__________________

Gala advertised this competition as £5000 guaranteed for the first time and seemed a fairly decent competition, with a reasonable 30 minute clock, 10,000 chips and antes coming in at 150/300 level. I don’t go to the Gala much anymore; in fact only been once since I won a competition there in May 2008, but this looked decent value with dealers and the usual Gala field.

In fact I had two days off prior to this and played more live poker than I had in a few months, went to Alea Wednesday and Gala Thursday and on both occasions went from chip leader to out just before the money by having an incredible knack of losing successive flips or getting 2 outered. I was getting frustrated but playing really well, I even said to someone that if i even run normally I would do something in the £100 comp.

On to the competition. There was a rumour that it would be busy so I bought in on the Thursday and actually turned up 10 minutes late, half-knowing I would still be well in time for the start as they always start late. It started with capacity of 80 and after alternates there were 88 runners, meaning a prize pool of £8,800.

Opening table looked fairly tough – recognised Andrew O’Flaherty to my right and also another guy who has played some big comps. Two other decent regulars were on my table also, but to be honest I don’t mind this at all. We start at 25/50 so 200 bigs deep.

As normal I opened the very first pot with a nice hand – 9s6s from early position. I get flatted by the SB who I played from the night before and I think has me as a bit aggro. Flop is 7T3r and I check behind. Turn is Qs and I take pot down by betting my flush draw and gutshot.

I carry on opening fairly liberally with the aid of some decent hands, taking a pot down with JJ on a K83K board. Just hovering above starting stack.

However a decent young player has taken note and has 3 bet me twice, I lay down AJ and some random hand. I also lose a chunk with TdJd on a Tc2c8c4cKd board when I call his flop bet but fold on the river. Also had to bet/fold river in a pot with Ad8d on a Js8h2h4cJh board – this messing around left me with about 7.5k and I had to tell myself that playing like a fish was not the way to go. It was a good wake up call.

I ground my way up back to 9k with some nice steady poker, nothing flash. Then a fairly pivotal hand occurs. 4 limpers and I complete in the SB with KdQd, so 6 way to a flop of Ks6s2d and it checks all way round, so I bet 500 on a Th turn and a decent player checkraises me to 1,500. Here I either think he has a similar hand to mine, a flush draw or outside chance of a set, maybe a combo of some sort. I just couldn’t put him on a hand so decide to call 1000 and check to him on most rivers. The river is 6h and I check. He very quickly bets 3.5k and my initial reaction is “busted draw” – the size of the bet is quite bluffy I feel, so I go through the hand in my head. I have about 4k left if I am wrong and decide it could well be a busted draw. I call and he instantly mucks saying “good call” and this settles me down as well as putting me on over 15k.

I carry on grinding away, the guy to my right is playing weird so I kept out of a lot of pots with marginal hands. Then at 100/200, Mr O’Flaherty raises from the button to 700, the loose guy calls from the SB and so I call 500 more with Ac7c. Flop is A87r and bingo. SB checks and I check, as expected button bets 1k and I decide that all the value here is in a check-raise, as I know he knows that I know his bet could be a standard c/bet and I could be bluff raising here, it is also harder to get value on future streets out of position. I make it 3k and he immediately announces all in, I snap it off and have him covered – he has Q7 and is drawing virtually dead – gg I have 25k now and in great position.

A new guy comes to the table and limps promptly UTG, I decide to see what he is up to and raise to 800 at 150/300 with A6o purely based upon position. He calls and the flop is Q32, he checks and I c-bet 1100 to which he folds and shows TT, I show my air which I really shouldn’t have done I suppose, but I was in the flow. I was becoming the most reraised player at the table, which is good, people are adjusting and I like that.

One instance, the good young internet player 3bets me from the BB after I raise in 3rd position with AsQs – third time I have been 3bet by him alone, he is second behind me in chips on the table. I think this is probably a fold but I call 2100 preflop and fold on a J97 red flop, bit spewy I guess but meh, I decide to reduce the pots I play with this guy as he is much better than the rest of the table.

We have a break after 4 levels and its 150/300/25 after the break. My table image is fairly terrible but I wasn’t showing much down. I then raise to 850 with AKc from the cut-off and the BB calls (TT limp guy) flop is A56 with 2 diamonds I bet 1500 and he insta-jams for 7k. I think 2 pair is possible but make a fairly quick call to see he has A4o and he doesn’t get there, he just thought I had nothing and decided to go for it – gogogogo 30k+.

I stay fairly quiet for a bit due to frequency of the player to my right. However at 200/400 I find TT in SB after the button has limped – I make it 2k to go and the BB who has shown down about 3 hands all night including KK etc shoves for about 8.5k. I don’t really like it but have to call and he shows AK, I win the flip and now 40K+ and really trucking and probably around the chip lead. Sort of wishing it was a bounty tournament at this stage. I grind to about 50k before our table is broken.

