Dublin Poker

I don't like the way the direction this blog has been going the last week. Turning into a feckin bad beat blog! Fair enough, its been a horrible week for me in poker, but I have no idea why I got so annoyed about it. I was on a great buzz from the Anglers Rest win, but this didn't last too long!

Anyway, I'm off to Prague tomorrow, and I've decided to stay away from poker for the weekend. Try and clear my head a bit! When I come back, no more moaning and bitching about DONKEYS... I promise :)

To change the mood of this blog, here's a gem of a story I heard recently...


One day during the Great Depression, this man who walked into a bar. He went up to the bartender and said, "Bartender, I'd like to buy the house a round of drinks". The bartender said, "That's fine, but we're in the middle of the Depression, so I'll need to see some money first". The guy pulls out a huge wad of bills and sets them on the bar.

Well, the bartender can't believe what he's seeing. "Where did you get all that money?" asked the bartender. "I'm a professional gambler", replied the man. The bartender said, "There's no such thing! I mean, your odds are 50-50 at best, right?" "Well, I only bet on sure things," said the guy. "Like what?" asked the bartender? "Well, for example, I'll bet you $50 that I can bite my right eye." The bartender thought about it. "OK". So, the guy pulls out his false right eye and bites it. "Aw, you screwed me", said the bartender, and paid the guy his $50.

"I'll give you another chance. I'll bet you another $50 that I can bite my LEFT eye," said the stranger. The bartender thought again and said, "Well, I know you're not blind, I mean I watched you walk in here. I'll take that bet". So, the guy pulls out his false teeth and bites his left eye. "Aw, you screwed me again". "That's how I win so much money, bartender. I'll just take a bottle of your best scotch in lieu of the $50", said the man.

With that, the guy went to the back room and spent the better part of the night playing cards with some of the locals. After many hours of drinking and card playing, he stumbled up to the bar. The guy, drunk as a skunk, said, "Bartender, I'll give you one last chance. I'll bet you $500 that I can stand on this bar here on one foot and piss into that whiskey bottle on that shelf behind you without spilling a drop". The bartender once again pondered the bet.

The guy couldn't even stand up straight on two feet, much less one. "OK, you're on". The guy climbed up on the bar, stood on one leg, and began pissing all over the place. He hit the bar, the bartender himself, but not a drop made it into the whiskey bottle. The bartender was ecstatic. Laughing, the bartender said, "Hey pal, you owe me $500!" The guy climbed down off the bar and said, "That's OK. I just bet each of the guys in the card room $1000 each that I could piss all over you AND the bar and still make you laugh!"

Welcome to possibly the worst week of my life...

I am absolutely speechless at what has happened to me this week. At the start of the week I decided to get back into online poker as I had won a few tickets into big games, and I believed my luck had finally changed. Big mistake, as you can see from my posts below. I quickly decided to end this comeback due to an absolutely sickening run of bad beats, which I for some reason I feel the need to keep moaning about.

I've decided I'm going to stick to satellites only, which limits my games to 1 or 2 a week. However, I learned that even this is maybe too much. I sat down at the $10 rebuy on PPP yesterday to try for a ticket to the Irish Open feeder. Only 19 players. I played no hands in the first hour, as I hadn't seen a card over 10. Fair enough, I wasn't going to get annoyed, at least I'm not getting bad beats. I finally picked up eights and when some lad raised I only had a few hunderd so I pushed. He had 55 and hit a 5 on the turn. REBUY. Nothing again until I picked up queens. Reraised a lad and he plipped A5. Flop 234. REBUY. Still card dead, but somehow managed to fluke my way to the final table without winning showdown. Topped up along the wayJust stole a few pots.

Noticed there was another boardster at the table, pretty shortstacked aswell. He queried why I was playing, and laughed about how I was jinxed. Nice one. After a few hands I picked up 77, he went all in for about 1/3 of my stack. I called, and he flipped over KQ. Flop comes KKx.... "ul" he types...

I rob a few more pots and we['re soon down to 6. There's 3 tickets for $103 and 4th gets $55. I get into a showdown with a shortstack with AK, he has AJ. Jack on the river. "lol" types the boardster. Yes indeed, quite funny... Soon the shortstack is out and we're down to the bubble. I am forced to push on A10 and am against J9. Flop comes 10 8 Q.... AGHGHGHGHGHHGHG ! ! !

