Thursday, November 30, 2006

Caribbean Poker Classic Day 6

The main event!

The day started with a Television interview with the comedian Norman Pace, before settling down the big event.

Level 1
I get pocked 8s and Js in the first five hands, after playing for four hours last night with not a single pair.
My 8s are beat, but my Jacks are good.
I play a very loose open game in level 1 and end up with 17000 from my initial stack of 15000.

Level 2

Pocket Kings! Not seen these all week!
One limper, one raise to 650. I decide to call. Flop Q97 all diamonds. I bet out 900 and get immediately called. I do have the K diamonds, turn is a an Ace. Check - Check. He is scared of the ace also, is my read. River is a J. Lots of problems now. He bets 1000 and I call. He also has Kings!

I end the level 16500.

Level 3.

Totally card dead, I tried some moves with pocket threes and 78 suited and nothing happens.
14500

Level 4.
I call a couple of raises, perhaps normally I would have reraised, I am finding myself calling more than I would normally do. Yes there are more chips in play, but I am playing too weak.

After a raise to a 1000 and a call, I move in with 5000 with QT. They both fold. Thats better.
I get Ace Jack, but after a raise I have to bail out as there is too much action. Chips now 13200

Level 5
I lose 2000 chips with AQ to AK and then get moved and another 1000 when my JT suited does not hit.
My first two hands at my new table I decide to change my stance, and raise with QJ and QT and win uncontested. I am now set for my some calls when my good cards arrive.
11000

Level 6.
I am starting to struggle, I am at a very aggressive table and am getting nothing. I try to defend my blinds with 88 and 55 and get beat by KK and AT.

I go to the dinner break with just 8000

Level 7
The blinds are coming round thick and fast, some cards please!
I raise with 77 and A7 to keep my stack at between 7 or 8, I am just fighting for every chip.
8700

Level 8.
The furthest I have got in a major event, and there are only 80 people remaining.
I am so card dead, I reraise all in with TJ and he does not call.
I have witnessed one guy get AA,KK and QQ - 11 times (yes eleven) in the last two levels.
On average I have seen an Ace once a level!

The end is upon me, in the last hand before the final break of the day, I raise with 99, my best hand in four hours and the chip leader the man with all the cards calls.
He had just beaten a guy who held 28 on a 7228 board, when his 66 gains another 6 on the river!

The flop for me comes 723 and I have no choice but to commit my chips, he turns over Queens - yes again! I am out of my seat, as I know Queens are the end. A further 2 and a 3 do not help me and the Caribbean Poker Classic is over for me.

I have KK once in 8 hours and JJ once, aside from AQ I have not seen a hand.
This was an interesting learning experience with a starting stack of 15000, which I have never played with before.

I am dissapointed as I believe I could have played better. I called too many hands, when raise or fold were the real options. I tried to make sure I was active to not appear too tight.

I still need a lot of work on my live game and have two months to get it sorted before the EPT event in Deauville.

I still feel I am due a whole heap of luck in a live event somewhere down the line, but right now there is more work to be done!

Thanks to everyone for all your support and I am sorry that I could not bring home the title I so wanted. Maybe 2007 will be one for me.

ClintonO!

Caribbean Poker Classic Day 5

The $500 no limit proved to be another dissapointing affair.

With only 24 players left, I moved all in with AK and was called by AQ, the inevitable happened and a Q hit.

I still cant get this elusive Cash in a major tournament, heres hoping for the main event tommorrow.

ClintonO

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Caribbean Poker Classic Day 4

A quiet day today, sitting around the pool, was the order of the day.

I played one STT and finished 3rd after a lost coin flip and having my A6 called my the mighty A3.

Rachaels career earnings continues on the up with another cash finish and $300 more!

Congrats again to Tony Cascarino who won the $1000 game last night and the first prize of $28k.
A very impressive run of results.
The time has now come for me to prove myself as a poker player!
I am playing in the $500 game tonight, where a cash finish is the only acceptable outcome!

ClintonO

Monday, November 27, 2006

Caribbean Poker Classic Day 3

My first MTT of the week, ended in an early exit.

The last hand of level 3, I picked up AK diamonds on the Big Blind. One limper, an oversized raise from a Danish guy, (2nd the night before in $200 NL) who had raised at least half the pots in the first hour and a half.
I moved all in and he instantly called for all his chips with 55.

Flop was QdJd6h, giving me more outs than I could count, the turn was another Jack, giving me even more outs in Queens and Sixes, but I still continue my quest for a coin flip win in a live MTT event.

I had a pleasant afternoon though, sitting at the bar with the great Crypto players including ThierryH, 007apr and Oranges.

Congratulations to Littlewoods sponsored player Tony Cascarino who came 2nd in this $300 no limit event.

