Pondo's Poker

 Pondo Poker IV: A New Hope Just like any good film series, part 4 is were things have to heat up to keep the audience interested.  Star Wars Episode IV started the franchise, Rocky IV introduced Ivan Drago, Superman IV was errr, Jaws IV : The Revenge proved that.....Karate Kid IV introduced a whole new Karate Kid....ok, ok, so there are not many good examples of a fourth part.....but this one was going to be EPIC. Our players turned up sporadically to start with due to other duties taking priority, but eventually everyone was ready to poker. Pondo had hired in a pizza chef for tonight's break and the pizza oven was all ready blazing away when the first cards were dealt. The first hand of the night saw everyone at the table in for the flop apart from Andy.  Big Dave and Rosh were late to arrive so their hands were folded. With 8(h), 5(c) and 5(h). Vern's bet of 250 was raised by James to 500 clearing the table down to just these two for the turn. A 3(h) saw Vern raise 1,0...

 Pondo's Poker III Struggling to get the right date for a poker night is always a  difficult task trying to match everyone's calendars to a single date, but it is always worth it in the end.  With a brisket smoking away in Mc's magic Wi-Fi enabled smoker, it seemed a little easier to tempt new recruits to the table.  Now we have twenty players in the league  The new recruits consisted of Andy, Crilly, and Tom, all eager to join the Pondo Poker league table and all eager to play some quality cards. With positions allocated, chips distributed and small blinds in, it was time to Poker First hand of the night was raised by Andy (first to act) stating his position at the table.  With a couple of callers and a flop of the Jack and Queen (s) and 4(d) a further raise was thrown in from Andy.  Too much too soon? Folds all round claimed Andy his first league point. Ste W was the next to raise pre-flop with a massive 500 bet but was called by ...

"No finer game with 8 random blokes!" I know, there are only 7 here...but it was Vern's deal With a newly refurbished man cave and 5 new players to the table, this was not only going to be a great night of poker, but also a completely random night of banter, big bets and beer (most of it 0%). Keeping in line with current "Government Office Parties" the players were all asked to do a lateral flow test before turning up and infecting others, thankfully this was accepted and the pictures of negative results came flooding in. Our new players to the mix are Beewell (who travelled over 100 miles to join the game), Cousin James, Steve, Vern and his best mate, "Bestie". Our returning players Rosh, Daavv and Pondo were ready to poker. First hand win of the night was claimed by Daavv with his pocket Queens, securing him a poker league point.  This sparked Cousin James' competitive nature, how could he earn more points and win all the cash...? It was noted ea...

Pondo's Poker League Table To make things a little more fun, I know, I know how much more fun can it be!?, the games played will also be added to the Pondo's Poker League table. Players will score points based on attendance to games, tasks undertaken during the evening and positions  Here is the breakdown: Play point - Players who attend a Pondo's Poker event will receive 1 league point Rank Points First player out - As a pity point, the first player out gains 2 points Winner - the winner of the night claims points for all players minus themselves (ie 8 players = 7 points) Runner Up - 2nd placed players will receive points for all players that exited the tourney before them (ie 8 players = 6 points) Third place - 3rd placed players will receive points for all players that exited the tourney before them (ie 8 players - 5 points) Subsequent positions - All players who exit the tourney will receive points for all players that exited the tourney before them (except last p...

 And so it begins..... Pre-game Ice Breaker Before we commenced the stacking of chips and turning of cards, it was time to find the wolf amongst us.  Rosh had advised that he was going to be a little late so the waiting players started with a few games of "One Night - Ultimate Werewolf".  A game of deception, trickery and Werewolves. Highly recommended to anyone, even my 5 year old loves to play.  Although the initial concept seemed to be lost on Jack as he openly declared himself to be a werewolf on the first game..... The Poker Room With player seats decided and chip stacks allocated, it was time to begin the game 18 months in the making, deal sat with Mickey (ML) with Daavv (Dv) on small blind and Rosh (RF) on big blind. Danny (DD) to make the first move.  The first flop was friendly with all players in action, however, with bets starting to fall so did the players.  First hand won by RF with trip 8's With blinds set at 15 mins, it didn't take long for t...

 How to play Pondo's Bounceback Hold'em Tourney and "Protect your Princess" Ok, before we start to dive into the alterations of the bounceback tourney and the addition of Princess Protection, lets get the understanding of how the play works on a normal round of Texas Hold 'em  The "Dealer Button" is allocated to a player on the table. The player to the left of the dealer is given the "Small Blind" token and the next player given the "Big Blind" token. Before cards are dealt, the players with the Small Blind and Big Blind place their ante bets. The Small and Big blind will increase at stages throughout the evening. All players at the table are dealt two cards face down by the player who holds the "Dealer" button, these are known as hole cards and will be the start of building your five card poker hand.  Players then view their cards and play begins. The player next to the Big Blind (clockwise) has three options: 1) Fold - dec...