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 Unfortunately had to miss the Thursday Night in Dublin due to the Ladbrokes Team event. So instead of catching a QueezeyJet flight we had to suffer hitching a ride with Kev on the Jet from Blackpool. Besides Kev is a nervous flyer so being a mate I thought we would help him out and keep him company. Well that’s what friends are for!

 Play started around 2pm and my table was not a good one. With all the young super agro players on the table and a considerable lack of cards getting chips was proving difficult. I had dropped to 10kish several times and managed to grind my way back to starting stack each time. With Blinds at 250/300 I finally get a hand, Aces. Tom McDonald raises under the gun to 700. I smooth call knowing that the big blind is ultra aggressive too hoping for a squeeze from him. To my dismay he instantly folds. The flop is A T T. Lovely! So I just need to get paid, but with Tom never leaving a pot in the middle I was expecting something. Check, check on the flop and the turn brings a Queen of diamonds putting a flush draw there. He bets 900 which I smooth call. The river is another diamond. He checks and I hope he has made a flush ready to raise any bet. I bet 2000 sigh! He folds. I never got above 25k until the last level and after making a few moves with flush draws I had somehow finished the day on 37k. Not great but I will take that and hope to get more action in day two.

I retired to the bar, as you do to find a more than slightly inebriated Kila. John Magill had beat me there and says “How many, how many”. Maybe I picked up a tell on him but I was pretty confident his day had gone considerable better. What he was really saying was “Ask me! ask me!” He had finished the day on 120k. Really! Well who’d have thought. I had told him in the final break when he had 96k that I would take the last level off if I was him. (I wouldn’t if it was me, but if I was him…….)

Pleased to see so many mates through to day 2 most in great shape so I am convinced someone I know will get a big result. Hopefully me! Very early on a guy raises to 2700. Next hand 2800. Third hand he pushes all in from under the gun for 20 odd k. Folded to the bb he eventually calls with KJ. Hmmmm. The other guy obviously don’t have much but KJ to be in great shape is unlikely. He is against A9 and the flop comes out king high. However runner runner spades give the Ace 9 a flush with his 9. No doubt the KJ felt hard done too. But he was behind when he made the call. I am sure his version of the story will be slightly different. “I lost on a King high flop with King Jack to A9 when he hit runner runner!”. He may even imply they got it all in on the flop. Next hand I pick up 99 and raise to 2800 on Mr A9 big blind. He instantly shoves giving me the easiest call I have probably ever had with 99. He turns over pocket fours. However with a 4 on the flop and no justice coming on the turn or river the 70+k pot gets slid to him and I have time to write this blog. Sigh!

A good friend of mine Paul Jackson convinced me to play a £200 event at the Mint Casino Salford. Called the Megastack you start with 20,000 chips and with a Guaranteed prize pool of £20k (which got smashed), it would be worth picking up the win.

Played over 2 day the field was split in 2 on day1. Half starting at lunchtime the other half at 8pm. As I was out on my Birthday bash the night before I was obviously playing the 8pm. Early starts are not good for me at the best of times. Besides it was Grand National Day and although I often wish I would, I never miss a bet on it. (Today was another one of those days)

This year I received a few Joke tips via a text.

“V-Neck”- It’s a good Jumper

“Creosote” – Great over fences.

I obviously forwarded these to several people, who in turn forwarded them onto several more. I don’t think I ever laughed so much as when Marty Smyth sent me a photo of his friends betting slips who had had a fiver each way on each. He’d asked Marty “Were they none runners, they never got a mention.”

Mind you at least he had 20quid more than me to pick up come Monday. Sigh!

Ok, back to poker.  20,000 sounds a lot but with a few levels missing and just a 30 minute clock things got quite crapshooty quite quickly. Not being critical, events like these can drag on for ever but you need to adjust. I had decided I would not be going back with less than 100k for day 2 and was quite prepared to gamble for it, however thing went mostly my way and I finished the day as chip leader on around 230k.

35 of us returned for day two and with the blinds at 2k/4k and an average stack of just 90k it wasn’t easy for people to make moves. Now anyone who has played me knows I don’t raise much, ahem! But this too inviting to ignore, and by the time the table broke I was on over 350k without seeing many flops.

The table broke and I got moved to Dave Colcloughs table. Normally it would be good to sit to his left but with the stack sizes as they are, 3betting light would not be as regular as it maybe would. Not that I would

Despite he’d been daring me to do it I mostly let him get away with it, mostly.

With two tables out and blinds of 5000/10000 I had regained the chip lead with over 400k and a shortstacked raised my big blind. A look at AJ of hearts I push all in and he calls in a flash. He has KK, oops! When the board comes down with two jacks on it he feels rightly aggrieved but had the ace come, no would think it that bad. Its still only a 2-1 shot the AJ wins however it gets there. Nobody would need to be calling Ripley’s.

With 11 left I was on the button with KQ which I raise only for the small blind to push. Its 170k to call to win a 500k pot, and I still have over 250k if I lose. I make the call and he flips A9. A king on the turn comes to my rescue and I hit the final with about 750k and the chip lead.

No disrespect to the other but the most dangerous players on the final were Dave Colclough and Mick fletcher. Mick was directly sat to my right after the exit of a short stack and gave me quite an easy ride in the big blind throughout. Really not like him but maybe table dynamics meant he didn’t want to go to war with a nutcase. If only he knew I was a rock! Ahem!

Dave exited pretty early and I had managed to knock out several other players before getting down to the last 3. Keeping chip lead throughout. This mostly due to when I had a hand against a push it stood up. I’m on the sb the blinds are now 20k/40k. I limp with 44. The big blind had played pretty tight thus far but with three left I could sense he was ready to make some moves. He raised to 150k and I push all in like I’d slow played a monster. After he instantly calls I assume he has me in bad shape and relieved to see him with A10. I’d been pretty good at 50/50’s today and this would be no different with my 44 holding up I went heads up with a good 4-1 chip lead.

The very next hand I get 47clubs. I call a raise from Mick and the flop is 6 7 A. 2 Spades. I check and he bets out 180k, to which I move all in. I figure if he has me beat I still have a chip lead should I lose and he might make a big call with bottom pair, thinking I’m on the flush draw. It worked and he called with 63. My hand help up and it feels good to hit the winners circle again. It’s been a while. Let’s hope I can do the same in Ireland.