Egon Towst
Cardschat Elite
Silver Level
Yesterday (April 9th), I drove 100 miles to Bristol to play in the Poker Player Tour Event at the Gala Casino in Bristol. James (Pascal Le Fiscal) was also there. See also this thread.
Fuzzy picture (taken by casino staff person) of the two intrepid Ccers:
More than 100 players gathered to play for a prize pool of £12,000 (approx $20,000). The field was a mix of online qualifiers and local regs who had bought in direct. James and I both qualified online for modest outlay ($30 in my case).
Play commenced at 1.00pm. 7500 chips, 30 minute blinds, the first level was 25/50. James was placed at Table One, Seat One, oddly enough.
During level two, I suffered a setback. A woman three places to my right seemed exploitable, playing too many hands from EP. I had therefore begun calling her preflop with anything that had flop potential, hoping to hit a hand and trap her. I struck gold with 67 on a flop of 774, but the disappointing end result was the loss of half my stack when she turned over the fourth 7 and a bigger kicker. 9, I think. Don`t know why she was playing 97 in the first place, but there you go.
When we took a meal break, around 4pm, James was in much better shape than me. I told him I was glad that at least I lasted long enough for the free lunch, but would be playing push-fold when we resumed and would probably be going home soon. No, he said, you will make a comeback. He had more confidence than I did.
Soon after the break, I doubled up by shoving A7 from late position. Big blind called with QJs, neither hand improved. During level 9, I doubled again when an opponent played into my pocket Kings and, by the third break, had a playable stack with the field now much reduced. I think James went out somewhere around this point, but he will probably tell us himself how his tourney went. He and I were never at the same table, or even close enough to see each other clearly other than during breaks.
The next phase of play was a tough one, seated now with nothing but solid TAG players. I had a little luck when I called a preflop all-in with AK. Opponent turned over KK, making me roughly a 2-1 dog, but I hit the Ace.
It was also around this time that I pulled off a pretty good bluff. The opponent looked at me closely and asked “Do you really have it ?”, obviously hoping to learn something from my reaction. I recalled that I had been seated at the same table with this guy through a good piece of the tourney and, figuring that my table image at this point must be pretty solid, I said, “You have been watching me play since two o`clock, mate. What do you think ?” and grinned at him. He folded.
I was standing 4th in chip count when the Final Table formed (around midnight), the Press circling around us with their cameras. During the next two hours, I heard spectators remark on the intense concentration displayed by the players as the chips flowed back and forth. Three were eliminated, one of them by me. Close to 2am came a critical beat which crippled my stack. Button raised my blind and I made an all-in re-raise. Figuring me for a re-steal, he called and showed K6. I turned over KQs for the dominating hand and the opponent stood up and began preparing to leave. There were gasps of amazement from spectators, reporters, and fellow players as small cards fell on the board to give my opponent a miracle straight.
Two hands later, I put my remaining chips in with pocket 8s and got two callers, AK and AQ, giving me almost an even chance of tripling up and getting back into the action, but it wasn`t to be. The board came AQ, and that was the end of my game.
I picked up £400 ($650) for 6th place, a reasonable day at the office, but did it by an unnecessarily tough route, losing chips when deepstacked and when there were weaker players at the table, and then scratching my way back in the later stages. It was slightly disappointing considering that 5th paid £1000 and I would have been 5th at minimum without that beat, but that`s poker.
Fuzzy picture (taken by casino staff person) of the two intrepid Ccers:
More than 100 players gathered to play for a prize pool of £12,000 (approx $20,000). The field was a mix of online qualifiers and local regs who had bought in direct. James and I both qualified online for modest outlay ($30 in my case).
Play commenced at 1.00pm. 7500 chips, 30 minute blinds, the first level was 25/50. James was placed at Table One, Seat One, oddly enough.
During level two, I suffered a setback. A woman three places to my right seemed exploitable, playing too many hands from EP. I had therefore begun calling her preflop with anything that had flop potential, hoping to hit a hand and trap her. I struck gold with 67 on a flop of 774, but the disappointing end result was the loss of half my stack when she turned over the fourth 7 and a bigger kicker. 9, I think. Don`t know why she was playing 97 in the first place, but there you go.
When we took a meal break, around 4pm, James was in much better shape than me. I told him I was glad that at least I lasted long enough for the free lunch, but would be playing push-fold when we resumed and would probably be going home soon. No, he said, you will make a comeback. He had more confidence than I did.
Soon after the break, I doubled up by shoving A7 from late position. Big blind called with QJs, neither hand improved. During level 9, I doubled again when an opponent played into my pocket Kings and, by the third break, had a playable stack with the field now much reduced. I think James went out somewhere around this point, but he will probably tell us himself how his tourney went. He and I were never at the same table, or even close enough to see each other clearly other than during breaks.
The next phase of play was a tough one, seated now with nothing but solid TAG players. I had a little luck when I called a preflop all-in with AK. Opponent turned over KK, making me roughly a 2-1 dog, but I hit the Ace.
It was also around this time that I pulled off a pretty good bluff. The opponent looked at me closely and asked “Do you really have it ?”, obviously hoping to learn something from my reaction. I recalled that I had been seated at the same table with this guy through a good piece of the tourney and, figuring that my table image at this point must be pretty solid, I said, “You have been watching me play since two o`clock, mate. What do you think ?” and grinned at him. He folded.
I was standing 4th in chip count when the Final Table formed (around midnight), the Press circling around us with their cameras. During the next two hours, I heard spectators remark on the intense concentration displayed by the players as the chips flowed back and forth. Three were eliminated, one of them by me. Close to 2am came a critical beat which crippled my stack. Button raised my blind and I made an all-in re-raise. Figuring me for a re-steal, he called and showed K6. I turned over KQs for the dominating hand and the opponent stood up and began preparing to leave. There were gasps of amazement from spectators, reporters, and fellow players as small cards fell on the board to give my opponent a miracle straight.
Two hands later, I put my remaining chips in with pocket 8s and got two callers, AK and AQ, giving me almost an even chance of tripling up and getting back into the action, but it wasn`t to be. The board came AQ, and that was the end of my game.
I picked up £400 ($650) for 6th place, a reasonable day at the office, but did it by an unnecessarily tough route, losing chips when deepstacked and when there were weaker players at the table, and then scratching my way back in the later stages. It was slightly disappointing considering that 5th paid £1000 and I would have been 5th at minimum without that beat, but that`s poker.