DUBLIN BELLYBUSTERS

Day 2: Tuesday, July 21st, 2009
* I beat Fill Good in a morning €25 Omaha Heads-Up to go €35 up over all.
* After dining in Dublin's most popular and most famous restaurant (The Elephant & Castle), Rounder63, Dr Fill Good and myself were joined by Dave 'Thefloof' Block for some cocktails. Rounder made it an early night while the three lads went to the Colossus Casino to play some €1/€2 cash-game. It was positively the worst standard imaginable yet Fill somehow lost one and a half buy-ins. I made a little over €250 but the big winner was TheFloof who cleaned up, making almost €400. Luckily for Fill and myself, we both owned a third of his action each so Fill might have only lost a smidge overall. The highlight of the evening, however, was watching Fill get verbally bitch-slapped by the dealer after he made a smart-ass comment about the quality of the lighting in the poker-room. "Perhaps you'd prefer the lighting on the street", she quipped. I insta-tipped her €2 for this classic comeback!

Day 3: Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009
* A late night the night before meant a sleep-in for myself and Fill. Rounder took the opportunity to hit the online tables and put in a decent session. Fill and I popped out for some lunch when we woke but we joined him for a few SNGs after. By 8pm, we were bored of online poker and headed out for some grub. I picked an expensive classy joint, prompting a Fill Good freak-out as he calculated just how many Wendy's burger's he could have purchased for the cost of the meal.
* After dinner, we hit the cash-tables, this time at the Sporting Emporium (the scene of our 6-handed SNG from 2 nights earlier). No American celebs this time but we were in the company of Vera Duffy, Ireland's most famous lady poker-player. Topsy-turvy nights for Fill and myself as we both enjoyed periods where we were up over a buy-in. In the end, however, Fill was down €50 and I only made €80. The beast at the table was well and truly Rounder63 who made it his mission to piss every single player at the table off as he turned rags into riches, showing boat after flush after straight with hands like 52, 68 and 93. Five hours of poker amounted to very little for Fill and myself (to be fair, neither of us played well) but Rounder left with about €1000 in profit so it was well worth the trip!

Day 4: Thursday, July 23rd, 2009
* Rounder got up early and beasted an online session while Fill and I kept it lazy and caught some Zs. We headed out for some food at 6pm and to get us all in the mood for our upcoming trip to Spain, I thought we'd check out Dublin's #1 tapas bar. The lads looked a bit worried as they understood nothing on the menu but it wasn't long before they got the swing of things, feasting on foie gras, patatas alioli, gambas and mini-steaks, all washed down by a trio of exceedingly fine sherries. Warm Spanish doughnuts with a warm chocolate sauce would finish off the meal just right and we took a stroll through St. Stephen's Green with our Butler's cappucinos and hot chocolates.
* A mini-online session saw Rounder drop $2K in 30 minutes only to scramble his way back to almost even by the end of play. Fill Good feasted a sick $1/$2 PLO hand, scooping $1200 as his turned nuts held against a big wrap. Meanwhile, I won a couple of 9-handers and made a deep run in the $30 Turbo, eventually finishing 2nd for $1500 to another Irishman after we both flopped trips (my J5 to his A5 on a 556 board).
* Buoyed by our success, we headed out to Whelan's - Camden Street's trendy bohemian nightclub - where Fill got shot-down by about 23 women (it might have been more, I lost count!). On the walk home, Fill insisted on making a U-turn and hitting the Colossus again. Rounder was keen to hit the hay, but good host that I am, I obliged and we took our seats at the softest €1/€1/€3 PLO cash-game known to man. Fill played two hands before excusing himself to use the restroom. Two orbits later, he still hadn't not returned but I was €300 richer. Finally, he emerged, looking pale and acting sheepish, having destroyed the restroom with both ends of his body. "Can you give me the keys?", he asked. "I'll come with you", I said, "just give me 'til my next blind". Fill seemed to be in pain and it was clear that the sherry, beer, Guinness and vodka-redbulls had taken their toll on his fragile Canadian athlete's physique. I feasted another €150 pot and then joined my light-weight friend for the short walk home. On arrival, he destroyed my bathroom so badly that I had to hire a professional cleaning crew!

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