| Game Type: | Limit |
| Buy-in: | £300+£25 |
A couple of hours from London (or an hour and a half if Jo is driving) lies Walsall, with a hotel, diner and casino all within five minutes of the M6. Walsall casino in my humble opinion boasts about the most helpful and friendly staff around, with the tournament directors and dealers filling me in with amazing accuracy on exciting hands I'd missed and providing chip counts on a little bit of paper every time there was a convenient break. The £300 freezeout on the 25 th of June attracted 98 runners, including quite a hefty handful of Blondeites (Tikay, Red-Dog, Jo, Malc, Ironside, Robert HM, Womble, Mobes, Ariston and The Bubble being those who float to the front of my mind).
PRIZE STRUCTURE as follows:
1 £11700
2 £6200
3 £3200
4 £2400
5 £1500
6 £1200
7 £1000
8 £900
9 £700
10 £600
EARLY ACTION
With 6000 chips, 45 minute clock and blinds starting at 25-50, I thought it might be a while before anything noteworthy happened.
Not so! Ironside managed to knock himself out second (first was Harry Kyriacou QQ vs KK) with what looked like the hand to double him back up, as he'd taken an early setback with AQ when someone's A10 hit a sneaky two pair. He raised in middle position with two callers, and when the flop of Kh Qh 2c came down, he pushed all-in for about 1500 and got a reluctant call from a player with J K clubs, which looked in bad shape against Ironside's Ah K. The turn brought a 10 (and third heart), but the river was an unlucky As sending him over to watch the forum with me. Although some messages appeared to support the theory that Ironside had already considered possible entertainment alternatives.
It was nice to have some company while keeping an eye on the tables where a lot of folding was going on, although I would periodically notice Mobes and Jo adding a few chips to their stacks. The Bubble took some damage raising with QQ and finding a caller with the unlikely J7 who liked the J and 7 on the flop a lot more than he did. But next out was Ariston whose A3 in the big blind led him to call 250 and see a flop of K 8 3, and more lethally, another 3 on the turn, which meant that the other player's pocket 8s took him out. Mobes seemed to be on a roll as his A9 took out AA with a third nine getting him out of jail, while Tikay seemed to be just quietly hovering around the starting chips.
Rumit had doubled through with 99 vs AQ, when it came 10 9 8 8, with a J on the river just to rub it in. Tikay absorbed a few chips by raising on the button with what might have been AJ. Flop comes 5 8 J rainbow, and the one preflop caller bet 1000 but passed to Tikay's all-in reraise, showing AQ. They all got to see Tikay's J while he muttered something about trips....
Red Dog was knocked out when he hit a 4 8 10(two spades) flop with his A10 and was called by someone hoping for a Jack-high flush but who hit a Jack which unfortunately had the same effect. I will quote how he summed up the night:
"I made 3 mistakes tonight:
1 I put my chips in when I was in front
2 I put my chips in when I was behind
3 I put my chips in when I was in front again."
At Walsall they have a proper Talking Clock. At the break it addresses you thusly: "Poker players! There will now be a short break." It also warns you when there are two minutes exactly left of a blind level. It is like God is addressing the card room in a polite yet firm voice that cannot be argued with. I think they should introduce this countrywide. Just an idea.
LATER ACTION
Tikay's table saw some interesting hands as Robert HM moved there along with Steve Jelinek who brought with him one whole chip, and after a whirlwind gathering exercise (including cracking aces with 66) he made it to 14000 - and this was a bit of an omen for the rest of the day...sure enough he goes on to make the final table..
Malc gets busy right about now (down to 48, blinds 200-400) with a raise from the small blind of 1000. There's a bit of dwelling and a pass. He flips the AA and Jo says, "that's the worst bit of acting I've ever seen!" Then The Dazzliing Cornelius (from Smethwick), who apparently was doing quite a bit of nicking (according to Malc), makes it 3000 to go, Malc goes over the top for 9000, call. Malc's AK runs into Q7, and the Q pops up to knock him out.
