Pretty much everyone has suffered some travel woes over the last few weeks and the heavy snow looked in danger of having a serious detrimental effect on the recent UKIPT Galway, also known as the Irish Poker Championship. Black Belt Poker run good however, meant that Jamie and Kevin had their flight diverted to Shannon airport, easily shaving a couple of hours off their journey time and avoiding Dublin which suffered the worst of the traffic and weather chaos. My own trip took a little longer than scheduled but opting to travel by rail meant I was warm, supplied with tea and sandwiches, and got to watch a movie and a couple of Deucescracked videos. The tournament organisers took the sensible decision of postponing the event by a day to make sure that everyone had ample time to arrive safely and even put on a €10k freeroll on the original start day to occupy those already at the hotel. There was enough evidence from the quality of play at my freeroll table (which featured just players registered for the Main) and from my profitable cash game session the previous night, that we had reason to be optimistic about our chances in the Main Event.
It was more than a little disappointing then to see a starting table that featured; Luke Marsh, Sam Grafton, Mick Hill, Chris Brammer and David Vamplew. In the first two hours I managed to chip up a little, renegotiate a bet of 5/4 on Season 2 leaderboard points with Chris Brammer in favour of evens (I’ve too much ego), but on the whole had an enjoyable time as I like the aforementioned players as people and I had a relatively good seat on an undoubtedly tough table. No one was too surprised when the tournament was entirely redrawn after 2 levels when it transpired that the seat draw was not random and we were all seated in the order we were bought in. It’s a human error and I don’t blame the tournament director who handled it as best he could. My redraw should have been softer then, right? Wrong. Jason Herbert, Peter Murphy, Tom Finneran, Big Mick G, Jason Tompkins and James Browning were the names at my table over the rest of the day. I thought the standard throughout the day was particularly high, each of us nipping away at each other, putting pressure on, stealing pots, and the only times both parties got their money in tended to be in cooler situations. I feel like I played well, eventually shipping AK to isolate an all in shortstack only to find ‘theMultiplier’ wake up with QQ in the blinds. I just want to say that I was particularly impressed with Big Mick Graydon who despite not seeming to win a pot all day made it through to day 2 with a stack for yet another deep run.
By Saturday night, we’d all had a successful weekend to varying degrees and felt like we’d earned a drink to celebrate. As we were railing Nick Abou Risk who was still in the Main we decided that rather than head in to Galway city we’d have a relaxed sit ‘n go; Max Silver, Andrew Ferguson, Vamplew, Jamie, Kev, Paul McGovern, and Marc Convey, with the short stack at each blind level getting a round of shots in while the big stack drank double. Things only got better when Jesse May ambled over and offered to be dealer/commentator for the evening. Plenty of additional forfeits, impromptu stud hands, running the river two or three time, sick bluffs, rubdowns and needles ensued, while Nick Wealthall and Liv Boeree looked on, envious that they weren’t in the game. Good silly fun. Congrats to Nick, who went on to win his second UKIPT title, I was happy to have a small % but it really couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy, and obviously an absolute tournament beast to boot.
Online I have been struggling of late in all honesty, and it’s really starting to get me down. One way or another, that needs to change, as I can’t rely on %s of Burland and Nick to pay the rent every month. I’m looking to add Pot Limit Omaha to my repertoire: lets face it, Heads Up No Limit Holdem just isn’t swingy enough for me! I’ve been watching more PLO videos recently and playing HU, so far it’s been going well, and I think that will probably be my most regular game in 2011 with a bit of work. Hopefully, I can tap in to the mind of some of the more accomplished PLO players on the site and get a few skype sweat sessions going. Is it wise to get inside the head of Mr J Bradpiece? Doubtful; but I’m sure it will be enlightening stuff.
This weekend I played a tourney at my local casino, The Quay in Wexford. The field looked pretty soft on the whole and I decided to stump up the monkey (Triona reckons I should let civilians know that means €500) buy in myself. I think I was possibly the second person out, and I have posted my trouble hands on the Black Belt boards if anyone wants to offer an opinion. I did stay on til the wee hours playing cash games every night as there was a bit of extra action due to the tournament, and that managed to get me out of it. Breaking even seems to be the trend for me currently.
To end things on a happy note, this will be my last blog this year so I want to wish all of the Black Belt Poker community, and everyone else who reads my blog, a very happy Christmas, and a prosperous new year. I’ve just put up and decorated my little tree in our flat, it looks great and I’m feeling positive about Christmas and beyond despite my struggles to make significant strides pokerwise lately. Some things are more important, so enjoy the time with friends, family, and loved ones over the holidays.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Irish Legends
It wasn't hard to think of subject matter for my blog this month because my most recent tournament outing at the Irish Winter Festival in Dublin had me playing with some bona fide legends of the Irish poker world. I've often heard people saying that it is a bad idea to register late for tournaments as there is a tendency for those coming in at the last minute to get bunched together, and as pros tend to be a bit more casual about arriving at the scheduled start time, you can end up with a tougher than average table draw. On this occasion I was waiting for the Boss to buy me in at the cash desk, and unsurprisingly Neil sauntered down a few minutes after the TD had ordered the 'shuffle up and deal'. He made a point of mentioning to the floor staff that he was aware of the late reg grouping phenomenon, in an effort to make sure that our seat draw was truly random and that we weren't just sat next to each other on the nearest table. We got our tickets, we wished each other good luck and sat down at adjacent tables. I sat down and saw Declan Connolly, Andy Black, Padraig Parkinson, and Eoghan O'Dea all staring back at me. FML. I glanced across at Neil's table and he was surrounded by a table of green and orange hoodies distinguishing his opponents as internet satellite qualifiers. 'Random me arse', I thought.
