It is with great sadness that I have decided to end my poker blog.
The main aim of my blog has always been to help others and to give an insight into the world of poker and try to help others on this difficult path.
It seems that no matter how hard you try to help, there are plenty of anonymous people that want to shoot you down, regardless of what the circumstances or how you try to help people make a living from what is ultimately a very difficult game.
I wish all my friends in poker a very prosperous time.
I would also like to thank Mark Phillips aka _Marky_ who made a deal with me in the final event at the CPC for sticking to his word and paying me the percentage we agreed. It goes to show there is class in the poker playing world.
I hope David Lloyd the winner of the CPC shows the same class in coming forward with the 5% deal we agreed.
I have really enjoyed writing this blog as I know there are a number of people who have benefited greatly from my posts.
I apologize to Denlizliz for not posting our heads up match where he completely destroyed me, but I can't find the hand historys. If I manage to get hold of them, I will post them as a one off.
Please enjoy your poker and play within your means.
If anyone wishes to contact me for any advice or just to talk about poker then please email me on clinton.orchard@hotmail.co.uk.
I wish everyone the best of luck and I hope to see all my friends again soon.
Take care one and all
Clinton.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
So that was the Caribbean
The CPC is over, forever or just another year is yet to be decided, but what a week.
So many great people and a lot of fun, but as for another cruise, thats not on my agenda.
So the rest of the week, I played the $500 and not the $1000. However I did not last long I could not lay down KK preflop and lost to AA.
The main event I did a lot better, but ended up going out in 31st place. Marky himself knocking me out calling my all in with 77, I had A8. Flop gave an Ace first card, but also a 7 and that was effectively it!
I did however do some good business, doing deals with Mark and also David Lloyd, who ended up 4th and 1st respectively. David played superbly all week and was a worthy winner.
Its a shame I could not also cash, but the small percentages in each of them, will provide some much needed funds to get the bankroll going for this attempt at playing poker. I look forward to receiving them so I can get cracking.
I have to thank Bruce at Littlewoods for again being so hospitable and also to Tony Cascarino, Michael Greco, Martin James and Dave Johnson who were great company all week, despite having to put up with me!!
I also ran a Beach Poccer tournament, which was a lot of fun, although the football section was played with the smallest goals in the world, meaning the highest scoring game was 1-0!
Photos and results will be on the website shortly.
So what have I learnt this week about poker.
Some players will play any two cards, some people are much better live than online, whilst others are much better the other way around.
Live Poker is a slow game, in the second level of the main event we played 8 hands in 45 minutes, thats not even a full orbit.
Some tables were serious, some were a fantastic laugh, but like online poker the fundamentals are still the same.
At the end of the day its about your table perception, position and your confidence levels.
So whats next for me, well I still have a lot of stuff to sort out over the next couple of months, before I can settle down full time at this game.
I still want to qualify for these big events, I love vegas to pieces, but my main aim, is to get good enough to have a good stab at the EPT Monte Carlo event. In the meantime its about earning enough money to keep myself going.
I wish everyone all the best, there were some fantastic players in the Caribbean and getting better at this game is going to be very difficult as everyone keeps improving.
All the best everyone.
ClintonO
So many great people and a lot of fun, but as for another cruise, thats not on my agenda.
So the rest of the week, I played the $500 and not the $1000. However I did not last long I could not lay down KK preflop and lost to AA.
The main event I did a lot better, but ended up going out in 31st place. Marky himself knocking me out calling my all in with 77, I had A8. Flop gave an Ace first card, but also a 7 and that was effectively it!
I did however do some good business, doing deals with Mark and also David Lloyd, who ended up 4th and 1st respectively. David played superbly all week and was a worthy winner.
Its a shame I could not also cash, but the small percentages in each of them, will provide some much needed funds to get the bankroll going for this attempt at playing poker. I look forward to receiving them so I can get cracking.
