Manchester GUKPT


Ok went up to Manchester last friday to play the monthly donkament. Decided to play Friday to keep expenses down and also to meet up with a few mates. Felt really good going into the tournament, despite very lacklustre results online of late. Not sure why but im getting coaching from a top top player for a bit (for free :)) in an effort to plug the leaks.

Sit down at table and it looks like its gonna be fun. Iv got Jeff Burke on my left and i know a lot about his game and his philosophy on poker. What he taught me during the brief period i was trading for DTD was "represent, represent, represent" which is fairly good fun to play against. Instantly i thought the table was soft, i had about 6 40-55yo men on my table who are my ideal opponents in these jobbies. After about 5 minutes it looked a lot tougher with Priyam de Mel (sp?) and some absolute lunatic i called "convict" who sat opposite me. I found out of Clamfish that the legend Gregior was on my table too, guessed who it was before he told me, WOW tight greg!

Started out fairly brash, as i stated before im there to win these things and that means playing lots of pots, using image to the max and getting under peoples skin. I know i can make day two's in these things (3/6) but i never get there with the mountain i need to play my style of poker (bad, loose). Time to teach these waps to play i thought.

Early on i got check raised by the nit to my right and recieved a load of earache from Mr.Burke, felt like the table bitch for a moment or two especially when Priyam check called me all the way after limping utg w Ac10c and hitting A Jd 8d 6 7d board. Momentarily tilting and not best pleased with the line people were taking with me i played out probably the worst big bluff ever. Raising in LP w Ac9c (9k stack, 50/100 blinds) i get flatted by Priyam on the button. It just instantly felt like he was trying to school me ip. The flop came JhKh6c and i check raise him from 350 to 850. He calls. Turn is interesting, he isnt even looking at the turn as it drops and is more interested in the valet. Turn drops the 5h i think and i check again. He bets so fast it just reeks of bs so i ponder a mo then move in. He thinks for what seems like ages, tells me if it was in london he would call, then folds. Obv i show coz thats what the plan is right.

I then win a couple more pots, working my way up to about 16k nice and steady. Next hand involves two ep limpers and i look down at the wonderful Jc4c on the hijack. Raise elicits an utg fold (predictable given patterns) and a tight guy in a purple shirt calling. Flop comes J104 and he moves allin for 5k....nope im good i decide, call, he has K10 and J on turn cements it. I then lose a chunk to this convict bloke opposite, had been showing so many bluffs and being such an ass that 3barrel bluffing him was never a good idea, especially a needlessly large river bet (if he was drawing and missed a small bet was fine and he was such a station that if he thought a made hand was good he would call anything anyway). Lost about 7k there.

Level 3 was a real fun hand early on. Limp utg and utg+1, button calls, sb folds and i check 107 from bb. Flop Ks10s3d. I check, Jeff bets small from utg, utg+1 dwells then calls, i call coz i have a lot of chips (22kish, ave 14k). Turn is happy days with a perfect 7h. I check, Jeff fires again, but smallish again and utg+1 bad TAG calls. I cr from 1k to 2.8k and jeff folds whilst utg+1 calls again. Meh not liking this but he doesnt seem necessarily tricky and more of the scared "protect agaisnt draws" sort of player. Im thinking this guy either has a mediocre hand that he has married like KJ or KQ a or (heavily weighted range of) QJ/Flush draw. Turn is an ugly K counterfeiting my two pair. I check (because obv we make more money from bluffs and this old man is a tellbox) and he moves all-in for his last 4.5k. Pot is 8kish. Hmmmmmmmmm, i love poker. It was lucky he couldnt keep still because when he said "got to go out sometime" as he shoved i instantly thought "fuck, the speech and the shove". I can take my time here and the longer he sat the more uncomfortable he got, i get him talking and he is not a happy bunny. The real clincher is how he is holding his cards.....like he desperately wants to turn them over! Im no Caro lover but this was ripe, CALL! He mucked and for £1000 i got to feel like a half decent player. On the break went for some munch with Clamfish, Gregior, some guy i have played a lot and forgotten his name (John i think), Moorman and Tom.

