Still buzzing after the weekend, i headed back into the SE on monday on little sleep, played the 100 freezeout, just chilling really, battled as usual though, and got into a decent spot before i made a move against the chief on final table bubble for a big pot, he called with 99, it was a race and he won ! Didnt mind really, sat into the cash game for about 2 hours and made €400 so a worthwhile spin into town.
Tuesday, well, back into the SE, my new home, lol, there was a satellite on for the Cork game.
€100 with one rebuy or top up, so a max 200 spend. There were 2 1080 tickets plus 360 exps up for grabs and i got onto the final table in ok shape. I then managed to get all in in a sizeable pot with my AK up against AQs. Win that and i really should get a ticket, but a Q on the turn and im gone, oh well, better last night than at the weekend.
I then sit into the cash game for about 2 hours, but dont see any cards, and cant get into it, im down 55 quid, and i decide to try the jackpot for a change.
I sit at a table with 6 players, one guy playing 500 who won it on blackjack, and 4 drunk lads who are in for 50 quid, so i buy a monkey to cover the bj guy. None of them really seem to know what they are at, so i cruise up to about 850 odd when gavin and gordon join in, I then take a large pot off gordon, and a few more, and leave up just over a grand overall on the night.
Just booked the Clarion for thurs to monday in cork, its a lovely hotel, we stayed there last time, has nice food on room service and a quality pool and leisure area. Staying with kp as usual, and we are getting the train down early thurs, to chill for the day, then probably play the super sat.
Also, just decided to go to Prague for the ept. This will be softer than some, should get a big field, and at 5k, is more affordable than the other epts this year. In my current tourney form, and with a good ept record in the past, i expect to go quite deep. However, i am planning to sell about 40-50% of myself in this, probably at a rate of €60 or €65 for 1%, to cover expenses etc, and will probably stick something up on boards in the near future as well as tap up a few of the lads maybe......
Also on the agenda is now to top the Irish rankings for 2007, need a result in cork to take the lead, may go out of my way to play a few of the other scoring events in december to try and take this down and secure a €2500 bonus, currently 3rd just behind Jay and bomber, see this thread....
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055189770
thats all the news for now, next report should be after i get back from cork....
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Monday, November 26, 2007
Sporting Emporium 1k freezeout
On friday saw the 1k game in the SE, a game id been looking forward to for a while, i knew there was 40 odd satellite qualifiers and expected a field of 70-80 with some dead money, given the unbelievable structure of 15k stack, 1 hour blinds, going 90 mins on day 2, and every level imaginable. This was the true tourney players dream.
We set up by getting a nice steak dinner, with me, Dave Callaghan, Conor Doyle, KP and Mr Pillowtalk. I almost slept in, and we didnt have as much time as we woulda liked, but it was nice, and we just got to the SE as it was about to start.
My first table seemed ok, none of the really big names, but mainly solid enough regulars. I quickly spotted seat 5 to be a mark, and was hoping to get some chips off him, also, to my left in seat 10 was John "with the big hands" as i call him, a player liable to double u up, but also quick tricky at times. Couple of boardsies there also, rounders123 (aidan) to my left, and Kevin in seat 2, who i think also posts on boards.
Early on i win a pot when i call with 88, flop comes 89T, bit dangerous, heads up between me and seat 5, he checks i bet the pot, he calls, i figure he has a draw. Turn is a 6, yuck, he checks, i now figure i may need to fill up, so check also, river another 6, now im defo in front here, he checks, i decide to bet 500, figuring he will call with a straight, pot sized bet, interestingly he min raises me to 1k, lol, now i have this guy figured fairly early on, and im sure he just has the straight, so i made it 3k, he calls with the 3rd nut straight, the bare 7, hmmm.
So im up to about 18k, and playing pretty much every hand, which i like to do in level 1 of 15k games, u can afford to see a lot of cheap flops, and its good to be in, when theres some weak players around, and u can gain a lot of chips if u hit something hard.
Then i check my option in the BB with Q3 off, theres maybe 1 limper, and aidan has just called the 50 on the button, flop comes Q93, i check, aidan fires 500, now i always play a hand like top and bottom or bottom 2 quite hard, as it can be easily couterfeited and quite vulnerable, so i make it 1100 to go, interestly he calls. Theres a lot of straights draws out there, and i think there also was 2 diamonds, i figure he never has QQ or 99 here, with his button limp, and 33 is unlikely as i have a 3, also, he may re raise me, as i can have a big draw here myself.
Turn is a blank, like an offsuit 2, i fire 2100 at it, hoping to take it down. He calls again. I really think he has JT here, i cant put him on a big Q, im sure he reraises with Q9, i just struggle to put him on a hand that beats me given the action, the river comes a Jack, i decide to check. Firstly, i now want to showdown the hand as cheaply as i can, if he check raises any bet here, i would probably have to fold, secondly, i think he has a draw a lot, and as he wont be able to call a bet, i must give him a chance to make a mistake, he bets 6k into a 5400 pot. This bet really doesnt look like it wants a call, and im also sure Aidan is aware that i can lay down a hand. Thats a big bet, all the obvious draws have missed, im almost certain im ahead, so after thinking it through i call and he mucks and im off to a good start.
Shortly after, i decide to limp 56 of spades after 2 limpers for 200 (level 3). Kevin in the big blind decides to make it 800 to go total, after 4 limpers altogether. The guy on my left calls, now, with us all being relatively deep, and theres a fair chance kevin has a big hand, i call with big implied odds, to try and hit hard, 3 of us see a flop of 56T with 2 hearts. Now, im hoping he has AA or KK, and when he leads for 2k, im pretty sure he does ! He made a mistake here of not re raising enough and given huge implied odds to the limpers, whilst somewhat telegraphing his hand, being out of position, with that many limpers, and a huge hand, u really need to not be greedy, and be prepared to take it down pre with AA or KK, or get a call if someone has limped another big pair, which is ok. You dont want a situation where people call you with suited connectors or small pairs, as if u end up playing a big pot, u are invariably behind.
Anyway, i reraise to 7k, again as bottom 2 is very vulnerable, and if im going to get it all in against aces or kings, the best time to do that is on the flop as a number of cards could either counterfeit me or kill my action. After a long dwell he pushes, i call, he has aces, i win. up to 40k early, with average still only about 17k , great start.
Playing my rush, the very next hand i get 99, and make a standard mid pos raise to 700. Im called by a lad whos just joined the table, but i had heard was a dreadful player. The flop comes a tasty looking A9x, he checks, i check also, as the type of player he is, once i check, he will assume his ace rag is good. Turn is another rag bringing 2 diamonds, he leads for 1500, looks confident, i decide now is the best time to get him all in, make it 4k, at he literally INSTA pushes for about 11k total, i call and he has A6 of diamonds for 1 pair and a flush draw. River though, is a diamond and instead of being up to almost 60k, im back on 30k and a little peeved.
After this i start to feel awful, have a bad cough and a bit fluey and faint. I lose concentration alot and decide to more or less lock it down for the night, its a long game, and i was consious i might make a mistake. Day one ended at 5am, i had 33k in chips and was 13th out of 33 remaining runners from the original field of 72. Never been so happy to get out of there and back to bed.............
Day 2
With blinds only 400/800 of our return, there was an infinite amount of play, and i decided to settle down and wait for a few hands. Im loathe to raise with marginal hands, especially in earlyish positions in these really well structured events, as u often just spew chips and end up with tough flop decisions. So im mainly only raising either in position, or with something im quite happy to go with. I would have a very tight table image, and it would be more or less warranted, as im not getting out of line at all, and if my chips go in, im pretty much wanting a call.
This tourney is a lot like a cash game in some ways, as we are all so deep, so im set mining with almost all pairs, and using implied odds a lot for my calling range, im also, shutting down more or less when i miss flops and on dangerous boards.
I end up in a tricky position on day 2, with roy brindley, who is chip leader on my right, and john farrelly (with the big hands) on my left, calling most raises, and calling down light, also with a big stack. I sit tight, and wait for a spot to play a big pot.
Im pretty much totally card dead the entire 2nd day, and manage to nurse it home when we eventually get down to 9, with 49k, im shortest of the 9 left, but blinds are still really small, 800 and 1600 , and ive loads of time, now 90 minute levels and im looking forward to the final table.
Interestly, after about 17 hours play over 2 days, ive had aces once, queens once, no kings or jacks, hoping my rush comes on day 3.
DAY 3
Im quite happy with my seat in seat 9, i have tony on my left, and he wont get too out of line, and lloyd on my button, who i think wont be too over active with his big stack, im away from declan and roy who have big stacks. Its a good line up at the final table, and some players i know quite well , noel hayes (bcb), lucky lloyd o farrell , roy etc.
