Sportsman Showdown 2006

Sun 30/Apr/06
Sportsman Club, London, England,
by tikay
Submitted by: snoopy on Thu, 04/05/2006 - 5:44pm
Game Type:Limit
Buy-in:£2,500
 
So, a 4th day in 5 down in London, this time it's a Sunday/Monday jaunt for the biggie at The Sportsman. I'd won my seat, the structure and clock were ideal for my game, and, for the first time in weeks, I'd enjoyed a solid deep night's sleep. Caught the 11.52 from Derby, it was packed.

S-U&D was scheduled for 4pm, but I had some 425 work to do first. Rhow was at Oxford, so an early arrival was necessary to film the links. We had a new producer with us today, and it's the producer's job to decide where we do what, and the cameraman does his arty farty ‘it looks best from this angle’ thing. When they send a producer, I don't interfere, I just seek out the would-be candidates to be interviewed, the cameraman does the filming bit, and I sort the questions.

Given that we were a mere 70 yards from Marble Arch, I suggested we do the ‘geographical location link’ in front of that, but for some bizarre reason, they preferred to film outside of the Casino, a plain building at best. There's no accounting for taste.

I had pre-arranged with J P Kelly and Roland de Wolfe (pictured right) that we would do an ‘in-depth’ on both of them, but what with one thing and another, they did not get done pre-comp, so the deal was we would do them during the breaks. Hardly conducive to my poker concentration, but I can't have it both ways, and I'd not swap with anyone.

Time to sit down, and my starting table had Stu Nash - a tough opponent - and Stephen Pearce, a loud one. ‘Loud’ in this instance was his shirt, a sort of fluorescent lime green affair.

And we'd hardly began when Stephen, who does have a good game, was up to his tricks, announcing on a J high board to his hapless opponent that, "I have Queerns". I was aching to tell the guy that Stephen did not have queens, he had naff all, but that's out of order. The guy passes, and Stephen throws, face up a bare 9 at his opponent. He was to pay for his rubdown very shortly. It's a strange thing to delight in belittling your opponents, eh? Perfectly legit, though, if you wanna win that bad, and your normal poker skills can't do the job…

Anyway, we'd barely been playing 15 minutes when a really weird hand went off. I find K-K in the big blind, one limper, I bet 300 into a 175 pot to kill it there and then. It's a bit early to get cute, and I'm out of position. Geezer flat calls me. What can he have, I muse? The flop is almost perfect, K-4-2, two diamonds, so a set of K's. I bet out - the J P Kelly style, bet your biggies - and said geezer flat calls me. Eh? Flush draw maybe? I hate the turn, another rag diamond, but I just have to bet again, he calls again. Gulp, I'm getting in deep here, and he won't go away, he must have the flush. I bet the blank river, too, and geezer calls again, on their backs, I'm intrigued to see what he's been calling me with. A-A, that's what! How unlucky was he? Or was he lucky? If he plays it properly, or me my KK properly, it would have been a monster pot. Then again, if I'd bet big on the 2 diamond flop, and he'd called, and the third diamond turned, as it did, I may well have passed to a big bet on the end by him, fearing the flush (Neither of us, in fact, held a diamond). Fact is, I got about 2,000 chips, but Roland de Wolfe, in the same coup earlier, got 20,000.
 
Tony G, who'd arrived 20 minutes late to take his seat, then made up for lost time, and was first to bust out! A shame, I was hoping to share a table with him, he's some player. He and I shared a table at The Vic two years ago, and he took liberties with me just when I was catching cards, and I busted him early doors.

Never mind. Me and poor A-A boy were still chatting about the K-K v A-A hand when we got mixed up once more, and yet again, he got awfully unlucky… BIG TIME unlucky. He held A-9, I had raised with A-Q, and the flop was 8-T-J. I bet, he LOVES it, he's on a lovely draw. The Q turns, and despite the scary board, I like it, top pair, up and down, Ace kicker, and he calls my bet now with the made straight. He has me in deep poo unless a King rivers...which it did! I bet, he raises, I reraise with the absolute nuts, he has to call. Ouch. How lucky was that? I never realised the hole I was in when the Queen turned. But you have to feel for the guy.

Thewy and Paul King then exited almost simultaneously, bah!

Stephen Pearce’s 9 high victim, who had been bullied and verbally cajoled against, took no shite this time, and bust Stephen, who exited in and to silence.

This left my button on Carlo's big blind, lovely jubbly. I'm nicely focused, chipped up, and having a ball, stealing and dancing at will.

I raise on Carlo's big blind with 9-7, and we see an 8-8-7 flop, he bets out, I call, and another 7 turns! But I did not play this one too well, as Carlo declined to accommodate my turn bet, smelling a rat. How much luck can I have in one session?

Well not enough, as more was to follow, a lot more.

I raise with J-J, the flop was Q-6-6, but I bet, I need to know where I am. Mateyboy calls - with what, I wonder? I had reraised pre-flop, I can only put him on A-Q, oops, so I check the turn, so does he. And once again, it's a miracle river… the Jack! I bet, he reraised, I rereraised, he calls, bingo. This is too easy.

Enough luck yet? Nope. The next hand was just outrageous, in every respect, and I don't recall ever having a hand that played itself so perfectly. And I don't think anyone on earth would have played it any different to me. It literally played itself, as my opponent bet every street, and moved all in on the end. "Call," I said, with the absolute stone-cold nuts.....! Oh, nearly forgot. The hand. I had Ace of clubs, King of hearts, and raised, he had Ace of hearts, King of clubs, and the board came 5 running clubs....! Damn near impossible for him to get off that one.

