blonde poker forum

So, I will now put every other event in here.

Action from now is potentially fairly limited. The plan from this point seems to be to play every $1500 mixed event that I can, and throw in some no limit holdem later on too. Do let me know if you would like to arrange  pre-booking, I can let you know availability.

At the moment, the next two events are:

$1500 triple draw, Wednesday 14th June, selling at 1.1

Toddswain- 10% (on his pre-booking)
Engy- 5%
Edgascoigne- 10%

SOLD OUT

$1500 Omaha hi-lo mix, Friday 16th June, selling at 1.1

The mix is BIG O (5 cards, pot limit Omaha hi-lo), Pot limit Omaha hi-lo (4 cards, PLO8) and "Omaha hi-lo" (limit, 4cards). It is a great fun and juicy event.

(note, small chance of a cancelation if the triple draw goes very well)

Toddswain- 10% (on his pre-booking)
Bagel- holding 5%, given his request for $1500 triple draw action after sell out.

There is 3% remaining.

I'll take the remaining 3% please.

confirmed in for 5% cheers  gl

Confirmed:

bagel: 5%
Longines: 3%

Messages coming.

$1500 triple draw

The RIO WiFi apologises for the delay!

Middle of level four, 8250. But not.much to report, no decisions yet. No one has been caught snowing.

(A snow is the classic triple draw bluff where you stand pat, I.e. Draw no cards, without a hand, hoping that a bet will force the other player to assume you must have a made hand, and fold if they miss)

Hmm tough one.

8500 second break

Bleznick update: In the exact event that he was banned for life from the series last year he has already thrown all five cards face up across the table.

Surely more to come

Ouch, two one draws on the button. Both miss all three streets

6450

Big one. Dealt a "number three" (76532) , big action from bleznick (221) and rec (211).

16500

Going good, 22k

Sorry for lack.of updates, bad day for Rio WiFi.

Going great, 52k. Report at end of day, in an hour

 ;applause;

Never in doubt, keep it up Stu

Think we should make ' going good ' and ' going great ' mandatory for staking threads

Nice work, keep going

not the most effective life ban then   :dontask:


GLGL

Right, end of day report:

Hovered around just above starting stack til level 5
Then went on a surge up to 31k.
Had a dip in level  7 to 19k, but got back into it in one nice pot, an interesting move.

Rec player who has played nitty opens CO, I peel 632 on button, SB calls. Sb draws two, CO is PAT, I draw 2. I improve one to 8632. CO makes his automatic bet, I decide to raise to represent that I am pat. If it works, it will force out the SB if he has  not improved, and may encourage the pat player to break, as his pat range on CO is likely to be wide. It does work as planned; SB folds and CO sighs and draws TWO!

WE then get there with 86432, and win a nice pot.

Then followed a surge up to 55k.

Sadly in the last 10 hands of the day, I unavoidably played and lost 4 hands, and so had a dip down to 26100.

So, 63 going back tomorrow, 49 in the money, I've got 26100 and average must be about 36k.

Good luck tomorrow

+1

$1500 triple draw day two

Not a good start. Played three hands, lost three hands without decision. Down to 15200

58 left, 49 in the money

Had to win the next one, and did.

Its an interesting decision pre. I have 13.5k at 1200-2400. I have 8743 in the BB, pearljammer raises the button, duhammel folds the SB. In a cash game this is an easy three bet against a button range. His button range against two shorties may even open up a bit more, although I suspect not a big factor.

So the ICM judgement (albeit on one bet) is whether that estimated 10% edge i have on the extra bet is bigger than the value of covnserving 1200 the 40% of the time i lose the hand. Still not sure of the answer but decided to just call.

Made a pat 98743, it held, 19k

No good. Three more in a row, down to 5400. 55 left 49 in the money

OUT in 54th.

Well, seperated only by sleep, that was a very unfortunate downfalll from 55k going into the last level yesterday.

It came to an end the first hand of level 12. 742 vs Pearljammer (who must have played 16 of the 20 pots and got me 3 of 4). He drew two,  we probably have a slight lead, but bad news as we miss both, and even worse news as he goes pat after first draw. I go to the river with 7542x but he shows 86543 and I pair my five.

Definitely disappointing after the promise of yesterday, but all felt unavoidable. On to $1500 Omaha hi lo mix tomorrow

Hard lines Stu and a v fine effort.

Cheer everyone, a lot of fun, glad at least to come close

ul stu good effort mate, im up for any future % that come on offer, just pm me if they do please

Definitely will engy

$1,500 Omaha hi-lo mix, day one

Well, the short story is that I made it through to day two with a little more than starting stack, but it felt a lot more interesting than that, and a big grind to get there.

Chip stack went 7.5k (level one)- 12k (level three)- 16k (level 5)-21k (a peak at level seven),11k(level eight), 5k (a low at level 9)-8,100 (level ten)

The most interesting hand:

Level 3, Big O (5 card pot limit hi-lo), 25-50: I am dealt  Aspades Ahrt 6s 3h 2c, beautiful hand, make it  125 under the gun. Button 3 bets to 350. I can now do whatever I want (it's obviously a plus EV 4bet), but the table is a good one, so I decide to just call.

I flop the nuts with backdoor nut low draw on  Js 9s  2s . I lead 600 into 775. Button calls.

Turn is  Js 9s 2s 3d

Bad card, I now only have 4th nut low draw, which is fairly mediocre in the 5 card version of the game. Still have the nuts, and so bet 1,300 into 1,975. He calls.

River is  Js 9s 2s 3d 3h

Now no low available. It's a sigh card, but then there are so few cards on the river that keep me the nuts, whether that is in one or two directions. I consider the pot shove for value and I consider the small lead,  but decide to check. He instantly says "pot".

It's a horrible decision for most of my stack. (Pot is 4,575). In a better game, I would be more suspicious about the bluff. My hand looks like the nut flush, is indeed the nut flush, and can only beat a bluff. But the button had been fairly down the line, and it definitely didn't feel like he would turn his small flush/low draw hands into a bluff, which is a big part of his range.

I decided to fold.

It was a shame to fall from the peak, but was very happy to make it through the day.

8,100 tomorrow, 2pm restart.

best of luck for day 2

Good luck for day 2 pal

Cheers guys. Sat down for re start. Don't recognise anyone. Pot limit Omaha hi -lo (4 cards) to start

Action on first hand.

All in on river. Split pot. Hand later

8200

Dealt AK32 double suited in limit, get in three bets pre va big stack.