Recognise a couple at new table but no real tough players I don’t think. Decide to just play ABC for a bit with my stack and check out the players. At this point I had got to 50k without any huge starting hands – had AK twice and JJ/TT but nothing much else.

I get K7 in the BB and guy limps for 800. Flop is 774 and I check call a bet, turn and river are blanks and I bet on river but guy shows 22 and folds begging to see my cards, I tell him to GTFO – he says he will own me next time which is quite funny for a guy who limps with 15bb with 22 from the CO. Not long after I get AJ and raise from EP, he calls from the BB and the flop is QQJ, I think checking behind is good here as it keeps in weaker Jx and other hands. Turn is 4 and he bets 3k, I call. River is T and he bets 3k with 4k back, I know hands like TJ are no good here and quickly call he tables 8s and I scoop again. Soon after a guy jams 6k at 500/1000/50 and I find 8s in the BB, beating A3 and trucking on over 65k+.

I had become more liberal as the guys to my left were really tight, one of them showing me 5s from the sb as I raise again from the button with A2. I raise with A3s from the CO and a guy who was limp/folding a lot calls from the BB – pot is about 6k and he jams his 8.5k remaining stack in on a A85 flop, I say you never have an ace here and call, he has J8o but binks a J on the river – WP sir, instead of having 80k+ I now have less than 50k again. Back to the grind.

In the meantime a guy I know quite a bit about (Charles Flynn) has moved to my table with a big stack, 70k+; we chat quite a bit whilst playing live and he has had some super results lately, he plays Leeds and DTD loads and knows quite a bit about me. Really we should avoid each other as there is plenty of dead money elsewhere.

At 400/800/75 UTG limps and he calls behind, I have AJs on the button and I make it 3200 to go. Both players call. Flop is A96 and I casually bet 6k when checked to, I know that he thinks I will c-bet this flop and when UTG gets out of the way he raises me to 17k. I think long and hard about this, he has me covered and if I play anymore streets then I could be out if he has flopped a set. He definitely doesn’t have a bigger ace so only 6s and 9s beat me, he could be semi bluffing with 78s or something. Shoving here is pure spew with about 30k on top of the 17k bet, so I decide to call and trust my read. The turn is 4 and it goes check/check, the river is a Q and I decide to check behind river when he checks – he had 98s and gave up after I called, I had decided to go with the hand if he jammed the river, but didn’t see much value in betting. It was a big pot and I was back in the game with 80k again.

I call a raise from him at 600/1200/100 with A9h flop is AA3, I check it down to river after turn of 5 and river J, then I fire a large river bet of 7k and he calls and mucks when I turn over my hand.

Shortly after I raise UTG with JJ to 3k and the guy next to me looks really interested with 20k but just flats in the end. The lady in the BB then insta ships for 22k and I hate the spot. She was very straightforward and knew I was likely behind here – I didn’t even think she would do this with AK, even though I had the chips to call I didn’t want this to be a reason to call light just because I could. I folded and the guy next to me tanked for about 5 minutes before folding AQ lol, asking her for a show – she politely showed aces – good fold me.

A guy had moved to our table earlier with a huge stack, but it had become obvious where he had got it from, basically playing 50% of pots and getting there. I took a few pots off him, including calling him on the river with ace high which was good and this hand. He limps UTG+1 and I am in the BB with QJo and we are 3 way. Flop is 9T3r and I decide to check-call a small 2.5k bet, I don’t think a semi bluff has any value versus this guy as he doesn’t fold much. Turn is Ace and it goes check/check. River is the bingo card 8 and I have the nuts, I put a huge bet of 12.5k in on the river and he tank calls with QTo, welcome to valuetown sir.

I am playing pretty well and have 115k as we approach 1500/3000/300 and there are about 15 left with 10 paid for £176 up to £3k up top.

In terms of starting hands I have had nothing for ages and sort of go into my shell, the tight guy next to me has had KK 4 times and other people suddenly seem to be waking up, even the table comment that I have been kind of quiet. Nothing to do with fearing the bubble it was just no spots arose to get moving whilst chips were flying around. Mr big stack had spewed all his chips, Charles made a daft bluff vs a station and it seemed to be going off on the other table, whilst I just folded away whilst feeling tired. Anyway the bubble broke and I went to the final table with 86k, which was average chips, I lost 20k through being static and blinds were 3000/6000/600 at the start of the final table so average was about 14 bigs, with antes – time to run good please.

The pain continued, the short guy doubled up by 2 outering someone, then another beats KK with A5 and I was still sat there. I finally shipped 72k in at 4000/8000/800 with AQs and called by AQh – chop chop.

