PARTY POKER WOMENS POKER OPEN III

So Anyways,picture the scene, It's Wednesday afternoon and im in work looking out at the rain pelting off the car roofs, thinking up all kinds of excuses why I really don't need to go to Jackie Skelly's for a swim, when my mobile rings, english accent on the other end of the line kinda recognisable, but im not too sure. "Hi Colette it's Paul here", funny because I know at least 6 pauls through work from the U.K. so I go "Hi, how have you been keeping", hoping he will give me at least one other clue.

"How do you fancy playing a Poker Game next Monday and Boylepoker will pay you in"..As the penny drops I realise ahhh Paul Spillane, and reply "yeah sure where, thinking Dublin, maybe Drogheda, Dundalk area?",

It's over in London we want to put you into the Party Poker Women's World Open III, then for some reason I tell him I have to get back to him with work etc., etc., and see if I can get cover. I take his mobile number and then spend the next 5 minutes banging my head off the table, you absolute twat..... Gift Horse and mouth and all that.

My work colleagues roar laughing at the fact I didn't say yes immediately, so I ring Paul back and say yes yes yes of course I'll go. WOW, he also say's that they will pay for Martin's flight etc., over so happy days..... yepee yahoo,

I meet up with Ciaran Corbett on Friday night at the Bruce Poker Tournament in Dundalk, and he gives me the gear to wear in the UK... I decide to try and have full concentration at the Bruce Poker game, to practice for Monday, that went fairly well to form and the engine was still warm in my Car as I headed back to Dublin, I dropped mad "Paddy the taximan" off at the fitz and headed home

Sunday 24th May 2009
so we fly over with Ryan air and get a Taxi to the Waltham Abbey Marriott Hotel where we meet up with Padraig Parkinson who is quite impressed that I had already got my 2nd Vodka into me (calm the nerves)....

Monday 25th May 2009
My nerves are fairly well in flitters at this stage, we get picked up at the Hotel and brought to the 3 Mill studios in east London. Im brought into makeup and then have an interview with Party Poker (I had to hid my Boylepoker logo which I thought was bad, but couldn't really say much). Then there is a 45 minute delay before we are eventually brought into the Studio. It looks like something from a Star trek movie, all bling bling and lights. Once the game started I settled down a littel, but my hands were still shaking a bit. My table was as follows

1 Lise Vigezzi partner of Pascal Perrault
2 Colette Murphy
3 Cecilia Nordenstam
4 Hina Modha wife of Rajesh Modha (winner of Labrokes Poker Million 2006)
5 Patricia Li
6 Rotjana Thomson

the Format was 100K starting stack and blinds starting at 1k 2k and going up every 21 hands.
Lise Vigezzi, got off to an agressive start and was raising quite alot, I on the other hand was getting nothing, tried raising in the sb to 6k (blinds 1k 2k) with 5s6d... call from cecilia Nordenstam Qc9c... QsAs5d... I check folded to a raise from her meh. Next hand of note I raised with 3s3d and took the blinds, phew I won a hand, gold medal for me....

I relaxed into the game a bit more, although the game itself there were very few flops being played, raises were getting through....

Lise Vegizzi raised in the cut off to 5K, I smoothcalled with AhQc... so does Hina Modha in the blinds
Flop comes down 2s 6h As
check from modha,
lise bets 12k and I raised to 28K both folded

Next hand of note lise limps in the Sb and I check my BB with 7h5h -
Flop is Qh9dAs and goes check check...
6h on the turn and Lise bets 2k,
I re-raised to 8k as I had a flush and straight draw
Beautiful 8c on the river... Lise checks and I bet 12k but she didn't bite

Now to the worst hand that I played - yuck
Patricia Li raises to 7k utg, (she had been very quiet) its folded around to me in the Sb and I look down at Ad8d and call... so does the BB cecilia Nordenstam
flop comes down QcQdAh...
I check, Cecilia checks and Li bets 12k, and I fold - horribly play by me. I felt that she was really strong though and got a bad feeling about the hand (but calling with A 8 and folding on an AQQ board is pretty spewy play) found out later she had 7's - you live and learn

blinds move up to 2k 4k and I have 110K + and feel okay, but the play is fast and I feel that im playing a bit too tight maybe.

I get As10s and raise utg.
Cecilia next to act re-raises to 25K
its folded around lise's BB who reraises to 50K, I do a little dwell and fold and Cecilia moves allin and Lise calls
Cecilia has two black queens and Lise has AdQh, the queens hold up and Cecilia becomes big chip leader.