It wasn't a surprise when they moved us over to the feature table to be covered by the live stream provided by Big Iain Cheyne and Irish Poker TV. Being on the live stream isn't exactly televising us, and they don't have access to our hole cards so it isn't really any different other than you get a comfier chair. In terms of the line up though, in Irish poker terms, it doesn't get much better.
Declan Connolly won't be known by many but made the final table of 2010 Irish Open and was one of the victim's of James Mitchell's run good. I've played with Declan a couple of times at tournaments in Ireland, usually at the latter stages, and I would say he is pretty tight and solid but definitely a good tournament player. I've also played some cash games with him in casinos around Dublin and I know that he is friends with the eventual winner of this tournament, Nicholas Newport, a mutual acquaintance that happens to be from my home town. Clearly Declan knew what he was doing.
Andy Black is easily one of the most recognisable faces in Irish and indeed European poker. With over $4 million in tournament earnings, he is the all time Irish tournament money winner. Most famously, he made the 2005 WSOP Main Event Final Table, eventually finishing 5th as Joe Hachem went on to win. He has also made final tables on the EPT and at the Aussie Millions, and was recently voted Best Cash Game Player at the Irish Poker Awards. He liked to play more or less every hand and didn't really like folding much and I could definitely see why his style is so conducive to building a big stack in tournaments and how dangerous he could be once he did accumulate chips. The disadvantages of his style were also evident as his stack fluctuated throughout the day and I can understand why he has embraced Buddhist ideas and practices meditation, it would certainly help to cope with such a rollercoaster style. He was a great presence on the table and entertained me with his frequent banter and joking.
Arguably, Padraig Parkinson is an even bigger legend of Irish Poker and also made the WSOP Main Event Final Table in 1999, the year that Irishman Noel Furlong won the big one. Padraig was also a star of the original Late Night Poker which tends to cement you as a legend in many people's eyes no matter what else you have or indeed haven't achieved since. Of course, Padraig is one of those that has achieved plenty since, most recently winning the UKIPT Galway last December. We had great craic talking about his gambling exploits with his good friend Jesse May and, like Andy, Padraig is affable, witty, pleasant company and a great story teller. When you are playing poker for 12 hours a day it helps to have good company to help pass the time and it added to my enjoyment level no end and probably helped my game too. Padraig isn't as passive as Andy but is still quite loose and for much of the day I was happy to sit back and allow them to splash around a lot. I was able to credibly run a couple of bluffs and picked up pots where I could, seeing as I wasn't involved in as many hands as I might normally be.
Perhaps the best player at the table was Eoghan O'Dea, son of Donnacha O'Dea (another legend), but a man that has very much established himself in the poker world in his own right. 'Intruder123' was a name I used to look for whenever the ECOOP series came around as Eoghan previously won the ECOOP Main Event under that moniker. I have never really been one for railing other players but he is the exception and I have always been impressed with his game, particularly in his Poker Million runner up finish to Marty Smyth which was shown live on Sky Sports. Along with John O'Shea, Eoghan is definitely one of the best young poker players in the country so again it was a pleasure to get to play with him. He is a bit quieter than Andy or Padraig, and certainly doesn't hold court at the table in the manner that they do but he is good company too. He played a much more solid game; tighter, more aggressive, a good hand reader and I would see more in his game that I would like to emulate than the two veterans. I was glad when he departed after he clashed with Andy Black in a very big pot quite early on.
Blinds at 150/300, the three principal players have 35k (Andy), 25k (Padraig), and 33k (Eoghan). All are well above average, and all have been quite active. Andy is in nearly every pot, limping, raising, calling, seemingly at random. Eoghan has been tighter than the other two but far more aggressive.
Andy Black open limps the c/o to 300. Padraig Parkinson on the button calls, and Eoghan goes to complete in the small blind but inadvertently throws in 3x1k chips, audibly blurts 'oh shit', and has obviously made a mistake. BB folds, back around to Andy who now makes it 8k to go, and Padraig is clearly now itching to ship in over the top but folds. Eoghan thinks for 2 or 3 minutes before eventually shipping, and Andy absolutely instacalls. Ah8h for Andy, Kc9c for Eoghan and the Ace high holds up. I quite admire Eoghan's play here and I think if he could have made the move quicker it might have worked. It's pretty hard to put Andy on a hand when he open limps the cut off. It didn't work out this time but the thought process from both was good.
I made Day 2 in this one with above average chips but never really ran well all tournament, I lost a number of large pots where I was dominating, and didn't win my fair share of races either. That's just the way it goes but I was really happy with my play. It helps when you can enjoy your day playing poker, and I am definitely opposed to people wearing shades and ipods at the table. It's fair that people want to use them to help their game but I think if you're going to be around poker for the long haul then you need to develop your personality at the table and be able to relax and be at ease without props as aids. We don't all have to be chatterboxes but you're missing out on the experience if you don't get involved in the conversation.
It wasn't a surprise when they moved us over to the feature table to be covered by the live stream provided by Big Iain Cheyne and Irish Poker TV. Being on the live stream isn't exactly televising us, and they don't have access to our hole cards so it isn't really any different other than you get a comfier chair. In terms of the line up though, in Irish poker terms, it doesn't get much better.
Declan Connolly won't be known by many but made the final table of 2010 Irish Open and was one of the victim's of James Mitchell's run good. I've played with Declan a couple of times at tournaments in Ireland, usually at the latter stages, and I would say he is pretty tight and solid but definitely a good tournament player. I've also played some cash games with him in casinos around Dublin and I know that he is friends with the eventual winner of this tournament, Nicholas Newport, a mutual acquaintance that happens to be from my home town. Clearly Declan knew what he was doing.
