Marbella Kid's Blog

RECORD BREAKER

2009-10-01T08:53:00.001-07:00

Video can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkgACB7RFi8

UK poker pro Paul Zimbler faced US legend Doyle Bronson in the first contest of his gruelling 78 hour 25 min Heads Up Guinness World Record Attempt. Taking place at the World Series of Poker Europe presented by Betfair, the unique World Record attempt is being staged in aid of the Make a Wish Foundation and Sparks children’s charity and aims to raise over £50,000.

Playing in the Casino at the Empire leister Square Paul took on a staggering 190 players continuously over the 78 hrs and went head to head with members of the public and a range of celebrities and high profile poker pros including Mike “The Mouth” Matusow, Phil Hellmuth, Huck Seed, Neil Channing, Jesse May, Devilfish, Robert Williamson III, The Hendon Mob, Annette Obrestad, Roberto Romanello, Michael Greco and November 9 Finalist James Akenhead.

Paul Zimbler commented: “While my main motivation was to raise as much money for charity as possible, it will be great to take on some of the biggest names in world poker on the way to establishing a new Guinness World Record.”

Poker players and supporters wishing to get involved in the action or show their support should visit http://www.justgiving.com/Paul-Zimbler0 to make a donation and help Paul Zimbler reach his target of £50,000.

LATE NIGHT POKER

2009-09-15T03:52:00.001-07:00

What a week it has been for me.....

Where would I start? Not really sure but I managed to get a seat in Late Night Poker as someone dropped out. I made a few calls and managed to raise the $10,000 I needed to enter this event.

I arrived the night before as I didnt want to drive to Cardiff in traffic so I headed off about 2230 from my home. I arrived in good time and upon entering the hotel I saw my friend Roberto Romanello who was just checking out.

I got a good nights sleep and woke up and headed to the gym to prepare for my heat in a few hours.

My heat was full of big names apart from me hahaha Mike "The Mouth" , Huck seed, Roy "the boy" Brindley, Nikhil Persaud, Gavin Smith and an online qualifier who was well known for his high stakes tourney achievemnts.

I was focused and ready for action. I played my heart out and kept having to regian my composure as 1 player kept playing so badly yet getting so lucky against me on at least 3 occassions.

This is poker and I knew that I was getting my money in good and that was all I could do. It just sucks though when you are playing a pot in level 3 to have over half the chips in play and he manages to catch a 1 outer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I did re-group well on each occassion and was lucky that I still had chips to play with. I never give up as you would have seen from previous TV events and I still beliieved that I was going to win.

I took out the Mouth after Nikhil raised with AT then Mike moved all in with TT and I looked down at KK. I had visualised this happening but still had to sweat on a 987 board.

The game was fun and I played well. I ended up heads up with the man in form and former World Champion and more recently world heads up champion Mr Huck Seed. What an honour it was and what a lovely guy he was too. I was low in chips and took a gamble with J7 v his A9 we both had diamonds and I was in need of some luck. I got it as I floped a straight 89T with 2 diamonds. This was not enough as it was clear destiny had other plans for me.

I had a great day but was not happy to have to go to the semi finals and do it all again in order to get to the final. Which id where I belonged after playing today.

This was of couse until I saw who I was going to be playing with.

Andrew Feldman, Sam Tricket, Ben Kang, Adam carey, Soren Nielsen and the beautiful sexy Lacey Jones.

What can I tell you. I arrived in the green room 1 hr before and saw this woman playing her heat. She was in a red dress and I could not believe my eyes.

She managed to get heads up and she also lost her heat so this meant I would be playing with her in a bit in the Semi Finals.

As she came out I was talking with Roland and she came straight up to him to chat about her performance. I introduced myself as I do and I think it may have been love at first sight:) argh....

We had some fun and banter while playing our semi final as well as a lot of flirting on her part and after that we swaped BBM pin and tel number. We could not stay off the phone for nearly 2 days until she went home to America but that did not stop us. I jumped on a plane (as one does) and went to go see her as I couldnt wait forever to find out if this was going to be something great.

I arrived in Phily and we had the most amazing weekend. We headed down to Atlantic City where she had to do some work for the Borgata Poker Open.

I am a lucky guy I know and am head over heels........

I guess this was the reason for me not winning my heat and cupid and fate had their own agenda.

Everything happens for a reason and I am glad I got to play the event and get to the semis and also meet Lacey. she didnt even know about LNP and it was a complete coincidence as another player dropped out and Roland suggested she played as she was in the county. She was called and had the day free so she came to play. How weird is that????

So going back to the game well I am not allowed to say to much until it is aired so I wont but my heat is on Tuesday 29th Sept 2009 on Chanel 4 at 0030.

You can watch Lacey tonight 15th Sept same time and channel.

Next up is my World Record Attempt which starts Monday 21st Sept at 13:00 at the Empire Casino in London during the WSOPE. I will be playing Heads Up Poker against all commers for 75 hrs + while raising money for Charity.

Please join me and sponsor me or come and play me www.justgiving.com/paul-zimbler0

POKER MILLION VIIII

2009-07-27T10:19:00.000-07:00

The Poker Million is known as the biggest and toughest poker tournament on TV. This is the 8th year it has been running and for many years now it has been an invite only event, unless you manage to win one of the few seats given away online.

To get an invitation for this is not the easiest task but harder than that is the entry fee which is $20,000.
I went to the live final last year and from that night till about 1 week ago I made it my job to get an invite to this event. I know I am good enough I know the format and I know I can win. Only thing I didn’t know was how I was going to pay for it......Let’s be honest $20,000, not the easiest thing to find especially for a single table tourney.

So about 2 weeks ago I got the call from Matchroom, I had a seat and my heat was on the 16th July. Great I said I’m in. Not a care in the world about how I was going to buy in I just knew that I had done the hard part which was getting in, surely finding 20K would be easy :)
I called my sponsors BETFRED to let them know as I decided not to go to Las Vegas this year and use the money for the Poker Million if I got the call. This is where the roller coaster ride started for me.

The call came and with 10 days to get the entry fee the pressure was on.
Betfred were aware that I wanted to play this event and that I had chosen this over the WSOP also so that their money spent on me gets the best marketing for them.
They decided that they were not going to put me into this event so now I was stuck and needed to find $20k.
I had a plan.................
Every time after I play on TV I get a lot of friend requests on facebook and people asking me if they can buy a small share in me so I decided to sell shares in me for this event to the public.
I know this is done a lot and normally on forums but this opens up so many negative things I wanted to keep it between people I knew. I was not desperate nor did I need to sell myself to the average Joe blogs but I did need to raise a lot of money.
$20,000 divided by $100 made 200 shares, each share was worth 0.4% of my winnings, (This means that I would play for a 20% free roll) this made it look easy................

I created a group on FB and sent it to all the people I knew. 1 thing I hate doing is asking people for money. Though I believed in my game and knew I could win I still find it hard to do. $100 is not a lot to ask for but I needed 200 investors.
The group was filling up daily with people investing bits every day. I spoke to a few friends who also bought bigger shares and before I knew it I had raised $10,000. This was amazing and I was sure I would be able to get $10,000 from my sponsors or a company to wear a logo.
How wrong I was. With all the big investors still out in Vegas it didn’t look like I would raise the money in time.
I would have 2 choices.
Pay the balance myself or let me seat go and watch the opportunity of a lifetime go by. With doing the second I would also be in a situation that I may not get anymore invites to this event and possibly other TV events too. The choice was made. I would buy in the rest myself though not happy about it I knew this was the only way.

As I was coming to terms with the fact that my sponsors had let me down in a huge way and that I was having to invest $10,000 to a shootout that at this point in my life I did not have to spare my phone rang. It was Roland de Wolfe. I had tried to call him on his UK number but knowing he was in Vegas I just thought he would call me when he got back. He was in fact interested to buy a share of me as he knows a good thing when he sees it LOL. He became my biggest single share holder and after that call was finished 2 more friends I could not get hold of also called and bought big shares. It was like I was being tested, over and over again.
Things were looking up the money was coming and destiny was all I kept thinking about.
Surely now my sponsors would give me 25% of the buy in to get guaranteed TV exposure and the chance to back the winner of the POKER MILLION VIII.
Again I was wrong and I couldn’t be bothered to argue. There was a lot of red tape bulls**t and company crap that needed to be signed off for this to happen and everyone was away that needed to sign it off so I was now in limbo as what I should do.
Why not try to get a company to pay me to wear their logo. It was clear that my sponsors were not interested and since I was not on a new contract with them I was free to work with anyone.
I did send an email to my contact and let them know that one of their competitors had offered me money to wear their logo and they replied to me giving me the ok.
Dilemma.....Should I just wear my usual logo since I am going to be signing a big contract with them in a few weeks??? Why should I, I thought to myself. I have done all I can and even gone as low as I can to make this good for both parties. I even explained that if I wear another logo and when I win the event in December it will look really stupid if we do a press release in 1 or 2 months that I am now your sponsored player and win the POKER MILLION wearing a different logo; still they said nothing we can do. LMAO.

The day came to go and play and I agreed to wear a Paddy Power Irish Open logo. They did send me a top but to be fair bright green isn’t my colourJ I was happy to wear the sticky logo.
My heat changes a little since my good friend Roberto Romanello played in the morning heat he was replaced by none other than the Greek fish himself.
I played with Greekfish in my 888 world Open heat and I remember the banter we had. It was fun and great TV but he repeatedly said he should have one and I was happy for him to have another go.
Seat 1 Andy Greek Fish
Seat 2 Adam Carey (online Qualifier)
Seat 3 Lee Watkinson
Seat 4 Marco Traniello
Seat 5 Paul Zimbler
Seat 6 Liam Flood

What a great line up I was ready, focused and so up for wining.

We were walking into the studio to start when Beiju from Mtchroom turned to me and said, Paul we put you and Andy together again so let’s see some great banter!
I turned to him with a straight face and said, Beiju: This is the Poker Million with a 20K buy in, I’m not here to make banter or for TV, I’m here to Win. I think I left him speechless which is not easy to do.

I sat at the table did some meditation and created a zone that I was in control of. I was ready to play and play my heart out. I wanted to win more than anything and I wanted to show a different Paul Zimbler to the one in the past few TV shows I have done. This was not going to be easy but I knew it could be done.
To see how the heat was played and hand for hand updates go to http://www.matchroompoker.com/ and click on the forum or go straight to heat 4 by clicking
http://www.matchroompokerforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=797

I managed to control this heat and myself for near enough the whole thing. I went low once and lost a vital race with AJ v Liam’s 88 3 handed which put Liam right back in it. I did get lucky in 1 hand which I was surprised that I had to show after Liam snap called my all in with AT. I of course had 2 5 suited and decided not to play the stop and go but to just get it all in as I was sure he was folding. It was the only time in the whole tournament I was making any real move and the only time I was in danger and could have gone out. I would have been really pissed if I went out there but Destiny was on my side and I got to the heads up exactly level.
Adam had been getting great cards all day and knocked out every player at the table. I was playing great and did tell him that I wished him every success in the turbo heat as I would love to have seen him in the semi finals with me. I gave him a lot of respect and decided to play small pot poker with him heads up since this would/should give me an edge. I was folding a lot to his bets until I decided that he should not be running over me but surely it should have been visa versa. I made a small re-raise once and he folded. That’s the Paul Zimbler we all miss I said out loud but didn’t show my cards.
I think looking back I played 1 hand badly when we were 3 handed. Adam raised I called KcQc flop was K high with 2 clubs. Since I didn’t want to give him a chance here as Liam was still in I decided to fast play and if he had a hand he called if not he wouldn’t. I think if I took a bit more time there to think I could have won a few chips from him there and gone into the heads up with a big chip lead but maybe then the heads up would have been played differently.
I slow played a lot and finally I got him to make a big mistake. I called his raise pre flop with KQ and the flop was K high I checked and he moved all in I called and he had 22. The turn and river didn’t help him and I was through to the semi finals as promised of the POKER MILLION VIII.

A big thank you goes to all the people who backed me. You are now all free rolling as I offered them 100% of the investment back on the first $20,000 I won.
The semi Final is on the 9th October and the line up is just beautiful. Annette Obrestad, Luke Schwartz, Tony Bloom, Nam Le, Juha Helppi, on line qualifier and turbo heat winner Peter Vasiliou and me. This will be a serious semi final and one I am sure I will come out of with a lot of chips. The final is then Live on the 6th December.

Day 3 Irish Open 2009

2009-05-05T09:30:00.000-07:00

A race to the final table.

With 187,500 in Chips and a new day ahead I somehow managed to put the hand from last night behind me and move on fresh with a clear head.
1 thing was for sure I wanted to win this and knew I was able to I just needed a little bit of luck with my 50/50s.

My table draw was good in regards to players and chip stacks but I managed to get involved a few to many times min races or 60/40 shots normally being the 40% end of it to try to take out the smaller stacks.
I played a pocket pair of sixes bad too where I had to call and all in for quite a few chips and he had QQ.
I decided to go outside for a min as I needed a break what was happening to me and my chips?????
With the blinds 4000 8000 with a 500 anti the action got to me in the small blind. I made a speech to the BB like we should play a big pot now and I called with QJ AQJ was the flop as I checked it to him, it was checked back and the turn was a J. again it is checked round and the river is a 4. I bet out 8K looking week and he thinks for 2 minutes which Will does every time the action was on him and folded.
I find AA and raise to 40K which looks crazy and probably is but if you want to crack my AA then you have to pay. Of course no one has a hand this time and it is folded round to me.
Now comes and interesting hand. I have ordered some food and it arrives as I raise to 28K with AcJc, the German guy in seat 9 who is wearing a paddy power shirt so is in the last few for the sole survivor which is worth 100K to them pushes all in. Everyone folds to me and I think for a while.
I have seen him do this with A8, JT, 99 and 3 other times but didn’t get to see his cards. What hand can I put him on here and do I want to gamble?
Ok, a weak ace would be a nice thought but probably not! AA KK didn’t think so. QQ, JJ TT could be possible. The truth was he knew I was capable of passing a big hand and he had seen me raise and pass a few times. Did I think I was 40% or better in the hand? YES so I called since I wanted to win the comp and this was set to be a pot worth over 225,000. It was 81,500 more into a pot of just over 140K. It did leave me with 17K if I didn’t win the hand but I don’t worry about that till I’m in that situation.
OK I said I call. Knowing deep down that this is not the best call of all but a chance to get back into the tournament and have a good run at making the final then going for the win.
I turned over my AJ and he looked sad and make a comment like Oh No! Now I thought I had him crushed as why else make a reaction like that. He turned his cards over and I saw the Q of hearts first then the Q spades????? WTF??? Never mind doesn’t bother me really I had already made the call so in truth no difference just bad etiquette.
The flop was ok K T 4 and with no aces passed there were still 3 in the deck for me to hit and now with 2 Queens’. 5 outs was about 20%. I thought it was my turn to hit as I was running pretty bad on day 3 and if the maths were right I was due this one. The turn was another T which was not so good and the river bought me one of my outs from the flop but unfortunately not good enough. It was a Q. SO SICK…………
Ok compose! So a hand later there were 2 players all in B4 me and the blinds with a chance to quadruple up I looked down to see 7d8d and knew this was the hand to take on that challenge.
It was a funny hand as the guy in the 9 seat the same German went to make a raise and was not finished before the dealer moved on. He was counting his chips so close to the line the bet stood. Ok I knew for some reason he had AA as he was about to make a scene and didn’t was happy for the action to go on. So when they were on their backs it was his AA v AQ v my 78. Come on I thought this would get me right back in it and now there were only 39 left. The flop was no help to anyone but as number of turn cards could give me chances. I paired up on the turn and got no love on the river and I was gone in 39th place.
It is not a bad result but I was bitterly disappointed. I always expect to win when I play and especially when I have chips. I had a lot to think about but first I wanted to get the hell out of there and let the emotions go. I meet my girlfriend went for a walk and let it all out. I enjoy to shout/scream and of course there were a few tears. I went back in to collect my 6700 Euro OK I was bought into the event THANK YOU BETFRED and I worked 3 days for 6700 euro this is the positive way to look at it but not the easy way. I knew I also could have waited 5 min to climb up the money ladder to 9700 Euro but quadrupling up was far more important to me as I was in it to win it.

I did something this trip I was proud of. I did not go crazy on tilt in the cash games. I didn’t rush to play the next event I just relaxed and had some fun with the friends I had over their.
This year Ireland was a great experience I learned a lot and had another good run at the title.
I WILL BE BACK NEXT YEAR AND I WILL WIN THE IRISH OPEN SOON J

IRISH OPNE 2009 DAY 2

2009-04-21T10:12:00.000-07:00

DAY 2 of the Irish Open Main Event.

I managed somehow to give you an update last night after quite a few drinks in the bar after the days play was over. I am not normally a drinker while I play but I was taught from a young age one expression: “When in Rome, do as Roman’s do”

I left early though to get a good nights sleep in as I knew that day 2 would be long and gruelling and I wanted a clear head and make it through the day without feeling worn out before the end. I am here to win and to do this I need to keep a clear head.

06:30 there is a knock at my door. I was not amused as I am sure you can guess. I think it is my girlfriend who was coming in that morning, I had left here some money and a room key at reception so she would not need to wake me and I realised that it was to early for here so who the F**K was it?
It was my friend who I came with Joel, he decided to celebrate his chip count for ending day 1 by drinking all night with the others and had just found out that he lost his bet which was that I was not in the top 20 in the chip counts. I was in fact number 20 and he was not happy, waking me up at 0630 though is not advisable in normal circumstances and if it was not for the girlfriend coming out in 1 hr I would have gone mental.

