£50 one rebuy/add on Luton 29th August

Marvelous start!

I managed to do my first 4000 stack in level 2 trying to get Ian Needleman to lay down an Ace on an Ace high board, unfortunately for me he had AK and was too stubborn! lol

So next 4000 arrived (last chance!) and I quickly moved to 8500 when holding AK myself, Mark Harris raised to 300 and I re raised to 1300. Folded to Mark, who had also had his rebuy, and he moved the remaining of his chips in. So 2700 to call into a pot of 5450 I decide to take a race here. Only trouble was he had KK and no ace came, so back to 4000.

Little else happened in that level and at the add on break (which I cannot have) I have a measly 3500 chips. Although it was not alot of chips in relation to blinds (now 100 200) with the average stack 9000, it was still enough to make people fold.

I got up to just over 5000 when in the BB, there is a raise to 900 infront of me and called on the button by Jim McShane. TK was the small blind and passes. I had made a few squeeze plays which were all successfull and do it again "All in". This time they BOTH call! Now this would normally be a problem, except for the fact that I had Aces ;)

The Aces held ud and I moved to 16000. I never looked back from here until down to two tables of 6, the poker gods said "not this time sunny!" again :(

I am SB with KK and face a raise and a call. I decide to flat call (risky I know but I wanted full value from my KK) and I know if an Ace hits I am in trouble and can get away. Flop is Q 2 5 (two spades) and with 13000 in the pot, I have 16000 back. I decide the flop is too scary and ship it in. Origional raiser calls me (he has me covered, just!), caller passes. Have you hit a set someone asks, no he replies and flips over Aces :(

One day the poker gods MUST say "Its your turn to win sunny" eh? lol

APAT Luton event

First off, I know MANY people read my blog, so why not make a comment on a thread? You are allowed you know! lol

Anyway, off to Luton to play in the APAT event and I am drawn in Day 1a. 150 runners, 10000 chips and a 40 minute clock. I have played 2 of these events before, the first one in Newcastle and I was unsure of what to expect as these are aimed at amatuer players. I was more prepared in this respect in my 2nd one in Cardiff (where I was official bubble boy)

My starting table was a good one and only took me a round or two to work out that there were a couple of calling stations, a couple of total rocks and a couple of "in my opinion" players who knew what they were doing(ie could see betting patterns). This was a nice change to a table of calling stations.

I got off to a good start quickly moving to 16000 where I entered a race with AK for 6000 vs a short stack who had 77 and I lost the race. I soon recovered back to 18000 when :

One hand in particular occured. I am on the button with 55 and there are a couple of limpers, I notice one of the rocks (in the BB) look at his cards and really like them, so I limp as well. The SB folds and sure enough the BB makes it 500 (blinds 50 100). All folded to me so I decide to see a flop and hopefully see a 5. Sure enough the flop came 8 5 3. He bets out 1000 and I call. Turn card is a 10. Again he bets out 1000 and again I call. River is a 3. Bad card for me as I do not think he will pay me off for his whole stack now for fear of me having a 3. He bets out 1500 and I make it 5000, after a while he duly calls and turns over KK. So he is now down to 4000 odd.

A little later he enters another pot from UTG with a 500 raise - must be Aces this time I think and I have 7 9 o/s, but with 27000 at the time, I decide to call on the button.
Flop 3 7 9, this time when he bets I raise enough to put him all in, sure enough he calls, sure enough he has AA and he gets no help. Poor lad, I did actually feel a bit sorry for him but he seemed to take it well.

With 4 tables left, I had been open raising with almost any two cards and taking blinds uncontested. I had just had to lay down to 2 re raises when I find KK and open raise again. This time the BB flat calls leaving himself 14000 behind. I know he is shoving on any flop and I know I am calling - even if an Ace hits. Sure enough on a Q high flop he shoves and I call. He has 8 6. I like his play but he really didnt have enough chips to pull it off, and I also actually had a hand!

Managed to climb upto 44000 and with the average for the end of day 1 looking like being 45000 I was more than happy. With 3 tables left, we are playing the last level of the day(2000 4000) and I saw an incredible call (you can make your own mind up as to what "incredible" means). A guy raises to 12000 on the button (he has 54000 back) and the BB moves all in for 42000 more. The origional raiser calls with A 5 o/s! The shove from the BB had 33 and he spiked an Ace. Like I said "Incredible call"

My table is broken as we reach 30 players and I am on the button (sound familiar? lol) and yes my redraw is straight into the BB!

