of barely winning a significant pot and then some time where variance kicked my arse. The last few days I’ve been playing well though and my PLO game is looking better so we’ll see. Still running horribly on the year making  small profit online when it should be a decent one; thank goodness for live tourneys…never thought I’d say that.

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Did you see Inception yet? It’s basically a very well done heist thriller covering up a story about the lead character’s love and loss and it demands to be seen it’s just so well done. Amazing Nolan isn’t lauded here – we’ve produced a Steve Spielberg equivalent and you barely see anything on him.

That’s all my bits for now…later skater

Main event tedium

I have to write a blog about my main event I guess. The sad fact is there isn’t much to write. I owe a huge thanks to Stars for putting me in but sadly I couldn’t return the favour with a long run.

On the plus side unlike my first year playing it I was super comfortable from the start which was nice – I don’t think I’ll encounter being phased in a big tournament again

The line of the day was from some wag who when it was announced the oldest player in the event at 90-something was in the field commented ‘can’t believe he took the risk and waited til day 1D’

My table was great – with one active player who was decent, one tag player who was good and the rest pretty horrible. I was able to chip up really easily and only lost chips when I made a big unnecessary bluff early on. Once out of my system it was plain sailing but without any big hands…

Until I busted in level 3 just before dinner. It was so so frustrating – the ante was about to come in and I felt like my table wouldn’t adjust properly at all and I’d make chips easily

I had 115 bbs at the start of the hand and pocket 7s on the button. Decent player opens, horrible player flats and I call. Flop is a-j-7 no suits a good flop for me reader…I have a set!! Good player checks, bad player bets I flat; we’re heads up. Turn is a 6 bringing a spade draw. Bad player bets I raise; he calls. River is a 4 clubs – he checks I move all in he tanks for 2 minutes …calls and shows a soul crushing set of jacks.

The funny thing about the hand is that obviously I think I’m ahead the whole time and I’m just trying to get his money in. On the river I have no clue what he was thinking about and it was a really shocking nit roll – I was so surprised when he turned his hand over. I mean I’m sitting there making all the weak signals praying for him to call (trust me my lips were curling under I was fidgeting and staring the works)

When he finally turned his hand over I didn’t take it well. I was fine about it one drink later just disappointed. In an interview a few days later pro Daivd Williams summed up the feeling of going out on a hand that was brainless in how much it played itself -  ‘its like the main event got taken from you’. We don’t play poker because we’re passive we play it because we like to influence action and I feel like I didn’t have much of a chance to do any of that.

Apparently the WSOP is still going on – as soon as those Jacks hit the felt I lost interest. … Next year….

Christmas Eve

This time tomorrow I’ll be playing the main event of the World Series of Poker. As a poker fan and player it simply doesn’t get any better than this. The anticipation is amazing and every single player of the 7000+ feels the same thing that maybe just maybe it could be them this year.

I need to point out it’s thanks to the lovely people at pokerstars. I’m super super lucky to be put in to the event and I’ll try and do it justice. I have to be honest in future years if I don’t have a sponsor I’ll be spending money to play; it’s that much fun!

Last year I was so excited after a 15 year wait to play it and ridiculously the reality didn’t let me down. Day 2 when I quickly cashed out was disappointing but day 1 was unreal. The buzz in the room is unique in poker and I won’t try and do it justice by writing about it – you just have to do it once in your life some how some way. Suffice to say it’s the only time I’ve been nervous at a poker table – or at least for 15 years!

This year I’ll be excited but not nervous and I don’t think I’ll have any problem playing well from the start. The key to day 1 is table draw. The series is so random because the field is so huge – you can get 2 tough players to your left and have an impossible day or get a field of first time casual players and have lots of lovely free money to pick up…I’ll know how well I’m running from the line up just a few days into tomorrow!

Anyway I know how lucky I am and for one of the few times in life tomorrow there really won’t be anywhere else on earth I’d rather be.

There won’t be much sleep tonight!

4 sleeps to Vegas

I’m in Kilarney for the latest UKIPT and as I write this I’m hosting….live…at any point I may have to break off and be nice to a poker player so apologies if this gets interrupted.

The event’s been a big success which is a relief as scheduling any event against the series – especially with a 1k buy in – is a risk. But with 250+ runners and a 1/4 million euro prize pool it’s been an exciting tourney so far.

