Cork's good

When I play poker in Cork I'm generally more enthusiastic about the game. I've often wondered why this is the case. I usually get some kind of a result there, but I'm not so fickle about the game to be that result orientated.

I think the realisation of the reason struck me when I was going through Dungarvan last Monday on my way to the Macau. As I was passing the accounting practice where I jacked in my job nearly five years ago to play poker full time, I was filled with very warm and positive feelings towards the game; god I hated that job!

Ken is making a real effort to produce a different kind of festival than we are used to here in Ireland and he came up with a super week's poker, with something for everyone.

Monday and Tuesday saw a shoot-out and short-handed tournament. I played both with no real depth, but both were very enjoyable and deserved more support.

On Thursday, Marty and myself headed to the pub early in preparation for the PLO event. We all arrived a bit late, and we were lucky enough that local socialite, Flipper, was able to fit us in on his tight schedule for a sweet dinner that Mark Spellman kindly paid for.

I'm not even decent at PLO but it's a game you can run well in. Buoyed by the dozen or so Guinness in the system, I got away with a few retarded bluffs early and got a nice stack together. The pivotal hand of the tournament for me was against Marty with about twelve players left and us both being chip leaders.

Now, I'd never question Marty's play at PLO, but his move of calling all those chips with a pair of threes and a ten high flush draw on the flop went way over my head.

The final table went okay, but by six in the morning, with five remaining and a hangover kicking in, I was delighted to take second place money of €2,500. The other four (obviously bedazzled by my PLO skills), got €1,500 and included Paul Spillane and Noel Magner, who went on to take the trophy- so well done Noel.

Friday was Day 1B of the main event and the starting table was difficult enough. I lost the two biggest pots I played over the day, a 28k pot with v the of James Hawkeye McManus, and a 24k pot last hand of the night, with Kings against a flush draw that went in on the turn.

With 14k going back for day two, I was hopeful rather then confident. Second hand in, I lose half of these when I call a short's shove with AJ and lose, he had 67. Queue the heater, I win two races with 77 and then hit a set over set and end level one with 50k.

Over the next three levels I get this to 100k, but fall back a bit just before dinner and get moved to a new table with about 75k. The first hand I play here costs me about 20k. Kings on a Jack high flop, against an elderly gent who wouldn't put down AQ, no draw, and hit the Ace.

Having recouped to about 80k, my exit came at the hands of the same gent. I raise the button with and we see a two club flop. He check raises me to 20k and I shove to be called with a set of three's.

I may seem spewy to be putting in that amount of chips with a bad over pair, but at the time I was confident I was value shoving.

It was a really enjoyable week overall. We managed to get in three rounds of golf with Marty winning the first two. His comment to his mate Ronan near the end of the second round, about me being easy money, deserved retribution and retribution was what he got Sunday, with me taking by far the biggest pot of the week.

We're heading to Donegal for four days golf this week and I'm sure he'll have his revenge as he'll know the courses fairly well.

I'm looking forward to September's poker. The first weekend, I'll be at the Cue Club in Killarney for a €300 game. This should be another cracking weekend. I don't think I'll bother going to London at any stage but will take in the UKIPT Dublin and I've booked flights to Barcelona on the 22nd to take in the EMOP, an €1,100 buy in event that I played last year.

Scalps your way to IPO bonus chips

I'm currently in Cork for the seven-day Macau festival. This is one of my favourite festivals of the year and while I've had no luck in the shoot-out and short-handed events so far, I'm still very hopeful I can bag myself a decent result before the week's out.

Speaking of favourite festivals, the IPO is closing in fast and it's about time I got my bonus chips earned. Boyles are running a great little series of scalp tournaments next week with plenty of added money.

As well as being great craic, these $5 and $10 buy-in tournaments will go a fair way to totting up the points needed to secure the bonus chips for the big one in October. Why not join myself and the rest of the team every night next week for the 8.30pm scalp games?!

