Alea £10 double chance

Tuesday night i went to Alea for the £10 double chance, i started of pretty well taking 2 pots off Joan with pocket 6's and QJ against her AK both times. I also made a straight and a flush to build my stack up to the 18k mark after my add on at the break.

After the break my table was broken up and i was moved to another table. After about 10 hands on my new table i was forced to move as i was the next BB and i moved to a table with a few friends on, Jonny Salfi, Mark Oldroyd and Christiano Greggster. I assessed the table for a while before Mark eliminated Chris as Chris had just lost a huge pot, Mark ended up calling Chris's all in with a draw which got there on the river.

Then a hand came up against Mark, he was on my right and he was taking advantage of my button and blinds so i was trying to find an opportunity to play back at him, I found K 10 on the BB in a limped pot and checked my option. The flop came 10 8 5 rainbow and Mark was first to act and bet a strong 4k into a similar sized pot, i had put Mark on top pair with a weakish kicker as i felt he would of made a raise pre with A 10. I thought my only move was all in an i thought the other limper's were going to fold to this move, I thought for 30 seconds then made my all in for around 17.5k. The 2 limper's folded and it was back on Mark in the SB with the decision. As he didn't call instantly i knew i was good and now wanted the call. Mark ended up calling with 10 7 and said after his call i put you on the 8, the turn paired the 5 which was good for me until the river paired the 10 giving us both the same full house and a split pot which tilted me after I had him totally dominated, but i didn't lose any chips which was a plus point.

I was picking up marginal hands and was being beaten into the pot every time so i was in fold mode until our table was split again and we were down to 20. I was moved straight into the BB and was running short on chips, my BB and SB got raised which i couldn't defend.

I found Ad Qd which i folded to a strong raise then i found Ah Qh again in a better position and i open the pot with a raise which was smooth called by the BB with a short stack, he pushed on the 10 J X board and i called the extra to find i had him beat when he flipped K 9 for a straight draw, the board ran out giving me the straight and bumped me up to average chips again.

I then found 7 7 UTG+1 a made a stupid move and limped, the button raised to 6k and after the rest had folded i decided to see a flop of J 8 X, i checked to the raiser who bet 10k leaving himself 4.5k behind, i moved all in and he called with A J and the board bricked for me and i was left with 2k which went in the next hand with 4c 5c i was called by the man to my left and the BB found a genuine hand and moved in only for the caller to move in also. The hands were JJ and KQ i hit a pair and a draw which failed to improve and the river gave the pot to the KQ and that was good night for me. My concentration lapsed and i played a hand horribly and that is something i have to improve next time i play.

Buy ins (inc rake): £107.50

Cashes : £175

Profit/Loss: £67.50

Alea £30 rebuy

Sunday i played the Alea £30 unlimited re buy. I only decided to play the tourney at the last minute and made the trip to Leeds. With only 26 runners on 3 tables and a fairly tight easy field i thought i would do well in this tournament. A generous 5k starting stack and 2 x 45 minute levels in which you can re buy allows some decent play and not an all in fest.

I started off well and i had built my stack up to 15k thanks to being paid twice with KK in the first 2 levels. I had a slight blip near the end of the re buy period after i had been caught up in a hand with K 7, the board running out K X 8 X 7, facing a bet of 600 on the flop i flat called, i called a bet of 600 on the turn and a 1200 bet on the river after i had made 2 pair only to be shown trip 8's, so i lost around 2500.

I added on 5k in chips for another £30 at the break and was sat with a stack of about 18k. A nice juicy £1740 pot had formed rewarding the top 5 players with payout. After the break i became card dead right until around the final table bubble, at one point i was down to about 10k and with blinds at 500/1k i had to move in a couple of times to steal the blinds in order to survive.

I found A 9 in mid position and moved in and was looked up by pocket 6's, a blank flop and turn was looking bad until the A came on the river saving me and doubling me up to around 28k, soon after we were down to 9 and a final table.

My mum also made the final and started of well taking the blinds with AK. I managed to take the blinds with a hand before my first key hand of the final table, Graham Wilks pushed in the seat next to me for 27k and i looked down at pocket 8's, i felt that my hand was good and decided to move in after him for around 31k and everybody passed and he flipped over pocket 6's so i had him dominated, an 8 on the flop sealed the hand and i was now in contention with a decent stack to play with.

