Tuesday 24 February 2009

3 tourney catch up

Alea £20 Double Chance 7/2/09

This tourney didn't go well and i was out before the break after KK busted by an A rag after having my first buy in pretty early.

Alea £15 Freeze out 9/2/09

I had pocket Jacks on the first hand which held up and then went card dead for ages. I got doubled up with 10h 8h when i pushed in pre and was called by A 7, i spiked an 8 on the river.

I then take Milan out with As 7s when i shoved on the button against his SB AJ. I rivered a flush.

I then doubled up with 8d 9d against AJ. The same guy then doubles up through me with AJ vs my pocket 9's rivering a flush.

I managed to make the final table with 68k. I passed 3 hands early on the FT, pocket 6's AQ and pocket 7's when i was beaten into the pot with raises before i busted out in 7th for £30 by James Shaw. I make it 3x BB in the C/O with KK, he jams on the button with JJ and i make the call. He spikes a J on the turn and that was that.

Gala £10 Triple Chance 10/2/09

I lost half of my first stack to Rose when i raised my BB to 400 with pocket 9's, she called from UTG and we saw a flop of A 10 8. I continuation betted 600 which she flatted. J on the turn and i fired out 1.5k, she moved all in so i had to pass.

I get pocket 9's again and push for 2025, one of my 1k chips roll into the middle and rose calls as she only thinks its 1025. A guy in late position re raises all in for a further 1.5k more so rose is priced into call and its on their backs. Rose shows 10c 8c ?? and the other guy has AK. A KQJ flop was not good and a 9 on the turn was even worse. The river was a no miracle 9 and Rose scooped the pot.

I then made the worst fold ever the had before the break. I raised to 600 on the button with KQ and received a couple of callers 1 was a tight player UTG. The flop came down AKQ and UTG fired out 2k leaving 1.5k behind. He looked confident and said he might show if i passed. So i passed my 2 pair face up and he showed Ad 3d. I'm such a douche!!

After the break i was moved tables and knocked off a short stack with AK vs A 10, board K 10 J X J and i was up to 16k. I then moved up to 28k when i shoved with JJ and being called by A 10.

After that i went card dead and ended up pushing with pocket 2's and being called by A Q and Q J i missed the flop and A Q hit the Q and took it down and i was out with about 16 players left.

So up to date with my reports and here is my updated total profit/loss table,

Buy ins (inc rake): £902.50

Cashes : £1704.50

Profit/Loss: £802

Tuesday 10 February 2009

Gala £15 triple chance

Sunday night at Gala was just one of those tournaments. There was a decent turn out with 7 tables starting. My table draw was good and i had singled out 4 people who were good for easy chips.

At the 25/50 level i got AA in late position and raised it to 225 which got called by a limper, the flop came down A Q X and we both checked. The turn was another A giving me quads and we both checked again, the river was a blank and i bet 200 after he checked. He folded and i won a grand total of 300 with Quads.

I then get JJ UTG+1 and raise it to 400 which is called by the c/o. The flop was Q 9 8 and i fired out 600 which took it down.

Then comes my downfall, at the 100/200 level i get AA UTG+1 and decide to limp in as i am certain there is going to be a raise after me. All goes to plan as Graham(old guy who over bets pots and cant lay a hand down) raises it up to 800. It gets passed round to Sean Savage on the BB who re raises to 2300. I slam jam all my stack into the middle(around 6k total), followed by Graham, Sean folds what he says was JJ and its on the backs as Graham flips Ad Jd, WTF?? I am obv in good shape until the board rolls out Xd X X Xd Xd for runner runner suck out. I have him covered by 50 chips and have to re buy another 5k.

It went further down hill just before the break when i limped in the c/o with 2d 3d slightly tilting i decided to try and nail a flop. Flop comes down X 8 Xd and is bet 600 by a lad in early position, i decide to call planning on floating the flop also Dan Kaleda calls on the button behind me the blinds fold and the turn is the 8d, the lad who bet 600 now checks so i move all in for 4.2k more with my FD, Dan dwells behind me before flat calling my all in and i knew i was in trouble. The other lad folds and Dan turns over 10 8 off for trips. I miss my dime and have to get my final re buy so i have 5k to come back to after the break.

Pushed twice to pick up the blinds then push in the c/o with pocket 5's with only the button and blinds to get through. Dan Kaleda on the button calls with A Q off and he hits and I'm out.

