blonde poker forum

Play will commence at 6pm.

I'm still in the UK, but Jen and I will be flying over to Dublin first thing tomorrow morning.

We are very much looking forward to this event. I'm not sure how many familiar names will be playing, but with a 1.5k buy-in, 400 thick field and sky cameras capturing the action, a few of the big guns might have been lured in last minute. Either way, we intend to do our very best to bring you the strongest live updates around.

Whilst browsing the net recently, I came across a thread on boards.ie which discussed this event. Many members were slighty bemused that Antes Up weren't doing the updates, but from what I understand, the two Irish lads may still be making an appearance. We have a great relationship with Mike and Tom so would dearly love them to show their mugs. However, if they don't, please rest assured that we will do our utmost to deliver all the action as it happens via the magic of the Internet.

I understand there are a lot of Irish folk out there keen to see how the locals are doing, so please please please feel free to shout out their names on this thread so we can keep an eye out for them. Often we don't provide chip counts for some players, but that is nearly always due to a lack of a player list and a distinct unfamiliarity with the players in question. We try to be as unbiased as possible, so if you would like us to follow a family member, friend or even arch enemy that we perhaps won't know the name of, then please let us know by posting their name below.

cheers,

snoops ;snoopy;

Tony Kendall.


Thanks.

Arch enemy implies that he confounds your every move...  :dontask:

He's out.

I fly at 8am. I don't usualy go to bed until 4/5am anyway, so my plan is to stay awake tonight and sleep for a few hours when I get there.

Where do you fly from Snoop, and what time?

11.55, RyanAir from somwhere in London. My spider senses inform me that it is either Luton, Heathrow or er... that other one.

2?

is Tikay still in ?

snoopy when you get there tell maria i said good luck and im sure it will be the wont be the last time.

FRAN

good point

OOOO, yes please .  . .

Team BadBeat

-Chris 'zim' Smith
-Dan 'dakid' Smith (sorry, no picture)
-John 'Kunkuwap' Tabatabai . . . . troublesome bunch!

Thank you very much!

meds

I hope those updaters have got a note from their mums ..... Lateness will not be tolerated !!!  BLIND THEM AWAY !!!

Tournament start delayed until, well, about now.

A very very brief intro and welcome, and the players, who took to their seats with unusual alacrity, are starting their first 1hr blind level.

which started exactly 2 mins 38 seconds ago.

We weren't late, although you'd be surprised how long it takes to get from Dublin Airport to the Citywest Hotel by public transport and on foot.  Try 3 hours. 

hi jen! see u in bolton next week

Yes indeed.  January has a lot of stuff lined up (I'm not at my most eloquent after a few miles of hiking in the chill winds) - so we'll be following it from country to country as and when it happens...

As for this tournament they've already lost one player (thereby simultaneously creating a chip leader) and if the board can be believed they're down from 270 runners to 269.

Hey all, bit of a trek into the middle of nowhere this one, but I've had my s.s.s and am raring to go.

No player list as of yet, but I have someone on the case.

According to the dude on the mike, Terry Grimley is the early (very early) chipleader after eliminating Shaf from England.

 :hello: Snoops and Jen, please wish I.C Wiener all the best from me.

(http://home.twcny.rr.com/shaft/pictures/shaft71.gif)

Damn right.

And no, the board can't be believed - the announcer just announced that the runners are over the 300 mark (they're going with a tentative 302) so that means a prize pool has been generated topping €400k, better than last year's record... more on that as it's confirmed.

A few participants for you...

tikay
George Geary
A Hayles
Ian Woodley
Rob Taylor
Chris Huyton
Dan Smith
John Tabatabai
Chris Smith
Matt Tyler
Toni Dicesare
Mats Iremark
Jim Kerrigan
Iwan Jones
Karl Marhenholz
Carlo Citrone
Praz Bansi
Roy Brindley
Jim Mgill
Mick McColoskey
Tom McCready
Padraig Parkinson
David McGreachie
Mick McCool
C Constantinou
Joe Grech
Jim Reid
Ryan Fronda
Thomas Dunwoody
Liam Flood

I'm still pushing for a player list so I can update our Irish viewers on some of the locals. Failing that, I'll go in for the kill and just ask them their names.

I'll keep an eye out. :)up

Has Ali made the trip ?

The tournament area is one of those Convention Centres, but a particularly plush one (see pictured chandeliers).  In fact, this whole hotel is pretty plush, with its own golf course and helipad (there was a miniscule helicopter resting on this as we did what can only be described as our ascent of the Drive).  Which makes it all the more irritating that we've had to pay €30 for the privilege of using the Wifi - I'm not sure how convention goers like this kind of charge, but updaters, generally a poorer, meeker class of attendee, don't like it one bit.

A view of the room, either side of our central command post (we're on a kind of raised dais right in the middle which gives us a great overview of the tournament).  Hopefully when we spot something happening, it will be happening to the 3% of players we currently know...

Huuuuuuge action from Table RED/DOG/Chatta

Irishman, Sean Fagen, is OUT.

A-A vs 7-7 vs 5-5 on an x-5-7-x board.

Fagen held the Aces, the chap in the foreground with the headphones (can anyone name him?) had the Sevens and Terry Grimley (early chip leader who eliminated Shaf) was the unlucky set over set guy with Fives.

A blank on the River and Mr headphones took down the pot, although Grimley scooped the sidepot with his Fives.

No sign of Ali, and Maria isn't playing either... although she is present.

Off down the Fitzwilliam soon, apparantly.

10k starting chips.
310 entries
£418,500 prize pool
Blinds start at 25/50 before rising to 50/100, which is in 20 minutes time.

Woohoo, we have a playerlist folks!

Just typing them up now, bear with us.

Forget numbers, these tables have names!

The Tables are named for us this time round - but I think it confused the latecomers who were faced with a bewildering forest of tables and no real order to their situation... we're going to give them numbers for the sheer sake of ease of reference, but because it's an interesting, if impractical, touch, here they are in their original glory, with players:

Table Antrim

Stig Top-Rasmussen
Brian Warren
Martin O'Rafferty
Michael Teimby
Kristin Lorsen
Nick Power
Quin Troinee
Daniel Dodet
Tom Kennedy
Gerry Sinnit

(now might be a good time to say that these are handwritten sheets - we may get the odd letter's decipherment incorrect.  Apologies)

Table Armagh

Mohammed Sakegu
Mike O'Connor
Chaz Chattha
Frank Dunleavy
Terry Gunnly
Neil Kelly
Jan Kloning
Mick McCloskey
Pascal Choquet
Tom McCready

Table Carlow

Brian Donnelly
John Butler
Dinh Le
John Morris
Ian Frazer
Daniel O'Reilly
David Graj
Patrick Stephens Sr.
Dermot Jacob
Padraig Parkinson

Table Clare

C. Burke
Pat O'Flaherty
David McCartney
Mick McLaughlin
Benjamin Lebor
James Doyle
Will Scanlan
Tony Curtis
Jimmy White
Robin Lacey

Table Cork

John Poland
Shane Daly
Patrick Stephens Jr.
Sligo John
Damien Covargh
Mike Lyons
Neil McCambridge
Gary Pobb
Shaun Bollard
Thomas Finneran

