Dublin Poker

Almost missed playing this one! Had put time aside to play last nights $30 freezeout on Paddy Power, as I really wanted to play in the big Drogheda game in February. It worked out at a ticket (worth $300) for ever 10 players. I think we started with 48 players so we were looking at 4 tickets and $240 for 5th.

Anyway, couldn't get onto the computer until 8.58pm because my sister has exams and needed the PC. Still, with the game starting at 9pm and was cutting it close! So the game started and I have a glance around my table. Des to my right and Dave two to my left! Should be good!

Was playing pretty tight for the first few levels, and slowly built my stack up. I was getting good cards but instead of slow playing I had decided to simply try to raise people out of pots. It was Paddy Power after all! Aces are only good preflop! Made a few big preflop raises with Kings and AK and took down pots uncontested, which is best when playing PPP.... ok I'll stop :)

Got Queens a few levels in and got into a pot with Des. Two Aces on the flop but Des bets out and gives me a nice hint. I check the turn and let Des bet the river which I duly raise! Nice one Des!

Up to about 3K and i double up with AK vs AJ on an A high flop. Was second in chips now and when I went to check the leaderboard I noticed Rounders was top of the pile! I went back to my table and then noticed that he was after getting moved to my table! Shit! Anyway, grinded away for the next few levels until we were down to 2 tables. Nothing exciting, just knocking out a few players with better hands.

Dave and Des both got knocked out on bad beats I think, and if i'm not mistaken, both by Rounders! Down to 10 and I was sitting pretty on about 13K. Waiting for it to break to 9. And waiting. And my stack started dwindling as the blinds went up and the cards dried up. This has happened to me before in games. Down to 10 and I'm to distracted by the short stacks play to keep an eye on my own.

Anyway when we FINALLY broke for the final table, I was down to about 9K, which wasn't great. Average would be about 11K. There was a few boardies still left; Rounders and Gholimoli that I remember. Anyway, I didn't get much until I picked up 10 10. I raised it up to 2.5K and got 1 caller. Flop comes AQx. She pushes all in. SHIT! Foldy foldy down to 6K.

Robbed a few blinds and got up to about 8K and then got AQ. I raised it up and got 1 caller. Flop comes A78 and I push. He takes ages and finally calls with AJ. No Jack and I'm up to 16K. Lovely! The very next hand I get AK. Theres a 3K raise ahead of me so push all in to isolate. He finally calls with tens and the flop is no help to me. Back down to 10K. I don't think there was any need for me to make this move with such a flat payout structure, but we were down to 8, and one lad only had 1K, so if I had won the hand we would have been down to 7 with one very shortstacked player. Ah well.

Another bluff knocked me back down to 6K and I was starting to sweat now. The shorty got knocked out so now we were 1 place off the bubble. Agghhh! Thankfully Rounders came to the rescue and knocked 2 players out in 1 hand to ensure I get a ticket or cash! Nice one!

We were going to just throw all the chips in but I persuaded the lads to play on for Pride! We played on and soon me and Rounders were heads up and I had a slight chip lead. The penultimate hand came when he pushed with 55 and I called with A6 soooted. I saw a magic Ace on the flop but straight away saw the 5 beside it! Damn! Ah well, I might not have got a ticket without Rounders knocking the other lads out!

See you all in Drogheda!

First off some casino rules that have been annoying me;

Who was the one that came up with the string betting rule? I don't think I have ever seen a situation where a player has tried to use this to their advantage. It seems that the only people who insist on enforcing this rule are the big mouths who feel the need to pounce on some poor newbie who doesn't know all the minor rules of poker. Fair enough, it can be confusing if somebody doesn't make it clear what there bet is, but don't immediately shout 'string bet' and smile around as if you are a fcuking expert on the rules of poker. Give him a chance, and let the dealer decide if its a string bet. Obviously you would expect everybody to know this rule but if they aren't aware of it, don't make a point of it.

Also, another thing which I have been noticing more and more, is people buying percentages of other people in tournaments. Andy Black collected a fair bit of money before the WSOP and a lot of people were very happy when he came home! However, I am constantly overhearing about people 'having 15% of each other' in smaller tournaments. The promlem that I see is when the two of you are playing in the same tournament. If you do end up at the same table you will most likely avoid playing against him as you don't want to knock him out, as you will lose your 15% with him. By soft playing you are basicalling ruining the integrity of the game, and it's basically a form of collusion. I am this happens, but I think as more and more people get into the habit of doing it, it is changing the atmosphere in tournaments.