We play for 90 mins, one level, not much goes right, i lose 8k on a C bet, and im down to 30k, still seeing no hands, and now well the shortest, however, with the structure, and 1/2 blinds, im still able to make a std raise, and get away from it, despite having 3% of the chips on the FT, not often u see that, well done the SE.
I think Roy is finding the structure quite slow, and he spends most of level 2 of day 3 in the pub ! So i have his blinds on occasion. Its a long drawn out game, im scrapping and keeping myself in or around 50k for a couple of hours. Not seeing any hands, which again isnt helping.
Noel is playing quite well, hes doubled up early off declan and it being quite active, lloyd is biding his time, roy is in the pub, and tony and declan are getting quite involved, but no sign of us losing anyone.
Then, henry gets knocked out, and we are down to 8, then conor gets very short, hes down to about 40k, im managed to get up to 80k, dont remember any specific pots, when conor limps.
Now, i have AQ, and i make it 10k to go, he suddenly goes all in for 40k, i hate the limp jam, especially from a shorty, i know its often a monster, but, its also often a mid pair, and im getting a huge price, even if its kings, i can almost justify a call, given that ive 40k behind if i lose, so i call, he has TT and i win. (i had to call 29k and the final pot was 79k)
We are at 7 for ages and im maintaining 120k, tony has gone relatively short, when noel raises from the cut off on my bb, he has a reasonably wide range for this, when tony flat calls the 12k, i look at 88 in the bb, im miles ahead of both there ranges, and i have an image that noel wont call me light, i jam, noel passes, surprisingly tony calls with A7d, flop is a scary 8xx with 2 diamonds but a board pair on the turn and im on 170k.
After this im ultra patient, dont see anything for a long time, call lloyds button raises a few times with smallish pairs , and lose a few small pot, back to 100k but the time noel departs.
He jammed with 77 on an 8 high board and raising pre, and was unlucky declan had hit a set of 4s, impressed with noel on this FT, well played sir.
Do down to 4, and im hanging on at 100k, the other 3 have 300k each, and prizes are 6k, 10k, 15k, and 23k, so i really want to see someone else off. A few handbaggy pots are played by the other 3, its like they want to get 3 handed and see me off, so i figure i may need a hand soonish.
All of a sudden, without me really realising it, i notice roy is down to about 170k, im on 120k and the other 2 are near 400k each. Im certain lloyd and declan wont play a big pot together, and are gunning for a 3 handed deal, so i just need to see off roy, and all is well.
Then, an amazing pot happens, Declan limps, Lloyd makes it 25k to go, Declan re raises to 75k, lloyd goes into the tank, there is some speech play, they both seem really strong, now, we are 4 handed, i assume lloyd has JJ, maybe AK, and doesnt really want to play an 800k pot, and risk 4th and a 6k payout. However, im astonished when he tosses in KK face up, wow, Declan smiles and shows JJ. Lloyd was a bit upset with himself after this, and shut down a bit.
Soon after, i finally get a real hand, KK under the gun, i make a standard 3bb raise to 18k, im playing 117k, roy, makes it 65k , basically pot commiting himself to the hand, great, KK one time baby, and i jam, he calls with 44, i win, hes near the felt on 40k. Next hand, theres 11k dead in the middle, he jams for his 40k, i have 22, i have to call, its unlikely he has a pair, im usually a very marginal favourite and its a great chance to take him out and get 3 handed in reasonable shape, also, its not a huge dint if i lose. (under most circumstances i would never call a jam with 22, and u cannot be better than 50 odd % fav). Anyway, i win and all of a sudden we are 3 handed, i have 297k, the other 2 have about 400k each, i suggest 16k each, they are both delighted to accept. Declan said his previous biggest cash was €1300 and fair play to him, hes seems like a very nice guy. Lloyd is a good well structured tourney player, and has proved this once again, a tough opponent for anyone.
We played one hand for the lovely crystal trophy, my 43 being good on a 567 flop !!
That will take pride of place on the mantlepiece.
Obviously very pleased with 16k, especially given i started the final table as the short stack, and its makes up for last weeks dissapointing FT.
Another item of note it that i picked up some more points in the Irish rankings, which carrys a prize of €2500 for the number one at the end of the year. Jay O Toole leads this, and i reckon im now a close 3rd, so a FT in cork next week could swing that, something i will be gunning for.
Points are given in all non weekly dealer dealt tourneys with 200+ buy in and 30+ runners. The bigger the buy in, the more runners, and higher up on the FT u finish, the more points u get, it seems like a good system and something i would now like to win, so look out Jayminator.
In fact, its great to get a result like this, ive played 9 tourneys in ireland in 2007 with a 500+ buy in, i have 6 final tables, including 2 chops , and have made day 2 on the other 3 games.
Fair play to Alex and John in the SE, ran a great game, brilliant structure, and they are both top blokes, only complaint being that the food is complete cack in there !
We set up by getting a nice steak dinner, with me, Dave Callaghan, Conor Doyle, KP and Mr Pillowtalk. I almost slept in, and we didnt have as much time as we woulda liked, but it was nice, and we just got to the SE as it was about to start.
My first table seemed ok, none of the really big names, but mainly solid enough regulars. I quickly spotted seat 5 to be a mark, and was hoping to get some chips off him, also, to my left in seat 10 was John "with the big hands" as i call him, a player liable to double u up, but also quick tricky at times. Couple of boardsies there also, rounders123 (aidan) to my left, and Kevin in seat 2, who i think also posts on boards.
Early on i win a pot when i call with 88, flop comes 89T, bit dangerous, heads up between me and seat 5, he checks i bet the pot, he calls, i figure he has a draw. Turn is a 6, yuck, he checks, i now figure i may need to fill up, so check also, river another 6, now im defo in front here, he checks, i decide to bet 500, figuring he will call with a straight, pot sized bet, interestingly he min raises me to 1k, lol, now i have this guy figured fairly early on, and im sure he just has the straight, so i made it 3k, he calls with the 3rd nut straight, the bare 7, hmmm.
So im up to about 18k, and playing pretty much every hand, which i like to do in level 1 of 15k games, u can afford to see a lot of cheap flops, and its good to be in, when theres some weak players around, and u can gain a lot of chips if u hit something hard.
Then i check my option in the BB with Q3 off, theres maybe 1 limper, and aidan has just called the 50 on the button, flop comes Q93, i check, aidan fires 500, now i always play a hand like top and bottom or bottom 2 quite hard, as it can be easily couterfeited and quite vulnerable, so i make it 1100 to go, interestly he calls. Theres a lot of straights draws out there, and i think there also was 2 diamonds, i figure he never has QQ or 99 here, with his button limp, and 33 is unlikely as i have a 3, also, he may re raise me, as i can have a big draw here myself.
Turn is a blank, like an offsuit 2, i fire 2100 at it, hoping to take it down. He calls again. I really think he has JT here, i cant put him on a big Q, im sure he reraises with Q9, i just struggle to put him on a hand that beats me given the action, the river comes a Jack, i decide to check. Firstly, i now want to showdown the hand as cheaply as i can, if he check raises any bet here, i would probably have to fold, secondly, i think he has a draw a lot, and as he wont be able to call a bet, i must give him a chance to make a mistake, he bets 6k into a 5400 pot. This bet really doesnt look like it wants a call, and im also sure Aidan is aware that i can lay down a hand. Thats a big bet, all the obvious draws have missed, im almost certain im ahead, so after thinking it through i call and he mucks and im off to a good start.
Shortly after, i decide to limp 56 of spades after 2 limpers for 200 (level 3). Kevin in the big blind decides to make it 800 to go total, after 4 limpers altogether. The guy on my left calls, now, with us all being relatively deep, and theres a fair chance kevin has a big hand, i call with big implied odds, to try and hit hard, 3 of us see a flop of 56T with 2 hearts. Now, im hoping he has AA or KK, and when he leads for 2k, im pretty sure he does ! He made a mistake here of not re raising enough and given huge implied odds to the limpers, whilst somewhat telegraphing his hand, being out of position, with that many limpers, and a huge hand, u really need to not be greedy, and be prepared to take it down pre with AA or KK, or get a call if someone has limped another big pair, which is ok. You dont want a situation where people call you with suited connectors or small pairs, as if u end up playing a big pot, u are invariably behind.
Anyway, i reraise to 7k, again as bottom 2 is very vulnerable, and if im going to get it all in against aces or kings, the best time to do that is on the flop as a number of cards could either counterfeit me or kill my action. After a long dwell he pushes, i call, he has aces, i win. up to 40k early, with average still only about 17k , great start.