Buy ins (inc rake): £822

Cashes : £1674.50

Profit/Loss: £852.50

Monday 9 February 2009

Gala monthly £100 Freeze out

After the win at Alea on Thursday night i decided to attend the new Gala £100 freeze out. I sold 50% of my action and only planned on playing if there were 50+ players. I arrived and i was number 37 so it looked like they were going to make the numbers. A total of 65 entered all together creating a £6.5k pot with £2.2k for the win. With a 15k starting stack and 3 30 minute levels starting at 25/50 it provided some patient play early on but 20 minute levels after the break i thought it would become a bit of a crap shoot in the later levels.


My first real hand came in the 100/200 level. I raised to 700 on the button with Queens after 2 limper's which was called my a guy called Ian from York. The flop was 9 5 7 and he checked so i bet out 1125 which he flat called. The turn was a 10 and he checked again so i checked behind (I now know i should of fired the flop but i would have to have made it big to price out any drawing hands). The river was a 3 and Ian now fires out 2.5k which i payed off to be shown 6 4 which got there on the river. I was down to 9.5k of my 15k stack.


We then had a break and Gala provided a decent sized buffet which was very nice.


After the break i became card dead and had to make some moves, i pushed UTG with 6h 5h which got through, the next hand i was on the BB and after Sean Savage had raised i pushed with Js 10s, he layed it down and now i had a few more blinds to last another orbit after shoving with KQ which also got through.

I then get a much needed double up courtesy of Paul Gourlay he had min raised in late position and passed round to me in the BB i looked down at AK and jammed it in, he couldn't pass and called with Kd 3d. I held and now had a decent 19.5k stack. First time i had been above 15k all night.

My exit hand came when i raised to 5.6k with pocket 9's, Sean Savage re popped it putting me all in, i almost folded but had committed 1/3 of my stack so i made the call hoping he was on high cards. He had AA and i was drawing thin, no miracle out and i was down to dust.

The tournament was very well attended, but with 20 minute levels i think this could be improved slightly to allow more play. Congratulations to Brent Horner, Sean Savage, Mel Lofthouse and Paul Gourlay who along with another player did a 5 way chop for £1,070 each. Well done guys.

Buy ins (inc rake): £774.50

Cashes : £1674.50

Profit/Loss: £900

Alea £20 double chance

Instead of having a few days off i fancied the Thursday night comp at Alea. £20 double chance with a 5k starting stack with around 30 runners.

I managed to delete my notes for this comp but i remember getting my 5k starting stack up to the 15k mark after my add on at the break due to one hand against Grayson Cobb. I had 3 5 in the BB and checked my option and we saw a flop of A 2 6, it was checked round and a 4 on the turn gave me the nuts so i checked again and Grayson bet 200, a few limper's called so i just flatted and a 9 came on the river. This time i bet out 400 which Grayson re raised to 1200, everybody folded round to me i re raised all in a further 3.5k more which he payed off with A 9.

After the break i offered to deal and bided my time and picked up a few pots. I lost a bit pot to Karim after i had raised with AK, he dwelled and pushed all i thought he had a weak Ace or a pair lower than 9's so i called and he turned over KK. I failed to hit and doubled him up. I still had a decent stack left and after making a few moves i made the final table with around 24k.

The first hand of the final table i was in the BB and got to see a free flop with 9 2. The flop came down 9 2 X and after the SB checked Karim bet out, the SB folds so i moved all in and Karim called with 9 10 and bricked out. i just had him covered so i doubled up to around 45k.

I then eliminated a lady with AQ after she pushed short stacked. We were down to 5 and i knocked out another player as he was all in blind on my BB and Faruk called his all in so i came along with some rags which hit the river and knocked him out. I then eliminated Charles Flynn with AJ vs 7 7 AIPF i binked a J on the flop and was now a massive chip leader.

We were down to 3 with Martim, Faruk and myself. After Faruk eliminated Martin we decided to do a chop for the money, each taking £340 and we played on for the league points.

I started off the comp on 2800 points and after Faruk luckily spawned the heads up i received 900 points taking me up to 3700 points. To qualify for the £3000 free roll at the end of February you need 4000 points so all i have to do is turn up 3 more times to get entry into the free roll.

Buy ins (inc rake): £719.50

Cashes : £1674.50

Profit/Loss: £955

Wednesday 4 February 2009

Gala £25+£15 double chance.

Tonight's game at Gala exceeded the guarantee and had 52 runners.

In the first level 25/50 i get dealt AQ off in the SB after a raiser in UTG+1 makes it 175 followed by 2 limper's i make it 675. 3 callers and i fire out 1.5k on an all club flop with top pair. Its good to take down the pot.

