Claire's A Winner!!

So last night we went to the Reading Sporting Club Casino and tried our luck at the Beginners Night £10 re-buy. I didn't get on very well as I only got 3 decent hands all night and the one time that I get aces I come up against someone else with aces and split the pot!

Claire managed to get through to the final table with a large stck of chips but found that a lot of them drifted away but not before a few fallers. In the end she came 6th to win £135 which combined with Sophie's roulette winnings meant that they took away about £250 from the place!! I left about £60 down... :-(

WELL DONE CLAIRE.... :-)

Back again!

Hi All,

I've been very busy lately and haven't played much poker since Claire came back from holiday. The balance was very healthy when she came back, mostly due to the 2nd place finsh in a tournie. Since then I've managed to waste the majority of it away before I cracked down on the problem.

The cause of the problem turned out the be a lack of time. I'm only only to catch an hour here or 20 mins there. Due to this I'm tending to play more hands than I would normally, when playing at my optimum level. As I'm playing more hands I'm losing more on marginal hands and that's why I also spent my "free" money.

I finally figured this out about a week ago with the account balance at $87. I then played ultra tight, apart from one hand, and now have $296. A great turnaround and all goes into my experience so that I play better in the future.

One particular style of play that I like, but others find offensive, is playing a raised multiway pot with suited connectors in the hope of hitting a monster hand and winning a big pot. I'll give you an example.

Begin Hand Number 846800550 at 09:30:41 on table Ganton

Stakes: 0.50 / 1.00

Total Pot: $107.08

Rake: $3.00

Win Amount: $104.08

ngnator has the dealer button

magicmoses posts small blind ($0.25)

Hobbo2006 posts big blind ($0.50)

sssbat raises for $1.00 (could be anything... I didn't bother too much about this)

KingTenClubs raises for $3.00 (this has to be a big hand)

pazza07 folds

ngnator folds

magicmoses calls for $2.75 (this now gives me good odds (just over 3-1) to call to flop a monster......)

Hobbo2006 calls for $2.50 (I'm hoping that sssbat is going to call rather than make another raise)

sssbat calls for $2.00 (phew!! if he raises here I have to fold)

Dealing Flop 8d, 8h, 7s (I can't hit the check button quick enough...... lol)

magicmoses checks

Hobbo2006 checks

sssbat bets $6.00 (could be a continuation bet with AK ish)

KingTenClubs raises for $12.00 (this has to be a premium pair and difficult to lay down for anyone)

magicmoses folds

Hobbo2006 calls for $12.00 (call as if I'm chasing a hand like a straight)

sssbat folds (this guy is disciplined....)

Dealing Turn 4h (this card makes no difference but gives a possible flush draw)

Hobbo2006 checks (trying to lure him into another bet.... big pair has to play this aggressively)

KingTenClubs bets $10.50 (great!!)

Hobbo2006 raises for $21.00 (Now is the time to make a raise... loads in the pot so he has to call this minimum raise)

KingTenClubs calls for $10.50

Dealing River 2h

Hobbo2006 went all-in for $11.54 (he has to call as he's getting 10-1 even though he's beat)

KingTenClubs calls for $11.54 (lovely)

Hobbo2006 shows cards

KingTenClubs mucks cards
Hobbo2006 shows Fullhouse Eights full of Sevens, winning $104.08

Hand Ended at 09:32:09 - Elapsed Time: 88 seconds

Cue a load of abuse about how I could call a re-raise with 78clubs. I don't think it's a bad move. If you only hit a pair and drawn into playing it then that would be bad play but if you know that you are looking to flop two pair, a straight or a flush, and would fold otherwise, then how can that be a bad play?

At this end of a hand the bets are small but play it this way and it can mean taking all of someone's chips, like I've done in the hand shown.

Any comments on this please share......