Table Cavan

Paul Cooney
Bernard Braidy
Paul Corrway
Pat Storan
John Magill
Michael Fisher
Soren Komgs (?)
Alan McClean
Steven Armstrong
Donal Kelly


(pause for breath)

Longford

(1) Derek Long
(2) Chris Frisby
(3) Conor Coorey (sp?)
(4) Nik Slade
(5) Ashley Hayles
(6) Vinny Davis
(7) Tim Farrelly
(8) Sean Corey
(9) Robin Nehatj (sp?)
(10) Stephen McNamara

Louth

(1) Matt Tyler
(2) Sean O'Liathais
(3) Noel Thomas
(4) Mark McGeaver
(5) Mick Dorn (sp?)
(6) Ian Whitty
(7) Paul Roper
(8) Dave Lane
(9) Collette Murphy
(10) Mark Spellman

Mayo

(1) Aiden Broody
(2) Adrien Mills
(3) Stuart Samuels
(4) Damien Quinlovin
(5) James Nugent
(6) Alessio Isaia
(7) Chris Straghalis
(8) John Cullire
(9) Zeik Tuit
(10) Ken Corkory (sp?)

Meath

(1) Marty Smith
(2) Shane Keary
(3) Dave McGreachie
(4) Daniel Schwitzer
(5) Carl Longmore
(6) Lam Trinh
(7) Warren Lane
(8) Pat O'Callaghan
(9) Gavin Stevens
(10) Thomas Nolan

Monaghan

(1) Donald Fagan
(2) Peter Evans
(3) Patrick McDunnan
(4) W McFlory
(5) David Callaghan
(6) Tony Kendall
(7) Vinny Mcnamee
(8) Gearoge Geary
(9) Anthony Dung (sp?)
(10) Alan Betson

Offaly

(1) Alex White
(2) Chris Cooke
(3) Mick O'Brien
(4) John Weafer
(5) Ronan Gilligan
(6) Mats Iremark
(7) Benjamin Kang
(8) Glen McCobe
(9) Jim Kerrigan
(10) Alan Duan (sp?)

Table Derry

Con O'Sullivan
Emitt Waughial (?)
Billy Ngo
Kevin Buckley
Michael Corcoran
Dave Jonson
Paul Christoffersson
Wayne Stanley
Tom Crystle
Christine Cumiskey

Table Donegal

Tony Harvey
James Brien
Paul Higgins
Sean Paul Lagan
Robert O'Reilly
Paul Brown
Simon Lyons (?)
Barry Cunningham
Thomas Dunwoodie
Mike Murray

Table Down

E. Lyon
Paul Morrow
Rod Burke
Paul Smallwood
Robert Garfield
Jimmy Devoney
Glen Turner
Chris Huyton
Keith McSterney (?)
Rob Taylor

Table Dublin

Joe McDermitt
Tim Gillig
CK Le
Brian Wynne
Roy Brindley
Simon Ou
John Tabatabai
Bill Tully
Praz Bansi
Oliver Boyce

Table Fermanagh

Kevin Parks
Paul Lecky
John Kilewn
Steve Holden
Liam Flood
Alan McCawley
Michael O'Connor
Mick McEvoy
James Lee
Ken Powell

Table Galway

Bernard Clooney
Pat Donnegan
Shane Cawe
Con Collins
John Maddock
Sonny Chattha
Christopher Marks
Miles Corloud (?)
John Murry
John Farrelly

Kerry

(1) Rory Burrel (sp?)
(2) Fabrizio Avuisati
(3) Ian Woodley
(4) James Dial
(5) Robert O'Reilly
(6) Eamon O'Reilly
(7) Vivia Browne
(8) Eddie Walsh
(9) Dessy (sp?) Graham
(10) Brian Lyttle

Kildare

(1) Terry McDead
(2) Phil Harris
(3) Noel Haze
(4) Peter Rodjers
(5) Toni Dicesare
(6) Peter Rahir
(7) Kevin Hicky
(8) Warren Woodall
(9) Lawrence Finton
(10) Tommy Gawghrobe

Kilkenny

(1) Gareth Hamilton
(2) Alan Truelick
(3) Kieran Small
(4) Philip Carter
(5) Daryl Rooms
(6) Karl Mahrenholz
(7) Ann McDenitt
(8) Kevin Gonly
(9) Carlos Citrone
(10) Christy Smith

Laois

(1) Seamus Burden
(2) Pat Flanagan
(3) Thanh Mguyem (sp?)
(4) Keith Cummings
(5) Michael McDon
(6) Andrew Wynn
(7)John Gott
(8) P Hehir
(9) Tony Cottee
(10) Liam Barker

Leitrim

(1) Stephen Finnegan
(2) Joseph Costello
(3) Eian Dixon
(4) Jim Reid
(5) Paul Quinn
(6) Caimin Kennedy
(7) Joe Hynes
(8) Kevin Fitzpatrick
(9) Ryan Fronda
(10)Thomas Burn

Limerick

(1) Patrick McFadden
(2) Dave Masters
(3) Vinny O'Toole
(4) Eddie Cavanghe
(5) Michael Moley
(6) John McGonna (sp?)
(7) Keith McGuise (sp?)
(8) L O'Farrell
(9) Aiden Mcinture
(10) Brendon McKeln

Table Roscommon

Mike Fizgerald
John Fox
John McManus
Iwan Jones
Mario Jechieu (?)
Mark Freeman
John Clancey
Paul Campbell
D. Mitchell
Ivan Donaghy

Table Sligo

Costas Constantinou
Michael McCool
Adam Stonehan
Emit Gough
Erda McGrety (?)
Scott Byron
Daniel Smith
Joe Grech
Philip Baker

Table Tipperary

Leonard Mills
Darragh O'David
Don Fagan
Sylvester Geogheghan
John Murry
Seamus O'Reilly
C. Baxter
Don Connelly
Stephen Dunphries
John McGill

Table Tyrone

Rory Cagney
Denny Collins
Noel Marrion
Richie Lawler
Robert O'Reilly
Dave Curtis
David Cosgrove
Matt Dubins
Steven McClean
David White

Table Waterford

Bendik Jain
Martino Libertini
Mike Healy
Andreas Olympios
Pat Tobin
Paddy McClusky
Bob Battersby
Chris Smith
Brendan Walls
Michael Dunire

Table Westmeath

Ben Gillespie
Eoin Olin
Dave Grendin
Colm O'Reilly
Bernard Dunne
Michael O'Sullivan
Can Sheridan
Sen Clery
Albert Alexander
Connor Smyth

How about this for creepy?

The first two guys to drop were sitting in the same seat (not at the same time, obviously) and were taken out by Terry Gunnly.


ooooh, beware the chair of doooooooooooooooooom

(http://www.theempire.com.au/images/2006-01-09/Sin%20City%20Death%20Row%20Marv%20Electric%20Chair%20Figure.jpg)

(http://test1.nepsecure.co.uk/t/thebluearmy_cmos2/uploads/pictures/2A42/tonycottee.jpg)

???

Now there's a centre parting you could set your watch to.

Sean O'Liathais is down to the felt after losing an A-K vs A-A confrontation vesus Paul Roper.

Two clubs came giving Sean some hope with the Ace, but nothing came of it leaving the Irishman painfully short.

