A game of poker
Sunday 1st February 2009Since starting work at the Hotel, I have been working 6-7 nights each week due to Staff holidays, sickness and shortages, no problem with that as I get paid for the extra shifts so my "Philippine fund" is growing steadily. This past week I have been off as I had to use up Lieu days and a couple of holiday days from 2008, done nothing other than just chill out and been into town for lunch a couple of days with some of the staff.
On Friday I am surfing the cardrooms on blonde and I see the Grosevenor at Southampton has a £20 freezeout at 2pm on Saturday's so I think 'that will do for me', so Saturday I get the train down and the casino is just around the corner from the station, I arrive in good time, duly fill in the registration card (thought I had done it online) and enter what is a nice casino.
On finding the cardroom I find out that it is in fact a
£50 freezeout, but its a deepstack tourney with 10,000 starting chips, and I am there now so I register, sit down in the bar and watch the footie on the big screen.
Tourney gets underway at 2.10pm with 29 runners, about average from what I hear.
My style of poker is pretty boring and unimagintive, I play solid poker and do ok if I get 'big hands' I dont have the ability/balls to get flamboyant,so at the 1st break it doesn't suprise me to find I have just over starting chips.
At the second break my chip stack is up to 24K mainly winning pots preflop with oversize bets with good hands, which I show every time and this is cementing my image as a rock!!!
We are down to 18 players, I am in the BB and have around 28K, the button moves all in for 24K the SB insta calls for 23K, I look at my cards only to find

ffs!!! The button flips

and the SB shows

and duly makes his flush on the turn, leaving me 5K, a couple more hands and our table is broken.
1st hand new table and I double up with AK against AJ, couple hands later and I push with pocket

only to get called by the BB, thinking I must be in trouble he shows Pocket

and I double up again. I then manage to build my stack to a healthy 36K and I am pleased with this all things considered.
We are down to 12 players, 7 getting paid, and I limp under the gun with A 10 spades, bad play I know but thats me, SB and BB play with no raise, flop is 10 high with 2 spades, BB bets 8K half his stack, I push all in, SB folds and BB obviously calls showin 10 3 for 2 pairs, i miss and am back down to 20K, that hand was the ONLY hand in the tourney where I ended up in a chase position, after the flop.
Final table arrives and I am there with 23K, 3 players have smaller stacks, so my main goal is just to make the money, 1st hand I have the button and shove with A J only to find the SB with KK and straight away I am down to 5K, quickly double up again having found AA which holds up. After what seems like forever 2 players are knocked out and we are in the money, one more goes, and I am sitting with 22K in the BB when the button shoves for his 17K I find AA again!!! he turns over J 8 of clubs, a J on the flop and the inevitable 8 on the river and I am back to 5K with the blinds at 3K-6K I exit in 6th place a couple of hands later winning £70
Deduct the entry+reg fee, car park at the station and the train fare and I have made
£4 profit BUT i have had 8 hours of poker, a really good crowd of players a well run tournament so I make my way to the station a 'very happy taximan'
Till next time guys..............