Robert and Jo exit simultaneously when she moved in with middle pair to find him on top pair and another player having flopped trips. This recalls Lucy Rokach's advice as she left the tournament around this time: "Never bluff into top set."
When down to 37, blinds 300-600, Tikay had the good fortune to be dealt 7 2 on the big blind. The flop of 7 2 10 gave the little blind the idea to suddenly go all-in for 8000 with his K 10, and so now Tikay had a comfortable 27000, and was looking like he might need to come back tomorrow after all.
Down to 26, Womble made a stand with 88 vs AJ, so that a trip back the next day would be with a final-table-making type of stack, but it didn't hold up and he joined Mobes who was knocked out around this time with AQ against QQ (although the cruel flop gave him the A, the case Queen popped up on the river).
And the 16 who made it to day 2:
K. Dionysiou 110300
T. Burns 87300
S. Jelinek 67400
M. Fletcher 50100
J. Gill 41300
J. Reid 29400
V. Williams 28800
P. Granger 25400
V. Martin 25000
B. Callinan 24000
M. Harwood 23200
T. Kendall 23100
D. Witcombe 21400
D. Smith 14100
S. Smith 10600
J. Reardon 6700
VERY LATE ACTION
While Tikay traveled home to see his cats and get some sensible rest, a little contingent of Blondeites made the 5-minute drive to the Village Hotel to 'wait for breakfast.' Of course this meant playing £2 rebuy tournaments until it was definitely daytime again. There are some interesting pictures on the forum, I believe, of Ironside, Jo, Malc, Robert 'The Brief' and myself squeezed around a table in one of the conference rooms, hiding from security guards and drinking rum (in moderation). I must just note that for anyone who might want to travel to Walsall to experience one of their tournaments, this is a very reasonable place to stay (£55 for a double room) and would be a walk able distance from the casino if there were a pavement to walk on.
Some phenomenal play from Ironside meant that he dominated the first tournament, with his 3, 4 making two pair on the flushing board, and when Jo hit the flush with a four on the river, saying that she had to go all-in at this juncture, he replied, "I am afraid I have to call you as I have a house." Similarly, he was 'obliged' to call another all in as his 6 9 flopped the nut straight, prompting what looked like genuine bemusement from Malc as Jo quipped about the 'big lick.' And I may have called Malc 'Massive,' but it was in reference to his hand and I think the next thing I called him was 'loser' as my Kings held up against his Massive draw. Just setting the record straight.
DAY 2
There were some unlucky close-but-no-cigar moments as Steve Jelinek busted player after player (Ben Callinan and P. Granger falling to him), accumulating over 100000 in chips in the first half hour. Players who fell just short of the final included Malcolm 'The Rock' Harwood whose AK suited looked like it was going to be his best shot after he'd gone through a short-stacked period of stealing-related survival. Graciously accepting that some days just aren't winning days, he went out along with V. Martin in the same hand, when his AK joined Martin's JJ in running into QQ.
James Gill went out on the bubble after a long fight, finding QK off in the Big Blind and getting a call from Jackie Reardon with AJh. This leads me to the great success story of Jackie - a satellite qualifier who, as you may recall, ended day 1 at the bottom of the leader board with only 6700 chips. She went from strength to strength, with JJ being the hand which twice netted her some huge pots. Trevor Reardon's sister-in-law, she ended up with lots of support in the audience and online. Nicknamed Action Jackie and the Smiling Assassin you should have seen the burn marks left by Tikay's cards as they flew into the muck when she reraised him or stole his blinds (more than once).
THE FINAL TABLE
1 T. Kendall - 18500
2 S. Smith - 63000
3 D. Witcombe - 22500
4 S. Jelinek - 89000
5 P. Fletcher - 24500
6 T. Burns - 35500
7 D. Smith - 63000
8 V. William - 68500
9 K. Dionysiou - 121500
10 J. Reardon - 83000
It seems like the short stack woke up on the final: yes, Tikay was all-in before you could say 'double up,' and although his first go at the 1500-3000 blinds was not called, the second time he knocked out the man who had been chip leader throughout much of the tournament - Tom Burns - with 99 vs A9.