8.30pm Aug 23rd	Scalp Series 1	$10 + $1 FO	$100 added + four $25 pro bounties
8.30pm Aug 24th	Scalp Series 2	$5 + .50c FO	$100 added + four $25 pro bounties
8.30pm Aug 25th	Scalp Series 3	$10 + $1 FO	$100 added + four $25 pro bounties
8.30pm Aug 26th	Scalp Series 4	$5 + .50c FO	$100 added + four $25 pro bounties
8.30pm Aug 27th	Scalp Series 5	$10 + $1 FO	$100 added + four $25 pro bounties

Race Week

After Tramore, myself and Marty went to the Carton House for a couple of rounds of golf with Paul Spillane and then headed onto Galway.

Marty thinks we should play golf with Paul once a week, now that he's unemployed but I can't afford losing to him every week - so I suppose once a month will have to do. They actually do a great deal at Carton, around €125 for an overnight stay and both courses.

Galway was a good laugh. Marty mentioned in his blog that a couple of impromptus €500 re-buy STT's that sprung up Tuesday and Wednesday. They were right craic and I nicked a few quid in them both.

The Wednesday night one only had seven starters but with 14 re-buys, it was certainly worth winning. There were two randomers that would have been value in a $5 STT and Fintan as well; so massive value all round.

I managed to chop it with Paul Carr. I took 6k, with Paul getting 4.5k. Comment of the night went to Marty when he earnestly said, "Isn't it amazing how Fintan could nearly win an EPT with all those players in it and he has zero chance of winning a seven man single table."

No joy in Thursday's €1,000 buy-in invitational the ICCCCCCC; I was second out losing most of my chips in a cooler to Big Mick.

I played the hundred nightly festival game after my exit and made the final table but got dogged first hand.

Went racing Friday and made a few quid, after which it was back to the casino for the €250 game. Again, no joy, but a very enjoyable tournament.

I don't think I have ever left race week with money in my pocket, so driving home Saturday with a profit for the week felt rather good.

Waterford Masters

We had the second instalment of the Waterford Masters over the weekend. This is my local tournament, and with some personal involvement in putting it together, it was great to see it filled to capacity again this year.

I more or less missed the first two levels. I was out spanking Marty, Paul and Ciaran on one of my local courses, Faithleg, which made me an hour late. The second hour was spent just catching up with people when I got to the Grand.

At the break my first table broke and I was moved to the Irish Elky's table, JP McCann. Anyone who reads my blog regularly will know the esteem I hold JP as a tournament director/operator in, but JP seemed to think he had suddenly become a world class poker player.

In fairness, he was doing a great impression of it for a while! He had more moves than Michael Jackson on a Friday night. It was the best craic I've had on the poker table in a few years, with about ten epic hands between us.

I doubled JP up three times over four levels and finally got rid of the fecker early on the Saturday.

I had ended the Friday on 19k having peaked earlier with 30k. On Saturday I hit a bit of a heater early, knocking out three players before I coolered Richie Lawlor (Cork) in a big pot - v . This gave me about 90k and I kicked on to about 120k, taking the chip lead a couple of levels during the day.

I played well over the next six levels but wasn't adding to my stack. I lost a biggish pot to a Mark McKeever set, with on a Q 9 2 flop. It seemed standard enough but I could have gotten away from it.

I managed to chip it back up over the next three or so hours but it just turned on me then. Late in the day, I moved tables and went out playing about 70k blinds 1200/2400, in a blind on blind situation.

Carl Fitz-the proud owner of 20 pro V one golf balls and a renowned economist, raised from the sb 7500 and I called with Ah 5h. Kx 10x 2h flop, went check-check. Carl bet 7500 on 4h turn. I over raise to 29k, basically committing myself to the pot and call his AK when he shoves.

I'm a bit ambiguous about my play in this hand. I don't think it's good but I don't think it's bad either. I suppose I could have just called the turn but at the time this felt a little weak with my holdings.

