blonde poker forum

If you have any questions for Dave "El Blondie" Colclough, please post them here

Is live poker easier or harder for you than it was 10 years ago?

Do you feel you are seen as a target at the tables, and if so how do you compensate/use this to your advantage?

the last six months or so has seen you emerge from a bad run with a number of results.

what do you think lies behind this? is it fewer distractions in the business world? have you changed style? or is it just the swings of tournament poker?

Dave have you got that tenner u owe me?

I think it is because since leaving Blonde he does not have to spend so much time posting on here.... ;scarymoment;

LOL as in the "ask a pro" section on the blonde site? :D

Most of my friends are good pokerplayers, thereby I mean that they have achieved something online or offline. I might mention Kirderf (Fredrik Ostervold) and Prikken (Odd Lavik). This makes me feel that I have to achieve something as well, so in stead of grinding the low limit tables I have a tendency of moving up too fast and blowing the bankroll out in a couple of hours or minutes. The largest bankroll I made was about $12 000 from $500, multi tabling $2/4, but blew it all out on a $20/40 table in one night. I can only afford small deposits ($100-500), but I need something to motivate me, or keep me from moving up too fast. This especially happends if I have a bad night, making my high limit play even worse, since I more often make stupid mistakes. Have you got any tips or tricks to avoid this?

Definately harder. Generally players divided into 2 categories 10 years ago
a) they played too tight (but probably made a small profit)
b) they played too loose

Nowadays players are a lot better educated. There is so much material available to improve your ability if you are prepared to read and learn.
They also gain hundreds of times more experience by playing online.
Stuey Unger and Johnny Moss wouldnt last 2 minutes.

I stuck it on the Number 3 dog!

Not Really. I do this all the time. It's depressing isn't it.
I think the poker guru's have a word for it... DISCIPLINE... I think they also talk about bankroll management..
I've never been good at this and would say this is undoubtably my biggest weakness.
DONT DO IT... see what you win in the small games in 1 night and multiply it by 365....it's not bad for an annual wage is it? Maybe thats the way to think

To be honest I rarely have an experience of being a 'target' although I do remember someone in Dublin telling me the only reason he called was because he wanted to tell his wife he had knocked me out of the tourney.
I find quite the opposite to be honest. In european tourneys I cant get any action. I cant ever get chips early on because nobody wants to play a pot with me unless they have me by the you know what.

Am i still a MUPPET Dave ???????.




 John.

Not really I still have a lot of distractions I am shaking off. I feel it was
a) the swings of tournament poker
b) slightly exaggerated.... if you exclude the WSOP I probably had a good year...$77,000 when coming 2nd to Ian Fraser in Partpoker Tv event in Feb, picked up a couple of Vic finishes for £44,000 and £15,000, $27,000 at Turks & Cacos J Chan Invitational, the 56000 euro in Dublin and numorous smaller results
I can think of a few people who had a worse year
 :)

Yowsers that's an impressive year boss, well done!

Watcha Muppet, how the heck are you?

Hi dave, Ive been playing poker for about 3 years and seeing as I only played sort of $10 - $20 SnG's and Multi's online around uni i have made a steady profit, ive recently upped my stakes a bit more and i'm winning quite a lot more than i used to, the only books ive read are super system and all 3 of Harringtons, (i only play tourneys), Ive been to the casino a couple of times (and played £10 to £30 NLHE) and cashed nearly everytime in the freezeout tourneys, and found myself dominating most of the tables,I know they arent gonna be good players but I watch poker TV tourneys when i can and to be honest i cant help but think to myself "I could definatley mix it with most of these lot", my question really is do you come accross a lot of ppl like me, self proclaimed "young guns" and how do they fair at the bigger tourneys? and what do you suggest is the best route for myself, as I have always made a consistant profit....but havent got the funds with uni and that to enter the tourneys where the real money and the real players are at,

thanks for your time mate, Jarv

hey dave,
will you always play full time, on the circuit, or is the goal to win one six/seven figure lump & do something else with your time?
as always,
curious,
julian

Just take a look at who is winning all the tourneys nowadays. The only big one in the UK this year was won by Praz Bansi and The Carribean Classic & EPT were won by guys under 25. There is so much learning material around and you can get so much experience online, you can improve at a remarkable rate. Keep building the bankroll and keep testing yourself at the next level of tourney.
One thing about TV though ... they show highlights and you often dont get the full story..

Nope I am well and truly addicted. I'll never give up....what would I do? Get a life?

So how the hell r u DC?

I just wanted to let everyone know that it was you that lured me into this GREAT poker world. If I only would have listened w/ both ears :dontask:

But really, poker is mostly about discipline and the understanding of ones faults and weakness!

What do you think sir?

or spotting other people faults of course Brian. On a completely unrelated topic do you still talk during hands mate? ;)

yayayayayay, i only talk when I know the answer now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The guy in Tunica was a fxxxing muuuuppppeeeetttttttttttt, I am still losing sleep over that hand ;stickaforkinme;

Not at all Brian...it's about scaring the living daylights out of the other guys in the hope that they will pass  ;nemesis;
and I deny all responsibility for letting you loose on the poor poker playing public.

...and how the hell are you sir? Have you played in the last couple of months?

13th in the wsop 5k event in Tunica, smaller comp win, off to LA poker classic and the wsop circuit in Iowa, the poker fun just never ends ;popcorn; ;mexicanwave;

I'm fine thank's Dave, Hope you and Row and doing OK.
best of luck to you and the rest of the DTD crew in you're new adventure.
Hope to see you soon.

John.

Hi Dave, I played once against you in a 500 euro event in barca.

I remember you constantly getting in pots with one particular guy and commenting "Didn't think my heads up game started till tomorrow!"

You mentioned in a post that there's a variety of good poker literature about.  What are your thoughts on the best poker books on the market?

Dave,

Is it true you once tried to scalp the Rookie and Cupcake at golf by getting MR Cool in off a rogue handicap??

And did Cupcake almost take your head off with a shot?

Ya thats right, Goodwin was the "hustla" that day, and I think it was DC that tried to take my head off, if I remember right.

The best "hustle" I ever pulled was when DC and myself played 18 holes in vegas, the winner got 10% of the other guys 2005 main event and the loser got 5% of the other guy.

I had to win the last 4 holes to take it down, but then again it was DC and the wheels just came off on the last few holes.

Now if only DC would have gone deep in the main event, could have been worth something like $750K  !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I find computer programming a bit ....esoteric, it takes an unusual set of skills to do it. Do you think it built a good foundation for your poker career?

Dave

when can we watch "House of Cards" on british tv?

and on what channel?

that house looked like real good fun

also looked as if u were up from the home games?

Errr...I dont remember the comment in Barcelona I'm afriad, and haven't actually read many books to be honest.
I would suggest the Mathew Hilger book was an excellent starters guide to hold'em but me thinks that is not appropriate for someone playing in a 500 euro event. You've probably progressed beyond that.
I was recently given Super System 2 and that would probably be first on my list if I could read, closely followed by Harrington's books.
Hopefully this time next year Carduso will have published 'Poker Tales From The Blonde One' but you wont learn anything from that.

How wrong can 1 person be!

No, no, no. It was me and the Rookie v Cupcake and Cool...and what actually happened was
Cupcake was walking off the green whilst I was playing a bunker shot when he decided to try and kneecap himself with his wedge
This happened during my backswing (excuse) and resulted in me shanking it at 90 degrees into The Rookies beer belly
 :o
He didnt feel a thing

Am I meant to know what 'esoteric' means? I understand COBOL and BASIC and C++ but they didnt help much.

Yeh that home game was about the only thing I won in six weeks in Vegas. But then I was only playing against the Rookie and Mr Cool  ;bumwiggle;

Brian, has the show been sold to British TV yet ?

no, final cut next week, we will then start the process of getting a european TV deal finalized, boy does Mr Cool and DC look good on camera fighting about DC's ability to drive. It went like this " DC u drive like a women" " f u Marc, get out of the car", it really is great TV, when u all see it u will die!!!!!!

Ahh I see, so you managed to get both your opponents injured in one shot, that is some going sir. ;topman;

sneek preview of DC driving from the show

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWK5MzF_MgY

very nice, very nice

Dave does most of winnings for the year come from cash games or tourneys?

cheers

I'm pretty good at breaking even at both...live and internet...not much in it

That's C - a - r - d - O - s - o! ;)

Lol.... it's CARDOZA actually
 ;djinn;

Hi dave, can i have your honest opinion on my reply to this guys problem, as i would value your opinion greatly, thanks again for your time mate, Jarv

here -------> http://blondepoker.com/forum/index.php?topic=19849.0

To be honest I think it's 50/50 this early in the tourney. Raising and taking the pot only gains hims 400 chips. Whereas calling and flopping a set may earn hm over 5000. There is also more risk with the re-raise option .
I think you are 100% correct for mid or late stages but it's 50/50 in the first 3 or so levels.
what d'ya think?

Dave i have a very important question  if your standing at a bar with only £5 and there people want a drink but you can only buy one     who's do you buy

I would say whoever looks like they need it most (probably you or padraig).

Well it couldn't be you Kev as yours normally cost about a tenner a shot...minimum
So I guess padraig wins thru

Dave, any chance you can give your thoughts your Will Hill Grand Prix qualifier and how good you think Johnny Lodden is?

http://blondepoker.com/forum/index.php?topic=19966.0 (http://blondepoker.com/forum/index.php?topic=19966.0)

In addition to the last question how highly do you rate the scandie mafia that are threatening to take over the poker world? Who would you rate the highest from Lodden,Patrick,Bengt etc?

Beat me to it. I thought Lodden was fantastic in that; was that an average or a good day for him? :)

If that was an average day for him I would hate to sit with him on a good day. The guy looked something special to me and is imo one of the top 5 in the world at the minute but I would rather have Daves oppinion on him.

Quite simply....the best player won.
The flush was a great fold. he also showed considerable retraint not to follow through with abet on the turn. I was shocked.
He is not a typical Scandie machine gunner thats for certain. A great performance by Mr.Lodden
 :respect:

Unfortunately I think there are a whole swarm of great players on the horizon.
Patrick's record is quite astonishing. I was particularly impressed with going deep in the HORSE event as well. He cant possibly know all the games inside out, so must have survived due to his general poker instincts.
Lodden performance was as good as anything I have played against in the Will Hill. However, I believe he is on the slide at the moment according to the rumour mill.
Bengt I think is a bit steadier. I am not sure if he will ever consistantly win major tourneys.
However there are another dozen scandies equally impressive if they get the bankrolls together.
Jan Sjlavik doesn't fit the mould but is a great player. The winner of last weeks William Hill was pretty hot but there are just loads of above average players coming.
Mind you we have a fair few hot prospects in the UK as well...JP, Praz and Roland will still be winning tourneys in 5 years time which is more than can be said for many of the old stalwards such as myself.

Hi Dave,
Any tips on driving ...such as taking your test etc, also,
Is it possible to get a parking ticket whilst parked on the services and if so how would you handle this sad occurrence ( I`m told Tamworth is very risky)

The Human Mind is a strange beast. Some people are only happy if they have something to knock. I enjoy providing that service.
 ;hattip;

 ;oopsy;

Sorry pal,
Got home.. had a whiskey.. or two and just couldn`t resist

BR,
Pete.

Hand from last night in the £200 F/O at Walsall. Around 35 players left, top 9 pays, I get As Qs  UTG+1. Blinds are 400-800, I have around 16k and make it 3k and get 1 caller (the chip leader).

This guy has been on the table around 2 and half orbits, and has been fairly loose. For example he called a raise with 85 suited on the button and flopped a flush. 2 hands before this he folds and shows 3d 5d in the BB after being raised. The raiser says ‘oh I thought you like to call raises with those suited connectors?’

Ok back to the hand, the flop comes Ks Qd 7d and I bet 3.5k. He thinks for a while then calls. The turn is 2h What do you do? check or push?

check, i would have checked the flop aswell.

Why not just post it on the HA board and give him a link?

Tighty , are you logged in on flushys account ?

I would push ... just because Flushy says he wouldn't !
Opponent may pass King bad kicker and he may call Queen worse kicker. Both of which you like.
When flushy says he would check. Does he mean check and call after inducing a bluff ? That would be the only reason I would consider checking...if the other player was a known tea leaf.

i pushed and have been doubting my play the whole way home, he had a set of kings. 

ah well, play to win...

That's exactly it, i know i am not passing given the player is fairly liberal, pushing i don't think gets better hands passing but it does get worse hands passing, its very hard to get outdrawn in this pot, if he bets after i check i am insta check raising all in.

If you had checked the flop you could have got away with a showdown without stacking off here.

Opponents dont flop a set of kings very often...its not worth beating yourself up over it

Not so sure about the outdraw logic, but I fully agree...if the opponent is likely to steal with nothing or bet lesser hands give him the old sandagging trap...there is probably more equity this way around...and slightly more risk of course

Hi Dave

I have a situation which has been bugging me for a while now and want to get it out of my head before my next live event comes up. It was for the last APAt event up in newcy. We are down to around 30 players left out of 210 runners. I am am sitting with ~90,000 chips in front of me and blinds at 1500-3000 (30x BB). Happy days really. Had been up amongst the chips leaders most of the day but now unfortunately the other 4 tourney Big Stacks are on my table. I could have easily cruised into the money by folding every hand but i wanted the win.
Everyone small stack is playing very tight so gets folded round to the big stack (with around 150K)on the button. He makes a raise of around 20,000 more than enough to put the BB in. Im in the SB, look down and see  Ad Kd. Perfect but his raise had left me in an awkward position. In my head as he was OTB and made such a big raise possibly with A J, A 10 or even A,Q so in my mind i had him dominated. I go over the top all in. He calls instantly and obviously then i know im in big trouble. He turns over QQ no help for me and im out.
I really wanted the win so had to double up and thought this was the perfect opportunity but
a) was i wrong to overplay the AK like i did.
B) should i have seen the flop and possibly got off the hand. (the thinking in my head against this was if an A or a king hit he would have folded!)
c) how would yo have played this hand from preflop......

