I'm not the greatest fan of team events in general. From experience they generally mean playing in above average fields for very little reward. Having said that I was happy enough to play for the CueClub team when Connie asked me last week as I had decided to travel up for the side events anyway.
Our team got off to a decent start and were one of two teams to enter Saturday with a full quota of players. Saturday started really bad losing three players almost immediately, through no fault of there own. The most unlikely of Kerrymen, Willie Clynes being the most unfortunate. The rest of the day went pretty well for us and the remaining three of fought our way back into the mix. As I said these events usually have well above average fields for the buyin and my table saturday was one of the best I played on in Ireland all year. O' Shea, BigGPimpMick, Tilty Taylor, Mouthy Masters, The Pirate, TD Donal ect ect; right craic but no easy chips.
By the time the FT was reached Sunday I was last Kerry Man standing, needing to win to secure second for the team. I was probably 2nd in chips when I raised Ah9h from the SB into the chip leader from Leeds and called his shove. Unfortunately he held AQ. Having seen the gent play the previous day I'm happy enough with my call; its not as marginal as it looks against this opponent. Chatting with Dara after he maintained its a mistake not to call here and although I had some doubt on my drive home, having digested the hand its a call alright.
I'm thinking I'll take the weekend off and I'm back to the City West next for the filming of late night pokerstars which goes out on RTE this Autumn. Here's my heat, should be good craic;
HEAT 3 19:00-22:30hrs
Celeb Ken Doherty Confirmed
Celeb Bernard Dunne Confirmed
Poker Player Nicky Power Confirmed
Poker Player Padraig Parkinson Confirmed
OnLine Qualifier Elizabeth Mullally
OnLine Qualifier Martin McDDonagh
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Chin Up
Headed down for the Macau festival on the Tuesday for a round of golf before the PLO tournament that night; neither went well. Sideshow and Gavin Stevens taking out myself and Flipper. I made the FT of the Omaha but exited in eight before the money, nice showing from Bops who finished second.
The next three days saw more golf twice on the smashing Castlemartyr course with Marty, Paul Spillane and Paul's mate Tristan, who had won the Tuesday nights PLO. Got raped twice playing skins but got most back on Friday in a two man scramble playing with Paul. Had a nice meal and drinks Wednesday night which ended about 6 am in Flippers new Balla pad so decided to go for starting day 2, Friday
My main event starting table was great and I got to 40k in chips with two levels of the day remaining. I did spew a bit after that dropping to 25k before rallying to 33k at the end of play. Day two was going very well and I reached level nine of the game with 80k but that was as good as it got. Most of this came in a double where I raised the cut-off with KJos, SB called and the raise meant the BB was all in. Flop 7 8 10 with two diamonds giving me a double gutter; check/check. Queen on the turn gives me the nuts and I get it in with the SB who to my surprise is drawing to a jack for a chop holding KK.
I had a real momentum stopper in level three when I call a raise on the button with 44, the SB comes along and we see a JJ2, two diamond flop. The initial raiser bet 3.5k, I decided to float. The SB called also. When both checked the 10h turn I bet 66% of the pot. I was sure the initial raiser didn't hold a Jack and having played with the SB before was confidant enough that this bet would take the pot; the sb called leaving about 12k behind ( yuk) and the initial raiser folds. I'm not a happy camper when we check the 6x river to be shown 9d6d.
I get no real hands over the next four levels with a lot of raises snapped off and have about 50k when I play a hand with williamhill sponsored player, James Browning. Blinds 1/2k 200 ante, he limps as does one other and I make it 10k with 88 from the BB. He tanks gives some waffle and ships his 40k, The guy had limped called a ship by me in the gukpt Newcastle earlier in the year with 66 and he had shipped over about three openings earlier where i folded. I was sure he hadn't limped with a premium and think he thought I had him pegged for a total rock and thus will fold most hands to him. Anyway having made up my mind while he tanked, I snapped and was disappointed to be shown 1010.
This saw me drop to 10k; 5 BBs. I managed to get it back to 40k by the end of the 1200/2400 level but blew most of that again with a spewy call when the six of diamonds merchant pushed over my button Q9s raise. I exited in a 65k pot shortly afterwards with QQ v AJ, A on the turn. Think I went out eight off the money in 24th position. Although I didn't play particularly well I enjoyed the tournament and the week in Cork.
The pattern all year for me seems to be to get decent chips over the first 8 levels and then basically go completely card dead and scrape into the money or just miss it. Very frustrating but I'm not reading to much into it as in general I feel I'm playing close to optimally all year.
