The Hendon Mob Newest Articles

EPT Berlin 2013 - the third time is a charm for Daniel Pidun

Mon, 20 May 2013 14:58:49 GMT

The European Poker Tour has finished its latest season full of records with the Grand Final in Monaco and I was fortunate enough to work at the penultimate stop of Season 9 in the Grand Hyatt Berlin. Despite many victories on the Highroller circuit, Germany has been waiting impatiently for another EPT Main Event Champion and Christopher Frank came close in London by bowing out in 6th place. On home soil however the advantage would be much bigger as the largest fraction of the starting field...

The Guy Who Just Won't Shut Up

marius@thehendonmob.com (Alex Rousso) — Thu, 16 May 2013 15:15:17 GMT

Poker has a way of putting us in social situations which we would never ordinarily tolerate. Nine or ten people, many of whom we would run a mile from passing the time with, packed around a table, from which we are largely unable to move for hours on end. Not most people’s idea of a party.

The scenario is slightly different for the professional player. This is, after all, their job, and at work one is prepared to put up with much more in the pursuit of making a living. These...

European Nations Cup 2013

Wed, 08 May 2013 16:36:54 GMT

I received a call from Barny Boatman a few weeks ago informing me about upcoming European Nations Cup event in Cyprus & kindly asking me if I would be interested in joining his team. How exciting!!

It meant swapping rainy London for sunny Paphos for a week...

How much do you really win at poker?

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 13:13:43 GMT

When Antonio Esfandiari won the Big One Drop last summer during the WSOP 2012, he immediately jumped into 1st place of the all time money list. Phil Hellmuth Jr also cashed in 4th place but instead of winning the entry he was chosen to represent several backers and received equity in the tournament. Besides some super rich businessmen, who would have the bankroll anyways to play such a tourname...

Time to deflate the bubble?

marius@thehendonmob.com (Alex Rousso) — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 14:52:36 GMT

There was a time when one of the biggest opportunities to exploit opponents in poker was on the bubble of a tournament. Players who had satellited in, wanted to get a flag for their Hendon Mob, or otherwise were just desperate to cash – almost literally at any cost – would fold everything to ladder their way into the money.

They had read once in Sklansky that it was rational to fold Aces and that http://cms.thehendonmob.com/admin/documents.php?menu_id=2935had a nice ring to it.

Living the Dream

marius@thehendonmob.com (Neil Channing 'Bad Beat') — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 12:52:31 GMT

Pretty unusually I had a dream about poker last night. It was fairly vivid, in that I could remember the hands and the suits, but I'm not sure where we were. It was definitely abroad in a hot country, but the players seemed to speak English.

A young hotshot kid opened to 800 at 200/400(50) and two people called. I was in the big blind with the ol' Td-7d and decided that this could be a great spot to shove my 10,000.

The kid folded instantly and just as instantly the middle guy...

Genting Poker Series - Newcastle

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 10:07:01 GMT

There were two main reasons why I was really looking forward to the Leg 2 of the Genting Poker Series 2013.

Genting Casino Newcastle

Firstly I had never been to Newcastle before & was keen to cross another location of my UK City list.

Secondly, following my success &...

European Nations Cup - Cyprus 2013

marius@thehendonmob.com (Press Release) — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 11:56:34 GMT

Watch Live Stream on April 13 and 14

Streaming times will be: Between 12-8pm EET+2 on both Saturday and Sunday (10AM-6PM UK Time).

The Power of Pessimism

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 13:50:36 GMT

Poker players often believe my job as a mental game coach is simply to help them think more positively. Some criticize the nature of my work because they believe, as I do, that a positive attitude alone is not enough to have success in poker. As it turns out, research has proven that for some people a positive attitude is actually detrimental to performance. That’s correct. Contrary to what many people and poker players think, some players hurt their game by trying to be...

All-in On Flop Declared but Preflop

marius@thehendonmob.com (You are the Tournament Director) — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 11:14:15 GMT

This one was posted on the Mob Forum by Matt101

OK so it's a £1/£2 NLHE cash game last night. Some drunk Chinese businessman sits down and starts raising everything preflop and basically wanting to gamble like it's roulette (the rest of the table think Christmas has come early ldo).

A few hands in I limp from seat 9 with A9s. Seat 10 makes it £10, seat 1 bumps it up to £40 and the Chinese guy on the button in seat 3 raises to £100. Folded round to me...