Dave what i meant was it's not like the flop is JTx/T9x where checking the ten/9 when you feel you are ahead is nasty as there are overcards that make your position so hard to play.

Dave,
I read your article on EPT Copenhagen and you mentioned a book by the name of ‘Zen & the art of playing poker’
You were not sure if this exsited. I can tell you it does if it is the same one I am thinking of.
I am not proud to say it but I have read less than 8 books in my life. As you will gather I am not one for reading but I have read this book at I thought it was very good. " But hey what do I know".
I have started many others but none of them have taken my interests to continue.
Thought I would share that with you

  ;flushy;

I guess I'll have to find it and read it then!
(hopefully Poker Tales From The Blonde one by Cardoza publishing will keep your interest when it is released later this year)

a) you didn't overplay the AK
b) I dont like to call 20,000 with the intention of 'getting off a hand'
c) I would come right over the top, all in diolch yn fawr...90,000 chips is gonna scare the hell out of him most of the time and he will pass. Thus giving me a nice size pot uncontested. Theres only QQ, KK and AA that are an automatic call. he may pass everything else. As it happens you are 50/50 in the pot anyway so it just wasn't your day. Balance the three good hands against the plethera of bad hands he may call you with like AQ, AJ, KQ etc etc. All hands which you have dominated.
No Guts No Glory, Stick It In to Win, Cymru am byth

Cheers Dave. My other question was going to be are you proud of your welsh roots but you answered that aswell.

Keep flying the welsh flag!

 :)up :)up

Gareth

Dave turn the table you raise  20K with QQ the SB comes over you for 70K more what do you do with the QQ????

Probably call...I can't pass the ciggies
In the blinds QQ looks like a Monstteeerrrr Kev.
And your point is........?

Bear in mind also i had a very tight agressive table image. I only raised when i had a premium hand (or at least thats what they saw!). It wasnt impossible for me to have AA or KK here!

two points one i wanted to see how quick you answer your post land two what I could make you lay down next time I play againest you lol
But seriously I dont like stick all my chips in if I think its 50  50 unless I know the player but that because I'm to tight if I'm sober that is :-)

Me neither. I'd be sticking my chips in thinking
a) I am very unlikely to be dominated by AA or KK
b) hopefully he is stealing and will pass. i will win the pot no risk
c) he may call with AQ or other Ace hand. I will have him dominated
d) as the re-raise is big he may pass a lot of 50/50 hands like 8 s and below. I win no risk
e) if he has Q s or J s then I'm 50/50
I obviously didn't make it clear enough...I'll speak slower next time
s o r r y
 ;izimbra;

My intention wasnt for the 50 50. I have to be honest i wanted him to fold but in my opinion i was thinking he had option C on Dave's list! He hadnt played a hand in a while and in my mind really didnt think it through at all as he called instantly- i just think he played his cards and didnt consider the hands of others. I know i would have thought hard about it had i been holding the QQ.

I put Kev's quote in as i have to add that this was honestly probably the only time i went into a race behind!

Cheers for the debating,maybe next time we can get a few more people involved and have a mass-debate!  ;whistle;

Cheers both, sure i will adding more after the next APAT when i take it down to keep the trophy in wales.  :)up
 Gareth ;hattip;

almost the exact same scenario happened to me the other night online ($25 mtt 200 in )


sitting 4th in chips...CL to my right...same hands

Ive been actively attacking his stack,he tried to bully but i re bullied...


anyway he raises,I re raise....he is all in......I could fold,I should fold....but my thinking here with 30 players left ,I want to dominate my way to the FT and have a sizeable stack for a change....I hit the king on the flop but he 4 flushed on the river to knock me out......



I had ample opportunity to get out of the road and still be in great shape for another push later on

but if im reading u right Dave,looks like ur going for it with this hand?would u disagree??


in the past im folding pre flop,just trying out new stuff I guess,oh well its back to TAG for me.....lol

Dave who are the 3 best tounament players and 3 best cash players you haveever played against

Well this sounds slighlty different to be honest. There was no way of knowing whether your opponent had a big hand in the previous scenario and we were expecting him to pass by putting the big re-raise in ourselves. Here it sounds like you had to call the big re-raise. I would be asking myself one simple question here...
could he be making a move with hands I have dominated? If the answer is 'yes he is that sort of player' then I would call and take my chances.
However if he was a tight player who only put a triple raise in with AA or KK or QQ then I would in fact pass, re-group and try and build back up.

hhmmm...this is not an easy one to answer because it changes everytime I think about it. I'll think about it and answer it later today, but to start with
T1) when I started playing big tourneys in the early 90s SURINDER SUNAR appeared head and shoulders above everyone in the UK. I learnt a lot from him about how to use chips to win pots instead of always having to rely on cards. he obviously isn't anywhere near my top 3 nowadays, but in his time, he was the best.

Who is a tougher HU opponent, Rob or Chubbs....

Hi Dave, I've got a question about blind on blind action in tournaments.

I've recently started playing on a site that has antes for most of the tourney and I'm not quite used to it. The total antes in the pot usually is about equal to the BB. I find it changes the battle of the blinds action quite a lot.

The SB has about 5-1 to call if it folds round to them, so I don't find folding an actractive option. If you raise, on the other hand, the raise has to be pretty substantial, since there's already a lot in the pot.

I usually opt for a call against anyone but a v.short stack with any two cards, and a raise if I think I'm in good shape.

If the SB limps into my BB, then I'm very prone to raising with virtually anything, since there's a very good chance they were just limping for the great odds.

My question is this: How to you find antes affect "battle of the blind" situations?

Dave, do you believe you are a better Omaha player than Hold'em, and if so, why do you reckon this is?

Chubbs... I think I'm either 2-0 or 3-0 with Rob

I dont really to be honest. I like to think I can turn my hand to any game. Several years ago the standard of Omaha tournament play was very poor. You either had Omaha cash players or NLH tourney players playing Omaha tourneys. Nowadays it is slightly harder and to make matters worse there are very few PLO tourneys. I won several PLO events and made a few WSOP PLO finals ands thats why I got that reputation.
My NLH tourney earnings are far greater than PLO tourney earnings. However I have won more money in cash games playing 6 card PLO than any other game.

T2) Phil Ivey appears to have the highest cash ratio for the amount of tourneys, although he also had a bit of a dry patch in 2007. I played with him in the 2000 WSOP PLO final when he won his first bracelet. He hardly played a hand until 5 players (incl. me and the fish had knocked each other out) and then proceeded to take Amerillo Slim apart.
I also played with him when he wo his second bracelet in a Limit 7 Card Stud event. At that point I had never seen anyone dominate a table to that extent. At the 24 - 16 players stage (and possibly beyond after I was out) he completely ran over the table. he raised every single (currently un-raised) pot for about 4 hours and went from chip leader to chip leader x 10.
I had never seen anything like it until later the same year when I played with him in a NLH tourney, where he did the same thing.
(apparantly Layne Flack was playing a simlar style at the time but I never witnessed it)
Nowadays there are several players who pull this style off, but Phil was way ahead of his time and is still THE BEST

Errrmm, to be honest you just about nailed it on the head...would you mind deleting this ?
You are right 'running antes' provide completely different maths to the game, and I always raise or make it up. However if we are playing without antes I probably pass at least 50% if the player on my left is aggressive.
 :goodpost:

T3) I think I'll go for Joe Hachem as the third competition player. He manages to win these big ones playing 'defence'... an impossible way to play No Limit Hold'em

Dave

What did you think of tonights Will Hill Grand Prix Heat. Bit of a bizarre one to me  :dontask:

KP

How many points are Wales going to beat Engand by in the Six Nations?

whoops ... pedwar ... but I hope for more

I didn't see the end of the show and am astonished to hear Jeff Lisandro won. I only watched the first half and wasn't impressed with his 'cash game' check call strategy. Surnider didn't appear on top of his game either but its hard to comment when i didnt see all of it

ok 3 best cash players I've played against
a) Chris Randall aka Dave Moseley
I dont think he is playing any more but I probably learnt more from hm than any other player (incl.Mickey Wernick) ... used to win 9 out of 10 times he sat down to play. I think he has amazingly retired to Spain nowadays
b) John Shipley... was probably the biggest winner in the infamous 'Barry's Game' (apart from me). He would continually turn £200 into £20,000. Now he is a continual winner online.
c) Sonny B Nijran...another Brummie I'm afraid. The next generation though. Fearless and consistant. Muredering the 25/50 PLO on Poker Stars now but is also found in the biggest PLO Cash games in the US and Europe

I heard on the ever reliable grapvine that he's absolutely cleaning up online.

That would explain a lot...what name is he playing under?

missed your showing on Poker Night Live. Do you know the rerun time?

Dave,

I see you bubbled at the GBPT £500 buy in in Edinburgh. What did you think of the standard of play in that game ? I noticed you seem to be drawn to an easy table on day 1 - no other recognisable pros sitting with you - how did you find it ?

I'm afriad I didn't even know when it was on the first time.
In fact I don't even know which show you are talking about.
 ;hide;

Yes I probably had a table that suited me on saturday. I did rather well. Unfortunately, they broke that table without playing a hand the next day. The standard was also better on day 2 because generally speaking the better players survive as the comp goes on.
I didn't really get many hands on day 2 and too be honest probably didn't use my good stack to steal as often as I should.
There were plenty of good players present regardless of them being faces or not...not to mention the fact I had fellow DTD player Henning harasing me on my left.
Just one of those days I guess
 ;oopsy;

Thanks Dave - I was interested in your view but didnt want to hasstle you on the day. I was the irish guy Gerry in seat 8. The table breaking up on start of day 2 was a bit of a blow to me too. Luckily enought I got paid on a good few big hands on day 1 to build a chip lead that carried me through a tough day 2. Anyway I enjoyed watching you play - learnt a few things from watching you as well. Hope to get an opportunity to be seated at the same table as you again sometime.

aahh..the one who trap checked me with AJ on the Ace High flop. I fancied you had an Ace but just couldnt stopped myself betting.
You played well. patience and aggression at the right times

Ive just spend 20mins trying to remember that hand cause I thought we were hardly ever in the same hand. Then I just realised Ive given you the wrong seat number- Im not the irish guy in seat 8, Im the irish guy on his left in seat 9 - lol.

oh the young  fellow with glasses and ALL the chips
How did you get on ? Did you win it ?
How are the bruises?

I came 2nd - we did a deal when it was heads up to take 18k each and play for 3k plus the £2500 entry - which turned out just as well as I played badly heads up. A big result for me as although I play full time - I play mostly online sit'n'gos and 6 card Omaha High cash games in local casinos. Its also my first game on TV. I think I'll play in the rest of the GBPT events as its not often you get a game with 10,000 chips and 1 hour blinds for a £500 entry. Maybe I'll see you across the table at the world series of 6 card Omaha high one day when the rest of the world takes up the game.

hi dave, would just like your advice on a couple of problems ive been haveing recently in the past couple of months, i had recently changed where i normally play my live games from one place to another because of dealer issues and my previous place replaced all the comps with £3 rebuys lol, anyway i started playing in a new *local*  in stockport that restarted poker tourneyments it used to run them years ago apparently and everyone used to go but they took it out and put in a private gaming area anyway they have now put the card area back,

what i like about the place is that you start with 2,000 chips which if you are on a tight budjet or going threw a ruff patch can really cut your rebuys down if you place sensibly, i normally dont play for the 1st 2 hours during rebuys and anti down to 1,000 chips and have a rebuy+top up and get close to the avg normally 7k but u can get to 5k that way, of cause i play the hands as they come and if i get a situation where its a good value for me to play i will do or if i call to hit a certin hand and hit it i play it obviously,

my 1st problem comes when we get down to 3 tables, the blinds are normally 1k/2k and i have normally bulit my chips to 17-19k and i tend to sit tight during this level unless i get a big hand then i will play it, i.e qq/kk/aa/ak only normally, if i get jj/10-10 ill try nick the anti but play them very passive, and i tend to anti down to around 13/14k then the blinds go up to 2k/4k and i end up either all-in on the blinds or on the button makeing an auto-call for a big stack on the blinds, or moveing in onto of a raise on my blinds normally with any suited connectors also an auto call because a raise is basicly me all-in anyway, how would u advice me to get threw this level in a way to gain the chips req ( around 30-40k ) but also getting the guys to pass semi-hands they will call with any A-2 threw to A-K also anything high connected or any pair, i have tried the limpers tax but that doesnt seem to work very well for me i normally get called in all spots and have to give the hand up if i dont connect, ive also tried to be super aggressive but as i said i get called by A-2 which they wont give up if they hit any part of the flop the 2 the A or any kind of strait draw 10 J K  or  34 7, most of the players are either students or rich bussiness men to whom they play for the thophy to say i won this rather than the money,

my 2nd problem is 2 tables to go where i have gone out 10 out of the last 13 comps, once going on to finish 7th for no money once 4th for a small payday, and once i went out early doors on a stupid hand lol, i was hopeing u could give some advice as to how i could maximise my tendency to get to 2 tables to go and to go on into the money, ( top 3 normally get paid and they normally get between 60-80 runners )

any advice is much apperiated  stu,

p.s i have talked to the card room manager and he has agreed to introduce a 1500-3000 level and also to pay a diffrent system i.e 0-30 top 3 31-40 top 4 41-50 top 5  etc etc,

Congrats...and I'll probably see you at one of the next ones...or in on Omaha game..we will be playing 6 card in the new DTD club for certain

This is a great post on Tourney strategy Stu. I love the way you have analysed what is going on. Analysis like this will help you progress a long way.
Your strategy in the rebuy period is perfect. It was/is the way I play during this period. Top quality hands only. Pass 77, 88 or AQ type hands to any raise. Rebuy & Top up at end of period to have max chips for when the tourney plays properly.
Like you I also generally play quite tight through to the three table stage. The key to what happens here though is the fact that we now spend very little time 10 or 9 handed and are often playing 7 handed. It is impossible to survive on quality hands alone. You have to get your head around the fact that you can use 2 tools to win a poker hand; 1 cards, 2 chips. You have to spot the situations where you can steal a pot uncontested without showing your cards.
I usually wait till the table becomes 7 handed (unless I am in chipstack trouble before that). It is then a matter at looking and finding the situations where you are least likely to get called, and stick your chips in.
Another help, is to now re-assess what a good hand is. KJ is garbage in any position on a 10 handed table. KJ in a 7 handed game is excellent in late position.

