Beverley Pace wins the Party Poker Women's Open

Beverley Pace, the wife of comedian Norman Pace, has won the inaugural Party Poker Women's World Open in London. She overcame in-form Blondepoker legend Jen Mason heads-up to pick up the $50,000 pay day, when her pocket sixes held up against Mason's Ace-Jack.

Norman Pace was well known in the eighties and nineties for being one half of the double act Hale & Pace, who were known for their characters The Two Rons. In recent times Norman and Beverley have become well respected members of the UK poker community. Norman is one of the faces of Sky Poker and Beverley is regarded as the better player of the two.

Pace overcame a lot of big names on her way to the title, she had to face Lucy Rokach in here first heat to advance to the final and the rest of the tournament boasted names such as Jennifer Tilly, Liz Lieu, Katharine Hartree and Xuyen 'Bad Girl' Pham. The final table also included Bronwun Campbell, Maria Demetriou, Kara Scott and Jackie Vaswani (wife of Ram).

Jen Mason, whom we interviewed last week at UKPN, is in some serious form at the moment and many fancied her to win the title. "I was pleased to beat Jen Mason," said Bev. "I have huge respect for her and she has taught me a lot on the circuit. Perhaps she didn't do herself any favours as I have picked up a lot about how she plays!"

Pace, like any true poker player, will be using her winnings to fund more poker pursuits "This is my first big win and I intend to give myself a bankroll to play more tournaments for bigger stakes in the near future. I was sixth in the Ladies European Championship in April and went to the WSOP and Aussie Millions this year but haven't really cashed significantly."

And Bev was very quick to speak out in favour of women only tournaments. "Women's tournaments are good for getting more ladies into the game," said Bev. "The standard is no different to a mixed sex game but they do encourage some to come forward who wouldn't do otherwise."

The final payouts were as follows:

1st BEVERLEY PACE (UK) $50,000
2nd JEN MASON (UK) $22,000
3rd MARIA DEMETRIOU (UK) $14,000
4th BRONWYN CAMPBELL (CANADA) $10,000
5th JACKIE VASWANI (UK) $7,000
6th KARA SCOTT (UK) $5,000
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Pam Brunson Wins WPT Ladies Night V

She'll Play for $25,000 Seat to WPT Championship
Pam Brunson, the daughter of Doyle, won the $1,070 World Poker Tour Ladies Night V that took place at the Bicycle Casino’s Legends of Poker this weekend.

Brunson not only won more than $34,000 by beating out the field of 125, but she also will play in the World Poker Tour Ladies Night Out championship that will be filmed for broadcast. She’ll play against Mimi Tran, Linda Johnson, Kristy Gazes, Melissa Hayden, and Joanne “JJ” Lieu. The winner receives a $25,000 seat into the WPT World Championship. The tournament will take place Aug. 31.

The two-day tournament helped benefit the Susan G. Komen for the Cure organization, which received $97 out of every buy-in. The WPT and Hands-On Mobile also each donated $5,000 to the organization.

Oh how I love the casinos!

The online kind of course! Seems like I have much better luck at online casinos than I do at land-based ones. I can stick a $20 bill into a land-based slot machine and it is gone in a matter of minutes. But I can put $20 into an online casino and literally play for hours. Especially if I hit a monster payout, which is what I did a couple nights ago. Was playing the Lotsa Loot game - $2.50 max bet, so that takes your money away pretty fast, and on the 4th spin I hit $70, then about 10 spins later I hit the Lotsa! so I got paid $1000. Sweet victory!

So after I play Lotsa for a few minutes I always go back to the Wow!pot game and generally I'll double my bank before I leave that one.

So tonight its Champagne and caviar for the big casino win, well actually it's bbq chicken and french fries but who cares?

The Show Must Go On - Poker Tells

The Show Must Go On BY BARBARA CONNORS

All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players: They have their entrances and their exits; And one man in his time plays many parts. -William Shakespeare.