Once again I have to congratulate the best poker player in the family, who from two $100 STTs manage to come 2nd in one and win the next, making a nice $700 in the process. I am hoping to borrow some of this to enter the $500 NL on Day 5!

A rest day for me today, I don't fancy the $1000 this afternoon, a little too rich for me!
I have the UK Betting beach party to go to, so that should keep me busy.

I am going to send my wife Rachael to win us some more money!
Oh yes she knocked me out again for the 2nd day running, when only 3 players left!

ClintonO

Saturday, November 25, 2006

Caribbean Poker Classic Day2

Day 2 - The Boat Trip.

The Littlewoods trip was a journey on a gorgeous boat, a bit of snorkelling, a bbq on the beach and all in all a great time.

One game of poker with the legend Tony Chessa and skalie of bad beat fame, unfortunately my Jacks ran into kings and it was game over, but not before I took down a legendary pot with a complete bluff!

I also got my new Littlewoods merchandise, I will get a photo on the site shortly, but a Littlewoods football top, with ClintonO on the back and number 7 (my number!). Im Liking it.

I promise to play poker tomorrow and will be entering the $300 at 2pm my time.

I did have a sit and go warm up tonight, only to be knocked out by my beautiful wife, it just shows there are no friends on the poker table!

ClintonO

Caribbean Poker Classic Day1

Day 1

Not much to report as delays at Gatwick and Antigua, meant that it was a twenty hour day.
It was nice to meet up with some of the guys, I finally met the legend that is 007apr.

The highlight of the day was on the plane and the guy next to me was reading an article written by me! Very weird feeling!

There was also a number of people mentioning that they would like to meet ClintonO! I obviously kept it quiet! Fame at last though.

ClintonO

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

STTS - The answer?

As you are all aware I have been struggling with my Single Table Tournaments.

My best results in STTS have been in £10 or £50+ games.
My MTTs results are far superior, due to the length of time that you have to play the game.

Today, they have increased the starting stacks in STTS from 1000 to 1200 on tables of £30 plus and from 1000 to 1500 on £50 plus. This I was hoping was the answer to my prayers.

Two games tonight at the £50 level. Two wins! WAHOO! Its far too early for anything conclusive, but so far I like it!

I have to say hello to MUFF2WIN who wanted a mention on my blog, I said only if he beat me heads up! Well I am very generous, so even though you lost (he he!), you get your mention!

I would also like to say thanks to Aztec for posting earlier. It is always interesting to see how other people get on. Especially when they have different strengths or skills to me. If I can help in anyway with your MTT record please let me know.

I am not planning to over do it in the next couple of days, so that I can hit the caribbean fresh!

ClintonO

Monday, November 20, 2006

A game of Luck

I had an interesting comment on the blog today from Liam.

Is poker more about luck than skill?

This very question is something that is at the very heart of the whole issue regarding the playing of online poker in the US. So this question is being debated all over the world.

For me it totally depends on the situation.
If you have committed all your chips with 77 and your opponent has AK. You have almost exactly a 50/50 chance of winning.
At that precise moment you will either win or lose - a probablity of 100% or 0%. (Okay there is a slight possibility you could have a split pot, but the odds are huge!) Versus what is as we have said a 50/50 chance.

For that one hand you are either very lucky 100% result vs 50% probability or very unlucky 0% result.

However over time this and given enough situations this will balance itself out.

The skill in this game though is about putting yourself in situations whereby the probablity of winning is great versus the risk involved. I do not look to put myself in 50/50 situations. I may often give my opponent the choice if he wants to go 50/50 with me, but I want my chips in first.

You also only have to look at why the worlds top players are just that, because they are consistenly successful. Liam makes reference to Dan Harrington, well he achieved two successive World Series of Poker Final Tables, that for me proves that this game is based on skill.

Characteristics for a being a Great Poker player.

Discipline - Knowing when to walk away. Managing your bankroll.
Patience - Waiting for the right opportunities, where you have the right odds.
Confidence - Believe in your abilities. Courage/Conviction
Ability to learn - If you not still learning, you are falling behind
Strategy - Changing gears, how to play hands/levels/players/tournaments
Numerical Ability - Know your odds
People Reading - who you can bluff, who will call you all day.
Realism - You can't win everytime, if your not prepared to lose, your not prepared to win.
Luck - Well it helps! Pocket Aces may be between 80&90% to win preflop! Not 100%.

Luck plays its part in my opinion, but there is no way I would be playing this game if I did not think I had an edge and my records to date are proof to that very fact.

Cheers
ClintonO

ps 14th in the Sunday £40k last night, my best ever performance. My 7s were busted by AK. Now thats just bad luck! LOL!

Sunday, November 19, 2006

Warming up for the Caribbean

With just a week to go until the Caribbean Poker Classic I am pleased to say I am still in form.

Whilst my STT game continues to need work, my MTT game is still going strong.
Last night I won the $3k added and the first prize of $4k+.

