Irish Open
I’m getting to old for this shit, 6am and I can’t sleep due to the horrors of 2 days solid drinking. I would play some online poker to past the time but the internet connection in the bloody hotel room here is so bad you can barely check your email and the thought of going into the cash games in the poker room fills me with even more dread, so here I am reduced to updating my blog to keep the shadow monsters at bay.
I had to fight my way through a mountain of discarded cardboard in the delivery entrance of the conference centre when I got here at 11 am on Thursday to be greeted by the rather impressive sight of 100 poker tables spread out across the room. The smell of furniture polish was overpowering and the level of activity in the room could only be described as frantic with dozens of people scurring to and fro and up and down ladders taking care of all the last minute details to ensure everything was perfect for the opening day of the tournament. To be honest it all looked fine to me and I figure if anyone had stopped to take a look around they would have probably agreed, but after getting one eyeball of the adrenaline fuelled determination in the faces of the people here I decided to keep my opinions to myself.
A couple of arguments later and I had managed to get rid of the heads up poker machine that I had been shanghaied into delivering to the event, I'm still not sure how I got tagged with the job, it had originally been a couple of kids I was asked to drop off on my way to Dublin but the children had turned into a poker machine by the time I was leaving, quieter but a damn site heavier.
So there I was in the bar off the hotel, laptop and bag in hand thinking a shower and a couple of hours kip before the super sat at 6 would be the perfect thing, but in my usual style I had neglected to book a room before arriving and yes indeed the hotel was completely book out. Of course experience has taught me that hotels are never actually fully booked it just depended on who you were asking, but this was a problem I wasn’t going to be able to resolve until later in the day.
So plan B, get a coffee, no drink until after the super sat, we are taking this seriously, and play some online poker in the bar and chat to the hundreds of players that will be wandering by over the next few hours. I hadn’t actually managed to sit down before the first of these happened by, Lawrence Goussney an English player I hadn't seen in well over a year and one of the games great gentlemen.
“Manus ya big lump, it great to see you.”, he boomed “a Guinness I take it”
“Jesus no, trying to keep my head for the sat later, a coffee will do me”
I expected a look of either surprise or disappointment but I forgot how good he was at reading people and I got a look that said, coffee my ass, your getting a pint and you’ll be happy with it. So 6 happy pints later I am sitting in a €200 unlimit rebuy satellite and the only thought going through my head is, you have a budget for this asshole don’t go nuts and blow your whole tank. By the grace of god I hit some cards early, didn’t manage to win a seat but I did get through the rebuy stage without doing my entire role. Aside from a couple of brief but very successful visits to the cash games we have been at the bar since and man but it has been great fun, mostly hanging around with Lawrence because he hates talking about poker and will chase of anyone that wanders by and tries to share the bad beat stories, every tournament should have one.
Time for breakfast i think, the Omaha is next on the agenda at 6 this evening, so I will get back to you all after that to tell you how I won it.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Monday, March 16, 2009
Who says poker isn't a team game
This weekend’s annual team event in the Eglinton casino Galway was an absolute blast. 102 players turned up to contest this year’s event, almost all of whom were jammed into the pub around the corner an hour before kick off. This did lead to a slight delay in the start time but this was no great surprise and the event was on its way by 8pm.
The event does usually lend itself to tight play, nobody wants to be the first on their team to be eliminated, this didn’t slow down the An Nead team by God, every man jack of them came out swinging. Now as much as I admire their aggression, they definitely lacked any control whatsoever and the end result, the entire team gone before the end of level 3. I think new leadership, or any leadership, may be top of the list for An Nead next year.
John Weafer’s team, The Cowboys, suffered a couple of early casualties when they lost the Bommer Nolan and Mattie Doyle in 99th and 98th place. But this did allow the Bommer plenty of time in the pub before he jumped into a cash game, ahh the Bommer in full flight in the cash game is such a happy site it damn near brings a tear to this old fool’s eye.
Paul Lecky was also a man that hadn’t wasted any of his time in the build up and he had a beaming smile on his face and a beer in his hand throughout the night. When his team 5 Men and a Muppet did lose their first payer Paul assured me that the muppet had been taken care of and now the men could get down to business. I asked him if I was to enquire of he teammates if the muppet had in fact been eliminated would they back up his assertion, he declined to comment and drew a veil over the entire issue.
The much fancied Galway Team, it turns out after a little investigation only by themselves, put in a pretty lack luster performance, with Pat O Callaghan, Donal MacAonghusa and Christy Morkan going out with more of a whimper then a roar somewhere in the middle of the field. Fintan “surely you have seen me on TV” Gavin was the only player to actually blind out of the tournament, letting his stack dwindle to almost nothing before sticking it in with Ace rag his was knocked out by Dave Curtis, captain of the Eglinton Casino team. I think this may have actually made Dave happier then the final result.
With 40 runners left it looked like it was between 3 teams, Team Bundy, The Eglinton Casino and Tailors on Tilt ( Team whoring ). Team Bundys chances of taking the title slipped away when Dave Curtis knocked out Noel Hayes and Adam Fallon in quick succession . Their chance of victory were completely gone with the loss of Rory Resse Brennan and Eoghan O Dea before the last 2 tables.
