Another Min Wage Gig (but getting closer)

23rd of 2,498

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The live pub poker is going ok. Last 4 weeks have produced 2nd, 2nd, 3rd, 4thso as well as the cash it also meant i won the 5 week league (can't be caught next week) so get a seat to the £75 game at Circus Casino in Newcastle.

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Was a big jump last time playing my first game there in the 8pm Sunday £20 game. Was over the moon to finish 6th. This is now a massive jump again so fingers crossed. To cash would be nice but the experience is priceless and the main thing is not to act like a rabbit caught in the headlights and make any dumb mistakes. Also the plan is to play sober (ish) so will see how that goes.

I believe it is 40 min levels so hopefully a long day.

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Anyways thats it for now. Next post is the Gatsby awards. These will be chosen by Teamdobbs, local blogger / boss of NPF / 2009 Forum Champion as well as an interview so look out for that next week.

61st of 6,121 for pennies

I HATE AQ

Did i mention i hate AQ

Live Poker

Been playing a bit of pub poker. More the beer and social aspect but of course to get used to handling the cards and the chips. Its a tad different for someone who has played online for nearly 4 years but hadnt played a hand live.

Anyways couple of minor cashes and it paid for the entry and the beer. So happy days.
I then think maybe i should give it a go at a proper card room within a casino and it just so happened that the Newcastle Poker Forum (NPF) were having their forum championship game. 100 of the best players in Newcastle and surrounding area taking their seats in a £50 freezeout.

I decided in the end that a 2 day event with a £50 buy in was probably a bit extreme for my live debut so i gave it a miss but did turn up 3pm on the Sunday to rail and have a couple of pints.
Low and below the tournament was won by TeamDobbs who had organised it all

They also had a £20 bounty game on the Sunday to run alongside the main event so i took a chance in that and bust just before the final table. After a few more pints and i decide to enter the 8:00pm . £20 entry with 1 rebuy or add on. I drift through the first couple of hours on average chips and then after the add on period i double up with KK vs AK (Ace would have dropped had it been online !!!!) I also get a few nice bluffs in as i cement my tight image.

We get to 2 tables left by about 1am. 5 hours and still not near the bubble. My stack is starting to dwindle as its a raising jungle and i now have 2 of the best players in the casino on my table. Ali who they call a god around here and Russ the suit. My fortune then suddenly takes a turn for the best. I get dealt KJs on the BB. Button raises and small blind makes up the action and i decide to flat call. Flop comes a rainbow KJ3. Button raises and Small blind pushes all in.
I snap call my remaining 12k and the button throws away QJ. Cards on the backs and im up against K3 . No 3 and ive got a nice pot

I then start bluffing a bit more but my image is then blown apart. I have 53c on the button and raise it 2.5 times. Small blind calls and BB folds. Flop is AKK and i raise again and the other player folds. As i throw my cards away the dealer is moving the button and he catches them and exposes them. It actually works to my advantage though as 2 hands later I get AKh on the small blind. I look early as they are dealt and as its folded to me i push all in. The big blind asks if i even looked at my cards so i take a look and say i have now. He insta calls with AJ and i double up. We then have 2 players eliminated on the other table to take us to the bubble with 11 left.

After what seems ages they decide to take £30 off the winner for 11th place and that seems to speed things up. 10 mins later im on my first live casino final table.. With over £500 to the winner down to £65 for 10th im guaranteed a profit for the day.

We lose our first player when the NPFs Bob The Gob busts out but he cashed and managed to finish the plate of sandwiches so seemed happy enough. With 8 left the local god Ali pushes all in with A8 on the button. I call from the small blind with TT and take him out. A cash and a major elimination. We get down to 6 left then at 3.30am after 7.5 hours it ends.

QQ in mid i raise. The small blind calls. and the big blind raises. I push and the sb gets out the way. The BB flips over KK and im gone. Maybe i could have found a fold but just one of those things and i wanted the double up. I got £100 for 6th and 5th only paid an extra £15.
One hell of an experience and one im keen to repeat.

I also dont know if its because ive played a bigger competition but since i have played at the casino ive played the pub game twice at the Miller and both times ive chopped it when heads up.
So my last 3 live games have brung over £300 in combined prize money. Mammoth returns for a little £2 online fish :)

Going to the Grosvenor tomorrow to play the NPF team game so will report back on my day at Newcastles other cardroom. On the subject of all things NPF and Newcastle. I said they had their forum game well Teamdobbs will be guest hosting the Gatsby awards for November and will answer the interview questions i have set. I might make it a regular feature and try and get into the mindset of different players.

