Getting The Happy Feet At The Poker Tables

First of all I would like to send my prayers to all the people experiencing loss and hardship due to the floods in the various states. It is a very sad time for a lot of people and I hope the poker world will spark up some fundraiser tournaments to help the survivors of the floods.

On a lighter note, I haven’t been playing much poker the last few weeks. People ask me what is an obvious “tell” on the felt. There are quite a few, well, millions, but one I find common is what I call “Happy Feet “. You will find this in heaps of pub poker venues, especially if the player is quite new to the game. “Happy Feet” is when a player bounces their knees up and down, and is generally jiggling on their toes. This will often mean that they are excited about their hand and/or they have hit really big. They think they are the favourite. This does not always apply to a venue that has music playing, or coming towards a break, as your opponent might be really busting to go to the toilet from drinking a lot of beer. Most of the time you won’t be able to see their feet, so keep an eye on their top half. If you see movement, it’s most likely their feet. This is just a guide. How you use this information is completely up to you. Be aware of your opponents; try to keep in mind betting patterns and the way they hold themselves at the table. You might be able to pick up a really important “tell” that might win you the game.

I wish all players that are playing in the Aussie Millions the best of luck.
Hope to see you on the tables soon!!!

1st Ballarat Poker Tournament with the APL , 29th October 2010

Recently me and my partner have moved to Gordon which is close to Ballarat and I wanted to see what the poker scene down here in the country was all about so I started my journey heading down to the albert on X pub down in ballarat. For starters it smelt and the bar tender didn’t look the part ( fat, weird looking and had a strange hair cut) and I asked if poker was on tonight he replied “ Yes it is on tonight except its casino night which will have texas holem along with black jack and roulette. Whoever has the most chips at the end of the night wins” I thought that was a great idea I was just looking for a fun night and get some poker skills sharpened at the same time . Except when it was 15mins to go I looked into the pub and there was only 4-5 people in there and I’m not going to go out in town to play with 5 players. So I decided to go down to APL which was just down the road. Luckily I signed in just in time 8.00pm.I first sat down at table 3 and got myself set up and posted the blinds as soon as I sat down. Unlucky me the hole table had monster stacks of 10-20 thousand and I only had 2,500. So I just played my game for awhile and picking my moments. I ended up being break within 30mins of play and with my chip stack at around 4,250 thousand. After break came along I started to bluff a bit at some risky pots and was shoving all in quite a bit and payed off. And before I knew it it was finial table and I gained a juicy stack of 42,500 thousand. Once on final table I just let the short stacks fight it out to survive then I would come into the game and start making some plays. The poker gods then shined down on me and presented me with the Bullets (Aces) and was able to put two short stacks all in and hit a set on the flop so it was bye bye to them and 3 remaining. With the final 3 the 2^nd chip leader was becoming a big fan of the all in preflop. He ended up making the 3^rd player give in and he won with KQ. So it hit heads up and I was feeling good about playing this guy and straight of he started the all in. I folded a few times then I played his game and shoved back. I ended up calling his all in bet with KcJs and he had Qd9d. The flop came down with Jd5d8d so I was done for. Although I lost it wasn’t the end of the world I was glad to have met some of the local ballarat poker players and found out more about poker in the area. I guess you just cant win them all.

APL Ballarat Golf Club For The Win

Been awhile since my last post and that’s because –
A. I don’t have the internet
B. I’m still getting settled in here at ballarat
C. I’ve been lazy
But I have been playing APL down here and poker down in ballarat isn’t as big as Melbourne.
But ballarat is a small town and we do average around 3-4 tables a night which isn’t soo bad.You get some good players deep in the game its just the start you get the Donkeys but hey you get that in pub poker.
I have been playing at the Ballarat Golf Club the last few weeks and on the 20th of December 2010 I caught myself a win. Start of the tournament I was a yoyo (up & down) until I was busted with this sick hand witch played out was: I raised from early position to 800 when the blinds where 50/100 with KsJc to be called by a player middle position. Flop came AdKcJs without a doubt I was to shove all in and happy to take it down. He starts thinking for quite a while I thought at this stage with these pub poker players he had Ace rag. He then said that I probably have him beat and started naming all these hands that I could have. Ended up he names all the hands that had him beat which where heaps. Typical pub poker player says his line. “You have me beat but I’ll call to “chip you up” “he rolls over Kh9h. And you guessed it he hit his straight a 10 was the next card. Pissed me off when the guy said to me he had so many outs I tried to explain to him he only had 4 but he seemed to think he had more than that lol. Long story short I won it and received some APL points and a nice card guard. And the following Monday night I came second and missed out on winning back to back at the Golf Club but it was a good night and I will continue to play there . It’s a really nice venue to play at I recommend it if anyone is in town.. I'd also like to thank my good mate Mick and my wife Emma for comming down with me for fun and support..
I shall try and keep you all posted on my progress down here and hope you all have an AWESOME 2011!!