Birmingham Roadtrip

I was looking forward to this roadtrip for a while. I had to go to London on the Sunday night so the Broadway casino in Birmingham seemed like a good staging point for the Fri and Sat night.

The Broadway has been my lucky casino and a bit like a bank machine for me over the last few years, so I was hoping to boost this months figures a bit and have a decent drinking session with some buddies at the same time!

Birmingham Broadway Cardroom

Sent to the rail by 5 3 offsuit.

40 players made it through to Day 2 in total. I was about 36th in chips so it was always going to be a bit of a struggle, it started off brightly enough, I got a few chips early on to give me a bit of time, but the blinds and ante,s starting catching up, I was at under 10BB when I shipped a low pocket pair on the button and got it through to get up to about 20k.
Next hand I picked up A 10h, I raised to 8,000 with blinds at 2000,1000,200, only the big blind calls. Flop comes down J 6 3. BB checks, I shove, he calls and shows 5 3 off for bottom pair 5 kicker, no redemption on turn or river and I,m ash. Hmmm.
27th place from 120 odd. Not quite how I,d planned it.

Simon Appleby took down about £10k for first place.

Another decent cash and a boot in the nuts.

I should really be delighted after getting my 3rd cash in the last 3 tournaments:

I finished a respectable fourth from about 75 runners for a decent payout of £350.
I,ve already made nearly all the money I need for this years Vegas trip.
I also won another seat for a promotional £110 game in April.

Not bad right?... but no poker journey is ever complete without the bad beat story, poker does get under your skin a bit, and I left a bit steamed after getting launched out of the tourney at 5am after a weird turn of events .

Dream flop and the parting of the proverbial cheeks

About 10 years ago I was watching the WPT coverage with Vince Patten and Mike Sexton. I didn,t have a clue what was going on, but got completely hooked by the coverage of the poker.

The two of them would be sitting on 80,s style bar stools at the back with the poker table lit up in the middle of an arena somewhere exotic, 1000,s of dollars stacked up, sun glasses, gold bracelets, spotlights, hand percentages on display for folk like me.

Mike would whisper something like

"Hansens digging the hole"

Vince would chip in

 "he's laying the trap."

"he's covering it in branches"

"Will he fall in?"

"I think he's got him"

"he,s got him!"

"he has just nailed him to the floor!!"

Don,t diss the 6, 3 off suit

I found myself getting involved in a massive 5 way pot last night holding no less than the mighty 6 -  3 offsuit.
 I headed down to the Mint Casino in London for the £65 freeze out. Late entries and rebuys mean't that were 53 entries in total and a £3180 prize pool with just over a grand for first.
It,s a good structure with 25,000 chips starting stack and a 20 min blind clock with no antes. Very sedate.

By the first break I,d ground up another 7 or 8 k mainly thanks to one guy at the table who bluffed off his entire stack (and his rebuy stack) with a series of pretty poorly timed re-raises.
Unfortunately a couple of guys at my table were the main beneficiaries of him and few other guys who got moved to the table who seemed determined to donate their entire chip stacks away. After a few hours I was starting to fall well behind the chip leaders, and spots were becoming increasingly difficult to find when the big hand came up.

Its worth noting, that there had been a fair bit of limping going on.....so utg starts off this particular  limpfest, then utg +3, the button also limps, I,m in SB with 6 3 offsuit and I opt to make up the blind, the BB checks behind, so we are 5 way to the flop.

I think Blinds are around 5000/2500 and my stack and two of the limpers are around 90k, and the two big chipstacks are around 350k.

Flop comes down Jh 6c3c. Not bad for the old 6,3 off!
I check, the BB bets out 10,000 and the whole table calls the 10,000 bet till it comes round to me. I repop it up to 50k, the BB shoves all in for about 90k, utg also shoves all in for about 90k and the 2 big stacks fold.

This isn,t exactly what I,d planned I was pretty sure I was ahead, but now I,m not so sure, but I can,t really fold now anyway so I go all in as well.

I,m happy to see noone has a set, but I,ve got alot of cards to fade.

The BB tables King Jack for top pair decent kicker
UTG tables Ace rag of clubs for the nut flush draw.

The dealer sorts the chips out and deals out the cards.

Turn card comes a King - BB bangs the table with delight Y-E-E-S!

I,m getting the jacket on, the BB now looks a bit less happy as he has just realised he's actually got quite quite a few river cards to fade now.

Dealer puts out a 6 of clubs.

The dealer announces house! 6,3 wins. A quick chip count confirms I,ve got both of them covered - just. 
Its a massive pot and puts me up in touching distance of the chipleaders.

- to be continued

Just a tease.

1st game in December and I managed another final table, with a 9th place finish from about 70 players. Satisfying but ultimately pointless as that added £0 to my bank roll...I got to the final table as the short stack with 33k and blinds at 4k/2k/400. First hand the button and the SB clash. Raise from the button, the small blind who is chip leader shoves all in, bb folds and the button instacalls with Aces. SB turns over 9, 3 off suit(!)

