Keeping Warm in Winter

[fandango]

Go on then put me down for 10.. But give you a double or quits if another prop bet regarding Stu arises.

[AAroddersAA]

Just to confirm, I decided not to go to O Sheas last night, long journey and all was knackered. Stu left at about 1am before I ever got there, everybody loses, I will collect the cash at an APAT event soon.

[AAroddersAA]

So it seems we have survived Portugal to day two. Yesterday was a great day, we left our hotel and checked into the villa, we have a heated swimming pool, which I doubt many of us will use and a great games room.

Anyway yesterday myself, Ger, Stu, Matt, Phillip the Fryer,  Ger  jnr, , AsaKen, Brenda, Scott and Scott"s wife Lisa all went to a fine pub called Grogans. We all ordered food but Asa and Stu got the most win here with their Sausage and Mash, if we go back today I will be getting that. We ordered some cider and sat in the sun and the ciders just kept following for the next few hours. Eventually we all headed off to Osheas and drank a bit more cider and watched the darts. Met up with Curky, JP, Paulie and everybody else. We didn"t say very late though and ended up back at the villa in our games rooms playing pool. I think Asa came out of top but me and Ger were handicapped due to having drunk a few too many beers lol.

Stu has declared himself on top form today and ready to go for it. Villamoura has considered itself on notice.

[mousebob]

Grogans, cider, pool, darts & sausage & mash.
Are you sure you"re in Portugal??

[AAroddersAA]

Go on then put me down for 10.. But give you a double or quits if another prop bet regarding Stu arises.

Although strictly speaking after timing I have decided to allow this, I am sure Carl was in theory as unaware of the outcome as everybody else in this. Forgetting to close the bet before getting on the plane was an expensive mistake lol

Jack and Dawn, not sure how am going to pay you guys, guess you will have to come to Vegas next year to collect, as I said Newcastle / Luton for the rest of them or I will send on Stars (let me know if this is preferred) as I count it I owe a tenner to the following people

Stu
Matt
Phil
Jack
Dawn
Andy
Karen
Tom
Ant1966 (I don"t know who this is)
Carl

Let me know if I have missed anybody.

[Fatcatstu]

will take mine on stars mate

[pokerpops]

Stewards Enquiry needed here, and should be followed up with a dope test and an investigation by one of Dick Francis" heroes into the betting patterns here.

Stu definitely fails the dopey test.

[AAroddersAA]

will take mine on stars mate

Shall I send Matty and Phils as well to you as I may not see them at poker events in the near future?

[Fatcatstu]

They both owe me a tenner for the taxi to the airport anyway, so yeah might as well!

[pokerpops]

will take mine on stars mate

Shall I send Matty and Phils as well to you as I may not see them at poker events in the near future?

Are you not coming to Newcastle?

[AAroddersAA]

Clicked onto this topic and realised I still owe a number of people from that silly bet. I think the following people are unpaid but can pick ten new pounds at the following times:-

Jaxie - To be sorted in Vegas :-)

Tom - WCOAP

Karen - WCOAP

Carl - WCOAP

Ant1966 - I now know this is Anthony Williams but honestly can"t put a face to the name, are you at WCOAP?

[AAroddersAA]

Whenever I write about poker in this thread I start playing like a prize donkey (no change there). No matter for the month of March at least this blog is back from today (St David"s Day) to the end of WCOAP.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TBid5bCS2Q

When I started this blog I thought I was pretty good at poker, I have now worked that this is not the case which at least should mean I am better than I was when I first posted here in 2011. PMSL I had just completed my first full year of playing APAT and was pretty convinced I was one if the best players in the community. I had won player of the year and two silver medals in my first year, I was also going to be captain of the APAT team in Bolton. I was hoping I could make this blog really interesting about playing online and live. Real life obviously got in the way which would have been disappointing back then but I am pretty happy about now. I still never really play live now as it bores me whenever I think it"s worth starting again I immediately stop enjoying it. Still much prefer playing online.

