Tue/Wed/Thursday at Big Slick

Tuesday

£30 second chance and another 10th place for me! That’s two weeks in a row! Very frustrating, ok only 6 or 7 actually get paid however its still annoying to get close and blow out at the end. Also at Big Slick I’m currently 3rd on the leader board and every one on final (9) get extra points, which would help me get closer to a free £330 seat!

Anyway at the end of this tournament my mate said to me, ‘That must have been very boring I do not remember you playing a hand!’ He was right! My stack stayed at 5k for like 3 hours, which does not help at the end when blinds are 800/1600. Once again I could not pick up a big hand in a big situation. I mean that when someone raises I did not have enough of a hand or enough chips to chuck it in and get him to call/fold. I just remember folding a lot and when I moved in I never really got called. My last hand was 5 handed and 1st to act bets out like 3xBB and with my 5xBB I move in with A10, saying, ‘ This has to be good’, When 5 handed the strength of hands increase a lot. Also there is a lot of raising hands that I’m ahead of and a few I’m coin flipping with, which I would take at this stage! But of course he has AK and I go home! But at least I avoided the cash games!!

Wednesday

£20 Rebuy at Big Slick. I actually did a Phil Hellmuth again as the Arsenal match was on against Hamburg. So I called up ahead and told Big Sick to register me and I then left home as the Arsenal match was dying down. We were comfortably winning 2-0 and I heard the rest of the match on the radio on my way to Big Slick. (Going to see Man Utd Arsenal on the weekend!!!!) So I turned up about an hour into the comp which left me with 15 minutes plus 3 hands to play the rebuy period, which is good enough. Did not feel like going crazy in the rebuy period and this helps if not there for long. I took a top up, then doubled up, then took the double add on. So had around 7.5k going in after the break, which is enough. Only a 3 table comp, so felt I had enough.

After the break again I did not play too many hands. One guy moves in UTG and I pick up AQ and think for a while, I have invested zero into the pot and do not need to get involved thinking it probably a coin flip for 80% of my stack, but then he started talking about A rag and then I got the impression he had AJ!! So I call the BB then calls with A7 for value, which was fair enough as he was short stacked. UTG has AJ and a 7, hits meaning I lose the main pot but win the side pot, I think I broke even in the hand. Again not much happened, I raised a few pots and took then uncontested, but raised twice and got called twice and got checked rasied all in on the flop, which is not nice! I never have anything!!! There were about 15 left and I’m looking around the remaining to two tables and I just see a wall of chips everywhere!!! I had nothing, as usual! At this point I start to think, what am I doing wrong!!! I cannot ‘gamble’ when someone has already rasied and another guy has called, I’m not good enough to play Q7 and J5 and hit two pair on flops, I was just really annoyed. I’m mean all the big pots that were one were with AA or KK or AAs and KKs getting cracked and I could not get the cards to do that. A few hands later a big stack limps in MP and I got KhJh in the SB and push all in, he calls with out thinking (opps!!) Should have realised that I had fold equity against other players but not this guy, he really was a calling station, even when he had AAs he called off all his chips. He flips over A3 and I’m not in that bad shape, he is a 54% favourite, the flop helped me giving 2 hearts but I miss and go home! I got to do something different!!!!

Thursday

£10 rebuy with a £5 bounty. Pratik just came back from Prague and Neal was up for Big Slick tonight as well which was cool, he had not played live for a while. There were some other games on tonight a big sat to EPT at the Vic and a big £200 freeze at South end where Zenal went for the night, last time I spoke to him there were 16 left and he was still in.

Had Pratik on my table at the start of the comp and I doubled up the rock of all rocks in the 1st hand! Opps!!! Then lost a few other hands and before I knew it I was in for £65!! Not a good start!!! But played more tight and got my stack up to 7.5k going into the break, which is again very nice and in for £75, definitely wanted to get more aggressive in the middle stages.

I do get aggressive but in a different way, I wanted to make even small raises then I normally do so the BB and others will get involved cheap, I then played position and my hand strong. But getting them to call pre flop makes pots a lot nicer. I won 2 nice hands with 55s and Q9, I made smaller raise like at blinds at 400/800 I made it 900 more to go and so forth. Getting two callers, pot = 1700+1700+1700+400 = 5,500, my stack after the raise was only 6k and to take a pot that big on the flop was very nice. I then pick up AK and raise it up the BB calls and the flop comes A high, bingo!, he checks to me and I bet out, he then mucks! AJ!!! Huh!!!! That was meant to be my double up hand but he lets it go! Great fold sir!!!

