If Carlsberg did dull poker blogs, they'd do this one

[monkeyman]

Another league game and oh dear, sorry to say this,but as with the first one, i just didn"t enjoy it at all. The current format allows for zero real poker to be played before the shoving starts, so unless there"s a change to the format, its cash games and APAT nationals only for me.

[monkeyman]

Obviously not my night. UTG raises 9xBB, I have aces and shove, he calls with Queens. The river was a queen. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

[Bad hat lady]

Incidently, over the past 24 hours I"ve had problems connecting to Ipoker sites. This may or may not be something to do with changing Broadband supplier

There have been other instances of this and it maybe the MTU of your router (packet size of transmissions) default is 1500 -- try lowerIng it and see if it makes a difference.

I"ve no idea how to do this, but luckily I have a poker-playing IT consultant on 24 hour stand-by so I might run this by him. First of all, I"ve sent an email to Talktalk"s customer services asking for their observations, stating that I"ve tried using two different routers and will cancel my contract if this can"t be resolved ASAP. It will be interesting so see how quickly they respond. Of course, whether good or bad, I will comment upon the quality of their service on here. I"d already decided I was unlikely to take part in tomorrow night"s league event; it looks like Talktalk have confirmed this decision on my behalf
  Maybe this is just indicative of a phase I am going through. A few days ago, I sent an email to Asda complaining about "Truly appalling service". This hasn"t got anything to do with poker, but I may well mention their response on here as well.              

Does this outbreak of writing letters of complaint have any connection with you being on a creative writing course? Were they in the form of poems?

[Bad hat lady]

Dear Mr Poker Player. I have been pondering a poker problem and wonder if you could help.
The other night I was playing $10 sit and go. I was chip leader and holding Q 8 off suit on the button in an unraised pot so I felt contractually obliged to raise to 3BB. Unfortunately when I looked at the screen I found that somehow I had managed to go all in. As I had managed to shove for more than 100BB, I thought I might get away with it. No such luck, the big blind had pocket kings which held up when he called. Fortunately I managed to carry on and got to heads up against the player to whom I had kindly gifted more than half my stack. At this point the cards were running really cold so he was perpetually min raising and I was folding as I wasn't in the mood to go over the top with 5 2 off suit. Although I eventually lost after being forced to shove I kept myself amused by the thought of any notes he might have made about me. Something like "Won't bet then goes mad" or "like to open shove 100BB from button with unsuited disconnections". However, I'm not sure people playing $10 sit and goes would notice I had been playing oddly. At what level do you think it is worth making the occasional futile gesture just for the fun of playing with peoples heads?

[monkeyman]

Dear Mr Poker Player. I have been pondering a poker problem and wonder if you could help.
The other night I was playing $10 sit and go. I was chip leader and holding Q 8 off suit on the button in an unraised pot so I felt contractually obliged to raise to 3BB. Unfortunately when I looked at the screen I found that somehow I had managed to go all in. As I had managed to shove for more than 100BB, I thought I might get away with it. No such luck, the big blind had pocket kings which held up when he called. Fortunately I managed to carry on and got to heads up against the player to whom I had kindly gifted more than half my stack. At this point the cards were running really cold so he was perpetually min raising and I was folding as I wasn't in the mood to go over the top with 5 2 off suit. Although I eventually lost after being forced to shove I kept myself amused by the thought of any notes he might have made about me. Something like "Won't bet then goes mad" or "like to open shove 100BB from button with unsuited disconnections". However, I'm not sure people playing $10 sit and goes would notice I had been playing oddly. At what level do you think it is worth making the occasional futile gesture just for the fun of playing with peoples heads?

As a general rule, the lower the buy-in, the more players feel they have to dispense advice to their supposedly less talented opponents. The fun doesn"t necessarily come from making ridiculous moves, but how you seek to justify them afterwards. I suggest reading a few poker magazines and books to enhance your vocabulary. At work, sometimes managers who couldn"t organise a booze-up in a brewery seek to justify their ill-deserved positions by using phrases like "Blue sky thinking" and "In the loop" in the hope that no-one notices they are talking loud but saying nothing. Inept poker players often use phrases like "Pot odds", "Metagame" and "+EV" to cover their inherent muppetry. I suggest using some of these phrases for comic effect.
  For exapmple, in the hand you described, you could say something like "As anyone calling a 100BB raise with anything other than Aces would be taking an unnecessary risk, most sound players would fold and therefore shoving with Q/8 offsuit is +EV". Clearly manure of the highest order, but saying it can lead to hilarious consequences. An experienced opponent will mark you down as an idiot and will be looking to take you on whenever they can find you. However, many low stakes opponents will suffer a brain malfunction as they try to make you see the error of your ways, before spontaneuosly combusting amid a hail of foul language and suggestions of inappropriate sexual practises. This works particularly well on sites populated by numbers of american players. Pokerstars is good, but no site can match Full Tilt for the sheer numbers of self-important know-it-alls who like to surround themselves in a fug of bulls**t. If you want some fun and to learn a few words you are never likely to see in a dictionary in any country, try playing $5 games on FT.      