Tom had had an intimidating chip lead throughout the previous night, but as the blinds went up and he had to lay down a few hands on some uninspiring flops, he found himself short enough to call Tikay all-in. ifm on the forum mentioned that he was second in 'the league thingy' and so was a force to be reckoned with, but the league thingy leader was the formidable Debbie Witcombe, who played solidly through both days and eventually took a 50/50 with AQ against Tikay's JJ and didn't improve, finishing 8 th .
This misses out the 9 th place finisher (also removed by Tikay) whose Big Blind AKs was enough to take out Steve Jelinek's 88 when a King arrived on the flop. After his impressive trick of turning 1 chip into 89000, the final table was not so kind to him and he took the chance to double up or go out which most eventually face. Then Tikay took a bit of a break from knocking people out, and Jackie took over.
In 7 th place came Mick Fletcher, whose AK was called by Jackie with AQh in the Big Blind. One heart on the flop was followed by two on the turn and river respectively, and a bit of hard luck left him with 14500 which went all-in blind only to find Viv 'The Biz' Williams with AK vs his A6.
Stuart Smith who was fairly short by this time was all-in on the button with A2 only to find Dave Smith on the Small Blind with JJ - after a long fight he was out in 6 th.
At this point, several worried yet excited notes appeared on the forum - Tikay hadn't bubbled, had been low-stacked out of 10, and was now low-stacked out of 5:
Viv 'The Biz' Williams - 160000
Dave Smith - 128000
Jackie Reardon - 113000
Greek Jack Dionysiou - 108000
Tony Kendall - 80000
Surely if he were to win it he would have to stop being short stacked at some point? But then a huge hand kind of resolved the problem:
Jackie Reardon raised to 20000 under the gun and was called by Dave Smith on the button. Then the previously quiet Greek Jack reraises all-in from the Big Blind. Jackie calls, and so does Dave Smith. On the 3h 8d 5h flop the rest of the chips go in and they show the following hands: Jackie AQ, Dave 99, Greek Jack 10 10. The turn is an A, the river a 3.
This enormous pot effectively ended the tournament, with the deal being struck whereby Jackie received £9000, Viv Williams £7600 and Tony £4500. The cameras from Poker 425 immediately zoomed to Jackie's side and I am sure she was as pleased to win as we all were to see her do so. Congratulations to the lone final table Blondeite of course, and I look forward to meeting all who were there again as well as those who were there in spirit on the forum.
PRIZE STRUCTURE as follows:
1 £11700
2 £6200
3 £3200
4 £2400
5 £1500
6 £1200
7 £1000
8 £900
9 £700
10 £600
EARLY ACTION
With 6000 chips, 45 minute clock and blinds starting at 25-50, I thought it might be a while before anything noteworthy happened.
Not so! Ironside managed to knock himself out second (first was Harry Kyriacou QQ vs KK) with what looked like the hand to double him back up, as he'd taken an early setback with AQ when someone's A10 hit a sneaky two pair. He raised in middle position with two callers, and when the flop of Kh Qh 2c came down, he pushed all-in for about 1500 and got a reluctant call from a player with J K clubs, which looked in bad shape against Ironside's Ah K. The turn brought a 10 (and third heart), but the river was an unlucky As sending him over to watch the forum with me. Although some messages appeared to support the theory that Ironside had already considered possible entertainment alternatives.
It was nice to have some company while keeping an eye on the tables where a lot of folding was going on, although I would periodically notice Mobes and Jo adding a few chips to their stacks. The Bubble took some damage raising with QQ and finding a caller with the unlikely J7 who liked the J and 7 on the flop a lot more than he did. But next out was Ariston whose A3 in the big blind led him to call 250 and see a flop of K 8 3, and more lethally, another 3 on the turn, which meant that the other player's pocket 8s took him out. Mobes seemed to be on a roll as his A9 took out AA with a third nine getting him out of jail, while Tikay seemed to be just quietly hovering around the starting chips.
