Oops I did it again

[NoahMoney]

It's a cold dark night.  I'm sat on a doorstep having misplaced my key after degenerate session of gloom.  This is how it used to be, and this is how it still is sometimes.

Come and join me on this long journey of won its and done its.  Who am I?  For now we'll go with Alan Nonmyous.  Good old Al.  I play poker both live and online, predominately live at the moment, hopefully this will change soon.

We all have those issues we have to deal with.  For me, mine is that i'm a degenerate; I love to dabble in the art of blackjack and sometimes have a spin on the wheel.  It's all a bit of fun eh.

This diary will detail those days, whether they be joyous occasions of winning at poker, as we attempt to curb the degeneracy, and those wildly emotional days where it doesn't quite go our way.  Sure there'll be ups and downs, but I guess that's the fun part.

Hands will be posted as I attempt to improve at this wonderful game we all love to play.  I'll also post some poker hands, after i've posted the blackjack ones. 

My degenerate days started many years ago, when my great uncle Norman Nonymous passed away, leaving his nephews and nieces a tidy inheritance.  For a long while, this money remained in my account and then came my 18th birthday.  This is where it all changed.  Where the game began!  One lunchtime at school, I ventured to the bookies with my friends.  We sat on the machines playing roulette and in no time i'd won £50.  I was the best gambler alive.  There was no one better than me.  I'd solved roulette.  We kept coming back lunch time after lunch time, winning on these machines; nothing could go wrong!

'Hey Al, lets go to a casino' said 'Steve'.  That sounded like a great idea... 2 months later, i'd done it all, almost all the money I had, in excess of five figures, by now I was more than familiar with the voice 'dealer wins' and the vision of my money going into that slot of doom in the casino.  I was distraught.  Walking out of the casino, with the last bit of money I had, I saw some men sitting at a table playing cards.  I'd seen this before.  I'd played with friends before, it was a 0.50/1 holdem game.  With my last £100, I thought this was it, my last shot, it's now or never.  I proceeded to sit down at the table and made quads first hand.  I now had £103.50, I knew this was something I wanted to pursue.

[UgotNuts]

Welcome AL, good start to your blog. Hopefully we will see more poker hands than blackjack hands posted, it's a major leak for many poker players.... As well as pretty much all casino games.

[RED-DOG]

Welcome AL, good start to your blog. Hopefully we will see more poker hands than blackjack hands posted, it's a major leak for many poker players.... As well as pretty much all casino games.

I would argue that the average recreational player has a better chance of winning (or at least losing more slowly) at blackjack than he does at poker cash games.

[redsimon]

You made Quads first hand and won $3.50!

[Bigfella]

You made Quads first hand and won $3.50!

be fair Simon it was sterling not dollars 

[UgotNuts]

Welcome AL, good start to your blog. Hopefully we will see more poker hands than blackjack hands posted, it's a major leak for many poker players.... As well as pretty much all casino games.

I would argue that the average recreational player has a better chance of winning (or at least losing more slowly) at blackjack than he does at poker cash games.

With the poker games getting harder I see your point. It used to be the reverse for me, Beat the cash games, and lose it on the BJ. Reason I stopped playing it, only every throw the odd chip that way these days, too many times I have heard 21, 20 from the Dealer when I'm stuck on 20 or 19. I wouldn't recommend it.

[NoahMoney]

So I woke up today and played a few micro millions and some other online thingaments, nothing interesting to note so will proceed with another flashback:

Previously on The Life of Alan

6 hours later, after crushing the table, making flush after flush, set after set and straight after straight I was cashing out £145.  I was back, back in the game.  There was a new hope.  I was done with the house games forever, or so I thought.  I knew i'd be returning to play another cash game very soon.

The determination to win that lost money back was driving me; the chase was on.  I turned up to the casino at 7pm to play a cash game, however none were running.  I could here the house games calling.  Then I heard a voice; a voice from above; I thought it was a sign; 'Can all play registered in tonight's tournament come to the card room, the tournament will begin shortly'.  I soon realised that this was actually the tournament director and not a mysterious god-like voice as i'd first perceived.  I thought why not and decided to register the tournament.  Long story short, I ended up winning the tournament for £400 and felt like things could be going in the right direction.

I went to cash out and leave the casino, but saw a nice 1/2 cash game running so I decided i'd give it a spin.  After making a sick hero call with the second nut flush in a spot where the guy can never have it, or at least I thought so until he tabled the queen high high flush, i was up to £1k.  Then it happened.  I was dealt  .  Something told me this was a good hand.  I figured this was make or break time.  I limped under the gun.  I'd heard some 60 year old men, talking about how this was the best way to play aces, so I thought i'd give it a go.  The whole table limps.  We see a flop.  The flop came  .  I thought my hand needed some protection so I led £50 into the £8 pot.  A guy wearing a cap and sunglasses with earphone in snap made it £220.  We couldn't wait to get our chips in, so jammed.  He had £600 and snapped with  .  I announced Aces immediately threw my hand into the muck without tabling it, only to see the turn  and the river  .  I announce nice hand to him, he tells me that if I had aces I win.  I look at the board and feel gutted and stupid.  What had I done?

I told myself I wasn't going to play blackjack or roulette.  So i went to the three card poker table.  I proceeded to lose the remaining £500 or so I had with me...this feeling was all too familiar.

[UgotNuts]

Seems like you had a pretty unlucky night buddy. Where do you play?