Playing my rush, the very next hand i get 99, and make a standard mid pos raise to 700. Im called by a lad whos just joined the table, but i had heard was a dreadful player. The flop comes a tasty looking A9x, he checks, i check also, as the type of player he is, once i check, he will assume his ace rag is good. Turn is another rag bringing 2 diamonds, he leads for 1500, looks confident, i decide now is the best time to get him all in, make it 4k, at he literally INSTA pushes for about 11k total, i call and he has A6 of diamonds for 1 pair and a flush draw. River though, is a diamond and instead of being up to almost 60k, im back on 30k and a little peeved.
After this i start to feel awful, have a bad cough and a bit fluey and faint. I lose concentration alot and decide to more or less lock it down for the night, its a long game, and i was consious i might make a mistake. Day one ended at 5am, i had 33k in chips and was 13th out of 33 remaining runners from the original field of 72. Never been so happy to get out of there and back to bed.............
Day 2
With blinds only 400/800 of our return, there was an infinite amount of play, and i decided to settle down and wait for a few hands. Im loathe to raise with marginal hands, especially in earlyish positions in these really well structured events, as u often just spew chips and end up with tough flop decisions. So im mainly only raising either in position, or with something im quite happy to go with. I would have a very tight table image, and it would be more or less warranted, as im not getting out of line at all, and if my chips go in, im pretty much wanting a call.
This tourney is a lot like a cash game in some ways, as we are all so deep, so im set mining with almost all pairs, and using implied odds a lot for my calling range, im also, shutting down more or less when i miss flops and on dangerous boards.
I end up in a tricky position on day 2, with roy brindley, who is chip leader on my right, and john farrelly (with the big hands) on my left, calling most raises, and calling down light, also with a big stack. I sit tight, and wait for a spot to play a big pot.
Im pretty much totally card dead the entire 2nd day, and manage to nurse it home when we eventually get down to 9, with 49k, im shortest of the 9 left, but blinds are still really small, 800 and 1600 , and ive loads of time, now 90 minute levels and im looking forward to the final table.
Interestly, after about 17 hours play over 2 days, ive had aces once, queens once, no kings or jacks, hoping my rush comes on day 3.
DAY 3
Im quite happy with my seat in seat 9, i have tony on my left, and he wont get too out of line, and lloyd on my button, who i think wont be too over active with his big stack, im away from declan and roy who have big stacks. Its a good line up at the final table, and some players i know quite well , noel hayes (bcb), lucky lloyd o farrell , roy etc.
We play for 90 mins, one level, not much goes right, i lose 8k on a C bet, and im down to 30k, still seeing no hands, and now well the shortest, however, with the structure, and 1/2 blinds, im still able to make a std raise, and get away from it, despite having 3% of the chips on the FT, not often u see that, well done the SE.
I think Roy is finding the structure quite slow, and he spends most of level 2 of day 3 in the pub ! So i have his blinds on occasion. Its a long drawn out game, im scrapping and keeping myself in or around 50k for a couple of hours. Not seeing any hands, which again isnt helping.
Noel is playing quite well, hes doubled up early off declan and it being quite active, lloyd is biding his time, roy is in the pub, and tony and declan are getting quite involved, but no sign of us losing anyone.
Then, henry gets knocked out, and we are down to 8, then conor gets very short, hes down to about 40k, im managed to get up to 80k, dont remember any specific pots, when conor limps.
Now, i have AQ, and i make it 10k to go, he suddenly goes all in for 40k, i hate the limp jam, especially from a shorty, i know its often a monster, but, its also often a mid pair, and im getting a huge price, even if its kings, i can almost justify a call, given that ive 40k behind if i lose, so i call, he has TT and i win. (i had to call 29k and the final pot was 79k)
We are at 7 for ages and im maintaining 120k, tony has gone relatively short, when noel raises from the cut off on my bb, he has a reasonably wide range for this, when tony flat calls the 12k, i look at 88 in the bb, im miles ahead of both there ranges, and i have an image that noel wont call me light, i jam, noel passes, surprisingly tony calls with A7d, flop is a scary 8xx with 2 diamonds but a board pair on the turn and im on 170k.
After this im ultra patient, dont see anything for a long time, call lloyds button raises a few times with smallish pairs , and lose a few small pot, back to 100k but the time noel departs.
He jammed with 77 on an 8 high board and raising pre, and was unlucky declan had hit a set of 4s, impressed with noel on this FT, well played sir.
Do down to 4, and im hanging on at 100k, the other 3 have 300k each, and prizes are 6k, 10k, 15k, and 23k, so i really want to see someone else off. A few handbaggy pots are played by the other 3, its like they want to get 3 handed and see me off, so i figure i may need a hand soonish.
All of a sudden, without me really realising it, i notice roy is down to about 170k, im on 120k and the other 2 are near 400k each. Im certain lloyd and declan wont play a big pot together, and are gunning for a 3 handed deal, so i just need to see off roy, and all is well.
Then, an amazing pot happens, Declan limps, Lloyd makes it 25k to go, Declan re raises to 75k, lloyd goes into the tank, there is some speech play, they both seem really strong, now, we are 4 handed, i assume lloyd has JJ, maybe AK, and doesnt really want to play an 800k pot, and risk 4th and a 6k payout. However, im astonished when he tosses in KK face up, wow, Declan smiles and shows JJ. Lloyd was a bit upset with himself after this, and shut down a bit.
Soon after, i finally get a real hand, KK under the gun, i make a standard 3bb raise to 18k, im playing 117k, roy, makes it 65k , basically pot commiting himself to the hand, great, KK one time baby, and i jam, he calls with 44, i win, hes near the felt on 40k. Next hand, theres 11k dead in the middle, he jams for his 40k, i have 22, i have to call, its unlikely he has a pair, im usually a very marginal favourite and its a great chance to take him out and get 3 handed in reasonable shape, also, its not a huge dint if i lose. (under most circumstances i would never call a jam with 22, and u cannot be better than 50 odd % fav). Anyway, i win and all of a sudden we are 3 handed, i have 297k, the other 2 have about 400k each, i suggest 16k each, they are both delighted to accept. Declan said his previous biggest cash was €1300 and fair play to him, hes seems like a very nice guy. Lloyd is a good well structured tourney player, and has proved this once again, a tough opponent for anyone.
We played one hand for the lovely crystal trophy, my 43 being good on a 567 flop !!
That will take pride of place on the mantlepiece.
Obviously very pleased with 16k, especially given i started the final table as the short stack, and its makes up for last weeks dissapointing FT.
Another item of note it that i picked up some more points in the Irish rankings, which carrys a prize of €2500 for the number one at the end of the year. Jay O Toole leads this, and i reckon im now a close 3rd, so a FT in cork next week could swing that, something i will be gunning for.
Points are given in all non weekly dealer dealt tourneys with 200+ buy in and 30+ runners. The bigger the buy in, the more runners, and higher up on the FT u finish, the more points u get, it seems like a good system and something i would now like to win, so look out Jayminator.
In fact, its great to get a result like this, ive played 9 tourneys in ireland in 2007 with a 500+ buy in, i have 6 final tables, including 2 chops , and have made day 2 on the other 3 games.
Fair play to Alex and John in the SE, ran a great game, brilliant structure, and they are both top blokes, only complaint being that the food is complete cack in there !
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
blondepoker.com waterford open
since my last update on the fitz game, i didnt really play, didnt bother with the 500 game the next day, and just chilled out most of the week.
Spent a lot of time data mining 3/6 on ipoker, and just doing other stuff, didnt start the challenge yet, preferring to play live when i do play at the moment.
On thursday around lunchtime, i collect KP and we headed off down to waterford, for the blondepoker/big slick 15k, 1 hour clock game, €500 buy in. Its a superb event, one of the best of the calender in terms of being well run, a great structure, and just a thoroughly enjoyable weekend is always had. I was 9th in the last one, for 3k, so hoped to go better this time. An added bonus was that the final table is to be shown on sky sports, so really wanted to get on that.
Anyway, we arrived about 4, and met Irish open champ Marty Smyth. Headed to the pub, and a few pints were had, then we decided may as well play the €150 super sat for the main event, to try and get a €550 (inc 50 reg) ticket for cheap. I was a bit locked at the start of this, but sobered up then, and managed to nab one of the 39 tickets on offer. A good nights poker, with some rather bizarre play by some of the locals, which i suppose was encouraging for the weekend ahead.
Got up mid afternoon on the friday, and joined Marty, Kp, Nicky O Donnell and Paul Higgins for some pool in a nearby place with bowling, pool etc. Then went in to get my seat in the main event. Tough enough looking table, with Gavin Kelly, (Valor from boards, top cash player), Danny Guiney (solid local), Dave Compton (sky poker and at the races presenter from the UK) and a couple of others, only 2 of which were absolutely dreadful. I played steady all the first day, without many huge hands, and was very patient, had an average stack of 37k overnight, and was happy enough to still be in contention. KP had a decent stack, over 50k, so all was well in our camp, as we found an all night tesco for a 5am snack on the way back to the hotel.