Blinds move up to the 3k 6k level and I am seriously card dead and am finding it difficult to pick my spots. Also there is no player gone, and I drift back down to 75K, there is a raise utg and I look down at pocket 10's and move all in, no callers and I get some badly needed chips.

Just when it looked like we were never going to lose a player, 3 go in quick succession,
1st gone was Rotjana Thomson who was short stacked and had to push
Next gone was Lise Vigezzi who ran her pocket 7's head first into Pocket Aces

so were 4 handed with stacks as follows
238K Hina Modha,
224K Cecilia Nordstrem
95K Moi,
43K Patricia Li

Patricia Li goes out fairly quickly and we are 3 handed and the serious bubble begins. I am critically short stacked, I raised on the Button to 25k with Kd9c and Cecilia re-raised to 100K, she looked supremely confident and I folded

I pushed the next hand with A 6 and took the blinds blinds now go up to 7K 15K and I need a double up pronto, I push my stack from the sb 8s7s...
cecilia says that maybe she might have to call, I enquire whether she wants a chip count, trying not to sound too panicked, knowing damn well im way behind her range, she eventually folds - phew. I then push next hand with J10 and get no callers,

It's folded arounf to me and I get a walk, nearly look at my cards and decide not too, thank god I didn't because apparently I had POCKET KINGS in the BB, AAAAArrrrrrgggghhhh
2 hands later I move all in on the button As5d...
cecilia with Ah9h... calls... modha behind folds red sixes with a big grin...
flop comes downAc2c10h
5c yepee 2 pair "Go on ya good thing"
River is the 9c!!!! Ouch, great balls of puck.

And im gone on the bubble, did post game interview, and headed to the Green room where Martin was, felt the only hand I played really badly was the A8 one, but you live and learn from these. I certainly would play the game completely different the next time, and would be way way more aggressive in position. Martin said that it was nerve wrecking watching it in the Green room,

Checked out the other heats and was delighted to see that Cat O'Neill won her heat and is in the final. she is playing this afternoon and you can get live updates here , Go on Cat one time and all that jazz. Headed back to the hotel and went on the beer, I was full of what if's for an hour or two, but just put it behind me, back to the reality of work for me and daily slog on the M50 sigh


I felt like a superstar for a day and cannot thank Paul Spillaine and boylesports enough for putting me into the tournament,

JP'S Poker Masters 2009..

Thursday 7th May - Super Satellite
Although I already had won a ticket with Bruce Poker at the Maynooth game, I always get nervous the night before a festival (I know lol), so I decided to head out to play in this. The structure was quite reasonable for a Satellite game
€75 & €10 Reg,
2 Rebuys or 1 Rebuy and a Top-Up €50
Starting Chips 3k,
Early Bird 500 (1st Level Only)
Rebuy Chips 5k
20 Min Blind for 6 Levels,
Followed by 30 Min Blinds.

Thing didn't go according to plan early on, and my flopped sets kept running into gutshot straight draws. I had only 6K after the dinner break, but fear not I got 2 double up the first level after the dinner, and was up to a quite healthy. 28K, then this hand happens.
Blinds are 400 800 and it's folded around to the Button who makes it 5K to go (quite a standard raise by him). Im in the Sb with pocket 10's and decided to just flat call because I don't want to play for my tournament out of position preflop with 10's.

flop comes down a lovely A 10 5 board,
I check, he bets 6K I flat call,
Turn is J I check he checks,
River is brick and I bet out 9K, he calls and mucks when I show my hand.

This hand gets me 50K, but the poker Gods aren't finished with me quite yet and I get dealt pocket kings 3 hands out of the next 7 got my stack up to 105K and basically folded to a ticket. In fact at one point at my table I had 105K and the nearest stack to me was 40K....Someone mumbled about me not playing a hand (nop, if I had a book I would have started reading it)... My chips were not going back into circulation, unless I had Kings or Aces (knocked out BIGBADPAT from boards with said kings)
there was a bit of handbags at 40 paces when we got to bubble, basically if everyone gave €28 we would all get a ticket, 1 guy objected, another guy offered to pay his €28 for him, he still objected), don't know the in's or out's of it, I just wanted to go home, in the end common sense was restored and we all gave €28 and everyone got a ticket....
got the cash alternative, so happy enough. Room has a great set up about it,
Got home at 4.00 a.m. , after doing a bit of a sat nav detour dropping Vera home (let's just say we took the scenic route), a bit cream crackered when the alarm went off at 8.00 a.m. for work,, uugh....

Friday 8th May - Main Event
Well the first part of the day in work was good, but I died a death in the afternoon. I checked out the Rate for staying in the hotel and booked a room for the night. Left work at. 5 p.m. and was unconcious asleep before 5.30. set the alarm for 8.00 p.m. up showered and headed down to the poker room feeling refreshed, very relaxed and ready for action..

