Poker Heaven

A little cash on Full Tilt Poker

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Sandells) — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 10:33:00 +0000

I made a deposit into Full Tilt Poker in the middle of last week and, shockingly, I'm still in credit some 5 days later! I've been playing cash games between 50c/$1 and $2/$4 NLHE and PLO. I know those levels are hardly the stuff of nose bleeds and I really should be playing a little higher, but I was really only interested to see how the general play on the low-medium stakes is now at Full Tilt.

It's crap, in short.

If you want a soft game of Omaha then go to Full Tilt!

I took a seat in a $2/$4 PLO game with Ross Boatman. He was 3 or 4 tabling those stake, I believe and was up to $900 and $1000 on the two tables I checked. I have never played against Ross before so I was interested to see his style. We never really tangled and in the pot he took a bluff stab at I raised him out with air.

I see the appeal of Full Tilt to many players. There is an army of top drawer professionls on the site who, in turn, pull in many thousands of crap poker players - trying to take a shot.

Sorry for not updating my blog for a while. See you again in a few months ;-)

A Poker Post and Some F1

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Sandells) — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 22:11:00 +0000

I'm excited. I've got a pokery post....

....deep breath...

...After a horrible Betfair session I tried some PLO on Poker Heaven. Naturally I was shafted more times than Ferndando Torres on a sexual offenders wing. So after a reload I moved to €2/€4 NLHE. After being in for £450 I managed to get out £900 to leave me slightly ahead on the day and easily ahead on the session. It's been a while since I played 2/4 NL and it's reassuring to find that nothing changes! The scandies are still way too aggressive and easily tilted.

I caught a lot of the F1 today, in between being abused by Irish racing on Betfair. Hamilton looks really good for the title this year and I hope he does it. He is clearly the best driver out there. On the flip side of the coin Glock MUST be the worst! I haven't seen an F1 driver bin his car as often as Glock. The man drives like my wife.

The New Job

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Sandells) — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 19:48:00 +0000

I'm really enjoying my new job at The Poker Channel. The work is enjoyable and challenging and exactly what I needed. Call me a sadist, if you will, but I'm actually enjoying the commute as well. Alright, I admit, getting out of bed when there is a 6 at the start of the alarm clock isn't great but it goes some way to experiencing the sleep loss the wife is suffering due to the baby.

The train to Euston takes just under an hour. The tube (with one change) takes roughly 45 minutes. Factor in a drive to the station/back home and a 5 minute walk to the office and each trip is around 2 hours. One way! How can I possibly be enjoying that? Maybe the novelty will wear off. Then again I enjoy the peace on the train to Euston (it hasn't ever really been busy). I enjoy seeing the city gents running for tubes. A man in a bowler hat with an umbrella, running at full sprint, is just hilarious to me. I'm enjoying the exercise too. Working at home means walking from bed to a computer with the occasional business trip to the toilet. So getting to walk a few miles each day has me feeling good inside. Maybe a little knackering on the legs, though!

The work itself is great. I enjoy creating and building things from scratch. With the new site there is a blank canvas to work from. While UK PokerNews was a success is was very limited in how far I could take it. I'll be very susprised is the Poker Channel Europe isn't a market leader in the next 3 or 4 years. I'm hugely confident about the whole project.

As you can probably imagine with so much working and commuting and baby stuff going on there is little chance to do anything else. Playing poker has taken a back step. I think I'll get back into the game in a month or two as the baby settles into longer sleep patterns. I am desperate for a live game however :-)

That's all for now. Apologies for the lack of pokery content.

Frosty PokerRoom

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Sandells) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 22:01:00 +0000

The last game I played was two days ago on PokerRoom. It was the third event of the UK PokerNews league. The league is a tasty looking promotion with $10k up for grabs, spread over the top three places.

I've given up.

I'm down in 8th or 9th and, although that might not seem far off 3rd, I'm a million miles behind in terms of points. I would have to go on an amazing run in the next six games to trouble 3rd place. Tonight's game was cancelled and I'm sure that will be very much appreciated by the top three players!

I'm not usually one for throwing in the towel but, I'm running so cold, that I swear if I went to Vegas tomorrow it'd snow on the strip!

In other news....

....Baby Sandells was born on June 18th. Little Isabel is very sweet but very tiring. Her pictures are on my Facebook pages.

