Fine effort @ DTD yesterday, Tom, now get the job finished. I want you to come 2nd today, then win the £500 in a fortnight.
66,000 sounds a lot, but with those blinds, you are still not far above shove mode, maybe 2 levels, hope you find some material to go to war with.
Loved the J-9 on a Q-10 flop, flush draw too, NH Mr Tom, & unlucky Peter. Bet you swapped a few yarns with Peter!
Did you get chance to have a chat with Phil? It must be 4 or 5 years since you, Methuseluh, & co went down to Cardiff as Phil's Guests, & had that "salt & pepper" SNG with Jesse May & Co. Phil is such a lovely chap, a proper bloke, a man's man.
I don't think Phil was there yesterday Tony. If he was I didn't see him unfortunately.
Bandit & I go way back. He's great company at the table and we spent a lovely couple of hours reminiscing. He has this kind of quiet, understated wit that can easily go over your head if you're not on your mettle.
We have this long history of clashing in big pots which always results in me leaving the tournament. It's the same scenario every time, I get it in in front, but he has a draw and gets there.
When I welcomed him to the table yesterday, he smiled and said "You never know, perhaps you will outdraw me today".
I was cut off to his big blind, and I raised it a few times and he defended strongly, then he raised my blind and I called with J9h. He went to work on me immediately. "Middle pair Tom.. AQ..?
"You know me Pete" I replied, but that was the problem. He did know me, only too well.
The flop came Qh 10h 4s. It was a magical flop for me, and I hoped that he had hit it. I badly wanted to get as many chips in as I could.
How to play it here... If I check he will definitely bet, but then I will have to raise and he will be gone. If I bet and he flats and I miss the turn I'm in a difficult position, but I fancy I would be able to check call a bet here and get to see the river card relatively cheaply.
Our stacks at this point are almost identical. I bet 5k from 30k into a 6k pot. He lifts his head and looks directly into my eyes from beneath his Birmingham City FC baseball cap. I've seem that look dozens of times. I stare back and at that moment, we both know that once again, it's all going in.
He gently pushes his chips over the line "Good luck Tom" he says softly. "You too Pete" I reply, shoving mine in too.
I love my hand, but I've loved so many hands against Peter. He always always beats me. there's a kind of inevitability about it.
I remember one time on the final of a £300 in Walsall there was just three of us left. Me, Pete, and a bloke who in all fairness was a bit of a novice. The Payout structure was very top heavy in those days and a deal looked very tempting. I didn't want to be first to mention it, but this bloke pipes up with "Shall we chop it?"
Pete sat back for a moment, lokked at the bloke, looked at me and I could see him thinking... I can beat these two..... "No Deals" He announced.
The very next hand he made a big raise with pocket sevens. I woke up with aces, danced a little jig inside my head and shoved. Pete called and spiked a seven on the river to knock me out. he has been knocking me out ever since.
He is my absolute nemesis.
Back to last night. I turned over my straight flush draw and he tabled top two. A wonderful 3h came on the turn but of course I wasn't safe. It would have been the most natural thing in the world for him to house up. I knew it, and he knew it. We waited with bated breath...
Suddenly, the dragon was slain. I had broken the spell. I couldn't believe it. Pete shook my hand and slipped quietly away.
I only found out later that he had made his way over to Tighty, described the hand and laughing said. "He's been waiting 20 years for that".
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