I hate when your sitting at the table playing BlackJack and some idiot decides to tell you that you played your card wrong or that you should/shouldn't have taken a card. Thing is half of these players don't have a clue about when you should and shouldn't take a card in the first place.

You get some of them in the Gala Dundee, all old miserable **** who you see in the Casino time and time again whenever you go mumbling to them selves that you played your hands all wrong. I just tell them to f off.

I rarely ever watch 226 or 265. I would say 265 was better of the two though. If I watch any Poker it's usually on Challenge the WPT, 888.com stuff etc.

When there's new tourneys on 265 it's not bad but then tend to repeat them all the time for months, and 226 never actually seems to have anything worth watching on. Barney's Home Games on 265 used to be alright, quite liked that for a laugh!

I hadn't played Poker since before Xmas because of similar reasons, kept doing in my bank roll and wasn't enjoying it anyway. Two weeks ago started playing again, was enjoying it and playing well and cashing in most of the 30 person/3 table SnGs I was playing. Decided to play a Turbo SnG a few days ago, first time playing a Turbo for me and I won it, played another won again then either won or cashed in the next 3 or 4. Thought I'd found my perfect game but then in the past 2 days I've been still playing these Turbos and had no luck whatsoever, dunno if I was just on a lucky streak previously but every time I play I'm getting out drawn or losing the races where as before it was the complete opposite. I had my bankroll up to a significant amount at which point I'd usually cash out a portion of it but this time I didn't and I've pretty much almost lost it all again. It's gutting. Still find myself playing every night tho even though I'm not sure I want to half the time!

Time to take a break for both of us I think!

Are you going to any of the upcoming Ian B gigs this weekend?

We're off to the exhibition centre in Aberdeen too see him, should be a good one tho I'd prefer him not to play such big venues. Smaller places like the Carling Academy and Corn Exchange are much better venues IMO.

I find that when your on a good run of luck and constantly showing a profit for a while (say a few weeks) and consistantly making money from Poker it's easy to think you've cracked it and your gonna keep on winning forever. Next thing you know a few bad results and you've spunked the lot in a few days/hours. Now if I win a few quid I just cash out and then reload when I feel like playing now, keeping it in the account is too easy to go on tilt and do silly things and lose it all. I've never lost anything like 10K tho, I'd be gutted if I lost £100!

I'd stand everytime, you can hit and go bust if you get a 10 so why risk it. Especially with the dealer having a 2 (there more likely to go bust with a 2) .

That's a definite stand here. Read any BJ Strategy and they will tell u to stand. Why are people saying too hit? Makes no sense, more chance of hittin a 10 than anything else, if dealer was showing a 7/8/9/10/J/Q/K/A then you would hit but not when he's showing a 2. He's more likely to go bust with a low card in this situation! And who cares about the other people at the table, you're playing for yourself not a team effort.

From the short clip showed of Series 2 yesterday it looks great, I'm getting episodes 1-9 on DVD tomorro which is good, can't wait till they show them on the TV.

My next installment of my student loan comes through shortly, every single time I find myself with a student loan it gets blown on Poker and Gambling. Hopefully this time will be different!

I felt like raising preflop was a waste in this game, every player calls anyway and then guarenteed someone hits a card or two that puts them ahead. You never know where you are. I think it's quite funny because my mate has lucikly won the last 3 games (he's knocked me out when we both had trip Kings he ended up hitting a full house, he hit a straight flush on the river when I had an Ace flush etc) and he's started to think he's cracked the game and he's really good. Started telling the other players (who don't give a shit and just play for a laugh) that he's getting really good and could beat any of us. He got really upset because I told one of the really inexperienced players that he could raise (he hadn't realised) and this pissed him off because he thought he'd end up getting raised out of every pot.

When they wouldnt respect my bets n raises (when I had strong hands) and kept catching cards to put them ahead I decided that anytime I thought I was ahead I'd go all in and make them pay too see more cards...but this didn't seem to bother them. They'd call for all of their chips on a runner runner straight draw...and bloody catch it.

It seems like luck favours the stupid.

A few of my mates received Poker sets as Xmas gifts and have started wanting to play. We had a few small games (very small) with 2/3/4 players. I'm the only one who has any experience playing and has any idea of even the basics. They all remembered the hand orders (most of them most of the time) but none of them have the faintest idea about how to play.

I find it incredibly hard to win against them. We played a few low buy in tourneys, usually when playing online against bad players I tend just to play tight and play the premium hands and take advantage of any weakness and attempts to make a bluff I find. This strategy didn't work here.

None of my mates respect a raise or a bet, they call any bet with any two cards and practically every hand ends up as a showdown after the river. Theu just cannot lay hands down and never read the board for what it is, often missing straights or flushes or think they have hands they don't. This sounds great right? Easy money? Wrong, because they play any two cards and can't lay down anything, so you can never put them on a hand because any hand to them is playable even with a huge raise preflop those 28os and 73os are playable hands. You can't even guess what you might be up against and because they won't lay the hand down it ends up as a showdown every time giving them the chance to actually catch something and the amount of times they ended up ahead was unreal.

I need a strategy for playing against such terrible players, even most internet players at the low levels are better than this bunch.

Alright mate you can play on Poker Room @ www.pokerroom.com this is where I play, I don't own a Mac though it's just a really good site to play on. The reason you can play on here using a Mac is that you don't have to download their software to play. You can just go to their page and launch the client.

Great site, the interface and software is good, the players aren't.
So much choice of games, loads of cash ranges and the tourney choices are excellent.
I love to play there 30 person 3 table SnGs so bloody easy to finish in the money if you play them right.

The way some people are talking here it's coming across that it's of general opinion that the Hendom Mob aren't a top bunch of players. I don't think that's right tbh, they are among the top European circuit players IMO. Ram is someone who I think is a particularly excellent player.

No opponent will fold on the flop if it's only a further 2XBB because they know whatever (hit or miss) you're chucking it all in so you're gonna get called anyway. If you raised 3XBB pre flop with a drawing hand for example and missed the flop your chucking the rest in (2XBB) with nothing, he may have hit the flop and will knock you out the tourney.

If you push ALL IN with the 5XBB preflop there's a chance of them folding and you can pick up the blinds which is preferable I'd say than to trying to improve on the flop. It's ok I suppose if you've got Aces but otherwise you're risking your tournament life.

not sure why you need to use caps, but anyways

you dont make sense.... on the one hand you are saying that they aren't folding for 2XBB post flop, if they call preflop, but at the same time, you are saying that they will fold for 2X bb more preflop? I mean, which one is it? will they fold for 2XBB or wont they? you cant have it both ways

Yes indeed that's what I'm saying. If it's 5XBB preflop you might look at your hand, think well hey it's not that good I can muck this and wait for another chance to knock the short stack out. 3xBB I'd prob call them with anything but getting above the 3XBB mark changes things!

No opponent will fold on the flop if it's only a further 2XBB because they know whatever (hit or miss) you're chucking it all in so you're gonna get called anyway. If you raised 3XBB pre flop with a drawing hand for example and missed the flop your chucking the rest in (2XBB) with nothing, he may have hit the flop and will knock you out the tourney.

If you push ALL IN with the 5XBB preflop there's a chance of them folding and you can pick up the blinds which is preferable I'd say than to trying to improve on the flop. It's ok I suppose if you've got Aces but otherwise you're risking your tournament life.