2 hands later I am on the button and have 32500 and face a 15000 (leaving roughly 30k back) raise from someone I know from online Poker (GI-MAC) . I look down to find QQ. In position I would of liked to flat call here, but know I should shove. Shoving means he calls anyway, flat calling I think he pushes on any flop anyway, so whatever I do, the outcome is the same. All the chips are going into the middle, so I push.

He asks how much the re raise is, and after some deliberation he makes the call and flips A Q o/s. I cannot find myself in a better position to win a 70K+ pot.

The flop is K x J - not again surely? Yep 10 on the turn seals my fate.

I can remember Carlo Citrone on Sky Poker saying "Poker is a game yes, but it can destroy your soul".

That now makes 5 tourneys I have gone VERY deep and in good position only for the poker gods to say "not this time sunny", so Carlo is spot on and my soul is being destroyed.

I must confess, I lost it a little, not at the table, but afterwards at the bar - hopefully I did not upset too many people.

I will however keep ploughing on, I am still playing the best poker I have ever played and that fianl table appearance with good chips can only be right round the corner right?!?

(Dont forget readers, you CAN make comments you know! lol)

£50 one rebuy/one add on at Luton 22/08/07

This comp is one of my favorite comps at Luton, 4000 starting chips with an option to rebuy or add on.
It is a shame it only gets between 30-40 runners, but with The G 's new payout structure, means only 5 get paid so approx £1500 for 1st isnt too shabby.
I came 3rd in this last week and was feeling confident. My starting table was not the easiest (mind you, the standard of this comp at Luton means you are unlikely to find an easy table)
I decided to "go for it" right from the start, running over the table.
My first raise UTG was with JJ, Lali (sp) flat calls and Alex Martin is on the button and re pops it. Back on me and I re pop it again. Lali folds as does Alex (QQ face up!!) ;)
I was getting lucky in places it has to be said - including raising UTG+1 with 8h 9h only after Sonny limps UTG blind. Goes back to Sonny who decided to go "all in" blind for 3000. I have 11k at the time and decide to call. I win that hand with the 9 high.
By the end of the 2nd level I have 15k and with the add on I am on 19k.
This is where it went wrong. I lost a few chips in several pots going down to 14k. UTG I find KK and make my usual raise. This time it is folded round to Alex who goes all in. Folded back to me and obv I call. "Oh Shit" says Alex as I turn over my KK - he had 8 9. The flop was good for me, but it then came runner runner 8's - Alex had just over 5k so that was a big hit.
Down to 2 tables and I only have 9k now. UTG I limp with 10c Js. Couple of limpers and Mo is in the BB and wants to raise, I try and look like I am WANTING the raise so I can re raise - he notices this and decides to check. Flop comes A 2 9. Check check check check.
Trun comes 8. M0 bets 2500 and I immediately move all in. Fold fold, then Mo folds showing me AJ - I let him see my 10 J ;)
My BB was uneventfull so now on the SB I am dealt 7h 9h. Snatt makes a raise and it is called behind. I decide to call from the SB and try and take this pot away later (I am pretty sure Snat has pair JJ or QQ).
Flop comes 7 9 10. Now I am not worried about anyone having a straight at this point and the pot is big enough. I bet out half my stack. Snatt smells a rat and passes, the other caller goes all in. A 10 is my hope, but alas he flips over 10 10 and that was the end of that.
I had 15% in Alex who managed to cash for £120.
So off to the DC cash game and I do £150 in the first hand having flopped a complete rap - but miss. So I reload £150 and 2 hands in I get a double up. Things became stagnent then winning a pot, loosing a pot until the last half hour or so where I managed to double up (almost) to £520.
So all in all (even with buying me and Alex a meal) I came out £70 up.
I may go and play the £20 rebuy tonight, although I am not really a fan of this comp, it does have a £5k guarantee.

Golden Sands £500 main event.

What can I say?

Fantastic tournament!

Apart from being juice free, this £500 comp was a 2 day event with BOTH days commencing at 3pm, meaning you got a decent sleep before returning to day 2 - well for those who dont sit in the cash games afterwards! (more about that later)

120 or so entrants, 10000 starting stack, 45 minute clock AND a decent blind structure including 75-150 and 150-300, and a running ante.