Since returning from Portugal in November, between online poker and matched betting I have easily covered my travel, accommodation, buyins and spending money for WCOAP and already have the travel and accommodation for Vegas in November covered. Now working on the spending money, that could take a while but, hey it"s Vegas.

So what is the point of this why the post. Well for the first time for ages I am really looking forward to a poker event. Now I do always look forward to APAT weekends but it is a lot more about the people and the social side than the poker. Recently though I have been enjoying the games a bit more, the fact I have been doing OK probably helps. I also really like the location of Stratford. I am sure those of us who are there will try out some of the establishments in the World Food Court and have a few pints in the pub. The casino is also excellent with constant cash games running so I will be trying those out (yeah I knows it"s live poker but WCOAP and all that). The whole point of going to Stratford though is to play poker cash games and tournaments not to get drunk at the bar or find the nearest decent pub. The WCOAP is just that bit different to any other event it has a "big game feel" and feels like a proper game. It will have an even greater feel if Leigh and the team are there doing the live streams.

So my Goal in March is one post a day to this thread in the lead up to the WCOAP just updating what I am doing online with a "hand of the day". I play almost exclusively $25 Six-Max Zoom and $4.50 180 MTT"s with some Sunday Deepstack games often thrown in. Then try and update it with some posts of interest from WCOAP.

So made a start today, played around 1000 hands and won $93. This is my highest volume day for a while, certainly since the start of the year. For your comic enjoyment here is how not to play PLO

http://www.boomplayer.com/en/poker-hands/Boom/18117548_C04EC0D041

Right I am off to make some accumulators to try and drag some profit out of mid week football.

[Chipaccrual]

 

[Des]

Look at the grin on that....  

[AAroddersAA]

Comments from Des and Leigh   I am extremely honoured

So I have got as far as day two on the blog. I think I was always a favourite to get this far, will I make it to the end of March? It is 10/11 that I will make it as far as the WCOAP but getting through doing updates each day will be the proper test.

Today was pretty normal by my standards. I went to work which was nice and had a pretty normal day. I am lucky enough to work for a great company with some absolutely amazing people who I really love working with have to be honest and say I am looking forward to getting my two weeks off in a few weeks.

So I came home and went through my usual routine and played some poker. The normal $25nl Zoom game, only about 200 hands which is a decent enough amount to play each day to ensure you are really sharp and on it for any upcoming event I tend to think. Here are some hands from spots I think I kind of interesting, not everybody will agree of course. I think these are the kind of spots where mistakes get made which can turn a potential winning player into a break-even / small losing player.

http://www.boomplayer.com/en/poker-hands/Boom/18134146_6B8713A9B4

http://www.boomplayer.com/en/poker-hands/Boom/18134559_AFCEE80A99

http://www.boomplayer.com/en/poker-hands/Boom/18134588_B517C7D4ED

Fairly standard spots but it this type of spot it is important to get right. I won $29.22 which was nicely ahead of EV.

So with the WCOAP less than 3 weeks away it seems my game is in OK shape and I will be playing well in Stratford. Gonna need to be better than OK though as the competition will be fierce. I am however going to risk going on record and predict who will win the WCOAP player of the series - it will be tough and I think players like John Murray and Brian Yates will do very well if they play the entire thing.  However my shout for the winner this year though - Chris Webber anybody else want to go on record and try and do better. Stay tuned for lots more predictions including my thoughts on who will final table the main event.

Last night I made up two matched Accumulators (One on Will Hill and one of BetVictor) and won the first leg of both. The two of them have a common third leg in Man Utd this evening. A Man Utd win would be useful as it would increase the winnings at the end. A profit is guaranteed but it is just a case of how much. I have also bet on Man City to beat Liverpool on Betsafe and laid this on Smarkets for a loss of £1.37. I will get a £10 risk free bet from that which will mean that profit on the game is ensured again it is just following the markets and trying to maximise it.

Song of the day, with a London theme, is as follows:-

[youtube=425,350]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmopSVOMSsU[/youtube]