The 2nd day was key, blinds were still small, so i still employed an extremely patient approach. I hung on, then i hung on some more, then i battled away, without my stack ever going below 35k or above 55k for about 6 hours on day 2. By this stage average had creeped up to 100k, and i was going to have to make a move soon. I was very proud and pleased with how i hung in there for so long, totally card dead, picking stops to steal and maintain my stack. I was just hoping that eventually, i would get a chance to double up, up to this point, i was trying to play small pots, and avoid races, and getting all in if at all possible, which i had achieved thus far. Then, i decided to gamble, Ken Corkery made a standard raise, at the time, he had a big stack, and i felt he could have a reasonably wide range, so i pushed with 77, he called with AK, and i won that race, that got me going and back in the game. Then, i got KK under the gun, i made a 23k raise, blinds were 4k/8k, i never mess around with big pairs, and always play them strong pre flop. Also, my range for raising under the gun is quite tight, especially on a full 9 handed table. Albert Kenny, who had me covered, was under the gun +1, he immediately moves all in. Now, i consider Albert to be a tight solid player, and i was concerned, that he may actually have aces here, as he should know im not raising for 1/4 of my stack utg with a hand i would like to fold, after battling for so long to get a 100k stack, but i obviously have to call, he has TT, and i stand up to double through. About 2 hands later, i get AA, and re raise Michael Trimbly, a very tricky and good northern player, who had a final table in a WSOP side event this year. I made a huge reraise to take it down pre flop, he claims to have folded 55, and i showed the aces. The very next hand, unbelievably, i get aces again, obv this was the rush i was waiting for, Colin Quarry, a local man, who is a good solid player, jams on the cut off with 99, and i stand up again. All of a sudden i have a stack over 300k and im motoring. The table got a bit weird towards the end of the night, we were playing down to 20 players, and it was late, i was very tired after a long day, and had mentally shut up shop, just trying to nurse my stack home. Bomber Nolan was ermm, were playing an extreme brand of DAG poker (drunk aggressive). Hes aggro enough when sober, after 20 Guiness', he a total maniac, but, he was steamrollering the table, and no one knew where they stood, and he ended up the overnight leader, on 545k, Michael Trimby in 2nd on 463k, then me on 409k. 20 players remained, and the average stack was 200k, i was in great shape.
There were 278 runners , and 1st prize was 37k, 20th paid €950, so a lot to play for.
Other players remaining included Tony Baitson, a very aggressive player from dublin, whos had several decent finishes in big games, and a player i rate as very dangerous, Nicky Power who is a top tourney pro, with a final table in this years Irish open, Pat Storan, another Waterford man who is notoriously hard to knock out of tournies, and has a string of great results this year, Collette Murphy (Smurf), probably the best female player tourney player in Ireland, Jen Mason, an English girl, who has had several great results, including winning the big 1500 game in drogheda, last time she was over here. I rate Jen extremely higher, in fact, pre tourney, i considered having one bet, and one bet only, and that was Jen at her price of 100/1.
I didnt sleep much on Saturday night, a combination of adrenelin and excitement kept me awake, dreaming of a big score. I arrived on sunday to see the room set up really well by the big slick boys , with the final table all ringed off and lit up for the tv cameras. I really wanted to get there, and decided i would continue to be patient on the 2nd last table.
I was on about 300k after one of 2 slight mishaps, when i got dealt ace 9 on the big blind, Bomber limped from middle position. Now Bomber never limps big pairs, he plays them very strong, so im sure he has something like suited connectors, 9T, or a small to medium suited ace, he would always raise a big ace. Tony Baitson is on the small blind, Bomber asks him to go easy, lets see a flop, Tony tends to raise a lot from the blinds, and never gives the people to his immediate left or right an easy time of it. I also said, yeah lets see a flop Tony, i wont raise if u limp, so the 3 of us did, and it came AJ9. Im absolutely certain im ahead, and more than likely bomber has missed, but he would usually bet, so i check it to him, he fires out 30k, i decide to make it 80k, he could have a hand like QT or some type of draw, and i also think he wont put me on an ace, cause i didnt raise, so he might call with Ax. Well, he doesnt call, he tanks it all in in typical bomber fashion, i insta call, and he has A2 of diamonds and is almost drawing dead. This double up puts me into the chip lead !!!. Now i am motoring towards a possible win, and its a real buzz. Soon after Tony loses a huge pot, where he makes a brilliant fold on the turn, as Ian Whitty, a tight player, has middle set. Tony told me he folded bottom set, most people go broke here, but i knew he was frustrated at being down to 100k. The next hand its my BB, and Tonys SB, im kinda expecting him to jam here with a lot of hands, and said to myself, i will call with any pair or A8 or better. He does jam, i look down at A9, and call, he has A6 and i win, ul Tony, just one of those days mate.
We finally get to the final table, Jen has been killing the other 2nd last table and has 1.07 million chips, i have 761k, 3rd in chips is the extremely dangerous Michael Trimbly with 499k. There are about 4 or 5 shorties, im fully expecting a top 4 finish, and have a tremendous shot at the win. I must now say i had a tremendous amount of support from my friends down down, and also a lot of locals, who remembered me from the last time. One or 2 locals even came up to me and said they had backed me, and i was to "take it down".
Before the FT started, all the finalists were interviewed for Sky by the lovely Rhowena. I just said, i was delighted to be there, it was a great event, i thought Jen was the main danger and i was looking forward to the battle, and confident of a good result.
There was 80k total being the 1st 4 places, so im thinking if i can get to the last 4 with average chips, i should be looking at a deal in the region of about 20k.........mmm, ept in Prague, aussie millions in Melbourne, lots of nice ventures i would like to take on soon could be manageable if i can avoid a blow up.
The first thing i really didnt like was my seat draw, in between the now hammered, and fearless Bomber Nolan, and Trimbly, who was very capable of re raising me light, had a lot of chips, and i didnt feel comfortable in pots with him all weekend.
I really felt like Jen, Trimbly or me would take it down. Most of the short stacks were very tight, and probably would need to run extremely hot to actually win it. I also think most of them were looking to move as far up the money as they could.
Well, as soon as the FT started, it was just one disaster after another. Early on i raised my button to 50k, Trimbly, made it 200k to go, i had ATs, i cant call. On 3 occasions i raised a rocks blind, from my cut off, this guy wont move without a hand, i know this from playing with him for a long time on day2. On every occassion he jams, i have to fold, AQ once, 44 other time, and JT another time, on all 3 occassions, he shows me AK !!, such timing.
We lose 2 players, but then, the same cycle keeps repeating, Jen, Bomber or Trimbly are winning most pots, Bombers taking huge risks, but hes not been caught, hes all in about once every 4 hands. Thats the way Thomas plays, and whilst it doesnt always work, on his day, its extremely dangerous. Everytime a shorty gets in trouble, and is down to less than 200k, he seems to wake up with a hand, and gets doubled up by Nolan or Trimbly.
We are 8 handed for almost 3 hours, just cant seem to lose anyone, im totally and utterly card dead, cant catch anything half playable, i still havent won a pot, and im down to just under 500k, still average, but becoming increasingly frustrated.
Bomber limps the button, i make up the SB with 78 of diamonds, Trimbly checks. The flop comes J56 with 2 clubs, i have an up and down straight draw, and i dont think either of the other lads are strong. I check it to bomber he bets 35k, now , i decide i could raise here and probably take it down, but if i just call and hit, bomber is extremely likely to tank the turn or river and double me up to over 1 million, and be crippled himself, so i call. I pray for a 4 or 9, but i hit the 7. Now i know bomber will bet if i check, ive no idea where i am, and theres a fair chance he wont have anything, i also know he will respect my bets, so now i decide its best to fire 70k at it, and try and win it here , on the turn. He flat calls, so now, i have to put him on some sort of hand. I miss on the river, the final board is J567k with 3 clubs, i check, he immediately goes all in. Ive still got about 370k behind, which is a lot of chips. I should have interogated him here, he was very drunk after all, i might of picked up a tell, my brain was a bit scrambled, i felt from the start he had some type of suited connected hand, or maybe just junk. I just cant make a hero call here with 3rd pair, poor kicker, i fold and he shows 64 off, for a pair of 6s........uggggggggg.
He continued in reckless fashion, calling a raise from Jen, and taking a K84 flop, she only had 35k in , and still had control of the game and a big lead, she folded a K face up, no idea where she was and not needing to call in this spot, and possibly lose control of the game and make bomber big chip leader, again he shows 64 off.
At this stage hes really in my head, he limps the SB, i have KQ, and just call, trying to hit a flop, and hopefully go for a big pot. I love the flop KT7, we both check, the turn is a 5, he bets i call.