A few rounds later I get AQ in the cut off and there are 9 left, I get snapped by the button and he tables 99, having me well covered, but I bink a Queen on the turn for 150k stack. That quickly dwindles as we become 7 handed, I seriously must have had 62o about 10 times and I aren’t usually shy about shipping it in, but resteals are tough with very little Fold Equity and poor hole cards.

I have been sat there for a while getting nowhere when I decide to shove on the tight short stack’s blind for 98k at 5000/10000/1000 with 67o, unfortunately the button has KK and I am down to 42k. I fold the next hand and then shove UTG with J9o for hope value. A guy tanks for ages with a 60k stack, then decides to call with AQd – a bit of a slowroll if you ask me but I genuinely think he was bricking it lol. Of course I flop the J and then river a straight to get me back over 100k. He is crippled and has to shove next hand and exits in 7th.

A real rollercoaster then occurs. Chip leader opens for 35k and I have 9s9c in the SB. I have very little fold equity but big chance I have the best hand, it is 55k more and he calls with 6s6c. Flop is 5h6h8h and my heart sinks, the 5c turn takes away straight outs but the epic 9d on the river makes me gasp as I am getting out of my seat. To be honest I stayed very calm.

A weird hand then happens that makes me a bit angry really. I am not involved as I fold in the SB, but active guy raises from the CO and the BB calls, flop is J5Ar and the BB check-raises a bet all-in before instantly exposing J5d, basically encouraging the CO to fold Ax or worse for fear of being outdrawn. I wasn’t happy about this at all as it is against the rules and spirit of tournament poker in my opinion, but he knew exactly what he was doing. As I was out of the hand and the TD was watching (he did nothing) I made no further comment other than to shake my head at the TD. I didn’t want anything to get me out of my zone that I was in.

A few hands after jamming 8s, I then get aces UTG and make it 35k at 6000/12000/100 and guy next to me insta-jams 120k on me, I snap him off and he has QQ, this makes me chip leader and he is 6th.

A few hands later I get A8s on the button and raise to 30k, the SB reshoves for 60k more and I call – he shows A7o and my kicker plays and I have close to 400k in chips with 4 left. By this time it is 5.40am and we are told play stops at 6. I get to 450k with 880k in play and the others are all fairly even, we decide to do a deal as it will head that way anyway.

With £3k up top and other payouts of about £1800, £1200 and £800 I offer to take £2500 and let others chop equal. Anything could happen in the last ten minutes with huge blinds so chop is probably good for all. In the end I take £2.4k, I couldn’t crunch numbers in my head as I was exhausted but obviously happy with the result. On reflection £2.5k+ would probably have been my payout if chips had stayed as they were but meh, I mustn’t grumble at all. I felt I played pretty good all night and got a small amount of help at the final table when I needed it. It is my biggest UK cash (if you exclude anniversary cup 13th) and most welcome as I felt something like this was coming. __________________

Likey wins the $11 MTT – $15K GTD (4032 runners)

This isn’t a tournament I usually play, nor did I take it too seriously – mainly because I had already ‘donked off’ on all of my other regular tournaments such as the $3 rebuy and the $20 cubed.  After busting out of those I only had this $11 MTT left so I had to one table it like a live pro.

Laura kept bugging me to pack because we were going on holiday the next day; it should have already been done and I really shouldn’t have been playing any tournaments the night before – or so Laura kept telling me!  I kept saying I would pack as soon as I busted out.  There were a few spots where I should have been out but kept winning my races and even shown her my laptop screen every time I shoved but kept hitting my Ace on the river which she found amusing, but she then followed it up with “can’t you just lose so you can pack?”  My response was “I’m trying, I’m trying… I just can’t lose a race today!”

Eventually, with this care-free attitude, I made it into the money just by shoving when I was down to between 8-15BB, then decided not to go crazy once I was in the money as I thought I may as well wait for a good double up spot.  Laura, however, had given up on the packing front and had long gone to bed, muttering something or the other!

With a bit of peace and quiet, I was able to play short stacked poker throughout the money stage then the next thing I remembered was being 32 out of 38 players from the original 4032 runners.  The key hand was when I had TT with 10BB on the Big Blind, I had already decided I was not going to fold.  UTG+1 limped 12K and had a monster stack of 626K, CO shoved for 93K so I stuck in all my chips.  UTG+1 then called with KK whilst the other guy had A7s.  The flop came 25A so at this point I was ready to start packing… but the Ten dropped on the Turn and another Ten dropped on the River.  I received a call from my mate and I couldn’t speak properly because of my astonishment but managed to mutter “how did I hold up there and hit Quads?!” then said I’m going to try win this as I have a good chance then abruptly ended the call.

