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Cracking blog, all the best for 2015
I think he's trying to maintain the fish / luckbox image, he worked so hard to get
So having not played any live event since the WPT back in November I was really looking forward to EPT Deauville. I'd had a nice win and a runners spot amongst the few online tournaments I'd tried my hand at over Xmas, which more than paid for the festivities.
Arranging to get to Deauville was a mission in itself. There's no direct flights to the town, and I'd have had to fly into Paris CDG from Newcastle, then metro it into Paris Gare Du Nord, then metro it across Paris to Paris St Lazare, then train it to Trouville-Deauville.
In the end, I decided to train it all the way. So it became a 6.45am metro from Gateshead to Newcastle. 7.04am Flying Scotsman (direct with no stops) Newcastle to Kings Cross, arriving 9.40am. A short walk over the road to St Pancras Station. 11.10 to Paris Gare Du Nord, arriving 14.50. I then caught a bus to Paris St Lazare, and caught the 16.45 to Lisieux, before jumping on the 18.35 to Trouville-Deauville, FINALLY arriving at 18.57 - phew!! - A journey that Michael Portillo could span 3 episodes covering. It all went relatively smooth, I had the usual intermittent Internet signal to London, then very little signal to the tunnel, then a 100% uninterrupted signal all the way through the tunnel, eh? Explain that one?? The one good thing to come from it was that I'd managed to get a return trip for only £150!!! Well, that's until I managed to turn a cheap trip into an expensive one (details to follow).
One other funny episode of note was when I had a coffee in Starbucks in St Lazare station. As per in Starbucks, the server asked for my name and wrote it on the cup along with what I'd ordered. A few minutes later the lady who made the drinks bellowed 'Nemo' to the massed throng waiting. Nothing happened, no one came forth. 'NEMO' (even louder this time), I sort of wandered across and enquired, in a slow french accented English tongue, is it not Neil? Errrr Qui Monsieur, phew, they'd found 'Nemo', and I had my drink.
Anyways, I jumped in a taxi outside the station, told the driver I was staying at Le Chantilly on Avenue De La Republique, '€10 sir' he said, 'no bother' I said. A quick drive over the roundabout and we were there, cheers pal. That was the 1st indication on how pricey this little town was to be.
I'd already contacted Ian Simpson of Irish Poker Open notoriety, and Mike 'Da Bookie' Hill, whom I'd made loose arrangements to meet up with that night, but both were worse for wear from their previous night's exploits. So I decided to take a quick shower, then go familiarise myself with the Casino, and register for the following days FPS High Roller. Again I taxied it, again I had my eyes taken out, this time for €12 for a trip round the corner. That was to be the last taxi of the trip. The queue was enormous, there was a flight of The Deauville Cup about to start, bad timing on my part, but I was there now, so spent the next 90 mins listening to an American who loved the sound of his own voice. By the time I'd registered I was shattered so had an early night, well that's what I had planned. Im not sure of the time, but I was awoken to the loudest sounding stilettos ever, walking back and forth in the corridor above my room, then bang bang bang on the door directly above me. No answer, bang bang bang again. Nothing. No lies, 1/2 an hour later, still bang bang bang, eventually an answer, yay!!! No, not yay, there then proceeded to be an hour of screaming, shouting, fighting and occasional crying. What made it worse was that it was all in french, so I didn't understand, and couldn't pick which side I was on. But what I feared next didn't happen though, no make up sex, small mercy. I never got to know what it was about, but both were thrown out in the morning, from there on my stay at the hotel was both peaceful and very comfortable.
I played and failed in the FPS High Roller. I made day 2 with average chips, but couldn't get going, eventually exiting 20 spots before the cash. Nick Hicks a regular at DTD who I got to spend quite a bit of time with, went pretty deep. By now reports were coming through that Sky regular and good lad James Rann was 'bossing' The Aussie Millions, and had made the f/t as chip leader. I got to know James in Barcelona last year, and knew how much he was looking forward to this event. He had to grind an absurd amount to qualify for it, so the rewards that were coming his way were well deserved.
That night I ate in a local french restaurant, and found myself eating next to a member of the present Sky Poker team, Stapes. And two old ones, James Hartigan, and Matt Broughton. Tbf to James he recognised me straight away and shook my hand, and I allowed them to have their pic taken with me before I left.
I decided to play Day 1b of the EPT. Although it was my 3rd such one, it was the 1st that I had bought in with my own hard earned (Barcelona I qualified on line, and London I used my UKIPT winnings), so became my biggest ever investment in a tournament. I did nothing wrong, just got my AA cracked by 44 on a 874 rainbow flop after it had been 4 bet to 1800 pre at 1/200. Given the action pre, I put the villain on an over pair to the board, or even AA too, NOT 44 - sigh!!!
The event went no better for either Ian or Mick, and we drowned our sorrows in the bar that night.