I manage to get some more sleep get to the gym sweat out some booze and relax in the steam room before heading down to start play.

My table draw again was great and I could tell from early on that we had quite a tight table.
I played the first 2 levels really badly and lost a lot of chips, I still have not had Kings in 2 days and Queens and Aces 3 times between them.
I called a lot of the short stacks and before I knew it I was down to about 25K. Not feeling the best I decided to take a walk, on my return I watched the table as the guy 3 to my right was raising and raising hand after hand. My small blind comes round and he raised again, the blinds were 500/1000 and he made it 3000, I looked down at 88 out of position and decided after a lot of thought to shove. He stopped and thought for a while checked I didn’t have him covered and finally called. He had KK and he was not slow rolling me! I found out after he was a rock and must have been on a mad rush.
The flop was 995 so all the money would have gone in anyway and the turn was no help. For the 1st time in a long time my stomach went as I thought this was my year and maybe now it wasn’t going to happen, I didn’t want to appear cocky and I tapped the table and stood up. As I was about to walk away I saw the 8 hit the river from the corner of my eye. It was fate! Now I believed that this is my year and the feeling is unreal. I was shaking and from there I grew my chips rapidly. I had people paying me off 40K a time and I quickly got myself up there with the chip leaders.

Kitty (that’s my girls knick name arrived and went out shopping for the day as they do as I do not really want her railing me all day 1 its boring and 2 she is more nervous than me.

Level 7 and 8 of the day we were moved to the feature table where I took 175K with me. I built this up to just over 300K and finished the day with 187,300 in10th place from the 64 remaining. The average chips is now just over the 100K mark.

I remember seeing in the rules I was allowed to wear 1 logo on shirt and 1 on the sleeve. I stuck another one on the sleeve for luck as the Betfred logo is bright and would stand out. This was live on the net and will be shown in Ireland and the UK over a 12 week period.
I played pretty tight on the TV I re-raised the scandie 1st hand with QQ and was solid most the time apart from near the bubble. I raised 1 pot with K8 and was called on the button the big blind pushed for 31K more which I thought I had to call as the was like 50K in the middle at that point. Somehow the button managed to fold JJ face up and I was glad he did. The big blind had the hand I was hoping for AT and and 8 high flop sealed the deal for me. I was now on my way and going past the 300K mark so was the chip leader.

I was feeling tired but had played well most the day I think I made 2 mistakes through the day, I am lucky that I was able to bounce back and see the positive side of it all and re group. I was happy the day ended when it did and we headed to the bar for a few drinks before heading back to the room to do my updates and get a good nights sleep in.
I am telling you all as I told my friends, 13 is my lucky number. 13 years I have waited and grinded. A bet on me to make the final table and to win is a good one if you can get it on. Don’t say I didn’t tell you……..

Play starts at 1400 again on Sunday and I will be updating once we get to the final table.

IRISH OPEN 2009 Day 1

2009-04-21T10:10:00.000-07:00

IRISH OPEN 2009

So it’s a Thursday morning at 0400 and my alarm goes off. Those that know me know that me and mornings do not go hand in hand and trying to wake up b4 midday is not an easy task for me.

I manage to push snooze 4 times before I turned the alarm off and thankfully I ordered a wake up call and got it just in time.
I decided to pack the night before and was not 100% ready but had 10 mins to finish packing and remember to add the girlfriends hairdryer and other stuff before heading off to Luton for my 0615 flight to Dublin.

I go to collect my friend from his house and we head off.
We make it just in time well 5 min before check in closes but there is a small problem Ryan air flight 5 quid. I paid for a bag 18 quid problem was only allowed 15KG and I thought we were allowed 20KG. My bag weighed 22KG and they wanted 15 quid a kilo? WTF was cheaper to buy another case in the shop and pay for an extra bag. 1 problem only had 4 minutes left to do this. I took out 5KG and thought f**k it I am about to win 600K what is 75 quid. I paid the excess and we moved on.
From there we went to security where the queue was a joke you can now pay 3 quid to jump the queue which of course we did. The flight was on time and I managed to sleep the whole way.

DUBLIN

We arrive and jump into the cab which was 80 euro after paying 8 euro for a packet of cigs. SICK
City West Hotel. This is where the tourney was tacking place same as last year and it is a very nice hotel. The event is run so well and I think that the Irish open is the best event in Europe. The cash games are unreal and the partying goes on all through the night, when in Rome………..

So as normal like a bull in the china shop I get into a cash game. I mange to get involved for 1600 after 10 min loosing AA QQ AK and 77 and KK wining but small as an Ace was on the flop. I manage to get most of it back with K6 dia flopping the nuts…..
From there I decided to play the super sat for fun it was a 200 rebuy event and great value. I bought in on level 3 so it didn’t cost me a fortune as only 2000 chips. I added on for 4000 chips and managed to play QQ so badly I went out early on.
OFF TO THE BAR IT WAS
I meet Ashley Hames from sin cites who was here to play poker also, we got on well and managed to drink and drink and drink well and drink some more.
We were a few of us Grecs, Paul Goulray and mrs as well as a few others.
I headed of to bed at 0200 as I wanted to be in a good mood for the Main event the next morning.

1100 My alarm goes off, my head was hurting and I managed to get myself down to the gym as I promised myself I would do.
I worked out for 1 hr sweating the booze out and sat in the steam room for a while.
I came back and started my book on shares I was swapping as well as buying! Wow I felt like Neil Channing with my note book, I hope I can do as he did last year as this was my dream from 2 years ago after I lost a sick pot on the river 11 handed.
After all was done as I had collected 20% from a friend in the super sat for 700 euro I was ready to play. All I asked for was a good table draw and I got exactly what I asked for.
A table from heaven.
I did go down to 8K early on but I was happy with my table image and was having good banter with my table mates.
I then started hitting hands after playing small pot poker and betting my hands big and getting paid.
I am keeping a journal of every hand I am playing as well as the types of hands I am dealt. I don’t want to say too much as I will write it all up after I win the event. I was up and down from 22K to 15K through the day and managed to double a rock up after flopping top pair and checking to him to fold but decided to gamble.
Then we got a new player at our table WITH OVER 30k HE WAS NOT USING HIS CHIPS AND MAYBE PLAYED 3 HANDS IN 2 HRS. We saw 1 of them which was the nuts and didn’t get to see the other 2. HE decided to raise my BB when the blinds were 300 6000 to 1300. I called with As9s and the flop was AA9, I was sitting with about 25K at this point. I checked as you would and he bet 1300 again, so I dwelled up for a bit and made a reluctant call as if it was a continuation bet I have to call. The turn was a Jack and I checked again he decided at this point to move all in where within a split second I thought would he do this with AJ and if he did I think I would give poker up for a while. Of course I called instantly and he sheepishly turned over his 7c2c and I was sooooooo happy he was drawing dead. This was a 50K+ pot and there was less than 1 hr left in the day. The next hand our table broke and I was sent on my way. I relaxed for the rest of the day with no hands just steeling 2 pots to keep my chips up there.
The day ended with 312 players from the 700 that started and I was happy to have double average.

Off to the bar we went for well I would say a drink but to be honest was more like 10 drinks were I meet and had a chat with x world champ Jamie Gold.

FILL YOUR BOOTS & GET A BET ON ME! J

IRISH OPEN 2009

2009-04-10T19:03:00.000-07:00

March 09

2009-04-08T05:04:00.000-07:00

March 09

Sorry for not posting in March I have been up to my eyes in work and not playing so much.
I did manage to get to a couple of the GUKPT events and also played in the bounty event for Talk Sport.
Seemed that it sold out each event with 2000 players. If you were the lucky one who knocked me out well done and hope you manage to spin the free money up to something good.

I have been helping a friend of mine grow his poker club in NW4 this month and seen some pretty crazy action in a 1 2 nlh game.
More importantly I have been mentally preparing for this years Irish Open. I think that this is by far the best event of the year in Europe and something I was close to wining 2 years ago. I want this title more than a WSOP bracelet (unless main event or the 50K horse) that’s what this event means to me.

I think there will be about 800 runners this year and I am in a very positive place and ready for the 5 day marathon.
I will be updating daily from Dublin and am sure I will have many fun stories to tell you all.

So the GUKPT was coming to London and with a whole range of tournaments to play in this should be a good week for the Vic.

I decided to play in the 500 plo and the main event as I was busy with work commitments so had to pass on the others.

I have been working in a local poker club in Hendon trying to help them grow their business so poker has been back in my life full time again. It has been hard working all night and sleeping all day as glamorous as it all sounds it does effect your normal life especially as I am trying to grow my own business so time is very precious to me at the moment.

The Main event.

What a line up. My table had sitting there, Jeff Kimber, John Tabatabai, Sammy George, Sam Tricket as well as some other well known scandies. Ok Good for a laugh and maybe some big pots were going to be played with a chance to get a big chip stack early on.

The game was slower than I thought it would be and Sammy was playing pretty tight! Well tight for him, I was running hot getting a lot of cards but not getting to much action. I think I had Aces 6 times Kings 4 times and AK 7 times. I played them all aggressively to try to get paid the max but this does not always work. The good thing is though that they never got cracked as I prefer to win a little than loose a lot.

Again I pick up AK suited UTG and we are about to go into the second break. I limp and John raises in early position. Sammy George calls and I decide to flat call. John announces that this hand will probably take 10 minutes which is the break time and we continue. The flop comes out KhJs7c. I am not sure why but I didn’t have the best feeling about my hand so I decided to play it cautiously as I was in a pot with 2 very aggressive players and didn’t think I needed to put my whole stack at risk unnessacaraly. I checked and John bet out 700, Sammy then raised to 1500 and my confidence in the hand started to get worse.
The crowd was now gathering in force as this looked like it was going to be a big pot and with Sammy in it they all wanted to watch.
I called the 1500 after much thought as how to play the hand, I was sure I had the best hand and I also may have look strong limping UTG and check calling. The turn bought the 8s and again I checked. John bet out 2650 I believe and Sammy thought for ages and ages, I was preying for him to call to give me the value but he decided against it and passed wanting to show his hand and clearly in pain that he folded. He did say that if this was a cash game he would have called in less than 3 seconds. Lol. I decided to call as I was sure I could get paid if I hit the river. I was not sure if I was in front but if I checked the river he would have to have a hand to bet it as I was starting to look stronger. The river was 6s and once again I checked to let John take over. He did and bet out 5600 I moved all my chips into the middle and he called I shows my hand The nuts and he mucked. We all had a laugh about it and Sammy reveled he passed J8 (2 pair) hard to believe I know. John had 9T for a straight and I was the lucky fish who hit the river. LOL Was a fun hand and I came back from the break with 26K.
The day did not really get any better from there, I went card dead for hours and was grinding it out. Nick Gibson was moved to our table and players were raisng and re-raiseng before the action got to me so there was not a lot I could do.
I managed to walk into AK with AQ then walked into AJ with AT and finally on the button bushed with KT and found AK Not a lot I could do and as I didn’t take a bad beat I was ok with it, would have been nice to win 1 of those……….

I did manage to win a few $ on line this week finishing 32nd in a $215 comp with 414 runners and also won good in the mixed 8 game.

Wishing you all a very happy Easter..

My return to TV poker

2009-03-21T06:11:00.000-07:00

So last night was my return to televised poker. I have had my reasons for not playing them over the years but I have a big thank you to give my sponsors BETFRED POKER who have been very genorous to me. What I did notice over the years with televised poker is that it is mainly boring. People I talk to or who call me and ask me what is all the same crap on TV? There are only a few personalities and the game in general is boring to watch....... Imagine, they think this and they are only watching the highlights.... The main problem is that people are playing to survive most of the time and not to win! While playing they do not want to have fun and they have put up hard earned cash to try to win a seat in the final and take down first place. This requires a lot of concentration from a lot of people! If they talk or relax they give to much info to the good readers in the game so they are boring, understandable but not great TV. People could arguee and many players will have a different answer for a question but the truth is 2nd place is worthless, infact most of the time it is the same as coming last apart from the crap shoot turbo you get to play in for another TV apperance to try to win a seat in the semi final. On the other hand you do not want to donk your chips of as you only have 100K to start with. Game plan...... Most players try to have one before they play! Why im not sure to make them feel better I guess. I take each day/hand/game as it comes Why make a plan when I do not know what im planning against! OK you can do research on the players but people play different in different circumstances.... I underestimated the Scandi Kimmo when we played, infact I think he may have been the better player in the heat on the day. He was the underdog no one knew and he infact had an edge over the rest of us, I think. To put it into prospective the tounamnets he had to win to get a seat in that heat he has to be a good player and have a great understanding of the game. I tried and I tried and I tried again and I for the first time in I think in over 5 years I actually lost control of my breathing in my 3rd attempt to 3 barrell him with 5 2. The hand was interesting as there were a lot of factors to it. 1. I had done this to him twice already and mind games came into play. 2. He just lost a big pot so his chips were more valuable to him. 3. I made a larger bet %wise to the pot than the other times 4. I told him before I bet what I thought he had. How does this help? If you dont know I cant tell you but it was not just crazyness that some people might think. All I knew was if I get called here I may as well pack up my bags and give up the game. My return to TV poker would have been a disaster and I would have had to hold my head in shame. As it happens My belif in myself and my game was on top form and my confidence was maybe a little to much. I went to play a game and I played it well. People will always say you got lucky you did this etc.. but the truth is you need to have a bit of luck to win anything. No-one sees the bad luck when you finish 6th or 8th in big tourneys or even 3rd, they only remember the winner and if you lost a huge pot to the chip leader to runner runner or a 2 outer no one knows, in fact no one care's, they only see the results. So yes I was lucky. I cracked AA heads up. I won with 5 3 to whatever he had but it is a mathamatical game and I want to win a 40 60 rather than play a turbo heat and have to do it all again. Plus the blinds were then 10K/20K or even 15K/30K. The hands you dont see are the big pocket pais I throw away pre flop or the ones I call with like TT on the button to a small raise and the flop comes 7 5 2 and I fold to a bet when I know im behind... That is why I love poker and poker loves me Feel free to let me know what you thought of last nights heat, your feed back would be greatly appreciated. Please try to avoid writing bad things about other people. (write as you wish about me) Semi final will be shown 1st June. PZ

European Open V

2009-02-19T11:16:00.000-08:00

PARTY POKER EUROPEAN OPEN V
HEAT 2

Seat 1 Paul Zimbler
Seat 2 Andrew Feldman
Seat 3 Marcus Bebb-Jones
Seat 4 Peter Smyth
Seat 5 Nick Ferro
Seat 6 Andy Ward

So this was the line up and seat order of the heat.
What do I know about my opponents?

Well I have played with Andrew Feldman and Andy ward in a semi final from the 888 open and Nick Ferro is a friend I meet a few years ago but I had never seen him play poker. Marcus and Peter were complete unknowns to me so should I a) do my homework on them and study as much as I can before the game or b) wait till the day and asses the situation?
If you said A you might be right but we don’t think the same.
B is defiantly the way forward for me. I like to know a little about them if I can speak to someone reliable who can tell me the truth or I like to get a feel myself either from a drink in the bar before hand or actually at the table playing.

I was in luck, the night before the game I was in the hotel bar having dinner with Nick and I meet Marcus and Peter in the bar and had a good chat.
There are NO FRIENDS at the table. Its winner takes all and I was confident that I was the winner.

I had told Andrew and Nick who were both pleased to tell me that they were in my heat that they should have tried to get into a different game as they no that I was the favorite and that I would kick ass over them and since only the winner went through they should try some other way of qualifying!
Andy Ward. A good solid poker player understands the game and also my game. Knows what needs to be done to win these heats and I was not happy he was on my right!
Thinking about it I should have swapped a share with him as I thought it may come down to him and me if I got a good start. Maybe I had a slight confidence edge or advantage as I won the semi final we were in last time but I didn’t want to get to involved to much in pots with him for some reason.

The heat started and it was interesting to watch the other 3 play early on. It seemed like they were all playing tight but now I have seen the blog post for the heat the game started with fireworks from both Marcus and Nick with good reads and bets.
First hand Marcus calls UTG so does nick and then Andy on the button raises it up to 8K I looked down in the SB and saw 44. I thought I could move in here and win 17K but did I need to? No so I folded. Then Andrew in the BB called. So first hand there is a pot brewing and there was 33K in the middle. The flop was AQ6 they all checked to Andy who fired a continuation bet of 14K and he won the pot.