20 players came back for day 2 and the Eglinton team had 5 players still remaining, Dave Curtis had the chip lead and looked like they were in complete control, with Rob Taylors Tailors on tilt the only real danger. But the next hour shook things up with the Eglinton losing Keith McFadden, Ivan Donaghy and Chris Dowling in quick time. Ivan and Chris had been short stacked and didn't get any luck when they moved all-in early in day 2, but the loss of Keith was a big upset as he had started the day 4th in chips. He got himself tangled up in a few bad spots early in the day and just couldn't recover. But the worst part of Keith's exit as far as team Eglinton were concerned was that he gave most of his chips to Cat O Neill, part of Tailors on Tilt their biggest danger.
Tailors remaining 3, Cat, Rob Taylor and Ken Powell all made it to the final table. Ken went out in 10th, much to the relief of the Eglinton.
With 6 players remaining it was still all up in the air, Jaye Renehan and Dave Curtis were still in it for the Eglinton with Cat O Neill and Rob Tailors still there trying to claw back the Eglintons lead. John Weafer and John O Shea were the remaining 2 player and were battling it out for the 3rd place spot.
From here on out John O Shea really controlled the table, he played his huge stack aggressively, taking advantage of the fact that 4 of the remaining 6 were primarily concerned with the team result and were deperate not to get knocked out.
Dave went in 6th when he ran his A8 into John O Sheas 98. The 9 on the flop lead to some wonderfully colourful language in the smoking area, when we return to the playing area John assured me that Dave could have called him anything he hadn’t been called before, he dosen’t know Dave very well, I counted at least 3 things I doubt anybody had every been called before.
Jaye Renehan was short shacked and looked like he was next to go, and the Tailors were in with a huge chance now but then bang, Rob Tailor who was one of the few players to remain on the attack throughout day 2 got cold decked, Queens into Kings and Rob was on the sideline and John Weafer shared the chip lead with John O Shea. Jaye went out soon after, he put out a great fight but was card dead for the whole of day 2.
3 left and it was still to be decided, If Cat could overcome the 2 Johns she would take the title, but to roars and cheers from the Eglinton teams John Weafer got the Kings again when Cat, who played an outstanding game, got it all in with AQ. No Ace and the title was the Eglintons.
John O Shea and John Weafer had to battle it out in a long heads up to decide the individual and the 3rd place team prize. It was pretty damned incredible that Weafer’s Cowboys were still in there fighting for a place after losing 2 player at the very start but unfortunately it was jut to big of an ask and despite a great overall performance from John Weafer it was John O Shea who eventually took the individual title and putt Team Bundy into 3rd place overall in the teams.
This weekend’s annual team event in the Eglinton casino Galway was an absolute blast. 102 players turned up to contest this year’s event, almost all of whom were jammed into the pub around the corner an hour before kick off. This did lead to a slight delay in the start time but this was no great surprise and the event was on its way by 8pm.
The event does usually lend itself to tight play, nobody wants to be the first on their team to be eliminated, this didn’t slow down the An Nead team by God, every man jack of them came out swinging. Now as much as I admire their aggression, they definitely lacked any control whatsoever and the end result, the entire team gone before the end of level 3. I think new leadership, or any leadership, may be top of the list for An Nead next year.
John Weafer’s team, The Cowboys, suffered a couple of early casualties when they lost the Bommer Nolan and Mattie Doyle in 99th and 98th place. But this did allow the Bommer plenty of time in the pub before he jumped into a cash game, ahh the Bommer in full flight in the cash game is such a happy site it damn near brings a tear to this old fool’s eye.
Paul Lecky was also a man that hadn’t wasted any of his time in the build up and he had a beaming smile on his face and a beer in his hand throughout the night. When his team 5 Men and a Muppet did lose their first payer Paul assured me that the muppet had been taken care of and now the men could get down to business. I asked him if I was to enquire of he teammates if the muppet had in fact been eliminated would they back up his assertion, he declined to comment and drew a veil over the entire issue.
The much fancied Galway Team, it turns out after a little investigation only by themselves, put in a pretty lack luster performance, with Pat O Callaghan, Donal MacAonghusa and Christy Morkan going out with more of a whimper then a roar somewhere in the middle of the field. Fintan “surely you have seen me on TV” Gavin was the only player to actually blind out of the tournament, letting his stack dwindle to almost nothing before sticking it in with Ace rag his was knocked out by Dave Curtis, captain of the Eglinton Casino team. I think this may have actually made Dave happier then the final result.
With 40 runners left it looked like it was between 3 teams, Team Bundy, The Eglinton Casino and Tailors on Tilt ( Team whoring ). Team Bundys chances of taking the title slipped away when Dave Curtis knocked out Noel Hayes and Adam Fallon in quick succession . Their chance of victory were completely gone with the loss of Rory Resse Brennan and Eoghan O Dea before the last 2 tables.
