Memo to Self....

...Stop losing at online poker!!

So far this month I have donked around 15% of my bankroll away, on a combination of bad play and bad luck. I think my cash No limit Hold Em will be better in the long run for the experience, but it's still a painful lesson to bear.

The bad play I covered earlier, so time for the bad luck moments. One of which, at first glance, seems anything but.....

Dealt KK in late position, I see an EP player make a raise, a MP player reraise, I reraise, EP goes all in, as does MP. Since I'm the biggest stack, I only need to call, and am delighted to see JJ and QQ, neither of which improves. Pot to me!

So, why bad luck? Well they were the two shortest stacks at the table, so I only made ~$60 from what was a freakishly good card combination. The sort you spend hours folding marginal hands for.

Half an hour later I'm dealt KK again. Raise it up and get a caller. The flop comes low but with two to a flush. The pre-flop caller now calls my pot size bet. The turn makes the flush, but I know if I check I am surrendering the hand. I bet out again, and get insta-raised. Fold. Bang goes most of the freak hand profit.

He doesn't show but claims to have made a set on the flop. Seems more than likely. A week ago I'd have reraised and blown away my stack on a 2-outer. Then again, maybe he was bluffing? That's the beauty of poker.

Over the last few days I have turned things around a little at the Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo tables. I'm in profit overall, though I still managed to lose a buy in on another freak hand. On the turn I am sitting with the nut low, when the betting goes crazy. With a flush board, two players go to war with pot size raising.

Caught in between, I decide that they are probably battling for the high, and at very worst I am splitting the low, and probably winning it, so I decide to tag along - which needs all my chips in the middle.

The river is an Ace, duplicating my hand. Ugh. Cards over and one player has the Ace high flush and no low, the other has a straight flush with four rags in the hole - and now beats my low thanks to the Ace on the river. So he takes down the whole pot. Nice hand indeed! Omaha truly is a game of the nuts.

On the plus side, the live poker scene is definitely improving. As well as the Riverboat Casino, I've now heard of an unofficial card room in the city, and, the piece de resistance, a dedicated card room with official licensing opening very soon.

Details are still sketchy but I know the name and where it will be located. Welcome to Glasgow for The Cincinnati Club.

I'll definitely be reviewing it when it opens! Perhaps my first visit will be the official head wetting for baby Div?

I'm really enjoying the WSOP 2005 live coverage from Pauly and the Las Vegas Vegas crew. They really do manage to convey the atmosphere of the event.

As Pauly himself said, it would be nice to get more info on the cash games that go on away from the glare of the TV cameras. With that in mind, I've set him on the trail of this guy. $5k to $76k in three hours. Superb! He will be telling that story for a few years I bet.