Now for a ‘boo’ to all those who didn’t turn up and didn’t bother to tell us. There are always a few who legitimately can’t make it at the last minute, but there were some 20 people who subscribed, didn’t turn up and didn’t bother letting us know (you know who you are). There were a lot of people I turned down entry to purely because we were over subscribed and more still on the standby list who really wanted to attend. Can I remind those who didn’t turn up and didn’t tell us, to show some consideration for others who would gladly take your place. In the future please let us know if you cannot attend. It only takes a quick email or a phone call.

So, on to the night. Well I started off well, winning a few carefully selected hands. Andy Hood was always drumming in to me that with so many beginners you have to play conservatively, don’t try to bluff and only represent the hands you actually have because beginners will bet on anything. I remembered this and started to pick up some chips. I was even smart enough to fold a pair of Aces on the turn when I read that the other player had a full house. One of the beginners was Drew (he runs the Adobe Flex London User Group). Having flopped quad Jacks in one hand and then quad Kings in the next he declared that he didn’t know what all the fuss was about winning a simple hand of poker. On his next hand I put him on a low pair on the flop, though his belligerent betting suggested otherwise. With a K+A in my hand and nothing on the flop I decided to bet hard and push him off the pot and I raised 1000 on the turn. That was my mistake. I knew I might get a K or an A on the river (not very likely as the river hates me) but I figured that betting hard against a novice with a stack of chips the size of a border collie would be enough to scare him off my bluff…you can see my mistake now can’t you. Oblivious to any unwritten rules, etiquette, statistics, game play or common sense, he went all in. Needless to say, I compounded my error by calling only to find out that I was right, he’d flopped a pair of 8s, the lowest pair on the table, but still better than my big fat A+K nothing. Damn my risk bias disposition and my insane need to try to bluff beginners!

So, the winners of last night’s toury were:

1. Karl Bunyan

2. Katie Marcus (special mention as this was her first PokerCoder)

3. Paras Sheth

4. Alejandro Giraldo Nino

5. Robin Harrison

6. Kim Holland

7. Cinderella (you left the ball without giving me your name) - No prize for you then

8. Tom Vian

9. Oleg Filipchuk

10. Sebastian Kassier

As this is being funded by Adobe this would go down on your CV as consulting for Adobe

In the first place please contact me at sean@pokercoder.com

More details on the Logic Bureau blog

Anyone who’s been to the last 2 or 3 of these events will know that this prize could go before I even take my seat. So in many respects it’s a lottery to see if you’re at my table. However, I’m feeling good about this one. I’m not going out early this time and I think the idea of a shiny prize for knocking me out of the competition will make more of you play more loosely, giving me a better chance of making it past the first 10 out and winning one of my own Loser shirts

The new iPod Nano is a sexy little minx. Go check it out.

Bring it on suckers!

So aside from the free event, the free booze, the networking, the prizes laid on by Adobe, the opportunity to outwit and humiliate your peers, the possibility of winning the love and admiration of all and the ALPT bracelet, what else could we possibly have that was special and extra?

I’m glad you asked. Firstly John Davey, the organizer of Flash on the Beach, will be in attendance and he has very generously given us two tickets for FOTB10 to give away. FOTB10 is on in September this year from the 26th to the 29th. If you’ve not been to FOTB before then believe me, you want to go. It is one of the premier events in the world for Flash platform developers and designers. You will be inspired all day by some of the best experts in the industry and you will party all night with some of the best people in the industry

But that’s not all. A large number of Adobe Evangelists (I believe the term is a whoop of Evangelists) are over in the UK that week and so far 6 have confirmed they are attending, so not only will you get to meet the Adobe rockstars and ask them awkward questions about bugs, new features, best practices and impending releases, you’ll also be able to take their money and ask them exactly what they actually do, and all of this while they are drunk. I think there will be lot’s of ’special report’ blog posts going out the next day

We’re also putting a bounty on them. And before you get out your black suit and 12 inch hunting knife, I DON’T mean we want them dead. The person who knocks out the most Evangelists will win a special prize. Once again I would reiterate that we mean from the competition, not physically.

