All,

Shares Magazine journalist Geoff Ho is off to the bright lights of Las Vegas next week to chance his arm on the card tables out there.

Geoff is an avid poker player and plays in regular tournaments, and now the action in Vegas is beckoning for him.

MoneyAM Poker Room has sponsored him to see how well he can do, and Geoff will be posting regularly on this thread to keep you all informed of the highs and the lows of Las Vegas life.

Will Geoff make his fortune and be sunning himself in the tropics after his week in the US? Or will he return down at heel?

Will he sink? Or will he swim?

Find out with Geoffs diary on this thread starting next week.

Viva Las Vegas!!

Are there still pros out there, working shifts - the one's who sleep through the day so they're fresh to fleece the tourists and the, er, tired and inebriated, at night?

Hmmmmnnn.
The day started on a sour note as Arsenal beat Juventus, much to the delight of the dozen or so Arsenal fans that I was in the Crown & Anchor with. A short cab ride later and I was back in Excalibur playing limit hold'em, which went really well at first.
To answer your question Maggot, I usually play a fairly tight game, which worked very well at Excalibur. I started with $50 and turned it into $400 within about 2 hours simply by playing tight and betting strongly on the button.
You would not believe just how stupid some people are or just how laughably weak their starting hands are. For example, I held pocket jacks and flopped a jack, 8 and a 3. An eight appeared on the turn and my opponent thought he had it in the bag with his two pair, eights and threes, so he bet big. I called. nothing came up on the river so I check raised him. At the end of it he expressed surprise when informed that three of a kind beats two pair.
I should have quit at $400 but greed got the better of me. The pros start coming out to play in the late afternoon and tangling with them was not a good idea as I did lose a couple of hands. The people I played against weren't famous like Doyle Brunson or Phil Hellmuth, but they were effective. I only played a few hands against them and in the end, I consider myself lucky to have walked off with $330.
After my success with the poker I decided to hit the video slot machines. Bad move - I lost $100 using my mate's "fool proof" system. Still, I'm up for the day and off to watch Boston Legal on TV.
Tomorrow's gambling activities will be delayed by a rather more important match than Arsenal's minor tie with Juventus. Watching West Ham get beaten by the one, the only United takes priority over everything, including gambling.

PS: It's raining in Vegas and just turned cold. So much for that sunny holiday thing. Bah.

Geoff. I see now that you are playing cash games as opposed to tourneys. The great advantage with tourneys is that you know your maximum loss before starting, of course, which makes it ideal for non-experts. I had assumed that cash players were very much better than average - obviously not!

Do you play tourneys?

Bullie??

"MoneyAM Poker Room has sponsored him to see how well he can do"

UNITED! UNITED! Watched United's win over West Ham in the pub, which put me in a great mood today. After the game I headed to Luxor, where I came 16th in a $35 a head tournament, just outside of the money. But that did not spoil my mood - United had won afterall.
After that, I went back to Excalibur and the cash games. Despite playing solid poker I was down $80 within an hour thanks to some very, very fortunate river cards for my opponents. That necessitated a change of pace on my part and I started playing super-aggressively. That seemed to do the trick and soon I had recovered my money. Still, I was happy because United won and that's what matters.
Fast forward to after dinner and things turned for the worse. Whoever made invented video poker is on my death list. The guy who invented slots is a new addition to said list. I dropped $200 on the slots. Not good. If I ever see a slot machine again it'll be too soon. Ditto for video poker.
That leaves just poker and I'm determined to recoup the money I lost elsewhere. Somebody is going to be on the receiving end of a beating tomorrow.

Probably you with that attitude ;)

You're a bit slow to learn, Geoff, that slots and video poker require no skill whatever and are weighted in favour of the house. I spent 10 days in Vegas last year and did not go on a single slot! The reason is that I know I am not excessively lucky - and you need to be to win.

Still, as long as United won (I presume you are referring to Manchester United) that's OK. They will be really grateful for your support.

Don't think much to your last remark, though. Being determined to recoup the money places you under unneccessary pressure. All you can do is to play the cards you have the best you can. Whether you win or not on any particular day is in the lap of the Gods.

Lecture over. Have a good day, now! :>)

Yes. As long as United won, then that's OK. Because that's what matters.

Sheeesh............

Respect? Not.

(Either for Geoff Ho and his attitude and skill for playing poker or towards MoneyAM for sponsoring him).

What do others think?

I think he's young and impetuous. And he is on his hols. And he is being refreshingly honest with his reports. So any criticism must be made with that in mind.

I think as a fan of the Salford red sox, he should feel at home being a Man Utd fan that far from old trafford. ;-)

DocProc,

It is supposed to be a fun diary piece from Geoff - he is actually on annual holiday, and we asked him to take time out from his own holiday to post a few light hearted comments on his trials and tribulations in Vegas, for which we have sponsored him(beer money).

Sounds a lot like me when I was his age.

I am willing to do a swop and rerun it :)

Ian

And here's me thinking it's an 'all-expenses paid by MoneyAM' trip to Las Vegas.

Am I daft or what?

:-)

Lost 10p today on one of those games where you try to get the 2p coins to fall over the edge. Things went from bad to worse when my crane picked up the teddy bear and then dropped it. Decided to retire for the day.

Kayak,LOL :-)

Kayak you can hedge against that ,a hard shove should get the 2p's flowing out ,,then move away swiftly when the alarm goes off and let those teenagers take the blame.

Geoff,

Trust you do NOT try to play the mother of all hands [in-joke from previous Shares staff poker game]. The Yanks won't be as forgiving as we were. Next Wednesday I expect my 500 back or you'll be ramping Arsenal for the next ten years.

Shares ed

Doc, I made the same mistake in thinking he was being sponsored.

Now we know it's a holiday it's something different! Good luck kid and keep us posted.

No footy tonight so he should do OK.



Let's watch ths space, eh?

Sponsorship doesn't mean 100% of everything. So obviously, if Moneyam are paying his beer money he's going to drink a lot of beer! Makes sense to me.