My starting table, was complete random players except Noel Hayes in Seat 1,
I was in seat 10. I got off to a great start, and quite easily got my stack up to 21K, by the first break and motored ahead to 28K when I flopped a set V top pair top kicker,

After the Dinner break. I had a brainfart session where I paid a guy off on a double paired board with the flush, meh. I lost concentration, and one mistake followed the other. I finished the day on 22,825 and was coming back on day 2 with blinds at 300 600 so plently of play. There was going to be a complete re-draw for seats, which I was a bit dissapointed with as I was happy enough with my table, there was some serious loose play and big hands would definitely have been paid off.

Day 2
My Table re-draw looked like this
Table 15
1. 0306 Tony Brennan 28750
2. 2302 Paudie Kelly 14350
3. 2106 Mark Kenny 34200
4. 1906 Mark Mc Keever 70650
5. 1406 John Dunleavy 23525
6. 1203 Tom Flynn 30375
7. 1310 Colette Murphy 22825
8. 1910 James O Dwyer 34200

I was 2nd lowest in chips and the Big chipstack was Mark McKeever, I had played in a couple events with hime, but didn't really know anyone else's name. I realised that our table would be the first to be broken up. Anyway this hand came up.. Blinds are 300 600 and Mark McKeever makes it 1,700 on the button (standard raised), I look down at Ah Js and flat call from the BB.

Flop comes down A 10 8, I check knowing that he will continuation bet 80% of the time here.
he bets out 1,700, I re-raise to 4.5K, he asks how much im playing behind, and smoothcalls.

Turn is a 2 and im fairly happy here to push, which I do and he instacalls
and tables A 2 for 2 pair . No miracle cards for my and im gone. Fairly gutted to be honest, I think I told him I had a decent hand on the flop, ah well cest la vie,

Played in the €300 game, played bad, and also got free leesons about the game, from a an english player to my left. Note, if a player asks you your hand after a pot, you might actually be telling porky pies about your holding, so there is no need for the "you played the hand very badly so" comments lol... I actually gave the said guy all my chip with JJ V QQ on a Jack high flop with 3 hearts (he had the queen of heart), and got his flush on the turn and the Queen on the river just to make sure.

Not to be put off I headed to the Fitz and played in the €125 game which got 3 tables, and I came 3rd in it for €700 which helped ease the pain. The Fitz Cash league was on and there was 60K up for grab WOW. There was a deal when they got down to 12 for 3.5K each or something like that.

Well done Bruce Poker

Bruce Poker Live Tour Moyvalley Golf Club - April 25th/26th

The Bruce Poker Pub Final weekend was on in the Moyvalley Golf Club last weekend and the Saturday Game caught our eye

• €100 + 20
  
• 10k starting stack
• 10 - 15% of the field paid as usual
• Fully Dealer Dealt
• Blind Levels 20 min, all levels included

so I set MoyvalleyGolfClub&Hotel into my Sat Nav and we headed down. The Hotel was beautiful and the card room was absolutely buzzing. They got over 165 runners, which caused a bit of panic early on but eventually the game got going about 8.45 p.m. They had alternates for the first few levels. The idea of the pub league was brillant and there were people going around with teeshirts for all the different pubs they qualified from etc.,

I struggled the whole way in this game and eventually made a donkey call with AJ on a J33 flop when i was check raised all in.... yep he had queens. I headed over to the cash area which was lively to say the least. I sat down at a 1 2 pot limit game. Was hovering on around €150 of a profit and to be honest it was a tame enough game. Martin was motoring in the side event, so I was happy to relax and play cash.

Then all hell breaks loose on an Omaha table, shouting and roaring and a few handbags at 40 paces. JP tried 3 times to calm the people down involved, so in the end it was decided to close the table. Our game had dwindled in numbers a bit, and we had only 5 players. With that 5 of the players of the closed omaha table came over to our table. They immediately wanted the game changed to NL holdem, no-one objected. It was the start of about 2 hours of madness... One player in particular kept raising to 25 blind preflop, then shipping his tank over the line (€400 odd), and turning over the likes of 2 6 offsuit and K 7 and laughing...

so my first big hand. I raise to 25 in the Cut off with Ad Qd and he ships over the line for €340.... I reckon im ahead of his range and call. he actually has a hand Jacks, but an Ace on the flop and a turned flush brings me the pot. He mumbles about my call, and I just said "listen if you keep show crap hands, you are going to be called light", in fairness I would have called with alot less than AdQd.

