| Game Type: | Limit |
Many of you have asked me to do more of these "My Comp" reports, so I will indulge myself, & I hope both of you find at least some pleasure in reading about how a regular guy gets on when he tries to mix it with the big boys. Please remember these are not written for the Pros or sponsored boys to read. There are thousands of poker players who play the £10 & £20 comps at their local who will never have the good fortune to play in a biggie, so this is aimed at them.
OK, so at 8.00pm sharp on Saturday, we draw for seats, & it's always a moment of high anticipation seeing what sort of starting table we have drawn. I aint into all that "come on Ram" sycophantic stuff, but it is nice to play against the big names, if nothing else, you can maybe pick up a few tips.
So lets see, who have we got?
Seat 1, Phil Stein - he who exited first hand with AA three nights ago.
Seat 2, Jon Shoreman, he of pokerineurope.com & has a finger in all things poker. Jon is mega aggressive, & plays fast - a natural "speed poker" player if ever I saw one.
Seat 3, One third of the William Hill golden trio, Xuyen "Bad Girl" Pham. Winner of the World Poker Championship & 250k in Ireland back in June - only Euros, mind, not real money. She looks like a delicate oriental flower, but don't mess with this young lady, she'll cut you to ribbons.
Seat 4, Francis Rohan - nice enough guy, but he talks for England. Always happy to tell you what you done wrong, just what you need when you are licking your wounds after you know only too well you played the hand badly.
Seat 5, Skalie. Never played with skalie before. Seems good craic, & I am told he plays pretty heavy cash on Ladbrokes. Not sure what his real name is.
Seat 6, tikay - serial clinger-on-er & bubble boy.
Seat 7, Max Hussain from Sheffield. A buddy from the Notts Gala & Napoleons Sheffield weekly comps.
Seat 8 - Keith "The Camel" Hawkins. Uh-oh, trouble. Twice this week he has been two seats to my left, & not only has he taken my pants down both times, he has messed with my head big style, too. Very aggressive, & NOT the sort of guy you want to your left.
Seat 9 - Not sure, but I think his name was Jonathon Cook. Don't know him.
Seat 10 - Another third of the William Hill trio - Julian Thew. He's had enough eulogising for one week so suffice to say he went on to win the thing. Nice to have him on the table though as he is a big a friend as I have in poker, & he gees me up when I get a bit down or take a beat. But we don't play softball - no sirree!
Well, I wanted to mix it with a few good players - wish granted.
Game plan? Whenever I start with a game plan, it invariably goes tits up. It just depends if you are catching cards, but this was a £!,000 jobbie, so I had better have a strategy. Gamble early, see if we can get some chips, that would take the pressure off & I can relax for an hour or two if that works.
10,000 was the starting stack. So I gambled for an hour. And after an hour I was up to 5,000..... What a bloody mare I had! The Camel took me on every time without fail, & beat me every time. He had doubled up early, so was dabbling in every pot. I was sure he was pushing me off winners, but mainly I was just "missing" my cards, & trying to bet my way out of it. And he was RR-ing me. Time after time after time. He has messed with my head again, damn the man. Eventually, after he RR'd me for the exteenth time, I decide I gotta see what he is taking me on with. I have top pair, but I fancy I am losing, but I gotta make a stand even if I am losing, just to show him I wont keep rolling over to his damn re-raises. He has bottom pair. And middle pair. Another pot is pushed his way.
OK, plan B. Nut up, wait for the cards to come. It's a slow clock, I got plenty of time, and maybe I will get a table move - pah, admission of defeat there, but that's the way it was.
And the cards did come. I only had to wait until 3.00am - that's 6 bloody hours of 9-3 & assorted bus tickets. Meanwhile, Shoreman & The Camel are both at 30,000 plus, Thewy not far behind. How DO these boys do it?
Mind you, it as worth the wait to see how Thewy, two to Camels left, handled the aggression from the Ruminator.
Camel RR'd Thewy two or three times, until The Golden Boy says "enough" - & he moved all-in on Keith. Not once, but three times in 10 minutes. Message sent. Message received. Camel did not mess with Thewy any more. Maybe I should try that. The Camel got 30k, tikay got 4,800. Maybe not.....