Rumit had doubled through with 99 vs AQ, when it came 10 9 8 8, with a J on the river just to rub it in. Tikay absorbed a few chips by raising on the button with what might have been AJ. Flop comes 5 8 J rainbow, and the one preflop caller bet 1000 but passed to Tikay's all-in reraise, showing AQ. They all got to see Tikay's J while he muttered something about trips....
Red Dog was knocked out when he hit a 4 8 10(two spades) flop with his A10 and was called by someone hoping for a Jack-high flush but who hit a Jack which unfortunately had the same effect. I will quote how he summed up the night:
"I made 3 mistakes tonight:
1 I put my chips in when I was in front
2 I put my chips in when I was behind
3 I put my chips in when I was in front again."
At Walsall they have a proper Talking Clock. At the break it addresses you thusly: "Poker players! There will now be a short break." It also warns you when there are two minutes exactly left of a blind level. It is like God is addressing the card room in a polite yet firm voice that cannot be argued with. I think they should introduce this countrywide. Just an idea.
LATER ACTION
Tikay's table saw some interesting hands as Robert HM moved there along with Steve Jelinek who brought with him one whole chip, and after a whirlwind gathering exercise (including cracking aces with 66) he made it to 14000 - and this was a bit of an omen for the rest of the day...sure enough he goes on to make the final table..
Malc gets busy right about now (down to 48, blinds 200-400) with a raise from the small blind of 1000. There's a bit of dwelling and a pass. He flips the AA and Jo says, "that's the worst bit of acting I've ever seen!" Then The Dazzliing Cornelius (from Smethwick), who apparently was doing quite a bit of nicking (according to Malc), makes it 3000 to go, Malc goes over the top for 9000, call. Malc's AK runs into Q7, and the Q pops up to knock him out.
Robert and Jo exit simultaneously when she moved in with middle pair to find him on top pair and another player having flopped trips. This recalls Lucy Rokach's advice as she left the tournament around this time: "Never bluff into top set."
When down to 37, blinds 300-600, Tikay had the good fortune to be dealt 7 2 on the big blind. The flop of 7 2 10 gave the little blind the idea to suddenly go all-in for 8000 with his K 10, and so now Tikay had a comfortable 27000, and was looking like he might need to come back tomorrow after all.
Down to 26, Womble made a stand with 88 vs AJ, so that a trip back the next day would be with a final-table-making type of stack, but it didn't hold up and he joined Mobes who was knocked out around this time with AQ against QQ (although the cruel flop gave him the A, the case Queen popped up on the river).
And the 16 who made it to day 2:
K. Dionysiou 110300
T. Burns 87300
S. Jelinek 67400
M. Fletcher 50100
J. Gill 41300
J. Reid 29400
V. Williams 28800
P. Granger 25400
V. Martin 25000
B. Callinan 24000
M. Harwood 23200
T. Kendall 23100
D. Witcombe 21400
D. Smith 14100
S. Smith 10600
J. Reardon 6700
VERY LATE ACTION
While Tikay traveled home to see his cats and get some sensible rest, a little contingent of Blondeites made the 5-minute drive to the Village Hotel to 'wait for breakfast.' Of course this meant playing £2 rebuy tournaments until it was definitely daytime again. There are some interesting pictures on the forum, I believe, of Ironside, Jo, Malc, Robert 'The Brief' and myself squeezed around a table in one of the conference rooms, hiding from security guards and drinking rum (in moderation). I must just note that for anyone who might want to travel to Walsall to experience one of their tournaments, this is a very reasonable place to stay (£55 for a double room) and would be a walk able distance from the casino if there were a pavement to walk on.
Some phenomenal play from Ironside meant that he dominated the first tournament, with his 3, 4 making two pair on the flushing board, and when Jo hit the flush with a four on the river, saying that she had to go all-in at this juncture, he replied, "I am afraid I have to call you as I have a house." Similarly, he was 'obliged' to call another all in as his 6 9 flopped the nut straight, prompting what looked like genuine bemusement from Malc as Jo quipped about the 'big lick.' And I may have called Malc 'Massive,' but it was in reference to his hand and I think the next thing I called him was 'loser' as my Kings held up against his Massive draw. Just setting the record straight.
