UK Poker

Moving to Pokernations.com

2009-08-17T09:02:00.002Z

I've not blogged about my poker playing for a while here but thought it best to provide an update on where I'm at. Basically I've not played a lot but am looking to get back into the poker scene.

My new blog is located at http://www.pokernations.com/ian

Try Poker Nations out if your a poker player looking for somewhere new and different. I think it's great.

Playing Poker

2008-12-30T22:18:00.002Z

It's a real shame but 2008 hasn't been a good year for my poker playing exploits. The little I've played, I've mainly lost and I'm struggling to get time to either update this blog or play any poker.

It's been a busy year though. I've been mega busy with work things and I've had three new daughters to add to the fold which has left little time for anything else.

Hopefully the girls will start sleeping next year and allow me a little free time at nights to get back into this poker playing thing and hopefully improve my game.

Here's hoping!! Have a great 2009!

Enjoying Playing but Losing Money

2008-08-08T12:15:00.002Z

I'm enjoying playing poker again although I'm still on a losing streak, having lost probably in the region of $150 over the past 2 weeks. Still, my loss per game is less than before and I'm playing less hands which is where, I think, most of the problem lay.

The last 2 games have actually seen me turn a minute profit finishing off with about $20 to the good, which seems to make a (nice) change these days.

Still, I'll plod on and once I get back into winning form (did I ever really have it) I'm going to continue to try and improve.

My Bad Poker Isn't Doing Well

2008-07-24T22:10:00.002Z

Just a very quick update tonight.

I've played a few cash games at Absolute and emptied my account. My lack of playing seems to have sent my game into a downward spiral, the abyss of bad poker if you like.

Anyway, onwards and upwards as they say. I'm going to persevere and hopefully I'll get back to at least breaking even fairly soon. I'm determined to get better and start making some cash, but we'll have to wait and see.

I'm sure after a little more practise, my bad poker play will start to improve and I can get back to enjoying the game more.

Playing Poker Again

2008-07-12T11:33:00.000Z

It seems like ages since I've been playing poker but I've decided that I'm definitely going to set aside a hour or three each week to play, even if the babies are all screaming. Well maybe if they're not screaming but you get the point.

Last weekend I played on Friday and Saturday nights for a while and although I won about $30 on Friday, I lost it again on Saturday.

I'm back to playing at Absolute Poker, since I found I still had about $130 in my account and I've decided, for the first few games at least to play $0.50/$1 No Limit Holdem. I'm going to take the minimum $40 into each game in case my play is way off and see how things work out from here.

I'm also going to try and play more aggressively than I used to and try to concentrate more. I'll either make more this way or go bust but I'm willing to give it a go and see.

I've typed this up during a game and now that it's time for bed, I've finished up with nothing!! I was up to 2.5 times my buy-in but all-in with Kings caught a straight and I'm probably off to bed a little earlier than I had imagined.

By the way, Absolute Poker have started awarding Credit and Fame points which I'm sure is grat new and if I ever bother to find out what they are, I'll let you all know.

Where's the Poker?

2008-03-29T12:40:00.003Z

It's been ages since I had a game of poker. I've probably lost the very few poker skills I was gaining it's been so long. I must be due a game fairly soon but the time seems to just pass me by these days. This poker blog hasn't been updated for ages!

First I built a new house then my Wife and I had triplets, so you can start to understand why poker has been taking a back seat. With four hourly feeds there isn't much time, day or night, to get a decent game.

Going to try again very soon though. Now if only I can remember which accounts still have money in them!

Anyone for Rummy?

2007-10-11T18:39:00.000Z

Ok, this weekend, I've decided to try something different and I'm going to try playing Rummy. I've been reading up on the rules and how to play Rummy at www.rummyonline.com.

The rules seem fairly simple and I've already downloaded the Rummy client. I haven't had a game yet but have been told that it's more skilful than poker and that poker players love Rummy - so that'll do me!

Anyone else tried playing online rummy before? There have been many Rummy games available to play online for years but it's only recently that cash games have been available to play with others from around the World.

If you want to try playing then click Rummy, this is by far the best site I've come across and seems to have all the information that a new player would need to get started playing.

Latest in the Poker Blog

2007-10-11T18:33:00.000Z

Played a few games recently but forgot to post in this poker blog how I got on. Anyway, a summary follows:

Won - $80 at PKr in .5/1 followed by another $20.86 in the same type of game.

Then I lost $40 at Poker Host when 3 x Ace was beaten by a higher kicker.

Then I switched to Absolute Poker where I played in some $1/$2 Limit games. The first game I won $39 then lost $20.

The second game should have been a dream game. Everyone at the table was playing with nothing and my idea was to sit it out until I caught decent cards, which I did. Of course, nothing runs that smooth and because all the other players were very fishy, they were calling everything - all of them!!! Of course, 9 times out of 10, one would river a straight, flush or triple up a small pair. Very frustrating as I didn't think I played that badly, you just couldn't shake them off when you had something worth playing and the law of averages says that with everyone in the hand someone else will have a fair chance of getting better cards that you. This style of play was worse for me as I couldn't tell when another player had a better hand, making it difficult to get out of the hand. Of course the pots were big but unfortunately, I didn't manage to catch that many.-$80 in a limit game of Texas Holdem at Absolute Poker. This was a complete waste of time, constantly good cards weren't catching anything and I only won about two or three hands all night.

I may as well have thrown the money out the window.

Anyway on the whole and despite a few large-ish losses, I more or less broke even with a loss of 14 cents. Couldn't really complain in the end and the total of my poker playing figures added up much better than I thought.

More Poker Bad News

2007-08-11T14:37:00.000Z

Absolute Poker - $6 + 0.60 3rd place $10.80
Absolute Poker - $5 + 0.50 136 from 199 when my pair of 10-10 and my all-in was called by two players with no real hands and one of them made a straight with the river card.
Absolute Poker - $10 + 0.50 86th place from 199, again put out with a made straight on the river after making two pair. That's enough punishment for one night.
Went back to Pokerstars as I haven't been there for a while. Twice I was beaten by the same guy with the same cards and my pairs of Kings and Queens couldn't stand up to Four of a Kind Aces now could they. Talk about bad beats!! Anyway my account is now $80 lighter after a very short period of time. A sad bunny right now.

To finish off I player a Pokerstars $1/$2 Limit Holdem table. Started with $40 at the table. Finished with $74.50.

Overall this post has cost me $57.30. Oh well, next time!

Dang This Poker Thing!

2007-06-23T22:16:00.000Z

My first foray into the Poker World tonight consisted of a $10 + $1 Sit N Go game of No Limit Texas Holdem Poker. How long did I last. You really shouldn't ask!

First hand I was out after my QQ didn't stack up against an all-in with KK. Well it was quick anyway! I've decided to play at Absolute Poker tonight and may play another tournament but I've other things to do so I'll see later.

WSOP Qualifier

2007-06-19T05:32:00.000Z

Well I managed 42nd Place from 321 players in the Caveman Qualifier Tournament at Poker Host. No Las Vegas for me then!

We started with 5000 chips and I was in the game for 3 3/4 hours, which is the longest single tournament I've ever played. However my trip Aces didn't hold up to a full house in the end.

Gutted is the only way to describe it, as it's probably the best poker I've ever played and certainly the highest quality players. Still it was enjoyable.

I played well though and didn't make many mistakes. I've noticed the difference in my game when I concentrate and do nothing else, rather than check emails and muck around at other bits and pieces.

BetFred Poker - Down $68

2007-06-15T23:25:00.000Z

Well the warm up isn't going too well so far. I've just lost $68 in the Betfred Poker rooms playing $1/$0.50 NL Holdem. Not catching the cards tonight at all so will go to bed and start my warm up for Monday nights tournament again tomorrow.

My Poker Update

2007-06-15T22:06:00.000Z

Since I last updated this poker blog, the first night I made a $3 profit after a fairly abismal couple of games. First of all I went down $25 at Absolute Poker before my PC crashed and bombed me out of the game. After that I played at Pokerstars when I was down $50 at one stage before winning a few hands and coming back to just above evens. Both games were $2/$4 limit games and I quite like playing at that level. There doesn't seem to be as many fish as there are at the $1/$2 tables and it makes for a more interesting game.