Then it happened. 3.00 am it was, my first genuine starting hand in 6 hours. AA, no less, yum yum yum. How shall I play this little beauty? Better play safe, I decide. It's no-limit, but I want - I NEED - a bit of action, so I make it 5 times the small blind - bit of discount anyone? Well, you've never seen anything like it. "Tikay has raised" they all screamed. People were mucking out of turn, rushing for the emergency exits, a bloke on the next table even passed. So that was that, I got no action at all, just the bloody blinds. Pah! Obvious really, I had hardly played a hand for x hours, & if you want action, you gotta give it, as they say. Maybe, even when card dead, I should dabble in a few hands just to ensure I get paid when I do have a hand.
Never mind, at least I found a hand, & maybe they will start coming now. So it was ironic that at that very moment, along comes Simon the floor man, "big blind, come on Tony, new table for you. You want me to get a tray for you to carry your chips in?". Ha bloody ha. A tray for my chips - all 7 of 'em. Huh. Never mind, maybe a better seat at my new table.
Off I trot, down I sit, & for some reason, having had the Bloody Camel two to my left for 7 hours, I look at the guy two to my left on my new table. Eric Barker. OMG. Eric the Bloody Screw Barker. Mr Aggressive. Oh boy.
And to my immediate left is Zorro look alike Robert Binelli, an interesting looking character. I don't know where Robert buys his clothes, but it sure aint Marks & bloody Spencer's. I know Robert quite well, hooked up with him on the continent a few times during last year. A deep thinker about the game, nice guy too. Our last encounter was in a biggie at The Vic. I had returned for day two, short-stacked - nothing new there then - & every time I found half a hand to move in with, it was Robert's big blind. I got away with it 5 rounds in a row - sixth time, I had a real hand, AQ, but Robert cried "enough" & called me with A-9 - & caught his nine.
OK, back to Luton. Fate deals life's cards & all that. And lo & behold, my very first hand is AK suited. Whahoo! I raise, Robert fixes me with a stare. I must have intimidated him a treat, cos he then RR'd me. OK Mr Binelli, you want to RR me, lets get it on. This is the seminal hand for me. I am married to it. I am happy to exit with it. I have sat patiently for too long, lets go to war. And we get all the chips in, "on their backs", I defiantly turn over my AK suited. And he gives me a sideways glance that frightened the life out of me, & slowly, and with aplomb, reveals his hand - AK suited.....!
But I catch 4 to the flush on the flop, & I am hose & hosed with a card to spare - how lucky was that?
So, double up, and I catch two more nice starting hands - win both of 'em - before play is halted for the night at 3-30am. (Aint it bizarre that Casinos in the UK close early on Saturday nights of all nights, wtf is THAT about?). So I finish with 13,800, average is about 20k, so with blinds at only 300-600, I am still in this baby. And after such a struggle that first 6 hours, pleased with myself for hanging in there.
For two day events (remember, this article is not for the pros) what happens at the close of day one is that they give you a polythene "jiffy bag", you get your chip count verified by the dealer, write the amount on the bag, put your chips in your bag, seal the bag yourself, sign a bit of paper confirming it, & off you go. Then you chat with your mates, always the same question "how many you got". Usually the same answer "not many, but enough". And trot off home.
3.00pm start next day, so we assemble at about 2.30. Lovely atmosphere. A sort of "well WE have made day two". Everyone wishing everyone else good luck. Nobody means it, of course. And off we go again. It's usually pretty somber& tense the first half hour of day two. But a remarkable thing happens - I start catching cards. Nice cards. Lovely cards. QQ twice, KK, JJ twice. I cant find a customer though. News of tikay the rock must be getting around.
60+ had returned, 18 get paid, 9 seriously. It takes another 6 hours before we are down to the last 18, ok, that's£1,000, a result for me. I had my fair share of pots during the afternoon, but try as I might, just could not find a double up, & am still struggling at around 20k. Average now is 60k. And I STILL have Eric Barker two to my left, dammit. And he is in full raise, raise, quick quick raise mode.
