durrrr vs Antonius 50K hands challenge. These guys are so sick

I briefly heard about this challenge ages ago from my colleague, but have just had a look on the site now, and it is crazy.

For those of you who don't know, Tom 'durrrr' Dwan pretty much claims to be the best online poker player in the world and has challenged ANYONE to a bet.

The bet is to multi table 4 games at a time, either No Limit Holdem or Pot Limit Omaha. They are to play heads up and play a total of 50,000 hands over a period of quite a few months. If after the 50,000 hands, the challenger wins, then he/she will get $1.5 MILLION from durrrr (as well as the winnings and the glory of humiliating him). If durrrr wins, then the challenger will have to pay him $500,000 (and also suffer the humiliation of being beaten by durrrr which is worse than losing $500,000).

Patrik Antonius was the first person to challenge him, 4 tabling Pot Limit Omaha. So far, they have played 20,647 hands of the 50,000. Durrrr is currently up by $726,546! Guess how much money has exchanged hands so far.....

Over $150MILLION!

That is just a totally sick amount of money lol.

If you want to keep up to date with the challenge then click on this
durrrr-vs-antonius link, but I will update here with my own commentary over the next few months. I believe the next player in line is Phil Ivey, and then I think David Benyamine.

Can't wait.

By the way, anyone can view these games live on Full Tilt by looking at the Omahi Hi high stakes section, and if the game is on, you'll see it running.

Have you missed me?

I have had a refreshing few months off from poker. Didn't really have any intention of getting started again this soon, BUT about 9 months ago, I pre-ordered the Mike Matusow book but COMPLETELY forgot about it.

So half way through my break from poker, having not thought about the game at all, this book randomly arrives at my house. It kind of sat there gathering dust for a few weeks but then I picked it up and started reading, and the rest as they say, is history! Am back on the poker "dream" and I'll see if I can make a better job of it this time LOL

It took a few games to get back into the swing of things, was a bit rusty with the little details that you need to know. Raising preflop, betting on your straight/flush draws, all that shizzle.

After playing a few full ring SnGs, I have mostly been playing heads up turbo SnGs. Those things are addictive, I can get through about 6 or 7 of them on my one hour lunch break AND eat my lunch AND have 2 cigarettes.

I have completely got rid of programs like Holdem Manager etc for tracking other players stats as I don't think the data it provided you is that relevant if you are predominantly a tournament player. If you think about it, that info (aggressiveness, preflop raising %, 3/4 bet % etc) is all good in a ring game, because the limits stay the same, so their playing style is going to remain largely the same when you meet them again. However, as you know, the best overall strategy with tournaments is, the less people/closer to the bubble, the more aggressive you should be. So basically, 'preflop' raise % information etc can be rather pointless as the playing style/aggression is going to be changing constantly throughout the tournament, if that makes sense?

I think old fashioned written notes on playing ability/style/habits/tells is the way forward and that also gets you into the right frame of mind of how to classify players when playing live.

Do you want to see something funny? Go to google and search 'Does Lady Gaga have a willy?'. This blog comes up at the top hahaaaaa. I wrote a post such a long time ago with her 'poker face' video (which has since been removed from youtube). However, because the name of this blog is 'Willy Cs Poker Blog', you can see why the post is at the top!

What else is new huh? In all honesty, pretty much nothing. My new running trainers have just arrived, so will try them out tomorrow morning, hopefully I won't die as I haven't been running for ages, hence the new trainers to try and inspire me to go running again haha.

Just finished a 9 person £2.25 SnG. Went out 3rd for a whopping $1.35 profit. Back to the old days of losing with AA to KJsooted. Just got to remember, you want people to play like that!

You will have probably noticed I haven't updated lately!

Hello good people,

Well this is just a quick post, you will have noticed that I haven't posted in a while. Mainly because I am putting a lot of time and effort into other things, so really haven't been playing any poker at all over the past few months.

I have however got a new blog up and running, for those of you that are interested, the url is www.williamclaxton.co.uk. It's mainly just a personal blog with a 'raising money for charity' theme, but will likely move onto tips and advice on Social Media Marketing / SEO and all that stuff in the future. We'll see how it goes!

Keep subscribed to this blog though! I have a few homegames coming up, so will be interesting to see what it's like playing poker again for the first time in 2 months or so.

Anyways, check out my new blog! www.williamclaxton.co.uk !

2009 Live Tournament #2 & #3 : £10 Rebuys

I played 2 £10 rebuy tournaments last weekend. Well what can I say apart from, £10 Rebuys are just a total shovefest.

One of the tournaments was at the G Casino in Luton, which is a good hour or so drive from Oxford. (Will have to wear shoes next time as its a pretty smart place, well, the Casino is smart, Luton looked like a total S*** Hole tbh!)

I didn't make the money in either of the tournaments. But I didn't repeat any mistakes from the previous weekend, but uncovered a few other mistakes which I will need to ensure won't happen again.

I was picking up a lot of tells which helped me decide what to do/not to do, but I also missed out tells which in hindsight were obvious so cost me chips.

