DUBLIN BELLYBUSTERS

Sunday, October 4th, 2009: The Full Tilt Espana Series - Barcelona Event, Day 3 (Evening)
Cesar had under 500K so the next hand we contested would likely put him at risk. That hand happened to be the very next one.

Hand 14 - Day 3, Blinds 25000/50000, 3.55M
Cesar raised to 175K and I looked down at the A9 of hearts. I put him all-in and he instantly called. The flop brought me no help but the turn brought a second heart to give him a sweat. 11 outs but the dealer could find none of them as we retook our seats and went back to battle.

Hand 15 - Day 3, Blinds 25000/50000, 2.6M
Cesar got some momentum going, winning a few small pots and getting himself back up to 1.4 million. On the Button, he raised to 150K and I called with the A4 of clubs. The flop came AKQ rainbow, I checked and surprisingly, he checked. The turn came a 4, completing the rainbow board and making me two pair. I bet 200K and without hesitation, Cesar made it 600K. It was obviously an all-in or call situation. I tanked for bout 5 minutes, going through the hand combinations that I was beating and the ones that were beating me. I could beat A10, AJ, KQ, K10, KJ, K4, Q10, QJ, Q4 and a total bluff. I didn’t think Cesar would raise one pair here unless he had some other outs but I did think that he was capable of taking a stab with nothing. I was crushed by AK, AQ, any set and J10. On balance, I figured my hand was good about 40% of the time and I effectively had to put in 1 million to win a 2.8 million pot (35%). I shoved and irrespective of the outcome, this is the only decision I regret in retrospect. Cesar insta-called, having flopped broadway and doubled up to 2.8 million in chips. I have mulled over this hand in the days since and now believe I made a poor decision. Based on a weighted sizing up of his range, I think I was probably about 27%, making it a clear-cut fold.

Hand 16 - Day 3, Blinds 25000/50000, 1.1M
Two hands later, Cesar raised to 175K and I looked down at AQ. I shoved for 1.1 million and he insta-called, flipping up AK. I shook his hand and we wished each other luck. The flop brought a Queen, much to the delight of me and my fairly inebriated railbirds. The turn, however, brought the King and I was down to miserable 2 outs. Sadly for me, there was no sick river and Cesar was the champion of Barcelona.

Cesar played very well throughout the day, expertly managing his short-stack until a well-timed card-rush put him in the mix. It was good for Spanish poker to have a Spanish winner so, as much as I wanted the title, I am extremely happy for him. A nice guy, a passionate card-player and a worthy champion, he will be a great ambassador for the game in Spain.

#106 - Oct 12th '09: "Barcelona Diary, Part XI: 'Et Tu Lappin, Then Fall Cesar' is What He Would Have Said" 10/12/2009

Sunday, October 4th, 2009: The Full Tilt Espana Series - Barcelona Event, Day 3 (Evening)
The Tournament Director called a 10 minute recess before heads-up play, allowing me the opportunity to do some high-fiving and fist-bumping with my railcrew. It was 1.30am and they had tirelessly cheered me on for over 10 hours. I took a moment to size up the situation and believing I had a decent edge over my opponent, I decided on a small-ball heads-up approach. I had almost 60 Big Blinds in my stack, so, again credit to the tournament structure, there was plenty of room for poker.

After some brief ‘horse and pony’ media stuff, we shook hands and took our seats to do battle. 45 minutes in and my small-ball strategy seemed to be doing the job. We had contested no big pots yet and I had Cesar down to 800K. Feeling he needed to throw caution to the wind, he turned up the aggression pre-flop. This approach worked better for him as he rallied back to 1.4 million before the following hand.

Hand 13 - Day 3, Blinds 20000/40000, 2.6M
I raised to 80K (my standard play had been to min-raise my button) with the A10 of spades and Cesar made it 250K. I called. The flop came 2-4-5 with two spades. Cesar fired 400K and I went all-in. He folded, leaving himself with just 750K.

Four hands later, the blinds went up and I looked down at pocket 10s. I made it 120K and he raised it to 350K. I shipped it and he cursed himself, throwing J7 into the muck face-up. He was rattled and with only 12 Big Blinds to my 88, I smelled blood.

