I stumbled across this the other day, it is an interview with Scottish pro Rory Mathews. Some of you will be aware of him, but for those who are not.........Started online with £100 or something, built up through the levels to make millions in online cash games, and has an impressive tournament record.
I just thought I would post it as an inspiration for those of you who see poker as more than just a hobby, or more than a fuck about in the gala.
This guy was from Scotland, started with nothing, worked VERY hard at improving his game....Result??? Has made tons of cash and played at the nosebleed stakes on full tilt against durrrr antonious, ivey etc.
Enjoy the interview, I think it's worth listening to.
Cheers
Barry
Barry "Ginger Toys" Chalmers
Tuesday, 6 July 2010
Friday, 2 July 2010
No internet for 10 days challenge (well ur allowed a little bit!)
My wi-fi was off for around 10 days recently, good old virgin eventually sorted it in the end though. In this 10 days something quite strange happened........I didn't miss it :D.......I thought I would!!
I think you would all be surprised at how much time you kill/waste due to aimless browsing, facebook prowling or watching pointless youtube videos (I could go go on).
I noticed something while my Internet was down........I would take my laptop to my friends or girlfriends and I would "ONLY" do things like check email, and maybe some online banking. But that was all I really "HAD" to do. I used the Internet to accomplish certain tasks, deal with some stuff I sold on eBay, check my bank and reply to an email.
I then switched the computer off as I was in someones company and that would be it.
I can tell you after the 10 days I felt something, don't quite know what! But I would describe it as being fresher, I would say I'm guilty of wasting time online....BUT I didn't for those 10 days! I used the net only when I had a task to do, NOT TO SIT AND WASTE HOURS DOING NOTHING ONLINE.
I think you should all try and do it, and see what you miss, see what you get done with the time not wasted online (Read a poker book!, go for a walk, go to the cinema more, watch some classic films etc)
People moan about not having enough time to do things, start my checking your email only ONCE a day and check facebook ONCE a day.
See if you can do it, if a total internet ban for 10 days is too much.........then start by doing just the two things above! If you can't......you must question your discipline and character!!! :D
So in summation.........................
EITHER...........
Try no internet for 10 days total ban
Or..........only time you can log on is to accomplish a task, i.e send an email, or check ur bank account, something that actually gets something done. CHECKING FACEBOOK IS NOT ALLOWED, you get an email when someone contacts you or sends a message, no other sane reason to be on it to look at updates of people going for haircuts or having a bbq!!!!
Try this out and at the end of 10 days u will thank me, if you don't last the 10 days, there is no penalty, u will still achieve MORE than if u had spent the time aimless browsing.
What has this got to do with poker..........you should know.......but if you don't I'll tell you :D
1. Helps with will power and discipline.
2. At the end of the 10 days you will feel fresher/cleaner/something else I can't put my finger on
3. If nothing else gets done apart from you reading a poker book, it will still improve your game.
Cheers
Barry
P.S
STOP READING BLOGS AND CRAP, AND GO AND HAVE A LIFE, READ A FUCKING BOOK :D xxxxxxx
I think you would all be surprised at how much time you kill/waste due to aimless browsing, facebook prowling or watching pointless youtube videos (I could go go on).
I noticed something while my Internet was down........I would take my laptop to my friends or girlfriends and I would "ONLY" do things like check email, and maybe some online banking. But that was all I really "HAD" to do. I used the Internet to accomplish certain tasks, deal with some stuff I sold on eBay, check my bank and reply to an email.
I then switched the computer off as I was in someones company and that would be it.
I can tell you after the 10 days I felt something, don't quite know what! But I would describe it as being fresher, I would say I'm guilty of wasting time online....BUT I didn't for those 10 days! I used the net only when I had a task to do, NOT TO SIT AND WASTE HOURS DOING NOTHING ONLINE.
I think you should all try and do it, and see what you miss, see what you get done with the time not wasted online (Read a poker book!, go for a walk, go to the cinema more, watch some classic films etc)
People moan about not having enough time to do things, start my checking your email only ONCE a day and check facebook ONCE a day.
See if you can do it, if a total internet ban for 10 days is too much.........then start by doing just the two things above! If you can't......you must question your discipline and character!!! :D
So in summation.........................
EITHER...........
Try no internet for 10 days total ban
Or..........only time you can log on is to accomplish a task, i.e send an email, or check ur bank account, something that actually gets something done. CHECKING FACEBOOK IS NOT ALLOWED, you get an email when someone contacts you or sends a message, no other sane reason to be on it to look at updates of people going for haircuts or having a bbq!!!!
Try this out and at the end of 10 days u will thank me, if you don't last the 10 days, there is no penalty, u will still achieve MORE than if u had spent the time aimless browsing.
What has this got to do with poker..........you should know.......but if you don't I'll tell you :D
1. Helps with will power and discipline.
2. At the end of the 10 days you will feel fresher/cleaner/something else I can't put my finger on
3. If nothing else gets done apart from you reading a poker book, it will still improve your game.
Cheers
Barry
P.S
STOP READING BLOGS AND CRAP, AND GO AND HAVE A LIFE, READ A FUCKING BOOK :D xxxxxxx
Tuesday, 15 June 2010
APAT + Something to aim for
I usually like to write long blog posts, but as it's 2:42am, I can't be bothered! But I've just had an idea, so gonna blog it here so (A) I remember when I wake up, and (B) It's made public so I actually do it!.............
What's been happening.......Not playing much at all recently, couple of small cashes in tourneys, mini profit in a cash session........Been trying to get things going with income source other than poker, that's been going well.
Anyway, on the horizon, I've put my name down to play the APAT game in Aberdeen on Saturday/Sunday. Not sure what travel arrangements etc are yet, will either drive up myself and come home and drive back on the Sunday, or travel up and split fuel costs with person(s) and maybe get a room in Aberdeen. I am going to see Colin tomorrow, so will see if the Wu is planning on playing (15 spots left last I heard).
15k Chips, 45min levels and some added value for winner, good game for the buy in.
So my idea.................................