The following day there was another 2k side event, so I dug deep again. I was on or about an average stack throughout the 1st day, and came back for day 2 feeling I had a decent chance of cashing. I had Davidi Kitai to my left, (a top ten rated player in the world so I'm told), he was chipped up, so I was in a tricky spot. I kept my powder dry and stayed out of trouble, had AA and KK and didn't get paid on either. By the bubble I had 14 bigs, stole the odd blind, but never had anything decent to go to war with and try double up. That is until an hour into the bubble I woke up with AA in the SB, everyone folded to me, so I limped, I needed action, Kitai obliged, he put me all in. Great, I insta called, flicked over AA, Kitai rolled his eyes, laughed, and showed 8/2 off. By the river he'd hit a straight, thanks, gg, - sigh again. That left one Brit, Ludovic Jonsen, obv' a Scot, and he did very well to finish 2nd.
By now I was bemoaning my luck, aces cracked twice in two events, and on the back of the run bad I had back in November at the WPT. Keep the faith I said to myself, I had one last chance to save the week. By now I'd decided to bring my return trip forward from the Monday to the Friday. I knew it wouldn't be cheap doing this, but I had decided enough was enough, I'd play the 1k 6-max on the Thurs night, before heading home. I went to the station Thurs morning, explained I wanted to bring my train forward, €215 euros later I'd booked a new ticket to London, nice!! It was a further £65 to get from London to Newcastle ( or so I thought). So my €150 return now stood at £400 ish. Some good news was to came my way next though. When I informed the hotel I was leaving early, they gave me a full refund on the unused nights, that more or less counter-balanced to Eurostar fee.
Before my last event I went for a spot of lunch in a quiet brasserie, ordered my meal, then in walked Victoria Coren and her husband David Mitchell. I'd spent part of the previous day on Victoria's table, so she recognised me, and we did that sort of uncomfortable nod to each other, and they sat on the next table to me. What I can tell you is that annoying voice Mitchell uses for TV, is his actual voice. I bumped into later that night during a break, so I enquired if he accompanied her often, 'yes he does' she said, he does a lot of his writing whilst she plays.
So to the event, the way I looked at it I used a golf scenario. I was on the 18th tee, a 625yd stroke index 1 par 5. A par was no good to me, (min cash or nothing), I was in for plenty on the week. A birdie got me into a play-off (8th-4th, which was acceptable). An eagle won me the title (1st-3rd). I actually needed to come 4th to break even on the week. 140 entrants meant it was a tough ask, hence the stroke index 1. Well I put my drive into the deep rough as after 15 mins I'd lost 1/2 my stack. I needed help, I got it, I got a free drop due to line of sight to the green (I got a table move, and 1st hand I've 77 on a QQ7 board, and two opponents had a Q). So after my drop, the balls now sitting up like a coconut, I've the chance to hit the green in two (I'm back to my starting stack). 6 long hours later I've made the final table (yep I'm on in two, chance of an eagle for the win). Five handed I've J6 in the BB, by now I'm joint-ish chip leader with 1st to act man whose in every pot. He min raises it, everyone folds to me. I see a flop, J62 rainbow, happy days. I check call his inevitable continuation bet. Turn is a Q, please have the Q I say to myself, again I check, he now bets a chunky 60k and the pots now worth 160k when I flat him. Please be a blank I say, I know if I win this pot, I'm probably taking this boy down and bagging my 2nd Poker Stars trophy. It's a 2, sigh, paired board, I'm now counterfeited. He bets another 60k, I have to call, he tables Q3 off. In hindsight, I'd seen enough of him, if I'd shoved my remaining 150k I think I get him off. (So my eagle putt is tracking to the middle of the hole, and 1 yard out a bloody french snail pops up and nods it off line and it lips out). I'm left with 10 bigs and get it in with A 10 with the same French fella. He shows 77, 7XX flop kills me, A on the river to rub it in. Having needed 4th to get level, 5th was a proper result tbh.
So the following day I headed home, I'd more or less drawn level on the week, plus travelling costs, so not as bad as it could have been. As I was waiting to board the train, Victoria and David passed me again (on route to 1st class), errrr 'hello again', now becoming awkward, do I report them for stalking, before they do me?? Just MAKE sure u don't see them in London I said to myself.
Met up with Nick Hicks on the train, he'd tanked it the night before, and was looking bad for it. Smooth journey back to London, then I hit a snag. I picked up my tickets from the machine, hmmmm Newcastle to London, that doesn't look right I thought. I'd bought tickets for the correct time, just going in the wrong direction, durrrr!!!! The machine on the gate to the platform wasn't for letting me in. A young stewardess standing by asked to see my ticket, 'this is to travel to London from Newcastle' she said. 'How can it?' I enquired, 'I only bought it yesterday in France, I'm on my way home to Newcastle'. Not it seems on this train. I trundled to the ticket office. I thought my best form of defence is to be completely honest. So I had my TWO Deauville to London tickets, and my now TWO Newcastle/Kings Cross tickets in my hand as I explained that I had brought my travel arrangements forward, paid the extra to get to London, but stupidly had booked the Kings Cross/Newcastle one the wrong way round. 'Oh dear', the clerk said, 'the best I can do is give u a form to fill in and send off, explain what u have done, and hopefully u will get some sort of refund, but right now, u have to buy another ticket to get home, at FULL price, £145', oh yeah baby!! So now my £150 return train journey stood at £550!! I had bought enough train tickets and reserved seats to carry a small army.