The next three days saw more golf twice on the smashing Castlemartyr course with Marty, Paul Spillane and Paul's mate Tristan, who had won the Tuesday nights PLO. Got raped twice playing skins but got most back on Friday in a two man scramble playing with Paul. Had a nice meal and drinks Wednesday night which ended about 6 am in Flippers new Balla pad so decided to go for starting day 2, Friday
My main event starting table was great and I got to 40k in chips with two levels of the day remaining. I did spew a bit after that dropping to 25k before rallying to 33k at the end of play. Day two was going very well and I reached level nine of the game with 80k but that was as good as it got. Most of this came in a double where I raised the cut-off with KJos, SB called and the raise meant the BB was all in. Flop 7 8 10 with two diamonds giving me a double gutter; check/check. Queen on the turn gives me the nuts and I get it in with the SB who to my surprise is drawing to a jack for a chop holding KK.
I had a real momentum stopper in level three when I call a raise on the button with 44, the SB comes along and we see a JJ2, two diamond flop. The initial raiser bet 3.5k, I decided to float. The SB called also. When both checked the 10h turn I bet 66% of the pot. I was sure the initial raiser didn't hold a Jack and having played with the SB before was confidant enough that this bet would take the pot; the sb called leaving about 12k behind ( yuk) and the initial raiser folds. I'm not a happy camper when we check the 6x river to be shown 9d6d.
I get no real hands over the next four levels with a lot of raises snapped off and have about 50k when I play a hand with williamhill sponsored player, James Browning. Blinds 1/2k 200 ante, he limps as does one other and I make it 10k with 88 from the BB. He tanks gives some waffle and ships his 40k, The guy had limped called a ship by me in the gukpt Newcastle earlier in the year with 66 and he had shipped over about three openings earlier where i folded. I was sure he hadn't limped with a premium and think he thought I had him pegged for a total rock and thus will fold most hands to him. Anyway having made up my mind while he tanked, I snapped and was disappointed to be shown 1010.
This saw me drop to 10k; 5 BBs. I managed to get it back to 40k by the end of the 1200/2400 level but blew most of that again with a spewy call when the six of diamonds merchant pushed over my button Q9s raise. I exited in a 65k pot shortly afterwards with QQ v AJ, A on the turn. Think I went out eight off the money in 24th position. Although I didn't play particularly well I enjoyed the tournament and the week in Cork.
The pattern all year for me seems to be to get decent chips over the first 8 levels and then basically go completely card dead and scrape into the money or just miss it. Very frustrating but I'm not reading to much into it as in general I feel I'm playing close to optimally all year.
Friday, August 7, 2009
Cork next week weeeeeeeeeee
The Irish Classic and the Macau festivals in general are one of, if not the highlight of the year for me. This is probably result based as I can usually dig out a result there but I really love playing the festivals in the Macau. I'm fairly sure if the hendon mob did a ranking on festivals there like they do for British casinos I'd be top of the list, fingers crossed I can continue to do the business there next week. I heading down Tuesday for the PLO ( really for golf Wednesday ) and will probably play day one of the main event Thursday.
Barcelona didn't go to well but had a good weekend with Connie who had no joy either. I exited the main event with A10 on a 1055 flop for 50BBs verses 95 in a raised pot in level four. I felt very good about my starting table as it was mostly filled with value. Without going into to much detail I'm happy enough with how my exit played out although it may seem marginal at best at face value. The tournament had 370 starters, the structure was a bit fast at the start for a €1000+150 game ( 1st 4 levels 45 mins , 10k chips) , there seemed plenty play later on and I'll have a few stabs at qualifying for the series final in Malta early September.
With Vegas and that I haven't had much time for online recently but I'm looking forward to getting stuck back into it after Cork. The little I've played on Brucepokers new platform since the changeover has been very encouraging and I really like the new site. I'm intending putting in decent hour over the coming months, probably playing STTs and MTTs and some low stakes PLO, trying to improve in that.
This weekend I'll play the Joan Vickers Charity event in the new Voodoo club in Dublin, a very worthy cause and give me a chance to check of the new club at the same time. Sunday the Brucepoker live show hits Carlow in Atlantis casino, another great spot for a game.
Barcelona didn't go to well but had a good weekend with Connie who had no joy either. I exited the main event with A10 on a 1055 flop for 50BBs verses 95 in a raised pot in level four. I felt very good about my starting table as it was mostly filled with value. Without going into to much detail I'm happy enough with how my exit played out although it may seem marginal at best at face value. The tournament had 370 starters, the structure was a bit fast at the start for a €1000+150 game ( 1st 4 levels 45 mins , 10k chips) , there seemed plenty play later on and I'll have a few stabs at qualifying for the series final in Malta early September.