Martin has had the website changed and it looks much slicker, he's fucking lucky he did! I have just rejected and offer from cardplayer.com to stream my blog posts, he's on his last chance ;) (nice site, well done martins little photshop slave he keeps in a box somewhere)
My idea is to do some sort of challenge, I am a man of leisure and I have relatively tons of time on my hands (we all have 24hrs in a day, but as I am a retired investor living on a pension, I have a pretty flexible schedule!)
As a result, to coincide with the re-design of the site, I'm going to set myself a challenge. It's gonna be pretty much Chris ferguson bankroll challenge, but I wont be starting with a $1..... (too much fucking about and I'm not looking to make that sort of statement!)
Will thrash out the details over the next week or so, and see some peoples opinions on it.
I'm thinking like start with $X and playing cash and sng's build it up to a certain amount. But I can promise you all this.........
I WILL NOT START THIS AND THEN JUST LEAVE IT UNDONE, the only way that will happen is if I go busto in the challenge (NO RELOADS, $100, that's it, build it and they will come!! But I will be using a strict bankroll management so we should get some mileage out of it anyway :D
I'm thinking start with $100, target $5k.............I don't know yet, but something along those lines.....................
I need a challenge just now, and with my tendency to build up small stakes to decent amounts online then either withdraw or LET IT RIDE all the way to bustoville! This should do me good.
As I say, clearer blog and details will appear soon.
If I win the APAT, I might put it off for a while until I have gambled all the winnings from that into oblivion.
Cheers
Barry
What's been happening.......Not playing much at all recently, couple of small cashes in tourneys, mini profit in a cash session........Been trying to get things going with income source other than poker, that's been going well.
Anyway, on the horizon, I've put my name down to play the APAT game in Aberdeen on Saturday/Sunday. Not sure what travel arrangements etc are yet, will either drive up myself and come home and drive back on the Sunday, or travel up and split fuel costs with person(s) and maybe get a room in Aberdeen. I am going to see Colin tomorrow, so will see if the Wu is planning on playing (15 spots left last I heard).
15k Chips, 45min levels and some added value for winner, good game for the buy in.
So my idea.................................
Martin has had the website changed and it looks much slicker, he's fucking lucky he did! I have just rejected and offer from cardplayer.com to stream my blog posts, he's on his last chance ;) (nice site, well done martins little photshop slave he keeps in a box somewhere)
My idea is to do some sort of challenge, I am a man of leisure and I have relatively tons of time on my hands (we all have 24hrs in a day, but as I am a retired investor living on a pension, I have a pretty flexible schedule!)
As a result, to coincide with the re-design of the site, I'm going to set myself a challenge. It's gonna be pretty much Chris ferguson bankroll challenge, but I wont be starting with a $1..... (too much fucking about and I'm not looking to make that sort of statement!)
Will thrash out the details over the next week or so, and see some peoples opinions on it.
I'm thinking like start with $X and playing cash and sng's build it up to a certain amount. But I can promise you all this.........
I WILL NOT START THIS AND THEN JUST LEAVE IT UNDONE, the only way that will happen is if I go busto in the challenge (NO RELOADS, $100, that's it, build it and they will come!! But I will be using a strict bankroll management so we should get some mileage out of it anyway :D
I'm thinking start with $100, target $5k.............I don't know yet, but something along those lines.....................
I need a challenge just now, and with my tendency to build up small stakes to decent amounts online then either withdraw or LET IT RIDE all the way to bustoville! This should do me good.
As I say, clearer blog and details will appear soon.
If I win the APAT, I might put it off for a while until I have gambled all the winnings from that into oblivion.
Cheers
Barry
Saturday, 15 May 2010
When can I SCOOP a SCOOP?
Not played a live tourney since the £100 monthly game in Dundee, to be honest, this is the only live local tourney I can see myself playing for the foreseeable future. It has a good structure and the buy in generates decent money, the days of me wasting time playing £30 tourneys with fields of 17 are over! Not because I find myself financially free or anything, it's just for time and money invested, I can get better spots online.
I have played a few of the Spring Championship of Online Poker events, or SCOOP as it's known! If you have not been playing any of these, then you have been missing out. Missing out on massive fields, huge prizepools, small buy ins with great structured games. TONS OF DEAD MONEY IN THESE TOURNEYS ALSO.
I have played maybe 4, and have cashed in 3 of them. In one I finished 121st out of 16k+ runners and in one last night, I finished 201st from 10500 runners, cashed for $228, but first was $66k!!
If you have not been lucky enough to go deep in these huge tourneys with massive prizepools, then you are missing out. Last nights tourney cost me $44 to play, 1st was $66k, nothing gives you that feeling of going deep in a tourney, NOTHING. Although I prefer playing cash games, even a winning cash session does not come close to a deep run in a big game.
I've been getting deep, and I feel that I am ready to make a final table in one of these major online tourneys.
The main event final is this Sunday, Full Tilt's mini-FTOPS series is on just now as well. There main event is also this sunday, so I can see a monster online session tomorrow.
I am getting deep, and just need the luckbox switch to stay on a little deeper.
ONE TIME GOD
Good Luck
Barry
I have played a few of the Spring Championship of Online Poker events, or SCOOP as it's known! If you have not been playing any of these, then you have been missing out. Missing out on massive fields, huge prizepools, small buy ins with great structured games. TONS OF DEAD MONEY IN THESE TOURNEYS ALSO.
I have played maybe 4, and have cashed in 3 of them. In one I finished 121st out of 16k+ runners and in one last night, I finished 201st from 10500 runners, cashed for $228, but first was $66k!!
If you have not been lucky enough to go deep in these huge tourneys with massive prizepools, then you are missing out. Last nights tourney cost me $44 to play, 1st was $66k, nothing gives you that feeling of going deep in a tourney, NOTHING. Although I prefer playing cash games, even a winning cash session does not come close to a deep run in a big game.
I've been getting deep, and I feel that I am ready to make a final table in one of these major online tourneys.
The main event final is this Sunday, Full Tilt's mini-FTOPS series is on just now as well. There main event is also this sunday, so I can see a monster online session tomorrow.