I still do not have a bounty chip!!! 12 players left and I get moved to a new table where to my surprise I’m on a table and I have only played one of the players before!! That’s is quite shocking to me and annoying. As I move Pratik gets knocked out of the comp, Neal was out as well, so just me left in. I pick up Q9 in the BB and we are 6 handed and the button limps (never seen him before) and the SB calls and I check. Flop 9 T 7, checked round, I feel strong about my hand then the turn is a 6 but gives 3 spades on board and I have the Qs. SB checks and I check (mistake, should have bet) and the button checks, was also thinking maybe to check raise. Annoying when u get thrown into a hand with people you have never played with late into a comp. River is a Q and I have two pair. SB bets out 2k and I think about it and call. Picked the safer options and now the button goes all in for 2.2k more! SB instant mucks and I think, I say to him, ‘You really raising here with AQ,’ sort of the only hand I can beat, maybe KQ, I then look at the pot and it was 12k and if I call it would be another 4k on top, so was a nice pot and I still had just below average if I make the call, so I call and he got KJ for the straight!! Yuk!!!

Final!!! I have about 14k and blinds are 1k/2k 7 BB!! Plenty for me!! Pick up a few hands and move all in and get no callers built my stack up but then lost it back in the blinds. We get down to 7 handed and did £30 off the top for a bubble prize. I’m in the BB and UTG moves in for 8k, Blinds 2k/4k and then someone else moves in for 12k total. Its folded to me and it cost me 8k more to win 2k+4k+8k+12k = 26k. I look down and see 10c 2c! Doyle!!!! I decide to call thinking here is my chance to win the comp, as long as the do not have pocket 10s or higher I’m not in too bad shape, people not happy when I flip my cards over! But here are the number, UTG has 62 and MP has 99 against my 10 2, 99s are a 58% fav, my 102 is a 28% and 62 a 13%. Ok so I am just very slightly priced out but if you add the value of knocking two players out and moving up the money I felt it was right to do, plus I had 2k left if I lost and could fold the next few hands hoping to move up. The flop is 6 3 5 two clubs!! Bingo! Turn is another club and they are drawing dead! Sweet!!! After the hand I was 3rd in chips and thought to my self, I’m in a position to actually win a comp at Big Slick.

My plan now was to stay out of people way. There was one very aggressive player and I did not want to get in his way, he never raised just all in or fold!! Very difficult to play against players like that. We got down to 4 handed and I had not played a lot of hands and my stack was decreasing, I was in the SB and moved in blind just to pick up the pot as the BB looked like a quite tight player. I then did it again and he called with A7 and I turned over QT, I hit a T and we are 3 handed. We asked to cut a deal to flatten the price structure but the chip leader said no, and the curse of that it, you are going to be out next!!! Button (chip leader) raises to 8k and I have As8s and call and the BB moves in for 24k. Button calls, I know I have the button beat, I know I’m losing to the BB but I was thinking of maybe getting a side pot going with the button, if I move in he has to call. But I worked out the side pot even if I won would be less than the main pot which I had invested, so I folded. BB had 99s vs buttons K8 and 99s held. My A8 would have won the side pot! Oh well. The hyper aggressive player then gets involved with the other guy again and he takes him out, we are now heads up and there is about 185k in play and I have 35k and he has around 150k. So he has just over a 4 to 1 chip leader and he offers me some extra money to walk away. I reject the offer saying I love heads up poker, plus the blinds were not too high and I was willing to play, I really enjoy heads up poker, its pure poker to me. Plus I want to win a comp!!

Ok so 1st hand I limp with 67 and flop the nuts we check all the way and on the river I move all in, he folds. Then limped a few times and made small bets when I missed, got caught a few times but succeed a few times as well. He then moved in a few times on me and I was lucky not to find a big hand as he flipped over AK and AQ those times. I was getting a bit low and found K3 on the button and moved in, he called instantly with A2 and my 3 hit twice giving me some chips but still in 2nd place. I pick up J8 and limp and he checks, Flop J 9 3, he checks and I check, turn is a 4 and he goes all in and I call. He has 97 and no help on the river gives me the chip lead. We then do another deal and took £50 off the top and gave it to 2nd which meant we were playing for less. I then take a few more pots and have a nice chip lead, I then raise with 10 5 and he moves in, I call instantly just because there is too much in there to fold, he has A3 and I have a 40% chance of winning the comp and I hit a T followed by a 5!!! I finally win a comp at Big Slick!! £502 plus £25 in bounty chips, which I gave to the dealers as a tip!!!!!
Felt good to win a comp and now I have a chance to get player of the month and win a free seat into the £330 comp! I do not think I did anything different, I kept to my game plan and just won a few coin flips!!!!