Call or pass
Anyone who's been at Mike Sexton's parties over the last 10 years can see quite clearly how the game has changed. We've gone from jeans, T-shirts, salad, beer, wine, hot tubs, and "Devil Fish" on the guitar to designer gear, caterers, bartenders, swimming pools, and DJs. Some of the old faces are still the same, thank God, so at Mike's Christmas bash, we found ourselves out by the pool with poker legend Carl McKelvey, all-around legend Scof, and lots of other guys who didn't have a suit. Veronique asked Carl if he was a poker player or a real person. He still hasn't answered. We were joined by Gavin Smith, who'd had one or two. He hilariously explained the secret behind his reputation for making great calls: The trick, according to Gavin, is that he never passes. He backed this up by stating that nobody ever accused him of making a great fold. I hope he was telling the truth, because I'm going to give this a spin.
Thor Hansen (who also didn't have a suit) was telling seniors expert Chris Bjorin about a hand he played a day or two before in the $3,000 Bellagio event. Apparently, on an A-10-5 flop, Thor checked A-Q, an elderly gentleman on his left also checked, and a young guy bet. Thor moved in and the elderly chap almost beat him into the pot. Thor flipped over his A-Q and his opponent declared that he had three tens, and turned over the K
4
(there were no hearts on the board). Apparently, he had had 10-10 in his hand quite recently and had lost concentration, as one does. He was quite distressed, and a suggestion was made that he get a refund. Obviously, this didn't happen. The dealer turned over a 4 on the turn and Thor stood up, ready to go - and he was right. The river was a king. Everybody thought that this was a bad beat, except me. I'd been listening to Gavin: Never fold.
Dangerous drinking
In November, I had the opportunity to play a tournament in the Fortune Club in Bangor. As Bangor is in Northern Ireland, I jumped at the chance, as did Scot and Eamonn. We were right, it was great entertainment. I was sitting beside this guy who told us he'd been stopped by the police on his way home from the club a few nights earlier. They asked him if he'd had anything to drink, and he said he had. They got him to blow into their machine and were a little confused when the reading was zero. They enquired further as to exactly what he'd had to drink, and he replied that he'd had two cups of tea and a Coke. They told him to go home.
A few hours later, Eamonn was driving us home to Dublin, and the inevitable happened. It was inevitable because Eamonn is as blind as a bat, and not the world's best driver at the best of times. We were stopped by the police, half a mile from the club. They asked him if he'd had anything to drink. I knew for a fact that he'd had two teas and a Coke. He thought about it for a very long 30 seconds before deciding to answer in the negative. Scot and I breathed sighs of relief, and Eamonn was told to drive carefully. There's a poker lesson here: Sometimes the correct play with the same hand against the same player can vary, depending on your table image. In this case, a Dublin registered car can be just too much of a handicap.
Simon poker news
We don't know yet when the Dublin Simon Poker Day (poker for the homeless) will take place, but we should soon. The good news is that the good people from the JPC Poker Club in Magherafelt have been kind enough to lead off by adding a charity event for us to their St. Patrick's weekend £100,000-guaranteed event (which is sponsored by betfair.com). It'll be a nice way to spend the weekend.
What's my line?
Overheard in Dublin, at the recent Pokerevents.ie tournament:
Player No. 1: I made 39 final tables last year.
Player No. 2 (instantly): Oh, I didn't know you were a carpenter!
Padraig Parkinson is well-known on the European poker scene, both for his poker prowess and sense of humour. He was one bluff away from winning the 1999 World Series of Poker, but unfortunately got called.