I am getting deep, and just need the luckbox switch to stay on a little deeper.
ONE TIME GOD
Good Luck
Barry
Wednesday, 14 April 2010
3 Degenerates In A Car To Coventry
As many of you know I'm recently back from playing the £550 main event of the Pokerstars UKIPT Coventry Event. I drove down with the Wu and my brother Blair. We left Dundee early hours of Thursday morning and didn't hit any traffic until just before the M6toll, the journey was fine, listened to pokercast episodes and some good music. Blair and Colin had some power naps, and I think I only fell asleep at the wheel once or twice.
We arrived at our hotel in Coventry shattered, thankfully they got our room ready and let us check in early. I think sprawling out on the leather couches near reception somehow speeds up hotel staff! :D
The hotel was really good for the money, £44 or something for the room. Nice and clean, great shower/bathroom, TV etc. Also there was a big pool, sauna, steam room, jacuzzi etc. We were told it was £5 for duration of the stay for unlimited use, but it turned out to be free when we got there! Was great to unwind and relax for a few days.
Blair and Colin were playing later that day which was Thursday Day 1a, unfortunately Colin bust out shortly after the dinner break. His QQ screwed by AK, he was also in a 60k pot previously where his AA vs AK ended in a chop with both players making broadway! So he does run like us sometimes :P
Blair made Day 2 on the Saturday, which was a good showing in his first really big deepstacked tourney.
I played Day 1B on the Friday, I spent most of Thursday sleeping, eating and sitting around the hotel (just like back at home!)
I built my stack up without showing down a hand for maybe 3 levels, i had 38k, There are two hands I am going to talk about, first one is so................
Blinds 150-300 with an ante of 25, under the gun raiser makes it 1100, he gets one caller. Im on the button with AK, guy before me makes it 3200. My play in my opinion and giving my thought process was muck or raise, I don't like to muck AK in this spot, so I raise. I make it 6400 to go. My thought process is initial raiser had a big stack 80k+ and has shown a wide range, he got one caller, so I'm thinking the guy that has re-raised before me could have anything from 88 through to AK.
So I've made it 6400, and it goes back to the initial raiser, 5 seconds of thought and he announces "All in" (with 3 players including me the 4-better! to go after him) He has like 80k, so it is an overbet to say the least!! :D
Original caller folds, and the original 3-better folds. I know I'm folding my AK here, I still have 33k left after making it 6400 (BLINDS ARE ONLY 150-300 REMEMBER :D)
So i say "Show if i fold ?" and he says "maybe" So i say, "well I fold anyway, nice bet!"
He shows QQ and is happy with his play and says "i have the hand, i don't want to see a flop"
I say to the guy next to me "I'd be more worried about someone snapping me with aces or kings"
That was the last hand before the break and 2 guys came up to me saying "how could he play QQ like that etc, its insane, he only gets snapped if crushed, 3 players to act etc"
In summation, although the buy in is £550, there are a lot of qualifiers etc. Some of the play for a deepstack game was bad! And shows that there is actually value in these games, A LOT OF VALUE IN THEM.
So my bust out hand..............
The QQ donk makes it 1100 with blinds now at 200-400 with 50 ante. He gets two callers, I'm in the small blind with QJ and so i call the 900. BB calls and flop comes 10-9-2 (two clubs). The online reporting of the hand says it was checked around, I really can't remember in the haze, but I thought original raiser c-bets the flop. But it's kind of irrelevant!!!!
Anyway, the turn brings King of Spades, giving me the nut straight. I lead out 2k into like 6.5-7k. Big Blind folds, original raiser min raises to 4k. Other two fold.
Pot is now like 10-11k. The guy is a donk, and i figure, I'm getting paid here by a set, two pair, or even the nut flush draw, and if he is drawing, then he is gonna pay for it.........
So rather than make it 9k or something, i do a Hollywood and shove for my last 19k more. He insta calls me..............
I figure it's a chop and he has QJ, because literally NO THOUGHT!
Carla Goddard who does the pokerstars reporting says "Chop pot? both got queen jack???"
I say "I've got the nuts up to now!"
The guys face looks white and probably didn't even see the straight, he had a set of 10s! He was probably so wrapped up in that!
Pot is around 52-54k,...........................RIVER pairs the board, with a 9!
Pretty sick, by no means a really bad beat, I'm only 77% going to the river :P. Just feel it a little more, when it's a £500 buy in game, you have drove down from Dundee and the average at the time was only 24k! and first place in the tourney is £47k :P etc :D
So that was me out...........
Blair returned for day 2 with 130+ players, there were 45 places paid 45th paying £850, and Blair bust out 52nd when he had to shove AJ short stacked and someone woke up with AQ.
I wound him up the whole drive back about playing 14hrs to shove that shit! But it was a friendly needle, and he played well and outlasted the Wu and me, and did good, next time! ;)
We took a leisurely drive home, we stopped off a few times and randomly decided to stop off in Blackpool because we were in the mood of fish and chips! We had some fresh oysters, then found a wee sit in chipper, had fish and chips, mushy peas etc and life was good again :D
The trip was such good fun, we had great laughs in the hotel mucking about. I scared Blair twice, and I'm talking big frights! But I wont embarrass him here :P Safe to say, my planning and lengths I go to for scaring people in a hotel straight out of the shining, ARE ADVANCED :D!
None of us showed anywhere near a profit on the trip and our bankrolls showed a minus, but speaking for myself, Colin and Blair, our "liferolls" showed a positive. It was a great trip, lots of laughs and good times, and at the end of the day, your liferoll is more important than your bankroll ;)
REMEMBER THAT ;)
Good Luck
Barry xxx
We arrived at our hotel in Coventry shattered, thankfully they got our room ready and let us check in early. I think sprawling out on the leather couches near reception somehow speeds up hotel staff! :D
The hotel was really good for the money, £44 or something for the room. Nice and clean, great shower/bathroom, TV etc. Also there was a big pool, sauna, steam room, jacuzzi etc. We were told it was £5 for duration of the stay for unlimited use, but it turned out to be free when we got there! Was great to unwind and relax for a few days.