Tells in poker always fall into one of two categories- unintentional tells from players who don't realize what they're doing, and deliberate tells from actors. In this latter category, a player intentionally puts on a show to mislead his opponents. He's trying to fool you. This is the basis for that oft-repeated poker axiom, "Strong means weak and weak means strong." These would-be poker thespians want very badly to make you believe the opposite of the truth.


This type of acting runs the gamut, from subtle and nuanced (rare) to over-the-top hamminess (much more common). But whatever form it takes, poker acting never goes out of style.


Fundamentally, poker is a game of deception. So is acting. In both professions, the more deceptive you can be, the more success you will enjoy. It's a natural fit. And the poker table is a stage, where one by one, clockwise around the table, we each get a turn in the spotlight. When that spotlight shines on us, some just can't resist the temptation to put on a show. Trying to win that Oscar for Best Performance Trapping an Opponent While Holding the Mortal Nuts.


The biggest problem with "Hollywooding" is that just as in real life, true acting talent is rare. Bad acting performances are the rule, not the exception. And knowing how to read those bad-acting tells can earn you extra money. It may be more glamorous to be an actor, but it's more profitable to be a critic.


Generally speaking, the more exaggerated the acting performance, the more extreme the opposing truth will be. For example, if the action is on one of your opponents to call, and he shrugs his shoulders while announcing, "Oh what the hell, I'll raise,"-that's a blazing red flag. He's probably putting on a show with strong hand. Now suppose this exact same player gives us a more elaborate performance:


He agonizes over the decision while staring at his hole cards, starts to reach for his chips, and then hesitates. He sighs. Twists up his expression as if in physical pain, rubs his face, and finally asks in a defeated, mourn ful tone, "How much is it to me?" Now that's a real ham actor, chewing up the scenery for all he's worth. He's got the stone-cold nuts.


So watch out for any opponent who conspicuously sighs, shrugs, speaks with a too-obviously-sad tone of voice, or asks a stupid obvious question about how much it is for him to bet, call, or raise. These are all signs of a good hand putting on a bad acting performance.


Other clues pointing to a strong hand "playing possum" include the following: Conspicuously looking away from the action while trying a little too hard to appear unconcerned. A player making a showy, fake-folding gesture when he sees that another player is about to bet-an exaggerated show of disappointment when the river card hits. Because of its decisive nature, the river triggers more acting performances than any other round of betting). Or a raiser who jokingly informs the table that he is "only" making a position raise.


Let's go back a bit. How do you separate out the fake acting tells, which almost always mean the opposite of what they appear, from the "real" unintentional tells? To invoke Shakespeare again, "There's the rub."


The answer is to know your opponents. Know the situation. There's some intuition involved, yes, but mostly the solution is to just think it through logically. First of all, is this opponent aware that he is being watched? Is he sensitive to what's going on around him? Or is he truly caught up in his own world, lost in his own thoughts?


If you suspect that another player is putting on an act, next ask yourself: Who is he putting this act on for?


Every performer needs an audience, and poker actors are no exception. It always takes more energy to lie than to tell the truth, and embellishing the lie with a performance requires more energy still. It's a lot of work. So if you suspect a player is putting on an act, then that act should be aimed at a specific opponent-somebody whose decision in the hand matters to him. So always consider, for whose "benefit" is he acting? What is he trying to convince that person to do, and why?


Since acting does use up a lot of extra energy, it follows that most players won't bother unless something valuable is at stake. A player holding 8-3 offsuit who intends to fold is not going to waste his energy with putting on a show. Of course in all the above examples, something valuable is indeed at stake, because the player in question holds a strong hand and wants to maximize his profit.


But on the other side of the poker-acting spectrum, the "strong means weak" side, again something of value must hang in the balance for him to go to all that trouble.


Probably the most common tell of this type is the fake-grabbing-at-chips move. It's your turn to act, you're considering whether or not to make a bet, you look over at your opponent (who is yet to act behind you) and he immediately moves his hand towards his chips. He wants you to think he's eager to put money in the pot. He's putting on this fake-strong act for your benefit, to dissuade you from betting. And while he certainly doesn't hold a good hand (this is one of the most reliable tells in poker) he doesn't have trash, either.