Of course the whole world now knows how vibrant and what a high standard UK poker has reached as the UK players are busy murdering the WSOP. Their hit rate compared to the amount of players in the field has been astonishing and obviously theres some run good involved but they’re all top players. Special kudos to Pras and Rich Ashby gods among men!!

I’m off to Vegas in 4 sleeps which hasn’t sunk in yet as I’ve been running round trying to get work done and life sorted. However when I’m on my way to Gatwick I’ll get that special pre Christmas feeling…..

By the way why have people started saying ‘the proof is in the pudding’ rather than the proof of the pudding is in the eating….??

Is football becoming a solved game?

I’ve been watching two amazing sporting events this week – the NBA finals and the World Cup and I’ve been startled by how similar the sports are starting to look.

The level of skill in the NBA games has staggered me. Also the evenness of the teams – the Lakers and Celtics – and their long standing hatred of each other has made it an awesome series. I’ve loved watching Kobe Bryant who, in ability terms (although not accomplishment yet), might be the best player of all time. And Rondo of the Celtics a new superstar whose smoooootttthhhhhh! The games have been close, exciting and beautiful to watch.

Watching the world cup has been a different experience. The occasion is amazing, as is the atmosphere but the football (whisper is quietly) is absolutely dire.

Hopefully it will pick up but I’m worried for ‘the beautiful game’. The problem is two fold – first the athleticism of the players has massively improved in the last 20 years and secondly the tactical awareness of teams has come on enormously. Coaches have discovered that if you have two rows of 4 (or one of 4 and one of 5) that fall back without the ball and the players are athletic and disciplined it’s possible to make it incredibly hard for the opposing team to break you down.

This is why football is starting to look like basketball with teams immediately withdrawing when they don’t have the ball and relying on fast break counter attacks and set plays for their goals.

The only antidote to this seems to be the fast ball movement of exceptionally gifted teams like Barcelona and Spain. But as Inter showed this season and Chelsea last – athleticism and organization nullifies it.

I think a new innovation is needed. People want to watch skill, attacking play and goals. If the trend to athleticism and organization continues football will become less popular. It may need a rule change – something radical like 10 men a team or bigger pitches – I don’t know. But watching well drilled long distance runners restricting space is not why football became the world’s favourite game.

WSOP fantasy fun

Kara Matt and I are playing a WSOP fantasy game and you may want to play along.

It starts from event 4 for us – for you guys it starts from any date from when you post picks

I’ll rustle up some Stars goodies for anyone that beats us 3 with a team posted here in a comments section or on at eat my stack with a verified start date obviously (no points count from events over a day in progress)

The points system is easy

1 point for a cash

4 points for a final table

10 points for a win

All points doubled for the Main and 20 points for a November nine

You must pick:-

1x Over 35 year old

1 x player without a braclet

1 x female player

1 x U K player 

2 x wild cards (anyone)

Our rosters are:-

Nick:-

Matt glantz

Isaac Haxton

Vanessa Selbst

Chris Moorman

Justin Bonomo

Elky

Matt:-

Jeffery Lisandro

Andy Bloch

Vanessa Russo

Roland de Wolfe

Daniel Negreanu

Philip Horatio Ivey

Kara:-

Andy Bloch

Shaun Deeb

Annette Oberstad

Praz Bansi

Eric Baldwin

David ‘Bakes’ Baker

Good luck if you play!

Running hot live

So two live tournaments this year and I have one win (did I mention that?) and now a 9^th. Which is the definition of running hot. I should probably quit for the year claiming the most awesome ROI in tourney history.

Played the GUKPT Coventry this weekend – courtesy of Stars; I looked on it as a UKIPT raid on their territory! It was my first event on the tour and the structure is similar to the UKIPT. You get plenty of chips and an hour clock which is pretty cool. As an aside I don’t think I’d recommend playing a live tournament seriously (for fun is a different story) with less than an hour clock. You’re probably still only getting 30 hands per hour – in this case per level – which really isn’t huge.

I ended up having a really weird tournament. I below the average after 2 hours and never at any point got back to the average until busting 2 days later in 9^th. Which just goes to show that in a tournament although plan A is to accumulate chips and aim for the top 3 positions you really have to focus on stacks and blinds and not worry about the tourney overall.

Having said that being short for that long is bizarre and stressful. All day 2 I was waiting for a hand that would double up or bust me and it never came. I must have been all in close to 15 times and was never called (sometimes I wanted it sometimes not!) so effectively survived almost entirely on antes and blinds. Obviously I was pretty lucky to survive however it was good practice and reminder never to quit on a tournament.