Then as if the table isn't lively enough Phil "the bomber" Harris arrives at the table, he is in flying form and in in gamble gamble humour. The table is actually great crack. So then my next big hand. Im on the button with 9d 10d and it is raised to €20 by player in mp. About 4 of us call.. Flop comes down 9c 10c 3 h. Its check around to the player and he bets 100... I call, every else folds. Turns is a 5h and he bets 250.... I dwell a bit and flat all, magic 10 on river and he says all in and ships his remaing €500 over the line I instantly call and turn over the house... At this stage im up to €1,300 for €150 so happy days.

Next hand Phil Harris gets involved with player at table (the Pocket Jacks man from above)... By the end of action the board reads Kd Qs 3c 4d 10h. Phil goes all in and the other guy says call. Phil turns over Qh 4h for 2 pair (the other guy waits for about 2 mins does a bit of verbals with phil, and then turns AsJh for the nuts and says "I think im ahead"... This is the same guy that had caused the omaha table to be broken. Initially I thought that phil had taken it quite well, but soon realised he was clearing his throat for the onslaught. The guy was screaming saying that he didn't realise he had the Aj for the nuts,,,, eh wrong answer. Anyway there was screaming and roaring again and offers to take it outside, and promises of riping peoples heads clean off their shoulders, etc., etc., so our table was shut down.

I cashed out for €1,100 profit but definitely felt that there was more money to be made. Went out to see how Martin was doing. He ended up finishing 6th, when he mad a correct call with K 9 against a shove from a guy who had J 9... horrible Jack on the flop and he was gone. Although he was dissapointed he was happy enough with his play. It was nearly 8.30 a.m when we got home. Wrecked tired but really enjoyable night was had.

Sunday 26th
Martin was working on Sunday so I decided to head back down to Moyvalley for their 2nd gamep

• €100 + 20 4 p.m.
  
• One rebuy or topup allowed @ €50
• 10k starting stack, 15k for rebuy or topup
• Blind Levels 25 min

I probably should have stayed at home. It got 101 runners. I was too tired for this, I played good poker at times and then tried to push the action a bit and lost momentum. I eventually pushed with AcJc (lol my new nemisis of a hand) and ran into AQ of the table rock... Have to say the venue was the nicest I have been in for a poker tournament, and that part of the country is lovely.

Bruce poker have some great games coming up and none juicier looking than this.

JP MASTERS GAME - RED COW 7TH - 10TH MAY €100k GUARANTEED

---

JP Poker Masters 2009
Sponsored by Bruce Poker.Com
E100,000 GUARANTEEDSchedule of Events:

Thursday 7th May 8pm - Super Satellite - Est 20 Tickets to Main Event
E75 & E10 Reg, 2 Rebuys or 1 Rebuy and a Top-Up E50

Friday 8th May 7pm - JP Poker Masters Main Event - E100,000 GUARANTEED 3 Day Event
E750 (E75 Reg Included)
Starting Chips 15k
60 Min Blinds for 10 Levels followed 90 Min Blinds
1 Table SnGs E75 & E5 Reg from 2pm

Saturday 9th May 6pm - Supporting Tournament - Est E50,000 2 Day Event
E300 (E30 Reg Included)

Sunday 10th May 3pm - Pot Limit Omaha - Est E15,000
E250 (E25 Reg Included & E25 Scalp )

Sunday 10th May 6pm - Supporting Tournament - Est E20,000
E150 (E20 Reg Included)

They also have their €10K guaranteed games as follows:-

Friday 22nd May Crowne Plaza Dundalk - €120 buy-in for 10K chips with €50 re-buy or top-up for 15K in chips

Friday 29th May Glenroyal Hotel Maynooth - €120 buy-in for 10K chips with €50 re-buy or top-up for 15K in chips

Can't wait for JP's Masters game as it looks like it is going to be a great weekend of cards.

Joan Vickers (Rest In Peace)

Words cannot really express how people feel when they get news of such a tragic, horrific death. I have know Joanne though the card circles of Dublin for over 20 years, she always had a smile on her face, played the game in the true spirit it should be played in. I remember playing 5 card draw with her in the Cara Community Hall, Raheny, that's where I was introduced to Texas Holdem and a strange game called Kalooki, which herself and Fiona O'Reilly played.

She will be sadly missed around the poker community, and my heart goes out to her children during this tragic time. Joan you were a fighter to the end, and I hope you have peace wherever you are.