Blair and Colin were playing later that day which was Thursday Day 1a, unfortunately Colin bust out shortly after the dinner break. His QQ screwed by AK, he was also in a 60k pot previously where his AA vs AK ended in a chop with both players making broadway! So he does run like us sometimes :P
Blair made Day 2 on the Saturday, which was a good showing in his first really big deepstacked tourney.
I played Day 1B on the Friday, I spent most of Thursday sleeping, eating and sitting around the hotel (just like back at home!)
I built my stack up without showing down a hand for maybe 3 levels, i had 38k, There are two hands I am going to talk about, first one is so................
Blinds 150-300 with an ante of 25, under the gun raiser makes it 1100, he gets one caller. Im on the button with AK, guy before me makes it 3200. My play in my opinion and giving my thought process was muck or raise, I don't like to muck AK in this spot, so I raise. I make it 6400 to go. My thought process is initial raiser had a big stack 80k+ and has shown a wide range, he got one caller, so I'm thinking the guy that has re-raised before me could have anything from 88 through to AK.
So I've made it 6400, and it goes back to the initial raiser, 5 seconds of thought and he announces "All in" (with 3 players including me the 4-better! to go after him) He has like 80k, so it is an overbet to say the least!! :D
Original caller folds, and the original 3-better folds. I know I'm folding my AK here, I still have 33k left after making it 6400 (BLINDS ARE ONLY 150-300 REMEMBER :D)
So i say "Show if i fold ?" and he says "maybe" So i say, "well I fold anyway, nice bet!"
He shows QQ and is happy with his play and says "i have the hand, i don't want to see a flop"
I say to the guy next to me "I'd be more worried about someone snapping me with aces or kings"
That was the last hand before the break and 2 guys came up to me saying "how could he play QQ like that etc, its insane, he only gets snapped if crushed, 3 players to act etc"
In summation, although the buy in is £550, there are a lot of qualifiers etc. Some of the play for a deepstack game was bad! And shows that there is actually value in these games, A LOT OF VALUE IN THEM.
So my bust out hand..............
The QQ donk makes it 1100 with blinds now at 200-400 with 50 ante. He gets two callers, I'm in the small blind with QJ and so i call the 900. BB calls and flop comes 10-9-2 (two clubs). The online reporting of the hand says it was checked around, I really can't remember in the haze, but I thought original raiser c-bets the flop. But it's kind of irrelevant!!!!
Anyway, the turn brings King of Spades, giving me the nut straight. I lead out 2k into like 6.5-7k. Big Blind folds, original raiser min raises to 4k. Other two fold.
Pot is now like 10-11k. The guy is a donk, and i figure, I'm getting paid here by a set, two pair, or even the nut flush draw, and if he is drawing, then he is gonna pay for it.........
So rather than make it 9k or something, i do a Hollywood and shove for my last 19k more. He insta calls me..............
I figure it's a chop and he has QJ, because literally NO THOUGHT!
Carla Goddard who does the pokerstars reporting says "Chop pot? both got queen jack???"
I say "I've got the nuts up to now!"
The guys face looks white and probably didn't even see the straight, he had a set of 10s! He was probably so wrapped up in that!
Pot is around 52-54k,...........................RIVER pairs the board, with a 9!
Pretty sick, by no means a really bad beat, I'm only 77% going to the river :P. Just feel it a little more, when it's a £500 buy in game, you have drove down from Dundee and the average at the time was only 24k! and first place in the tourney is £47k :P etc :D
So that was me out...........
Blair returned for day 2 with 130+ players, there were 45 places paid 45th paying £850, and Blair bust out 52nd when he had to shove AJ short stacked and someone woke up with AQ.
I wound him up the whole drive back about playing 14hrs to shove that shit! But it was a friendly needle, and he played well and outlasted the Wu and me, and did good, next time! ;)
We took a leisurely drive home, we stopped off a few times and randomly decided to stop off in Blackpool because we were in the mood of fish and chips! We had some fresh oysters, then found a wee sit in chipper, had fish and chips, mushy peas etc and life was good again :D
The trip was such good fun, we had great laughs in the hotel mucking about. I scared Blair twice, and I'm talking big frights! But I wont embarrass him here :P Safe to say, my planning and lengths I go to for scaring people in a hotel straight out of the shining, ARE ADVANCED :D!
None of us showed anywhere near a profit on the trip and our bankrolls showed a minus, but speaking for myself, Colin and Blair, our "liferolls" showed a positive. It was a great trip, lots of laughs and good times, and at the end of the day, your liferoll is more important than your bankroll ;)
REMEMBER THAT ;)
Good Luck
Barry xxx
Tuesday, 6 April 2010
Easter Festival and a future special guest :D
I've not blogged in over a month, been busy playing poker and spending time on other stuff in my life!
Some updates....I came back from vegas with a nice addition to the bankroll, I continued to do well...highlights included 4 way deal in the last monthly £100 game (good for £700) and I got super lucky against LW and a random guy in a £500 pot in a cash game. Long story short, I have KK vs LW's AA and random guys JJ, all in pre. I bink a King on the turn and scoop. Stevie Mc was dealing, I gave him a lift home (for free :P) for his good dealing!
Things turned a bit sour after this, some stuff outside of poker put me a bit on life tilt and it seemed to spookilly slip into my results. I wasn't playing badly, and wasn't tilting......but a downswing seemed to correlate perfectly with other shit that was happening. As a result, I let Dr Chalmers out of the other side of my brain and let him loose. He preceded to blow too much money on the Cheltenham festival (Kauto star, I hope you are dog food and glue by now!)
I also experienced some garbage in cash games, flush against flush, top two crushed by gutterball turn, and two outered on the river.
Top two against bottom set in a tourney also, forgot about that one......NH Don ;) xx
I managed to stop the rot and took a break.......
I played all the Easter tournaments..quick recap..........
