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As soon as I heard that there was to be an APAT event in Dublin, the priority became qualification. Dublin is a city I know and love very much, having visited the place hundreds of times, and been lucky enough to live here for a few short months around the year 2000, before my liver begged me to go home for a rest.

Unusually for me on a poker trip, I brought the other half with me. We have very good friends who still live in Dublin, who would be good enough to be hosting us for the weekend, so she would have plenty other things to do, rather than twiddling her thumbs waiting on me busting out of a tournament. As they dropped me off in a taxi they said they were going for lunch and joked that I would probably be able to meet them for dessert, going on recent form.

So, it was onto the tournament, determined to give a better account of myself than I did in Edinburgh, I was given confidence by some decent online cashes recently and a return to some semblance of "form". My opening table was decent enough, with a couple fo friendly faces including APAT Scotland runner up James Eccles, the one and only Ginger, and an array of Irish Gamblers, which suited me.  Play got underway with nothing much of any note happening in the first few levels. I got involved in a few minor skirmishes, but my strategy was one of controlled aggression, where I was not prepared to put my whole chipstack on the line so early in the tournament. I recall losing a 3-4K pot to Ginger where her pocket 7's were a pinch better than my pocket sixes (she made a brave call of my flop bet, a flop which had two overs on it :) ). I also laid down pocket jacks pre-flop after my original early position raise is re-raised instantly by the player to my immediate left. He had only arrived at the table, and I had no informaion on him.

I was beginning to get the measure of the table. Two players in particular stood out - an old guy in seat one, who seemed determined to tilt everyone up by betting out of turn whenever possible and, somewhat bizarrely, telling someone else not to bet anymore, because he had a really good hand ! To his left was a guy whose every movement at the table screamed "novice", and it was him I turned my attention to in the next hand. On my big blind he raised it up. I was holding  Jc  Tc, and decided this was good enough to get involved with at this stage. The flop came down  Kc  Qs  4c. I checked it to him, fully intending to raise him off the hand when he bet. He duly bet 2K, and I then decided just to call. Turn card came a blank, again I checked, and he then mistakenly bets 2K again. Again I just call. River comes  9s. Pot is now around 7K. I need to bet here, try to get him to put some chips into the pot. I bet 3K (leaving me about 4K back). He thinks for a long while before folding. He exits the tournament soon after.

I then get involved with Ginger again. I hold pocket jacks and raise her big blind (for about the 200th time that day). She calls and the flop comes Ace high. Jane checks, and I put a big bet in. Luckily she folds :)

As I begin to gather chips I become more aggressive. On the button it is folded round to me when I hold   8h  9h. I decide to test Mr Eccles by raising his big blind. He calls. The flop  gives me two pair which is checked, the turn card a Queen, which I believe gave him top pair, cos I ended up getting paid for my two pair :) Sorry Eck!

By now I have about 30K chips and get moved to a new table. I dont play a hand before the dinner break, deciding to keep my aggression in check until I have been fed. By now players are getting short stacked as the blinds creep up. I find a good time to get dealt  AA in the small blind. Unfortunately it is folded all the way round to me, so I just make up and the BB checks. Flop is inconsequential (maybe jack high), I check again, and BB bets a good amount. I min-reraise him, and he goes all in, and turns over queens ! (sneaky bugger). My stack rises to 45K.

By now I am getting moved all over the place. I am to be honest, not playing many hands now, because the shorties are getting desperate. I find  Kc  Ks under the gun, and just call, then hear the wonderful words "all in" from a guy who has around 25K in chips. I call, have no drama, and now sit on around 65K chips.

I am now using my stack to bully people off of probably decent hands. It seems I can re-raise at will and get no action. I get moved to my final table of the day where I am the chip leader, and my big blind isnt very attractive to potential stealers. My strategy now seems to have become limp with monsters and raise with junk. Eitherway seems to be profitable. My final big action of the day is to limp again with  Kc  Ks, and call an allin from our Norwegian visitor, who turns over  Qs  Qc. No drama and I finish the day with over 100K in chips and in a very good position for day 2.