Now, im absolutely sure im ahead, he can have any T, 7, 5, weaker K or nothing. I fully expect him to tank the river, and i fully intend to call. The river is a red 2, which looks like a blank, so i still expect to be ahead. Strangely he checks to me, im certain im ahead, and he has a T or something, i also think he will call, so i bet 50k, a huge mistake, i really couldnt know where i was in the hand, and hes so dangerous, i shoulda just checked behind, well, now he jams it all in.
He hasnt taken this line before, but my head was totally fried from almost 4 hours of not winning a pot on the final table, id just over 200k behind, and eyed a double up to get me right back in the game. I never stopped to think it through, i just called, he had T2 for a rivered 2 pair, and i was gone, out in 8th, and feeling kinda numb and shocked.
I collected €4500 for my troubles, a nice result, dont get my wrong, but i felt like id just lost a bundle, and the chance to further my career and finally take down the big prize ive been knocking on the door for since the WSOP 06.
Jen ended up making a miss read on Trimbly, and losing most of here stack, she went in 5th, they then did a deal 4 handed, with 2 shorties taking 12k and 16k, Bomber taking 25k and Trimbly taking 30k and the title.
I did my exit interview with Rhowena, my question was, well Rob, what went wrong, my answer, pretty much everything..........
Now that im home, i look back, and i thoroughly enjoyed the weekend, its a brilliant tourney, Neill Kelly has done wonders for Irish Poker, and with the coverage this event has got, both on TV and with the excellent online reporting of the blonde team, it made the whole thing very special.
Heres a link to blondes final table coverage, its very extensive, brilliantly done as ever, and includes a lot of pictures of everyone involved, which u can see if u sign up and get a username, which is free to do, and then log in.....
http://blondepoker.com/forum/index.php?topic=29021.0
We got back to dublin at about 5pm on monday, with no plans, we decided to play the Sporting Emporiums Monday night €100 game. This is full of fish, gets about 40 runners, and is a nice relaxing way to spend a monday night. To kill time, me and KP went to play pool in the palace for a while, then to Fitzers for dinner, and hit the SE at 9. 38 runners, and i had 18k with average 10k (7k starting) when the following hand happens. A fish playing 9k limps under the gun, the Chief makes it 1k to go (blinds 150/300), i look down at aces on the button, i make it 2500, knowing there is a good chance the chief will push his 10k stack if i do this. Then, despite all the action, the fish pushes, chief then also goes all in, i obv call, my AA vs Chiefs QQ and fishs AJ !!! Well obv AJ is the nuts as we all know, and i never really covered and went out about 15th.
KP played his usual good solid game, but had no luck on the FT and went out 8th.
I still had the cash i won in Waterford on me, so i jumped into the 1/2 pl holdem game, and bought in for €500, which more or less had the table covered. I ran well, and in this game, as long as u play tight, u will win, a lot of the play is bizarre, and u will continaully get paid off if u nut peddle every night of the week. Patience is the key. I sat there drinking OJ and Cappacinnos til almost 5am, at which point i had 2k in front of me, so i left. KP had joined the game after he got knocked out of the tourney, and was up about 800 himself when i decided it was about time i actually went home to bed.
So i successful night out on my return, and a overall profit of €5700 thurs - mon, might go back in there and play some more tonight, will see later on.
Just to mention, coverage from Waterford is on Sky Sports 2 this Thursday 22th at 11.30, so that should make interesting viewing !
Spent a lot of time data mining 3/6 on ipoker, and just doing other stuff, didnt start the challenge yet, preferring to play live when i do play at the moment.
On thursday around lunchtime, i collect KP and we headed off down to waterford, for the blondepoker/big slick 15k, 1 hour clock game, €500 buy in. Its a superb event, one of the best of the calender in terms of being well run, a great structure, and just a thoroughly enjoyable weekend is always had. I was 9th in the last one, for 3k, so hoped to go better this time. An added bonus was that the final table is to be shown on sky sports, so really wanted to get on that.
Anyway, we arrived about 4, and met Irish open champ Marty Smyth. Headed to the pub, and a few pints were had, then we decided may as well play the €150 super sat for the main event, to try and get a €550 (inc 50 reg) ticket for cheap. I was a bit locked at the start of this, but sobered up then, and managed to nab one of the 39 tickets on offer. A good nights poker, with some rather bizarre play by some of the locals, which i suppose was encouraging for the weekend ahead.
Got up mid afternoon on the friday, and joined Marty, Kp, Nicky O Donnell and Paul Higgins for some pool in a nearby place with bowling, pool etc. Then went in to get my seat in the main event. Tough enough looking table, with Gavin Kelly, (Valor from boards, top cash player), Danny Guiney (solid local), Dave Compton (sky poker and at the races presenter from the UK) and a couple of others, only 2 of which were absolutely dreadful. I played steady all the first day, without many huge hands, and was very patient, had an average stack of 37k overnight, and was happy enough to still be in contention. KP had a decent stack, over 50k, so all was well in our camp, as we found an all night tesco for a 5am snack on the way back to the hotel.
The 2nd day was key, blinds were still small, so i still employed an extremely patient approach. I hung on, then i hung on some more, then i battled away, without my stack ever going below 35k or above 55k for about 6 hours on day 2. By this stage average had creeped up to 100k, and i was going to have to make a move soon. I was very proud and pleased with how i hung in there for so long, totally card dead, picking stops to steal and maintain my stack. I was just hoping that eventually, i would get a chance to double up, up to this point, i was trying to play small pots, and avoid races, and getting all in if at all possible, which i had achieved thus far. Then, i decided to gamble, Ken Corkery made a standard raise, at the time, he had a big stack, and i felt he could have a reasonably wide range, so i pushed with 77, he called with AK, and i won that race, that got me going and back in the game. Then, i got KK under the gun, i made a 23k raise, blinds were 4k/8k, i never mess around with big pairs, and always play them strong pre flop. Also, my range for raising under the gun is quite tight, especially on a full 9 handed table. Albert Kenny, who had me covered, was under the gun +1, he immediately moves all in. Now, i consider Albert to be a tight solid player, and i was concerned, that he may actually have aces here, as he should know im not raising for 1/4 of my stack utg with a hand i would like to fold, after battling for so long to get a 100k stack, but i obviously have to call, he has TT, and i stand up to double through. About 2 hands later, i get AA, and re raise Michael Trimbly, a very tricky and good northern player, who had a final table in a WSOP side event this year. I made a huge reraise to take it down pre flop, he claims to have folded 55, and i showed the aces. The very next hand, unbelievably, i get aces again, obv this was the rush i was waiting for, Colin Quarry, a local man, who is a good solid player, jams on the cut off with 99, and i stand up again. All of a sudden i have a stack over 300k and im motoring. The table got a bit weird towards the end of the night, we were playing down to 20 players, and it was late, i was very tired after a long day, and had mentally shut up shop, just trying to nurse my stack home. Bomber Nolan was ermm, were playing an extreme brand of DAG poker (drunk aggressive). Hes aggro enough when sober, after 20 Guiness', he a total maniac, but, he was steamrollering the table, and no one knew where they stood, and he ended up the overnight leader, on 545k, Michael Trimby in 2nd on 463k, then me on 409k. 20 players remained, and the average stack was 200k, i was in great shape.
There were 278 runners , and 1st prize was 37k, 20th paid €950, so a lot to play for.
Other players remaining included Tony Baitson, a very aggressive player from dublin, whos had several decent finishes in big games, and a player i rate as very dangerous, Nicky Power who is a top tourney pro, with a final table in this years Irish open, Pat Storan, another Waterford man who is notoriously hard to knock out of tournies, and has a string of great results this year, Collette Murphy (Smurf), probably the best female player tourney player in Ireland, Jen Mason, an English girl, who has had several great results, including winning the big 1500 game in drogheda, last time she was over here. I rate Jen extremely higher, in fact, pre tourney, i considered having one bet, and one bet only, and that was Jen at her price of 100/1.
I didnt sleep much on Saturday night, a combination of adrenelin and excitement kept me awake, dreaming of a big score. I arrived on sunday to see the room set up really well by the big slick boys , with the final table all ringed off and lit up for the tv cameras. I really wanted to get there, and decided i would continue to be patient on the 2nd last table.