The final table was fun and decent practice of a final of a big live event. Although the miracles I wanted didn’t come 9^th and just under 3k was a good result.

I also have to mention the tourney contained one of the funnier hands I’ve played recently. On day 1 I was ground down to just under 10 bbs. On the button with tight blinds I’d decided I was shoving if it was folded to me with any two. That’s what happened and I pretended to look at my cards before pushing. Small blind folds and the big blind announces ‘I’m calling you with 8s or better Ak or AQ’ (did I mention he was tight?). He looks down and instantly calls! So I have to turn over my two random cards against a guy who is only calling me with big hands. He flips up 99 and I turn over Ace King suited?!?!?!? King on the flop and I double up. How does that happen? Dunno I found it pretty funny – apologies to the big blind who almost certainly didn’t!

Birthday … no poke

I need to write a blog but really can’t be arsed….attitude problem…I should work on that!!

I had a birthday – well a birthday weekend to be honest – it’s once a year you have to make the most of it. It was a fun time, lots of friends went for drinks and dinner. Then for something different we went to a club which had a Burlesque show. It was fun for all the wrong reasons. The acts were unmitigatedly awful – but so bad that in my slightly tipsy state it was hilarious; I shouted ‘get em on’ more than once. The finale act was a lady called Vagina Jenkins. No really. So brilliant on so many levels – I mean she could chose her own stage name and she chose that; she doesn’t even use her lady area in her act. I know you don’t believe me so for the curious here’s the big fellas site www.vaginajenkins.com

In other news I haven’t played poker for 2 weeks – not one hand. Don’t know why I’m sure I’ll get back into it soon

Off to the EPT final in Monte Carlo…on the plus side it’s sunny and nice there and I get to do EPT live on the minus side its 36 euros for a sandwich brought to your room…yikes!

I won a poker tournament…which is nice

A few days ago I wrote a blog about the struggles I was having with a downswing online. I didn’t post it because I got distracted (I’m easily distracted) and then simply forgot.

In it I wrote about the horrendous 6 weeks I’ve had and how although I’ve been playing for a long time and know downswings are part of the game it was still super hard. The fact that I’ve been running super horribly (confirmed by my Omaha manager not just my own persecution complex) while feeling like I’ve been working pretty hard and playing decently only made it feel worse.

I decided to take a week off and then have a change of scene by playing a live event. Thanks to the good people at Poker Stars I’m playing a few live events in the UK this year as part of my role as UKIPT host and I’ve been very tardy in getting going.

My first event was the main event of the Sussex masters festival at the Rendezvous casino in Brighton…. And I won it. Woot!

It was a two day event with a great structure. The poker room there is great and the staff did a great job – although I may be very biased as I luck boxed the thing. The UKIPT is there in July and it should be a great event.

I might talk about some of the hands I played in the event in a later blog or podcast as there were a few interesting ones when I have more time.

The main thing about the tournament was that it underlined to me just how much luck there is in winning an event. Frankly on the second day it was just my day. It was surreal it seemed like every time I was bluffing or stealing I got folds and everytime I had a hand I got action…just one of those days. I also got big hands at the right time – like coolering a really good player 5 handed with AK when he had AQ after I’d 3 bet him a couple of times in non showndown hands before.

Don’t get me wrong I feel like I played well and I was pleased with my focus and decisions in the main. I was also proud of the way I really ground a medium to short stack for most of day 1. However I also recognize you just have to get lucky at the end to win a tournament.

One final thought I do consider this a monkey off my back. It’s my first significant tournament win in the UK. I’ve won other tournaments but they are either small, or in the US or online. The fact is in the last five years I’ve played very few tournaments so it’s not surprising I don’t have results. I made it a goal for this year to reach a live final table of a decent event so to have done that is satisfying.

I’ve become increasingly aware that a lot of people I the wider world judge you as a player on your tournament record. I think this is wrong but that’s how it works and my tournament record has been non-existent until now – hopefully I can build on this over the next couple of years. Obviously I don’t think I’m any better a player because I’ve got lucky and won a medium sized event….but then I wouldn’t think I was a worse player if I’d lost either of the two flips I won on day 1 to stay in!

Of course all of this is irrelevant the main point is that it was a great experience. I’ll always be more interested in being as good a cash player as I can be but I can’t deny that nothing is more exciting or fun than going deep in a live tournament…. Oh and winning a big chunk of money is very cool too!

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