Spotted Dick

Recently I've been lucky enough to get a gig spotting hands for the final table shows that PokerStars have been making for their WCOOP coverage (check out www.pokerstars.tv). In case you don't understand that, I choose which hands get shown in the highlights show.

Now sometimes it's pretty gruelling; for instance, for the Badugi final I had to watch over 400 hands and choose twenty of them which would reflect the "story" of the final table. Just trust me when I tell you that that final table took a looooong time (remember, Badugi is played limit).

It goes without saying that I have watched some of the world's best online MTTers - players like SCTrojans, djk123, ElkY, BeL0WaB0VE, westmenloAA, Hoss_TBF, Jovial Gent and many others.

So you'd think I'd learn something right? Maybe pick up a few extra moves. Nah, not a chance. The other night at the Vic I 3-barrelled some French guy who had already shown a propensity for not letting go of his hands when I held the ol' K9c. That's right, the Sawmill.

It's like this y'see. I happened to be spotting the WCOOP Main Event and one of the hands that stood out was eventual winner Jovial Gent raising in the CU (standard) and then 3-barrelling his hapless opponent into submission with Q9 off (standard too, obv). Btw, his third barrel consisted of a huge all-in.

Notice that I went one pip higher with my late posish raising hand - being such a nit I can't help but feel like I actually have to "have" something. Also notice I chose to pull the trigger in a 2-5 cash game at the Vic instead of a major online final where there were large payouts and money jumps.

Also, notice that I chose to execute this fine manoeuvre at around 4.30am when I was stuck and buried from probably one of the worst plays I have ever made in the 5-10 PLO game earlier on.

Finally, notice that none of the players who would expect me to turn over top set at this point (ie most of the regulars at the Vic) weren't there to see me table king-high, so it was pretty much a waste of time and money.

One of these days I might get around to actually learning how to play this fucking game...