The Wind was Blowing but the Stars were Showing

Happy New Year to you all and I hope everyone has recovered from Christmas.

Well my friends, our goal is to make this year a successful one! And some of the things we'll be looking at in the next couple of months will be managing your bankroll, discussing how many hours at a time one should play, and when to pull the plug on a losing session. (I'm serious!) We will also look at a bunch of other stuff that will insure that we bring our best game, to the poker table.

We need to get rid of the bad habits. So you've been warned but before we get to that here's a short up date on the last coupe of weeks.

I just got back from Ireland where I spent 10 days hanging out and discussing strategies with some of the biggest and brightest names that the poker world has to offer, some of which included the1999 World Champ Noel Furlong, 1998 World Series of Poker bracelet winner Donnacha O'Dea, Padraig (the legend) Parkinson, Mike Sexton, Marcel Luske, Scott Gray, "Mad" Marty Wilson, Rory Liffey, Robert Williams III, Roy "The Boy" Brindley and many other stars from all over the world. What was everybody doing there you ask?

Well, the Radisson Hotel in Galway was the home for the prestigious PartyPoker.com Irish Poker Championships and was the hub for many of the world's great.

I arrived in Galway on New Years Eve and got straight in to the swing of things. I met up with the legend himself Padraig Parkinson, "the voice of poker" Jessie May and Jon Kalmar who, fresh off his brilliant performance in the main event at the WSOP last year with a 5th place finish netting him over $1,000,000. Good man yourself Jon! The mighty Rory Liffey and "Mad" Marty Wilson were also in attendance and were in flying form.

So as you imagine, I was in good company. After a gallon or two of Guinness and a couple of crates of Bulmer's Cider we soon found ourselves over at Mr. Fintan Gavin's wonderful card room called the Eglinton. It has a great homey feel to it with top notch staff. It has roulette, blackjack, and any type of poker game that you may be looking for. Well done Fintan and keep up the good work. Just pop the check in the mail.

The tournament attracted 300-odd hopefuls who were all licking there chops at the thought of capturing this first major tourney of 2008 and the heaps of euros that would accompany the title. It had a great structure with 10,000 in starting chips with the blinds set at 25-50 with one hour levels! You gotta love that!

I started the first day at the featured table with a line-up that, had they auditioned for the movie Rounders, all would have locked up a spot! They were as follows, Mike Sexton, Dutch pro Steve Wong, WSOP bracelet winner Bruno Fittousi and uncle Ciarán. The remainder was made up by Dutch model/actress/poker player Maud Mulder and some other very solid players. The cameras were rolling and game was on.

I'll leave you with this, a final note, I'll let you know in the next blog how the tourney went and whether I was happy with my finish.

Ciarán "Big C" O'Leary

The Cagey Art of Stealing the Blinds

There are many things that need to be accomplished in a poker tournament in order to have success in it, and one of those things is being able to steal the blinds now and again.

However, I believe, that the emphasis should be on now and again! Grab yourself a cup of tea and allow me to explain.

You see, a lot of people would have you believe, that when in late position, and with no action around to you, that you go after the blinds every time that you get the opportunity.

The thing is though, when using this strategy; one has to be very careful, as there's a fine line between being "aggressive" and "over-aggressive", yet, a big difference between "every time" and "now and again"…..Are you with me? Hmmm…I know, I'd confuse my own mother!

You see, if you come across as the type of player that's going to raise the blinds each and every time, you might often give the impression, of being a wee bit reckless.

Now granted, this style will work well in your favour when you're catching cards and hitting the big flop, as you'll almost certainly get paid off, taking down some big pots.

There's no doubt in my mind that an essential part of the game is getting in there and mixing it up. As if you don't, you're never going to get any action when you eventually pick a hand up.

But let's just say for arguments sake, you're playing one of those events where you're absolutely card dead. Now here's a situation I believe where you must show a little bit of discipline and try and harness that aggression, as it tends to do more harm than good under these circumstances.

The reason for this is your opponents are less likely to give you the benefit of the doubt when you're trying to represent a hand (if they think you're reckless) at a time when you're actually bluffing. Unless, of course, your name is David Pham and then they might even be willing to give up their spot, when in line for the urinal, but at the very least will believe that you have a hand. (Such double standards I know!)

The fact is, unless you are he they're going to look you up with more marginal hands. So beware.

Listen, I'm as guilty as the next person for going after the blinds, especially if they continue to allow me to take them.

As I said before, it's important to accumulate chips when ever you can, but every scenario is different. What you must also factor in is how much of your chip stack you are putting at risk in order to take down the blinds.

For example, let's say it's early in a tournament with the blinds at 50-100 and with no action around to you in the cut off, you make it 300 to go with the 9c 8c. The button and small blind fold and only the big blind calls.

The flop does not co-operate but it is checked to you. With 650 in the pot, you bet 450 and are then sickened to hear the player announce …. RAISE!!!! Yes, I know, you may want to ring his neck but first, you have to fold.

You've now lost over 700 in chips while trying to take down only 150 in the blinds. Yes I know. We all do it - just try not to do it too much.

I'll leave you with this, a final note.

All I'm saying is take it handy earlier in the tournament and see what the poker postman is delivering. Remember the story of the "Reaping Race." Sit and enjoy your lunch.

Merry Christmas all and a Happy New Year, see you in Galway for the Irish Poker Championships.