Went back (casually late) and decided to smash it up. Started off ok, bluffing another big pot on the turn with a double barrel. If any of you have read fees 5k post on 2+2 you'll know that a J84 board when you cbet and they flat, a Q is a beauty of a card because so few hands in our opponents range can like it. Apart from 910 + QJ the Q is a horrid card as it completes the draw and adds more texture against a player they know can be playing any two. Then lose a big pot against a guy that was a terrible player. He made the money which is better than i have ever done but jesus. The times he raised preflop in 7 levels. Once. Seriously. The times he limp called in ep agaisnt a LP raiser, or cold called and ep raiser, infinite. So he limps in mp along with 2 other tags and im so ready to eat up his weakness. K9o, thatll do, make a chunky bet (1100)(stack sizes were delicious at this point, they know im liable to get them to a decision for tournie life as they were mostly on 6kish) and only Mr. WAP calls. Flop is semi dreamy. Kc9dQc. He checks (with a 8k stack), i bet 1.8k, he calls. Turn is pure meh, Jc. HE checks, i check. River is a red rag brick and he bets something aggravating, like 900. Call. Nice 6c7c sir! WELL PLAYED! Google implied odds, pot odds and fold equity when you get a moment of spare time.

I flip about for a little bit and get back up to 34k ish when the big pot arrives. My image is right where i want it, im getting called light by second pair (thanks convict ;) ) and generally beating the table up. On of the tight guys down the other end has also managed to accumulate a large stack. He is my target as i have position and i know he mainly plays turbo SnG's so is unused to playing so deep. He raises to 800 playing about 24k utg+1. I overflat nit in MP otb with J10ss. I have learnt (after about 3 million hands in the last 3 years) that position means a shite load more than cards. Flop is fistpumpworthy. Qs10c8s. Pair + Gutshot + gutter. He leads for 1.2k into 2.4kish, mp folds, i um an arr about what i want to achieve. Im happy playing small ball and do i really want to play a huge pot here. I think about it for about 3 mins and even against a very tight range i simple have to build the pot with my hand. Interestingly (and read into this what you like) a lot of the live pro's think i should have flat called, wheras every internet pro i have spoken to says yes we dance here). I make a weakish raise knowing how much he has left and knowing full well we want to get all the money in but i want to retain some fold equity. Ideally im hoping that i click it back (CIB for you newbs) and he makes it like 8k. Then i can jam and he'll have a genuinely tough decision with all of his hands (unless he has a set obv). So i raise to 2.4k and even better he makes it about 6k. I um and arr and jam and he goes into the tank for a long time. Then calls off with AQ. I actually sigh when he calls, probably the lack of positive thinking that cost me the insta 8 on the turn killing 3 of my outs and the red brick on the end. Down to 8k and despite knocking out gregior (he moved in with a double belly b!!!! Muust have been a misclick!! I felt terribly deflated. Im CL with that pot and felt i could really have crushed what is an immensely weak tight field. I then got moved table to the shadow of John Conroys stack (literally) and made a badly timed squeeze with Qc3c and found an ugly AQ in opponents calling range. So obviously sad and deflated i did what any self respecting poker player loves and had a drink.

So nice to meet up with all of the circuit guys, cant mention all of you but obv Mike, Dave ( new vip guy from Blusq), other Dave, Mole (plays 200/400nl as his standard game, WOW), The Legend, Dom, Clam, robby, Owston, jason etc. A whale of a time. Many congrats to Nick Persaud for coming second and also to Mark Goodwin (iv said bad things about him in the past(mainly because he (literally) looked down his nose at a mate of mine in a comp) but he is by all accounts a really nice guy so well done that man. 90k for three days work, yumm! Also a really good bet for a huge result in vegas this year is Pete Linton, arrogant as fuck but really nice guy.


Off on Holiday on Monday for a week or so, playing no poker will be fantastic so im exited about a break. Need to stop drinking so much as im turning into europe's no.1 prize prick and im now 25 so time to grow up i reckon. Ok, off to play some really good poker. Gl kids.