Its not easy to describe what to do at this stage because this is the whole key to winning or losing. Up to now anyone can sit and just play quality hands. Now from 24 players down, is where the real poker players who excel. The guys who can smell fear, know when they can run without the ball, pick off other players steals and bluffs and generally make all the tough poker decisions.
Don't get dis-heartenned. You are doing something right if you are continually getting close. And your self analysis puts you at a huge advantage to most players.
 :goodpost:

One other point Stewart. The problem could be that the structure is just too fast for proper poker. You may be better suited to bigger comps

thanks for the tips dave, as for bigger buy-in comps i have played about 12-15 of thease have won 1 and made the money in 1, but my bankroll isnt of a big enough stature to indure them comps at the moment, i normally get someone to buy me in and we go 50-50, have a tendency to go out near the money bubble in thease also i tend to try go to aggressive near the money and get caught out by pepole willing to gamble with me even though i dont really want to normally i have to call the re-raise due to raiseing too much or the re-raise being to small for me to pass,  the last big comp that i played ( to me ) 3 of us went down to a £150 rebuy at blackpool last year, and all 3 of us were still in with 21 to go top 18 got paid, i was 4th chip leader in the comp a friend was 7th and another was very short, i went out 21st my friend went out 19th and the short went out 18th lol, in fairiness i went out trying to be cute with aces agaist barry from sheffield, he raised my bb utg, (blind 2000,4000 my stack was 86k) to 21k he had around 100k chips and was close to the chip lead, i thought this was a strange raise seing as there was quite a few on the table with around this in stack size so i figure he must have either a pair or a hand willing to take on a short stack but also telling them he isnt passing, they all pass round to me on the bb, i look down to find AA, i annouce raise, but haveing played him before i decide all-in is not the best option and re-raise to 61k total he calls the extra 40k instantly and i move my remaing stack in on a J 4 9 rainbow flop, he calls instantly with J-8 suited, turns an 8 and im out,  could of played that in a way to get him to pass of am i destined to lose that hand no matter what, i have beat myself up about that for months since it happend


since that comp i havent managed to get any more *sponsership* from my friends as they had put me into 4 comps that week and i finished 2 tables twice, went out early in 1 and got a tiny cash in the other, they felt and i couldnt disagree that i should of got a big draw in the 150 rebuy event, and the one i cashed i should of hung on for more cash, and i couldnt argue with them as i felt the same myself, i went out of the one i cashed in to mad marty he was moveing his chips about alot and i moved over the top off him with pkt 10's and ran into KK on the blinds my fault i had a bad feeling when i picked it up but decided to take a shot rightly or wrongly and it turned out wrongly cos marty had AJ and would of hit  and called, if the KK handnt of pushed behind me

Well the Barry hand is just plain unlucky and I would have played it the same way not wanting to lose my customer with Aces.
Mad Marty could also have been sat with a lot worse hands than KK and would have called you with plenty of pairs that you have dominated, so thats not the worst move in the world either. What were you meant to do? Pass them? call and hope to hit a 7-1 shot? The best way is too re-raise in the latter stages

that what i was hopeing i should of done looking back i wish i would of passed the pkt 10's i didnt really have to take the what i presumed to be 50-50 at that point,  i dont know how long it will take me to get over the barry hand or if i ever will still allways think of it if i get aces lol,

 :hello:
Ok I have been told to update the thread to generate some interest, so I am doing as I am told. 
My wife and I have seperated.
I guess i'll be able to concentrate 100% on poker in the future with no girlfriend/wifey distractions....so just wait for the improvement. I think the Irish Open may be a little early but get your money on me for the Bellagio WPT Grand Final. I genuinely think I am going to win it....The poker Gods  :respect: are perparing me for something big. I know I'm  :pop:
So what do the public think? Are wives/girlfriends detrimental to your poker play? Are the poker gods gay anti-women? That Andy black fella is leading the EPT Final , he aint got a girlfriend. I cant see Jamie Gold with a girlfriend, Most of these scandie machine gunners arent old enough to have girlfriends?
Who thinks I'll win a major in the next 3 months? Honesty is good. Right now I can handle anything thrown at me.
If this doesn't generate interest I'm gonna quit poker.
May the cleansing process begin.
 ;frustrated;

Hmmmm, if this is true then you are better off being on your own mate and having the DTD backing/support will help you towards that win.  I will keep my fingers crossed for you.  Chin up.

hmmm excellent question.

I remember reading poker books every evening. Supersystem 2 was my bed time reading when I was single. I also watched a lot of poker on the telly. However ever since the Mrs and I got serious and moved in together that seems to have gone out the window.
i am lucky enough now to be able to do that during the day (as she's at work and I'm not.well playing poker) but I'm convinced my game suffered/is suffering because of it.
I have to do coupley things, go to parties and nights out I don't really want to go to to keep the Mrs happy. (and because I'm generally a nice enough guy and actually love her I do it) so miss out on games that I definetly would play otherwise and am therefore missing out on some much needed live tourney experience.
I also find myself spending money on things that I wouldn't normally buy (girlie pressie crap) and that money would ussually be spent on poker stuff.

I am certain that this has an impact on the game.

On the other hand I guess some could/would argue that having a stable home life (if havign a girlfriend or being married actually makes a homelife more stable) and the support of a good partner could give you an edge over the others as a relaxed player who knows everything is in order can play better poker.

I don't know for sure but I reckon that having to spend time away from poker (which you have to do when you have a partner) definetly won't be good for your game.


Best of luck to you Dave. I am sure you will suceed in whatever you put your mind on and if there is a book for the Belaggio event my tenner will be on you.

OMG, i have never been in that spot but i do remember the gut wrenching feelings i had when my ex told me she'd met a new chap, i was down for months.
One thing i will say is stay off the booze if possible, it's a depressant!!

All the best.

my poker has dipped tremendously sinced my girlfriend moved in. But i also think i was a bit of a sad bastard playing all the time never doing anything but play poker.

You need balance mate so don't go crazy.

Appears you may have shown her a different way of life and it's come back and bit you on the arse.

Chin up and keep raising.

good post this probably describes all my failngs . i wish you had told me this 6 months ago!

ok i'll stay off the booze....errr that just leaves poker?

yeh, thats what i am most afraid of...turning into an even sadder bar steward than i already am.

A proper relationship and poker really doesnt go well together.  I have a serious GF and because of that Ive probably played less than a quarter of the hands in the last year that I could have played.  I generally can get away with playing live just once or twice a week, 3 times is a miracle and Saturday nights are no-go's so it also impacts on my game selection.  I get to play online for maybe 30 mins at a time/1 hour at a time, long enough for an SNG or short cash session, no time for MTT's or long sessions so I feel like Im not developing as fast the guys that play thousands of hands per week.  Just the fact that time spent with a wife/GF is time you could be playing more hands must impact anyones game.

when i said dipped i mean my online results have dipped dramatically but i'm playing about 20% of what i used to.

Live poker i am currently doing very well at and put it down to the fact i am absolutly loving it everytime i do get chance to play.

maybe you should step back totally for a little while and look at whats important ot you.

good luck mate.

Probably not what you want to hear, i came into this year on a 47 winning month steak (no shit) i split up with Ginger in mid Jan, Feb and March have both been losing months for me......

As long as you can stay off "life tilt" you'll be ok.

Sorry to hear what happened.

Sorry to hear that.

I think your results will improve, Dave. I mean, I'm without wife or g/f, & look at my results.

I sent you a PM this morning which sums up where we are.

Now, get your arse up to Walsall tonight (£300 Freeze)  & stop sulking.

Yucky-wucky? Not me.

Its not of the same importance but;

Liverpool 4-1 Arsenal

Both teams played the beautiful game - We crushed them.

Now we are talking...the giraffe done good!
 ;applause;

Looking on the bright side of life isn't always a good thing. It can just be the easiest way for the psyche to deal with what has happened, to dismiss it all as having been probably for the best. Problem is, not really dealt with properly, swept under the rug.

Don't want to get too much into the pop psychology of it all, as it's obviously very specific and personal to you with the ins and outs, but deal with it properly before moving on to winning a major/pissing money against the wall or whatever. The death of anything, a human being, or a relationship, requires a proper grieving process. Ignore the need to do this at your peril.

As to whether women are good for poker. I think it depends on the woman tbh.

I keep hoping this is an April Fools thing????

Right after I won at the WSOP I have  a nasty break w/ my then long time girlfriend/ future wife 2 be. Just ask DC or Tikay, I was a complete mess, I know it had a terrible effect on my poker. I could not keep my mind on poker or anyhing for that fact.

So for what its worth I guess we all learn for our hardships and need to move on. Whatever anyone does they need to know that letting it get you down is only going to hurt yourself in the longrun>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

On a poker note: " Why has Dave Colclough not won a major lately?"

Why is it that some players always get out to a fast start? DC, I don't know if you have had that many "BIG" starts in recent  comps???  When is the last time u went out in level 1 on a draw? When have u put your comp life on the line w/ nothing at all ( a complete bluff). I am NOT saying that is what u need to do, I am just asking the ??????????????????

It goes back to a players basic strategy. When do u gamble and for how much? When r u willing to look at a comp and say " if I win this pot it gives me a much better chance to make the final table?"

I am not being specific at all, just asking ???  and thinking about a lot of the aggressive players. I know for myself I still can not believe that I did not go deeper in the WSOP main event w/ 170K on day 2, but I have made MANY adjustments in my play. That one failure has had much bigger effect than even winning the bracelet. I think u learn more from failure than u do from success.

How do these guys do it:

1) Ivey
2) Lodden
3) Black
4) Mortenson
5) Ran
6) ??????? (insert others here)

But then u have a player like Joe Hachem, I don't think he is one of these over the top guys , seems he plays smaller pots.

This may need to be moved  to another topic but i guess I want to hear what you think about the aggressive vs tight theory right now!

The ROOKIE!

So sorry to hear about your situation dave.

Already been great advce on here and its never easy. Its hard to give advice because i dont know where you and mrs c stand now. Its been hard for my relationship at times and im only a fish not a pro, but my missus hates me splitting my time between her and poker or rather wants me to give her more time than poker, but i felt she had her life on the weekend where she would go out around the place and spend money and i would use mine to "gamble" so i basically refused to give in although i love her very much so we had a break with no contact and if anything it has made her realise that the world is a lot worse place on her own, maybe mrs c will too! But again it was different for me as only now after 2 years am i seeing results and nice profits in my cash game, wasnt a born winner in poker have had to work hard on my game!

So sorry again dave, And i hope you will still be making an appearence at BB4 ace!?

Gareth

 

Bad news.
It must be hard on a relationship if spending a lot of time apart.

Hope there is a big win around the corner for you.

 :)up

WE are all here for you !!!
Blonde followers and your DTD TEAM.

You dont want to ask me advice. I would be in jail right now if it were me!

re your poker.

I have told you many times recently you will win a majour soon.
You know the game as well as any of the best and you have all the elements.

Good luck and I will see you in Ireland were we are taking you for a night out!

keep thinking possitive and hold you head high, you have many friends in the world.
 :respect:

Definitely depends on the woman   ie if they affect you play/time playing .
Its not easy being the one sitting in most nights when your partner is out having a good time , well thats how it feels sometimes .
If Paul wants to go out of the UK to play i must admit to pining for him till he comes home , but i still say go for it and have fun .
He's now playing more and more live , tournament's and cash games , how can i stop him from doing something he enjoys so much ??? i cant and wont , but when I'm really in a bit of a mood and he goes out I'm sure it affects his game .
I guess its all swings and roundabouts  :dontask:

No words can say how bad i feel for you Dave  :(

Well I got off to an above-average start in my new single man poker life.
I played the £300 at Walsall, was falling asleep at the table saturday night, but maanged to pull through to today where I finished 5th.
Respectable but no banana. Probably proves nothing.

In answer to Brain's question on why dont I ever get chips at the start of a tourney any more...
This is a pet hate of mine and I'll offer 2 excuses.
1) at the start of a comp I get too much 'respect'  :respect:  At EPTs expecially within the first hour, I've probably had my photo taken 10 times, just to make sure that everyone at the table knows who I am. If I re-raise anyone they just pass. I just cant seem to play a big pot.
2) again in EPTs. I have a policy of calling all small raises in the first 2 levels with small pairs or suited connectors trying to flop a set or a straight or a flush BUT I just acnt remember the last time it happened in a major. In walsall last night no problem. flopped a set in level 1 and increased my stack by 50%. I can only remember flopping 2 sets in EPTs... both middle set against top set, and doing my stack.
Just cant catch an early breaks
......... but I can feel things a changing.