So the game was set. The very next hand Nick and Andrew get involved in a pot which starts to look interesting. Nick played it very well and with Balls and took it down after floating the flop and a bet on the turn.
I then make a few raises and win the blinds.
So I was talking in the bar the night before to Peter who was telling us all about his last experience on TV where he lasted 6 hands and he didn’t play 5 of them.
Interesting I thought so I found out more. KK v TT on a Ten high flop. OK so he was prepared to get it all in with a big pair so my thought on calling pre flop is good as I know I will get paid if I hit.
He now enters a pot UTG raising to 6K Everyone folds to me on the button and I see TT. I chuckled to myself and remembered his story from last night n the bar. Maybe this could be his curse and I would win a big pot. So how do I get information about his hand I thought to myself? Should I re-raise and see what happens but then if he re-raises I have to fold! So peel of a flop hope to see a Ten and if not proceed with caution. I looked over at him and he was glowing, what information did I need? He had either KK or AA this was 100%. 6K I said ok I call but be careful!
I reminded him of the story he told me the night before but I used QQ in my story not TT. I asked for a Q on the flop as I knew I was behind and my wish was granted.
9s Qh 2s was the flop he looked at me and with a racing heart beat he bet 10K into the pot. I guess I should be careful what I wish for as I might not have too many wishes left and I should use them for what I really need. I could have seen his smile from the car park, his eyes were lit up like a Christmas tree so I showed him my cards as he thought I was the loosest player at the table and I would give him some chips. I also showed so the other players might try to bluff me later but this was clear that he had a hand and he was I think in a little shock I didn’t at least call the flop bet. He didn’t show me at the time but said he had AA and after seeing the blog he was not lying. I managed to escape for 6K.

The heat continued and I was in full control and building to my chip stack bit by bit.
Then my friend Nick whose blinds I was steeling a lot with ok cards raised my BB, Andy folded his SB and I looked down at AsTs. It was 4K to call. A few things went through my mind here. Was he just raising cause it was my blind and his button? Do I need to raise here so early in the game and get a big pot started? There are good arguments for both but I chose the later as I wanted to get some information about what he had in his hand.
I raised it to 22K Why? Well he could have folded and I would have won the pot there and then.
He could have re-raised me and I would have folded but he would have had to move all in not knowing anything about my hand so not easy for him to do.
My thought was if I only call and the flop is A high I have no idea what hand he has and how best to play it.
He called and the flop was 4h4cJh I checked to see what he did BUT I KNEW AFTER I CHECKED IT WAS A MISTAKE. He checked behind me and now I thought he may have AJ/AQ as a small pair would have to make a bet there. The turn was 2d and I bet out thinking that this was a safe card, he flat called 16K and the river was a blank3d. I bet out again this time 22K into a pot of 78K. He thought for ages and ages and now I think he may have had a small pair and he might call me. He knows how I play and that 22K looks like a value bet that wants to get called but also may be a weak attempt to steel the pot. _He decided he wanted to look me up and I showed my AT and he punched the air as he took down the pot with A2………………….MARVELLOUS……SO SICK.
This was an interesting hand as it could have been played a lot different.
If I bet the flop I am 99% sure I win it right there, I could have checked the river and beat a few hands in his range for only calling my re-raise.
He could have re-raised or folded pre flop to my re-raise if he thought about it.
What hand did he think I had that he can call me with pre flop and beat or get value on? Maybe he was going to bet the flop? He didn’t bet the flop though so why the call pre???
If I knew all these answers I would be a multi millionaire. I just wish the flop was Ace high as he would have had to pay me on all 3 streets!
I was down to like 45K and not in a good way. The heat started at like 10am and we had to be at the studio by 9 so it was an early start which I’m not used to and I am not really a good morning person.
I found Ad8s and decided to make a big raise as I didn’t want to make a small raise and fold to a re-raise. I thought I was showing that I was committed and that I was prepared to make this my last hand. Everyone folded to the Marcus in the BB who moved all in over the top of me. I said this is probably not good but I committed myself with my raise so I call.
He turned over KcQs and I was in shock! Did he think I was on a complete steel????? I was amazes and got my answer later. He thought he had the best of it so he moved in on me. He knew I had to call but thought he was ahead.
So the flop 6cTc2C now I only had 6 outs. The turn was worse Kh so now it was a 2 outer or I was gone and with no chance to outplay and show the world my talents hehehehehe..
BRING ON THE TRUMPRTS I roared and the river was kind to me as the Ace from space hits me. PHEWWWWWWWW, Now I was back in the game. I was back to near the 100K starting stack and the whole table knew that they were in trouble. I was the biggest threat and I managed to escape, even though I had the best hand going in!
From there I went from strength to strength and build my stack to a comfortable level around the 185,000 mark.
An interesting hand came up when I raised on the button to 9K with 9T, Andrew in the SB re-raised me to 30K and the BB folded. I thought for a minute while working out how to play this pot. What could he have making this raise as he was out off position? It was 21K more to call into a pot of 41K. I decided to peel of a flop and see his body language and also his next move. If I raised and he re-raised and I called he now has to put me on a hand. The flop was Qd6s2c I was looking at his and he gave me a sign I knew was 100% accurate. He then checked to me and I counted his stack. He had 90K left and I knew he was capable of moving his chips in if I bet too small and also if I checked I was kinda giving up on the pot. I thought for a while as I didn’t want to bet and fold so what was the right amount to bet? I bet 30K to ask a question. He now has to think I have AQ or maybe a pair in my hand that could have also connected! I told him earlier that when I bet with my A8 that I was telling the players I was pot committed and I knew this would have stuck in his head. We had been avoiding each other most of the heat. He thought for a while and I was as still as could be, he tried to get me to talk, to laugh, anything but I was silent. He commented how quiet I was and that I must have a hand. Finally the clock was called and after 60 seconds his hand was dead. I since found out he had 55 which was weird for me as what other flop did he want to hit apart from one with a 5 in it!
I was happy to take the pot down and he insisted that I showed him which I did.
I was moving all in a lot after the first raise pre flop and wining a lot of uncontested pots. I grew my stack to 260,000 with ease and felt I had this one in the bag. There was still a lot to get through but I was feeling great.
I then get into a hand which I think was posted wrong on the blog, I will have to wait and see if it made the TV cut. I believed I raised a little and Nick moved all in. It was 65K more for me to call and I was holding K8. Nick did himself up from head to toe so I could not get a read. To be honest I wasn’t looking for a read I was trying to do the math!
If I call and win I would have like 350K in chips. If I called and lost I would still be the chip leader. Was this my free shot at trying to win the heat?
I decided to call as the plus side was to good and I was facing A9. The flop bought him 2 pair and he doubled up. The message to the table was clear though. I was here to play and gamble and that if they wanted to re-raise me with filth I will call so do so at your own risk!
Down to 180K but still the chip leader. I started a few more all ins to get some chips back which worked out well.
Then I wake up with AK and make a big raise hoping any Ace calls me. Maybe a mistake as if I limped then They would be on auto all in and I could call but I didn’t want to give them a chance as AK is not so great a hand except against a weaker Ace. Andrew managed to get away from A6 there and I could have played that hand differently.
I found K8 again 3 handed with big blinds, I make it 32K and Nick moves all in again on me. Again I take the advice from STT pro Thomas Bihl who says K3 is the minimum requirement. I was looking at a race 77 for nick and the flop helped him a little 4Q7. The sick part is the turn was a K and the river bought a second K but I was still in and fighting.
OK I lost 2 big coin flips basically against the same player with the same hand WTF. I only wanted to win 1 of them………..
I carried on moving all in a few times and also folding at the right times. I was still in the game and only 3 hands away from wining this.
Chip counts. Paul Zimbler 125K, Andy Ward 187K and Nick Ferro 288K.
I also new Nick was not going to be calling those chips off bad and they were not easy to take away and with the blinds now at 10K/20K all in was the only poker left.
I was in the Small blind when Andy Ward raised me all in. I looked at Ac7s and though I got a bad feeling I had to call. Interesting I say had to call. If I were in the commentary box which IU was and I saw a player muck this hand I would criticize but I do a lot of work with my inner self and feelings and I always seem to know when bad or good is going to happen. I did call though and was expecting to see Andy live with 2 random cards. Good news for me was he had A5 and I was in great shape to get right back into the game.
Kc5c3c was the flop. I went from a 75% favorite to having 12 outs. Any club or any 7. This made me a slight underdog but there was not much in it. The turn bought 5s and I was in need of help. Only a club would do. 2s on the river sealed my deal and I was gone in 3rd place.

1 hand of heads up and it was over and what seemed to be the Marbella Kid show came to an early demise and I wished both players good luck in the next heat they played.

I spoke to Andy in the green room later and we agreed on a lot of the same things. He was as weary of me as I was of him and though it looked like he had position on both Andrew and me he didn’t play his position in that way as he knew it could have backfired. He was my biggest fear in the heat as I was to him. I proceeded to leave sharky my card protector in the pot and was not taking it back. I gave it to Andy for good luck as it has treated me well over the 3 years and it was time for him to go.

Everything happens for a reason! This is what I believe. Though I don’t know what the reason is at the time I have to believe in this or I will go mad.
This was my heat to win and I had it all in my grasp. I lost 2 coin flips then a 75/25. WHY?
I proceeded to do the commentary for the next heat in which I saw some great poker as well as some huge brave calls from Flushy and kept my composure before returning home and spending the night in with a friend who helped me through my pain.
The day of the semi final I was busy dong other things again as was I on the day of the final. This was in fact my 31st birthday and I was expecting a $200,000 cheque for it.
So the time I was supposed to be playing I was doing other things which actually bought me more joy and happiness. There are other events to win and maybe I had found my reason!
I had 4 friends in the final and out of Marc Goodwin, Neil Channing, Andy Ward and Roberto Romanello I was routing for my good friend Roberto. If anyone deserved it then he did and watching the final and seeing the result I was a very happy man.

GUKPT Festival week in Brighton

2009-01-27T08:44:00.000-08:00

BRIGHTON GUKPT

What to do?
Monday the festival starts but I have my normal game locally on a Monday.
I decided to play locally on Monday then drive up on Monday night to Brighton.
The game was good I was winning in the afternoon session and moved over to the lively dealers Choice game.
This was also going ok and I was about to leave which is probably what I should have done.
I don’t like to leave a game like this early but I had a whole week of poker coming up.
I stayed and got involved in a few key hands and lost some sick pots.
Before I knew it I was not in profit anymore and the game was slowing down.
I was not in a good mood and new I should have left.
02:00 the game ends due to their license. I was down 500 and pissed off. I decided to get some sleep and then drive to Brighton.
Tuesday night was a 300 double chance with 3500 chips to start and a further 3500 when needed.
I had decided to play the side events in Brighton as I didn’t want to gamble while I was there or get too involved in the cash games. I wanted to pay for everything through the cash and try to get a result in a tourney.
I started well in this event and had a pretty good table draw. The field seemed week and my table was generally easy to read. I think my image was more loose than tight but every time my chips went in the middle and I was called I had the best of it.
I managed to build up to about 22K while the average was only 12K and had my table pretty much sused.
There was a woman at out table who also was playing ok but was running good, she had big hands at the right time and was gifted with chips. She had me covered as we played a big pot.
I was in the BB and there were 5 limpers, Normally I would raise now to win the 1500 in the middle but thought I would see a flop since I only had 6 9 os. The flop was A78 all different suits. I checked as did 3 of the others. The woman bet out 1200 so I flat called. All the rest folded and we were heads up. I was looking at her trying to work out what she could have since she only called in late position. The turn was perfect, 5. I now decided to check again since she would have to bet as she could not put me on 69. I did check and she bet 3500, I then counted my stack and raised 7,000 more, before I had even looked back at her she had moved all in and of course I called. She turned over A8. Right there I had a bad feeling and the river paired the 8. I felt sick but I played 100% correct and there was nothing I could do. The pot was over 55K not a bad spot to be in while the average was only 12K.
That was my tourney done and I was of to the cash game. I won a bit in the plo game but was happy enough to take it easy and drink at the bar.

Wednesday was the fun day 100 PLO rebuy event. I arrived early to play a bit of cash after waking up and going for a run on the beach. Sounds crazy but the sun was shining and it was a pleasant day. I set of about 11:00. I like to make life difficult so I was running on the pebbles as I used to run in the sand. This makes it a little harder. Problem was when the bigger waves came in I got soaked with FREEZING COLD water……..
I thought I was going to die………..I don’t even think I had done 1 mile, I was f***ed. Now I remember why I don’t run so much.
I loved the sea air and the sound of the waves but it was time to slow down and do some breathing exercises with some yoga and head home for a shower.
By the time I got to the casino I was on top of the world. Though I thought I was going to die I felt good and glad I did the run.
Trying to get a cash game in the afternoon!
Near on impossible. The reason is says the card room manager no dealers! I had to ask him as I was curious. How can you hold a festival and no that there will be over 50 poker players in early and not have enough dealers especially as you bring other dealers in from all over the uk? No answer.
I then find out that the TIPS given to the dealers are only split between the local Brighton dealers. When in other cities the same rule applies.
I was a little puzzled then. So they will get all the tips and still there is not 1 dealer who wants to come in and deal??????????? I did not tip a thing, shear principle. I even asked if we could self deal to get the game going and was told we had to wait for a dealer.
Finally the game started and I managed to get a few hundred in front before the tourney started.
I won’t bore you with hands but I was doing ok. I built up my stack and never really put myself into a position where I was gambling and needed a rebuy. The noise though in the room like people had never played a plo rebuy event. It was loud and there were a few donators in the room between them having nearly 50 rebuys.
I was moved table as the game was breaking and there was a player who must have had 25% of all the chips in play at this stage. I looked at my pal and said I will bet he does not make the final. Unfortunately he didn’t take my bet. Don’t get me wrong this guy was very polite and nice and I am sure he knew how to play just he liked to play a bit to much I think. I wanted to be careful as I knew his chips were up for grabs but I wanted to get them with as little risk as possible.
Then this hand happened The big chip leader limped and I think we all limped until the SB raised the pot. From there they all proceeded to call and when it came to me I could not resist. This was the perfect gambling time. There were too many chips in the pot and I knew if I raised here I would get protection from the raiser. I did just that as did he and somehow we were heads up for a 50K pot which I think I only put like 14K into. (Beautiful). My hand 3c4c5s7c his hand KK?? Can’t remember, nothing special though. We did manage to get a player who was last to act to put down 89TJdouble suited not sure how he passes this hand put glad he did. Of course I am golden and I flop 2 pair and turn a straight and now I am back in the game with a real chance. I carry on playing well and get down to the last 2 tables. The game is slowing up and the big stakes seem to be getting bigger. 12 handed it then seems like all the short stakes were doubling up and staying alive and then a hand comes when we are 11 handed playing hand for hand with a friend of mine Peter who is very drunk but still a good PLO player. He raised pre flop and I called with AJJ2 1 suit the flop came down 2h 2c 6h. He bet out the pot at which point I decided to only call hoping he would continue betting again on the turn! This was probably a mistake as the pot was big enough to win right there. The turn was Td and he checked I checked behind him to try to get a bet on the river. River card was 7H bringing a flush and he bet out 20K into like 40K. I was sure he did not have a flush so I called him. He showed me TT LOL. Nothing I could do there I guess.
A few hands later I was out and 11th place was 1 off the money…. I wanted to win this as my record in PLO tourneys is ok and I really want to get into the champion of champions free roll at the end of the year and I was not planning on playing that many events.
I ended the day up a few more hundred and went home for a sleep before the Main event on the Thursday.