Anyways thats it for now. Good luck and thanks as ever for reading.
Paul

WSOP Over For Another Year

1st Joe Cada ($8,547,042)

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2nd Darvin Moon ($5,182,928)

03 Antoine Saout ($3,479,670)

04 Eric Buchman ($2,502,890)

05 Jeff Shulman ($1,953,452)

06 Steven Begleiter ($1,587,160)

07 Phil Ivey ($1,404,014)

08 Kevin Schaffel ($1,300,231)

09 James Akenhead ($1,263,602)

The British interest ended with James Akenhead being eliminated but apparantly the theatre nearly emptied when Ivey got eliminated. Moon has never played online and as such declined all sponsorship offers from the main sites so fair play to him for that.

Joe, at 21 is now the youngest ever Main Event Champion. Hopefully he can become a great ambassador for the game in the same way that Raymer and Hachem were (lets face it no one can match the Moneymaker effect) I will however settle for him being a bit more high profile than Yang or Gold.

The Final Question is should a champion have been crowned in July. When 10th place busted should they have went home, went to sleep and came back the next night and played to a finish. Poker is a test of skill and stamina and a near 4 month break to resume the final table might have allowed some players to get sponsorship deals or coaching but was it worth it.

Chipleader didnt deal. Ivey is part of team Full Tilt so surely the rest would get a deal on the back of finishing final table anyway. Plus if they continue to do this format its just a matter of time for whatever reason that one of the future November 9s dont make it to the final table. I remember when Raymer won it and they done a breakdown of the field.

How many women, europeans, average age etc and they also said of the original qualifiers and direct buy ins a couple had died since , one was now in prison and someone else had seen the light and given up.

But no matter what the format, how much the casinos and sponsors skim or treat the actual fee paying players with contempt its the poker dream and no doubt everyone reading this will try at least 1 WSOP qualifier. You never know it could be you.

But for now our champion is Joe Cada. Good luck to him

Linkage

Added a few to top left hand side. Well worth a look

Free Poker Bankroll

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Fuzion Poker Blog

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Uk Poker Sites

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PKR Poker Rakeback

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Poker Bonus Codes

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Ukgatsby Poker Blog
Ukgatsby Blog
Ukgatsby small stakes Blog
Ukgatsby Poker

Octobers Gatsby Awards

Ukgatsby Poker Blog Awards

Live Poker Performance Of The Month

The Hedger

aka Hedger43 from the Betfair forum who went and won the Irish Winter Festival Main Event. 143,000 Euros on top of the cup and the glory make it a fab Festival for the Hedger

Online Poker Performance Of The Month

HitTheHole

2nd in the stars 500 for over $64,000. But even more remarkable that was the 19th of October and he still found time to get another couple of hefty stars silver medals taking the monthly winnings to just under $100k. On fire and a player to keep an eye on for the future

Blog / Website Of The Month

Fuzion Poker Blog

Very informative and also some quirky and amusing articles.

Babe Of The Month

Miranda Kerr

Australian SuperModel who is now the face and body of Victorias Secrets. Wasnt sure who to select this month so asked for nominations and this was the choice of the players in the NPF Monday night stars game.

Hero Of The Month

Jan Shulman

An American wife and mother. Millions of them but Mrs S obviously putting something in the dinner or doing the hoovering quietly so her family can swot up on the poker scene.

Her son Jeff is one of the November 9 that will be battling for the WSOP main event crown

Her husband Barry, CEO of Card Player Magazine took down the WSOPE the other week for good measure beating Mr Negreanu heads up.

Knob Of The Month

Mike Ashley

This prick has pulled some major strokes in his tenure as owner of Newcastle United. But the latest takes the biscuit. Willing to sell the namimg rights of St James Park to the highest bidder. Could we see "The Greggs Arena, The Brown Ale Bowl, The Stottie Cake Stadium"
Total shambles. Either this bloke is a secret mackem or hes been smacked or had his wife shagged by a Geordie as he seems hell bent on ruining us.

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Ukgatsby Poker Blog
Ukgatsby Blog
Ukgatsby small stakes Blog
Ukgatsby Poker

What A Difference 13 Years Makes !!!

20th October 1996
Newcastle 5 - 0 Man Utd
(Peacock, Ginola, Ferdinand, Shearer, Albert)



20th October 2009
Scunthorpe 2 - 1 Newcastle
(Nolan)




As the fans sang (as they do every match these days) to Mike Ashley..

"You fat bastard, Get out of our club"

Septembers Gatsby Awards

Ukgatsby Poker Blog Awards

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Live Poker Performance Of The Month - Steve Holden

Won the Coral British Masters Poker Tour in Liverpool.