"I thought he was at it".

 For once the deck doesn't reward the 9 3 move and the aces hold.

Royal flush, £2k won and lost and 2 free beers

After taking a bit of a whipping the previous night I was looking forward to a change in fortunes.
I had a maniac table. You got a 5k starting stack with another 5k for your double chance. With blinds at 25/50 the had already been 3 all ins in the opening 10 minutes or so.
i managed to build up my stack to about 30k before the 1st break courtesy of 2 hands. one was pocker Aces, and the other was a 5,3 of hearts when I did an outrageous suckout on a guy who had 10,5 on a A,5,5 board. Treble up for me.
Last hand before the break and I,m not involved in a hand but 3 guys are all in. Last guy to turn his cards says "I,ve got nothing" and flips over his qj of hearts, the board is A, 10, hearts and a blank. The turn comes King of hearts and he just hit the Royal flush.
Thats a £1100 payout plus a nice treble up on the last hand for him. He offers to buy the table a round of drinks for the table after the break "Just don,t take the piss" are his parting words.

Painful Session.

Birmingham,s broadway casino has always been my run good casino, so I suppose its inevitable that it couldn,t last forever. I met up with my buddy Mr C for a couple of nights of pokering. On the Friday night game, they pulled it 160 entries for a £6500 grand pot.
The field was gradually thinning down to about 45 guys, I,m a bit below average chip stack at about 150k at 12000/6000/500.
Chip leader raises utg +2 to 25k. I know the guys range is pretty big as been raising way too many pots, it folds round to me in the BB and I look at pocket 8's so I ship it. He calls and turns over pocket 2,s. Flop comes Jack Ace 5, so far so good, turn comes a 3 just one to dodge, river comes a four, phew made it for the double up. "Straight" he says. Bollocks never even saw that, and I,m out..onto the cash tables.
2nd hand in and I pick up pocket aces, I put in a decent raise and get 6 callers (!).
Flop runs out 567. I c bet the flop and get 3 callers, turn comes a 9. First to act bets, 2nd guy flats, 3rd guy jams all in, I fold and two guys show there straights for a split pot.
An hour or so later and I,ve ground my stack back up to about 130 and I get AQ in late position, 2 callers to my raise, the Villain who is chip leader and my very drunk buddy Mr C.
Flop comes down q 10, 5. I c bet the flop and both call. Turn comes an Ace. mr C bets out, I call him and the villain shoves all in, Mr C calls and I call.

The river is a blank and the Villain announces "straight" and shows kj, Mr C shows his set of 5's and I muck. Both of us cleaned out.
I reload for another 100. I,ve got it back up to about 150 I,m utg +2 and the there is one limper before me utg. I raise it big when I pick up pocket queens and get I caller, the original limper.
Flop comes down Jack high with 2 hearts, I c bet utg jams all in I snap call and he flip over A4 of hearts. The river completes his flush and I,m 2 buy ins down.
I,ve got £25 left in my pocket and the min buy in is 50 so I stick my last25 on red on roulette and it comes in...black. I decide to call it a night. Maybe day 2 will be a bit better!

Winning Start To The Year

I,ve only played 3 tournaments so far this year and managed to cash in 2 of them. Sadly l,m well aware that I won,t manage to sustain my 66% success rate!
1st game I managed a respectable 25th place from 75 players.
The 2nd game was on Monday night and Although I officially got 3rd place from about 90 players though it it was really a 4 way chop. Myself and the other shortstack took £500 each and the two chip leaders took £700 each. I was pretty pleased with my game, especially as I had lost about 80% of my initial chips before I started to get a bit serious.
Unspectacular solid play would sum up the most of it, although when we down to 2 tables, my table did get a bit excitable after I called a massive river bet for about 3/4 of my chips with Ace high..and won - most of the regulars know I,m pretty solid and not usually known for flamboyant moves!!
I also sucked out once enroute when I called the shortstacks shove with A 10, he flips over AK - world of pain, but a timely 10 on the flop and that was that.

Then On Friday night it was very similar. The same sort of turn out - 73 players - same finish fourth place, but just cashed £310 as there wasn,t a deal done.
Again I pissed away about 3/4 of my chips before deciding to get involved properly. I started to pick up a bit of momentum, and got a few decent hands at the right time.
Sucked out once enroute when my pocket jacks took out pocket aces.
Went a bit card dead at the final table and when it was folded round to me on the SB I found suited 10 J and thought it would be a good spot for jamming and picking up the substantial antes and blinds, so I say "I,m all in" "I CALL!" announced after about 3 milliseconds. My man flips over pocket jacks. Bollocks.
Still, 2 games played this week, £810 won, can,t complain. Next week I,m off to play at the broadway casino in Birmingham, which has always been my rungood casino, so hopefully that will continue...

I,m going to start putting my football tips on daily as well and keep a running total see if any good.

Todays Bets.