Flop JJ8, small flush draw, I bet he raises. Puke

Turn JJ8A, gives me three high flush, best card in deck. I have 3200 left and bet (2k). He sigh folds

Up to 15200 now

Made big fold of AQQ53 on T84 rainbow. would have busted

13k

I'm out. Two bad beats. Updates with cards in 20 mins once in front.of computer

Unlucky Stu.

$1,500 Omaha hi-lo, day two, Saturday 17th June

Well, today will not be remembered as one of the better WSOP days, sadly.

I went back with 8,100 and so needed to get something going in a hurry. The first hand brought action. In PLO8, I raised to 1,300 with  Ad Qh Jd 4h, and hit a  beautiful flop of  Th 5h 2h. It gave me third nut flush and second nut low draw. With only two streets necessary to get all the chips in, I checked behind, effectively to trap in position.

The turn was  Th 5h 2h 2d, a very bad turn card. He led for 2,500. I called. I now have the option to fold the river if it does not bring me low, as he is unlikely to bluff, or value bet a worse high on the river.

River was  Th 5h 2h 2d 8h. Good card. He moved all in, this looked a lot like a chop, and was, as he had 8752, for the turned house and an inferior low.

I then hit the hand I required to get some chips, as in limit O8 I hit a nice turn of  Jd Jh 8d Ad with my  Ac Kc 2d 3d, to give me a small flush and the nut low draw. He had raised the flop, and so I led the turn from the big blind with less than two bets. He tanked, at which point we definitely wanted him to call, but folded.

That hand and a couple of blinds got me to a peak of 16,000, and things looked hopeful.

Then, it was all over in a rotten five minutes.

A shortie on 6,900 raised the button to 1,500 on my big blind in PLO8, and I had the lovely  Ad Ahrt 7c 4h. Small blind call, I potted, and the button short stack called all in. Small blind tanked and folded. I was in good shape (68%/32%) against  Aspades 5d 2s 2c.

Then, something happened to put me in better shape! Seat one, not in the hand, announced "well, I had the other two deuces." Always annoying for someone not in the hand to misunderstand that players want a pure sweat, but it was very good news!

However, given that, it was a surprise to see the flop of  Ks 6d 2d! Either there was a fifth deuce in the deck, or he had misremembered. It at least gave me a low draw, but I bricked on  Ks 6d 2d  9s 9h.

I guess we found the only thing more annoying that a player declaring what he has folded when two others are all in, and that is a players who declares what he folded, and gets it wrong!

That had me down to 6,700, and it all went in on a fixed limit O8 hand. I had the very strong  Ac Kh 6c 4h, and the big blind defended, and led  Ahrt Jd  9s (I have top pair top kicker, and backdoor low draw)

The turn was  Ahrt Jd 9s 8d, giving me the low draw. He bet, we got it all in for just less than three bets, and he showed  Ad Qd 7s 5h. He has only three queens, two high diamonds, and four sixes to scoop (so, 9 cards to scoop), but the bad beat came as he did hit the  Ahrt Jd 9s 8d Td river.

A great fun tournament, frustrating five minutes to be knocked out, but on to the next one.

great write up. bad luck.

next please.

5 please. What's best? Stars?

it takes me about 10 read throughs each time there are so many cards and so many pots  rotflmfao

GLGL

Will take the rest Stu

$1500 Stud hi-lo, Tuesday 20th June

Toddswain-10%
Bagel-3%
Bergeroo-5%
Muckthenuts- you requested rest, so that is 3% if that's ok?

Messages coming

Next sale:

$1,500 Pot limit Omaha hi-lo, Friday, 23rd June

Selling at 1.1%, 15% available to sell. Prices are:

1%- $16.50
2%- $33
5%- $82.50
10%- $165

2% pls

3% is fine mate thanks very much. Will send now via BT  

Edit - will take 5% for PLO and send for that too :)

That's great, 5% booked also for pot limit Omaha hi-lo on Friday 23rd June

Hi, I'd like to take 5% for the PLO8 if it's still available.

FWIW, I think your call was best in the pearljammer hand. With the stack you had, I think losing an extra bet damages you more than gaining an extra one would benefit you.

5%for 23rd please Stu

I think you're sold out for the PLO8 Stu but if not I'll take up to 5%. If not I'll happily take 5% of the next omaha/mixed game $1,500 you sell action for.

$1500 pot limit Omaha hi-lo sales

So, sorry for this potential change. I have actually had an offer which enables me to play the 3k HORSE on Thursday. I will late register the $1500 PLO8 up to end of level four (but obviously from the start if I am free), which makes it very likely I will still play it, but no need to send til it is confirmed I will play.

To confirm percentages:

toddswain- 10% (pre-booking)

muckthenuts- 5%

bagel- 2%

MintTrav-5%

engy- I can only do 3% sorry, but 3% is booked

dino1980- yes sorry, your instinct is right. However, I have prebooked you 5% of the $1500 stud hi on Wednesday 28th June.

Messages coming to all.

I've sent for 3% Stu pm me if future events available please bud

Received, thanks v much, will definitely PM any future events

$1500 stud hi lo, day one

RiO WiFi update:  Definitely improving (couldn't get much worse)

End of level two, 9100. Only one hand of note. I have ( Ac 5c)  2s as the bring in, which is fairly beautiful and disguised. It folds round to my left where a  Ahrt completes. He will complete here with literally 100% of his range, as it is such a good spot to steal, and whilst I'm never in great shape even against his worst hand, I am definitely in good shape against his range. I raise, he calls.

I catch ok,  Ac 5c 2s  9c  8c  Kh by sixth. (this gives me bad low draw, nut flush draw). It's tough to remember suits but he is xxA37J rainbow. This gives him the betting lead, which he checks the whole way. I bet every street. I feel I have a slight equity edge, and albeit so small, if there is any chance of a fold, it must be right to bet.

Seventh street I get A5298K5 for a  pair of fives. He checks, which is definitely good news for my range. So the question is whether I am likely to be good for high against his calling range if he does not have low. I feel I just about am given his one undercard to my fives (and obviously he can never have a pair of aces going into 7th given his check calls). I bet, he does call, and muck. So I guess I got called by either something like AJ high or a pair of threes.

Slight dip now, 8700, decent ish table

Two nasty misses on big sweats, down to 6100

First,  Ahrt 2h 5c 8h 9h 2c (pair of twos, nut flush draw, low draw) going into 7th

And then

  7h  6h  5c  Tc  4h 9h (the world: Open ended straight draw, flush draw, low draw)

Both catch an ugly Jack.