£200 Main event......Played my ass off, starting stack 15k, i was never above 23k for the entire tourney, 57 runners, and I somehow managed to get to 15th, I went out when I got it all in with two 10's against Cush's QQ (Cush went onto chop the tourney as one of the bigger money winners and got £2.5k, gg and well played)
£100 Event..... Again, I grinded this tournament, I can honestly say I have never played a short stack as well as I did in the £200 game and the £100 game. I just looked for good spots to make a move in, I was extremely patient. Although I was usually working with a stack of around 12-15bb for most of the levels, I never felt under pressure or forced to make a move.
I made the final table and went in as one of (if not the shortest stack, with like 24k) I then went on a tear up and ran good, my 9-10 beating 99, picked up QQ and then started to pick up blinds with timed shoves.
I managed to get my 24k up to around 140k in chips.........Then carnage!
Blinds 3k-6k, 6 handed, it is folded to me on the button, I pick up AK, i make it 15k to go, sb (aggressive player :P) goes all in pretty much instantly. Back to me and I instacall, he has A3, so I'm 76% :D..........................
Flop, 2........5.........4, and I'm dead to 3 outs for a chop! Brick,,,,and Brick......
I have him covered just, pot was like $220k+ was around half the chips in play, and was effectively the tournament.
I had around 30k left......I managed to grind that up and take out K-Walls AA shove on the button to my BB, i called with Q10 (as i had him covered and 5th paid £370) i hit a straight.
The hand i went out on was also sick, i limp sb with 24diamonds against Jamie (jambizzle-mynizzle-ishoveA3izzle-igettheremynizzle-coziflop-the-wheelizzle-u-gezzile??) He checks, flop 4-7-4. I think B.I.N.G.O, B.I.N.G.O his name is Bobby BINGO......turn is a 6. We get it all in and he has J4.....Goodnight Vienna and GingerToys out in 5th.............
£50 game was a non event, I ship in top pair (Ace) against a habitual gala ban'ee (not GSA or Drummy!) He calls with middle pair J and 9 kicker. He rivers a 9 and im out.
Great games and great structures, credit goes to the gala staff etc, Mr Myles obviously cares about poker (and it shows) Also, Fidel Samstro seems to be enjoying the role of cardroom supervisor, think both of them can make it still be number 1 for poker in Dundee. (If Mr Myles reads this, please feel free to put a few thousand fortune points on my card, a brothers gotta eat :P)
So that was then and this is now................................
I'm off to Coventry for the main event of the UKIPT sponsored by Pokerstars, I was only going to be playing the side events, but have decided to sell % shares in myself so I can play the £550 main event with the orient express Colin WU and my brother Blair (who qualified on pokerstars) Thanks to the guys who bought a stake in me, I can only promise to play well and hope to go deep. I would like nothing better than to come home handing out packets of cash ;)
I will be tweeting updates (see my twitter feed at side of this blog @ http://gingertoys.blogspot.com or on the http://www.pokerindundee.com site where my twitter feed is also shown, or find me on twitter GINGERTOYS and add me there!!.............Or just leave it and ask me how I did next time you see me :D
Now for a special announcement, Martin @ pokerindundee has been wanting to get the Wu on board with twitter feeds for when he plays tourneys etc, but this isn't an option just now..........................SO......................................................
Since I have some time on my hands, and Colin is fast building a reputation as a great poker player, I am going to do a full interview with Haito "Colin" Wu :D
I am going to sit down with the Wu, and go into lots, u name it, and it will be discussed :D
Colin is a good friend, but I'm going to try and be like the Paxman of poker :P I'll ask him lots of in depth questions. Effectively, I will act as the mediator to stream colins thoughts and views on poker to the Dundee poker community :D
Colin has a lot he wants to share and say, but with English not being his first language,,,he doesn't want to sit doing a blog for pokerindundee.com!
So I suggested this way, I interview him and then type it all out and blog it.
I will probably do it in a few parts, because One I'm Lazy! and two ! I want to do it right :D
I want to treat it like a magazine interview, and for someone with his record in GUKPT's, GCBPT and other side events and cash games, (FOR THE NUMBER HE HAS PLAYED, in fact FOR ANYONE TO HAVE THIS RECENT RECORD) I can't believe he is not sponsored/backed YET.
I will look do sit down with him sometime when we get back from Coventry :D
Colin is a busy dad and I like to sleep past 3pm, so we will have to work out a gap in our schedules :D
BUT I WILL GET THIS DONE, I'm sure everyone can learn something from him, and even for my own poker education, it will be worth it.
Good Luck us in Coventry.
And good luck to anyone who reads this.
Barry xxx
Some updates....I came back from vegas with a nice addition to the bankroll, I continued to do well...highlights included 4 way deal in the last monthly £100 game (good for £700) and I got super lucky against LW and a random guy in a £500 pot in a cash game. Long story short, I have KK vs LW's AA and random guys JJ, all in pre. I bink a King on the turn and scoop. Stevie Mc was dealing, I gave him a lift home (for free :P) for his good dealing!
Things turned a bit sour after this, some stuff outside of poker put me a bit on life tilt and it seemed to spookilly slip into my results. I wasn't playing badly, and wasn't tilting......but a downswing seemed to correlate perfectly with other shit that was happening. As a result, I let Dr Chalmers out of the other side of my brain and let him loose. He preceded to blow too much money on the Cheltenham festival (Kauto star, I hope you are dog food and glue by now!)
I also experienced some garbage in cash games, flush against flush, top two crushed by gutterball turn, and two outered on the river.
Top two against bottom set in a tourney also, forgot about that one......NH Don ;) xx
I managed to stop the rot and took a break.......
I played all the Easter tournaments..quick recap..........
£200 Main event......Played my ass off, starting stack 15k, i was never above 23k for the entire tourney, 57 runners, and I somehow managed to get to 15th, I went out when I got it all in with two 10's against Cush's QQ (Cush went onto chop the tourney as one of the bigger money winners and got £2.5k, gg and well played)
£100 Event..... Again, I grinded this tournament, I can honestly say I have never played a short stack as well as I did in the £200 game and the £100 game. I just looked for good spots to make a move in, I was extremely patient. Although I was usually working with a stack of around 12-15bb for most of the levels, I never felt under pressure or forced to make a move.
