Stay away from Americans!

Enjoyed a nice relaxing Sunday.Watched my favourite English team Chelsea begin their Championship defence with a 1-0 win over Arsenal.Not as good a game as I'd hoped it would but after Saturdays game most other games would seem a bit dull.

Went for a nice drive with Mrs A then picked the wee one up from numpties and had a late dinner.Didn't get up till 2pm after another 6am poker playing marathon and a decent weekend it was at the tables.Took a hit on Friday night but the good times rolled on Sat and last night.

Ok now to the title of my post and its true.My advice to anyone wanting to win at poker would be to avoid the Americans/Canadians at Pokerroom etc and seek out the Europeans at Interpoker! Its not called Texas Holdem for nothing.Not Kent Holdem or StavangerHoldem.So far my experience is that our cousins across the pond are far better players than we are over here! Maybe its a timing issue.Many Brits seem to like their beer and their poker combined.I'm sure many Americans do too but being 5-10 hours ahead I don't get to take advantage of it as much.Maybe I should wait until I have at least 1 month at Interpoker not 1 winning week but so far so good.

I'm $345 up in my one week at Interpoker and even after a couple of very small losing sessions last week my theory about the weaker play there compared to Pokerroom seems to be holding true.

Of course every table is different and as usual it takes a bit of chopping and changing to find one with sufficent fishies but its worth the hassle.If your 6 max table folds round to the Big Blind more than a couple of times.....its time to move.

The play at Interpoker continues to astound me. A player pushes all in pf for $24 with 66 which holds up v a caller holding k 8 sooooted and then tells him he shouldn't play trash.The funny thing was K8 made a pair of 8's but the 8 gave Mr 66 a straight.I just sat smiling and shaking my head.

So I've bought in for $80 and I'm sitting with aprox $140 at .50nl when I get 44. The big stack ( the caller in paragraph above) on around $170 bets $2.He's been raising almost every hand to $4 or $5 so I call and the flop comes A 2 4 rainbow.He bets $5 which I call and the turn is a 9.He suddenly goes all in for another $163. I'm thinking 53 or trips.Possible AQ or AK but he'd have raised more pf with those holdings.I put him on A2 or A9 but as usual its only a best guess.
I've got my set of 4's and I think they're good so I call for $132 putting myself all in and he shows........92 for 2 pairs.Blank on the river and I forget all about an icy cool emotionless state of mind and punch the air with my fist clenched.Pow,Bam,Take that!

The best way to treat the 6 max tables for me is to try and camp and grind the same as at a full ring rather than try and be loose and aggressive and dominate the table.The play seems a bit better at $1-$2nl 6 max but not a lot.While my attitude is still that of the grinder 6 max means that especially in position I can loosen up my starting requirement a little and bluff more often too.Only had one bluff called that I can remember and I tried to use that to my advantage later in the game if I manage to stop myself leaving instantly out of embarrassment.I'm actually getting better at hanging around but sometimes if your table image is shot to pieces a sharp exit is probably not a bad idea.

As I've mentioned before in this blog I'm a creature of habit and routine and I do like Pokerroom but the lure of Interpoker is strong.( I've still got a $300 bonus to clear at IP).Why play better players if there are worse ones out there? I must give Party Poker a go and see if its as fishy as Iggy says on his blog.Looks like I've learned that site selection is as vital as table selection.
I do draw the line at Pacific poker though.Played a couple of freerolls there and while the play was some of the fishiest ever the software was just too bad for anyone to play on it for any period of time.

Going round to pay my sister a visit after work and then picking up my meal and Step A before heading home.Looking forward to seeing my good friend Mark ( the celt*c fan) tonight for our Medal of Honor battle.

I may just mention the score on Saturday.......