Irish Open

Thursday 9th April, Super Satellite-
As part of the package we were booked in from Thursday until Tuesday so I decided to play the bingo game that is the super satellite rather than go to the pub... I spent €600 total and got my stack up to 75K and then folded practically every hand until the ticket (left it a bit scary with only 1.5 Big blinds left), but hey, what the hell.. €3,500 in the back pocket. Martin didn't want to play the main event as he has been on painkillers, with dodgy ribs. We had a few beers at the bar and went to bed

Main Event - Friday 10th April 2009
What a dissapointment it ended up being. My table was very tough.. Neil Channing, last years winner, Rory Rees Brennan (although he looked unwell), and Paul (Pabloh) from Boards to my right, Jason Tompkins ( young guy who came 2nd in the Deepstack GJP tournament earlier in the year)I had gone up and signed up for the Paddy Power Sole Survivor and got my sweatshirt and teeshirt. I was extremely nervous for some reason, don't know why, but I just needed to relax a bit more. first hand of note is the 50 100 level and Paul raises utg to 350, I call with AcJc, flop comes down Ad 4c 7h, he bets out 800 I call, Kc comes on the turn, he bets out 1.5k, at this point I have top pair and drawing to the nut flush, I call, river is a brick, he bets out 2.5K, I called. The river call is pretty pathetic, im not beating anything, he is not going to be trying a 3barrell bluff so early in the tournament. Im down to 6,200. The next level is pretty shitty, any of my raises are getting snapped off, and already i feel like it's going to be a shitty day.

at the The 75 150 I have raised twice with AK and got check raised on a small flop..... aaarrrghhhh...next hand there are 2 limpers to my sb and I look down at 2 black Aces and raise to 700, everyone folds, tits..... at least I pick up a pot, and im at 3,800 at this stage, and it's the last hand before the break.. Rory Reese Breenan opens utg for 350 and gets 3 callers, Im on the button and look down at pocket jacks and make it 1200, Rory makes it 2,800, and I ship my reamining stack over the line and im up against KK and no donkey miracle for me. gone before the first break... Gutted. After getting my early setback I never settled, no excuses just poor
play, Paddy Power sole Survivor, lol I didn't make the first break

Headed to the bar and myself and Martin were having a few beers with Damien Kent and Steven and Denis (they were soooteed, ex dealer from the Fitz). He was talking about a game on in a hotel in the Curragh, run by WAD Events it was a €115 freezeout with a 15K stack and 30 Minute clock, sounded great, and it certainly beat venting out on the Cash tables (the rake was a bit scary too), so we made the road trip to the Strand house Hotel on the Curragh. There were 156 runners for this...

My strategy for this game, was to relax and enjoy the game and drink plenty of Vodka, then I realised it was self deal, shit. I never play self deal games, they usually put me on monkey tilt.. But if in Rome, as the saying goes, and to be honest my table was pretty good at dealing so there was not a problem, and in fact we had very few misdeals.

The only bit of advice I would give the organisers, get dealers in and even more people will come. The room was spacious enough and had a good buzz about the place, and people were there just enjoying themselves, having a few beers and playing cards, what more would you be doing on a Good Friday. Anyway played my big cards strong and got a few jammy pots, one where I flopped a flush and a guy shipped his 18K over the line drawing dead with Qh9h on an all spade board. I made the last 20 and was above average in chips when a deal was suggested to take 100 of top 5 prizes to pay 16-20 people, it was 3.30 am in the morning, and I usually wouldn't agree to this, but kept the mouth quiet, as I would have been the only objector, martyr im not.. The prize structure was as follows:
1. €4900
2. €2500
3. €1300
4. €1000
5. €800
6. €720
7. €650
8. €600
9. €500
10. €450
11. €430
12. €300
13. €300
14. €250
15. €200
16. - 20th €100

I got really good run of cards and made it to the final table 3rd in chips, I managed to knock out all the players up to heads up play and felt invisible, A deal was offered heads up but I wanted to go for the win, ended up 2nd for €2,500 which was brillant. Definitely if they can get this dealer dealt, it would be one to look out for. Eddie Walshes better half Jemma, came 2nd in the Ladies event in the Irish open, so well done her, so we headed back to citywest with Damien still trying to figure out how I luckboxed my way to 2nd place lol, while himself and Martin were getting slapped around the Cash tables. We had breakfast and went to bed (kind of reminded me of Vegas).

Saturday 11th april - Omaha game -
I sat down, I watched 2 scandi maniacs potting blind for all the re-buy levels, I had 1 re-buy, I left, I drank loads of beer and played the cash.