I made the final table and went in as one of (if not the shortest stack, with like 24k) I then went on a tear up and ran good, my 9-10 beating 99, picked up QQ and then started to pick up blinds with timed shoves.
I managed to get my 24k up to around 140k in chips.........Then carnage!
Blinds 3k-6k, 6 handed, it is folded to me on the button, I pick up AK, i make it 15k to go, sb (aggressive player :P) goes all in pretty much instantly. Back to me and I instacall, he has A3, so I'm 76% :D..........................
Flop, 2........5.........4, and I'm dead to 3 outs for a chop! Brick,,,,and Brick......
I have him covered just, pot was like $220k+ was around half the chips in play, and was effectively the tournament.
I had around 30k left......I managed to grind that up and take out K-Walls AA shove on the button to my BB, i called with Q10 (as i had him covered and 5th paid £370) i hit a straight.
The hand i went out on was also sick, i limp sb with 24diamonds against Jamie (jambizzle-mynizzle-ishoveA3izzle-igettheremynizzle-coziflop-the-wheelizzle-u-gezzile??) He checks, flop 4-7-4. I think B.I.N.G.O, B.I.N.G.O his name is Bobby BINGO......turn is a 6. We get it all in and he has J4.....Goodnight Vienna and GingerToys out in 5th.............
£50 game was a non event, I ship in top pair (Ace) against a habitual gala ban'ee (not GSA or Drummy!) He calls with middle pair J and 9 kicker. He rivers a 9 and im out.
Great games and great structures, credit goes to the gala staff etc, Mr Myles obviously cares about poker (and it shows) Also, Fidel Samstro seems to be enjoying the role of cardroom supervisor, think both of them can make it still be number 1 for poker in Dundee. (If Mr Myles reads this, please feel free to put a few thousand fortune points on my card, a brothers gotta eat :P)
So that was then and this is now................................
I'm off to Coventry for the main event of the UKIPT sponsored by Pokerstars, I was only going to be playing the side events, but have decided to sell % shares in myself so I can play the £550 main event with the orient express Colin WU and my brother Blair (who qualified on pokerstars) Thanks to the guys who bought a stake in me, I can only promise to play well and hope to go deep. I would like nothing better than to come home handing out packets of cash ;)
I will be tweeting updates (see my twitter feed at side of this blog @ http://gingertoys.blogspot.com or on the http://www.pokerindundee.com site where my twitter feed is also shown, or find me on twitter GINGERTOYS and add me there!!.............Or just leave it and ask me how I did next time you see me :D
Now for a special announcement, Martin @ pokerindundee has been wanting to get the Wu on board with twitter feeds for when he plays tourneys etc, but this isn't an option just now..........................SO......................................................
Since I have some time on my hands, and Colin is fast building a reputation as a great poker player, I am going to do a full interview with Haito "Colin" Wu :D
I am going to sit down with the Wu, and go into lots, u name it, and it will be discussed :D
Colin is a good friend, but I'm going to try and be like the Paxman of poker :P I'll ask him lots of in depth questions. Effectively, I will act as the mediator to stream colins thoughts and views on poker to the Dundee poker community :D
Colin has a lot he wants to share and say, but with English not being his first language,,,he doesn't want to sit doing a blog for pokerindundee.com!
So I suggested this way, I interview him and then type it all out and blog it.
I will probably do it in a few parts, because One I'm Lazy! and two ! I want to do it right :D
I want to treat it like a magazine interview, and for someone with his record in GUKPT's, GCBPT and other side events and cash games, (FOR THE NUMBER HE HAS PLAYED, in fact FOR ANYONE TO HAVE THIS RECENT RECORD) I can't believe he is not sponsored/backed YET.
I will look do sit down with him sometime when we get back from Coventry :D
Colin is a busy dad and I like to sleep past 3pm, so we will have to work out a gap in our schedules :D
BUT I WILL GET THIS DONE, I'm sure everyone can learn something from him, and even for my own poker education, it will be worth it.
Good Luck us in Coventry.
And good luck to anyone who reads this.
Barry xxx
Friday, 26 February 2010
Las Vegas...The land of good times, £66 notes, broken dreams and $5 lobster! :D
Home for a week :DI made it back alive from my first trip in vegas :D It's such an amazing place, I stayed at the Bellagio and it is one of the best hotels I have ever stayed in (between that and the Langham Place Hotel in Hong Kong) maybe Bellagio just wins because of so much gambling on your doorstep! :D
As it was my first time there, I wanted to see a few of the sites etc. I was also there for M.A.G.I.C clothing exhibition (a show which involves tons of clothing brands/vendors displaying their lines for coming seasons)
I arrived in Vegas on the Monday night, I got a stretch limo straight to the Bellagio, this cost $55 and was worth it for a bit of opening night nonsense!
After checking into the Bellagio I had a quick shower, got changed and headed downt to the card room on site. I played $1-$2, I sat down with $200, and in a couple of hours play managed to cash out at $897!
I am not really going to go into tons of hands, but I will mention a few later on and some comments on the poker there.
The next day I went to the M.A.G.I.C clothing show and that was good fun, lots of freebies etc (all poker players love comps :D) I also spent most of that day walking from Mandalay Bay (where the exhibition was held) right down the strip and to familiarize myself with the layout etc!!
I'll get all the non-poker stuff out the way now!!
I went to see Penn & Teller's show at the Rio, it was really good, some of the tricks were amazing and the on stage banter etc was really good with lots of audience participation. After bribing the ticket guy we got two seats 5 rows from the front for only $45 each!! We were originally quoted $96 each!!! Everywhere I was in vegas, it became apparent that if u tip the right person, u can get lots of stuff done :D
I had lots of nice food in tons of nice restaurants, the restaurants particularly in the Bellagio were really good, notably Olives and Prime. I didn't just eat in the fancy restaurants, I did rough it sometimes $6 burger at binions was a particular local delicacy. I also ate some new orleans street food from a small independent woman selling shrimp with hot sauce and home made coleslaw (beats dundee street food of donner chips + cheese!!)