I had 361K chips with just over 30BB with just 4 tables left, sitting 17 out of 36 and in decent shape to get to the final table.  I was later moved to another table where I was dealt Aces UTG so I made a small raise and called BB’s shove and sitting with 510K.  That was the only occasion I had Aces in the whole tournament.

Now I am just slowing trying to grind my way to the final table but also maintaining my stack, we shortly busted down to 2 tables and I have quite a few big stacks on my table with over 1 million chips, I was on around 600K with a few short stacks in the mix.

My plan was to get reads on all the remaining players by using OPR and from the way they were playing. There was an aggressive player two to my right I felt I had to be careful of as it felt – I could have been wrong though – like they were getting a little help from someone due to their pro-like bet sizes but poor OPR results.

The aggressive player is now chip leader and bullying the table, she’s raising plenty and did it when I was on the BB with AQo.  I shoved my 20BB stack and she folded and said in the chatbox that she’s called with QJ before.  I then told her to “call quicker” and said she “folded like a girl”.  I was hoping this sets me up for a nice double up off her later in the game.

My stack went down quite rapidly due to the blinds going up, it was now 17.5K/35K and I had 434K sitting last. The chip leader raises yet again and we are now on the final table bubble with 10 left.  I had KTs on the button and was about to shove on her but I had the other table open and saw that one of the players had just busted out.  I thought it was better to fold as I’d have a better spot to shove when we were 9-handed.

During the final table I waited patiently for a hand to double up with, I was getting rather short and had 330K on the button when the blinds were 20K/40K, the CO min-raised 40K but he seemed like a ‘clueless donk’ so I shoved A8o thinking it was the best hand.  He called with KTo and I held up for a 765K pot.

A couple of players dropped out but I was still sitting 7 out of 7 with a 500K stack. The next guy above me had 1.3M chips.  Blinds were 30K/60K and I had AKo on the button so I shoved and the tight player on the BB calls me with A7o with his 1.8M stack, my hand held up so now I had over ONE MIRRION chips – but still last!

Another key hand was against the previously mentioned aggressive player who was now chip leader with 2.8M chips, blinds were 30K/60K still and I had A7o on the BB.  She raised 140K from the SB and I thought about what to do with my 1.2M stack because I wouldn’t get any value if I re-raise but A7o was too strong to fold.  I opted to call and hope to hit an Ace so I could trap her.  The flop was 93A rainbow, she checked so I trap-checked.  The turn was a K which was a great card to represent, she bet 178K and I re-raised 366K leaving 766K in hope that she thinks there’s fold equity.  She tanks and then shoves, I snapped called her so fast and typed “YOU’LL BE ALRIGHT” in the chatbox when I saw her table T8o.  She tried to bluff me with ‘fresh air’ and now I’m sitting with 2.5M chips and very close to the chip lead.

I am now guaranteed 4 figures and decided to go for the win. A few players eventually dropped out including the aggressive player.  A deal was mentioned 3-way but nothing was agreed so we carried on, one guy busted out the other guy so we were now heads-up.  He instantly asked to do a deal whilst he had 2M more chips than me.  I decided to play on: he was a weak HU player and I soon took over the chip lead and slowly grinded him down.  He wanted to see flops a lot so I decided to see it too; I then took pots off him post-flop.  It went on like this for a while and eventually I changed gears by shoving everything to see what he does as he was getting short, the final hand was him thinking he trapped me by limping KTs and I shoved with a real hand this time of A6o and got a full house by the river.  Good game!

As this was the Sunday tournament it had a larger amount of runners (4032) giving me a nice prize of $5241.61, usually it would only get around 2800 runners.

After the win I still hadn’t packed and had given up on the idea.  Instead, I stuck a Post-it note on Laura’s alarm clock saying “Wake me up at 11am I’ll pack then. I just won $5200″.

When her alarm went off, I got a nudge in the ribs with her saying “you idiot, you stayed up all that time to win 52 dollars?”  I was like “WTF?!  There’s no decimal, I won it you donk!” and went back to sleep.

So off to my usual tight start, while the blinds are low.

First hand of any note, my 9cTc takes down a 550 pot vs a very conservatively played AK. Nice enough. Followed by 400 gained from a Jd9d on a 9 high flop. Then my first premium hand of the session, AKs, raise, get one caller, flop comes K high. Bet two thirds of the pot and he calls. Turn an Ace, giving me top 2, he folds to my turn bet. 600 chips.

Then my first real big pot. I limp A8, CO and BB come along for the ride. Flop AJ8 two diamonds. Take the risk and play it slow, just calling CO’s flop and turn bets. BB folds. Turn and river are 5 then 6 no diamonds. Bet smallish on the river, hoping to induce and he obliges with a re-raise to 950. I re-raise and he folds – a nice 3,000 chips.