I now find myself in 38th in the Leaderboard and wishing I had the time to play more than 33% of the games!

The $3k added was a real rollercoaster ride, losing 3 big preflop hands when I had bigger pairs and getting lucky once, when a 9 on the turn helped me take out 2 players when I was getting short.

To the reach the final table, I needed my Tens to beat Ace Jack, which I am pleased to say they did and also AK to beat T6, which again went as scripted.

I entered the final table 4th in chips with 47k. The ranges were 15k to 89k. With nine of us still left. At this point the finishing places matter when it comes to prize money. $280 for 9th to $4k+ for first.

When we got down to six I thought it was all over. Dealt that beautiful sight of AA in the small blind, with 42k in chips. The button moves all in with 30k. I have to beat JQ, to put myself in a really strong situation.
Flop is 8Q6, turn 3, river another Q! SICK!

Chips counts are now, 66k,83k,64k,67k, 61k and me on 12k. Ouch.

Its any two cards from me now on in. (Q9 x2, A5 x2, AQ, A6, 55, 99) are all used to raise, reraise etc and I fight my way to 60k without a showdown.

A major bluff goes wrong on we are down to 5. puppet35 now has 160k and amazingly I am in 2nd with 51k. The others have 46k,48k and 49k.
The player I respected the most on the final table, 007apr then went to work. Doubling up through puppet, knocking out Laur3000 in 5th, puppet35 in 4th and Ric_ard in 3rd.

I was very happy to be in the final two after, the beat with the Aces.
The chip count was 007apr 305,441.50 versus myself at 48,558.50. An absolutely huge task, but nothing to lose.

40 hands later it was all over, I had won!

Just the sort of performance to give me a confidence boost ahead of the big tournament coming up shortly!

ClintonO

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

The Rest of Crypto




I will come back to the remainder of the cryptologic sites, but here are what they look like.!
ClintonO













Around the Grounds - 3) William Hill


William Hill is another member of the Cryptologic software.


There is nothing much to add about them compared to the other sites, they appear to do less added tournaments than the other crypto sites, although do give a £25 month match bonus.


My account on here is Clint1307.
William Hill do have 3 sponsored professional players. 'Smokin' Steve Vladar, Julian 'Yoyo' Thew and 'Badgirl' Xuyen Pham.
The table is a nice blue and has improved since my last visit.
I am going to have a game shortly and see how I get on!
STOP PRESS! PLAYED 1 WON 1 - Maybe I will be back!
ClintonO


Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Around the Grounds - 2) UK Betting


UK Betting is a member of the cryptologic network along with Littlewoods. They are linked to a number of sports and betting sites, including Sportinglife.com and totalbet.com.
THE TABLE
The table is very simliar in layout to Littlewoods, the only real difference is the colour. You do however get a massive logo in the middle of the table. It looks slightly more crowded with tables next to everyones seat, but ultimately it works fine.
WHO AM I?
I have a ClintonO account on here.
EXTRAS
UK Betting run a $2k gtd monthly tournament for all new players that month.
They have also started running Payday tournaments which is two tournaments each weekend, that are between £5 & £10 to enter and they are between £1k & £2k guaranteed.
The one on Sunday had 71 players and paid out 50 places!
BONUSES
UK Betting run special hand bonuses at certain times. eg get two red aces on a Saturday and win £20.
WEBSITE
Further information on UKBetting can be found at http://www.ukbettingpoker.co.uk/
CASHIER
UK Betting have their own cashier that works across their casino and sportsbook.
THE PROS
Simon 'Aces' Trumper used to be the sponsored player at UK Betting, but they parted company earlier this year. I am unaware at this time of anyone being sponsored.
OVERALL
Its a nice site and for me a decent place to play if anything ever went wrong with Littlewoods. Although I didn't win my STT I played tonight!
ClintonO

Monday, November 13, 2006

Around the Grounds - 1) Littlewoods Poker


Finally, as promised, we are going to go around the grounds to see just where we can play online poker these days. I have been far too busy for my own good over the last two weeks, that I have not played as much poker as I would like or even had time to update my blog. (I know, I apologise profusely! I also know that if I don’t deliver that Kai – ‘Menace’ will be kindly reminding me!)

I am going to start with my home site of Littlewoods Poker (no, not just because its easiest!), but this is where I spend 99.9% of my online Poker time.

Littlewoods are part of the cryptologic network, which houses some of the following big household names. William Hill, Inter Poker, Sun Poker, UK Betting, Classic Poker and Poker Plex.
It is currently undergoing a couple of changes, we have said goodbye to Ritz Club online, who have changed owners and moved to the playtech software and also Betfair, who have moved to their Poker Champs software.
Initially this has seen a decline in numbers on the site, as the Betfair players have been checking out the new site, however there has been a considerable recovery in the last week.
DTDPoker (Dusktilldawn) and Betsafe (Scandavian site) will be joining the ranks shortly and the future looks to be quite healthy. This however must be put into context, with the current consolidation in the poker industry; there are no guarantees (e.g. Ladbrokes & 888.com, Playtech and Tribeca).