The bad news hadn't quite finished for the day. As I was approaching York, I received an email from the Casino in Deauville. They were sorry to inform me that they were unable to put the €9550 into my Pokerstars account, and could I pop into the Casino to pick it up in cash? So it's a Bank Transfer sometime next week, and that comes at a cost as the Bank charges a commission.
So that was it, my 1st venture of the year was over. Deauville itself is a lovely little quaint fishing village, and will be even more picturesque in the summer I guess, though very expensive. My daily omelette and coffee for breakfast cost €21. I won't be wanting a baguette for a long time either, those French must have iron jaws!!! I came away having made some new friends, and more fond memories, oh and a new flag to add to my collection.
Next stop is Nottingham for the UKPC, then EPC Malta. It's only cost me £95 for the flight plus luggage, but I may yet find a way to increase that cost. It seems I can't do cheap travel.
See u in Nottingham.
There can't be many rec/amateur poker players that wouldn't love to be out having these sort of adventures one day!
Below is the 1st part of the blog I'm writing for Sky before they edit out all the juicy bits:
It all started back on the 30th Sept' for me when I was 'away' (15 miles from home) for the weekend, treating the g/friend to a stay at Slayley Hall.
The same weekend, my best-est Sky Poker buddy James, (aka Rosjim1), had qualified online for a shot at Dusk Til Dawns' High Roller, which had an added incentive of a Caribbean Poker Package worth over 7k thrown in for the winner. Dusk Til Dawn were celebrating their 5th birthday by throwing a festival at St Kitts. Anyway to cut a long story short, Jim 'binked' the win, Sky's The Gibb finished an honourable 8th, Simon Deadman 3rd. option
Jim phoned me whilst we were on our way home on the Sunday morning, perfect timing. He was on hands free through the speakers as he explained he had won it, and that his wife Rosie (aka Rospink) wouldn't be able to make the trip as his + 1 due to the kids school commitments etc. There was no other option, he couldn't do the trip alone, so he said I would have to travel with him. I looked straight away to my left, the g/f Susan had that resigned look upon her face, she knew instantly she couldn't win. She told Jim through the most gritted teeth I'd ever seen, whilst trying to sound happy for him, that I could go with her blessing. Fortunately I work for myself, so there was no need for holiday requests etc.
Two weeks later we became a thr@@some, when Antony East (aka as Bungle72) joined the party. Not exactly the thr@@some I had dreamed of as a teenager, but hey ho!
The following weekend I managed a 50/1 winner on the golf, thank you Mr 'Amazing' Brandon Grace. This provided plenty of ammunition for the trip. I shipped it to Jim at the Sky 6-max event for safe keeping, and in my mind it was now a free roll holiday, inc' buy in to the main event.
The day before the trip I arranged to deal with some work issues in Nottingham, very convenient. I got my head down for a few hours and Jim picked me up at our regular Premier Inn for DTD events at 2.45 am. We arrived at DTD in good time for the 3.15 pick up.
Like excited little kids on their 1st holiday, we were 1st on the coach, and sat right at the front behind the driver. Jim decided that there wasn't enough room for his arm to rest against the window, so we moved back one seat. This allowed the next group of people to board the bus, the DTD girls, (the event organisers), they sat in front, at the side, and behind us. 1st result of the week! The Devil-Fish made his customary quiet entrance on to the coach, after taking one look at me and Jim, he proudly claimed to be the best looking bloke on it.
Twenty five mins later we were still stationary, two late stragglers. Their names were Simon Trumper and Rob Young. As they own DTD, and paying for the trip, it was decided that we should wait for them, and eventually we set off. Our driver was called Mick, who had about as much personality as a coconut, and his attempts to entertain with his banter had about as much effect as Mr Kendall when discussing viaducts, everyone was fast asleep within 5 minutes.
Just after 6.30 we arrived at Gatwick where Tony (bungle) met us. It was surprisingly quiet and by 7.00 we had checked in our luggage and were through security. Only 3 1/2 hours to wait to take off, grrrr! We decided to have breakfast, 3 x's a standard one. 1 sausage, 1 rasher of bacon, an egg, a tomato, and a solitary mushroom each later, NO toast, and 3 coffees, £35 was spent. Cheers!
We arrived at our designated gate, sat down, minding our own business, when a well known Sky regular spotted us and came over, Michael, (aka Style2737). He qualified on line a week ago, his plus 1 was travelling to St KItts from Vegas. And then take off!!! Hurray, we were on our way.