However, after not playing so well to finish up at all is a blessing. A Turbo tournament with Coral costing $5 + $0.50 didn't reap any rewards when I went out in 14th place. Only the top 5 were paid.

The weekend before last I went out in 238th place at a BetFred Texas Holdem tournament ($5+$0.50) when my three Queens didn't hold up to a King making a straight on the river card. I was playing ok before that as well. Oh well, that's poker! That night I also played a $15 Freezeout Tournament at BetFred Poker. 262 players. 111th place and also a $15 Freezeout Tournament at BetFred Poker. 250 players.230th place. Simply Hellish!!

Things looked up after that though. I tried a new poker rooms called Poker Host that run as part of the Microgaming Poker Network. I played in an invitational freeroll and actually managed to put out one of the bounty players making me $100. I came second overall and this earned me a qualification into a WSOP Main Event tournament this coming Monday night. The top 5 players will go to Las Vegas to play in the Big One! Can't see me getting anywhere but a slice of the $50,000 added cash would be nice!

An update on this after I've played it but I'm going to practice a little this weekend and hopefully get up to speed again. Overall taking all this into account, and thanks to the bounty, I've made a profit of $67.50.

Poker River Online

2007-05-30T21:44:00.000Z

It's not often that I post about a site I've found when scouring the internet for information to try and make my play and strategy a little better. I do try to read a fair bit when it comes to playing online poker though and the site, Poker River Online caught my eye and my attention.

As a brief overview of the site, it contains loads of top notch information for anyone interested in playing poker. It's mainly aimed at online players with a wide range of poker bonus codes and other specific online information, however, for players who like a home game, there is still lots to read to help your poker gaming skills and hopefully make you better than the others at the tables!

I found the Poker Tips and Strategy articles fantastic and a great help when brushing up on some of my playing tactics, or certainly the tactics I'd like to use if I ever stay in a game long enough! The range of articles to help your play is wide ranging and covers many different topics from betting and the odds of poker through to freeroll tournaments and mistakes in poker. I was especially tickled by the Dealers Choice games, including Murder, Blind Baseball and 7/27, none of which I'd ever heard of before by sound like fun variations of the more popular poker games.

The NL Heads Up article was especially appealing to me as I think that's where most of my problems when playing lie. I do ok thoughout the tournament before crumpling at the end. Story of my life really but I've now got some new ammunition to hopefully fire up my game a little at the end.

The Poker River site is also in the stages of setting up a poker forum which, if the rest of the site is anything to go by will be the nuts and should make for some worthwhile discussions.
There is also a Player Profile section covering biographies of some of the leading players in the World which is nice reading. I doubt I'll never make it there but it's nice to dream as well and this section coupled with the Funny Poker Videos makes for some lighthearted entertainment and compliements the strategic and thought provoving articles of the Poker River Online site perfectly.

I'll no doubt be visiting this site again and I've added it to my favourites. One of the better online informational sites and if you're looking for somewhere to play online then the Poker Bonus section will always come in handy.

2007-04-28T15:52:00.000Z

$3 profit after a fairly abismal couple of games. First of all I went down $25 at Absolute Poker before my PC crashed and bombed me out of the game. After that I played at Pokerstars when I was down $50 at one stage before winning a few hands and coming back to just above evens.

Both games were $2/$4 limit games and I quite like playing at that level. There doesn't seem to be as many fish as there are at the $1/$2 tables and it makes for a more interesting game. However, after not playing so well to finish up at all is a blessing.

A Turbo tournament with Coral costing $5 + $0.50 didn't reap any rewards when I went out in 14th place. Only the top 5 were paid.

Out in 238th place at a BetFred Texas Holdem tournament ($5+$0.50) when my three Queens didn't hold up to a King making a straight on the river card. I was playing ok before that as well. Oh well, that's poker!

2007-04-09T10:15:00.000Z

Not played a lot of poker recently. I've not really had the time but am hoping for a few games very soon.

I did try a $27 entry into a Sunday Millions Satellite where one player gets a place in the finals. I was relieved of the responsability of playing in such a big tournament and finished in 11th place.

I followed up with a $1/$2 cash game at Absolute Poker and made a small profit of $10.

Overall, a loss of $17.

Mixed Fortunes but Good Poker

2007-03-24T00:03:00.000Z

Played a $3 + 0.25, 45 play game at Pokerstars and came 28th. Just couldn't catch 2 good cards and the play was so loose I couldn't bluff to pick up any blinds either. I went short-stacked very quickly and eventually had to go all-in with an Ace and a 4. One other player joined me with an Ace and a six which he won with the higher kicker.

Registered for a $10.70 + $1 with 2 seats guaranteed in the Pokerstars Sunday Millions tourney. The Sunday Million at Pokerstars has guaranteed prize money of $1,500,000. There was 97 players in the tournament. Couldn't catch any decent cards and went out in 67th place when I went all in withh K Q suited and was beaten with a high card Ace.$8 + 0.80 Sunday Millions Tourney, came 13th out of 36

Pokerstars had a $10 + $1 tournament with $15000 guaranteed which I entered. I was put out in 827th place from 2218 players when my JJ in the hole was beaten by a Queen on the board making a pair for the only other person that followed my all in.

A $9 buy in to win a chance to play in a $150,000 guaranteed poker tournament later in the day seemed a good place to start on Saturday morning. However only 5 registered making one first prize of $40. It didn't make any difference anyway as I bombed out in 4th place.

Didn't play until the next Friday when I decided to have a game before bed. Entered a $6 + 0.50 Sit n Go at Pokerstars, a single table event. I trailed for most of the game but managed to keep my head above water until we were down to three players. I was losing by miles but managed to climb back a little before knocking out the second place spot. In the heads up match, it was back and forth a little before my opponent went all-in with a pair of 10s against my 10-J. Luckily another Jack appeared in the flop and I took first place and a prize of $27.00.

Overall though a loss for the past week of $14.45.

Latest Poker Update

2007-03-09T22:10:00.000Z

Thought I should update this blog to keep everything up to date. I've been keeping notes in Notepad rather than post them here, which is rather daft! After all, that's the whole point of blogging, isn't it.

Anyway, here goes...

$22.50 returned from $5 stake at a 15 player tournament at Poker333. I finished in 2nd place after being the chip leader for most of the game.

Absolute Poker $1/$2 cash game. Took $20 to the table and was sitting at $36 when my connection to the net dropped out and I couldn't get it back so I gave up for a while and took my $16 profit.

Went to Pokerstars after that and entered a 5 table 45 player Sit n Go tournament for $6 + $0.50. I was chip leader for most of the tournament until the last half a dozen players where the lead changed frequently. I was playing well but at one point the blinds were at $2000/$4000 and I only had $625 in chips left but I managed to double up a few times and I was back in the game. Eventually when we were playing heads up I took a bad run of cards and couldn't catch anything worth playing so ended up in second place. I won $60 which I was delighted with! Another profit!!! This time $53.50.

Sunday night and feeling a bit pissed. Shouldn't really play iin this state but though what the hell. Took $20 to an Absolute table and played about 10 hands making $28 profit! Maybe should take a beer or two more often!

Played another $6 + $0.5 Sit n Go at Pokerstars. However this was only a 9 player and I didn't fare so well going out in 5th place.

Lost $7.75 in a $1/$2 fixed limit game of Texas Hold 'em. Couldn't really catch any cards although I played for a while and my money came and went a bit. Overall it just wasn't happening for me.

Another lost just today, this time at Pokerstars. Playing in a $1/$2 game of hold'em, I went $26 down before calling it a day, or at least an afternoon.

Overall, a profit of $46.75. Another profit, albeit small!

Absolutely Great!

2007-02-11T22:11:00.000Z

Played a game of $1/$2 Limit Texas Holdem at Absolute Poker.

This is only the second time I've played there but I love it!! The whole site works very well indeed, the buttons are nice and easy, the tables are not too clumsy and everything feels just right.