Rozvadov is Always Worth a Poker Trip

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 10:52:55 GMT

So far I have been invited about 10-15 times to visit the King's Casino in Rozvadov, a little town in Czech Republic pretty much next to the border to Germany. Until last week there was unfortunately always another live event or business trip at the same time and I had to kindly say no. Finally the time had come that I was asked to do the German live reporting on behalf of Pokerfirma for the most recent Eureka Poker Tour stop powered by Pokerstars.net and I immediately agreed since there...

What Poker has Taught Me About Gambling (Elsewhere)

marius@thehendonmob.com (Alex Rousso) — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 14:47:52 GMT

If you looked far enough into the past, you’d find a bright eyed and bushy tailed Pickleman, entranced by the potential of poker and gunning for the big win. Readers of my column will have seen how, over the years, with the publication of article series such as I’d Rather be Lucky than Good and How Prediction in Poker Should be Scientific (part 1 and...

Official ISPT Payout and Structure

marius@thehendonmob.com (Press Release) — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 14:28:11 GMT

Simon Trumper...

WPT Baden

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 16:26:39 GMT

At first I was disappointed not to make it to Brussels for the first WPT stop on Belgian soil because quite a few familiar faces and friends were participating there, but I didn't mind the little break to take of things at home after the recent business to London either. I left for Vienna one day early and witnessed a friend going deep and reaching the Final Table of the Montesino Open, always a nice perk to be able to catch those memories with the camera :)

The day after on February...

From The Bahamas to Birmingham

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 16:08:15 GMT

It’s been a great 2013 so far!

I started my new poker year by playing the Genting Big Game at the Mint casino & making the final table. After chopping the same tourney heads up in December, I was feeling confident and with alittle luck on my side I knew I could do well again.

Showing One Card, Hand Dead or Not?

marius@thehendonmob.com (You are the Tournament Director) — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 11:12:09 GMT

This one was sent in by Charles Bommersbach

I would like to tell you a story that can take place in your great articles "You are the tournament director".

This hand took place in 2008 in the Crown Casino Melbourne. This is a Cash Game table with blinds $5/$10. Action until the river does not matter. On the river, the board is A4Kxx and the pot is heads-up.

Player A bet, player B raise All In and player A calls instantly. Player B shows ONLY ONE CARD, an Ace then player A...

Genting Poker Series Star City

marius@thehendonmob.com (Ross Boatman) — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 12:43:15 GMT

I'm in Birmingham for leg 1 of the GPS. What joy! Just woke up after a solid five hours kip; not too bad for a man of my advancing years. The dull ache in the back of my skull caused by the old ball and chains endless nagging is beginning to ease away now. No screaming kids, no dog to walk, no little jobs around the house to be taken care of. So peaceful. If I turn the radiator in my room up to seven and close my eyes I could be in the Caribbean. Thank heavens for Genting poker! I fancy...

Small raise or open shove from the button?

marius@thehendonmob.com (Alex Rousso) — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 14:40:45 GMT

One of the trickiest stack sizes to play is15-20BB, or roughly 6-8M. It’s considered by some to be too big for an open shove, but small open raises can leave one with some pretty tough decisions – especially against good players, and especially on the button where opponents should rightly put you on a weak(er) holding. What should one do in these spots with half decent hands?

I had such a situation in the Unibet Open London last month. My table is tough, and given it’s the...

Global Poker Index Announces the Launch of the "Fantasy Poker Manager"

marius@thehendonmob.com (Press Release) — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 13:25:34 GMT

Fans of poker have a new avenue to follow their favorite players through an innovative fantasy game developed by Zokay Entertainment, owner of the Global Poker Index (GPI). The Fantasy Poker Manager is a free social game powered by the GPI and is now available on Facebook. The Fantasy Poker Manager offers poker fans everywhere a simple to learn and easy to use fantasy game based on live poker tournaments, providing the opportunity to engage with other fans and poker professionals alike. The...

Quiz

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 15:32:22 GMT

Hurrah! Once again, those lovely, handsome men at the Hendon Mob have sponsored the Battersea & Wandsworth Ladies Football team. In return, I’ve agreed to write some match reports, but as I realise that not everyone likes football, I’ve been trying to think of ways to make them more exciting.

My first idea was to run a variation on those old Spot the Ball competitions, except in this case punters would have to “Spot the Lesbian”. However, I was soon forced to...