I arrived at DTD on Saturday feeling under a little pressure, self imposed pressure. I didn’t expect miracles but I did want a good run in one of the two tournaments I was playing over the weekend and the Friday game hadn’t gone well.

The main thing for me was to enjoy the event and have some banter along the way but doing well wasn’t far behind and I wanted to stay in for as long as possible and give myself a chance. I knew the majority of the field well and there were four players in particular that I wanted to avoid.

• Jagz – incredible online results and I had no idea what he’d be like live. Aggressive obviously but to what extent was an unknown factor. Young and fearless, two things I am not.

• Jag – Not just because I’m too vain to wear specs and may mistake him for Jagz’s name but also the fact that he seems to read me very well, has a host of live experience as well as being a fine player overall.

• Bas – another online enfant terrible who I knew would be a potentially lethal opponent. He’s done ok live before so I have heard.

• Dean – he’s not that great but he thinks he is which can be just as dangerous…..again, if you get in a hand with Dean it’s not going to be played gently.

You can imagine my delight when I saw the seat draw….Jag on my right and Bas two to my left. Right then I decided it was no nonsense, primary hand poker for me in the early (and I feared, the only) stages of my tournament.

As if to put my nerves to the test, I was dealt KK second hand but uneventfully took down a small pot post flop. From then on for the next hour I just played primary hands strongly pre-flop and backed off if I missed. I dawdled around starting stack until the blinds began to squeeze and just waited for an opportunity to commit my stack. This wasn’t an easy task, my table (now devoid of Jag and Bas) was still packed with solid players with good live records and I knew that I just had to make a dash for it, I dashed with 44. My initial raise was shoved by a new member to the forum and I called hoping for a 50-50….he flipped AQ and the dealer answered my prayers by flopping another 4. I was off the critical list at last with an 8k stack and 15 runners left. I then managed to increase my holding further when my AQ did for Cheva’s K10. Now I was on 18k and around the stack size I wanted to get to the final table.

I watched a series of players go out and before I knew it, it was the final table. I sat between Joe Legge, the Virgin Bounty and my favourite git in the world, Ian8144. Determined to enjoy it at first just I played my cards and didn’t try any moves to see who was doing what. One by one the others were knocked out, leaving just me, Joe and the woman who knocked me out of the previous EMS live event, the formidable Baglady. To be honest I have little recollection of how I survived to this point. I am sure I didn’t knock anyone out but just managed to accumulate some chips with some timely raises. Sometimes my reputation of being tighter than a Lehman’s banker’s Christmas budget can pay dividends.

I thought we were approaching the end-game, how wrong I was.

With 192,000 chips in play we were all pretty evenly matched, there were just some mild fluctuations over the next hour and no one seemed ready to commit. I reflected on this as we took a break and decided that soon I would be the one to commit, one way or the other. The moment came when I was dealt A7 on the button. I raised and Pam (Baglady) re-raised me, as Joe dwelt over his decision I decided it was time and as he folded I did my best to look Pam in the eye and announce as coldly as I possibly could “I’m all in”. My heart pumped, my mouth went drier than Death Valley and my facial expression utilised it’s experience of looking as docile as humanly possible. Pam eyed her cards, then looked at her chips, back to the cards and again to the stack to her left……please, please fold I prayed, knowing she must have me either crushed or at best a 20-80 dog. “I have just enough left fold, sadly” she said…..never have words aroused such relief, somehow resisting the temptation to punch the air and run around the card room I sat and watched and she mucked 88. I now had a decent lead and felt for the first time that I could go on to win. We had now been three handed for two hours, it was challenging to say the least.

The next big hand came when I had 99, this time Pam shoved over the top and I called her AJ. My hand held and I went heads up with a 2-1 chip lead over Joe. I made full use of that lead by shoving A3 the very next hand into Joe’s A10…..deep breaths as we were back to parity. Back and forth we went for nearly an hour with me trying to be selectively aggressive and brave, well, as brave as I can get and managed to put Joe’s stack on the line twice but to no avail. Finally I called him with K7 of diamonds, not a great holding but I sensed Joe was ready to gamble and I was happy to take a small edge into the board. He showed Q10 and despite a 10 coming down second card I made the flush to cripple him to such an extent that he only had one blind left.

The next hand was pure comedy, we decided to deal the cards face up as Joe was all in anyway and Joe pulled a J but I got an A, “hope here” I thought but then Joe got a K to make him a decent hand, the dealer then flipped me another A, the first time all day. I just looked up disbelievingly, “Done it” I thought to myself. I really should have known better; after flopping Q10 the river came 9 to make Joe the straight, much to the amusement of the watching gallery and to an extent to me. However it couldn’t last and after one more double up I found a winning hand in the mighty K10 and it was all over.

