blonde poker forum

Welcome back to grey, drizzly Luton, where the players for the second day (and there are quite a number of them) are milling around wondering why breakfast doesn't start at 3pm, but the tournament does.  Or maybe that's just me.  I'll be flying solo today, as Nick's hotel quite unreasonably chucked him out at 11am and he quite reasonable left by train, but many thanks for his considerable help yesterday.  One of the team...

Afternoon Jen.

Come on The Legend!

Jamie.

To save your collective fingers from the strain of re-opening yesterday's thread, the chip counts:

Dan Samson     24,800
Mark Harris       25,800
Justin Turner    14,600
Alan Geddes     10,100
Steve Walmsley 11,700
Marc Goodwin   16,800
Paul King          25,300
S. Patel           29,500
Andrew Whittaker  12,400

Morton Rustad   12,600
Tim Blake          12,400
Ryan Fronda      28,300
Tracey Dell        32,400
Ali Mallu            49,500
Michael McCool   25,000
A. Douglas         21,400
Gez Morris          34,900

D. Knight          14,500
Chris Eddleman  44,400
J. Vaccarella      19,200
Michael Clements  13,400
Jim Mcbride        53,500
Ambro Morreale  11,400
Martino Libertini  15,000

Dick Shek          13,100
Bill Davies           26,300
Trevor Reardon  32,300
Srogd Gjerdal      23,200
Bhupinder Kholi   24,300
Mickey Wernick   52,500
Chris Huyton      35,200
Paul Webb         8,300

Barry Earnshaw    18,900
Anthony Kirkbride  8,100
Driton Haxhiaj       25,300
Paul Alterman       34,800
Xuyen Pham        19,800
Damon D'Cruz       33,800
Jim Mcshane         20,700

Good luck to Tracey Dingdell

Morning.  I presume you mean Mickey, who is in good spirits, with his eyes on the prize of a possible elevation to 2nd in the rankings...

May come down a bit later on jen, keep an eye on wombles chipcount for me please jen.

I think he may have just spilt some milk/cream actually.

Who else?  :)

Just dropped him a text but if he doesn't get it then please wish him luck from me.

yep seconded


there's a lot of locals left in too so good luck to the likes of Damon D'Cruz, Jim "77dave" McShane, Alan Geddes and Justin Turner and quite a few more too

That Alan Geddes is on one hell of a run. Wouldn't be surprised to see him take this one down too.

Apologies to Thomas Dunwoodie, whom I omitted - he is in fact, here:

D. Knight          14,500
Chris Eddleman  44,400
J. Vaccarella      19,200
Michael Clements  13,400
Thomas Dunwoodie  18,000
Jim Mcbride        53,500
Ambro Morreale  11,400
Martino Libertini  15,000

Been winning Luton comps for fun

If you want to know an interesting fact about Alan, just ask nicely...

who r u jamier host???

Um, just gone... AQ against Jacks.  But he was pipped to first out by Paul Webb.

Elsewhere Michael Clements doubles through Ambro Morreale with Ks Kd (even though two Aces came on the board), leaving the latter with a bowl of rice (2,200 with the blinds at 600/1,200).  He blind vs. blind doubled that next hand with good old Qd 5c, but is still pretty much down to the felt.

Good luck Trevor "BigTR" Reardon from Greg!

a very swift bokking by the beagle!

Womble has just been eliminated... A6 vs. A4, which hit three Fours... guess whose it was.  One guess.  OK, I'll tell you:  Marc Goodwin.


Elsewhere Ali Mallu's enjoying his decent stack - into a pot of about 5,500 he just announces all-in when opponent Morton Rustad checks to him.  Bullying the small stack on 13k; Morton folded on the Th 4s 4h flop.

Lots of Fours in these Luton decks.

Short stacked Andrew Whittaker, whom I saw make several valiant attempts at double-or-busting, just moved on the button when it passed to him with Kh 5h.  Fair enough, and so was Dan Samson's small blind call with Aspades x.
The board came:  4h 9s Jc  (don't breathe your sigh of relief yet - you know what's coming)
Turn:  6s
River:  Ahrt

And the tables are getting shorthanded - expect a break soon...

But a figment of your imagination....

Didn't see TR was still in.  Good luck to him too.

ALL HAIL KING BOKKER...

(http://gumgod.com/host/images/wei_29_bookert.JPG)

GOOD LUCK TO DAMON D-CRUZ AND JIM "77 DAVE" MCSHANE.......NUMBER 1 AND 2 WILL B GOOD FOR ME!!

welcome to blonde Mr Colton, nice bluff reported on here yesterday!

And here's the man himself - saw him picking up a pot or two in this level.