"ul" "wp".... sure that helps. 5 showdowns, ahead in all of them and I lose them all. Now I shouldn't even be getting annoyed about a $10 game and yet I feel like smashing up the house. I have to go for a walk to cool myself down. I'm sure the boardster just thought I was on a bad night... If only he knew. Why am I even getting annoyed about this? I lost a measly $30, and yet I can't think of anything I hate more in my whole life than online poker. I absolutely hate it. It brings out a horrible side of me that I fcuking hate.

Anyway, enough about that, I'm finished with online. It was my own fault for going back to it. I can't win at it and I don't think I'm ever going to figure out why...

The main reason I'm writing this is because of what happened tonight. I went down to my local, Barcode, with a few friends, to play a 20 euro rebuy they had on. I really didn't want to go due to what has happened this week online, but a friend wanted to go, so I said I'd head down. I forgot the Fitz were running it, and it was a nice surprise to see Luke there taking names.

We started with 1500 in chips, and although it was a pub tourney, it relaxed me to know that Luke was running it. It didn't take long to realise that the standard was low. Very, very low. There was a few Fitz regulars but them aside, I'd say about 80% of the players had never played before. I had to keep explaining the rules to people, and hand rankings etc. It was really annoying, but I felt that at least I should be able to outplay most of them. I didn't want to bluff too much, as most of these players felt it impossible to let go of any pair.

I had built up my stack pretty big by the break, just by raising big on the river when I knew I was ahead. Got called basically every time. I was on of the chip leaders at the break, with about 10K. Topped up and got an extra 3K. I had gotten this far without having to take any real risks. We were down to the last 40 people now, and with the average spend at about 70 euro, the fund looked like it was going to be big.

First hand after the break I get JJ. Flop comes down 45J rainbow. Lad bets out 3K, and I flat call. I think he has KK or QQ now, as he is itching to put his chips in. the turn brings a 2 and I bet 5K. He has about 4,500 behind, and thinks long and hard before folding AA! I'm about to say great fold, when he comes out with "I would have called 4K but I don't want to go home yet..." emmmmm ok? I don't know whether this was a good fold or he just didn't want to get knocked out...

I can't think about it for too long when I pick up AK. I raise it up to 1000 (blinds 200/400), and get four callers. Flop comes K 10 2 with no flush and I raise 2K. An absolute DONKEY who had been at my table all night decides to push for about 5K. Folded around to me and I call the extra 3K. A nice pot now of almost 15K. I'm a little worried he might have 10 2, but thankfully, the DONKEy has K 5. He's smiling at his mate and announces "pair of top kings(?), beat that mister!". He's amazed when I flip over AK, and grabs his jacket in disgust. Turn is a blank, and OF COURSE the river is a 5. He doesn't even realise he has won????? We have to explain how he has 2 pair.... "but the ace....". I am raging inside, but simply collect up the cards and say, nice hand... It hurts being beaten by someone who doesn't even realise they have won

Now Luke had said hello to me, and the lads had asked how I knew him etc. Over the space of the game I had been telling them about the Fitz, and what games they hold, and what games I've played etc. This DONKEY decides to throw this in my face after this hand and announce "haha, I took Mr bigshot casino's chips". I feel like ramming those fucking chips down his throat, but restrain myself...just... I am confident I can take those chips back if I just keep my cool. I'm still a fair bit above average on 10K. I look over my shoulder and notice Luke standing near to the table. I think he saw the hand as he has a sympathetic look on his face.

THE NEXT HAND, I pick up Ad Ac. I actually think to myself how horrible it would be to go out on this hand, after the week I've had. I decide I don't want to play them and raise it up to 2,500. I get 3 callers. Flop comes down Kd 7d 5d. The DONKEY who I doubled up instantly checks his cards, and his eyes fix on the left one. Jesus could you be more obvious...

I want to get the hand over, or take my chips back from that bloke. Its checked to me and I push for my last 7K. Folded around to that a lad who thinks for ages before folding. Then the DONKEY instantly calls with Kc Jd. That wasn't obvious... That stupid smile is on his face again, as if he has just outplayed Andy Black heads up in the WSOP final... DONKEY DONKEY DONKEY ! ! ! ! !

