Keith "The Camel" Hawkins: In the Well

[The Camel]

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!

Hi Sledge.

If you think the mid 90's were good you should have been around in the mid 80's!

The machines (such as ten quid grid, bar quest, blockbuster etc) only had about 1000 questions each. Within a couple of weeks I would learn the entire bank of questions and then I could literally play the machine until I had emptied it of money. I used to make £100+ every lunchtime, then proceed to the nearest Ladbrokes and blow the lot.

Making all that money so young (I started playing quiz machines when I was about 18 or 19) really meant I have never had any respect for money. How could I slog at some crappy job I hated for £150 a week when I could go to a pub and earn £50 an hour playing a trivia machine?

The machines these days are totally crap. They have banks of 10,000 + questions and change the difficulity of the question if you start showing some expertise.

The manufacturers have succeeded in stopping the pros beating these machines, but they have also turned off the casual players who liked to actually win a couple of quid now and again. Now, noone plays them.

[madasahatstand]

Best thread of all time.

aye, mucho respect 

[The Camel]

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

?

Hmmm definitively saying who is the best poker player in Britain is a virtually impossible question. There is a (ever growing) group of at least 20 players who when playing their "A" game could justify being called the best player in Britain..

I think a fairer way of doing this would be to say who, when arriving at my table, when I've got a big stack of chips would make my heart sink the most..

1. Ram Vaswani. Never ever lets down the pressure. If you're in a pot with him, your whole stack is at risk and he can turn up with any 2 at any time. A total and utter pest.

2. Ben Roberts. God this man has more patience than Job. Never seems to put his chips in a pot in  bad situation and is the best example of using game selction to his advantage. Would rather drive 100 miles back home without playing a hand than sit down in game where he isn't a considerable favourite.

3. Chufty. I don't play many other games (if you ever see me in an omaha game rush to get in the game.. I'm usually there because I'm on raving tilt) but every time I watch Richard play he's getting the absolute lot. He's a monster. Vastly underrated in tournaments too, he will get a big result somewhere soon, provided he keeps his enthusiasm for poker.

[The Camel]

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

Hi Craig,

Long time no see. Up for a few racks of pool at Tilted Kilt this year?

No contest.. downtown was better for me. There was a camaraderie between the players that seems to have totally disappeared these days. Many a riotous evening took place at either the Horseshoe or Nugget bars. It felt like everyone was in it together then. Nowadays people stay in small groups and there is virtually no boozing.. shame.

Favourie restaurant. For views the restaurant at the top of the stratosphere. For food.. the Japanese at Bellagio.

[Dewi_cool]

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

Hi Craig,

Long time no see. Up for a few racks of pool at Tilted Kilt this year?

No contest.. downtown was better for me. There was a camaraderie between the players that seems to have totally disappeared these days. Many a riotous evening took place at either the Horseshoe or Nugget bars. It felt like everyone was in it together then. Nowadays people stay in small groups and there is virtually no boozing.. shame.

Favourie restaurant. For views the restaurant at the top of the stratosphere. For food.. the Japanese at Bellagio.

   what a waste


when in Ireland, guinness or lager, gl in vegas

[The Camel]

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

Hi stoneii,

It's not exactly a little known formula. It isn't rocket science, but few players have the gall to try it..

Genius was/is the best exponent of this strategy. He also used techniques I haven't seen before or since to counteract my strategy.

If I played him again, (thankfully he has agreed not to take me on!) I would try something different.

If I decided I had a hand I wouldn't mind taking him on with I would make a big overraise, meaning he would have to play for all his chips.

This is definitely the best strategy against someone who is outplaying you. And this is why I saw nothing wrong with the guy pushing in with T4 against James Akenhead, who was clearly outplaying him. If your overmatched, play big pots!

[The Camel]

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

Hi Craig,

Long time no see. Up for a few racks of pool at Tilted Kilt this year?

No contest.. downtown was better for me. There was a camaraderie between the players that seems to have totally disappeared these days. Many a riotous evening took place at either the Horseshoe or Nugget bars. It felt like everyone was in it together then. Nowadays people stay in small groups and there is virtually no boozing.. shame.

