Syndicate Serendipity

Last Tuesday, I capped my recent run of decent poker results, with my best ever poker win! It doesn't seem a long time since I was bemoaning my poker performances with characteristic depression, but I've gone all the way from thinking I was playing badly, to thinking I was playing well but not getting the results I deserved, to getting some decent results and feeling vindicated, until now when I feel that I've probably over-achieved in the last couple of weeks.

As I've probably [!] mentioned in my previous posts, I've had a few decent results recently, playing cash games with The Hendon Mob, and some of the regulars from The Hendon Mob Forum. So feeling flush with a bit of extra cash in my bankroll, I decided to enter a Syndicate to send a player to The Fox Poker Club leg of the Genting Poker Series [GPS]. The structure was straightforward - ten of us would play a Single Table Tournament, with the winner going on to represent the syndicate in the £430 Main Event in Leg 2 of the GPS in London. Everyone involved would have a stake in the tournament, from 35% for the winner down to 4% for those knocked out first.

I'll be completely honest, and state right now that I didn't give myself much of a chance on this table. It was tough competition from some of the regular contributors to The Hendon Mob Forum - players that are regularly  involved in tournaments beyond anything I play in. But, as they say, 'you've got to be in it to win it', and the opportunity to play for a seat in one of the GPS Main Events was too good to pass over.

On the night of the tournament, after some mental preparation (which mostly involved shadow boxing in front of the bathroom mirror), and a strict (but seasonal) diet of pancakes and beer it all began...

The first hand I was involved in, that went to showdown, didn't necessarily seem to bode well:-

Chopping the pot, playing the board, with pocket nines against pocket sixes! On the other hand, few chips were invested, and no stupid errors were made.

A little further in to the tournament, with ten players still remaining, I got the first indication that things might be running my way that evening:-

From a dominated position pre-flop and hitting a dangerous top pair, I caught a couple of beautiful runners on the turn and river to snatch the pot from under my opponents nose!

Things weren't running only my way though - I also got caught in a similar spot myself, when my opponent snagged both a straight and a flush on the river:-

Both these hands, were checked on the turn, allowing draws to develop, which perhaps indicated a commitment to disciplined pot control, or maybe indicated a cautious approach to the game.

I certainly felt cautious, but managed to maintain a fairly even stack as play developed. Ten players remained in the game until this hand - a double elimination!

Over the next half hour, I picked up some chips from hands that didn't play to showdown (ideal), and edged my way into first place. My confidence was growing. The next hand I got involved in, was played badly, but again seemed to indicate that the wind was in my sails:-

Pocket Tens are very nice, but probably were a hand that should have been discarded to the 3-bet pre-flop. I hesitated, not wanting to let my hand go, and eventually settled on making a call out of position. Catching a set on the flop was beautiful - I'd now bungled my way to a significant advantage over the rest of the field; but it was also a warning to settle myself.

I took the warning to heart, and played more steadily, maintain a fairly even stack of around 16K chips, as the blinds rose to 50/200/400, and the field was reduced to four players with reasonably even stacks.

The next big hand I was involved in was another lucky escape for me - although (this time) not one I feel was played badly:-

Picking up a reasonable hand on the button, I made a small raise and was called by the big blind. The big blind flopped a straight, and I flopped a straight-draw and a flush-draw. I made a small stab at the pot, and was check-raised by the big blind - I didn't want to let the hand go, so I pushed the rest of the chips in and saw I was behind. Yet again I got lucky, making the nut flush on the turn! We were now down to three players, and I'd crept a step ahead of the other two.

It wasn't all plain sailing for me - I took a knock back with this next hand, but fortunately I had plenty of chips to spare at that point:-

However, as play continued - thmfstowjon gradually picked up more and more chips, and levelled the playing field... finally I picked up a decent hand, and my other opponent (the short stack) played into me:-

My hand held up, and Jon and I were heads-up for the game! I had a small advantage at that point, but nothing to write home about. For about fifty more hands, play went back and forth. I gradually moved ahead and built a decent lead on my opponent. Picking up a pocket pair heads-up and facing a raise, I committed my chips:-

It didn't work out well for me - Jon made a full house by the river, and things were suddenly much more even than they had been.

Two hands later, and I picked up King-high on the big blind - calling a small raise pre-flop, I caught the King on the flop:-

I'd had more than my fair share of luck throughout the game, and managed a most-unlikely victory! I'll be going to London to play the Genting Poker Series Main Event in March, hoping to make a decent score on behalf of the syndicate 

Happy Valentine's Day

It all started with a bag of sugared jelly hearts... the first gift from my girlfriend on Valentine's day - but it was later on in the day when she showed me that she really loved me - when I broached the sensitive issue of the Valentine's Day Triple-Stacked Hendon Mob League game.

I'd softened her up with flowers, champagne and earrings; then cooked her one of her favourite pasta dishes... but it was still with some trepidation that I opened the discussion:

"There's something I need to mention about tonight, darling."

"Oh", she replied ominously, "what's that?"

"You know it's Tuesday, and I've got my league match tonight"

"Oh, that", she said, "I knew you'd be playing your league game", which could be interpreted in a number of ways!

"You don't mind, do you darling? I'll probably be out before that first break anyway", which is certainly a reasonable statement based in recent results.

"I don't mind that at all", she finished, almost miraculously, "enjoy your game"!