I had been on the previous table for nine hours over the day and lasted three hands on my new table. To go out in 36th was disappointing, continuing my run of semi-deep runs in tournaments without a conversion.

The Boylepoker sponsored pro's were put to shame by VIP manager Ciaran Corbett, who put up a great performance to make the money and last two tables, so kudos to C.

Well done to everyone who worked hard over the weekend to make the festival a success and a big thanks to everyone who travelled to the event and all the locals for the support.

Also, it was good to see the title stay at home this year! Congrats to Chris Frisby on taking it down.

Going to head to Galway for the racing festival. There's a 1k buy-in exhibition STT Thursday night in the Eglington Casino which looks like easy money, so I'll probably play that.

Vegas Review

When you bust the Main Event - it's get out of town time. It's an odd dynamic really. One minute you're plugged into the biggest of them all, then one hand and ten minutes later you're looking for the fastest way out of the place.

Vegas in June/July is a magical place for any poker player and every time I go I feel lucky to be there. I may not have done much on the felt this year but I still had a great trip.

I didn't play as much as I thought I was going to, but when I played I thought I brought my best game to the tables. I played five bracelet events and saw off 75% of the field in all of them without cashing.

I remember back in 2008 after getting knocked out of a string of high level tournaments in the first level, being asked by Connie O'Sullivan what I was doing wrong and whether I was worried. My answer was, "Nothing, as I thought if I play long enough, I will see every sequence of finishing position."

Stevie Devlin asked me a similar question in Vegas this year and got the same answer. I don't think I've ever bubbled a big event and generally when I see off 75% of a field I'd convert to cash most of the time. So, to hit a run like that at the WSOP is pretty unlucky I think.

Once you've seen off that amount of the field, you're generally emotionally into the tournaments. To have a run like that also hurts that bit more each time you exit. Having said that, all you can really hope for at any given tournament is to play well and I feel I played to the best of my ability for the trip.

My exit hand in the Main was very standard. I was way ahead of the guys pushing range and maybe slightly unlucky not to be dominating. I think I would have kicked onto the money at least had I won that race, but thems the breaks. It was only the second time that I was all-in during the event and the first time I was a huge fav.

Over the two and a half days I played, I hit some lovely hands and felt I was running well in general. Funnily enough I had no cards the previous year but never at any stage this year had I more chips then last. It's not easy to cash in the main and it just brought home to me how well I must have played last year.

Apart from the bracelet events I only played poker three other occasions. A $500 STT that I chopped with Derek Murray for $2350 profit. I also pulled $6,700 profit out of a satellite; had a saviour with two of the lads and slight deal done at the end. These covered a lot of my expenses for the trip and are where a lot of value can still be found. I really should of ground a bit more of these types of games readily available in the Rio.

The other game I played was late one night in the Rio, when I was hanging around waiting for Tommy Finneran. I somehow let Dara, Rob and Cat talk me into playing the €100 nightly tournament at midnight - a truly surreal experience.

I really enjoyed my time in Vegas this year. I spent a lot of time with very good friends and not enough time with other good friends. I enjoyed my poker, the few nights out and the golf, so a big thanks to everyone who shared the trip with me. Also big thanks to Boylepoker for the support, disappointing I couldn't convert for those who won percentages in the WSOPieces promotion.

Busted but not broken

Derek Murray said to me earlier in the week that the day you bust the main event is the worst day of the year for a poker player. He's right, but you have to put it perspective, If the worst thing that happens to you in a year is busting a poker tournament then things ain't to bad.

I got back yesterday with 66k and on paper what looked a handy enough table, by the end of the first two hours I though the table was better then it looked on research.

The first two hour session didn't go well, lots of raises snapped off and no continuation bets getting through. I did three bet twice light over the two hours which allowed me keep my stack at 50k at least, which was over 40 bigs.

