As some of you may or may not know, Late Night Poker is making a welcome return, with the series actually being filmed this week.
Back at the start of the millennium, LNP (as us cool cats like to abbreviate it to) was the cornerstone of not just televised poker, but poker as a whole. Every Friday night, fans used to tune-in in their droves, many of whom were sacrificing a night out on the town to follow the explosion of the poker boom.
I myself was a big fan and, as a new player, was keen to see how the pro's handled the cards. Barny Boatman, Simon Trumper, Devilfish, even Hellmuth made a couple of appearances. The stars were out in full force and one of them was Peter 'The Poet' Costa, who even won a series outright!
As some of you may recall, Peter graced us with his presence on the forum a week or two back and shared a few memories with us. For those that missed the thread, this is what he said...
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With the re-launch of Late Night Poker taking place next week, I thought that some of you may enjoy an insight into the old series. So here goes….
Like many others, I had sat and watched LNP with an itch that could only be scratched if I got on the show. But how does one go about it? Enter Jac Arama.
Jac had become a regular on the show and so when I saw him at Walsall for a 500 quid buy-in, I decided to approach him. Calm as you like, I walked up to him and told him to back me for the event that day .He looked at me as if to say, “who the hell are you?“. Undeterred, I pulled a wad of cash from my pocket and told him that the money was not the issue, I just wanted to prove a point. Jac half smiled and went on about not even knowing me etc, and then asking if I had won any tournaments. Just then Gary Bush (who Jac was staking and who I had played with), overheard the conversation and assured Jac that I could win it. I got my way and a chance to get on Late Night Poker. Now all I had to do was win the Walsall event and leave the rest to Jac. As it so happens, I managed to win the two day event after a long battle with Lucy Rokach.
I called Jac to tell him the news, and waited for the fifth series of Late Night Poker to get underway. I was actually going very well in that series and had a great chance until I made a mistake of betting out of turn in one hand, and then walking into T-T with my K-K, in the next. Anyhow, now to the sixth and what turned out to be the last series.
Having made the final, I felt very comfortable and confident. Even when short-stacked with six players remaining, I somehow kept that belief. After all, this was my chance to prove a lot of things to myself. Desperate for a hand, I finally find A-K. With blinds at 400-800 (I think), I made it 2500 to go, leaving me with just about 6000 left. The problem here was Lucy Rokach, who was to my left and big stacked, set me all-in. The other problem was, I had dreamt this would happen. Unsure of what the dream signified, I very reluctantly let the hand go. As it happens, Lucy was actually holding A-Q and I missed a great chance to double up. But then on the other side of the coin, I guess you could say that the muck showed just how much belief I had to be able to come back from 6K. 
The final develops and I slowly get into the game. I managed to catch Lucy (right) a couple of times and by the time we reached three-handed, I held a cool 15K more than her. As everyone knows, Lucy is a very aggressive player and that’s exactly how she had played that day. So when I was dealt A-T on the BB, I waited for Lucy to raise again. With me holding a chip lead over her for the first time, I had no problem in setting her all-in. Lucy called instantly and I knew I was in trouble. But hey, even I get lucky sometimes as I flopped a Ten and another on the turn to leave her A-Q drawing dead. And so to heads-up.
Cai Lin was just as aggressive as Lucy and perhaps even more so. I therefore decided to take no crap and make a stance against him. However, my A-8 against his A-J (which was surprisingly not shown), was a case of bad timing. Suddenly, I found myself low-stacked again. I now needed the grinding approach. But this would not be easy against a very aggressive player. I needed a few hands in order to try and get into his head. Luckily, the blinds were still very low and limping became the game. I may just have a chance here!
Just as these thoughts were going through my mind, The next hand brings an opportunity to mix things up. On a flop of T-9-2 rainbow, I over-bet the pot by some way. Of course Cai Lin mucks as I expected, and I show him the top two pair. I could feel the questions going on in his mind about that play. But that was only the start; I needed more. A few hands later, another limp again brings top two pair for my K-9. Only this time I have position. So when Cai Lin checks, I check. The checks continue after a harmless turn and river. Not one single bet was made during the hand; the thoughts in Cai Lin’s head must have been racing after that. This kind of play continued for nearly two hours before I finally got level in chips. The break comes and I notice the dejection in Cai Lin’s face. In fact, he tells me he can’t beat me! 
I responded by telling him that he was playing well and not to get despondent. Anyone listening to this conversation must have been confused at what was being said. This was not how it should be. We should have been using every weapon at our disposal, looking for anything that would give us an advantage. But I guess that we were just two guys who actually liked each other. And perhaps poker is not about winning at all cost, perhaps it just about playing the game.
Anyway, playing three tournies on Party - must dash - going well in the Friday big one.