Who said Omaha Rebuys are dead?
Well I did actually. The Omaha Rebuy at the Grand Challenge Festival in Luton in January attracted a miserly 49 runners. And in Paris a week or two later, the two Omaha comps drew the jaw dropping total of 52 runners - that's TOTAL. 34 in one, 18 in the other. Eighteen!
It really looked like Omaha Rebuys were going out of fashion, so The Vic Festival in March made their Omaha a freezeout, to general acclaim, & were rewarded with a healthy 91 runners.
So it caused a bit of head scratching when last week's Omaha Rebuy in Blackpool attracted a bumper 116 runners! Where did THEY all come from? Mind you, the whole Blackpool week attracted huge numbers, 3 or 4 complete sell-outs.
But success bought it's problems. Expecting a turnout of 80 maximum for the Omaha, it was scheduled as a 1 day jobbie - the only comp of the week that was so (barring Sunday night's £50 jobbie), & so they had a generous 45 minute clock. By midnight it started to become obvious that they had a time problem, & would not even get a Final Table by close of play. And so it proved, the whole shebang ending in anti-climax, when an 11 way chip count was needed to determine the result.
And Yogi ran into a bit of flak, for not speeding up the clock so as to ensure a proper result. But he was in a Lose/Lose situation to my mind. We all moan & whinge that we want slower clocks, so if he'd speeded it up, no doubt he would have got it in the neck.
Hard to please, us poker players, eh?
The Main Event - The Notts Boys get their come-uppance!
Notts looked set fair for double or even triple representation in the Main Event Final when play closed at the end of Day One. Average was about 55k. Thewy had 146k, Rob Yong 112k, & Nik Whiten 46k. We all met up after close of play, & the talk was all about getting 3 in the Final. How good would THAT be, the Notts Elite come up to Blackpool & mash the Final table? And how many Ranking Points they would get. And how £44k would be handy.
But the Poker Gods must have thought Notts were getting just a bit ahead of themselves. Even now, it seems impossible to imagine what happened next. 24 returned & play began at 3pm. By 3.25, all three had gone! And they went three in a row, Thewy 22nd, Rob 21st, & Nik 20th.
Did they try to get out of line? Not at all, I don't think they hardly put a foot wrong. Thewy set the theme when his JJ was turned over by Jimmy Alp's AQ, Jimmy flopping a set. Next hand, Rob Yong clashes big style with Carlo Citrone, & he's streets ahead, dominating the suave geordie with AK v AJ. And the J falls. 2 hands later, Thewy takes another beat, walking into KK & AK with 99 in a 3 way pot. Next hand, he has JJ again, in what looked like another 3 way pot. But Iwan Jones passed, Jimmy Alp felt he was pot-committed, & called with A-2. ACE DEUCE! First card was the A, it aint 3.30 yet, & Yoyo is out.
2 hands later, Rob Yong is on the rail too. He made a stand with AK, & his nemesis, Carlo Citrone, had Queens, which held their advantage.
Rob & Julian looked at each other aghast, not knowing what had hit them. And before they caught breath, Nik Whiten joined them on the rail. Nik thought his A-9 was good against a solitary limper & moved in, but the limper was the canny Lawrence Gosney who'd trapped Nik a treat with a slow played AK.
So they all trundled South, tail between legs. Never count your chickens, eh?
But Camel tops even THAT......
Camel is playing his usual game, busy busy, ducking & diving. He can't get the double through he wants, but he keeps trying. Then it all goes off. John Law raises, Camel moves all-in for about 70k, Jeff Buffenburger LIMPS (limps for 70k?), & John Law calls Camel's RR. Now lets look at what they were holding. Camel's got AA. Jeff has QQ. & John has KQ. So John is about 6%, Jeff 11%, & Camel a whopping 83%. As it happened, on the K high flop, John Law bet 60k & Jeff let his QQ go. So, heads up post flop, Camel is still 82%. And yet somehow, the complete dog, who dare not hit his Q on the flop, & need to catch two of his 3 outs, wins the hand. Sometimes the game just ain't fair.
And while we are on bad beats....
Spare a thought for Barry Neville. All in, & In deep poo with 66 against KK, the dealer deals the first card before a third player had acted. And the first card? Yup, his 6. The errant 6 becomes a burn card, & Barry fails to catch the case 6. Oh yeah - the guy who had not acted - he passed his hand! Now that's rubbing it in! Unlucky Barry.
Did They Chop it?
Much muttering arose when Mick Fletcher & Alistsair Lindsay eventually got heads-up in the Main Event, played 3 hands, & got all the chips in each time, on no occasion with made hands. They've chopped it, was the consensus. But I asked them & I asked around. And I don't believe they did chop it. This was two lads, playing for the biggest wins of their life, giving it the gung-ho bit. The difference between 1st & 2nd was about £20k. But I think Mick forced the pace, that's his style, & Alistair just decided that he'd have to take his chance, & refuse to be bullied.
Fair play to both of them. They beat a good quality field over 2 days. And they kept the money local. Congratulations to them.
And the Notts Blackpool Challenge?
Tune in tomorrow. It's only fair to let the losers grieve properly before we get into full chirp mode.