[monkeyman]

I"m leaning ever more towards a trip to Las Vegas and although I won"t book anything until I"ve returned from my week at the Cheltenham festival, I"ve been looking at accomodation. As I"ll be spending next to nothing on flights, on one hand I may decide to stay somewhere more expensive than I"ll otherwise have chosen. On the other hand, I may decide to book something relatively modest and blow the remaining budget on playing tournaments at Bellagio, Venetian and Wynn instead of Planet Hollywood and T.I.
 I"m most likely to go 19th November to the 26th and on those dates, 7 nights at Circus Circus, Sahara and Riviera is £160 to £180. My idea of where I"d like to stay changes by the minute, but below are the most likely candidates:

1) Ballys - around £425 for the week in question. Apart from the excellent location, I"ve got an attachment to the place as I took down the morning tourney less than a year after learning the rules of poker. For various reasons, on both of my trips to Vegas I"ve spent plenty of time there, so it makes sense to stay there.
2) Bill"s Gamblin Hall and Saloon. Despite the godawful name (why did they change it from Barbary Coast?) it normally attracts excellent reviews.My younger sister stayed there last year and spoke very highly of the rooms. A week is currently available for £315 and although they charge a small supplement for rooms with a view of the Bellagio fountains, this normally only amounts to about $10 per day.
3) Flamingo. Like its near neighbours Bill"s and Ballys it has an excellent location and is fractionally over £360 for the week. On my last trip I made several trips to their food outlets and thought they delivered excellent value for money
4) Excalibur. Currently available from just under £250. A large number of their rooms have been refurbished within the last year and although they are more expensive than the older rooms, they can still be booked for between £300 - £350.
5) Desert Rose Resort. No, I"d never heard of it either. Its situated on Duke Ellington drive, behind Tropicana and Hooters, close to Excalibur and Luxor. Ok so the location isn"t as convenient as the centre-strip properties, but the rooms/suites are huge, its reviews are universally excellent and the price of £400 ish includes breakfast and evening drinks/nibbles.  
  Decisions, decisions.......    

[duke3016]

Chezger head for Vegas in November as well, happy days - we stay in the IP as it is very central and does what it says on the tin. You can comp the rooms if you play cash in their poker room for a few hours a day (limit poker is fine and the drinks are $1) last time flights and hotel came to under £400

[monkeyman]

Chezger head for Vegas in November as well, happy days - we stay in the IP as it is very central and does what it says on the tin. You can comp the rooms if you play cash in their poker room for a few hours a day (limit poker is fine and the drinks are $1) last time flights and hotel came to under £400

How many hours a day does that take?

[duke3016]

Chezger head for Vegas in November as well, happy days - we stay in the IP as it is very central and does what it says on the tin. You can comp the rooms if you play cash in their poker room for a few hours a day (limit poker is fine and the drinks are $1) last time flights and hotel came to under £400

How many hours a day does that take?

usually around 4 hours of play using your casino card

[rubertoe]

The Missus and Myself will also be going to Vegas in november - for the first time!!!

As a treat for our 30th birthdays!! APAT are gonna own Vegas in November!!

[monkeyman]

Its beginning to sound like we should switch one of the Nationals to Vegas!
  Where are you staying Ruber?

[rubertoe]

Not too sure yet - Probably be out there for the last week of November though as that is when Tanya"s Birthday!! - still just Looking around soon and probably wont book anywhere till after the WSOP (not that i am planning on going)

national in vegas, in November.......

[monkeyman]

I"ve had a terrible week on the cash tables so in the interests of retaining my sanity, I"ll stick to talking about Vegas instead. I"ve downgraded Ballys from the "Very Likely" to "Doubt it" list as a result of consistent reports on Tripadvisor about rooms being in need of repair. Bill"s is still at the forefront of my thoughts,however I have uncovered a few more bargains. By knowing where to look and making judicious use of a discount code here and there, for the period 19th to 26th November I can get Planet Hollywood, New York New York and Mirage for £400+loose change. This decision making doesn"t get any easier.  

[monkeyman]

The more observant amongst you will notice the time of this post and will correctly have guessed that I"ve just returned from an evening sampling lemonade at a number of establishments in Norwich City Centre. For once, I have resisted temptation and not opened any cash tables as I have come to realise that indulgence in, ahem, lashings of fizzy pop and logical decision making at the poker table do not mix.
  I am likely to be absent from tomorrow night"s national for two reasons. Firstly, my profit/ loss figure for the month has a "-" rather than a "+" in front of it and secondly I am reluctant to get involved in anything involving serious money or prestiege with a question mark over the stability of my broadband connection. Assuming, I don"t take part, I will definitely be back for the next national.
  As for my potential Vegas trip, The Mirage is currently top of my list, but by the time I make my next post, I"m sure I"ll have changed my mind again          

[monkeyman]

Make that a definite no the question of whether or not I"m taking part tonight. I"d thought I"d play a short cash session on Blue Square to test things and second hand I"m in the small blind with Kings when the connection evaporates before I can put in a raise. Talktalk have a heck of a lot to answer for at present