Then 2 hands later a weird hand crops up, I raise in th c/o t0 250 with AJ which is flatted by James in the SB, also the BB and UTG. The flop comes down 6 6 10 and is checked around, an 8 on the turn is also checked around. The river is a 7 and James and the BB checks, UTG passes and i flip over my cards and check. James turns over 8's full and the BB turns over 7's full?!?!? How does James not get all of the BB's chips here? He must of smelt a rat!Never check a made hand on the river James!

I then get a gift in the 50/100 level, I look down at 10's in the BB and raise to 600 after Mr Yu flat calls the 600 Shaun re pops it on the button to 2k. I tank for a while before deciding to peel off a flop and i flat call it. Yu passes and we see a flop of 10 3 6 which i check, Shaun then bets out 2.5k so i move all in and he calls off all his chips with 10 2, a 5 on the turn brings a sweat before the Ace brick on the river and i scoop the pot and I'm up to 17k.

I add on at the break and have 22.6k to come back to. I get blinded down to about 16k after a couple of table changes and being card dead for a few levels until 800/1600 where i call a min raise from the BB with A 8 off. The flop comes 8 6 X and i push all in and get insta called by the raiser with K 6, he claimed he thought he had K 8 so i double up to 32k. Wp mate.

We then get split down to 2 tables, i managed to take 2 pots down uncontested with AQo and pocket 9's before 2 big hands come up.

First hand and were on the 1.5k/3k level and i have 33k total, there has been a raise in mid position to 11k and it gets passed round to me on the BB i look down at QQ and tank for a few seconds before shipping it in. The raiser then tanks for about a minute before calling the extra 22k with AJ off, my Queens hold.

The very next hand i get pocket 8's in the SB and facing a limper then 10k raise i decide to flat call the extra 8.5k and peel a flop off, the limper comes along too and we see a flop of 8 10 2. I trap check and the limper checks also, the raiser now goes all in and he has me covered. I then move all in and the limper folds. This is a 150k+ pot and i am sent for the final table if i win the hand. I'm nearly sick when the raiser flips over pocket 10's, he makes quads on the river for good measure and I'm sent packing in 16th spot just short of the final table.

I thought i played solidly again tonight and was cruelly coolered just short of the final table. My run of consecutive final table appearances comes to an end and i left feeling totally numb and gutted. I am now going to have a few days off and will probably get back to the grind on Sunday.

Buy ins (inc rake): £675.50

Cashes : £1334.50

Profit/Loss: £659

Gala £10 triple chance.

So last night i attended Gala's £10 triple chance and was on for my 5th consecutive final table if i were to make it. With 6 tables running the word is getting around about Gala now but the guarantee of £1500 was not met for this tournament.

I managed to donk off my first set of 5k when i was down to around 2.1k and limped in with As 3s, i turned 2 pair on a A Q K 2 (2 clubs) and facing a bet of 1.5k i moved in for an extra 600 which was called by Qc Jc which got there on the 5c river.

I re bought and then added on at the break to have a total of 9.4k.

After the break i got dealt Ac Ad in the BB(300/600), i made it an extra 1.6k to go after 2 limper's and was called by Graham Manson. The flop comes 10 J Q all hearts and i fired out a bet of 1.8k which took it down.

I then get moved tables and Joan who is now a short stack after donking of 20 odd k moves all in for around 2k, the chip leader a scouse lad on my right moves all in to try and isolate Joan. I look down at AA again and snap his hand off! Its on their backs and Joan had pushed with Kc 4c and the chip leader has AK and A on the flop is nice with 2 clubs but i turn a full house to take down a 27k pot.

I then take down a 10k pot blind vs blind when i limped with KQ and Dee pushed in the BB, i called and she flips 10 J. Flop comes QXA turn and river both brick out and I'm up to 32k.

I then double up again blind on blind against Tim Sherwin, i completed with K2 and Tim checked, the flop comes K 2s Xs and i we both check it. The turn is a beautiful 2 and is checked round again, the river is a Q and i now bet out 4k which Tim min raises to 8k, i then move all in and he calls with KQ and I'm up to 64k.

The next hand i get AK on the button and raise it to 12k after a limper in the c/o and he calls, the flop comes X X J and we both check. The turn is a K and he checks to me so i now bet out 8k to find out where i am, the scouse lad calls and another K on the river is nice to see. He checks again and i now bet out 10k which he flat calls with A 10 off for a busted straight draw and my stack is now up to 107k.

I made the final with 93k and was drawn in seat 3 which is bad as I'm in the BB straight away and they will go up on me after one round of the table. This was my 5th consecutive final table and am starting to run pretty well in the run up to the bubble.

I Eliminated Graham Manson with AA vs AJ and i was back up to 109k after losing the blinds. I then lost a 70k pot to Tim Sherwin after he pushes UTG+1 i look down at AK in the BB and call and he shows 10's, the board bricks out and i was down to about 60k.