Oh hang on, why is Jim's face all skew-wiff?? His knuckles whiter than a milky bar as he grips his seat tighter than Richard Orford grips his wallet. It seems our Jim has an issue with the taking off part of flying. See below after he had calmed down a bit, even if not all his colour had yet returned.
**** pic 1 Jim asleep
His colour went AWOL again as I woke him to tell him we were passing by the Bermuda Triangle and some heavy turbulence kicked in.
Eventually, ten hours after we set off we were back on land, but not at St Kitts, we stopped off 1st at Antigua. A short hop across the Caribbean Sea took us to our final destination.
Funniest thing going through (little) security was watching the Devil-Fish. There is a restriction on how much currency you bring in to the country, and he had split his 'stash' up amongst some 'mates'. Obv' not good mates because seeing him dodge his way to the front so he was through customs 1st and so keep an eye on them was amusing. All our luggage was taken from us and put in a white van that Del Boy would have been proud of, and we were taken in mini buses to our resort a short ride away.
We are staying at The Marriott Resort Hotel, a beautiful complex. We checked in, giving our surnames, Jim's happens to be Marriott, so I mentioned he was the owners Grandson, and enquired about a free upgrade. The receptionist pointed to a picture of the original Mr Marriott, he was as black as Jim is white, ouch!! I said not to be so shallow about the difference in colour, they were two generations apart, and couldn't they see the similarity in jaw lines and noses. No free upgrade was forth coming.
Because there was three of us, DTD had arranged a suite, very nice we thought. And it was indeed very grand, a jacuzzi, separate bathroom and toilet, 2 big TV's, separate bedroom and lounge. But errrr only 2 double beds!! We all looked at each other, hmmm awkward, but after a short bout of silence, Tony volunteered to sleep in the lounge which had a sofa that turned into a 3/4 bed, result!!
We showered and changed ready for the welcoming party. A lovely buffet was put on and there was a group offering entertainment. The lead singer looked like one of the men in Milli Vanilli, and his co-signer still had his school uniform on. But truth be told, they were very good, banging out cheesy songs.
Half way through Mr Trumper took to the mic' wishing everyone a good time, see below:
**** pic 2 Simon Trumper
Then we were surprised by a special guest taking to the stage: Enter Mr David Ulliott. . .
***** pic 3 Devil Fish
To be honest, the Devil-Fish was surprisingly good. And one to one, away from any cameras, mics' etc, he is quiet funny, even humble. Or does he have info on me already and is setting me up for 'a hit' later in the week??
The three of us then had a few too many, (well you do when your British and on an all inclusive holiday don't u?). We staggered into the Nightclub, joined the twenty odd other men taping their feet, before eventually crawling back to our suite.
Day one was over, we were all goosed after a long day..... But the party was only just beginning.
T.B.C
Neil (aka Joesman1
..... After our 'heavy session' the night before, I woke up early (just after 6.30), feeling slightly groggy with my mouth as dry as Ghandis flip flops. Now normally I could turn over and be greeted by the sight of my beautiful g/f and put my arm around her. Not this morning! This is what I faced:-
*** Missing pic of Rosjim in bed***
Excellent!!! Just the sort of sight to put a spring in your step - NOT!!!
I dragged myself out of bed and went to see the sun rise from our balcony. It was blissful. So calm and tranquil, a sight that only a tiny minority of the world gets to see on a regular basis.
I let the two lazy ones continue their zzzzzz's until 9 ish, then I started my singing in the shower bit, (it's the best form of an alarm clock back home) and yep, soon they were up. We went to have breakfast in the Blu Restaurant by the sea. This would be 'our home' for breakfast each morning during our stay.
It was buffet style with everything you would expect from cereals and muffins, to full english. They had two chefs on hand to cook fresh omelettes in front of you, very yummy.
Being day one we didn't want to over exert ourselves, so we had a walk round the huge complex, get to know where everything was, and then chilled by the pool for 2/3 hours. Only getting up to order a cocktail or snack. What a hard life!!
By four o'clock ish we'd had enough of the sun so went back to the suite. What was amazing was the speed that dusk fell. By five it was pitch black.
We got showered and started to get changed when I noticed a lobster had somehow got into our suite:-
***Missing pic of Rosjims back***
We went for tea in the Calypso Cafe, and like everywhere else so far, the service was very polite, and food gorgeous. The only problem was everybody had the one speed. Sloooowwwww. Nothing, but nothing could engage the locals into 2nd gear. But even that became amusing, just watching them meander along, not a care in the world. Unlike us Brits doing everything at full throttle.
'Work' was due to commence at 8pm with the 1st side event of the festival. It was a novelty event called 'win the button'. Whereby whoever won the previous hand had position for the next hand. (This is where non poker players reading this, start stratching their heads and yawning).
We arrived at the casino in good time, it's in the reception area of the hotel.