But I am DESPERATE to Final. 17 left, 16 left 15 left, 12 left, and I have got myself to 51k - the highest I have been all comp, just a double up away from average. I CAN final. I WILL Final.
And then came the hand, the opportunity. I find AQ suited in late position on a 6 man table - it looks HUGE. Eric Barker has raised UTG - means nothing - he raises EVERY hand. But Julian Therw, who has just joined our table, limps. Limps? What is THAT about? JT don't limp without good reason. Oh boy, what do I do here. GAMBLE! This is my chance, & I am going for it. I know, AQ aint a RR-ing hand, but it is now. I RR all-in, that's it, my tourney is on the line.
Eric calls my RR, Julian does too. That's good, I NEED action. Do or die now. No worries, if Julian has a monster, good luck to him. The pot is 150k or thereabouts - luverly! Flop is J-6-3, rainbow. Hmm, looks ok so far. Eric & Julian both check, I am all-in & a lovely pile of chips is right there in front of me......my passport to a big Final. Turn is another rag, Eric comes out betting, Julian lets it go. On their backs. Eric has K-J - YES! - I am ahead. Oops, no, I WAS ahead, but am not now - he caught the J on the flop. OK, I can still get out of this if a Q or an A rivers. It's a........7. Bollocks. And then Julian says "oh, I had AQ too.....". Great, my buddy had half my outs.
So that was that. Another bubble boy type exit for tikay, but £1,000 for consolation. I had played for 16 hours against the best the UK can muster, and had awful position on two tables. Not had much luck with the cards, hardly played cavalier poker, but done the best I could with the material I had. Disappointed? Obviously. But proud of myself too. I hung in there, & battled & fought to stay in without any help from the Poker Gods. And I was pretty pleased with myself for that. It's all relative, see. The big boys EXPECT to Final. Tikay HOPES to Final. I did my best, had a ball, & thoroughly enjoyed every minute. There is a certain satisfaction - to me, at any rate - at having to push that big ball uphill for 16 hours & not give in. And no, I aint really good enough to play in these big jobbies. But dammit, I enjoy them so much. And you never know, one day......
OK, so at 8.00pm sharp on Saturday, we draw for seats, & it's always a moment of high anticipation seeing what sort of starting table we have drawn. I aint into all that "come on Ram" sycophantic stuff, but it is nice to play against the big names, if nothing else, you can maybe pick up a few tips.
So lets see, who have we got?
Seat 1, Phil Stein - he who exited first hand with AA three nights ago.
Seat 2, Jon Shoreman, he of pokerineurope.com & has a finger in all things poker. Jon is mega aggressive, & plays fast - a natural "speed poker" player if ever I saw one.
Seat 3, One third of the William Hill golden trio, Xuyen "Bad Girl" Pham. Winner of the World Poker Championship & 250k in Ireland back in June - only Euros, mind, not real money. She looks like a delicate oriental flower, but don't mess with this young lady, she'll cut you to ribbons.
Seat 4, Francis Rohan - nice enough guy, but he talks for England. Always happy to tell you what you done wrong, just what you need when you are licking your wounds after you know only too well you played the hand badly.
Seat 5, Skalie. Never played with skalie before. Seems good craic, & I am told he plays pretty heavy cash on Ladbrokes. Not sure what his real name is.
Seat 6, tikay - serial clinger-on-er & bubble boy.
Seat 7, Max Hussain from Sheffield. A buddy from the Notts Gala & Napoleons Sheffield weekly comps.
Seat 8 - Keith "The Camel" Hawkins. Uh-oh, trouble. Twice this week he has been two seats to my left, & not only has he taken my pants down both times, he has messed with my head big style, too. Very aggressive, & NOT the sort of guy you want to your left.
Seat 9 - Not sure, but I think his name was Jonathon Cook. Don't know him.
