Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[Slick Kid]

Worry not Tom, I'll be at your place at about 1pm, & on the journey we'll discuss proper things then. Horses, trains, bridges, tractors, fifth-wheel trailers, ducks, the phenomonen of motorway coffee, rookery's, & the price of eggs.

Well as it turned out, we had plenty of time to discuss everything. torrential rain caused widespread flooding and turned our 3 hour drive into a 6 hours, including one coffee fulled, bladder bursting stint when we traveled 80 yards in 90 minutes. We were lucky to make it at all. According to the radio, roads were becoming impassable and closed to traffic immediately behind us.

When we did eventually did get to the casino, (with only a few minutes to spare) there was a nice field of 70 odd already registered, and quite a few more hapless souls sitting in cars on swamped carriageways chomping at the bit. These arrived in dribs and drabs over the next hour or so bringing the final tally to 84 runners.

Tony "One Hand" Kendall" managed to live up to his reputation (again) but I'll allow him the pleasure of telling you about it, (I can't type for laughing anyway) I played magnificently, but bust out a few levels later.

Tony had to attend a meeting near 'eefrow airport this morning, so he booked us a room in a posh hotel called the Crowne Plaza. We left the casino early and drove here last night to find that they had somehow managed to get us down as newlyweds and booked us into the bridal suite. I was game, but Tony decided that we would never live it down and insisted on two separate rooms. We kissed goodnight and he sloped off "virgo intacto".

Were back at Brighton tonight for the £200 1 day event.

Smoke us a kipper......

I was unfortunately one of the poor souls stuck on the M23 until 11.30 when it was finally cleared. I had set off from Melton Mowbray at 4pm, great! The fact that l was sat in the DC game an hour later with Micky Wernick telling me about his comfortable Train Trip which took a few hours helped me calm my road rage and tilt a wee bit, not. One good thing was that because Grosvenor had made a balls up l got £300 back from my buy in. Paul Jackson had bought me in to this and the Main Event at Walsall and l had one of them pink receipts stating this, so happy days.

Played the DC game which l have to say was alot weaker than the dusk till dawn game and walking away 2k up was very nice as l had took 5.6k on Sunday night in a juicy 10/10 short-handed game at dusk till dawn.

[tikay]

Before I move onto my Brighton Trip, & even the APAT Weekend, I must return to my Capello theme.

Look, I know naff all about the relative merits if modern footballers, & care even less. Whether Becks deserves the place or not was NOT relevant, & I'm sorry if I misled anyone.

My point was about the pshchology of the issue. New Manager, fresh start, this is the time he can stamp his authority, make his mark, say "look you eejits, I'm in charge now, and I will do it MY way. Tabloids? Piss off. Players? Piss off. I'M IN CHARGE, & that's the way it's gonna be. Understand?".

In Management, psychology is SO important, winning the control, & especially control of minds. If he goes down the sentimental tosh road from Day One, he's doomed.

Allardyce was not the man we all thought he was, & the players at Newcastle sussed this. He decided to keep them in a Hotel for 2 days betwen matches over the Christmas period, for their good, & the good of the Club. A "deputation" of players went to see him, & said "no thank you". And he wimped out. As a result, the thug Barton did his party piece, & the "get rid of Allardyce" campaign had it's centre-piece. If he'd not yielded to player pressure, Allardyce would still be in his job. Instead, he's sat at home, counting a shed-load of money, his reward for failure. Weird game, Football.

As for NUFC, it's almost mind-blowing how imept & short-sighted the Dirctors must be. Install a Manager, which THEY chose, & his entourage, spending, some say, £50 mill, (allow for exaggaration, call it £30 mill), then sack him after 5 minutes. They are a laughing stock in every Boardroom in the country.

But it got worse, & their negotiations to find a successor were farcical. For starters, who in their right mind would sack their Manager without FIRST lining up a replacement? And then they leaked their negotiations all over the place, & so even the brown-envelope king Redknapp was able to make a mockery of them & win the media battle. Next up, they are said to be approaching every Tom Dick & Harry in Europe. And they end up with the Messiah himself, Keegan. And they claimed they wanted a "long-term" Manager.......Hmm. Newcastle, Fulham, England, Man City. Long-term Manager? The ineptitude of Football Management & Football Boards is staggering.

OK, move on. psychology & Poker next......

[ifm]

No offense Tikay but you'd have to be not only daft but a poor manager to drop (or not pick) a player like Beckham purely to make a point.
Many new England managers tried this ploy, Robson with Keegan, Taylor with Lineker and McClaren with Becks.
In each case it made the job harder than it already is for no reason, not picking Becks will harm the team, sod the "message".