I also roughed it a bit, I went down to old vegas, freemont street etc. I went into Binions, the home of the WSOP and it still has something about it, a certain charm or nostalgic value. However, it is sad to see all the binons tables and chairs in the poker room through the back, totally empty. The hall of fame is a bit of a disappointment as well! Just pictures on a wall :D I expected that, but surely they can do a bit of merchandising there or some stories and nicer art work on the wall!!
I did well with the binions comp sheet when joining their club! They matched my blackjack bet, and i ran my $10 plus there $10 up to $100 and cashed out! weeeeeeeeee. I also did the really tourist thing and got my picture taken with the $1million they have on a table in the casino, all for free!! It really was like the stories I'd heard of downtown vegas :D
POKER WISE..........
As I said I did really well first night I played cash, and the times I played cash after that (i only played cash at the Bellagio) I was told that this is usually the case, u play where u stay etc. In my opinion the games at the Bellagio were so soft, it was literally like an ATM. Some of the play was crazy.
Example 1....I limp $2 utg with QQ, aggressive Vietnamese female (20's) makes it $26. Going on her previous hands and play, I put her on AK, AQ MAXIMUM HERE, she has been showing bluffs, and trash talking! Really strange to see a female play like this :D So it comes back to me, I flat call the $24 more (my stack is around $311 here) Flop comes J-5-7, I check (with intention to check raise obv) she bets out $40, I make it $40 with $80. She thinks for a bit, then goes ALL IN. I'm playing like $160-$180 more (can't remember exact) and I think it through, if she has JJ then good luck to her, totally eliminated KK and AA from her range (just a few factors, way she was acting pre-flop etc and previous stuff) Dont think she has set of 5's or 7's.
So I'm thinking it's JJ, AJ, KJ, or Ak-AQ. I call, she shows AQ high! Turn and river brick out, and i scoop $600+ pot.
Example 2.......Last hand I played in vegas was weirdly enough my favourite hand (63!) I get dealt 63hearts UTG + 1, I make it $6, one caller in cut off and bb calls. Flop comes 3-3-A rainbow, bb bets out $15, i flat call, guy in cut off flat calls, turn Q. BB bets $45, i raise now to $95(putting one of them on some sort of raggy ace and other guy on under pair) guy in cut off folds, bb calls. River J, bb checks to me, now im thinking he wouldn't check 3 there because of the way he played previously (he was a moron, jamming all in for $100 pre-flop when $6 in pot etc!!LOL) So i bet $95 on river, he thinks for like 3 seconds then calls.............HE TURNS OVER 77!!!! That is just free money, just utter garbage LOL. So again i scooped in a great pot there.
All in all the level of play I saw in the Bellagio was really soft, I maybe landed lucky at tables with fishy tourists with too much money!! But from my experiences you could grind out sizeable profits at the $1-$2 game, playing on autopilot!!!
Tournament wise, I only played one tournament the entire time, I didn't fancy spending 12hrs out of a day when I was only there for 7 days!! However, the venetian deepstack series (part of pokerstars north american poker tour) was on. I signed up for the $350 deepstack event $12k starting stack, 40min clock. 513 players!!!$148,513k prizepool with $34k for 1st place!!
I finished 46th out of 513, and as a result got my debut on the Hendon mob :P http://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=r&n=100086
It was nice to cash in a tourney in vegas, but the way I went out was brutal. Blinds were 3k-6k with ante of 500 (i think!) I pick up KK early position, make it $15k, guy in small blind goes all in, comes back to me, I call (he has me covered, i Have around $82k) He turns over QQ
RIVER Q :( SICKNESS ENSUES :D..........................
$170k pot with blinds at 3-6k, i'm not saying i would have won it, but I would have fancied myself to get much, much deeper. I'm due such a big pay off in a big tournament, twice when deep in big events I've had over pair against under pair and someone has hit their 2 outer. So gonna save mine holding for an even bigger event :P
Saying that, if I wont the $34k it would have been a while before anyone in Dundee saw me LOL I think i'd probably be like Stu Ungar and found dead in a room somewhere!!! It's that sort of place :D
On the Friday night before I left I decided to go out and get deliberately hammered! The night started with me drinking 7 mojitos before i left the hotel!! And they free pour there, so god knows how much rum that was! My friend then decided to call it an early night (next day he told me because he didn't want to be part of my forthcoming mayhem!!! CHEERS MATE :D)
As it was my first time there, I wanted to see a few of the sites etc. I was also there for M.A.G.I.C clothing exhibition (a show which involves tons of clothing brands/vendors displaying their lines for coming seasons)
I arrived in Vegas on the Monday night, I got a stretch limo straight to the Bellagio, this cost $55 and was worth it for a bit of opening night nonsense!
After checking into the Bellagio I had a quick shower, got changed and headed downt to the card room on site. I played $1-$2, I sat down with $200, and in a couple of hours play managed to cash out at $897!
I am not really going to go into tons of hands, but I will mention a few later on and some comments on the poker there.
The next day I went to the M.A.G.I.C clothing show and that was good fun, lots of freebies etc (all poker players love comps :D) I also spent most of that day walking from Mandalay Bay (where the exhibition was held) right down the strip and to familiarize myself with the layout etc!!
I'll get all the non-poker stuff out the way now!!
I went to see Penn & Teller's show at the Rio, it was really good, some of the tricks were amazing and the on stage banter etc was really good with lots of audience participation. After bribing the ticket guy we got two seats 5 rows from the front for only $45 each!! We were originally quoted $96 each!!! Everywhere I was in vegas, it became apparent that if u tip the right person, u can get lots of stuff done :D
I had lots of nice food in tons of nice restaurants, the restaurants particularly in the Bellagio were really good, notably Olives and Prime. I didn't just eat in the fancy restaurants, I did rough it sometimes $6 burger at binions was a particular local delicacy. I also ate some new orleans street food from a small independent woman selling shrimp with hot sauce and home made coleslaw (beats dundee street food of donner chips + cheese!!)