I was on about 300k after one of 2 slight mishaps, when i got dealt ace 9 on the big blind, Bomber limped from middle position. Now Bomber never limps big pairs, he plays them very strong, so im sure he has something like suited connectors, 9T, or a small to medium suited ace, he would always raise a big ace. Tony Baitson is on the small blind, Bomber asks him to go easy, lets see a flop, Tony tends to raise a lot from the blinds, and never gives the people to his immediate left or right an easy time of it. I also said, yeah lets see a flop Tony, i wont raise if u limp, so the 3 of us did, and it came AJ9. Im absolutely certain im ahead, and more than likely bomber has missed, but he would usually bet, so i check it to him, he fires out 30k, i decide to make it 80k, he could have a hand like QT or some type of draw, and i also think he wont put me on an ace, cause i didnt raise, so he might call with Ax. Well, he doesnt call, he tanks it all in in typical bomber fashion, i insta call, and he has A2 of diamonds and is almost drawing dead. This double up puts me into the chip lead !!!. Now i am motoring towards a possible win, and its a real buzz. Soon after Tony loses a huge pot, where he makes a brilliant fold on the turn, as Ian Whitty, a tight player, has middle set. Tony told me he folded bottom set, most people go broke here, but i knew he was frustrated at being down to 100k. The next hand its my BB, and Tonys SB, im kinda expecting him to jam here with a lot of hands, and said to myself, i will call with any pair or A8 or better. He does jam, i look down at A9, and call, he has A6 and i win, ul Tony, just one of those days mate.
We finally get to the final table, Jen has been killing the other 2nd last table and has 1.07 million chips, i have 761k, 3rd in chips is the extremely dangerous Michael Trimbly with 499k. There are about 4 or 5 shorties, im fully expecting a top 4 finish, and have a tremendous shot at the win. I must now say i had a tremendous amount of support from my friends down down, and also a lot of locals, who remembered me from the last time. One or 2 locals even came up to me and said they had backed me, and i was to "take it down".
Before the FT started, all the finalists were interviewed for Sky by the lovely Rhowena. I just said, i was delighted to be there, it was a great event, i thought Jen was the main danger and i was looking forward to the battle, and confident of a good result.
There was 80k total being the 1st 4 places, so im thinking if i can get to the last 4 with average chips, i should be looking at a deal in the region of about 20k.........mmm, ept in Prague, aussie millions in Melbourne, lots of nice ventures i would like to take on soon could be manageable if i can avoid a blow up.
The first thing i really didnt like was my seat draw, in between the now hammered, and fearless Bomber Nolan, and Trimbly, who was very capable of re raising me light, had a lot of chips, and i didnt feel comfortable in pots with him all weekend.
I really felt like Jen, Trimbly or me would take it down. Most of the short stacks were very tight, and probably would need to run extremely hot to actually win it. I also think most of them were looking to move as far up the money as they could.
Well, as soon as the FT started, it was just one disaster after another. Early on i raised my button to 50k, Trimbly, made it 200k to go, i had ATs, i cant call. On 3 occasions i raised a rocks blind, from my cut off, this guy wont move without a hand, i know this from playing with him for a long time on day2. On every occassion he jams, i have to fold, AQ once, 44 other time, and JT another time, on all 3 occassions, he shows me AK !!, such timing.
We lose 2 players, but then, the same cycle keeps repeating, Jen, Bomber or Trimbly are winning most pots, Bombers taking huge risks, but hes not been caught, hes all in about once every 4 hands. Thats the way Thomas plays, and whilst it doesnt always work, on his day, its extremely dangerous. Everytime a shorty gets in trouble, and is down to less than 200k, he seems to wake up with a hand, and gets doubled up by Nolan or Trimbly.
We are 8 handed for almost 3 hours, just cant seem to lose anyone, im totally and utterly card dead, cant catch anything half playable, i still havent won a pot, and im down to just under 500k, still average, but becoming increasingly frustrated.
Bomber limps the button, i make up the SB with 78 of diamonds, Trimbly checks. The flop comes J56 with 2 clubs, i have an up and down straight draw, and i dont think either of the other lads are strong. I check it to bomber he bets 35k, now , i decide i could raise here and probably take it down, but if i just call and hit, bomber is extremely likely to tank the turn or river and double me up to over 1 million, and be crippled himself, so i call. I pray for a 4 or 9, but i hit the 7. Now i know bomber will bet if i check, ive no idea where i am, and theres a fair chance he wont have anything, i also know he will respect my bets, so now i decide its best to fire 70k at it, and try and win it here , on the turn. He flat calls, so now, i have to put him on some sort of hand. I miss on the river, the final board is J567k with 3 clubs, i check, he immediately goes all in. Ive still got about 370k behind, which is a lot of chips. I should have interogated him here, he was very drunk after all, i might of picked up a tell, my brain was a bit scrambled, i felt from the start he had some type of suited connected hand, or maybe just junk. I just cant make a hero call here with 3rd pair, poor kicker, i fold and he shows 64 off, for a pair of 6s........uggggggggg.
He continued in reckless fashion, calling a raise from Jen, and taking a K84 flop, she only had 35k in , and still had control of the game and a big lead, she folded a K face up, no idea where she was and not needing to call in this spot, and possibly lose control of the game and make bomber big chip leader, again he shows 64 off.
At this stage hes really in my head, he limps the SB, i have KQ, and just call, trying to hit a flop, and hopefully go for a big pot. I love the flop KT7, we both check, the turn is a 5, he bets i call.
Now, im absolutely sure im ahead, he can have any T, 7, 5, weaker K or nothing. I fully expect him to tank the river, and i fully intend to call. The river is a red 2, which looks like a blank, so i still expect to be ahead. Strangely he checks to me, im certain im ahead, and he has a T or something, i also think he will call, so i bet 50k, a huge mistake, i really couldnt know where i was in the hand, and hes so dangerous, i shoulda just checked behind, well, now he jams it all in.
He hasnt taken this line before, but my head was totally fried from almost 4 hours of not winning a pot on the final table, id just over 200k behind, and eyed a double up to get me right back in the game. I never stopped to think it through, i just called, he had T2 for a rivered 2 pair, and i was gone, out in 8th, and feeling kinda numb and shocked.
I collected €4500 for my troubles, a nice result, dont get my wrong, but i felt like id just lost a bundle, and the chance to further my career and finally take down the big prize ive been knocking on the door for since the WSOP 06.
Jen ended up making a miss read on Trimbly, and losing most of here stack, she went in 5th, they then did a deal 4 handed, with 2 shorties taking 12k and 16k, Bomber taking 25k and Trimbly taking 30k and the title.
I did my exit interview with Rhowena, my question was, well Rob, what went wrong, my answer, pretty much everything..........
Now that im home, i look back, and i thoroughly enjoyed the weekend, its a brilliant tourney, Neill Kelly has done wonders for Irish Poker, and with the coverage this event has got, both on TV and with the excellent online reporting of the blonde team, it made the whole thing very special.
Heres a link to blondes final table coverage, its very extensive, brilliantly done as ever, and includes a lot of pictures of everyone involved, which u can see if u sign up and get a username, which is free to do, and then log in.....
http://blondepoker.com/forum/index.php?topic=29021.0
We got back to dublin at about 5pm on monday, with no plans, we decided to play the Sporting Emporiums Monday night €100 game. This is full of fish, gets about 40 runners, and is a nice relaxing way to spend a monday night. To kill time, me and KP went to play pool in the palace for a while, then to Fitzers for dinner, and hit the SE at 9. 38 runners, and i had 18k with average 10k (7k starting) when the following hand happens. A fish playing 9k limps under the gun, the Chief makes it 1k to go (blinds 150/300), i look down at aces on the button, i make it 2500, knowing there is a good chance the chief will push his 10k stack if i do this. Then, despite all the action, the fish pushes, chief then also goes all in, i obv call, my AA vs Chiefs QQ and fishs AJ !!! Well obv AJ is the nuts as we all know, and i never really covered and went out about 15th.
KP played his usual good solid game, but had no luck on the FT and went out 8th.
I still had the cash i won in Waterford on me, so i jumped into the 1/2 pl holdem game, and bought in for €500, which more or less had the table covered. I ran well, and in this game, as long as u play tight, u will win, a lot of the play is bizarre, and u will continaully get paid off if u nut peddle every night of the week. Patience is the key. I sat there drinking OJ and Cappacinnos til almost 5am, at which point i had 2k in front of me, so i left. KP had joined the game after he got knocked out of the tourney, and was up about 800 himself when i decided it was about time i actually went home to bed.
So i successful night out on my return, and a overall profit of €5700 thurs - mon, might go back in there and play some more tonight, will see later on.
Just to mention, coverage from Waterford is on Sky Sports 2 this Thursday 22th at 11.30, so that should make interesting viewing !