#105 - Oct 12th '09: "Barcelona Diary, Part X: From 6 To 2" 10/12/2009

Sunday, October 4th, 2009: The Full Tilt Espana Series - Barcelona Event, Day 3 (Evening)
The curse of the chip-leader struck again as Julian, the first man over the 1 million chip mark, fell in 6th place just an orbit later. 5-Handed, Joachim and Felipe were the short-stacks. Felipe had recently tripled up with AA versus 44 and 33 but Joachim’s stack was going in the opposite direction. He lost a couple of medium sized pots and then raise/folded A7 from the Hijack after I re-popped him with QQ from the Cut-Off. Two hands later, we went head to head blind versus blind.

Hand 11 - Day 3, Blinds 15000/30000/3000, 850K
Joachim raised to 125K, effectively chopping his 370K stack. I looked down at 88 and put him all-in. I knew he wasn’t folding in this spot so our hands were turned over in a flash. He had AQ and we were racing. An 8 in the window put me in the box-seat as I just had to fade some runner-runner straight and flush outs. The Jack on the turn paired the board, making me a boat and ending the hand. I congratulated Joachim on a fine performance and he graciously wished me luck.

4th place then went to Jun Da Zhan or ‘Jimmy’ as he was affectionately known. Jimmy rode his luck all day, often getting his money in bad but a combination of ballsy and lucky is not a bad thing in poker. On the day, it was enough to earn him €20,000. With almost €200,000 being shared between the top 3 spots, you might have expected 3-handed to be a tense, cagey phase. In actuality, it was a brief affair as my good friend Filipe (the man who doubled me up late on Day 1 with J10 against my pocket queens) and I conspired to lock horns. At the start of this hand, I had 1.4 million chips and Filipe had 800K with the remaining 1.8 million sitting in Cesar Ordonez’s stack.

Hand 12 - Day 3, Blinds 15000/30000/3000, 1.4M
Flipe raised to 80K from the button. I called with K10 and Cesar folded. The flop came K-10-7, I checked and Felipe quickly made it 125K. I insta-min-raised to 250K, he insta-shoved and I insta-called. Felipe had AK and was unlucky to have been out-flopped. As the board ran out with no Ace, I shook hands with Felipe and commiserated with him on getting coolered in the hand. He wished me luck against Cesar.

#104 - Oct 11th '09: Barcelona Diary, Part IX: Final Table - The Coolers, The Soul-Read and The Table-Punch" 10/11/2009

Sunday, October 4th, 2009: The Full Tilt Espana Series - Barcelona Event, Day 3 (Evening)
My plan for the final table was to lay low until the two low-stacks were eliminated. Cesar Ordonez and Felipe Fernandez were both sitting with less than 150K in chips and would have to make their moves soon. My image was super-tight and I wanted to keep it that way for two reasons. If I wait until 5-handed before I loosen up, I should get more credit for having legitimate hands at a crucial time and by then, the blinds and antes will be worth a whole lot more.

We took our seats and unwilling to go with the script, both Cesar and Felipe doubled up within an orbit. As expected, the German lads lead the charge, opening any pot that got to them for intelligent 2.5x or less raises. The first big clash took place between Norwegian online pro Kristian Lokken and Sebastian Berres. Berres made a standard raise to 40K from the Cut-Off and Lokken defended his Big Blind. The flop came A-10-8 and Lokken donklead for 60K. Berres called. The turn came a King and again Lokken lead, this time for 120K. Berres took a moment before going all-in, Lokken snap-called and Berres showed pocket Aces. Lokken’s face dropped as he tabled 88. Set over set is about as gross a cooler as you can get. Lokken had been a genuine threat but he exited in 8th place.

Despite becoming the new chipleader, Berres would be the next to the rail as he lost three consecutive pots. Firstly, he doubled up the short-stacked Ordonez, overplaying his 910 offsuit against the Spaniards KK on a K-10-8 board. Then, he lost a sizeable chunk of chips to Julian who with that, became the new chipleader. The worst blow, however, would be the last as he shipped his remaining stack to the revitalized Ordonez with AK on an A-4-2 board. Ordonez showed pocket 4s and he was out in 7th place.