THE TABLE

For me the table is the best of the cryptologic tables. It looks very professional and distinctive with its dark purple colour. They have made good improvements over time and it has a nice feel to it.

THE LOBBY

Easy to use and understand, no complaints here.

WHO AM I?

When I play here, you will always find me playing as ClintonO. Although the top earner in live events in my household, can occasionally be found playing as LittleJ.

GAME AVAILABILITY

All the basic games are found here with Holdem, Omaha and stud all available. You can also find the rather unique game of Holdem Blackjack here. I vow to one day improve my skills at the other disciplines of poker, but for the moment, I have a long way to go with No Limit Holdem.

TOURNAMENTS

Its been all change recently on the tournaments front as the site has moved away from guaranteed tournaments, in favour of added value. The main weekly tournament remains. The £40k guaranteed on Sundays at 8pm. This tournament has varied between £35k & £50k over the last year. I have yet to finaltable in this tournament and this remains one of outstanding targets. It is a £120 entry fee, but can be entered via qualifiers.

The main daily tournament is the $4k added, which is currently generating a prize pool of around $27k. The entry fee for this tournament is $109. The site runs plenty of other tournaments, $2k, $3k and $4k added, as well as guarantees from £500 to £4k.

Every two weeks the site runs a $25k or a $50k added tournament for loyal players. This can be
generating 500 MPPs (My Player Points). For STT/MTT players this can be achieved by playing $1666 worth of tournaments over a two week time frame, as this includes any finals that you may have qualified for, achieving this is not too difficult for an average poker player. Any missing points can be made up in the cash games realtively easily.

Other tournament formats include, Winner Takes All or and Double Shootouts.

LIVE TOURNAMENTS

Currently Littlewoods are running qualifiers for any European Poker Tour (EPT) season 3 event excluding Monte Carlo. I have qualified for the EPT French Open in February 2007 via this tournament.
They also have been running qualifiers for the Caribbean Poker Classic in St.Kitts, which I have also won a seat for. (11 DAYS TO GO!)
The Caribbean qualifiers finished last night, however the EPT qualifiers remain. There are two weekly finals. The E440 on a Saturday and the E132 on a Sunday. There is 1 seat guaranteed in each and money over E6600 is paid out.

The CPC is in its 3rd year and I will be detailing my progress on my blog whilst I am there.
The EPT is a welcome addition to the Littlewoods schedule. Although I am hoping they start the WSOP qualifiers earlier this year.

SINGLE TABLE TOURNAMENTS

These are available in six seater, six seater thunders and and ten seater formats. These have 12, 6 and 10 hands per level respectively.
I have had a constant battle with my STT stats and have finally put myself into positive territory (albeit small profit).
I do believe that if I treated this properly I could do very well, but I need to stop using them as fillers.
The format is that you start with 1000 chips and blinds start at 7/15.

EXTRAS

Currently the site has been offering players the chance to qualify for the CPC via their MPP's. Also there is currently a roomwide leaderboard tournament in progress.
I have simply not had the time to play in these events with work & other commitments. However I still find myself in the top 150 players, which is needed to secure a prize (albeit $100 at the moment). Maybe I will try and have a surge this week at gaining points.
I am very happy to say that two of my interviewed players are leading the way in the leaderboard tournament with a week to go.
Mihay - ThierryH is in the lead
Pete - Oranges is in 2nd place.

Both of these guys I will be meeting up with in the Caribbean.

Littlewoods also runs freerolls for certain events from time to time.
Finally Littlewoods have a link with aworldofpoker.com, who run tournaments with them on regular occasions.

BONUSES

Littlewoods give all players a £50 match bonus for joining, as well as £25 every month for generating a certain amount of rake.

There is also rakeback available to players who generate a certain amount of rake each month.
If you leave me a note, I can sort up to 30% Rakeback for you. Alternatively join Littlewoods via my link opposite.

There is also a Bad Beat Jackpot, which can be won during cash games.

WHATS MISSING

Search Facility/Locating Players
Observer Chat
Screen Sizing

CASHIER

The cashier used is through Ecash, it is quick and effective. For those who use the casino, you only need the one account.

WEBSITE

For further details logon onto to the website address in the links section.

THE PROS

Littlewoods are currently represented by the Legend Tony Chessa and the top footballer and reigning CPC Celebrity/Pro Champion Ton y Cascarino.

OVERALL

The site to play on-line poker! However I am going to try to cover a site per day, for a while! (I will try!)

The other crypto sites to follow shortly.

ClintonO