It's not long until I start work for The Poker Channel and I can't wait to get started.

Good luck to Damo with his move to Manila.

That's all. Carry on.

A quickie with Tila Tequila

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Sandells) — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 18:03:00 +0000

At times she was good. At other times she hurt me. In the end we parted company richer for the experience.

Yes, I've withdrawn from Tila Poker! (what else were you thinking?)

Finally they delivered on the $50 freebie promise and that pushed my total to almost $420. From a $60 deposit and 9 days play I'm pretty happy with the total. So, after my sordid fling with Tila, where next?

UK PokerNews have just launched a great looking league with PokerRoom. I don't have a PokerRoom account and I've heard good things about it from Kev Stevens (RIP). That site will be the next download solely for the reason of the UKPN league which has a $5k first prize alongside $3k for 2nd and $2k for 3rd.

The first game is on June 17th. The second on June 19th. This represents a small problem. Child #2 is due on June 19th and I have a funny feeling Leicester Royal Infirmary won't allow me to take a laptop into the delivery suite. Of course baby could be a day late and all will be well at Chateau Sandells.

A girl is due. Maybe I'll call her Tila.

Yeah Yeah... where's my f'ing money!?

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Sandells) — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 07:55:00 +0000

I know the graph pic in the last post was crap, but as Bender might say, whatcha gonna do?

How annoyed am I that I'm STILL waiting for Tila Poker to cough up my $50 bonus? Quite. I mean, I'm not sending death threats yet but then it is Sunday, I am hungover and I had about 3 hours sleep last night. Maybe tomorrow.

I played a huge 100 hands yesterday! I can tell you're already impressed. I didn't play at all on Friday. The $60 challenge total is almost at $300. Fascinating. So, what am I going to write in a poker blog?

Ummm..

...I did my nuts on the Derby. I backed Ronaldo's goal minutes on the spread in the Portugal v Turkey game (he didn't score).

Hey! Everybody likes reading about a loss. Don't they?

I see Kev Stevens has hung up his mouse ( http://flipyouforit.blogspot.com/ ) after coming to the conclusion that online poker is disrupting his family life. So be it. I have some understanding of his situation as I spend far too long at the computer myself. It's easy to get engrossed and, before you know it, 4 hours have gone by.

I've been thinking about why online poker is so addicting. I think it boils down to getting (possible) great rewards for little effort. You can sit in your armchair and make thousands in a few hours. If you win a big MTT you feel you've won a war, single handedly, and been paid a wedge of cash for your efforts. Your efforts of clicking a mouse and scratching your balls for a few hours. Beautiful. Then there is the pain of losing. The bad beats. They suck. Like a nagging toothache. But, when the toothache is cured you feel great, alive, refreshed. Just like after a good win on the virtual felt?

Anyway, online poker is here to stay. It's just a shame when the nice guys fall by the wayside while the arseholes keep playing.

New Challenges

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Sandells) — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 11:56:00 +0000

It's been a strange 7 days for me.
Last week I started a "$60 challenge". Why $60? I've no idea to be honest. The amount was suggested to me by Kev Stevens after I was seeking answers to why I'm so crap at tournament poker recently. The idea is to play patient poker at both cash and STTs. To ignore the small stakes / buy-ins and just play my absolute bollocks off. I've passed 1000 hands and things are going pretty well. Note the Matusow blow up around 800 - 900 hands :-) - Hey, I'm not perfect!

So, I've gone back to playing poker levels circa 2003/04. Strangely I'm really enjoying it. I've no idea where the $60 is going. My heart still thumps when I'm all-in for $7! I think I'm rediscovering my love for playing online.

In other news....

....I have quit my job! I've been working for PokerNews for 4 years now and, to be honest, I've had enough. I'm not going into reasons right here, right now, as that would be wrong. Suffice to say, just like boggle eyed Ben from LOST, "I always have a plan".

I will begin a new job in July. It represents plenty of exciting challenges. One of which is a 3 day a week commute to London and back!

Resigning is a strange feeling. I've only done it once before and the whole thing left me feeling awkward and a little guilty. This time I did it by email and things were much easier!

The WSOP is underway and I really don't care. Why? because I'm here in the UK while everyone else, it seems, is lapping up the atmosphere or taking a shot at some of the events in Vegas. Bah! I'm not bitter, honest!

Home from Vegas. What now?