Thanks everyone for all the nice comments.

Brave to come on and post that Dave.

Sorry to hear.

As for Poker/women a good combination,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

I have a good un, yes I am sure it bothers her when I go and play, but she is behind me 100%. Yes if we are arguing or she is in a mood cos I am going to play then sure it does affect my game, even now it still does.

I'm 100% confident your poker results will improve Dave, but like me I am sure you would rather this never happened. I would be devistated!

Chin up

See you in Luton next week for the Spring fest?

OK, here are a few more questions for you:

1) We have had conversations about the "old pros" becoming to tight and the game passing them by, can you explain that?

2) Has this very thing happened to you in any way at the tables?

3) How does a good player get himself off a bad run and what is the key to staying on a good run (besides running good)?

4) What do you think has had the biggest change on your game in the past 12 months (running bad, marriage, starting Blonde, ect)?

I think the most important thing in in a persons poker makeup is the ability to except criticism, adjustments to the poker "environment around them, and the network of poker conversations they are involved in ( friends, forums, books, ect). How have these types of things effected your poker in the last 12 months or so?   

Wow Brian..you know how to put a guy on the spot.. but I'll go for it amd give you my thoughts...

Firstly I wouldnt consider myself on a bad run. I would consider myself on a 'below average run'. However
this year I have won a comp in Brighton, finished 4th in the Braodway, 5th in Walsall at the weekend and 3rd in one in Poland and thats not bad out of around 20 entries. Its not great, but its better than a whole swathe of other people I could mention.
Nov. 2006  I came 2nd i the Dublin EPM for 56,000 euro
Jan 2006 I came 2nd in Party Poker TV event for $77,000
In between I rememebr a 5th in Turks&Cacos for $28,000, a third and a fourth in big comps at the Vic (both above £15,000) and several other money finishes. This is not a bad year. Rankings wise I think I was 10th. It's not really that bad that I need to start looking for a job yet.

Having said that, I do distinctly remember telling you and many other people that the game changes over the years. And as the style of play changes around me, I have to think, analyse and adapt to beat it. I am constantly doing that and have slightly different strategies for playing in UKGPT events or an EPT or in a US Major. This varies depending on my view of the ability and the aggressiveness of the players around me. However it may also change within a comp as the personel at the table change around me. I dont think the game has passed me by just yet but when it has I will change.
I do feel that I am running bad in EPTs and hopefully that is not too much of an excuse. Day 1 of Monte Carlo I had a big problem on my mind (my marriage) and just managed to survive. On day 2 I thought I played perfectly and started to build very well. i dont remember 1 mistake. I was next to Andy black all day, so maybe someone should ask Andy for a comment on that. I would be interested in his opinion.

I also dont think that my marriage really affected my poker, but it may have done. I do however feel that struggling with The Cincinnati Club and Blondepoker last year definately led to me having a dreadful WSOP. I feel I really was not in the right frame of mind.

Ok? did I cover everything?
 :pop:


 

Thank you sir, I didnt mean u were playing bad, maybe it is just the lack of "results" in the bigger comps, and as we all know that is where the big $$$$$$$$ is. Thanks for the post, just wait for that 1st $1mil cash, then u can laugh at all of us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fluke.....

I am really sorry to read this Dave, I hope you are ok.

I'm sorry to hear about this too.

  :D
Fair play to Dave on this one, when he came to my table he was down to a chip and a chair. He then went all in with pocket 6's and had two callers (one was me  ;flushy;)
A 6 came on the flop (i think) and he trebled up. But even then he could have only had chips to cover a few blinds.
Couldn't believe it when I heard of the final result. Shame it wasn't televised as would have made good telly.  ;applause;

It was an impressive come back, and the toughest final table lineup i have ever seen for a £200 comp.

I wouldnt say that having a girlfriend for me makes any difference to the way I play poker or how I feel during a game, but it makes a huge difference to the hours I can put in...

But maybe on the other hand it does have an effect because maybe I try and play 'catch up' in the time I do play, knowing I cant play as often as i would like, so trying too hard when I do play.. Umm, or is that just plain confusing?!

errr....yes

Hi Dave, long time no see (the girlfriend doesn't let me out any more! :-)).  Sorry to hear about you and Rhow and sincerely hope you get things sorted and go on a streak soon.

For me there is no doubt that being in a stable relationship with commitments to fulfill totally ruins the poker game but I guess it all comes down to priorities and what you deem to be important in life (poker does not = life no matter how good you are or how seriously you take it)

All the best, hopefully we will lock horns soon!

its good to see the big name pros go threw the bad patches like all of us, i think you are dealing with it very well dave, there are allways them DTD girls anyway lol

Hubba Hubba  ;whistle; ;whistle; ;whistle;

dave one question ,
                       
                           how did you cope after our heads up in cardiff .

                           hope your not still moping,i did feel sorry for you .

                           still then again you was easy to read lol.

Sorry to hear about you and Rhow :( 

Life does get better though just takes a bit of time

xx

Dave, can I have my pen back? :D

Actually to be honest I let you win the second game. You were so devastated after I cleaned you out in 10 mins in the first game, I thought it would be nice to let you win one. I hope you appreciate it.

Why? Did you have a use for it ?

Thanks Mel...hope to see you at BB4...watch out though...I am on the pull    ;karabiner;

I have a t-shirt being made that might come in handy Dave if you are thinking along those lines

Does the "t" in t-shirt stand for tent"?

no hun, it doesn't.

 rotflmfao

yeh right lol

well if you need a place to crash im sure me,mel and ruth can sqeeze you in our ever expanding room,lol.
sorry about your news.try to have some fun it will help.
FRAN

bliddy hell, I'm away tae phone the sunday mail..


 ;ifm; ;D

LOL

hehe mines a double vodka and sugarfree redbull lol x

Details of how to buy Dave's new CD "Inside Secrets of a Professional Poker Player" at a discount via blonde can be found by clicking this link

http://www.blondepoker.com/index.php?q=node/8807

Now this is the truth... If I really wrote a few chapters on my Omaha strategy... everyone would just laugh and completely disagree with it
e.g. I actually think 6 card Omaha is a more skilfull game than 4 card Omaha
Just try and find one other payer who agrees with that statement
 ;frustrated;

As you said 6O is a game of more skill than 4O I was wondering if you could post your thoughts on that here.
I have always considered (as I think do most players that I've met) that 6 O is more like bingo than 4 O is but seeing as you are one of the (if not THE) premier Omaha player in the world (definetly the best in europe) I was wondering if you could share your thoughts on that one and maybe post a little strategy for it here.

Omaha is one of the more interesting games out there and Lord knows there's plenty of money to be made playing it online and I think everyone from beginners to the very experienced would learn a great deal if you could write something up about it.

Well here are a few of the more obvious thoughts...
a) everyone considers there to be more luck in 6 card. This isnt true. You are just as likely to hit a 23-1 back door flush in 4 card as you are in 6 card... Yes I agree your opponent may be more likely to have a backdoor flush or other lucky outs. However these should taken into consideration when making decisions.
b) With 6 card you can legitimately play twice as many hands in an evenings play. If you are only going to play 10 hands in an evenings play the fluctuations are going to be greater than if you are playing 20 hands where the 'luck factor' will be balanced out more
c) there are more cards & more complcations. therefore more tricky decisions. Poker is about making tricky decisions. the best decision maker usually wins the most money
d) bad players like to play every hand. 6 card gives them every opportunity to do this and get themselves into trouble
e) there are hundreds of technical errors that are completely exassapated at 6 card... e.g. calling with a King flush draw on the flop. In 4 card if you hit the lucky 2-1 against flush you will usually win the pot over 60% of the time. In 6 card you will hit the flush and 60% of the time still loose. Bad players get punished more
... more to come

another typical flop may be 10, J, 10 and you hold J, 10, K, A... You get re-raised by your opponent.
In 4 card you don't rally have a tough decision. I would nearly always just stick my chips in
At 6 card you have a tough decision and I would have to take my opponent into consideration...
Would he only raise with JJ here? Would he usually slow play by just calling with JJ here? Is he likely to just be gambling with 10, Q, K, A here ?
The harder the decisions, the more edge a better player has... in my humble oppinion.
In 6 card I would pass in the coupe maybe a third of the time,  depending on all the other factors.
Many players would always call and often do their money.

Another typical had may show 3 flush cards on an unpaired board by the river, and I may hold the bare Ace.
At 4 card I rarely run a bluff in this situation because many players just auto-ilot check call with lower flushes. So its usually an automatic check and loose the pot.
At 6 card I now have a difficult poker decision to make. Is my opponent capable of passing a King flush in this situation? Often the answer is yes, if the pot is big enough. What is my table image at the moment?
In some situations I can run this bluff and some I can't. More decisions. More poker.
 ;ifm;

Ahh but.............
Because bad players play every hand you have little or no way of having an idea of their holding.
Also because you get so many players that like their hand the pots build rapidly preflop with everyone calling, this means that you have to sit down VERY deep to compete and you can only continue post flop with multiple nut draws.
You *have* to hit whereas in 4 card you don't always.
I played 6 card at Walsall for 2 years a couple of times a week, the best mthod i found was to sit with one buyin and "have a gamble", you either walk out thousands up or you lose the buyin and try another day.
I have aslo played at the Broadway with those maniacs with the minimum sit down £100 and folks sat with £10,000 in front of them, the cheapest pot preflop was near £150 each with a minimum of 4 players, this is a £2 £2 blind game, where is the skill there?

Interesting points Dave.

IFM raises a fair point by saying 6O is more expensive pre-flop but yeah bad players who shouldn't be in there will be in there adding money to your pot.

food for thought for a while (I'm a decent 4 O player but 6 O just annoys me..maybe it shouldn't

IFMs does raise a good point. For 6O to be a skillfull game then a lot of players need to be deep stacked. If all the money goes in on the flop then obviously the skill factor drops. However, sitting with players in the Broadway with between 2 grand and 6 grand in front of them with a £2 £5 blind structure..well thats a great scenario. I know because I play regularly. ifm's 'gamble' strategy is fine but it's his choice to gamble and not to play more poker.
remember though, even in short stach gambling type 6O games, most of the money goes in on the flop. We spend most of our time playing NLH tourneys when most of the money goes in pre-flop. At least the flop is adding one more level of complexity.

I rest my case though. the main reason I don't write anything on Omaha, is that the vast amjority of players disagree with me... and i am not interested in an arguement. I've won more money at 6o than every other game and tourney combined. It works for me, but I fully understand why it doesn't work for others.

I wasn't discounting what you say just pointing out that there is a fundamental flaw in 6 card and that is the maniac effect, the only way to overcome it is to be as deep stacked as the rest.
I have sat there for round upon round passing hands because i think the starting hand criteria should be a lot tighter, you can (and most do) look at every hand you get dealt and see magical properties therin.
The trouble is when you do enter a pot it is a) gonna be expensive and b) have to be a bloody good flop.
I specifically mentioned Walsall and The Broadway BECAUSE i know you've played there, it is a different prospect entirely for you because you have the bigger roll to play more pots.
I am fascinated by your insights into Omaha and specifically 6 card so don't let me put you off :)

P Maxfield always said that people who think 6 card omaha is a game of luck are very mistaken.
ps Good luck with the future

i would love for elblondie and rolf slotbotton to put there heads together for an omaha book

P Maxfield always said that people who think 6 card omaha is a game of luck are very mistaken.
ps Good luck with the future
[/quote]
Paul always chose 4 card given the choice though...however I suspect that may have been so that he could steal on the button  ;carlocitrone;

Paul always chose 4 card given the choice though...however I suspect that may have been so that he could steal on the button  ;carlocitrone;
[/quote]
I dont know if he prefers 6 card omaha over 4 card, I think he was just making a few pointers to me about the misconception of it being a gambling game

Sorry. I was just trying to use you to illustrate my original point...that most players disagree with me when it comes to Omaha.

Personally I look at the maniac affect as a good thing. If the loose players are enjoying themselves and playing too many pots, it can only be a good thing, as long as   a) you can keep a cool head, and    b) as you point out, you can hit a few good flops

Co-incidently I played with Rolf for about 6 hours in the PLO event at this weekends Irish Open festival (before eventually knocking him out with the worst hand of course).  I love playing with him because he is great fun at the table and behaves impeccably... However we are pretty much complete opposites when it comes to let's say
a) amount of hands played
b) which hands to pre-flop raise with
etc etc
The real beauty about Omaha is that there are several ways to crack the egg. Complete opposite styles of play can be equally affective.
Didn't Rolf already write one anyway? I am sure I heard someone comment along those lines?

i think rolf has a book out on cash omaha he is a bit of a rock (teaches at PSO) his style doesnt translate too well to the shorten stacks of tourny play so i have opened my starting requirements

because your styles are the opposite i think it would make a better book rather than you and a player like robert williamson (from my limit knowledge of you both you are very similiar)

 :goodpost:     ;iagree;

All we need now is a publisher... and an advance

well put me down for a copy is that a big enough advance i have a few hundred dollars to buy a copy that was going into my dtd account this morning till they locked my account

let me know before tomorrow morning if its enough of and  when they plan on reopening it otherwise it will all be gone by lunch

Bit of 6-card PLO at bB4 sir?  ;hattip;

7 card PLO is the real game.