I have a deep respect for many of the players who lined up for the event but I really cannot finish without saying how highly I regarded the play, character and decency of Pam and Joe as we battled on for over two hours. The atmosphere was a mixture of tension, camaraderie and respect and it was a pleasure to play against them both. My unbound joy was obviously matched by the watching forum members, more for the fact that it was over and they could go to the bar at last rather than that I had won but I deluded myself for a few minutes and enjoyed the congratulations hugely.

It’s always a great feeling to win a tournament but to do so amongst players that you hold in high regard and can call your friends made it immeasurably more so and I’d like to thank everyone who was there and who posted on the forum for the kind words, especially as they must have feared the consequences of such a modest man claiming victory.

Roll on 2009 and another great tourney.

HuckNall chops for 2^nd in Stake-A-Shark Tournie at DTD

After a sumptuous meal of salmon fishcakes and chips, (I’m learning to eat cheap meals after being made redundant!) I tell my wife that I’m off to get some milk – won’t be long. I head along the A610 to the Nottingham ring road and DTD. I had forgotten to tell ‘her indoors’ that I have qualified online for the prestigious Stake-A-Shark sponsored tournament, part of the eagerly awaited EMS forum weekend of fun.

On arrival, most of the usual suspects have already arrived and after a last fag I find my tournament seat. Lo and behold I’m parked next to the buoyant Stanters as usual, (Spurs have turned the corner!) - not a good start!

Just the second hand in I pick up 88 in the SB and call a raise and another call. The flop comes a juicy K 8 2 which I obviously check and following a half size pot bet, a fold, I coolly call. Another blank card is followed by another good bet which I just call again. The river looks innocuous so I check raise all in, wondering if I am gonna be the first one out, only to face a fold. Still my stack is up 65% after just two hands and I sit back smugly.

Over the next two hours I collect KK and QQ twice only to face an A on the flop and in all three hands I know I am beaten and fold – back to starting chips, but hey, I’m still in!

Around 1145 I find myself with below average stack of about 7,000 and on the same table as Chris Bayliss. He has three bad beats in ten minutes and retires to ‘the rail’ only to be replaced by Bas. Unusually for him, he is not having a good time and after a few hands I am in the BB chatting to an adjacent player when I hear Bas go all in. I pick up my cards to be welcomed by the monster KK and poor Bas disappears after producing 22 and no help on the board. Sorry Bas!!!

Past midnight now and call from my wife asking where the fxxxxxg milk is! I explain that I am at the news agents awaiting the early papers.

Down to 25 players now and cashing looks a distinct possibility as I have an average stack for a change! No real dramas until my table collapses when we reduce to the last 18 and I am moved to seat 9 with Dean on seat 1!

A few battles between us but honours are even after an hour. EMS’ers left in now were Dean, Chris Spinks, TallGuy, Camking, myself and one other who escapes me (I’m still knackered, sorry!). We are soon down to the bubble which seems to go on for an eternity and I pick up 88 again. I decide to shove UTG and get called by the BB who is the big stack. He has 85s and I am very, very happy with this and after a nice board double through to above average stack. Shortly after TallGuy unfortunately makes a departure and we are down to the final table where I am joined by both Camking and Dean.

I am placed immediately behind the big stack who has about a third on the chips in play. I am fortunate to get 2 shoving hands following a raise by him to which he reluctantly folds on both occasions. Shortly after he raises again and I pick up AA. I think about it and figure he’s got to call another shove but after dwelling in the tank he again folds. By this time, Camking has bowed out and we are down to 5 with Dean still battling well with a good stack about the same as mine.

The blinds are now 3000/1500 with antes of 300 and after a fold round to the big stack in SB, he shoves and I look down at J8 suited, and after a brief dwell I put him on crap and call. He has 83 off and after negotiating a friendly board, I double through to around 3^rd biggest stack. Dean shoves a couple of raises by myself which I decide to put down and I start getting a bit worried. I’m now a short stack so I start pushing.

A fold round to me and I look at T2 off and think that if it is good enough for Doyle Brunson I’ll give it a go and shove. I am insta called by KJ and a pretty board comes down with a couple of deuces and I’m back in the hunt. Dean gets himself involved in battle with the original big stack and they lock horns leaving leaving Dean bloodied with just dust. He shoves and regretfully makes his way to the bar. Shortly after we are down to three and I am happy that I will depart with a 4 figure reward come what may and, after all, as I had qualified in the EMS qualifier, it had only cost a fiver – so a good days work!

Its 3am and we do battle for another 20-30 minutes and the stacks become pretty even. I am thinking about my wife awaiting her milk for her cuppa so I agree to a chop which finds me in 2^nd again with £1719 and entry to a £100 buy-in event!

All in all, another good night and I must thank all those who stayed to the bitter end offering their usual encouragement and another good performance by DTD.

I finally arrive home at around 3.50am and I wake the wife up to request some refreshments and find a bottle of milk disappearing up my backside!