I have to thank Bruce at Littlewoods for again being so hospitable and also to Tony Cascarino, Michael Greco, Martin James and Dave Johnson who were great company all week, despite having to put up with me!!
I also ran a Beach Poccer tournament, which was a lot of fun, although the football section was played with the smallest goals in the world, meaning the highest scoring game was 1-0!
Photos and results will be on the website shortly.
So what have I learnt this week about poker.
Some players will play any two cards, some people are much better live than online, whilst others are much better the other way around.
Live Poker is a slow game, in the second level of the main event we played 8 hands in 45 minutes, thats not even a full orbit.
Some tables were serious, some were a fantastic laugh, but like online poker the fundamentals are still the same.
At the end of the day its about your table perception, position and your confidence levels.
So whats next for me, well I still have a lot of stuff to sort out over the next couple of months, before I can settle down full time at this game.
I still want to qualify for these big events, I love vegas to pieces, but my main aim, is to get good enough to have a good stab at the EPT Monte Carlo event. In the meantime its about earning enough money to keep myself going.
I wish everyone all the best, there were some fantastic players in the Caribbean and getting better at this game is going to be very difficult as everyone keeps improving.
All the best everyone.
ClintonO
Thursday, November 20, 2008
A caribbean peformance!
Last night was the satellite for the main cpc event.
I thought I would give it a go and see what happens.
I decided that I should try and do things differently. Instead of being quiet at the table, I thought I would change my table image and get involved.
I was buying the table drinks and generally just trying to have a lot of fun whilst I was playing.
I definitely annoyed a few people! But I had decided to represent a certain image and therefore had to go along with it. So a quick apology to anyone I upset, I was just acting out a role!
So onto the game, there were 12 seats available for the main event and I am very happy to say that I managed to win my $2700 seat and $10!
The hand that set me up was when I had AK in the big blind. There was one raiser mid position, a reraise from the cutoff and I decided to push.
The original raiser folded and after a while the cutoff called with KQ. I was suprised at his hand but delighted when the board did not bring a Q.
From that moment, I just did what I needed to do to win a seat. It got a bit tense for everyone with 14 left, as the short stacks kept doubling, but eventually 12 remained and we all got seats.
So tomorrow I will be sitting down a the main event.
Its the $550 tonight, so I will playing in that one later tonight.
ClintonO
I thought I would give it a go and see what happens.
I decided that I should try and do things differently. Instead of being quiet at the table, I thought I would change my table image and get involved.
I was buying the table drinks and generally just trying to have a lot of fun whilst I was playing.
I definitely annoyed a few people! But I had decided to represent a certain image and therefore had to go along with it. So a quick apology to anyone I upset, I was just acting out a role!
So onto the game, there were 12 seats available for the main event and I am very happy to say that I managed to win my $2700 seat and $10!
The hand that set me up was when I had AK in the big blind. There was one raiser mid position, a reraise from the cutoff and I decided to push.
The original raiser folded and after a while the cutoff called with KQ. I was suprised at his hand but delighted when the board did not bring a Q.
From that moment, I just did what I needed to do to win a seat. It got a bit tense for everyone with 14 left, as the short stacks kept doubling, but eventually 12 remained and we all got seats.
So tomorrow I will be sitting down a the main event.
Its the $550 tonight, so I will playing in that one later tonight.
ClintonO
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
No defence of the title!
It's no back to back titles for me!
On Monday it was the $330 and $440 tournaments, the tournaments that I reached the final table in last year and won the $440. Well not this year!
I don't think I have ever played as well live as I did in the $330, moving from 3k starting stack to 11k at the end of level 3 and up to 16k at the end of level 5. I even had pocket kings and won, I think thats a new record for me at the CPC. However it all went horribly wrong with a big blind special that lost to Aces.
I was feeling good as the $440 tournament arrived later that evening. Only to find myself amongsts crypto legends as Westpark and Denlizliz.