TY RICH.............HAD NO CHOICE.NEVER HAD A RUN OF CARDS LIKE IT!!!!

Spotted:  Paul Alterman making what appears to be some kind of threatening martial arts gesture towards his opponents.  Bad Girl is clearly not intimidated, but she is a bit intimidating...

Mr. Cool is OUT - he raised under the gun with, as eliminator Dan Samson put it, "the kind of hands he likes to do this with - suited connectors" and Dan re-raised with Kc Ks on the button to 9,000 (initial raise to 3,500).  Call from Marc.
The flop:  Td Js 2h.  Marc checked, Dan moved in and got a call from Marc with his 9d Td.
Turn:  6d  Just the card Dan wanted to see...
River:  blank

And the first table of the day has broken.

Paul King, resplendent in brown, flanked by Dave Knight (left) and Giovanni Vaccarella.

The blinds are increasing to 800/1,600 in under a minute, and I am going to level with you - I have just ordered breakfast, and surviving today as I am on less than my usual sleep quota of 10 hours, I really need a snack.  So I will leave this picture of Dick Shek looking as tired as I feel to tide you over for the next five minutes or so.

With under 40 players now remaining, maybe it's time for a chip count.  Bear with me once again (this isn't buying time so I can have dessert)...

GO Justin Go,   From Xpressman Hang in there son

Good luck Dingdell and Biker Bill!  Looking forward to a 1-2 finish from you!

Yes, good luck Justin, seems like a nice chap. In good form too after his win earlier in the week.

Hi, Ian.

And here are your up-to-the-minute counts:

Table Dell

Paul Webb      12,200  (not OUT as previously mentioned, just moved beyond the reach of my peripheral vision)
Ryan Fronda    47,000  (Just won a pot off Ali Mallu, who's insisting someone give him a quid for folding)
Tracey Dell      23,500
S. Patel          30,000
Ali Mallu          55,000  (but who really knows; his stacks are a mess)
Michael McCool  41,000
Gez Morris       46,300

Table Samson

Dick Shek        27,000
Bill Davies         36,000
Trevor Reardon 20,400
Srogd Gjerdal    9,100  (I hope I've spelt your name right)
Bhups Kholi       17,200
Mickey Wernick  64,000
Chris Huyton     15,700
Dan Samson      78,000

Table Harris

Dave Knight      17,000
Paul King           25,600
Giovanni Vaccarella  22,400
Michael Clements  27,000
Thomas Dunwoodie  8,200
Jim Mcbride          65,000
Mark Harris           23,000
Martino Libertini    17,400

Table Haxhiaj

Anthony Kirkbride   58,000  (I think this guy's a Qualifier - either freeroll or bluesquare...)
Driton Haxhiaj        19,700
Paul Alterman        21,000
Bad Girl                 28,000
Justin Turner         26,500
Jim Mcshane          19,900
Chris Eddleman       56,000

 Hello Jen. The spelling is Frode Gjesdal. If he hurries up and gets knocked out we're going for a curry in Fulham. If not I'm off to the Vic to suffer their cooking. Tell him to stick 'em in.

what are the blinds pls Jen? 600/1200?

Mickey Wernick reports a potentially stack-threatening bluff - he raised with Ahrt Kh and received two callers.  The flop was all rags, and it was checked round.  The turn brought the 7d which made two diamonds, so he bet, as you do - getting one caller.  Not what he was after, and when the river brought another small diamond he bet big (c.9k) and his opponent dwelled for awhile, then said what Mickey thought was, "call," but was actually, "fold."  So Mickey turned over his AK saying, "Good call," after the whole thing was already over and the pot was his.  D'oh.

Thank you very much.  I can only work with what we're given on the player list, and the spelling is sometimes a little inventive... Will keep an eye on him.

800/1,600

Tracey Dell is OUT -

She didn't climb too fast today, and eventually called a button raise (see the leading language I use here) with Ac 7c.  The flop came 7-high, and she check called all in.  But she was up against KK and is now at liberty to sample the Breakfast.

Ali Mallu busts S. Patel with 8 4 off.  And Patel had Qc Qd, spiking a set and seeing a straight come as if from nowhere to send him to the rail.  Mallued.

Dan Samson is pictured here- briefly chip leader before "losing 40k in the last ten minutes."

He's not wanged his big stack as quickly as Ali Mallu though, who just paid off Aces (all-in preflop re-raise with theatrical dwell), although he's still on around 50k.

Ariston says, "never try to run a re-steal on Mallu.  He's calling you."

OK all the pieces of the jigsaw coming together - a happier Dan Samson just came out (they're on a break) saying that he was the recipient of the double up with Ad Ac, which Ali called preflop with his losing Ahrt 7h.  Dan's on 90k and is, in fact, the chip leader.