Thursday 14:00 The 1,000 Main event.
I managed to get a good sleep the night before and woke up at 14:15. This was ok as the tourney never starts on time and I would only miss the first level. I jumped into the shower had something to eat and headed down to the casino to play. When I got there the car park was full and even though I gave the geezer a tener the night before they would not let me in. I’m guessing he forgot to tell his co worker that I tip well. His loss not mine. I drove back to the flat and ordered a cab probably better for me as I would surly be drinking later.
As I arrived I found my seat and found myself at a decent table. 1 problem Sam Trickett was there and he had position on me and he was already building a nice stack and playing a lot of pots aggressively.
I played my first hand aggressively with KQ and managed to get paid on the river from Sam who did not want to stay out of my way and got all my missing chips back.
The rest of the day was no so good. I lost a lot of my chips in a pot that thinking about it maybe I should have folded. I raise in late position with AK and Sam called from the button. The flop was K52 and I check raised. The turn paired the 5 and I check called and the river was also a blank I checked and he moved all in for 4100. This left me with only 3000 if I called and lost and did I really need to call this???? What could his hand be? I know he is also capable of moving all in with crap but he must know I have something. I thought he could have 22 and could have flopped a set. I decided to call and he turned over AA. This was a bad call but I was now a short stack which is not the worst thing to be. I made sure people knew if they wanted to raise my blind that they would have to put the rest in as I was not giving in that easy. It took them a few rounds to find out but I slowly managed to get back up to 10K. I was in the BB and called a small raise with 5c6c. the flop came down Ah4c7c perfect. I decided to check in order to check raise but the player who bet looked like I could not get him off the hand and I was sure I was going to double up if I hit. After consideration I decided to call his bet on the flop and see the turn as it was still early days and I did not feel I needed to gamble my chips away as I was good enough to work with them and build up my stack. The turn was a 6 and I checked waiting for a bet. He also checked and the river was 9c. I made my flush and checked to let him hang himself. He bet a weird amount like 5250 leaving me with 1500 if I called. I decided for 1500 there was not to much point re-raising and I called he turned over KQ clubs for a bigger flush. Not good.
At this point I was 30 minutes into my massage and back to a short stack dinner break was about to start and I looked down at AdQd UTG and raised, Sam moved all in on me and I had a feeling I was in trouble but could not pass. He had AK and the flop was Q high. I was lucky and got myself back up to about 5K and went for dinner.
After dinner I managed to survive 90 minutes before I made my exit. There was a player all in for 600 and a second player raised to 1200 I only had 1800 and had 33. Probably a bad call but I wanted to call and bet out the flop incase he could fold. The flop was AK2 and I went all in for 600 He instant called with 99 and won the pot. I should have folded the threes but there was good value in case I was racing. I went off to the bar and had a few drinks and meet a few new people.
I had to drive back to London on Friday for a meeting and decided that I would drive back to Brighton for the weekend.
Saturday night at 11:00 I got into my car in the pissing rain and headed to the M25 for the 90 min journey. I got there and sat in the 100 2 2 plo game. My pal Paul Parker was there and we all started drinking. I was playing tight, happy to kill time and win a few hundred as per my new year’s resolution. Martin Bader was at the table and I am his bock, so he says. Well I just think he is easy money so I am happy to play with him whenever and wherever I can. I have played with him for 12 years and it seems he can not beat me. I win a few pots from him and others when he announces he is moving to the bigger game. He had won a few quid and wanted to spin it up I guess. Not sure why as there was still a lot of value at our table. He was sitting on my right and everyone called up to me. 2 2 5 straddle. I raised the pot with QcQcJc8s 4 callers and he announced if this wasn’t my last hand I would re-raise you!....... I looked at him and said what are you talking about what should it matter if it is your last hand or not, you are moving to another game not even going home, you should want to raise to get heads up with me?¿? Anyway all the players called and the flop fell 883 they all checked to me and I bet the pot. They all folded and he flat calls. Now I go for the needle. So you don’t want to raise pre but you want to check call off all your chips to me? I know he must have AA or KK in there and he will have to call me. The turn was a blank and he now bets out. I decided to stick a load of 25 chips in to raise the pot and give him the rub down at the same time. He thought for a while and folded. I showed him my QQ and said I was ahead all the time right? Waiting for his reaction which took like not even 3 seconds. He showed his AA and said that I was a fish and I could only ever beat him if I came from behind I did show him my 8 then and he challenged me to a heads up game for everything I had in front of me. I of course accepted and picked up my stack which was about 600 and walked over to a new table. He was shouting and giving it some serious speech and then decided he wanted to play for 3,000. I explained that I did not have this money with me and I asked if anyone wanted to buy a share or lend me some money. I was offered over 5K in less than 2 seconds which felt good and I sat at the table waiting…….He was not coming over and now I started the chat, Finally he came over and took a seat but not ready to play, he said we need a dealer. OK I said who wants to deal I will pay 200. There was a queue of players waiting to deal. Then he said NO has to be a pro dealer which he knew there were none available to deal. Then he wanted to change the game. I suggested we could play any game he wanted and could change the game whenever he wanted but to just sit down. What anyone would want to play their bock heads up is beyond me but I was getting frustrated. I had stood up from a good game to take this challenge and now he did not want to play. What an idiot. Tried to give it the big and hoping I would not want to play and in the end looked like a complete twat. I went back into the PLO game and we all had a good laugh at his expense.
In the meantime Flushy sat down and wanted a heads up match which in fairness we have been talking about since I am 2-0 up on him heads up and only fair to give him 1 more chance. This will have to wait for another day though.
I was winning a bit and got involved in a pot with Paul I raised pre flop and he re-raised. I re-raised and the flop came 7d Td 4c He looked again and bet the pot I got it all in with a gut shot and flush draw as well as the over pair. He had 6677 for a set and I managed to hit the flush on the river for a nice pot. I ended the day over 1,000 up and went out for some drinks.

Sunday. The £100 comp with £25 bounties

This was going to be fun. Hoping a lot of the players went to the Rendezvous for a tourney or had headed home I wanted a shot at getting into the 100K free roll I mentioned before.
The 100K free roll is for all the players who win either a GUKPT or a side event through the year. If you win a Main Event you get 10,000 chips and 5,000 chips for a side event.
I started this comp well and a player to my left who is from Hove was getting all the chips. Paul Parker was then moved in between us and they were friends. We got talking and started drinking red wine, champagne and vodka. It was clear 1 of us was going to have a lot of chips and it was even clearer to me that it would be me. (Nothing like self confidence)
We all had good stacks. Paul Parker decided to make a big raise in early position, the BB called and so did I after limping with 6d7. I asked him if he had KK which was my read he told me better. The flop was 3 4 5 and I checked. Paul bet 1800 and the BB called. I moved all in and did all I could to look week. I wrapped my legs around my chair, I held my breath while staring at the flop, I took a few gulps and scratched my nose when he was watching. I knew he would get his chips in if he did have AA or KK and finally he called. The BB folded and he asked me if I had a pair and a straight draw I said no just the straight. He turned over AA and with no help I took all his chips and another 25 pounds for a bounty.
I went from strength to strength collecting bounties and chips. I had about 40k while the average was 15K and I knew that this is when I should have gone for dinner but I was having to much fun.
I lost a few chips in silly pots trying to knock the smaller stacks out and then I tightened up. We were 10 players left playing hand for hand and I was quite drunk even though I knew what I was doing. My chips were a mess and I was just grabbing a handful knowing really what roughly was in my hand and raising. I had AK I was re-raised all in by a solid player and I told him I should lay this down. I had already laid it down twice that night pre flop and I asked him does he really have KK. He said nothing I decided I had him covered and if I won this pot I was in my mind the winner of the event as the pot was probably a third of all the chips in play. HE had KK and the first card out was a K. I lost the pot and managed to go out a few hands later to the same player. 10th bubble boy again but I was not playing for the money since I had collected 8 bounties 200 pounds already but I wanted to win to get into the free roll.
I went straight into a NLH cash game and proceeded to cause havoc.
It seemed there were 3 couples in the game but I was having fun and the drink was flowing.
I may have spoilt the game for some people but for others I was sure they were glad to have me there since I was drunk and happy to play big pots.
Good thing was that I knew what I was doing and most of the players only had a few hundred in front of them. I sat down with about 3,500 and was raising a lot ready to set a trap. Finally the pot came. I made a very small raise in early position and the guy on the button who I had been playing for about 5 hours with in the tourney re-raised me. I put him on AJ and asked him if he had AJ before I did the drunk shake of the hands and declared ALL IN. His response after thinking for a while was since its you I have to call. Music to my ears……The flop bought no help and he turned over AJ. I showed him my AQ and was very happy.
I did ok in this game and the champagne was flowing ready for my next trick. I reached into my pocket to get something placing the contents of my pockets on the table. There were some scratch cards on view and Jemma shouted from across the table. I love scratch cards can I have one. What can I say, so I passed it down and said but we have to go halves in case you win. Ok she agreed and the game continued. Next thing we all hear is a loud scream followed by we’ve won, we’ve won……Of course our game stops to ask more as well as the oables around in the casino. 25 GRAND she shouts. I stood up and ordered more champagne announced that I was all in blind but there were no cards in play yet which I clocked before I said anything and played the part well. The word had spread and more people were looking and coming over to see. She was still screaming and jumping up And down, Impressed she hadn’t just pocketed it wanting to keep all the money herself but hard to do if you think you have just won 25 grand.
Finally someone told her she should look to see how she claims the money and it hit her like a ton of bricks. It was a sick practical joke and she was not seeing the funny side. Well I am apologizing to her again on my blog as I did several times to her face, she has forgiven me but it was priceless the look on her face. I since have promised to show her how to make $35,000 a year tax free playing poker.
All in all it was a good night, the drink carried on flowing and I was ahead in the cash games. The week was fun and I was glad I went.
If you are also interested to earn extra income with little risk and using little amounts of time, email me and I will invite you to the first meeting. marbellakid@hotmail.com

Next up the Party Poker open VI which my heat is being filmed 7th Feb.
Also on Sky Sports 2 on a Monday and a Wednesday are the heats from the 888 World Open V. 16 March I recommend you get a bet on me winning!

2009 HERE WE COME

2009-01-12T06:08:00.001-08:00

So, as normal it has been a quiet week alter all the Christmas and New Year celebrations.

I have made myself a game plan and it is working well so far (only 11 days in).

New Years Eve.
I am not much of a party person on New Years Eve, in fact it is probably the only night of the year I do not care to much for.
I went to go and see my dog which brought me a lot of joy only something I think you will understand if you have a dog…… and decided I will see more of her in 2009 as she no longer lives with me.

I came home and sat in the mixed 8 game. 2-7 triple draw, holdem, Omaha 8, razz, stud and stud 8 (all limit games) also in the mix is no limit holdem and pot limit Omaha.
This is the best value on the net I think.
I play 2/4 3/6 10/20 whatever game is going.
My goal is $1,000 a week off the net so a few hundred one day is all I am looking for.
I managed to win about a couple of hundred in less than 1 hr and logged off, some friends came over and we had a fun night at home with the Wii…………………..

January.
Couldn’t move my arm after 4 days on the Wii I think I over did it as always. Got the Wii fit and I must say it is very addictive and about the only thing I have had so far apart from a personal trainer that I actually do and enjoy especially as I do not have to go out in the cold.
Sunday 4th Jan 2009
Sunday million day.
To be honest I didn’t have a good feeling about playing this today but I qualified for $8 so why not.
I started with the intention to play my big hands aggressive and hope they stood up. Well after having AA KK QQ and AK in the first level and not winning one of them I was lucky that I still had any chips left. Maybe I was not aggressive enough LOL.

I saw that there was a $50 about to start with 100K guaranteed and not many runners so there would have been good added $. By the time it started there were nearly 3000 players so the guarantee was meet but still $18K for first. This should be fun.
I was down and out and pissed away my last 900 chips in the million just as the $50 tourney started; Marvelous I didn’t want to play it now.
I was playing in 10/20 mixed games and showing my brother how bad they actually are as they call with anything all the way and when you go into hand history you can see there mucked hands.
I was up $1,000 after not even 30 min and we were now only 2 players left at the table. He didn’t want to play me anymore after I took most his money and told him he needs to pull up more or I would leave as there is a no limit game and a pot limit game involved.
The $50 comp.

I was off to a flyer people were giving there chips away I was in shock. I was in the top 20 within 20 min and stayed there pretty much trough out the event.
I took some time outs to go play Wii for a while and my bro would sit in and let me know my cards as I shouted FOLD every time to him. We had a discussion about AJ in 1 hand where a player with big chips had raised and it was me to speak.
I asked him what he would do and he said call, maybe raise. I said we would talk after the hand as we only had a few seconds to act but he has to fold. He did and then I explained why.
My computer managed to freeze on me and I was timed out, this is not good as you lose your time bank which sometimes is needed later on in the comp. the field was shortening rapidly and we were in the $ if you call $60 in the money after a few hours.
I had already looked to see how long this event normally takes and I knew I was in for a good 8 our stint.
Next thing I know we are down to 100, then 60, then 30 and I was still up there in the top 10. I had been playing well and wish this was the day I had filmed it.
Problem was the pay out. 16-18 $250 WTF then 14-16 $300 12- 14 $400 10-12 $600
9th $1000, 8th $2000, 7th $3000, 6th $4000, 5th $5000, 4th $7000, 3rd $10,000, 2nd $13,000, 1st $18,000.

So not a good night if not on final table. I was chip leader with 30 left and for some reason my pc froze again. This time nothing was happening it would not come back on I rebooted tried everything. I logged on through another pc but as I hadn’t signed out on mine I could not log on through the new one. What was this all about and why have they made it like that? It never used to be.
Anyway, 10 min passed, 20 min passed and I thought I was doomed I would have worked for 6 hours and then just been blinded out and maybe gat $200. Finally after 30 min I managed to get on using my other pc and had lost over 150,000 in chips and was back in 24th place out of the 26 left. I was not a happy boy but knew if I worked hard and focused for 2 hrs I could get at least $10K. This was now my target. It was now 04:30.
I managed to climb back up the leader board and fast I guess people thought I was gambling as I had been off line for a while. I thought all the bad players were out, apparently not.
After nearly 2 hours we reached the final table. I was 2nd in chips and suggested a deal 7K each that was 4th place money in fact was a little more as 4th was $6875 or something. Believe it or not only 1 player from the 9 wanted to deal. I was in shock; they all thought they should get more that 7K or that they were going to win it. So we played. The cocky ones were the first to go. I had to type something as I wiped them out, you were right glad I didn’t do a deal was obvious you would be 9th……. Lol lol was coming from the players. 1 down 7 to go. Before to long we were 5 handed. Here I also suggested a deal 10K each. There were 2 of us with big chips and 2 short stakes. I said if this is not fair then suggest a deal as it was now coming up to 07:00 and I had a meeting in 2 hours and needed some sleep.
Break ended and NO deal was made. 5th place feel and 4 handed I raised as I was doing a lot. This time it was against the chip leaders BB and I had AA. He re-raised me so I made a massive over raise and went all in. He called like a snap call with AJ I was in shock. So the normal Jack high flop he didn’t hit again and I now had over 4 million in chips.
I wrote again anyone want to do a deal???? No one, wow.
Finally we were 3 handed where I suggested 13K each and play for 2K extra. Nope the crazy fool didn’t want to.
We played 3 handed for about 30 min and the short stack managed to double up 4 times, 3 times though me which was sick but nothing I could do a raise with AJ and a call then 2 7 J flop it all went in, normal 3 handed play.
My final hand I flopped a straight and a flush draw as well as my live cards but A high managed to stand up and I was gone. I was happy though as I made $10K which really is 10 weeks work and I also took $1K in the cash games. A good night all round.

Monday morning. I was a mess, to be honest 1 nights missed sleep and I was a mess the whole week.

Off to Brighton to play the GUKPT next week so looking forward to that and a good result there as I feel my tourney poker has got a lot better.

Looking back over the year

2008-12-27T04:28:00.000-08:00

December 12th to 27th.

It has been 2 weeks since I last updated my blog and so much has happened.

Poker wise I have played the Sunday Million twice and came 174th and 140th in succession. The week I came 174th was a little upset as I played virtually perfect poker and did not make 1 mistake throughout. A good weeks work on line collecting nearly $2,000.00 each week for a few hours work.
Live. I have managed to get some Christmas money in the NLH game and also the dealer’s choice I play in on a Monday.

Christmas is fast approaching as is 2009.
I have spent the last few months thinking about my life and what direction I would like it to go in for next year.
What do I want to be doing?
Who do I want to be doing it with?
How can I make this happen?

BACK TO BASICS

This is the long over due and needs to be done if I want to carry on as a successful poker player!
2008 Was my first losing year in 12 years and there is a reason for this that I can change.

I have been very lucky over the past12 years, I have learned a lot on the way and managed to pay for my crazy lifestyle. Poker is a sick game and a bad run was due (I guess). 2008 for me was a time where I was going through a lot in my life so my focus was not 100% on the game, this does not help and with pressure and the mind wondering the results would only show 1 thing. Bad news.

I couldn’t win a race, I couldn’t win a 75% / 25% not even AA v any 2 cards, that’s how bad it was. This wasn’t for a week or two or even a month. This was for about 6 months. I did stop playing so much and re evaluated my game. I tried a lot of things but there was really only 1 thing I needed to do.
Change my life………………

Over the years I have played in small games, big games, easy games hard games……The truth is if you are greedy and want to make big money you need to play in big games with more risk- In the bigger games you usually find that the standard of poker is a little better and they are also a lot more astute to read you…
I have kept books for years on my profit and loss and when I used to play small stakes and win 100K a year with a few cashes in tourneys tax free the first thought is to move up stakes. When I started playing in bigger games I noticed the obvious, when I was winning I was winning more and when I was losing I was losing more. Problem was when I was wining I was enjoying it and spending the money and when I was losing it affected me and my life and I needed to find the money to pay for this.
I am not really a saver of money. If I have ever wanted something I did it or bought it and did not care what the costs, just the way I am. This started to cause me a problem when after 2 months the income was not coming in. I was making final tables in big events and not managing to win and taking small chunks which covered expenses and a little was left over. I had a girlfriend that drove me insane and did not understand me and poker. My hands were never standing up and my draws not coming in. I played in a big PLO game in Spain one I can dream of finding here in the UK I couldn’t win there, I couldn’t win anywhere.

I decided to move back to the UK for a while and come and spend time with the ones I am close to and love.
Spain was great but it has changed a lot over the years and I needed to move forwards with my life as I am 30…………….WTF where did time go!

I wrote a TV show over 3 years ago that I have tried and tried to get out there, I know I am byest but it is the nuts and it would be so big. I have also got plans for 2 new businesses which require me working again and working hard and putting poker to one side which is not easy to do when it is your only source of income.

After much thought I have decided that I will play poker twice a week now and focus on building the business as poker will be there in 2 years, 10 years even 25 years if that is how long it takes.
There is more to life than poker and I need to start enjoying myself again.

Poker is like a drug, it can get to a stage of unhealthiness where you never go out anymore unless it is to play poker as all you want to do is play. You end up feeling when you are out like all you want to do is play poker or that you have nothing to say for yourself except talk poker….. This can be due to the way it affects your mind.
I needed to get out from this and back to feeling good about myself and life.
This was going to take a lot of self help and time but if I didn’t do it then my life could soon be over and I would be a very sad lonely man with no life, this was not what I have been planning for 30years so I need to change!

Today I feel a new man, I have read books and helped myself decided what I want from my life and set plans for making them reality.
I know what I want; I know how I can achieve it, now I have to make it happen.

POKER
Back to basics.
Smaller games regular income, 1000 a week live and 1000 a week on line over the year is 100,000 like earning 200,000 and paying tax but for only 2 days work a week plus the odd tourney.