Had deuces in the hole (pocket deuces) four hands in a row, and then five out of six. I think the strangest run of cards I've ever had live.

6200

Was going miserable, but then rivered a straight flush.

More of a boost to morale than chip stack, 5400. Lets go

Approaching end of level five, rough chip graph has been

7500-6000-2400-4500-7500-8300-6000-4000-2000-4500

Need another back from the dead

I did come back from the dead! Really nice run, up to 14700. No decisions, but cards in my favour, just knocked out a player by making (A3)4567J for a straight and  six low

Lost a big one to dan smith rivered two pair, 11300 in level seven

Up and down but good overall, 17k.

Big pot with high hand against two lows. I start (kq)k, calls.from xx4 and xx5. I make (kq)kq, and they go xx46 and xx58. I check to, 6 bets, 8 calls, I check raise, both call. In this spot, I want one player out, so it may have been better to lead and hope the xx46 helps me by raising.

I lead 5th as they catch xx469 and xx582. Both call

6th is bad. They make xx4697 and xx5823. I check, both check. This means the xx5823 must be a bad low and a pair

7th I check unimproved. Xx5823 bets, I call, and other player says he is folding a low. Xx5823 is James macakay and has rivered trip deuces for the scoop.

Maybe 4th street is wrong, shame not to get rid of one

Thanks for the updates!

No good.

Was at 20-22k for ages but a fifteen minute spell of four hands has decimated me to 2100.

The interesting hand was mw defending a (26)8 bring in against a king. I caught a J brick on 4th. Normally its a fold with next to no high potential, but the dead cards were basically perfect. They were KQQjT98 (even the 8 in my favour in terms of making low). So, it is just about correct to call, given also that the other card we know about is the likely second king in the raisers hand. I called, and we hit the worst parlay. 2684TQJ, forcing me to call down and fold the river.

There was frustrating pot where it came to a guy one to the left of my premium A23 as two bets cold, and he did the whole thing of calling, thinking it was one bet. Me and the raiser had to take advantage by capping five bets, and he incorrectly came along with what turned out to be 874. The sods law came true; I bricked twice and he scooped a big one

OUT.

Well, in another very active few minutes, my low of 1,700 actually turned into a chance for 17k. But no good.

Two the antes twice, up to 4600. Then I am dealt  Jc Jd 8d, on a board which is all low apart from a  Th.

Max Pescatori raises  3c, the  Th comes along, and Max and I get it right on 3rd and 4th to squeeze the  Th for the maximum number of bets before he folds on 4th.

On their backs. I am  Jc Jd 8d Ks and Max is  3h 4c 6h 8d. He makes (suits arbitrary)  3h 4c 6h 8d 6c 3d Ts by 7th (two pair), and I go into 7th as  Jc Jd 8d Ks  Td 7s. So we have the 15 out sweat for a 17k scoop....

But its  6s. No good

sigh Ul stu, fascinating reading though.

3k horse day one, end of level four

14,200 from 15,000 starting stack.

Was going fairly miserably but got a lot back from a nice Omaha hi-lo hand. I defended  Qh 6h 3d 2d three way. (in O8, its correct to defend even heads up alot wider than this as equities run so close)

Flop  As 7c 5c (I flop nut low, second nut low protection and back door gutshot). I bet three way, effectively for value, as  I will have 40% equity from my 80% chance of ending with the best low hand, and a small amount of equity for high. The pre.flop.raiser raises, 3rd guy folds, and I call (wrong outcome, we would rather go three way to turn to be picking up EV on three way bets)

Turn As 7c 5c 2s (actually the worst card in the deck, but its not too bad. My low is broken but I have second nut low. And a gutshot)

I check-call the turn.

River As 7s 5c 2s 4s (best card in deck. Reduces the chance of a flush. My 32 now plays for low as a wheel and i have a seven high straight.)

There is now a very decent chance he would check behind so I bet out. He calls. Still some chnace of a low flush but its looking good to scoop.

He does muck, and we scoop

Approaching end of level six:

Well, level six could not have gone any worse. Think I lost at least one hand in each of the five elements of HORSE, a a few.more. Don't think I would have dome anything different.

Currently down to 1,900.

$3k HORSE, mid way through level 7]

OUT. We did actually achieve a spin, but to no avail. 1.1k turned to 5,400 by chopping two big stud8 ones, but we came crashing down on limit holdem.

Button raises at 600/1200, I have  8s 6s in the big. Standard call.

Flop  7d 5d 2h. Check, he bets, check raise. I was close to not check raising as it's tough to get it through in limit, but with our hand equity there must be enough fold equity on my turn lead to make it profitable.

He three bets to 1,800. Not good news. Call

Turn 7d 5d 2h 2c. Check and call. Leaves me 1,200

River is  7d  5d  2h 2c  6d (pair of sixes)

I decide at this point I am check-calling (small chance of a bluff feels bigger than the small chance of him calling my lead with worse). He does bet (A check behind would have been beautiful)

It's puke. I think I made a mistake and should fold and keep my 1,200. It's 1,200 to win 11,400 so we are getting 8.5 to 1. I think on reflection we do not have even that chance. It would need the unlikely parlay of a flop three bet bluff with high cards AND the even less likely decision to bluff the river when it must look like I am always going to sigh call.

Frustrated with that mistake, but I guess only a small one.

Anyway, we did at least get beaten in style. He announced STRAIGHT FLUSH, and I saw  9d 8d on my way to the door..

CONFIRMED PLAYING THE $1,500 pot limit Omaha hi-lo on Friday, messages sent.

$1,500 pot limit Omaha hi-lo

Starting soon. This is surely one of the stand out tournaments.

I strongly feel the correct strategy will be to limp a lot my playabale range. Reduces variance, leaves big SPR ratios, and there is no need to push small equity edges.

$1500 pot limit Omaha hi-lo

8,200 midway through level two.

Made one bluff. I have A237 and limp to encourage multi way pot.

Four way (me UTG1, the button and the blinds). Flop  Jd 4d 4h, checked round.

Turn Jd 4d 4h 5c. Small blind leads 150 into 400. We have nut low and nut low protection and 13 card straight draw.

I raise to 800. The 150 into 400 feels weak, possibly just a jack in fact. The button now tanks. This is not good news. The tank would seem to be a likley house- he would surely protect trip fours when checked to him on flop, and so JJ, J4, 44 and 55 become likely. He does fold, however, so I guess had something like A3 with diamonds. The 150 leader quickly folds.

