32Red Poker Blog

Bluff catching

You may have heard of a hand being a “bluff catcher,” but what does it mean? You may even have heard that you can “turn your hand into a bluff catcher,” but how exactly can you do that? Bluff catching is a topic that brings with it plenty of misapprehensions. I’m going to explain what a bluff catcher is after first looking at what I consider to be one of the biggest ever poker misapprehensions:

Erik Seidel vs Johnny Chan, WSOP 1988

(YouTube link http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=KC_BETBgWxk) Read the rest of this entry →

Yesterday, I finished in fifth place in the GUKPT Grand Final at the Vic, cashing for £36,900.

Today, I woke up, and the crazy mix of emotions that poker brings was running through my head. Delighted to have had a good result in a big one; beating myself up about the final hand; gutted to have had the chip lead and seen it disappear; happy for my friend Pab to have taken it down. Wow, I thought, this poker malarkey is emotional. Read the rest of this entry →

For all the good things about poker, the great thing is hope. I’ve had a disappointing year in live poker, such miserable luck, and yet every new poker tournament brings such hope. If I could have chosen one to run good in at the start of the year, it might just have been this one. This is effectively the English Final of poker- the GUKPT Grand Final at the Vic- and it means so much to me.

And the bizarre thing? So many times this year I’ve felt I’ve played pretty well, and not even troubled the scorers. Today, I’ve played average at best, but the fact that this could bring the biggest spot of the year is why this game is so strange.

The feeling of losing every race and 60/40% shot just is so familiar that when I lost a both massive and bizarre pot with my K7 of diamonds all-in against 84 offsuit(!), it was hard to believe it wasn’t just all happening again. It had me down to 70k, one of the shortest stacks with two hours yet to play, and yet a mixture of good timing and even better luck saw me make the final table of nine with 434,100.The epitomy was when I looked down at aces in the big blind and the cut-off made a (slightly odd) open-shove his 120,000 with KQ of clubs.

The other sure thing about this game? There is always a sweat! Even an ace first card couldn’t stop him picking up a flush draw on the turn. When he missed, I just wanted to fall over with relief. I’m not going to lie, I love this game so much, and my passion for it has only increased with this recent bad run. I’m sitting in my brother’s flat in Clapham knowing I should try to sleep, but just buzzing too much to even try at the moment.

So, we’re back tomorrow at two o’clock, and I’ll try for an update during the day. Everything is crossed that things will go well tomorrow. There is one obstacle to overcome first though; I’ve made three final tables this year, and bizarrely come eighth in all three. If I can make the 4th one a first tomorrow, a crap year in live poker would become a great one. And that’s why we love this game so much; there is always hope.

I’m very unusual for my age; I spend more hours playing ‘live’ poker than playing online. However, in almost every respect, I would consider myself an online player. This is largely because people my age are expected to be so, but also to do with my playing style, and the way I think about the game. I guess it would also be true to say that I have played far more hands online, even if recently I have spent less hours there. Read the rest of this entry →

I’m not going to write much today, but everything I do write on this blog will be exactly how it is; there is no point messing around.

I love this game, it creates so much enjoyment and excitement. But boy, can it bring some lows. At the moment, today feel like one of the lowest of the lows. I came back with 60,000 today, and having been eliminated within the first hour and a half, I am absolutely gutted on two counts. Firstly, in this never-ending bad luck that the last 28k went on another damn race, but above all with myself. The first 32k went on an absolutely horrific laydown. Read the rest of this entry →

Well, I guess just a usual day of poker really. Full of ups and downs, and alot of fun with a bunch of nice people. Oh, and as always seems to be the case, one older guy whose ego just can’t deal with someone playing aggressively against him. You come to expect this, however, amidst a whole lot of pleasant people, and a tiny bit of needle maybe even adds to the fun. Read the rest of this entry →

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Well, I’m on my home from Amsterdam, this morning, after a disappointing day in the big one, the Master Classics of Poker.

It was another frustrating time really, where I did not at any point get above the starting stack, and ended with the disappointment of yet another lost race, my AK vs QQ, about seven hours into play. I realise just how lucky I am to be able to play so much tournament poker, but if I had to give it up, there is definitely one thing that I wouldn’t miss. The feeling of being so gutted, where one moment you are alive in the tournament and the next have lost everything, is really tough to take, and does not get any easier with time. Read the rest of this entry →

The Main Event at the Master Classics of Poker in Amsterdam starts tomorrow, and I can’t wait to be getting on my 10am flight tomorrow. I’ll be running daily updates on here, watch this space.

I’ve been thinking alot about last weekend’s poker, particularly that final Kings vs set of fours bust-out hand. The other big thing I remember poker tournaments by, however, is the friendliness and atmosphere of the occassion. I hope I can have a little effect in making the table a more pleasant place to be. Within the whole atmosphere of cold decks, bad beats, and ultimately of money, I think friendliness counts for a lot. Read the rest of this entry →