IMPORTANT: A number of you have told me that you don’t attend because you don’t know how to play poker or you’re not very good. I think it’s fair to say that if these were legitimate reasons then I would have to stop going myself. This even was set up as a fun event for everyone. There are many beginners at every tournament and the club and the dealers are well aware of this. There is 15 minutes of basic training before the tournament starts and the dealers are on hand to help you every step of the way. You risk no money at all and stand to learn the game amongst friends and colleagues and win Adobe prizes even if you’re just lucky (and believe me, it’s usually the beginners who put most people out). So, please don’t be put off by a lack of knowledge. Poker is a game of wits, courage and a little luck. It’s more about the chips than the cards. If you want to see how your friends perform under stress or see if you can out wit (bluff) them or you just love strategy games then you’re going to love this game.

In the mean time might I recommend looking at any of the Texas Holdem poker sites for beginners tips. There are loads. We will also be giving you a crib sheet of all the best hands.

I never get tired of saying this: This event is for Application developers, RIA developers / designers and Adobe web professionals ONLY. If you don’t even come close then please don’t register to enter. The prizes are Adobe specific and you’ll only be depriving some poor designer of photoshop if you end up on the final table. We’ve turned a tolerant blind eye in the past but it’s started to get out of hand and Adobe are rightly insisting that this does not continue. If you are not a professional developer or designer, or you do not do a role that is approved by Adobe for this event then you will be turned away. Don’t worry, in registering you will be told if there is a problem with your role.

Finally, can I please ask that you come LOOKING like poker players. Hats and sunglasses - the more outrageous the better. I’m sure we can russel up a prize if you’ve gone out of your way

On a celebrity note, John Davey (the founder / organiser of Flash on the Beach) was there to show his support and he’s given us 2 tickets to FotB to give away and some exclusive FotB Tshirts, which won’t be available until Fotb on the 20th but some of you lucky winners will get yours in the post in the next week

The Adobe support was great as usual with Gemma and Andrew in great form. Our thanks to Robin Charney from Adobe who couldn’t be there on the night but who gave us the greatest box of crap I’ve seen from Adobe in a long time. Don’t get me wrong, that’s not a critisism. On the contrary, the crap-in-a-box that we get at every event is for our first 10 losers as booby prizes and there is some truley collectible Adobe schwag in there (way more interesting that the winner’s prizes ).

True to form, I sat down at my chosen table last, having finished my announcements and introductions. The people at my table gave a collective sigh. Not one of admiration, but one of “oh God, he’s the organiser. He’s going to kick our asses”. I calmly advised them that this was never the case, with smile that said ’see you on the final table sucker’. Then I promptly went out in joint 10th place. No. Not 10th in the tournament. I was the 10th person to get knocked out of the tournament and if it weren’t for the fact that I was joint 10th, I should have had to wear a Loser’s T shirt home

But on to happier things. The Winners.

1. Nicolas Soucaille
2. Jens Meijer
3. Jolyon Russ
4. Romain Gemon
5. Jeremy Adrian Quinton
6. David Fowkes
7. Nigel Quashie
8. Thomas Vian
9. Andy Bryant (1st time at Pokercoder - a special well done)
10.Michael Potts

So if you’re a PokerCoder member and you’re a developer or creative email us at seanmcsharry@logicbureau.com and tell me why YOU deserve this ticket.

But remember it will be in YOUR name so it’s non transferable and you HAVE to let us know by 5pm tonight and you HAVE to be a PokerCoder member !!! I’ll let the winners know by email tomorrow.

We kick off at 7pm sharp. If you’re not sitting at your table by 7:15 then you’re going to miss the start of the tournament. If your name is not on the list in the previous post (below), you’re not coming in.