I have just heard that another Ace (the last Ace) was out - and folded preflop by Dick Shek, along with a King.

Here's Dina flanked by two of the best woolly sweaters in today's comp - the blue one of Gez Morris and the grey/green one of Morton Rustad (now OUT)

Anyone else and we'd assume there was a typo.

Clearly a good player..... ::)

Dick Shek Doubles Up With Straight Flush Shocker News Now:

I think I've rather spoiled the ending on this one, but never mind...in a multiway pot, Dick Sheck checks (he's small blind) and it gets round to Dan Samson on the button who moves in, for a lot.  Dick calls.  The flop which generated this action:  7h 8c 6c.
Dan showed:  7d 7s
Dick showed:  9h 7c

Turn:  9c
River:  5c

"That's the first time I've ever gotten a straight flush," remarks Dick, which I am sure makes the dead set of sevens feel better.

Hey Jenn :)

Nice work :)

Come on Windy Bill :)

Down to the last three tables, and here are the chips.

Table Climber-to-Leader

Michael McCool    46,500
Anthony Kirkbride  94,000  (started the day with just 8,100)
Driton Haxhiaj       19,500
Paul Alterman       32,500
Bad Girl                37,000
Justin Turner        21,000
Dave Knight         16,500
Chris Eddleman     34,000

Table Trailing Fronda

Paul King             34,500
Ryan Fronda          8,000
Michael Clements  25,000
Thomas Dunwoodie  7,500
Jim Mcbride           81,500
Paul Webb            46,500
Mark Harris            25,000
Martino Libertini     24,500
Jim Mcshane          OUT

Table Mallu

Dick Shek             67,000
Bill Davies             50,000
Trevor Reardon     21,500
Frode Gjesdal         OUT
Bhupinder Kholi      OUT
Gez Morris             42,000
Mickey Wernick      71,000
Chris Huyton          40,000
Ali Mallu                 60,000
Dan Samson          53,500

Dont forget the blonde SUNDAY SIZZLER tonight at 8.30pm ... A $50 NLHE Freezeout with 30 minute blind levels.

Download blonde's poker room at www.blondepoker.com

Double up for Chris Huyton - he raised preflop, and found Gez Morris on the big blind re-raising another 14k.  To put this in perspective, the pot already had about 17k in it, and this re-raise implied commitment, (why either of them didn't just move in is a question I pose)... but Chris decided to flat call, leaving himself <15k and Gez about 10k more than that behind.
Flop:  7h 9d 6s  Instant move-in from Gez, but Chris beats him into the pot with his 9c 9h which had spiked the trips to outdraw the Qc Qs in the blind...

Odd, but table-turning - now Gez Morris is very short-stacked while Chris gets some breathing room.

Blinds currently 1k/2k.

Here's one I took earlier... just found this great photo of James Browning and Jon Raab - I would ask Snoopy for a caption here...

 rotflmfao

 :hello:

Hi Chris...


Well, it's carnage on the corner table - we're down Barry Earnshaw (a while ago), Justin Turner and just now Dave Knight... a bit of a reshuffle and I'll get the updated counts.

Elsewhere it really has been dramatic for Dan Samson, who's just lost another big chunk racing the 6s 6d of Gez Morris with his Aspades Kd.  No hit and he's gone from chip leader to mid-to-short stack in one level.

Ryan Fronda gets his very short stack all in against two players, one of whom (Jim Mcbride) bet the other off on the 9h 8d x flop.  He held Ts Js, but all-in Fronda had Qs Qd which stayed good to more than triple him up.

************Correction************

It's Chris Eddleman who's out, Justin Turner still there with 36,000 chips.

And hot on their heels, Dan Samson is OUT.  "I haven't won a 50/50 in two days," he mutters, clearly annoyed at how his big stack was demolished by a series of small pairs which called all in (actually 55 and 66, both in the hands of Gez Morris) when he was re-raising with AK each time.  Then finally, down to 15,000 (with the blinds at 1,500/3,000) he moved in under the gun with Js Jd.  The same guy now wakes up with Aspades Ahrt.  From chipped up to down and out in three easy steps.

Down to Two Tables... and here they are, with chip counts:

Table ex-Samson

Dick Shek           83,500
Martino Libertini   24,000
Paul Webb         40,000
Gez Morris          46,500
Mickey Wernick   54,500
Chris Huyton       73,000
Ali Mallou           100,000
Jim Mcbride         53,500

Table Chip Leader

Michael McCool    36,000
Anthony Kirkbride  133,000  (this may be the best Climber of the Day performance yet)
Driton Haxhiaj       50,000
Bill Davies             70,000
Bad Girl                26,500
Justin Turner        15,000
Ryan Fronda         52,000
Michael Clements   70,000
Paul King              30,500

And you may notice a drift in chips between Justin Turner and Ryan Fronda - the latter in fact doubled up off the former, raising under the gun with Qc Qs and then dwelling for a good while before calling Justin's quick re-raise in the blinds with, as it turned out, Jd Jh.  The Queens stood up and while Ryan was under 10k not long ago, he now has enough to propel him gently towards the final...