Andy Black is easily one of the most recognisable faces in Irish and indeed European poker. With over $4 million in tournament earnings, he is the all time Irish tournament money winner. Most famously, he made the 2005 WSOP Main Event Final Table, eventually finishing 5th as Joe Hachem went on to win. He has also made final tables on the EPT and at the Aussie Millions, and was recently voted Best Cash Game Player at the Irish Poker Awards. He liked to play more or less every hand and didn't really like folding much and I could definitely see why his style is so conducive to building a big stack in tournaments and how dangerous he could be once he did accumulate chips. The disadvantages of his style were also evident as his stack fluctuated throughout the day and I can understand why he has embraced Buddhist ideas and practices meditation, it would certainly help to cope with such a rollercoaster style. He was a great presence on the table and entertained me with his frequent banter and joking.
Arguably, Padraig Parkinson is an even bigger legend of Irish Poker and also made the WSOP Main Event Final Table in 1999, the year that Irishman Noel Furlong won the big one. Padraig was also a star of the original Late Night Poker which tends to cement you as a legend in many people's eyes no matter what else you have or indeed haven't achieved since. Of course, Padraig is one of those that has achieved plenty since, most recently winning the UKIPT Galway last December. We had great craic talking about his gambling exploits with his good friend Jesse May and, like Andy, Padraig is affable, witty, pleasant company and a great story teller. When you are playing poker for 12 hours a day it helps to have good company to help pass the time and it added to my enjoyment level no end and probably helped my game too. Padraig isn't as passive as Andy but is still quite loose and for much of the day I was happy to sit back and allow them to splash around a lot. I was able to credibly run a couple of bluffs and picked up pots where I could, seeing as I wasn't involved in as many hands as I might normally be.
Perhaps the best player at the table was Eoghan O'Dea, son of Donnacha O'Dea (another legend), but a man that has very much established himself in the poker world in his own right. 'Intruder123' was a name I used to look for whenever the ECOOP series came around as Eoghan previously won the ECOOP Main Event under that moniker. I have never really been one for railing other players but he is the exception and I have always been impressed with his game, particularly in his Poker Million runner up finish to Marty Smyth which was shown live on Sky Sports. Along with John O'Shea, Eoghan is definitely one of the best young poker players in the country so again it was a pleasure to get to play with him. He is a bit quieter than Andy or Padraig, and certainly doesn't hold court at the table in the manner that they do but he is good company too. He played a much more solid game; tighter, more aggressive, a good hand reader and I would see more in his game that I would like to emulate than the two veterans. I was glad when he departed after he clashed with Andy Black in a very big pot quite early on.
Blinds at 150/300, the three principal players have 35k (Andy), 25k (Padraig), and 33k (Eoghan). All are well above average, and all have been quite active. Andy is in nearly every pot, limping, raising, calling, seemingly at random. Eoghan has been tighter than the other two but far more aggressive.
Andy Black open limps the c/o to 300. Padraig Parkinson on the button calls, and Eoghan goes to complete in the small blind but inadvertently throws in 3x1k chips, audibly blurts 'oh shit', and has obviously made a mistake. BB folds, back around to Andy who now makes it 8k to go, and Padraig is clearly now itching to ship in over the top but folds. Eoghan thinks for 2 or 3 minutes before eventually shipping, and Andy absolutely instacalls. Ah8h for Andy, Kc9c for Eoghan and the Ace high holds up. I quite admire Eoghan's play here and I think if he could have made the move quicker it might have worked. It's pretty hard to put Andy on a hand when he open limps the cut off. It didn't work out this time but the thought process from both was good.
I made Day 2 in this one with above average chips but never really ran well all tournament, I lost a number of large pots where I was dominating, and didn't win my fair share of races either. That's just the way it goes but I was really happy with my play. It helps when you can enjoy your day playing poker, and I am definitely opposed to people wearing shades and ipods at the table. It's fair that people want to use them to help their game but I think if you're going to be around poker for the long haul then you need to develop your personality at the table and be able to relax and be at ease without props as aids. We don't all have to be chatterboxes but you're missing out on the experience if you don't get involved in the conversation.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
A Good First Year
The Irish Poker Awards at this weekend’s IPO in Dublin was a good way to book end my first year in poker as a full time player. Of course the calendar year end is still a couple of months away but for me this does feel like a nice way to mark this chapter in my poker career and hopefully to look forward to a more successful year in 2011. The new WSOP main event champion will be crowned in November and season 2 of the UKIPT kicks off in December. A major goal for me in the next 12 months is to have a real crack at doing well in both (see if you can guess which I’d most prefer to do well in?). Pretty soon we’ll have some new Brown Belt members of Black Belt Poker team following Grading III, and another goal for me for the next year is to move up from Blue Belt so that I can play some bigger events throughout the year. While I have some goals and aspirations for the next year, the only things that I can really control is my own play and I aim to be as consistent, and disciplined as I possibly can be and also to work even harder on my game so that I improve technically as a player.
I have recently moved in to a new flat and I’m very happy with it. One of the nice things about it is that I have a spare room which I have somewhat converted into an office. One of the walls is all window and so my father and girlfriend worked together to make a kind of Japanese screen; wooden frames covered in fabric that I can fold in or out like a concertina. I’ve bought a desk for my computer, I have a comfortable office chair and am planning to pick up an extra monitor so that I can multitable and multitask more easily. I’m pretty comfortable playing four HU tables at this stage, and I usually go for the turbo tables but at the moment I have a bit of an overlap on the screen which I’d like to eliminate. All of these extra things should facilitate a more conducive environment for playing poker but of course my own attitude and frame of mind will be the most important factor in getting where I want to be in poker. Moving up the levels and building a bigger bankroll are the primary goal; tournament success is nice and it is what gets you most attention but being a consistently winning cash player at significant levels has and always will be my number one goal in poker.