Just recently eliminated is Gentleman Liam Flood, who stopped by our media mound to tell us that it was the Ad Aspades which got him too (the third to be busted by Rockets so far today).

He re-raised preflop, and received a caller (with Jd Jh as it turned out).  The flop came 4s 5h 6h.  Mr. Jacks checked, Liam bet, he called.  The turn brought the Jc, however, and it was all in and call with the end result - OUT.  But still smiling.  Even after the announcer called for a round of applause from the tournament room for the Gentleman, "who'd played his Aces badly!"

That's what I said!

Tom and Jen had no idea who I was banging on about though.

I take it it's a long way to this table....  ;scarymoment;

Get out

And in true 'blonde' style, I almost reported an exit, just realising in time that it was an STT.  ;ashamed;

good luck to all blondes and also gl to dave masters (luckydoly69)  olliver boyce (the code) and rob thomas (irish robbie)

I think you mean Rob Taylor there not Rob Thomas.

Get out

Half way through level two and Brian Warren is one of the early chip leaders with around 25k.

His latest scoop being with K-K on a T-Q-6-Q-J board.

Yes, I know Rob Taylor. Thin bald chap, very friendly... will keep an eye out.

SNOOPY DO YOU KNOW A FAT BLOKE CALLED LAWRANCE GOSNEY ,IF SO AND YOU SEE HIM TELL HIM HES FAT AND RUN LOL

which one looks like ths fella?

wish him luck plz.

Laois

(1) Seamus Burden -- 12,300
(2) Pat Flanagan -- 18,675
(3) Thanh Mguyem (sp?) -- 10,150
(4) Keith Cummings -- 10,500
(5) Michael McDon -- 12,075
(6) Andrew Wynn -- 7,900
(7) John Gott -- 5,900
(8) P Hehir -- 7,325
(9) Tony Cottee -- 6,700
(10) Liam Barker -- 9,875

Not THE Tony Cottee though of West Ham/Everton and side parting fame.

Ahhh, that's Rob Taylor all right.

the Belge version.

This guy?

(http://www.blondepoker.com/images/the_new_era/uk_players/lawrence_gosney&tikay.jpg)

thats him the one sat next to that old geezer.

Nik Slade just offered the massueses (is that the plural) a £1,000 to massage each other.

I said I'd do it for 500, but I was turned down.  :'(

Ken 'KPNuts' Powell asked if my blonde hair is a yearly thing. I replied that it depended on how I was doing online. If I am blonde I'm running well and can afford the trip to the barbers, if I'm brown, it's going bad... and if I've got long scraggy hair, my bankroll gone down the loo.

You might recognise this chap, yep, it's Tom Red-Dog' McCready, the only slug balancing Bob Carolgies lookalike in the whole tournament. - currently on 12.5k.

And this cheeky chappy is WSOP Main Event Last Dayer, John McGill. In fact, he managed to repeat the feat of fellow countryman, Conor Tate, from the year prior, ending the Series in 12th place and taking home a cool 1 million bucks.

Hey snoops,

Table cavan and cork neil mccambridge and john magill some updates please!!
Cheers!!!

snoops is lawrance playing

Blinds going up to 75/150

I've got the Update Long Straw here - the Easy Count; chips from people I already know, who sometimes just count them for me... we'll be trying to bring a decent slice of the field for you, however, both known and unknown to us.  Might need a little more time on that though.  I won't mention that Snoopy was trying his bravest over at the Sit'n'go table...

Carlo Citrone       10,050
Lawrence Gosney  3,675
Rob Taylor          12,500
RED-DOG            15,300
Praz Bansi            8,350
Karl Mahrenholz    5,800
Smurf                 17,800
Mats Iremark        12,600
German Ben         8,100
Tikay                  7,600
Peter Evans         12,650
Chris 'Bad Beat' Smith  7,700
Iwan Jones            10,500
Jim Kerrigan           8,600
Ryan Fronda           7,800
Sunny Chattha       5,725
Chaz Chattha         6,600
Kunkuwap             7,250
Roy Brindley           15,300
Matt Tyler              11,000

And that's not quite all...

According to Praz Basni, John Tabatabai, who someone asked about earlier on, is gone.

yes m8

see lawrance has been busy.

Any word on Enda MacGearty, Seat 6 on Sligo table??? Thanks. Tell him Muscles was asking

Matt Tyler gets a nice double through with the Aspades Ac which so far have been the big eliminators in this comp... he saw an Ace-high flop with one opponent, who decided to just push all-in with his Ahrt Kh - call - and he's up to over 20k after I'd just seen him sitting with a more starting-stack-like amount, saying, "I'm just an average guy..."

Elsewhere RED-DOG raises to 450 preflop, one caller.  The flop comes 3h 5h Ks.  Check to RED, who checks.
Turn:  2c  Check, Red bets 1,000; call.
River:  Th  Check-check.  Perhaps Mr. Dog was a little surprised that his Qh Qs was good.

Pics please. :D


(Not of you!!!)

Table Cavan

Paul Cooney -- 15,675
Bernard Braidy -- 20,200
Paul Corrway -- 12,800
Pat Storan -- 7,500
John Magill -- 3,225
Michael Fisher -- 10,500
Soren Komgs (?) -- 4,500
Alan McClean -- 9,275
Steven Armstrong -- 9,200
Donal Kelly -- 13,825

This rather reddish chap is Mr Enda MacGearty. He is currently on 6,900 and laughed when I said 'Muscles' was asking.

Glad it was the right guy, phew.

Blind levels:

25/50
50/100
75/150
100/200
150/300
150/4300 (25)
200/400 (25)
400/800 (75)
500/1000(100)
800/1500 (100)

snoopy ill give you a tenner if you grab the mike and sing the national anthem ,thats if you get out of ehere alive .

my three
            ian woodley
           alan mclean
           iwan jones

which anthem do you want me to sing?

And as requested, Table Cork (if there've been no player substitutions, which I cannot guarantee):

John Poland      16,300
Shane Daly         7,100
Patrick Stephens Jr.  9,650
Sligo John            16,500
Damian Cavagh     7,100
Mike Lyons           5,675
Neil McCambridge   17,000   (hopefully he's the guy I've pictured below)
Gary Pobb             10,100
Shaun Bollard         7,050
Thomas Finneran    6,600

english lol

According to Jim Reid, no exits from this table, so all definite counts:

(1) Stephen Finnegan -- 9,500
(2) Joseph Costello -- 21,800
(3) Eian Dixon -- 3,000
(4) Jim Reid -- 4,125
(5) Paul Quinn -- 6,725
(6) Caimin Kennedy -- 8,275
(7) Joe Hynes -- 16,750
(8) Kevin Fitzpatrick -- 6,325
(9) Ryan Fronda -- 8,750
(10)Thomas Burn -- 8,625

Jim: No exits yet, but we're trying to get rid of Ryan.
Ryan: Well, you gonna need to get lucky.

I think I'd get a beating cos of my singing rather than my choice of anthem, lol.  ;ashamed;

youd get what saddam got lol

Weapons from the UK/US and a visit from Donald Rumsfeld?