The lad who folded shouts, "I knew it! I had JJ, I knew I was behind, it was the 'blue' that scared me". (yes, some people still call it a 'blue'...). More importantly though, this lad was now dead to the one remaining Jack or 2 remaining Kings. And if the flush comes out he's gone. The pot is over 25K, and I have the chance to take most of my chips back off this lad. I stand up and take a deep breath, praying that I just win ONE showdown. Please just let me win a fucking hand where I am ahead. The turn comes down ....... Jc. I sink into my chair and deal the river, a non diamond 6. I'm out and I'm in absolute shock. I turn around to see Luke.... speechless. again probably thinking I am just on a bad night... If only HE knew... I have now made possibly the worst player in the tournament chip leader. Admittedly, it wasn't a bad move compared to the previous hand, but I he was a mile behind after I turned over the aces... why the fuck couldn't they just stand up?

UNBELIEVABLY, at a table of 8, EVERY one of them thought I had won the hand??? They thought aces beat two pair. I had to AGAIN explain how I had lost. At this point he just smiled at me and grabbed for my chips. At this point I nearly lost it. I told him he was the luckiest donkey I had ever met and fucked the cards on the table. I have never done anything like this in a live game and i feel like a total arsehole for doing it. I just cannot believe what a week I have had. I don't think I have won one showdown all week. As far as I can tell, it couldn't have gone any worse. The only hands I can recall winning are when I robbed pots, or bet on the river with a made hand. Every single showdown I went into, no matter how far ahead I was, I lost.

I lost twice to a three outer, in the space of three hands. Unbelievable. I'm not surprised that I left Luke speechless. A man who you think would have seen it all, until he saw me. You know there's something wrong when you leave a man like Luke lost for words.

EDIT: Someone just pointed out the second one was a one outer! AGHGAHGAHGAHG! ! ! !

I have no-one to blame but myself. I'm a fcuking idiot for playing online again. It triggers something inside me which makes me want to fcuking kill somebody every time I play it. This doesn't even come close to how I'm feeling now..

http://media1.break.com/dnet/media/content/patiencechild.wmv

I only lost about 100 euro this week, and yet it has probably been the most stressful week of my life. I feel sick thinking about the games I have played in this week. Absolutely fucking sick...

I decided after winning the Irish Open Feeder ticket, and the Drogheda ticket, that I was going to give online another go. I've haven't played regularly in a few months, and it did me the world of good.

My live game has improved greatly due to the absence of online play, and stress that it causes. So why am I going back to play online? I don't know really... boredom? I think I cant control my tilt a lot better, and once I don't get too annoyed about bad beats and TERRIBLE players, I think I can make a steady profit.

However, I am still amazed by online play. The first time I sat down for a small session of STT's, I had a poker rivered by a higher poker, as mentioned in the previous post. My reaction to this was very stange, as it didn't surprise me at all. What did surprise me though was that I didn't get annoyed about it and go on tilt. Hopefully this means that I have my tilt under (some) control. However, only time will tell.

Amazingly, as I write this, I am playing a few STT's on PPP. Look what just happened...

Yes, thats me getting beaten by a ROYAL FLUSH. I pushed on the the flop and when I got two callers I had a feeling I was up against it. Am I behind here?

I think its because I still don't take this seriously... I have played about 2 hours online this week, and have had more crazy hands than the last few months playing live. Should I go back to playing something that I can't take seriously?

Jesus Christ, this is amazing. I am absolutely dumbfounded by this game... Now this isin't me moaning, I'm dishing out the bad beat here.... but still...


I don't want this to turn into me moaning about bad beats, but I hope my dilemma is clear. I want to start playing online again, as I feel I can make a profit, and I really want to win a few tickets into bigger games. However, I know that I am still not taking this seriously. Hands like these crop up WAY to often for my liking, and I don't know how to deal with them. In a live game, when something like this happens, you're on a buzz for a while. But in online, it's as if I can't relax for a second before something else happens. I find this very offputting and its hard to concentrate on the game.

I can afford to throw a few hundred into my account, and see what I can do with it. I have moved up to $15 and $25 STT's and the standard is slightly better. Although you seemingly still find terrible players at every level. I was knocked out of the Irish Open game last night by the aptly named 'a horse', who decided that 10 5 was a good enough hand to push on. I think 'a fish' or 'a donkey' would perhaps be a better name...

Anyway, this post seems to have derailed somewhat due to me playing PPP at the same time! Although it did sort of reinforce my point. In the ten minutes that I have been writing this I have been in some crazy hands. I think I'm going to just have to learn to expect this when I sit down to play online. It seems to be working, as I have won 6 out of the 13 STT's I played in, and cashed in a further three. Ah well, we'll soon find out if I can get my head around this online lark...

