Sorry folks I haven’t written on my blog for some time, you know how life can be sometimes…

But this story I just have to share with you, because its not often that something like this happens.  Last night I was playing in our poker club.  Do you have a poker club?  A bunch of guys have got together and decided to form a poker club, its mainly fun, social poker and we meet once a month. You should give it a go and form a poker club, if you haven’t already.

We bought a fancy poker table and the buy-ins are $20, all the money goes to the top 3 finishers.  So far we have only played no-limit Texas Hold’em, but as the players get more experienced, I think we will introduce other types of poker.

Our table was 6 handed, 2 new players who knew a little about poker and 4 old hands… play was a bit slow in the beginning because we were explaining a lot about how things worked – but that’s the whole point of the club, to meet interesting people and play poker, no matter what level you are.

Anyway, the 4 old hands were having a serious attempt to out-do each other, whilst the 2 newcomers were playing very cautiously… so it was kind of a weird game.  After an hour my stack was bleeding bad, because I had been taking some seriously crazy gambles.  I had a heads-up with Terry, who always wants to beat me!  And, he mostly did last night, until I took him out with this hand…

I got dealt a 2,3 of hearts and thought ok lets have a go with this, lets see if I’m a gonna get me some more hearts… I slowed played it cautiously to the flop…

…and bang down they all came on the flop… I couldn’t believe it!  Whats more, not just any old hearts, but a 4,5,6 of hearts… oh boy!!!  I struggled to contain myself… to keep a straight poker face.

Terry had the better of me all night and it came down to me and him again. He had a pair of something or other, who cares… but he was worried about the hearts… he thought he was in with a chance, until I went all-in.

“Do you have hearts?”, he asked with a smile.

I replied whilst putting my hand on my heart, “Oh yes, a big heart” and gave him a smile back.  Actually it was probably more of a leer!

He thought I was bluffing, I think my smile worked… sold him down the river. He was convinced I was still hurting after my loses and so he decided to take me on and also go all-in.  Ha.. big mistake!!  Don’t know why he didnt just call.. ego I suppose.  When I turned my cards over, none of us could believe its a straight flush and on the flop too!!

Bye – bye Terry, home early to bed for you tonight.

Heh dealer shuffle dem cards properly

Sometimes heads up poker comes down to a flip of a coin – heads or tails.  Heads you win, tails you lose.

Only playing hands when you have good cards, is not the way to play poker in my opinion.  Don’t get me wrong, a tight strategy is good, but I wouldn’t recommend playing tight all the time.  You have to take a few chances otherwise your opponents will read you and play you by the book.

So when you put your neck out and wait to see what cards you get on the table, keep your cool and enjoy living on the edge.  Who said poker had to be boring???  It comes down to a coin flip and who has the strongest nerve…

Most times poker players are having to make the most difficult decisions with limited information.  Even the poker pros, who may be experienced at knowing what to do in certain situations and being aware of telling signs, are acting on gut feel often.  They make up their minds on what to do, with very little information provided.

And often we get it wrong, perhaps even more wrong than what we would like to admit…

Then again, a lot of times in our lives we don’t have the time to gather all the information and do a thorough analysis of a situation… often you just have to go with your gut feel and get on with it!

I remember one of my first bosses always said, “making no decision is worse than making the wrong decision”.  And, the reason for that is that if you don’t make a decision you don’t move forward.  In business or in life, you can always change your decision or direction, if it is not correct.  If you make no decision then you never improve or move forward.

… and in poker if you don’t make a decision you can’t win!

Well I didnt get much poker in this weekend, or this last week for that matter… I have severe withdraw symptoms!

It was decided that we, yes thats right we… the “royal we”…. would do some spring cleaning.  Humpf!!  Because of my sulking and bad attitude, I was banished to outdoor activities, which involved pruning trees and sweeping leaves.  Now I have never understood why people sweep or rake up leaves, only for the wind to come along and blow them all over the place… then they invented those leaf blower things, that make a horrible noise and blow leaves out of the way… just plain dumb!

