Antoine Saout

The big event on Saturday is set to start 12 noon (Pacific Time) and I have been given a surprise tip by Magical Tipser - it is Antoine Saout.

He is the 25 year old Frenchman who is the surprise package in this years final and subsequently he is a big price (18/1 on Betfair). As the rank outsider he is expected to be one of the first to be knocked out, however, do not be surprised if he stays in a lot longer than most people think.

Apparently he has been practicing very hard by playing in all sorts of tournaments and seems to have a lot of stamina which is needed for such competition.

James Akenhead - come into the calculations as another big price (15/1) but he is also short stacked and he too will need a miracle, but sometimes miracles do happen.

This Easter weekend marks the start of the serious betting season, with the summer games taking over from the winter games. The winter games (mainly football or soccer for our US/Canadian friends) coming to a conclusion and the bookmakers are gearing up for the bonanza of the flat season. Just a little tip with the credit crunch/recession/depression - really make the bookies work for your money. They will be loads of special deals and offers abound so take advantage of them.

Also its beginning of all sorts of dreams for the holy grail of the World series of Poker and the chance for many obscure poker players attempt to make a name for themselves to have a go at the big one and become a sensation such as Peter Eastgate - last years sensation. The fact that Eastmann made his way through the online route to reach the pinnacle of the poker world is the dream of all online poker players and that includes me.

You know the odds are prohibitive and the hours of work will be stressful but what is the point of playing poker if not to aim for the big prize? Straight away you can imagine the guffaws from those online sharks that make a living playing 8 - 12 screens at once and nicking a £1 from each one every 20 minutes or so.
But for us romantics and frankly mug online players it’s a form of relaxation in a video game sense, as well as a way to earn a crust when we have a chance.

Obviously I have to try and get to the table of gold because I feel that I can hold my own with the best of the best. My only faults are a) I am too reckless, b) too impatient and c) I am too wasteful. But you never know I do have my moments and I can still dream.

Talking about dreams it has been amusing seeing how the bookies have reacted to last week Grand National in which they are complaining that the 100/1 big outsider Mon Mome was not a major benefit for them because in total they only made £30 million and not the £210 million as been reported! We punters must try harder to lose more money to the bookies to make sure that their share prices remain buoyant and the bookmakers keep the lifestyle they have become used too! Somehow I think the bookies ‘..doth protest too much…’

Anyway since I will probably fall at the final hurdle of making it too the final of the WSOP (not from the lack of trying I should add), I will take solace in the new innovations that I maybe involved in for the online poker scene (which it surely needs badly) and of course the pleasure of discovering more ’Poker Totty’. Which in my view is the greatest piece of blogging endeavour  every undertaken by a poker playing reprobate and degenerate - and there ain’t many of them about is there?