With Vegas and that I haven't had much time for online recently but I'm looking forward to getting stuck back into it after Cork. The little I've played on Brucepokers new platform since the changeover has been very encouraging and I really like the new site. I'm intending putting in decent hour over the coming months, probably playing STTs and MTTs and some low stakes PLO, trying to improve in that.
This weekend I'll play the Joan Vickers Charity event in the new Voodoo club in Dublin, a very worthy cause and give me a chance to check of the new club at the same time. Sunday the Brucepoker live show hits Carlow in Atlantis casino, another great spot for a game.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Waterford Masters
I'm generally good with remembering hands from tournaments but last weekends have gone missing in my mind. I ended day one on 37k which was in good shape. Had a great first level in day two getting close to 60k, after that I stagnated and the rest of the day was a grind. I was eventually out in a race with Tom Kitt, A10 v 77 for about a 90k pot, with about 40 players left. I did have 15% ( 10 of it won playing golf :-) of Marty's action which was worth €2,100 to me; WP Marty. In fairness he put up a stunning performance to finish 2nd as he was ultra short coming back on Sunday.
My job of putting the structure together ( the quality of the final table tells me I did a good job ) for the main event and annoying a few people to come down was pretty easy compared to the work all the others put in over the weekend. Well done to all the dealers they played a blinder and floor staff ( Wayne, Robert, Gary, Keith, Kevin and Seamus ), they did a brilliant Job, Fox was pretty good in his ambassadorial role; also the Brucepoker team who did a fantastic job setting up the room. Biggest thanks goes to the players especially all those that traveled from outside the deise, the 197 starters for the main event was a super turnout.
This was everyone involved first major festival and overall I feel it can be considered a great success. There was a bit of a mix up with the food and one or two other minor area's that wont happen again but as I said for a first go I think it was a top tournament from a players point of view. I don't think we ever pretended the Grand Hotel was the ritz but in many ways, the rustic nature of the place gave the tournament a certain ambiance and uniqueness. Again, big thanks to all that attended and congrats to all who cashed esp Jay and Marty, two exceptional players who are a credit to the game.
I'm off to Barcelona tomorrow to play the Spanish leg of the European Masters of Poker Tour. Total spur of the moment stuff stemming from a phone call at about seven tonight from Connie. Structure isn't anything to right home about but hopefully I can hit a few cards.
My job of putting the structure together ( the quality of the final table tells me I did a good job ) for the main event and annoying a few people to come down was pretty easy compared to the work all the others put in over the weekend. Well done to all the dealers they played a blinder and floor staff ( Wayne, Robert, Gary, Keith, Kevin and Seamus ), they did a brilliant Job, Fox was pretty good in his ambassadorial role; also the Brucepoker team who did a fantastic job setting up the room. Biggest thanks goes to the players especially all those that traveled from outside the deise, the 197 starters for the main event was a super turnout.
This was everyone involved first major festival and overall I feel it can be considered a great success. There was a bit of a mix up with the food and one or two other minor area's that wont happen again but as I said for a first go I think it was a top tournament from a players point of view. I don't think we ever pretended the Grand Hotel was the ritz but in many ways, the rustic nature of the place gave the tournament a certain ambiance and uniqueness. Again, big thanks to all that attended and congrats to all who cashed esp Jay and Marty, two exceptional players who are a credit to the game.
I'm off to Barcelona tomorrow to play the Spanish leg of the European Masters of Poker Tour. Total spur of the moment stuff stemming from a phone call at about seven tonight from Connie. Structure isn't anything to right home about but hopefully I can hit a few cards.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
All Roads lead to Tramore
Almost back to normal after the month in Vegas. Sleep pattern has been messed up alright but that's to be expected. On reflection I'm happy with how the trip went, got a semi deep run at the greatest tournament in the world, had a great month in the sun and came home with a few bob so all in all happy enough. Of course I would of loved to have gotten my hands on a few chips on day five and been able to express myself but overall I played the hand I was dealt as well as anyone could and I have gleaned a lot of experience from the 35 hours play I lasted in the tournament. Hopefully this will stand to my benefit in future WSOPs if I'm lucky enough to be in a position to play them.