Seat 10 - Another third of the William Hill trio - Julian Thew. He's had enough eulogising for one week so suffice to say he went on to win the thing. Nice to have him on the table though as he is a big a friend as I have in poker, & he gees me up when I get a bit down or take a beat. But we don't play softball - no sirree!
Well, I wanted to mix it with a few good players - wish granted.
Game plan? Whenever I start with a game plan, it invariably goes tits up. It just depends if you are catching cards, but this was a £!,000 jobbie, so I had better have a strategy. Gamble early, see if we can get some chips, that would take the pressure off & I can relax for an hour or two if that works.
10,000 was the starting stack. So I gambled for an hour. And after an hour I was up to 5,000..... What a bloody mare I had! The Camel took me on every time without fail, & beat me every time. He had doubled up early, so was dabbling in every pot. I was sure he was pushing me off winners, but mainly I was just "missing" my cards, & trying to bet my way out of it. And he was RR-ing me. Time after time after time. He has messed with my head again, damn the man. Eventually, after he RR'd me for the exteenth time, I decide I gotta see what he is taking me on with. I have top pair, but I fancy I am losing, but I gotta make a stand even if I am losing, just to show him I wont keep rolling over to his damn re-raises. He has bottom pair. And middle pair. Another pot is pushed his way.
OK, plan B. Nut up, wait for the cards to come. It's a slow clock, I got plenty of time, and maybe I will get a table move - pah, admission of defeat there, but that's the way it was.
And the cards did come. I only had to wait until 3.00am - that's 6 bloody hours of 9-3 & assorted bus tickets. Meanwhile, Shoreman & The Camel are both at 30,000 plus, Thewy not far behind. How DO these boys do it?
Mind you, it as worth the wait to see how Thewy, two to Camels left, handled the aggression from the Ruminator.
Camel RR'd Thewy two or three times, until The Golden Boy says "enough" - & he moved all-in on Keith. Not once, but three times in 10 minutes. Message sent. Message received. Camel did not mess with Thewy any more. Maybe I should try that. The Camel got 30k, tikay got 4,800. Maybe not.....
Then it happened. 3.00 am it was, my first genuine starting hand in 6 hours. AA, no less, yum yum yum. How shall I play this little beauty? Better play safe, I decide. It's no-limit, but I want - I NEED - a bit of action, so I make it 5 times the small blind - bit of discount anyone? Well, you've never seen anything like it. "Tikay has raised" they all screamed. People were mucking out of turn, rushing for the emergency exits, a bloke on the next table even passed. So that was that, I got no action at all, just the bloody blinds. Pah! Obvious really, I had hardly played a hand for x hours, & if you want action, you gotta give it, as they say. Maybe, even when card dead, I should dabble in a few hands just to ensure I get paid when I do have a hand.
Never mind, at least I found a hand, & maybe they will start coming now. So it was ironic that at that very moment, along comes Simon the floor man, "big blind, come on Tony, new table for you. You want me to get a tray for you to carry your chips in?". Ha bloody ha. A tray for my chips - all 7 of 'em. Huh. Never mind, maybe a better seat at my new table.
Off I trot, down I sit, & for some reason, having had the Bloody Camel two to my left for 7 hours, I look at the guy two to my left on my new table. Eric Barker. OMG. Eric the Bloody Screw Barker. Mr Aggressive. Oh boy.
And to my immediate left is Zorro look alike Robert Binelli, an interesting looking character. I don't know where Robert buys his clothes, but it sure aint Marks & bloody Spencer's. I know Robert quite well, hooked up with him on the continent a few times during last year. A deep thinker about the game, nice guy too. Our last encounter was in a biggie at The Vic. I had returned for day two, short-stacked - nothing new there then - & every time I found half a hand to move in with, it was Robert's big blind. I got away with it 5 rounds in a row - sixth time, I had a real hand, AQ, but Robert cried "enough" & called me with A-9 - & caught his nine.