YEA THATS HIM UGLY AS FECK LOL

..and George Galloway.

     rotflmfao

Brian Donnelly -- 5,725
John Butler -- 5,475
Dinh Le -- 16,950
John Morris -- 13,425
Ian Frazer -- 11,850
Daniel O'Reilly -- 16,500
David Graj -- 14,960
Patrick Stephens Sr -- 3,750.
Dermot Jacob -- 5,400
Padraig Parkinson -- 2,200

At first I thought I was hallucinating (in a fun way), but no - there is definitely food being cooked or displayed somewhere nearby, and I think that will coincide nicely with the first break in half an hour (for 45 minutes). 

283 players still in, according to the Screens, and that does seem accurate - I've only seen two tables broken so far.  Hard to tell, though, as the Sit'n'go vultures swoop down to play immediately on any recently vacated surface...

I'd get life for my guns, surely.

Donald Rumsfeld was a pompous idiot in power, George Galloway was just a pompous idiot. I don't consider him so important. :D

Meanwhile, Geaordie lad and Aspers regular, Thomas Dunwoodie, is running well with 16,500. Well, that's what I think he said. Can't understand a bloomin word.  ;djinn;

Alan Betson is on 18.5k.

He smooth called a pre-flop from Patrick McDunnan, flat called the 7s 4s 3h Flop before re-raising the 2.5k Turn bet to 7,975 all-in.

Last 10 secnonds were called, Patrick eventually folded.

I couldn't quite work out what Betson had here, a full house perhaps?

How is  ;tk; doing?

Fairly irked exit over to my left - I missed the preflop action, but a short stack had gotten all in with Ac Tc against someone who'd either called or raised with 8h 3s.  My attention was gained when I heard him exclaiming, "A race?" in a perturbed sort of way, as his hand was in bad shape on the flop: Tc 3d 3h.  No improvement after this point, and he got plenty of murmured "unlucky"s which I am sure made him feel better on the way to the buffet.

No sign of Dave Colclough this week, but I'm sure he's at home thinking...

Any chance of chipcounts for Alan Betson and Liam Barker?

Great updates as usual...

ty

Great updates as ever any chip count for George Geary, Allan Mclean please.

wow,

Got the Alan Betson one up before I even finished typing...impressive stuff. ty

Liam Barker?

The ol tart's doin pretty shite, just 6,525.

He seems more focused on his conversation on gout, apparantly known as the 'rich man's disease'. tikay is trying to convince Alan Betson that it's due to drinking to much porte. Is there any truth in that or is he spouting bollox as usual.

Ladies, please excuse my French.

Telepathy is one of our most refined skills.

If he's about 40, short receeding hair and donning a grey and black striped top, then he's on 7,375

I am afraid everyone is about to make a run for the dinner, lockedin - only 5 minutes left, so if Snoops isn't gathering your information at this very moment, we'll get to it in 45 mins when they return.

But I have another big chip count - Mr Daniel Smith 27,000 - certainly up there amongst the leaders.  I will save the exclusive story of his Big Hand to keep you hooked until after the break.

And I leave you with this season's fashion statement, clearly.

the last one is kenny who runs the cork fessies.

**************************************************BREAK*************************************************
Back 10pm.

Missed him earlier, but Midland Masters champ, Rob Garfield, is also present.

"I'm on 11k, but I've been up and down all day. I'm a grinder, but sometimes you just can't avoid yoyo-ing when I get the cards. Up to 15, down to 6 and now just around average."

gonna grab some grub, back soon...

Any chance of another update on Mr MacGearty. Tell him Buster said good luck!

Don't forget to eat some too. ::)

"Shuffle up and deal!"

5,700

I won't say the obvious penis gag here...

Nik Slade -- 31,200

George Geary -- 12,950

"Damn superglue!!!"

Joe Grech, 12,950 and boogying on down. Seconds later he bust a move to his favourite hip hop beats. Shizzle mi nizzle!

wish him and matt tyler the best of luck....zippy

The Tom Jones-esque Persian rug chest hair gets a rare outing as Iwan keeps his eyes peeled on the buffet queue.

A name familiar to blondes and the Hand Analysis board, this is David 'doubleup' McGreachie. Looking too cool for school in shiny shades.

And of course, there's the odd couple of muppets still hanging around.

John Magill is OUT...

received a nice round of applause.

Now slightly overtaken in chips, Daniel Smith is still well ahead of the field.  He won a very chunky pot with Ahrt 5h, flopping the wheel (two spades on board), but finding the 5s 8s against him ready to commit the whole lot.  Not the most comfortable turn and river to dodge, I'd imagine, but dodge it he did, rocketing him up over 26k pre dinner break.

And here he is. 

snoops or jen is mr gosney still in or has he gone to dublin town.

With 268 players remaining, some random chip counts are making their way to the announcer, and thence to me.  Average chips is around 11,500.

Paul Morrow     20,000
Roy Brindley      19,000
RED-DOG          15,000
Tikay                 6,550
Thomas Nolan    5,000
Alan McLean      10,000

Bedlam on Table Slade:

First Asheley Hayles doubles up (and a bit extra) to around 20k with A-J.

Raised 800 pre-flop, 2 callers, including Nik Slade with Jd 5d.

Bet 2.5k on Jh 7d 6d Flop, Nik calls.

All-in on blank Turn, Nik calls.

No diamond or 5 and The Bear Hugger is dangerous.



Then, just a few hands later, David McGreachie is forced down to the felt, losing a A-K vs Q-Q race on an unaiding 6-5-T-4-6 board.

Padraig Parkinson    6,050.  He's tucked away in the back of the room, and I missed him on first sweep.  He's always good fun to talk to, sharp as a tack and pleasant to go with it, an unusual combination.  This is a poor photo, however.  Apologies.

Norkage please?

 :goodpost: ;iagree;

 :goodpost:

 :hello: Jen & Snoops  ;hattip;

Look, I hate to break it to you, but this is a poker tournament.  I believe there were four women entrants out of 302.  We'll see if any dealers want their pictures taken.  Maybe. 

Lawrence Gosney is down to 7,425 after his 2.4k bet on a 4c-6h-5h-Th board was re-raised to 7k. Gosney folded.

(1) Terry McDead -- 26,350
(2) Phil Harris -- 3,950
(3) Noel Haze -- 5,225
(4) Peter Rodjers -- 7,75
(5) Toni Dicesare -- 10,000
(6) Peter Rahir -- 6,050
(7) Kevin Hicky -- 14,075
(8) Warren Woodall -- 5,100
(9) Lawrence Gosney -- 7,425
(10) Tommy Gawghrobe -- 12,525

Faring slightly less well than Smith the Younger, Chris Smith has what he describes as, "a poxy 9,000."  Still plenty, surely.  I won't make any Bad Beat jokes if either of them get knocked out, for at least a couple of minutes.

Surely this should be 'up' to 7,425?  Last time I checked he had about five chips totalling less than 3k.

for once snoops tikay is not talking bollocks about the gout but carrots are not good for gout and god knows wot he might have bin doing with them  & good work you 2

 ;hide;

 ;tightend; :)up

Totally off topic -

While braving the cold briefly, I couldn't help but notice that their immaculate gardens here are lit up at night, with a fountain and everything.  I do think it's a bit more Blair Witch than Gosford Park, though.