7 card PLO8 is the game for real men though

You got a deal.

Yours etc,

Luton Springfest Omaha Chop-Chop Champion.

Dave,

Whats your opinion of the cash game at the cincinnati club?

In particular the 06 game?  What skills do you think are important in that game and how did you approach it as you seemed to win at it?

main skill..always sit down in it if Bandit ever in game


appraoch it with headphones in case racing tips passed on

 rotflmfao rotflmfao

Headphones and iPods are banned mate!

So unfortunately you'd just have to listen to my innane ramblings.

Seriously though i'd be interested in Daves thoughts on this he seemed to be a consistent winner in that particular cash game.

Wow. I dont really know.
Patience, Stay cool, dont go on tilt, try and play quality hands, patience, discipline, get lucky, only chase nut draws never potential losing draws, patience, discipline, always call the Ratman when he is bluffing (however big the bet is), patience, discipline, minimise bluffing yourself (you will usually get called), dont let the big money guys bully you out of the big pots, if you have the hand, stick it in.

I dont even know who plays in the game nowadays
 ;carlocitrone;

6 card plo8 would be better :)

make it 7 and we have a game mel

In view of your latest win, the answer has to be yes.
 :)up

Ship it.  ;tightend;

Well done Dave... followed the updates from the start.. a cracking win :)

Great result Dave , well done  ;applause; ;applause; ;applause;

Well done hun xx

Lucky Fish  ::)

Hey Dave perhaps the four days did do the trick make it eight next time and who knows, good result pal.

Undoubtably did Jim ... just have to go back every week now  8)

Thanks to everyone for all the well wishes and kind words... I have been touched by the sheer amount of well wishes I have had... thank you all again
 ;thankyou;

I guess I've just about proved that one... although to be honest given the choice of a UKGPT or having Rhowena around ... I'd happily have my aces busted avery time
 ;goodvevil;

So Dave,

Now that you have had a few days please tell us what you think was the key to your victory!

1) Did you do anything any different during this comp?

2) Was there a key decision that was a make or break play?

3) How do you plan to continue your winning ways, what makes a player run "hot"?

4) Did u make any mistakes that we, blonde members, could learn from?

5) It seems you "ran well"? What do you think about that statement and what does it mean to you?

6) You said the heads up was "one of the toughest you had ever played? Please give us some insight as to your plan of attack and how you perceived your opponent?


I think thats about it for now, thanks DC :respect: I am ;envious;

Yes when I acquired a big stack I adopted the deWolf startegy of agression as opposed to sitting on it and picking my spots, as I usually do. The stack just grew and grew.... errr,  exactly the opposite to wot i was telling u to do in the WSOP
I also took 4 days off in the Sun immediately before the event. Rhowena tells me that we had not done that for over 2 years. So I guess I was refreshed.

I think the key decisions that affected my tourney were made by others.
a) opponents passing Kings, jacks and tens to me...all of which I was losing to
b) a re-raise ruling that cost Eddie Lunden his whole stack when he was holding pocket 10s. I had Aces and we ended up putting the lot in pre-flop when he was forced to re-raise by a correct ruling (well correct in my opinion anyway). He was dreadfully unfortunate though

God only knows...if we knew the answer to this one well it would be easy
stupid boy

Loads of mistakes... the most obvious being...
YOU CANT STEAL FROM BAZZA
who just sticks it all-in. he will not be bullied
 ;snoopy'sguns;

Aye well done Dave.  I was chuffed to see u win its a pitty I never followed through with my convictions though I fancies yourself and Dr Tom to be in the mix up and the two of u made it to the last 3 - I dunno what odds I have got with Blue Square for that.  But I suppose when running cold these things happen.

I ran exceptionally well. No arguements there. I feel I was probably due a good run in a bigger comp.
The Gods of fate are definately playing with me at the moment. god knows what is next on the horizon. I am scared to cross the road  ;hide;

Dave any reason for playing the comp you just won rather than the bellagio comp? think i remember you saying that was ur fav comp of the year. due to the fact its a great structure and winnable numbers wise compared to the wsop main event.

congrats on the win i think this sets you nicely for this yrs wsop

Even flushy can beat KQ with a re-raise.....

I can agree, it seemed you were playing and being very involved, I made a post on the live update basically stating the same point and talking about Roland and how people think he is so lucky. You can never be lucky if u don't put them in the middle behind every once in  a while. He can gamble w/ u because u r just trying to win back the chips that he has stolen from you!

WSOP main event 170K in chips the  middle of day 2 and I didn't make it through the day!  I tried to keep the pressure on my opponents, problem was I missed 2 flush draws and got beat when I flopped top set on a 3 diamond board. I do think the "wolfe way" is very intimidating and that may be the reason people laid down big hands to you.                                     

                                           Pressure, patience  ?????????          What to do??????

Dave - I was the one that passed Kings to you, and I'm still gutted about it obviously.  My question is do you think you would make the same play with Queens again in the same situation?  I'm trying to decide if I'd make the same laydown with Kings there and I think I might, but I'm wondering if I should take the policy of never passing kings pre regardless of the action ahead of me.

Having see you play that seems a super tight laydown for you.  I predicted on the live update thread but after the laydown you'd go on super tilt was this the case?

Having read over the Live Update it seemed to me that Dave did in fact have Aces and your lay down was probably correct.  I personally don't think I am a good enough player to even contemplate passing KK pre-flop.  It could be sreaming out my oppo has Aces I'd still ship it in.

How do you think you would have faired if you called and got DC's chips?

The pot would have given me around 110K when the average was under 40K still, so I think I would have gone deep.  Dave actually had Queens in the hand.  I didn't really go on tilt, I made a bad river bluff in a hand a little later but still had 27K or so when I lost all in with KK v AK which put me super short and I was out soon after. 

I don't actually tilt much, when I'm at the Stanley i usually go with a few of my mates just for fun really, and mess about a bit on the cash tables when I donk out (i'm usually pretty drunk also).

wow, please play at my table, I am not good enough to pass Kings, maybe one day ....... NAH, never

Brian, if you don't pass 7/4 off what chnace is there of you passing Kings ??   ;nana; ;nana;

The sick thing is that I have had 2 people pass KK to me preflop, both times I showed the  4c 7d

One guy lost all self control and tried to get me to "take it outside", it was the funniest thing I have ever been involved in at the table. I kept showing him bluffs for the next 2 hours and he NEVER could make the call. He kept saying " one of these times your gonna have the nuts"

Many Congrats Dave, it's good to see someone actully think their way through a comp, with a dynamic strategy, and get their reward.

For me though, it'll always be remembered for that pic by Dana.

"Mystic Dave" it is from here on in......

Right to the Blonde picture hall of fame, funniest thing has ever , ever, ever been posted on Blonde

Errr, yes my life was in a little bit of turnoil and I didnt fancy the trip. Manchester is a little closer and easier... that may have been another mistake though

I take it you will be getting the bevvy in at the bash Dave ?

I cant find the photo to which you refer  ::)

and the pies  :pop:

I dont think that your pass of Kings was a bad one. By the time the action has reached you, you can only put me on 3 hands Aces, Kings or Queens. It's unlikely that I would AK. Given the choices Aces is my most likely hand holding. So I wouldnt beat yourself up over it. By passing you still had 25k and that was enough to win the comp from there.
I am not sure if I would play the Queens the same way but maybe I would. I had gone into the tourney determined to be more aggresive when I had chips. Passing Queens here would not have fitted that strategy.

I wish i'd passed my kk.... sigh  ;whistle; ;D :)up

Congrats again matey, really chuffed for you. I'm sure the nice boost will see you getting a few biggies in over the next year.

You don't get off that easily......

I have a question for Dave.

How are the legs after the footy on Saturday?

I can barely walk 4 days later ! ;tk;

lmao brilliant,,, we so should have got a pic of you collapsed on your back on the floor!!!

That football was worse than a rugby match, i had blisters, bruises, grazes and muscle stiffness like nothing i have ever had before. Still.....
good craic though. We will win it next time!
(and heads up!)

rotflmfao

The letters G, F and Y come to mind rookie!

Great Young Footballer?

I like to think i am yeh, and thanks for the moral support tanky!

but Tanky is Scottish, how would he know what a good footballer looks like........ :redcard:

gd point!

Ere, does anyone know this psychatog geezer?
He keeps calling me a moron on the 25/50 PLO game on DTD
 ;gobsmacked;

Isn't it Richard Ashby?

I am not sure. I dont think so. In fact Richard is one of the other players at the same table lol

well psychatog is a term from that board game magic so who do you know that used to play magic?

In other words..."How many geeks do you know?"

who can afford to play 25/50 plo

a lot more than u would think, David Willians, E-Fro, ect, there are probably a dozen high stakes players that use to play Magic!!!!! ( I am not one of them)

psychatog is a young Scandie

Don't take offence to being called a moron.... he must have called me that 200 times :-)

Anybody know who Pipes2007 is???.

His constant "your a c***" to anybody any everybody and telling everyone that he hopes they die of cancer is getting a tad tiresome. If he is a DTD member can you section part of the car park off so I can have a chat with him. Also his constant "your mothers a whore, hope she dies of cancer" is something I take offense too.

Jees, have you compalined to the support desk ? Surely they can block his chat?

Cheers Ben ... I was kindov wondering if it was someone who knew me and was having a joke to be honest.

Funny a couple of years back, Jani Suntoila let fly verbally at me on a laddies Omaha game. Calling me all the names under the sun. About 3 says later we are sat together in Paris on the same table ...

Dave, how much do you change your PLO game from full ring to 6-handed? What advice would you give to someone more used to playing full ring PLO who is trying out the 6-handed game?

Its hugely different. If I am playing 8 or 9 handed then I play a very boring tight game... only quality hands, no danlglers etc etc
As the number of players decrease it is possible (and usually a necessity) to play more hands. If you are playing lesser quality hands then the position becomes more important... e.g. AK9,6 may now be a raising hand on the button if we are 4 or 5 handed. And obviously if I now flop Aces up or Kings up 2 pair,  am fully prepared to go to war. (In a 9 handed game where more people see a flop, I dont usually like to play 2 pair at PLO)
The basic concept is the more players at the table, the tighter I player. Less players and I gradually show more imagination in playing hands, raise more on my button and later position. Bet lesser hands on the flop (if only 2 or 3 people see it) 2 pair or even top pair.
I bet big draws strongly regardless of the amount of player.
Generally the less players you just have to push it and see what you can get away with.

I doubt they would block his chat. I think he is the biggest raker on the entire network. Just give some stick back to him!

thats outrageous diceman....give us a shout if you need a hand in the car park with this tw*t  :)up

Cheers for the offer Laz. The worst thing is whilst everybody us are unable to us player chat as soon as they are eliminated this guy has the privilage of observer chat so it continues even after he gets knocked out. I did consider reporting him but I couldn't find any live supprot tab and anyway I tend to prefer to deal with such people face to face.  ;nemesis;

I did feel a tad uncomfortable the other day when he was abusing a female player calling her a c*** etc.

T1) when I started playing big tourneys in the early 90s SURINDER SUNAR appeared head and shoulders above everyone in the UK. I learnt a lot from him about how to use chips to win pots instead of always having to rely on cards. he obviously isn't anywhere near my top 3 nowadays, but in his time, he was the best.

Hi Dave, found this comment interesting (early in the thread).  I too used to watch (from afar) and admire Surindar Sunar's play and always loved the way that no matter who tried to tilt him and how they did it he never made a move without going through his preparation routine, no matter what.  I thought he was an absolute class act and definitely stood out.

Your quote "but in his time, he was the best".  Since he obviously still plays (saw him in Dublin) why do you reckon has his time passed, what has he failed to do that does not endear him to the current game?

Cheers

stoneii

Well there is of course no doubt Surinder is still a great player but his tourney results have definately dropped off of late. His one tourney win in rcenet years was obviously very noteable 'The Paris WPT', however he must be a little disappointed he isn't doing better.
Sometimes in tourneys he appear to play too tight, sometimes the balance isn't quite right.
He is of course still winning well in cash games so maybe he is concentrating in that area.

Mystic Dave,

Who is going to win on Wednesday night?

A stroll in the park.... 2-0 without breaking sweat ... gerrard and the giraffe

 ;letsparty;
Maxjet flight booked for a week on Monday the 11th of June (one week after my daughters 9th birthday ;D). Off to the great olden Mecca accross the big pond in search of the holy grail. If anyone else should be in that part of the world god forbid, be sure to say hello.
Many thanks to the machine gunning  ;snoopy'sguns; hyper aggressive PLO junkies on the DTD / crypto for supplying the bankroll... ill give it alll back soon... honest

DC, I purchased your CD thing off my winning from other night.  I am currently trying to tap into any form of media that will hopefully see my game improve.  I listened to the first 2 discs this morning some of your thoughts just seem so simple that I wonder if I try to over complicate things sometimes.  I will upload all discs onto the computer later today and I need to purchase a new iPod/Mp3 player I'll let you know If Ihave any success do you do refunds if I loose though?   ;D ;technophobe;

Hhhhmmm......I believe the deal is 'full refund if not satisfied'...
let's hope you win !!!

However I do believe that most of the basics are the most important things about poker. And a little bit of patience and discipline is all u really need in cash games

... aaahhh if it was only that easy

keep me informed  ;topofclass;

lol..what? that even goes for Bandit? Man that thing must be good! ;)

well the marketing was/is completely down to the other geezer. I just structured the talk/interview and did the talking.
He is meant to be the expert at selling stuff  ;carlocitrone;

Seriously when are you going to teach me how to do this coin-flipping stuff?