DAY 2
There were some unlucky close-but-no-cigar moments as Steve Jelinek busted player after player (Ben Callinan and P. Granger falling to him), accumulating over 100000 in chips in the first half hour. Players who fell just short of the final included Malcolm 'The Rock' Harwood whose AK suited looked like it was going to be his best shot after he'd gone through a short-stacked period of stealing-related survival. Graciously accepting that some days just aren't winning days, he went out along with V. Martin in the same hand, when his AK joined Martin's JJ in running into QQ.
James Gill went out on the bubble after a long fight, finding QK off in the Big Blind and getting a call from Jackie Reardon with AJh. This leads me to the great success story of Jackie - a satellite qualifier who, as you may recall, ended day 1 at the bottom of the leader board with only 6700 chips. She went from strength to strength, with JJ being the hand which twice netted her some huge pots. Trevor Reardon's sister-in-law, she ended up with lots of support in the audience and online. Nicknamed Action Jackie and the Smiling Assassin you should have seen the burn marks left by Tikay's cards as they flew into the muck when she reraised him or stole his blinds (more than once).
THE FINAL TABLE
1 T. Kendall - 18500
2 S. Smith - 63000
3 D. Witcombe - 22500
4 S. Jelinek - 89000
5 P. Fletcher - 24500
6 T. Burns - 35500
7 D. Smith - 63000
8 V. William - 68500
9 K. Dionysiou - 121500
10 J. Reardon - 83000
It seems like the short stack woke up on the final: yes, Tikay was all-in before you could say 'double up,' and although his first go at the 1500-3000 blinds was not called, the second time he knocked out the man who had been chip leader throughout much of the tournament - Tom Burns - with 99 vs A9.
Tom had had an intimidating chip lead throughout the previous night, but as the blinds went up and he had to lay down a few hands on some uninspiring flops, he found himself short enough to call Tikay all-in. ifm on the forum mentioned that he was second in 'the league thingy' and so was a force to be reckoned with, but the league thingy leader was the formidable Debbie Witcombe, who played solidly through both days and eventually took a 50/50 with AQ against Tikay's JJ and didn't improve, finishing 8 th .
This misses out the 9 th place finisher (also removed by Tikay) whose Big Blind AKs was enough to take out Steve Jelinek's 88 when a King arrived on the flop. After his impressive trick of turning 1 chip into 89000, the final table was not so kind to him and he took the chance to double up or go out which most eventually face. Then Tikay took a bit of a break from knocking people out, and Jackie took over.
In 7 th place came Mick Fletcher, whose AK was called by Jackie with AQh in the Big Blind. One heart on the flop was followed by two on the turn and river respectively, and a bit of hard luck left him with 14500 which went all-in blind only to find Viv 'The Biz' Williams with AK vs his A6.
Stuart Smith who was fairly short by this time was all-in on the button with A2 only to find Dave Smith on the Small Blind with JJ - after a long fight he was out in 6 th.
At this point, several worried yet excited notes appeared on the forum - Tikay hadn't bubbled, had been low-stacked out of 10, and was now low-stacked out of 5:
Viv 'The Biz' Williams - 160000
Dave Smith - 128000
Jackie Reardon - 113000
Greek Jack Dionysiou - 108000
Tony Kendall - 80000
Surely if he were to win it he would have to stop being short stacked at some point? But then a huge hand kind of resolved the problem:
Jackie Reardon raised to 20000 under the gun and was called by Dave Smith on the button. Then the previously quiet Greek Jack reraises all-in from the Big Blind. Jackie calls, and so does Dave Smith. On the 3h 8d 5h flop the rest of the chips go in and they show the following hands: Jackie AQ, Dave 99, Greek Jack 10 10. The turn is an A, the river a 3.
This enormous pot effectively ended the tournament, with the deal being struck whereby Jackie received £9000, Viv Williams £7600 and Tony £4500. The cameras from Poker 425 immediately zoomed to Jackie's side and I am sure she was as pleased to win as we all were to see her do so. Congratulations to the lone final table Blondeite of course, and I look forward to meeting all who were there again as well as those who were there in spirit on the forum.