Meanwhile, I was sticking to my plan, steering clear of trouble, taking down the blinds once an orbit, maintaining my stack at slightly above the half-million mark. That was, until the following pair of hands when I found myself clashing with Julian’s big stack.

Hand 9 - Day 3, Blinds 10000/20000/2000, 535K
On the Button, I looked down at Jacks and having raised my previous two buttons, I decided to put in a slightly larger raise. I wanted Julian to choose this moment to fight back and I wanted the amount needed to re-raise to commit him to my shove. I threw out 56K but annoyingly, Julian chose to fight back in the form of a call. The flop came 10-9-8 rainbow and he checked. Happy to get it in on this board but hating 23 possible turn cards, I fired big with 90K in chips. Again, Julian didn’t co-operate and just called. The turn came the 6 of diamonds, putting two diamonds onboard. He checked and I checked behind. The Ace of Diamonds came on the turn and he insta-shoved. I laughed and looked at him. “You have what… like 78 suited?”, I said, “You’re hoping I hit that Ace, huh?” He said nothing and I mucked my hand. He later told me that he had the 78 of diamonds.

Hand 10 - Day 3, Blinds 10000/20000/2000, 360K
I was left with around 390K after the JJ debacle and an orbit later that was 360K. I looked down at KK in the Hijack and made it 47K to go. Julian repopped it to 140k from the button and I did a little Hollywood routine before shipping. He called and tabled AK. One frickin’ time, por favor! I must admit that I have no recollection of the cards that came out apart from the fact that an Ace was not one of them. What I do remember was showing my first piece of emotion of the tournament as I punched the table in celebration as the river card was dealt.

#103 - Oct 11th '09: "Barcelona Diary, Part VIII: Did You Know Doing 360 Degree Turns Increases One's Coolness Factor by a Factor of Ten?" 10/11/2009

Sunday, October 4th, 2009: The Full Tilt Espana Series - Barcelona Event, Day 3 (Afternoon)
The Tournament Director asked us to get to the Casino an hour early on the Sunday so that we could be filmed, photographed and provide some biographical information to enrich the broadcast. I obliged of course and on arrival to the Casino, I was ushered into a private nightclub which had, on one side, been kitted out as a mini-studio with a small stage, cameras and a full lighting rig. As soon as all of the players were there, we were asked to fill out some questionnaires and then, one at a time, go up to the stage to be photographed and filmed while turning on a podium (doing 360 degree turns obviously increases one’s coolness factor by a factor of 10).

Play commenced a little late at 3.20pm but when it finally did, it was fast and furious. There seemed to be an all-in every two hands. I only played one hand in the first hour, taking down a set of blinds but in that time, we were already down to 13 players. In the second hour, I played one big hand of note.

Hand 8 - Day 3, Blinds 5000/10000/1000, 430K
6-Handed, the UTG player went all-in for 140K. I was in the Cut-Off and looked down at AK offsuit. Feeling there was no other play, I announced all-in and everyone else folded. My opponent flipped up A10 and I had myself a 70/30. Neither of us hit a pair and my AK (Clearly my lucky hand this tourney!) high took it down, taking me up to a comfortable 575K.

By the end of the 2nd hour we were down to 9 and the unofficial final table. The cameras were all over us but we would not take our seats on the proper televised table until we were down to 8. That took about three hands as one of the remaining Spaniards re-shipped 32 big blinds from the Big Blind to a 2.5x button raise from Sebastian Berres, the third member of the German trio. Sebastian insta-called with JJ and the Big Blind showed KJ. No King meant we were on a one hour break and when we resumed, it would be lights, cameras, action!

#102 - Oct 10th '09: "Barcelona Diary, Part VII: Money, Money, Money" 10/10/2009

Saturday, October 3rd, 2009: The Full Tilt Espana Series - Barcelona Event, Day 2 (Evening)
The next three levels plodded along. I played positional poker, stole some blinds and won some small pots. My stack continued to go in the right direction without any hands going to showdown. With 36 players left, I was taken from my brilliant seat right at the rail (from which position Michelle was able to administer sporadic shoulder rubs) to a more central position in close proximity to the other 3 tables. The chip average was about 115K and I still had the chip-lead with 330K. I played zero hands for the next hour and then the following two hands took place in quick succession.