Chelsea v Arsenal Chelsea 3pts to win @ 1.95 , 1pt draw @ 3.75
Tottenham v Man U Manu 6pts to win @ 2.4, 2pts to draw @ 3.5

results
Chelsea win return + 2.85
Man U Draw -1 (last minute equaliser for tottenham!)
Net + 1.85

When poker is beautiful - Flopping a boat

Results have been ok last few weeks, a few cashes here and there and I've been pretty happy with my game.
I played a  tournament last week where I got involved in a big pot with four other players.
To summarise the essentials:

Preflop raise to 4X from UTG

Me -  Seat 5 Pocket 3,s  I call

Seat 6 calls

Seat 8 calls.

Flop comes a sweet 6, 6, 3 with 2 hearts.

UTG checks,
 I check
 Seat 6 bets 800,
 Seat 8 calls,
 utg calls
 and I flat it.

Theres now about 7k in the pot.

Turn comes a jack of hearts. This is getting better and better. The flush just got there, but sadly its check, check, check, check.

Cooler

River comes Ace of spades.

This is about as good as it gets.
 The full house isn,t exactly the nuts, but with potential flushes and ace somethings getting there, its probably the perfect river for me and...

UTG bets 1200
I raise  to 2600, seat 6 folds, and seat 8 reraises to 7500.

After much deliberation, the initial raiser (UTG) folds.

 I reraise all in for about 15k.
Seat 8 snaps me off and tables pocket jacks.

Bollocks.

Europe To Take On Las Vegas - Heads Up

First minister for Scotland, Alex Salmond is keen to establish Scotland as a gambling destination if he can win Scottish independence in the forth coming elections.
His masterplan is to give tax breaks to high earners and embark on an ambitious super casino building plan and also to continue with the zero tax rate on winnings to try and establish a European rival for Las Vegas.
To draw attention to the plan he has had this eyecatching 4 storey poker chip constructed in the centre of the Scottish capital at a cost of $3.5 million dollars.

- Blip News Agency

At The Races

The £10 + £20 + £20 at the Genting Casino in Edinburgh is apparently the busiest Monday game in Scotland.

There were 106 entries when I went, with a prize pool of a cool £5,000 exactly. They also allow reregistrations if you bust out early, which swells the prize pool a bit. I managed to blow my first entry before the end of level 3 after a couple of painful hands.
A limp on the button with q8 off was rewarded with a flop of j,10, 9. Not bad, though there were 2 diamonds and I had none. It was checked to me, I bet and get 2 callers. The turn is a king of diamonds, so I slow down a bit as me thinks someone is flushing and I check. River is a q of diamonds? The old lady bets and my near enough the nuts hand is now in the muck.
Couple of hands later I 3 bet pocket tens into Aces - ouch, and my final add on is polished off when I try to exert a bit of pressure with my suited AJ only for the button to repop with AK and I,m toast.
I re register, and manage to accumulate a decent stack, the blinds are at 1200/600/100, when the lady to my right raises utg to 4500. I look down at suited big slick and raise it up to 9500, the rest of the table bails out and then after a bit of posturing, my lady shoves all in for a bit more than my whole chip stack. I call and she flips over queens.
First card out is a queen, and I,m out.
I,m happy enough to take these flips alot more this year and my results seem to show that aggression isn,t really working for me though. If I,d flatted, missed flop I could have got away from it, (on the other hand had I won it, I would have forgotten about the hand and moved onto the next).
I see so many rocks who don't do the jam-any-two theory when they're under 10bb who seem to fold there way down to 2 or 3 blinds until they pick up a playable hand and end up at the final table, Whats the right approach? The eternal question...Vegas beckons, gotta make a decision.

Min cash

I managed a small cash at the monday night game. 10th place finish from the 120 players. Had some nice hands enroute. Best paid was 4s v a10 on 10 4 8 j 10 board. If only poker was always like this. At the later levels it started to turn into abit of a crap shoot, and I was down to about 7bb when I shipped pre with k 10 utg when we were at 6 players on the table. Called by 7's and that was that. £80 paid, £50 entry. Modest profit.

Stone Faced

Golden Nugget London

 I went in for the Saturday tournament. The tournament was pretty lame, I think there were only 20 players or so, and I never cashed, but I got a seat at the cash table after, which was  a pretty chilled game.
The thing I remember best about it was the guy a couple of seats to my left who had sunglasses on and a total stone faced expression. It was early in the morning probably 4 - 5 am just before they closed up and everyone was pretty knackered, I'd put quite a hefty raise in on a total bluff hoping to get the guy to fold. He sat there cool as a cucumber for the longest I can remember dwelling on the bet, with me clearly about to lose a chunk if he calls. I'm getting more and more convinced I was busted. After a pause of what must have been about 5 minutes, one of the guys at the table said "I think he's fallen asleep" and nudged him. He promptly woke up and folded his hand. Ha ha.
It was a nice feeling walking through the deserted streets afterwards to Kings Cross with a pocket full of notes. Lasted about 2 minutes on the train before I fell asleep and woke up at at home. Perfect