Sunday 12th april - Ladies Event 99 runners + €1,500 event - 209 runners
Decided to play the Ladies event, as I had never played in one of these before, I didn't last to the end of level 2, lol.... blinds are 50 100 and few limpers, lady on Button makes it 200, I call in the SB with pocket 2's.
flop comes down 2 8 9 rainbow, I check and its checked around to her, she bets out 200 (into a 1K pot), I re-raise to 850, meanwhile 2 other players in the hand didn't see my re-raise and had already put out their 200 (confused yet???) I sure was.
One of the other players folds, but one calls, original raiser folds.
Turns is Jd, I ship as there is enough in the middle at this stage to take, but nope she calls and turns over Q 10 for the nuts, mmmmm nice catch, and im at the bar in double quick time, 2 vodkas later and im in the cash game, and work up enough to play in the €1,500 event.

My starting table has Paul Smallwood, Paul Spillane, a good lag english pro to my right, and Dan Harrington on my table aswell. To be honest I was a little bit star struck, I mean he is the reason im playing cards.. I move my stack up nicely, picking my spots well and am on about 9K, when this hand happens.
Blinds are 100 200, and I make it 600 utg with pocket 10's
Dan Harrington calls in lp
flop comes down 10h 8h 2d, I bet out a weak looking continuation bet, he stares me down for about a minute and folds... soul reading for the win, Dan Harrington gets knocked out shortly after this, and a lula scandi gets moved to the table, with a Paddy power bag tied on his head, sort of like a hat kinda thing, and he has a laptop on his legs, and is multi-tabling, online while playing this game.. what next.... Anyway Donal the TD spots it and he is told to turn the laptop off... could you imagin if it was allowed, there would be 3 hands played a level...

Our table gets broken and im moved to another tough table. there is a tighty mctight player to my right, Charlie Harvey from the fitz in seat one, zeik tuite from Cork at the table and 2 french players.....

My stack is hovering around the 12-14k mark, and then this hand happens.... tight player to my right raises to 1,200 utg (blinds are 200, 400) I look down at QcQh and re-raise to 3,600 its, folded around to charlie Harvey who ships for 15K..... original raiser folds... I fold my Queens face up after a long think.

Maybe folding was too nitty, but showing my fold, was atrocious play... and I became a marked player for it, I got a few raises snapped off, so I had to change my thinking big time, and I started snapping off a few myself.

So I struggle and strugge with 12-15 big blinds all night, and then we get down to the last hand... blinds are 500 1k with a 100 ante, I look down at pocket 6's utg, and raised to 3.5K leaving approximately 12K behind. folded to the button who pushes.... sb bb fold..... do I take my chance or fold and come back tomorrow with 10 Big Blinds.... took my chance and called, was up against AK, Ace on the flop and im toast. Aaaaaarrrgh, I went out in 54th. There would have been a table draw and maybe a small chance to get a bit of momentum going. If's and but's...

Really enjoyed the game, but folding the Queens face up was the worst thing I did the whole weekend....

Went to the bar and had a chat with Paul "bling bling" Marrow, I have never seen a man to wear so much bling in all my life, he had a lavender suit, shirt with real diamonds on them, and 2 different coloured shoes, as you do. He is one of the funniest guys to talk to, the place was buzzing.

Monday 13th April - Charity Event- 150 runners
Played this game really badly, got my chips in the middle so bad it wasn't even funny, I cracked KK with AJ, my KQ split a pot with KK (I got runner runner straight) so when I eventually did get my chips in the middle ahead, I knew I was doomed, and My top 2 pair were never going to hold up against a flush draw. Phil Baker (who finished 9th in the main event) did the charity auction at the break and he was absolutely amazing, a natural.. Everyone seemed to enjoy the weekend, and im delighted that there 150 runners for the charity event,

Once again Paddy power put on a great event, fair play to them. I would just love it if they made the Main event 15K starting Stack and the side event 10K starting stack next year, it would just be the icing on the cake.... Roll on next year, hopefully I'l qualify again and not be so nervous.

2000th post on Boards.ie

I post regularly on Boards.ie Website poker forum and to mark my 2000th post i said the following

2000TH POST
Well, I was trying to decide whether to write something profound, knowledgeble or amazing, and then I realised that I am none of the above and never had great writing abilities.

So what to write about in my 2000th post.

POKER
How do I feel my game has progressed, it hasn't really. I find sometimes if I am playing in tournaments, that things are going on around me, i see people making moves accumulating chips, and I feel more like an observer, rather than a participant. I haven't yet sat down at a game, and felt 100% good about my play, I don't know if this is a confidence thing or what. In my opinion a players state of mind going into a tournament is a huge factor. If your confidence is down, you second guess yourself, and see trouble all around you. I feel that I haven't taken full advantage of the cards I get.

How would other people perceive my play?
= Weak tight nit - who telegraphs big hands a bit too much.