20 players came back for day 2 and the Eglinton team had 5 players still remaining, Dave Curtis had the chip lead and looked like they were in complete control, with Rob Taylors Tailors on tilt the only real danger. But the next hour shook things up with the Eglinton losing Keith McFadden, Ivan Donaghy and Chris Dowling in quick time. Ivan and Chris had been short stacked and didn't get any luck when they moved all-in early in day 2, but the loss of Keith was a big upset as he had started the day 4th in chips. He got himself tangled up in a few bad spots early in the day and just couldn't recover. But the worst part of Keith's exit as far as team Eglinton were concerned was that he gave most of his chips to Cat O Neill, part of Tailors on Tilt their biggest danger.
Tailors remaining 3, Cat, Rob Taylor and Ken Powell all made it to the final table. Ken went out in 10th, much to the relief of the Eglinton.
With 6 players remaining it was still all up in the air, Jaye Renehan and Dave Curtis were still in it for the Eglinton with Cat O Neill and Rob Tailors still there trying to claw back the Eglintons lead. John Weafer and John O Shea were the remaining 2 player and were battling it out for the 3rd place spot.
From here on out John O Shea really controlled the table, he played his huge stack aggressively, taking advantage of the fact that 4 of the remaining 6 were primarily concerned with the team result and were deperate not to get knocked out.
Dave went in 6th when he ran his A8 into John O Sheas 98. The 9 on the flop lead to some wonderfully colourful language in the smoking area, when we return to the playing area John assured me that Dave could have called him anything he hadn’t been called before, he dosen’t know Dave very well, I counted at least 3 things I doubt anybody had every been called before.
Jaye Renehan was short shacked and looked like he was next to go, and the Tailors were in with a huge chance now but then bang, Rob Tailor who was one of the few players to remain on the attack throughout day 2 got cold decked, Queens into Kings and Rob was on the sideline and John Weafer shared the chip lead with John O Shea. Jaye went out soon after, he put out a great fight but was card dead for the whole of day 2.
3 left and it was still to be decided, If Cat could overcome the 2 Johns she would take the title, but to roars and cheers from the Eglinton teams John Weafer got the Kings again when Cat, who played an outstanding game, got it all in with AQ. No Ace and the title was the Eglintons.
John O Shea and John Weafer had to battle it out in a long heads up to decide the individual and the 3rd place team prize. It was pretty damned incredible that Weafer’s Cowboys were still in there fighting for a place after losing 2 player at the very start but unfortunately it was jut to big of an ask and despite a great overall performance from John Weafer it was John O Shea who eventually took the individual title and putt Team Bundy into 3rd place overall in the teams.
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
Tattoos and cold decks
GUKPT in Walsall was my first venture into tournament poker in England and it didn't take long to realise i wasn't in Kansas anymore Toto. Call me an old fuddy duddy but I was a little put of by the skinhead dealer with the tribal tattoo on his skull that was at my first table. In fairness, appearences aside, he was the best dealer I encountered this weekend, maybe thats why they cut him a little slack on his unique look. As for Walsall itself, I assume when it was at school with all the other towns it was voted the mostly likely to be called the asshole of nowhere when it grew up. It certainly doesn't disappoint in this regard.
Bitching aside they certainly know how to run a tournament, I just wish they used decks with fewer aces, during day1 I ran pocket Queens into Aces on no less then 3 occasions. This needless to say gave me plenty of free time over the rest of the weekend, during which our host Paul "Looking directly at me in natural sunlight could cause serious damage to your eye sight" Marrow ensured that Fintan and I were never without a drink. Fintan had freed up his time by being on the slow horse in every race he got into.
The side event went much the same as the main for both myself and Fintan but with a favourable bouncey ball we got out of jail and had a hell of weekend. I would definitely reccommend a visit and plan on making it to the 3 leg of the GUKPT in the London Grosvenor at the end of the month.
There is a satellite for this in the Eglinton this Saturday 7th of March at 8:30
GUKPT in Walsall was my first venture into tournament poker in England and it didn't take long to realise i wasn't in Kansas anymore Toto. Call me an old fuddy duddy but I was a little put of by the skinhead dealer with the tribal tattoo on his skull that was at my first table. In fairness, appearences aside, he was the best dealer I encountered this weekend, maybe thats why they cut him a little slack on his unique look. As for Walsall itself, I assume when it was at school with all the other towns it was voted the mostly likely to be called the asshole of nowhere when it grew up. It certainly doesn't disappoint in this regard.
Bitching aside they certainly know how to run a tournament, I just wish they used decks with fewer aces, during day1 I ran pocket Queens into Aces on no less then 3 occasions. This needless to say gave me plenty of free time over the rest of the weekend, during which our host Paul "Looking directly at me in natural sunlight could cause serious damage to your eye sight" Marrow ensured that Fintan and I were never without a drink. Fintan had freed up his time by being on the slow horse in every race he got into.
The side event went much the same as the main for both myself and Fintan but with a favourable bouncey ball we got out of jail and had a hell of weekend. I would definitely reccommend a visit and plan on making it to the 3 leg of the GUKPT in the London Grosvenor at the end of the month.
There is a satellite for this in the Eglinton this Saturday 7th of March at 8:30
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)