Flop trip 7s in the SB shortly after, but can’t get any action. Then raise with JJ, flop comes with two aces, but my cbet works. Then lose 600 when my 55 loses to JT on a J9993 board. Nasty river call on my part!

My first lucky hand results in a big pot when I call a raise with AJ and board comes 5J4 two clubs. Oppo (holding AcKc) fires out a large cbet with his flush draw and I put him in. Turn and river are 8 then Ace and my hand holds up to double me up to 9,000 chips with the average around 4,000.

Nice 600 pot with 66 vs QK, neither of us improve. I start using my stack to steal/bully a little more. Resteal a 3x raise with 8Ts, flop middle pair and cbet takes it down. Nice 2300 pot.

Next hand, I get QQ and my raise gets one caller. Flop comes K high, I cbet and he calls, which I’m not liking much. We both check the turn (Th) and then he fires a smallish river bet after a 6d appears. I call and he shows A10! 4275 extra chips, stack growing nicely.

Sadly, I then lose a couple of thousand, reraising with AK and totally missing, having to fold to a big turn bet. First real setback but I’m still in good shape with around a 10K stack.

Another AK gets no action but nets me 500 from the blinds. Then I gain 1600 from a limped JT vs 9T – flop 10 high, but an ace on the turn slows us both down.

Then it’s double up time. I limp AJ and call a raise. Flop comes 2AQ rainbow. Oppo can’t get away from his KK and doubles me up to 20K stack with average around 7K. That’s twice tonight I’ve got lucky with AJ.

A little stealing with middling connectors and face cards here and there. Table is playing pretty tight, so it’d be rude not to.

Another big one. I raise from the CO with A9 and the flop comes 9 high. BB calls my flop bet, turn a K, we both check. River a 2 and he pushes out a 4k bet. I tank for a few, decide there’s enough hands I beat. He shows AJ and I pick up 14.5K chips. Running bad seems a long time ago already J

A while later I get 66 and limp into a 4 way pot. Flop a beautiful 996. Bet it out and get 2 callers. Kerching! Turn is a 7 and I ramp up the bet sizing. One folds but the other goes all the way with J9. Huge 33K pot and now I’m really in good shape.

Hit a set again with 88 on a A83 board. Oppo finds a fold on the river but I gain another 13K.

With the blinds up to 500/1000 I try to steal with K9. Short stack pushes, and I have to call as it’s only another 4K. Board brings 9xx9x vs his AJ and I continue to run good!

Well, I’m due a setback by now. I run JJ into KK and lose 14K. Stack now back to 50K, but still in good shape.

I raise with 33 but this time I get re-raised – I make the call (dubious) and flop comes T23. Nice. Check raise all in vs KK and I’m up to 110K. ( I did actually miss some flops in this game, I’m just not including those!)

Call a short stack in all for 12K and my A9 has his A7 dominated. He doesn’t improve.

An 88 resteal nets me 15K. Then I raise with 7c8c and get shoved on by another shortstack. Have to call and pair up to beat his AJ. Running very well. Seems I can’t lose with AJ whether it’s me holding it, or the other guy.

I go card dead for a good while. Steal a few blinds but otherwise quiet through the bubble period.

Then I get the hand I’ve been waiting for. Pocket rockets. And…. everyone folds. Great.

A re-raise with TT nets 50K. Then raise with 88, get one caller. Board misses me with A34 but cbet takes it down for another 43K.

Blinds are big now, 3500/7000. I steal with K7s, get a caller and flop comes K high. Cbet wins out for 96K. A few hands later, AK gets no callers for 22K.

Then a Q9 steal gets reshoved by a short stack, have to call, he has A6 and wins. Stack now 280K, still all good.

Or so I thought. I get QQ and lose to AK. Down to 167K. A big dent.

Thankfully I win back 200K next hand, with AJ. I raise, flop comes QQK, I cbet and he calls. We both check the 7 turn then he throws out a river bet when another K arrives. I’m getting 2-1 and he is really really bad. That’s enough of a read and I call, half expecting to split. He has JTo (missed his draw). Good read me.

Pull off a nice squeeze with 99 in the BB. One raiser and caller in front of me, and my shove takes the pot.

I then call a raise with 55. Flop comes 94T. He check,s I bet and get called. We both check the turn, another 10. River an 8 and we check it down. My 55 wins, up to 300K in chips.

Then a curious pot. I call a raise with KJs in a 3way pot. Flop K88 rainbow. I check, original raiser cbets and then gets raised all in for 120K. Original raiser folds and I call the shove. He shows down QT (??) and busts out. I’m up to 500K.

