Sigh

You hold AK and raise 6 x bb, one caller.
The flop is A 2 7 you bet double the pot, he calls.
Q on the turn, bet double the pot, he calls.
Check the J on the river.
He turns over AJ.
5% chance of winning, but he wins.

Now times this by 36 hands in almost identical situations so far this year.
AQ virtually the same, another 44 hands.

Poker Office now shows Ax beating AK and AQ almost 70% of times over 10,000 hands?

Really pissing me off now.

Fortunately for me, I've been paid off on a couple of flushes and sets v 2 pairs, so showing a 50$ profit for the month so far. Had I won 70% of AK and AQ hands (as the odd and probability depict) I would be over 400$ up.

So are the odds wrong or the online poker sites, as one surely must be?

Not Always What You Think

Amongst a few interesting Xmas pressies, was a book about 'General Ignorance'. With a forward by Stephen Fry, it is full of the real facts that disprove some of the most accepted stories we know. For example, goldfish can be trained to push a lever for food reward, and even pressing it only at certain times of the day to get fed. Thus dispelling the myth about 7 second memory.

So, I am now full of amazing facts that I will use to impress my friends and colleagues - but I would like to share one with you: What's the most interesting thing about Scottish kilts, bagpipes, haggis, porridge whiskey and, I am sorry to add, tartan?

Well, not once of them is Scottish. Not one single thing.
Kilts (Danish word) first came from Ireland, Bagpipes (mentioned in the First Testament) are Asian, Haggis was an ancient Greek sausage, Porridge came from Scandinavia or possibly central Europe, Whiskey came from ancient China and was introduced to Scotland by the Irish and finally, that stereotypical Scottish cloth of Tartan (look away now Acorn) was actually a English thing.

Only a bit of fun, and to even up the balance it is only fair to report that Scotland can claim: Chicken Tikka Masala (!! but true, Chicken Tikka is Indian, the Masala was added by a Glaswegian restaurant owner), bovril, the cure for malaria, bicycle pedals, colour photography, the lawnmower, marmalade, tarmac and, to address the 'tartan' balance somewhat - the Bank of England.

Anyway, quite what this has got to do with poker or daddyhood I'm not sure, but one thing you can never say about Mias Dad, is that he is predictable.
Made a return to poker tonight after a few days break and have closed down at USA Poker, where my run seemed to have come to an end after turning my 860 to just over the 1030$ mark when a few hands started going horribly wrong. I cashed out 958$ profit from December and am delighted with that. I have just broken into USA Poker's 'gold club' for the amount of hands played, so I'm going to wait and see what they will do to tempt me back :-).

Decided to wait a few days before looking for my next target, and have deposited at Ladbrokes, my first ever poker site, to see if things have changed any there since I last played.
The quick answer was no, as my first hand was my AQ losing to the villians AJ on an A high flop - his J hit the river - and this reminded me of why I left there all those months ago. I now have software, so am going to stick it out for a while and see if my memory stands up against the stats Poker Office provides.

Anway, enough from me, hope your New Year celebrations were enjoyable and memorable!!

Happy New Year

I'm not really one for making resolutions after a night of red wine and guinness, but like Cloud mentioned in his blog, I've got a feeling that 2007 is going to be my best at the poker tables.

Hope you all had a good night, and best wishes for a succesful 2007 in whatever you do.