Well I did actually. The Omaha Rebuy at the Grand Challenge Festival in Luton in January attracted a miserly 49 runners. And in Paris a week or two later, the two Omaha comps drew the jaw dropping total of 52 runners - that's TOTAL. 34 in one, 18 in the other. Eighteen!
It really looked like Omaha Rebuys were going out of fashion, so The Vic Festival in March made their Omaha a freezeout, to general acclaim, & were rewarded with a healthy 91 runners.
So it caused a bit of head scratching when last week's Omaha Rebuy in Blackpool attracted a bumper 116 runners! Where did THEY all come from? Mind you, the whole Blackpool week attracted huge numbers, 3 or 4 complete sell-outs.
But success bought it's problems. Expecting a turnout of 80 maximum for the Omaha, it was scheduled as a 1 day jobbie - the only comp of the week that was so (barring Sunday night's £50 jobbie), & so they had a generous 45 minute clock. By midnight it started to become obvious that they had a time problem, & would not even get a Final Table by close of play. And so it proved, the whole shebang ending in anti-climax, when an 11 way chip count was needed to determine the result.
And Yogi ran into a bit of flak, for not speeding up the clock so as to ensure a proper result. But he was in a Lose/Lose situation to my mind. We all moan & whinge that we want slower clocks, so if he'd speeded it up, no doubt he would have got it in the neck.
Hard to please, us poker players, eh?
The Main Event - The Notts Boys get their come-uppance!
Notts looked set fair for double or even triple representation in the Main Event Final when play closed at the end of Day One. Average was about 55k. Thewy had 146k, Rob Yong 112k, & Nik Whiten 46k. We all met up after close of play, & the talk was all about getting 3 in the Final. How good would THAT be, the Notts Elite come up to Blackpool & mash the Final table? And how many Ranking Points they would get. And how £44k would be handy.
But the Poker Gods must have thought Notts were getting just a bit ahead of themselves. Even now, it seems impossible to imagine what happened next. 24 returned & play began at 3pm. By 3.25, all three had gone! And they went three in a row, Thewy 22nd, Rob 21st, & Nik 20th.
Did they try to get out of line? Not at all, I don't think they hardly put a foot wrong. Thewy set the theme when his JJ was turned over by Jimmy Alp's AQ, Jimmy flopping a set. Next hand, Rob Yong clashes big style with Carlo Citrone, & he's streets ahead, dominating the suave geordie with AK v AJ. And the J falls. 2 hands later, Thewy takes another beat, walking into KK & AK with 99 in a 3 way pot. Next hand, he has JJ again, in what looked like another 3 way pot. But Iwan Jones passed, Jimmy Alp felt he was pot-committed, & called with A-2. ACE DEUCE! First card was the A, it aint 3.30 yet, & Yoyo is out.
2 hands later, Rob Yong is on the rail too. He made a stand with AK, & his nemesis, Carlo Citrone, had Queens, which held their advantage.
Rob & Julian looked at each other aghast, not knowing what had hit them. And before they caught breath, Nik Whiten joined them on the rail. Nik thought his A-9 was good against a solitary limper & moved in, but the limper was the canny Lawrence Gosney who'd trapped Nik a treat with a slow played AK.
So they all trundled South, tail between legs. Never count your chickens, eh?
But Camel tops even THAT......
Camel is playing his usual game, busy busy, ducking & diving. He can't get the double through he wants, but he keeps trying. Then it all goes off. John Law raises, Camel moves all-in for about 70k, Jeff Buffenburger LIMPS (limps for 70k?), & John Law calls Camel's RR. Now lets look at what they were holding. Camel's got AA. Jeff has QQ. & John has KQ. So John is about 6%, Jeff 11%, & Camel a whopping 83%. As it happened, on the K high flop, John Law bet 60k & Jeff let his QQ go. So, heads up post flop, Camel is still 82%. And yet somehow, the complete dog, who dare not hit his Q on the flop, & need to catch two of his 3 outs, wins the hand. Sometimes the game just ain't fair.
And while we are on bad beats....
Spare a thought for Barry Neville. All in, & In deep poo with 66 against KK, the dealer deals the first card before a third player had acted. And the first card? Yup, his 6. The errant 6 becomes a burn card, & Barry fails to catch the case 6. Oh yeah - the guy who had not acted - he passed his hand! Now that's rubbing it in! Unlucky Barry.
Did They Chop it?
Much muttering arose when Mick Fletcher & Alistsair Lindsay eventually got heads-up in the Main Event, played 3 hands, & got all the chips in each time, on no occasion with made hands. They've chopped it, was the consensus. But I asked them & I asked around. And I don't believe they did chop it. This was two lads, playing for the biggest wins of their life, giving it the gung-ho bit. The difference between 1st & 2nd was about £20k. But I think Mick forced the pace, that's his style, & Alistair just decided that he'd have to take his chance, & refuse to be bullied.
Fair play to both of them. They beat a good quality field over 2 days. And they kept the money local. Congratulations to them.
And the Notts Blackpool Challenge?
Tune in tomorrow. It's only fair to let the losers grieve properly before we get into full chirp mode.