Mini Tourney Report - Sheffield 150 PLH, Thursday

A Mini Tourney Report? Well when the author busts out 15th & leaves the Casino in hurry, tail between legs, it's hard to do the full works, but for those that are interested, here's an overview.....

By the way, if you wanna miss all my babbling but do want to know the result, go to the Live Tournament Section of the blonde Forum, & it is posted there, & it will be in the Tournament Results section on the main site by tonight.

150 PLH, Sheffield Owlerton, Thursday.

A & S Leisure, owner of Napoleons, must have thought it was Christmas when they saw who turned up for this. When was the last time a 150 Rebuy in Sheffield attracted a field of THIS quality?

Carlo Citrone. Dapper as ever, scruffy jeans but Gucci Tee Shirt & bespoke tailored jacket, usual suntan. He should be a Chippendale.

The Camel - in positively THE most horrendous pink polo shirt you ever saw.

Garry Bush - Mr Hyper, never still for a moment, forever wandering around the tables. "The fing wiv comps like this is....." And a new Gary-ism, "If I could get my 15%-85% shots to stand up....."

Ali Mallu - jeez, that man has his own way of playing the game.

Ash Pervaiz. Sat next to Ash & chose to win the Worst Pass of the Week Trophy to his astonishment, & he rightly berated me. Boy did I feel stupid. Too much "survive at all costs" & not enough attention to the Pot Odds which were screaming out "YOU MUST CALL". But it was against Ali Mallu, who completely outplayed me in the hand. The man scares the pants off me. I had AQ suited, flop was 5-7-8, I bet, Ali moved in, I passed despite HUGE pot odds. It sorta looked like an Ali Mallu flop to me, that's my feeble excuse...... Colclough reckons Ali is the most under-rated player in the UK. He's not far wrong.

Lucky Liu, the PokerStars Hero. "How are you Fish" he greeted me.......Cant believe he mixed me up with Ulliott.

John CT Law, "is Julian your only son tikay?, grrrr...

James Browning, the PokerZone man. Showing all & sundry a "flyer" about himself, very nice. But the biggest busuiness card I ever saw - it was A4 size....! No ego issues there, then.

Red-Dog Tom McCready, in his WorldofPoker.tv gear. Gotta be nice to him 'cos he did me a big favour last night. Hostilities resume tomorrow.

Paul Parker. Paul paused for breath twice - 8.15, & 11.45. We all thought we'd gone deaf, but he'd gone to the toilet as it turned out.

Alan McLean, who seemed strangely subdued last night. Seemed to have upped his starting hand criteria, he now requires a MINIMUM of A-4 before he RR'd.

Big Notts contingent, led by Greg Junior Hill, who looks younger every day, Ian Oldershaw, how pleased I am to see HIM back, Malcolm Muskett, Greek Jack, Ali Bag of Bollocks, Jaz, a distant second to Paul Parker in the non-stop talking trophy, but strangely, no Ash Abdullah.

Mickey Wernick. Mickey exited the WHUPC to the eventual winner Peter Gunnarson, & immediately predicted the guy would win it. He also said, 3 years back, that Thewy was a star in the making. And that tikay would be a serial bubble boy. 2 out of 3 aint bad, eh?

George Geary, complete with handsome son.

Lawrence Gosney, dour as ever. Never, ever, miss the chance to share a table with Lawrence, he's tremendous fun & a terrific reader of the game.

Des Jonas, King of Bling. He won at Walsall last week, what a character. I am going to get Poker 425 to interview this dude, don't miss it, he's something else.

Big Oz Mustanoglu, & partner in crime Rumit, who has abandoned the upside down shades. And who busted me out of the comp.......But he's a bud, so that's OK. Ish.....

Dave Gardner, the Track Suit King. The man must have a wardrobe full of them. Very smart, too.

Terry, from Hull, in a shirt that was possibly worse than Camel's. Gave it the "giss an autograph tikay" routine all night long. Smart arse.

And the full Sheffield crew, whose names I have to pass on. Except Max, fresh off a plane from 2 months in Pakistan, Fizal, Norman, Barry Neville etc.

Very crowded, but Craig must have read the blonde Forum yesterday, as we got a 10 minute break at 0130, when we broke to 2 tables. And Fordy has broken his leg, & was hopping about like a hopping about thing.

Camel got chips early, & had AA 4 times to my knowledge, including to bust out Red-Dog. Red-Dod said "trust me to find him with a hand". Camel had plenty of chips when I exited in 14th or 15th, but never finalled. But he made the money Wednesday.

Ian Oldershaw looked in good shape & with 15 left he had 40k, & average for the Final was 44k, so he must have been gutted to finish 10th. With 20 left, Ali Mallu R'd, Ian RR'd, Ali RRR'd, & Ian called in a trice. Ian JJ, Ali A-3. ACE THREE!!!!! And an A fell, but so did a J, so Ian doubled up. Early in the comp Ian & I shared a table, & clashed, as we always seem to. I had JJ, Ian KQ, & he did NOT wanna see a flop of Q-J-x,.....!

Bushy hung in low stacked all night, & finalled. I had got lucky earlier to bust Carlo, my KQ hitting twice against Carlo's JJ. Bushy said "cant believe how much you have loosened up, playing KQ"...Bloody cheek. Bushy made 2 blind steals all night, each time with KK.....

I had an amazing bit of luck during the rebuys, when Matey Boy R'd from the button on my BB with AA, & I decided to look him up with 8-6, as did Adrian Mole with 4-5. A flop of 4-5-7 had everyone in unpassable mode, & I scooped a huge pot, lucky tikay.

When we broke to 2 tables, I was getting a bit low on chips - there's a surprise - & hoped for a soft seat. To my left, in this order, I found I Camel, Bushy, Carlo, Ali Mallu, & Ian Oldershaw. Great....

With blinds at 1k-2k, & only 8k left, (15 runners now) I found AQ & moved in. Rumit, same chips as me virtually, made what was almost a mandatory, but nonetheless brave call with Q-3 suited, & was horrified to find himself dominated by my A-Q. Not as horrified as I was when the River came the 3.......

At which point, I took my leave......

But I hada grin from ear to ear, & heres why. After returning fom Barca on Sunday with Thewy, I was mortified to hear on Monay night that Reuben, Julian's lad, had fallen extremely ill, & had been rushed to hossie in an ambulance. Suspected meningitis was the horrific diagnosis, leading to the two worst days I can remember for me, so think what it must have been like for Julian & Amanda. But the all-clear came on Thursday, & young Reuben will make a full recovery. Now THAT'S a result.