My Top 10 Music Artists!

I love music. It is what keeps me sane, and drives everyone else I know insane when I sing. I am a very varied person when it comes to music, I listen to lots of different artists. As hard as it was, I have a compiled a top 10 of my personal favourite music artists, and exactly why I like them!

10. Example: They only just crept into my top 10, and I haven't heard too many songs of theirs, but Kick Starts is a brilliant song and I love it. Although I wasn't a huge fan of Last Man Standing, their new song, Changed The Way You Kiss Me is one of my favouite songs at the minute. I should get their album when I have the money.

 

9. Plan B: This guy is a brilliant artist. She Said is an absolute classic, and one that I can't help but sing along to (very badly) at the top of my voice. End Credits with Chase & Status is a great song to run to, and the Defamation of Strickland Banks is a really good album! Even though I think he should dtick to singing rather than rapping. Just my opinion.

8. Michael Buble: The "Swing King" of Canada. I love this guy. I've always secretly liked swing music with all the huge orchestra behind. I think Buble is reminiscent of Frank Sinatra with a contemporary twist. ANy comparison with Sinatra has to be good! His voice is brilliant, his songs are brilliant, and he can, unlike some artists, perform live!

7. Kings of Leon: I love their newest album, Come Around Sundown, although my opinion is that their Only By The Night album is their best. They combine good old classic rock with a contemporary sound, and I think it works perfectly. My personal favourite song is Use Somebody, although Be Somebody comes a close second. Radioactive is also a pretty good song, and really gets me motivated. Sometimes anyway.

6.The Script: I defy anyone to not like The Script! Although they are not the best live performers, their albums are absolutely fantastic, if a little depressing. The lead singer, Danny O'Donoghue has an extremely good studio voice. Two of my friends actually went to see him live, and even though he isn't known to have a brilliant live voice, I was still extremely jealous.

5. Pendulum: The best, and, only Drum & Bass / Dubstep I will listen to. They never fail to get me in the mood to party, and are a great motivator. I love their Immersion album, my favourites being Watercolour and Witchcraft. Although, I think the album is let down by Self Vs Self. They aren't a scream band, and that song just didn't do anything for me.

4. The Fray: The Fray's music is, to me, absolutely beautiful. The singing is amazing, and the lyrics to every song is meaningful. I often find I can relate to their lyrics, something I really like in a music artist. Both of their currently released albums are brilliant, and I always sing along, much to the annoyance of my family. Look After You and Over My Head (Cable Car) are their best songs in my view.

3. Relient K: They aren't really heard of much in the UK, but Relient K is a Christian rock band that isn't like any other. They are lucky enough to have the ability to write songs that are both depressing and uplifting at the same time. The first song I heard of theirs is Savannah, and it remains to be my personal favourite song of theirs. They prove the common misconception that Christian rock is full of so-called "bible bashing" wrong.

2: James Morrison: This guy is underrated. He has a superb voice, and is a good live performer. Both his Undiscovered and Songs For You, Truths For ME albums are brilliant, and I would love to be able to go and see him live. His voice has a rustic quality, and doesn't need to be perfect in order to sound perfect. He is also a really good guitarist, of which I am envious.

1. City and Colour: My number one. He is absolutely amazing. He isn't huge in the UK, but he should be. He is one of the few artists of whom I like every single song I have listened to. His voice is crazily incredible, he is a brilliant guitarist, and he can perform just as good live as he can in the studio. His new album, Little Hell, looks absolutely superb, and I can't wait to get my hands on it. I have heard a couple of songs from it, and I love them!

So that's it! My top 10 music artists. If you can, check these guys out, they are all amazing music artists. Particularly City and Colour, I don't know of anyone who has listened to him and not liked him. That's all from me, until next time, goodbye!

Mr Craig

Texas Hold'Em: Order of Play and Betting Rounds

In the last post, we looked at all the different hands you can have, and the chances they give you of winning. In poker, the idea is to maximise your profit by putting your chips into the middle (commonly known as the pot) on each betting round. There are four rounds of betting in a game in Texas Hold'Em. They are:

- Pre-Flop

- Post Flop

- Turn

- River.

Pre Flop

This is the first betting round. It happens just after the players are dealt their hole cards. Play starts with the person to the left of the big blind (more on this later), who has to call the big blind or raise in order to stay in play.

