Scapegoat joined the Forum in early November and along with his many posts, has made a name for himself through his wild play in the Forum private games at Party
Goodi joined the Forum in early November. He just recently started playing poker and will be writing a monthly column in the Articles section of the site about his experiences.
Member Name
Bertrand Delobelle
Age
27
Where are you from?
Vincennes in France close to Paris
Are you married? Children?
Married with a 2 years old child
What do you do for a living?
Salesman
How long have you been playing Internet poker?
I really started playing poker since end of September 2003.
What limits do you play?
2/4 and I hope to go up in January.
What is your favorite site and why?
For ring games I love Party Poker. I feel the games there are easier and there is always a game waiting for you due to number of people playing there. For tournaments I definitely think Poker Stars has no rival at the moment and I enjoy playing there.
What has been your biggest poker thrill or achievement up to now?
I won a 2$ buy in tournament at pokerstar in November with 550 people in. This is the first big tournament I won and this was a great feeling.
I recently played a real tournament as well at the ACF in Paris which is the best known poker center in France. I could only play the 2 first days of the winter event (which is a 2 week event) because the buy in was a little too high for me but I managed to reach the final for my second real tourney. ($30 buy in, rebuys, and add ons with 66 people)
What area of your game are you currently focusing on?
Currently my focus is on post flop play and playing the opponent. I definitely need to be able to win not holding the best hand. This is how you can win tournaments too. (Bluffs and efficiently stealing the blinds)
If you could go back in time and start all over again on the Internet, what would you do differently?
If I could start all over again I would have done several things differently:
- Buy Internet Texas Hold’em. This is the best book I have read so far and easy to understand with lots of examples.
- Do not play with play money or freeroll tournaments. The play is so much different when there is real money in the pot.
- Start playing in Ultimate Bet or Poker Stars at lower limits for experience. The play at these sites is quite good and you can learn a lot of things.
- Avoid falling into traps like trying higher buy-in tournaments while losing or playing at limits higher than your bankroll dictates.
- Be careful in thinking of myself as a good player due to a little success because the fall will hurt even more.
- Be more patient. Rome was not build in a day.
What’s your favorite poker saying or phrase?
“Time is a friend of good players but the enemy for bad ones.” Once someone on a French forum was writing about a friend saying that poker was only a luck game and someone replyed with this phrase. In fact if a bad player is lucky the thing will break even but when it is opposite the game will end fast.
I like another one which is very true too taken from rounders. (I translate it from French) “You don’t lose the money you don’t play.” I think sometimes it is better not playing when for example you don’t feel it. Do something else...enjoy life.
Who is your favorite poker player (if you have one)?
I like an online player on Pokerstar. Riverloser is his name. He is a good player and nice too.
As for real players I know, I like two of them. I have spoken to Xavier Laszcz quite a bit on Poker Stars and had the pleasure to meet him and his sister in live. He is one of the best French players to me.
Padraig Parkinson is the second. He is a well known professional player and a very nice guy. I spend most of the time of my first real tournament at his table. When they were breaking tables we were together again and again until I was out of the tourney. He finally managed to win it. The day after we spoke almost an hour together before the next tournament and it was great. Padraig finished 3rd in the 1999 WSOP.
What are your other interests outside of poker?
I like sports in general and especially soccer.
Feel free to add anything else you would like to say.
I really enjoy playing poker and I hope one day to win a major event but that it is another story...Look Bertrand up in the Poker Forum!
Pilchard is a regular contributor to the Forum who shares a lot of his advanced knowledge in analyzing hand examples. He contributed his first article to the site in December.
Age:
29
Where are you from?
West Midlands, UK
Are you married?
Yes (recently)
What do you do for a living?
I'm a lawyer by profession and although I still practice occasionally (for technical/back up reasons I need to keep my practicing certificate until April 2004) I am almost fully reliant on poker for my income.
How long have you been playing Internet poker?
Since December 2002
What limits do you play?
15/30 at party/empire or 25/50 at pokerroom. I need to open a pokerstars account in the near future because I fancy a shot at the 30/60.
What is your favorite site and why?
I like pokerroom because it's a relatively small site with a number of friendly players.
What has been your biggest poker thrill or achievement up to now?
I used to get excited by winning big pots or big winning sessions. Thankfully that thrill has now gone because the flip side of getting upset when losing was a nightmare. In hindsight, my biggest achievement was realising and beginning to accept that you don't have a divine right to win.
What area of your game are you currently focusing on?
I'm hoping to get involved in writing articles, some coaching and one day I'd like to write a book (although Matthew has already written the book I wish I'd have written so I'll have to think of a different angle).
If you could go back in time and start all over again on the Internet, what would you do differently?
I have a bunch of friends who have all got involved in playing internet poker. I was the first to take the plunge and play for real money. I'd played a little bit of play money and watched some poker on TV. I was awful. I hadn't read anything. I made every mistake in the book (not that I'd read the book to know the mistakes were in there). I got lucky initially and thought I was the best player in the World. I was the type of player I now actively seek for when I join the tables. Anyway, I turned my $60 into 1200$ after a couple of weeks (how I don't know) and I was playing 10/20 at pokerroom. After about 5 hours I'd lost the lot. So I rebought, but this time I needed to rebuy bigger because I knew I could beat the high limits??? I lost it pretty quickly and this happened over and over for about 2 months until I was about $6000 stuck (so much for putting $60 in for a bit of fun).
During this time, I was watching good players make money out of the game and so I knew it could be done. So I stopped playing for a while and I read and read and read. Internet articles, books, anything I could get my hands on. I then rebought for another $60 and started from scratch at the low levels. I haven't looked back from that moment on.
So would I go back and do that in December 2002 rather than February 2003 when I was already $6000 down? Well when I advise my friends and brother I always say to them read lots, stick to low limits at first, play within your bankroll etc.. However, I don't think I would be the player I am today without that beginning. I learnt an awful lot in that first two months, a lot more than I would have from playing .5/1 with my $60 and perhaps being on $93 by February 2003. (Please note I am not advocating what I did, the stress level was extremely high in January 2003)
What’s your favorite poker saying or phrase?
"A great player will beat you with your cards not his own". This is true and highlighted my next step up in about June/July 2003. Come June 2003, I was playing by the book, good opening hands, knew all the odds etc... However, I was still focusing on my holding. If I had ATo and a player raised in front of me I'd fold (as per the book). But what if that player was loose in his raising requirements OR respected my raising standards too much. If so, why not 3 bet and isolate him. I started concentrating on playing the player a lot more. Tight aggressive play will take you so far and mean that you can beat most games. However, to make that next step you have to increase your edge further by playing upon your opponents' weaknesses.
Who is your favorite poker player (if you have one)?
My friend Steve Robinson. When we play home games he has a god given ability to defy the laws of probability
What are your other interests outside of poker?
All sports (especially football (or soccer for you in the US))
Feel free to add anything else you would like to say.
I've won 6000$ in a day at pokerroom. I've had similar losses too. The key is not caring about a particular hand, daily results etc... You just need to concentrate on making the right decisions and learning from your mistakes. This includes learning from the mistakes you make in hands you win not just the ones you lose. At first, I couldn't stop playing if I was stuck for the session but now I don't care. As long as you keep making the right decisions, the bankroll will take care of itself in the long run.Look Tony up in the Poker Forum!
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