And the winner is...

Firstly a apology regarding the blog. I have been very busy lately with non poker/gambling things so been unable to update the blog. I also have had flu recently over Xmas /new year but on the road to full recovery. So now the blog is back to normal.
firstly a quick update on our financial situation.

To summarise quickly we finished the year with a total balance of £17,980.00 which from a starting balance of £10,000.00 is a massive achievement.

We have made £7,980.00 in 17 weeks which is fantastic.
Certainly further ahead of where I thought we would be at this time.

Since new year there have been no poker, no bets and only a little bit of trading. Rather than add this to our balance I will add it next time.
Poker will be taking a back seat this week as busy and only a little bit of free time.
I also need to think which direction to take in the future.

I mentioned in previous blogs about changing habits and goals. Well to be honest I have become a bit down lately or to put it another way unmotivated.
The drop in prize money at local level has been of concern but also the fact that financially I reached my goal I set myself many years ago. This £ figure should with careful money management allow me to enjoy my later years with out concern, however I really wish the credit crunch would go away.

I have been so unmotivated I have only played once at local level since new year which as you all know is not like me.
However a source of inspiration came from a unlikely source this week. Someone I met recently less than a week or so ago provided a spark which was the proverbial kick up the arse I needed.
And considering they are from non poker& gambling is even more bizarre but hey ho lets go.

2008 REVIEW.

last year in the poker world was a bit of a roller coaster for myself.

The year started of really good with a first place in Brighton in the £300.00 freeze out and a 22ND in the main event which resulted in a £9,000.00 profit in the first month.

After that it seemed to get more and more frustrating on the grosvenor and gala tours. Four times I came back for day two in the main event with a really healthy chip stack (with in the top 20) only to become totally card dead and exit before the money.

However on the gala tour of which I played most events there was only one minor cash, certainly room for improvement there this year (goal number 1).

Sandwiched in between was the unexpected online win on mansion in their big deal competition. A first place in April resulted in a prize of a massive £96,000.00.
They retained a % as I play for them online with there money and also me good mate Michael Jackson received his % for his outstanding contribution.

At local level Teeside and Newcastle I struggled through out the early part of the year to make any progress and was running at a loss at Teeside until the summer and was a bit concerned.
However a good second part of the year allowed me to finish in profit for the 6Th consecutive year, so hopefully I can continue that into 2009 (another goal).

Trading activity has been the years biggest positive. With out going into any detail it is something that will increase in 2009 as the rewards out weigh the effort.


Now to our Annual awards.

Congratulations go to non other than...


James "Hollywood" Browning who has the honour of winning the first N.A.P.P.Y award.(Northeast Poker Player of the Year).

The voting numbers were very successful, thank god for face book.

I would like to thank all the 72 people who took time to vote.

I will be presenting James with his award as soon as I bump into him and hopefully will be able to get a picture posted on here.

I have decided to do the blog on a monthly basis as it is very time consuming, however a update will occur if there are any major happenings in the crazy world of poker and gambling.
If I travel for instance I will update on my return.
This will help as the blog will not become repetitive and stale.

The first festival I have my eye on is not until the end of February in Walsall but I am constantly keeping my eyes open for opportunities.

Well time is of the essence so until next time (first week in Feb) .

L8

What is a nappy?

WEEK COMMENCING MONDAY DEC 8TH DECEMBER.

What is a nappy?. Well more about that later.

After the exhausting travels of last week it was time to catch up with everything that had been put on the back burner.
Xmas shopping my least fave thing in the whole wild world. Can,t wait for bird flu to fly over here and confine us all indoors over the Xmas period.

Not had much time for anything but did manage to fit in one poker comp at Tees side this week. Thursdays £10.00 re buy.

Started of really well during the re buy period and only lost one major pot when my Aces failed to outdraw pocket Eight,s, a 8 turning up on the river.
Any way survived the re buy period with a healthy, bigger than average stack.

The levels between the end of the re buy period and the final was tantamount to my reborn patience (which I used to have in abundance) and my survival skills.

This back to basics strategy is starting to pay dividends.

Made the final without too much trouble with about average chips.

Question: which hand would you rather hold in a heads up situation? pocket Queens or Ace King suited?

That question was asked generally around the final table where every one vented there opinion.

Taxi Kev certainly opted for the correct answer of pocket queens as he raised from early position and getting one caller.
With the discussion still ongoing the two gladiators continued in the hand as the flop came down of ...

Q 4 5 (1 DIAMOND)

CHECK CHECK

Turn K of diamonds.

Now comes a raise war with all the chips of both players ending up in the middle.

Pocket Queens for Kev giving him trips and Ace King for Kev,s opponent but with the Ace of diamonds...

river...

a seven of diamonds

So Kev you wanna change your mind mate?

Any way back to the final.
Without too much trouble managed to get down to the last three and eventually chipped away at the weaker player which left me in a heads up situation with my friend Paul Wilson.

Even tho I had a massive chip advantage I immediately offered a even split of first and second prize, well after all it is Xmas.

So for a spend of £10.00 we recorded a profit of £530.00.
Very welcome at least it means it will be turkey this year instead of pigeon!

For those statisticians out there AK suited v pocket queens.

Pocket queens v AK suited without the queen of the AK suit is a %53.786 fave to win the hand,
Pocket queens with the queen of the AK suit is 54.117 fave to win the hand.

Now to our bankroll.

PREVIOUS BALANCE £17,403.00

LUTON COSTS -£630.00

5% DOM +£250.00

CASH GAMES +£450.00

LOCAL POKER PROFIT/LOSS +£450.00

ROY KEANE TO BE NEXT MANAGER TO GO +£225.00

LEWIS HAMILTON BBC SPORTS PERSONALITY £- £200.00

SPORTS/BETTING -£250.00

TRADING -£20.00

CURRENT BANKROLL NOW STANDS AT £17,678.00

So we have increased our starting balance of £10,000.00 by 7 grandish in approx 15 weeks with little or no effort.


What is a nappy? or should I say what is a N.A.P.P.Y.

Well N.A.P.P.Y. stands for...



Northern area poker player of the year.

The first of our annual awards.

Now come the candidates (in no particular order).


1. Keith Hawkins.

Keith has made 4 excellent cashes this year on the international circuit. In Australia in Jan he cashed in 28Th place in the main event. Sandwiched in between his 3rd place in Teesside,s gala main event was two cashes in the wsop.
The first was when he finished 24Th in the $5000.00 no limit hold em event and the highlight of his career finishing 75Th in the wsop main event FROM OVER 6000 entrants.

DOES THIS EARN YOUR VOTE?

2 James browning.

James has had no fewer than 25 cashes in ranking events this year.
He currently sits at no1 in the world in competitions valued at $1000.00 or less.
James also won the £200.00 no limit event at Blackpool in November.

DOES THIS GET YOUR VOTE?.

3.LYNNE BEAUMONT.


Lynne has cashed 13 times in 2008 on her travels through out the UK. Lynne successfully retained her Betfred title she won in 2007 which allows her another years sponsorship.
Lynne's consistency continues and maybe this is why she is considered the ladies UK number one player.

Does this get your vote?

So there we have it 3 contenders for the first ever north east poker awards and the honour of being the
NORTH EASTS PLAYER OF THE YEAR 2008.

Now the interactive part. Any one who reads this blog is eligible to vote.

Lots of people have commented on this blog saying how much they enjoy it. So now is the time to give something back by voting.
You can vote by the comments section on this blog or by message on face book. Alternately you can tell me in person for those of you who do not use face book.

Now as in all contests covered by voting "YOUR VOTE COUNTS". So no excuses the future of the blog rests on your shoulders.
If the votes are low and no one bothers the end of the blog is in site so come on all, forward your vote now.

I will not be voting unless in a tie situation for first place.

So who is your top north east player?

The prizes for the winning nominee is two iconic products of this wonderful area in which we live.


A greggs sausage roll and a bottle of newcy brown, and more importantly your photo in the blog which could lead to sponsorship.

VOTING CLOSES SUNDAY THE 21ST DECEMBER AT MIDNIGHT AND THE WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED IN THE BLOG ON MONDAY THE 22ND DECEMBER.

Only one vote per person and any one who has been nominated can vote for themselves.
And all votes are in the strictest confidence.

So until next week
L8

Close but no cigar.

WEEK COMMENCING MONDAY THE 1ST DECEMBER.

Before Luton on Thurs I played Teesside Mon and Tues. I did not cash in either event, but however did make the final on Monday which is my 3rd consecutive Monday final. Unfortunately I exited in 10th place which meant no financial reward for the effort as there were only 7 prizes.

Thurs bought the trip to Luton but also the snow that blanketed the north. It took me over a hour just to get out of Teeside. Down south there was no sign of any adverse weather. I managed to take my seat only 5 Min's late.

With 13 prizes and a first prize of just over 20 grand It was worth the effort of 220miles of continuous driving.

Ninety three hope fulls eager to get there hands on the wonga started the 1 day event, with a 45 min clock.

My starting stack of 5000 soon increased to 9000 by slow playing pocket kings versus AQ on a Queen high board.
Then I got moved tables!!!!!!!

Moved onto the table that included Mark Goodwin and Sam Tricket who had been busy early on increasing there starting stacks to well over 30k.

This table was really aggressive with both Mark and Sam having there own personnel duel. Nearly every pot was raised pre flop.
I certainly had to play a very patient game hoping to flop a monster hand and trap one of these but alas it did not happen.
Every time I was involved with either of them they slowed down or got out of the way.
It was only after the tournament ended when speaking to Mark did he confess that him and Sam had discussed my chip position in a break and had both decided not to double me up as they new if I had chips I was dangerous. A compliment there some where but as I was sat with them from 80 players down to 29 maybe you can realize how hard a position I was in.
Mark especially was in no mood to tangle he folded aq suited to my re raise preflop and pocket nines on a 5 5 2 flop ( I had pocket queens) but I could not extract anything out of him.
As the tournament progressed I never got over 12k in chips and it was down to my patience and blind stealing that I survived to 23rd place before exiting holding AJ suited versus pocket tens, the tens holding up.
Again I played the best I could giving the circumstances and with a bit more luck maybe I could have gone a little further.
I held pocket aces twice and pocket kings 3 times but all I got were the blinds.

I played the £250.00 1 re buy on the Thurs night.
Going really well i made a bad mistake to donk all me chips with the ever so grate full James Browning.
No excuses simple bad play on my behalf. The only saving grace is that since this blog started it is as far as I can recollect the only bad hand I have played.

My mate Dominic Kay 3 way split the event and as I had %5 of him it did return £270.00. Well played m8 hopefully you can use this to progress back onto the poker circuit.



Woke up Friday and decided to stay in Luton and play the Friday nights £200.00 rather than Bristol as to be honest I was pokered out.

Very unfortunate in this event as early on holding pocket two,s on a flop of 6 6 2 all my chips ended up in the middle versus the blinds holding of 6 4. He rivered a 4to leave me with a few chips which evaporated on aq versus pocket jacks.

After this played a little cash game £100.00 sit down no limit.

First hand I get dealt pocket jacks it is raised to £25.00 pre flop with two callers.It comes to me and i,m all in, they all call.

Flop
J 3 2 RAINBOW
SCOOP
good start.

I played my customary 3 hours showing a profit of £425.00, ah well i bit of a profit helps with the costs.

Now over to our regular feature...

"STAR IN A REASONABLE PRICED BLOG".

The honour this week goes to non other than...

James Browning.

Again one of the stalwarts of the poker scene here in the north east, James seems to be around since time began.
James the ever so analytical has survived where many others have come and gone.
You say you learn off every player you come across and one of the best things you can learn from James is money management.
His experience in this department is with out doubt the best in the country, with out fear of contradiction. I have mentioned this before in previous postings in the blog how important it is. Sometimes when I am a bit indecisive about what to do I always ask myself what would James do.
A massive plus in this world in which we play.
You need many disciplines to survive in poker and gambling, but money management is the most important and James is the expert.

To survive in poker you certainly need to be able to play a bit and maybe James is a bit underestimated in this area by some.I hear it often "how can you play so tight" etc, I just laugh to myself and think he will still be hear in ten years time, but will you?.

James has been playing on the circuit as long as I remember. There have been no large cashes for James but consistent final tables for several years.
Year after year James consistently cashes and finances his way through the poker circuit.
This year James is ranked number 1 in the world in tournaments under $1000.00 and you can,t get much better than that.
Just last week James made another final at Luton in the £500.00 event.

James is one of the best cash game players in the country, I can,t think of anyone who consistently profits year after year.

To end, if calsberg could make a winning gambler then James would be it.

So that ends our 5 weekly series of the top 5 north east players in my opinion. As I said previously in no particular order apart from Steven Lui at number 1.

So Steve Lui, Keith Hawkins, J law, Hamid & James sit at the top of the pile in the North east with the standards and ability we all hope to attain.

Now the hard part I have to think of another feature for next week.

I have got something in mind which requires a bit of audience participation so tune in next week to find out whats in store.

I will update our bankroll next week once all this weeks costs have come through.

L8
A final well done to Dave Maudlin who finished in 6Th in the gala poker tour grand final yesterday. A excellent performance by Dave.
Dave has now earned the nickname of Dave awesome Maudlin.
well done m8.

All quiet on the eastern front

WEEK COMMENCING MONDAY 24/11/08.

After last Mondays success at Teesside took the obvious choice and again played the Mondays £20.00 re buy.
With once again over 40 runners a pot of just over £3.5k was generated.
While last weeks effort was a gentle route through the re buy period today's affair was a little more rocky. With my re buys mounting up I eventually got a hold of some chips just at the end of the re buys.
Not at all happy about some of the starting hands I played in this period, something I still have to work on.
Well they say football can sometimes be a game of two half's and so can poker.
All the hastiness of the first half disappeared as patience set in for part two.

Nursing a less than average chip stack through the numbers was precarious to say the least but some how I survived to reach my second consecutive Monday final.

All that was standing in my way was John Law one of the best players in Teeside with a boat load of chips and some one else who was at the opposite end in playing ability scale to John, but with a boat load of chips.

Somewhere in the middle were 8 other players hanging on for dear life.

Anyway a early double up at least give me the foundations to build and once Mr non ability shared his chips among the grateful dead we all at least had a chance.

After some patient play on my behalf I managed to get down to the last 3, J law and young Darren.
Now to be honest I really wanted to knock Darren out for no other reason than I wanted heads up with John.
I wanted to play him to test my game but unfortunately John had other ideas as he called my re raise with A 4, and my holding of A K held to take the pot.

Which left me and young Darren heads up. Darren is on a bit of a roll at the moment especially on the net where he seems to be tearing Ladbrokes up in tourneys for fun.
After the chip lead went back and forwards a few times we agreed to split first and second prize, both of us collecting just over £1000.00 for our efforts.

To summarize I really must not get into this multi re buy malarkey constantly and I have rediscovered my patience a necessary tool to survive in this shark infested poker world of which we swim.

Wednesday I played the £30.00 super satellite at Teesside for Galas grand final at Bristol.
With two seats available I exited in 10Th place. Was very pleased with the way I played and not too disappointed to exit holding A K versus pocket fives.
A lot better than the 75/25% of late.

Next week (Thurs) sees me travel down to Luton for the Grosvenor poker tour champions of champions tournament.
I qualified for this event by winning the £300.00 freeze out in January in Brighton. You can only partake in this event by winning one of the events on the gukpt, but the downside is the starting chips.
The starting chips is determined by the size of the event you won. So as a example I am starting with 5000 chips but some one who has won a main event will be starting with 10,000.
There is a prize pool of £70.000 so expect first prize to be about £20,000.00 so fingers crossed.
There is a mini festival on in Luton so will probably play some of the side events or dash over to Bristol for the Gala grand final on Friday.
No cast in stone decisions made as yet will take it as it comes from Thurs onwards.

Trading opportunities were a bit limited this week due to a busy schedule on my behalf . I managed to fit in 5 hours this week showing a profit of £95.00 which is very welcome.

Deal of the century.

I have been asked to include this story in the blog so never one to refuse OK then.

On the Sunday of the Teesside festival the night time event was a £50.00 double chance freeze out.
After being knocked out of the main by kq (it still hurts) I entered along with approx 70 others.
After the first ten hands I had done me first chance chips in and half of my second chance chips as well!
So I asked the guy next to me to slide his chips slightly into my box he reluctantly agreed, but thought I was bonkers.
Then I approached a couple of locals asking if they wanted %10. With in a few minutes I had secured (well at the last count it was 13) ten percents.

Now the coup de grace.

My monster hand of 7 3 off suit didn't fair to well against a raise and a re raise and I was out.
But now had umpteen 10% running for me lol.

The ironic ending to this tale is one of my percentages got a share in a deal and I have,nt seen em since.

Ah well "best laid plans of mice and men".

Now over to our bankroll.

PREVIOUS BALANCE £16,388.00

POKER PROFIT £920.00

SPORTS £no bets

TRADING £95.00

BALANCE £17,403.00.

Finally over to our regular feature " Star in a reasonable priced blog"

And the honour this week goes to non other than...

Hamid.

Now Hamid away from the poker table is one of the nicest people you will come across in north east poker but...
On the table he is simply awesome and certainly holds no Friends when playing.

When I said in a previous blog to progress watch the good players well this is certainly one you can watch. I know I did and it was the best decision I made.

Hamid along with S Lui have held captain at Newcastle since I started several yrs ago, consistency a sure sign of a winning player.

Hamid maybe has not played nationally as much as some but I have no doubt if he did regularly he would be up there with the best.

Hamid has showed consistent results when travelling.
Back in 2005 I remember Hamid tearing up a class Field of players not once but twice when winning two events out of 3 in Sheffield, including two firsts.

Back in 2002 Hamid recorded his largest cash when finishing 4Th in the £2500.00 main event named the "European championships".
He also finished 3rd in the £500.00 event at the same festival.
This was a fantastic achievement against a Field of some of the best players of the time.

I mentioned Hamid being one of the nicest people you can meet and maybe this little tale will verify this.

Way back not long after I first started Teesside held a poker festival. I at the time could only afford the side events, hoping to cash which would let me play the main.
No cashes in the side comps left me one chance to get in the main a one table satellite.
Before it started I was talking to Hamid and explained my precarious financial situation, asking his advice on weather if i did not get through how best to turn my remaining £120.00 into a seat. His reply perhaps demonstrates the man.

Look Paul go and play the satellite if you don,t get in I Will pay you in.
As it happens I won a seat but I have never forgot the offer.

So think this is a good way to end the blog and welcome Hamid as our 4Th star in
a reasonable priced blog.

May I take this opportunity to wish all the locals travelling down to Bristol for the Gala grand Final, come on lads
UP THE LADDER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As a footnote I have put some of our blog money into betfair to let someone trade on our behalf. Can,t say who but next week we will find out how our initial investment has fared

until next week
l8.

Back to basics.

Well after the positives and negatives it was back to basics and on Monday played the £20.00 re buy at Tees side.
Tees side has reintroduced a extra 15 minutes re buy period and cut down the time late entry,s are allowed to enter the tournaments in a effort to boost the pots.

With 40 odd players in the mix it was well attended and created a prize pool of over 3.5k a excellent start.

I actually got of to a good start and got chips quite early. Some decent starting hands and situations allowed me to finish the re buy period with double the average and with no re buys or add on,s.

I noticed my starting hand selection had improved maybe the verbal in Blackpool was still in my head.

The period between the end of the re buy period and the final table was a bit of a roller coaster for me twice my AK walked into pocket kings, but somehow managed to survive to make the final, lowest chips but hey beggars can,t be choosers.

The final was a long drawn out affair. I doubled and trebled up easily and also outdrew pocket kings with pocket jacks when a jack arrived on the flop (did I mention my son was called Jason)?.

Eventually a deal was discussed among the five remaining players. A even split of £600.00 for four of us and the chip leader taking £720.00.

Now as I have stated in previous posts I will only deal; if it is good for me, and this time it certainly was.
Factors were that with a average stack of just over a 100k the blinds were 5000/10,000 a crap shoot situ here.
Also it was now after 3am in the morning and we had been playing for 7 hrs long enough by any ones standards.

So my back to basics strategy has shown a instant success with a profit of £580.00 a real good start.

Resisting the temptation of the £10.00 re buys at Tee side I headed up to Newcastle for the £50.00 freeze out on Saturday.
With 53 runners it held a decent prize pool. A good starting stack and clock make this comp very player friendly maybe a bit too player friendly.

Down to the last couple of tables and fairly healthy in chips the following hand played like this.

Me holding 7 - 9 in late position opened the pot with a 3 x big blind raise, the big blind eventually called. He had a decent chip stack so my thought process was it might be possible to win this pot if a raggy flop appears, or, I might get paid if I flop a two pair or better.
The flop 10 - 10 - 8.
A nice flop for my hand defo a flop I can bet into.
However the big blind had other idea,s and opened up with 4k, I called leaving myself 8.2k.
Up and down I could certainly afford to see the turn and make my decision after the turn.
If I hit a six or jack felt I would get paid. However was a bit wary of his possible holding of jack ten.
A nice little six appeared on the turn.
The big blind immediately put me all in which I duly called, flipping over my straight but no match for his holding of 10 - 8.
He had flopped a full house.
EXIT ME.

Quite possibly I could of got away from this hand but would of been very hard. Did not feel so bad as over all I thoroughly enjoyed the game and played very well through out the competition.

A little compensation is I played the "pot limit" hold em game and managed to record a £260.00 profit for a couple of hours work.
I got paid off, on pocket fours on a flop of ace- four - two, my opponent holding ak.

Dave obviously did not know my son was born on the fourth!!!.


Trading went very well this week.

Eleven hours work produced a profit of £725.00, very nice and very welcome after the costs of Blackpool.

Did not have a lot of time on sports this week and it was the weekend before I could do any serious research.

Bet £200.00 on Preston to beat Norwich which obliged at evens.
Bet £200.00 on barrow which lost.

Sunday bet £200.00 on A.Madrid away at evens which lost.

So sports produced a loss of -£200.00.

So our previous balance was £15,023.00

POKER + £530.00

TRADING + £725.00

SPORTS - £200.00

CASH GAMES £260.00



Weekly profit £1315.00


Balance ends up at £16,388.00.

It was aprox 12 weeks ago I started this social experiment and already I/we have made £6,388.00, which is fantastic. We have had no major costs apart from Bolton & Blackpool.
We have also survived at bit of a barren spell loccaly at poker and with out tempting fate we may have just turned the corner.
It is too early to take the + 6k as a average but if we were we would be on a annual income of over 25k TAX FREE.!

So over all a forward step after the backwards one at Blackpool. I have to say I have enjoyed this week. Lots of rest in between poker, and playing quite well is a bonus.
Back to basics.

Congratulations go to Lynn Buemont who for the second year running has won the Betfair,s ladies championship.
As well as decent prize money Lynn also receives sponsorship into events next year.
A fantastic achievement well done Lynn.

As a footnote I joined in with a local syndicate for the scoop 6 jackpot at the weekend. As I know nothing about horse racing I left the selections to the experts.
So close with 3 winners and 3 seconds, unlucky, next time.

Now over to our weekly feature.

"Star in a reasonable priced blog".

The honour this week goes to non other than...

Tees sides own...

John Law.

Now any one who knows how John plays please let me no as honestly I have not got a clue.
After several years of playing along side John I am still not sure of what his game is all about but hey so what neither has John.

I am sure deep down in John,s head somewhere there is a strategy.

John has been one of the most consistent winners at local tournaments for many years.
Between here and Newcastle he has consistently won his pick of competitions.

Not content with local success John has transferred his success to national competitions.
He is currently ranked number 61 in the uk in the most prize money list, hot on the heels of the other two north east players Keith Hawkins & Carlo Citrone.

In 2005 John came as close as one could get, to winning a wsop bracelet.

In the $1000.00 no limit event, Heads up and pretty even in chips all the chips end up in the middle on a flop of J - 8 -5.
John opponent holding q-8 was deep in the mire against Johns holding of J - Q.
Unfortunately it was game over as a 8 appeared on the turn to give his opponent trips, so close but yet so far.

With countless final tables throughout the UK John is one of the most feared players on the circuit as his many ranking results confirm.

I think it is fair to say that when ever you are in a pot with John you are never quite sure where you are.

2008 has been a quiet year for John on his travels but I an sure it won,t be long before he re-discovers his form and justify,s his place in the north east,s top players

So John Law joins S Lui & K Hawkins as stars in a reasonable priced blog

until next time
L8

Blackpool donkey (part 2)

Now in part 1, I talked about a meal I had with a good Friend.
He arrived in town on Tues so after my super sat exit we headed away from the casino to eat & talk.
I asked him if I could name him on this blog but he did not want it so respect there.
I met him a four years ago and we just clicked.
He has amassed a decent bankroll mainly from sports betting and some from poker.
He was a great help when I was trying to rebuild a bankroll after going skint in the past. Mistakes were identified and corrected and to be honest I don't think I would of stayed in poker if it was not for him.

Anyway we were now faced with a different problem than last time.
My confidence is shattered where as before I just did not have the bankroll to survive.
Now financially I am pretty much sorted in that department however I wished the credit crunch would go away soon.
The tournament selection is one thing that is wrong.

I should not be playing ten pound re buy,s at all unless it,s a social evening.
I would be better off playing freeze outs and larger re buy events it is obvious to me now that I am no longer hungry enough to compete in these comps.
They served there purpose when rebuilding but not now. I am not saying I am to big or good for the game as that is certainly not the case, it is just not the right event for me to play.
As most main event and side events are freeze out,s now, surely that is what I should be playing.
Also the amount of comps I play a week is too many it averages 3 at the mo.
We researched the net and come up with a couple of freeze outs in Leeds, two a month costing £100.00 & £200.00.
Dusk to dawn hold there monthly 123 weekend which is not too far to travel.
Newcastle hold a £50.00 freeze out on a Saturday.
Stockport hold a twice weekly £50.00 re buy which attracts a large number and a good pot. They also hold a monthly £250.00 re buy which consistently takes 40k.

I was reminded by my Friend of the goals we set which consisted of travelling to better comps rather than local all the time.
I have kept a record of every comp I have played and looking back I can see when I would think nothing of travelling down to Leeds, Sheffield Manchester and even every couple of months London.
But apart from Stockport or Festivals I have not travelled out of the north east at all now it is apparent to me things have to change.

I will not be missimg from Teeside at all. I will still play the occasional comp as I cant travel all the time just less that,s all.

The change will not happen overnight it will happen gradually probably into next year.
I will always support my local casino but I just have to change my schedule and as targets have been set it is the right decision.

The man hours I use per week on poker, sports betting trading cash games etc has got to decrease.

Trading has become obvious to me that is one area where a Increase in hours is going to be of benefit.
I fitted in last week 10 hours and returned £425.00 so if anything this will increase as time allows.

So with a breath of confidence Blackpool was a positive experience. We may of lost financially but I/WE have identified problems and found solutions.
When I previously said I had not lost the hunger I think that was not correct, the hunger has returned, the cobwebs dusted away and a new outlook has dawned.

I think in poker every player should have someone they can bounce ideas off, talk hands and situation,s through. I know locally I talk a lot with Howie Dave and john it certainly helps.
Also you should be able to self analyze, find faults and be honest with yourself and correct them.

I went to Blackpool confident in my own ability but did not see the other factors that were affecting my game.

However to put things in perspective our bankroll has grown so more fine tuning than major surgery.

SO now over to our bankroll.

Previous balance £16,268.00

Blackpool costs £1510.00 (INCLUDING COSTS)

Trading + £625.00

Previous comps and sports -£360.00

Balance now £15,023.00

Now to our weekly feature the

"Star in a reasonable priced blog".

2ND of five.

Many people have tried to 2nd guess the star in the reasonable priced blog but no one came up with Keith "the camel" Hawkins.

Keith lives in Middleton Tyas near to scotch corner and as far as I am concerned that is in the north east

Keith would probably admit he is not as well known in the north east as some, as he prefers the lure of the net rather than the local comps.
But what is not in doubt is Keith's natural ability in large national comps.

Keith has been playing poker as early as 1999, winning his first comp in 2000 in Southampton and from there has the best record of any north east player.

Keith sits proudly at number 38Th in the UK;s all time money list highest of all north east players and one of only three from the north east in the top 100.

When looking at Keith,s record what stands out is his consistency year in year out. Final after Final which shows Keith's ability for the game.
He has had more wsop cashes than any north east player and recently finished 75th in this years main event at the wsop a fantastic performance.

One little known fact is Keith went to school with Neil Channing. You can picture the scene now come on Keith lets play poker for dinner money!

There is no doubt Keith will go from strength to strength and continue his high placed finishes through out his career.

Most recently Keith finished 3rd in the Tees side gala festival,s main event.

Keith is at the standard all north east players must hope to attain. Top of the tree in all departments, number of cashes, most money won, highest ranked, the list is endless.

Quite out of character Keith was in Tee side gala less than 12 hours before this blog was published, maybe just maybe he had got wind of this publicity and thought he would attend for a autograph session.

So here we have it Keith "the camel Hawkins " joining Steven " lucky " Lui in our
"star in a reasonable priced blog".

So tune in next week to find out who will make a appearance in our top five north east players,
and
find out if me going back to basics produces results

*************************************************************************************
This bit of info certainly does not belong at the bottom of this blog really it should be at the top.
Congratulations go to Tom Middleton a regular in Newcastle who secured a £20,000.00 pay day in the £500.00 event at Blackpool.
Tom dominated a high class feild to record hid highest live cash of his career.
The only down side to this is Tom spoilt a future feature of mine called
"one,s to watch"
However I did pick out Tom as one to watch on a post on the Newcastle poker forum a few months ago so don,t feel to bad.

Congratulations Tom on a fantastic result the 3rd highest in the north east in 2008 so far.
Well done



until nest week l8

Blackpool donkey (part 1)

Blackpool last year I came second & won 56.5k in the main event my largest live cash & 2ND largest cash i have made. This year I had more chance winning the x factor than cashing in Blackpool.


£300.00 FREEZE OUT.

Determined not to sit and grind as I think I have been doing too much of that lately I decided to play a bit more aggressively and try & amass some chips early on. Looking up some early flops with marginal hands was the strategy but unluckily I never seemed to connect with any flops.
Forced to tighten up when %50 of my starting stack disappeared I then called a all in with ak versus 99. The 99 held up which crippled me leaving me with 1025 in chips.
Obviously with the blinds of 300/600 they were going to be in the mix sooner rather than later.

Enter the monster hand of 9 3 (HEY SUITED)
The hand played like this.
First position raises to 2200, then a re raise to 5000, a all in for 4100, me to act "VALUE ALL IN".
Ali Mallu behind me announces all in for 15k and is instantly called by the re raiser.
On there backs...

ACES FOR ALI

KINGS,

ACE KING &POCKET TENS COMPLETE THE HANDS ALONG WITH MY MONSTER HOLDING OF 9 3!

First card out a ACE trips for Ali, followed by a 4 and eight, shit!

Turn a five, hey i see a out here!" come on the little duck"

River...
a nice little duck quack quack, giving me the bottom straight, bizarre but very welcome.

This happened about 3 hours into the comp. My luck had returned.
I continued to build ever so slowly cutting through the Field of 200+ players I managed to survive down to the last hour of play,holding approx 14k in chips and a average of 22k ish.
With approx 60 players remaining my thought process was to survive the last hour, try and increase my stack if possible but survive day 1 and see what tomorrow brings.

Me in the big blind holding 9 7 first position limps the proverbial Blackpool rock and two other callers compete to see the flop.

Flop came 9 7 5 me two pair.
Now I push all in hoping to get a call from the limper with her over pair to the board and she duly obliges flipping her pocket ACES.
The turn
A five giving Mrs Rock a higher two pair.
Exit me.

To summarise I got very lucky to survive , played very well to survive and the luck evened out to send me crashing out.
Over all I am pleased that I played well to at least give myself a chance.


£500.00 FREEZE OUT.

Arriving a hour late after a 2 hour chat with my mentor (more about that in part two),I exited quite early in bizarre fashion.
Moving from my original table I was moved to what I thought was going to be a good table. Ewan Jones Tom Middleton Farook and a couple of others I know felt I could certainly make progress here, & patience was the best strategy.
A player 2ND to my left went on a run where he hit everything and was certainly playing the rush, he also got well paid of some good hands also increasing his stack to well over 40k with a average of 14k.

When he limped on my big blind(he is 2Nd to act) his eyes followed every players action round the table indicating his hand was very strong I hoped for a nice hand like aces or 7 2 nothing in between.
The small blind makes it up and I look at my cards pocket nines.
Now THERE IS NO WAY i am raising here as I am sure Mr Rush probably has a over pair.
Flop 9 8 3 two clubs

I check Mr Rush bets 800 and the small blind raises to 2000.
I instant push all in and Mr Rush instant calls.
The small blind dwells then passes announcing he had two pair.

Mr Rush proudly turns his pair of queens as I reveal my top set.

Turn a QUEEN goodnight Vienna.

To summarise "what can you do"

I alsom played two super sats for the main event going deep in both. The second one hurt a bit when my AK lost to KJ!!

I played a one table satellite getting heads up with pocket kings versus pocket tens, a ten on the river.

That was it.

Back to the hotel,packed and left town on the nearest donkey, Blackpool was over for me this year.

A few people have asked me why i have not played the main event at Blackpool this year & after reading the above maybe they will understand why.
What happened last year really has no bearing on this year. I am out of form and luck so really it was not the right decision.
I will also add to massive outdraws to the occasion in super sat,s for the main event so I knew it just was,not my week.

However a POSITIVE result at Blackpool which will be explained in full in part two
l8