Anyone who read my last blog update may have picked up on a dip in my tournament poker confidence [!] So I thought I would approach last nights game from a novel perspective - betting decent hands in decent spots, and folding if I thought I was behind! Not my usual game, and not [really] even a winning game, considering the frequency of decent hands in hold 'em poker. Still it was a deep-stacked, full ring, tournament, so I would have plenty of time to pick my moments.

If poker was really that simple, I'd be a winning professional poker player... unfortunately, so would everyone else, which is why poker isn't as simple as that... but fortunately for me, things got off to a nice steady start. In the first session, I had a couple of decent hands - nothing premium, but a couple of Ace Broadway combinations and a couple of medium pairs. I'd managed to accrue a few chips and was slightly above average going into the first break (so much for my earlier assurance to my GF!)

I played pretty much the same game during the second session, and had similar steady results. Closing in on the second break, I had a lucky escape - picking up Ace Ten suited in position, I saw a raise followed by a re-raise. The third bet enabled me to let go of my hand, the rest of their money went in pre-flop, andthe hands were pair of Jacks, and Ace King suited - thank you position! A few hands later, with the blinds at 25 / 125 / 250, I got my best hand of the evening so far - Ace King. Following a 750 raise in front of me, I 3-bet to 1,750, and my opponent shoved the rest of their stack to make it 5,525 total. With just over 13k behind at the start of the hand, this was an ideal shove to call with Ace King, so I got it in and was pleased to see Ace Queen suited. A Ten and a Jack on the flop made the turn and river slightly sweatier [!], but my hand held up, and I won a decent chunk of chips, going into the second break in second place.

During the third session, the field started to thin considerably, and I managed to keep picking-up chips steadily. As the third break approached, there were twelve players left on two tables. The blinds had increased to 120 / 600 / 1,200 and play had become very cautious. No-one wanted to miss out on the final table, obviously; but nobody wanted to pay those blinds uncontested, when the table was six-handed. Somehow, torturously, I made the third break. The girlfriend and I were in bed at this point, and she even commented on a couple of hands - mostly to say "how could you fold that?!"

The fourth session kicked off, and before long we were down to the final table. I felt really pleased with my performance, and then the suck-out happened. Everyone needs to suck-out in a tournament sometimes - I was surprised I'd managed to make it to the final table without already doing so. To be fair to me, I picked up my best hand of the evening, and I wasn't all-in on the hand - even though I would have been crippled if I'd lost.

Suck-out (sorry)!

Obviously the suck-out happened on the river - as, almost inevitably, it does. It's hard to describe the mix of feelings when the Queen appeared on the river. Sympathy, ELATION, and guilt; sat in bed with a lap-top, and a ridiculous grin on my face. It's important (but not always easy) for me to remember these moments when I'm on the receiving end of this shit. I'd been feeling sorry for myself (poker-wise), but it only takes one hand like this to change that all-the-way around to feeling like I was the luckiest guy in the world. My apologies go to TarquinFtang out there, but I needed this one; and (bloody-hell bolderick) I only gone and got it!

It was quite a final table to sit at - with Joe Beevers and Ross Boatman from the Hendon Mob; along with Hackett, one of the forum regulars that has generously supported my poker playing (always showing more confidence in me than I do in myself!)

Mostly by keeping myself out of the firing line, I made it all the way to heads-up against Hackett, but that was as far as I made it. My first league win still eludes me, but with renewed confidence, I feel like it could be just around the corner. My sincere congratulations to Hackett for a well-deserved win. I was really, really pleased myself with the $115 and 25 league points for second place.

Double Quads and Half Measures

It's been a long time since my last post, with very good reason - I've had NOTHING to write home about, let alone on the interweb.

I've been playing The Hendon Mob Forum League regularly since Xmas, with little to show for it - in the last 8 games I've played, I've scored a total of 10 points for a single 11th place finish. Slipping [deservedly] out of the top 20, and ending up at the point where even friends from the forum have started to comment that my play has been 'erratic' [a polite paraphrase on my part!]

I was also given the opportunity to play in four of the recent TCOOP events on pokerstars, with the generous blessing of my backers. I chose to play the four stud events - Triple Stud, Stud, Stud Hi/Lo and Razz. I had high hopes for these events, which were a higher buy-in than I would normally play in, but despite being really happy with the way I played, I ended with a single cash for a minimal $55 which didn't even cover my buy-ins.

I've not played a huge amount of tournaments, other than the TCOOPS, since Xmas - partly due to a[nother] laptop explosion (Merry Xmas), and partly due to a worrying lack of confidence in my tournament play - something that's not really affected me before, but is starting to become a worry. I did have a half-decent result last night – taking second place in a $5.50 Triple Stud for $47.50 – despite being down to 1/3 of a Small Bet at one point, with about 14 players left! That was a real back against the wall defense – although I did get fairly lucky winning the following hand when I was all-in with the bring-in!!

I’ve also been playing a cash game on Genting Poker with several of the regulars from The Hendon Mob Forum. The stakes are way above my bankroll – let’s face it anything other than $0.01 / $0.02 is above my bankroll – but I consider it really good opportunity learning from such experienced players. Twice in the past three weeks, I’ve had really nice results coming away from the table with 11 buys-ins playing Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo, and 8 buy-ins playing Pot Limit Omaha.

Of course… it helps when you hit quads twice in one session - Happy Days!!