We were eager beavers as we got the seat draw. We sat down at our various tables, and bang on 8 o clock, Simon Trumper said the imortal words ' shuffle up and deal'. I was in the big blind the 1st hand, I looked at my 1st card, ace, nice. Then my 2nd, ace again, very nice. Quick double check, yep, aces. 3 limpers then the button raised. Now we had already discussed that this would be an aggro event with people gambling to get the button. So I wasn't messing around and re raised to 750. Fold, fold, fold, then the button called. Flop came queen 9 7 rainbow. He bet out, I re raised, he went all in, I called. He turned over queen 9. No help on the turn or river meant by 8.02pm I was standing up and doing the walk of shame. The look that Jim gave me as he shook his head in disbelief as he saw me stood by him, was akin to how you would treat your naughty child.
Anyway that wasn't the worse of it. As I left the casino still in disbelief, the DTD girls sat outside at their desk shouted over to me, 'hurry up the event has started'! I couldn't bring myself to tell them what had happened, so instead, I did a 360* turn around and hid from them for a while.
After no longer than five mins' later a DTD regular Jimmy Moult also appeared, also shaking his head. We exchanged the usual 'bad beat stories' and just chilled. Jimmy knows our Mr Thew well from the DTD cash games, and goes back a long time with Mr Kendall. In fact, he is still waiting for his promised Press Passes for this years 'November Nine' finalists!!
To be fair to Tikay, he did get in touch a couple of weeks too late to apologise. Seems he overslept.
At exactly 8.17, just 17 mins' after the start of the event, please enter Mr James Marriott to the reception area. Well I couldn't contain myself, I was rolling around on marble floor like somebody having a fit. This was going well - NOT!!
Anyway Tony (Bungle) dodged the bullets til after the 1st break, but fell well short of 'cashing'. We were all still positive and concluded it was good to get the 'bad beats', 'missed draws' etc etc. . . out of the way the 1st night.
An early night was taken. To be honest, I was still a bit rough after the previous nights exploits.
Day Two started with my usual 'early morning alarm call' from the shower area, and breakfast at our usual jaunt.
We decided that as we were only 50 yards from the most gorgeous beach you could ever wish to set your eyes on, it would be most rude not to use it. So we packed our towels, musical aids etc and headed down. After a short while we were approached by a very well built local lady. She introduced herself as 'Sweet Peaches'. She was built like 99.9% of the local ladies. Shoulders like Linford Chrisitie and the rear of Fatima Whitbread. - Basically, not to be messed with!!
Anyways, it seemed she was taking a shine to me as she ran her hands over my shoulder, offering her 'full attention' for one hour at a rate of $70. We concluded that her 'attention' would be a full all-over massage, but I wasn't for taking any chances, and put my decision off for 24 hours to give myself some breathing space and guarantee a safe exit. We did ask why she was called 'Sweet Peaches', she just scowled like a 'rabbied dog' and said, 'because all the other girls are sour'!
It transpires our 'Sweet One' has a bigger, older sister. Gulp!! So I've had Sinclair, DTD's travelling Security Guard watch my back for me whenever I've been anywhere near the beach since.
By late afternoon, the excitement was increasing, the reason we were here in St Kitts, the Main Event was starting at 5 o'clock. Jim and myself were playing day 1A, whilst Tony was trying to qualify for day 1B.
We showered, heaped ample amounts of after sun on each other, got changed, and arrived in good time at the casino. It was a 4 day event, so we were telling each other 'patience, patience'. .
My draw was an interesting one. I had well known pro' J P Kelllie opposite me, and one of Sam Trickett's mob, Ben Vinson to my right. He was a bit aggro early doors and lost approx 7k from his starting stack of 30k. I lost 3k when my re raise on the flop was re re raised, I put down top pair top kicker.
After approx 1/2 hour I picked up kings on the button. There had been a couple of limps before Vinson ramped it up to 250, I re raised to 750, he re raised to 2k, after a think I just flatted him. The flop was 9 high, no connectors and rainbow. He bet out 4k, I called. The turn was a blank, he bet out again, this time 7k, I called. By now I could feel my heart thumping like I'd just run a marathon, but I just continued to look around the room like I didn't have a care in the world. He kept glancing at me, then looking away as soon as I looked back. I'm not a big live player, and this was the biggest event id ever played. Well at least on a par with the recent GUKPT in Blackpool. I could sense the tension building round the table as the river was dealt, it was another blank, low card. People from the next table had turned round to watch, I was loving it, but also 'bricking' it.
He announced 'all in' for his remaining 15k, WOW!! Here I was, my biggest ever tournie, over pair to the board, no straights or flushes. The way the betting went pre flop he could only have aces, or maybe like me kings. He couldn't have had 9's or less and hit his set, surely not?? Again, 2 pairs was unlikely the way he bet pre flop. I put him on a high ace and bluffing. So after what seemed an age I said 'call'. My sphin@ter muscles were giving way as he looked at me and said, 'You called'? 'Yep' I replied. To which he stood up and threw down his king queen total bluff. WOW again!!