Rebuy tournaments are really not my thing. It basically just means that you have 2 choices for the first hour or so.... either All in or Fold preflop, and people will call with ANYTHING. Lol one of the games, 6 people went all in on the first hand, the cards were something along the lines of:

QQ vs K10 vs 92 vs A5 vs 55 vs J4

Amazingly, the Ladies actually held up and the other 5 players rebought in!

I did however play roulette for the first time in my life at the Casino & turned my £5 casino chip into £85. I won't tell you my 'strategy' but I am consiering becoming a professional roulette player because I am so good at it.

I wasn't even going to play roulette, but I got my change for the buyin to poker in Casino chips, so I thought what the hell! I'll give it a go, which is the Casino's obvious plan. But I certainly tought them a lesson by walking away with £80 of their money.

Anyway yeah, sorry it is a short post this time, or maybe you are happy it is a short post? I never know how much to write! I am considering buying a digital camcorder and doing some 'video blog' style commentry before, during breaks and after tournaments about how I am feeling etc. I dunno though... we'll see! Would anyone be interested in some video blogging from yours truly?

(I'm only joking about 'going pro' on the roulette by the way, that game is pure luck!)

2009 Live Tournament #1 : £60 Buyin

Well well well, here is my "report" for my first live game of 2009. It didn't go to plan, as I didn't win or make the money lol.

It was a £40 buy in for the first 4000 chips plus an optional addon for £20 for another 4000 chips. I bought in for the whole £60 (which is about $87ish) for 8000 chips, so kind of looked at it as a "£60 Freezeout" and so did everyone else there!

A few hands in to the game, I took 4000 from one player (He hadn't added on yet). I had AQsuited, I raised preflop and he went all in on BB. I thought "yeh whatever, sod small ball strategy!". I insta-called. He showed AKoffsuit eeek. Luckily the card gods were nice to me and dealt me out a lovely flush.

I then proceeded to play cautiously, just picking up small pots here and there, and then the break came.

After the break, the card gods gave me some lovely hands, 3 hands in a row, AK, AK, AA and I took out 4 players on those 3 hands building my chip stack to about 40,000. Because *I* knocked out 4 players on our table, our table broke and we moved to new tables. This was where it all 'went wrong' !!.

I donked off a few chips on silly little gambles which didn't pay off.

Then, lets just say, I lost most of the rest of my chips on one hand.... on a silly bluff. I had J9 on the button, so I raised to 2000 (blinds were at 400/800) just hoping to steal blinds. But the BB called.

Flop came 3 7 10.

I have absolutely nothing obviously, outs being a possibly J for top pair, or runner runner cards for a straight, basically... I got nothing.

BB bets 5000.

For some crazy reason, no idea why or how, I put him on a pair of 7's. I had about 25,000 in chips and decided that I wasn't going to let him steal my pot, especially as I am pretty sure he had bluffed me in the previous hand (which is a big no no, it clouds your mind and judgement when you start making it personal!)

So I decided to go for the bluff. Now here, in hindsight is even more of a reason why this was such a bad, wrong, stupid, OMGWTFRUDOING play.

I raised it to 15,000. Leaving me with just 10,000 in chips. He had 15,000 chips left. He raised me all in for the extra 5000. This is where I thought "Will, for fuck sake, what were you thinking? You actually have to call this extra 5000 now because there is so much in the pot, even though you know you are going to lose". I did call, and I lost. For those that are interested, he had a set of 3's!

Now here is my "lesson". Let alone the fact I shouldn't have tried bluffing in the first place, there was no need, just let it go and deal the next hand! But my lesson learnt is, I should be looking and taking into consideration the sizes of our chip stacks. I do it automatically when I am playing online because, well, the amounts are right infront of you! But in real, I dunno, it was like as though I "couldnt be bothered" to really think about it.

I should have been thinking something along the lines of "He has 15,000 left and if I raise to 15,000 and he then raises me all in for the extra 5000, I have to call with nothing because I am so pot committed". If I had had a thought process like that go through my mind at the time, I most likely wouldn't have bluffed! Basically, I need to think a lot more about stack sizes, and also about going "to war" with players who can severely cripple your chip stack.

Up until that hand, I admitidly had made quite a few mistakes, but smallish mistakes nevertheless that didnt hurt me too much. But that bluff was an easily avoidable mistake in hindsight. PLUS now I am thinking about it, there was NO WAY that steal would have worked in the first place at the new table as I was pegged from the start as some nutter who is trying to bully the table!

I am going to go next week (it is a weekly game with different buy-ins, structures etc) as I really want to get more live experience. Plus I think I am going to be classed as an "aggressive maniac calling station" now by the players that witnessed my poorly timed bluffs and terrible calls! So will try and use that to my advantage!

I am going to go to 2 tournaments this weekend, both £10 rebuys, so that should be fun. Like I said, my plan for 2009 is to get out there more and play more live poker and just need so much practice!

First post of 2009! Hand Analysis

Hello there, happy new year!

I just saw the funniest hand EVER. It shows the absolute non-quality skills of these low stakes (and embarrasses me that I am still hanging around this level... really need to kick my arse into gear and start improving my ROI!)