Now I have a sore back, two blisters and a cut on my leg where I had a fight with the rake – the rake won… These are spring cleaning injuries…

But what really makes me mad is that in a couple of days it will all have to be done again.  Think I might just think up a cunning plan, sneak off to a poker room and hide from all gardening implements…

I’ve had a really quiet week of poker… perhaps it has something to do with taking a break, now I just don’t get any cards…

I sat there folding a lot and chatting to the guys… as you do… then along comes a pair of kings – nice!  I’ll take that, lets throw in a few chips and get this one going, tired of wasting money on the blinds.  Dan showed  a bit of interest and stayed in, so did Pete, the rest folded…

The flop was 3c, 9h and Jh.

Dan decided to cut his losses and folded, Pete raised…

What was I going to do? I was tired of watching the others playing poker, whilst I did nothing.  I had a pair of kings of course I was going to stay in this… But what did Pete have in his hand?  A pair of jacks, well then all I needed was a king, with two community cards still to come, I’m in with a chance, waiting for the third king… Hold on maybe he has a suited pair of hearts…  that would break my heart…(corny!!!).

So I checked and we carried on… turn card was 7d which didn’t seem to change much.

We bet some more.  And then it was time for the river card… would I get my king?  Waiting for the king is not a nice position to be in, a pair of kings is not enough, I much prefer to be in a stronger position, but I sure wasn’t going to let it show.

The river card ended up being another heart… 2h.  So I didn’t get my third king, sitting there with a pair of kings, what was I going to do??  Everything was in Pete’s favor, but he didn’t know what I had.  Three hearts on the board, what was the chance Pete had the flush?  Or three of a kind maybe, 10 and 8 for the straight?  He looked confident, but then so would I, no ways I would look nervous in that position… that would just give it away.  So I called and…

Pete had a pair of hearts… he had the flush!! I had to check that he did, I couldn’t just give in to a bluff.  Maybe I should have been bolder and raised, but I was afraid of losing more of my stack… this was going to be how my evening went – and that is poker!

How was your weekend?

I am so sick of hearing about the economic crisis and global recession… everywhere you turn thats all you hear.  Damn I know its bad… now please don’t remind me about it, I’m trying my best to get out of it.

President Obama to calm the nation over job loss fears… Sensation!!! Sensation!!!   I mean no disrespect to anyone who has lost their job or who is suffering right now, my problem is with the media feeding the panic, whilst everyone else is facing up to it and getting on with it.

So… I headed out of town this weekend and we just hung low… stayed in a rented cottage, didn’t take my laptop, no television, no radio… went for walks in the forest… just needed to get away from it all, cant take all this negative vibe!

And today I feel like a new person!  Ready to face a fresh onslaught from the media…

When I invite friends around for a social evening of poker at home we usually play around the dining room table.  It doesn’t happen too often these days, just seems that everyone is busy doing their own thing… you know how it goes…

I personally don’t mind playing at the dining room table, there is plenty of space for drinks and everyone can space out – its quite comfortable.  We usually have a break for a meal and its easy to clear away the stuff and then come back to the poker game afterwards.

I happened to visit Patrick on the weekend.  His sons have now left home so he has converted one of their rooms into his den, where he can hang out with his mates… its where his wife banishes him!  He has moved all the things that she dislikes into the den!  And he now seems to spend hours in there… getting up to no good!

Patrick grabbed me and whispered, “Come see the beauty I just got myself…”

All sorts of thoughts rushed through my head… which I won’t share with you…

I was just about to ask him who he was keeping captive in his den, but thought the better of it!

He then unveiled this incredible new custom poker table with a padded rail covered in vinyl.  Very nice indeed!  I left him polishing his new found pride and joy… each one unto their own… its no wonder the wife banishes him to his den!

In the past decade poker has been transformed from a game played at casinos into a game enjoyed by many in the comfort of their own home.  In fact, poker parties have become one of the most popular types of parties to host at your own home.  It’s a great way for friends to get together and have a fun time, without having to visit a casino, which for some is just not feasible.

If you do decide to host a poker party at your house you will need to purchase a few fairly inexpensive accessories that can turn your living room or rec room into a fully equipped poker room in just minutes.  Now, you might be thinking that you don’t want to devote a space in your house solely for the purpose of building a poker room.  Maybe your house is not very large and you just can’t afford to give up any space to build the room.  The good news is that with a few accessories, you can setup a poker room in just a few minutes, host your party and then pack up the poker accessories and put them away after the game.

The first and most obvious item that one would need to build a poker room is a folding poker table.  Just like the title says, this is a table that looks just like the tables you might see at a casino, but with one handy option.  When you’re done playing, they fold up into a handy carrying case and can be stored in a closet.