EDIT: Fuck it, I can't handle this. I really thought I had gotten past getting annoyed about this, but it turns out PPP didn't need very long to really get under my skin. I was playing 4 STT's and 1 MTT. A mixture of terrible beats and mind-bogglingly bad players had seen me bubble in two of the STT's, get knocked out in 6th in the other after having 50% of the chips in play, and get knocked out of the last STT and MTT... all in under 2 minutes.

How can anybody enjoy this? It is absolutely disgusting. If you get bored by bad beats just scan over this, I just have to get it off my chest...

STT 1: AK beaten by A2 on KK4 flop. Turn 3 river 5. He calls an all in on the flop... DONKEY NUMBER 1.

STT 2: I push with 6 7 on 8 9 10 flop. Called by KK. Turn J. River Q. FUCKING PPP.

STT 3: I'm CL Sitting on 5K. On tilt from the from getting knocked out of 2 STT's in last 20 seconds. I fuck up and 10 hands later I'm out. Probably my fault for not controlling my tilt...

STT 4: Starting to get pissed off now, I get aces and almost fold, thinking I need a break. Player goes all in ahead of me. I fcuking know I'm going to lose.. I call anyway. AJ. .... turn J. river J. AGHGHHGHGHGGHGHGHG!!!!!

MTT: I'm out of my chair now ready to throw the mouse through the screen. I pick up AK and hit top pair on K 4 5 flop. I don't even want to play anymore so I just fuck all the chips in. Get called by 66. hmmmm turn A, river 6. WHAT IS THAT? DONKEY! DONKEY!

I have had a stress free time the last few months and STUPIDLY decided to give online another go. It took all of two days to get me straight back to pulling my hair out. Some of the retarded fuckbags that play online.... jesus christ, how do they tie their laces in the morning?? I'm not going to let myself get stressed out again over this pointless, waste of time, EXCUSE for poker. I just cannot understand how you are meant to be consistent at this. There is so much fucking luck involved that I just can't see where the skill comes into it...

COMEBACK OVER

I havent posted a bad beat in months... but this one takes the fcuking biscuit! I havent played 'casually' on PPP for about 4 or 5 months. I lodged money today to play the Drogheda feeder.
I had $25 left over so I said I may aswell play a SnG. I won it and now had over $100 in my account. Nice One.

Maybe I'll play another Sng... Then this happens.

I get a poker of nines... beaten by a poker of tens. Sure that happens every day. The amazing thing was I didn't bat an eyelid. I simply logged off and went in to watch TV. It wasn't until a few minutes later that I realised what had happened. If that were in a live game I would have gone crazy!! But the fact that it was online, it didn't even surprise me.

Just goes to show how differently I view online ''poker'' and the real game. Also, fair play to PPP in their attempt to win back a customer... GENIUS

I still can't see my comeback to online 'poker' anytime in the near future. I just don't have the mentality to handle the difference in play between online and live play. I think my main problem is that I am playing the same style online as I do live. This may work for some people but it definitely isin't working for me! I think I can hold my own against most people in a medium buy-in live game, but land me in a $5 game online, and I'm lucky if I make a penny. Go figure...

EDIT: Just won a ticket worth $99 into this Sunday's Irish Open Satellite. One ticket to the Irish Open ($4500) for every 45 players. I'm down in Waterford for the weekend so I'm going to have to rush back to make the 7pm start. I may be praising PPP soon...

What a week! After the disappointment of just missing out on the money in Drogheda, I decided to head down to the Sporting Emporium and have a go at their 50 double chance. I met Ionapaul and JP down there, and I think we started with about 70 runners.

I started off well, and realised after about 5 minutes that the standard was absolutely rubbish. Now, I'm don't like putting down other players, as were all that bad at one stage! But it was absolutely ridiculous how bad these players were. There was myself and two other decent enough players at the table, and we were literally taking turns in taking the other players chips. Each time we would knock one of them out, another would sit in his place, and the three of us would smile at each other... Very strange atmosphere actually. Probably how Andy Black and Co. feel when we sit down at their table!

I don't want to seem like Im getting big headed or anything, (I still consider myself somewhat of a beginner!), but I have never sat at a table where I KNEW I was way better then most of the others. They were falling for everything, and it was too easy to push them around.

