Back to live poker.
I had a bad day online on Monday and decided to go to the Victoria for a game of hold'em. For some reason I hadn't been to the Victoria for nine weeks. I think it's because I know that it's possible to have big losses there and I don't like that while I still don't have a big bankroll. Nevertheless it was a pleasure to be back, as I won close to #500 on the night and have won every day since. The decision not to play online has left me with far more free time during the day and I've done lots of little tasks that needed doing around the house, which I never seemed to get done while the computer was on.

I've also enjoyed the human side of live play a lot this week. Last night for example, I saw Michael Greco (previously 'Beppe' in Eastenders) sitting next to Craig Grant. They were deep in conversation. It was one of those moments when I wished I had a camera on my person. It would have made a great caption competition. We can all imagine Craig saying 'So I auditioned for the part and it would have been mine but then Leslie Grantham got it at the last minute'.

My table was fun too. Especially when one of the dealers told Vicky Coren that she was getting grey hair. Someone else told her that he'd noticed it on TV and she got totally paranoid, rushing up to Hugo to show him her roots. This sort of levity seems to be more common in hold'em games. During the years when the Vic was all omaha, I don't recall it ever being this much fun. Right now the place is absolutely buzzing. There were five hold'em games last night. I remember when they couldn't get one!

Who would have thought that there was such a demand for hold'em? Oh I know, I did! I said for ages that there was a large player base that knew hold'em from seeing it played in tournaments, yet couldn't get into playing poker for money, because the cash games were all omaha based. Sadly the stupid dealer's choice nonsense still goes on in most provincial clubs. This is tragic, as the message from the Victoria could hardly be more obvious - offer properly sized hold'em cash games and people will be beating a path to your door.