WORK.
I will now have 5 days and nights a week to work on building my empire without worrying about money coming in.

BUSINESS
Focus and dedicate time and energy. I used to be a work-a-holic I know what hard work is and I am prepared for it again. 2 years hard work now will give me 50 years of fun and happiness.

FAMILY
I love my family and they have helped me through this tough year. I am close to my mum, dad and brother and I want to thank them all for there support.
I have never lied about my gambling or poker playing wins or losses I am true to myself and I know it is the only way to be.
I love my niece and nephew and the more time I spend with them the more I want my own kids.

Christmas is not the same without children around, I stayed with my brother, his wife and the kids over Christmas eve and spent Christmas day at my Dads with all the family. It has been a while since we all had a Christmas together and it made it all so clear. I can’t believe I am saying this but I think I am ready for my own family.

Since all of these discovery’s and changes in my life things have gone from strength to strength, my confidence is back and my zest for life is back.
I could be down and miserable but that will get me nowhere. I have plans for my great life and I think I am lucky that I have a second chance and I will make the most of it.

2009 is almost here
I will spend this year getting everything I want. It will not be easy but if it was then I guess everyone would be happy.

Wishing you all a Very Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy new year.

ECOOP III Main Event $1000 NLH

2008-12-12T05:15:00.000-08:00

ECOOP III Main Event.

1Chickendinner is my screen name as chickndinner has been taken.

SO there were 5 freerolls on Betfred poker where in each one 2 people won 5% of my winnings.
I wanted to win this event as did about 1200 other players.

The structure was good and I was sure many players would not be used to this for an online event so there would and should be a lot of people over betting/calling or donking off their chips early on.

5000 chips and level 1 was 20/40 I saw a player K61C6 double up with 22 V AA on a 728 board. How I am not sure but he did. I knew that I had a good table all I needed to do was get a hand and bet it and I would be called.
I limped with 33 UTG the flop came QQ3 and there were 4 players in the hand. I checked and a player bet out and the other 2 folded I decided no need to slow play and I check raised him 3 times his bet. He called and the turn was a 9. I bet the pot and he called. Now I know he must have a Queen so why is he only calling? Does he think I am bluffing and wants me to bet the river? The river was 7 and I moved all in. I thought that I could check call but I was sure he would pay me as he was a bad player. He did call me with QT. I ended level 1 with 8620 chips.

While playing this comp I am playing the 35K on cripto and a HORSE tourney on Poker Stars waiting for the Sunday Million.

In level 2 I got involved in a hand and managed to lose nearly the minimum. I had A8 on a flop of A24 I check called the flop as not sure where I was then an 8 on the turn. Again I check called as now I thought I was ahead and he would have to bet again. I decided not to raise for some reason and bet the river to get paid by like a weaker A or even TT or something like that. The river was a 9 so I bet out only 450 to get a caller and now they raised me 550 more! Well I wrote in the chat you must have a set WP but I had to call. He did have 22 and flopped a set but I was happy to get away with that. Still have 6700.

I am in the blinds in level 4 and I am raised to 300 there is then a re-raise to 800 and I decide to flat call with QQ could argue both ways against this but the tourney had a good structure and new I could outplay and build chips so didn’t feel the need to gamble all of them in 1 hand. The flop was K67 and with a bet and a call after I checked I decided to fold.
Blinds are now 50/100 and there are 2 limpers in MY pot lol. I raised to 500 and got 1 caller. 89J he checked and I bet the pot, he called the turn was a 2 and he checked again? Weird I moved all in and he called after thinking for a while with TT.
I was a little surprised he check called the flop and didn’t check raise and if he was check calling the turn why he did not move in on the 2 on the turn especially as he was prepared to call if I moved all in. The river paired the board and I was now up to 11650.

Level 5 100/200

I am on the BB again and for some reason people like to attack my BB, even though I have defended it very strongly up to now and won most the pots I have played.
So the button makes it 600 to play so I decided to re-raise as I have some spare chips to 1900. He called. The flop was 57J all spades and as I was first to act I thought I would steel the money in the pot as I was 100% sure I had the best hand at the time unless I was unlucky and he flopped a flush. If he had a draw he could call me as a dog and I would take my chances. He folded and I picked up another 2K.

2 hands later I was on the button and the player UTG made a minimum raise. This could mean 1 of many things especially as he had big chips. He got 2 callers so I decided to see a flop in position for cheap with TT. Th 3h 4c was the flop player 1 bet out big, player 2 moved all in and now it was on me I was sure off my move ALL IN he called very quickly. So this was a 13,500 pot with 900 players left and an average stack of only 6500. Player 1 UTF had A6h and the other player had KQh couldn’t be better than that. 4 outs only and a ten out redraw if they hit the turn. 9sQs and that is 2 fish with 1 hand. (Sounds better than 2 birds with 1 stone)
I now have 21,345 in chips and am second on the leader board. (Average chips for 225 players and we are still 900). Chip leader has 29K
Next hand I win a little more form a donkey with TJ that just does not believe and I check it down to win another thousand.

I was playing well and getting a good feel for players at my table the only problem was that I was moved tables so many times it was difficult but with a big stack it is easier. I face an all in from a player in early position. OK he should have me beat with A9 but a player also with a lot of chips had called and I was more interested in making and winning a side pot. I decided I wanted to see how he plays a bit before I go to war with him. I managed to see AJ which I think is a bad call but at least I got some information.
Level 6 was only 1 minute away and I raised it up in mid-late position with 66. I was called in 1 spot and the flop of K43 seemed ok as we both checked and with a 2 on the turn he moved all in. Did I need to play this hand? No was the answer I came up with as I did not need to take the gamble to bleed chips.

So here was mistake number1.

A player in late position with about 6750 in chips makes it 600 (3 x bb) there are running antes now of 20 so there is 500 in the pot each hand.
The small blind called and I called. The flop was AdJd4c. Small blind had 14K and I had 22K. I also checked and the raiser made it 1299, the SB folded and I decided to min raise to see where I was. He pushed all in and now I knew I was in trouble. He could though have a number of hands here but I knew I was drawing thin but had to call….or did I?
I did call knowing it is a bad call but I was getting just over 3/1. He turned over AA and that was me done. Back down to 15K. SICK but that’s poker.
I build up a few chips again in small pots but now am not getting any cards to play with. (Not that that has stopped me before) I ended the level with 14,405 in chips and in position 119/645.

Next level 150/300 with a 30 ante.

With my tight image at the table and not having played many hands for a while I decided to minimum raise UTG with 77 to start the action.
It ended up only the BB calling and folding to a bet on the flop.
I mess about in a fe more pots winning some and losing others.

Level 8 200/400 (40) I was down to 12, 100
So it was in this level I made mistake number 2.
This is what happened in the hand. I made it 1000 to play with 9 T hearts on the button and the big blind calls. The flop is rainbow 3QJ and they checked! My mistake was not betting here! I also checked. The 4 spades came on the turn and again he checked so I checked. The river was the 7 hearts he bet 400 which I read for a value/stop bet and put him on a pair from 22 up to 99 including hitting the 4 or 7 to make a pair. Problem was I didn’t think for long enough as not much time in these things. I decided to raise to put on pressure as he does not need to call me with these kind of hands especially for a couple of thousand more. I did make it 2400 and he called instantly. Now I would say 95% of the time that I would make this play I would have the best hand but they call all the time so a little bit of a silly play from me as I should have bet the flop. Then I could go on a represent more of a hand after the river. I understand his call but still it was nearly half his chips to make it…. Good call.
Now I only have 9,500 and am 289/463

I was a lot lucky in a way that there was a very aggressive player 2 to my right (BSINCLAR) who was always raising. I decided to re-raise a few rimes so I could pick up the spare 2K in the pot. This was working a lot for me and keeping me in the game. Maybe 1 time he would call me but then I would have a chance at the double up.
I just get myself back to about 13K and with BSINCLAR on the button while it is my BB I always expected action. This time I see I have AA in the BB and of course not 1 person put 1 chip into the pot, not the button, not the small blind!!!! LOL Marvelous.

Level 10 300/600 (60)
So I am trying to win $350,000 in this tourney and $185,000 in the Sunday Million. We are already down to 1300 players in the Sunday Million from like 7500 and I am now finally getting back into the game and have average chips.

So I am in the BB again and this time the button min raises me. I call with KQ. 3 6 8 and I check he moved all in…… bit unfair I think!!!!!!!! 23K is now the average and we are down to 270 players. I need to get some chips

I am now at all in poker stage. There is 1500 in the pot each hand and I have to move all in or pass. I win a few of these all ins with no callers but in reality I want a caller and to double up, unless I can do this 10 times without a caller!

I decided to fold a few hands with an Ace in as there had been action before me and didn’t feel good about it. I ended the level with 9855 chips.
Level 11 400/800 (80)
CARD DEAD is not the word, on top of this there were players in every pot putting chips in before it got to me so I could not even make any moves.
I was cheered up a bit as in the Sunday Million we were now in the $money$ and I doubled up with AA and then got AA again and some action.

I find A6 in the cut off with no action before me I move all in and the button calls me with AJ. I do not like the call myself in fact I would not make the call as against the range of hands I could have the value is not correct to cal of chips to a low stack. I could have a pair, a bigger A or KQ 67 etc….. there is no getting me off the hand I alreadyodea
odeao moved all in. Anyway he called and had me dominated just how I like itJ
I did get to see a 6 on the flop but sitting next to it was a Jack and with no more help that was it from me, 205th.

I was not a happy person as on top of this I just lost 2 3 outers in the Poker stars comp and was out of that too. Final hand was AKs v A2os of course I lost that for a pot of 165K

Sorry to all the people who won a share of me.
In the long run you will benefit from these shares and I am sure we will be doing more of these kind of things in the future with BETFRED.

I am of to the Poker Million final tonight. There are 4 Irish players in and the winner from chase the chair competition.
I hope young Eoghan O’dea wins. I like him as a person and also as a player. Marty Smith, well 3 years on the trot at the final table of the poker million! This is an achievement alone, also a good man and good player. There will be a lot of people funking for Liam Flood and the underdogs.
It will be great to watch and the party will go on through the night that I am sure.

December in the UK

2008-12-04T17:09:00.000-08:00

December in the UK

Not the best thing to do but not a choice at the moment.

Since I was running so bad I have stopped playin for a while and I only either play in small cash games for fun or in some home games with friends for a laugh and a good time.

So will not mention the small cash games as I can only be glad that they are small.
My brothers friends boys game.

Should be fun played there a few times we all have a laugh.
Ten pound buy in for 100 chips and it is pot limit hold em with 2 and 4 blinds.

I enjoy playing in these games as I can relax and not lose to much though trying to control yourself not to play every hand is not easy……. Problem is the hands to take a while as in all home games especially after smoking a little.
Another problem in this game is I manage to lose all self control and eat so much crap like sweets, crisps and chocolate it is not funny.

So back to the game now I am happy to break even at the end but losing is not on the agenda in any game I play.
I am up about 20 quid and somehow I manage to lose and lose and lose and lose and lose until it starts becoming a little embarrassing. I wont bore you with the details but runner, runner and 2 or 3 outers are most of them but to be fair I did go in for a few draws and missed.
So here we are now in for 100 pounds that is right 10 buy ins and you can only get 10 pound at a time. What you think the chances of me making it back are? Hey it all fun especially as the 10th buy in is given to you FREE MONEY YEEAAHHHHH!!!!!!!

So I ended the night pulling a little back and saving some face but not that much.

Back home and work it is for a while setting up a new business is not easy and wasting time playing is not the best idea till all the main work is out of the way unless of course there is some spare time.

My brother found the old super Nintendo and also golden tee with can be played on the TV. Not sure if you have ever played this or know what it is… It is a golf game that used to be in most pubs might even still be in them, This is the old version though and no modern graphics or funky things you can use to play better. O school style.
Well I am addicted and I was runnin tings for a while on that front but recently my brother seems to have taken over. Though we both shoot unbelievably low scores I drop vital holes in match play which is not good.
I told him I had a dream of a hole in 1 as I have had a few eagles and was desperate to get a hole in 1.
He said I think ill get it since I have had a real one before.
So the other night we were playing and he was 3 up on the 12th. Par 3 270 yards or so and he hits the ball, what can I tell you it headed to the green bounced and rolled straight in. I am running bad I said and of course congratulated him.

Next up Mario carts and super soccer on the super Nintendo. This is fun and again very old school we play this a few times a week and it is close in both.
Last night though I plugged in the Super Mario game from like 20 years ago and started to play. Memories came flooding back of when I was younger playing this trying for weeks and weeks to complete the game.
Object of the game: You start with only 3 lives, there are 4 sections in the game and each section has 3 courses. You have to get through each course in a certain time and avoid being killed or falling down. Collecting 100 coins gets you an extra life and there are extras to collect on route. At the end of each level there are 2 doors to go through one at the top and 1 at the bottom. If you go through the top door you can win lives but it is not easy.
So to complete may take like an hour or so but trying to remember all the special places to go and collect extras and trying to recollect what each level is and seeing what creatures are trying to kill you is not to easy.
I manage to get half way though the game to the end of level 3:2 with about 9 lives. I was feeling good. It started to get harder and harder and by the time I got to the last level 4:3 I only had 4 lives.
OK this was a hard one and I was getting close to the end. Finally I got to the end with 3 lives and I was at the crucial part where you have to fire at a cloud with birds coming out of it that kill you. So you need to avoid hitting a bird which fly all over the place in a small space kill the birds while avoiding them and also hit the cloud with bullets a certain number of times until it explodes.
I lost a life trying this and was down to 2 lives. I finally managed to do it and I dropped the control and looked at my brother who I thought was watching to say I did it all excited obviously it was a massive achievement and fun. Then I saw he was asleep and on top of that I had forgotten that after the cloud bit there was 1 last job that needed to be done to free princess and complete the game.
A spaceship comes out and fires a fire ball while moving up and down forward and backwards. Problem was the 1 ball turns into 3 balls and you need to avoid them all.

So while I was celebrating the spaceship came up and killed me now I had to do this all again including the cloud bit with the birds with only 2 lives. I was determined. To do this but with 2 lives it was a challenge
I also forgot to tell you Mario can either be big or small to get big you either have to find and eat the plant or win it going through the top door at the end of each level. If you are big and get hit you only go to small and when you are small and get hit you lose a life.
I lost a life trying this again as I did not manage to get a plant to eat on the way to the cloud and on my final go I got through the cloud and onto the ship but I was only small.
It was like being at a basket ball game with 1 second on the clock and a player throwing the ball up in the air and waiting to see if it went through the hoop.
The fire balls were coming at me hard and fast and I still needed to fire at the ship. I actually think it was a miracle and finally it was complete. With no second chance if I failed and an hour and a half wasted I would not have been in a good mood. Luckily for me it all worked out and I went to bed happy and satisfied.
Sad really how easy I am to please.

So that’s my life fun I know……..

PS I have not forgotten about the final of the 888 open I just don’t want to spoil it if you are planning to watch it when it is on TV.

Next time I will let you know how I got on at TNP (Thursday night poker) this is the friendly home game with my brother and also the 100 re-buy at the Vic which is a new comp each week on a Tuesday.

Good Luck and if you won 5% of me in the ECOOP III then you are onto a good thing!

SEMI FIANL 888OPEN

2008-11-22T06:10:00.000-08:00

SEMI FINAL

Here we are 7 players, 6 winners of their heats and then the winner from the turbo which was a turbo heat of all the second place finishers.
The line up was tough, tougher than my heat and probably the toughest 1 table I have ever played.
Seat 1 James Dempsey
Seat 2 Ian “the razor” Frazer
Seat 3 Richard Wheatley
Seat 4 Josh Tyler
Seat 5 Andrew Feldman (Last years winner)
Seat 6 Paul Zimbler
Seat 7 Andy Ward

So what do I know about these players.

James. Well I played James a long time ago in a heads up match, which I came back from the dead after the first hand to win the match and apart from that I have not played so much with him but I know he has improved from all those years ago.
I knew I would be able to use table talk against him and I have the upper hand.

Ian. A talented player who understands the game of poker and knows how to win 1 table tourneys. Possibly my biggest threat at this table but since 2 players go through there was this time room for us both. I just needed to be careful with Ian as he is capable of many plays.

Richard. What can I say? Richard is just one of those people you just get on with. His personality is great and he is full of fun and laughter. He loves to play poker and your guess is as good as mine as to what 2 cards he is holding. Should be interesting!

Josh. Well not sure what to say. As like most of the young internet kids they think they know and have it all. Very cocky and still lacks experience I think as he managed to win his turbo he will start good but fall when it counts. He is another player I will be able to get into their head with trash talk.

Andrew. A very talented poker player and also a friend. I am not saying he is the best but his game selection and ability to read and understand the short handed games is unbelievable. He also won this last year so he also knows what it takes to finish these 1 tables off.

ME. Odds on favorite to go through…… As I have said before I have never felt more sure of anything. I know I will be at that final table.

Andy. I do not know Andy very well but I do respect his poker game and think he to is 1 of the more likely to go through with me.
Did I have a game plan? Yes to make sure I went into the final with good chips. I was prepared to risk it all if we were 3 or 4 handed to gain a big chip stack so that I had a chance to win the whole event rather than just scrap through and hope on the day. A lot of players say the same thing but when it comes to it they are not really prepared and play scared. As you will see from my heat I was all in nearly every hand heads up with 2 8, J 3, T 2 etc as I was prepared to walk into AK and take a shot as the gamble there was to win the heat and the reward was great for a 40/60 otherwise have to wait and play a turbo and try to get lucky to win that.