Favourie restaurant. For views the restaurant at the top of the stratosphere. For food.. the Japanese at Bellagio.

   what a waste


when in Ireland, guinness or lager, gl in vegas

I'm ashamed to admit I can't drink Guinness.

When I was a student I won a pub quiz, where the prize was as much Guinness as I could drink that evening. I could only manage a half I know, I'm a wuss.

Thanks for the good wishes Dewi.

[The Camel]

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!

This is an great example of how poker has changed. 6-8 years ago I would make plays like this very regularly. And would only be called by AA or KK. The amount of times I was shown QQ or AK in this spot as they folded would make you shudder. Nowadays, player A would call me down pretty light (TT or AQ) while player B would call me down with a VERY wide range of hands (KQ, 66 etc etc). Hence the conditions have to be just right to pull this play off. The raise sizes have to be a correct % of stack size.. the players have to be capable of making a laydown and the time in the tournie has to be right (ie near the bubble or a significant jump in prize money). The cards are irrelevent, indeed I would rather make this play blind in case I give off any tells..

[celtic]

Hi Keith, great thread!!

Certainly gave me an idea of what to expect when i finally agree to do an 'in the well'

I'm doing my first vegas poker trip in 4 days time, playing mainly the venetian & ceasers deep stacks.

What advice would you give in terms of how to approach these tournies and the type of standard i may expect to come up against.

Finally, u said u would struggle with stainrod & bowles, what if you had to choose between bowles & dichio? 

thanks in advance

vinny

[NoflopsHomer]

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

Hi Craig,

Long time no see. Up for a few racks of pool at Tilted Kilt this year?

No contest.. downtown was better for me. There was a camaraderie between the players that seems to have totally disappeared these days. Many a riotous evening took place at either the Horseshoe or Nugget bars. It felt like everyone was in it together then. Nowadays people stay in small groups and there is virtually no boozing.. shame.

Favourie restaurant. For views the restaurant at the top of the stratosphere. For food.. the Japanese at Bellagio.

Tilted Kilt has been closed down, replaced by a crappy mock Irish bar called McFaydens.

p.s Genius28 is old enough to play the WSOP now, so you might want to avoid him if you play the HU event!!

[Nem]

Genius28

[SnipeR]

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

?

Hmmm definitively saying who is the best poker player in Britain is a virtually impossible question. There is a (ever growing) group of at least 20 players who when playing their "A" game could justify being called the best player in Britain..

I think a fairer way of doing this would be to say who, when arriving at my table, when I've got a big stack of chips would make my heart sink the most..

1. Ram Vaswani. Never ever lets down the pressure. If you're in a pot with him, your whole stack is at risk and he can turn up with any 2 at any time. A total and utter pest.

2. Ben Roberts. God this man has more patience than Job. Never seems to put his chips in a pot in  bad situation and is the best example of using game selction to his advantage. Would rather drive 100 miles back home without playing a hand than sit down in game where he isn't a considerable favourite.

3. Chufty. I don't play many other games (if you ever see me in an omaha game rush to get in the game.. I'm usually there because I'm on raving tilt) but every time I watch Richard play he's getting the absolute lot. He's a monster. Vastly underrated in tournaments too, he will get a big result somewhere soon, provided he keeps his enthusiasm for poker.

SNIPER IS OBV THE BEST EVER IN ALL FORMATS, IN FACT IVE HEARD THE TEXAS DOLLY HIMSELF STATE"IM NOT FIT TO TIE HIS SHOE LACES"....

[sledge13]

 

[The Baron]

Hi Keith, I hope are well.

Do you think there is a difference between the top UK/European players and the very top players from the US in terms of the standard of play?

Have you found as you've got older and wiser that some players from your generation have tightened up to not only adapt to the game but because they have more to lose now/they aren't as fearless?

In your past, when you've had bad downswings, did you have trouble with moving down levels?

As a neutral, what is the best poker game/session/hand you have witnessed?

Who is your tip for Euro 2008? (sorry if you've been asked this already)

Very much appreciated

[The Camel]

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?

By far the easiest question I've been given.

I'm 1000% sure that RNG gives out random cards.

If you want to worry about anything, worry about collusion. Much more likely than a bent RNG imo.