Anyway enough of that, coming up to the break I had a decent stack, and looking at Paul's table, he was doing very nicely. After the break, JP came to sit at our table, and it wasn't long before I had doubled him up! I had called the initial bet with 56 hearts, and I think JP had raised it. I felt he had AK or a medium pair, and when the flop came Q high, I thought I could push him off it with an all-in. Unfortunately he called with a set of Queens! D'OH! I looked across to Paul at this stage and he had a huge stack, maybe 50K+!

Nothing much to report in the run up to the final table, as I was simply card dead. Survival poker had me down to 3K with blinds at 500/ 1K! Somehow, I doubled up a few times and robbed a bit and had about 16K going into the final table.

Paul's stack had diminished somewhat to about 12K... Oops! JP was knocked out and soon we were down to 6. I think the payout was something like this;
6th 100
5th 200
4th 300
3rd 500
2nd 700
1st 1400

Paul was down to 7K UTG with blinds at 2K/4K, so I was basically guaranteed 200, bar a miracle. So why then did I feel the need to make a move against the CL with 68o? Because I'm an idiot. I had worked up to 25K, and flopped a double gutshot straight on a 10 high flop. He bet 5K and I called. Turn came a King and I thought I could get him off the hand with an all in, but he just had too much chips to fold. He called with 10 2 and out I went for a profit of..... 50euro. Shite! Paul went out the next hand but at least I had doubled his money! It wasn't the last final table we would meet at...

Then came the Vegasnights Team Event in the Anglers Rest last night. I was captain of Fistful of Shamrock's, and we had some stiff competition against some very good teams. Although it was only a 20 euro game, we were still playing for bragging rights... and of course the trophey!Unfortunately, two of the lads on FOS pulled out and I couldn't get replacements in time, so we started the tourney with 6... which was instantly 5 after Iago's early exit! Very unlucky, a difficult hand to get away from Iago.

Anyway, I started the tourneament well, landing at Careca's table. I was getting decent hands, and getting paid off on most off them. Careca on the other hand wasn't getting the cards, and was pretty shortstacked coming up to the first break. Des moved to our table, and had soon amassed a huge stack due to the great hands I was dealing him! We had sorted out a deal in the car on the way up where I would deal him aces in exchange for a few days with the trophey!

Anyway, hitting the break and I was up to about 21K, in there with the chip leaders. Des wasn't too far behind. I 'rounded up the troops' at the break and found that karlh was doing well on 17K and the other 2 lads were still hanging in! Starting the second level and I continued on as I had started, slowly amassing a big stack. Our table was broken soon after, and I was moved to Olly's table, sitting just to his left. Thank God, no more dealing! I was starting to really feel the effects of too much alcohol on Friday night, and the hangover was really kicking in. I had to keep going outside for fresh air to clear my head... feeling pretty ropey!

I still made it back in time to knock Olly out! He made a good call with pocket sevens vs my AK but unfortuantely just lost the race. I found out later that the las that knocked him out was apparently 'gay'. Nice to know Olly! We were soon down to the last 3/4 tables, and nearing the points stage. Amazingly, Boardstoopids team still had 6 players in it! If they could keep this up they would win the team event by sheer numbers. Myself and Ionapaul were flying the flag for FOS and most other teams had 2-4 players left. Nick had announced that the top 19 players would get a break and some food. haha the dreaded 'food bubble' I shouted!

Then came a row of hands that could have, and probably should have ended my tournament. I had worked my way up to about 60K, which was about 2x average with about 25 left. First hand I got pocket Queens, It was raised up to 10K, and I quickly went over the top and made it 25K. He instantly went all in. Fuck! I had a pretty good read on this lad, and had picked up a tell on him aswell. Anytime he had a very good hand, he would start tapping one chip on top of the other. I had noticed this when he had KK previously and when he had flopped a set. I folded before I could persuade my self to call, and he duly flipped over AA. Second time in a week I have had to fold QQ preflop (Drogheda).

But the drama wasn't over. Our table was broken after that hand and I was moved to Careca's table. First hand at that table I pick up JJ! I raise it up to 12K (blinds 1500/ 3K), and get a caller and an all in. AGGGHHH! I have to drop the Jacks, and realise I was up against 77 and AQ. A queen flops which makes me happy about the laydown.

The NEXT hand I pick up AJ and decide to flat call, as I am now down to close to 20K. wtf? An ace flops, and I am about to recoup my losse when a ROCK goes all in. I fold the AJ and he duly shows A9 for two pair. I could have gone out o any one of those hands, and I'm very happy with my restraint. If only I could carry that across to online play!