Next hand is KK. Reraise with it and oppo folds. 550K.

I then pull off a bluff with J6 on a scary board to bump me up to 600K.

AA again. Everyone folds again. I want AJ instead from now on, you can keep them.

Then a biggish setback. My AK loses to 88, I have to fold on the river, halving my stack.

But I get very very lucky. Slightly tilty resteal all in with A6 and get called by AJ. Turn card is a 6 and I’m back in business. We all need our 3 outers now and then!

I then call a 235K all in with TT and oppo shows Q10. He misses and I’m up to 830K.

Reraise with AK and get a fold. 890K.

Final Table!!!

I keep it fairly tight for a while, pretty card dead.

Then a tough hand. Get A7s on the button and raise it up. Chip leader in SB calls and flop comes A9J. Bet out and he just flat calls. Turn is a K. I bet again and he promptly sets me all in. He could be bullying but also could have a hand like JK,QT and I just have a weak pair. There are several short stacks, so it’s a no brainer fold leaving myself with 660K. Bit of a dent but a call would have been bad.

Then a huge pot brews up which I’m fortunately not involved in. Turns out to be AA vs KK vs TT. The aces hold up and the other two exit. Nice double ladder!

Then an 88 vs AA confrontation, again the aces hold and we’re down to 4.

I’m the short stack by now and start to come back out of tight mode. I re-steal with K4 in the BB when the SB raises me. He calls with AJ. I luck out with a 4 on the flop and then river another. I’m 3rd place now, but a long way behind the big 2 stacks.

(Now, go back and count the pots I have won both with and against AJ – pretty incredible)

Then the sickest beat on the other short stack ladders me up to third. He has 33 and gets it in on a 8A3 board. Big stack calls with K8 with just middle pair vs the set. He then proceeds to catch an 8 and then a K for a runner runner full house to beat the short stack’s smaller house. Really sick beat, but it nets me $4k extra, so my sympathy manifests itself in a smiling kind of way.

I’m 3rd by a long way so when I get ATs in the BB and the SB raises me, I push. Sadly he has a hand this time and I fail to improve and can’t match his QQ.

Game over, 3rd place for $9,230.

I ran very well in key spots, though ironically it was my big hands that cost me chips. But still, I hit some great flops when up against better starting hands, so I can’t grumble. After a very frustrating 2 or 3 months of running (and playing) ugly, this was a nice cash.

A special mention to all the railers, most notably Mick and his obsession with a certain bodily function that I won’t go into. Read the thread is all I’ll say. So a big thanks to all the EMS’ers for the railage and support. And respect to all the hugely talented players on the site who I’ve learned tons from since I joined up.

Here’s to the next one! Never folding AJ again!

Woke up in the best mood ever looking forward to the festival and meeting the EMS’ers, we got to Newcastle in less than 3 hours so it was a smooth morning and stress free which I think helped a lot. At the last 2 DTD and Loose Cannon events I arrived at the last minute and couldn’t relax.

I sat at my 1st table and had Camking there but had no clue about the others, I wasn’t too bothered and decided with 10k chips and 45 minute blinds I had loads of time to sus out the table.

The lady on my right was playing most hands limping and cbetting the flop but folding to raises and was crap imo, but it turns out she is an editor for some poker mag so I would of expected better. Another player was an old man on my table he was very good and very aggressive, apparently he was known as bigbadken I think so stayed out of his way.

I was playing so tight Cam asked if I’d actually played a hand yet lol In fact the only hand I played was a limp with A3s and I rivered the flush but with 2 pairs on the board I checked the river and took the pot, maybe a bad play but what if villain had FH? I didn’t want a CRAI so early

When we broke for dinner I had about 9k and tbh was happy to still be in , but after the break I decided to get busy with the beer and loosen up.

These hands aren’t in order because I can’t remember the chips or blinds but the ones I remember are……

One hand against BigBadKen, I had 1010 in late position and he raised, I flat called and the flop came all low cards. He raised and I re-raised, he tanked and folded, nothing much but I beat the scary man and smiled.
My first all in was when the cut off raised 3xbb and I reraised 3x that with AQ on the button, flop came Qxx and he shoved. I insta-called and he showed Q10 and I sent him home.
I got QQ twice in a row but not a lot of action.

Another lad was getting very busy and I was getting loose and shoved on him in the BB with 44 he tanked for ever then folded show 1010. I’m sure he gave me too much respect as I had been super tight and aggressive.

The only luckboxing I did was my 66 sucked out on the river on 99 when allin preflop but he was very short and I had lots of chips, so not that bad and he did shake my hand on the way home after the FT.

I only saw AA once and I over bet preflop. I chucked in too many chips and the dealer said 4000 to call and the blinds were around 300/600. derrr brain, so no action

Then my first table move.