Anyway, I took $20 into the game and played for about an hour. I got good solid cards for a change which afforded me to play fairly aggressively. I finished up with $83.38 giving a profit of $63.38 and my best result for a while.

I think I should maybe stick at these low cash games for a while as I seem to do best with them. Then again though, I love playing the poker tournaments too much!

Poker Update

2007-02-10T14:06:00.000Z

I've neglected this blog for a while. I've jsut been so busy!! It's not fair, is it!

Anyway a quick summary of my poker playing exploits over the past few weeks.

Coral - $7.50 in account played 0.50/$1 Texas Hold'em for a while. Finished on $29.50.

Pokerstars, I took $40 into a $1/$2 Limit Texas Hold'em table. I went straight up to $50 with 3 good playable hands. The blinds then robbed me for a while and I ended up down $10 with everyone else leaving the table. Must remember to put deodrant on.

+$5 next night
+$24.50 next night

$10 tourney at Absolute. 112 from 196. Put out when my 2 pair didnt hold up against a flush that the other guy caught on the flop.

$20 at Betfred 138 from 214.

There, I said a quick summary and over the total of the games above I've ended up $11.50!! Result! Not a big one but before I totalled it, I thought I would be away down.

How I Fared in the $50 Buy In

2006-12-16T14:25:00.000Z

I didn't get round to logging in and giving an update of the tournament I posted about previously. I won a place in a $50 buy-in No Limit Texas Holdem Poker tournament.

Well I started of getting loads of low pairs pre-flop, which I held onto until after the flop but needless to say, nothing was forthcoming post-flop so I didn't have much luck there.

A couple of times I received a decent pair pre-flop later on in the game and this helped me boost my poker chips a few times, helping me out a bit as although I was holding my own, I wasn't making much head-way.

Second last hand, I went all in with K-K and one other player followed also going all-in in with a pair of 5s. This put me up to 4060 chips and in a decent position, but my pair of 8s in the last hand couldn't hold up to a straight which came on the river for the other player!

Great game though and nice to be playing the higher limits and although not winning, I was holding my poker game together and finished in a fairly respectable 61st place out of 220 starting players.

It's the Weekend!

2006-11-24T07:26:00.000Z

Well it's nearly the weekend and I'm going to play a few games of poker too.

I had a few games last week, here's how I fared.

$10 + $1 No Limit Hold Em 89 from 277
$5 + 0.5 176 from 326
$5 + $5 + 0.5 - Out in 6th from 12

$5 + 0.5 Satellite to $10,000 Guaranteed - WON A PLACE!!

Not great results in the first 3 games last weekend but my last game was better, winning a satellite through to a $10,000 Guaranteed tournament at BetFred Poker.

I really like the BetFred site, it feels more homely than other poker rooms I play in. Maybe you just get relaxed in somewhere you play often. Anyway, I'll see how I get on tomorrow night at this tournament which normally costs $50 to buy into.

Pity it wasn't guaranteed that I would win it!

UK Poker - PAH!! No luck whatsoever!

2006-10-15T21:50:00.000Z

Not been a good few days playing poker. Very poor results. A summary of my stupid losses is below:

$15 Tournament - 156 players, out in 30th.

$5 Tournament - 256 players. Out in 130th position when my QQ failed to trip Js on the river card. Isn't that always the way?

$10 Tournament - 246 players, out in 126th

$2 Sit n Go - 12 Players, 3rd and $3.60 returned

$0.50 Freds All in or Fold - 9th place from 41. Great fun this game and easy to take part in. Basically, you have to either go all in or fold. If you're in the small or big blind positions, you're instantly all in. Really a complete game of chance but good fun and the games only last 10 minutes or so.

$5 + $0.50, 20 player tournament

$10 Freezeout Tournament - 74th from 126 players.

$25 NL Texas Hold Em - 130 players, I made 45th place.

There, a very brief roundup of my UK Poker plays over the past few days. It doesn't make nice reading and has resulted in an overall loss of $63.90. Mmmm, totaling this up wasn't as bad as I first feared.

Ok, off for another game of poker in my UK poker tour where I haven't left home yet!

2006-10-01T14:43:00.000Z

Been having a few games with BetFred Poker. Bet Fred poker rooms are good and I do like the feel of the game there. A few more players would be nice but certainly a decent enough poker site to play in.

Anyway, here's how I've played.

Thought I'd try some Extreme Turbo 10 player games for $10 each. Couldn't make anything of it at all and to be honest, skill doesn't really come into it much. It's a lottery and I won't be playing again.

$20+2 $4500 Guaranteed Freezeout - 134 from 220
$5 + 0.50 Turbo Bet Fred - 4th
$5 + 1.00 Turbo Bet Fred - 3rd - $10 returned
$5 + 0.50 Turbo Bet Fred - 6th
$5 + 0.50 Turbo Bet Fred - 20 players 2nd - $30 returned

$34.50 down overall.

A First!

2006-09-12T21:34:00.000Z

Ok, so it wasn't just the one game, it took four tournaments to do it but the past few days, playing UK Poker I finally made another small profit. Another $16 has been placed into my account with one of the Prima Poker Rooms, Spin Palace Poker.

Pokerstars $11+1 No Limit Texas Hold em - 45 players - 9th Place
Bet Fred $5 + $0.50 No Limit Texas Hold em 20 players 11th
Bet Fred $5 + $0.50 No Limit Texas Hold em 20 players 9th
Spin Palace $10 + $1 No Limit Texas Hold em 10 Players - 1st Place! $50 returned.

I think Spin Palace will be on my soon to return list.

Geez - $75 in the Hole today.

2006-09-02T15:26:00.000Z

Been playing some $15 + $1 poker tournaments today and to be honest, I don't think I've played too badly although I've not made the money...yet!

Here's how I've faired. Looks like I'll have to get the old credit card out again soon!!

$15 + 1 18 Players - 9th The most boring game of poker I've had in ages. No cards to play and everyone played tight. It took ages just to get put out in 9th. Unbelieveable.
$15 + 1 18 Players - 11th JJ All in didn't stand up to KK on the turn.
$15 + 1 18 Players - 9th
$15 + 1 18 Players - 12th Caught out again by a bad beat with someone chasing a straight. Nutter, but he got it!
$15 + 1 18 Players - 7th I went all-in with KK and on the river the other guy caught the last heart he needed for a flush!

More Small Poker Tournaments

2006-08-31T19:43:00.000Z

It's great having a week off work and getting a few more games of poker under my belt. It is making me feel more confident about my play and when I take those required risks you need to take when playing tournaments, I'm making my plays at the right time. (Most of the time!)

Anyway, I've played a few games over the past 24 hours and these are the results.

$6 + 0.50 Texas Holdem Sit N Go 2nd out of 9 ... $16.20 returned.
$6 + 0.50 Texas Holdem Sit N Go 4th out of 9.
$6 + 0.50 Texas Holdem Sit N Go 8th out of 9.
$11 + 1 Texas Holdem Sit N Go 14th out of 45 ... Really two bad beats put me out of this one but I was playing ok with the increased number of poker players and tournament value.
$6 + 0.50 Texas Holdem Sit N Go 1st out of 9 ... $27 returned.

Overall a small profit of $5.20.

More $6 + 0.50 Tournaments

2006-08-30T11:13:00.000Z

Been playing more $6 tournaments at Pokerstars recently although I've not managed to update this running commentary on how I'm getting on. Anyway here goes for more of my UK Poker games, even although Pokerstars is actually Dollars play.

$6 + 0.50 Texas Holdem Sit N Go 8th out of 9 ... Not a good start, is it!
$6 + 0.50 Texas Holdem Sit N Go 2nd out of 9 ... Better and in the money with $16.20 returned.
$6 + 0.50 Texas Holdem Sit N Go 2nd out of 9 ... Another $16.20 for second place.
$6 + 0.50 Texas Holdem Sit N Go 1st out of 9 ... Doesn't get better than this and a return of $27.
$6 + 0.50 Texas Holdem Sit N Go 5th out of 9 ... Played ok but going downhill.
$6 + 0.50 Texas Holdem Sit N Go 5th out of 9 ... Again played ok but definately on the slippery slope.