If goal number one can be achieved then, goal number two ought to follow. Once I can establish myself as a Brown Belt then the door opens up to the possibility of playing more EPTs. Having played my first EPT in London, seen several friends have deep runs, you really get the sense that actually having that big win is not as fanciful a thought as I would have 6 months ago. The buy ins for these are significant by any measure, and the money up top is life changing. This doesn’t necessarily mean that every player in the tournament is a great player, though undoubtedly there are many. I felt comfortable at my table, I thought there were at least a couple of soft spots and if I was to rank myself at the table I would have put myself at number 3, behind Scott Fischman and Andrew ‘luckychewy’ Lichtenberger, with luckychewy being a strong first. Of course this is only my assessment over the course of a couple of hours play, and ultimately I had an early exit on my first hand moved to a new table. I know I can compete at that level, and that is where I would like to be playing as far as tournaments go.
The third goal which I mentioned was the UKIPT. Having come second on the UKIPT leaderboard this year, I am determined to go one better this year. Having been awarded 4 tournament buy ins from Stars plus my hotels, I have already booked my flights to Manchester and Nottingham. While EPTs are the aspiration, I already know that the UKIPT is within my budget and I have had enough success so far to feel like I can improve on last year and actually win one. I believe that these are due to be televised in one form or another this year which will hopefully mean lots of face time for members of Team Black Belt. I can’t tell you how pleased I am when other members of the team do well, its wonderful and really feels like we’ve achieved something collectively. It’s like it, but its not, and I think it’s important to be competing with each other to try to push the bar higher and higher so none of us can rest on our laurels. I plan to play as close to 100% of UKIPTs this year as possible, I want to win the leaderboard, and I want to win an event.
The World Series of Poker is the main focus of the poker calendar every year, and that will probably never change. This year I played a $1k side event and the main event, I had deepish runs in both but fell short of the money in both. I learned from the experience and when I was heading home my strongest feeling was that I didn’t want to let this be a one off; again, I wanted to be back again next year and this time I wanted to be coming home having made a mark. I don’t think that I would like to spend much more than two weeks or so in Vegas and I don’t expect to have that much fuller a schedule this coming year. I would like to give a better account of myself and I would like to make a decent profit this year, it is not a poker holiday.
I want to thank everyone for supporting me at these Irish Poker Awards; I think I had a strong case for ‘Best Break Out Year’, as did the other nominees, and thanks to the votes of my friends and the Black Belt Poker community I was lucky enough to win it. Just to be nominated in the ‘Player of the Year’ category was more than I could have hoped, and again thanks to my support base I managed to win that too. Would an independent industry panel have given me the award? Probably not, lets be fair, but I’m sure the other nominees will console themselves with all of the money they have won and we all know it was an internet vote. I want my results in 2011 to show that I was worthy of consideration, and prove to myself and to others that I can compete at a high level. I’ve had a good ‘break out year’, but I want to show that I’m not a flash in the pan.
I have recently moved in to a new flat and I’m very happy with it. One of the nice things about it is that I have a spare room which I have somewhat converted into an office. One of the walls is all window and so my father and girlfriend worked together to make a kind of Japanese screen; wooden frames covered in fabric that I can fold in or out like a concertina. I’ve bought a desk for my computer, I have a comfortable office chair and am planning to pick up an extra monitor so that I can multitable and multitask more easily. I’m pretty comfortable playing four HU tables at this stage, and I usually go for the turbo tables but at the moment I have a bit of an overlap on the screen which I’d like to eliminate. All of these extra things should facilitate a more conducive environment for playing poker but of course my own attitude and frame of mind will be the most important factor in getting where I want to be in poker. Moving up the levels and building a bigger bankroll are the primary goal; tournament success is nice and it is what gets you most attention but being a consistently winning cash player at significant levels has and always will be my number one goal in poker.
If goal number one can be achieved then, goal number two ought to follow. Once I can establish myself as a Brown Belt then the door opens up to the possibility of playing more EPTs. Having played my first EPT in London, seen several friends have deep runs, you really get the sense that actually having that big win is not as fanciful a thought as I would have 6 months ago. The buy ins for these are significant by any measure, and the money up top is life changing. This doesn’t necessarily mean that every player in the tournament is a great player, though undoubtedly there are many. I felt comfortable at my table, I thought there were at least a couple of soft spots and if I was to rank myself at the table I would have put myself at number 3, behind Scott Fischman and Andrew ‘luckychewy’ Lichtenberger, with luckychewy being a strong first. Of course this is only my assessment over the course of a couple of hours play, and ultimately I had an early exit on my first hand moved to a new table. I know I can compete at that level, and that is where I would like to be playing as far as tournaments go.
The third goal which I mentioned was the UKIPT. Having come second on the UKIPT leaderboard this year, I am determined to go one better this year. Having been awarded 4 tournament buy ins from Stars plus my hotels, I have already booked my flights to Manchester and Nottingham. While EPTs are the aspiration, I already know that the UKIPT is within my budget and I have had enough success so far to feel like I can improve on last year and actually win one. I believe that these are due to be televised in one form or another this year which will hopefully mean lots of face time for members of Team Black Belt. I can’t tell you how pleased I am when other members of the team do well, its wonderful and really feels like we’ve achieved something collectively. It’s like it, but its not, and I think it’s important to be competing with each other to try to push the bar higher and higher so none of us can rest on our laurels. I plan to play as close to 100% of UKIPTs this year as possible, I want to win the leaderboard, and I want to win an event.
The World Series of Poker is the main focus of the poker calendar every year, and that will probably never change. This year I played a $1k side event and the main event, I had deepish runs in both but fell short of the money in both. I learned from the experience and when I was heading home my strongest feeling was that I didn’t want to let this be a one off; again, I wanted to be back again next year and this time I wanted to be coming home having made a mark. I don’t think that I would like to spend much more than two weeks or so in Vegas and I don’t expect to have that much fuller a schedule this coming year. I would like to give a better account of myself and I would like to make a decent profit this year, it is not a poker holiday.