The final table was now and official all in fest with the chips moving from one stack to another. I managed to get lucky twice beating Andrew James's A 9 off with K 9 suited hitting a K on the flop and then take Ian out in 5th when i pushed UTG with Qs Js, he called in the SB with KQ off and hit a K on the flop but i hit a flush draw which came on the turn giving me a royal flush draw on the river which i missed. I was up to 200k with nearly 1/3 of the chips in play but lost a big pot to the guy on my right when he raised to 40k pre flop at 10k/20k i looked down at 3 3 and decided to jam it all in, he called and turned over A J which hit an A on the flop.

I exited in 4th place and my cousin Ben came 3rd, we had a 50/50 deal agreed before we started the final table so we won a total of £345 which we split for £172.50 each.

Buy ins (inc rake): £632

Cashes : £1334.50

Profit/Loss: £702.50

Monday 2 February 2009

Gala £15 triple chance.

So i went to Gala last night in a good frame of mind after Saturdays disappointment in Blackpool. I really like this tournament at Gala and have final tabled it in the previous 2 weeks.


I started off pretty loosely and lost my first set of 5k trying to set mine with pocket 3's. Flop came down J 4 5 and was checked round to a turn of 6, i now bet out 500 trying to take it down but i got re raised to 1.5k. I should of passed to this bet as it came from the original raiser but i flatted with the open ender hoping to take it away on the river. The river came another 6 and i moved all in for 3k representing the 6 only to be called by JJ for a rivered full house. Ooops.


So i re bought and then get dealt KK so i raise it to 350, the short stack on my left then moves all in for 925, its passed round to Graham Manson on my right who flat calls the 925 so i flat call also. The flop comes down J high and Graham moves in for another 1.2k ish so i insta call him, Graham shows QJ and the short stack had 10's and both missed so i was up to 8350.


I then flopped 2 pair out of the bb with K 7 after the board comes K 7 X with 2 diamonds, i fired out 400 which is flatted by a limper who looked interested in the hand. The turn was the 8c and i now over bet the pot with a 1.9k bet hoping the limper is on a strong King but he folds and i increased my stack. I added on at the break and had a total of 11.5k.


At the 300/600 level i made it 2.5k to go with pocket 10's after Kareem had limped on my right(he limps most hands and hardly raises) it is folded back round to Kareem who flats it and we see a flop of A Q X which we both check, the turn and river are both blanks which get checked down and my 10's are good.


Up to the 400/800 level and after 3 limper's i looked down at pocket 8's in the SB and squeezed all in. It gets through to Kareem on the button who had limped then called my with Q J off for his tournament life! A Jack binks on the flop and I'm down to 4.3k and crippled. WP mate, nice call!


I then move all in UTG for my 4.3k with A J off which gets called by Kareem in the BB with 10 J. My hand holds and I'm up to 8.9k. The very next hand i have J 2 in the BB and is passed round to Kareem who completes the SB so i check to see a flop of 2 2 Q we both check, turn is a 4 which is checked. An 8 on the river and now Kareem bets out 2k, i min raise it to 4k which he pays off with A 8.


At the 600/1200 level after 2 limper's i looked down at QQ and moved all in, it gets passed round to Sean Savage in the BB who is short and decides to gamble with A J off, the board comes K x 10 for a sweat, a turn is another 10 so now Sean only has 3 outs which brick on the river and I'm now up to 27.4k.


Then came my biggest hand of the night, at the 800/1600 level i faced a min raise from UTG before looking down at KK, i re popped it to 10k which was followed by an all in from Dan Kaleda on my left, its passed back to me and i say there is only one hand that's beating me before calling. He flips AK and misses the flop, i turn a flush and its all over before he makes a straight on the river. I increase my stack to over 60k before we are broken to 2 tables.

I managed to lose a fair chunk of my stack with the blinds and my first raise at the table which Justin re raised so i had to pass it. I was moving in around the bubble and finally got caught out by Caroline Manson when i pushed my A 8 into her AQ. I was left crippled and went on a mad all in fest shoving my micro stack in around 8 times and receiving no callers. I managed to get my stack up to around 58k before the bubble broke and i made my 4th consecutive final table.

On the final table a player was eliminated first hand as he was the short stack and was in the BB straight away. After he departed we all decided to do a 9 way chop for £220 each which was slightly less than 3rd place money. I was happy with this chop as it had become a crap shoot and i continued my good run at Gala.

I feel that i am playing well here at Gala at the moment and i am hoping my success continues into this coming week.

Buy ins (inc rake): £600

Cashes : £1162

Profit/Loss: £562