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Sandells) — Sun, 11 May 2008 11:38:00 +0000

Vegas was superb (again) for me for the third year in a row. I brought home far more dollars than I left the UK with thanks to a lucky spin on a slot machine and a little poker positive.

I arrived home just under two weeks ago to the cold and the rain of Gatwick airport. The previous 9 - 10 days was spent in the company of my old mate Danny McCarthy and the balding alcohol sponge that is Gaz Bouch. Danny is not great about flying anywhere thanks to a scary experience in bad weather a few years ago. Although he was nervous and pretty much EATING his calming medication I thought he dealt with the long flight to Vegas really well. I think the combined 22hr+ flying may have eased his flying nerves a little.

This trip was a boys holiday really. I played very little poker apart from two tournaments at Caesars and the odd cash session.

We met a lot of characters in sin city. I visited a few establishments which I had avoided in the past and really enjoyed myself when I did. The boys were wide eyed at the whole place and I always enjoy seeing the expression on the faces of Vegas virgins. Despite the fun and excess it was good to get home. I think around 8 - 10 days in Vegas is plenty long enough to enjoy yourself and not become bored. I may have discovered the perfect length of time to stay in Vegas! Of course now I'm home I want to go back again. Maybe I will in 2009 if I can keep the cold sweats at bay for another year.

So, what now? My daughter is due to be born in June. That should be an exciting and tiring time.

Currently I'm not playing poker tournaments and I'm only occasionally dipping my toe into any cash games. Playing poker has taken a back step this year. I do love the game and I always will. It's been very good to me financially and socially as I've found many new friends from playing. I'm shocked to see quite a lot of "poker players" expressing why they now dislike poker and why they don't play or rarely play these days. I think some people have short memories and are quick to slag off poker simply because their recent results have dipped. I will never be negative towards the game as I have a lot to thank it for.

If you can write a big list of why poker is crap and you're still playing it then you clearly have huge problems.

2008 is looking like a very busy year for me, work wise. I think I will start playing tournaments again at some point. Qualifiers for the Aussie Millions at the end of the year may be the point at which I get involved again.

A2 or Fold

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Sandells) — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 21:46:00 +0000

Is 10 handed O8B cash the dullest game in history? I don't know but it feels like it after the last hour. Maybe I'm just frustrated after getting AA2X four times in that period and getting NO action what so ever.

Where are all the O8B fish tonight? Where is A59J rainbow man? Is A48Q woman on holiday?

I'm not sure what was the more boring. The O8B cash or watching England lose in France. However, both are over. I'm $10 richer. I can now do something useful with my time. Maybe read the newspaper and wonder what I can buy with my £5 haul.

Hey! It's not a loss at least.

The fog clears

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Sandells) — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 17:47:00 +0000

Before the Easter weekend I made a deposit into an online poker room of €350. Why €350? I don't know. Just a randomly picked out of the air figure I guess. I'm rather proud of my haul today, 5 days later. Despite having the prospect of two weeks juggling work and a 4 year old and trips to West Mids Safari Park and every chavs favourite town, Warrington, over Easter - I managed to avoid a tilty €2/€4 NL session with the entire deposit and play sensibly.

If you've ever spoken to me at length about poker, you've probably heard me banging on about what I call "poker clarity". Poker clarity is a world where everything you play seems to make sense, where tilt doesn't exist, where you are 100% focused on the game, where losing is nothing but a minor valley in your ascent up Everest. Poker clarity is where you want to live.

Unfortunately my visits to Poker clarity are simply that. Visits. Short ones. The ideal scenario is to maintain that state of mind for each session of poker. To buy a second home in Poker clarity that I can visit at will.

Some of you might be thinking I'm simply running good. You'd be wrong. Ohh, for sure, I've had a few coin flip victories but the real reason is my standard of play right now. I'm back and it feels great! Just in time for my trip to Vegas in April too.

I've created a Vegas specific blog for the trip here: http://vivalasvegasbaby.blogspot.com/

For more detailed pokery I will still be using this blog.

WTF Have I Been Up To!?

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Sandells) — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 19:12:00 +0000

I appear to have neglected my blog somewhat over the winter and for that I whole heartedly apologise. No, really!

So, what's been happening at chateau Sandells?