Post Flop

The flop is the first three community that are placed face up on the table. Players use these cards in combination with their hole cards to make a hand, and bet in co ordination with this hand. On this round, and all subsequent rounds, the small blind is the first to act, by checking or betting. Note that a fold is unwise at this moment as no additional money has been placed in th pot.

Turn

The turn is the fourth community card. Like the post flop betting round, play starts with the small blind in a clockwise direction, so that the person with the dealer button acts last.

River

The river is the fifth and final card to be placed on the table. This round works in the same way as the post flop and turn rounds, with the small blind beginning the round.

It is all well and good knowing the different rounds, but what can we do in each round? What is a bet, raise, call and a fold? These are all explained below.

Check

To check is to not place any money in the pot at all. This is useful if you are in early position, as you can then see what other players will do before you make a decision, but sometimes it is wiser to make the opening bet. In the pre flop round, it is only possible for the big blind to check.

Bet

A bet is an amount of money that is placed in the pot by a player that the other players have to match in order to stay in play. Players usually bet if they have a strong hand, or wish to bluff everyone and make them fold. In most standard games of texas hold'em, there is a minimum bet. This is usually the size of the big blind

Call

To call is to match a bet that was previously made. In the pre-flop round, this is always the big blind, unless someone has raised. Calling can be a good strategy if you are unsure about your hand, but wish to stay in play because you think the opponent is bluffing, but it can be unprofitable as you are not putting as many chips in the pot.

Raise

To raise is to match someone's bet, and then add more to it. Normally, the raise has to be at least the amount of the original bet, effectively doubling the amount of chips required to call. Raising is a good idea if you wish to bluff, or if you genuinely believe you have a stronger hand than your opponent.

Fold

If you have a weak hand, the best idea is to fold. This means throwing your cards away to the dealer, and conceding the hand. An important skill in poker is knowing when to call, raise, or fold.

Forced Bets, Blinds and Antes.

A forced bet is a bet that has to be put in the pot in order to stay in play at the start of the hand. In Texas Hold'Em, these are known as the blinds. The big blind has to put in the pot a certain amount of chips, for example, 2. The small blind has to put in a lesser amount of chips, usually half of the big blind, in this case 1. The responsibility of the small blind and big blind rotates around the poker table, so no one has an unfair advantage.

In some big tournaments, there is an ante. This is a forced bet that every player has to put in the pot, regardless of whether or not the want to play the hand. This encourages people to play in the hand, as they alrady put money in. Before the ante was introduced, people tended to sit at the table and notp lay in any hands except on the blinds.

To summarise:

There are four rounds of betting: pre flop, post flop, turn and river. In each of these rounds, a player can check, bet, call, raise or fold. Each round, apart from the pre flop round, is started by the player on the small blind. Blinds are forced bets that encourage players to put chips in the pot and play hands.

In the next post, we will look at playing styles. Until then, goodbye!

Mr Craig

Texas Hold'Em: The Basics

So, you want to be the next Phil Ivey. Poker is a fantastic game. Those who don't know the game will say it is all about luck. They could not be more wrong. Certainly, luck plays a big part, but it takes a huge amount of skill to be a good poker player. You have to gain a psychological advantage over your opponent. If you have this advantage, you can almost mind control your opponent into doing what you want. But let's start from the very beginning.

In a standard game of Texas Hold'Em, each player is dealt two cards, called hole cards or pocket cards. As you can imagine, the higher the pocket cards, the better the starting hand you have. Exercise caution though. As great as your standing hand may be, the cards that come down on the table can completely change that, and give you a useless hand. The winner of the hand is the person who has the best possible combination of 5 cards, combined from the pocket cards and 5 community cards. What hands can you have? Well, in rank order (worst to best), these are the possible hands:

1. High Card: This is fairly explanatory. The higher the card, the better the hand. In a game of poker, Ace (A) is the best high card you can have. You want to avoid playing this hand, it is extremely weak.
2. Pair: Two cards of the same rank. For example, a pair of 7s. Very weak hand still, only play this hand in special circumstances, or if you know for sure you have the best hand. Ideally, only play high pairs, such as AA, KK, QQ. If you are dealt two cards that have the same rank, this is called a pocket pair.
3. Two Pair: Two sets of two cards of the same rank. For example: 6677. This indicates you have a pair of sixes and a pair of sevens. This is a weak to medium hand, and often wins, but don't take that for granted. If you have two pair, there is a high possiblity that an opponent has trips. (See number four). A lot of players play this hand, both amateur and professional.
4. Three of a Kind (Also known as trips): Three card sof the same rank. For example: 999 indicates that you have three nines in your hand. A medium strength hand, and very often wins. As usual, the higher the rank of the card, the stronger the hand. If you get AAA, drop all your chips in the pot.
5. Straight: A straight is 5 cards off suit (different suits) that form a sequence. For example, 56789 would indicate a straight to nine, starting at 5. This is a medium to strong hand, and it is a good idea to play this hand, whether the straight is low or high. The lower straights win just as often as the higher straights. The highest straight you can get is TJQKA.
6. Flush: 5 Cards of the same suit. A flush is a strong hand, although it is easy to read as there must be at least three of the same suited cards on the table. A flush to Ace is also known as a nut flush as it is the best flush to have.
7. Full House: Three of a kind as well as an additional pair. For example, 44455 would indicate that you have a full house of 4s and 5s. This is a very strong hand, and you should always play it unless you believe someone else has a higher full house. (At a recent game of poker with my friends, I was really unlucky. I got a full house on the 4th card, and piled chips into the pot. My opponent, although I didn't know it had been dealt pocket aces, and played the hand with me, believing I was bluffing. Then he got an ace on the last card. He gained most of my stack as a result. Needless to say, I was eliminated soon after).
8. Four of a Kind: An extremely rare hand, and one I have only ever had once. All four cards in the deck that are the same rank. This hand is nearly unbeatable, although it is not unheard of. If you get this hand, pile chips into the pot and maximise your profit, you have won this hand.
9. Straight Flush: 5 suited cards that form a sequence. For example A2345 of Hearts would indicate a straight flush to 5. An extremely strong hand, and one I have only had when playing deuces wild (don't worry if you don't know what that is, it isn't an official rule).
10. Royal Flush: The best hand you can have in poker, and one that most players only ever dream of having. I have neer had a royal flush, and you are unlikely to ever have one, although it is possible. Be careful when playing this hand, as players can see the possible draw on the table. You want other people to have a  high flush, as they will be more likely to put chips in the pot.

So, those are the hands you can have in poker. In the next post, I will explain the sequence of play, the rounds of betting, and the ideal starting hands to play. Until then, goodbye!

Mr Craig

Just Me.

Evening! This is my new blog. On here I will be posting pretty about  much everything that I'm interested in. I will be posting helpful hints and tips about my two passions in life, poker and poetry, as well as commenting on recent films, music, and life in general.

So, where to begin? I think I'll start with a general sort of thing. As I sit here in the common room of my Sixth Form College, watching a small group of lads complain about anything they can think of, I am thinking about my current situation. My exams are nearly finished, I am in need of money, and I want a girlfriend.

I'm not asking for much then!

I've worked extremely hard over the past couple of years to make it into university. Whether it has been enough, I don't know. I'll find out in August on results day! I think I am fortunate though. I have been blessed with the ability to write.

I get a lot of stick though. Does it bother me? Well, I wish people would accept the fact that I do write, but I can put up with it. There is a point in all of our lives where our soul feels malnourished, and for me, poetry is food for the soul. Yes, that sounds cheesy. What do you expect? I'm a poet! Joking apart, I want to be a successful writer. I have improved a lot since I won a local comeptition with my poem The Rising of the Daffodils, but I have a long way to go. I am not writing with the intention of making a living in the future. The fact is, there is no money in poetry. I write because I can, and also because it allows me to escape into another world where I can truly express my emotions.

As for the girlfriend situation...

Well, it isn't great! I'm still smiling though, I have lots to smile about. The person I want to be with is truly amazing and I love her to bits. Even though she rejected me, I will always be there for her and (hopefully) she knows that. All in all, my life isn't brilliant at the minute. The exams are causing me to lose lots of sleep, I'm worried about how I'm going to get everything I need for uni, and I can't be with the person I want. I'm an optimist though. Every cloud has a silver lining, and I'm fairly good at finding that silver lining.

Anyway, for now, that is all I have to say about my life.

So, until next time, stay safe and stay happy!

Mr Craig
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