For example, if in a big tournament, player X and player Y own 15% of each other, and they both own 15% of player Z, what will happen if they all end up at the same table? There is no way that you can have a proper game of poker if a few players at the same table own percentages of each other. This could prove to be a problem in the WSOP, where so many people are bankrolled. I think that everyone should state any deals of any kind before a tournament starts, under threat of disqualification.



I know points like these have probably been done to death on other sites, but it would be interesting to see how everyone feels about them.

Ok... a prize for whoever can work out how many outs I had....


Getting pissed off lately at how little poker I'm playing. This new job means I'm up at 6am two days a week and 8am the other three. I just can't fit any real poker in on weeknights, just the odd bit of online CRAP when I get seriously bored. Hands like the one above just make me lose interest fast. I still haven't got back into playing online regularly, and I don't think I will in the near future. It has been giving me a good laugh recently though... there are sooo many people who play online that actually think they are good players. Very funny watching two players argue over a hand when NEITHER has the slightest fucking clue what they are doing.

I've got the team even coming up at the start of February and I'm captaining Fistful of Shamrock, hopefully to glory! I'm gonna play a few sats and try and get a ticket into either the Drogheda 250 game or the televised Joe 'Show' game. Preferably both!

Just got back from the game there, and I somehow went from being chip leader with 16 left, to out in 12th??? And I still can't figure out how the fuck I just threw it away...


I started the game off ok, getting muck up until a few hands before the break. Started after the break with around 6K from a starting stack of 2K. I wasn't getting much until I picked up AJ and AQ in quick succesion. I had given out a bit of a rock image, and when I limped with AK a few hands later, the small blind presumed he was ahead and pushed for 6K. I called and his AQ didn't outdraw me and I was soon up to about 15K.

I was moved then to table 2 and started to dominate and bully the table. I was soon up to 20K.... then 30... then 40, knocking out players on the way and picking up their scalps! I was chip leader on the final two tables with about 42K when everthing just fell apart. First I got JJ and raised it up to 4K (blinds 500/1000). Folded around to BB who goes all-in for 8K total. Only another 4k to me. Autocall. He flips over the aces, and no luck on the board and I've taken a slight hit. Ah well, carry on... Down to 34K.

A few hands later I pick up KK and with a lot of limpers and me last to act I pump in 10K into an 8K pot. Folded around and I get TWO callers who had both checked it to me?? The flop throws an a horrible ace and with a raise and an all in in front of me I'm forced to drop the hand. They turn over AQ and..... A6? Ok.... still ok down to 24K.

The next hand I limp in with Ac10c after 4 callers ahead of me. The flop comes down 445 with two clubs. Its checked around to me so I throw in a pot bet, 10K. I don't know if I was tilting here and whether or not it was worth it to throw half my stack in on a draw, but it was checked to me and I was sure no-one had hit the 4. And it was the NUT flush draw.

It was folded around to the last lad, a calling station who had donated most of his chips to me earlier on. He seemed like the pub-tourney type and had accumulated his chips mainly through picking up big hands. I hadn't seen him bluff all night.

He had about the same amount of chips as me, and was thinking about it for a while before eventually calling. I was almost sure he had the 5 or a lower flush draw now, as he wouldn't have hesitated to call with the 4, and he had already checked it to me. He eventually called and I was starting to get pot committed. I had about 14K left and with about 30K in the pot, I would probably have to push on the turn. The turn was a blank, no club. He checked it to me, and I was going to push, but I think he would have called either way, so I checked behind him hoping to hit an ace, ten or club on the river. The river was another blank and when he pushed I was forced to fold. I couldn't see any way I was ahead.

The blinds were raised to 1500/ 3000 and after getting both my blinds stolen I was forced to call an all in for my last 9K with KJc. I wasn't too far behind and was up against A10. No help on the board and somehow I've gone from being chip leader to out within the space of about 10 minutes. Cannot believe i didn't make the money. Un-fucking-believable.

I've been thinking about the main hands I lost and other than pushing on the nut flush draw, I don't think there was much else i could have done differently. Jacks ran into Aces. Kings got fucked by an ace on the flop. Flush never comes out and I couldn't scare him off the hand.

I managed to pick up 5 scalps so I only lost a tenner for the night but it still fucking hurts. I was in great form tonight and was confident I could at least make the money. Just can't believe I was chip leader with 16 left and I didn't make the money.