It takes years of experience  ;tk;

You run so good, you goad me into getting more active and then knock me out the next hand! Can i buy your account off you?

Monday June 11th
Ok let’s get this blog started 40,000 feet above Greenland or somewhere similarly cold looking onboard Maxjet’s new business class budget airline direct flight to Vegas. A contradiction in terms, but seems like pretty good value to me. I also tried a different approach this year… I actually caught my scheduled WSOP flight…which of course I had somehow managed to miss it for the previous two years.
Yes, it’s that time of the year again. The annual pilgrimage to the Mecca that see’s just about anyone who can afford the flight and spell poker, swan off across the Atlantic in search of the Holy Grail.
Jonny Kabbaj was on the same flight and we touched down in Vegas half an hour early, which coincided with Virgins Gatwick flight that was a couple of hours late. Standing in our ‘priority’ queue we waved over to The Camel who had been on the Virgin flight with a couple of other Brits.
I have decided to hire a car and stop a mile away from The Rio just to help protect my sanity. The Platinum Hotel & Spa comes complete with would you believe Spa, Gym and some very large apartments. Not quite the luxury mansion I stopped in last year, but it looks comfortable enough to call home for the next 4-5 weeks.

Tuesday June 12th
Okay well anyone who knows me, knows that I am sick enough to jump straight into the first available event. It’s a $1500 NLH Shootout.
I recognise a couple of faces at my shootout table but can only name one; Richard Lee a finalist from last years main event. I start slowly with a steady decline in my stack from 3000 eventually reaching a low of 450. On the next table fellow Brits, Devilfish and Michael Greco are the first to exit from their table.
A couple of Big Slick’s and favourable coin flips saw me recover well, but Richard Lee had established a big lead. We eventually squared up,  heads up, with 70% of the chips sitting pretty in front of my opponent. I never got close to getting even and eventually got caught making a move with an open ended straight. It didn’t materialise and I bit the dust in second place. Only 1 player progressed, so I have started with a bubble… hmmm, maybe this calls for a day off.
Bankroll   -$1500

Wednesday June 13th
Well I’m now sat eating steak and eggs (fillet steak of course) for breakfast on my 9th floor balcony, topping up the suntan (don’t laugh). I guess this is what they call decadence.
Today is a planned day off due to tomorrows tourney being Pot Limit Omaha. If I was to make the second day of today’s $5000 NLH it would end up causing me a headache or two running between tables, so I will show a little restraint.
Just noticed I am in room 913. I hope that’s not an Omen. I thought hotel’s always missed out the number 13?

GL Dave,

It's only a number, forget it. Would Helmuth be unlucky if he reached 13 bracelets?

Geo

All the best Dave, looking forward to reading a winning blog.

JD

goodluck Dave..the PLO event is one with your name on it.

actually I have just realised... tomorrow the PLO event is on the 13th.. and I am in room 913... well that has to be an omen  ;kev;

Good luck Dave - don't spend long in the sun - more than 5 mins and you'll get sunburn!

Good luck to you, do it for the welsh boys!!!

Now you tell me !!!!  ;tracet; ;noflopshomer;

;goodluck; Dave!!

Get it won.  You're in my WSOP Fantasy Team, and I need the points :)up

Thursday June 14th
The Pot Limit Omaha comp never really got off the ground. We managed to lose half the field in just two hours play. The lack of chips in the starting stack (a measly 3000) just isn’t good enough. This is meant to be The World Series of Poker! The structure is ok if you get started with a double up but its just imperative that you win your first pot.
I managed to miss a 17 card straight draw in level 2 and spent most of the day struggling. I eventually exited around 120th out of the 570. I was reasonably pleased that I played my short stack well but unfortunately, no banana.
I did however drop into the $25/50 PLO cash games for a couple of hours before retiring to the Brian Wilson bar. The cards that I hadn’t seen during the tourney now flowed thick and fast. The table was a little loose (ably abetted by Jon Shoreman) and I managed to nick a quick $5400 to help me sleep
Bankroll   +$2400
IPOD favourite of the day… The Passenger, Iggy Pop

Good stuff about the +BR!

Bad stuff about the 3k starting chips!

Keep it going dave!

Nice start Dave. GL

geo

it's what Negreanu has been saying for ages..the starting chips at the WSOP are a joke (other than the ME). nice to see you made some dosh on the day though Dave...the best is yet to come :)

Yeah - nice to see you're up on your trip so far.

But come on!!  I need points for my WSOP fantasy team - get to a final table and get a bracelet won!

:)up

Sorry Kinboshi  :(

Friday June 15th
Hmmm, typical Vegas WSOP, this day seemed remarkably similar to the last. The tourney was a $2000 NLH and I scratched around to find a hand. I lasted about 4 hours (which was longer than 50% of the 1600 field) until getting the lot in with AK only for my opponent to call with pocket Jacks. A Jack hit the board and it was goodnight Vienna.
Fortunately two hours work at the PLO cash tables playing just 2 hands resulted in another nice little earner; $2500 profit.
Spare a thought for Scott from the Gutshot though. The 27 year old joined us for dinner the previous evening and was really excited to be at his first World Series. DTD are putting him in Sundays Razz comp, but he just about had enough bankroll to play one other. He chose this $2000 NLH. He picked up AK third hand of the tourney, the flop came AK5, all his chips went in, only for his opponent to show him AA. Vegas can be cruel at times.
Finished the evening with Teppanyaki at the Shintaro and getting drunk in The Bellagio Bar with The Camel and The Ship. Other noteable dropper inners were Neil Channing and Jan double bracelet Hansen/Sorenson.
Bankroll   +$2900
IPOD favourite of the day… Stan, Eminem

Two hands PLO = $2,500 profit! Geez, so it's not 10c/20c then.

Thanks for posting Dave, looking forward to more tales of your exploits, good luck and, above all, enjoy yourself.

Fascinating stuff

These low starting chip WSOP events must be the biggest/fastest way to burn $ in tournament poker.

keep enjoying urself and unlucky about the tournaments so far fella.... your time will come and hopefully it will be more than one cash in the WSOP for you !! hopefully better one in the Main Event!!!
good luck m8 keep up the +BR!

Even though you are getting double the starting stack against entry fee this year ,but with them removing some levels do you think its making much difference ? Better , worse, no difference?

Hi Dave,

If you were not a sponsored player would you bother playing the tournaments or just stick to the omaha cash games where your edge must be pretty significant?

Good luck at the tables.

Jezza

Saturday June 16th
Yes now we are definitely in typical Vegas WSOP de javu! Todays tourney was a $1500 NLH and I again scratched around without finding any hand. Again, I lasted about 4 hours until possibly losing patience (is this a crack in the armour?) I had dribbled down to 2100 chip and made a move with AJ suited. The small blind made a reluctant call with the boots AA and I was on my way to the cash games again.
The cash Pot Limit Omaha game is a $25/$25 blind game, but the winner of the previous pot has to put a $50 blind in from whichever position he is. This appears to create a lot of action and the game plays bigger than the average 25/50 game. I was rather unlucky in a couple of big pots today and was 7000 down at one point. Fortunately I made a partial recovery and left losing 1800.
Not a good day at the office!
Bankroll   -$400
IPOD favourite of the day… Ceremony, Joy Division

Even though they have doubled the staring chips they are still pathetic compared to other major competitions. Its like playing themain event at walsall £1000 buy-in and being presented with 4000 chips starting at 25/50 on a 1 hour clock....there would be uproar... and this is meant to be THE WORLD SERIES OF POKER... what a joke.
As you say Craig, they have pulled a flanker by saying they are doube last year, so thats an improvement. What they fail to mention is that last years small events started at 25/25... so they have doubled the first level... overall affect at the start of the tourney is of course NO CHANGE.

I'd probably still play the tourneys. I find cash games pretty boring ... well 4 card PLO is anyway. Now a good game of 6 card PLO keeps my interest.
I generally like to play a mix , so I think I'll always end up playing both to be honest

I thought so. I think they have removed a few of the later levels in the main event making it worse ,even with the 20k starting stack this year.
Good luck on the rest of your trip

Sunday June 17th
Well today brought a refreshing change if not any success. Each time I had sat down at a table so far, I had been surrounded by fresh faces. Today’s starting table contained Evelyn Ng (coincidentally after Snoopy spilled the beans in his blondepoker interview), Andy Black, Humberto Brenes, Mark (Full Tilt) Vos, Josh Arieh and did I mention Evelyn? 
We had 6000 starting chips as we were playing $3000 NLH. I got off to a flyer as most of the stars took an early exit. Andy Black picked up pocket Aces 3 times in the first two levels and managed to get them cracked twice; a common occurrence in the early levels of big competitions. Mark Vos & Humberto also failed to make level 3 and Josh didn’t last much longer.
Meanwhile Evelyn and I both reached the heady heights of 20,000 and may have been amongst the early front-runners. Unfortunately for me I then started a very slow U-turn. I didn’t pick up a hand for 4 hours and managed to play a succession of marginal AceJacks and small pairs rather badly.
I think I may have been a little too scared to lose my above average stack and perhaps got stuck in a defensive mode of play. I can’t help but feel I should have played slightly more aggressively… but maybe I just got a run of bad cards and bad situations. Tomorrow is 6 handed, so I will definitely have my Roland DeWolf head on for that.
I eventually bit the dust just before the dinner break after a very long slow and painful decline in chips. This also meant I didn’t fancy the cash Pot Limit Omaha game as I don’t like to overdo things to much whilst here (I need to pace myself for 6 or 7 weeks hopefully!)
I’ve got to say the tournament turned out to be very painful indeed after getting off to such a good start. I thought I may have been able to give this one a shot. The day with Evelyn wasn’t too bad though… beautiful, classy, tall, slim, (high heelsJ), softly spoken, polite and fun … oh and under all this cunning disguise, she is quite a poker player. Whilst I went backwards, she continued as table chip leader right through to my exit. I hope she goes on and wins it.
Bankroll   -$3400
IPOD favourite of the day… Saturday Night, Suede

DC is the bankroll the figure for the day or is that your total loss at the tables since you headed out to Vegas?

6s
total since I got here...but it doesn't take into account any expenses  :cheers:

Add a zero or 2 then....

DC, I have great news...... I won another bracelet...... just kidding.......... but I just read a blog by Eveybaby........  she even named u as a player at her "tough table" the other day,(she knows who u r :))  at least u have that going for u??????? She did look good in those heals but I think she is a little tall for u???  Maybe that is the point ;scarymoment;

Did I ever tell u the story about the time I pushed on her w/  4d 7c and then showed her???  Guess i blew my chance :)up

Monday June 18th
I definitely prefer short-handed games nowadays. So I was looking forward to the $2500 6-handed NLH. I find the game much more intense with the opportunity to get involved all the time. The Simon & Garfunkel was ditched from the IPOD and it was Pistols and loud thrashy pop all the way.
I had an excellent starting table with the young gun ‘ElkY’ being the only recognisable face. The other four fitted into the ‘older honest player’ category…perfect. I was astonished to watch ElkY donk off all his chips trying to run a succession of bluffs against guys who were clearly not going to be bullied into passing second pair. I think this young gun may still have a little to learn.
Anyway everything went swimmingly well and I made the dinner break (woo hoo!) with 70,000 chips and was probably in the top 20. There were about 200 remaining from the original 750.
Unfortunately the dinner break also brought a break in my good fortune. The older honest players had now all been replaced by younger more aggressive models and the chips were beginning to move.
I lost a 75k pot with 99 v AK and lost a succession of smaller flips and suddenly I was struggling to make the money…16k when the average was 50. Fortunately, and surprisingly, I got a couple of walks on my Big Blind during the bubble period (especially considering John Juanda had joined my table).
Straight after the bubble had burst I picked up the blinds with AK and the looked down at 99. I had only 18000 chips and each round was costing 3000. there was no escape as I walked into pocket Aces and a 9 failed to materialise on the flop.
I cashed for a measly $3,507 after having dreams of half a million…that’s Vegas. It was a fun day though  ;busted;
Bankroll   -$2400
IPOD favourite of the day… Trash, Suede / Problems, Sex Pistols

lol @ "older, honest players"......!

I made a steal once, 2004 it was I seem to recall.. Well, an attempted steal.

lol..be honest now TK..you thought you had the nuts, didn't you?

Great read Dave and all the best. Can you give Brian a big kiss for me and tell him to go win baby.

Tuesday June 19th
Another day off !!!! Well I am impressed with my self-control even if nobody else is. I managed to go all day without even seeing a poker table… I used to have the sickness, but I’m better nowwwwwaahhh.
Ok, the real reason for this sensibility is that tomorrow is another Pot Limit Omaha tourney. So I don’t want to be stuck playing day 2 of the 7 card stud tourney… or do I? It was a toughie, but I managed the day off.
Which reminds me. A couple of interesting scenes from the previous day…
1.   I am walking down the long corridor away from the poker room and Mickey Appleman (or is it Appleton) is Kung Fu martial arts kicking his way, with full uh’s and ah’s, and karate chops all the way up the corridor. Everyone was taking a sharp right or left turn, diving into the restrooms and suddenly remembering that they had left something behind. I guess somebody had put a bad beat on him, and he was back to sort ‘em out.
2.   Eskimo Clark is stood outside the poker room arguing with the Tournament Director that he should be allowed in to play because ‘this is the World Series. It only happens once a year!’. He was not a happy man. The TD appeared to stand his ground though. He believed that he had reasonable grounds for expulsion. Eskimo had had 2 strokes in the cardroom in the last 4 days and was afraid that it might be 3 and out…
Budding rookie poker players beware…this is what the great poker beast turns you into after 30 years of waiting for Aces.