Hmm the one that got away.  9s  9c 3s 2c in big blind, small blind limps at 75-150, I raise pot to 450, he calls.
Flop Ad 8h 6s (gives me nut low and a pair of nines).

Its close whether to bet here. It effectively is a combination of protecting my high, with using my low to get him of high equity or potentially a better high hand. I check. The fact that getting check raised is not overly pretty (because I have so little chance to scoop)

Turn is gin. Ad 8h 6s 9h. And he leads 600. Obviously I do not have nut high but I need to get in as much as i can. Its definitely an option to just flat. If he is strong on one side only, he may well "pot" the river, creating a horrible decision for himself when I move in, having effectively trapped.

I decided to raise and leave an exact pot sized bet, so raise to 1,900. Its a massive tank, I feel we came close to the big action, but he folds

Going ok now, 8.9k

$1500 pot limit Omaha hi-lo

9,300 end of level four

Was up to 15k but then

Raise to 800 with   Aspades Jd 8d 3c at 150-300. Big stack calls, short stack all in for 1,350.

I can re raise and am of course an equity favorite over the big stack assuming nothing is going on. I make it 3,800 from 15k.

Big stack sadly is snap all in. I fold. May be somewhere near the odds to call but not going to consider calling off a really close equity decision with alot of play left.

Big stack does indeed have  Ac Ad 9s 9c. I don't know whether his trap was completely deliberate and well acted (on his original call, he took a quick glance at my stack but didn't at the small 1,350 stack, so it would have been pretty clever to use his peripheral vision at the same time as working out I could rerasie), or whether it fell.into place accidentally (aces with no low is of course a fine hand to make a standard flat call with pre, so he may have got lucky with the circumstance of me just about being able to re raise).

So, down to 11,300, still going ok

$1500 pot limit Omaha hi lo

OUT

An absolute sickener

Limp   Ahrt 5h 2h 2c. Mid position big stack raises to 1100. Call

Flop 9s 7s 2d. (bottom set, decent low draw)


I check, he bets 1,400, I check raise pot, he pretty quickly gets it in. Massive 24,500 pot.

He has Ad Kh 7d 2c (bottom two, nothing else, no low draw)

Its just absolutely horrific from him to get in 12k at 150-300.

He has worse than a two outer. (he can hit aa or kk, but it counts for more that I can still take half by hitting low if he hits a seven).

It does indeed come king king for the 6% bad beat.

Tough to take.

Unlucky Stuart.  Feels bad to go out so soon in the event you have looked forward to for ages.   People getting it in so badly is the reason we play though (he says having got it in bad himself!). 

Anyway good luck in the rest of the series.  I wasn't around long enough to say hello.

Cheers Doobs, yeah there is something about that event that makes it tougher when you go out! Shame no 3k this year as well. See you around soon hopefully

3k limit six max, day one

16.4k approaching end of level one. Was actually going really well but then this hand.

Raise  Qh  Jc CO, big blind defends. Nice flop of  Th 9h 2d, he checks, I bet, he calls

Turn Th 9h 2d 8h to give me the straight. He checks, I bet, he calls.

River Th 9h 2d 8h 3h. A flush I would prefer to have not made.

He checks, I bet, he check raises (all in normal tempo)

Not good news. 98% I can only beat a bluff. Its one of these spots where game theory wise, it is completely exploitative for him to bluff if I am even sometimes folding. But in a six handed tournament, we are nowhere near approaching both players playing GTO, so it is right to approach it in a vacumn.

My thinking was that there is very little that gets to the river that is so light that it needs to bluff , rather than contemplating a call. It is really enough AJ and KJ without a heart. (every other jack is a straight or a pair). He would of course be right to turn J8 etc into a bluff, but it just doesn't happen, and a big factor was that I didn't recognise him at all. A standard bluff line would be to raise the turn, and make a play, and he did of course have the option to just lead the river, rather than letting his plan to bluff depend on me betting when checked to.

So, it felt like a fold even given the massive pot odds.

3k limit six max

20.2k, end of level two

Running well, 26k end of level four

End of level six, going well, 35,000

End of level eight, 20,500

Was going really well, reached a peak of 41k but a nasty level eight took me down. 257 entrants confirmed

$3k limit six max, day one

Bagged up 18,600 at the end of the day. About 72 left, 256 entrants so there must be near enough 44 in the money.

Reached a peak of 42k, but had to grind hard to stay above the red zone. Going back to 1.5k-3k tomorrow, so it will be a telling first level or two.

3k limit six max, day two

Action first two hands. Raise button with 66 at 1.5-3k. Both call. Flop 832r, both check-call my bet. Turn 832A checked round. River 832AT, sb check, bb bet. I've got a no brainer fold. Down to 14.3k

Second hand, I have kings. Raise CO, bb calls. Flop K97 rainbow (weeeee!). He check calls. Turn K973. He check raises (weeee). Interesting decision. I wil gave 3,600 left after calling. This move from him is actually reasonably likely to be a bluff, especially with me blocking top pair. If it is a bluff, given the board, it is most likely a bluff without outs. So, I trap call. He check-folds the river, so it would seem he did indeed make a pure leverage bluff

22k
.

Incredibly swingy but currently 31k. 58 left, 39 in the money

Out in 46th, update coming

3k limit six max, day two

Out in 46th with 39 paid.

Came back with 18.6k, and from that point, it was insanely swingy. I don't think I did anything wrong, all was reasonably standard decisions amidst the madness.

I went (roughly):

18k to 14k- Raise 66 on button, three way to 832. Both check call. Turn 832A checked round. River 832AT, BB bets, I fold.

14k to 22k- Raise KK on cutoff, flop K98. He check calls. Turn K973, he check raises. I trap with only 1.2 big bets behind. River K9732. He check folds.

22k to 16k- Blinds and small ones

16k to 30k- I 3bet KQ  from small blind, he 4bets, I call. Flop Q97dd. I, check-call. Turn Q97dd 3h. I check-raise. River Q97dd 3h Ts. I move in for just less than a bet. Hoping for no snap. He tanks, and folds.

30k-40k- I raise QJ on cutoff, and call button 3bet. Flop J53. I check-raise, he calls. Turn J53T, I bet, he folds.