************************************BREAK**************************************

I don't know what the deal is with dinner break etc. but I do know that none of the final two tables are sitting down, and I also know that some other tournament is about to kick off (or was meant to at 7pm).  So I'm just going to get a toastie and a cup of coffee and wait until something happens.

Jen, can you wish Mike McCool the best of luck, were related you know, same surname

Prize structure:

1st £25,300
2nd £14,400
3rd £9,700
4th £6,800
5th £5,000
6th £3,200
7th £2,900
8th £2,500
9th £2,200

Finishing in 17th place is Michael Clements, whose reasonable stack went to young Driton Haxhiaj... then Ryan Fronda took out neighbour Justin Turner with 77 vs. A4 in 16th.

Bad Girl finishes in 15th place

Having dwindled to under 30k (in fact, never getting over that number), she found a good spot to move in on the button with no action before her with 6d 6c.  Paul King on the big blind seemed in a hurry to call her all-in, at which point she said, "Ooops, I didn't mean it..." but he held Ac Jc, so so far so ahead.
But the board came down:  Ahrt Qc Td 4h Ad so it was goodnight and good luck to the others, and the rail for Xuyen...

Mickey Wernick makes an odd pass...

Jim Mcbride makes a raise preflop, and Mickey in the big blind clearly wasn't convinced, as he re-raised another 20k or so.  Now with over 60k in the pot, Mcbride moves in for around 16k more.  And Mickey passes. 

Over on the Other Table:

Martino Libertini finishes in 14th place

Paul King gets pocket Queens twice in about five minutes, and gets the blinds both times; Ali Mallou raises 24k after Bill Davies limps in, and he's shown the tough fold of Qs Kc.

I have been saving this 'Ooooh matron' photo of Jim Mcbride for just such an occasion.

20 minutes to go until the SUNDAY SIZZLER .... $50 NLHE freezeout with 30 min blind levels.

8.30pm is the start time ... dont miss it :)

And it's all over for Mickey - he still had an OK stack, and got it in with Qd Qh against Aspades Kc... The Ace came on the flop, and another crucial 50/50 is lost, sending Mickey Wernick OUT in 13th spot...

Queens again???? Mickey went out of Baden and Dublin with Queens I believe.

Saver News Now - £500 off each of the top three spots to pay to 12th 11th and 10th...

The ladies obviously aren't too keen on Mickey.

Do you think it's because of 'The Worm' moniker?

I never agreed to this!

You have to be still playing to get a vote

And Ali Mallu's out 11th in a blaze of glory (or something a bit like it) - the final hand was his A10 against the AJ of Driton Haxhiaj, who now has a plentiful stack (picture forthcoming).  He wins £500 - a lemon-juice-in-paper-cut 2/3 of his money back...

CAN WE GET A CHIP COUNT PLEASE

Sorry i respect the guy massively but that is an appalling pass if it went down as reported.

how did Ali Mallu manage to lose 100,000 chips? no details of this on the update apart from the final hand

Finishing in 11th place (yes, this does mean that my previous post was inaccurate by one spot - Ali was 12th) is Gez Morris -

Jim Mcbride raised (again) to 16,000.  Small blind Gez pushed in for a further 17,500, and after one of those 'how much am I going to have left after this' counts of his chips, Jim called, showing Ks Ts.  Gez showed Qd Qs.
Flop:  Th Jc 3s
Turn:  Kh
River:  Kd

And it's hand for hand.

I think it might be something to do with the fact there's only one of me, and about 20 Mallus (or so you'd think from the number of hands the guy plays).

And Michael McCool is the Bubble - and quite dramatic too...

Blind vs. blind with Anthony Kirkbride, they saw a limp-check flop of 3s 4s Qh.  Then bet from Michael, raise all in, call.
Michael showed:  3c 4c
Anthony showed:  Aspades Ac

Far from this being a lesson in not slowplaying Aces preflop, the turn came 6s and the river an Ahrt to knock out Michael in 10th spot for £500.

Chip counts follow shortly.

Counts for the Final, in seat order.

1  Anthony Kirkbride   224,000
2  Bil Davies             53,000
3  Chris Huyton        57,000
4  Driton Haxhiaj     207,000
5  Ryan Fronda       20,000
6  Paul King           92,000
7  Dick Shek          103,000
8  James Mcbride      139,000
9  Paul Webb           67,000

And wait, the usual poorly photographed gallery of the players will follow...