Hand 6 - Day 2, Blinds 2000/4000/400, 315K
It got folded round to the short-stack on the button who shipped it for 52K. I looked down at 33 in the Big Blind and tanked. A very marginal spot, I knew I could justify either folding or calling. After about four minutes of deliberation, I called and he flipped up JQ. I tabled my 3s and we were off to the races. The flop came J-Q-7 and I was down to a 2-outer. No crabs on turn or river and I had lost my first significant pot in almost 8 hours of poker.

Hand 7 - Day 2, Blinds 2500/5000/500, 260K
I raised to 13K in early position with AK suited. It folds round to the same guy who just won the JQ/33 hand against me. In the interim, he has put his new chips to good work, adding further to his stack so when he decided to shove back at me, he shoved for 155K. I took a few minutes before calling. A King on the flop and another on the turn restored me to the chip-lead as I rocketed up to 420K. High fives all round for my railbirds and a kiss for my huney!

I did my best to abuse the bubble and got myself up to 460K by the time it burst. With 20 players remaining, we were told we would play down to 18. That didn't take long as the two German lads at my table - Joachim and Julian - were simultaneously in both 'ultra-aggressive' and 'running like Jesus' mode! By the end of the day, they had the lead and I was third in chips with 440K.

#101 - Oct 10th '09: "Barcelona Diary, Part VI: Cava + Sambuca + Techno-Dancing = Hangover but Hangover + Poker = Heater" 10/10/2009

Saturday, October 3rd, 2009: The Full Tilt Espana Series - Barcelona Event, Day 2 (Afternoon)
Techno-dancing until 6am would probably not be considered ideal preparation for an 11-hour day of poker but while my friends Rob, Suzanne, Mark, Shaunta and Malcolm had all come over to support me in the tourney, they had also come to have fun in one of the trendiest European cities. Countless glasses of Cava and at least half a dozen Sambucas the night before meant that my head was not in great condition when I took my seat at 3pm on Saturday for Day 2. Having said that, I was happy to have had the Friday off to unwind while the Day 1Bers went at it.

Exactly 100 of the 200 starters remained and a quick glance at the chip-count put me around 65th. That was all to change, however, as I went on an almighty heater for the first three hours.

Hand 3 - Day 2, Blinds 500/1000/100, 31K
I raised to 2600 in early position with AK suited. The Small Blind (A charming Englishman by the name of Trevor or 'Tricky-Trev' with whom I played the entirety of Day 1) re-raised to 8K. From what I'd seen, he was pretty snug but I'm not in the habit of laying down AK in this spot. I shoved and he insta-called, flipping up KK. An ace in the window came to my rescue and apologising to Trev, I raked in a 64K pot.

Hand 4 - Day 2, Blinds 500/1000/100, 71K
The button raised and I looked down at AK. I re-raised to 8500 and, after some deliberation, he called. The flop came AJ8 and I weak-lead for 8000 into the 18500 pot. He went all-in for 31K more and praying he didn't have AJ, A8 or a set, I called. My jaw dropped when he showed A5. No miracle 3-outer and I was sitting pretty with 120K!

Hand 5 - Day 2, Blinds 600/1200/100, 136K
The Hijack (a young loose-aggressive Englishman I would later discover is an online beast called ‘EMSBas’ against whom I play regularly) raised to 3000 and I called with the JQ of diamonds. The flop came J-6-8 with 2 diamonds, he checked, I bet 7K and he called. The turn came a black 2, he checked, I bet 20K and he tanked before shipping all-in for another 60K. Even though I knew his line could well be a set, I insta-called as I had made up my mind to bet big on the turn so as to give myself the correct odds to call against his range if he pushed. He grimaced, turning over J9. No miracle 2-outer and I was the new chip-leader. Boom!