Overall $39 to play the tournaments with a return of $59.40. At least it's a profit for a change!!

2006-08-19T23:38:00.000Z

After not getting a game for a week or two, I decided to treat myself tonight to a couple of single table sit n gos.

$6.50 NL Holdem
9 Players
4th Place - No cards. Only saw three hands to the river and not a lot seemed worth playing.

$6.50 NL Holdem
9 Players
3rd Place and a return of $10.80. I should have played the odds on my last hand as my game tends to favour this but oh no, I had a better idea and went out a lot quicker than I should have. I should keep those bright ideas to myself!

What am I doing!

2006-08-06T21:31:00.000Z

Been playing in a few more tournaments lately but not been doing so good. I think it's mainly due to me not concentrating enough on what I'm doing.

Trying to work or browse other sites just doesn't pay of so I've decided the next time I play poker, that's all I'm going to do!

By the way, my total loses work out at $54 for the past few days.

Whatssup!!

2006-07-31T20:55:00.000Z

Hey, hey, hey!!! Been playing more of the $6 + 0.50 tournaments the past few nights and had a darn good run too. Ok, the money isn't fantastic but at least I'm enjoying a few wins for a change!

Last night I started with a 6th place out of 9 players in a No Limit Sit n Go. Not a good start.

After that game I played another of the same and got another first! $27 won for my $6.50 entry and a second win in as many nights.

Tonight I've played another $6 tournament and what do ya know? Another first and another $27 in winnings.

A total profit of $34.50.

Not retiring yet but enjoying my game!!

An Improvement?

2006-07-30T06:07:00.000Z

These small Sit'n'Go Tournaments at Pokerstars are really getting a grip on me even through I haven't been doing all that well in them. Small limit cash games seems to be more my thing but the last couple of days have seen an improvement in my rankings in the Sit n Gos.

$5 + 0.50 Texas Holdem Sit N Go 9th out of 9 ... Terrible! What more can I say.
$6 + 0.50 Texas Holdem Sit N Go 3rd out of 9 ... Winnings $10.80. Some money back!
$6 + 0.50 Texas Holdem Sit N Go 1st out of 9 ... YAHOO!! $27 for First place!

Not a lot but at least I've made an overall profit. Mind you it is only $19.30. However a definate improvement!

Low Value but Winning

2006-07-26T20:53:00.000Z

At last a few successful games at Pokerstars!

I've been sticking to $1/$2 Limit Poker and it's paid off a little although in the last game I didn't play long as, even though winning I twice had 2 great hands and my connection closed. I've been having problems with the phone lines all night and after missing out on the 2, I called it a night.

Since my last post, I've had three games, winning the following amounts;

Game 1 - $30 to the table, left with $42;
Game 2 - $20 to the table, left with $33.50;
Game 3 - $20 to the table, left with $37.50.

An overall profit of $43.

BetFred Poker Sit n Go

2006-07-25T21:39:00.000Z

I've been playing a few games at Bet Fred Poker for a change this week. I'm starting to get into Bet Fred with its smaller poker rooms and more intimate atmosphere.

Anyway, how did I fare? About the normal.... :(

$5 + 0.50 Texas Holdem Sit N Go 4th out of 6 ... Bad
$5 + 0.50 Texas Holdem Sit N Go 4th out of 6 ... Worse
$6 + 0.50 Texas Holdem Sit N Go 7th out of 9 ... Aaarrrgghhh
$5 + 0.50 Texas Holdem Sit N Go 3rd out of 6 ... Boo Hoo!!

Oh well, onwards and upwards. Can't down down much further anyway!

Bet Fred Freeroll

2006-07-20T20:46:00.000Z

Played in a Bet Fred Poker Freeroll competition tonight which I was invited to. The table I sat at played so tight you wouldn't believe it. I hardly made a pair but a couple of nice all-ins kept me in the game....for a while.

Finished in 77th place out of 112. Not very good but I don't think I really played much very badly.

Sit'n'Go at Pokerstars

2006-07-18T21:59:00.000Z

Pokerstars seems to be becoming a bit of a habit for me lately. Not that I've ever made any money there but I do like the frequency that their Sit'n'Goes start.

Here's a list of what I've played in the last few days and how I got on:

$3 + 0.40 NL Texas Hold'em 10 Players - 5th Place

Lost $13 playing a Limit table game of Texas Hold'em

$3 + 0.40 NL Texas Hold'em 10 Players - 4th Place
$3 + 0.40 NL Texas Hold'em 10 Players - 3th Place
$3 + 0.40 NL Texas Hold'em 10 Players - 4th Place

$6 + 0.50 NL Texas Hold'em 9 Players - 9th Place
$6 + 0.50 NL Texas Hold'em 9 Players - 4th Place

So I've lost another $33 but I feel I'm getting better in general at the game and my confidence is increasing when playing. My last game at Pokerstars was the best poker I've played in ages although the cards went against me near the end. I was chip leader for most of the time until my final few hands.

A Few Small Poker Tournaments

2006-07-13T18:08:00.000Z

As I thought I would in my last post, I have managed a few games in my week off work. Not as much as I would have liked, but a few hours.

So far I've played the following;

$1 + 0.20 Sit 'n' Go Texas Holdem, No Limit - 20th place out of 45
$3 + 0.40 Sit 'n' Go Texas Holdem, No Limit - 7th place out of 10
$3 + 0.40 Sit 'n' Go Texas Holdem, No Limit - 3rd place out of 10

Total cost to me $8 and I won $6 back on the last game.

All the games were played at Pokerstars.

Perhaps I Should Have Stayed At Work

2006-07-11T10:56:00.000Z

Started off playing really well at Pokerstars yesterday. I was getting good cards and playing them well. I thought I might actually start to recoup some of my losses.

Oh, how silly I am. The cards went and so did another $66 before I called it a day and started doing something more worthwhile.

I'm finding it really frustrating today, the cards just don't seem to be running for me and when I get a good hand that's worth playing, the river card always seems to catch me out.

I did refer to my Pokerstars stats to see if I was playing too many hands but at 29%, I think not.

Oh well another time!

Limit Poker ($1/$2) at Pokerstars

2006-07-09T22:47:00.000Z

I've had a break from playing for quite a while now while I've been doing other things. However, yesterday I started playing at Pokerstars again.

I've been playing $1/$2 Limit Texas Hold'em and started off losing $53 before putting another $40 onto the table. After about an hour and some decent hands, which seems to happen less often these days, I finished up with $96.50 on the table giving an overall profit of $3.50 by may calculations. Not a terrible lot, I know but the way things started out it could have been much worse and has given me a bit more confidence in my play, which was lacking.

I also managed a small game earlier today and managed a profit of $6.75, again not much but at least it's heading the right way, isn't it?

I'm on holiday for the rest of this week so will hopefully get a few games in, probably at Pokerstars again but maybe somewhere else. I need the practice and would like to get a few more games under my belt as they have been few and far between for the last few months.

Keep watching for updates!

$2/$4 Limit Texas Hold'em at Pokerstars

2006-07-01T11:22:00.000Z

Started with $40 brought to the table.

First hand down to $12 with two pairs, Aces and Nines which was beaten whena pair of 5's met another on the board.

Added another $50.

I was delighted after a few hands when I got one that I could fold. Up until that point all the hands were playable and strong but the river card always seemed to diss me!

Ach...beaten again with a flush over my two high pairs and more money needed.

Added another $40, it's just not my day but hopefully...

...nope. Gone. The quickest $130 I've ever spent!

Pokerstars Sit n Go

2006-06-17T14:28:00.000Z

I'm not a huge fan of Sit n Goes but had a game today with a $3 buy-in.

Played well enough and was the chip leader for quite a while until I went all-in twice with what should've been winning hands but the river dissed me both times.

That's how poker goes though and it's probably what keeps it as being one of the most interesting and popular games online. No matter how you play, you'll always hit it lucky, or in this case unlucky, some days.

Coral Poker

2006-06-02T12:00:00.000Z

Played for a short while at Coral Poker today. Only had £14 in my account and it didn't last long before I'd lost it. Nothing new there then.

