Poker game #1

My Poker Experiment starts here. I’ve just transferred £20 into my Ladbrokes account, which, added to my $2 already in there, gives me $37.12 to play with. The plan is to increase this amount (and not look like a mug). I’m hoping that by writing it up here maybe I wont play so recklessly.

I’ll be playing games of Texas Hold’em the most popular of the poker family. You can find the rules of Texas Hold’em here.

Although you can play with as many people as you like I’ll start off by playing a few Single Table Tournaments (STTs). This is where all ten players on a table pay the same amount of money and get the same amount of chips. Nobody can add any chips to their pile or cash them in – you play until one person has won all the chips. If you’re there till the end it’ll usually take an hour to play.

To start off I’ll play a $5 table. This actually costs me $6 as I have to pay a buck to Ladbrokes for the privilege :( – thats how they make their money. Thats a pot of $50 – $25 to the winner, $15 to second place and $10 to third. Winning is, of course, hard but getting into the top three is a bit easier. It all depends on the luck of your cards, the skill of the opponents and having some balls to see through any bluffs. Lets go!

Bets start off at 20 chips. Get a 3-8, I fold but three players go all in. That means two get knocked out and there’s 8 players left, great. Now I get dealt a 4-3 and call. A 4 and 3 turn up in the flop and I end up winning 500 chips, I’m now on 2000, I’m in 2nd place.

I lose 250 chips waiting for a flush that never appears, but get 400 back with four 3’s!! Can’t remember the last time I had four of a kind. Can my luck continue?

Not doing too badly. About 15 mins in and 2150 chips, still 2nd place. Throwing away hands that dont materialise and staying in with winners. 2 players down and 2 with less than 600 chips.

30 mins in and no change. And I’m not getting any good cards. Bets start at 100 chips now. Gotta be selective and decisive. Oh, another players taken out – but not by me. My hands are getting worse but manage to bluff a few chips back. Each hand is now 200 chips a pop if you want to see the flop.

Only six players left but I’m in 4th place. I need to take some of the lower players out. Gah! Down to 1300 chips with a hand that could have gone either way. Great, back up to 3rd with a nice three of a kind.

Then it all goes mad! I win an “all in” with 2 other players and I’m in the lead. Then there’s three of us left. I take the third guy out and I’m 8000 chips and the other guy is 7000. We have an almightly scrap which lasts about 10 minutes but he finally kills me off as I decide to match his all-in with a Queen and Jack, he has a King and ends up winning with a pair of them.

Oh well, I didn’t win but I walk away with $15. Thats a good start, and adds $9 to my pot, which is now $46. More poker soon!