Gl to Ryan Fronda and Jim McBride

Seat 1 - Anthony Kirkbride    224,000

Seat 2 - Bill Davies   53,000

Seat 3 - Chris Huyton  57,000

OK I don't have time for this - they're back in their seats and I can't see a thing from my seat near the roulette.  Apart from the roulette.  So they're going to have to share..

Seat 4 - Driton Haxhiaj  207,000
Seat 5 - Ryan Fronda  20,000
Seat 6 - Paul King  92,000

Seat 7 - Dick Shek  103,000
Seat 8 - James Mcbride  139,000
Seat 9 - Paul Webb  67,000

Awesome consistency from Mr King.  That's a fair few finals this year.....

And within a minute of starting, the first player has been eliminated - Paul Webb, in 9th place, winning £2,200


I think it was James Mcbride who benefitted from his chips - going to go rail and see if I can work this out by a cunning process of stack subtraction.

Somehow Ryan Fronda has hung in there with 20k for around a week - and now he's just doubled through Bill Davies...

In the big blind (which is 6k, pretty big for a 20k stack) Bill called and they checked the Th 7s Kh flop.  The turn was the 9d - crucial for Ryan, who happily check-raised all-in and was autocalled by Bill's Ad 8s.  He held Js 8d for the straight, however, and can now probably win the tournament.

Don't forget to carry the five....

five... what?

In her Mathematical Stack Subtraction.

Well, it's reached that slightly quiet time, with no one really wanting to break the mould and start raising more often than they're statistically likely to have a hand...what that means in real terms is that not much is happening.  But here are a couple of hands where something was shown -

Threeway action preflop and a flop of Ahrt 2d 3h.  Check from big blind Driton, check from Shek and Anthony Kirkbride on the button takes it down with a 30k bet (although plenty of dwelling went on in between all of this).  He shows the Ac.

Small blind Driton makes up and Ryan Fronda checks.  Flop, turn and river are all checked, until we see Kd 2s Jc 3c 6c.  Driton shows the unexpected Aspades Qd, while shortstack Ryan Fronda wins that one with a pair of Deuces.

And there's been many a raise-all-others-pass hand - and really quite a few of these end up being shown. 

I think I could write a short encyclopedia with all the free information that's been given by the players on the last two tables...

Chip estimates as they head for the end of this level:

1  Anthony Kirkbride   272,000
2  Bill Davies             25,000
3  Chris Huyton        50,000
4  Driton Haxhiaj     280,000
5  Ryan Fronda       50,000
6  Paul King           66,000
7  Dick Shek          90,000
8  James Mcbride      135,000

Sharply divided into the big two stacks and everyone else.  With James Mcbride in the middle.

****************BREAK****************

I am going to start drinking Red Bull now.  I'm driving home tonight, otherwise it may have been something stronger.

Good stamina Jen, go get some chocolate or something to give you a sugar rush.

Jen, use a few of these coupons to wake people up....

Jen, I don't believe you are only one person!!

Paul King doubles up -

Some background - Driton Haxhiaj has raised (minimum twice) several times preflop with no interest shown by any of the players in looking him up.  Now he does so again under the gun and Paul King moves in over the top.  Call.
Paul shows:  Aspades Qc
Driton shows:  Ts Td
Flop:  9c Ad 5c
Turn: 6s
River: Kh

So Paul now has joined the ranks of mid-stacked, knocking Driton off the top spot.

I don't have a printer.

6666 posts ugggg post quick!

666 is the devil. 6666? what is that? the devil on crack?

I bring you the ballad of Bill Davies... It's a long one, involving being perilously short stacked (25k, blinds 4k/8k) for the last hour, and moving in with no callers, repeatedly.  When he does this under the gun, it folds to big blind Anthony Kirkbride, who passed Kc Jc face-up last time, and this time took what to me seemed an eternity to call with Td Ts.  He doubled up with his Jh Qh, spiking a Jack and prolonging the final table by perhaps up to four or five hours.

Just caught up with the coverage.

Mickey once made a very similar pass against me... on a flop of 972 he passed QQ face up against me for his last 2000 with about 35k in the pot.

I had top set.

Poker tournies aren't all about pot odds. In a cash game it's a stupid pass but in a tournie once the chips are gone you are out and sometimes you have to fold even if pot odds say you should call...

I appreciate the concept of changing chip equity. There comes a point though where you surely can't pass?

In the hand vs you i just can't see how its a good pass, there are times where he will be up against just 2 pair or may even be ahead.

