Poker face? Not me ...

Sports betting took a back seat for me last weekend as I was invited to play in one of the WPT Poker tournaments at Emperors Palace. GGGaming sponsored me for the opening event and I lined up with 183 poker players, the majority of which play far more poker than me. As much as I love poker, I tend to run out of patience and if I was going to go deep in this one, I needed plenty of discipline.

I made it through the first night comfortably.

As the second day began, my cards went cold, but I was disciplined and kept things tidy.

After a short break, I returned to the table and the moment I played my first hand of the day everybody folded, figuring I must have a high pair. Ironically I was dealt Pocket Aces shortly after and managed to double up my stack to the point where I must have been in the top 5% in chips.

My strategy was working, but I then started playing as if I was a poker pro. I had not even had time to enjoy the pile of chips in front of me before I was sitting on the rails having been knocked out thanks to two crazy hands. I tried to bluff a couple of professionals – or at the very least battle-hardened poker players – and they clearly saw me coming.

As I write this, I am still constantly kicking myself, asking myself what I was thinking and why I didn’t stick to my plan.

And it occurred to me that while I worked out a strategy for the early stages of the tournament, I never considered going deep and how I should play if I got into a strong position.

This lack of foresight ended up costing me and by Sunday I was back to Sports betting – unfortunately placing a losing rugby bet to end a disappointing weekend.

The poker, though, was a great experience for which I am grateful.

I am hoping I can take some of the lessons and apply it to my monthly poker school – in particular our year-end tournament at the end of the month.

Brent Graham is a sports betting blogger at

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