I had a real up and down first few levels and had slipped to about 2.5k of my original 4k, when I raised with KJ. I had one caller and the board was KKA.
I was hoping to somehow to get my chips in the middle and incredibly they did. However I did not put him on KQ! and that was the end of that one!
I decided to play a sit n go, whilst I was waiting for a few other players and made a decision to play the exact opposite of how I should!
It went very wrong in the first hand after I was messing about with 95, but I decided to continue with my backwards tactics.
With just 750 chips left, I raised to 125 with 73 from 2nd position. One caller and then a raise to 375. I decided to flat call half my stack.
The flop comes 7J3 and he puts me all in. He turns over AA and the turn was then a 3 giving me a full house.
I continued this tactic, calling two short stacks all in with 46 off and knocked them both out after hitting trip fours.
I even manage to reraise all in and win with 72 against a monster 85!
I eventually came 3rd after I started playing properly, should have folded AJ preflop!
Who says there is no luck in poker!! I just have to decide whether to pursue this tactic further!
Yesterday was a non-playing day, so I spent the day in the gym and spa before having a few drinks later on.
I have not made up my mind about cruises yet, the weather is really overcast and I keep spending money! The good thing is that there are so many good people on this trip and almost everyone is here to enjoy themselves. So I will reserve my judgement for now.
Tonight it is the 2nd supersatellite, $270 entry, $100 rebuy and $100 double add-on.
Thursday is beach poccer and the $550.
I will update this again on Friday and hope that my ambition to be the number one poker player with the surname Orchard in the world has not been shattered for this year!!
ClintonO
On Monday it was the $330 and $440 tournaments, the tournaments that I reached the final table in last year and won the $440. Well not this year!
I don't think I have ever played as well live as I did in the $330, moving from 3k starting stack to 11k at the end of level 3 and up to 16k at the end of level 5. I even had pocket kings and won, I think thats a new record for me at the CPC. However it all went horribly wrong with a big blind special that lost to Aces.
I was feeling good as the $440 tournament arrived later that evening. Only to find myself amongsts crypto legends as Westpark and Denlizliz.
I had a real up and down first few levels and had slipped to about 2.5k of my original 4k, when I raised with KJ. I had one caller and the board was KKA.
I was hoping to somehow to get my chips in the middle and incredibly they did. However I did not put him on KQ! and that was the end of that one!
I decided to play a sit n go, whilst I was waiting for a few other players and made a decision to play the exact opposite of how I should!
It went very wrong in the first hand after I was messing about with 95, but I decided to continue with my backwards tactics.
With just 750 chips left, I raised to 125 with 73 from 2nd position. One caller and then a raise to 375. I decided to flat call half my stack.
The flop comes 7J3 and he puts me all in. He turns over AA and the turn was then a 3 giving me a full house.
I continued this tactic, calling two short stacks all in with 46 off and knocked them both out after hitting trip fours.
I even manage to reraise all in and win with 72 against a monster 85!
I eventually came 3rd after I started playing properly, should have folded AJ preflop!
Who says there is no luck in poker!! I just have to decide whether to pursue this tactic further!
Yesterday was a non-playing day, so I spent the day in the gym and spa before having a few drinks later on.
I have not made up my mind about cruises yet, the weather is really overcast and I keep spending money! The good thing is that there are so many good people on this trip and almost everyone is here to enjoy themselves. So I will reserve my judgement for now.
Tonight it is the 2nd supersatellite, $270 entry, $100 rebuy and $100 double add-on.
Thursday is beach poccer and the $550.
I will update this again on Friday and hope that my ambition to be the number one poker player with the surname Orchard in the world has not been shattered for this year!!
ClintonO
Monday, November 17, 2008
Caribbean Poker Classic - The Cruise
Well CPC V is upon is and this is my fourth consectutive visit to the tournament.
This year it is on a cruise ship called Freedom of the Seas.