When we returned after the break I got over the 60k again when I picked up 1010 in the SB. UTG raised to 3k blinds 600/1200-200 ante , something he seemed fond of doing and got one caller. I usually flat here but my read was UTG was weak and the caller was folding 100% of the time having seen him fold QQ face up earlier to late position raise and three bet.

I raised to 11k fairly sure it would take the 9,600 in the middle. To my surprise the initial raiser pushed. My read was that the tens were good but my head said calling for 42 bigs with 1010 was nuts so I folded. I kinda regret not going with my gut.

Soon after playing 52k and with blinds 800/1600-200 ante. I'm BB holding AK and the button opens for 3900 and I make it 11,000. It's the forth time in an hour I've three bet him, once from the BB with AA and twice from the button with dirt. The guy has also dropped from 150k to about 70k in the previous hour.

basically I'm expecting him to four bet, so when he shoves, I cant get the chips into the pot fast enough with the AK. He held 44 and won the race. While I'll three bet light in position, I'm never doing it from the blinds with over 20 bigs, so his shove is questionable I think. My three bet range here is crushing his hand and I don't think I'm ever folding once I do it.

It's a pity as I felt I had a really good handle on the table at that stage and if I won the race I'm confidant I could of built on that for the rest of the day.

Obviously I'm very disappointed to exit, but pragmatic enough about it at the same time. I'll do a review blog on the trip when I get home later in the week.

Last of the Mohigan's

Gutted to see Derek and Tommy whom I'm sharing the house at 2367 Mohigan drive with, both bust today, however it did make me the last of the Mohigan's.

The day is a bit of a blur at the moment but there were some great hands. I got lucky early when I picked up AA and the big blind checked raised me on a k 10 6 two diamonds flop. I called and folded when another King hit the turn. He showed 1010 and I'd of lost more chips if the second King didn't come.

Shortly after I raised 43os UTG, blinds 200/400, one caller and we saw a K 6 4 flop. I bet and think I was finished with the hand until I binked another 4 on the turn. He called again and also a pot sized river bet. Poor guy was fairly dejected when I flipped my hand but it didn't do my table image much good and I was snapped off about the next six times I opened.

I was happy enough when the table broke towards the end of the forth hour of the day. The new table was interesting, a guy to my right sporting a bracelet, to his right a Norwegian who seemed to be getting a lot of press attention, turned out he was a double Olympian gold medal winner at cross country skiing. There was also two older guys who were bad but were hitting everything.

The first hand I played on the table I called 66 on the button, the 876 flop looked good, the 6 on the turn looked even better. The UTG raiser had check called flop and turn, when the checked his remaining 18k on the river, I decided to chance a shove. The fact that he tanked for five minutes with AK for ace high told me it was probably the right move.

At dinner I had 43k within 4 hands after dinner I was down to 22k. I had raised all four and connected to three flops. Unfortunately the old guys were calling me down and I knew I was fucked when the river four flushed two of the boards and another four straighted.

The next hand I picked up 88 UTG but decided to just fold them as I didn't fancy the fifth open in a row, obv the board came 8 5 3 rainbow and two guys go to war.

A bit steaming now,I knew I had to buckle down and hang in to pick the right spot and try double. I was quiet over the next 90 minutes, picking the odd spot to maintain my short stack. Coming towards the end I shoved 33 on the button for 22 bigs after two limpers. Then with five hands left I flatted 44 after a raise and call from the small blind, the big came along. The Q 8 4 two spade flop brought a tear of joy to my eye, the 10k bet from one of the older guys wasn't half bad news either. I knew he wasn't for folding so put my remaining 28k in and was delighted to see a red QK. The Q on the turn did give a bit of a fright but thankfully I didn't take a bad one.

66k at the end of the day and looking forward to Monday.

We never did find the car keys after, so decided to ring the rental company. Within an hour they had towed away the key less car and replaced it with a new one Including an apology for taking so long. I was impressed.