In his own words
Well it all started for me about 2 years ago. I was visiting some friends in Slough and bumped into their next door neighbours who were regularly running a house game to which I was invited. As it happens the house was the Slough Palace and the hosts were Mel and Eugene. You could say that I had baptism by fire.
Anyway, there I was sitting at my first poker table, full sharks I should add. I was excited but anxious as I could tell that many on the table were seasoned players and would normally chew up new recruits without breaking a sweat. The re-assurance of these sharks telling me to relax and not worry about making mistakes, didn't do much to relieve my anxiety.
My heart is beating fast and the cards are being dealt. There I am, first hand pre-flop with a pair of 4's with at least 3 people to act me, so what do i do? I raise it up to 300 (1,500 chips starting). I immediately get a couple of calls behind me with almost everyone else on the table now calling just for sheer value. The flop, 4, A, J. I've got trips, so with no bets before me I bet again. I still get 4 callers. Now I'm a bit worried but hey it felt good. So next card comes Q (i think), now I raise a little more but get re-raised all in. My decision took a fifth of a second( you can tell I was a novice) which was then immediately called by another 3 players. Now there are 5 of us all-in on the first hand of the night( ?10 re-buy tournie). WOW, there I was thinking "is this the way every game goes?"
Everyone turns over their cards: There's trip Aces, a flush draw and my trips(can't remember the other hand). Suddenly I'm so far behind it's silly. Everyone is in shock. The guy with aces is looking worried and I'm wondering what's going on!. So comes the river card............Yep, you guessed it, only a beginner could hit a 4th four on the river to give me quads!!!!! What a result. I stare at the chips, rake them in and avoid the ugly stares from the guy who hit the straight. yeah!!! I won big time and am now massive chip leader with a grin on my face that I'm sure many would like to see wiped off.
So, in short I was hooked on the game the minute I played my first hand. I learned that bad beats are part of the game, although I'm stilling learning how to get used to them. (For those of you wondering how I fared in my that game, I duly handed back all the chips I'd won and had a couple of re-buys before the freezeout. After all, I did get lucky but I was still only a novice.
After my introduction to poker I became a regular player at the Slough Palace which has taught me a lot. I've also played in the seafront casino in Brighton, as well as spending 4 days playing poker in Vegas.My longest continuous stretch was 22 hours! I walked away from that session $200 ahead :-) (although I was ready to collapse)
In addition to Phat Dogs house games I also try my luck online and have had limited success, although I ahve hope that I can tweak my style and maybe even make some money from it!
So, I can hear you ask, is this guy any good, or just another average player with some money in his pocket ready to give to hand it over to you..... Well, I'll leave that for you to decide. All I will say is that my strengths are: mixing up my game and lack of fear at calling your all-in. If you dare I'm ready to take you on!
Quadsmarty
What the other members of say about Marty
Lindz - Marty is my favorite player out of the group and is very focused and doesn't seem to make silly calls, hes a good bluffer so watch his raises and chip stack carefully. If one of the Dogs was to be put in a big tourney then my money would be on Marty every time. Marty a player you want on your table because he knows what he's doing and although he takes some chances he doesn't make stupid calls. Because of this I enjoy the games far more when Marty is in the line up.
G - He disguises his play really well and keeps varying things up. Can safely say that it makes me a little nervous when I'm in a pot with him. Raising is his strong suit & he has a very similar style to Lindz. He gets involved a lot more though. Despite a cavalier attitude, he is very thoughtful about his plays and he is very dangerous as a result. Take my word on it! Another very intelligent player though and I am not going to play him at pool. Ever. At least at poker there's an outside chance of me winning!!
Steve - Quads isn't just a good laugh, he's been taught poker really well (having started off at the Slough Palace no-one would expect anything less) and it shows. He mixes his game better than any other Dog, from textbook to reckless, and he clearly loves the headaches he causes us all. Alongside that little gem, he is both aggressive and fearless. Whatever poker style he happens to be playing, Marty loves the craic. Which is just as well - if he was only in it for the money we'd all be shitting ourselves.
Top tip: Tell him his car sucks, and whilst pretending to listen to the tirade of evidence that crushes your assertion, cheat.
Phil - Marty is the most aggressive player we have, it's a joy to see him raise 4 or 5 pots in a row. Well, I say it's a joy, it is if I'm already out of those pots. One thing that does always amuse me, however, is that, after his 38th pre-flop raise of the evening goes uncalled, Marty might proudly table, say, a pair of Kings. As if we somehow might believe, now he's shown great cards, that he had something that good every other time as well. We do respect you, Marty, but we're not that gullible.
Pete (slag) -
Baz -
Andy - Its all or nothing for Marty. Like Lindz he's very dangerous when he has a large chip lead, and takes risks when going short stacked. An absolute must to have at any game. That boy got game!
Dave - I find Marty fun to play against but incredibly frustrating at the same time. He seems to have two levels of raise: 300 or 3000 - nothing inbetween. He has a knack for putting in the big raise just when you want to see a cheap card - it's really uncanny how he does it. One day I'll work out what he's doing - I hope.
Craig - Top bloke who always makes me happy when he tells me about his losses (always due to badbeats goes without saying) being bigger than mine!! Love playing against Marty, dont know why as he can be a tricky f**ker at the table!
Jesus - What to say about Marty....humm, he appears to have every string to his poker bow, but often is off for an early bath. A likeable guy who will blind you with poker science...pot value...pot odds.....For this I must thank him, in the resent PoC Team game I went in to a big pot with A, medium (not my usual game I might tell you in a freeze out) and hit the A on the river to take two out and triple up! Thank you.
Del - As a fellow Irishman I can honestly say that this man is the complete gentleman. He doesn't appear to be Irish because he doesn't smoke, drink or swear, but what lets him down is his complete madness when it comes to gamblling. I for one would not like to let him loose at Cheltenham with the housekeeping! In saying that I must admit his massive gambles on the poker table often brings the game alive and it is a pleasure to play with him.
Nick -
Pete (new/doc) - capable of great play when he gets good cards and great bluffs when he doesn't. Sometimes I think I've got a read on him and then he goes and proves me wrong. Really enjoy playing poker with him.
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