That's more than enough luck, you'd think… but not QUITE, as now I found A-A, found one customer, I bet, he reraised me! The damn cheek, I re-popped him and off he went. More chips, this is embarrassing, but I know only too well that it can't last. And where's the satisfaction in all these ‘gifted’ chips?, I prefer to have to graft for them.

And I pay for my luck now, when with Q-J hearts on a 2 heart flop, I fail to bet out (why, ffs?), and allow Mateyboy to hit his set. I miss my flush, no probs, but I decide to buy the pot with a big bet on the end, but he don't pass top set, and correctly says, "Busted flush tikay?".... Damn.

We break to 3 tables - J P Kelly (pictured left) had busted - and who should arrive to my right but Roland de Wolfe, with a huge stack, the product of K-K v A-A. He had the Kings, and tripped up, exactly as I did, but he got properly paid, whilst I farted about betting odd hundreds. The difference between a WPT Hero and a foot-soldier, I guess.

Roland unsettled me, I must admit. We are good pals, but I know my place on the poker ladder, and I don't really wanna dance with him. His small blind, he makes up, I have A-J, and count up the chips with a view to a raise. "Whatever you bet, I will call," says Roland. "I may go all-in," I say with a shaky voice. "Do it, I promise I'll call," says he. Sod him, I think, I'll raise anyway. "Chec,k" I say, tapping the table firmly.  We check it all the way, he must have summat, but I take the pot when he shows 6-3. I discussed this hand with 2 of my poker heroes, Thewy and Jen, and they both said the identical words… "You shoulda gone all-in!". Right, watch out next time, Roland. You don't scare me… much.

But now the wheels began to fall off, and I pay for my earlier luck. I find Q-Q with blinds at 100-200, and make it 700 UTG. Next man re-pops it to 2,000, oooh-er. What do we do here? I need to see where we are, so a rereraise is in order, and that much is correct strategy, in my opinion. But I overbet it - 6,000. He dwells for so long, and is such a poor actor, that even before he moves all-in, I know his hand, and my response. He eventually sighs and moves all-in for 12k, I pass quickly and show my Q-Q, he shows his very obvious A-A. TERRIBLE play on my part. The overbet was just stupid. As Micky Wernick keeps telling me, I can find out the same answer for a lot less. What a waste. The only other play was to call his first raise, 2k I think, but unless I hit my set, I get in even deeper poo, especially if it's a low flop. Several guys said "great pass", but it was easy. The ONLY hands he could have were A-A or K-K. I just cursed for wasting so many chips finding out.

Break time now, and J P Kelly has just busted out, so we get it together and do the In-Depth Interview for 425. Good stuff, he talks well, honest and open.

We finish just as the comp restarts and I dash back to my seat just in time to find A-K in early position, RAISE, 2k. Dixie Dean, in late position, just calls, hmmm. Dixie had a mountain of chips, having busted Monty Burns (K-K) and ‘Haircut’ Woodley (T-T) with A-K, having rivered the Ace, all the chips went in pre-flop. I think I have him here if the flop comes good. Roland came along for the ride too, there's a surprise. Flop comes A-J-9 - not perfect but it'll do, and I have to lead out, as it's a scary board. Dixie calls, Roland passes. BIG pot now. I bet the blank turn, 9k this time, and Dixie moves all-in. ooooh! A long think is needed here, what could he have that’s beating my A-Q? A-J, for 2 pairs, a set of nines maybe, but A-K looks favourite. Damn, I need to let this go, and I pass, showing my A-Q. Dixie, bless him, shows his A-K.

Again, a chorus of "great pass, tikay", but what else could he have, except a bluff? In truth, I think I played this one as well as I could, and I could not get off the hand much cheaper. Whatever, I have gone from double average, thanks to enormous luck, to sub-average in 2 hands, either side of the break. Oh well, I enjoyed my 3 hour rocking and rolling, but now I have to grind, and truth to tell, that's what I enjoy, and do, best. A shame, as I quite fancied my chances with that stack, but hey-ho, it's a-grinding we shall go.

And grind I did, for 6 more hours, but could never regain the lost ground, and the blinds gradually got the better of me. Eventually I found 6-6, which looks HUGE when you have not had a hand for 6 hours, and, despite my desire to ‘move first always’, I could not resist pushing my 8k in when serial raiser Wilie Tann made it 2k to go. I was actually surprised he called so quick, more so when I saw his hand, Q-J, but a race is a race, and I lost it, so that was that. Willie knows what he is doing, big time, but he'd have been in a hole against typical ‘move-in’ hands from me – A-K, A-Q, A-J, K-Q, K-J… but there you go.

In the interim, I had done the In-Depth interview with Roland - I do hope they show it this week, it's good stuff I think. But this week's Studio Producer is Rhowena, so no telling what she might select! I had also done exit interviews with Monty and The Boy Thewy, and most of the finalists, including Willie Tann and Dave Clarke. For some bizarre reason, the cameraman and producer decided to shut up shop an hour or so before the end of play, which bemused me totally, but that's TV folks, these guys move in mysterious ways.

So, at 0530, after another very long day, I was off to St Pancreas for the first train home to Derby. Colin Hunt, the amiable card room manger, kindly provided a limo to take me to St Pancras - how nice of him was that? - and I safely caught the almost empty 06.15. Dreaming dreams of what, once again, might have been, I soon nodded off, and awoke, for a change, just before we reached Derby. My first reaction was thank goodness I had not missed my stop. My second was “oh shit”, the ol’ mouth was open, and the drool was down the chin. I hate being old.