What I like about Coral Poker is that you don't need to download the poker room. Playing the Flash based instant version is very quick and easy and still looks the part when playing.

Must Concentrate More

2006-05-18T21:18:00.000Z

Write 100 times..."I must concentrate more.... I must concentrate more..."

Lost $40 in a matter of minutes tonight at Pokerstars due to reading my emails and writing a letter at the same time as playing a game of Hold Em.

Plain daft. I was in a rush, doing other things and really should by now know better.

BetFred Poker Invitational

2006-05-09T20:21:00.000Z

Played in a BetFred Poker invitational tonight and was doing well until I well all-in against the chip leader with AA.

Little did I know he was holding a pair of 8s with an 8 on the board.

Oh well, that's poker!

At least it didn't cost me anything!

$40 Lost at Poker

2006-04-26T22:14:00.000Z

Playing for a while in Pokerstars tonight and lost $40. Not a good start to my poker playing week but hey, never mind, I've a day off work tomorrow so it can't all be bad!

Anyone reading this up for a poker tournament between the readers? If you are post a comment and check back regular and we'll get something setup.

Oh, and can you also leave where you prefer to play poker online and the majority will win and we'll play on your 'home turf.'

What Great Fun!

2006-04-17T13:12:00.000Z

I had a great time yesterday and really enjoyed playing. I may not have won much but the cards were average and let me play a bit.

At an early table game I made a total of $1.40...WOW, what will I spend it all on.

I then played 3 games of heads up which I lost, they cost me $16 in total. The last one I caught a bit of a bad beat when my Ace high straight in the second hand of the game was beaten by a flush on the river! Grrr.

I then finished the evenings play off with a final $5.50 Sit 'n' Go tourney where I played with 9 others and came second winning me $13.50.

Great fun. Roll on the next game.

Poker for my Country

2006-04-16T14:05:00.000Z

Just finished playing in a heads-up tourney for a place in the Pokerstars World Cup of Poker but went out in 26th place.

I went all in with KK and my opponent caught a straight on the river card busting me out on my bum!!

Oh well, maybe another time!

Pokerstars - Live

2006-04-15T21:17:00.000Z

I'm playing a $0.50/$1 No Limit Holdem game at Pokerstars right now, as I type.

I thought it may be interesting to blog as I'm playing for a change and see how things progress. By the way, last night I played the same game at Pokerstars and made a profit of $42.20, hopefully tonight will be as rewarding.

It's not been so far though. I started out with $30 in chips and moved all in with QQ. The flop didn't help anyone but my opponent, in with A-7 and holding nothing, landed the big A on the river card.

I added another $30 and so far the action seems quite loose but I'm just not landing the good cards. I'll blog a little more shortly.

There is some big money at this table changing hands and I think some of them think it's a game of raises, even when they have nothing! Great if I could get a decent pre-flop hand.

Can you believe it!! I played a full house, went all in again and got beaten with four Aces!! Another $30 in.

Just went all in on my second hand of this $30 and landed a full house with 10's full of Kings! $56 in my pot! The other person, who by her photo is a little tasty hand three of a kind 10s and an Ace kicker so I was lucky with the King on the river.

Half an hour gone and I thought my Ace Kicker was enough with the two pair on the board so I called a $14 bet but lost out to a full house. I was up to $89 but I'm back to $60 now. The daft players have gone now and the poker has gotten more serious.

Three of a kind 6s have just beaten my 2 pair, 10s and Jacks to put me back to $27. F***ing poker.

All in with pocket Aces just took me back in the running with $80.

Been playing for about 2 hours now and have scratched back into profit. Only by $3 so far though.

Finished with a small profit of $11.30. Not too bad considering I was down to zero three times!

Better Poker Hands at Pokerstars

2006-04-14T12:23:00.000Z

Last night I played a little in Pokerstars and had slightly better hands that I've been getting the past few sessions. I ended up $53.65 which although doesn't recoup my losses over the past few weeks, at least takes a little back!

By the way, Pokerstars have recently signed up their 5 Millionth player!

That's a huge number, just under the population of Scotland and if it were a county it would rank at 112 in the world of the most populated! Thats over the half-way mark of ranking countries.

A great reason to check Pokerstars out!

Pokerstars Continues my Losing Streak

2006-04-13T05:31:00.000Z

mmm...Maybe this No Limit Hold'em isn't for me.

I've played the last 3 nights at Pokerstars and so far I'm $256.35 in the hole.

It may be me, and probably is, but I just don't seem to be getting the cards. Even a pair seems a good hand to me these days and when I do get a couple of top cards pre-flop, nothing helps me on the flop and most of the time I'm folding.

I've looked at my stats and hand histories but these seem ok, I thought I might have been playing too many hands but my averages show that I'm only seeing maybe 35-40% of hands through to the flop.

Maybe just a bad run of things? Maybe I should stick to Limit Hold em instead?

Or just maybe.....my luck will change. :)

A $43 Win!

2006-04-11T05:40:00.000Z

Managed to scrape back $43.05 last night at Pokerstars.

I was playing $1/$2 Texas Hold Em and had a fairly good game with many ups and downs but I was almost always ahead in the chip count, which I was relieved about.

They have a tournament running this coming weekend which I fancy playing in so hopefully I'll get a game. It's a country thing where the top 4 go to Barcelona to play for their country.

Not much chance with my recent play, but you never know.

The Bad Run is Getting Bigger!!

2006-04-06T20:17:00.000Z

$148.58 down the tubes over the last few days. I think the problem is due to a few things.

1. The first is that although my hands are not bad I'm maybe playing them too strongly at times. This is kind of intentional as I want my poker play to be more aggressive. I just need to control it a bit.

2. I'm too keen on a quick win and I'm going all in after someone else has pre-flop with unspectacular cards. I should really be the first all-in if the cards are strong enough and I'll have to change my play of the cards slightly to achieve this.

Enjoying myself though and I think for the first time in a while my poker playing is more enjoyable than ever. I'm also sure that the payoffs will start coming soon.

Fingers crossed.

Another game at BetFred Poker

2006-03-26T14:40:00.000Z

Almost forgot to post about last nights play at BetFred Poker. I played some $0.50/$1 No Limit Texas Hold Em and lost $7.21 in the first game and won $16.30 in the next.

A profit of $9.09, about £5.20.

Bet Freds $0.50/$1 No Limit Hold Em

2006-03-26T14:36:00.000Z

Another few games of Texas Hold Em today, this time with BetFred Poker, one of my favourite poker rooms.

I played 5 small tourneys costing me £8.06 in total to enter and had great fun. These small tournaments are far more exciting that the big ones and because at most you can loose a couple of quid, the whole experience is more lively and people play like they should. In some of the larger tourneys, some hold back because they are playing for too much money.

Didn't do really too well with a few 3rds and 4th places which don't net you anything as it's normally the top two players that get some cash with the BetFred smaller tourneys.

Did manage a 2nd once which got me £2 back but great fun!

No Limit Texas Hold Em

2006-03-26T14:33:00.000Z

I played at one of the Prima Poker rooms on Friday night, this time Spin Palace Poker.

Playing in a game of $0.50/$1 No Limit Texas Hold Em, I managed to turn $30 into $55.09 a profit of $25.09 which is roughly £14.40.

Not a lot but at least I'm heading the right way to take back some of my bigger losses from last week.

Over the Weekend

2006-03-21T22:05:00.000Z

Forgot to post this over the weekend so a quick update.

I played a few games at Bet Fred and Pokerstars and ended $12 up - after a lot of play!

When the Cats Away...

2006-03-15T22:22:00.000Z

... The Mice Will Play!!!

Yes the girlfriend has been down with my daughter in hospital the last 3 nights so I've managed to get a few games of uninterupted poker at Bet Fred.

Decide to up my game a little and have been playing $1/$2 No Limit Texas Hold Em.

My play for Mon/Tues/Wed combined totalled a loss of $254. Oh No! This is big money as far as I'm concerned but I do enjoy the buzz of playing for money that actuall means something and I'm having a whale of a time.

