To add to the above, the SB was a good player (I researched after, Charles Akadiri), so my raise size was in part determined by not wanting him in the pot, given he was the big stack at the time.

Ha, thanks - got to get em in to win, right?

Would be interested to know thoughts on bet sizing on the Jacks hand? Ante was 1,000, six handed, so 18k in the middle pre. I have 17-18 BBs, and the B.B. in question has previously been outspoken about ‘not taking on his B.B.’. Also donk led several times after calls when heads up, and folded more often than not. When he donks, thoughts on my all in?

I’m happy to be criticised if misplayed etc, otherwise how does one learn....

Good luck Omm, win the lot!

Will do, and will 🍺 too 🤣

Anyone else playing this, or through already? Great comp, but Aspers stratford can be awfully miserable (some of the dealers, eesh...), and a man’s only friend should never be his 🍺  ☺️

Thanks - day two is 1pm, Easter Sunday

As you can see, clearly I rode my luck, the last hand is obviously a ridiculous run out, but I felt I played well for the most part - particularly early on when I dominated a table / could sense players didn’t want to get involved for an hour or two when six or seven handed. I was patient enough not to panic when flitting between 1/3 and 1/2 average stack at the FT, picking the right spots etc., so am generally happy with how I played.

The nice thing is day 2 becomes a complete free roll at bigger prizes, and I guess it’s as simple as ‘keep playing your game’ and don’t get distracted by the bigger players or prizes.

.....

TURN. 

RIVER

BOOM 🤣

The B.B. was left short, and quickly went out a hand or two later, the seat to day two secured 😃

I finished with 309,000 of 1,050,000, chip leader in the flight by 1,000.

Hopefully the day 2 clock will not be as high as the 6,000-12,000 level we got to - the final table alone lasted five hours (through to 3am), and so I  suspect ours one of the longer, if not longest, flights.

If anyone want me to provide updates next week, let me know - alternatively, if you think I should retire from hurting your eyes with this drivel, feel free to say! ☺️

For me, the FT was a real grind, constantly last or second last in chips, and picking any spots I could to make chips/try not to wither away with the now high antes in play.

Down to around 45k 8-handed, I shove    when it folds round to my Button I at maybe 2,500-5,000 BB, and get called by the B.B. with  .

Board runs out  x x x x and we survive for a crucial lucky double up.

I hover around the 80,000 to 120,000 chip region for a good while, until the bubble bursts when flopped top pair gets it in against flopped two pair, and with that a min cash secured.

A couple more proceed to bust out, and suddenly we’re five handed on the day two seat bubble.

The average is around 200,000, and by that point I had maybe 80,000, very much rooted in fifth - the other four clearly hoping one of them sweeps me up and out shortly!

At (I think) 4,000-8,000 with 1,000 antes, it folds round to me on the button playing 85,000 or so and I shove  ...

The same B.B. calls, this time with  , and the board rounds out a glorious  x x x x 🤣

From there I hovered around 150,000 until I look down at  :

I raise to 25,000 at 8,000 BB playing 145,000. I considered shoving pre, but thought the hand too strong to just pick up the blinds (possibly bad/asking for trouble - thoughts?)


The B.B., who had so far shown a ‘play any two cards’ approach, calls....

Flop:

 

B.B. donks 25,000, I shove, CALL

Turns over the Q-7 offsuit 😢

So, final table starts around 10pm, with blinds 1,200 - 2,400, if I recall correctly. Ten handed, average stack is 100k. 8 cashed, and so what unfolded was a very long FT, where all-in short stacks held up more often than not. I was fairly card dead for a couple of hours and dribbled down to around 60-65k, feeling handcuffed for long periods.

An interesting early hand involved an UTG limp, a few calls, then a lead from the B.B. on this flop.

    

Blinds were maybe 1,500-3,000

B.B. checks, UTG bets out around 12,000 with 25,000 or so in the pot, playing 100,000.

B.B., playing a similar stack, goes all in when folded round to him. He was an unpredictable type and had made the same move, massively overpotting, a couple of times previously. B.B. tanks for 5 minutes or more and eventually shows  !

As he was considering call the B.B. starts talking lots ‘I’ll show my hand, you’ll see it whether you call or fold’ etc.

B.B. had    and the poor Queens fella proceeds to receive torrents of ‘how can you fold?!?’ - it becomes too much for him, and he walks off for fifteen minutes or so .... 🤒

He would go on to finish 10th, and no doubt rue forgetting he’d massively disguised his hand with the limp, although I sense the min cash meant a lot to him.

Updates on Final Table shortly (need some lunch ☺️)

A few hours of my stack yo-yo’ing played out, until we got down to the bubble, 11 across two tables, final table being 10-handed. I’d lost a bit and had maybe 82,000. Then this hand I was not involved in happens, blind on blind:

Blinds around 800-1,600 - small blind has around 190,000, big blind around 180,000 - huge stacks:

Limp, raise to around 4,000 - SB calls

Flop   

Bet 6,000, call

Turn 

SB Checks - Bet 20,000, SB goes ALL IN - CALL!

SB - 
BB - 

So a turned set for the B.B. 😮

River, a blank, and SB’s flush holds...

I’m interested to know what people’s thoughts are on this. I instinctively thought it was a fold with the turned set, as I believe his odds of pairing up are around 25% / slightly below, and surely the SB can only have a flush (for the record, SB was an older gentleman who was relatively nitty throughout, B.B. another young online player type who’d played really well up until this hand). Of course the SB could have two pair / smaller sets and he’s have the world in chips, but the SB didn’t seem the type who’d go all in with anything below a flush.

A fairly definitive hand for my tourney played out as follows (warning - my memory of blinds / stacks / exact flops are a little hazy ☺️):

I have around 40k, guy to my immediate left has me covered, the young online fella to my immediate right was short with around 8,000. Blinds 300-600 with antes. I’m in B.B. and have  ... under the gun limps, follows by another three or four calls. Young fella goes all in. I reshove all in, UTG then stands up, a complete look of anguish, and after a few moments goes ALL IN

Fold, fold, etc, turn them over - UTG has    !

Flop   

Turn 

River..... 

BOOM

Upto over 90,000, average was maybe 35,000 😄

So, an early hand of note, and never was a big blind special more welcome! I’d started fairly quickly, upto 20k first hand, then dribbled back down to around 14k - the fog in my head from the night befores hangover was not helping, and I was kinda annoyed with myself for turning up with the DT’s!

A mixture of water + straight back on it would eventually sort me out 🍺

So, I look down at 9-3 offsuit, everyone limps round (opening table was really poor btw, which I was surprised by - super passive / sticky / old school stations etc.). Blinds were 100-200 I think, and maybe six in the pot

Board:

      

Err, check....

A bet of 450 by the chap to my immediate left - call, call, I call...

Turn 

I check, bet of 800, one call, I call

River 

The triple check from me, bet of 2,000, second player tanks for a while and calls, I go all in for around 12,000


Gentleman next to me goes into the tank, had shown some ego in earlier hands (turned over the 8-4 bluff in a big pot) and seemed the type for dubious hero calls

Eventually CALLS - other chap folds, I turn my 9-3 over and the shocked fella shows 

His reasoning was ‘I thought you’d flopped a small flush and turned your hand into a bluff’

Minimum calling hand in that spot? I thought  - how can I not ‘have it’, right?

After that upto, 35k, and stayed around 1.5 average for the first few hours...

Hey guys, thanks for the messages - especially the info and PM dropthehammer!

As it turned out, no shot clock, and neither of the players you mentioned played - tho I’ll remember for next time!

So, I tried noting down a few hands as I played through, and will upload shortly. The structure was 15k starting stack at 25-50, 30 minutes for first eight levels I think, then increasing to 40 mins - a lot of play, as confirmed by it finishing around 3am after a 1pm start (first clue we had a deep run ☺️)


There were 70 entries including rebuys, with top 4 getting a seat to day two and guaranteed a min.  £1,065 - fifth to eight also paid £888, £710, £535 and £535 respectively. Broadly, 5% make day two and 12% min-cash... on this day one, 4 of the 70 being deemed as the top 5%. The day one continues until 5% are left, which means that with multiple day ones, different days will finish on different clock levels. The clock for day two is based on which day one finished earliest, starting from the beginning of the next level.

Players can also play multiples day ones, take through their biggest stack and then sacrifice the others - in that circumstances they are paid out early on the minimum £1,065 per sacrificed stack.

So I have won a seat to the WPT500, Aspers London, and will be playing the day one tomorrow.

It’s quite rare for me to play a tournie of this size (I play live only in the £30-100 range, and fairly irregularly).

I imagine there will be a smattering of high level players within the field, and the standard to be higher than I’m used to, so would appreciate any advice on how you would approach.

Tight is right early doors? 6-bet the online wizard when at all possible? All-in blind every third hand?

Thoughts are welcome ☺️

Watch a few tonkaaa videos, he plays them regularly and is extremely aggressive in situations where a bounty is on the line - I'm no expert, he's possibly over aggro, but the general gist is calling much wider when a bounty is up for grabs, calling with any two cards will often be +EV in heads up scenarios