5TH Street Charity Ball

On December 1st Poker.com will be hosting the third 5th Street Charity Ball in aid of a great cause; The Make A Wish Foundation.

The tournament will be a $2.20 buy-in with up to 3 re-buys and a single add-on. It takes place on 1st December at 16.00 Lobby time at Poker.com with half the proceeds going to the charity and half to the prizepool. The winner will also receive The Charity Shield Award to proudly wear on their avatar.

So please come along and play, invite everyone you know, and help put a smile on a child`s face.


This is just a single example of the kind of thing the charity does, use the link above to find out more.

"We grant the wishes of children with life threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy."

Travis` Wish.


Kids around the world send Santa their wish lists each Christmas, but when 5-year-old Travis made his special wish for “Santa Claus to visit with big presents and give me a real Christmas with my family,” Santa dispatched elves from the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Rhode Island to make his wish come true.


Travis, who was diagnosed with a brain tumor, soon discovered the true meaning of a favorite Christmas carol: “The Twelve Days of Christmas.”

On the first day of his Christmas wish, Travis discovered one big box outside his front door, along with a letter from Santa. The box was full of Christmas decorations for Travis and his family to deck their halls. And just as the song says – 11 more days of magical gifts followed.


On the 12th day of Christmas, Santa finally arrived, toting big presents for Travis and a Christmas dinner with all the trimmings.
On the second day, Travis received a camera and film to capture his Christmas memories. On the third day, Travis gobbled three kinds of Christmas sweets from Mrs. Claus.


On succeeding days, Travis was showered with favorite Christmas films and a DVD/VCR combination player, CDs of Christmas music and a CD player, plus a stocking for each member of his family, including his five brothers and sisters.

On the 11th day of Christmas, Travis’s 11 candy canes were delivered by a festively decorated limousine – and Travis and his family were invited to go for a ride.

When the limo finally reached its destination, Travis found himself at the doorstep of none other than Santa’s vacation home on the Rhode Island shore. The enchanting cabin burst with Christmas cheer – outdoor lights, wreaths, candles and decorations, flannel Christmas sheets on the beds and Christmas cookies on the table. In the center of the living room stood a beautiful Christmas tree that Travis trimmed with his family while singing Christmas carols and sharing Christmas cookies and hot cocoa.

On the 12th day of Christmas, Santa finally arrived, toting big presents for Travis and a Christmas dinner with all the trimmings.

For Travis, this spectacular holiday was beyond his wildest dreams, and there’s no doubt the power of his Christmas wish will stay with him all year long.

5th Street Forum Weekly Game

Well after my poor showing in the BPT and being somewhat irritated at the way I had gone out I entered the 5th Street game feeling somewhat aggressive. I wouldn`t say I was tilting, just fired up. From the very beginning I played hard, if I scented weakness I pounced and I got off to a great start. These are players I play against week in, week out and as I normally play very tight agressive I think my usual table image helped a lot when I adopted a looser style for much of the game. I pretty much led from start to finish in this game, something I`ve never done before. These games have only a small number of runners, 13 this week I think and yet it was 95 hands before we lost a player, as Hacksaw put it, "it`s like a SNG on steroids".

Once we were down to 10 players I tightened up a little but I used my large stack very well, bullying and stealing but backing off when I met resistance. With five players left I had pocket eights on the button and made a significant raise to try to take the blinds. Wade in the SB had different ideas and pushed his remaining chips in, Hacksaw in the BB did the same, making it another 1,000 or so to call. I called with little hesitation and found I was up against A-J and A-Q respectively. The board brought no help for either of them and I regained the chip lead briefly held by Neo, and eliminated 2 players.

Just a few hands later I found myself with pocket jacks in the BB. I made a small raise and was called by Cerberi, the flop brought two rags and a jack, I was expecting a check from Cerberi but he raised so I re-raised and he called. Unfortunately for him he had the other jack. End of game for him and it left me heads-up with a massive 6-1 chip lead against Neo. For a while it seemed as if the poker gods would allow me to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory as I was dealt rag hand after rag hand and saw my margin drop to 2-1 chip advantage. Finally though I was dealt Q-5 and the flop brought me a Q, Neo raised, I re-raised and he pushed all-in. After a few moments thought I decided to call and he turned over A-2 of spades giving him a nut flush draw. The turn and river were no help though and I took down my first weekly game victory.

It was quite simply the best I`ve played for a long time, maybe the best I`ve ever played. It just proves that your mental state can have a serious effect on your game, sometimes positive sometimes negative. It`s a fine line to walk though for sure.