Keith "The Camel" Hawkins: In the Well

[kinboshi]

Ha! Ok...got the Cd out put in player...2.02 FTW!!!!

CORRECT!

Album version or single CD version?

[sledge13]

Lol there is only one version of Song 2...give it up son...

[kinboshi]

Is there?




Anyway, I haven't asked The Camel a question yet.

Who, in your opinion, is the best British poker player in the following categories:

1.  Holdem tournaments
2.  Holdem tournaments/cash
3.  All forms of poker

?

[sledge13]

Looool....but thats You Tube video not the offical audio track on Cd...the answer is 2.02, I ty!

[The Camel]

Hello Keith,
1. To what extent (and how prevalant) do you think foul play exists in live tournaments?
2. You forgot to mention the 6/5 payouts on the vegas blackjack?
3.  If your physical read says 'fold' but all the other evidence in the hand (including the maths) suggests a call, what % of the time do you fold?
4.  Where is the best place in the world for players to take a busman's holiday? (in terms of minimal playing effort to cover X's and quality of resort)
5.  Please decipher the following speech play.  blind v blind, minimum pot to the river.  Board JTTQ3.  SB who has pretty much been mute with ipod/asleep now unplugs and says "I can only win this by betting" and bets the pot!  You have 98 in the BB and have a little more than a legal reraise in your stack?

Hi Simon.

Tough questions!

1. I have only ever experienced one form of foul play in tournaments. Namely soft play. And many of those who indulge in this practice honestly don't believe they are cheating. However, I'm sure more serious foul play does occur, Negreanu accused Men the Master of being the beneficiary of chip dumping and Paul Maxwell almost certainly suffered against team play in the final of the 25k wpt champinship a few years ago. Cheating like this should be punished very heavily, although actually proving foul play is mightily difficult.

2. Well, I assumed anyone bright enough to be reading blondepoker would be bright enough to avoid this abomination!!! (code for: yes, I forgot this!)

3. Against an unknown opponent I would call 100% of the time. I think tells against strangers are mightily overrated. The problem is different players offering the same tell, can be doing for it for really diverse reasons. For exaple there were 2 guys in Reading who used to shake like a leaf when they were in a pot. However, one shook because he had a huge hand and was scared of the opposition folding and the other guy shook when he was bluffing and was scared his oppo would call. This is an extreme example obv.. but while I would go with a tell 100% of the time against some opponents, against guys I had never played before I would use all other evidence before resorting to using some tell to make a decision.

4. Tough one. The games at the Crown Casino, Melbourne were incredibly soft (and I'm informed outside tournie time they are even softer!). However exe's are extremely high there.. but Oz is a great country and it's definitely worth a visit!

5. Very very tough. I think I probably call for reasons outlined above. Having said that, a quiet guy suddenly becoming chatty is as a reliable tell as there is for him having a monster. But, he could easily be thinking any ten is a monster here.

[The Camel]

QPR definitely are NOT worth a punt at the current price of around 8/1.

One firm have you at 15/1 (I took 17/1 with them 2 days ago), I don't want to run the risk of having my post deleted so PM me if you want to know who, or check out the easyodds comparison site.  By mid June I think you will be pleased with the signings.

Re poker - Do you offer coaching?

15/1 might be a smidgeon of value, but if I was pricing the league up to 100% (this is modus operandi to unearth what I consider value bets) I would make QPR 12 or 14/1. I have already had a very small wager on Charlton at 25/1 in the Championship. That was value I think.

I have helped a couple of guys, but nothing long term as yet. I do play unconventional poker and for me to coach a player longterm I think they must have a similar mindset to me. I really couldn't coach a rock to play a diametrically opposite style I don't think.

[The Camel]

What is you faveourite bet of all-time?   Not necessarly the biggest win, but the most satisfying?