Back to the Semi. It started with young Andrew playing 4 out of 4 hands and what looked to be like people making statements to each other and the testosterone flying around was in fact in most of the cases supported by good hands. Well good hands for these players.

The first hand I played I raised to 6K with the blinds at 1K 2K with 33 I got a call from James with ?? and then a re-raise to 22K from Richard with ??. What to do. Well it could be a squeeze but do I need to play this hand? No so I folded as did James.
An interesting hand though!
1st did I need to raise? Not really what flop did I want to see? I raised coz the blinds were cheap and to represent 1 of many hands. The flat call by James? What is this? He wants to play small pot poker with me? Is he crazy? Then the move form Richard. This could be anything! It was a good raise whatever his cards. James allowed this to happen by just calling me. As it happens James had 66 and Richard AdKd.
What was James going to do on a flop with 3 over cards try to out play me?¿? Good luck!

The next pot I am involved in Ian had limped as did I with 3c3d. The flop was 6d6h5d I bet out 9K and I an called the turn was 7d check check, I knew at this point he must have either flush draw or over pair. River 9d Frazer bet 16K. I did stop for a min to think about the hand and I even said you must have like quads or your bluffing me as there was no value bet to be had here. I even thought out loud as I said I think you have bet big to make it look like a bluff so that I call. 16K was 20% of my stack and I knew it was a bad call.
I did think though if I did call and he was at it he would be on tilt and a much stronger chance of me getting to the final. I would also be showing the other players at the table that I am not afraid to call big bets on the river with medium hands so do not try to bluff me. Still was not easy but I decided to do it. He slow rolled me and showed me the black 8 first making him a straight but I thought he would never bet with that hand on the river. I then showed my 3d and he turns over the 8d for a straight flush. Well played I said and everyone else was talking about the slow roll. No problem I said I will get my chance for revenge and it will be sweet or even he may just get punished for that.

So I was down to about 70K and still feeling good.
Next hand against Andrew. Kh5h for me and the board was 3dAhQs the flop was checked so I bet the turn and took it down.
Then I pick up KK and raise and it gets folded round.
Andrew raise before me with an Ace I then move all in and he folds. Slowly getting some chips back.
Level 3 approached with blinds 3k6k I raise with J)h and James mucks an A7 lol

This next hand was crucial. I raised it up to 16K with 88 It is folded round to Richard who moves all in. If I call and lose I would still be in the game but with like 12K. I decided I was ahead and called for a race and hoped quietly that he had either a real rag Ace or an under pair.
He turned over KQos and said I thought you were at it and would not call. As it happened James also folded KQ but the flop was not good and a queen came on it. With no help on the turn or river I was down to the felt but still felt very alive.
WOW what a play and what a hand. Imagine this. What would the odds have been pre flop of Richard and I making it to the final when he was all in against me on a 50/50 and if I lost I would be down to 12K still 7 handed???????

Nest hand Feldman decided to move all in with Q4 and I decided the value was right as I shoved it all in with J6. He looked at me like I was mad but you have to be prepared to get it in the 40% side and get lucky if the value is right. Later you will have many 50/50 or 60/40 so what is the difference I needed chips and wanted to show them I was not an easy pushover whose blind they could steel. I hit that hand on the flop and managed to nearly treble up.
I then move all in with A7 and it gets through.
A7 again and I raise again all in. James starts thinking hard and tells me if he had his hand last time he would have called at to which I replied well I have the same 2 cards. I know the commentator did not like my chat but I knew who I could talk to and who not to and I managed to talk him somehow out of calling me with AQ. Andrew then also gave me the treatment before folding A5.
Next level 5K 10K still 7 handed and I only have 52K
Richard makes it 30K I wake up with TT and move all in Richard calls me with 44. A nice double up for me….
Richard then moves all in with A4 and Andrew wakes up with QQ. The flop was 3TT and Andrew called in the 2 and 5 for a sick beat, leaving him with like 6K.

Next hand was also interesting. Andrew was in the BB and nearly all in. James decided he wants to raise here to set Andrew all in? what I am not sure with K7 but then Richard moves all in for over 40K more and he still calls?????? What can he think Richard has? Any way Richard wins with 99 as Andrews 34 unable to make anything and we are down to 6. James has dropped like 100K from his 200K stack so good news for me!
I did start to wind him up about his play and he even told me the value was there. OK I said and then I find out he passes AQ to me LMAO.
Richard is now chip leader with 160K I am short stack at 95K

Josh takes out Andy and now has 240K while my 75K looks to me like the real winner.
All I knew at this point was with Ian also short stacked I was the best player at the table and if I could get some chips I would show these kids how to play.
I made a few all ins to steel blinds successfully and then I found a real hand TT and Richard called me with 88. I thought this could be a bad sign but it was not to be and I was now back in the game.
I had warned them that they did not want to double me up but now that they had I was ready to play. 185K
Just As I had got these chips I looked over to josh and said “ you don’t want to play a big pot against me” he replied only if you make it big.
So I was in the BB and he was the SB he decided to limp and I looked down at 22 I made it 45K to play and he decided to call me out of position? OK I thought is he going to make a stop and go play on me? Am I ready to call of this semi with 22 to show him I know what he is up to……

Flop 5d4sKh Josh checks. So I check. I know he is capable of moving all in if I bet so what is the point.
Turn was 9h and he checked again. I thought now for maybe 60 second while I looked at him I seceded I was ahead and to play the percentages as if I did check now he would have to bet the river and I was prepared to all as long as no real scare card comes.
The river pairs the 5 and Josh starts to count. I think to myself here I am just going to instant call whatever he bets and if he goes all in I must be brave and trust my read and still call but maybe it would have taken me a few seconds to do it.
Finally he bets 50K as to which I have said call before he has even put his chips into the pot. Just a pair he said hoping that I would throw my cards away. I said you must win then still holding my cards. 5s he said as he did not want to show his hand. O I said I must have 2 pair then playin dumb…. “COME ON BABY, that’s how we play these young kids” I said. I did warn you I said to him after the hand at which point he was not talking to me anymore.
Now up to nearly 300K and feeling good I do not think anyone could have stopped me.

2 hands later Josh and James tangle and Josh is out. A8 v A5 and the best hand won.
4 players left 273 Zimbler, 160 James, 157 Frazer and 110 Wheatley

Richard then gets it all in v Ian At v AK and hits a T to survive MBN
To be honest I preferred Richard to get the chips as he was less of a treat in the rest of this heat and also in the final.

Ian then all in and I called with A/ he turned over 78 and with no help Ian was out.
I know had half the chips in play and this was the comeback of all comebacks.
There were a few pots here and there all in and no calls and finally James pushes all in on MY BB. Has he not been paying attention at all this semi final?????
I called with A4 and as I did I said this is so that I have a real chance at winning. He turned over JT to be fair it was near enough what I was expecting to see and I just needed my Ace to hold up.
It did and we were through Richard and I had made it against all the odds.
Going into the FINAL of the 888.com Open
Paul Zimbler 418,000 So far I am the chip leader but 1 more semi final tomorrow.
Richard Wheatley 282,000 (Average is 350,000)
Thanks to Matchroom Sport for allowing me to post the results and for the pictures that will follow as well as all their hard work.

I was very grateful to be in the final after being short in my heat and winning to the same happening in the semi I was sure it was a sign that I was destined to win. There are always 3 things that help me smile when I am down to the felt and give me the feelings I need to turn it around and start wining: My nephew Ziggi, my niece Skye and my doggy Lola. Pure unconditional love and it is the best.

I will let you know how the final goes.

888 POKER OPEN 2008

2008-11-03T07:17:00.000-08:00

888 Open V

Heat 10
SEAT 1 Jon Askey 6/1
SEAT 2 Andy Greekfish 4/1
SEAT 3 Dale Hoy 9/2
SEAT 4 Jon Magil 4/1
SEAT 5 888 qualifier Kimmo Louhelaimen 6/1
SEAT 6 Paul Zimbler 3/1

So this was the line up and those were the odds.

I have not played in many TV events over the years as I was not a big fan of them since they add no added prize money but things have changed over the years and some of them are ok.

I was not originally in this event as it was sold out and I was 1st on the reserve list.
With consistent phone calls and emails to make sure if there was a seat I would get it I started to visualize and mentally prepare for my win.

WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE…………….IT CAN ACHIEVE.

I have been doing a lot of self development work since I got back from Las Vegas. I have been doing a lot of cosmic ordering and visualizing for what I want and believing in all that I do.

I finally got a call on Wednesday letting me know that the Devil Fish had to pull out and that I have a seat in heat 10 on Friday. He went on to tell me the format and when he said if you come second you will play the turbo on Sunday I stopped him to let him know I would not be coming second and I only needed to know when the semi final was and also the final. He laughed but I guess he must hear that a lot.

I was over the moon but not surprised as I knew I would have a seat in 1 of the heats cant explain it but when you know something you know it and do not think about it anymore, it just happens.

So my plan was to wake up early go for a run then drive up to Kent where they film it all.
If you know me you will know this is not an easy task as I am not a morning person or a running person but I know it will be good to stimulate the mind. The night before I needed to see a friend and managed to get into bed about 01:30 setting my alarm for 07:30. I woke up pushed snooze then snooze again and finally managed to get out of bed only to see the grey clouds and feel the cold.
The run was off not surprisingly and I jumped into the shower and prepared for my day ahead.
The heat was to start at 11:00 and I needed to be there by 09:45 and being 65 miles away having to do the M25 I preyed that I would not get stuck in serious traffic.
I got there on time and put on my BETFRED sticker.
After make up I was taken for the interview and then meet the rest of the players in my heat and off we went.
There were a few confident players but I did tell them all before it started that they were playing for a place in the turbo heat which was a heat for all the second place finishers in the heats to try to get into the semi finals.

The seat draw was great for me although in the old days of late night poker there was a curse on the end seat but saying that we used to play 7 handed.

I started with the button and raised the first hand to send a message out. I was there to play as a win was the only result in my mind. 2nd place meant playing a turbo heat which is a gamble in itself so I may as well gamble to win the heat and directly go through.

I got off to a great start and played good.
S the blinds increased the level of play increased and the Finish player Kimmo on my right found gears I didn’t think he had. I knew there that my prediction from before the heat began which was that I would end up heads up with Greekfish was not going to happen and that I would be heads up with this kid.

Before the heat begun I wanted to make a bet on myself but I was told I was the favorite at 3/1. I was not surprised to be favorite but 3/1 was a short price in my mind. I have not played TV event for years and I have never won a 5 handed heat on TV: I also knew that I would be the first out or the winner which I guess Neil Channing also knew as I believe he made the book.

Back to the heat. I started playing to poker and firing on all 3 streets only to get called and thinking if this carries on I will look a complete fool and also be out the competition very soon.
I played a few hands weirdly but then I made a great play with 5 high against the Fin on my right. I had already bet 3 times into him and he had called me so I thought the set up had to work the third time. The flop was AKT the turn was T and the river was 6 after he checked again to me on the river I said to him you must have a King. How much will you pay me? 20K? I then bet out 25K he thought for ages and looked at me and said “you cant be doing this a third time” He then folded PHEWWWWWWWWWWW……Of course I never showed and from there I went from strength to strength.

I was raising a lot in this heat and not having to show many hands. My chips were up and down which is normal for me. I found JJ and raised as normal Dale called me and the flop was 8 high. I bet out and he moved all in. I thought for a minute and said I am here to win and I cant see that I am behind so I call.- He turned over 89 and I managed to double up.
A few hands later Dale made a raise I looked down to see KK. I always think about which way I should play this hand as I like to trap if they have smaller pair but what if AK then I will prob not get anymore chips from them unless I am lucky to see a King high flop. I also do not want to loose to a 3 outer but you need to take these chances and play the Math.
I did take my own advice and I re-raised He called me with AJ I think and I managed to survive again.
Dale was left with 8K in chips and I was now over 200K and getting back into the game.
Next hand he was all in when the blinds were 5K 10K and I made it 20K with 66. I know that we could knock out a player and I should let the small blind in but I want to win the heat and also start a small side pot incase I hit. Dale had T5 and a 5 on the flop and a 5 on the river and he was back in the game with 21K. The next hand he trebled up to 63K.

Greekfish was playing well and also giving a lot of chit chat. I think it was a great table for the banter as there were 3 of us giving it a lot of chat… part of the game.
HE looked like he was going to sail it until he made to massive mistakes and donked off most his stack to the Fin on my right.

The Greekfish raised my BB and I looked down at AK I think and pushed he folded. He was looking like a man on TILT and with only about 70K left he was bleeding them away. I was of course happy with this as of all the players on the table I would have preferred to play heads up with the Fin.
Finally a hand arose where the Fin raised UTG Greekfish moved all in and then Dale went all in behind him. The Fin had to call 41K from his fair sized stack and did.
The Fin 22
Greekfish KQ
DaleAK

Flop K high was it to be fate…….
Turn 2 and it was all over we were heads up and at that point there I knew I was the winner. I diod not have the chip lead but there was not much in it and the blinds were not at to bad a level.

HEADS UP

I was giving the Fin the verbals as I knew I could and explaining to him that there was no shame coming second to me.
Heads up went on for like 70 hands which was crazy and I was playing ultra aggressive.
I took a shot at winning the heat once I took the chip lead. I raised with KT and he then moved all in. For me to call it would leave me with about 160K and as long as I was not dominated I was happy to have a shot. I put him ion an Ace or small pair and of course I would prefer to go in ahead but 60/40 is not so bad and if I lost I could still come back. I thought for ages. I know the right decision is to pass as I had the chip lead and could chip away but who knows what the future would be and with the blinds going up I wanted to end it there and then.
I did call and with an Ace on the flop I was down to about 150K
From there I was going all in most hands to steel the blinds with 64, J3 and all sorts but we managed to have 7 show downs and at one point I was down to 75K v his 525K and that was the most exciting time for me as even then I told him that I would come back and that he was not to be upset with himself and that he was not able to change destiny.
I managed to doubled through when Kimmo min raised to 30K on the button and I called with 6 8 diamonds.
The flop was KdQd3s and I thought if I check raise here he may be committed so I shoved and he called quickly. He turned over AdAc and I managed to spike a diamond on the turn and dodge a diamond on the river to take control once more.
The final hand He pushed all in for 110K and I called with Ks7d. He showed Qh 8d The flop was 762 and with a K on the turn it was all over no sweating needed and I was through to the semi finals………
I stayed to watch Kimmo in is turbo as I think he played fantastic and deserved a seat in the semi final. He didn’t make it but I did promise him I would send him money after I win the event next week.
I thanked god and my sprit guides many times through the heat and even more so before I played and after I finished.

I will let you know how many chips I finish the semi finals with and the line up for the final on Saturday.
Until then Be lucky.

My Last week in Sunny Spain

2008-10-20T04:34:00.000-07:00

My last week living in Spain playing the local clubs and the festival week in Calahonda.

I managed to get a few on line competitions in before my computer was packed up onto the lorry headed for London.

I was not sure if I should play on line or go out and play live. Being undecided I logged into a tournament online and as it started I received a call from a friend asking if we were playing tonight.
I said hang on 1 sec I have just started a comp online I will go all in and if I lose we can go out.
There was a raise from UTG to 100 with 2500 starting stack and the blinds 10/20. 7 callers so I moved all in with some rag AJ. To my amazement I only got 1 caller form a player with AQ and I was down to less than 300 chips.
I told my friend I will see him in 20 min.
20 min later I was one of the chip leaders in the tournament having fun.
He stuck around for a while but as I was accumulating more and more chips he left me to go to the game. This was 21:15. at 00:00 we were approaching the final table. I was playing another tournament now at the same time and had made the final of that too. There was also a plo cash game and HORSE cash game going on to keep me busy.
Thankfully I was doing ok in these and I also joined in a 7 card stud game which I made about $100 in. Bit slow and fixed limit but was ok to kill time.

So back to the final. I think we were 7 handed for over 1 hr and then 5 handed for about 20 min. The first prize was all I was interested in so I decided to become a little more aggressive. I went from low stack to big stack to average stake to out in about 4 weird hands.
I was happy with my night considering the start and really wanted to get down to this live game before all the dead money had left the table.

I turned my PC off and went to the game. WOW what a game as normal. In fact I cant believe I am leaving Spain with games this good even though they are only small.
I did OK in this game too so took a few hours sleep as I needed to start packing up my life.

The rest of the week.
This was spent playing in small cash games and trying to pick up enough money to pay of some bills I had and also there was a festival week coming up in Calahonda so I wanted to build up a bankroll to play the big crazy NLH game that there will be with many scandies coming over to play.

I also played twice a week in a 1 2 plo game with players well 80% of ther players who do not understand plo.
It is a funny game as I know they all gamble and will not lay a straight down on a paired or flushing board so DO NOT try to bluff!

I managed to end up in the 20 days a winner in this game but not by as much as I would like. I had 1 bad night where nothing was good. Flop the goods and get outdrawn or not catch a draw no matter what. But still not the end of the world.

Week by week I was wining a few grand to get by and now the time has come for the festival.