This new table was very chatty and had one mega drunk lad. He raised from sb into bb and the bb shoved so the sb grab his neck to check his pulse rate lol. The bb took it as a joke but that how pissed he was. Anyway the only hand I remember was whilst watching this drunk was when I looked down and saw 1010 so I made a raise and looked back at the drunk messing about. Suddenly I hear ‘allin’, I look at him and see about another 8k ish and insta-call but then realise it’s 22k he pushes in! I thought omg I’m out!!! He shows AQ and the drunk said “you’ll be fine AQ is shit today and it hasn’t won all day”, he was right and now I’m chipped up.

I ended the day on around 50k I think but I couldn’t believe I made day 2.

day 2

Started with full english and a walk on the beach in Tynemouth so it was nice relaxing start again .

I don’t remember much about the first few hours,I was doing OK, steadily gaining a few chips. Then Realscot turned up, he called me off my table and said “erm don’t know how you feel about bubbling but I think you should shove in late if folded to”. I sat down thinking ok I will, so when the first hand was folded all the way I shoved and took the blinds. The next hand folds to me and I shoved and took them again. RealScot called me off the table and said “I don’t mean every hand “, I laughed, first time was QQ and then AKs

I was sat on the right of pro girl player, I can’t remember her name but she was a bounty.a One hand against her was when I had AK and made a 3xbb raise to 15k, she reraised to 35k, I shoved and she said “ooops” and folded. She went out soon after when her 99 was called by AQ and he hit.

I did start making plays with anything then as it tightened up to the bubble and made a few chips, then it burst and I’m in the money .

wooooooooooooooooooooop!

Dean grabbed me and gave me his reads on the feature table players when I moved there, I was quite happy because I’d come so far and had cashed, but Dean, RS, Woody and the others weren’t letting me min cash. They would even tell me the cash levels when we were down to 16 players left, they gave me advice and were always at arms length which was amazing and I thank you all so much.

I didn’t do a lot at this table apart from this hand. I was in the BB and one guy, who dean said wasn’t that good, raised my blind again. I was about to fold again but as I looked at him he was shaking so bad I thought wtf? and kept staring. He couldn’t look at me so I shoved and he folded. He didn’t do it again. Even Woody said he could see him shaking from the rail lol. And to make my day even dean was proud of my play

So we were down to 12 players and the tourney directer said we were about to have a break, but then 2 players on each table went allin and I couldn’t believe what was happening

THAT I WAS GOING TO PLAY ON THE FINAL TABLE

final table

OMG I was sooooo nervous I almost couldn’t breathe. Dean told me to calm down and gave me that “just think about what your doing” talk
The commentary started and I was announced. OMG , the cheers were amazing and I honestly felt emotional. I’m a donk and well out of my depth and all these people are watching the cameras on me. I’m live on the internet and I am 10 places off some serious money.

So we shuffle up and deal, and there was an allin almost straight away. That was 10th gone and Matt announces a £540 prize and then 9th and 8th went. I was thinking, wtf is happening here? I can’t keep up with play. I’m trying to relax and get a grip of myself and people have gone already?

The only hand i had was AQs, but with an early position allin and a call, I mucked it. Not sure if was the right play but whatever, I thought let them go and I’ll get more cash.

So then it cools down until I cracked. I was card dead and I was getting so frustrated that I just couldn’t work out when I had position to make a move. Then i got dealt K10s, the shortie goes allin and I asked for a count. It was 60k ish to call and I thought I would have a few chips left if I lost the hand. I thought i would be a race but I was wrong, he had aces . I was so mad at myself I tilted straight away and couldn’t stop thinking what idiot. I was gutted. The same player went allin again and I called with AQ and miss again.

I was out 5th place and £2500

I shook hands with the other players and walked off stage gutted. The virgin girls grabbed me for a photo but I couldn’t smile, it took 4 pictures until the camera man was happy with the pic. All the ems crew come running over and shook my hand and congratulated me which was amazing. I felt like a celebrity . A lot of other players I’d met along the way also said well done

I gave virgin my details and said my goodbyes, on the way to the toilets with my head down I met 2 EMSers, first Scottie who said “its your first live final televised table and be proud, forget the K10 for now” and the second was Seventh who said the same but then told me that the K10 was played wrong for so many different reasons and then told me all of them which was great, honestly woody thx it was the bollocking I wanted.

so I have a wee grab of my beautiful wife and drive home laughing my balls off about how I’d just come 5th for £2500

so thanks to ..

ram, for this forum
Shuck , for all the help since I’ve been an EMS’er
The irc lads, for the railing advice on the last few mtts
realscot, dean, woody and all the emers at Newcastle. I couldnt have done it without you

For full details click the link below.