Saturday, November 10, 2007
the Fitz €1500 main event
Headed down for this last night, dissapointing 32 runners, but after looking at the field and structure 15k stack, 1 hour levels, decided to enter.
this was probably one of the softest 1500 buy in games u will ever see.me - god im so frustrated if i had a cat it would be getting a good kicking now
mr PT - going well until he lost pot for chip lead with AA vs someones KK heading onto final table, ul eoin mate
conor doyle - had 30k at first break and was gone soon after in massive pot
valor - had a bit of a mare
BCB - got a 15k donation off walter, was up and down like ive never seen the like of, lost a huge pot to nic the dealer where he re re raised to 8k pre with 84 off, and somehow ended up all in vs KQ (in fairness to noel he had his reasons).
nic the dealer - plays rather loose
some canadian dude
bernie - plays rather tight, got early double up
fitz regular huge dude with massive hands, john i think
chris cooke - Ruush on boards
bob battersby - was BOBBING his fair share of victims whilst i was there
Fitz regular tall lad called pat
fitz regular lad with beard
some random canadian dude
brian vickers
mick mc closkey
paddy mc closkey - managed to get all in on 3rd hand with KK against canadian dude who was nearly falling out of his chair shaking after seeing his AA
john keown - northern bookie, plays most big games
collie studdard - solid player from drogheda
denis reyes
a few online qualifiers from ladbrokes
roy the boy (seemed very keen to get to the pub)
sean fagan - chip leader when i left after huge double up from conor
collette doherty
some lad called terry whos quite fond of the donk overbet i hear
that italian dude who plays in the fitz a lot
walter mc mahon - managed to play a 30k pot on K high flop with AK vs BCBs set
cooney, went all in first hand and doubled bernie up
and about 3 or 4 random others, none of which were big names.
i was confident, based on the field and structure, and decided to try and ignore the fact that i literally have been unable to win a pot in the last 2 weeks.
Quiet early on, until i got JJ, and the flop came KQJ, i managed to lose 3k to a guy who had flopped a straight, which was a nice escape really.
Playing 12k, i then played a pot with Roy, i had Q7h and i limped in latish position, after a few limpers. (stacks are v deep), Roy raised to about 400 on the button, and i called as a few others had also. Flop comes with 953 and 2 hearts, Roy bet 1600, about 3/4 of the pot, he thought, he said, ive a pair, a set of a draw, i replied, interesting, so have i , and i called. The turn came another 3, it went check, check, the river was a blank, a ten or something, and i bet 2600, he folded JJ face up, saying he knew i had the set. That got me back to starting stack, and whilst totally card dead for rest of levels 1 and 2, had an ok 17k at the first break.
After this, i failed to win one single pot. On about 4 occasions, i called with small pairs, 55 or 66 to 800 raises pre, and usually 1 caller before me, each time missing the flop and having to fold to big C bets, quite likely big pairs imo. Then, everytime i raised, and C bet, i got check raised, at least twice people had flopped sets against me, luckily, i had missed and got away.
Then, i got into a pot with AQ, on a 227QT board with 3 hearts, against the initial cut off raiser, i was SB, who had J8 of hearts. Again, lost the minimum there really.
Just nothing was going right, couldnt catch a break at all, and absolutely no cards, and couldnt get a bet through.
My last 5k got in with AJ of hearts against QJ of clubs, for what would of being about a 12k pot inc the blinds, and got me back in it, but he made a straight and my torture was ended.
Theres a €500 game today, saturday, might play it, cant really do any worse, and i expect it will get a decent field.
Not sure though, feeling tilty in some respects, and bit of a cold, and might be playing soccor with some of the lads off boards at 1pm.
this was probably one of the softest 1500 buy in games u will ever see.me - god im so frustrated if i had a cat it would be getting a good kicking now
mr PT - going well until he lost pot for chip lead with AA vs someones KK heading onto final table, ul eoin mate
conor doyle - had 30k at first break and was gone soon after in massive pot
valor - had a bit of a mare
BCB - got a 15k donation off walter, was up and down like ive never seen the like of, lost a huge pot to nic the dealer where he re re raised to 8k pre with 84 off, and somehow ended up all in vs KQ (in fairness to noel he had his reasons).
nic the dealer - plays rather loose
some canadian dude
bernie - plays rather tight, got early double up
fitz regular huge dude with massive hands, john i think
chris cooke - Ruush on boards
bob battersby - was BOBBING his fair share of victims whilst i was there
Fitz regular tall lad called pat
fitz regular lad with beard
some random canadian dude
brian vickers
mick mc closkey
paddy mc closkey - managed to get all in on 3rd hand with KK against canadian dude who was nearly falling out of his chair shaking after seeing his AA
john keown - northern bookie, plays most big games
collie studdard - solid player from drogheda
denis reyes
a few online qualifiers from ladbrokes
roy the boy (seemed very keen to get to the pub)
sean fagan - chip leader when i left after huge double up from conor
collette doherty
some lad called terry whos quite fond of the donk overbet i hear
that italian dude who plays in the fitz a lot
walter mc mahon - managed to play a 30k pot on K high flop with AK vs BCBs set
cooney, went all in first hand and doubled bernie up
and about 3 or 4 random others, none of which were big names.
i was confident, based on the field and structure, and decided to try and ignore the fact that i literally have been unable to win a pot in the last 2 weeks.
Quiet early on, until i got JJ, and the flop came KQJ, i managed to lose 3k to a guy who had flopped a straight, which was a nice escape really.
Playing 12k, i then played a pot with Roy, i had Q7h and i limped in latish position, after a few limpers. (stacks are v deep), Roy raised to about 400 on the button, and i called as a few others had also. Flop comes with 953 and 2 hearts, Roy bet 1600, about 3/4 of the pot, he thought, he said, ive a pair, a set of a draw, i replied, interesting, so have i , and i called. The turn came another 3, it went check, check, the river was a blank, a ten or something, and i bet 2600, he folded JJ face up, saying he knew i had the set. That got me back to starting stack, and whilst totally card dead for rest of levels 1 and 2, had an ok 17k at the first break.
After this, i failed to win one single pot. On about 4 occasions, i called with small pairs, 55 or 66 to 800 raises pre, and usually 1 caller before me, each time missing the flop and having to fold to big C bets, quite likely big pairs imo. Then, everytime i raised, and C bet, i got check raised, at least twice people had flopped sets against me, luckily, i had missed and got away.
Then, i got into a pot with AQ, on a 227QT board with 3 hearts, against the initial cut off raiser, i was SB, who had J8 of hearts. Again, lost the minimum there really.
Just nothing was going right, couldnt catch a break at all, and absolutely no cards, and couldnt get a bet through.
My last 5k got in with AJ of hearts against QJ of clubs, for what would of being about a 12k pot inc the blinds, and got me back in it, but he made a straight and my torture was ended.
Theres a €500 game today, saturday, might play it, cant really do any worse, and i expect it will get a decent field.
Not sure though, feeling tilty in some respects, and bit of a cold, and might be playing soccor with some of the lads off boards at 1pm.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
fitz super sat and SE cash games
Ventured into the fitz for the €50 super sat to tomorrrows 1500 game. Never got going, was below average at the break, totally card dead, finally picked up queens after the break, got it in on a J55 flop with 2 spades vs Thomas Nolans A2 of spades and he hit on the turn, an early bath.
Headed up to the SE, a 1/2 where a live 5 NL cash game was just started, jumped in along side a few regulars such as Jay, Conor Doyle and Peter Maughan to name just 3. Probably wasnt the best value table in the world, but played away anyway, the mission to win tomorrows buy in. Started off as i have been running of late, totally and utterly card dead, memories of the RDS, where i had one set in 16 hours of live play, and it was cracked. Anyway, the game quickly turned in the Conor Doyle benefit, and he hit a good few hands, and had his 400 odd buy in up to over 2k, when a big hand happened. To juice things up, we were playing that if someone won a pot with 72, they got €10 from everyone at the table. Already Peter had check raised my €75 flop bet to €225 on a dangerous board and proudly shown his hammer when i folded my Jacks.
Jay was playing about €1200, when he raised to about 40, and got 3 callers, including Conor, and a loose big stack on Conors left. The flop came J85 rainbow, Jay bet €150, and got 2 callers. The turn was a 6, and when checked to Jay again, he tanked it for a grand, Conor insta called with the nuts of 79 and Jay tabled his unfortunate hammer..........ouch.
The table was quite fun really, but i was getting frustrated, couldnt get involved at all, i won one pot when we introduced a mississippi straddle of 20, to juice it even more, utg made it 80, and i tanked it for a monkey or so, with AK, after a while he folded QQ.
Conor was up to about 4k, and in most pots, i made the mistake of trying to bluff him off a couple of pots in quick succession, however, he wont fold !!, bad timing by me i think, my 9 high not being good on either occassion when he eventually stuck me in i had to fold.
I topped up a bit and was still struggling to get anything going when i called a raise with 88. The flop came 965 with 2 hearts, i check raise what i thought was a continuation bet, as the player was short, i was getting around 2/1 to call, so i called, figured he can have a flush draw or some hands i beat, he did have the flush draw, but hit it on the turn, A5h. I was down to my last couple of hundred, when after about 4 players are in for 15, a guy made it about 60, i just tanked it and he called with KQ, obv lost that race also, i run soooooooo gooooooot, its sick at times, and i left about 5am el busto and stuck €1040 on the day, not exactly the ideal start to this blog.
