Virgin Festival 2 - Chris 5th For £1750
After travelling up to Newcastle on Friday, I warmed up for Saturday’s main event with a night at Stanley’s along with quite a few EMSers. I donked my way out of the first tournament, but then managed a second place in the £20 midnight freezeout to leave me in a good mood and feeling confident ahead of the festival tournament.
Despite EMS having over 40 of the 230 field main event, I spent pretty much the whole of Saturday without any familiar faces on my table. This meant I missed out on a bit of banter, but probably helped my tournament chances not having to play against anyone who knows my game. Saturday’s poker was a rollercoaster for me. I managed to get away from KK vs AA on level 1 for only a third of my stack. I then had better luck with KK later in the day, when I won a 3-way allin preflop against AJ and AQ which gave me a decent stack, well above the average. A couple of harsh spots and lost cpinflips meant I finished the day below chip average, and needing to get busy from the off on day 2.
We returned to Aspers on Sunday with quite a few EMSers in the 49 remaining players.
25 were to get paid so the money was in site, but deep down I was hoping to final table. I got a double up early with JJ then won a big pot with JJ and again later against AK. The money bubble burst and then players seemed to drop out really quickly and in no time at all we found ourselves on the final table bubble. I lost a load of chips with AQ vs 33 that would have knocked the other guy out, but then the very next hand the same guy knocked someone out and we were down to the final 10.
The final table was a great experience. I started 7th in chips but was short enough to only have one move. My stack yo-yoed until I finally found myself short enough to be forced to move with any two cards. I pushed with 87, got called by AK and didn’t improve to finish in 5th place for £1750.
Playing the final table with the lights and cameras, and so many people watching seems like it would be very daunting, but I actually surprised myself by not feeling nervous at all. I also wasn’t thinking about the money at all until after I was knocked. While playing, I simply wanted to win for the achievement, not for the cash that came with it. In the end I was disappointed to go out, but I look back on the whole weekend now with a great sense of pride/achievement. The support from all the EMSers present was fantastic and made me feel extremely honoured. I’m just glad I was able to turn in a good performance that I, and hopefully EMS, can be proud of. Bring on the next one……!