After the next player was eliminated it was agreed that we would take £50 off of 1st and 2nd place and pay the next player out £100 so we were all now in the money. Then came my next key hand, I looked down at AA UTG and decided to limp in hoping that somebody would raise, they player on my left raised to 16k leaving himself with roughly 16k behind, it was folded round to the BB who had a think but folded then it was back to me so i set him all in and he called with pocket 7's, Aces held and we were down to 5.

I then eliminated my Mum in 5th when she pushed her short stack in with Q 10o I had Ah 4h in the BB and had to make the call, I hit 2 pair to seal it and she left £120. I was now the chip leader with 125k out of the 290k in play with 4 left.

Then came my first big hit to my stack, i had 8 9 in the BB and the SB raised it up fairly small so i decided to take a flop, the flop came 8 J X and the SB bet out around the size of the pot, i thought he was trying to steal the pot so i put him all in for the rest of his stack and he called with AA, the turn brought me a straight draw but i failed to improve and doubled him up.

Then after i had blinded down a bit Tim (played against him in Merrion and Charles home game) moved all in for his stack, i had him covered and looked down at KQ suited on the BB and made the call, he had AK which held, i was left with 7k of which i had 5k in the SB next hand when Charles (played in his home game and at Alea and Moortown) moved all in from UTG, I called blind with my 2k and Tim folded the BB, Charles flipped over KK and i asked if i could reveal my hand after all the cards had been dealt which he agreed to. The 4 5 6 7 9 board was quite good for my blind hand and when i turned over the mighty 8 3 off for a 7 card straight Charles was nearly sick LOL.

I then folded the next hand as i was the button, the following hand i shipped my 21k in with Qd 5d and was called by the BB for the extra 11k with 4 5, first card on the flop was a 4 then 2 diamonds, turn gave me a straight draw but i missed all of my outs on the river and was eliminated in 4th place for £175. I was happy with how i had played and was glad to have cashed in 4th for a decent profit. Still a win at Alea eludes me.

Buy ins (inc rake): £86.50

Cashes : £175

Profit/Loss: £88.50

New Year! New Start!

So with 2009 now underway i have decided to start my updating my poker blog again. I have given up online poker and i am trying not to deposit anymore as i don't think that the game is fair and i don't think i have a good online game. I am going to set myself some poker goals for 2009 and i am hoping to stick to them and also improve my game.

Goals for 2009

1. Play an APAT event
2. Play a DTD £300 event
3. Attend a Blonde Bash
4. Keep a record of results
5. Make an overall profit for the year

So i started off the year with a trip to Grosvenor Merrion on New Years Day for the £10 double chance. With the session fee of £3.50, yukky squashed tables, too many starting chips, poor structure which ends in the final table always going to a chip count i have really fallen out with the place but it was the only game in town on the day so i decided to play. Some of the play in this place is absolutely shocking and laughable at times.

I was card dead for most of the tournament and found a half decent hand in KQo so i shipped it in and walked into AQ, the board ran out pretty good and i had a straight draw by the turn and i rivered a K to suck out on the guy. My elimination hand came when we were down to around 14 left, My Mum pushed all in and i moved all in after her with A 10 and was follwed by another player in the BB, Mama G showed QQ and the BB showed AA oooops Flop comes 8 8 Q, turn is a Q giving Mama G the nuts and the river is a meaningless 10, meaning Mama G tripled up and i was eliminated by the AA as he had me covered. So 2009 didn't start of the best but I'm sure its going to be a good year poker wise.

Buy in(inc rake): £23.50

Cashes: £0

Profit/Loss: -£23.50

Dusk Till Dawn Weekend

I decided to make 2 trips to DTD this weekend as it is my last chance before I go to Australia.

Friday £75 Freezeout

On friday I travelled down with Fran for the £75 Freezeout which attracted 67 runners. I managed to grind it down to the last 20 odd but was swallowed up by the blinds and antes after the lack of any decent cards. I didn't bother playing cash and we headed back up the M1 empty handed.

Sunday £100 Freezeout

Sunday was to be my last trip to DTD and I made the journey with my Mum to play the £100 Freezeout which attracted 59 runners with an overlay of £600 as it is guarenteed at £6.5k. I started of pretty well winning a few pots and building my 5k stack upto the 8k mark. Early doors I was getting some decent cards and using position well to take down a few bluffs. I got to the first break with around 5k after losing a few pots and having to lay down pocket kings on the turn on a very tricky board. Into the middle stages of the competition I doubled through with AK vs 66 a king being the first card out, and the I lost a 50/50 to the eventual winner with AQ spades against 4 4 which some how managed to avoid a lot of bullets, which crippled me and was down to less than 10 BB. i managed to hand around for a little while but eventually busted out in 13th (top 7 being paid) with the blinds and antes swallowing me up. I always enjoy the DTD experience and cant wait for by next visit hopefully to make a final table.