Roy Brindley -- 21,725
Tom McCready -- 10,300
Thomas Dunwoodie -- 18,200
Dave Masters -- 13,200
C Constantinou -- 20,225
Rob Taylor -- 12.6k
Ryan Fronda -- 9,550
Rob Garfield -- 8,100
Jim Reid -- 5,900
Chris Huyton -- 12,450
Joe Grech -- 12,375
Mark Billig -- 17,450
Praz Bansi -- 12,900
Michael Muldoon -- 16,300
Ken Powell -- 17,175
Chaz Chattha -- 3,400
Padraig Parkinson -- 6,025
Ian Woodley -- 8,800
Ian Frazer -- missing, presumed lost

RED-DOG has dropped to 9,200 after a preflop raise-off between him (the cutoff, Qh Qd) and the loose, but chip-leading big blind.  Tom made it 600 to go, the big blind made it 1,800, Tom re-raised by a further 4k, and then when the big blind moved in, he passed, to the Aces.  Ah well, back to the starting chips.

Do people think the BB should flat-call the 3-bet and let Red hang himself on the flop? The all-in seems a little pointless I think.

Going Up

Blinds now 150/300
Players remaining 255

They're going to need all of all three days for this tournament.  No early nights for us.

And a few faces I don't recognise (hopefully some local names for our Irish viewers):

Sean O'Liathais -- 6,375
Mark McGeaver -- 4,125
Mick Dorn (sp?) -- 7,750
Paul Roper -- 34,800
Dave Lane -- 25,900
Collette Murphy -- 32,200
Mark Spellman -- 13,525

known as smurf snoops

Caught sight of Irishman, Dave Masters, walking down the aisle, putting his coat on in the process. However, actions can be deceptive as he's still in with 11.5k.

Smurf snoops?

Is that a smurf with a Beagle head, or a Beagle with a smurf head?

I thought they were Smeagles

Known as Worf, Snoops.

(http://www.lightspeedfineart.com/photos/worf_TVa.jpg)

Joe McDermitt is OUT.

Eliminated by Roy the Boy who had Js Jc vs Joe's 3s 3h on a 3c 6c 7c Flop.

Turn came the 2c leading to Roy clapping his hands and saying "That's my card, baby!" (just about getting away without being too celebratory).

River was a harmless 5h and Brindley takes down a big pot.

There are a few shorstacks here who have been clingons for a while now.

Missing, presumed lost (although need to be confirmed)...

Ian Fraser
Mick McCool
Mick McCloskey

 rotflmfao



Get out.

And predominantly as a result of the aforementioned hand, Roy Brindley is now one of the chip leaders with 55k.

Completely off-topic, Roy has just had a baby (well, his wife) called Sebastian. Although he denies that he's named after Seb Coe, he concedes that it probably will be shortened to 'Seb', although "Not under my watch!". Ooh, scary.

Dan Smith is looking quietly confident, or at least showing the relaxation of one who has a lot of chips, and has the table convinced now that he's not afraid to use them.  Just now he found 2h 2s in the big blind, and a short stack had raised to 1,000 in late position.  He quickly re-raised enough to put the short stack all in (around 5k) and got the call.  Ahrt Kh was the hand he was up against.
The board came Qd 4c 8c 3d 8d.  "No one raise my big blind," said Dan.  It sounded more like a statement than a warning.  He's up over the 30k mark.

One table over and Nick Slade's not in bad shape himself: 27k and a bottle of something cooling in one of those metal ice buckets.  He gets a gold star for giving me a Kit-Kat, which Tikay promptly took half of.  It seems he just can't read between the lines of, "do you want some of this delicious Kit-Kat given to me as a present?"

FYP

Is  Great White Muppet hunting now in season ?

A quick Irish update for you now...

The following have all bitten the dust:

Brendan Walls
Micahel O'Sullivan
Keiran Walsh (who won this event last year)

Here's a picture of Smurf's hand, showing the chips having gathered down that end of the table (Dan Smith is to her right).  Notice, if you will, the unusual Dealer Button, which looks as if it has either been hewn from one of those giant bamboo sticks or is in fact a small wrapped camembert.

RED-DOG is out...

Dwindled to around 6k, he found Kd Kc and raised to 1,200 after there had been two limpers.  Both called.  The flop came 7s 8d 9h, and when it was checked to him, the rest of the chips went in.  Pass from one opponent, call from the other, whose 8s 8c had spiked the set to knock Tom out on Day One.  He doesn't look too unhappy, as the side events look pretty good.

Bad luck Tom.

Chris Straghalis has taken a big hit off the loud and charismatic Richie Lawler.

Both men managed to get all their chips in on a Qh 2d Td, Chris with the formidable looking Kd Qd and Lawler with Kc Jc.

"Deuce, Deuce, Deuce," shouts Lawler.

Not sure why, reverse psychology perhaps??

Anyhow, whatever it was, it worked, as the River brought a deadly Ace.

And Chris Straghalis is now OUT.

Not a good day at the office.

Here's one of your men, Yongsta, currently on 11,300

Tell him to sit up straight next time you see him!

Blinds up 150/300 with a 25 running ante.

220 players left

Breaking news - Dan Smith doesn't just call or raise, he also passes sometimes - calling the small blind's raise on the big blind with 5s 5d, he hit a 5c 8d Qc flop pretty well. He called a 2k bet here, but then when the 7c came on the turn, several different alarms went off when his opponent just moved all in quickly.  One of them was right, and the one which put him in the worst shape - he was up against 7d 7h and by passing here he lost just a chunk rather than more than half of his stack.  On 25k now.

"My testicles have just been sliced off and steamrolled over" news now.

The victim? Tony Harvey.

The assassin? Sylvester Geogheghan

The Hands? Aspades Ad vs. 7h 7d

The bad news? Mateyboy's "I passed a 7" comment.

The Flop? 4d Qd Kd

The Turn = 4s

The 'punched in the gut' River? 7c

Ouch. Gotta hurt.

Believe it or not, that's the assassin pictured below...

Chips retrieved from the ether, but I think thanks are really due to Antes Up...

Sligo John 19,000
Iwan Jones  8,000
Padraig Parkinson  7,000
Paul Campbell    19,000
Jim Reid     7,000
Dave Masters   6,000

see iwans chiped up again

m0re?

Matt Tyler is down to just 5k after having his Aces busted against A-T and Q-Q.

Queen first card.

NEWS FLASH

tikay off the tele is STILL in with 9k!!!

What a croc! (ahem)

(http://graphicslib.viator.com/graphicslib/2138/SITours/crikey.jpg)

Iwan Jones is OUT.

Thanks to Fintan Gavin for this tidbit, and many thanks for the warm welcome he's given blonde, complete with Guinness delivered to the press cage. 

 ;kev;

Pat O'Callaghan -- 20,000
Alan Swan -- 35,000

Enda MacGearty -- 16,050
Pat O'Callaghan -- 20,000
Roy Brindley -- 40,275
Alan Betson -- 13,450
tikay -- 18,400
Rob Garfield -- 6,550
Peter Evans -- 9,400
John Morris -- 22,000
Praz Bansi -- 5,475
Kevin Buckley -- 23,000
Nick Slade -- 3,500
Carlo Citrone -- 14,700
Terry Grimley -- 68,000
Ashley Hayles -- 2,125
Dave Johnson -- 17,175
Mats Iremark -- 23,250
Dave Masters -- 1,325
Rob Taylor -- 27,125
Alan Swan -- 35,000
Kevin Parkes -- 36,000

Missing presumed lost:

Joe Grech
Lawrence Grosney
Padraig Parkinson

Paul Morrow minimum raises to 600 from under-the-gun.

