HAPPY AS A PIG IN ****

HAPPY AS A PIG IN ****

Well week 2 and online just sucks, can,t win a race and every big hand i get runs into a bigger 1 ,or gets outdrawn somehow by fkn donkeys, so im still no further forward . After getting back to break even i have had a nightmare run last 2 days and am back down $350 ,, fk sake, never mind i wont give in yet.

Anyway now to the good news, big weekend and not having played live for a full week i was looking forward to the Newcastle poker forum championships so much.This was hopefully gonna be 1 great game and boy it did not dissapoint.
Some great players assembled at the casino for what was gonna be a great torny with a fantastic structure and plenty play.
I sat at my first table and there was a few notable faces , some of whom i consider very good players . My first objective was to settle into the game , not get to involved and see how the table were playing.Nothing to adventurous in the first level and every 1 seemed to have there proper poker heads on , no rediculous plays or silly betting so i was quite happy at the way things were playing out as sometimes players who are not used to deep stack games can get carried away ploughing chips into the pot unneccasarily and making decisions that little bit harder.
Anyway i was playing well and by the first break had increased my stack to 17K without to much trouble , only showing down 1 hand ( when i had trips) which stood me in good stead.
After the break we played 2 more levels and other than playing 2 or 3 hands i was completly card dead for the full 1 1/2 hours, my stack had fallen to 13500, not what i was hoping, but still no panic setting in yet as there was still a long way to go and average chips at this point was only around 15k.
Dinner passed and i went back to the table revitalised and ready. I seemed to tangle with 1 guy in particular in about 3 or 4 pots and fortunatly for me i won every one and my stack was heading in the right direction. I was now on about 20K and our table was split.
30 players left and the blinds getting big ( plus a sizeable ante), the shorter stacks were starting to get busy, here is where i always like to watch out for the short stacks ensuring i have the goods when raising into them as they are very likely to take a shot at a gamble.Anyway i avoided any major confrontations and again increased my stack steadily, the players were falling fast and soon we were down to 2 tables .
At this point i think i was in top 3 stacks at the table , although the chips were very evenly distributed between all 20 players, my aim was to avoid major confrontation with big stacks unless i had big hand, and try and maintain my chip position as much as possible by stealing at least once per round or hopefully taking down a pot.
As we got down to the bubble,with only 5 mins left of play the stacks of all the players were still very even , and my first major desicion of the torny,blinds are 3k (300 ante ) , button raises to 8k , then sb pushes all in for 36K and i look down in the bb at AK,, fk sake man, anyway i got 65K and if i call im not out ,and im pretty sure the button was on a steal. Anyway after a long think i decided to fold,the guy who pushed had played pretty solid and i was sure he had some sort of pair, the button i was sure was on a steal, however i was also pretty sure that he would not be stealing without some sort of hand and i reckoned he had some sort of Ace rag or KQ,KJ type of hand , therefor 1 of my outs was deffo gone . I decided if i fold i go to the final table 2nd in chips , if i call im gambling against a made hand with only 5 outs and losing puts me short stack at the final table . Anyway i later found out the button did have an "A" and the sb had 10-10. so i was really pleased with my desicion.
Final table starts and its a really strong looking line up,( 4 members of teamdobbs,including myself)all whom have won countless tourny,s and have cashed in games of a very high standard,1 guy who has played all the big torny,s in this country and the ept circuit and the wsop.Another player who is considered 1 of he top local players winning many big games including the recent Virgin festival at aspers.
Very slow start and for 1 full level im card dead , then i pick up JJ and guy to my right shoves in ,well its now or never , and i make the call and i am pleased when i see he only got A4 and my jacks hold up.
Anyway im holding my own when we get down to 6 left and all the above are still there with the exception of 1 teamdobb member (phlmc)i have a reasonable stack and guy under the gun pushes all in, now i look down at AJ ( not a hand i like calling with ) however i have seen this guy shove with 10-2, K-10 and A 7, so i decide that if its folded round im calling ,sure enough it is and i make a good call as he shows KJ,,but the poker gods are against me and deliver the K and im crippled and now i am the short stack at the table. With around 32K and blinds 8k theres no time to muck around and i get busy at every oppertunity and get my stack back upto 79k by the break.
Break over and im still the shorty so i need a hand, anyway its not long before i pick up 66 on the button and having been through the blinds decide that its good enough to push with, only for the bb to call and turn over AQ and where at the races,kaboom 6 on the flop and its back in the game for me . Then 1 round later is where it all falls into place for me , after i make a steal raise on the button , i then raise again the next hand only for the bb to wake up with AQ and re-raise me ,however i have the bullits and my re shove is called as its not much more to him and a flopped Ace seals the deal.
Well its all standard stuff from here on in untill we are down to h/u , it was only last month that i was in the same situation in the grosvenor league play off final, only for me to blow my chip lead and finish second ,,, well i feel i learned from that game and did not want to make the same mistakes again, so i set about a game plan which seemed to work a treat and i gradually chipped away gaining just over a 2/1 chip lead, when the final hand occured.
I was big chip leader at this point and had decided that i wanted to apply pressure when i had a decent holding, i pick up AJ and with the blinds at 16k raise another 50K, im basically saying your playing for all your stack as he only got about 160k,ish left opponent obliges with a shove and im reasonably happy to call and he shows 22,, well we are at the races again and a flopped J and an A on the turn seals the deal as no 2 shows up on the river.
I played the whole tournement and was only ever all in 1 time for my torny life with a showdown and never got my chips in behind except for this final hand ( normally i hate AJ but on this occassion felt really confident).
Anyway i am now the NEWCASTLE POKER FORUM CHAMPION and believe me i am so so happy and will represent the forum to the best of my ability.

Was an absolutly fantastic weekend and without doubt a tremendous torny which has bonded a lot of people with a common goal , to play poker at a high level.

roll on the next 1