I'm gonna head down to the Fitz tonight for the scalps game, and I have to make up for my disastrous performance from the other night. I'm going to play my top game tonight, and WILL make the money! Its all about CONFIDENCE!! Even though I've been up since 5am this morning for work I'm pretty sure I can cash tonight. Might just need a quick powernap at the break :)

I 'm not gonna make any stoooopid plays like the other night. I WILL be writing back on here after the game with a nice win....

Oh and I just noticed that I've gone over 1000 hits. Deadly!

A friend of mine persuaded me to go down and have a look at the new casino opened up just off Grafton St. The €75 + €5 double chance was on, so I said I'd give it a go. Met up with a few lads from boards and got to have a look around the place before it started. What a slick place! Got my car valeted for €10 and all!

As for the poker aspect of the night, I was stupid for going down in the first place. Its the first time since I started work that I played poker on a weeknight. The main reason I went down was just to look at the place.... and thats all I got! The tournament started just before 9, and I was out at 9:30. Out of a double chance in half an hour! Easily the worst poker I've EVER played. My head just wasn't in it at all.

I'd had a long day at work, I was in work at 7:30am this morning, and I hadn't eaten as I'd gone straight from work to the hospital to visit my grandad, and then from there down to my mates house, where HE persuaded me to go to the SE. BIG mistake...

I started off ok, working my 2K stack up to just over 3K. Then after about 15 mins I got my top-up and was up too just over 5K. Then came the two hands that killed me. Both were avoidable, and neither were even played that well by the other player. I just paid both of them off.

Hand 1
I got dealt KQ, and limped in as there was a few callers. The flop came down AKJ with two hearts. I called a small raise, but as I had no hearts I didn't want to commit myself. A third heart came on the turn, but it was the 10, giving me a straight. I wanted to get rid of anyone on a flush draw so I bet 600, about a pot-sized bet. I got MIN-RAISED! Normally this would stink of a made flush, I better fold. So why the fuck are my chips going in the middle??? The river comes a blank, and he pushes all in for his last 350. So he min raised an extra 600 when he only had 950!! And I called?? What the fuck did i think he had?? Normally I would have picked up on the flush on the turn and checked it, but last night my head wasn't in it at all.

Hand 2
About 5 mins after the Hand 1, I get dealt K 10 and limp in. Its raised up to 200 (4BB), and from some strange, TILTY reason, I call. Normally I would dump this to a raise as it usually gets you into trouble, but for some reason I called. Flop came down K J x. I bet out to get info on the other two still in the hand. First player folded, the second lad thought for a while and eventually called. I figured he probably had a Jack, and I may be able to take it down on the turn. An Ace popped out on the turn, and he checked it to me. Now I was a bit confused... The Ace was a scare card, and my head was all over the place as I had been planning on pushing on the turn. So I checked. The river was another blank. And he checked it to me. Now on a normal night, this would stink of a good hand, but for some strange reason, I still felt all he had was the Jack. So I pushed.. with K 10??? He took a while to call, eventually saying "I have to.." and turning over AJ?? I probably would have picked this up normally, as he was the original raiser! What was i thinking???


Overall I am disgusted and embarrassed by my play last night. My earliest exit ever from a tournament, and easily the worst I've played in years. It was my own fault. I shouldn't have gone down in the first place. I was in no fit state to play and my head wasn't in the right place. just going to have to accept that poker will be resigned to the weekends from now on.

To put the cherry on the fucking cake, my mate just rang me and said he got 10th, the bubble! And he was knocked out on aces. Obviously...

Decided to venture down to this as I haven't been playing live much due to my new job. Met up with Shane (De Deraco on boards) beforehand for a pint, then strolled down to the fitz. Game started at 4:30. On the way Shane told me that it wasn't a €30 freezeout as I had expected. Instead it was a 'shoot-out'. I actually hadn't heard of a shoot-out before, but Shane filled me in on the structure. Its basically like loads of seperate STT's where the winner of each goes on to the final table. Since we only had 4 tables it was decided that the top two would go through. There was a nice starting stack of 4,000.

Started the game off well, playing tight enough until I knew what I was up against. It didn't take me long to realise that there was only one other player that looked anyway decent. Two of the people had never played before, and the rest didn't seem too confident. Now most of the time it is good to have one or two fish at the table, but when its full of them.... you could drown! It's harder to bluff, etc.

I tried to stay out of most of the big pots, only playing quality hands. We were down to 4 quickly enough, while the other three tables still had 8 or 9 players. There was an unbelievably lucky woman who was sitting at my table. It was her first time ever playing live and she knocked out 3 players from our table on ridiculous river cards. She was calling EVERYTHING! I was happy to sit back and watch her infuriate the rest of the table! Eventually I picked up KK and put on an oscar winning performance to get her to put all her chips in. Flop came down A K x, and her eyes stared at the Ace for a few seconds longer than the rest. Thanks love, you wouldn't have an Ace by any chance?