[tikay]

No offense Tikay but you'd have to be not only daft but a poor manager to drop (or not pick) a player like Beckham purely to make a point.
Many new England managers tried this ploy, Robson with Keegan, Taylor with Lineker and McClaren with Becks.
In each case it made the job harder than it already is for no reason, not picking Becks will harm the team, sod the "message".

The lomg-term "message" is 100 times more important than the Team Selection for what is, after all, only a friendly. In my opinion, of course......

[ifm]

No offense Tikay but you'd have to be not only daft but a poor manager to drop (or not pick) a player like Beckham purely to make a point.
Many new England managers tried this ploy, Robson with Keegan, Taylor with Lineker and McClaren with Becks.
In each case it made the job harder than it already is for no reason, not picking Becks will harm the team, sod the "message".

The lomg-term "message" is 100 times more important than the Team Selection for what is, after all, only a friendly. In my opinion, of course......

But he's your best player.........

[jizzemm]

But he's your best player.........

Really, you think hes the best player ?

I dont really care being welsh, but im not sure hes the best player.

[Longy]

But he's your best player.........

Really, you think hes the best player ?

I dont really care being welsh, but im not sure hes the best player.

We have 4 clearly better players than Beckham in the current squad Terry, Ferdinand, Gerrard and Rooney.

As for Fabio decision given his history I would be really surprised if he gives Beckham his 100th cap and never picks him again, he is not a sentimentalist. If he picks Beckham, he will be thinking about him as part of the squad going forward to 2010 world cup.

[Acidmouse]

Pls dont spoil this thread with football talk and tit for tat opinions on whats what for England. K

[tikay]

And so to Poker, psychology, & how things can mess with your head.

I played the £300 on Tuesday - probably the best-structured £300 I've ever played, well done Lord Raab. There was NO excuse for busting early. Except, maybe, a messed-up head.

I believe, in F1, David Coulthard once spun off on the warming-up lap, in Horseracing, Piggott dropped his hands before the line, & lost, Devid Seaman allowed a lob from the halfway line to go in. One can but imagine what it did to their mindset.

So I'm sat there nice & quiet, don't really know a soul on the table, I'm not very "settled" mentally due to the horrific drive down, but these are just excuses rerally, but it's quite interesting (to me) how one's head can get into a lather. I'm wholly immune to Suckot Tilt, but unforced error, srupid bloody moment of madness tilt, that's another thing entirely.....Especially when it all starts with a teeny-weeny loss of concentration, & then, well, one little mistake gets compounded, & then just gets bigger & bigger.....

So, we are on Orbit One, Blinds are 25-50, and I've already tinkered with my usual Game-Plan, & I'm gonna play hands for value try & get paid optimally, a weakness of mine.

Little boy makes it 125 in early Position. I have Aces. Play for Value, I say to myself, & flat-call him. And INSTANTLY realise I've boobed, for I'm on the Button, & now the Blinds are absolutely obliged to call as well for that mini-Raise & Wimp-Limp. Shit, I'm in a hole already, 3 callers, but hey-ho, I can get off cheap I suppose if the betting  goes sussy. Unforced Error Number 1.

The Flop is 3-5-5, & immediately I am on the defensive, this is a Blinds Special Flop if ever I saw one, & I convinced myself thus.

Check, check, & Little Boy makes it 500, God Bless Him, he can ask my questions for me. I just call, & if the Blinds Call, we know what's gone off & can get away from this, We've got 7,500 - or best part of - after all, and a nice slow clock & a good structure.

But then a strange thing happened - SB - a really nice guy - makes it 2,500!

Jeez, that wrong-footed me. BB & Little Boy Pass.

So, let's think this through. If he has the 5, why would he bet? Ahh - maybe he's disguising the 5 by betting out. They do, you know. I umm & arr, & all the while I'm thinking about this, I forget to ask myself THE most basic of questions. Does he have an Overpair? Say, 8-8, 9-9, T-T. I just messed up, & never considered the blindingly obvious. I mean, it sort of fits the betting pattern. He's out of Position, it's been min-raised round the back, & called by the Rock on the Button - a smooth-call makes perfect sense. But I somehow forgot to consider this in my messed-up-head-state. Errors don't come bigger.

I Passed, & showed my Aces. And J-J man nearly fainted as he took the Pot. How stupid did I feel? Answer, very. That's very very.

Jeez, what an idiot I must looked, & did feel.

Then I find Tens, & Raise, & get looked up by the BB. He Bets out on the K high Flop, I wimpily Fold & show, he mucks & does not show, & everyone smiles. He says, naturally, "Good pass". Yeah, right. I know, they've sussed me, as Super-Rock who Passes at the slightest sign of resistance.