Moortown £20 Freezeout

Last night I headed off for the £20 Freeze out at Grosvenor Moortown, 20 players started on 2 tables with several on the alternate list. I found myself on table 1 with Ma aka my Mum and my Uncle John. I decided to change my game a bit and become a bit more aggressive than normal as I thought I had the right table to do so, I used position well and raised in spots with any 2 cards often getting through but once or twice getting caught with my fingers in the till. I reached the break with a little over my 10k starting stack. After the break I grinded away picking my spots until I doubled up with AK vs 99 the flop was a blank but an A on the turn then a K on the river was enough to ship me the 20k+ pot. I then played 2 big hands against Paul (the guy who smokes pens) he was to my right and raised to 2k and I picked up a tell of weakness on him so I re popped him to 6k with 8 3 os, everybody folded round to him and after a short dwell he mucked his cards. Then a couple of hands later Paul limped from the SB (500/1000), I raised up to 4k with pocket 7's and Paul min raised it to 8k, I then insta pushed all in and after a think about it for a while he mucked saying he folded AQ. I was up to around the 30k mark and we were soon down to the final table with the top 5 being paid. The first hand of the final table I looked down at 66 in UTG +1 and I raised to 3600, it was passed round to my mum on the BB who looked me up, the flop came A Q x and she checked, I bet out 6k and she folded 7 7 face up so I couldn't resist showing her my under pair lol. I then played a big pot with Mark Lewis (from Gala £25 double chance) he raised it up on button to 3200 which I called with Ac Jc from the SB, flop came A A 4 (2 spades) I checked he bet out which i flat called, a blank on the turn and it goes check check, another blank on the river so i checked and he bet 8k on the river which i just flat called in case he was holding AK or AQ, he actually had J 2 of spades for a busted flush draw. I then made a squeeze play with 6 6 after a few limper's on my BB which got through. Then Justin raised 3 x BB and I moved all in against him with JJ he passed pretty quick. We were soon in the money then my Mum doubled through by taking Justin out with J 9 against his Q 9. We were then down to 3 which consisted of David Bielby, my Mum and Myself. I called my Mums SB raise from the BB with 7d 8d, flop came 2 diamonds and she moved all in which I called she showed A Q and I hit my flush on the river sending her to the rail in 3rd. WP Ma Unlucky. (No colluding when we are at the same table!) Heads up lasted no more than 10 hands after i had JJ busted by a flopped flush and straight draw which hit on the river and I came 2nd for £145. GG and WP.

Congratulations to Richard Hawes on his Victory at DTD.

Well done to Richard Hawes for taking down the Tuesday £50 re buy down at Dusk till Dawn last night. Rich made that win number 3 down in Nottingham beating Marcus Bebb-Jones and Julian Thew along the way to scooping £2.1k for his nights work. Nice going Rich!

New Gala £40 bounty tournament.

I decided to try out the new scheduled bounty tournament at Gala last night and with £30 going into the prize fund and £10 as your bounty i thought it was good value for money with a 30min clock and 15k starting stack. I decided to deal and could deal myself and hand, I managed to bluff a few pots and get to the first break losing just 800 from my 15k. After the break i had to fold my best hand of the night AK against Derek aka "Wheels" after i missed all streets and he fired out on the river. Then I was getting short and I pushed in mid position with K Q os only to be called by "Wheels" in the BB with Q J which i was delighted to see until the flop came 8 9 x giving my opponent a gut shot which he hit on the turn as I dealt the 10, I needed a J on the river which blanked out for me. I didn't claim any bounties but i thought i didn't make any mistakes and was happy with how i played.

A small cash game had broken out so as I waited around for my mate on the final table I sat down with £40, a few hands in I found AA in the BB I got heads up and all my money in the middle on a 9 10 J Q K board, I rivered the straight beating my opponents J Q for turned 2 pair. I then payed off 2 players after I miss read the board (all under cards to my JJ but any 7 made a straight) a river bet of £20 by player A was called by myself and player B, the both showed the 7 and were puzzled by my call with the JJ, I explained that I missed the straight, which shouldn't of bothered them as they made an extra £10 each out of me! I then saw a multi way flop with K 3 os and flopped top pair, another K on the turn gave me trips which was good enough to win a nice pot and I left the table with £90 making back my tournament entry money which was better than nothing.