The Olympics are nearly over so it’s probably a good time to recap some of the highlights, some of which Channel 7 didn’t get to show as they had to replay Usain Bolt for the two-hundred-millionth time!

My favourite is the cycling…



So I’ve been home for a few days after a hectic time covering the Victorian Poker Championships for Poker Network. Things were very busy with some long hours and stressful moments (thanks to all the guys for your hard work!), but as usual the experience of being part of a big event was rewarding. Australia’s #1 online player Jay “Seabeast” Kinkade took out the main event to prove that online players can adapt to live play (eh Tim!).

I was fortunate to get a chance to play in three events and hopefully I’ll write about those shortly. Since being home I’ve caught up with some work while trying to squeeze in as much online play as possible, which is usually about two hours a day! Man I miss playing, especially when running good. I’m on a twenty session winning streak which is sweet and have run at a ridiculous 25BB/100 over 2.5k hands over the past three days. Life is good while there are still fish doing this:

– dog71 sitting in seat 1 with $512.18 [Dealer]
– guytert sitting in seat 2 with $158.19
– iljaz sitting in seat 3 with $295.37
– fALLINgman sitting in seat 4 with $241.36
– TassieDevil sitting in seat 6 with $514.78

guytert posted the small blind – $1.00
iljaz posted the big blind – $2.00
** Dealing card to TassieDevil: Ad, Ah
fALLINgman folded
TassieDevil raised – $8.00
dog71 called – $8.00
guytert folded
iljaz raised – $38.00
TassieDevil called – $38.00
dog71 folded

** Dealing the flop: As, Jh, Kd
iljaz went all-in – $259.37
TassieDevil called – $259.37

** Dealing the turn: Qc

** Dealing the river: 9s
iljaz shows: 3d, 3h
TassieDevil shows: Ad, Ah
TassieDevil1 wins $601.74 from the main pot

I hope to inflict some more pain and get some more shopping money before I head to Hong Kong on Monday for the APT/APPT events in Macau. This should be a good trip in an awesome city with a strong team of guys so I’m looking forward to it!

It’s good to be home. I arrived back safe and sound after a decent flight. The flu that I picked up on the final days in Vegas has been a bitch to shake. I’m not normally one to get ill so it’s been strange that it’s taken more than a week to shake this one off. I’ve spent my time back home catching up with mates, family, TV and AFL. I’ve also been playing as much online poker as possible. Having watched so much poker for the last seven weeks just makes me want to hit the felt and play. I’ve played well and ran well so it’s been a useful week or two. I’ve played some at NoIQPoker, Full Tilt, PokerStars and Ladbrokes. I took advantage of PokerStars current 2x Reload Bonus and have run pretty well. I always found PokerStars to be one of the tougher online sites to play at, so anytime I can clear a bonus and turn out a profit as well I am happy with. I’ve been 8-tabling to try and clear it as painlessly as possible. I am also trying out Ladbrokes so that I can qualify for PokerNetwork‘s exclusive $20,000 cash freerolls. So far so good. Ladbrokes is on the Prima network and there seems to be plenty of juicy fish. It reminds me of the old days at Party Poker where you’d look to find the good players amongst the fish, instead of the other way around. It’s also compatible with PokerTracker which helps.

Also I demolished Tim online last night, in a series of 7 matches. We played all the HORSE rotations and added NLHE and PLO to the mix. We started with NLHE and Razz. Tim had the better of me in NLHE…I mean how can I overcome his skillful all-in shove with J3 against my AK for the board to bring him a full house. What a waste of time. I creamed him in Razz and Stud Hi-Lo, but he has an edge on me on Omaha and squared it up at 2-2 with a Omaha Hi-Lo win. We then played Stud and PLO, and I fluked an upset PLO win after Tim rivered the second nuts against my made nuts on the turn. Sweet. I was then freerolling on Stud, but Tim got lucky to square it up once again. We went to the decider, Limit Holdem, and I think I have an edge here over the NL guru. I pounded on him relentlessly and came away with a hard fought 4-3 victory. This was good fun and I like the format so I think there will be a rematch very soon!

It’s been a good break, but not long enough! I’m about to get back on a plane and head over to Melbourne for the Victorian Championships. This is one of my favourite series, as ALL of the events are excellent. They are in the right price bracket for most players, but offer something for tight budgets as well as the high rollers. One of the more interesting proposed events is the State of Origin Challenge. Six players from each of the six states battle it out in six sit and gos, scoring points for their team. The six winners play on the final table, and the state with the most points takes home the cash. Tasmania doesn’t have a huge list of well known poker players, so looks like I may get a gig. Stay tuned.

Either way, I plan to play as many of the smaller events that we are not covering for the live reporting as possible. After Melbourne, I’ll have another week off before heading over to Macau to cover the APT and APPT events for PokerNews.

No rest for the wicked!