And so that's the preamble to probably the worst play, the Deauville EPT Semi-Final Exit apart, I've ever made.

[tikay]

Pls dont spoil this thread with football talk and tit for tat opinions on whats what for England. K

Nah, don't worry, it was my own fault. I was trying - badly it seems - to make a point about psychology, which fascinates me, & I musta phrased it badly, because it became "Smith is better than Brown", which was not my point at all. Never mind, move on.

[tikay]

So, back to the £300. I'm sitting there like the table-dunce, playing that AA over & over in my mind, just trying to count the basic errors, trying to pretend I actually know what I'm doing. The banter was great, not at all malicious, even the Valet says "ooh, are you the man that Passed Aces to Jacks on the 3-5 5 Flop"?"......

But I'm HURTING inside, because if I play like that, even allowing for my Tourney Ring-Rustiness, then it's time to pack it in. Pack it in? See what happens when your head gets messed up?

So, with nearly 2 hours gone, Joe Grech comes running into the Cardroom. He's clearly & visibly steaming, been stuck on the M23 for 4 hours. And he's heading our way, & some kindly soul makes the mistake of saying "hurry up Joe, it's your BB". And Joe - who's not even sat down yet, (the cards are still being shuffled) says "yeah, well I'm in a foul mood, so if anyone Raises my BB, I'm moving ALL-IN, & I mean that"...... Oooohhhhhhh

UTG man picks up his Chips, as if to Bet, then wimps out, & just limps. I have A-Q, & I make it 600, sod Joe. (Blinds are 100-200).

Lady in SB calls my 600 - what? - & then, oh my, Joe does it. With a slam-dunk of huge proportions, he positively SLAMS the table with his full-stack - " I WARNED YOU, I WARNED YOU".

Hmm......

Now, I've played Joe for years, all over Europe, Vegas too, & my respct for him as a player, & a genuine, decent-morals, guy, is immense. He can make that move all day long with 8-3, & I've seen him do so countless times.

But the obvious thing to do is Pass, & wait for a better spot. Then again, would he REALY do that with AA, KK, QQ? Surely not. Then again....

And now I'm thinking, ffs, I Passed Aces to Jacks, I Passed Tens to I don't know what, & here I go again, I Pass to Joe's speech-play threat?

No, I'm gonna call, he's got nothing.

But if he's got 8-3, he's still got Live Cards......

See what happens when our (well, my) minds get messed up?

I give it 2 minutes of dwell. I don't do this daft ego-fuelled dwelling pre-Pass when I've been caught nicking, if I'm Passing I Pass quickly, if I'm calling, ditto.

Anyway, eventually, my head all-of-a-tither, I make the spectacular Call with A-Q.

And Joe Tables Queens.

Night all.

I can't tell you how utterly demoralised & shattered I was. Because I'd made TWO unbelievably bad plays. And it got to my head. Psychology is a powerful thing.

[tikay]

So, the best-structured £300 I've ever seen, and £300-ers are my speciality act, I'm totally comfy & don't play at all scared in them, & I'm on the Rail, pre-first break......

I'm waiting for Red - we had decided to car & room-share - & I had a wonderful chat with John Raab, my goodness, he's made such a good job of structuring the Season Two GUKPT - it's the entire Season Two Grosvenor Fessie schedule really - never before have we known in January the chips, clocks, structures for almost a whole Grosvenor Season. What a grand thing.

And then I played some £2 £2 Hold-Em Cash, & won about £300. The Table was pretty good, players who could play, but it's tough to have a losing Hold-Em session if you know what you are doing.

But a Dealers Choice game started, & Micky Wernick decided to move across, cue me to follow the Legend, with the sole intention of using it as a coaching session in DC strategy. I've been playing DC for 6 months now, & there is much more to the split-pot games than meets the eye, & I love it, but I'm not too good at it yet, though good enough to get by. I met a young lad recently who's been playing poker about 5 minutes, & he was offering to coach other players in DC......the mind boggles. It's really fascinating, games like Super Stud &, to a lesser extent, Omaha Hi-Lo, how the dynamics change. You bet to keep players in, to get rid of certain players, to pot-build, to get a re-shuffle (in SS), there are so many variations in strategy which are hand & player depedent. Jim McShane has taught me loads, Chubbs Nowab ditto, & Murray Brown is pretty cute, but those apart, I've yet to see a Super-Stud player who seems to understand the nuances.