On another note, I was on the players Committee in the Fitzwilliam but due to work changes etc, and time constraints i won't be playing as much cards over the next few months, so I have stepped down from the Committee.... I will still put up posts about upcoming events etc., and it will remain my "home away from home"

WORK
It's tough working in the Construction sector at the moment with the recession, and you are always looking over your shoulder, wondering if the company will survive. I was working during the last recession of late 80's early 90's, the big difference is that I was younger, more innocent and way more optimistic about things lol..

I'm afraid it's the "keep the head down and try and get through it" kind of feeling for the whole country. I am finding it hard to leave work behind me at 5.30 p.m. which is causing a fair bit of stress. I need to learn to "turn off" so to speak, because it is affecting my health. I find that I am having a couple of drinks here and there to wind down, and that isn't good for your overall physical or mental health.

LIFE
Life in general is great, no holidays booked yet, but I'm determined that were going to go somewhere completely different this year....(better mention that to Martin lol), sometimes I don't realise how lucky I am to have someone like Martin around, to have the same interest in poker etc., he keeps me grounded, and always makes me smile, cue rosmatic music in background, all together now awwww....


BOARDS POKER FORUM
The poker forum has certainly gotten bigger over the last year or two and I always feel a certain bit of pride when I see an Irish Poker player or a boardsie doing well.

who will ever forget
Marty "The Rock" Smith winning W.S.O.P $10,000 PLO

& the winning Ladbrokes Poker Million, where there were 4 Irish players in the top 4, wow just wow.

or, lest we forget John "D4" O'Shea final tabling a W.S.O.P. Event, with his dodgy visor

Rory "I'm too sexy for my shirt" Reese Brennan winning the I.P.C.



but there is another aspect of Boards I don't Like.... The "I'll play you heads up for bank rolls mentality"... I suppose there is a little bit of arrogance needed to play poker, but I feel this is gone a little to far, but that's me I suppose.

Due to work, and trying to get healthier etc., I will be playing much less tournaments during the week and with so much choice around I will have to pick my weekend games wisely, so I might be me around the poker rooms as much

Good luck to everyone playing in the Irish Open this years, lets hope for more success from Irish Players, que chance to use my favourite picture





ROLL ON THE IRISH OPEN - YEPEE -









to sign off all I can say is smile (it helps the recession thing a bit) and try to treat people at the poker tables the way you would like to be treated,

You can follow the thread and replies here.....

Smurph

March Madness at the Jackpot

Friday 27th March - Jackpot March Madness
I was really looking forward to this event, especially after my early exit form the Fitz E.O.M. game. I hadn't been to the Jackpot in over 3 years I would say, so I decided to give the March Madness a spin. It certainly looked alot better than I remember it, great atmosphere in the place. Registered, and headed to Ryans pub where I met Barney, Bernie and their brother Hugh, we had great fun, and headed over to play the game. I got off to a flyer and had my 7K starting stack up to 13.5k by the dinner break, to ensure I didn't have any of the fine chinese on offer, I headed over to ryans for a few more vodkas, with Willow and her son keith. I had seen him dealing a few tournaments around the place, but had never played at the same table as him. He is a nice young fella, with a good sense of the game, he obviously got that from his mam. He had over 40K stack and was asking me what way I would play it. I felt like saying your talking to the wrong person here, I very rarely have a big stack of chips early in a tournament. I just said to play his normal game, try not to develop limpitis and feel he has to be in every pot etc.,

When we went back I found the tournament alot tougher, and I lost a few races 10's V AK etc., but kept picking my spots, I did get down as far as 7 big blinds which I pushed my J10 offsuit into AJ, but no fear J 10 x flop got me sorted out, and this helped me to get down to the final 2 tables. I had 22K in chips and the blinds were 600, 1,200 and I raised to 5K in lp with KdQd,
ciaran Corbett raised allin, and after a bit of a dwell I called, my stack dictated this as I felt if I fold, im left with 18K and blinds were going up in a few minutes. Anywas I was up against pocket 3's so I wasn't in too bad of shape

flop comes down 9d 10d 4s
turn is 3 but no fear dealer put up Jd on river to complete my straight flush

My stack got back up to over 50K and I took down a few more pots, raising the blinds uncontested, although I wouldn't have minded a few calls, so then my exit hand in 12th happended as follows.

blinds 1K 2K and Kieran Corbett raised to 8K in ep.... chip leader at the table goes all in..... I look down at 2 black queens and said call.