Soon we were down to 19 and I announced we had all made the 'food bubble' which made everyone happy! Just outside the points and it was starting to get serious... Nick sat with us for food and was praised for a great tourney. It was obvious he lost a lot putting this on, but fair play to him, it was a great tourney.

We were soon down to 18, and into the points. Boardstoopids had 4 or 5 people in the last 18, so were almost guaranteed the trophey! I wasn't too worried about it though, and was more aiming on 1st. I'm a selfish fucker! However IonaPaul kept our hopes alive after TRIPLING up when his queens hit a set against AA and KK! You jammy bastard!! Go on FOS!! I remember Careca doubling up on Aces too along the way...

I can't remember much in the run up to the final table, but Des was knocked out along the way, and when I knocked out 10th place, we broke for the final. I had a healthy stack of 88K starting, and IonaPaul had 99K. Two other boardies made the final table too. Rounders and Careca from rivals Boardstoopids had both made it with good stacks.

Nothing much happened in the first few rounds, with a lot of blindstealing going on, and not a flop in sight! I suggested to Nick that we freeze the blinds at 3K/6K, which he agreed. With the average stack at 75K, going up to 4K/8K would be too much.

A few shorties went out and we were soon down to 6. All four boardies were still in, with a lad from Poker.ie and the last member of Vegasnights. I can't remember if Careca went out in 4th or 5th, but as far as I can tell, he was pretty card dead at the table. Kept running into aces anytime he raised! I knocked out the poker.ie lad who had been stealing pots left right and centre. Pretty good player, but my tens were too much for his 68o!

Rounders had built up a HUGE stack, almost 250K by the looks of it. However this wouldn't last too long... I had been stealing his BB a lot, and going over the top of his raises, and had taken a good chunk off him. He was playing excellent poker last night. As was FOS legend Ionapaul. He was raising every pot and was announcing ALL IN! at regualr intervals! His stack was going up and down like a yo-yo!

Again, my memory isin't great, but I think Paul knocked out Rounders, and we were down to three. I was playing very aggressively re-raising the lads and pushing them off some big pots. I was raising with 27, going over the top of raises with muck.. just playing super aggressively. It was no suprise then when I reraised the Vegasnights lad all in with Aces, and he instantly called with pocket eights! An oscar winning performance if I say so myself! No eight killed me and I doubled up to over 200K.

Soon after this I got involved in a make or break pot with IonaPaul. He raised it up 40K and I looked down to see pocket tens. I raised it up to 100K which he flat called! wtf!! He had about 180K so both had half our stack in the middle now and this was going to be a HUGE pot. I was thinking he had either a low pair or A10 AJ, otherwisew he would have gone all in. The flop came Q high, and he checked it to me. I had to make a move on it, and felt he hadn't hit the Queen, so I led out with 40K. Thankfully he folded. Phew! My thinking was if he went over the top (he had about an extra 50K), I could at least consider folding and still have 60K left. It would be a very tough fold with a pot of over 300K, but I may have folded to a re-raise.

Anyway, I'm soon huge chip leader, at over 300K. Then came Paul's penultimate hand. I looked down to see 78s. A decent limping hand. I think Paul raised it up to 20K which I called. The flop came 458 rainbow, and Paul pushed for his remaining 60K. I instantly called with top pair, but unfortunately Paul was sitting on Q8. Fuck! well played! I needed a 6 or a 7 to knock him out, and for once Pokah helped me out and spiked a 6 on the river! sorry Paul, it killed me to knock out a fellow FOS member. Unlucky, you played a great tourney.

I've been watching Paul's progress over the last while, and he seems to be on the up and up. He cashed well in Citywest and I've met him TWICE at final tables this week alone.

Anyway, HEADS UP! Me and the other lad from Vegasnights had made it to the last two. We took a short toilet break, and I had a quick chat with the lad. He seemed like a nice bloke and he told me he'd been out all night playing poker in the Angler's Rest and hadn't slept! Haha, I had been worried that I wouldn't have my wits about me due to my hangover but this made me feel better! We were both equally fucked! Should be an interesting heads up match...

A good crowd had gathered to watch the final table, and I had Des and the other boardies cheering me on. Nice one lads!