Many folding poker tables also play double duty in that they can be turned over and used for another game other than poker, often Blackjack.  Depending on your budget a folding poker table can be quite simple and just enough to get the job done, or it can be quite elaborate with features like cup holders, trays for poker chips and some even come in a set complete with chairs.  Prices for folding poker tables range from less than $20 for folding poker table tops that can sit on your kitchen table, to over $400 for a high quality stand-alone folding poker table that includes four chairs.

Once you have purchased your folding poker table, now it’s time to think about other accessories.  Of course you’re going to need playing cards and poker chips.  Another handy innovation is a poker set, which will usually include the chips, dealer buttons, dice and playing cards and come in a case that can also be stored away, out of sight just waiting to be used at your next poker party.  Entry level sets will come with about 300 chips, while more elaborate and complete sets can have as many as 500 chips and a heavy duty carrying case.

Once you have purchased your folding poker table and a poker set, now it’s time to call all your friends and host your own poker party.  Once the party is over, you simply fold the table up, pack up the poker set and your house is back to its normal state in just minutes.

There are great expectations of President Obama.  He has become a symbol of hope for not just America but for the whole world.  An icon before even serving a single day in office.  Has life become that bad for the average citizen, that we have turned to one man to lead us out of the valley of darkness?

Imagine how many people tuned in to watch the historical inauguration of the 44th president yesterday, whether it was on television or online.

Whilst I was watching I couldn’t help reflecting back on the past 8 years and what has happened.  The two things that really stand out for me are; war and the economy.

After all the hype following the election, I found the inauguration a lot more sobering.  Perhaps it is the reality of what we have to face as a nation, what we have to confront and repair.  There is nothing like the severity of reality to make one come to one’s senses – to sober you up!

Indeed the challenges we face are real, they are serious and they are many.

Back to the two main challenges – war and the economy.  In my opinion, for what it is worth, the sooner we tidy up and retreat, leaving behind an orderly and functioning Iraq and Afghanistan, the better.  And, secondly the sooner we put into place solid and sound measures to turn our economy around the better.  Easy to say, difficult to do.

President Obama has already earned my respect.  I am not sure why.  But I just have a feeling that he is the right man for the job at the moment, and that he can do it.  Of course, it is not just him but a whole lot of effort is going to be needed by everyone.  I have followed what he has had to say online and I am sure he will deliver.

Obama speaks well, I enjoy what he has to say, it is intelligent and gives me confidence.  But the “Yes we can” talk is now old news and he is going to have to do more than talk to rejuvenate and rebuild America.

The hopes and dreams of millions of people lie on the shoulders of the new leader and the team that he chooses.  The people voted for him because he promised change, now they expect that change to happen.  There are “Great expectations President Obama”, but I am sure you know that already and that you don’t need to hear it from me.

Ok so how do we put this into a poker context – war and the economy.  Let’s see…ok lets take war first….poker is like war….know thy opponent etc… be aggressive but also fold if necessary, retreat with dignity and respect.

Then the economy… manage your bankroll…know when to enter a game and when to get out… choose your poker table wisely…

Hey I could the hang of this…maybe even I could lead the country…who said poker was not educational and could not be applied to every day life?

Happy New Year!  May 2009 be a good year for you.

We got into a debate on new year’s eve, about the different types of poker, the rules for each game and how to play them.  Most people specialize in one or two versions of poker and get to know the intricacies of these games very well.  They know the basics of the other poker games, that they don’t play that often, but think they know more than what they really know – hence the debate!

For a very good explanation of the different versions take a look at Poker versions.  The site explains how all poker games fall into three main groups: stud poker games (eg. seven card stud), draw poker games (eg. five card draw) and community poker games (eg. Texas Holdem and Omaha).  The different guides for each of the games take you through all the steps of learning more about the game.

I think they have gone to a lot of trouble to explain the different games.  Their emphasis is on Texas Holdem, but heh, thats what they are – a Texas Holdem Portal – written by poker professionals.  There is a lot of useful information, even I picked up some new poker tips.

So maybe something good came from all the discussion and debate, over the poker table, late at night… or should I rather say early in the morning… early at the very start of a new year.

I wish you a wonderful year ahead, enjoy developing your poker knowledge!