Rob Taylor makes it 2,100.

Paul Morrow re-raises to 7,000.

Rob folds Kings face up.

Any ideas what Paul showed, first correct answers gets a coconut?

I'll give you a clue, it wasn't Aces and this was Rob's expression...

(http://static.flickr.com/26/67509543_5266088004.jpg)

2's?

 Kc 4h maybe??

A misread....lol

 Qh Qd

Dave Masters is OUT.

Moved all-in with 2-2, but found 2 callers in Eddie The Eagle (??) and Lam Trinh.

Just caught the action at the Turn with a board of 2h Ac 4s Tc.

Lam bet 4k and Eddie called, but the Jack of Hearts River was checked down and Trinh scooped a big pot with A-T of spades.

As a result, Lam Trinh is now on around 45k.

How do you know that??

Are you cheating, ya cheeky monkey?

Well, I know that Joe Grech is still in, with 19,200 unless he's gone in the last minute and a half.  The others seem pretty OUT though, along with Jim Kerrigan, Sunny Chattha, Kunkuwap and lots more (down to a nearly-round 201 players).

Some more counts:

Ian Woodley     7,000
Karl Mahrenholz  11,300
Smurf               28,000
Dan Smith         33,000
Ryan Fronda      10,150
Matt Tyler          2,700
George Geary    8,500
Jim Reid            7,000

Pft, way off. It was the King of diamonds.  ;)

Ashley 'The Bear' Hayles has just been eliminated by Nik Slade.

Slade: "He tried to call me with rubbish. He had A-9, I had Q-6 and hit a 6."

Slade is now on 6,975

Poker player caught in bluff shocker!! ;)

Keep up the good work gang!

 I stilll can't believe Rob layed it down or even worse that he showed it. Never show a big laydown. Ever. It can't ever be the right thing to do.

I think there is a lot to be said for taking the pot down now. No risk and a pretty big pot.

Going into a 15 min break now.  I'm moving on to the Red Bull.  I am hoping to achieve that caffeine state wherein it looks like everything in the world is moving slowly and you can run through a sprinkler without getting wet.  I saw it in a movie.

I'm assuming everyone would have folded Queens?

I agree in one sense Alex as he's adding a decent chunk risk free but on the other hand it's a long long way from the money so maybe optimal big tournie poker would be better and try to maximise the EV. I'm torn on this one on the one hand you can only lose a tournie early and notwin it but on the other hand you need to get chips at some stage.

It depends on if he three bets with non AA holdings too I guess to some extent. An interesting hand...

Average Stack = 15,735
Next Level = Level 7, 200/400 (5)
197/310 remaining

Yes its an intersting concept. Personally i like to play a lot of small/medium sized pots and slowly build a stack rather than risk my tournament on 1 hand. But there are phenomenal arguments you could make for getting chips early.

I know Alex I still read you blog! lol

I think a loose big stack may have a wider three betting range then AA in this spot in an effort to get worse hands then QQ to laydown so its not a bad move with AA to mix it up overall especially if you think the opponent is the sort to go busto overplaying QQ (obviously not in this case).

My problem is I tend to play a lot of small field live tournies so I don't always have to play the optimal and yet marginal plays to get into the money (as the standard is generally pretty atrocious to be fair) and this can lead to poorer performances and a decreased edge in bigger better quality field tounies. A case of familiarity breeds contempt. Something to ponder on in any event.

Sorry for pulling the update of track a little. But I guess we can fill the break with some white noise anyway. ;)

No, sidetrackers, I commend you - this is the whole point of the interactive thread - we try to find interesting stuff to provoke intelligent debate.  Or, failing that, you guys.  Carry on!

Snoops and Jen wont mind, and if anyone else does......tough.

I guess when a player as tight as Red-Dog makes the third raise, you have to have him on AA/KK/QQ. Against more unpredictable opponents i think winning the pot now is fine. Against a (relatively) readable player like reddog (not an insult, just eveyone knows he plays solid poker), you can check raise him all-in on any flop without a K or Q and by then hes pot commited.

The more i think about it, when you get given the third raise treatment with aces, you should flat call.

Nice work ol ;)
I feel clever

 ;D

Damn. Outplayed by a lady barely able to stay awake. Embarressing.

Huge pot and shocking acting news now...

10k+ already in the pot.

The board is Ts Qh Js Jd

Kevin Parkes (from London but recently moved to Sheffield - how's that for detail??) checks

Tim Gillig (who I believe is German) bets 8.5k.

Kevin Parkes pauses for a moment before waving his hands and saying "Okay, okay, I'm moving all-in" in a more than slightly transparent 'I've had enough, I'm going to gamble with you' kind of way.

Tim calls for his last 11k.

Kevin (who had 12k in change), shows Jh Th.

Tim revealed A-K off.

River brings a harmless 4.

Big pot, but not quite the biggest.

Kevin Parkes now has around the 60k mark.

Well, I'm back in my room playing online and reading the updates. (Which are first class btw)

Does anyone think I overplayed the queens?

Hard to tell red. Was the guy ultra tight, if so, maybe.
I think you played it right, you want to know if your losing preflop and a raise of any less doesnt send the right message.

done nothing wrong with the queens tom u found out where u were and u coulda lost more playing it a different way

You said he had the biggest stack on the table and wasn't the tightest cookie in the jar, so absolutely no problem.  If he'd called and trapped you could have indeed lost more, as someone who got there first said earlier.

I think you may have overplayed them but in this case you may have saved youself chips in the specific hand as a result.

It's not something you can say definitively because there are a lot of factors including was the BB playing loose generally, or only with position? Was he generally reraising from the BB? It's hard to be defiinitve based on the info given but I personally don't generally like the rereraise with QQ. But what do I know. What I would say is if your table imade is as tight as Alex says then unless the guy is a real bad player he's going to find it diffcult to make a mistake in this hand after you've reraised him. I hate letting them off the hook like that.

P.S. Hard luck in any event and better luck tomorrow.

Decision for John Poland - he'd raised preflop after an early limper to 1,750 (blinds 200/400 ante 50).  The limper took his time and called.
Flop:  2s 2h 8d.  Limper - Thomas Finneran - checks, John bet 3,500 (leaving himself around 10k behind).  Thomas moves in, with a slightly bigger stack.
The dwell that came after looked as tortured as they get, with the talking-to-himself and the pot counting and everything.  But eventually he passes and would clearly liked to have seen to what...

Iv been working up your tight image red-dog. Should come in handy one day. ;)

I read him as kinda loose/aggressive. I saw him call a raise in the bb with Q3, mind you, he did hit a Q on the flop, a Q on the turn, and a 3 on the river!

181 left, average stack = 17,127...