I want to thank everyone for supporting me at these Irish Poker Awards; I think I had a strong case for ‘Best Break Out Year’, as did the other nominees, and thanks to the votes of my friends and the Black Belt Poker community I was lucky enough to win it. Just to be nominated in the ‘Player of the Year’ category was more than I could have hoped, and again thanks to my support base I managed to win that too. Would an independent industry panel have given me the award? Probably not, lets be fair, but I’m sure the other nominees will console themselves with all of the money they have won and we all know it was an internet vote. I want my results in 2011 to show that I was worthy of consideration, and prove to myself and to others that I can compete at a high level. I’ve had a good ‘break out year’, but I want to show that I’m not a flash in the pan.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
A week at the Wynn
My journey to Vegas got off to an inauspicious start as I struggled to make my way from Mile End to Heathrow in time for my early morning flight to Las Vegas. I was up by 5 o'clock, but the simple fact was that I hadn't allowed enough time to get from one side of London to the other. In particular, Acton Town to Heathrow seemed a lot shorter (an inch between thumb and forefinger) than it actually was. Note to self, notches on the Piccadilly line are not to scale. Punctuality has never been my strong suit, it's not in my genes to be reliable. My mother bumped in to my father on the main street the night before their wedding at 5.25pm. 'Did you get your suit sorted?', she inquired anxiously. 'Of course', he grinned confidently.'What kind of man do you think I am?', he bluffed as he scarpered off before the shops shut. Though my flight hadn't left, it was too late to board by the time I arrived but perhaps my father's smile came in handy as the clerk put me on the stand by list for other transatlantics at no extra cost. When my name was called at the departure lounge it was for a business class seat to Denver with a short connect to Las Vegas. As I relaxed in my massaging chair, sipped champagne, and savoured course after course of gourmet food, my early morning tube scramble seemed a world away.
My room at the Wynn was pretty sweet, and the hotel is quite spectacular, undoubtedly one of the most luxurious on the strip. As this was my first trip to Las Vegas, I spent much of the first couple of days wandering around slack jawed and gawping at the plastic world around me. In an effort to familiarise myself with my surroundings, I decided that despite the baking desert sun I would walk to the Rio. While my depth perception and inner compass worked fine and I was correct in thinking that it really wasn't all that far, I entirely underestimated the heat, and sweat so much that I was soaked through, the protective factor 30 washed away. Of course, I wasn't actually soaked through, rather I would have been, had the hellish sun not evaporated any liquid in seconds.
I familiarised myself with the Rio and its layout and later that day I played the first of two $500 WSOP mega satellites that I would play on the trip. I was unsuccessful in both attempts, and these are short stack, fast structured events. Having said that, I think there is tremendous value in playing them as I saw some pretty horrible play and a fast structure is really just something to adapt to rather than something to complain about. You know what it is before you play it. Many seasoned pros play these regularly leading up to the Main Event and sell the 'lammers' or tournament chips as they win them. If a decent player was to play 20 of these and end up with less than $10k in his balance, he would have to consider himself pretty unlucky. Over the rest of the week, I met up with Rob regularly for a beer, a burger, etc and Neil was kind enough to treat us to dinner one night at the Wynn in the company of Jesse May, Barny Boatman, and Anne Laymond. Rob and I sat back and let the storytellers get on with it (not that we had much choice) and it was one my personal highlights of the trip.
My first WSOP bracelet event was event #54 $1000 No Limit Holdem. The event is a bit of a blur to me but I was happy with how I played, and proud to make day 2 in my first ever event. My day two table was really soft but featured two familiar faces, Paul Mulvihill (Leedutd22 online) from Dublin and Antonio Salorio (famous for losing $100k playing deuce seven on season 4 of High Stakes Poker). I had chatted with Paul a bit the previous day as I was familiar with him from grinding the same games online, and as a fellow Irishman. Antonio, I had played with a lot the previous day though we had barely tangled and I respected his game. Though I started well and built my stack up a bit by being quite aggressive, I ultimately played a weak ace too fast on an A high board and Antonio snapped me off with a deceptively played AK. I was happy with my play over all but should probably have taken my foot off the gas against Antonio in this spot, there were plenty of cheap chips to pick up uncontested if I had concentrated on that. 520/3844 wasn't quite good enough to cash and though I was disappointed to bust out, I had definitely gained some confidence with the big one still to come.
My room at the Wynn was pretty sweet, and the hotel is quite spectacular, undoubtedly one of the most luxurious on the strip. As this was my first trip to Las Vegas, I spent much of the first couple of days wandering around slack jawed and gawping at the plastic world around me. In an effort to familiarise myself with my surroundings, I decided that despite the baking desert sun I would walk to the Rio. While my depth perception and inner compass worked fine and I was correct in thinking that it really wasn't all that far, I entirely underestimated the heat, and sweat so much that I was soaked through, the protective factor 30 washed away. Of course, I wasn't actually soaked through, rather I would have been, had the hellish sun not evaporated any liquid in seconds.
I familiarised myself with the Rio and its layout and later that day I played the first of two $500 WSOP mega satellites that I would play on the trip. I was unsuccessful in both attempts, and these are short stack, fast structured events. Having said that, I think there is tremendous value in playing them as I saw some pretty horrible play and a fast structure is really just something to adapt to rather than something to complain about. You know what it is before you play it. Many seasoned pros play these regularly leading up to the Main Event and sell the 'lammers' or tournament chips as they win them. If a decent player was to play 20 of these and end up with less than $10k in his balance, he would have to consider himself pretty unlucky. Over the rest of the week, I met up with Rob regularly for a beer, a burger, etc and Neil was kind enough to treat us to dinner one night at the Wynn in the company of Jesse May, Barny Boatman, and Anne Laymond. Rob and I sat back and let the storytellers get on with it (not that we had much choice) and it was one my personal highlights of the trip.