I flew out to Miami on Saturday and had a day there, half to say from what I saw I am liking Miami a lot!
Boarded the ship Sunday Afternoon - wow what a ship, absolutely incredible. There is literally everything you can think of on this ship!
Although I must say, it could be a little calmer! Either the entire ship is drunk or these seas are stormy!
The first tournament was tonight the $270 qualifier in the main event. This however was a little different to planned as they introduced rebuys for $100 and a double add-on for another $100, so it effectively might as well have been a $470 freezeout.
I dont know how many players we started with but there was 135 rebuys and 85 add ons, so I am guessing a little over a hundred.
I lasted until the end of level 6. The first 3 levels were generally very tight, most raises got through. I played a number of speculative hands, but never really made much progress, moving between 1500-3500 in chips.
I lost a few at the end of level 3 with my only pair of the day 33. Got called by T9 on a 642 board. Turn T river T. lol
So at the first break I had 2k, plus my 3k addon.
At level 4 a new player arrived on the table and bet every single hand. With blinds at 100-200, he raised to 1100, I put him all in with JT, he thought for ages and folded KJ!
Following he played every hand, which made poker a little difficult, but he only lasted 2 levels.
In level six with Antes up at 50 and blinds at 200/400 it was becoming expensive. I raised with QT in the cutoff for the short stack to move all in. I could not fold for the amount and faced AJ. However every card was 9 or under. This left me crippled and when I pushed at the first available opportunity I was called by 55 and AK and that was it.
So a slow start, but with two tournaments tomorrow, I am hoping to do a lot better.
I am blaming tonight on exhaustion and this ship!
ClintonO
This year it is on a cruise ship called Freedom of the Seas.
I flew out to Miami on Saturday and had a day there, half to say from what I saw I am liking Miami a lot!
Boarded the ship Sunday Afternoon - wow what a ship, absolutely incredible. There is literally everything you can think of on this ship!
Although I must say, it could be a little calmer! Either the entire ship is drunk or these seas are stormy!
The first tournament was tonight the $270 qualifier in the main event. This however was a little different to planned as they introduced rebuys for $100 and a double add-on for another $100, so it effectively might as well have been a $470 freezeout.
I dont know how many players we started with but there was 135 rebuys and 85 add ons, so I am guessing a little over a hundred.
I lasted until the end of level 6. The first 3 levels were generally very tight, most raises got through. I played a number of speculative hands, but never really made much progress, moving between 1500-3500 in chips.
I lost a few at the end of level 3 with my only pair of the day 33. Got called by T9 on a 642 board. Turn T river T. lol
So at the first break I had 2k, plus my 3k addon.
At level 4 a new player arrived on the table and bet every single hand. With blinds at 100-200, he raised to 1100, I put him all in with JT, he thought for ages and folded KJ!
Following he played every hand, which made poker a little difficult, but he only lasted 2 levels.
In level six with Antes up at 50 and blinds at 200/400 it was becoming expensive. I raised with QT in the cutoff for the short stack to move all in. I could not fold for the amount and faced AJ. However every card was 9 or under. This left me crippled and when I pushed at the first available opportunity I was called by 55 and AK and that was it.
So a slow start, but with two tournaments tomorrow, I am hoping to do a lot better.
I am blaming tonight on exhaustion and this ship!
ClintonO
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Starting Over
Poker is one of things that is hard to get right.
You need to play reguarly to give you confidence in your game, yet you need confidence to play your optimum game.
Thats why when your playing well and confident, you should not stop playing!
Right now for me its about rebuilding that confidence.
Since I have started playing again, its gone ok. I played a dozen or so tournaments a couple of weeks back and won 4 of them. Now these were not big tournaments, but they helped me believe that I can still play this game.
I have played 4 small tournaments this week since leaving my job, I have had 3 FTs and bubbled in one, so I believe that the basics are there. I even won a STT! lol!