He reckoned that with it being such a big event I would be intimidated and put my hand down. I figured that if it was the normal on line game that I was used to, it was an auto call, so it had to be here too. I'd taken out one of 'The Names', and was the early chip leader, nice.
Two hands later I got aces. I raised pre flop and got one call. The flop was 8 10 j. I bet out and was called. The turn was a blank so bet out again, again I was called. The river was a queen, grrrrr, I checked, my opponent bet out 7k, approx a pot size bet. I stalled, thought about it, I'd got up to 55k, already committed 7k to this pot, did I need to risk a further 7k?? I folded showing aces. He didn't show, but I thought it at least showed I had a hand and wasn't scared of putting it down (very much unlike my on line game as we all know). He was a Romanian chap called Marariu Dah, and was to become my Nemises.
Anyways, I kept my head down til dinner time which came after level 4, and was happy with my 48k stack.
Jim had snook up to 54k, and had nothing to report.
Dinner was a buzz with various stories ringing out from surrounding tables and 90 mins later we were back to 'work'.
Nothing happened for the next hour or so, i managed a couple of raises that got through and found myself with a healthy 55k stack. Then I picked up AJ on the button. My Romanian friend raised pre flop, I re raised, he flatted. Flop came queen 10 10. He min bet, I flatted. Turn was my 'bingo card', king. Problem was it was a bigger 'bingo' card for him. He bet out, I raised, he went all in for his remaining 14k. The pot was now worth 30k, I called, he showed k 10. I was 'dead'.
My stack was now down to 35k ish, still average though, so no problem.
On my next big blind I picked up AK, my new 'best friend' raised pre flop, I re raised, he re re raised to 2.5k, I flatted. Flop came A 9 9. Lovely I thought. I checked, he bet out, I called, not wanting to 'lose my customer'. Turn was another 9. So now I've 'filled up' and the way the betting went pre I couldn't put him on the case 9. The river was dealt and I bet out 7k, he raised me to 15k, If I called I was left with approx 10k so I threw the lot in the middle, looks like we're 'chopping' I thought.
Mistake!!!
He called instantly and showed aces!!! Grrrrrr. All four were out. Yeah in hindsight I should have just called his re raise on the river and had the comfort of 10k left.
So that was it, from being very comfortable, I was out in a flash. Obviously some will say I could have 'got away' from both hands much cheaper, but we're not all 'top notch' players.
Jim got through Day 1A with 47k, Jimmy Moult had built up to 90k (one of the chip leaders). The Devilfish bust out, (but was to re buy in the following day). JP Kelly was ave' stacked.
I went back to the suite, re thinking over and again what had taken place, unable to get to sleep.
T.B.C
Neil (aka Joesman
Subject: Fwd: Letter from St Kitts (part three)
..... So I woke up the following morning with a clear head. I accepted that although my exit from the main event was possibly avoidable, it hadn't being through reckless play.
The usual alarm clock and the short walk down to The Blu Restaurant, for omelettes, juice and coffee etc took us to 10.30. The sun was already out in full force and there wasn't a cloud to be seen. It felt hotter than the previous couple of days, so we had to be careful, especially our little 'lobster friend' who was still suffering.
Isn't it typical that when you have a weak spot everybody seems to find it? - No matter how incidental. I lost count the number of times people 'patted' Jim on his back the previous night. Even one of the Tournament Directors decided Jim's back was worthy of his right hand in an effort to gain his attention. If I hadn't known better, I'd have thought Jim was doing some sort of new 'Gangnam Style' dance with noise effects every time it happened. What a complete girl he was, it was only a bit of sun burn man!!
Jim and myself decided we fancied a go at quad biking (was a bit too 'risque' for our Bungle), so we went to see 'an events organiser' who positioned herself in the hotel lobby area every morning. Now anyone who watched the spoof documentary 'Come Fly With Me' and in particular remembers The Coffee Shop Manageress, 'Precious Little', will know where I'm coming from, but I swear Shirley (the lady in question) was the basis for this character, she was the absolute 'spitting dabs'.
I was that convinced, I actually called her 'Matt' (Lucas) during our 'con - flab', but I just received a puzzled look, so I soon gave up on that one. Anyways we booked our expedition for 10am the following morning, so escaping the Sun at it's height.
The three of us then had a look around the various shops within the compounds of the complex. Most impressive was the jewellery shop, with diamonds and watches for sale in excess of $30,000 - yeah in another life, maybe!!
We spent the rest of the day just chilling by the pool. Jim and Tony occasionally taking a dip, I was too lazy to even try that, instead I just 'fried' on my sun bed, listening to probably the cheesiest music ever to grace St KItts on my I Pod shuffle thingy.
That evening we decided to eat at the Italian Restaurant on site, La Cucina. I at least tried to embrace the occasion, Bruschetta for starters, a glass of Chianti, and some form of Italian chicken dish for my main course. Tony likewise went for an Italian flavour, Bruschetta, followed by Lasagne. Jim had Steak and Wedges, Brit on Tour!!