My first WSOP bracelet event was event #54 $1000 No Limit Holdem. The event is a bit of a blur to me but I was happy with how I played, and proud to make day 2 in my first ever event. My day two table was really soft but featured two familiar faces, Paul Mulvihill (Leedutd22 online) from Dublin and Antonio Salorio (famous for losing $100k playing deuce seven on season 4 of High Stakes Poker). I had chatted with Paul a bit the previous day as I was familiar with him from grinding the same games online, and as a fellow Irishman. Antonio, I had played with a lot the previous day though we had barely tangled and I respected his game. Though I started well and built my stack up a bit by being quite aggressive, I ultimately played a weak ace too fast on an A high board and Antonio snapped me off with a deceptively played AK. I was happy with my play over all but should probably have taken my foot off the gas against Antonio in this spot, there were plenty of cheap chips to pick up uncontested if I had concentrated on that. 520/3844 wasn't quite good enough to cash and though I was disappointed to bust out, I had definitely gained some confidence with the big one still to come.
Killarney UKIPT
My latest tournament outing at the UKIPT Killarney was my first since Nottingham, and while I was confident of performing well, I was also aware that nothing is certain in tournament poker except the variance and that a lot of luck would be required to go deep again. There was some cause for optimism though, as there were a number of factors which helped make this a good value proposition. Having a €1,000 event scheduled at a remote location during the WSOP and just before the Main Event immediately ruled out many casual players and ‘big name’ professionals and there was some speculation that the €250,000 guaranteed prize pool would include an overlay. While this turned out not quite to be the case, I would still say that this was probably one of the best value tournaments in the UK and Ireland this year.
Also making the trip were fellow Irishmen and former Graders Richard Hinds and Gerrard Harraghy. Gerrard has had some impressive tournament success recently and had actually qualified online in the very same satellite as myself, while Richard had intended to come down the night before to play the mega satellite. As he arrived late, he turned to blagging his way in to the event instead, as only he can, and managed to persuade Julian Thew, Nick Wealthall, myself, and a couple of others to take a 10 percent stake to limit his exposure and make the fee a little more affordable. I’m pretty sure that Richard could blag his way into just about any V.I.P. party, exclusive nightclub or other restricted event, and I fully expect to flick on ESPN to see him sitting between Ivey and Antonius at the $50,000 Players' Championship next year, looking cool and relaxed, having persuaded Doyle to stump up the buy-in. He’d probably do all right too; confidence and charm go a long way.
There was a notable difference between the way that people played in Killarney from my experience in Nottingham. While there was the usual mix of good players and weaker players, I felt like the bad Irish players were more inclined to run big bluffs and make mistakes by being too loose or overly aggressive whereas their English counterparts tended to be too rocky or tight. The Irish love a rogue, a chancer, a rebel, and faced with more of this type of opponent, I had a much more up and down tournament than the month previous in England.
While I never got too low in chips, I also never got a very big stack together, and each time I thought I was on the verge of it, I would get bumped back down. I was in the middle of the pack throughout Day 1 and Day 2, and naturally enough entered Day 3 about halfway down the leaderboard. With only 30 plus people left, I had a reasonable shot now of making back-to-back final tables. Coincidentally, there were 4 or 5 players that had previously made UKIPT finals in that group, and odder still was the fact that when we were down to two tables, two other players from my home town of Wexford remained.
Alas, it wasn’t to be for me this time as I eventually came up short when my 9-9 couldn’t catch up to K-K all in preflop against an aggressive player and I was out in 13th. My opponent had shoved over the top of an open raise two hands previously with A-2 and was raising three or four times an orbit so I was happy that I had made a reasonable play and really wasn’t as disappointed as I might have been.
Fellow Wexfordian, Femi Fakinle, ended up taking down the event and it couldn’t have gone to a nicer guy than the hyper aggressive soon to be father of three. Richard’s money finish also made me pleased personally and for my mate. I was also delighted that the finish put me fifth on the overall UKIPT leaderboard but with people like Big Mick Graydon, Michael Hill, and Chris Brammer also vying for position there, I’ll have my work cut out to keep myself in contention for the rest of the season.
So from the lakes, luscious hills and horse drawn carts of Killarney I headed off to the desert and bright lights of Las Vegas for my first WSOP experience where I hoped I had a little run-good left in me and could make an impression in the big one. Team Black Belt's aims were to make it a Lutonesque November Nine.
Also making the trip were fellow Irishmen and former Graders Richard Hinds and Gerrard Harraghy. Gerrard has had some impressive tournament success recently and had actually qualified online in the very same satellite as myself, while Richard had intended to come down the night before to play the mega satellite. As he arrived late, he turned to blagging his way in to the event instead, as only he can, and managed to persuade Julian Thew, Nick Wealthall, myself, and a couple of others to take a 10 percent stake to limit his exposure and make the fee a little more affordable. I’m pretty sure that Richard could blag his way into just about any V.I.P. party, exclusive nightclub or other restricted event, and I fully expect to flick on ESPN to see him sitting between Ivey and Antonius at the $50,000 Players' Championship next year, looking cool and relaxed, having persuaded Doyle to stump up the buy-in. He’d probably do all right too; confidence and charm go a long way.
There was a notable difference between the way that people played in Killarney from my experience in Nottingham. While there was the usual mix of good players and weaker players, I felt like the bad Irish players were more inclined to run big bluffs and make mistakes by being too loose or overly aggressive whereas their English counterparts tended to be too rocky or tight. The Irish love a rogue, a chancer, a rebel, and faced with more of this type of opponent, I had a much more up and down tournament than the month previous in England.