Enda MacGearty -- 7,450
Richie Lawler -- 21,475
Matt Tyler -- 16,775
Jim Reid -- 5,275
Roy Brindley -- 22,750
Lam Trinh -- 40,200
Rob Taylor -- 23,600
Ken Powell -- 24,475
Michael Muldoon -- 12,300
Paul Morrow -- 33,000
David McGreachie -- 7,050
Nik Slade -- 17,000
John Keown -- 50,000
Rob Garfield -- 5,625
Karl Mahrenholz -- 12,300
Eddie the Eagle -- 3,450
Joe Grech -- 14,175
Chris Huyton -- 8,775
Ian Woodley -- 15,825
Carlo Citrone -- 12,600
C Constantinou -- 25,800
George Geary -- 6,725
Peter Evans -- 13,600
Thomas Dunwoody -- 17,625
tikay -- 11,075
Toni Dicesare -- 8,650
Terry Grimley -- 66,200

I think you played them fine. You have to make the re-re-raise to find out where you stand, otherwise you're going into the flop blind and will have to rely on guesswork.

The following players are all OUT:

Mick McCool
Dave Masters
Ashley Hayles
Lawrence Gosney
Jim Kerrigan
Iwan Jones
John Magill
Padraig Parkinson
John Tabatabai
Liam Flood
Chaz Chatta
Ian Frazer


Missing, presumed lost:

Ryan Fronda
Alan McLean

I see Matt doing some explaining, as he walks off his table with no chips and the rest of the players are scattered around the room.  "Rivered again," he mutters downheartedly.  "I turned the straight, but his trips housed up on the river."  He was, until now, vying with Nick Slade for "Yo-Yo of the day" but seeing as he's just been eliminated that leaves Mr. Slade to take the trophy.

Carlo Citrone is OUT.  He flopped two pair to someone else's straight.  Short and sharp and no house on the river for him.

Gotta disagree with that on principle Snoopy. Re-re-raising makes Red-Dog's hand range pretty transparent and QQ is at the lower end of that range. A halfwit gets away from any pocket pair less then and including jacks and AQ downwards. So what are we left with? 

AK, AA, KK or QQcalling us or else we win ~2k and we don't get a chance to hit that Queen high flop that was surely coming!! LOL

That last bet preflop is inflating the pot massively and almost pot commiting us to any move on the flop and allowing our opponent to play almost flawlessly from now on because we are playing our cards face up. This would be a good move if we had sooted connectors or the like becasue at least we'd be playing a deceptive hand. But in this spot we have exactly what we are representing. Raising for info isn't a good move here imho. By the way I'm not having a go at you REd-Dog as I've made this mistake myself plenty of times but I'm just giving my opinion on the subject based on the info given. I wasn't there and I don't know the opponent.

And not forgetting the locals, here are a three notable Irish counts.

Conor Smyth -- 16,550

Noel Hayes -- 16,800

Christie Smith -- 8,200

You're worried about him flatcalling with his Aces or Kings and playing them flawlessly, but I would have thought he'd get the chips anyhow on the Flop with a check-raise if Red just called.

Exactly my point. Even a very loose (non-Ali Mallu) player will fold to a fourth bet preflop with anything except maybe Kings or the other two Aces. If he calls, and the flop is harmless, most people will go bust. I'm not saying Tom is not good enough to laydown queens here but I think this can maximise your winnings better than moving in early on in a tournament.

Jsut popping to the loo. Jen's in the battlefield searching for dead bodies.

Yes, that's what I thought, thereby making his hand just as transparant as yours. The bet has to be big enough though to make sure marginal hands don't call for value.

This is Big City Banker, and he likes to fold KK preflop.

Jen's Battlefield consists of multiple packets of Bacon Fries which she is devouring intently. BTW these updates are much more professional than ours :)

Admit it, you miss me and my apple pips. :D

Forget about the BB's holding for a second.

The action went raise by REd-Dog, rerasie by BB and then rereraise by REd-Dog after which the BB let's REd-dog of the hook by shoving all-in.

What I'm saying is REd-dog should have smooth called the BB's reraise and assesed on the flop.

Say it comes low and raggy and the BB bets out. Then Red can either call or fold (the hand has still cost him less then it actually did). If the guy fires another bullet on the turn then Red should have a good idea by this where he stands and it hasn't cost him any more chips.

Plus he got to see 4 cards and a chance to  hit a queen plus in the event his opponent has an underpair to the QQ, REd-Dog is sometimes getting money in good against an opponent in very bad shape. By rereraising this is not the case and the opponent gets off hands we beat for the minmum cost. Not good long term poker imho. 

David 'doubleup' McGreachie is OUT.

He didn't look best pleased so I decided not to pursue.

Against a solid player I'd agree, but against a loose player who has played a lot of hands, he may have re-raised with ATC, therefore we just don't know what sort of flop we want if it doesn't contain a Q.

Apple pips probably less damaging healthwise than six packets of bacon fries (I can't deny it, Mike was right about something)...

Elsewhere - Tikay has managed to turn his 22k a few levels ago into a danger-zone 7,800, as the blinds have risen to 300/600 ante 75.  Just saw him moving in on the cutoff, and although Stephen MacLean (stack - 21k) gave him a good staredown from the small blind, he got that one through.  It was all too much for me to stay and watch that though, so I wandered around as Snoopy said, vulture-like.

I found Joe Grech doing what looked like some shortish stack grinding (I don't know for sure but I think he's been under 20k pretty much all the time), just now raising with Tc Ts and showing to the passers...

Also:  Paul Higgins   18,250
Thomas Dunwoody  28,000   because they were in roughly the same quadrant and I have sore feet.

I agree that he should have called with his Aces, but I'm still unconvinced that RED should smooth call with his Queens because (1) He gives a weaker hand the chance to outdraw him (2) Play could freeze if an overcard hits the flop and (3) He gives Mateyboy an opportunity to bluff him off the hand.

I'm happy to take it down pre-flop if I have him beat and escape if I don't. Seeing the flop could be an expensive way of finding out the information you need, and even then it won't be as reliable as the information gathered from a pre-flop re-re-raise.

Interesting 1. I'm not 100% either way.

I think when the roof of your mouth starts bleeding you'll know you've had enough.

Wish tikay and Nick Slade all the best from me.

he's probably going outside for a smoke

What we need is more local pictures for local people.

(http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/images/bbc/talent/radiotalent/200league_gentlemen.jpg)

Watch this space...

And here they are...

First off, Colette Murphy with 36,250

Followed by John Keown with 53,150.

lol

I was gasping for a ciggy.

Yeah its a hand worth a bit of discussion for sure. One more argument for the smooth call before I head to bed. This is a pretty decent structured tournament and there is still quite a bit of play so its pretty close to a cash game at this stage. How often do you rereraise in a cash game in this spot to "find out where you are"? You are playing deep enough that in general you wouldn't and the reason you wouldn't is because you'd trust yourself to play the later streets better than your opponent (don't forget you do have position) and in a cash game you don't care about getting knocked out you just play the best long run poker.

Given the stage of the tournie and the long distance to go before the money I'd suggest this hand should have played out the same as a cash game, i think you are letting the fact its a decent buyin tournie and a natural (but incorrect ) conservatism cloud your judgement here.

The other thing is by playng it smaller if scare cards come it may slow both players down and you have a hand that doesn't mind a showdown in general.