Superb comp with soooo much play. Day one saw me with a big decision on level 2. I am on the button with AA and there are 4 limpers. I make it 600 and get 4 callers! eek!!
Flop is K 2 5 with two spades. The SB then bets out 1500, and it is folded to me and I make it 3000. He calls. Turn comes 7 spades and he goes all in for 5250. If I call here and loose I am on 525 chips!!
Thought process?? I think he has K x - x being 10, J or something similar. Possibility he has a baby flush, I have the Ace spades which does make my decision a little easier. After a little deliberation I say "I dont see how I can pass this hand" and then "call".
On their backs and he does indeed have K 10. So a nice double up early on.
From there I never looked back and by level 5 I had 42k - must of been c/l at this point.
I then had a couple of accidents and went back down to 20k, then to 38k, then back to 12k!!
Eventually I finished day one on 44k (av of 30k) with 34 others.

Day 2 and I just could not get going at all, all I was doing was surviving around the 36k mark when down to 3 tables (21 players) I have to play the BB and SB and release both of them . Blinds at this stage are 1500 3000 with a 300 running ante. So now I have the button and a little breathing space to find a good spot, when they break the table and we go to 2 tables of 10 - a very strange decision as 18 were getting paid.
I get moved straight into the BB!! So after just posting 5100 in the blinds and ante's I am looking at posting ANOTHER 5100 in the next 2 hands!!!
The luck of poker eh?
I suppose I should of known at this point that I was destined NOT to make the money. I had to release my BB so now I am small blind with 26.5k back. It is folded round to me and I have A 8. The BB has circa 80k and I think if I shove he would probably call with a huge range of hands so I decide to show immense strength and raise it 10k more. (Leaving myself 14k back)
The BB announces "All in". Not what I wanted to hear!
Now I am faced with a big decision. Fold leaving myself with 14k, or call and hope I am not a huge dog.
I wanted to fold, but with the blinds as big as they were, I would need to double up twice to get to the 70k that this pot was now worth. So playing for the win and not to place I decide to call and "gamble".
He flips over 88 - my worse nightmare (apart from AA of course). I am resigned to going out just before the money again when the dealer flops an Ace high flop!!
Result!! I think, until the dealer turns the CASE 8 :(

So thats now 3 major tourneys, have played really well and had a good position to push for a decent final table cash, only to see it go up in smoke.

Always look on the bright side though, finishing 20th I didnt bubble! lol

Not a bad weekend though, including the travel costs, I ended up a £1k thanks to the cash games.

I will DEFINATELY play another one of these events - superbly run and well structured.

Next stop - APAT in Luton this weekend.

Update.....

Firstly my website http://www.m3boypoker.com/ is up and running (albeit some pages still to complete).

Now onto the poker.

Online I have only played a few tournaments - gone deep in all only to go out to inferior hands - i just cant seem to crack online tournaments anymore, well thats what it seems like.

Online cash was going well this month (up approx $2k) playing $1 $2 and $2 $4 omaha. Also up playing N/L. But then disaster struck on 3 tables of Omaha $2 $4 which saw most of that profit disapear. I do love omaha cash but the swings can be huge!

Have not had any live cash sessions for a while as I have been going VERY deep in my live tourneys. The last being the £50 one rebuy/one add on in Luton last night. Only a small field but a quality one. The money is not life changing by anyway but it is always a good game with good people. TK was there as usual and we seem to play pots against each other and it is a case of who can win a big pot with the worse hand! Well thats how it seems anyway lol. Great fun!
I won last night after raising from the SB vs his BB (with 5 high) only for TK to call. The flop came something like K Q x. Now I know if i bet this. TK will come over the top and I would have to fold, so I decided to check call his bet on the flop and push on any turn card. It worked out perfectly :)

I must mention John (sorry John forgot your surname) - he is a wealthy chap who enjoys playing poker. Well on the final table down to the last 5 and some other guy wanted to do a 5 way equal chop (approx £500 each) but as we were all in no danger (ie over 20 xBB each) I declined the offer. I then lost a huge pot with AK vs a button push with 77 which crippled me. I clawed back up to 30k and then lost another pot. So down to 11k with blinds at 2k 4k there are 3 of us left. The other 2 (John and Ian) have circa 120k each. 3rd place was £460 and John says to Ian, "lets give Paul £600 and we can split the rest) Ian agreed. I was happy with this, and deove to Stanleys in Luton and paid in for the £500 event in Torquay on Saturday - a 10k chip comp with 45 minute levels and slow blind structure (also running ante's) £30k guaranteed.