Today I am going to play some more and see what happens.
I have made one fundamental change to my game and that is to believe in myself a little more.
I have in the past been a little cautious, but one thing I have learnt during this year is that you can play everything perfectly and still end up a loser.
So there is no point being afraid to lose. I don't mean by playing recklessly or not folding when you don't have the real or implied odds to do carry on, but by backing your beliefs. I will still play my game, but I will trust my instincts a lot more and if that means going out first hand or on the bubble, then so be it.
A quick thank you already to the guys that have wished me well. I would love to catch up with you all soon, let me know how you are getting on and what you have been doing.
Right now for me, the aim is get some poker minutes in before the Caribbean, which incredibly is only 3 days away!
If you see me on the tables, don't forget to say hi!
ClintonO
You need to play reguarly to give you confidence in your game, yet you need confidence to play your optimum game.
Thats why when your playing well and confident, you should not stop playing!
Right now for me its about rebuilding that confidence.
Since I have started playing again, its gone ok. I played a dozen or so tournaments a couple of weeks back and won 4 of them. Now these were not big tournaments, but they helped me believe that I can still play this game.
I have played 4 small tournaments this week since leaving my job, I have had 3 FTs and bubbled in one, so I believe that the basics are there. I even won a STT! lol!
Today I am going to play some more and see what happens.
I have made one fundamental change to my game and that is to believe in myself a little more.
I have in the past been a little cautious, but one thing I have learnt during this year is that you can play everything perfectly and still end up a loser.
So there is no point being afraid to lose. I don't mean by playing recklessly or not folding when you don't have the real or implied odds to do carry on, but by backing your beliefs. I will still play my game, but I will trust my instincts a lot more and if that means going out first hand or on the bubble, then so be it.
A quick thank you already to the guys that have wished me well. I would love to catch up with you all soon, let me know how you are getting on and what you have been doing.
Right now for me, the aim is get some poker minutes in before the Caribbean, which incredibly is only 3 days away!
If you see me on the tables, don't forget to say hi!
ClintonO
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
A New Beginning
Well its good to be back!
I hope everyone is well and has been enjoying themselves and their poker.
I enjoyed writing my blog because I believed it helped some people and many said it was a good read.
So apologies for being away, but I am now back.
A quick explanation is in order I feel, without too much details!
I always felt 2008 was going to be the year that defined my life, I just did not realise the ramifications of it!
2008 has hit me very hard indeed, I have pretty much lost most things that mattered to me and its now time to start all over again.
But don't worry you can't keep a good guy down for too long.
The Caribbean Poker Classic is only a few days away and its time to get playing again.
I have played very little poker since the Summer, I guess I did not want to lose that from my life as well!
I remember saying to my football team, well at least I have still have my football, five minutes later I broke my foot! LOL. So you can see why I have been careful with Poker!
So for those of you going to the Caribbean, I look forward to catching up, if not I will catch you online soon.
I will be posting on here regularly now, so please check back in soon.
Take Care
ClintonO
I hope everyone is well and has been enjoying themselves and their poker.
I enjoyed writing my blog because I believed it helped some people and many said it was a good read.
So apologies for being away, but I am now back.
A quick explanation is in order I feel, without too much details!
I always felt 2008 was going to be the year that defined my life, I just did not realise the ramifications of it!
2008 has hit me very hard indeed, I have pretty much lost most things that mattered to me and its now time to start all over again.
But don't worry you can't keep a good guy down for too long.
The Caribbean Poker Classic is only a few days away and its time to get playing again.
I have played very little poker since the Summer, I guess I did not want to lose that from my life as well!
I remember saying to my football team, well at least I have still have my football, five minutes later I broke my foot! LOL. So you can see why I have been careful with Poker!
So for those of you going to the Caribbean, I look forward to catching up, if not I will catch you online soon.
I will be posting on here regularly now, so please check back in soon.
Take Care
ClintonO
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