OK, back to Luton. Fate deals life's cards & all that. And lo & behold, my very first hand is AK suited. Whahoo! I raise, Robert fixes me with a stare. I must have intimidated him a treat, cos he then RR'd me. OK Mr Binelli, you want to RR me, lets get it on. This is the seminal hand for me. I am married to it. I am happy to exit with it. I have sat patiently for too long, lets go to war. And we get all the chips in, "on their backs", I defiantly turn over my AK suited. And he gives me a sideways glance that frightened the life out of me, & slowly, and with aplomb, reveals his hand - AK suited.....!
But I catch 4 to the flush on the flop, & I am hose & hosed with a card to spare - how lucky was that?
So, double up, and I catch two more nice starting hands - win both of 'em - before play is halted for the night at 3-30am. (Aint it bizarre that Casinos in the UK close early on Saturday nights of all nights, wtf is THAT about?). So I finish with 13,800, average is about 20k, so with blinds at only 300-600, I am still in this baby. And after such a struggle that first 6 hours, pleased with myself for hanging in there.
For two day events (remember, this article is not for the pros) what happens at the close of day one is that they give you a polythene "jiffy bag", you get your chip count verified by the dealer, write the amount on the bag, put your chips in your bag, seal the bag yourself, sign a bit of paper confirming it, & off you go. Then you chat with your mates, always the same question "how many you got". Usually the same answer "not many, but enough". And trot off home.
3.00pm start next day, so we assemble at about 2.30. Lovely atmosphere. A sort of "well WE have made day two". Everyone wishing everyone else good luck. Nobody means it, of course. And off we go again. It's usually pretty somber& tense the first half hour of day two. But a remarkable thing happens - I start catching cards. Nice cards. Lovely cards. QQ twice, KK, JJ twice. I cant find a customer though. News of tikay the rock must be getting around.
60+ had returned, 18 get paid, 9 seriously. It takes another 6 hours before we are down to the last 18, ok, that's£1,000, a result for me. I had my fair share of pots during the afternoon, but try as I might, just could not find a double up, & am still struggling at around 20k. Average now is 60k. And I STILL have Eric Barker two to my left, dammit. And he is in full raise, raise, quick quick raise mode.
But I am DESPERATE to Final. 17 left, 16 left 15 left, 12 left, and I have got myself to 51k - the highest I have been all comp, just a double up away from average. I CAN final. I WILL Final.
And then came the hand, the opportunity. I find AQ suited in late position on a 6 man table - it looks HUGE. Eric Barker has raised UTG - means nothing - he raises EVERY hand. But Julian Therw, who has just joined our table, limps. Limps? What is THAT about? JT don't limp without good reason. Oh boy, what do I do here. GAMBLE! This is my chance, & I am going for it. I know, AQ aint a RR-ing hand, but it is now. I RR all-in, that's it, my tourney is on the line.
Eric calls my RR, Julian does too. That's good, I NEED action. Do or die now. No worries, if Julian has a monster, good luck to him. The pot is 150k or thereabouts - luverly! Flop is J-6-3, rainbow. Hmm, looks ok so far. Eric & Julian both check, I am all-in & a lovely pile of chips is right there in front of me......my passport to a big Final. Turn is another rag, Eric comes out betting, Julian lets it go. On their backs. Eric has K-J - YES! - I am ahead. Oops, no, I WAS ahead, but am not now - he caught the J on the flop. OK, I can still get out of this if a Q or an A rivers. It's a........7. Bollocks. And then Julian says "oh, I had AQ too.....". Great, my buddy had half my outs.
So that was that. Another bubble boy type exit for tikay, but £1,000 for consolation. I had played for 16 hours against the best the UK can muster, and had awful position on two tables. Not had much luck with the cards, hardly played cavalier poker, but done the best I could with the material I had. Disappointed? Obviously. But proud of myself too. I hung in there, & battled & fought to stay in without any help from the Poker Gods. And I was pretty pleased with myself for that. It's all relative, see. The big boys EXPECT to Final. Tikay HOPES to Final. I did my best, had a ball, & thoroughly enjoyed every minute. There is a certain satisfaction - to me, at any rate - at having to push that big ball uphill for 16 hours & not give in. And no, I aint really good enough to play in these big jobbies. But dammit, I enjoy them so much. And you never know, one day......