This hand was in the the first level of a 180 person $2.25 SnG on Full Tilt (I came 18th and 18 get paid.... I was on a nut flush draw with 2 overcards and faced an all in bet.... I decided to use my timebank in the hope that the bubble burst's, then I would gamble.... it did burst, I gambled but no luck so went out 18th lol, $1.35 profit woooo)



http://www.pokerhandreplays.com/view.php/id/216182

First of all he calls a position raise on BB with 45offsuit. Fine, whatever, I wouldn't have this early in the game with those cards but ah well!

The pot is now 450 with 5 people in the hand, he is 2nd to act on the flop.

Flop comes K 10 10

He bets 90 into the pot. Is he really thinking he can steal this pot with that sized bet? He gets the original bettor to fold, but has a middle position caller and SB call him.

Here is where it gets interesting though.... The turn is a 6 (now putting 2 flush draws out there) the pot is 720, and he bets 60!

Obviously the other 2 call (who wouldn't?). Then on the river comes a 9, everyone checks.

Old matey boy, Mr "My smaller bets each time will make you fold" turns over his shameful 45.

What could have possibly been going through his mind to think that his betting there would have worked? I see these bad plays all the time, like on bubble play in normal 9 person SnGs, the SB who is MASSIVE chip leader limps in and BB who is the seriously short stack just checks. SB checks the flop. BB goes all in for less than the size of the pot and SB folds. Over and over and over again. I'm there screaming at the screen shouting "WHY DID YOU LIMP IN FOR FUCK SAKE?? EITHER GO ALL IN PREFLOP OR FOLD! AND IF HE BETS, HOW THE HELLLLLL CAN YOU FOLD???".

And things like people taking gambles and calling an all in with an average chip stack on a gutshot straight draw. They miss and double up their opponent meaning everyone now has average chips. Fookin morons.

I don't really mind too much though!

I am going to start doing more hand analysis posts. Obviously I would love it if I got some views and comments and further analysis from other peeps, but I think I will get a lot from it anyway by analysing and critising myself more. Will see how it goes, I really should start posting more hands in forums.

I think one thing I am going to try and concentrate on learning/researching over the next couple of weeks is specifically ways to extract maximum value when you have the stone cold nuts and your opponents have "Squadoosh" in the words of 'the moron', more commonly known as Norman Chad... idiot.

I'm going to a live tournament tomorrow, it is £40 with an optional £20 add on. Will of course write a post about it! As for now though, I am going to go outside and have a smoke and then get an early night as I want to go for a jog tomorrow morning and THEN on Monday I will give up smoking!

My other new years resolution is... no more prop bets. I think I am going to be one of those forever losing prop bets kind of people!

Last post of 2008

First off, I hope everyone had a good Christmas!

Well it has certainly been an interesting year poker-wise (and life-wise for that matter!) for me, I briefly got my bankroll up to the largest amount it has ever been, $936 (I know it's not BIG money but it is big to me!) but I got carried away and played way outside of my 5% rule (this was kind of before I decided on the 5% rule). My game in general has improved a LOT this year, I think that because I moved out in April and didn't play for 3 months or so because we had no Internet, the break really refreshed me.

I have been thinking about how I can improve my poker game in 2009, and I have decided that I am just going to start playing lots of other games, and I think the best way is to just play H.O.R.S.E!

As in, I know how to play Holdem and Omaha obviously, but I didn't know how to play Omaha Hi/Lo, or Razz, or Stud Hi/Lo. I was like 'arghhh oh my god what the hell is this?' and the funny thing on Stud Hi/Lo is I lost all my chips in one hand, but I didn't even know HOW!

Now though, I understand about all that, and in Hi/Lo games, the low hand cant have a card higher than a 7, but if no Low hand qualifies, then its based on the Hi. But in a low game, like Razz (Which I didn't know is just Stud Lo) then a lo hand CAN have a card higher than a 7 obviously.

Been reading up about Hi Lo games, and the general consensus seems to be to go for the Lo hands instead of Hi hands, which makes sense, because if you have A2345, the best low hand (as straights and flushes don't count against a low hand), then that can also be the best high hand if no one has a hand higher than a 5 high straight, but if you are only ever chasing Hi hands, then those can't ever win Lo, if that makes sense?

I am putting a 2% bankroll rule on H.O.R.S.E games though because I pretty much completely suck at it lol.

I am also going to start playing more Pot Limit Omaha, but I need to do some research about what alterations to make when moving from Holdem to Omaha, and also learn about best starting hands and all that stuff, and for that matter, best starting hands in all the H.O.R.S.E games, and the difference in best starting hands between Omaha Hi & Omaha Hi/Lo and Stud Hi, Lo(Razz) & Hi/Lo.

I am fully aware that some of stuff I have just written could be wrong! But I will soon figure that out when I lose but don't know how haha

Anyway, I hope 2009 will be much better for me poker-wise (and life-wise for that matter!). A lot more concentration, studying and as always, improving my game at every possible opportunity is my game-plan.

Time now to go and be completely unoriginal and drink to celebrate the new year (makes a 100% fake 'wooo' noise).