I arrive at the casino about 3.15pm. Jeez, this place is packed. The roulette tables are in full swing, they’re three deep at the blackjack and I’ve never seen so many logo’d polo shirts and sunglasses in one place before.
Decide to have a nonchalant wander around with the sole intention of star spotting. Oooo, Barny! Actionjack! Wenick! Stuff this bored, seen-it-all-before air that everyone else is adopting – I’m just a big starstruck fanboy.
After a 20 minute delay due to traffic on the M6 (this came as a surprise?) 180 names go up on the big screen and the air resounds with every variation of the theme “Is this table eleven?”
Luckily, I find me seat early and start pocketing the freebie sweets, playing cards and caps. I’m right underneath the screen and start looking to see who else will be on my table. Don’t recognise too many names but then notice I’m no longer supposed to be in 11 seat 10 – I’m now on 18 seat 6. Seems they changed every seat at the last minute in an attempt to recreate Piccadilly Circus on a Saturday afternoon.
Table 18 is as far from the action as you can be without actually sitting in the toilet (far end of the cash game area if you know Walsall). It becomes obvious that they have 16 proper poker tables plus two trestle tables with a bit of cloth slung over them. Not being the sveltest of specimens, you would have trouble fitting five of me round this thing, never mind ten. No wrist bar edging either – I had visions of chips flying off in all directions.
Everyone on the other tables is getting set – chips are being stacked and dealers are getting ready. We however have neither chips nor a dealer. Virtual live poker – could be the next big thing. A quick shout to a supervisor and Chris the dealer starts moving himself and his chips over from the as yet empty neighbouring table. Given his table could actually accommodate ten players and had somewhere to rest your elbows, we players who had already made their way to the glorified coffee table took an executive decision and took up squatters rights on the better table.
OK, finally we’re just about ready to go. I mentally file the names of my table companions for later research. Joining me were:
Seat 1: Brendan Walls. Turns out he won over $20,000 last month at the Irish Poker Championship as well as making the final table of the inaugural Asian Poker Tour event in Singapore. So, not a fish.
Seat 2: Scouser bloke who has apparently won a few festival events. So, not him either.
Seat 3: Walsall local who I know is a very solid player. Nope, not him.
Seat 4: Ryan Fronda. Won £25,000 at Luton in December. Cashed in the WSOP last year. Cashed in the EPT last year. Still looking.
Seat 5: he was last to sit down….
Seat 6: Yours truly.
Seat 7: A mature gentlemen whose name I didn’t catch. But he was well known to the other pros and obviously a professional festival regular. Played some very sweet bluffs in the first two levels. Definitely not him.
Seat 8: The last of six alternates for those sat on the M6 when we started – Jules Adamson. Another pro who won over $60,000 last year. So where is the fish on this table?
Seat 9: Iwan Jones. Ah, here he is.
Just joking :-)
Seat 10: Didn’t catch his name either but solid as a very solid thing and no mug at all.
Hmmm. So it’s either me or the guy to my immediate right in seat 5.
Oh, good grief.
I had hoped to spot this face when I was doing my star spotting stroll early on. Well now I’ll get to see him from slightly closer quarters.
Seat 5: John Gale. 2006 WSOP winner. 2005 WPT winner. Won $450,000 - last month.
Well this should be fun.
1st hand and I can’t remember what is was. To be honest, if it was Aces and I probably would have folded. I am not going to be the first to rise.
We’re still in the process of playing the first hand when someone at another table has to make that move - “Lost one!”. He comes over to Iwan and explains how his preflop raise with KK was called by Lucy Rokash. 20,000 chips go in the middle after an AK2 flop with two diamonds. Lucy’s Ad6d held up…
4th hand of the day and my first big blind. Folded to Fronda on the button who raises. Gale gets out the way and I’m looking at 99. Call or raise? Hey, Poker Tracker doesn’t call me Tight-Passive/Passive for nothing you know.
Flop is T85. Check bet call. Turn T. Check check. River 3. Check, 1500 bet, call. I show, he mucks, I rake - woohoo!
Moment of amusement for 9 of the table followed soon afterwards when Gale leads out on a flop of AAK with a bet of 175 using 4 chips. Jules attempts to call with 4 chips, only for the dealer to point out he has just raised to 1525…grey/green – easy mistake to make.
The Walsall regular who was holding what turned out to be the case Ace once the turn was dealt must have thought Christmas had come early.
The next two hours were fairly uneventful. I had TT in early position which was called by JJ so I was quite lucky when the board came Ace and King.
I made a move on the Walsall regular as I knew that he knew how I play etc. etc. and got him to lay down with a post-flop reraise when I had nothing. Standard 101 poker no doubt but nice when you’re a TPP like moi :-)
So we get to the first break after two hours and I have 11,000 or so. Blinds are now 75/150 and after 4 or so hands Gale limps from UTG. This was not unusual. He had been playing quite a lot of hands and was not afraid to call some fairly hefty post-flop bets.
I find QQ. Hmm. Don’t like this position. I decide to limp., hoping to get the chance to reraise preflop. If not, as long as there’s no A or K I will feel pretty happy.
Four of us see an unraised flop and it comes T87 rainbow. We like.
The pot is 600 and Gale leads out for 550. “Hmm, got a piece of that have you? Trap call coming up then”.
Turn is a rainbow completing 2. We like again.
The usual not-to-quick no-to-slow deliberation from Gale and 1600 chips cross the line.
You know that part of your poker thought process that is supposed to go “so what could he have? What would he bet with here?”. Well next time I’ll remember to do that bit.
All I’m thinking about is how long should I look puzzled for before I stun him with my winning hand.
“Raise”
I move 4800 chips forward and then am slightly perplexed when a neat pile of purple chips is lifted over the line.
You know that part of your poker thought process that is supposed to go “OK, I’m obviously beat and I still have a few thousand which is 20-odd BB.” Next time – that bit too.
He turns over his cards and I realise that even an online river can’t save me here. A very genuine handshake and platitude from the man himself and I hear those dreaded words “Lost one!”.
My only consolation? (and don’t kick a guy when he’s down please lads
) I’ve convinced myself that even if I had raised an appropriate amount, I was still going to get crippled on a T87 flop.
Because the reason certain people have won $2.7 million in two years is because they know how to play 96 suited from under the gun.
Roll on the Cardiff sats – I promise not to make quite such an arse of myself next time.
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