Spitvenom Poker

Not posted for a while, as I didnt play much over Crimbo, just a few piddly games online. Anyway, I qualified online for the VIP poker league http://www.vippokerleague.com/index.php/about-the-league Final that was to be held at G casino Luton (I only played 3 games on Cake poker and this was enough for 6th, top 10 qualified). There were 4 leagues via Cake, PPower, Interpoker and Bwin. Top 10 qualifiers went through, plus another 4 from the 'Free' leagues and around 40+ from the live courage pub league another 40 odd players. So I got my train and hotel booked (£51 for 2 nights at the Bestwestern) and went down on the Friday as I hate booking in, then rushing straight to casino as you had to be regged by 1.30pm.

Friday 15th - Decided to Play the £75+8 freezout as it looked a good game going by the previous weeks results. 8000 point starting stack with 30 minute levels, made for plenty of play. with 77 runners and a top prize of around £2k I was looking forward to this one. I started slowly, weighing up the oppostion who seemed a pretty TAG bunch, apart from one asian guy who was in the button position to me who was very LAG. He was a very poor player but kept on hitting his cards in big pots. One example, was when one guy put in a big pre-raise and he flatted, and the flop came QJ3. The original raiser pushed all in, and was insta called by him. The raiser had KK, he had Q9o... the turn was a blank the river was a Q and he hit card! Another big hand he had raised with QJ off and got a re-raise, which he flatted. The flop had come QJ10 I think. The other Guy pushed all in and he snap called. On the backs he had two pair QJ's the other guy had AA. Any K or A would do but it didnt come and lucky boy won another big pot! I played a lot of 'small ball' pots and had gradually worked up to 24k in chips and was around 2nd in chips at the table, lucky boy had around 34k with the average being around 13k at this point (level 4 I think it was).

Anyway, this guy had button raised me a couple of times, and I knew if I hit I could win a lot of chips off this donk, so was biding my time waiting for a good opportunity. If I could get most of his chips the table would be mine to crush, as the other players were really predictable abc types. I was in BB (level was 150-300) and had picked up a couple of limpers when 'lucky boy' raises to 1600. I look down and I have AKs, so i repop the pot to 4800 the limpers drop out and he flats. Flop come K3Q no flush draw. I'm wondering if he has a Queen again, so with 19k behind I'll wait and see if he bets half pot here, which almost certainly means he has a Q, and then shove over the top. With 10k already in, I check here, and sure enough he bets 5k half pot. I announce 'all in' and put the 19k in making a 34k pot. He has to put in another 14k to make the call so he's only getting around 2.5-1 to make the call. No snap call here, its painful to watch the cogs turning round in his head, I raised his raise pre, then I've check raised him, he cant seem to get his head round this play! I resist the urge to talk to him here, he seems confused enough as it is. I know he has a Q again, probably QJ, but can/will he lay it down? After what seemed liked ages, he called me flipping over Q10!! Turn card, Q..... ffs, river blank. So that was that, a 48k+ pot gets shipped to the lucky boy (average was 13k at this point) and I was hitting the rail out in 44th or so, well pissed off at this guys good fortune....ah well always tomorrow!

Saturday 16th - VIP league ME

Met a couple of the guys from Punters lounge 'Rivrd' and 'Guppie' aka Plstrider (dave and paul i think, damn i am so shit with names tbh...sorry if i got it wrong!). I've played against these fellas on line a good few times, very good players. Had a couple of beers and a chat then wandered over to register.
89 runners for this event as a mix of online and live league players lined up to play for the $10,000 prize pool or £6250 making for a top prize of around £2k again. 10,000 starting stack with 30 minute blinds kicking off at 2pm. I never really got going in this event, due to missing the flop a number of times. I had AK, AJ, AQ in three hands at one point and missed every flop. A guy at the end of the table was very active and built a good stack quickly after knocking one player out very early, and I tangled with him a couple of times, having to fold when he re-popped my cbets having missed completely (he went on to win the event). Got to around 2 hours in to the tourney and after losing a pot where I was in front till the river A, against another low stack, I look down to find only 3k. Again were at 150-300 level so i only have 10 big blinds. Anyway, I get it in with AQ but run into AK....damn! Thats me on the rail again.

Stuck around for the buffet and contemplate joining a cash table, but opted for the £30+10+10 one rb/one ao instead starting around 8pm. I was still feeling upbeat despite the losses, knowing I didnt put a foot wrong on the friday and could easily have gone very deep in that tourney, but for some bad luck.