#100 - Oct 10th '09: "Barcelona Diary, Part V: Time For War" 10/10/2009

Thursday, October 1st, 2009: The Full Tilt Espana Series - Barcelona Event, Day 1 (Evening)
For the next three levels, I did my very best to stay focused but the ennui of live poker was taking it toll. That, coupled with the fact that I was spewing chips left and right, made it very frustrating. During the 7th and 8th levels of the day, I picked up no proper hands. I raised five times, got re-raised and folded three times and had my 'airball c-bet' on the flop raised twice. At the end of level 8, we had 10 minute break before the final hour of play. During it, I chatted with my girlfriend Michelle who was cleaning up in the 2/5 cash game. I was back down to a starting stack and I told her I was going to play like a monkey in the hopes of doubling up. She tried to calm me down, saying that there was still lots of time and lots of play left. She was probably right but I was in no mood to be pacified. For the next hour, I was at war.

I immediately set about my work, raising to 1900 with A10 in early position. The button called and the flop came J-6-3. I fired 2500 and he called. The turn came a 4 and figuring he would have raised the flop with a Jack, I fired bullet number 2 to the tune of 5300. He folded, showing pocket 7s. Three hands later, I min-raised a button position raiser with 910 suited. He called but folded to my c-bet on a K-8-4 board. An orbit later, disaster struck as I flopped top pair, top kicker with the nut flush draw versus the big stack on a Q-6-7 (all hearts) board. He checked, I bet and he called. The turn paired the 6, he checked and I checked behind. The river came a non-heart 4 and he bet the pot. Uuuugh! I begrudgingly called and he flipped up 53 with the 3 of hearts.

That hand left me with just 16K. A few hands later, I was in the Big Blind and the Cut-Off raised to 2400. The Button called and I looked down at 56 suited. All-in! After plenty of deliberation, the Cut-Off folded and the Button insta-mucked behind him. Phew! Ten minutes later, I lost another medium-sized pot, taking the similar pot-control line that I took in the AQ hand and again getting beat up by a guy who called my flop bet with a gutshot. With 10 minutes left to the day's play, the following hand took place.

Hand 2 - Day 1, Blinds 400/800, 15K
I looked down at QQ and min-raised. The Big-stack (a friendly Portuguese guy called Felipe Pacheco) called and with 4400 in the pot, the flop came 10-8-4. I lead out for 2300 and, after a brief interrogation, he put me all-in. I called and he flipped up J10. My QQ held and I was back up to 30K.

At the end of the day, the average was 40K but thanks to the double-up, I could come back on Saturday with a playable stack.

#99 - Oct 10th '09: "Barcelona Diary, Part IV: A Change in Pace" 10/10/2009

Thursday, October 1st, 2009: The Full Tilt Espana Series - Barcelona Event, Day 1 (Afternoon)
I arrived to the Gran Casino Barcelona at 2pm on Thursday, an hour early for the start of Day 1A. I was well rested, having gotten an early night and I was pumped for what I hoped would be 9 hours of poker. Having run poorly online for the past 2 months, I'd be lying if I said the money didn't matter. I really, really wanted to cash. The tournament had an awesome structure - 1 hour levels and the same incremental jumps as Full Tilt's online structures - so there should be lots of room for poker all the way through. As dangerous as it is to set targets in poker, I still hoped to turn my 20K starting stack into 50K by the end of the day.

Play commenced punctually at 3pm and OMG was it a grind. This was my first proper live poker experience (I played the Million Pound Challenge thingy in London last year but that was a turbo structured freeroll) and I must admit, I was totally unprepared for the change in pace. My plan was to be pretty active as we began 400 big blinds deep but that said, 'active' meant playing 3-4 hands of the 15 hands per hour which is still a wee bit fewer than the 1000+ hands per hour I play online. I was involved in lots of small pots early on but the first hand of note came just after the dinner break.

Hand 1 - Day 1, Blinds 150/300, 23K
I raised to 800 with A4 of clubs in the Hijack. The BB called - an English guy who had persistently defended his Blinds and made some aggressive plays out of position with mixed results. The flop came 2-5-9 rainbow and he donklead for 1000 into the 1750 pot. I called and the turn came a King. He bet 2000 and hoping to take it down with a semi-bluff, I raised to 5500. He called. The river came a 3, making me the nuts and he leads for 8000 into the almost 15K pot, leaving himself just 6K behind. I took a minute before shoving and he angrily threw his pocket 8s across the table at me. Weeeeee, up to 38K!