Gala £25 Double Chance.

Tonight I am going to try and make it back-to-back final tables at Gala. More to follow soon.........

I went to tonight's game feeling confident of matching last weeks final table although I was a little under the weather but I felt good. I lost my first 7.5k with Ac Jc on a J-high flop, all the money went in on the turn of a 10 and my opponent tabled 10 10 for trips and made Quads on the river just to make sure. I re-bought for 7.5k and I managed to make it through to the break with 12.8k. After the break I kicked on and eliminated Ed 'The Crazy Yank' with AK vs A3 I checked and he pushed all in on a xAx flop and I insta-called him, turn came another A and he failed to hit his 3 on the river. I then eliminated another player with AK on a AxA board, turn gave him an open ended straight draw which he committed all his stack with, I called and the river bricked out sending me over 30k. I then moved tables and it went quiet for a while, we were down to 2 tables and with blinds at 800/1600 I limped in mid position with 4 4 with 4 players to a flop of K x x, it got checked round and a heavenly 4 came on the turn, a bet from a tight player in early position, quickly followed by an all in from me was called by the tight player with KJ saying "why did i let you see the turn" a J on the turn gave him a few outs but a blank on the river gave me the pot. A while later after being blinded down to around 10xBB I pushed all in against the same player with the 4 4 from earlier after he had raised in early position i thought he would lay it down as he said "id call anybody but you" but he found the call and my Kh 10h was in bad shape against his A 10, but a K in the window sealed the double up and I was back in it. We were then down to 2 tables and I felt like I could make back to back final tables unto this hand came up, it was passed round to me on the button and i held Ac 10c and raised it up to 18k (blinds 3k 6k) SB folded and Mark Lewis a very good respected player called the extra 12k, I thought he is going to push on any flop and I was prepared for this, the flop came 7 4 7 rainbow and as I thought he moved in for 35k, I thought he wouldn't push all in with a 7 and if he has a 4 then I've got over cards and I thought I was in front so I made the call and he showed 6h 5h for an open ended straight draw, I was happy with my read and he said "nice call", the turn was 9h giving Mark a flush draw and a dirty 5 on the river gave him a pair and left me with a bowl of rice, which i went all in with next hand with 9 10 against Marks A 10 and another short stacks A 8 so I was in bad shape an 8 on the flop and 10 on the turn gave Mark the pot and eliminated two of us to make it the final table. I was happy with the way I played all night and only made 2 mistakes all night but if that hand would of held up i was in good shape for the final table.

Gala £25 Double Chance 5 way chop.

As I felt like I was running good and I just had one of those feelings like I was going to do well I headed off to Gala for the £25 double chance tournament. I found myself on WSOP Bracelet holder Lawrence Gosney's table which is always interesting. I was in seat 9 but offered to deal for the guy. I got to the break with 15 600 after my add on. After the break I knocked a player out with 10 10 vs 8 8 and then took another player out with A Q hit top pair on the flop against his straight draw, I made trips on the turn and he missed the river and I was upto around 40k. I dealt myself some decent hands and took a few pots down pretty much uncontested, then i got K K and raised 3x BB and got 2 callers, the flop came down K K A for flopped Quads! I could hardly contain myself! I was unable to get much out of it though. Shortly after I was moved tables and managed to drop 10k in chips before I was moved back to my original table when the new dealer kindly dealt me QQ to know another player out followed by AK which i raise 3 x BB and found a raise by the previous player who was on my direct left before I was moved, I put him down as a tight player but had not much experience and it was his first time in the Gala id seen him take a few pots down with strong hands so I put him on QQ JJ AK or AQ and could maybe out play him when the flop came down, the flop was A J x (2 hearts) I check he bets, I call here because he has me covered and want to take the minimum risks, turn comes Q hearts I check again and he bets bigger I flat call again here as now I have a straight draw to go with my top pair, the river is a 10 making me the nut straight, I move all in and he goes into the tank, I start giving him some chat saying i didn't want him to call and don't want him to go home, I now no he's not got a flush or a full house or he would of insta-called my all in so I'm happy if he calls, I call the clock on him and after he says Ive put too much in Ive gotta call he calls me with a set of Q's and I scoop the biggest pot of the night and go chip leader with 140k and were down to 2 tables. I dropped about 70k and were hand for hand when i found As Ks and pushed in for about 50k and was called by Derek a slow rolling old boy in a wheel chair, he calls me with K K and I spiked an A on the flop and we were down to 10 for the final table. I started the Final Table with 114k and drew seat number 3 which is the worst seat as you start in the BB, we got down to 6 players and I picked up QQ and raised to 40k, a guy re-raise all in and after I counted my chips we had exactly the same amount and I called and he flipped over 10 10 and with no help from the board he was out in 6th and I was chip leader with 193k but we were all around the high 100's and a 5 way deal was suggested, the deal was for £495 each which was just short of 2nd place money so I was happy as I needed the cash. If i had of been in a better financial situation the I would of played on for the win but I did not want to risk it.

Pokerstars $4.40 180 man Sit & Go.

After a slow start and again on my Mums account (i run better on this account than my own) i managed to grind out a 5th place finish for $57 i felt really good and felt that i was running well so i decided and with a bit of persuasion to go to Gala Leeds for the £25 double chance.

Well Done to Nick Carter.

Another good result for Nick Carter down in Nottingham at Dusk till Dawn in the Thursday £50 freezeout. Nick chopped 4 ways and took home a tidy £1600 to go with the £2.5k he won this month. After a poor February Nick has turned it around and is playing a very good game.

Best online result to date.

Saturday the 15th and it was back to a bit of online poker. I played under my mums account and i entered the Pokerstars $11 $100k guaranteed tournament, with 3000 in chips and a 15 minute clock i thought that was good value for money. I ran really well and doubled up with AA early doors, and won every 50/50 i was in, mid way through the tournament and at a make or break time i found JJ and was all in Vs AA flop was a blank and i had 2 out to hit, bring on the turn J and just to make sure the case J appeared on the River for runner runner Quads! That set me up and i gathered momentum from there and was chip leader for most of the time with 30 or so left and reached over a million in chips at one point! I reached the final table from over 3000 players and over 7 hours into the tournament i made two mistakes which cost me a bigger win but i cashed in 9th place for $300 which is my best result to date! I was happy with the way that i played and wished i could of made it to my goal of 6th place which was over $1000 but the blinds were high and it was pretty much all in or fold.

Withdrawal Symptoms

Friday the 14th of March and I Cracked! I couldnt resist the offer of a trip to Dusk till Dawn and so i headed off down to Nottingham with a friend of mine Fran Plant for the £75 freezeout. My bad run continued as i never got above my 4000 starting stack. I paid off a straight with 2 pair on the 2nd hand and dwindled my stack down to peanuts from there on in! My fate came at the hands of this last years WSOP finalist John Kalmar. I also had Top Lady Player and all round nice lady Beverley Pace sat at my table, she was there with funny man husband Norman Pace. Fran busted shortley after i did so it was back up the M1 we went talking about how bad we had played.

Month off from Casino

On monday night i decided that i needed a month off from live poker and was going to concentrate more on playing online and saving a bankroll to pay me into £100 DTD tournament.