Over the next few years playing poker for me existed almost exclusively as home games and a very little online. However over time the home game began to die as people moved away from the area or had other stuff going on in their lives and eventually I lost interest in trying to organise it every month, only for it to not happen.
In July 2018 I was lying in bed watching some TV and scrolling through Facebook when a PokerStars app advert popped up on my phone. I thought that was pretty cool, just mess around playing some poker on my phone while chilling out. I downloaded the app and tried to set up an account. "The email address you have used is linked to an existing account. Please login to continue." Pfff, I haven't used this in years, how the hell am I supposed to remember my password. After a bit of swearing and frustration, I was able to reset my password and login.
I've got to say, it's a pretty decent app! The best I've played on to this day. I headed over to the tournaments to see what was on offer. At the time Pokerstars were offering Freerolls on a regular basis. There was a $100, $200 and $300 give away every night with max 1000 entrants. The only trouble was that they would last long into the night. The first one I cashed in, I played until nearly 1am for a min cash. The payout structures were kind of strange as well, because instead of keeping the percentages the same for each size give away, they would extend the payout by 100 places, so the $100 give away paid to 100 places, $200 to 200 places with 101st to 200th getting $0.10 and $300 to 300 places with 101st to 300th getting $0.10. But I found that if I could get a double up in the $300 game, I was almost guaranteed to cash, because the payout structure was so deep, it made it easy to make the money. This became my tactic; double up early and then just sit out and make the min cash of $0.10. There was little point playing after that because the pay jump was minimal and you had to outlast another 200 players. The $100 and $200 had to be played more or less like a normal tournament although the $100 payout was tighter than most and the $200 softer than most normal tournaments. I played these freerolls on a regular basis min cashing about one in three. I also bubbled the final table in a $100 game for a whopping $2.00. I started getting the bug for the game a bit again and put out some feelers to see if anyone would be interested in a Friday night game again.
The response was pretty impressive! I had more than a dozen people who were interested and a few that were super keen. On 31st August we played the first new Friday Night Game of the new era, 9 players (which proved one too many in terms of space and chips) £10 buy-in reduced from the previous £20 to make sure interest was good and we were away.
As with lots of home games the standard of poker being played was poor to say the least; lots of limped multi-way pots, lots of "what's the blinds?", lots of acting out of turn and all sorts of stuff a regular poker player would be left pulling his hair out about, but it was good fun and everyone enjoyed themselves.
One hand sticks in my head because it set me up to have a chance at winning. I had pocket Kings in middle position and made a "standard" 3BB raise. Immediately you get "who's done that" because it's no longer just 1BB to see the flop. It folds round to a guy called Greg on the Button, who has been looser than just about everyone else at the table, but has won a couple of decent pots to have more that starting stack and have me covered and he calls. I can't remember what the blinds did, but they had no bearing on the hand so I assume they folded pre-flop. The flop was very dry with no Ace, so I continuation bet 5BB. Normally, I probably wouldn't have bet quite so large, but Greg is going to call with pretty much his entire range. He does call and the turn is a King to give me a set. I bet about 3/4's pot and he insta-calls. I feign a little surprise and say "you've got a monster, haven't you?" knowing full well that he can't have me beat at this point and only the most unlikely draw can suck out on me on the river. The river is a complete brick, but I Hollywood for a bit before checking. He shoves immediately and I call almost before he's finished saying all-in. He shows K-Q for top pair and I turn over my set and scoop the pot.
Greg was the first one out not long later and I went on to beat Ricky to win the night and take home £45 for first.
I was cleaning up in the home games I followed up that win with another in September, a third place in October and a second in November. We didn't play in December due to Christmas, meaning I finished 2018 with £85.00 and an ROI of more than 200%.
2019 started pretty nicely as well, third in January followed by a second in February. March was the first home game I didn't cash in, but overall I was well up on my investment and, obviously, I was enjoying the added social life that the Friday Night Game brought with it.
July's Friday Night game brought am phenomenon that I thought I would only ever see on YouTube. 4 handed, I was dealt KTd in the UTG with around 100BB, I raised and was called by Mikey in the Big Blind. The flop was Ad-Qd-7s, Mikey checked and I made a continuation bet of 2BB. Mikey calls. The turn is the miracle card, the one in a million, the card from God; the Jd. I can't quite believe it. I check my hole cards as calmly as I possibly can as Mikey checks. Sure enough, I have the stone-cold nuts. I bet 4BB and Mikey calls again. The river is the Ts, and Mikey leads! Oh what I bonus, I'm sat there trying to work out how to get the most out of the strongest hand in poker and my opponent is leading into me - beautiful. Mikey bet 3BB, which I read as a blocking bet with maybe a King or even a 9, or a lower flush, or a weak bluff with complete air, in the hope I would just call even if I was ahead. I decided to raise large, knowing he would fold his junk and call with his flushes and Ace high straights. I bet 40BB which was roughly twice the pot. Mikey calls almost straight away and turns over KTh, Bob, who was dealing shouts "Oh! For a moment there I thought he had the Royal", I stand up and say "he can't have...because I do!" as I slam my cards down. Jaws drop and high fives are exchanged with everyone.