I also roughed it a bit, I went down to old vegas, freemont street etc. I went into Binions, the home of the WSOP and it still has something about it, a certain charm or nostalgic value. However, it is sad to see all the binons tables and chairs in the poker room through the back, totally empty. The hall of fame is a bit of a disappointment as well! Just pictures on a wall :D I expected that, but surely they can do a bit of merchandising there or some stories and nicer art work on the wall!!
I did well with the binions comp sheet when joining their club! They matched my blackjack bet, and i ran my $10 plus there $10 up to $100 and cashed out! weeeeeeeeee. I also did the really tourist thing and got my picture taken with the $1million they have on a table in the casino, all for free!! It really was like the stories I'd heard of downtown vegas :D
POKER WISE..........
As I said I did really well first night I played cash, and the times I played cash after that (i only played cash at the Bellagio) I was told that this is usually the case, u play where u stay etc. In my opinion the games at the Bellagio were so soft, it was literally like an ATM. Some of the play was crazy.
Example 1....I limp $2 utg with QQ, aggressive Vietnamese female (20's) makes it $26. Going on her previous hands and play, I put her on AK, AQ MAXIMUM HERE, she has been showing bluffs, and trash talking! Really strange to see a female play like this :D So it comes back to me, I flat call the $24 more (my stack is around $311 here) Flop comes J-5-7, I check (with intention to check raise obv) she bets out $40, I make it $40 with $80. She thinks for a bit, then goes ALL IN. I'm playing like $160-$180 more (can't remember exact) and I think it through, if she has JJ then good luck to her, totally eliminated KK and AA from her range (just a few factors, way she was acting pre-flop etc and previous stuff) Dont think she has set of 5's or 7's.
So I'm thinking it's JJ, AJ, KJ, or Ak-AQ. I call, she shows AQ high! Turn and river brick out, and i scoop $600+ pot.
Example 2.......Last hand I played in vegas was weirdly enough my favourite hand (63!) I get dealt 63hearts UTG + 1, I make it $6, one caller in cut off and bb calls. Flop comes 3-3-A rainbow, bb bets out $15, i flat call, guy in cut off flat calls, turn Q. BB bets $45, i raise now to $95(putting one of them on some sort of raggy ace and other guy on under pair) guy in cut off folds, bb calls. River J, bb checks to me, now im thinking he wouldn't check 3 there because of the way he played previously (he was a moron, jamming all in for $100 pre-flop when $6 in pot etc!!LOL) So i bet $95 on river, he thinks for like 3 seconds then calls.............HE TURNS OVER 77!!!! That is just free money, just utter garbage LOL. So again i scooped in a great pot there.
All in all the level of play I saw in the Bellagio was really soft, I maybe landed lucky at tables with fishy tourists with too much money!! But from my experiences you could grind out sizeable profits at the $1-$2 game, playing on autopilot!!!
Tournament wise, I only played one tournament the entire time, I didn't fancy spending 12hrs out of a day when I was only there for 7 days!! However, the venetian deepstack series (part of pokerstars north american poker tour) was on. I signed up for the $350 deepstack event $12k starting stack, 40min clock. 513 players!!!$148,513k prizepool with $34k for 1st place!!
I finished 46th out of 513, and as a result got my debut on the Hendon mob :P http://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=r&n=100086
It was nice to cash in a tourney in vegas, but the way I went out was brutal. Blinds were 3k-6k with ante of 500 (i think!) I pick up KK early position, make it $15k, guy in small blind goes all in, comes back to me, I call (he has me covered, i Have around $82k) He turns over QQ
RIVER Q :( SICKNESS ENSUES :D..........................
$170k pot with blinds at 3-6k, i'm not saying i would have won it, but I would have fancied myself to get much, much deeper. I'm due such a big pay off in a big tournament, twice when deep in big events I've had over pair against under pair and someone has hit their 2 outer. So gonna save mine holding for an even bigger event :P
Saying that, if I wont the $34k it would have been a while before anyone in Dundee saw me LOL I think i'd probably be like Stu Ungar and found dead in a room somewhere!!! It's that sort of place :D
On the Friday night before I left I decided to go out and get deliberately hammered! The night started with me drinking 7 mojitos before i left the hotel!! And they free pour there, so god knows how much rum that was! My friend then decided to call it an early night (next day he told me because he didn't want to be part of my forthcoming mayhem!!! CHEERS MATE :D)
So i jumped in a taxi and went down to the venetian, all I remember from that is getting even more drunk in a bar inside the venetian,..........sitting drinking and talking with joe hachem and victor ramdin!!
Then i hit an outside open air bar somewhere between venetian and bellagio, i was drinking some mad punch thing that they poured into a big plastic cup, ($40 for a large quantity of it!!).......Talking with hispanic drug dealers (interesting guys!)....Then I remember being really sick in a toilet.......discussing economics and economic pricing theory with a total weirdo!!! Then that's it, the night ends! Woke up next day, THANK GOD IN MY HOTEL ROOM. Cannot remember going back to hotel, how i got there, how i got passed security (as u have to show room card to gain access to elevators in bellagio). I hope I was well behaved and my name is not mud there!! There weren't any funny looks the next day, and nothing was mentioned at checkout!! LOL :D
Although, if there were any murders, thefts, criminal damage etc on that Friday night. Suspect probably was described as a sexy bastard with ginger hair LOL ahahahhahahahhahaahhaha
All in all vegas was absolutely amazing, say what you want about America. The level of service, food etc All top class, we get so screwed in this country and put up with substandard levels in all those areas.
Also, the American people are so hungry for success and want to better themselves. Just look in ANY newsagent there, magazine titles such as "entrepreneur magazine" "success magazine" "fast company" "Home business magazine etc
What do we have in the uk, "Hello" "Zoo" "Nutz" and that sort of bullshit!! :D
I'm not saying they are the master race, but for people who want to do well and live a great life and become successful. America appears the place to be, it is encouraged and applauded, not derided and ridiculed or frowned upon (like most people in the UK do!!) :D
I love Las Vegas, and I'll be back :D
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