The difference is that for most people, if they are down to their last 2,000 chips, they do not consider it possible that they can recover, so in it goes, even if they know they are beat. With Mickey however, 2,000 chips is recoverable and he's proven it several times by coming back from next to nothing to win or go close.

Pressure in the form of rising blinds is about to force people to do something - it's gone from 4k/8k to 6k/12k...

Just now Jim Mcbride re-raised all in (85k or so total) over the top of Driton Haxhiaj, who made one of those head-shaking folds signifying, most likely, a hand in the cookie jar.  I am expecting something I can report any minute now.

And here it is:  Chris Huyton is OUT in 8th place, winning £2,500

He was short-stacked, especially with these new blinds, and when he moved in he received four callers (one was the original raiser Bill Davies).  It was in fact Bill's flush which took out the eighth place, but there was a look of determination on the faces of the other players to knock out at least one this hour. 

Driton Haxhiaj is down to the felt after this hand against Bill Davies...

What started off as a fourway flop - Jc 3c 2d got heads up as Bill bet out 16k and Driton called.
Turn:  5h  Bill bets another 16k.  Driton eventually calls (he only had about 45k before making this call).
River:  4d  Bill bets another 16k.  Now this can't be a nice river for Driton as someone who might have been betting the nut club draw might have just rivered a sneaky straight (can you tell what's going to happen?)...but he calls with his 8d 8c nonetheless.
Ac and the 6c in Bill's hand, and the chip leader for a good portion of the tournament is now on life support.

Great updates Jen, say hello to Lightbreeze and gang as they are down there now :)

Go Bill, Go!

How much does Bill have now?

Is Lightbreeze's real name Bill?

Driton Haxhiaj trebles up:

Finding the good enough Jh 9c he puts the last of his chips in the middle, and both Dick Shek and Jim Mcbride give him a spin, checking down the streets until a Js 7s Qh 5c 7d eventually reveals Driton's Jack is good enough to keep him in it.

Brevity a necessity; I keep missing the good bits over here.

Ah yes, someone was looking for you...or your online incarnation.  Will do.

Outdrawtastic elimination news now:

Anthony Kirkbride limps in under the gun.  It folds to Dick Shek in the small blind who raises to 36k (leaving himself 40k behind).  Anthony dwells for a while, but must have made a decision that he'd folded to short stacks too much, and anyway, he had a lot of chips.  He raised the unfoldable 40k; call.
Dick showed:  Ad Qd
Anthony showed:  Qs Jc

Flop:  2d 7s Td
Turn:  Aspades
River:  Ks

Poker is a skill game which is occasionally buried under a luck avalanche.

I wasn't kidding when I said that once Ryan Fronda got off the 20k mark on the final table he could win it... he just doubled up off Bill Davies, who raised on the button with Ad Qd, then faced a +73k re-raise from Ryan in the big blind.  He called; Ryan had Ac Kh

The board brought both the King and Queen, but since a pair of Kings is a higher hand than a pair of Queens, Fronda won and is now looking dangerous.

Do we have a chip count for Bill ?

(or everyone ?)

Go Bill !

go on ryan my son !!!!!!!

Gooooooo Bill!

Evening Sheriff, Heid... how's tricks ?

lol no

Oh, in case the importance of the post before last was lost on anyone:

The 7th place finisher, winning £2,900 was Dick Shek.

Very well thanks!  Just got in from seeing the Beautiful South for the uptillionth time and discovered our man is still standing!

Hey Bry, Mr Riff :)

Tricks is good, am gutted I didn't make the playoff now, of course :(

Tis a shame... but go Bill.. what a performance !

(I used to play home games with that guy....)

Driton moves in preflop...he has 48k.  Neighbour Ryan Fronda really thinks about it.  He counts the call, counts his stack.  Looks at everyone.  Both players stand up for no apparent reason.  Then he passes.  And Paul King calls.

Driton shows:  Jh Jc
Paul shows:  Kh Qd

The board comes out 6c 3s Ks 4s 7s

So Driton Haxhiaj is the 6th place finisher, winning £3,200

I just hope the dinner buffet had no onions...

I need to get some sleep.
But I can't go until Bill finishes this thing.
I'm half-tempted to go down there... but that wouldn't really help..

Any chance of a rough chipcount, nice reporter lady ?

Jenn, if there is a suitable lull in the proceedings... perhaps a break coming up.. can you tell Bill that the Cheesey lot are rooting for him?

Oh and chip count please ma'am :)

Chip Counts:

Anthony Kirkbride   392,000
Bill Davies                95,000  (message passed on, btw)
Ryan Fronda          221,000
Paul King               187,000
James Mcbride         65,000

could you wish Ryan all the best from Iwan please Jenn, he's been knocking on the door for several weeks now

Ta Jenn :)

Gosh, look at him go!

and tell him to get on next plane to vegas

Do you owe him money?