I checked, and she raised pretty big. I took ages to RELUCTANTLY call... Turn was a jack, and I waited until I knew she was looking at me, and then threw her a false tell. I stared at the jack, then my cards, then the jack... etc. River was the final king. Hmmmmmm... I looked at her and announced, "I don't think you have an ace or king, I'm going all in". She immediately pushed all her chips in and proudly turned over A 9 shouting "Haha, I have the ace!!! Beats your Jack!" ..... I turned over the kings and almost felt bad to see her go. Almost...

Anyway, down to three and Shanes table was down to six. Other two were still on 7 or 8. We stayed at three for about an hour and Shane had decided to destroy his table, and somehow got from six players to two in about 15 mins! He finished up and went through 1st with about 26K. We finished up soon after, and I went to the final table with about 17K, about average. Table 2 finished up at about 6:30, so now we were waiting for table 4 to finish. Somehow there was still 5 players left!!! So we waited... and waited...and waited. TWO HOURS later it was still at 4 players!!!!

Me, and Shane were playing cards with Rounders123 and some other boardsters, and ordered food, and STILL we were waiting! We went over to watch the table at about 8:45, and eventually it got down to two. Now it was final table time! The payout wasn't great, I think it went

8th 50
7th 50
6th 50
5th 50
4th 70
3rd 100
2nd 200
1st 320

There was no-one at the final table that worried me, and I had a healthy enough stack. Only problem was that table 4 had been playing soooo long that the blinds had gone up a LOT! When we had finished up the blinds were 200/400. When the final table started it was 1000/2000!! I started off in BB and my blind was robbed straight away. Same with the small blind. Got NO cards in the first round, then saw my BB getting robbed again! In fairness Shane had AA and knocked someone out so I can't complain. I was down to 12K now and needing to pick up a hand. Thankfully it came the very next hand and I looked down to see KK. Button went all in for about 8K with A7. 7 on the flop but no more help and he was out. Soon we were down to 4, and after Shane knocked another player out, we were down to 3.

Shane was monster chip leader, but he was getting great hands on the final table. Aces, Queens.... With the blinds 1500/3000, I went all in for about 25K with K6 to try and get the shortstack out and get heads up with Shane. He only had about 6K left so he had to call. I was delighted to see him turn over 67. OBVIOUSLY he hits his 7 on the turn and now I was in a bit of trouble. A few hands later Shane raises up to 20K. I look down to see A10 so its an autocall. He flips over 33. ...50/50 time. I hit a 10 on the flop but the biatch hits his set! I even hit an ace on the river but it aint enough. Ah well, the better hand won. 3rd place - €100. Not too bad, but Im pissed off that the other bloke got lucky on me on the previous hand. I was looking forward to getting heads up with Shane!

Anyway, Shane finishes him off soon enough, taking 1st and €320. Fair play to him, he played well. I think he went down to play the €20 rebuy afterwards. So, a good night, another good finish. I've only played the Sunday game twice now, and I've got 1st and 3rd. I think the cost/ structure suits me well. Happy enough with how I played tonight. Next on the list is trying to win a ticket into the 'Joe Show' tournament!

1. I will buy a 1,000-piece puzzle; remove one piece and give the puzzle to someone who absolutely loves puzzles (that is my boss).

2. I will go to McDonald's with my friends and order Happy Meals for everybody and then slip away.

3. I will say hello to everybody I meet on street on Sunday as if I have known them for ages and then walk away.

4. I will read less books. A little learning is a dangerous thing. Too much of it can really wreck your head.

5. I will gain weight, at least 40 pounds. My mom always said I was a bit skinny.

6. I will cut down on exercise. Too much is bad for your health, it can even kill you.

7. I must watch more TV. It's very educational. Catch up on all those programs I've missed down the years.

8. I will draw up a list of people who were nasty to me in the past year, and get my own back on them in the next year!

9. I WILL drink more. Wasn't it Benjamin Franklin who said, 'beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy'. So be happy.

10. I will work less. Take it easy. All work and no play can make you a dull boy or girl.

11. I will take up some worthwhile new habit, like smoking - it helps keep tobacco workers in jobs.

12. And finally I will beat Hectorjelly heads up in the WSOP 2006


HAPPY NEW YEAR!