Poker Advice
and News with El Blondie
For those of
you who have never heard of me (and hopefully it's because you
are new to poker), my name is Dave Colclough, often known by
the imaginative pseudonym of 'El Blondie'. I guess, I am now a
Professional Poker Player. All I do to pay my bills and put
food in my fridge nowadays, is play poker. Tough life, isn't
it ? Not.
I am proud to say that I am now sponsored by bet365poker.com,
part of the bet365 Group Limited, one of the world's leading
betting and gaming groups. Over the next year I will be
updating the site with a diary of how I am getting on, telling
a few amusing stories from the past, but much more
importantly, giving you all a few tips on how to keep hold of
your hard earned wonga. I've been asked by bet365poker to give
a brief history, so please excuse any bragging…
I started playing poker 19 years ago. A flatmate (Ray Edwards
where are you?) gave me a few lessons and a basic strategy on
how to play 7 card stud over dinner, and then dragged me off
to the Northampton Rubicon Casino to play a £10 7 Card Stud
Competition. I suspected a few flaws in his strategy on the
first night. Three months later, I had refined it enough to
win my first competition.
Unfortunately I worked as an IT Consultant until 2000, and it
didn't half get in the way of Poker. Nevertheless, I would
try and burn the candle at both ends, regularly playing
competitions at Churchills in Stoke, or the Luton, Northampton
and Victoria Casinos when working further south. I won my
first major championship, the UK Hold'Em Championship at the
Park Casino in 1995. At the latest count, 25.2.04, I think I
have won 97 Casino Tournaments, not including satellites or
online competitions. So hopefully, we will chalk up number 100
shortly.
In 2003, I concentrated solely on Poker, having given up all
my previous business interests. And, I was fortunate enough to
be voted European Player of the Year for 2003, having broke
the record for the amount of final tables reached in ranking
tournaments. In the US, I reached 2 final tables in the 2003
World Series of Poker at Las Vegas, finishing 2nd to Eddie
Scharf in the Limit Omaha event. I also started playing online
tournaments during 2003 and made two final tables in the so
called online World Series. The online fields were huge,
regularly reaching 1300 players. Yes 1300! So what are you
waiting for?