Never muck you hand until the river. If your not sure what your hand is always turn it over, the dealer should be able to help.

Stay aware from those casino games, they are horrible.... The saying the house always wins is a saying for a reason.

[GreekStein]

haha excellent level

[NoahMoney]

Seems like you had a pretty unlucky night buddy. Where do you play?

Never muck you hand until the river. If your not sure what your hand is always turn it over, the dealer should be able to help.

Stay aware from those casino games, they are horrible.... The saying the house always wins is a saying for a reason.

I frequently play in London, all over really.  Nottingham too sometimes.  I'll be around there this weekend I think.  Played some sunday stuff yesterday and bricked, quite the bore really.

Back to the story

So there I was in that same situation again, having done all my money yet again, this time with no plan or solution to get me out of it.  Having made the long journey home across London via the public transport system, I had a lot of time to sit and think.  Poker wasn't for me if all I do was gamble away the money i'd win when it didn't go my way.  So I decided to quit.  This lasted until I got home and watched the film 21 and remembered that gambling was fun, so I decided to carry on.

So instead of getting a job to fund this poker stuff while I was still at school doing my A levels I decided to do what any good student would; carry on playing home games to try and win some money for some more of these cash games at the casino and tournament.  This seemed like a plausible solution.  Surely if I could beat these home games, my skill and mastery of the game would see my home in these casino games; after all I was playing with some maestros who I deemed to be much better than myself.

So as the year went by I was winning in these home games and putting money onto a one way poker system called Pokerstars.  All my money always went in but never ever came out, I couldn't quite figure out why this was, I must have been perpetually ill-fated I suppose.  Then came that day, the day that every poker player dreams of; the one where one realises that all these hopes and aspirations might actually come to fruition; I won my first tournament.  After grinding for hours on end, I managed to come first in a freeroll on stars.  I won my ticket into the next tournament.  I did not cash that tournament.  But did that matter? No.  I was inspired!

[Kmac84]

Potential. 

[NoahMoney]

Nomaha

I was buzzing.  Determined to succeed, to be the very best, like no one ever was.  However exam time loomed.  So now I had a tough choice to make.  Should I keep playing the 10 cent giveaways on PKR or do I focus on getting the best A level results I could.  Being young and naïve I obviously made a choice now which I look back on and regret.  I’d gone back to my studies full time focussing on my A levels.  These were now to take priority at least until I had some more money, then I could have some fun again.  UCAS applications had been done and my choices were based on proximity to casinos and casino volume.  Come to think of it now, this probably wasn’t the best way to decide where one would be spending their future but I decided to take the punt.

The night before the Latin exam in June could have been disastrous.  I’d saved up some money  over my long sustained absence from the game for a few months  and this is when T rang me; he needed to chill, he was stressed for tomorrows upcoming exam.  He suggested going to the casino.  I felt as though I was adequately prepared for the exam and thought why not.  We got to the casino at 7PM and I saw a 5/5 PLO game running.  I decided to give it a whirl and leave Mr T to the punto banco tables.  So I sit with £500 in the 1 seat, next to a dealer whom I can only describe as the reflection of perfection.  I was in love. 

This love would soon turn to anguish as Svetlana would soon dash my hopes and dreams.  So it was 4O, I was sat with £750 and I was dealt A947cccc, I had a lot of clubs in my hand, so I thought that I was quite likely to make a flush.  We went 5 ways to a flop of  with £250 in the middle.  I had a feeling.  I thought that the 6 was coming.  I’d never been so sure of anything in my life.  So I decided to pot.  This was followed by three of the remaining four players also uttering the word pot.  A lot of chips were in this pot.  Should I hit my 6 I’d be playing slightly shy of 5k, but the pot was rather large, in excess of 5 figures.  The  popped off on the turn bringing a flush draw.  I was delighted.  The river brought a brick and I was ecstatic.  The dealer spread her deck, pushing all the muck cards in with the deck.  This is when I saw it.  I looked down.  My hand wasn’t there.  My elation was slowly turning into horror.  ‘Where’s my hand?’ I exclaimed.  She shrugged.  ‘I’m sorry’ she replied.  The floor was called over, my hand had been merged with the muck, which had now been merged with the deck.  Nothing could be done, my hand was gone.  It further pained me when I’d seen that two god damn measly pairs had held against over pairs and flush draws.  But I suppose it was ok right? As long as the dealer was sorry, all would be well. 

You probably can guess what happens next.  To the blackjack table, where I grinded the remaining £500 for roughly the next 10 hours.  I wanted to win roughly the amount that the pot in question was.  I spun it up to about £4000.  I had an exam in an hour.  £500 was all that was needed and then I could leave.  The chase did not end well.  I did it all.  Mr T and I proceeded to bomb across London in his car to get to the exam, picking up a speeding ticket along the way. 

‘You have 90 minutes boys, good luck’.  I was sat in the exam hall, both pen less and penniless, feeling dejected once more.

[Young_gun]

This sounds like a fun diary, how old are you? not that it matters but it would be good to paint a random picture

Also seems like you have a muck problem , hope you have sorted this out now as it sounds like you play often

Best of British to you

[verndog158]

yeah defo subbed, this could be entertaining reading!
keen to hear more about yourself?

[SuuPRlim]

I'm a renowned lover of gambling romance and the stories that accompany them...

But seriously! Is this real :-)

Fun read nonetheless