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!!

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.

I think some people should lighten up !!

The United comments are tongue in cheek i would guess so take them in the mood they are expressed .

The only thing i would question is playing slots and video poker when there is real game waiting to be played .
Better to lose at the table than drop money pushing buttons when you know it is stacked against you .

Jerry - the "mother of all poker hands" (aces over kings, full house) actually helped me come third in a tournament at Luxor today. I started the tournament, which was $35 a head, badly, as nothing came my way and my stack was slowly being eaten away by the blinds. Fortunately, the mother of all hands came up and I soon trebled my stack and knocked out a really obnoxious Texan in the process.
After that it was a regal procession to the final table, where I eventually came unstuck pushing hard with a straight to the king. My opponent had the ace and won it when he got the queen on the river. Still I managed third and made $400 in the process.
Feeling flush with success, I decided to head on down to Caesar's Palace and play no-limit hold 'em. That was not such a smart move. I played $300 no limit for over four hours and all I had to show for it was a piddly $20 profit. Nothing came my way and like this morning, my stack was just being chipped away by the blinds and antes. I got lucky when I managed to flop three tens, which was the start of my come back. I eventually got my money back when my prayers for a heart flush draw came true and the 8, 4 and king made my ace high flush. I decided to stop playing after getting my money back - after all, I started playing poker at 8am and played for nearly 12 hours.
Having spent four days doing nothing but gambling, I'm going to take the day off tomorrow and do a bit of sight seeing, present shopping (for that Arsenal comment Jerry I'm bringing NOTHING back for the office!), etc.
My next forray will be on Saturday in the morning after I've watched Man Utd versus Bolton (on at 6 am in Vegas), which will see me try my luck in one of the daily tournaments at Binion's Horseshoe Casino, where they hold the world series of poker.

Geoff