While I never got too low in chips, I also never got a very big stack together, and each time I thought I was on the verge of it, I would get bumped back down. I was in the middle of the pack throughout Day 1 and Day 2, and naturally enough entered Day 3 about halfway down the leaderboard. With only 30 plus people left, I had a reasonable shot now of making back-to-back final tables. Coincidentally, there were 4 or 5 players that had previously made UKIPT finals in that group, and odder still was the fact that when we were down to two tables, two other players from my home town of Wexford remained.
Alas, it wasn’t to be for me this time as I eventually came up short when my 9-9 couldn’t catch up to K-K all in preflop against an aggressive player and I was out in 13th. My opponent had shoved over the top of an open raise two hands previously with A-2 and was raising three or four times an orbit so I was happy that I had made a reasonable play and really wasn’t as disappointed as I might have been.
Fellow Wexfordian, Femi Fakinle, ended up taking down the event and it couldn’t have gone to a nicer guy than the hyper aggressive soon to be father of three. Richard’s money finish also made me pleased personally and for my mate. I was also delighted that the finish put me fifth on the overall UKIPT leaderboard but with people like Big Mick Graydon, Michael Hill, and Chris Brammer also vying for position there, I’ll have my work cut out to keep myself in contention for the rest of the season.
So from the lakes, luscious hills and horse drawn carts of Killarney I headed off to the desert and bright lights of Las Vegas for my first WSOP experience where I hoped I had a little run-good left in me and could make an impression in the big one. Team Black Belt's aims were to make it a Lutonesque November Nine.
Friday, June 4, 2010
Maiden Blog
This is my blog. I aim to document some of the events in my life, hopefully in an interesting fashion, and for the moment at least, it will be predominantly about my attempts to make it in the poker world. In doing so I hope to bring a little bit of discipline to bear on my life; the necessity to produce even a weekly blog counts as structure in my life, where so much of what I do is at a whim. I aim to bring more routine, structure, discipline and professionalism to my poker life, and this blog will be the canary down the mine to show whether or not I have succeeded. I may do a future blog on routine and structure, but for now I'll give you a trip report on my recent trip to Nottingham for the U.K. & Ireland Poker Tour, representing BlackBeltPoker.
It was a week that could have been so different; from being all in on the bubble and perhaps going home empty handed, to playing a huge flip for over half the chips in play and potentially winning the UKIPT Nottingham, both scenarios were faced and either result a possibility. While my initial disappointment was very real and still lingers, I also feel a great sense of pride and satisfaction with my performance and ultimately with my result in fourth place.
One of the reasons I had chosen to play the UKIPT Nottingham was that some close friends of mine live in the city, so it was an excuse to both catch up and a way to keep my overheads down. Unfortunately, my host was going away for the weekend and was working during the week, so to give her a taste of the festival atmosphere we headed down to Dusk Till Dawn the night before the tournament to have a gander at the cash games, have a drink or two at the complimentary bar, and stuff our faces full of vol aux vents. My friends were surprised at how friendly everyone was, enthralled by the clink, clack, chink of the riffled chips, and simply delighted with all of the free stuff they could blag.
Though I was a little more tired than I would have liked, I was happy with my Day 1 start, and despite having James Keys and Dave Colclough at my table, things went well as I steadily chipped up throughout the day. That table did not break all day so I felt quite pleased to be able to get to know where I stood with everyone, pick on some of the weaker players and generally build a steady image that I could take advantage of. If anything, I learned from people like Dave, James, and Tom Middleton who was moved to my left near the end of the day. I ended the day with 46k, from a starting stack of 15k, and could scarcely have asked for a steadier day.
I came back on Day 2 full of confidence and determination to build on my steady start, and was again happy with my table draw, which featured the verbose Mad Marty Wilson, and the very aggressive Ben Vinson, who I had position on. Half way through the day I had built a stack of 100k through some selective three betting, picking up some nice hands, and picking on the weaker spots. One big pot that I played with John Eames set me back (see hands section) and when I moved table, Eames followed, again directly to my left and this second table was far more aggressive and contained a number of big stacks, and actually had 4 of the eventual 8 final tablists. By the time we got down to the end of the day, and hand for hand bubble play, I was one of the shortest stacks and was looking for a spot to get it in. As our table was as aggressive as it was, favourable spots were few and far between. Finally, one of my button shoves with A7 was called by 56 in the BB, while on another table AJ needed to catch up vs QQ. Unlucky Mr AJ was our bubble boy, I doubled to finish the day with the same chips that I had started, and I knew I needed to get lucky early the next day to go deep. Part of that luck is surely down to losing back to back credit card roulette in Nando's with John Eames, Jonathon Prested, Tom Middleston, and Phil 'the Tower'. Everything is a gamble in the poker world, so I could scarcely call myself a real player unless I'd drawn cards for the tab at a bar or restaurant and at least I can be thankful we weren't at Nobu. Given that John and Tom had been the villain to my hero in several of my most notable hands, I was starting to get the distinct feeling I was being hussled, but to be fair they were good guys and that CCR karma came in handy the following day.
Day 3 was the day everything went my way; an early triple up with JJ was the lucky start that was required, I took some risks and played aggressively to double up again without showing a hand, a cooler situation in my favour and one HUGE flip to give me a massive stack were all the ingredients required if you hope to win an event like this. I felt liked I played very well on Day 3, staying out of trouble, making some thin calls that stopped people playing back at me light and generally felt focussed and confident. That Day 3 rush ended with me eliminating the 9th place finisher and knowing that I would come back the following day as the chip leader. There was a flurry of phone calls as we were whisked away for profiles, interviews and mug shots and most of us were shaking our heads in disbelief that we had made it this far.