8pm Tourney - this was starting to look like a dissapointing field with only around 20 runners but more joined later and the field swelled to 39 in the end. The format was 3000 point starting stack and you could only rebuy when you were under 1500 chips and then make an add on after rebuys were over. lots of small pots early on, but then I lost my whole stack to the young lad opposite. After hitting my Q on a dry flop of Q83 I check raised this guy all in , but pity he was holding 33....bollocks! Straight after rebuying I got AA and this guy went all in for his last 1800 and my hand held up (yes AA does hold up, people only tell you when they have em cracked!) My stack steadily grew after this, although I took a hit when my flush was gazumped by a better flush, and after the add on I had a repectable 12,000.
After the break I felt like I was playing like the friday night with few mistakes, and I was reading the players pretty well. I took a nice pot off the young lad opposite and was probably 2nd top stack at the table. It was around 200-400 when this hand came along. I had limped in with KJo and three other players and the flop had come K4J . The young lad opposite cbet the pot to around 1100 I think, two players dropped out, so I just flat called him, I think he has AK, or KQ. Turn card is a K for the Full house....sweet. I check here and he bets out only 1200. I am sure he thinks hes in front, im really hoping he has the K. I 'm sure he has the K now and has bet very low to induce an overbet. If I bet too big he will know I have the 'nuts', so if I can make it look like a 'weak' play with only a small reraise I'm sure he will push over the top. I reraised to 3800 and he anounced 'all in' and I snap called. Sure enough he had K10 and is drawing dead and I take him out, river was a 2 I think.
This pot put me on around 32k in chips with 264k in play so I have around 12% of all chips in play with 30 left in. Got to 20 left with around 48k picking up small pots here and there mostly with well timed steals and knocking out a couple of players on the way.Got on to the Final table around 1am with around 44k probably in about 3rd at this point. 4 or 5 of the stacks are very low. Ok so a deal is discussed at this point as only 4 places pay, some are talking about £30 savers for 5th, 6th, 7th. I'm ok about shaving a bit off the top, its been a friendly game and i've been enjoying myself, having a few beers etc. Anyway the chinese lad gets well upset about any of these suggestions, and starts acting like a right prick, giving abuse to the dealer, and then another player the next hand. Then this hand comes up that was worth the entry alone! chinese lad puts in a big raise preflop and young gun who he had been arguing with shoves all in ....all fold back to the chinese lad who snap calls and its 'on your backs'. Young gun has black 10's... 10s 10c, chinese lad has Kd Kc I think. First card out Ks chinese lad goes 'AAEEEIIII' ! game over really isnt it? or is it a board of 5 cards?..... Qs3d.....turn is Js.....wow open ended royal flush draw.....river As!!! FARKK ROYAL FLUSH!! Of course after this hand young gun wants a photo on his camera phone, wouldnt you? Chinese lad is on tilt now and open shoves all in with JJ only to run in to AA and out first from around 2nd place. Gotta say the table was much better after he left and a lot better banter. Spoke to one of the guys at break time as I was sure I knew him from somewhere, and it turned out to be Riverasusual from the AWOP forum . I had seen him up at the newcastle virgin festival but in his own words he had a 'taliban beard' then! A deal was agreed up to 7th so so he got his £30 back when he went out. Got down to the last 4 and we must have played for 1 1/2 hours from 2-3.30am before one of us finally went, pity it was me lol. Blinds were 2000-4000 with a 400 ante now and I was in SB with JJ. UTG raises to 12k next guy flats for 12k I make up the bet for 10k and I have 29k behind if the flop comes low Im shoving. Little wary as this is the first pot in an hour an half that we've seen a communal pot. The guy to my right only has 20 k left so i'm expecting him to shove too post flop. After the wily old fox in BB makes the call the Flop comes 10-8-3. utg and 2nd guy check so I shove my 29k in to a 50k pot, wily fox calls and the other 2 fold. Guy to my right will get another £160 for 3rd as opposed to £170 for 4th, so with only 20k left he still folds. So on the backs for a 108k pot out of 264k in play big pot!! Wily fox turns over A10 for top pair, my JJ is in front, turn is a 3, river is a A!! Out for £170 in 4th. Wily fox went on to win the £600 for 1st. All in all was a really good weekend, and I was pretty happy with my play and reading of the game. Most of the time I got my chips in good, and had a bit of bad luck....but hey thats poker!!

Decided to have a go at this blogging lark, everyone seems to be at it! I've been playing online since Feb 2005 starting off on the ongame network on PokerRoom. I started with play money online and freerolls until I was winning real cash in the freerolls. Back in the day, PR used to have 2 $1,000 freerolls daily, capped at 2400 players. Anyway, within a few months I had come 2nd twice for $50 each time and I had my first bankroll, and was truly hooked on No Limit texas holdem. I've played cards since I was a kid of around 7, with family and relatives etc, but mostly 5 card draw, 7 card Stud and 3 card Brag. No Limit was a whole new ball game!

I feel I've improved quite a bit as a player in the last couple of years, but I know I still have a lot to learn and some gaps to bridge. My live play has got better, and I try to satellite in to live tournies when I can. Although I play mostly online, I do prefer the live game for the banter and its a totally different game to online.

Played a number of festivals in the last couple of years, and I learnt a lot playing against some of the top players around the country. My best live cash is at the Virgin Festival May 09 where I came 6th for £2k, after being 3rd after day 1. It meant a lot to get a decent cash live, and although luck is involved as in all tournies I was pretty happy with the way I played there. The Virgin Festivals are always good fun, and bring together some great players, mostly from the online forums, with a sprinkling of celebs and poker magazine guys and gals.

I remember at the London Loose Cannon Festival, I had Lucy Rokache on my left, then this guy sits down late to the table and its none other than Brian Townsend! Always a good time at the Virgin Festivals win or lose, it tends to be a fun event with some decent prizes, so its very popular!! I've already bagged a seat to the next event, so hoping Ollie will be sorting the next one out soon!

My next live event is a £300 sit down 80k event at DTD on November 7th, courtesy of A World Of Poker Forum who run great comps for their regular players. Really looking forward to that one, and will post a report on that, even if I go out with AA on the 1st hand lol!