Organised with all the good sense and diligence of Thomas Kremser, the Spring Poker Festival in Vienna quietly operates as the best structured event of the year. A 15,000 starting stack, and blinds which barely increased between the 90 minute levels meant the field of just 206 players had five long days of great poker to enjoy.
The depth of the stacks allowed for some really tough play, with pre-flop re-raises and check raises on the turn filling the pots from the start. With Rob Hollink between us making some really tricky moves, Michael McCool (right) and I traded blows from the start. A flop of K-K-8 was great for my K-10, and I hoped Micky would disbelieve my pot-sized bet. He did, calling with J-10 simply to set up a move, but cleverly sensed something on the turned 9, and checked for free to see a 7 fill his straight on the river! I foolishly paid him off, but was rolling again when my pocket nines caught the perfect 2-4-9-A-x board, and a local player overplayed his A-K to give me a massive pot.A straight draw turned into a well concealed back door flush towards the end of the day, and I happily sat down at the TV table on the second day with 56,000 chips. With the tricky young Hungarian Peter Gelencser determined to use his big stack to control the proceedings, I was happy to cower away a little from the action, without having the usual worry of the blinds attacking my stack. Suddenly, a pair of aces, a flutter of excitement which made me forget to show them to the hole cam, and the big blind calling to see the K-8-7 flop. After the chips flew in, I was happy to see the Russian's K-J and happier still to see the turned 7 reduce his outs. Then, like a dagger to the heart, the dealer slowly peeled a king on the river to deny me the big stack I had craved.
Tony G's arrival at the table just a minute later meant it would be impossible to recover quietly. The man had come to make some chips and to banter relentlessly, and I wasn't thrilled to see him flat call behind me when I raised with pocket tens in early position. The flop would put me at ease though, beautifully coming T-8-2 to give me the top set. I hoped my check would give Tony the right ammunition, and on the Q turn a raising war ended with all the chips in the pot. I was thrilled, but there had been no psychology involved; Tony had much to my surprise slow played a pair of aces.With a blank on the river, Tony very gracefully got up and began his TV interview, whilst I took in the shock of what had happened. But wait, a re-count confirmed that Tony still had a 2,000 chips left, and he rushed back on. When he put his paltry stack of chips into the pot with 9-7 on the next hand, to be finally eliminated by Mark Herron's 4-4, it did not seem unreasonable. A very interesting comparison came the next day, however. Peter Gelencser, who had played great poker from the start, lost a race in a massive pot to leave him with less than a big blind's worth of chips. However, he waited patiently to find a hand for his remaining 1,400 chips, and then patiently again with his doubled and re-doubled stack. Three races later, he suddenly had a playable stack again, and this brilliant recovery lasted all the way into the final table, and a third placed finish.
The drama had left me with a much healthier stack of 96,00 chips to take into the third day, which would see the field cut down to the last 24 money places. In the same seat on the TV table, I now had Gelencser on my right, and enough chips to try to take him on. His re-raise out of the big blind seemed fairly standard, and I made the decision to play my hand like a set, whether I hit or not. The flop of K-7-6 was a definite miss, but gave me an opportunity to represent A-K, and my re-raise of Peter's bet created a big pot. It would be my first big mistake; his further raise all-in deflated my confidence and my stack.
I had recovered slightly as we approached the bubble, and tried to use my smallish 80k stack to take advantage of the now more cautious game. Raising with K-4 of spades, I wasn't delighted to take the young Hungarian on, nor to miss the A-7-5 flop. I was caught as my 9,000 flop bet was called, but a turned 3 of spades was a card to keep me interested, as it gave me a flush and double belly-buster straight draw. I checked, and called Peter's 18,000 bet, now willing any one of my 15 outs to hit the river. I missed, picking up only a red king for second pair on the A-7-5-3-K board. Still planning to give up the pot, I checked and saw the Hungarian fire 37,000 into the pot. For the first time, my suspicions were aroused; this was was not a size of bet that looked like it wanted a call. Whilst I agonised through all the possible hands he could have, and the fact that a bad call would leave me almost chipless, we lost player number 26. The proximity of the bubble made it tempting to pass, but my problem was that he knew exactly this. I went with my gut instinct, and made the call. His frustrated muck sent a surge of relief through me, and had me very excitedly coming back with 176,000 for the fourth day.The fifth day's final table would be the prize for the eight survivors, and the beginning action was tense. I found pocket jacks against an early position raiser, Michael Johansson, and flat called to see a 9-6-2 flop. I definitely believed the Swede had a strong starting hand, and was hard pressed to find the best way to play my hand. A bet out may make my doubts about my hand too clear, so I opted for the more expensive check raise. His all-in was immediate, and leaves me still wondering whether or not I got an honest answer from him before I threw my hand away.
After an expensive level without any strong starting hands, I was down to the last 16 with 95,000 in chips. I found my first playable hand in a pair of aces, and raised to find one flat caller in position. The flop of T-9-4 looked a decent one, and I hoped for action with a pot-sized 30,000 bet. I willed my Danish opponent to push all-in, but his eventual flat call had me feeling anxious. With a 4 pairing the board on the turn, and few chips left in front of me, I still had hope that my hand may be good. My all-in was called immediately, my heart dropped, and my suspicions confirmed as my opponent slammed down his pocket tens. 16th place seemed a cruel one at the time, being just before the big money and big action of the final table, but I recovered my spirits to watch the fifth day's final table. The whole day's action would have made a great poker tournament just by itself, and ended with German Andreas Krause finishing runner up, and the little known Branimir Brunovic completing a perfect Monday to Friday working week by taking the crown.