EMS Heads Up Championships

I am not a regular contributor to EMS, but I have many poker buddies here from the old PNL days. In fact Ramchip was one of my earliest sparring partners on the SnG tables when I first started online poker in 2004.

I regularly play the PokerStars Sunday Million (qualifying via a double shootout or small stake rebuy). For last weeks game I actually qualified for the Sunday Warm Up via a $3.03 rebuy for a cost of $18. I then deregistered from the Warm Up and registered for the Million. The Sunday Warm Up starts too early for me, as with a young family I can’t really spend Sunday afternoon/evening on the computer and ignore my wife & kids. To be honest, I shouldn’t really play the Million, as if I am to do any good, I run the risk of being late for work on Monday morning. My argument against this is that if I do well in the game and cash, the adrenaline/euphoria will see me through Monday. If I crash out early I can still hit the hay for 4-5 hours.

When playing the Million, I like to play another tourney. This is usually rounders on Prima, but this week I played a $20 freezeout on BetFred. This enables me to keep my mind active and not get drawn into playing raggy hands. (BTW – I won this for $1,533 beating a field of 300.)

On to the game ($200+15 buy-in – 10k starting stack) – I generally play tight in the first 2-3 hours in order to let the field thin out. I lost a few early pots where I had AK or AQ and missed the flop or got re-raised off the hand. I found myself down to 6.5k in chips at the second break, but soon after managed to double up with AK v AQ. This got me up to 14k in chips. Shortly afterwards I flopped a set of 5’s and that got me up to 30k and I was about mid-table on the leader board. I was soon on 40k in chips and at that stage the hand that nearly crippled me arrived. I raised up with my all red JJ only for a very loose player to go all-in over the top of me. He had been very active and pushed this way regularly whilst I was on the table. I was sure that my JJ was good and called to see his Ac7c. The flop was all hearts with the A. After a few WTF’s & FFS’s and a couple of “please please pleases” the river brought the heart to give me a flush. I’m now up to 75k and looking good to cash. A few hands later there is a raise from mid position from a reasonably tight player. I re-raise with 10 10. He thinks for a bit and then re-raises all-in. I don’t think he has an under pair, so it’s either a race or I am a 4-1 dog. I let it go.

Then comes the leak in my game. I have been tight all game but need to keep my chip stack up so I make a play from the cut off. I raise with J9 suited and get a call from SB. Flop is K 9 x rainbow. He checks and I make a play for the pot. I have second pair but I am also representing the K. Again he flat calls. Turn is another K. This time we both check. There is around 40k in the pot. River is a rag – no flush no straight. He bets 10k and I call to see him turn over AK. I am now down to 32K with blinds around 1250/2500 level.

Time to re-evaluate and not act rashly. I patiently see out the bubble and then make a lucky double up with A 10 v QQ. I’m now back over 70k and then I get a nice little help from the river when my 10 10 runs into AK and flop brings an A. Luckily for me I hit my two outer on the river and I am now in good shape to go deep. I then hit a huge rush of cards starting with a double up with AK v A 10. Followed closely by QQ, AQ, 99, 88. All these hands took down the pot preflop – two of which involved re-raises. I am now in top 20 and over a million in chips. This is followed by a monster Hand. A push by 44 I call with JJ and then am re-raised by KQ. I have huge odds to call the extra and the flop brings a J to give me a set. A on turn gives the KQ a straight draw, but river is a blank – I’ve sent two players to the rail, but their seats are taken by two bigger stacks than mine. I now sit with 2.7m chips and in 7th place. I lose a few pots over the next 30 minutes and although my chip stack remains fairly constant, I am dropping down the leader board.

I am still playing tight, and have thankfully plugged a lot of my leaks (call with small pairs/suited connectors/KQ/QJ in early position). I still have a problem with stealing with marginal (or even crap)hands, and this probably costs me a few chips. Need to be more aggressive.

Before the FT arrived I was close to going out. The chip leader had been raising a lot from early position, so when he raised UTG and I was sitting with AQ my thought was to come over the top. Before I got a chance to act another player stole my plan with AK and chip leader called with 10 10. The flop brought 10 A 10. Had I played the hand I would have been out in 14th for $6,000.

I manage to creep into the final table as the short stack with 2.5m chips. With blinds at 200k/400k and ante’s at 40k, I couldn’t afford to wait too long. I only knew I wanted to be first into the pot. When I saw Ad 4d on the button and no action before me, I thought I might be able to nick the blinds. Unfortunately the BB called with A8. No help came and a couple of low cards saw the BB’s kicker playing. After nearly 10 hours I finished 9th out of 8664 for $12,000. Not bad for a social player.

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.