Jim at least had the 2nd day of the main event to look forward to that evening, Tony and myself decided to play a little cash instead. After an hour or two, Jim joined us on the cash tables, oh dear!!
At least that went well, I spun up $200 to nearly 1k, so covering the cost of the side events I was playing during the week. Tony showed a bit of a profit too. Jim, well, errrr, he had a bad night all round. For the disciplined ones not bothered about the tournaments, the cash tables were the place to be. People were constantly sitting down with $100/200 and having a gamble. There was one guy in particular who was sitting down with $100, calling with 3rd/4th pair and just re loading for another $100 time after time. Happy Days!
On the way back to our suite, one of us felt that sudden 'twinge' we've all had (us men especially) on occasions. The sort of 'twinge' when you know instantly you're in 'trouble'. The will I make it to the toilet in time? 'trouble'. - Now to save embarrassment, the person in question shall remain anonymous for the purpose of the story. I have it on good authority that although it was a very tight 'photo finish', the 'winning post' was reached - just!! That was the good news. . . The bad news was that an excessive amount of 'wastage' meant a blockage ensued.
No matter how many times the toilet was flushed, the blockage wasn't for moving, and the excess water poured over the top of the toilet like a fountain in a garden centre. Spare towels were used to soak it up, and these were squeezed into the jacuzzi. As Jim was the only one of the three of us to use the jacuzzi, hey ho never mind. His use of the jacuzzi was purely down to practicality, the taps for the shower were up a height!! Anyway we gave up our 'fight for freedom' for the night and got our heads down.
By the next morning, although the bathroom floor was now dry again, there was still no moving the 'immovable object'. So on our way to meet Shirley 'Precious Little' Lucas for our quad bike mission, Jim and I stopped off at Reception to report the blockage, leaving Tony in the suite to deal with it.
Shirley introduced us to our Guide, he was called Kevin. We jumped into the back of his mini bus and Kevin drove us (about as fast as a kerb crawler) to our destination. It was a good 15 mins' drive and we were approx' 400m above sea level. The view was magnificent.
Just as we were getting a briefing on how to use the quads, a local, 'Tonto' like figure, rode past, bear-back on his horse. I swear he was even riding a 'Paint Horse'!! We were now in a different world again, nature was upon us.
We followed Kevin into the hills, Addison his side kick, was our 'wing man'. Soon I found myself in trouble, unable to negotiate a sharp bend, I drove straight on, and pretty fast, deep into the Sugar Cane that surrounded the trail. I panicked and instead of 'jamming' the breaks on, I stupidly kept my hand firmly on the accelerator, until I was that deep, that the Sugar Cane was deeper than the engine on the quad was stronger. I left sufficient track marks behind for Addison to find me, and he pulled me out before Jim, (who was ahead of me) saw anything, and could take photographic evidence, phew!!
The next two hours brought fascinating facts from Kevin about the history of St Kitts. How the Sugar Cane Industry started, and it's progression. How the Mong@@se was introduced to the Island to contain the Snakes who were eating all the Sugar Cane. And how Wild Dogs were introduced when the Mong@@se were becoming a problem. The result is now that both the Mong@@se and Wild Dogs live side by side in the wild, but leave each other alone. The Snakes bit the dust.
Below is a pic' of an Old Sugar Mill
*** Missing pic of mill used for sugar mill ****
We also learned about the various plants in the wild. How they cure all different illnesses from coughs to fevers etc. Very few people on the island use Chemists or a Doctor. They instead travel up, into the woods, and pick the right leaves for their ailment. Take them home and heat them up until their various oils are released.
*** Missing pic of us on quad bikes ***
Next we saw a wild monkey, again these are a common site high up on the Island. Somewhere in this pic' the Monkey hides:-
***Missing pic of the tree ****
What was noticeable was the big difference in temperature, it was much cooler, it even started raining, yet below you could see it was still glorious sunshine
.
*** Missing pic of sea from high up in hills
Far too soon our two hours was up, and we were back where we started. Kevin took us back to our complex via the house of the only famous person St Kitts has produced, Kim Collins.
We arrived back at our suite to find a Maintenance Man in our bathroom shaking his head and Tony in the Living Room shrugging his shoulders. He had being 'at it' for a good 1/2 hour with no success. He declared that he needed re-enforcements and would be back.
An hour or so later he was back with two 'mates', they were dressed up like 'ghostbusters', and with enough equipment to un block a sewerage farm. Anyways 15 mins' later job done!!
Here is a pic' of 'our hero'.
*** Missing pic of Maintenance Man ****
That nights side event was a Bounty Hunter, yay, home from home, but with a twist. Not everybody had a bounty on their head, only one in every six did. But each bounty was worth $600. You only found out if the person you 'took out' had a bounty on their head when the Tournament Director appeared, he would give you a chip if u had hit 'the jackpot', or just shake his head if you missed. (He had the heads written down on a piece of paper).
