Sometimes it's possible to think too much.

Last night at The Nuts Poker we were still on the first blind level and I was dealt A-3. I made my standard raise and everyone folded except the short stack who called. The flop came down with an ace, at which point I checked and the short stack went all in.

My instinct was to fold - I had a bad kicker and and no flush draw. My stack was far from huge so I really couldn't afford to throw chips at a bad ace.

Still, it was a decent pot so I stopped to think. And managed to convince myself that this was a desperate last-ditch bluff by the short stack, representing the Ace when he only had one person to fool. If he'd really had anything he'd have gone all-in pre-flop. He was probably on random paint like K-J.

That analysis fitted my observation of him so far. Perhaps more importantly it gave me the answer I subconsciously wanted. So I called.

I should have trusted my instincts - he showed A-10 for a better pair.

As it happened I got lucky: a 3 on the river saved me. I felt genuinely embarrassed at putting my opponent out. Still, I paid for it later in the evening when an A-J I was convinced was sound ran smack into A-A. That left me short stacked and I never recovered.

So today's note to self: think hard - but trust your instincts.

Labels: improving my game, nuts, poker

Last night at The Nuts I witnessed the most amazing example of beginner's luck. One of the people there hadn't played poker before and only came along because she was visiting one of the regulars. Despite this, she managed to personally take down at least six players!

The "best" moment came when one player went all in with A-Q. She called with 5-6 suited... and managed to hit three sixes and claim another scalp.

She reached the final table of 8 from the starting field of 30, finally going out in position 6. What makes it especially galling is that I went out in position 7...

Labels: general, nuts, poker

Last night I played in a small tournament. Nothing odd about that, except that this was face-to-face rather than online!

It was my first experience of The Nuts Poker League ("As Seen On TV" - on Dragons' Den). If you're in the UK and fancy some friendly poker with no money involved than you might want to check it out.

No money? That's right. The Nuts is a league system, much like a darts or table footy pub league. The game is a simple no-limit Hold 'Em knock out and points are awarded depending on final position. Points are tallied up quarterly - and what do points mean? Well, initially a seat at the regional finals, then potentially the national championship. There's even talk (not confirmed on the website) of the ultimate winner getting a seat at the World Series.

The advantage of playing for points (apart from being legal!) is that it costs nothing to play. Nothing. I was sceptical about this, expecting some hidden charge like a sign-up fee, but there really is no catch. The league is supported by the pubs, who are basically paying to get people through their doors on quiet nights. A win-win setup.

The game last night had just over 20 players of varying degrees of skill. The organiser did a good job of making sure that everyone was comfortable with the game and he even acted as drinks waiter for us!

How did I do? Went out on the bubble at position nine with the top eight going to the final table and the points. Which I don't think is too bad considering that a) the best cards I was dealt all night were 8-8 and b) the woman on my left played lots of starting hands and frequently managed to hit the flop.

I'll definitely be going back.

Labels: nuts, poker, uk