On a related note. Opened my case last Friday after leaving Vegas last Wednesday. Leaflet inside saying it was searched by US customs; assuming this was either in Vegas or New York as baggage was transferred to connecting flight. I had put the laptop in the suitcase and I'm assuming the customs never put it back in when they finished the search as it was in its own case on top of everything else when I packed. After three days trying to get someone at air lingus they tell me its not there problem and give me a number for Shannon and JFK airports. Anyone have any experience on what avenues I should be tackling to chase this down.
Finally this weekend sees the inaugural Brucepoker.com sponsored Waterford Masters. Bigslick had run the Waterford open the last few years but they had nothing planned this year with there focus on there big Killarney game. Myself, Fox and Seamus with Pronutz and Bruce's on board decided to put on the Waterford Masters to produce a quality event for the southeast. ATM it looks that its a sellout with the 200 capacity reached. Top class players are heading to Tramore from all over the country and a fantastic weekends poker is promised.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Goodnight from Las Vegas
I was disappointed after my exit yesterday but today its all history. In all fairness I was always just hanging in hoping to hit a rush so cant be that upset going out. Played golf with Marty yesterday afternoon and again today which was enjoyable as usual; the gambling has increased over the last few rounds but no-one getting that much ahead.
Tony/Flushdraw on boards asked me some questions on boards that were interesting, I'll post them below.
Before you played, you would have had an expectation from the tournament, did you exceed it or fall short?
When I started playing I'd go into tournaments thinking to myself I'm gonna win this or whatever but I never have any expectations entering any tournament these days so i suppose cashing does exceed what I'd expect.
Related to above, if you got a decent run of premium cards, would you have fancied yourself for a really deep finish?
Well I don't know, I saw some relatively big stacks come and go over the four days so I guess that could of been me, my stack was relatively easy to play without any big decisions. I felt going back yesterday if I could hit a few hands I could get to the last 100 or even 50 and then take it from there. With the blinds so big at that stage a big stack is never far away. A double and treble up would of put me well over a million. I knew going into yesterday that I would have to go to and win at showdown something I was able to avoid the whole way through. If I could of had the AK in that hand and picked up a hand or two after I could of went deep. I think there was loads of people playing once they made the money more or less thought that was there job done and were quiet happy to go home. I wasnt one of them, I wanted it and was prepared for the deep run.
How tough was it to stay focused for the duration?
I really just played in the moment, its just so big that I just kept telling myself all I can control is playing my table and my hand. I think I had a better sence of achievement half way through day three when all the players were in one room for the first time then when the money was broke
Any preperation you would change for next time?
None, I played the main event in 2007 and knew I got it all wrong preperation wise. This time I got it totally right "for me". I honestly dont think I could of sat down each day in better shape.
Who was the toughest opponent you faced?
A young swede who was 2nd in the masters classic last year was very impressive on day two when he had chips. He lost them to a guy that played a hand terribly against him and got lucky. Once he got shortish he wasn't a factor and rocked it but when he was flowing with chips he was very impressive. The table I was moved to at the end of day three looked very good but thankfully I was there for only 30 mins, during that time I saw Kenny Tran butcher a hand that cost him 400k, he may of lost the chips anyway but the way they went in was woeful.
Best hand played?
Hugely marginal re-re-steel on day three, 3-better had no F/E but I was confident all the planets were aliened. I have know doubt this hand was essential in me making the money.
Worst hand played?
The kd3d hand in level two of day one was the only hand I played badly but as Valor said it was a train wreck.
How much did Flippers bet with Hectorjelly spur you on?
I think Hector had slightly the best of it at 3/1 but only marginally, I'd say I was somewhere between 10/3 and 7/2 to cash. The table draw variance is something that cant be accounted for in such a bet and is a huge influence on the outcomes.
Whats next on the list?
Tramore, Friday week
Monday, July 13, 2009
All Over Baby
Just exited the WSOP main event in 353rd place for $29,911. The 8.5 million first prize would of probably killed me anyhow :-)
Got QQ on first orbit and no action, folded for 20 hands, got a reshove through exit hand -1 taking my stack back over 150k. Pushed AsQS over a 1.2 million stacks open, miles ahead of his range but unfortunetly he has AK. 330k in the middle and the only time I was all-in at showdown the whole game. GG.
Got QQ on first orbit and no action, folded for 20 hands, got a reshove through exit hand -1 taking my stack back over 150k. Pushed AsQS over a 1.2 million stacks open, miles ahead of his range but unfortunetly he has AK. 330k in the middle and the only time I was all-in at showdown the whole game. GG.
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