Hi Dave,

Message from your Mum - she says 'pob lwc' and that she is following your blogs!!!

Pob lwc from us too.

gl tomorrow, liking the reports.

Nice updates Dave. Do you include juice in your bankroll or just lump it into the expenses category?

Also, did you go away with a view to play as many events as possible or are you selecting choice events?

Alex

The juice gets taken directly from the prize pool... a $1000 buy in is probably split $90 juice, $910 into prize pool.

Wednesday June 20th
$1500 Pot Limit Omaha with Rebuys. The starting stack is 3000 and the opening blinds are 50/100 !!! The rebuy period is for 3 hours! This is The World Series Of Poker…there must be some skill in here somewhere? Passes me by though… but maybe the less skill, the more chance I have!
There was the usual re-buy period carnage but fortunately my table wasn’t too crazy. That’s probably because it had it’s fair share of good players including Burt the $5000 PLO champion, Sonny Ninjan(one of the biggest PLO cash game winners in the world) & Rafi Amit (who won the WSOP PLO championship event 2 years ago)… not to mention both of the Boatman brothers… and when they broke my table it didn’t get any easier. I got moved in with Greg Raymor, Devilfish, Juha Heppi and a couple of other bracelet holders.
Fortune was on my side though and at one point I managed to peak around 100k in chips. Unfortunately that was a high point though. Nethertheless, I did get past dinner break and through to the end of the day finishing with 58,000. Slightly below average but still in with a good shot at the whopping $470,000 first prize.

Thanks for taking the time to update Dave..I for one truly appreciate and enjoy your reports..x

Can't agree more,  Super stuff sir.

And bring home the jewellery.

Bets of luck mate- If you get JJ 66 double suited.... pot it on every street!!! Can't miss!! Got your gl message from Rhow in Bolton, ty and bring home the bling!

Well thank you Nun (and Jim D) ... it's nice to be appreciated.

I was afraid they were a bit bland and boring to be honest (just like me)

Please keep them coming Dave, most of us look for them every afternoon (UK time).

We're all rooting for you Dave :)up.  Keep the updates coming as well.

Thursday June 19th
Vegas, Vegas, and another broken dream. I turned up at 2 with one eye on the 470 large and left with empty pockets. Maybe I should have kept both eyes on my cards!
To be fair to myself I didn’t pick up a hand in the two hours play, and my Omaha selection criteria is looser than most. However I can be quite creative from the Big Blind with quite marginal hands. And the critical pot was when I called a raise from the BB and flopped top 2 pair. I trap checked, re-raised Jackie all-in with his over-pair. We had a 80k pot and he could only win with a King or by pairing the deuce (to give him a higher two pair). A deuce appeared on the turn and I was just gutted. I was down to the felt instead of being above average chips, and shortly afterwards was put to the sword.
I was eliminated just outside the money and to be honest, it hurt. For some reason I really fancied making the final table and possibly winning this one. I always feel I have so much more control when playing Omaha…
…Ho hum, pick myself up, dust myself down and start again tomorrow. Tomorrow is actually a $2000 Pot Limit Hold’em event, which is where I had my greatest WSOP success in 2000. So I suppose I have another good opportunity.
My friend Sonny from Birmingham (Nijran) is in the PLO final, so let’s hope he takes it down. If not good luck to Chris Bjorin and Alan Smurfit who are also old adversaries from the green baize back home.
Bankroll   -$9,900
IPOD favourite of the day… Once in a lifetime, Talking Heads

unlucky Dave.

I have enjoyed reading your daily updates.  its much better than your blog from last year IMO.

Best of luck for future events. 

Bland and boring are far from it ..I look forward to this report every day..and as for the 19th's report ..well there is always tomorrow..xx

Friday June 22nd
That old de’javu feeling has come back again. Another tourney and yet again I went deep (I guess I have to be playing well). Just under 600 hopefuls turned up for the $2000 Pot Limit Hold’em event and I had the pleasure of sparring with Pras Banzi most of the day.
They paid 54 places and having started at mid-day, we finally made the money around 1 in the morning… unfortunately I was out by 1.30! I probably overplayed a pair of Jacks slightly but I was just below average and my opponent had consistently dropped his hand to a re-raise from Pras. So I came over the top from the small blind and he moved all-in.
I had committed 17,000 out of my 33,000 stack and I felt obliged to call. However, I did suspect he probably had an overpair. I was pretty sure he didn’t have a lower pair so was hoping to see AK. In retrospect I cant help feeling that Phil Hellmuth or Alan Cunningham would undoubtedly have got away from this one. So I think I’ll mark it down as a minor error even though it would have been tough recovering from 16k (had I passed).
I was all-in with Jacks and he showed me the pocket Aces I suspected. No help on the flop. Let’s hope Pras finishes the job off.
Never the less, it’s my second cash. If only for $4797.
Update from another player on my starting table who was talking about the Paul ‘Eskimo’ Clark incident. Apparently he had his second stroke at the table whilst chip leader in the Razz tourney with only 20 players left. He refused to leave the table until eventually he passed out…
Bankroll   -$7,100
IPOD favourite of the day… Heaven, Talking Heads

excellent reports from LV Dave, a big cash is surely on its way, you say yourself your playing well, just a touch more luck needs to go your way.

btw your ipod music taste is spot on, are you using the ipod to aid your concentration, & is it working?  ;goodluck;

I do use the IPOD to aid how I feel I should be playing.
If I think I need to calm down & not play many ahnds because I have a loose table image then I'll listen to songs like 'heaven' and more mellow stuff.
However if I think I need to duck and dive like in the 6 handed tourney, then its all faster punk / new wave type music.
Whether it helps is debateable

little bit more elvis and some fish and genises and you will walk away with a huge cash dave

gr8 stuff Dave.

I really like you frank style, not boring at all for those of us who wish we were there.

 ;iagree;

Hi Dave,

Following your 'vegas blog' so to speak... Try some nice scottish piping music for your Ipod.

So many different moods and tempos to choose from .... 2 examples

1. The Dark Isle - Midi File - Slow Air

http://www.ogallchobhair.org/darkisle.html

2. Crossing The Minch - Upbeat Hornpipe when you feel the need for some aggression ...

http://www.alansim.com/scohtml/sco105.html


Of course I'm a piper from Glasgow and a little biased but there are so many different tunes to suit so many different moods.

Hope this makes sense.... Best of Luck and bring a bracelet home !


Dougie.

edit :- Real pipes by a seriously good piper :- Perfect Ipod stuff .. The 1st one is the most well known tune ...

http://ics.villanova.edu/Files/MP3's/Celtic%20Bagpipes%20-%20Scotland%20the%20Brave.mp3

Sorry to be boring and obvious...
Have you got  a link to Flower of scotland ?

Saturday June 23rd
A massive 2700 entrants played the $1500 NLH event. I had yet enough long day, starting at 12 and playing right through until 11. Having been on a comfortable stack all day, I was eventually knocked out losing two consecutive coin flips, somewhere around 320th. They were paying 270.
By my reckoning, this is the third exit just outside the money, to go with two exits just inside the money. How I long for something different? Lol…. First hand jobbie coming up.
I bumped into Pras just after he had been ‘bad beat’ out of the Pot Limit event that started yesterday. He was suicidal talking about getting an early flight back… that’s Vegas baby. It can destroy a man.
To be honest I am shattered now in need of a day off. I definitely won’t be playing tomorrows 50 grand HORSE, and I think I’ll give the 5 o’clock mixed hold’em event a miss as well… I suppose it depends on how bored I get? The bankroll could also do with a little help from the PLO cash game, so I guess we will see… getting drunk all day may be the best medicine though.
Bankroll   -$8,600
IPOD favourite of the day… White Lines, Grandmaster Flash

Men of Harlech stop your dreaming
Can't you see their spear points gleaming
See their warrior pennants streaming
To this battle field

Men of Harlech stand ye steady
It cannot be ever said ye
For the battle were not ready
Stand and never yield
   From the hills rebounding
Let this war cry sounding
Summon all at Cambria's call
The mighty force surrounding

Men of Harlech onto glory
This shall ever be your story
Keep these burning words before ye
Welshmen will not yield
 

dont worry Dave you know if u have the right music and right timing u will make up all these mishaps in one major cash in the big tournament coming up!

Hi Dave, on the case - solo or pipe band ?

Dougie.

http://dw.com.com/redir?&destUrl=http%3a%2f%2fmusic-files.download.com%2fsd%2fRdqLYClZeVK0to39yNOg-6_erK6iNDGGJ_SyKh5VDTcgCVRMJZ5soY_KvP1umiVSBwX5wDAQ15XtqALGWMm5-DAtm52EZzjG%2fmp3download%2f100611731%2f192%2fBagpiper-_Michael_Lancaster-Flower_of_Scotland.mp3&edId=3&siteId=32&oId=3600-8786_32-100607202&ontId=8786&lop=btn&tag=btn&ltype=dl_192k&astId=2&pid=100611731&mfgId=100607202&merId=100607202

Sandy

I don't know about DC but I enjoyed that, very rousing.

Nice link ...

Cheers Guys.... I'll listen to it all in todays Pot Limit High Low Omaha tourney. The tounrey will probably be a bit wild and cazy ... so its bound to be appropriate at some stage

Sunday June 24th
Well I had a relaxing day with my 10 minutes sunbathing, an hour or so in the gym, coffee in Starbucks…and of course I got to thinking… if all the top players are in the HORSE then maybe the 5pm event will be a good opportunity? So, due to a mixture of boredom & opportunity, I wander up to the Rio for the evening event… and sit down next to Humberto Brenes… and within touching distance of Johnny Lodden & Willem Thorsten… hmmm, maybe that logic fails somewhere.
Dichotomy…now there’s an interesting word.
I have played 9 events
   I have taken an early bath         0 times
   I have exited about 50% thru the field   3 times
   I have exited 75% thru the field      2 times
   I have bubbled (or one or two off)       2 times
   I have just cashed            2 times
   I have made serious money         0 times
Bare in mind I have complained vehemently that you don’t get enough starting chips considering this is The World Series Of Poker. Obviously the stats just don’t prove my point. Although I think they do indicate that I am playing quite well J
So I am quite relieved to say, 2 hours in and I move over the top of an early position raiser (he made it 700) with my pocket Queens for my 3000 starting stack. Only to find the Big Blind with Kings. With more chips I probably raise a little less, and may get away from this hand… finally I have some justification for my whinging !
 Bankroll   -$10,100
IPOD favourite of the day… Kashmir, Led Zeppelin

Sunday June 24th
Ok, well this will provide a few laughs for those looking for trouble out there. Over 600 players sat down in the PLO/hi-Lo split tourney… and Devilfish just happens to sit down right next to me!
I’m afraid there was no scandal though. Sorry to disappoint. In fact we were very civil. He spent most of the 2 hours that I survived, telling me about his sexual exploits, being unable to fit his Hummer into any of the 3 garages at his new pad (life’s a drag sometimes) and generally being very nice… a quantum leap  from the last time we spoke.
I’ve said it before, but the problem was completely exasperated for this tourney; 3000 starting chips for a high low Pot Limit tourney? World Series Of Poker? It’s not fit to use the name…I exited after 2 hours and had survived about 40% of the field!
(Aces blah blah bad beat boring blah blah)
As you can probably see, Vegas is beginning to get me down right now. I’ve managed to fall out with Rhowena in cyberspace, which didn’t help. I did sneak of for the 90 minute dinner break yesterday with Chilli, but generally I guess I am missing a bit of female companionship… either that or I just need to go out and get totally hammered… hmmm, now maybe that is the answer.
Bankroll   -$11,600
IPOD favourite of the day… Still I’m Sad, Rainbow

if it will help u  i k now a few females in vegas dave   i  ll tex u numbers   lol

Jen and I went to see how George Danzer was doing briefly after finishing the updates, and as we spotted him, it was announced they'd made the money. The tournament started at 5pm, it was now just 12.45am!

A NICE SHORT TOURNY JUST TO CASH!!! JUST WHAT WE LOVE TO SEE

Tuesday June 26th
Missing from action.

Good to hear :D

LOL Hair of the dog works for me.

Today from 10:00 am to 11:30 am (Vegas time) Dave will be my co-host on Talkin trash w/ Brian Wilson......

email us at talkintrash@bluffmedia.com

Wednesday June 27th
Well I did actually manage to take two whole days off poker. See, I knew I wasn’t sick J . Amongst those encountered at various Las Vegas bars were the great story-teller and ex-WSOP floor-man, ‘Schoff’ and the effervescent big-stakes cash player Missouri Dave (who lives in Tahoe).
A snippet from Missouri Dave… Jamie Gold is doing his conkers in the big cash game at The Venetian… how long does 12 million last?… when divided by 2?
Schoff was full of numerous old time stories, including one about Benny Binion asking Schoff to seat an elderly lady in a wheelchair inside the ring of a throbbing crowd of spectators watching the main event final table one year. ‘Did you do it?’ I asked… ‘Of course, else I would have ended up in the middle of the desert’… things aint what they used to be.