Miracle of miracles, all three of us made the Final Table. And no, there wasn't just the ten entrants!! Top four cashed, and oh yes, none of us did. Jim did the best and bubbled. Worse still, he took 4 people out and didn't get a single bounty. Tony and myself took 2 out each, and again, we both blanked. You couldn't make it up!!
Dutch professional Marcel Luske came 3rd, and surprise surprise, there was a bounty on his 'head'. All the 'heads' were random, yeah, 'course they were!!
Going back to Marcel briefly, he has the most beautiful girlfriend, half his age. How does he do it?? Maybe it's the few million bucks in the bank, free holidays all over the world following poker tournaments, etc etc . . How fickle are some women?? Lol. . . Seriously though, Marcel seems a good man, charming and amusing.
So that was it, another day in paradise was over.
T.B.C
Neil (aka Joesman)
TKP On Tour In Marbella - They Went, They Saw, They Conquered!!!
Those with long memories will remember the blogs I wrote from my trip to St Kitts in November 2012. I was going to do something similar in Marbella, but the sun, alcohol and binkage got in the way.
Anyways it all started as some idle gossip one night in February between a few of the TKP group on Sky Poker. We had seen that Poker Stars had arranged a festival of events for mid June in Marbella and thought it would be great to mix a bit of sun with poker for a week. Before the night was over it was agreed that it was to be done. By the end of the month, flights from Glasgow, Newcastle, Leeds/Bradford, Stanstead and Bournemouth (yes they have an airport there) were booked, and the hotel sorted. The Princesa Playa on Marbella beach front was the chosen one, - and what a good choice it turned out to be.
I had booked two seats on my flight as I didn't fancy travelling alone, and I thought I might need a distraction from the alcohol loving group. Two of the office girls (Shannen and Molly) who had helped me have a successful 12 months business wise continually badgered me to take them. Eventually 3 weeks before we were due to leave I got them together and told them they had worn me down and were coming. I booked another seat on the flight and we were now a party of nine.
Myself and the two girls were the 1st to arrive in Malaga and were met by Willie Elliot, a TKP member who was with another party, and drove us to our hotel. Willie had volunteered to be the taxi driver for the week, a big thanks to Uncle Willie!! By just after midnight, and by all accounts with varying difficulties, Willie had taxied everyone to the hotel, and the party could begin. As per it is with Brits abroad, as it was our 1st night, we all over indulged, well apart from Graham Smith, who cashed in the very 1st side event. - A sign of things to come.
The following day the main event started, and by the end of it, Graham Phipps had bagged up a useful stack, and I had popped in and out of it. As we had swapped 10% of each other, I still at least had a little bit of interest left in the event. The next day Graham had a day of rest, and I ground my way through a field of 112 in a satellite for the High Roller which was offering 12 seats. Sky's Jen Mason also snook in.
Graham I arrived together on the Thursday in good time for our noon starts, full of hope, and it was well placed hope. As by the end of the day, Graham was in the money (get in, good investment I thought) and I was 1 of 35 survivors in the High Roller. Another short sleep later we were back to 'work'. Graham with the intention of laddering, myself wanting to stay out of trouble until 18 exited as only the top 17 got paid in my event. Graham did a magnificent job and exited in 16th position, a tremendous effort that won him €6,000. Er well, not exactly, he won €5,400 and won me €600, 'well done mate' I said as I shook his hand. Through gritted teeth he parted with his 'hard earned', as I was now in the money myself and had nearly matched him.... Well a deal is a deal innit?? Tbf Graham was a good sport over it.
By this time Willie and Ulrich had played and cashed in the 6-max side event, so we were now up to 5 guaranteed cashes out of our party of 7 - unbelievable Jeff!!!!
My next goal having cashed was to stay out of trouble and make the final table. I managed this ok, and one by one my opponents exited until there was four of us left. At this stage a deal was discussed, I wasn't fussed either way, but after a protracted debate a deal was reached. My cut was €31,550. There was €4000 and the trophy left in the middle for the four of us to play for.
A short while later I called an all in from the short stack with KQ, he had JJ, I hit my K and we were now 3 handed. Eventually one of my opponents took the other out and I started the heads up battle 30:70 down in chips. After 2 hours of grinding away I had turned it round to be approx 70:30 up when I woke up with QQ. After a raise, re raise, all in, call, we had come to a head. I was up against AJ. After a AJ8 flop things were looking bad. K on the turn didn't help, but a 10 on the river most certainly did, and the trophy was coming home with me. Yay!!!
The rest of the holiday was sun, sun, and more sun. On the last day we all played a turbo event, and this is where it gets ridiculous. Irene Mirza cashed and won her 1st ever 'flag'!!!
So out of a group of 7 poker players, 6 of us cashed, and Clare Gardener is looking for a new team. Top effort teamies.
I'd just like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who came, and made the holiday a huge success. I think Shannen and Molly had their eyes opened, but also thoroughly enjoyed the trip.
wp neil, pleased for you.