Does he owe you money?

hehe no he's one of the few I'm level with -  he's a class act tho snoops and has been very down on his luck so he deserves this

snoops????? where did i see that - srry Jenn vegas getting to me I think

It was short stack James Mcbride's turn to go all-in preflop, called by Anthony Kirkbride.
Anthony showed:  Ad 6h
James showed:  Aspades 6c*

* The only suit I know is correct is the Ad held by Anthony, as the board brought four running diamonds to knock James Mcbride out in 5th place, for £5,000.

Cheers for the counts and message passing Jen.

P.S. Go Bill !

so now they take a small break for "cigs" I bet?

Deal, deal, deal, deal.......

(If we all chant it, it will come!)

It gets weirder as it gets later.  The last pot was a family limp-check affair, first Bill called, then Button Ryan then small blind Paul King; Anthony checked.
Flop:  Ahrt 4h 2h check-check-check-check
Turn:  9d check-check-check-check
River:  5s check-check-check-check

Ryan shows 9s Ts for the winning pair of nines, and takes a 64k pot risking only the call on the button.  "I bet I win," muses Paul, correctly.

Sorry to you staunch railers, but Bill Davies was just knocked out in 4th spot, for 4th £6,800.

His eliminator - the seemingly unstoppable Anthony Kirkbride, who now has a daunting stack of well over 500,000. 

Well done Bill!

(well done Bry!)

Hi Jen - please wish Ryan all the best - great comeback Tim

Unlucky Bill - well played Sir.

Seconded!

Can u wish Ryan the best ofl uck from me please  m8 tyvm

Chip counts, roughly:

Anthony Kirkbride   635,000
Ryan Fronda          200,000
Paul King              105,000

Until - Paul King moves in preflop - instacall from the chip leader.
Paul shows:  Ac 7h
Anthony shows:  Aspades Kc

Flop:  6d Tc Qc
Turn: 9s 
River:  8h  and so busy are the Paul supporters shouting 'Seven' that it takes a minute to find Paul's straight.

So it's actually now:

Anthony Kirkbride   530,000
Ryan Fronda          200,000
Paul King               220,000

Now they are three.  And a big pile of money (pictured here along with trophy being modelled by Dina) has appeared on the table.

could you ask if dina would mind posing in true miss world style ( bikini if possible ;) )

Can't decide which half of that picture is the most attractive!

Sorry been a minute or two - watched Paul King raise a few times taking some blinds before this big hand:

Anthony and Ryan all-in preflop (there seems to be almost no post-flop stuff going on)...
Anthony shows:  Ad Qs
Ryan shows:  Ahrt Ks

Flop:  Jh Qh Js  (he's probably reliving that AK vs A7 from earlier)
Turn:  5d
River: Tc

And the rivered straight puts Ryan Fronda back in contention to win.  I really don't want to say it...OK...It's anybody's game.

No business struck.

Jen, you're doing the work of two men   ;applause; ;applause;

Hand 1 - Anthony raises from the button to 40k (blinds are now 10k/20k), Paul calls and then check-folds the A 4 4 flop.  (Succinct, no?)

Hand 2 - Small blind Paul calls and Anthony checks.  Flop:  Kd Js Jh.  Paul bets out 20k; call.
Turn:  4s.  Paul bets out 20k, Anthony raises to 40k, call.
River: 5d.  Paul now bets out 50k, and gets a pretty quick call - he mucks when he sees Anthony's Kh 5h.

Hand 3 - Paul raises all-in on the button, called by big blind Ryan with Ah 4h.  He held Ad 6h and the board brought the likely split.

Now Paul and Ryan get it all in preflop (Ryan button pushing, called by Paul): 
Ryan's K6 in bad shape against Paul's KQ, especially after two Queens flopped.

Now they do a deal - £14,000 each, play for the rest.

Many thanks.  This is why I am as lazy as two men the rest of the week to make up for it.

and you smoke and eat as much as 2 of us as well - you do deserve it though

I think that was a subtle insult to my gender.

i missed that red. Some of us don't get too upset over a little gender bashing.

Some of us have very little gender to bash!

Now shhhh before Jen skins me alive for disrupting her update.

Ryan Fronda now has twice 250,000 after his button all-in was called by Anthony Kirkbride -

Ryan held pocket Jacks and although an Eight came matching Anthony's Ac 8d somewhat, the Jacks held and they're still three handed.

Ah, you spotted it... :)

bottom half

or three women  ;hide;

The chip position is now Ryan - in front, Anthony - second with 300k or so, Paul  - third with 200k or so.  Impossible to bring you an accurate count, mainly because they are playing a good number of hands per hour and it will have all changed by the time I get back to my table to write about it.

