Good Morning!
I finally get to do a trip report on this blog thanks to my reinstatement at the Luton G. Yeah it's only Luton on a Saturday, and EPT High Roller it ain't, but I'll try my best to pretend it was a super serious comp.
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I get the email saying I am allowed back in the club at about 11am, by 12pm I am already on my way there for a comp that doesn't even start until 2:30. I just wanted to have a little walk around and see if anything was different first, plus I wanted to add some time on to get my membership back. I thought I'd face a few questions and suspicious looks from whoever was on reception at the time and I was bang on. But the chap on reception was good as gold and after a quick call with the customer service manager I was back in the G. Slightly amused that the reception chap had to be all sensitive to 'problem gaming' with me, probably part of his training and he has to do it, but I did feel a bit like a naughty schoolboy being told not to be silly and go on a mad one again.
Walk into the poker room to a booming welcome from Raj and immediately get talked into doing a last longer for a £110 monthly seat.
Bit of an international flavour to this comp once everyone's registered. Good mix of Eastern Europeans, the older players, and a couple of youngsters. And a chap who seems to use the C word twice a sentence who brings a massive whiff of the ganjas to the table with him. Everyone knows, everyone can smell it, nobody says anything.
Comp overlays by about £600 once we begin, with 5 levels of late reg and one re-entry. Raj has already said my re-entry is already waiting. Charming.
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Table 4 wasn't the greatest table draw. Didn't look much for action. -
Seat 1 - Older chap, literally expect him to limp every hand.
Seat 2 - Brooding quiet middle aged fellow.
Seat 3 - Yours Truly.
Seat 4 - Chatty European lad.
Seat 5 - Guy who's been smoking a joint and has to be asked to move into his correct seat 3 times by the dealer.
Seat 6 - John Hunt, Luton's resident curmudgeon and personally one of my favourite people there.
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Hand One - 25/50
ME (BB)
UTG limps
Folds around to older chap on button who also limps.
SB limps.
I make it 275.
UTG calls 275.
Button Folds
SB Folds
FLOP
Bet 400 into 700, Villain calls.
TURN
I hate this turn. Hate it hate it hate it. I block the nut flush so I still have some semblance of equity in the hand, but I don't think I can go into check call mode here. Bet 850 into 1500 as a blocker bet really. I want to the river but if I check to him, I don't want to get bombed off the hand and I can fold to any aggro after my bet. Villain calls.
River
Now I am going into check call mode. He bets 1300 into 2700 (?) and I call. He has
.
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No real interesting hands happened for about an hour and I have a slowly dwindling stack. Down to 6500 by level 75/150. I head to the toilet and come back to John Hunt on a mad one, as he is prone to do, offering the stoned guy outside. Apparently John just open shoved like 30k for some reason and the other guy called it off with AQ and held and celebrated in John's face. Thought spliffs were supposed to chill you out and not have you stacking chips whilst doing jazz hands.
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Hand Two - 75/150
I get
in the CO. Raise to 400.
Get 3bet by the Small Blind to 1000. Reluctant call, and online I would either 4bet jam or fold. I don't 4 bet jam because I don't want to give the casino floor the satisfaction of seeing me be the first re-entry on my first visit back.
FLOP
About what we were looking for really. Top pair, modest kicker and the nut flush draw. SB leads out 2000, I snap shove for 5500 more. He calls with
. Bink the
on the turn to double back up to starting stack.
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Hand three - blinds 200/400/25
I have
in the BB. MP opens to 1000, CO flats, fold, fold, I defend the BB. Great price, easy enough hand to play.
FLOP
Top pair, no kicker, backdoor diamond and a wheel draw. Hand is going to be trickier to play than I first thought. MP continues for 1500, and the CO just calls. Given the great price, I can't really fold for like 6/1.
TURN
Backdoor diamonds in play now, tell myself that if villain bets around 3k and CO folds, I am going to shove the turn. Then change my mind as soon as he bets 3k. CO calls again. Pretty consistent with a flush draw IMO. At this point I feel CO's hand is totally irrelevant and he is going to fold all non heart rivers.
RIVER
Pretty huge brick all things considered. Doesn't improve many hands on this board texture. Villain snap shoves and has both me and the CO covered. CO insta folds as I expected, and I have to spend a few seconds thinking this through.
Small bet, smallish bet, bomb the river. Has to be a pretty tight value range to be shoving into two people. Don't think he opens small pairs there often, more one to limp them and set mine. AQ-AK probably bet the flop more for value on a two heart board. So at this point I'm thinking AJ is probably the most reasonable hand he can be shoving here for value.
Is he more likely to bluff a missed flush or check give up? Certain that he knows he has to bomb the river if he has been semi bluffing hearts all the way, and he has a small number of AJ combos compared to the
-X,
-X,
etc he can be bluffing here.
So I call. He says 'You win'. I show the A2 and then get a couple of weird looks from other players like I am a sticky moron who can't fold top pair. Maybe I am. Now playing about 45k.
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Hand four - 400/800/75 - About 35k in chips.
in BB.
Folds to the CO, older gentleman who opens to 2000. I flat.
FLOP
Bottom set, bingo. We are getting it on this flop. Set out to just checkraise all in on the guy, but he beats me to it an just overshoves the pot for 15k with a shakey hand. Dealer does to count his chips and doesn't notice I have already snap called 5 seconds ago.
TURN
Me make quads, and we go to the final table. The chap who's been on the devil's lettuce is on his 6th pint now, and is actually going mental when he wins a pot. Doesn't really bother me, but it's winding up a few of the other players. I'm sure he was just excited to be winning, but it was bordering on excessive celebration. Nobody wants to bust one off the final table and have some geezer in your face dancing the locomotion and waving his hands about.
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Hand 5. Blinds 1k/2k/200. Stack of 45k.
in the BB.
6 spots pay, 8 remaining. Min cash is £80, about £440 for first.
The drunk, stoned, celebrator is now chip leader after just shoving any two paint cards (easier to see when you're pissed I guess) and winning. He's never opening normally, just shoving anything JT or better. Maybe it's sick ICM play and I'm not privy to it.
To me total surprise he jams on me, from the button. I have no intention of folding, I know it's going to be a flip at best but I'm going to stick it in the mixer. He has AK.
FLOP
.
And that's a GG for us. Debated late reg'ing the evening comp, or shooting up Genting's but I decide to call it a night. On my way out I hear the call go out for a 50p/£1 Holdem Cash game. I manage to ignore it and head home.
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Feel free to offer any thoughts or insights into the hands posted! Next stop will probably be the monthly special at the G, if you see me say hello!
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