Kieran Folded, and the guy nearly started crying.... Ah B*llix he goes, I thought I could get you to fold... and turns over AK... the pot was nearly 160K
flop comes xxK
Ace on turn
Coat and bag sorted by the river. Had a great night, happy enough with my play, definitely feel a little bit more confident with it at the moment.
Ended up that the guy who won with the AK hand went onto win the tournament.

Saturday 28th March Ireland 1 Bulgaria 1
All I can say about this Match is muck, utter and complete muck
Sky Sports Match report is certainly more flattering than I could possibly be

Sunday 29th March Team Event
the Team Event was on Sunday and I was asked if I would like to be on Team Fortune, which I was delighted with. I headed into town, and hedged my bets and went into Ryans at 3.30 p.m. only to find my team mates deep in strategy, whether to buy another pint before going accross to the Jackpot.... lol.... The Tournament was a 6K starting stack and 25 minute clock, 60% of the prize pool was going to the team event and 40% going to the Individual prizes, you had a floating player i.e. 3 of your teams points matter so first gone didn't effect the team too much. I started well, getting AQ AJ AK 10's etc., and doing standard raises, which got through. I had Rob taylor on my right, but didn't really know many of the other players at the table. Recognised one guy who is a dealer, and was quite active early on. I was still hovering around 6K when this hand happened.

Blinds 100 200 and I raised to 600 in lp with pocket 9's guy on button calls.
flop comes down 8d 9d Jc,
I bet out 900, and he re-raised to 2K... The flop was scary enough, flush draws straight draws etc., I decided to put him a decision and shipped my remaing stack over the line. He thought about it for a while and eventually called. I was up against my dream hand
8c 9c... blank 4d on the turn meant he was drawing dead 8 on river..
He said he put me on an over pair..

so by the break im up to 14k and flying. Checked out how my team mates were doing, not too good. Bridie hand flopped a set in hand 3 and got it all in v a straight draw, and the guy gets his straight on the River, she had 600 chips left, and had gotten that up to 1,500. Barnie had 2.5k and hugh was gone... not to worry,

When we went back after the break, Alan Gibbins got moved to my table and he was a raising machine. I tried to snap off a few raises but that didn't stop him... then Padraig Parkinson gets moved to my left, but he was short stacked a bit thank god,

I called his all in holding Ak v his pocket 4's
flop 10 J 2 Q on turn
and Padraig was in Ryans by the river card

Then Tadgh "The Metal Man" got moved to my left although his Metal man tee shirt was in the wash and wasn't been worn until the Irish Open. He had only been at the table an orbit when this hand happens
Blinds are still 300 600 and Alan gibbins does his standard raise to 2,100.
I call in the sb with AcQc
Tadgh does his standard dwell/stare and flat calls.

Flop comes down Qd 3c 8c - nice one. I check
Tadgh shoves all in for 3,800 and Alan calls. Now what to do, just flat call and check the turn or push here, I decided to push because alan could have a wide range here....he dwells up and folds eventually, tadgh turns over Qh 6d... and I win the pot, and knock tadgh out.

blinds move to 400 800 and I have a nice stack of 20K plus so im motoring.. Im in the BB and a guy raises to 3.5k utg... it's folded around to me and I look down at AsAc. i check the guys stack and he has about 25K so has me covered. I decide to peel a flop because I might lose my customer.

flop comes down K 4 3 Rainbow I check and he checks. Turn is a 5. I bet out 8K and he raises all in, I called and he turned over pocket 4's for a flopped set. Felt a bit unlucky here, if I re-raised pre-flop he is going away, but hindsight is brillant. Went over to Bridie, she was still in and had 13K plus. Went back over to Ryans and the place was buzzing with poker players all having a couple of drinks. I had a few beers with willow and then headed home. Checked the results the next day they were as follows

team event

1st boyle poker 3000
2nd team mafia 2000
3rd devilfish 1000

individual prizes were as follows

1st dave byrne 1100
2nd bridie gribbin 700
3rd nicolas newport 600
4th rob taylor 500
5th maurice buckley 400
6th veronique gourdon 250
7th pete murphy 200
8th paul spillane 150
9th rebecca mcadam

Can't believe Bridie got 2nd place, after her comeback from being down to 600 chips.... Well done girl. I will hopefully post up a few pictures of the weekend (C/O barney's camera and willows camera).
Had a brillant weekend and the Simon community was the biggest winner here, and I heard that
the charity made 10k.... nice one

Photos - C/O Barneys Digital Camera


"Right after this photo we can sneak over to the pub again.... deal"










Team Photo, all together now smile







Wow look, Sean Gregory can jump 10 foot high for €20 bet... lol













The 2nd place finisher in the Invidual prizes goes to
drumroll
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Bridie Gribbin... well done girl