Only one hand got as far as flop action in the last 15 minutes:

Anthony limps on the small blind, Ryan checks the big blind.  Flop:  7d 4h Ts.  Anthony checks, Ryan bets what looked like an arbitrary chunk of chips but I'm sure was a calculated 60k.  Anthony quickly raises all in, for 180k more.  This sparks probably the dwell of the tournament from Ryan, but he eventually passes, showing the 7c.

The dynamic changes yet again as Paul moves in with pocket Nines, called by Anthony with AJ.  A low board brings the earlier leader to around 100k and it's looking like the more even stacks of Paul and Ryan Fronda will be heads up shortly...

 ;popcorn; ;popcorn;

What a great job! Quality update as usual  *g *g *g *g *g

Not so fast... small blind Paul puts big blind Anthony all in with Ad 7h.  Call, with Ac 7c.
Flop:  9c Tc Kd
Turn: 5c
River:  2s

200k is better than 100k. 

Oh, and Snoopy, before you think you got away with that - you're staying at my house currently, and one word in evil twin Dana's ear can make your life fairly difficult.  Watch it, sunshine.

firm but fair imo snoops. Id keep the guns under cover if I were you, you're clearly outmatched by Jen.

As they head into the 65th break of the tournament so far, Anthony has doubled up again with KQ against A9 (hitting the Queen), making it all nice and level.  Like a flat thing, that I could rest on.  Like the floor.

We've lost Anthony Kirkbride - A5 vs. the AQ of Paul King, I hear - that means we're heads up as Anthony finishes 3rd, winning £9,700 (officially), but actually £14,000.

A quick succession of hands in which Paul raised from the button and took it down preflop or on the flop, or Ryan moved in from the button with no call, were succeeded by this hand -

Paul on the button just moves in, seeing that Ryan had only around 200k left - call.
Ryan held Kc 9s against Paul's Ts Tc, but a King on the flop means it's pretty even again.

The blinds are now, however, 12k/24k, so we don't think this will be a heads up a la Andy Bloch and Chip Reese.

After doubling up again almost immediately, Ryan took the chip lead, consolidated it with a couple of hands played past the preflop bit (including a river all-in check raise which made Paul pass).  Then...
Ryan limped on the button, Paul raised another 60k.  Call.
Flop:  4h Ks Js.  Instantly, Paul moved in.  Not so instantly, Ryan called. 
Paul showed:  Ad 9d
Ryan showed:  Jc Qs
The turn and river were an Eight and a Deuce, so that means...

Paul King takes 2nd place and (officially) £14,400, while The Christmas Cracker £750 Main Event Winner tonight is Ryan Fronda.  Congratulations - he gets the £14,000 plus the extra they played on for (£5,100, I think).

Well done Ryan, much deserved.

The batteries in my camera have died, and serve as a reminder that one can't keep going indefinitely - so I am going to pass on the trophy pictures (you already know what it looks like - use your imagination) and make a speedy exit towards the M1 and home.  Thanks to the ever gracious Luton staff, and well done the dealers who've had a tough time of it.  Til 2007, then....

It's been a pleasure.

 ;stickaforkinme;

Well done to both of them!

GREAT JOB JEN!!

PS- Please drive safely.

Some break that!

Well done jen, see you at bolton in January. Enjoy your festivities with your mum.

Well done Jen.  ;applause; ;applause; ;applause;


And Ryan and Paul too.

Damn your beady little eyes... I changed it.  So there.  Night night.

Right, she's on her way home, to time to load em up and wait for her to arrive.

ping ping  ;snoopy'sguns;

Well done Jen - very hard work but looking very cool!
Caught a few boys eyes this weekend I can tell you.....

Lol, what a hussy!  ;hide;

lolololol

as jen is our resident pokergeek I thought she actually classed as one of the boys anyway?? Please dont tell me we got to start treating her like a girl ffs

Not a girl Ariston - at the weekend she was all woman!

Hello,

My first post on your site here. Had to considering I'm now famous as the infamous recipient of your hand of the week by the 'Great Ali Mallu'. The sickening part of the hand was that i actually held the  Qh to give myself a flush draw after I spiked a set.  Being on the SB Ali had been moving all in on me from the BB whenever i showed weakness and often stealing my BB with a big raise from UTG.

Did I try and play the hand too clever, I don't know? But a definite case of playing the player and not the hand. A big bet by me before the flop or on the flop would've taken down the hand.

Not bad for a single buy in £25 super sat seat, but not when i had bubbled twice on line on blue sq!!

Hi there,

Welcome to blonde and I hope the Malluing didn't upset you too much, he has plenty more in the bag ready to unleash on you at a future date.