The first event was a 20 rebuy event.
I arrived early to play some cash and was doing ok up like 400 in a 200 sit down 1 2 game. I decided I would not play the first 3 levels as I know what I am capable of!

I took a bad beat in the cash game for half my stack so went to relax in the tournament. 1st mistake, I ended up having to many re-buys and not getting anywhere.
Once I was out which didn’t take too long after the knockout stage I sat in the 5-5 nlh game where there was over 10K on the table. I managed to win 1500 playing properly and called it a night after a few hours.

The next night was a 30-30-30 and I had a good feeling. Again I arrived early to get some cash action in and won a few hundred to pay my entry fee and also have some spare $.
This time I played my A game and though I was low stack most the night I managed once we were 20 left to start getting a stack in front of me. I was moved table and found AA UTG I made a minimum raise to 3000 with only 7000 in chips. My friend Ben from Bedfred re-raised me from the button to 6000 so I said well I guess I need to gamble and put my last 1000 in. He called and turned over AQ and this was the start of my chip building. Thanks Ben. I managed to get some more of his chips later on but the good thing I told him later was: at least they went to a good home.
Final table. I had about half average chips but there were 2 players with massive stacks so I wasn’t in that bad shape.
I also got a 20 man last longer bet going before the tourney started and surprisingly there were still 6 of us in at the final including the 2 big stacks.
I managed to double up early on so I was sitting pretty waiting for my opportunities.
These came more often than in most tourneys as the strength of the players was not so good and I could take advantage more often.
When we were 5 handed the chip leader who was very drunk now played a weird pot and lost most of his stack. He then went on tilt and lost the lot. We didn’t stay 4 of us for long and by the time we were 3 handed I have just over 100K v my 2 opponents who had 200K and 250K. The prize pool was 1500 to the winner 900 to second and 400 to third. So I suggested a deal. 1000 each. Of course they said I had less chips and I did not argue this but I said we were all getting more than second place money and once I had doubled up I would be favorite to win and I would not do any deals heads up if we did no deal now. They were both happy to deal as it was late and 1000 was still a good night’s work. Good news was we were only 2 left in the last longer so we took that and used it for a tip.

Being tired but keen to play some more I took the first seat in the lively 5-5 game where there was now over 20K on the table. There were 4 good players 2 ok and 2 crazy gamblers. They both had big stacks and I thought about what to do. It is never a good ides to play 7 hours in a tournament then sit straight in a cash game. I also was tired and knew I would need 1500 buy in and 2 or 3 buy ins incase I lost as well as 3 or 4 hours to make the most from this game. I also know I had to be up early in the morning to trade the stock market and decided to be disciplined and go home. There is always tomorrow like I tell so many players and now it was time to take my own advice.

Thursday.
This was going to be my leaving drink night as it was my last night Friday was D day and after 7 and a half years of spending a lot of time in sunny Spain I was needed in the UK.
Trying to finish up packing and moving stuff into my mums place as well as trading the markets took up a lot of my day so no real plans were made but as I know the best nights often come from nowhere. This was no exception.
It started with a quiet drink locally where we managed to get through a fair few beers before moving onto my friends bar Liquid Lounge. If you ever go to Marbella and have never been there you have to. Great atmosphere and excellent food. Ask for Mic and tell him I sent you. There is also a lively bar area and it is set back from the main port but worth the visit.
Here we started on the whisky and from there it only got better.
A bar called PINK well it is a bar but a strip bar.
Some of my friends know a lot of the girls in there as well as some of the staff so we headed in there for a couple. After meeting a few unbelievable girls I remembered why I want to be single. I would like to add I did not pay for dances as I do not understand all that. For me it is like playing poker getting a royal flush and not being able to bet.

We went on to a few other bars in the port meet some more people then got a booty call from a few girls I had meet earlier. Well I was just about managing to stand up at this point but I had to be of service.
1 of my friends and I meet the 2 girls and headed back to mine for my last night!
What can I tell you about this girl. WOW she was young like 19 had a figure to dye for natural, large, firm breasts and skin that was tight and beautiful. O to be young. On top of that she had an accent which just drove me wild.
We had a fun night as I said goodbye to my life in Spain with a smile.

Friday – D-day
I managed to get out of bed after like 3 hours sleep as I needed to get to the bank before it closed. I am sure I was still over the limit and I could not stand up for long. My head was in a bad way but I had many thanks that needed to be done.
I finally managed to get everything done and headed of to the airport at 22:00 leaving the storms that had come in behind me.
It was a weird day as it was full of mixed emotions.
I hope soon I will have managed to sort everything out in the UK and will be able to return or even head somewhere new.
You are able to play with me on http://www.betfred.com/ and I look forward to the challenges that lye ahead.

THE WEEKEND ....ITS TIME TO PARTY

2008-09-24T08:18:00.000-07:00

Friday
TIME TO PARTY!
Before going out I went to a small 1 2 plo game and picked up some spending money for the night.
I won’t bore you with the poker but from there I went to Fungirola for a night out with some friends.
We meet up for some drinks and went salsa dancing. I must admit it was really fun and I had a great time. I did start to learn dancing as in salsa and ballroom as I find it very sexy and interesting after watching that strictly come dancing I wanted all the moves.
I did not find too much time but learnt some and enjoy a night out with a little dancing in it. What started off as a night out for a few drinks turned into a drinking session…most unlike me and before I knew it we were bar hoping and in a club.
At 630 we left and I managed to get a lift home to my friends’ house who kindly said I could stay. Problem was I needed to be home in the morning which I new was not going to happen. I manages to get a parking ticket in the morning as I was not there on time to take the car away and in Spain it is €60 or €6 if you pay now…. Weird I know as a pay and display is like 3 or 4 euro. In my hung over state I managed to get it all wring and paid the €6 into the envelope provided but forgot to put the ticket inside. I had posted it into the slot in the machine so it was too late.
I know most the time they never chase you up and rely on people just paying and trough them all away but I didn’t want to take a chance. I then found out you need to pay the €6 into the meter then get a printed ticket then post that. So I had to do it all again but at least it was done.
Saturday night I played in a comp was tired and hung over but was on a free roll as was playing for someone. I managed to not make it past level with AK v AQ on a KQ7 board but to be honest do not think I would have been able to make it through the night. I went straight home to watch strictly come dancing and fell asleep before they had even started.
Sunday
RYDER CUP
Gutted. I do think that Nick Faldo was not to blame but I think my order of players may have been different. I wanted to back USA before it began as I thought it was clear that they would win and it is the first time that they have not been favorites for a long time. Saying that I am trying not to bet so I didn’t and decided I would not trade through the cup and just enjoy watching it.

So it was the last day I went to my friends to watch the football Great result for me a Liverpool fan, watch the single matches and eat and drink. I had another fun day and night but the result was not to be for Europe.
USA played well and deserved to win but with a few home town players I think the course knowledge helped a little. Well played Mr. Poulter I think you played fantastic and proved all your critics wrong.

Well that’s it for this week.
Remember if you cant be good be lucky :)

$500 Triple Shootout

2008-09-24T08:14:00.000-07:00

Thursday 18th September

Poker stars on line championships
I was going to go out on this night but had a gut feeling to stay in and play the triple shoot out on stars.
As I have said before and if you know me you will know I love STT and I believe I have a better chance than most in the ones I play.
A triple shootout is 3 STT. The winner of the first STT go to a second STT and the winners from those games meet in the final.
I played this event in the WSOP this year and was unlucky to come second after having half chips in play 3 handed and then playing 90 min heads up.
This was a great strucred event with 5000 starting chips and with 30 minute blinds starting at only 10 20 it looked as thought his could take 6 hours to complete if we were lucky!
I started as the table aggressor since no one wanted to take on the role. I was up and down like a yo yo and had a few good key hands in this event.
HAND 1 UTG I limped with 66 the blinds at this point were 50 100. a player in middle position makes it 400 to play so I called. The flop was 6h 4d 6c I checked and he bet into me 400. I thought for a min and called. The turn was Tc and I again checked into him, he again bet but this time 900. I thought for a min and called. The river 2d not a good card for me in case he puts me on 5 3 but I think I will take my chances.
So what did I have…… forget that I have to think now what does he have and how should I play my hand. Ill tell you this, I could not lose the pot.
I was sure he was a weak player. I put him on TT or JJ something like that but would he try to value bet the river or just check it behind me to collect it?
Being sure he was weak I felt safe to check hoping for like a 1200 plus bet. I only had about 2500 left at this point and had put in 1700 in already. To my surprise he moved all in immediately so of course I called. He showed me QQ and I thanked him as I turned over quad sixes.
Now I was in good spirits and the table saw mw check 3 times with the nuts. This was good for later when I would want to see free cards in big hands.

Next up was a horrible situation. Sitting pretty with 8700 now I got involved in a hand against people who like to throw their chips away.
UTG again I was dealt QQ. I limped as I like to do this with QQ as an interesting fact is that QQ UTG is actually favoutire to lose. Bizarre to think I know but when you read about it, it does actually make sense. Any way they player next to me limps and then player raises to 300 I call and the player to my left moved all in for 3505.
I think it is clear he does not have AA or KK here so I can not pass. He turns over AhJh and the flop comes perfect 6h9h7h well perfect for him. lmao.
The turn and river do not help so I was left wounded and not on the 12K mark I would like to be on.
Next I played a hand I have mixed emotions on.
6454 in chips and I raised with AQ my pet hate hand. I min raised to 300 as blinds were now 75 150 jeff710 called me with 6930 in chips. The flop was 333 I checked and he bet 500. I thought I may be ahead and if not I had 7 cards to hit or more to represent a better hand if he had a small or medium pair. The turn was another 3 and I had to look again to check that I did now have the nuts. I checked again to show weakness and he checked behind me. The river was perfect K. With 1600 in the pot I did not know whether to bet 1000 to get paid or would it look obvious so I went for the over bet to look weak. I bet 2400 hoping to get a caller to split. He thought for ages and was writing LAME in the chat box amongst other things. He finally folded and I said I had to bet to win the pot. This got him fired up I hoped and we played on.
With nearly 4 hours play and 45,000 chips in play we were now 3 handed me with 6500, Jeff with 2700 and jimbomber with over 35,000.
Talking to a friend on msn I said if I can get heads up with this fella with between 10 and 15K I have a good chance as the blinds were low enough and I knew I was a far better player. I tried to eliminate jeff who doubled up through me but knowing there was nothing for second I stepped up a few gears into overdrive and started building my stack to a good level. Finally I got Jeff out and was heads up with 15K v 30K.
Heads up went on for nearly 90 minutes with my stack going down to less than 8K at 1 point. I did manage to swap 10% with Jimbomber amazingly he agreed to my powers of persuasion.
I got up to 20K in chips when he raised on the button to 1200. The blinds were 150 300 with 25 ante. I flat called out of position with 77 as I did not need to play big pots with him and with over 1 hr of heads up play I knew he had some kind of hand.
Flop was TsAd7c. Wow all I could hope for now was that he had an A so I bet out waiting for the re-raise. 600 to look weak. He only called. Turn was the 3c perfect I decided to check knowing he would have to bet here with any hand as I looked weak on flop and now checked a little obvious I did not have an A now. He bet 1200 so I re-raised to 3600 not wanting to scare him off and also allowing him to push all in on me. He called, the river was Qc. I now bet out 5700 trying to get paid when he re-raised me 10500 to 16200. WTF have I walked into here. TT if so he played it well. KJ I cant believe that AQ I was hoping or A bit clubs which I also cant believe otherwise he would have bet the hand different. I typed SO SICK into the chat and had to call off my last 8900 to win a 40K pot and he turned over T9c….What can you do except laugh…….That’s poker. After a my friend consoled and comforted me for a few min I switched off and could only hope that he went on to win to get my 10%. I wished him luck and switched off.

BACK IN THE SUN

2008-09-24T08:11:00.000-07:00

BACK IN THE SUN AT LAST.

Wednesday 17th September

After 6 weeks in London with no poker, well hardly any poker as I took a well deserved and needed break I have finally arrived back in sunny Spain to decide on my future.

Whilst deciding I thought I would go back to the small easy games to pick up some spending money.

I spent a day or two sorting my stuff out at home as I had been away for 4 months with only 1 week back and had to make the house nice again.

I set up the sky + for my shit as now I did not have to record or watch the girlfriends stuff as she no longer lives here J

I went to see all the boyz to say hello and enjoyed a few nights out on the town as a single man again. That was fun and needed……..

POKER what to do.
I went to a local game to get my appetite back for the game that I had become fed up with and decided to play disciplined poker.
Easy to say and not easy to do when the players around you are so bad and like to gamble. You really needed to loosen your game as your range of wining hands could be so much larger than if you were playing in a normal game… (what is normal these days).

I got into the game and to my left was matey J I had been told about him and his game, betting everything and calling if not re-raising most of the time.
I was in a pot or 2 with him and was studying him and his play/actions. I think I had him worked out as he liked to show me his cards every time I was not in the pot so this was perfect and lots of extra free information for me.

I was in the SB with 62 and he urged me to call. He was on my left so I knew that he would not re-raise pre flop. The flop came down 653 so I checked to him to see what he did. He bet out so I thought for a while of his possible hand selection here and thought that I could even be in front and if not I should have 10 live outs. (any 6,4 or 2). I pushed all in and he called me only to turn over 5 3. No help on the turn or river and it was CHIPS shouted for me.
Funny thing here is the rest of the table all thought I had like trips or the made straight and when I mucked put me on JJ or better.
I think I will take my chances against this kind of player who could have had latterly any 2 cards.

I re-loaded for 500 and with 2 5 blinds and a 10 straddle there was a player in early position who raised to 40, 4 callers so of course when it came to me I knew I had to move all in to collect the pot. Who here would call 500 pre flop except possibly the first raiser?
Silly me I forgot matey was at the table and would call 500 blind lol.
I managed to get lucky and I beat his K9os with my sexy J7 spades and from there I did not look back.
I did make it clear I would only be playing for 2 hrs when I sat down as I needed to get home and sleep as I had a full day on the next day.
Next thing I know I have called out of position a small raise from my friend on my left with T9 and checked to him on a T82 board. He bet out 50 so I called. The turn was a 9 so I checked again. He bet 200 so I re-raised to 600. He pushed all in and I called. He turned over 89 and the 7 on the river was no help (glad all the money went in on the turn though).
I went from 500 down to 1250 up in like 15 min.
Seemed like no one else wanted to gamble with him and there were like 5 rocks just sitting and waiting. I think Mater liked me because I was gambling with him and not just sitting and waiting for AA. I was card dead for 20 min after and left the game as I said I would returning home to sleep feeling good about myself and my game again. This is important.
I wish I could have stayed all night with him as I think it could have been profitable but that is the gambler in me. I still won 1250 which for 2 hours work is ok in a small 2 5 game.
I said my goodbyes and told my new friend that I was here for a few weeks and he would get a chance to win it back any night he wanted.

The 10K challenge

2008-08-11T08:59:00.000-07:00

So I set my self a challenge to make a minimum of 10k in the week I was going back to Spain.

How did it go? This is the big question. Last time I set myself a task I ended up after 3 days just short but this time I was determined to make it happen.

I started of in a 5 5 plo game in London the night before leaving for Brighton. I managed to get outdrawn again by a fish who wanted to call a pot sized bet on the flop od 8 6 2 with just a 6 and then bet out the pot when the turn was a K and managed to find another K on the river to save his arse against my trip eights.
OK 1 pot down, a few hands later I get it all in a again with nuts straight v lower straight but he manages to pair the right card of his 2 pair as well to make a house.
Then a few other pots and I was over 3K sterling down.
NOT A GOOD START.
From there I went to spend the weekend with my family in Brighton, Well my dad, step mum, brother, niece and nephew. Sweet really and I had a great time.
I love spending time with my niece and nephew as well as the rest of the family.
There was no Poker for the weekend but I decided to go to Spain on Sunday night and play there for a week as I had some good friends of mine Mathew and Emma coming to stay for a week.
So I arrived back home to find it remarkably clean state considering my girlfriend had left and I was expecting the worse.
It was late so I just went to sleep for the night and woke up to deal with the flat.
The sun was shinning and it was hot not as hot as Vegas but a lot more humidity but there is a nice breeze in Spain.

After sorting myself out and relaxing for a few hours I went down to play in my local 2 5 plo game which really is the best game I have ever played in.
Monday was not a great day with the normal swings. I lost a sick hand the first one I played and spent all day trying to recover. I managed to do this and went for the win near the end but failed and ended up losing 350 euros.
So Tuesday morning I woke up with 5 days to go and 3500 down instead of in the black towards my 10K target.
Tuesday was also a sick day. I went back to the plo game as this is where the money is to be made. I was up and down most the day but taking some sick beats. There was a huge pot for about 6K where I hade the nuts on the flop and turned a flush draw and knew I was splitting the pt at the moment but 1 player called 1200 more with nothing invested in the pot with trips wanting to see the turn which was a blank. The turn he only had to pay about 700 more but of course hit the river and scooped the pot.
I also made a calculated decision to fold a big hand on this day which most people would put all there money in with. I was out of position and the flop was K82 with two diamonds. I had trip 8’s and also the bare Ace of diamonds. I bet the pot which was 40 there was 1 caller and then came a raise then a re-raise, it came to me and it was about 400 to call. I have to fold or stick it all in.
I thought for a minute I had about 900 in front of me and I knew that something as not right. What did these players have to raise and re-raise me? I know the players well as we have played for years together and there was 1 gambler in the pot who was not on tilt yet so playing fairly conservatively and the other player is a solid good player.
I had trips; I also had the bare A for the flush draw so someone else must have trips and the other player 2 pair and a flush draw?
So I needed to blanks to potentially win this pot if 1 of the players did not have trip Kings. If not I needed an 8 for quads and knowing a King would not help me and if it paired the 2 then the other player could make quads. Ok I could go for running pair but realistically I new I had to pass as the gamble was not in my favour. As it happened the pot got big and the turn and river bought no help and I was right 1 player had top 2 with flush draw and the solid player had trip 2’s with a higher flush draw.
Why could my A not have been suited???????????????????lol
I ended the day down 2K euro and not in a good mood. This was now beginning to get to me as it can’t happen everyday that the lucky fish always hit.

