Welcome to The Phat Dogs website. We're a home game group that play No-Limit  Holdem on Wednesday nights in and around Reading, Berkshire. Small stakes stuff. Fancy a game? Then simply go to the forum, look for the posting of the next game's details and send a reply. We'll let you know if there's a seat free that week. We start at about 7.30 and usually end by midnight.

We don't take things too seriously - after all, its only a game! Its purely a sociable, social event, and the results are entirely secondary. That's our story and we're sticking to it. You may wish to bring a sense of humour with you. We like a laugh, and the BS is unending... 

2009  CHAMPION:    Oley!

Oley won the Phat Dogs 2009 League by mixing his game up really well. One week he'd play poker and screw all of us, and the next week he would be out with his girlfriend. I've got absolutely no information about what she plays, but I'm pretty sure he was err... winning there as well. Good work fella!

WEEKLY  LEAGUE UPDATE:

Feb 3rd - I am indebted to this week's host, Mark, for this game report. Technology is undoubtedly a wonderful thing - push a few buttons on your iPhone and a detailed message is sent through the ether; a few strokes on a keyboard and clicks of a mouse, and that message is uploaded for the world to see - and all in a matter of seconds. Awesome - the stuff of childhood fantasy (at least for my generation).

The quality of said message is another matter, however. We're so obsessed with speed and saving time that we abbreviate and abridge everything possible. I'm not averse to saving time myself, but in our haste, grammar is largely forgotten. It's the texting generation - and the English language is its victim. Many will say it doesn't matter. Gd 4 u, but I don't agree. The trouble is that this bastardisation is insidious. There is no end, and ultimately the intended message loses punctuation, nuance, emphasis, and ultimately, clarity.

That's not to say that it's all gobbledygook (maybe that should be gobbledygeek) because some elements are understood. However, if time-saving is the objective, having to re-read any communication defeats that objective. Especially when you have to re-read it several times before you fully understand it - at least I think I now fully understand it. See what you think:

You understood it first time? You had to be there then. I did get the gist, but sry Mk, I rckn its bllx n shd b bnnd.

Steve Deadmoney will be appearing on Grumpy Old Men imminently...