Channel 4 has followed its excellent Late Night Poker series with a new amateur competition using pretty much the same winning format. The only change since the pros battled out is that Jesse May seems to have finally learned what the dealer button is for.
Watching 6 players who’ve won their way onto the program through online qualifying tournaments doesn’t quite have the same lure as watching the Hendon mob battle it out against the likes of Jacorama, the great Dave Colclough, Mad Marty Wilson, and Malcolm ‘The Rock’ Harwood, except for the feeling that it could be you out there instead of these guys. Looking at them all, slightly bunnyish in the TV camera glare, and no-one coffee-housing in the slightest, I can easily see myself taking these guys on. Having said that, my live play experience is limited to an appearance at this year’s University Cup in Oxford - a 250 strong tournaent featuring mostly hopeful students plus a smattering of pros (all the pros I’ve mentioned above in fact, except for the Hendon lot). I made it to about the last 50 before the pressure of having to catch a train back or find somewhere to bed down for the night got to me, and I bluffed into the wrong guy in the wrong pot and the wrong time and blew most of my stack.
I nearly qualified for this year’s WSOP (if you count finishing 20th out of 275 in a tournament where the winner qualified as near, that is), but I haven’t had much chance to play any MTTs lately, which is something I need to address.
But back to LNPA. 5 players are left, all called Gary or Simon or Peter or something, and still none of them seem to have spoken. I see lots of nervous hand shaking as the chips go into the middle and some obvious misplays. (But then, aren’t we all great armchair players when we want to be - monday morning quarterbacks I think the American expression is, but correct me if I’m wrong.) Poor old Peter is the aggressive one, but each time he raises light he runs into a decent hand hitting the flop, and he has to give up. Anthony, on the other hand, has a nice habit of flopping monsters and watching his opponents catch a good second best hand on the turn.
I seem to have been not paying attention… Gary flops quads, and Craig is all-in and all out drawing dead. Down to two… and not for long - JT flops a T and the shortstack with 99 is out of here. And I take back what I said about the standard of play earlier - there were some gutsy moves in there, and some good plays.
Until next time… cash me in.