Freerolling in Torquay!

Poker heaven

I would just like to clarify that I DO NOT recieve ANY %age of any rake players get for signing up through my website.

And I would just like to clarify the $600 bonus offer (max) is given by 150% of your first deposit.

The bonus is paid out at a rate of $10 for every $50 rake generated - of which you get 30% rakeback as well! SO this really is a good offer!

Visit http://www.m3boypoker.com/ and sign up now! You have nothing to loose and who knows, you may even enjoy the site!

Bloody Bubbles!!!!

Well my plan was to play the GUKPT event with winnings from the smaller side events. I had picked the £100 f/o, the £200 one rebuy/one add on and the £500 DC f/o.

The £100 f/o was just a joke. The clock was shortened from 30 minutes to 20 minutes for the first 4 levels (ie 25/50 50/100 100/200 200/400) so clock was not 30 minutes until 300/600 level! And with only 5000 starting chips meant you HAD to get busy early.

I demised at 200 400 pushing from the button with KQsuited for 4000 only for the SB to call of 75% of his stack with QJ - obviously he spiked the queen, but what a bad call especially with the BB still to act after him, but what do you expect from a £100 comp?

So, onto the £200 one rebuy/one add on comp. This was a 45 minute clock with 5000 starting chips so effectively it was a £400 double chance with 10k.

I did not need the rebuy and had got to just over 10000 when taking the add on took me to 15000. With the clock this was plenty.

I then had a yo yo effect for the rest of the day, going betwen 20k and 10k. Late into day one I find myself with just 8 big blinds and get A3 o/s under the gun and think of shoving and taking my chances, but decided against it. Only to see a flop of A 10 3 with the SB having K 10 and the BB with Q 10. So onto the BB and I am committed if I hit any of this flop. SB completes and I look down and see 8 4 o/s. Flop 10 8 4 all hearts. Checked to me and I move all in. I get called by Q 8 and my 2 pair holds up.

Shortly after that I get moved to the last 3 tables with approx 20k and blinds 1k 2k. With about 45 minutes of play left I decide to go for it. UTG raises to 5500 - this was a weak bet (I had been playing with this guy all day and had him on a "im utg so I must have a good hand" move. I have made up my mind to shove here if it is folded to me in the SB. It was, and I shoved with 2 5 o/s. He folded VERY quickly.

Next hand folded to me on the button and I raise it to 6000 both blinds fold. Next hand folded to me in the cut off and again I raise it to 6000. Button and blinds fold and I take another small pot.

Again folded to me next hand and I again make it 6000 with K J o/s. This time the BB flat calls (who has over 60k). Flop A 10 2. He checks to me. I am fairly convinced I am ahead here and want him to make a bet so I can re raise, so I check behind. Q comes on the turn. BINGO!! I am trying to work out how best to get paid when I hear him say "all in" - he has Q 6 and is drawing to chop the pot, which doesnt happen and I goto 70k in chips!

End of day one I finish with 63k (av 66k) with 23 left and 18 getting paid.

Day 2 was very slow and I could not get anything going, I am just surviving by picking up pots where can.

We goto 2 tables of 5 and play 3 whole levels!! I have between 70k and 90k with blinds 6000 12000 and I am looking to double up as everyone is playing so tight. So almost any unraised pot I am pushing in. Eventually I push with AJ and run into AK. Although the flop came A 10 J my smile was soon removed as the Q came on the turn and I exited in 10th place.

The payout structure was really bad. 183 runners, £420 to play (with the juice) and 18th to 10th ALL got £400 (9th was to get £1700). So I played for two days, beat 173 runners only to make a £20 loss. WTF?!?

This happened at about 7.15pm and I was in no mood to play the £500 so decided to go home.

2 days later and it was the £300 omaha tourney, so I decided to goto this instead. 103 runners (which is VERY good for a UK comp) and we get down to the bubble again and I again exit on the bubble!! for Fuck ALL this time :( (9th getting £800 and the winner roughly £10k)

So those 2 bubbles cost me £2500 at least!!

Feeling dejected, decided against paying £1k for the GUKPT main event.

Horrible though, I feel I am playing the best poker I have ever played at the mo but just cannot be the right side of the coin at that crucial stage. One day I will be and then look out final table!!

My new website www.m3boypoker.com is almost complete, however there is an "under construction" page there now with all the information on what I can offer people who wish to join poker heaven.