Strange isn't it? Losing and enjoying playing more than ever!

Tonight I faired a little better and won $83. Still not enough to recoup this weeks losses so far but a consolation prize that makes me feel a little better.

All this put together means a net loss of $171 since Monday and my chances of getting another game are slender until at least Sunday.

A Win at Bet Fred Poker

2006-03-12T12:39:00.000Z

Still reeling from that $60 loss last night, which I'm kicking myself about due to playing the wrong hands and not concentrating, I decided to attempt Bet Fred Poker again.

Deposited $30 at Bet Fred and was down to under $10 at one stage so I brought another $15 to the table making my outlay $45. Played for about 2 hours and had a poor run followed by a better set of cards. This went on for some time but eventually I managed to claw myself up to $105.37 in my account.

A profit of $60.37 giving me a profit of a massive 37 cents over the last two nights.

Thank God for Bet Fred Poker!

I managed to sort the damage and I'll put last night down to experience.

Pokerstars

2006-03-11T20:41:00.000Z

Played a game at PokerStars last night and lost $60.

Probably bad play to be honest. I was tired and played too many hands.

Idiot!

Another Uneventful Poker Night

2006-03-05T22:29:00.000Z

Tried my luck back at Pokerstars last night and like last weekend, I played for 2 hours. The money went up, then down and so on the whole night and I ended up with a very slight profit of $3.75.

Still at least I've notched another small win rather than the losing streak I was on.

Betfred Poker | Million Poker Tournament

2006-02-27T22:16:00.000Z

Betfred Poker has just announced they are launching the Betfred Poker Million Tournament which will be the largest online poker tournament to take place in the UK.

There are plenty of ways that you can qualify to play for the massive Betfred $1,000,000 Tournament Grand Final and I for one will be giving it a go. There are multitable qualifiers taking place every night and qualifiers to the final running on Friday and Sunday nights. Sit and Go tournaments also take place which act as qualifiers. Of course there is always the lazy way and just buy into the main event but I'll try a few qualifiers first.

Not tonight though.

No Money at PokerStars

2006-02-25T13:46:00.000Z

Play at PokerStars last night in a game of Texas Hold Em $1/$2 Fixed Limit.

Played for almost 3 hours and my starting amount of $40 went up and down and up and down but I couldn't make any real headway, almost lost the lot at one stage. Ok, so I know it's not a lot but I'm trying to make a profit here!

Anyway, after my time was up I was exactly on $40, the same as I started with so called it a night.

The only people who made any money for my play were PokerStars themselves with the rake I paid for every hand.

BetFred Poker | Million Dollar Tournament

2006-02-24T20:44:00.000Z

Betfred Poker has just announced that they are going to be launching a new poker tournamennt with prize money totalling a massive $1 Million Dollars!

Players at Betfred Poker can qualify in a number of different ways including multi-table qualifiers, sit and go tables, final qualifiers or direct buy-ins.

This is going to be a huge poker tournament with many players participating online for a coveting place in the BetFred final.

Click BetFred Poker for more details.

Back with a Win!

2006-02-18T23:51:00.000Z

Not managed a game of poekr for a few weeks now, mainly due to the entire family becoming unwell apart from me. It scuppered my internet time though as everyone needed more attention than usual.

Anyway, tonight I tried a Texas Hold Em $2/$4 Limit game at Pokerstars.

I started off by depositing $40, then when that was done, another $40. I wasn't playing badly just wasn't getting a break.

Fortunes turned for me a bit and I actually got some cards I could play, so I did and finished the game with $151.50. An extra $71.50 now rests in my poker account!

Squidoo UK Poker

2006-01-23T06:22:00.000Z

UK Poker - This is a link to one of my Squidoo pages, this one entirely about UK Poker.

Squidoo is only at the beta version but is "supposed" to become the next Wikipedia. Whether it will or not remains to be seen but no harm in trying I suppose, eh?

Anyway each page on your choosen topic, in this case, UK Poker, is build from a series of segments. One of this one is where to play poker online if you're in the Uk, there is a section on poker books, where to find the best guides and also some quick poker facts.

If you're interested, feel free to browse the UK Poker lens and let me know what you think.

$50 Down the Tubes

2006-01-15T16:39:00.000Z

Playing in a game of $1/$2 Limit poker I made the fatal mistake of trying to watch something on the telly at the same time and wasn't concentrating on what I was doing so a few BetFred Poker players took $50.

My own fault to be honest.

UK Poker

2006-01-08T01:02:00.000Z

Back at BetFred Poker tonight again. Seem to be making a habit of it.

$40 into the game and didn't get the run of cards at all until just as I was going to pack it in.

Almost out of chips I landed a 4 of a kind 9s netting me $16. Pity there was only one other player in.

The action was slow after that and down to no chips I managed to land a King high straight taking me bad to the $15 mark and followed it shortly after with trip Qs but the cards tonight were against me so I called it a day with $31.75 left in my account.

2006-01-07T00:59:00.000Z

Back to Bet Fred for a game of Texas Hold Em and took $50 from my account to the table. Found a nice table where they were playing like it was free money. What a loose table! Mind you, what luck they had to. So much for poker strategy!

After about half an hour and with 4 players in the pot, it climbed to a decent size and I thought that my full house was a winner!

My dreams were shattered a few second later when all three other players had a higher full house than me. Can you believe it? And I thought my tens were enough as well.

Trip 3s on the flop the next hand though to make it another full house, this time 3s full of 10s. Gotta be mine this time but no. Beaten by another full house, this time the guy had pocket 5s to give also give him trips on the flop. Grrr.

Fairly uneventful after that with me struggling to get some cash back, but in the end time caught up with me, after 2 hours of play, and I settled for $47.34, so down $2.66 for the night. I'll live with that.

Better Luck with BetFred

2006-01-03T15:19:00.000Z

Managed a few poker games over the past few days and I've actually won more than I've lost! Shock Horror!!

First off I played a $1/$2 Limit game of Texas Hold Em. The pots were low in value but for the first time in what seems like ages, at least I was getting dealt average cards. Makes a change. Managed to turn $20 into $47.25. Result!

Took $27.25 from my winnings and managed to take it up to $47.75 in my next game as well.

After that I played a small sit and go tournament with 5 other poker players which only cost $1 + 0.20 to enter. Beat the rest and walked away with a first prize of $4.20.

Back to limit poker after that, sticking with BetFred Poker since I've been doing ok there and made another $9.50.

Yesterday I then played a $250 Turbo tournament which cost me $3 but I exited in 38th place out of 105 players and then exited 3rd in another small tournment loosing out on $2 + 20cents.

So a busy few days with BetFred but although playing for small amounts as I take my playing back to basics until I start winning a few more.

I've been happier with my poker play though with BetFred Poker I'm now $55.55 richer!

Ritz Poker

2005-12-30T20:14:00.000Z

Been a while since I've had a game with Ritz Poker, I might download the site again tonight, since I lost the original version I had when my system decided to delete itself about 3 months ago.

I used to enjoy playing at the Ritz since you know that some of the super-rich play there and it seems to make winning all the better.

Anyway it's nearly New Years and the Ritz would make a classy change, wouldn't it!

Poker333 Player Cleans Out My Account

2005-12-29T15:48:00.000Z

Well it had to come the way I've been playing, I'm outta chips at Poker333. Played my last $12.50 in a Heads Up Match for $0.50/$1 stakes and lost.

I think the break I had from playing poker has really affected my play and I'm not concentrating on what I used to do ok at.

Time for a rethink on my strategy and maybe play so $1/$2 fixed limit games for a while until I regain my composure.

Online Poker Room Reviews

2005-12-28T23:19:00.000Z

If your looking for some more information on where to play poker online you could always check out the reviews at www.royalpokeronline.com.

The reviews that this site cover all of the major poker rooms and list all of the up to date bonus offers.

Online Poker Room Reviews are there for a reason. They help keep you safe in the knowledge that the rooms your playing in are tried, tested and trusted.

Can you beat the Poker Bots?

