One of my main roles as Business Development Manager for Black Belt Poker is seeking out potential partners for our brand. I look to set up mutually beneficial deals and oversee the whole thing, offering much more than a standard affiliate manager.
I got a call early October from a gentleman by the name of Karl Lorenzo, someone I’d played with a couple of times on the local circuit. We had a chat about his new venture: a poker club he was opening in Slough, Berkshire. Being just 20 minutes away, I was excited to arrange a meeting so we could not only discuss a deal, but so I could check out a potential regular venue.
My plan was to head towards the club on the way from the Black Belt Poker office in London, and after a last minute influx of emails I was on the M4 and cruising at a steady 70 miles per hour. I hit Junction 6 and made my way through Slough. As to why Gervais chose here to set his mega award-winning TV show The Office was my main thought when driving through the takeaway happy town centre, but I was quickly through this and onto a quieter B road. Much better.
I then noticed I’d reached Farnham Royal, a lovely little village I used to visit as a child. It turned out that the venue was actually here, which was a nice surprise as Farnham is a beautiful and quaint place, perfect for escaping city life. Before I knew it I’d arrived in under 10 minutes from the motorway and about 25 minutes from Brentford.
The venue struck me instantly as being unique: it’s a pub called The Victoria! Having missed fun, social poker since my pub league crushing years of ‘06 ‘07 and also knowing the standard that Karl was used to, I was excited about having a game.
I walked through the door and was greeted by the friendly barman who told me the poker room was in the back, and, sure enough, through another door were five poker tables all ready for action. I met Karl and we sat down and chatted about poker, soon realising we both shared an equal vision for where the game was and should be heading.
With business out of the way, I then bought into that night’s tournament, a £15+10 No Limit Hold’em Bounty event. I love bounty tournaments as it always creates an interesting dynamic, but as hard as I try I never seem to bust anyone! Tonight was a little better as I managed to get a few scalps, especially with one interesting hand. Down to two tables from an initial three, I was chip leader with second in chips three seats to my right.
The table had tightened up, so I continued my loose-aggressive play and opened 6h-4h in middle position. Second in chips three-bet from the small blind and I decided to see a flop in position as we were both deep-stacked. Ax-9h-7h seemed pretty good to me and I was happy to smooth-call a bet. The 10h on the turn was even nicer and I took a risk by just smooth calling again, not wanting to scare off a big ace with no heart. The river bricked and the player again bet. The pot was big, so I decided to just min raise to secure a call. He thought about it for a while and finally pushed the chips in showing top set!
This hand did me well and gave me a good start on the final table. I managed to get heads-up, but found a player crazier than me who I couldn’t get past. Still, second place on my first visit felt good – beginner’s luck doing me proud!
I thoroughly enjoyed my first night at the club as it gave me everything I expected. The regulars (a couple I already knew) were super friendly and I chatted away all night, not something I usually do, with my headphones never making an appearance. The running of the club was excellent, with the dealers all being very professional and experienced and not making any mistakes (apart from dealing me flushes in embarrassing situations!)
I also took the plunge and went for some good old-fashioned pub food, which I’d not done for a while after some bad experiences. I had home cooked chilli and was pleasantly surprised.
To round off the night I sat at the cash table for an hour or so, playing Pot Limit Omaha, No Limit Hold’em and Irish. Sadly I gave some of my winnings back but still finished the night with a little profit.
If you’re ever in the area and fancy a friendly game of poker run at extremely high standards I’d thoroughly recommend The Little Vic. I’m there a couple of nights a week now making the place my new local.
For the complete schedule, including some exclusive Black Belt Poker events in the future, check out the clubs website at www.thelittlevic.co.uk.