What he wants here is a free card. He wants it badly enough to put on this performance for you, which means he must have something. A drawing hand or a smallish pair-something that could win at showdown if he catches the right card on the river. As with all poker actors, figure out what he's trying to coerce you into doing, and then do the opposite.


Of course any time you attempt to read poker tells you must first consider your opponent's "baseline demeanor." How do they act normally? Some people are naturally theatrical and dramatic. Some players usually have a depressed air about them, while others will always behave as if they're holding pocket aces. It's the deviations from their normal behavior that will tell you when something fishy is going on. Even, and perhaps especially, for poker players who fancy themselves as great actors

Playing winning poker - is there such a thing?

Now most pros will tell you that there is, but I'm not so sure I believe them. I wouldn't classify it as 'playing winning poker' but 'playing successful poker'. You can play rounds and rounds, hand after hand of poker and at some point win some money, but if you win $50 after putting $150 into a game, is that winning? I mean, you did win money but you also lost twice what you won.

Well, anyway, since that problaby sounded like the non-sensical babblings of an idiot, I'll stop there and from now on I'll be playing 'successful' poker.

The poker bug

I've caught it again - that nasty little poker bug. I've been watching episode after episode of poker on tv and now I really want to play. So watch out, here I come, ready to do some damage.
This will be my first stop to find ways to get extra cash to play!

Kids playing poker

So - If you read my previous post you will know that my hubby, kids and I just got back from a cruise to Mexico. Well, while we were on the cruise, our oldest son, who is 16, got to hang out at this teen club, O2, onboard our Carnival funship Ecstacy.

Upon reading the activities sheet for that week, we saw that the club was doing a teen Texas Hold'em tournament and convinced our kiddo that he should play. Since he's been playing poker/blackjack for about 10 yrs (yes i taught him at the ripe ol' age of 5) he's getting pretty darn good.

Well, needless to say, as hubby and I were walking back to our cabin to get ready to dinner, the kiddo comes strolling down the hall, trophy in hand. He says, "Hey, I won the hold'em tourney." And in unison hubby and I say, "I'm not suprised." So now, big D (as i will refer to our oldest son from now on) has a lovely plastic trophy of our ship to treasure forever! And of course, he has now experienced that thrill of victory!

Back again!

Zomg it's been a while since I've posted in this blog. I've been blogging but I'm pretty sure I forgot about this spot here! I'm so blonde sometimes :)

So - I just got back from a week long cruise in and around Mexico with my hubby and 2 of my kids. We had a great time swimming in the gulf of Mexico, hanging out on the beach, shopping in Cozumel and bunches of other stuff!

As most of you who have been on a cruise know, generally there is a small casino onboard (unless you are taking the Disney cruise!) The casino opened up about 2 hours after we set sail and stayed open as long as we were at sea. I played slots mostly while the hubby played Craps. I did play a few hands of Caribbean stud poker, blackjack and 3-card Poker but the tables just weren't bringing me any luck so it was back to the slots for me.

For some reason all the slot machines seemed to be very tight until the last night onboard, then KaPow! they just flowed with quarters. As did the craps table. I sat down at a quarter slot machine with $10 and after hitting big payout after big payout, moving to another machine, getting paid and moving around some more, I had turned that $10 into almost $300 - not great but good. So the big deal was when the hubby, who didnt want to drop any more benjamins on the craps table decided to just start playing with his leftover chips from the previous evening, which was about $34. Now, most of you know that $34 isnt going to far on a $5 craps table but this table was HOT all evening! By 3am when the casino was closing (last night and getting ready to dock back at Galveston) my hubby, staggering a bit from all the Goldschlager shots (hehe) walked over to me and handed my $1109! Now that is what I call a comeback! He had won more than 32x his original buyin amount.

So - now we are home, with loads of great pictures, fading henna tattoos and mountains of laundry covered in saltwater and sand! God i need a vacation!