Though I do not like to admit it losing does effect how I live the rest of my life. It effects my relationships with friends, family and loved ones. It also effects how I go about my other business. NOT GOOD.

I relaxed at home with my friends then set myself up ready to smash it on Wednesday.
Wednesday. Well not too much to say about this day except the action was big and good in the game but I was unable to make it pay having what I only can say to myself as the worst every run I have experienced in 12 years of playing.
I know bad beats happen and the game is about maths and in the long run if you play your odds you will be a winner. I must say I don’t talk to much about bad beats anymore, everyone has them and that is poker but I was not sure how much more I was able to take!
I went n the evening to play in a NLH game as maybe I needed a change.
This proved to be more successful as the players are also weak and you can pick and chose your spots, though the players there some of them will but you to the test all of the time.
I played a solid game and was always ahead in the game but could not get passed the 750 mark even thought the game was a good size but every pot could commit your whole stack.
I decided to call it a night to change my frame of mind and leave a winner after a few hours of play which made me start to think.
Maybe I should be playing more hold’em, but the plo game is so good.
I was now about 8K down and it was going to be Thursday when I woke up.
System going well! Send more $$$$$$$$$$$$
Thursday I set up a friendly 50 euro re buy game for some friends and this would be followed by a cash game.
I managed to start wining my 50 50’s but as I said before when I am a 75% or higher favourite I manage not to win and this is not a good thing especially in Hold’em.
I did not do any good in the tourney and went out with AK v KT and the cash game to follow was so bad I resorted to getting drunk and waiting for good cards which never held up. I managed to lose another 2K on this night and decided to stop there.
I also played a few times online where I managed to spend what I had left in my accounts which was not so much but not the plan. I played HORSE on start and this was my only winning session but all the players left the game after a while but I am sure they will all be back.
The challenge of making 10K turned into a 10K deficit and started to make me think that I need to give this up and go back to working. Poker used to be fun for me but it has defiantly changed since it was my only form of income.
I think I will take a break and when I am all set up in a new business with time to spare I will return and hope my form has changed for the better.
I will be opening a poker school and I will get the enjoyment from teaching and playing will become fun again.
I am off to the UK for 2 months to set up some other bits and get away from Marbella for the summer. More importantly I have 2 of my best friend’s stag nights and weddings which will keep me in the UK till mid September.

I will keep writing about what I am up to and keep you informed about the seminars I will be holding.
Be lucky!

POST VEGAS BLUES

2008-07-29T06:34:00.000-07:00

So I have been Back from Las Vegas for 1 week where I stayed in London and what can I tell you.

I miss it!

On my last few days in Vegas I partied. It was a friend of ours 21st so we stayed out a little longer and I threw him a party he or any of will not forget for a long time. I am afraid I can not post any pictures on here or tell any stories but it was a blast!

I managed to reduce my debt before I left Las Vegas as I had a few good nights for a change.
I still left losing and losing by a fair amount but I did spend a lot of time and $ on the shopping. I think I came with 1 case and left with 4 but hey who’s counting!

We managed to get an upgrade at the airport and my friend kindly flew us home first class. This was great even though I did explain I would probably be asleep for the 10 hours as I had not slept good in 2 days and I had a wedding a few hours after we landed.

As I got on board and we took off I turned my chair into a bed ordered a drink and started to think about my trip.
6 weeks in Las Vegas living at the Wynn sounds good but not too easy. I nearly came home after 4 weeks as it started to all get on top of me.
I had some personal emotions to deal with also this year while trying to keep a clear head for playing. My girlfriend and I split up and knew exactly how to get to me. We decided amicably it was not working and she was going to move back to London. The sad news was she would be taking our dog that I have grown to love like I can not explain over the last 9 months we have had her.
Lola, which is the dog’s name, was a puppy when we got her and having a responsibility to walk, feed and care for each day as well as the fact she was a daddy’s girl and slept on my pillow every night was something I took on and loved every minute of.
I guess having 6 weeks away without them both was good as it would have been weird otherwise. I still miss the dog very much and see her when I go to London.
All in all I had a great trip in fact I had the time of my life, I meet some good people who are now friends and had some incredible experiences on my journey.

I will now be focusing on my work for 2 years and will build up all I have planned for the past 4 years. Poker is what I love but without being able to put the hours in it is hard to make it pay.

I saw my bad run continue in the UK where I was playing in a 5 5 plo game and flopping the nuts several times with big redraws seemed not to be enough against some lucky fish who somehow manage to hit 1 or 2 outers on me or in fact the runner, runner option which I think hurts more. LOL

I am now back home in my own bed in Marbella and will stay here for 1 week playing in my local games. I have set myself a task of wining 20K in a week. I am not sure if I will play every night but the games are certainly big enough to make this happen. Saying all of this I do have some friends staying with me and have set aside Fri and Sat night to see them so I do not have so long to play. ( I think 10K would be a beeter target and also a good week).
I will keep my blog updated to let you know how I do.

That’s all from me until later in the week so I hope it is hot where you are so you too can relax in the sun before playing.

Main Event WSOP 2008 DAY 2

2008-07-12T22:58:00.000-07:00

SO I ended day 1 with 5720 in chips and feeling confident about my game.
My room mate Roberto was the star of day 1C having the feature table all day with Mike “the mouth” and played out of his skin. He folded monsters and check called other big hands and made some great plays through the day which will get him great air time on ESPN and perfect for his sponsorship deal with Full Tilt. He went down to 10K and grinded back to end with 35K so good Luck and hope to see you at the final next to me!

I was drawn on such a great table. I was nearly the big stack and there were many short stacks. The only problem was that we were the 5th table to get broken and it did not even take 30 minutes for this to happen. I manage to make a few moves on this table though and get my chips up a bit before I was moved to the table from hell!
I sat down in my seat and I was now the short stack with over 60K there were a few pros and 4 online qualifiers from stars the next shortest stack had like 110K.

The first pot I got involved in was a 50K pot. I raised to 1600 pre flop on the button with 99 the BB a Finish player re-raised to 4800. I called to see the flop of T72. He checked the flop so I checked behind him trying to be clever. The turn bought another Ten and I checked again knowing that he would now have to bet as I had shown weakness and he must think he can take it down. He bet 5700. I thought for a minute and decided to flat call so that IU could get some chips on the river. The river now comes Ten so the board is T72 T T. I think about leading out but if he has no hand I can not get any money so I checked and he now fires 13100 into this pot. I think and think and no there is no need to re-raise here but what can he have? I called and he turned over T8os LMAO and I just taped the table and said Well played.
What could I do? Well I could have re-raised him pre flop but I think if it was cheap enough he would call as he liked to play pots and I could have only lost more. I also could have folded on the river but the way the hand was played I thought I had to call.

I lose another hand with QQ v TT to a player but for not so many chips and then I lose a few more chips in hands I cant afford to call bets on the river.
All I wanted to do was get of this table and my wish was granted but late in the day.
I was moved to a perfect table during level 4. On this table not only were there 3 players I played with the day before all day who thought I was the3 dogs danglies but 6 really short stacks and The chip leader who was not bulling the table on my left.
I started to regain my confidence and my A game was back on.
I arrived at this table with only 20 something thousand and soon worked my way up to 30K plus.
There were a few pots I called all in players raises as they were cheap and I was trying to gain chips. I did not manage to win many of thse but I was playing well and making unbelievable reads.
A hand came up when I decided to limo UTG with a medium pair as the BB was short and if he moved in after a few limpers I could re-raise. The button My new friend Steve B made a small raise and then the BB moved all in.
WOW what a mess this is. I think for ages and decide that Steve must have a big hand as I limped and the BB was obviously going to push here and if not he knew I would 3 bet him.
I decided to fold and to my amazement Steve only had 55 and the BB had AK The good news for me is that he saved me money in the hand as a King hit the flop and I would have also lost the pot.
A few hands later the player to my right in the cut off makes a raise again for 4K the blinds and antes are worth steeling now and he only had 16K behind which I thought was enough to pass as he had me as a solid player and my image at he table for re-raises and big pots was good. I look down and see AJ and think I could move all in here and win the pot right now. If he had a pair I would take the race as I had pushed and I need some chips now as I was down to about 23,500. The small blind who was the chip leader with over 200K folded as he never tangled with me after the first time he doubled me up and the BB managed to find AK and move all in also. The original raiser folded which I new he would anyway and I was in need of a 3 outer to stay in the tourney. The flop came out T37 no help for me. I needed runner, runner or a Jack and the turn bought a 4. I was down to 6.6% and when the river paired the board my WSOP 2008 main event was all over.
I was sad and gutted but I managed to go out and get smashed which was great fun!
I will give you a report on the night life in Vegas tomorrow as there have been a few great nights out.
Good news is the WPT $15,000 starts in a few days and you get 45,000 chips. I will give that a go and keep you updated.
Until next time, Stay luckyJ

Main Event WSOP 2008 $10,000

2008-07-06T17:10:00.000-07:00

Main Event
$10,000 buy in

So over the last few weeks poker and Las Vegas has not treated me so favourable. I started well and then hit rock bottom.
I managed to find some people who were happy to stake me for shares in this tournament so firstly I want to thank these people and tell you all as I told them you will be with me in November at the Final.

I have waited 2 years for this as last year I was unable to come to Vegas due to work commitments but now I am here I have to put the past behind me and move forward in a positive light.
As you can tell I am very into my spiritual side and the secret/cosmic ordering.
I know I need to forget about how I feel and concentrate on what I deserve.

I visualize my win and feel it like it has happened.
I know I can do it and know I will do it and as long as I stay focused and concentrated I know it.
Day 1B
Orange section in the main room table 36 seat 2.
As I sat down I noticed the table was full of unknowns. Not 1 pro insight but there was still an empty seat.
We started playing and I knew I was in for the long haul. This was a serious marathon and not a sprint.
Many players manage to donk of their chips in day 1 or get unlucky but many just give them away forgetting that it is a survival game to start with.
I built my stack up slowly flopping the nuts against fish that pay me of on all 3 streets with either top pair of a bad 2 pair!

Andy Black turned up at out table with the cameras following. He sat down and got into as many pot as he could early on.
This is a strategy of a lot of pros but I don’t understand it. If you are playing fish who just want to have fun know they have no chance but want to take a story home with them so beating a top well known pro in a hand with whatever cards is all they want and can have to take back with them so why give them this chance and not just sit and wait and take their chips at the same time as giving them a story that at least they lost to a good pro player.
He raised a pot pre flop and got called form a woman in seat 1 who was playing solid. The raise pre flop was from 50 100 to 500. The flop was 884 and Andy bet out 600. She called and the turn was a 9. He now bet 600 and she thought for a second before flat calling.
So as I do I know try to read my opponents so I can get a good feel for them later when I am in a hand with them. What does Andy have? Well he could have anything but I have to guess if he raised pre flop bet out and continued he must have an over pair. He bet the flop to see where he was and continues for information.
OK so now what can she have. She has called a raise 5 x BB pre flop in position, called his bet of 600 on the flop and flat called is bet on the turn? I say to myself here she must have 88 or 99 as there is no other possible answer to the way the pot has been played.
The river now comes a 9 and I watch were a closely as I can as reading women is a lot harder than reading men. She gives nothing away to start with as she has her neck hidden in a top and a hat and sunglasses to protect her face.
Here comes the strange part. Andy now bets 300 into this pot??????
The pot is now 3550 what is 300 bet supposed to mean especially for a pro. It looks really bad and I Am still confused!
She thinks for a minute and re-raises 3000 more. OK so now “the pro” can use all the information given to him and make a decision raise, call or pass. He has put 2000 into this pot already 10% of his starting chip stack and now needs to call 3000 more which is a further 15% so a total of 25% of his chips. He thinks for a while and calls.
As he does this I look at the woman and say you have quads don’t you but I don’t know if you hit the flop or Turn! She turns over 99 and Andy for some reason turns over his TT and mucks in disgust.
Well what did he expect? You think she would raise you with an A or counterfeited under pair? I don’t.
Well he managed to do the rest of his chips in the next hour and 1 seat was open leaving the table for me to eat alive.
Yum yum yum….
There is now a new nutter at the table but a lovely guy. He was a South African named Oliver Berman (seat 5). He was betting and raising and re-raising then showing his bluffs. I knew it would be a matter of time before I could get into a pot with him. I did also tell him that he would not be able to get away with that with me knowing I was getting him ready to try it.
Finally we got into a pot and he raised pre flop so I re-raised him. He called and said do you need an Ace. I said well AA7 would be a good flop for me as I had 77.
The flop came down 279. LOL he now bet out so I flat called. The turn was an 8 and he said you missed again but checked. I checked behind him knowing he would now have to bet the river. He did after a 6 hit the deck but it was a small to medium bet. He told me that he just got lucky and I decided to call to get some cheap information. He turned over KT to make a straight LOL.
We laughed about it for a while and he avoided me like the plague.
We broke for dinner and I had good chips. I knew that our table was going to break soon and with a tight image I knew I needed to make the most of it for the remaining time I had left at that table.
There was 1 player I had 3 bet 3 times and shown the nuts when I got into a pot with him with a flush draw. He bet the flop I called he bet the turn but so cheap I had to call the river bought the back door flush and now he checked I made a sizable bet and he thought for ages. He decided to fold so I could not resist but to say you must have known I was on clubs and showed him my Ten high bluff to get him on tilt.
He managed to donk his chips of within 30 minutes and now we were ready to break.
Level 5 blinds 150 – 300 25 ante. I called from the button and was re-raised from the small blind to 1250 who was a young solid player who knew I was there to sit it through and thought I was tighter that he was. I called him with Q5 to see if I could out play him on the flop.
The flop was3 4 7he bet out 1500 so I called with my gut shot and back door flush. The turn was a King. He now checks so I try to represent a hand and hoped he would pass to a bet here. I bet 3500he called me which I was not happy about. The river cam the A hearts which was not great for me but could be the greatest card for me to win the pot with. He thought for a minute and checked. I thought for a while as to what he could have and decided if I bet the correct amount here he could not call unless he had a massive hand. I bet 6K thinking this was the perfect bet. To much to call with a medium hand and not to big to look like a bluff.
He now goes into the tank and the floor person is giving everyone chip racks to move table. I do not want to lose this pot and leave low stacked and I know he does not want to call and lose a big pot as we are moving table so my timing was perfect. After studying me and thinking for I would say a good 4 minutes he decided to fold and I said good pass. No need to lose a load of chips before we break. I decided not to show this hand in case we play again and he was a good kid and I thought it unkind to send him in tilt also.
I moved table where my Table image was crazy. I was being dealt good cards and playing well. I sat down at the table with good chips and there were a few short stacks and medium stacks with only 1 big stack.
I watched the players for a while then played a big pot with a nice friendly guy in seat 5 called Danny.
I raised to 800 pre flop and he re-raised me to 2100. I decided to see a flop as I knew he was a solid player and I could win a big pot. The flop came down 8 9 Q perfect and I bet out to hide my hand 3500. He decided to re- raise me right here 7000 more so I had to stop to think for a minute.
If I flat call here I am first to act after the flop what would I do. I have to put him now on either AA,KK or QQ if he has QQ I know all the money can get into the middle now. AA probably too and KK if he is not such a good player. The pot now was about 20K which was a good size pot to win right now. If I checked the turn and he checked I would give him 2 free cards so I decided to see if I could get him to commit right there. I re-raised 12,000 more as we were both sitting with about 30K each more after the 7K. He thought now for a while and I tried to look as nervous as possible but he passed to my disappointment. The only good thing was I could have lost the pot and gone out calling a re-raise with TJ pre flop.
I said phew…. So glad you didn’t have a set to which he threw his hands in the air and said I think I made a bad lay down. He asked me what I had and I said I can not tell you but it is in the book so you can read about it on my site. He was on serious tilt for a short while and when he said I think you had TT or JJ I laughed to look like I did.
I now know as he told me if I called and checked the turn he would have put me all in but hey that’s poker and I was on over 40K and happy to be there in such good shape with a good aggressive image at the table.
I told him at the end of the night and we shock hands.
I finished the day well making some great lay downs like AK to a flop of AQQ which was checked after my re-raise pre flop.
99 v QQ on an 8 high flop where I called his hand.
Many players took my card and shook my hand to congratulate me as they first thought I was a crazy internet player and soon realised the hard way that I was a very skilled poker player who they all now respected.
I had a great day and ended with 58,200 in chips.
I know have 3 days off before day 2 in which time I have been invited to play in a Baccaratt free roll for $300,000 and where I will focus on visualising my final table.