So there I am, nicely chipped up with 22k, (average was about 15k at this time), the blinds are at 300/600 and we've finally moved to a 1hr clock. I honestly didn't understand why we only have a 45 minute clock for the first 4 levels and only then move to an hour clock, answers on a postcard someone?Anyway, one of the other tables is broken up and we've gained a couple of new players. Straight away, one of them raises to 1600 in early position and it's folded round to me in the big blind, I look down and find 6-6 and elect to call. The flop comes K-T-6 rainbow, a good looking flop for me, I check and EP bets 1200. At this point, I decide to flat call, the turn comes a deuce, I check again, but this time EP checks behind me. The river is a more dangerous looking Jack and I make a defensive bet of 2k. At the time, looking back I'm not sure this was the right play, but then EP dwells for a second before moving all-in! I have him roughly covered by about 3k but I suddenly think he must have A-Q, since it's my first live event, I'm mortified that everyone can read me like a book and knows exactly what I have at all times Also, I've only committed 4.8k to this pot and I've still got above average chips if I fold. Eventually I give the hand up and EP shows... A-5 off, whoops.
The break comes and I slump down next to snoopy and Jen, mournfully chewing on my third tin of BlueSq mints that Jon Raab gave me. They tell me not to worry too much and I try to refocus for a few minutes. I was glad the break was short, it stopped me dwelling on that hand too much and I had to quickly regain my concentration.
The next couple of levels I went card dead again, I stole a few blinds here and there, but I never managed to do more than tread water as stacks rose and fell around me. Eventually, our table was cracked and we were down to the last eighteen players. I was moved onto a table with a mixture of big and small stacks when I was in the middling ground. I picked up Queens early on and re-raised Stuart Nash out of a decent pot after he had intially raised a limper. Incidentally, Stuart is a top guy. Every now and then he'd come out with a cracking one-liner making the whole table smile, whom, I could tell, all had a lot of respect for him. Sadly, those Queens however, were to be the last big pair that I would pickup through the rest of the day and the final table.
Gradually, the shorter stacks were weaned out and the bubble came closer and the play became exceptionally tight. I saw A-Q folded in the big blind to a button raise from J-J and A-K in the small blind folded to a re-raise from the button who had raised an EP raiser.
The break comes and I slump down next to snoopy and Jen, mournfully chewing on my third tin of BlueSq mints that Jon Raab gave me. They tell me not to worry too much and I try to refocus for a few minutes. I was glad the break was short, it stopped me dwelling on that hand too much and I had to quickly regain my concentration.
The next couple of levels I went card dead again, I stole a few blinds here and there, but I never managed to do more than tread water as stacks rose and fell around me. Eventually, our table was cracked and we were down to the last eighteen players. I was moved onto a table with a mixture of big and small stacks when I was in the middling ground. I picked up Queens early on and re-raised Stuart Nash out of a decent pot after he had intially raised a limper. Incidentally, Stuart is a top guy. Every now and then he'd come out with a cracking one-liner making the whole table smile, whom, I could tell, all had a lot of respect for him. Sadly, those Queens however, were to be the last big pair that I would pickup through the rest of the day and the final table.Gradually, the shorter stacks were weaned out and the bubble came closer and the play became exceptionally tight. I saw A-Q folded in the big blind to a button raise from J-J and A-K in the small blind folded to a re-raise from the button who had raised an EP raiser.
Although I was getting short, I was still able to steal the odd pot here and there which kept me floating (just). Then I picked up 6-6 again and raised from the cut-off. My old nemesis, Jim Reid, who had bluffed me with the A-5 off, called on the button. He now had a much bigger stack than me but the flop came T-6-3 with two hearts, I made a continuation-sized bet and he calls, the turn comes another 3 and I think I must be a mile ahead. If he had two hearts, surely he'll raise me on the raggy board that I most likely have missed. I decide to check and if he bets, I'll call and throw him a teaser on the river, but if he checks and the river is a blank card, I'll make a big 'bluffesque' bet. The latter happens and I scoop a big pot, a couple of the players say, "Well played." After that, my big blind is left alone for a couple of orbits.
The bubble goes on for aggggeeeeeees until Jim Reid (right), making a similar move as he had done against me earlier, goes all-in on the river only to be called by someone holding top two pair. And suddenly, I'm on the final table, it's an incredibly bizarre feeling I must say. I'm left with the second shortest stack, about 13 big blinds. The big pot I had scooped earlier had given me a breather, but then two hours of the most shockingly awful cards ever, (not even one 74 offsuit!) and my stack had dwindled from a comfortable 30k to a measly 18.9k. I was hoping they would maybe roll back the levels from 600/1200 to 400/800 and allow for some play the next day, otherwise I'd have to become a superhero known only as ATC-man!!!We finish at the ungodly hour of midnight, that's right, not late at all, which still leaves me scratching my head about the 45 minutes we were given for the first four levels. Perhaps I'm being pedantic, but would one extra hour have hurt the casino at all? Oh well.
I spoke to snoops and Jen who were well-chuffed for me and were always smiling or giving me a wink when they came by to do their chip counts which kept me going almost as much as the 7 or 8 pints of water I must have drunk. I pick up another couple of tins of the mints, and the Grosvenor lighter that all players who entered were given, the latter I manage to break within roughly ten minutes.
Once again, Jen is kind enough to give me a lift in her car back to my hotel that's just across the street. I get to bed but of course again I can't sleep, this time it's less about the lack of familiarity of my bed and more about the nervous excitement I have for tomorrow....