So a session with Lord Wernick was like gold-dust. I pretty much Posted a Blind every hand, with the sole intention that if Micky, who was to my immediate right, Passed, I could flick up my cards for him to see, & then after the hand, he could talk me through his views. And I learned LOTS. It cost me about £200 in dead Blinds, but was worth tens of £thousands. The swings in DC are huge - frightening, if you are self-funded - and so that session has hlped me no end. My DC sessions last week ended about £2,800 up, but there were some seriously wild swings in there, & it could so easily have been a huge loss, those "scoops" are all-important, & I got lucky with a few last week.

Micky made the play of the night, on a straighting, flushing Board, when he Bet £25 into a £150 Pot, & got everyone to Pass. "Go on, show us the nut heart flush" came the cry. He never even had a heart in his hand. He's the perfect poker coach in my opinion, & I've learned so much from him, I really have. But not, I hasten to add, how to Pass AA against JJ, or call for my whole Tourney with AQ early doors.

So, Tom busted out, & off we went, as I had an early start at Heathrow on the morrow, & we had a Bridal Suite waiting.

[Laxie]

At least someone around here's getting married 

[tikay]

Well, I swerved the Bridal Suite, an apologetic Receptionist offering us two rooms, one free. Result. The pillows were HUGE & the room was superb. Just as well, because for what it cost, I could have bought a small house. And Brekkie was SEVENTEEN QUID. Extra. Sheesh.

So, I have my 9am Meeting, all suited & booted, & at about 1pm, we toodle off back to Brighton, more of which later, because we explored all sorts of weird things en route.

So, the Brighton £200 is my "recovery mission". Whenever I make a daft decision in life - a frequent occurrence - it serves as a slap in the face, a wake-up call, & I get my act together. A £200 one-dayer is NOT my scene at all, it's way too fast for me, I only play Aces & Kings, or so I'm told.....

I don't really know why I decided to play it, but I've missed the Circuit Events so much, due to other committments, & I love the atmo & vibes, more so in the Side-Events, & I do OK.

And I played the best poker I've played in years, & after my due share of good fortune in one whopping hand, I Finalled, doubled up early, & then made a bad decision - my first of the Tourney - & crashed out 7th or 8th, for £900. It was a lovely drive home, 198 miles, & I left Brighton at 4am & was home in Derbyshire before 7am, as happy as larry.

The whopping double-up was embarrassing. I Raised it up to 4k (leaving 13k behind) with 8-8, Sparky Rob flat-called in the SB - wtf? & now the BB calls also! I'm done with this hand, unless I hit a set, I'm thinking.

It came 7-9-3, check-check to me. Gulp, all-in, & Rob insta-calls with his Jacks. Shit. But perfect perfect T-6 gave me a real flukey double up, & I felt prettty awful for Rob, because he's totally outpayed me, & been sucked out big-time. An unfair game, poker.

I won a very nice pot with 2-3 clubs, when I was at-it & caught a nice flop., my oppo unluckily rivered a straight, & I got paid off, as my hand was perfectly disguised.

I doubled up early in the Final, & had 80k, with Blinds at 4k 8k - it was real crapshooty now, but what do you expect in a 140 runner one-dayer? To make it worse, it started half an hour late, & each break, in true Grosvrenor Style, ran over by 10 or 15 minutes. It SO annoys me that we lose time like that, it's lost playing time in 1 dayers. That apart, Grosvenor Brighton did a great job, it's a very nice liittle venue, & the Recepton Staff were all smiley-wiley & made good eye-contact. It was incredibly cramped, but such is life in poker these days, except at Luton G, where you can wander around at will, it's massive. Every time someone got up, a side-table went crashing over, someone got knocked in the back, jeez.

Back to the Final, Blinds went 6k 12k (ante 500) & I was soon down to 60k. I found Nines, Geezer pushed for 52k, & after a long dwell-up, I called. We were Racing, he had A-J of spades, & after the turn, he had 9 spades, any 2, any Q, & any A to hit! That's a bullet too many to dodge, & I failed. I'm really not sure calling there is the optimum play, but the Blinds were huge, so maybe it was just about right, but I prefer to get my money in first in that spot.

Oh, & I made one of those (allegedly...) horror passes with 15 left. (13 paid). I had 7 x BB, & I found Jacks, but Solid Man went all-in, & soliderer man went over the top. Pass. It was AK v QQ, & they both Housed up, but I Passed pre because I was 100% SURE I was behind. I'm happy with that Pass.

A lovely evening, great fun. OK, DTD cash-action awaits.

[Karabiner]

I'm curious Tony as to why you consider that games which need two packs of cards (more than one pack) are okay.

I've always  considered that  remembering the passed cards is an intrinsic part of all stud games, not to mention the time wasted in the reshuffle etc.