I reflect on my performance on the way home in the taxi. I do not recall being all-in once all day. I have not been involved in any "races". From my point of view it has been as close to perfect as it gets. This is not "gambling", this is poker. Anytime I have called an all-in, I have been literally miles ahead.

Wonder what lies ahead in day 2 ?


.... ;popcorn;

Good read :)up and great play at the weekend.

Part II please!!

Thats not a very nice way to talk about Ginger :D

Good read btw

You had Jack's?! Sigh....   ;frustrated;

Well done mate you played really well, next time I don't let you bully me (as much)

bring on part 2



 ::)

...Well, we all knew what lay ahead on day 2.

20 players left.
15 players to get paid
18 players to get "ranking points"
Final table of 9 players.

As one of the chip leaders at this stage I knew I was a strong position to continue the bullying tactics from the day before. People dont play the APAT tournaments for the money, but no-one would want to come back on day two and not get paid. With this in mind I continued to reraise when I had position on the original raiser, and it looked like anyone left to act was definitely going to fold. I got involved with one three way pot where an early position raiser was called in mid position. From the button I decided that a re-raise to cover both of their stacks of around 60K would be sufficient to take the pot there and then. So it proved - the early raiser was caught in a classic squeeze with someone still to act behind him.

With the bubble long since burst we were now down to I think 11 players. I had bullied my way up to around 175K  I again was on a new table. On my big blind (8K) Brendan (eric stoner) raised from UTG. He raised to 16K, double the blind. One caller from the button position, which I concluded gave me sufficient odds to call for another 8K with my starting hand of  Kh  Qd.

Flop came down  Kd  Ts  3c. First to act, I bet out 35K, believing I had the best hand, happy to take the pot there and then. Brendan folds, so it comes round to the button caller, who raises to 80K. This gives me plenty food for thought. My initial reaction is to fold. But then I consider what hands are beating my at this point. AA, AK, KK, 10 10 - all of these I dismiss as being likely he would have re-raised pre-flop. K 10, K 3, 10 3 - All very unlikely to have called a raise with these. I conclude that the only hand which he could be beating me with at this point is pocket 3's.

My main thought was that he actually had the same hand as me. In the end  I re-raise all in for the rest of my chips. Eventually he calls, and the pot is worth over 350K. I am delighted to see that he has turned over K J o/s. After an eternity counting chips we see the last two cards, which dont help him (although the turn is a worrying 10, giving us some split possibilities).

A few minutes later we have lost our 10th place finisher and we are down to 9. We have a final. More importantly for me I have the chip lead.

it couldnt go wrong from here could it ?

...

Great Read....x

Obviously for me, having been involved in such a huge pot a few minutes earler, the break for the final table came at the wrong time. I was firing on all cylinders. My decision making process seemed to be 100% at all times. Unfortunately now was the dinner break along with interviews for the tv etc. I just wanted to play cards.

As Im sure everyone knows by now, I finished 5th in the tournament. I would love to be able to regale you with tales of bad beats, 1 outers and sick calls, but the truth is, I played like a donkey. After it was all over I used the well worn excuse "i was card dead". While it is true that the starting hands I was dealt at the final table were of questionable quality. I have been playing the game long enough to know that you have to compensate for that. The truth of the matter is, I just didnt get to grips with the play at the final table at all. Down to about 250K I raise to 40K with  Ad  9d. I get two callers (!) and I completely miss the flop. Small blind bets 80K and the BB calls. I fold....

Very next hand I get  Kc Kh, raise it up, and everybody folds....

Maybe they were better than me. I have no real problem with that. Apart from some stolen blinds I do not recall winning a hand of any note at the final table. It was only due to having such a big lead that enabled me to stumble my way to 5th place.

