KP Goes Nuts - A Year in Poker

And what better way is there to celebrate after having survived my 1st year as a professional poker player than to bore you all with a bit of background about myself, followed by hand-for-hand analysis of the last 12 months! So here goes...

The Start


It was exactly 12 months ago this week (October 22, 2004) that I worked my last shift as a sub-editor with the Irish Daily Star in Dublin where I live. That fateful Friday was such a slow news day that the Star boldly ran a full-page story about the demise of my journalism career, generously titled KEN COMES UP TRUMPS - Star man cashes in his chips to seek fortune as poker player.

Naturally, my former colleagues on the sub-editing desk put a slightly different spin on the story in the framed dummy Star front page mock-up they presented me with in the pub later that night. That Pullitzer-contending piece was imaginatively titled A TRUMPED UP SUB and opened:

“Taking more chances than when he answered back [editor] Ger Colleran, Star pun-pal Ken Powell today heads for glitzier shores. The glamour of high-rolling St Moritz, Vegas and that dodgy casino down the side alley in town have proven an irresistible lure to the cardsharpin jumper lover. While the rest of the Star’s wage slaves continue to toil away, Ken will now saunter in his distinctive way into town to begin the nights gambling - often actually leaving his house.”

Well, one year on, this cardsharpin jumper lover would have to admit that I haven’t bothered leaving my house that often, usually preferring to, err… work online. But whenever and wherever I do go out, I am showered with compliments over my good looks and sartorial couture.

My fellow online pro Squidy put it most eloquently on his blog report following the recent Betfair Forum World Championship of Poker in the Gutshot Club, London

“Ken. Kpnuts well what can i say? Loved his hat, shades and lovedddddddd his sandals. Lmaooooooooooooo. Nice legs. Shame about the face, ken!!”

And in her, I mean HIS poetic account of a trip to Blackpool made by a group of Betfair poker forumites early last May, forum fixer Mandylou summed me up rather well:

“And next comes KP from the Emerald Isle,
Head in the clouds and no sense of style.
I’ve never met anyone quite so laid back
Until the casino girl tried to get her drink back.
When his beer was at stake, KP soon changed tack,
As he dodged in between the roulette and blackjack!”

So that’s basically who I am, an ugly fashion criminal who plays unhealthy amounts of poker and drinks unhealthy amounts of beer when I’m not playing poker, and… occasionally (and most unprofessionally) drink unhealthy amounts of beer while I am playing poker which is usually even more unhealthy for the bankroll!

Finding Texas Hold’em


Like most relative newbies, my first exposure to Texas Hold’em was watching Late Night Poker on Channel 4 a few years ago. I played a couple of home games with pals, but the first time I played Hold’em against strangers was VERY late at night after a lot of beer in Melbourne’s Crown Casino during the Rugby World Cup in November 2003.

In Melbourne, I played Aus$ 2-4 Limit Hold’em and won a couple of hundred dollars each time I played, but I felt cramped by the Limit version of the game (I kept wanting to go ALL-IN like you spudy!!!) so I resolved to try my luck in a No Limit tournament at the earliest opportunity.

My First Win


That chance came on a Wednesday night in February of last year when ditzy KP arrived at Dublin Airport to fly over to France for a Six Nations rugby long weekend without passport or any other photo ID. So after reserving a new flight for the following morning, and naturally having no Dublin-based plans for that night, I made for the Fitzwilliam Card Club to enter the weekly 25-euro re-buy NL Hold’em tournament.

A few hours later, I strolled out of the Fitzwilliam with the 980-euro 1st prize and enjoyed spending it in Paris so much over the weekend that I was obviously soon back in the Fitzwilliam to play again. I won my 2nd tournament too (well played, Beginners Luck!!!) and quickly became a regular player.

For the first 6 months that I played tournaments, I was a sponge, just trying to soak up as much knowledge as possible from other players in Dublin’s two clubs, forever plaguing them with questions about hands and why they made certain moves etc. I refused to allow myself to start playing online during that period because (a) I wanted to learn as much as possible offline first and (b) I felt that once I started playing online, that I wouldn’t stop and that has certainly been a self-fulfilling prophesy!

Online Debut


I first started playing online in late August of 2004 and have played almost exclusively on Betfair since then. Initially I played pretty much STTs only, but then I gave the MTTs a go and in my first week trying the online multis, I won a trip to last winters Caribbean Poker Classic in St.Maarten, which was a fantastic experience.

As I was making a nice living from the poker, I quit my journalism job this time last year and I haven’t really looked back since apart from the August just gone by where I couldn’t win a hand and lost a fortune, but enough of that! I play mostly online, but also enjoy playing in my local casinos at least twice a week. When I’m not in the mood for one, I’m usually well up for the other.

The Highs


Highlights from my first year as a poker pro would certainly include winning a couple of nice MTTs back in April and May and cracking Betfair poker exec Ruru’s pocket Aces with my 10-2 off suit in London Gutshot Club during the Betfair Forum World Championships Of Poker.

Don’t they have a name for that hand? The 10-2? Oh yeah, its Doyle Brunson, of course! Which brings me to THE highlight of my poker odyssey to date, the man himself, Texas Dolly, stood over my table in the Rio watching me play WSOP main event last July. I mean, this time last year, Doyle Brunson had almost certainly never even heard of me!

I jest, of course as if he would ever have any idea who I am LOL but he was towering over my table, watching the proceedings, for around 15 minutes and that is the best buzz I have got from poker to date!

I have already made a number of good friends from poker too, both from live games and from playing online, including a number of Betfair poker forumites whom I have also met at a number of live events now.

Having slated myself in this introductory article, I will move onto slating them in subsequent columns, editor permitting! Meanwhile, Good luck everyone! :-)

Ken “Kpnuts” Powell

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