First up the better half is pregnant with our second child. A girl is due in June all being well. This leaves me with little chance (even less than usual) of attending the WSOP this year. How can I possibly go a whole year without going to Vegas? The answer; I'm not. I'm going in April instead!

This time the MGM Grand beckons for eight days from April 19th. The trip is going to be part poker, part holiday. Stay tuned for pictures and stories in April and May.

Secondly I'm so off the game at the moment I'm on another planet. I've very much lost the feel for playing poker both online and live. I've also lost some of my passion for the game to a degree too. The result of which has meant the uninstall of PokerStars recently and very minimal cash game play. I see no reason why I should continue to play on Stars. There is an element of poker peer pressure to play there and I'm just not buying into it any more. I'm a loser on Stars in both cash and tournaments. My white flag is held high. TYVM, GG.

Where and when I play is now going to be ultra selective. Everywhere should be rewarding me for my play via rake back or a big deposit/reload bonus online. Live I want a comfortable environment without any idiots. That leaves me with few options within the UK, at least.

Results wise I have little of note to post about. Partly due to lack of play and partly due to playing like a donkey when I do play.

This post sounds pretty negative in regards to poker, I know. Clearly I am over the "newbie excitement" of the game. That probably explains my recent poor play as I have chased action far too often instead of grinding it out. So, what next? Well, I'm taking a break from it. I'm not playing when I'm simply bored an not playing when I simply want to socialise. When I'm hungry for it I'll play again. I imagine 5 minutes in Vegas will help my appetite.

AWOP - Blackpool Team Event

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Sandells) — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 17:43:00 +0000

I hate team poker.

Yep, that's right. Allow me explain.

I have played in three or four poker team games in the last year or so. On each occasion I have enjoyed playing and socialising but (and there has to be a 'but') each event is very hard to take seriously. I play poker because I'm a greedy person. I want the chips. I want to win. I want money. I know, I'm going to hell! In team events there appears little incentive to play your socks off for the following reasons:

- The prize money is split between your team. Which means you could play for 7 hours and win the tournament and walk home with nothing because your team mates all got knocked out early. Why aren't all final tablists recognised by having their buy-in refunded or returned with a small profit or even merchandise? Even if your team wins and you split the prize ten ways you'll finish up with five times your buy-in back - woohooo... online sit & go anybody?

- **Team mates can be muppets, me included! You're investing money in their ability/mood/soberness. For me that increases the luck factor in poker hugely... national lottery anyone?

- Playing team poker seems alien to me. I play to win and knock out everybody else. My wife was chuntering in my ear during one pot (as is her want) "don't knock him out, he's on our team". WHHHAAAATTT!? I won't ever soft play anybody and trying to keep team mates alive is collusion to me - although I'm sure everybody is at it during such games.

I know what you're shouting at the screen about now: "You're missing the point, you idiot!". You're probably right. I know these occasions are not your straight forward game of tournament poker and the emphasis is on fun and not profits. The thing is; winning and making profit from the game IS fun for me. I like a drink and a laugh like everybody else, don't get wrong, but I don't play poker seriously to be anyones friend and I cannot see the point in playing poker just for the hell of it.

"But you said you were going all-in every hand" - I hear you cry.

That is true. I promised to play for the team though and after I heard some **team members left after the main event, leaving us short and in no chance of catching up during the headhunter event, I thought better of it. There was also money for the individual available. I played in 5th gear throughout and won, taking ten players out for several bounty payments.

I have re-read this post and it sounds very harsh. The event was very nicely put together, good organisation, although announcements on the mic every 2 minutes were making my blood boil, and no juice added by the casino. There are plenty of positives from this type of poker. If you use poker as an excuse to get out and meet your friends then fair enough, you'll probably love team poker. If, however, you are like me and a greedy self obsessed poker player then you'll probably dislike playing with/for a bunch of others.

Team poker, tyvm, gl. I'll stick to the usual games.

Long time no blog

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Sandells) — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 15:08:00 +0000

I went to Vilnius and Warsaw at the end of August. It was my first time playing in Warsaw and I rather enjoyed it. I got up to my old tricks of leading for the first 4-5 hours then spunking my chips away with gay abandon. The 5 hour mark is my downfall. I seem to lose concentration and play far too loosely. I'm unsure how to combat this. I think next time I'll just leave the table, drink something cold and splash water on my face. I hate to think how many final tables I've lost out on due to this "5 hour itch".

There are a few live events on the horizon. Tomorrow I'll have a crack at the £300 freezeout at Broadway and on Thursday I'll play some live Omaha cash. My object is to final or win a ranking event before 2008. I've had a good year online and in backing other good players but my live tournament performances have been awful. With 3 1/2 months of 2007 to go I really don't want to complete 2007 without a result on the board. The pressure is on!

Satellites

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Sandells) — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 22:11:00 +0000

I really cannot buy a win in an online satellite. In 2005 I bubbled for the WSOP main event in a satellite on Crypto. In 2006 I reached two final tables in WSOP satellites. The trend continues this summer. In July I bubbled for the APPT Manila. Tonight I've bubbled for the Melbourne PokerNews Cup.

I don't mind losing out. Somebody has to bubble in every tournament and it's happened to me countless times online and live. What hurts is how well I'm playing up to the bubble stages. I really cannot play any better until the bubble, then inexplicably I lose concentration. I'm either too placid or too aggressive. In the APPT satellite I was too weak and paid the price. In the PokerNews Cup I was too aggressive and donked my lead away. There is a happy (winning?) medium in there somewhere I've yet to discover. If I'm going to continue trying to win satellites then I'll have to find that style soon before I go crazy.

Miles, Speeding and Horses

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Sandells) — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 21:57:00 +0000

Some of you may have read on other forums that I've got caught speeding a couple of weeks ago. I'm generally very careful in the car but this time I was troubling the sound barrier and got what I deserved. I thought an honest approach and a "you have a tough job" spin might get me off a ticket. No such luck. £60 is not the worst pot I've lost, though :-)

I'm putting in some serious miles this month. I tried to get into London to see Tony G and just spent most of my day sat on the motorway. So, I tried again the next day and managed to get to Gatwick faster than ever before. On Saturday I'm going to Ripon race course. On Tuesday I'm going to central London. Before the month is out I'll be in Vilnius and Warsaw for some pokering. What is the old saying? "Getting there is half the fun" - I beg to differ!

Why am I going to Ripon races? Well, my horse runs on Saturday for the first time. His name is The Mighty One, he is a 2yr old colt. He runs in the 2.35 and will be around 14/1. Fingers crossed for a good run. If he places I'll be very happy.

This is a very non-poker post so far. What a hypocrite I am sometimes! I don't have much poker related things to say. I've played live a couple of times, including an interesting cash game last week. 6 hours of play won me exactly £70. I still enjoyed it. I've also had some low stakes no limit sessions. I took almost $500 from Poker Heaven ring games at 50c/$1 and $1/$2 NL. I ran into a great play by one guy at 50c/$1. It went like this:

He raises to $3 utg.
It's folded to me no the BB with a monster looking 9,4suited. So I re-raised him to $11.
He called.
Flop: A,9,2
I bet out $25
He calls
Turn: 4 - bingo!
I set him all-in for $56
He insta-calls
River: X

Showdown: He has pocket Aces for the set.

That'll teach me! I loved his play though. Flat called the re-raise with Aces, slow played them and let me hang myself. Just as I was admiring him for playing that so well, he played a horrible hand like a donkey and gave it all back + his original stack.

A round of the table later I put him on the felt with Q,7 vrs his A2. Flop: A,Q,7. He would not lay it down and sent me all of his chips. Maybe it was my image that was getting paid in that hand but surely he could find a better spot that top pair, deuce kicker to get his money in against me. I did at least have two pairs a few minutes earlier!

Did you know you can check your Poker Heaven rake back online now? Check my main site for details http://www.paulsandellspoker.com

Running Hot

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Sandells) — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 00:28:00 +0000

I've nothing much to say at it's 1.30am and I'm about to go to bed. I've been playing since 7pm and I'm $1400 ahead. Mostly all cash winnings but I've had a good streak of STT results too.

I have the house to myself until Sunday and I'm wondering if the lack of distractions is focusing my game or if I'm just running like a river of lava.

It's very strange to be living alone, all be it just for four days. I have spoken maybe 150 words today to order a repeat prescription and to check the family arrived in Scotland for their little holiday. The silence has enabled me to get a truck load of work finished, although I haven't actually seen another real person all day. It must be tough to live alone full time. I know I'm generally a lucky person but sometimes things happen that make me feel just a little luckier.

Tomorrow i'll be even busier but I'll probably go out and play a live game in the evening. I much prefer live poker to online although it's less profitable for me. The human interaction is far better plus you never (or hardly ever) get morons wishing you ill health or trying to educate you in how to play.

Ranting

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Sandells) — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 07:39:00 +0000

I'm going to have a good old fashioned bloggers rant today. Everybody loves a good rant, don't they?

Experts, and I use the term loosely, are really starting to wind me up. I'm talking about micro-limit, £5 rebuy merchants who've never played a major tournament, never left the comfort of their own area, let alone experienced serious poker in a different country and never won anything of note online apart from a $50 pot at 10c/20c NL. Yes, you know who you are. You've read Sklansky and Harrington (and you might aswell quote directly from their books when you talk or post online) and you've watched poker on Challenge TV. You're top of the class when it comes to poker. You know everything. You've seen the pros play on the box and therefore you know them like a brother. Everything that happens in your local crapshoot happens in every tournament all over the world, you've cashed in your £10 freezeout there so you can cash in any tournament anywhere. You're a poker expert and you love to dispense advice on any poker subject. If anybody challenges you they are clearly moronic and should be belittled for having the cheek to suggest you're wrong. You can grind out $10 an hour on PokerStars and have been doing so for years. You have thousands of posts on 2+2. You're awesome.

I'm not talking about anybody in particular here. There are thousands of people like this all over the world. They drive me nuts because they're all the same. They think their game has no flaws and that they'll be spotted for yet another final table in a £2 rebuy in some obscure poker room and a $1,000,000 deal is only around the corner because of that. They take poker far, far too seriously for their regular game.

So, experts, today is your wake up call.

- You're not going to be gracing the EPT, WPT, WSOP, APPT, ITV, BBC, or even Channel 5. If by some miracle you win 400 satellites to gain entry into one of those you won't play a hand through fear for 3 hours and will go out when you're Aces are cracked.
- Your local casino games contain no players likely to threaten any major tournament any time soon. Players who hit their weekly £5 rebuy and have been doing so for 2 years are not progressing.
- Grinding a small profit from online poker is not a huge achievement if the profit is less than you'd get paid as a MacDonalds burger flipper or a public toilet cleaner.
- Form your opinions based on experience, not what a book or forum tells you.
- If you're serious about poker then at least try and progress to higher stakes and bigger tournaments at some stage.
- Poker is a game and games should be entertaining. If you're grinding at low limits and have been for years you're not playing, you're working.
- Your opinions on poker may sometimes encounter contradicting opinions from others. There is rarely a black and white issue with a clear right or wrong.

In short, stop the delusion. Recreational poker players (including grinders) are not experts.

(I'm not either, I should add)

Have a great day.

Please come and play for us!

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Sandells) — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 21:30:00 +0000

I played in Bearwood yesterday and managed to cash in 5th in the tourney. I'm so ashamed about the way I went out that I'm not going to post it, it really was a horrible call for all my chips. I should've gone further than 5th, though.

Before I left for the game I had a bizarre phone call from Betfair. I don't know if they are calling around all their sportsbook clients to try and get them into poker, but I took much amusement in the young lady's sales pitch. She was desperately trying to sell the WSOPE to me, bless her. If only she'd dropped a few hundred into my account to "try out the software" she may have got some long term business for her company. Of course I've tried Betfair Poker, it used to be PokerChamps, it's unique, I'll give it that but it's very player unfriendly IMHO. I'll stick to Poker Heaven for now, tyvm, gg, ul, bye.

Tomorrow I'm calling Betfair support to try and recruit their staff as Poker Heaven players.

Running hot for a week...

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Sandells) — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 17:34:00 +0000

...then I ran into an ice storm!

I'm almost at the end of my holiday in Malta. As we have a 4yr old who is in bed by 8pm and who loves to go swimming with his mother (I can't swim) I've been left with quite a lot of free time. I took the opportunity to use some of the time to try and spin up a $400 deposit I made into a site prior to the APPT satellite agony. At one stage I was nudging $2000 and considered a complete withdrawal to pocket the extra $1600. For four days worth of sporadic play I was pretty pleased with my $400 a day part-time play during my hols. I was cashing and winning STTs and HU matches quite frequently, then frosty the snowman flipped the doomswitch and it all went wrong.

Firstly I ran through around 10 STTs and HUs without cashing. No big deal, of course, but couple that cold spell with a few quad over quad incidents in Omahahahahaha and the profit is all gone.

I withdrew my remaining $500 in disgust. But hey! I managed to get a Silver Star for my efforts so that's alright.

I can understand playing on PokerStars if you're one of the high volume players. The VIP programme does have incentive if you're racking up thousands of FPPs each day. If you're an average Joe, like me, though what is the point? Fine if you want to add to your book collection then Stars has a nice choice. If you want to work your socks off for an iPod, then away you go. However, work out what you're paying in rake for these items first if the gifts are your incentive.

Once you've done that and deleted PokerStars from your machine, start enjoying the 30% rake back you get at Poker Heaven AND the huge deposit bonus AND the extra freebies and perks they throw in to the VIP players. Download from my main site : http://www.paulsandellspoker.com

Then email me from there and I'll upgrade you to the rake back list.

PokerStars has an excellent range of games, but if you're like me and raking $2000 per month, would you rather have a nice collection of autographed books or $600 in your pocket each month ($7200 per year)

Almost a Thriller in Manila

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Sandells) — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 20:55:00 +0000

I'm in Malta right now, on my hols, with the family. It's nearly as hot as Vegas here but not quite as exciting.

The day before I flew out I had a crack at the APPT Manila satellite on the starry poker room. 82 runners, 8 seats, 9th for a refund, 8th for a $60 loss. I won't go into too much detail. I played pretty well for 5 hours, folded a huge hand on the bubble when a small stack moved in, got anted down and went out with an A high push in 9th. Ohh how pleased I was with my refund as a reward. In truth I deserved nothing more. I bottled a call when I had the chance to end the game. The short stack stayed in and is now looking forward to a $2500 main event in Manila. Still, I'm in Malta! Although I didn't get here via a satellite!

Enough whinging.

Congratulations to Matt Tyler. His wife just gave birth to a baby girl. I don't usually use my blog for such messages but Matt always has a cheerful hello and a handshake for me whenever I bump into him on the UK circuit. Welcome to a world of sleepless nights, screaming, stress and dirty bottoms, Matt. It's great really.

It's not about the money...

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Sandells) — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 08:41:00 +0000

...It's all about the glory.

;-)

Bloggers with verbal diarrhea

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Sandells) — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 10:04:00 +0000

Yes, I'm one of them. Especially recently after my Vegas rants. However, I do try and post a few things of interest, rather than rubbish that everybody knows or repeating what everybody thinks. I suppose blogs are always going to be self centred trash in the main.

The point to this post is that recently I've been reading lots of poker blogs and, quite frankly, 9 times out of 10 they're garbage. Why I must inflict such pain on myself I'm not sure, I will be cutting down in future that's for certain. The worst bloggers are the "quiet men" who love to have a go at others via there blog yet face to face they're about as likely to repeat their blog posts as the Pope is to be found in bed with Paris Hilton.

With the WSOP running right now the increase in verbal diarrhea is reaching epidemic proportions. "I saw Tony G slam his chips on the table, he must be a bad man". "I saw Phil Hellmuth have a tantrum again, he is a child." and on and on and on it goes. Listen, bloggers you don't know these people. You see such a small fraction of their lives that you cannot possibly know what they are REALLY like. So stop passing blanket comments from behind your PC screens! Please :-)

I know that will fall on deaf ears, so I'll just stop reading the crap blogs for the sake of my blood pressure.

Ok, rant over.

There are some good blogs out there too. M3Boy's blog from Vegas is great stuff. He concentrated on the poker from Binions recently, sticks a few interesting photos up, runs through some important hands and issues and generally runs a good blog (when he updates it!). Kev Stevens also writes a good blog with some good points raised and opinions put across well. Luckydonut's blog is especially entertaining and one of my current favourites.

Ohh yes, one more thing before I sign off today. Never play poker when jet lagged :-(

Jager Bombs and Pit Bosses that won't let you leave

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Sandells) — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 13:58:00 +0000

I'm not a big drinker, but if you read further down this blog you'll notice I had a little session during my Vegas trip. This started sensibly enough. A few pints of Guinness, a chat and a laugh. Then things got out of hand. I remember drinking one Jager Bomb in the pub in Orleans. The Jager Miester shot is dropped in a glass of Red Bull. Before it mixes you down the entire drink. Gulp, no worries. At 1am they threw us out to close up. All the other bars in Orleans stay open 24/7. Not that we used any bars as the cocktail girls kept us well watered.

After joining a single deck blackjack game, things got loud and silly and ermm... interesting! Jagers were flying everywhere. Twins across the table joined in the action after being very unimpressed at the Aussie and Limey joining their table. They softened up though and it was party time. At about 3am, the pit boss, Jennifer I think, was singing Australian songs and trying to convince her dealer to stay on and deal for us. We offered her $50 an hour to deal and she still refused. Not a problem, Jennifer moved us to a new table. A new friend, who was driving to his job in Kansas the next morning, joined in our drinking/blackjack session.

At 5am I tried to leave, just as Jennifer came back on duty and was duly told to sit my ass down. I got a little shoulder massage for my trouble, mind. I suppose that beats a free meal comp!

I finally escaped at 6am. So drunk I could barely walk. When I think about Jager Bombs now I feel sick to the pit of my stomach.

I did enjoy that massage though.

1 cent tips and sportsbooks

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Sandells) — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 17:24:00 +0000

Orleans has a nice little area near the card room where a Subway is situated. Subway can offer reasonably healthy food so is a good option for quick lunches. The service, though, is terrible at the best of times. On a number of occasions we waited for 15 mins+ to get some food. It would've been faster to sit in a restaurant and order a full meal. Infact it WAS faster on the occasion we ate in TGI's during lunch time. Finally, on the last day at 11:45am, I decided a subway was a good meal to have before the long flight home. In disgust at the length of time it took to serve him, Damien left the ultimate insult to service; A 1 cent tip in the box near the till.

I think this is a great, silent way of expressing your disgust. I will remember it for next time.

---

Sportsbooks are in every casino in Vegas. Even Binions has four chairs stranded in the middle of the casino which face a TV. I like a bet or two and spent a few afternoons watching racing. American racing seems more predictable than UK. Certainly betting patterns give huge indications of what is going to be in with a shout. They also have greyhound racing over there. After a very good session, one afternoon, I was ahead by about $900 and fancied a little $100 punt on a dog. At the window we find the maximum bet on a dog is $50. That's £25. Wow! Did I feel like a high roller, or what!? I expected improvement at the Las Vegas Hilton but was in for a big shock. The maximum they would accept was $20 on a dog! Damien asked the Orleans sportsbook boss what would happen if we made several $50 bets with different cashiers using different people. "We'll be pissed off" was the reply.

On board with Jack Binion

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Sandells) — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 11:19:00 +0000

I thought the delays flying to Vegas were irritating. The return leg was a complete nightmare! The only saving grace for Virgin Atlantic was their on board seating arrangements. Poker legend Jack Binion was on the upper deck with his wife and several generations of the Binion clan. What a delicious coincidence, after we had such a great result at Binions Horseshoe on a few days before, to be seated next to Jack Binion on my return flight to the UK.

I had a nice chat to Jack and in that brief period of time the name of every poker playing legend under the sun ran through my head. He is a lovely man, quiet, content but retaining a twinkle in his eye when you mention "poker". Sometimes I'm a very lucky guy. I meet the most incredible people who have lead full and rich lives. Each inspire me in different ways. There are few things I will take to the grave with me. My conservation with the great man will be one.

The flight home took forever. We left the stand about 15 mins late. Then sat on the tarmac awaiting our turn on the runway for about 45 mins. The captain piped up, "I'm sorry to inform you that the wind direction has changed. This means we have to take off on a different run way. Due to the delay we have used up a good deal of our fuel supply and will have to return to the gate to refuel." This doesn't sound like a huge problem, does it? However, when the plane is refueled the engines have to be shut off. This means the aircon is off. This means in 118 degree heat we were about to be cooked for the next hour and 20 mins. Eventually, sweaty and annoyed, we got in the air.

After landing at Gatwick, only 10 hours later, it took an hour for my bag to arrive. It took me 45 mins to find my car (my fault for losing it) and an extra hour to get home due to delays on the M23, M25 and M1... pretty much every road on the way home. I was expecting a tailback to get on to my own drive. Fortunately it was clear!

These irritations were only that. Irritations of everyday life. I'll take many things from this trip, not least over $10,000 profit. The money will come and go but my brief time with Jack Binion will stay with me forever. Thanks Jack.