Well, maybe im due a good bit of running, i will give the fitz big tourney a bash anyway tomorrow, it starts at 8pm and as long as there is a half decent crowd, 40+, i will be in.
Headed up to the SE, a 1/2 where a live 5 NL cash game was just started, jumped in along side a few regulars such as Jay, Conor Doyle and Peter Maughan to name just 3. Probably wasnt the best value table in the world, but played away anyway, the mission to win tomorrows buy in. Started off as i have been running of late, totally and utterly card dead, memories of the RDS, where i had one set in 16 hours of live play, and it was cracked. Anyway, the game quickly turned in the Conor Doyle benefit, and he hit a good few hands, and had his 400 odd buy in up to over 2k, when a big hand happened. To juice things up, we were playing that if someone won a pot with 72, they got €10 from everyone at the table. Already Peter had check raised my €75 flop bet to €225 on a dangerous board and proudly shown his hammer when i folded my Jacks.
Jay was playing about €1200, when he raised to about 40, and got 3 callers, including Conor, and a loose big stack on Conors left. The flop came J85 rainbow, Jay bet €150, and got 2 callers. The turn was a 6, and when checked to Jay again, he tanked it for a grand, Conor insta called with the nuts of 79 and Jay tabled his unfortunate hammer..........ouch.
The table was quite fun really, but i was getting frustrated, couldnt get involved at all, i won one pot when we introduced a mississippi straddle of 20, to juice it even more, utg made it 80, and i tanked it for a monkey or so, with AK, after a while he folded QQ.
Conor was up to about 4k, and in most pots, i made the mistake of trying to bluff him off a couple of pots in quick succession, however, he wont fold !!, bad timing by me i think, my 9 high not being good on either occassion when he eventually stuck me in i had to fold.
I topped up a bit and was still struggling to get anything going when i called a raise with 88. The flop came 965 with 2 hearts, i check raise what i thought was a continuation bet, as the player was short, i was getting around 2/1 to call, so i called, figured he can have a flush draw or some hands i beat, he did have the flush draw, but hit it on the turn, A5h. I was down to my last couple of hundred, when after about 4 players are in for 15, a guy made it about 60, i just tanked it and he called with KQ, obv lost that race also, i run soooooooo gooooooot, its sick at times, and i left about 5am el busto and stuck €1040 on the day, not exactly the ideal start to this blog.
Well, maybe im due a good bit of running, i will give the fitz big tourney a bash anyway tomorrow, it starts at 8pm and as long as there is a half decent crowd, 40+, i will be in.
My new blog and plans for next few months
Hi readers, its almost a year since my initial blog was taken down.
This coincided with me quitting work and taking the plunge into professional poker.
Its been an eventful year, after a tremendous start, its not gone as well as i would of hoped, but im still in the game, battling away. I feel i need to regain some of my focus and discipline if i want to take this to where i want it to go, so hopefully, having a blog again will help me, aswell as be an interesting read for those that know me out there.
Ive been playing poker now for just over 3 years, and seriously for just over 2 years. 2006 was a breakthrough year for me, with a 129th place finish in the main event at WSOP 06 in vegas, netting me just over 47k, and an annual profit of over €100k in the 12 months, more than i could ever have imagined.
2007 has been quite experimental, i havent done the cash grinding i should of, ive become very lazy , and ive treated myself to numerous big buy in events, and several holidays and trips.
Indeed, i worked out the other night, ive been on 32 planes this year !
Yes, fun has been had, ive been to paris twice, portugal, spain and amsterdam all non poker related, and austria, latvia, estonia, uk several times and vegas for a month all poker related.
So, as u can imagine , all that doesnt come cheap, and with no other income, its now important to get more focus and direction in my game.
My roll that peaked in february, is still ok, but its slipped below 6 figures, which it once was, and another 6 months or so of non disciplined, lazy, tilty play, and i wont be able to support the lifestyle i am now used to, and heaven forbid, might have to work again.
Therefore, i am gonna set up one of those 100k challenges, strictly for online poker, playing 3 tables at 3-6 holdem on ipoker. I usually play 5-10, but ive decided im gonna play 3-6 for a while , especially at the start of this challenge. I will lodge $10k, and start from scratch basically. I should be able to post some graphs and stuff from pokertracker, so we can all see how i am getting on , once it gets underway.
Anyway, that aside, November is a very busy month for poker in dublin. There are basically 4 big buy in, well structured tourneys in the space of 4 weeks, all of which i hope to play in.
Starting on friday with a €1500 buy in tourney in the fitz, i should be there to play. I will be trying to get in cheap in the €50 rebuy super sat tonight.
Next weekend is the €500 game in waterford, another great game, superbly run by Neill and his crew. I thoroughly enjoy my last visit down there when i came 9th for €3k, albeit slightly spoilt by blowing for car up on the way home and doing 5ks worth of damage !
This will be followed by the 1k game in the SE, for which i already have a ticket. Paddy powers have a decent market up for this, and im one of the 25/1 joint favourites, so hopefully they are right, and i can take down a nice score here !
Then, to end the month, im off to Cork, for a 1k game in the macau. Again a nice club and should be a good game, picked up €4k by coming 3rd in a 500 game last time i was down there in the summer.
So, like i said its a busy time, but after all this, December will be a solid month of online grinding.
Im hoping to go to Melbourne in January 08, for perhaps 3-4 weeks to take in the Aussie millions. I probably will if i turn a profit between now and then, if not we will see, but for now anyway, thats the plan. Spent a month in Sydney in 1997, always wanted to go back to Aus, and a few mates are going, so it definetely could be a plan.
Anyway, i will have a further update tomorrow, to mention how the super sat goes tonight, i wont be starting the online challenge until next week .
This coincided with me quitting work and taking the plunge into professional poker.
Its been an eventful year, after a tremendous start, its not gone as well as i would of hoped, but im still in the game, battling away. I feel i need to regain some of my focus and discipline if i want to take this to where i want it to go, so hopefully, having a blog again will help me, aswell as be an interesting read for those that know me out there.
Ive been playing poker now for just over 3 years, and seriously for just over 2 years. 2006 was a breakthrough year for me, with a 129th place finish in the main event at WSOP 06 in vegas, netting me just over 47k, and an annual profit of over €100k in the 12 months, more than i could ever have imagined.
2007 has been quite experimental, i havent done the cash grinding i should of, ive become very lazy , and ive treated myself to numerous big buy in events, and several holidays and trips.
Indeed, i worked out the other night, ive been on 32 planes this year !
Yes, fun has been had, ive been to paris twice, portugal, spain and amsterdam all non poker related, and austria, latvia, estonia, uk several times and vegas for a month all poker related.
So, as u can imagine , all that doesnt come cheap, and with no other income, its now important to get more focus and direction in my game.
My roll that peaked in february, is still ok, but its slipped below 6 figures, which it once was, and another 6 months or so of non disciplined, lazy, tilty play, and i wont be able to support the lifestyle i am now used to, and heaven forbid, might have to work again.
Therefore, i am gonna set up one of those 100k challenges, strictly for online poker, playing 3 tables at 3-6 holdem on ipoker. I usually play 5-10, but ive decided im gonna play 3-6 for a while , especially at the start of this challenge. I will lodge $10k, and start from scratch basically. I should be able to post some graphs and stuff from pokertracker, so we can all see how i am getting on , once it gets underway.
Anyway, that aside, November is a very busy month for poker in dublin. There are basically 4 big buy in, well structured tourneys in the space of 4 weeks, all of which i hope to play in.
Starting on friday with a €1500 buy in tourney in the fitz, i should be there to play. I will be trying to get in cheap in the €50 rebuy super sat tonight.
Next weekend is the €500 game in waterford, another great game, superbly run by Neill and his crew. I thoroughly enjoy my last visit down there when i came 9th for €3k, albeit slightly spoilt by blowing for car up on the way home and doing 5ks worth of damage !
This will be followed by the 1k game in the SE, for which i already have a ticket. Paddy powers have a decent market up for this, and im one of the 25/1 joint favourites, so hopefully they are right, and i can take down a nice score here !
Then, to end the month, im off to Cork, for a 1k game in the macau. Again a nice club and should be a good game, picked up €4k by coming 3rd in a 500 game last time i was down there in the summer.
So, like i said its a busy time, but after all this, December will be a solid month of online grinding.
Im hoping to go to Melbourne in January 08, for perhaps 3-4 weeks to take in the Aussie millions. I probably will if i turn a profit between now and then, if not we will see, but for now anyway, thats the plan. Spent a month in Sydney in 1997, always wanted to go back to Aus, and a few mates are going, so it definetely could be a plan.
Anyway, i will have a further update tomorrow, to mention how the super sat goes tonight, i wont be starting the online challenge until next week .
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