I started off with about a 2:1 chip lead over him. It started off terribly, and the other lad was pushing me around. Any time I raised he went all in and I had to fold. He was a very good player and soon we were back to even, just over 300K each. I was getting annoyed as I really wanted to win this, and I was throwing it away. I knew he didn't have a hand most of the time, he just had more balls than me, and had no problem pushing. I decided to try and play more aggresively so the next time he raised it up 40K I went over the top for 120k holding 24c. He went all in! Fuck! Nice play. I folded and he showed A3 saying "I knew you were going to make a move with shit!". Fair play, nice move.

Soon he had a 3:1 chip lead over me, and I was down to 140K. I was fuming at how I had fucked it up. Next hand I get AQ, and was about to raise, when I though I may be able to slow play it. The flop came Q high, and I bet out 40K. He went all in an I instantly called. He showed Q4, and was very surprised to see I hadn't raised preflop with AQ. I went over the top of his 50K raise next hand and we were back to about even.

Next hand I get JJ. He raised it up 50K and I went all in. He thought about it for ages and finally said "fuck it I'm tired, lets do this!". He flipped over K10, and when the chips were in the middle it was a 669,700 pot. ( I had 300 left!). All I had to do was avoid a King and the tournament was mine! The flop brought out a possible straight draw, and he needed a King or J on the river to knock me out... but it never came. I WIN!

____

Very happy with my results of late. Not including my disastrous debut to the Sporting Emporium, I've had good results. Which Des seems to have noticed too. He keeps betting on me and winning!

Fitz Charity tournament - 1st

Fitz Sunday freezout - 3rd

Fitz monthly 270 - 13th

Drogheda - 22nd

SE 50 double chance - 6th

VN Team Event 1st

I've cashed in 5 out of the last 6 tounaments I played in,k and just missed out on a nice payday in Drogheda. I think the main reason I am doing well live is due to the fact that I don't play online regularly anymore. I don't get stressed playing poker anymore, and try to keep my emotions hidden, and not moan too much!

As for the VN tourney, overall it was a great tournament and fair play to Nick for putting it on. I'll definitely be back in 3 months to challenge Boardstoopids and claim what is rightfully ours! FOS will be back with a FULL team, and that Trophy will be ours! Write THAT on your arse Des!!!!!

*EDIT: Photo's courtesy of Des

Just received My Sporting Emporium Card in the post today... maybe I'll go down there tonight! Think there's a 50 euro Double Chance on. Might be interesting!
There should be a few boardies down there so it might be a good laugh. Anyway, I have to make up for my disastrous debut last month in the 75 euro double chance! I barely lasted an hour and played terribly. Hopefully will do better this time! Had a good run the other night in Drogheda, so I'll see if I can keep it up

Meanwhile Rory C gets a fit of the munchies...

Ivan Donaghy was two to my right, and Nikki from Paddy Power was on my left. I was soon down to 15K, and then 10K, after I tried to rob a pot and ran into a flopped straight. With blinds at 2K/4K it was make or break time, and I had to push on the next decent hand. I picked up KJ in LP and pushed and took the blinds. Did the same a few hands later with AJ and took the blinds again, now up to 22K. Still in with a chance!

Pretty funny hand happened between Ivan and Nikki around this time. Ivan raised it up to 8K, and Nikki stared him down, and even asked him for a chip count! He had about 90K while she sat on close to 50K. She eventually went over the top and put Ivan on the spot. I could tell she had caught him out, and he was never going to call, but of course he had to make as if it was a tough laydown etc, finally showing her a K and saying "I'm laying down AK into your Queens Nikki". Now, there's no way he had AK or he would have shown both cards? I think someone on boards said he had K10, which sounds about right. Either way, fair play to Nikki for making the move!

Mike announced we were down to 22, with top 18 getting paid. 18th was 615, and 1st was 12K + a ticket into a WSOP Qualifier, worth 1800. I've bubbled in so many of the big games I've played in, and I REALLY just wanted to cash in this one... However, with the blinds so big 3K/6K, and everyone getting 'bubble syndrome', I felt i had to keep tying to build my stack, and have a go at making some decent cash. Kevin Fitpatrick got moved to our table and was sitting on my left. So Ive now got Kevin to my left and Ivan to my right..... ROCK>>> HARD PLACE!