Anyway good debating with you all. I'll be back to follow the action tomorrow.

GL to all blondies left.

And finally Noel Mannion who just eliminated a player with Q-Q vs 6-4 suited on a harmles J-8-T-3-7 board. Noel is now on 24,100.

Wow you're really into debating this RED hand, huh... well OK, I join in briefly:

In your assessment of flat calling the re-raise, one small part of your hypothetical next step makes all the difference - this line:  "Say it comes low and raggy and the BB bets out."  This is a crucial assumption in then considering that he could have a) saved chips or b) gotten paid when in a very good situation for his Queens i.e. against a weaker pair.  Also, calling or folding aren't the only options, and if you call and then opt to fold the turn, as you suggest is a possibility, you will have probably 'wasted' an equal number of chips to those RED actually threw at this pot.

If you remove this assumption (the flop coming low and raggy) the goodness of this play drains away a bit.  Somone who is aggressive or has a bad case of re-raise-from-the-blinditis will like the flat call with 'real' hands like QQ, as HE is now the one who can autobet the high flop and get rid of you, or pass to a sturdy raise if you like what you see.  Sure, he's out of position, with less of an idea what you're holding - that's a good thing for RED.  But if someone is as likely to raise from the blinds into a late-position raiser with KQs, 88, AA or AJ, you're learning nothing until you risk more on the flop anyway.  Then the underpair can get away, or the winning hand push all in then, which you hate, and depending on the stacks, might find yourself committed to calling.

Oh, and I agree that seriously deep, small blind stuff is a different story.  RED put about a third of his chips in here, and at no point were the raises ludicrous in proportion to the blinds.

imo red-dog played it absolutely spot on, i would do EXACTLY the same, he found out where he was, i think the villain should have put red on QQ KK or AA and taken a flop if the flop comes J high its game over for tom.  But it is easier to flat call the third bet from here than it would have been in the villains seat. I am guilty of 4-betting aces thinking that the guy couldnt possibly fold. imo RED played it well and got away cheaply

 :hello:

I didn't say the smooth call would make our life easy and we are going to have  some tricky decisions. But isn't that the point? If you watch the really good players they

a) don't define their hands to their opponents and
b) make the tough decisions better/Read their opponents better.

If the game was easy what would be the point? ;) Tournament poker at this stage is about more than preflop decisions and you have to embrace that if you want to really go far in the game I feel. At the later stages sure it becomes a little simpler and the imporatnce of picking your spots preflop increases but this isn't the case here is what I'm suggesting.

P.S. While I talked about low and raggy flops I didn't mention Queen high flops either now did I??? ;) Only messing.

Nice chatting with you all. I have to work tomorrow so its a goodnight from me. 

Antes Up have reliably (cough) informed us that Roy Brindley is OUT.

'Muppet move' according to their source.

I shall stay on the fence.

 rotflmfao

 :hello: muppet

Nice talking to you.  :)up

"Come again"

(http://images.usatoday.com/life/_photos/2006/02/16/inside-hindu-apu.jpg)

"please call again"c'mon snoops i had you down as a friends<simpsons man

Christie Smith (a local legend, I'm told) has bitten the dust.

I'm more of a friends<simpsons<<<<<<<<<<televisionx kinda man

Just had a brief chat with Chaz outside, who rather dejectedly informs me that "the British players are pretty much out."  So it's goodbye to Karl Mahrenholz, Joe Grech, Chaz, Praz and Sunny, while Tikay and Chris Smith are still "grinding for England."

With a mere 15 minutes of play tonight remaining, they're down to 138 players, with one dropping a minute, it feels like.

Nick Slade was one of them.  I know because his name was just called over the tannoy for him to go to his €500 sit'n'go.  Professional or what?

Here's a face that you might recall. Yep, this is indeed 2006 Deauville EPT winner, Mats Iremark. I'm not sure he's won too much since, but in this event he's quietly chugging away with 28,875.

Just 5 minutes remaining....

Nik Slade -- 14.7k
tikay -- 15.5k
Lam Trinh -- 75.1k
C Constantinou -- 28.6k
Thomas Dunwoodie -- 22.0k
Colette Murphy -- 33.2k
Jim Reid -- 7.8k
Ian Woodley -- 12.6k
Richie Lawler -- 22.2k
Mike Maree (sp?) -- 22.0k
Colette Murphy -- 36.1k
Shane Geary -- 50.2k
John Keown -- 63.7k

Some other counts, seeing as when play ends in less than five minutes, we are going to make a dignified retreat and go to bed before we collapse...

Rob Taylor     14,500
Dan Smith      24,000
John Poland    7,000
Patrick Stephens Jr.  32,000
Sligo John       49,000
Damien Cavagh  17,000
Shaun Bollard     9,500
Thomas Finneran  36,000
Noel Minnion       20,600

136 players left.

Averag Stack = 22,794

1st level tomorrow will be 400/800 (100)

Oh yes, and Nick Slade doesn't appear to be out after all.  We'll know more tomorrow... Snoopy is nobly trying to read some more counts off the bags as the chips are put away and we'll give you those before sticking the end of day fork in.

Final Counts from some bags, spotted by Snoopy in a last ditch count:

B. Cunningham      10,100
Sean Paul Fagan    17,000
Robin Mahadaz      15,700
Paul Roper            55,700
Damien Callaghan   6,300
Kieran Tregen       15,900
Alan Swan            14,200
Barry Donovan       34,800
Paul Cooney          13,300
Kieron Small          21,000
Tikay                   13,600
Patrick Tobin        23,300
Manus Burk           7,800
C. Constantinou    23,200

So with play resuming at 2pm, that's about all tonight.  Join us for the Second Thrilling Instalment of the Irish Championships tomorrow....

 ;stickaforkinme;

toodlepip

Just before i go to bed wanted to say a couple of things regarding the Red hand.
It is just me or does anyone else have SERIOUS problems playing a big pocket pair post-flop. This is why i think its vitally important Red finds out where he is there and then. They are so hard to play in fact that in cash games on tinternet now i think all pocket pairs are worth about the same when the money is deep . Same thing in a well structured tournament. Give me pocket sixes and i wont get into trouble. No set no bet yadayada. Queens in Reds situation is genuinely difficult.

If you flat call and the board comes 9/10/J high id hazard a guess that 90% of blondes (myself included) would have real trouble laying it down unless you know your player well. We exit the tournament here. Red has immense knowledge and experience but its tricky. Do you trust yourself enough to fold QQ postflop when  the board comes raggy and your opponent is serious?

Any 1 on here married Queens postflop in a cash game and got stacked? Thought so.


I think in hindsight that a re-raise of 3k will get the same result if he has AA/KK.  But if mateyboys already shown down Q3 to a raise, im shoving and im out.

Coincidentally i exited the 15k Tribeca final table tonight with just that, an overpair on a connected board where you have to bet to protect against drawing hands getting the right price. Advice please. Bah, id rather have 76 any day.

Just caught up with the last six pages, terrific updates and a tremendous debate.

My 2 cents on Red's QQ hand:

I think that I would have just called the RR, and probably gone busto on a raggy flop.

I also think that this is a question of style as much as technique.

GWM to you.