Thursday June 28th
Completely refreshed and raring to go, I turned up at The Rio early to help Brian Wilson host his ‘Talking Trash’ web-cast on worlseriesofpoker.com. The day got off to a very pleasant start with the humorous & entertaining company of both EPT god John Duthie and the absolutely gorgeous Lacey Jones.
Unfortunately, when I sat down in the $5000 short handed NLH things took a turn for the worse. I still had great company in that I shared a table with Andy Black in top form. However, we had the absolutely tightest table in the room. On Tony G’s table next to me they lost 6 or 7 players in the first 4 hours. One guy amassed 50,000 chips (having started with 10k) and lost the lot during this period.
On my table, nobody peaked above 16k! I was eventually the first casualty 30 minutes into the fifth hour. I bravely made a move from the BB with a pair and a flush draw but unfortunately ran into the button holding 2 pair. The flush didn’t materialise, and I was on my way.
Bankroll   -$16,600
IPOD favourite of the day… Atmosphere, Joy Division …. (did you know this was voted all-time No.1 in John Peel’s festive 50?) … once I start playing it, I just can’t stop… so I stuck it on my MYSPACE page.
 ;booder;

have to say i prefer the russ abbott version

Damn skippy!

Friday June 29th
I appear to be losing my way a little bit right now. A week or so ago I was building chips and fancied I had a shot in most of the tourneys. These fields are just so big though and there are just so many bullets to dodge. I sit and wonder how the hell does Hellmuth do it ?
Today’s short starting stack was 4000 for a $2000 buy-in. It was NLH again, and I got off to a flyer. Within 3 hours I had built up to a huge 17,000. Most players at the table had less than 8k apart from one… the one I decided to overplay big slick against. My AK of diamonds was no match for his KK on a Kc9d4s board and before I could blink I had demolished 95% of my huge stack. The pot was 32,000 when the average stack was between 6 and 7k. A bit of a cooler but again I find myself wondering if greater players could have got away cheaper.
Saturday is another day off, in preparation for ‘my big one’; Sunday’s $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha. This is probably my favourite tournament of the whole year… so I had better go and get my head sorted.
Bankroll   -$18,600
IPOD favourite of the day… Roses, OutKast (not for our younger viewers)
 ;carlocitrone;

I have reread this several times and I'm still wondering what it really meant...... Is it me?!  ;angel;

Great reads Dave - look forward to them everyday.

If he's not a mug what other holdings would he be getting so seriously involved with apart from a set or (maybe) AA on such an uncoordinated board. Get it together and bring the A game back. We want a bracelet.

Good Luck Today Dave all the Boys are rooting for you, youve tried every thing else why not play 1 level with no I pod, you never know LOL, anyway make sure you enjoy it most of all.

Dave, what happened to the cash games? did you stop playing them in order to focus on the tourneys?

i agree boldie maybe rebuild ur bankroll with cash game and ship it in tournys!!!

Yes ... the age old question...
Well the problem is that the WSOP goes on for so long. It's my belief that I cant play 60 hours a week and still expect to turn up to a tourney with the right attitude, zest & concentration...well not for 5 weeks anyway.
So the real problem with going deep in so many tourneys is that it is 10 hours or more play. Thus not leaving enough time for the cash games if I want to remain sane...
thats my excuse anyway.

Wash your mind out... I meant a exit in the first hand delt in the tourney.
tut tut

Well you are obviously correct in 70% of the cases.
I'll use the 'big pot theory' as my only excuse.
By the time we had raised and re-raised pre-flop and then again on the flop, I could have passed saving 5,000 chips or 'hoped' I was ahead and try and win a 34k pot.
... I agree it's probably a mistake though

dont worry... Alex is the king of hindsight!

head up Dave....just prepare right and give yourself the best chance. Everything else will happen in due course. On a more serious note the small bar in the entrance to the Rio. Would you say the percentage is 50/50 between Blonde and Brunettes. Can you also give them a score out of ten. I'd give them one.! ! !

my head wasn't really down Denis ... and have only drank at that bar once. Have my eyes on a couple of blondes at the moment... neither of which are sure if they want the attention or not....

Saturday June 30th
As tomorrow’s $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha is probably my most realistic target for the trip, and possibly the most important tourney of the year, I decided to avoid poker for the day again… for those remotely interested I actually wandered down to the Studio 21 Tattoo Gallery to get a rather dodgy arm scar covered up with a tattoo that has ended up being about four times bigger than I expected. Whoops!
Anyway maybe 4 hours in the chair having relentless pain endlessly and tediously administered to my upper arm will have been a mind cleansing experience… perhaps.

Sunday July 1st 
So I finally got started after 3 hours of Brian Wilson induced hassle, and surprisingly got off to a flyer. A set of Queens matured into a full house and I was up over 40k within the first two hours.
I spent a very comfortable day in an above average spot peaking around 90k until I got involved in a 3-way pot. I held 8,6,9,K on a 883 board and ended up setting an opponent all-in for a pot over 120k. Unfortunately, he held 83JQ and I didn’t hit any of my 9 outs on the turn or river.
My 35k stack was still playable though and I managed to build up to 135k knocking out bracelet holding shorter stacks Scott Clements and Thor Hansen in the process.
Unfortunately I had a dry spell towards the end of the day and finished on 95,500, which is slightly below average. There are 55 players remaining from the 314 participants who stumped up $10k… very, very tired.
Bankroll   -$28,600
IPOD favourite of the day… Killers, Somebody Told Me

Monday July 2nd
Hmmm, over 6 million chips in play and 55 players…I am not so sure we will finish today.

welcome to the club Dave

may i recommend your next one...........

;tightend;

gl Dave, this is a great read.

GL indeed!

I think there was a problem with the image upload function I think this is the tattoo everyone wants !!

Come on the Toffee's

heretic

Monday July 2nd
… well I have finally picked my chin up enough to finish this blog entry.
I never won a hand on day 2 and had a succession of bad situations. Eventually I busted just 3 from the money. The $22,000 would have made the bankroll a lot healthier to put it mildly. I wasn’t really playing for a minor placing though. I was much more interested in the serious money at the final table.
I am desperately disappointed to have built a good chip stack in so many competitions in this year’s WSOP. I feel somewhere I should converted one of this into a final table. My finishing is usually quite good given the opportunity, so in many ways it is a surprising disappointment.

Tuesday July 3rd
Well that’s about it for this years WSOP. I wont be playing again before the main event, where I am playing on day 1a. The $1000 mega satellites are tempting but I’m not really in the mood for the chaos of the Rio before the main event.
Another disappointment has been the loss of a friend in Brian Wilson who has fallen foul of the gambling sickness and taken advantage of the good nature of his friends.
However, on the bright side, it’s been sunny every day, no sign of floods. I have been working out every day and I am fitter and healthier than I’ve been since I left school. I can’t quite nail a date with a Lacey Jones or any other similarly attractive Vegas female but I guess there’s time yet! Despite all the trauma, I have enjoyed the trip. As I said earlier…this is Vegas baby!

Once again a great read Dave, I shall be looking forward to following your progress in he main event.xx

Nothing worse than being in pole position only to run out of fuel.

I was really hoping for a brit to do well in this event and the amount of strong names in the mix near the end was great to see.

Sadly the poker gods had other ideas!!!!



Good luck in the big one Dave

?

Sorry to hear that on both counts Dave.

Best of luck to ya in the ME...12 mill would make the bankroll look quite nicely aswell, no?

??

???

I spotted that too, i thought it was self explanatory.

Wednesday July 4th & Thursday July 5th
Ok, now we are chilling…some snippets from Vegas life.
·   I was surprised at how little ‘Independence Day’ is celebrated here… it gets in the way of the gambling I guess!
·   Mickey ‘The Legend’ Wernick chopped a Bellagio Cup competition. There were 3 orderly queues; a, those who had percentage savers, b, those he  owed c, those who wanted to borrow… and then all the midlanders ended up out on the town in a rather dodgy club.
·   Frankie Knight (another Brummie) is currently chauffeuring me around and we are eating in some of the smaller off-the-strip joints… where all the normal people hang out… wow, it feels like we are in America!
·   Carlo & Roberto both made lower positions in the following days Bellagio Cup Final
·   I spent two hours with big Barry Neville shopping!
·   Marc Goodwin got told off during his ESPN commentary stint. ‘You cant call the players Muppets! …err, What is a Muppet?’ … and I thought it was an American show?
·   Ram Vaswani is the first mobster to win a bracelet! Woo-hoo! Andy Ward, also from the UK, is second.

Ok, I’m just popping down to the Venetian for a bite to eat with The Ship & The Camel. After that, we have to visit Hugh Hefner’s Bunny Villa at The Palms for a Dusk Till Dawn party. Sounds good? … I can’t drink, I’m playing the main event tomorrow. Doh!

;goodluck; Dave.  One time, one time...

that's what I thought...how can someone not understand?

I think everyone got it - but folk where looking for an explanation.

Other than Brian is junked on gambling!

Friday July 6th
So the $10,000 buy-in 2007 WSOP Main Event finally got started. Now this blog has been pretty sparse on flops stories and bad beats but unfortunately, I can spare you no more.
We had a ‘beginner’ on our table who made the game interesting to say the least. 600 in the pot and he would regularly move all-in for his whole 20k stack. He did manage to show us AK on one occasion, but also showed us KJ on another. The whole table was just licking their lips waiting for Mr.X to do it when they had a hand. This of course included me, but as they say, you should always be careful of what you wish for.
I think we were on level 5 playing 200/400 and I joined Mr.X and a couple of other limpers with my AJ on the button. The flop came over a very attractive AJ8 off-suit. There was 2000 in the pot and to my delight Mr.X moved all-in for his 18k. He had me covered but it was an automatic call on my part.
I had top two pair ... he had A10. What a great coupe. I must be a 98% favourite. Anyway, the turn was a dangerous 9 and the river was a 7 to give Mr.X a straight. Needless to say, I was slightly stunned.
… and as they say that was that and that was the end of my world series.
Bankroll   -$38,600
IPOD favourite of the day… All The Young Dudes, Mott The Hoople

Ouch!

I guess you want someone with A-T to stick his entire stack in when you got AJ, on that Flop especially......But strewth, that's a corker.

How bad a player must he have been?!

Boogaloo dude !!!

thats tough DC

Im always amazed at the mental strength that players of your class have Dave, to keep putting yourself thru shit like that comp after comp, week after week must leave you drained and devastated in equal measure. That would be enough to get me kicking and screaming for a month.

Im really gutted for you and I just hope you get a good run in the cash or any other comps you play.

Dave, I don't know how to word this post except to speak as I feel. I played in the Brighton Friday festival freeze and with 23 players remaining I made a big raise with A9 committing the remainder to any re raise. I had no choice with my chip stack, when i got re raised by probably the worst player I have seen in the last ten years it was an automatic call. My A9 to his A2   jees I'm in front. I thought it was just bad timing by me and needing to hit the nine. Anyway he rivers the 2 and I am on my way home.

I know the level is different but if the Police stopped me during the first half hour of the drive home they would have done the right thing in locking me up.  I can feel the pain and hope that anyone who reads your post understands the pain and frustration even anger that comes with such a bad beat.   Give me something to kick.

How about a 50 pence coin?  ;hide;

or "a man when he's down"

For a beagle you have a cruel streak.


Dave, sorry to hear that, you had a clear view of the game, less business and other commitments getting in the way and it looked good, maybe this was going to be your comp. I hoped it would be.

some people have far too much money !!!!

If Gary Jones wins the WSOP HORSE event ... will he be the first guy to win a bracelet with green hair ?
Anyway good luck to him, Mr Cool, Barney and Joe !

I flopped out early ... started with the best hand 5 times lost 4 split 1
but I was in good company
1st 3 out ... Marcel, Tony G and Andy Black !
not to mention early exits for Humberto, Phil Helmuth
I guess I was in good company

anyways ... tomorrow is the one that matters

good luck dave  ;goodluck; Td


would be good if someone from this side of the atlantic won it.

i can say good luck on here,please dont let me bok you again....

good luck hun.x

Good luck Dave,

take it down.

Well at least the 2 bracelets stayed this side of the Atlantic .. 1 german and 1 Italian
Lets hope the main event follows suit !

av' it :)

well done on your total walk over of the 500..your groupies must be so proud,lol...

They probably dont even know I won it lol ... would you like their email addresses so that you can inform them?
Not so sure about 'total walkover' ... Paul Gourlay and mad turk can tell you different !

i was talking bout the young fans,lol..im sure you already emailed them..xxxx

Dusk Till Dawn have decided to finish sponsoring me.
I am obviously disappointed as the club is about to open and wanted to remain part of 'the team'.
I thank them for their support over the last year and trust I represented value for money for them.
I wish them every success with the new venture
 ;marks;.

 ;gobsmacked;

There loss but i'm sure someone elses gain very very soon Dave , goodluck for the future  :)up

WOW, i can't think of many better players to represent a card room/poker site. On the Playing side and as an ambassador. Im sure a new deal will be around the corner.

without doubt the most popular and respected player they had, doesnt make any sense.

No doubt an infux of new sponsorship deals will be on their way!!

Good luck Dave, see you at the GUKPT final.

WTF  ?? Doesn't make any sense whatsoever

To lose an ambassador before the club opens? 

I'm sure another deal is out there for you.  Go for team Pokerstars or Fulltilt str8 to the big boys ;)

Really Bad loss in my opinion , From the pros that are with DTD dave is the best and the most accomplished player and would be a superb ambassador for the club . Hope all works out dave

all the best DC, just keep winning.

Yes, I agree with you all. I have posted on my diary

http://blondepoker.com/forum/index.php?topic=3985.msg580729#msg580729

Rob

wowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww just wow

Dave is a great guy and a great player and when i win the WSOP next year i will sponcer him out of my winnings :-)

 Aspades
Whilst I wish DtD all the very best with their venture this... is possibly... one of the worst decisions that Rob could have made. The one person that long term could well be the difference of sucess or failure for the club,..Absoluote lunacy.!!!! But his (Robs) loss will no doubt be someone else`s gain.   :dontask: