Having spent all day monday in bed i thought id share my experiences from this past week at Luton
Sunday i went up to Luton to play the Sats with the £3k added from Blue Sq.
the first Sat was a very strange one for me on the last hand of re-buys i flop a set of fives and we get a six way allin. my sat holds up and i find myself 30k in chips. there was going to be 16 seats plus cash so i already had enough chips for a seat. i found it hard to pass my way to a seat but mangaged to achieve this and claim my seat for thursdays £500 double chance. I stayed on for the evening sat for the main event but manged to throw my chips away in a blind on blind allin with ace 5 against pocket
So all in all the day was a high with one seat from two sats
Monday i manage to wangle a seat in the £200 nl freezeout even though the comp had been sold out for the past 5 days. they added an extra 2 tables which were both self deal meaning i was player number 102 in a 90 runner field. playing some good poker in the first couple of levels resulted in me getting to 20k in chips quite easily. now with abit of room to move it could pick and choose my moments. things started to go wrong for me when i lost with QQ v AK then AK v AQ this left me short in chips and needing a double up as this happens i have julian thew and ash hussain join the table both of whom i consider great guys but not an easy way to get chips. so with some good control and patience i manage to hold on till i find some hands getting a double up from thewy when i had JJ and ash when i had KK v A9 in a blind on blind hand.
i manage to make it to the final with 60k in chips which was average. as i take my seat i discover i have chip leader dave colclough on my left going to be very tough raising into him and second chip leader ash hussain on the button for my big blind. when we were down to six jeff rodgers moves in on my big blind as he told me he would i have him covered by 4k in chips. i look down and find the ace of clubs i decide not to look at the other card and i call. Jeff turns over 10 9 and says good call i show my ace and as i split my cards discover a dominating ten hiding beneath. happy days until the 10 9 4 flop means Jeff flops 2 pair and cripples me. so down to 4k in chips and allin in the small blind as we were now at the 4/8k level i manage to make 2 pair in a 3 way coo and get my triple up.as the final went on i got my money in six times with dominated hands and managed to lose all six lots of pain involved there. no looking back for me from this point as i go on to knock out 4 of the 5 remaining players to win the comp and start the week off perfectly. i had a 365k v 140k chip lead when we went heads up but my offer was rejected all over in 3 hands. so i pick up the trophy jacket and collect £7200 for my efforts
Tuesday was the £200 pot limit
Full of confidence from the events the day before and maybe a little tired i discover i have an easy starting table with Tikay in his sunglasses sitting at the opposite end of the table from me. so as i say im playing full of confidence and with hindsight more like cockyness i manage to donk my chips off inside the first two levels and its back to reality for me. The night was not a complete washout though as i had 5% with JP who went on to winand get me my buyin plus a little more on top
Wednesday £200 pot limit omaha freezeout
Felt really tired so decided to take the day off and get some good sleep before the double chance the following day. still turns out a good night though as buddies of mine end up finishing first second forth and sixth in this 60 odd runner field. My buddy Dave Colton who i recently went to vegas with claimed second in this in his first ever ranking final table. he had been telling me all week that he was going to win it but still he was more than happy
Thursday £500 double chance no limit
No less then 5 mins into the comp i turn around to see 5% swopper jeff buffenbarger eliminated, after a record breaking 3 hands in a double chance. again i manage to get good chips early but lose a lot of my chips bluffing into a double paired board with a heart flush on board i bet every street and get called all the way by pocket
. i find mysef with 2200 in chips as the blinds hit the 400/800 level. I get moved tables and by the end of the level im up to 60k and second chip leader with 3 tables remaining. i hold decent chips as player get eliminated but with the blinds increasing and the bubble arriving i find myself struggling with 35k remaining with the blinds at 3/6k i decide to push allin on the button with pocket nines. the big blind gets very excited and insta calls with pocket eights. the flop comes down all clubs so with the nine of clubs in my hand i feel very confident of reaching my second final of the week until the eight of hearts arrives on the turn. i miss my redraw so im out due to a one outer as he had 1 chip more than me. This beat really hurt and im still feeling the pain as i write this now. the pain increased later in the week as i discover my chips were wasted as he got knocked out in ninth i collected £200 for the bubble from eventual winner and my player of the festival Michael Mccool.
Friday £250 pot limit holdem
took another day off wanted to be rested for the main event plus i was still really suffering from the beat the night before and fed up telling anyone who would or wouldnt listen my bad beat.
Saturday £750 no limit main event
Another really strong start for me and im up to 32k in chips by the end of the second level and feeling really comfortable on my table. the first hand back after the break i decide to reraise a guy allin who has just flopped trip aces unsuprisingly he calls and i donk 10k off straight away. within 5 mins i bet into an all diamond flop and quickly discover my opponent has flop the nut flush so quickly i get away with 15k remaining. i then call a raise with pocket
and after flopping a set of eights i eliminate the player who discovered his pocket kings were no good after the flop. Nothing much happened as day 1 drew to an end my table broke and i finished the day with 21k in chips disappointing considering my start.
i return on day two with 41 other players i dont recieve any hands i just steal the blinds and have mine stolen in return. my first hand of the day Bad Girl raises in front of me i look and find AK i decide to push all in quite happy i have the best hand she calls after a mini dwell and shows AK so chop dhop oh well at least i got half the blinds. A real frustrating day as i really had nothing to play. a player moves allin in front of me i decide to call fro just over half my chips but when the ten of spades arrives on the turn i lose the pot to king ten. Three hands later i push with king queen spades i get called by ace seven and after seeing the ace and seven both arrive on the flop i knew this comp was over and a 23st place finish awaited me.
Sunday £100 pot limit
I decide to hang around for an hour or so to play the evening comp which had a suprising 56 runners
For some reason all the players in this comp seemed to be playing it more like a £20 rebuy than a £100 f/o but i made this to mind advantage as i started walking through the field. now really well chipped up i continue to increase my chip stack i stumble when doubling up the same player two hands running he decides to raise for the third hand i call with ten eight spades and love the ten nine seven flop giving me top pair plus the up and down. when he checks i bet the pot he instantly raises the pot a 10k raise i ask how much more he has and says 8k beyond the 10k i check my stack and have him covered by 10k i push in the call and he turns his cards over as he thought i had put him all in. i see his pocket queens with a jack arriving on the turn i make my straight he wasnt allowed to bet to i decide to check as well to see the river. with the five of diamonds appearing on the river leaving me the best hand i move allin he calls i show the straight and we are one more player closer to the final. couple of hands later i get pocket aces for the first time over the weekend and i decide to raise the pot the bb calls and moves allin on the ten high flop i call show the bullets im up against jack ten of hearts and im winning until another ten arrives on the river. i make the final with 93k in chips out of the 280k in play i would of had 145k if my aces didnt get busted.
i walk through the final eliminating all the finalists along the way including calling one player blind only to discover i had pocket jacks.
So i manage to pick up my second trophy of the week
Now looking back i had a very enjoyable week lots of ups and lots of pain im very proud of the 2 trophys that i manged to win yet disappointed not to have down better in the 500 and 750 although i did go very deep in both
This though i guess is the frustration of festival tournys
i hope you guys will enjoy reading what happened to me during this past week hope its not been too long
all comments and responses are welcome
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