2005-12-28T16:33:00.000Z

Here's an interesting article that fits with my UK Poekr Blog. It's an interesting read and covers poker bots. Both how the bots are setup and also how much a poker bot can make.

Frightening Stuff!

Here's an sample of the article, "I'm doing pretty well. I have two computer systems, and each one can run four poker bots, and each of those four can play up to five tables at once. At worst I make on average £2.90 an hour at each table. That's a minimum of £116 an hour if I can get all the bots running at once."

Read the full article here : Poker Bots - www.thisismoney.co.uk.

Another Sit and Go with Prima Poker

2005-12-27T00:41:00.000Z

Before bed I decided to have one last go at a heads up match in Poker 333.

We both took $10 to the table and I actually managed to win!! Yippee!!

Seems like ages since I last managed any result at all but I've now managed to win a whole $7.20!

Still at least it's a win as things were starting to look very bleak indeed. Perhaps this small win will signal a turnaround in my so called UK Poker Tour.

Prima Poker Sit and Go

2005-12-26T23:48:00.000Z

Played a heads up sit and go in one of the Prima Poker rooms tonight. Started with $30 and ended up with another big fat $0.

Not really on a winning streak am I?

Still it was a good game and the poker was very swings and roundabouts with me going up in cash then falling only to recover later. Very enjoyable.

One thing I must say though is that when you're playing a heads up match, the rake goes away with an awful lot of the cash. Between the two players at the table, we brought $80 to the poker table.

Due to plaing for so long, in the end I had $0 but the other guy had only gained about $5, meaning that $25 went into the rake!!

In the Hole at Pokerstars

2005-12-26T15:16:00.000Z

Not a good start to the Boxing Day festivities when I went $203 down in a game of $1/$2 No Limit Texas Holdem at PokerStars.

What can I say? Not a bloody lot really, my Pokerstars bankroll is dry so I'm of to find somewhere else.

Maybe I should start looking for a site to let me remortgage the house. Ha Ha. Things aren't quite that bad...YET!

Bet Fred Poker - $1/2 No Limit Texas Hold Em

2005-12-25T23:53:00.000Z

Merry Christmas.

Had a game of $1/$2 no limit texas hold em last night at Bet Fred Poker.

Went in with £45 and turned it into a quick £0!

Ok, so I played for over an hour and was about £120 up at one point but then things turned nasty and I lost the lot.

Still...reckon those no limit games are more my style.

Bet Fred Poker $0.50/$1 Sit and Go

2005-12-18T00:23:00.000Z

Both of us started with $10 at Bet Fred Poker and within minutes, I was down to my last 50 cents. Managed to double up a few times and actually won the lot! A return of $9.05 might not seem a lot but the way I've been playing is great.

The main reason I tried the sit and go was that my tournament play seems ok to begin with but as I progress I don't think I'm being forceful enough and play too tight in the latter poker tournament stages.

A few sit and go tournaments should help my play and give good experience of head to head play.

Poker Stars $2/$4 High Speed Poker

2005-12-08T22:47:00.000Z

A quick game of poker before bed I thought. How right I was. Fleeced of $40 in Poker Stars in no time at all. Things can only get better. My play seems right off just now, perhaps through lack of practice and I think that I don't concentrate enough with so much work to do online just now.

Roll on the weekend. I fancy winning some money now!!

UK Poker

2005-12-05T23:14:00.000Z

Didn't manage to get a game of poker this weekend. Time seemed to pass by so quickly.

It wasn't even an exciting weekend, just pottering about on the internet and looking after the kids. That was about it!

Think I might give Bet Fred Poker another try soon though, or maybe do battle in Pokerstars. mmm.

The choices, the choices. Think I'll leave Littlewoods Poker alone for a while now since loosing �200 over the weekend in Littlewoods Casino. :( Not good.

A Mixture of Limits

2005-11-27T00:00:00.000Z

Played at Poker333 again today and lost...again.

Started playing in a $3/$6 game this afternoon and after 2 hours I wa down about $60. Then tonight I played some $2/$4 limit poker followed by some excellent $0.50/$1 No Limit Heads Up poker.

I think that I need to improve my heads up play as it always seems to be in the latter stages of the game that I turn turtle and run from a possible pot. Anyway, it was really good fun, I took a few dollars off one guy and lost a few less to another. Really good fun poker for a few dollars.

The annoying thing about when you're playing these small stakes heads up games is that you see just how much goes in rake. The last game I took $15 to the table and the other guy $5. Within 30 minutes, there was only a total of $12 on the table! Shocking!

Anyway, my days experiences at Poker333 turned $139.75 into only $83.25.

Poker333 $1/$2 Limit Texas Hold Em

2005-11-13T15:20:00.000Z

Poker333 provided my destination on Saturday night and I started with a lovely run of the cards.

So much was going my way that I surprised even myself and the other poker players were certainly paying attention when I started upping the betting. They were running like chickens apart from 2 or 3 fish which were sure that my success was going to come to an end soon.

I accumulated a fair bit of cash and then, as I normally find, I crashed...badly.

The cards changed and I think I probably was counting too much on my previous successes which didn't help. Anyway, I ended my Poker333 session $2.25 out of pocket. Not too bad I suppose.

Well if actually losing at poker can be explained as not too bad!

PokerStars beats me Again....Grrr

2005-11-13T15:17:00.000Z

A table at PokerStars was the destination on Friday night. $1/$2 Texas Hold Em.

Started off badly, as is my normal in the course of an evening and was down about $50. Darn flushes were aplenty and none for me. However, before my time ran out, I managed to claw myself back to finish with $46.25 from a $60 deposit.

mmm.... $13.75 in the hole. Must do better.

Bet Fred Tournament

2005-11-06T20:38:00.000Z

Just been knocked out of a Private Bet Fred Freeroll Tournament which I was invited to play in. It was good fun although maybe the hands were a bit subdued in the beginning.

60 poker players started in the freeroll and I made position 19. Could be worse, could be better but at least it was FREE which is always nice.

Poker Stars - $1/$2 Limit Texas Hold Em

2005-11-05T00:08:00.000Z

Well, I never managed to play for long tonight. I was very tired but thought I would have a quick game at Poker Stars before I went to bed.

Played at a table with two other players and won 5 hands straight, before losing two and called it a night. No point in playing poker when you're too tired. I've tried it before and you just end up losing.

Turned $20 into $41 though so I'm happy to have had a win as my track record was starting to worry me. I haven't won for a while. YIPPEE!

Anyway, off to bed now to dream about that WSOP bracelet that I'm bound to win soon. Ha ha ha.

The Weekends Here

2005-11-04T15:01:00.000Z

Finish work early on a Friday...YIPPEE

Planning a weekend of late nights playing poker, providing I can get some other work done. :)

Entered in a special $2000 Freeroll at Bet Fred Poker this coming Sunday, so I'll need some practice before then!

Pokerstars $5 + 0.50 No Limit Hold'em

2005-10-22T10:50:00.000Z

Played at Pokerstars again last night in a $5 poker sit and go tourney. 27 players played and as is becoming the normal, I didn't make the money. I exited the tournament in 12th place.

Still it was more enjoyable than my last outing there.

$1/$2 at Pokerstars

2005-10-17T18:30:00.000Z

Played again at Pokerstars last night but didn't do very well. I lost about $30 on a $1/$2 table.

I say about $30 as it was the most boring game of poker I have ever played and I can't even remember the exact amount. It may not have been quite this much.

Everyone was going through the motions but nothing exciting happened and it seemed you won the poker hand if you were dealt it with the first two cards so most of the time everyone was folding as their hand was rubbish. No chances were taken and it was a pretty even game all around, you came a bit then went a bit.

I think I lost most of the money in the last few hands trying to liven the game up a bit. A daft thing to do, I know. I should've changed tables and found somewhere with more action.

I'm still not convinced about the whole Pokerstars thing but it seemed ok and I'm sure the boring game had absolutely nothing to do with them.

Now to look for the next thrilling and exciting poker game!!!

Pokerstars

2005-10-15T23:35:00.000Z

What a great night I've had. Lost money, but hey!! I hardly ever get a game now and I've just finished playing for the last 4 hours!