Very tough question.. I couldn't choose one, so it's a deat heat between:

1. One day in June '88 I did my cobblers at Windsor races. I was crying in my beer in the pub just outside the track when this guy started talking to me..
"What's up son?"
"I've just done my bollocks at the races"
"I'll tell you something to cheer you up"
"Go on"
"I work for Major Hern and we've just started working a two year old called Nashwan. He is amazing, I haven't seen anything like him since Brigadier Gerrard. Have a few quid on him to win next years Derby"
Well, for the next year, every time I fancied wasting a few quid on a throwaway lucky 15 or trixie or whatever I had the cash on Nash the dash to win the derby, Guineas or doing the double.
I was very happy come the first week on June 1989!

2. I was watching the Davis Cup final in 1994.. Sweden beat Russia in the final. Magnus Larsonn was a journeyman pro around that time with a huge serve. He won both his singles matches in the final playing tennis I didn't think he was capable of. He was outstanding. The week afterwards was the Grand Slam Cup for the top 8 players in the world. Larsson didn't qualify by right but a few players dropped out and he was called up as a reserve. At the time Sampras and Agassi totally dominated mens tennis. However, I felt Larsson could go one of two ways. Maybe after his triumph in the Davis Cup he would be mentally and physically exhausted (after all the partying!) and perform dismally. Or he could continue playing like a man possesed and do some damage. At 80/1 I took a chance and had a right lump on! He became the first man to beat both Agassi and Sampras in a tournament to lift the title and I won enough to buy a new car!

[I KNOW IT]

Hi Keith
Did you prefer the WSOP when it was Downtown or now its at the Rio

Whats your favourite restaurant in Vegas and your favourite bar

[Nem]

Best thread of all time.

[stoneii]

Hi Keith, fabulous read this, ty.

If you're winning HU poker by a little known formula, how does someone like Genius28 beat you 9-1?  Not being funny, just wondering how he could beat such a strategy 9-1? 

What does he do that's so much better? (suppose that's a silly one, if you knew you would've beat him)

Thanks

stoneii

[Simon Galloway]

Thanks Keith,
Re: Qu5 from me, I did call and it turned out he was telling the truth!

Next one:

There's been a raise by player A and a re-raise by player B before it gets to you.  How often (number of times per tourny or number of tournys per time) does the opportunity arise for you to smash it in without much of a hand?  What criteria need to be in place for you to be confident of getting it through and which is singularly the most significant?  Your stack or theirs, or do both need to just right?  When you spot these occasions and it looks like the right play, what % of the time do you make the play and what % do you 'bottle it' a la LIDO?  (I assume that's the sort of 'bottle it' you referred to?)  Do your cards matter at all?  To what extent are you looking for some sort of 'backup in case I get called' hand or will any two do if the right situation arises?

Ta!

[bolt pp]

Hey Camel, you serious about the quiz machines? in the 90s these were really beatable...often paid for my Friday nights out at the end in the takeaway, my fave been Every Second Counts where most times my 50p would result in a £15-20 win (very nice in 1995!) as it was always about Films that I knew, other good ones were Coronation Street and Give Us A Break...the machines were fair and if you had the knowledge you had a good chance, the ones in pubs and takeaways are now just guessathons with questions such as:

How long does Blurs Song 2 last?

A : 2.00
B : 2.01
C : 2.02

...and this is when you get to the £1 level!

Brian Robson

[kinboshi]

Hey Camel, you serious about the quiz machines? in the 90s these were really beatable...often paid for my Friday nights out at the end in the takeaway, my fave been Every Second Counts where most times my 50p would result in a £15-20 win (very nice in 1995!) as it was always about Films that I knew, other good ones were Coronation Street and Give Us A Break...the machines were fair and if you had the knowledge you had a good chance, the ones in pubs and takeaways are now just guessathons with questions such as:

How long does Blurs Song 2 last?

A : 2.00
B : 2.01
C : 2.02

...and this is when you get to the £1 level!

Brian Robson

Bryan Robson.

[hector62]

As a result of this thread i have now discovered your blog and enjoying it lots.

Do you think that that in on-line poker the RNG actually gives you random cards and that there is no difference at all to live poker?

[Rupert]

Any views on this WSOP ME FT debacle?