I robbed the blinds with AQ and was now up to about 28K. Next hand I pick up KQs. Ivan is under the gun and he is thinking for ages before he min raises the blind up to 12K. Im thinking he has either a low Ace, or a small pocket pair, because I think he would have raised bigger with anything alse. I decide with 21K already in the pot its as good a time as any to make a move. I push all in for 28K, and immediately get a caller to my left. SHHIIIITTT! Its folded around to Ivan, who thinks for ages and finally calls the extra 16K. I'm probably in bad shape.... (this hand occured right after the photo above was taken)

The flop comes down King high, and I'm looking straight at Ivan to see if he's made a set. The other lad pushes for his remaining 11K, and Ivan clearly doesn't want to call. Lovely, I have to be ahead of him. But the other lad is now scaring me. It's screaming AK, but I'm hoping to god its Queens or Jacks. Its the only possible cards that he realistically would have called a bet and a raise with, as he had shown he wasn't a loose player. Ivan thinks for a good while before eventually calling the extra 11K with 66?

I personally think this was bad play on his part, calling the extra 16K in the first place. Fair enough he was ahead preflop, but surely this is very risky to call this with 2 players in the pot? I think the call at the end was a must, as he was pot commited and was only putting 11K more into a pot of 100K+.

Anyway, Ivan turned over pocket sixes, and the other lad, a local favourite from Drogheda turned over..........AK! Noooooooo! Fuck! If ever I needed some luck NOW IS THE TIME!!!!

But no. An ace on the turn left me drawing dead, and my tournament was over. I was really annoyed at myself for getting into the hand at all, but looking back on it, the blinds were big enough for me to take a risk of stealing, and I think I'm pretty sure Ivan would have called my all in if we were heads up. It was just unfortunate that the Drogheda lad woke up with AK. Ah well! Had I won that pot I would have been on 90K+ and one of the chip leaders... Instead I go out around the bubble YET AGAIN! I didn't stay too long as I was in work this morning at 6am.

Still, I'd like to thank all the lads on boards who were supporting me and again, fair play to Tom and Mike for a brilliant tourney. Frank McCartney won it in the end. He is sitting on Ivans right in the photo above. Here is a full result list.

1st Frank Mccartney €12,070 + €1800 ticket for WSOP qualifier

2nd Colin Studdard €8320

3rd Thomas 'Bomber' Nolan €5545

4th Ivan Donaghy €3700

5th Shane Devlin €2775

6th Owen 'MrPillowtalk' Olin €2310

7th Henry McGrath €1850

8th Kevin Fitzpatrick €1385

9th Julius 'Junior' Noer €925

10th Keiran Traynor €620

11th Paul Kerr €620

12th Paul O'Reilly €620

13th Karl Hutson €615

14th Stephen Devlin €615

15th Cathal Doherty €615

16th Nikki Newman €615

17th Greg Smith €615

18th Barry Hand €615

19th Gavin Lawless (Bubble)

20th Paddy McFadden

21st ?

22nd Rory Cartwright

Better luck next time eh....

I have dreams about hands playing out like this... I have Jacks, I flop a poker and have a bet and a raise into me... Thank you pokah!

Turns out the first lad had A9 and the second lad had Aces! Give me your money!

Look what happened halfway through one of my games.... Computer went crazy and totally fucked up the screen! Up to about $200 now from the $25 Paul gave me on all in. I'm pretty happy with how things are going online at the moment.

Im only playing the odd $5 game every few days on All In, and I still have no real interest in playing online... which is good! If I don't play regularly then I don't get stressed out! I've been cashing in most of the STT's I play. I haven't gone near cash games or MTT's because I don't have the energy for them.

My PPP and Pokerstars accounts are still both empty. I am using them only for specific MTT's like the Drogheda Satellite. I just deposit the price of the game and play off that. This system seems to be working well for me so far. I'm not playing much poker at all but I think this will change once I settle into the routine of my new job. These 6am starts are still killing me!

I've got the Drogheda game this Sunday and the Vegasnights Team event next Saturday. I'm looking forward to both these games and they will give me the chance to work on my live play a bit. Get paid on Tuesday, so won't be broke for much longer! Once I get my bankroll up a bit I might make a return to online, and play properly.

I think I'll wait until I have about E500 and then lodge it and have a real go at making money. I may leave this off until March though, as I don't want to come back too soon! I haven't sat down for a proper session in so long now... and I don't miss it at all! Hours spent pulling my hair out, screaming at the screen, smashing the mouse off the wall... who needs that? I've so much respect for the lads who do this full-time. Don't think I could do that at the moment!

I'm learning to take bad beats and variance, etc, but I still get annoyed by how bad some players are (including myself at times!). Some of the plays you witness online are mind boggling...

But enough about that! I found the alloys I'll be putting on my car... once I win this little game in Drogheda on Sunday!