Coming back the for the final table I felt utterly determined that I was going to do everything in my power to win, and when the first few pots went my way it looked like it really was going to be my day. Having the world's greatest rail (weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee), phone support from the BBP team, as well as the flood of messages from friends and family following at home, all gave me extra resolve and when all is said and done I take satisfaction from the fact that I wouldn't really have done that much differently and hope I did everyone proud. The notion of effectively flipping a coin for £80k is a tricky one to get your head around and I am not sure whether or not I should be pleased that it ultimately doesn't faze me, though it probably ought to. The fourth place finish and the money that came with it, was undoubtedly my biggest poker achievement to date, but I hope it will not stay that way. As an admittedly relatively inexperienced live tournament player, I feel as though I have bags to learn, and improved hugely even in the week of the event both by trying to emulate and understand the better players at the table, and by picking the brains of those whose opinions I valued during the daily post mortem. Surrounded by good people, in poker and at home, I aim to work hard to build on this and make the grade as an aspiring professional, and to stand out in tournaments for my dazzling skills rather than my blazing hair colour.
It was a week that could have been so different; from being all in on the bubble and perhaps going home empty handed, to playing a huge flip for over half the chips in play and potentially winning the UKIPT Nottingham, both scenarios were faced and either result a possibility. While my initial disappointment was very real and still lingers, I also feel a great sense of pride and satisfaction with my performance and ultimately with my result in fourth place.
One of the reasons I had chosen to play the UKIPT Nottingham was that some close friends of mine live in the city, so it was an excuse to both catch up and a way to keep my overheads down. Unfortunately, my host was going away for the weekend and was working during the week, so to give her a taste of the festival atmosphere we headed down to Dusk Till Dawn the night before the tournament to have a gander at the cash games, have a drink or two at the complimentary bar, and stuff our faces full of vol aux vents. My friends were surprised at how friendly everyone was, enthralled by the clink, clack, chink of the riffled chips, and simply delighted with all of the free stuff they could blag.
Though I was a little more tired than I would have liked, I was happy with my Day 1 start, and despite having James Keys and Dave Colclough at my table, things went well as I steadily chipped up throughout the day. That table did not break all day so I felt quite pleased to be able to get to know where I stood with everyone, pick on some of the weaker players and generally build a steady image that I could take advantage of. If anything, I learned from people like Dave, James, and Tom Middleton who was moved to my left near the end of the day. I ended the day with 46k, from a starting stack of 15k, and could scarcely have asked for a steadier day.
I came back on Day 2 full of confidence and determination to build on my steady start, and was again happy with my table draw, which featured the verbose Mad Marty Wilson, and the very aggressive Ben Vinson, who I had position on. Half way through the day I had built a stack of 100k through some selective three betting, picking up some nice hands, and picking on the weaker spots. One big pot that I played with John Eames set me back (see hands section) and when I moved table, Eames followed, again directly to my left and this second table was far more aggressive and contained a number of big stacks, and actually had 4 of the eventual 8 final tablists. By the time we got down to the end of the day, and hand for hand bubble play, I was one of the shortest stacks and was looking for a spot to get it in. As our table was as aggressive as it was, favourable spots were few and far between. Finally, one of my button shoves with A7 was called by 56 in the BB, while on another table AJ needed to catch up vs QQ. Unlucky Mr AJ was our bubble boy, I doubled to finish the day with the same chips that I had started, and I knew I needed to get lucky early the next day to go deep. Part of that luck is surely down to losing back to back credit card roulette in Nando's with John Eames, Jonathon Prested, Tom Middleston, and Phil 'the Tower'. Everything is a gamble in the poker world, so I could scarcely call myself a real player unless I'd drawn cards for the tab at a bar or restaurant and at least I can be thankful we weren't at Nobu. Given that John and Tom had been the villain to my hero in several of my most notable hands, I was starting to get the distinct feeling I was being hussled, but to be fair they were good guys and that CCR karma came in handy the following day.
Day 3 was the day everything went my way; an early triple up with JJ was the lucky start that was required, I took some risks and played aggressively to double up again without showing a hand, a cooler situation in my favour and one HUGE flip to give me a massive stack were all the ingredients required if you hope to win an event like this. I felt liked I played very well on Day 3, staying out of trouble, making some thin calls that stopped people playing back at me light and generally felt focussed and confident. That Day 3 rush ended with me eliminating the 9th place finisher and knowing that I would come back the following day as the chip leader. There was a flurry of phone calls as we were whisked away for profiles, interviews and mug shots and most of us were shaking our heads in disbelief that we had made it this far.
Coming back the for the final table I felt utterly determined that I was going to do everything in my power to win, and when the first few pots went my way it looked like it really was going to be my day. Having the world's greatest rail (weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee), phone support from the BBP team, as well as the flood of messages from friends and family following at home, all gave me extra resolve and when all is said and done I take satisfaction from the fact that I wouldn't really have done that much differently and hope I did everyone proud. The notion of effectively flipping a coin for £80k is a tricky one to get your head around and I am not sure whether or not I should be pleased that it ultimately doesn't faze me, though it probably ought to. The fourth place finish and the money that came with it, was undoubtedly my biggest poker achievement to date, but I hope it will not stay that way. As an admittedly relatively inexperienced live tournament player, I feel as though I have bags to learn, and improved hugely even in the week of the event both by trying to emulate and understand the better players at the table, and by picking the brains of those whose opinions I valued during the daily post mortem. Surrounded by good people, in poker and at home, I aim to work hard to build on this and make the grade as an aspiring professional, and to stand out in tournaments for my dazzling skills rather than my blazing hair colour.
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