Anyway, what did I do and how did I fare...

Pokerstars was the destination. I've mentioned it before but never played for real money there. The word on the street is that the very best of the best play there. Who knows, and really, who cares?

Playing in a strange poker room unsettles you for a while and I think Pokerstars has been the hardest to adjust to. The games just look different and it takes a while to adjust. The gameplay is a bit slow as well but after about an hour you get used to it and you tend to get on playing.

I started with a quick game of Texas Hold Em. $50 in my account and I lost $39. Not a good start but with 2 hands in succession against me, both being 4 of a kind, I think I can be excused. I wonder what the poker odds of four of a kind twice in a row are? I'll maybe work it out and post the answer here.

I then moved onto a $25000 tourney and just didn't get the cards. I went out in 550th place out of a pack of 1041 poker players. The breaks just didn't come.

Switched to another game of $1/$2 then to see if I fared any better. Those poker tourneys are great fun but can be expensive if you don't watch. I played at a 6 player table and made my $30 up to $51 before finishing to write this then off to bed.

Five Card Stud Poker - Another Game at Poker333

2005-10-15T14:44:00.000Z

Back to Poker333 for another game of Five Card Stud Poker.

$20 into my account and played for only a short time, about 30 minutes.

I definately think that Five Card Stud maybe my game, it plays far faster that Texas Hold Em and seems to suit my level of play.

Finished up with $32.45 for my $20 and was happy about that at such a low-stakes table ($0.50/$1.)

Might go back for a Texas Hold Em tournament later tonight though...now where shall I play?

Five Card Stud Poker

2005-10-15T12:37:00.000Z

Being a Texas Hold Em Poker fan, I've never really dipped into the realms of other poker games apart from the occasional foray into Seven Card Stud. However, last night I had a crack at Five Card Stud at Poker333 and it was darn enjoyable!

I spent a few minutes remembering the basics of the game at the play money tables before heading to the real money tables, a low-stakes one.

I started taking $20 to the table, this was plenty for the 50c/$1 stakes I was playing and left after an hour with $17.45. Not making money then but I did get to $43 before things turned against me and the beginners luck started to fizzle out.

Five card stud seems a great game for bluffer and agressive players and the order of the game is pairs and high cards rather than straights, flushes, etc.

Five card stud poker is fast action and really enjoyable. I'll be back for more and this game may enev just convert me from my favourite Texas Hold Em poker game!

UK Poker - Back On

2005-10-05T13:39:00.000Z

Played in the Roxy Poker Rooms today after a long break from playing my UK poker tour. I played at a $1/$2 table and started off by bringing $20 to the table.

It didn't last long and another $20 was added followed by another $10. I think it was the break from playing that did it, maybe playing too loosely and not getting my head into the poker playing mindset that comes with practice.

Anyway, another $30 to the table and my strategy had to change. I went back to playing the top ten starting poker hands only (well nearly, I did deviate once or twice,) and after an hour or so was back just above the amount of money I brought to the table.

Another half hour or so and I was down $9 overall and had to go out so I cut my losses and ran.

It just goes to show that in order to play decent poker then you have to play regularly or expect to struggle getting into the right frame of mind and allow time to find your feet again.

Roxy Poker

2005-09-25T19:52:00.000Z

Roxy Poker is the poker offering from the long-standing Roxy Palace Casino. It complements the casino offering well and has a large number of dedicated poker players.

Built around the Prima Poker Network, Roxy Poker boasts the usual Prima games including the world famous Texas Hold Em, Seven Card Stud and Omaha. Being part of the Prima group makes sure that you'll never be without players to play with and tournaments to play in.

Roxy is just one of the large range of poker rooms offering a wide range of tournaments, that run every few minutes, and the various tournament levels mean that there's a game that suits everyones pocket and playing skills. Many of the tournament prizes on offer allow you entry into the large offline poker tournaments available.

Roxy Poker doesn't allow playing for pounds but don't let that put you off as there are many UK based players playing and the deposits are converted (as well as your winnings) for free.

Play Roxy Poker for the range of games and lively action available and if you fancy a chance, check out Roxy Palace UK Casino.

Bet Fred Poker UK ... oh Bet Fred Casino too!

2005-08-30T21:30:00.000Z

Bet Fred, another well known popular sportsbook promoter have joined the poker gaming world with Bet Fred Poker.

I haven't tried it yet but the daily promotions and tournaments seem really good and with a well known brand that's trusted, Bet Fred should do well.

If anyone tries them out, let me known your thoughts. I'm busy at the moment and am struggling to keep up with work, let alone poker.

Oh, and by the way, Bet Fred also has a new casino running as well, click Bet Fred Casino to have a look.

Roxy Poker

2005-08-10T05:45:00.000Z

Roxy Poker

Has anyone ever played at Roxy Palace Casino? No. Why not?

Roxy Palace Casino have been around for a number of years and have built up a large following of dedicated players. To fill their insatiable appetite for games, Roxy Poker has been created and it looks and plays really well.

One of the more colourful sites, well that wouldn't be hard with online poker rooms, would it, Roxy Palace looks set to have a bright future and with such an established company, you probably won't go far wrong with them. Unless of course you're playing skills aren't up to much. :)

There is an initial bonus of 25% added to your deposit up to the value of $50 when you start playing.

The games feature Texas Hold Em, Seven Card Stud, Omaha and Omaha High/Lo. One of the nice features of Roxy Poker is that they also have Five Card Stud, a game that's not so popular these days but used to have a large player base.

Five Card Stud is the game you would see being played in the old western films and it's an enjoyable game that's well worth a look. Roxy Poker is on of the few online poker rooms that feature this so pop on over and check it out. Roxy Poker

Littlewoods Poker | All Star Poker Challenge

2005-07-30T10:39:00.000Z

Littlewoods Poker | All Star Poker Challenge

Littlewoods Poker, somewhere I haven't played in for a while has started to sponsor the All Star Poker Challenge on ITV.

Running over 7 programmes this is a great way for UK Poker players (that don't have access to SKY) to see what goes on in a real poker game.

UK poker players are often unsure of how a real game runs and this is a excellent introduction that will assist in learning the game.

The All Star Poker Challenge sponsored by Littlewoods Poker started last night and the overall winner gets £25000 for their UK charity.

Click Littlewoods Poker to check out the site now.

Poker Room

2005-07-27T21:03:00.000Z

Poker Room is one of the world's most popular poker rooms online and boasts a massive 3,000,000 registered players.

There are a huge range of Texas Hold'em Tournaments available and satellite tournaments are available via Poker Room for all the major competitions. If you have a Mac, you're in luck as Poker Room can also be played on Apple Macs as well as PCs.

This is one of the only real poker rooms that also allow you to play some Blackjack and a few casino games. A nice touch.

At the moment, I've only played for free but if anyone has played in Poker Room for real money, post a comment and let us know how you got on and what you though of the site.

POKER 333 - Online Poker Room

2005-07-25T19:50:00.000Z

POKER 333

Managed to get a quick, and I mean quick, game of poker last night, the first in what seems like ages.

I played at the Prima Poker Network site, Poker333, one of the better Prima rooms.

Due to kids making too much noise I quit after three quarters of an hour on a $2/$4 Texas Hold Em table, $26 up. Not a lot but it was nice to get a game of poker again. Hopefully the next poker game will come quicker.

News Article--Harrah's 2005 World Series of Poker

2005-07-17T10:58:00.000Z

News Article--Harrah's 2005 World Series of Poker

Well in the end a total of 5619 players qualified for Event # 42, the No-Limit Texas Hold Em tournament that everyone wants to win.

With a $10,000 buy-in, the winner, Joseph Hachem from Australia won a rather nice �7,500,000! Pity it wasn't one of the UK poker players but never mind.

Poor Pokerstars couldn't make in three in a row but they can't complain really, they've had loads of free advertising by supplying the last 2 winners.

UK Poker Tour

2005-07-15T20:52:00.000Z

Well my online UK Poker tour hasn't been going to plan lately. I've been so busy that I haven't had the chance to play any poker at all. Not a happy person but things will change soon...hopefully.

Keep watching!