Friday 29th February 2008

Welcome to Hold or Fold - The UK's only Poker E-Letter dedicated to
helping YOU become a better player!

In this week's E-Letter -

       *It was fun for a few seconds and
       *Your last chance to turn your Tuesday and Wednesday nights into paydays!

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Hiya there and how have you been this week??

My week hasn't been that great to be honest - I've been hit badly by bad-beats galore !!

My aces have been cracked - TWICE ...

I played the Chanpoker Freeroll and didn't get any cards WHATSOEVER - Finally after 1 1/2 hours I picked up QQ and was booted off the table so fast I couldn't even blink...

But...

Nothing compares to an amazing bad-beat story my friend told me about...

It made me nearly burst into tears....

You'll see what I mean...

He was playing an Online 1-table $55 Sit-n-go and they were down to 5 players - he was lying 3rd in chips when he picked up a pair of deuces Under the Gun - He limped in - the next guy folded, the guy on the button raised 3X - the blinds folded and my mate decided to call the raise - he could afford it...

The Flop came down 4, 2, 2, - He'd Flopped QUADS Wa Hay !!

He wisely checked and the other guy went all in !!

FABULOUS - WONDERFUL - YES PLEASE give me some of that and he instantly called.

The other guy showed QQ.... Can you guess what's coming??

The Turn was a Queen and the River was the last Queen !!!

I tell you - it was as if he'd told me his dog died - I stared in complete disbelief and started tearing up - !! HOW AWFUL !!!

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It was fun for a few seconds

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For this week's hand - I just had to go back to the most fabulous series of Late Night Poker and if you haven't been watching it - WHY NOT???

If you have - you'll have an instant smirk on your face when I say that this week's hand features Ram 'Crazy Horse' Vaswani - hehe - !!

As usual there are 7 players in this single-table tournament format and the commentators this week are Simon 'Aces' Trumper and Dave 'Devilfish' Ulliott...

Take it from the top boys !

Simon Trumper starts off: "Good evening and welcome to Late Night Poker - joining me in the commentary box, a true legend, the first ever winner of Late Night Poker back in 1999, Dave 'Devilfish' Ulliott !"

Dave: "Thank you Simon son - "

Simon: "Looking forward to this heat no?"

Dave: "It's a cracking line-up - it's alot better line-up to watch than to be in - some good players in this line-up."

Meanwhile action has been going on and every one has folded around to Andy Black who is sitting on the Button. He picks up 2H & 2D
 

He limps in for 50 chips.

Simon: "And there's one of them, Andy Black, who came 5th in the WSOP two years ago, limped in with a pair of 2's - he won $1.75 million!"

Action now moves to Ram Vaswani sitting in the Small Blind - he picks up 5C & 3D and he calls the bet.
 

Simon: "Ram Vaswani - they call him Crazy Horse and that's why - he loves to call with hands that no-one can ever put him on."

Action now moves to Praz Bansi sitting in the Big Blind - he picks up JS & 10S.
 

Simon: "And Praz Bansi - one of the new guns on the block - he's called with 10-Jack Suited."

There's a bit of banter going on and some laughing at the table - everyone seems in a good mood and up forrit !

The Flop comes down: 2C 4S 4H !!
   

Simon shouts: "OOHH look at this !! - he's flopped a full house, Andy Black, FIRST HAND !!"

Ram Checks.

Praz Checks.

Andy reaches for chips and chucks in 100 chips very casually.

Simon: "He bets 100 into a 150 pot - maybe Ram will peel a card off here - he's got a straight-draw."

Dave: "well knowing Ram he might do a bit more than that - he's a lunatic like you say...!"

Oh I tell you - I've just paused the video while I type this out and the expression on Andy Blacks' face is amazing - He is looking like a predator who has caught sight of his prey in the distance and is moving in very slowly so he can't be seen.

Ram re-raises it to 300 - another 200 to Andy.

Simon: "Well he's tickled it up - 300 - !"

Praz Bansi passes and action moves back to Andy.