Anyway it was an awesome tournament. The amount of play at the final table proves that the structure was ideal. I would like to congratulate Brendan on his wonderful 2nd place finish and LeKnave for his 4th place. For my money, up to the point of my exit he had been far the best player at the final table.

Also, thanks for all the good wishes which were passed onto me before the final.

Finally, give some credit to APAT. They do a marvellous job. Cant wait till the next one.

brilliant piece of writing Laz...........well done big feller

Top stuff Laz.  Wouldn't be too hard on yourself.  You obviously played solidly to get to the final table, as you mentioned on the Saturday, you had played your A-game and hadn't been involved in any coin-flips whilst amassing a fair old stack.

You need some luck in any tournament, and being 'card dead' at the final table is going to dent your chances.  Was rooting for you, Brendan and LeKnave.  Great play from the three of you and a shame that one of you couldn't bring it home.

See you at the next one. :)up

cardrack!!  8h 9h FFS. should have known you had it when you didn't bet the flop  :'(


Nice work big man very enjoyable.

Shall be hoping to be on the button on your blind tonight if I manage to make the league game  ;goodvevil;

Terrific piece of reporting big man, and damn fine piece of playing too, I'm sorry to have missed it.

Great report laz,and a great performance ,i watched your table at the start of day two for a good while and you were firing on all cylinders.

Lucky fish


























Only kidding big chap you played a great tourney  :)up

I watched 90% of the final table & your right about Le Knave, he was easily the best player. I was on his left for about 3 hours towards the end of day 1 & he showed great patience when going through a rough patch.

Nice one Lazaroonie. Although i was hoping your exit hand might have been pocket nines.   ;)

 ;applause;

Very well written Laz, Seems you played really well but just lacked the luck at the buisness end.

Excellent read Laz, well played  ;hattip;

Great read, and very nice run too!

I'd love to write a similar but mine wouldnt even be a sentance cos im a LAGtard  ::)

well played Laz good read. i remember thinking when i checked the live updates that you must have had some really shit cards at the final as you didnt seem to be invloved much and ur stack was pretty static -said to myself hell have to start raising and re rasing with pish, easier said than done when ur sat with 9 2 off and a raise in front of you. good to see you hitting some form , always another tourney.

cambo

For an ex-jockey Laz you seem quite erudite.   

Well played tho.

Great report Laz I really enjoyed reading that  ;applause; ;applause; ;applause;

GREAT writing Laz, thanks.

I watched you almost througout, & I've never seen anyone defend their Big Blinds so visciously, poor Jane was getting mangled, but she's right, you are a bit big to argue with.

LeKnave? What a lovely young man, & fine player, he is. His play was awesome. He made a lot of moves, but not for him the theatrical dwells when he got re-popped, he just mucked quickly, & when he lost that gigantic pot, he took it like the big man he is. The other player who caught my eye was Paul, from Witney, in Seat 7 or 8 I seem to recall, he was "playing" too, & I thought he & LeKnave might get Heads-Up.

Lovely memories, & thank you for the nice comments about APAT & the structure. The APAT Crew were wrecked by the time play finished, but honest feedback recharges the batteries a treat, & I truly believe everyone had a ball.

V nice read.

LeKnave also has done a fantastic trip report., You can read it on his blog here: http://leknavepoker.blogspot.com/

Great read Laz.

Thanks for the words everyone ;)

Still a miserable begger at the table though.

;D

Great read Laz.

Well played and a fine result.

N1 Laz, nice to see u again ;)

Great read Laz.

I always enjoy reading players reports, and this was no exception.

Very fine report Laz.  Hope to see you back at an FT at some point in the not too distant future.

Cheers,

Des.

Not as much as we hope to see you at a bar !!!

Oh for an hour to spend in a bar.....

Never did get that drink....

Great report big man,

I felt for you after the final, coming in chipped up and getting nothing. Them's the breaks mate...................it was a pleasure sharing a table with you, and I hope we meet across the felt soon.

top stuff Laz..great read and well played..you'll win a big one soon enough playing like that.