40k-26k- I raise 66 UTG+1. Flop KQQdd, he check raises, I call. Turn KQQQ. He checks. I feel  I have to bet. He calls. River KQQQ5 checked through, he has AK.

26k- 19k- I raise AQ CO, button 3bets. I call, as a semi trap. Flop J92. I check-call. Turn J922. I check-call. River J922K. Only river that I don't call. Fold.

19k-2k- I raise AJ from CO, big blind defends. Flop J42cc. He check-calls. Turn J42cc 5x. He check-calls. River J4252 r. He checks, I bet. He check-raises. Checkraise is brutal news. I have to call in limit. He has 42o.

2k- bust- I had Q2 in big blind, and got a decent result as got it in heads up vs Obst's AT. Board ran out JxxxA to bust me.

$1,500 stud, day one

Starting soon

 1500 stud, day one

Really good start. Got 13.5k from 7.5k starting. Biggest pot was me starting  Kc 9c 5c, with no clubs dead. Having none of your suit dead dramatically improves the chances of making a flush over the average two dead, and even does significantly over one. Five way limped, which is perfect.

Turn I get my card, Kc 9c 5c 8c. Amazingly, no other clubs fall. The AK bets, I have a no brainer call to encourage mutli way action, but everyone else folds.

On the turn I make Kc 9c 5c 8c 5h for a pair of fives and a threatening board. He has AKJ rainbow. He bets and I decide to raise.

Its a multi purpose aggressive move. I can choose to take a free card on 6th on certain cards, in the likely event i am checked to. I am repping a straight (albeit it would take someone naive to believe I have that alot of the time), but a 6 or 7 would be tough for him to call down unimproved. And of course I have good equity against a pair of aces

Instead I make two pair. My board is Kc 9c 5c 8c 5h 9s. He shows AKJ6. I bet, he calls

River I hit a disappointing Ts, to remain as two pair(no more clubs ever did hit the board  ). Big decision on river action. If I check and he bets, its very close to a fold. It is of course now heavily against me that I have repped this strength from fifth street. If he is an unimproved pair of aces, he should at least think about folding despite the pot size. If I check and he bets, I should think about folding.

Because the decision if I check would be close to a call anyway, it is right to value own myself potentially, and i bet.

He calls and mucks. Great news. The whole table seemed surprised that I had bet "just a 9" but I think its right.

Actually now up to 18,500 for a mammoth start. Rolled queens held up

$1500 stud day one

Going really good, mid way through level seven 26.1k

298 started, 136 left

End of level eight, 22,900. 104 left. Going well

Hmm really bad level 9, down to 8k, think its all unavoidable

OUT

Had AA8 3rd, trapped zaichenkos 9 door. It worked. Got it in aces vs 99 on 6th street. He rivered two pair. I didn't.

Gutted, would have been nice to get back up to 16k

Unlucky Stu , excellent reports.

$2500 omaha/stud hi-lo

Sigh. Probably the worst ever start to a limit  event. Played 12 pots, haven't even won half a pot.

Bricked 5 of 5 rivers early on. Stud8 I went in 22345x and hit a jack, a2556x and hit a queen and 3456xx and paired. Bricked two in O8

Then defend Jd Js 5c 4s, bet flop and turn on Jh Ts 4c 5s. River is a nasty Jh Ts 4c 5s 6d. Check call, he has the straight

Then in stud8, I go in five way  Qh Qs Th , get check raised by a (xx) 2h  Ad on turn. I call heads up and hit gin on 5th ( Qh Qs)  Th 3c Qd. She tanks and checks (xx) 2h Ad 5c .

It could be a bad acting job, but there is no choice but to bet unless there is very solid evidence for it to be a bad acting job. She check raises. It is a bad acting job.

No brainer call down. I don't fill up, she has indeed made a wheel on 5th. Its a ridiculous check against a T3Q board as I am only ever going to bet if specifically my hole cards are QQ.

Then get five bets in pre with  Ahrt 2h 3c 4c. Flop is all pictures

Down to 2k

$2,500 Omaha/stud hi-lo

OUT

Wow. I would be almost sure I just finished 292nd of the 292 entrants showing as I left. Pretty sure I wouldn't have changed a single decision. I played 14 pots, and didn't event split one. I would put a conservative effort on the combined probability of that being less than 1 in 10,000 (someone may be able to guesstimate better than me)

Down to 2k, I raised ( 8h 9h ) 8c, actually as the highest door after a jack raised, in stud hi-lo. I bricked to ( 8h 9h)  8c  Jd 3h, and a (xx)  2c Aspades 4s bet twice. I had 1,100 left and the pot odds were close despite my awful shape, but I judged it was just about a fold.

Down to 1,100, I started ( Ad  3d)  4d, and some hope gathered as we built a 5 way pot to 4th and I made ( Ad 3d) 4d Aspades  4h on 5th.

I got better on 6th, making  (Ad 3d )4d Aspades 4s 7c and got it in (suits arbritrary) against 5h 5s 6h 8c 2h 9c. I pulled mine first, a jack, and he had a 5 outer to scoop. A 5k pot would be a nice potential recovery.

He hit a seven.

$2500 big bet mix

This really is an exciting tournament. The seven different games are no limit holdem, pot limit Omaha, pot limit Omaha hi-lo, big O, no limit five card draw, 2-7 no limit and pot limit triple draw.

All the big guns seem to have sat down from.the start.

Ugly PLO hand to start. I am dealt  Ahrt Ad Jd 6h (a beautiful one) in the small blind, and my 3bet to 450 is called by the button.

Flop Ks Kh Td. (two backdoor flush draws, a gutshot and aces). I check, he bets 600.

Its a king often enough for me to think about folding, but with my extras, two outs to gin and the doubt that it is a king, I feel its a call.

Turn Ks Kh Td 6h. I pick up one of my nut flush draws. I check, he makes a strange bet of 600.

I really do think hard about turning my hand into a big bluff. It just feels like this is trip kings (and not a house) so much of the time. It now almost definitely is a king. I decide not to bluff. It definitely is influenced by the fact that it would be a shame to lose a massive chunk early in this tournament, although some of the strength of the bluff lies in the fact that he may feel the same. However, I feel that he may sometimes have TT, and that ultimately if I check raise the turn, I have to be willing to bomb the river, as a blind bluff into a possible house.

If I'm not raising,I think I do just about have a call of this 600 into 2200 pot. Call.

River is an offsuit nine. Check, he bets 2.2k, fold.

Hmm ugly hand. Not a big dent though, 11k

Good luck, Stu!

Cheers marky

End of level two, 10,300

$2500 big bet mix

More unavoidable brutalness. Make 76532 (3rd nuts) in pot limit triple draw, lose a massive one to the nuts, 75432.

6200

$2500 big bet mix

13,000

Made it all back in two PLO8 hands that went three way after my pot sized three bet (I.e. Big pots)

First I have  Ahrt Kh 5d 2c and I get it in on  Ks 8c 3d vs Phil laak's  Ad Kd 2h 2d

Interesting one. We share top pair top kicker and nut low draw. He scoops on running diamonds. I three quarter him on a five or an ace.

Turn is a diamond to give me a sweat to bust. River is a lovely ace, so I get three quarters.

Then I three bet  Ad Ahrt 9d 4d, both call and flop.is Qs 3s 3d. I bet 2.k (half pot). Its a strange bet, I have to lay down to a shove, so it doesn't matter too much that I have aces (only if they call and check down a queen and flush draw. Thankfully, both fold.

Oi Oi!

See screenshot

$2500 big bet mix

Another sigh PL triple draw spot. Raise 65422, two call. Rec draws one, laak draws 4 (!). I make 96542, bet 1k, only rec calls. I pat, he draws. Second draw is a nasty spot out of position , and a possible check. I bet 2k as hs seems to have kept his card to the side. He calls but read is right, he draws one.

I check river. He casually floats 3k into the pot. Its a small bet. He has checked this spot down twice before after missing, and has shown 86xxx after making this obvious looking value bet. Almost sure he is absolutely never value betting worse than my 96.

Its an easy sigh fold. Big pot

8k

$2,500 big bet mix

OUT, level 6.

A sigh downfall from 14.5k.

In 2-7 NL, I had 98762 pat in the big blind, Laak raises to 625 from 3.1k stack. I move all in. He makes a dubious call with 9654 (drawing one). He gets a 7 to make his 10 outer.

Then the PL triple draw  pot described in the last update.

Then in Big O (5 card pot limit Omaha hi-lo) I am dealt  Ahrt Js Jd 4d 2s, and there is a raise from the cutoff to 800, a reluctant looking call from the button, and a call from the small blind.

I have 7,100. I don't want to look to gamble with small edges, but there is 3k out there, and a definite chance of taking that for pre-flop given the action. The tournament is playing such that it is impossible to avoid gambling, and it is very likely that I have the best hand.

I raise pot (4k, leaving 3,100 behind). CO and button fold which looks good. Small blind tanks, and makes the call. He turns out to have  Aspades Ts Th 8d 7c, so its a really bad call as his equity is intransient and his pair of tens will mean he is calling all-in near 100% on the flop. i.e. he has effectively just called all-in pre flop.

Flop is  9s 9h 7s which looks good-ish to me, before seeing his hand. He moves in, I call. He has a ten to scoop, high spade to scoop, low spade to chop, and 6 to chop. Big pot, more than starting stack.

Turn is a  Qs, river is a  3c, to kill me.

Sigh, another luckless tournament

That is a super sexy mix of games. Enjoyable read Stu.

Ouch. Today was tough to take.

$625 satellite

There were only 26 players, so they made 3 prizes. Down to 7 players, I had 35k (just over average). Big stud pot, got it in on 6th with  (Ad Ks) Qd Jd Tc  2d against  Aspades  6s  5d 5s 4s 3s (flush and straight draw, only flush is good) He hits  9s on river for a  75k pot.

$888 flight B

It was an amazing field. Got up to 29k. The one rec at that table opens to 1,400 at 300-600(75). I have  Qh Qs and make it 3,900. He tank-calls.

Flop is  Ts 9d 6c. He moves all in (Ridiculous, it's 25k into a 9.5k pot). Call. It feels almost certain that he has pair plus gutshot. He does.  Tc 8h. Turn is  9c. Nice, this is a 60k+ pot.

River is  7c

Feeling drained. We go again, tomorrow.

$888 flight D

Playing the next flight of $888, starts 4pm

$888 flight D

7,200 end of level four, not too much has happened

$888 flight D

Was fairly quiet but just won a big one. 16,500 (8k starting stack )

Rec player raises the hijack to 1,100 at 200-400(25). I make the borderline decison to peel the button with  Ac Js. Flop is Tc Th 4c. He bets 1.2k, I call.

Turn is Tc Th 4c Ts. Check, check.

River is Tc Th 4c Ts 7c. He fairly quickly bets 3.2k.

Big decision. It definitely feels very suspicious, obviously. Some chance he may be bluffing with the better hand (even though, obviously, aq or ak should never bluff).

I call. He announces "ace high." Hmm, please don't say he has bluffed with aq/ak.

Its ok, he has A9

16k at 250-500(75)

22k going into 400-800(100)

$888 flight D

Going well. 33k, 560 left, 435 in the money

Good luck Stu

$888 flight D

Made the money.

40k at 1.2k-2.4k now

328 left in this flight, (430 was the bubble)

Cheers doobs

GLGL!

Down to 5.5k. I had 38k at 1.5k-3k, hijack moves in for 29.500. I have AQ and move in. He sadly has AK, and holds

$888 flight D

OUT

270th place. I think its $1700, I will pick it up tomorrow.

AQ < AK was the big one and had me down to 4.5k. I moved that in with  Kc Js. Both blinds called, and very much were in check down mode.

Turn is  Ahrt Js 8h 4d, and both checked flop and turn- which was great news. River is  Ahrt  Js  8h  4d 2c. Well, my fate was very much going to depend on whether this went check-check. If it does go check-check, it feels like I'm going to win 90% of the time. It there is a bet, it feels like I'm going to lose probably 90%

The big blind does bet, and has J2. Ah well, nice to have a run though.

$1500 no limit holdem and PLO mix

7.2k from 7.5k approaching end of level two

Down to 4.5k. Weird one in PLO last hand before break.

Cutoff opens pot to 350, I peel.button with  Ac Ks Tc 2s. Big blind calla. Flop is  Ahrt Jc Th (1st and 3rd pair, gutshot, back door flush draw).

The opener has 1950 and thinks and checks. I bet 600 into 1.1k. He tank calls.

It leaves him 1350 into 2300. Turn is blank Ahrt Jc Th 8s. He tanks again, and checks. Its strange. It definitely could be a trap but the tanks feel genuine.

I move in, hoping not to get snapped. He does think,.for a good twenty seconds. He calls, and shows As Kh Jh 3d. (top two, nut flush draw).

Miss the river. Wow, still.trying to work out what happened. Clearly its a disgusting nit roll but not intentional -I.e. A nit roll rather than a slow roll. I guess I was right that the tanks were genuine. Maybe just a cooler.
 

$1,500 PLO/NLHE

Back up to near starting

Raise Ks to Jc to 400 on bramm's big blind. Flop  Aspades Jc Th. Check, check. Turn is Aspades Jc Th 5c. He check calls 525, river is Aspades Jc Th 5c 6h. Check check, he has QJ.

Raise 8h 8c to 400 UTG, big bljnd defends (the accidental slow roller). Flop a beautiful Kc 8s 2h. He has 3.1k pot is 1.1k. I check behind as two streets of value almost gets it all in anyway, so I may as well invite him to bluff.

Turn is a lovely Kc 8s 2h Aspades, and he checks. It must be right to now bet big as a ton of the time that I do get two streets of value, it's from an ace or better, which is not going to pass the turn. I bet 900, he calls after a minute.

River is Kc 8s 2h Aspades 5s. He checks. He has 2,400 into a 2,900 pot. I decide not to go for it all as the all-in will carry threat, but it must be right to go big. I bet 1,800. Its a three minute tank, but he folds

$1,500 NLHE/PLO

Sigh, it all ended in two no limit holdem level five hands.

I have 6,200 and  Td Th in the big blind at 100-200(25). Button has played OK and straight up, and raises to 550. He has me just covered. The table has not been out of line too much at all, so I'm not overly thrilled to get it in, but definitely happy to. I make it 1,700. He calls

Flop is  Aspades Kc Jd. There is 4,500 behind into a 3800 pot.

I actually decide to turn my hand into a bluff on this flop, and bet 1,700. It's really close, I'm not sure whether I like it, and sadly it is the decision that ultimately changes the whole tournament, because of what it does to the chip stacks going into the next hand.

The decision to bluff with TT I feel is borderline. The strength is that I can bet less than half the pot with some fairly strong leverage, and so get good odds on my bluff. It is obviously hard for him to be really strong, and I don't think he has the hands like A8 and A9 very much. Obviously it's a problem for me to block JT, and the other problem is that it is always possible that he will actually just  call, even though this is very much an inflexion point. At least if he did, I would realise the equity of my likely 6 outs, on the turn. However, my image was perfect at the time, I had done nothing at all out of line. So I'm effectively aiming the bluff at his Kx and Jxs, I feel with decent hope that even if he is as strong as KQ, he may realise the leverage against him and strongly consider folding. I obviously have the advantage that I avoid having to check-fold too, and possibly get bluffed.


He moves all-in, and I actually get to see his hand, as he takes my snap fold as a snap call. He has  Ad Jd.

Hmm, the decision is really close.

Down to 2,600, in the small blind at 100-200(25) on the very next hand, the button limps. I have  Aspades 6h. He is the "accidental slow roll in PLO player" who seems to have played completely down the line. It is his first holdem limp though. With 700 now out there, I feel it has to be a move in, even though it doesn't feel good. The limp is almost definitely exactly the kind of suited connector type hand that it seems to be. It just doesn't feel like he is trapping. Given his bizarre PLO tank (in the first hand), he may even consider folding some of the aces that beat me, in the unlikely event that he has them.

Anyway, the big blind moves in. Always frustrating to aim at move at one hand, and then run into it big time with the only other hand to get through. Big blind has  Qs Qd. The button does snap fold, so at least the move was right.

It runs out in the kick-in-the-teeth way. I flopped an  Ad. He rivered a  Qh.

Ul Stu & great reports.

$1k turbo, 11am

All over quickly unfortunately, in two pots.

5k starting stack, I raised from 4,800 with  Ad 5c to 250 on the button at 50-100. A young European calls the small, big blind folds.

Flop is  Kd 7d 4d, to give me the nut flush draw. He checks, I bet 300 into 600, he calls fairly quickly.

Turn is Kd 7d 4d 6s. (nut flush draw and likely open ended straight draw good)

He checks. With a very likely 15 outs (and probably 18), the only reason not to bet is if there is a significant chance that I get check raised all-in, and have to fold my equity. But with the nut and second nut flush not available, two pair unlikely, and me blocking the hand that he may check-raise the turn as a semi bluff with (by having the ace of diamonds), it feels safe enough to semi-bluff my equity. I bet 800. He calls, less quickly but still reasonably quickly. It does now feel a lot like a strong one pair- and most probably a king.

By this point I have decided he is Italian (fwiw!).

I miss what turns out to be the 18 outer river. It pairs the 4, for  Kd  7d 4d 6s 4h. I had decided that no river card is good to bluff in the circumstances, but the low pairing card is definitely the worst of the lot. It feels right to check behind. He has  Kh Jc.

Down to 3,400 at the 50-100 level, I have  Qs Qh  UTG+1, and make it 250. The cutoff called. He has played reasonably randomly, and seems inexperienced.

Flop is 8h 6h 2c. I have 3,150 in a 650 pot, and bet 400. He slowly raises to 1,000. I definitely didn't like the feel of his behaviour- there was possibly something going on, but it was tough at that moment to say whether it was strength or genuine uncertainty. He had previously raised a 223 flop and tank-folded, which was fairly significant information, as it showed exactly that he had raised a marginal hand to leave himself a decision. A pre-flop trap (AA or KK) felt unlikely. Calling to re-assess on the turn just did not feel an option at all. If he does have the 99/TT/JJ we are hoping for, he is going to think its good and ship a non heart, so I just cannot call the flop and fold the turn. And there definitely felt some kind of chance that he not only could have just an eight, but might get it all-in after his previous tank-fold.

I moved all in. The snap was always going to be bad news. He had  8s 8c and made quads.

Another day where I don't think I would change anything. Don't know whether that makes it any easier to take or not.

$1,500 no limit, Wednesday 11am

7.2k approaching mid level three. Not too much has happened. Literally every other player on the table seems to be going insane around me. I think there have actually been a higher than average number of set up hands dealt, but still, it feels right to play down the line.

gl tonight mate

if playing razz,(hopefully not because in day 2 of your nl tourney), would be fun to take 1 or 2 % if its free.

either way i will have sent you all outstanding this saturday.

thanks for all the help, its much appreciated. def a few beers flying your way sometime soon.

$1,500 no limit Wednesday 11am

Sliding.


French guy who isn't folding much raises to 400 at 75-150(25). Two call, I have  Th Ts in the big and make it up 1,700 from 7.1k. Getting it in against any stack obviously. But the big blind, who has just regged, moves all in for his 7.5k. Sigh, its going to be close pure odds wise, but its a fold.

Raise 8h 8s to 500 at 50-100(25). Italian calls, another calls. Flop Kh Qs 4d, I check, French guy bets,I fold.

4,200

$1,500 no limit, Wednesday 11am

OUT, late in level 4.

Didn't see a hand all day, and had blinded down from my 4,200 to 3,300. A raise to 500 from UTG2 at 100-200(25). As fitted with the pattern of the table, actually all three players called before it came to me on the button.

I had Qs Js. It's close. It's obviously unusual to be peeling to see flops off 16.5 bigs, but with position and the unlikelyhood of the blinds squeezing, it felt right. I did give some thought to moving in and benefitting from the 2k dead there if I, say, get heads up all-in, against the initial raiser, but it didn't feel right with next to zero chance of getting all to fold.

Both blinds called, for a very unusual seven way pot.

Flop is Qh Ts 3c. I have 2,800 into a 3,725 pot. It's checked round to me. It's actually this kind of flop that makes my peel pre so borderline, because top pair is not in great shape against a calling range. It's unlikely for me to get it in in good shape- only the blinds should have an inferior queen, and only the two players on my right may call with a hand like AT, if folded round to then.

At the same time, with two backdoors, it must be right to shove when checked to.

The big blind calls, and has  Kc Qc. I guess it's one downfall of them being unlikely to squeeze, that I don't eliminate hands that dominate me, even from the blinds. I think it's just about right overall though- I could have found a fold against a lot of flop actions, buy the check round traps me.

Board runs out no good, Qh Ts 3c 4h 5c

$3,000 no limit, Thursday

Really tough one to take.  OUT, in level 2.

The table was an absolute dream. I couldn't believe it in a 3k tournament, I guess it was possibly the one incredibly lucky table draw in the whole room. I would say, in the last few years, the best I've ever seen. Matt Affleck was the only exception; apart from that, there were literally 7 guys, just having fun, talking, limping into every pot.

Matt had an absolute dream in the first level. 2 guys just gave him a stack (he managed to move in for 3xpot 88 on 9765J and was called on the river, and moved in about 2x pot with QQ on QQT98 and was called by AJ). One guy remained as the short stack, and the other (incredibly) was replaced by someone very similar.

They didn't seem to be bluffing at all; It was the dream to play against; all 7 just put in chips when they had a hand, and checked when they didn't.

The whole time I was trying to work out how to play against Affleck (three to my right), but most of the time, at 25/50, it was easy just to limp into everything that I could in position. I played two small pots of substance:

1) Dealt  Ks Kc UTG, I made it 300(!) at 25-50 and 3 called. Flop  Ahrt Qh 2h, check-fold.

2) Two limped to my small blind, I limped  Js 5d, board was  Td 5d 5c 7s 2d, I bet 300 into 400, big blind called; I bet 500 into 1000, he called, and bet 1,200 into 2,000. He called, and had  Kh 5c.

I had 12,300 at the start of 50-100. By this point, one of the limpy guys had been moved, and replaced by Nick Binger, to my direct left. Then, this happened.

At 50-100, Binger opens to 300 UTG. Guy to his left folds, and then ALL SIX others, including Affleck, call. Pot is 2,200 coming to me. I have  Qs Qh in the big blind. At this point, I'm very conscious of what could arise- that I three bet, he four bets, and I have the nightmare live poker decision.

I gave some brief thought to not three-betting, but it is just a no. Ultimately it's a table where I have to try and get the chips if they are there to get, and it is very possible that I would get the lot in on something as simple as J32 against JT.

I three bet to 1,800. At this point, I put myself in the rare spot of not knowing for sure what I would do if the decision came. However, knew that I would be able to tank without giving anything away, should the 4-bet come at me. The most likely outcome is a Binger fold and one or two calls from the recs, and then it will be a inevitably big pot, but one in which it will often be easy to make the right decision.

(Sadly, Binger has aces)

He acted it well. I was able to see the clock, and his tank was just under 4 minutes. I regretted that I didn't know how Binger plays, but I had to conclude he is good enough to at least know it's a good spot to 4bet bluff, and not too nitty to have some chance of getting it in with JJ, given how strange the spot was. I think it probably is the case that his tank was deliberate, and implying exactly what he should try to imply- that he was taking in what a strange spot  this 8-way pot was, and tanking what to do with a tough decision (whether that tough decision was JJ,AK, or a 4-bet bluff). I was conscious that I wasn't going to draw anything like a definite read from his tank, but it definitely did work for him, as it influenced me a little.

He 4-bet to 3,800 (he has almost exactly 15k). I then  went into a long tank myself (I had been aware as I three-bet that it was fine to tank this decision, without making any hand more or less likely).

I came to these decisions:

1) There is at least some kind of chance this is a bluff. He won't think there is much chance at all I am light, but he should be aware of everything about the spot that the four bet puts me in- The fact that it puts me to a decision for everything, made more difficult by the dream, passive table. So tough to put a number on it, but I had to make a guess, and it was that he would bluff 20% of his hands that were a 4bet-fold. I pick up 7,700 if this is the case.

2) It's horrible for him if he has jacks. His long tanks works there; I guesstimate it as 50% that if he does have JJ, he will get them in, and so his tank works as implying that he is working out whether he wants to 4-bet call it off with jacks.

3) The circumstances mean that he may well have to 4bet-call it off with AK.


I move in. He snaps, he has aces. Board is J8432.

I think ultimately it is a cooler of circumstance. It was important to think rationally, but I was of course aware that it was a disgusting spot to have to get in 120 bigs with QQ.

Would appreciate people's thoughts, but my feeling is that a) I have to three-bet, and now the six calls obviously make the pot so inflated that it will put me to a decision for everything if Binger does 4-bet, and

b) The spot is now horrible enough for him with JJ and AK, that I have to get it in.

Tough to take, I feel stunned to have busted from that table so early; the kind of live poker decision with so many elements, that it is a decision I've never come had before.

Stuart, it's been an absolute pleasure reading your updates through the series, you can even make NLHE interesting. Many, many thanks for taking the time.

Agree.  A cracking read every day.  Good luck for rest of trip.

Thanks so much guys. It means a lot, especially when it hasn't gone too great. Hopefully some one including better news in the Main!