He instantly re-re-raises to 1000 - Ram would need to put another 800 chips in the pot to call.

Dave: "That's a bit of a raise with full-house-deuces! Now what's Ram going to do? He's got so much gamble in him this kid - He reminds me of me about 12 years ago"

Now all the laughing has stopped - Andy is leaning his face on his hands, his elbows on the table, his eyes looking dead ahead - I sometimes go into this posture when I'm trying to control my breathing - stop the adrenalin rushing and the urge to turn to my opponent and shout CALL !!!

Ram is now considering what to do - his mouth is slightly open and he's staring at the cards on the table...

He mutters: "All in"

Simon: "HE's GONE ALL-IN !!!"

Andy instantly calls... and I've just stopped the tape again and this time Andy has pure joy streaming out of his eyes as he breaks out into a smile.

Andy flips his cards over and Ram just has to smile.

Simon: "Well obviously an instant-call from Andy Black who's sitting there with a Full House - Well obviously Ram Vaswani's going to need a miracle here Dave!"

Dave: "Yeah - he's got to get a 5-5 or 3-3 - Andy Black's nipped himself there just to check he's not dreaming."

The Turn is 10C and the River is JC.
 

Ram stands up and leaves the table.

Simon: "Andy Black has just created Late Night Poker History - the First Hand - and he's knocked out Ram Vaswani - Unbelievable!!"

Dave: "Well you know Ram was playing really well until that point !"

Simon laughs !!

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Post Mortem

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At the post-match interview - Ram had this to say:

"Yeah first of all maybe I thought maybe he might have been making a move on me.. er.. and if he did have a 4 I had the right hand to challenge that and you know I could have made him pass even if he had a 4 with a low kicker - obviously he had a full house and I was drawing dead and it wasn't good !

Someone asked me before how I thought I'd do and I actually predicted that I'd be down the M4 within 20 minutes but I didn't last that long - it was fun for a few seconds !!"

I can't really add to that - Ram made a play and it turned 180 degrees and bit him in the behind - sometimes it happens and you have to accept it with grace and get out with as least embarrassment as possible !

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Your last chance to turn your Tuesday and Wednesday nights into paydays!

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You might remember a few weeks back I told you about a brand new football betting service, focusing on just Champions League matches...

Well, my mate Matt - the, ahem, brains behind the service - has been doing cartwheels about the opening week's success. And has been buzzing in my ear to let you know.

Y'see, the next round of matches take place on Tuesday and Wednesday next week - the offer closes at midnight on Sunday.

I'll let the man himself explain more...

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Champions League service pays for itself in ONE DAY!

Last week, our new Champions League service kicked off with a clean sweep of 4 out of 4 winning bets from the Schalke v Porto match.

With every bet being individually picked out by our revolutionary new Head-2-Head
system.

Now, you may not know much about Schalke or Porto...
you might not even like football...

But our members aren't worried - so long as they are picking up winnings!

Make 21 times your money!

There are 21 more matches to play - and you can put the system to the test for the next 8, absolutely free!

You're welcome to claim a 28-day free trial of the Champions League service, giving you a month of full access to the password protected website - including, the Head-2- head system.

Even if you've never placed a bet before, this remarkable system makes picking out
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But you can't afford to mess about.

You've got to be on board by Midnight on Sunday, or you miss out until next year.
http://www.shopatoxonpress.com/championsleague/

If you'd like to browse the site beforehand - excluding the password protected areas then go to: www.championsleaguebet.co.uk

(To sign-up, simply go to the 'Register' page, then scroll down and click on 'Order Now'.)

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Best wishes,
Matt Nesbitt
Champions League Betting Service
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Now I wouldn't normally push anything on you I hadn't tried myself but Matt is a good bloke and colleague and is absolutely sure that this will work which is why I've passed the info onto you - if you have a go - let me know how you get on !!

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Well I hope you have a good week - may the cards be with you and I'll see you again next Friday.

All the best

Meg Arana
Hold or Fold