Online Poker Performance Of The Month - Jamesbeckton
FTOPS $50 heads up comp. Got all the way through to the final then decided to split it with his opponent and they took $20k each. Fantastic achievement




Blog / Website Of The Month - Rubbish
Pure quality - Give it a read. Absolutely hiliarious




Babe Of The Month - Holly Willoughby

From Xfactor to This Morning. She is all over the bloody place at the moment. But has that sparkle / butter wouldnt melt look so worth one (a Gatsby that is !!!!)

Hero Of The Month - Imi from the NPF

One minute playing at the Grosvenor in Newcastle the next the word is out that he is in hosital with Meningitus. Thankfully a speedy recovery and hopefully see him at the tables again soon.




Knob Of The Month - Sir Alex Ferguson

Has an opinion on everything and generally a whining git. A shame really as he should leaving the talking to his team on the pitch but no has to stick his oar in. People say Man Utd are disliked because of their success. Thats bollox. Its the antics of him and some of his players over the years. People wanted to see someone else win in the 70s and 80s but still respected Liverpool and their managers. Basically they werent twats. He is !!!

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Ukgatsby Poker Blog
Ukgatsby Blog
Ukgatsby small stakes Blog
Ukgatsby Poker

Septembers Gatsby Awards

Will be posted over the weekend. Not been online much. Had the old swine / man flu but hammered the Benolyn and Beechams and recovered well. None of this 1 sachet per hour or teaspoon every 4 hours rubbish . Just mix it up and down in 1. Ok it might make your liver tingle a bit but as long as it gets rid of the snotty nose and the cough its a result.

Still off the alcohol (bar really special occasions) and that seems to help the poker. 4th, 6th and 7th in the pub poker. Online i havent played for a couple of weeks. I might try the Stars multis on Sunday night. So say hi if you see me at the tables. I'll be the one working my bollox for 6 hours only to bust in 40th of 3,500 for 10 bucks but got to keep cracking.

Anyways as said will post the "September Gatsbys" over the weekend as am still doing the write up. Plus im knackered and cant be arsed now.

Pictured below is the early front runner for October.Beth who beat her dad (Koyte from the Newcastle Poker Forum) heads up tonight when he had 138,000 chips to her 1,500. Quite an achievement as even Lazarus had 5 big blinds.....

Quiet Week

Very little poker, even less alcohol, Lots of cooking healthy shite and preparation for future meals. If i eat any more pasta i swear i prob start talking Italian (cue all the cockneys saying it would be easier to understand than Geordie)

Been off the cigs now for nearly 9 months so its time to totally hit the fitness, hence the healthy eating and future exercise. Well moderate exercise anyways, taking it slowly and all that.
Watched part of the Great North Run on television on Sunday and it was such a buzz seeing 52,000 do the annual 13 and a bit miles that is Newcastle to South Shields.

Not really motivated to do it as believe it or not i have done it 3 times before.
Once as a fit 19 year old where done it easy with minimal training
Once as fittish 23 year old although we did stop and have a few pints on the way (pound coins in the sock wasnt healthy or clever - anyone ever thinking of doing same. call in pub before hand and pay in advance)
Other time was 26 , still reasonably fit but was running with serious runners and i burnt out too early and ended up hitting the wall and walking the last couple of mile.

What i would like to do one day is the London Marathon. Just to say id done it. One of my mates dads used to do it all the time. He made a bloody fortune for charity too. Its one thing passing the form around work and stuff its another doing the race, then paying for a flight back and getting back home in time to go round local pubs with the bucket.

So thats maybe what i aspire to , a Marathon running god
ok maybe not just fit , overweight rather than fat haha

Im wondering whether increased fitness and weight loss is also good for the poker. More mental than physical but surely it must help and you do tend to see more skinny scandis at final tables than fat yanks. I once remember someone saying they didnt eat for 3 days before a major EPT. Not sure i would go to that extreme but water and rivitas and pasta is ok i guess.

Nominations welcome for Gatsby awards. Anyone done anything major online ? Also what about live . Maybe some heroics down London Town at the Betfair World Series Of Poker Europe (WSOPE) Follow updates by clicking on the link there or on chip logo the right hand side. Who will follow Annette and John to glory this year.

On the football front a rude awakening at Blackpool was followed by a win against Plymouth.
We have one of the most quality line ups in the entire division. But the squad is paper thin and injuries and suspensions could leave us too light during the winter. If nothing else at least we arent looking like going down another division.

Also it was the public service for Sir Bobby Robson today at Durham Cathedral. One of the most loved people in football, widely admired and respected. We will never see the likes of him again. Says it all when one of the best tributes and showing of respect was from our local rivals Sunderland. He will be missed.

Right thats it for now. Going to try and get a game online Tues or Wed and then maybe get down to the pub for the live game on Thursday. Out Friday and maybe Saturday and all of it drinking Orange and Soda. Sick but gotta be done.

Good luck all and thanks as ever for reading.
Paul