Dublin

Not the greatest of trips.

Each tournament i managed to build up a big stack. But it just wasn't to be. Was amongst the chip leaders in the 400 Euro tournament the first night and the 500 Euro Omaha the second night. I was due some bad luck i guess.

The EPT Main event

I lost 40% of my 10000 starting chips early when 88 hit a set against my QQ. Then i got very lucky against Joe Grech when i bluffed on the turn and was forced to call my last chips as there was so much in the middle with just eight outs.

After that i started to play quite well and got moved on to a table downstairs with Barny Boatman and Dave Pomroy. Went on quite a card rush and hit a high point of 30000 (chip average was 20000).

Then this fun hand occurred. Blinds 400/800. I limped with QQ. One other limper. BB checked. Flop T82 with two diamonds. BB checked. I checked. Limper bet 1000. BB made it 4000. He had 11000 before the hand. I made it 10000. Limper passed. BB obviously didn't have much. He thought for ages and then called with T3. Turn a 3. Mmmmmmmmm nice. Would have been cruising on 45000 but was back to 20000 and feeling tilty.

Lost 8000 soon after betting a flush draw that never hit all the way through. About 45 minutes later i played my final hand. I had 16000 before the hand and was dealt AA on the button. One limper and i made it 3200 to play as i wanted action. BB called and the limper called. Flop J34 with two diamonds. First limper checked. Second limper bet 10000 and i moved all in. He called with QdKd and the turn was a lovely diamond to leave me drawing dead.

Congratulations to Dpommo for finishing 3rd in his 1st EPT event. I'm sure it was some party afterwards......

A couple of hands

Earlier in the week i played a couple of hands earlier in the week that i thought gave me the toughest decisions... here they are!

Hand 1

£10/£20 NL Holdem - 6 handed. I have £3300 in front of me. My main opponent in this hand has the same in front of him.

I am dealt 9dTd in the small blind. 2 limpers and the button makes it £120. He could quite easily be trying to steal the limpers money and has played quite aggressive since he joined the table. I decide to call and the limpers pass.

Flop 7d8d9c

Pretty much almost the perfect flop for me. So i decided to check raise if i get the opportunity. I check. My opponent bet out £200 and i made it £500 and he called. Its tough to put him on a hand now as i surely QQ, KK or AA type hands would reraise or pass in that situation.

Turn 3s

I decide to represent a made hand. I could still be winning with my pair of nines. So i bet £950. He calls. Maybe he is flushing? I was slightly baffled by the call.

River 2s.

Now what? I have £1750 in front of me. All in? Check, call if he bets? Check, pass if he bets?

Hand 2

£10/£20 PL Omaha - 6 handed. I have £5600 going in to this hand.

I am dealt QQ89. With the 89 in hearts. Two limpers. I make it £70 play. First limper who is a decent player makes it £150. I call. Flop QK6 with two hearts. He checks. i make it £350. He calls.

Turn 3c

He checks. I make it £1000. He reraises me another £3000. I have £4200 left if i pass.

What to do on this one? Two options i guess. All in or pass?

What a day...

I started playing at 11am this morning and finished at 9pm. I was playing on at least two tables at all times so there are so many hands i played well and badly its tough to remember.

Initially i played the £10/£20 NL Holdem. I fancied something different, and decided i was going to play more aggressively. I got up to £2600 from £1750 and then lost a pot of £2000 ish to Dpommo. He has detailed the hand on his blog so you can look there. It was a strange hand... i think he is one of very few players who make that call. I think he has caught me bluffing at him twice now. Have to check for a secret video camera hidden behind me.

I wasn't feeling tilty and Dpommo soon left. I battled back up to £3600 playing confident aggressive poker when i was involved in very big pot. I called £100 in the BB with Kd6d and saw a flop with two others of QdJd6s. We both checked to Roland who bet £300. I called then the player in between us minimum raised it to £600. Roland passed but it was an easy call for me. The turn was a 3d and i immedietly put him all in for his £2000 and he called with a set of Jacks. No pair up on the river and i was up to over £6000.

No other monster hands but i did manage to win a few more decent size pots so left the table with a £8000 and a £6250 profit.

Then it was time for the PL Omaha. At one point i thought i was destined to lose everything that i had won previously. Won't go into details but i lost three £2000+ pots, one to a four outer, and twice to two outers.

At the moment every blog entry has a happy ending. I turned £2000 into £10000 on the £10/£20 table after playing for about 5 hours. At one point playing six handed i was sat with Robin Keston, John Kabbaj, Mafews, Sargon Ruya and one other. Interesting line up.

I did have one ridiculous hand early that needs a hand history. In the end foe passed for £63 into £2397. I can't say i played it well, but i decided to represent the nuts fourth street. So had no option but to fire another shell in hope more than anything else. My mind boggles at what they both had.

------HAND 3------
Game #1146660213: Omaha PL (£10/£20) - 2005/10/25 - 17:03:17 (GMT)
Table "Mirach" Seat 2 is the button.
Seat 1: TOPHAND7 (£3335 in chips)
Seat 2: Mafews sits out
Seat 3: foe (£863 in chips)
Seat 4: J.K. (£11007 in chips)
Seat 5: Bennyboi (£1944 in chips)
Seat 6: dawdip24 (£1910 in chips)
foe: posts small blind £10
J.K.: posts big blind £20
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Bennyboi [Jh Ks 2c 5h]
Bennyboi: calls £20
dawdip24: folds
TOPHAND7: folds
foe: calls £10
J.K.: checks
----- FLOP ----- [8d 3s 4c]
foe: checks
J.K.: checks
Bennyboi: bets £60
foe: calls £60
J.K.: raises to £180
Bennyboi: calls £120
foe: calls £120
----- TURN ----- [8d 3s 4c][7h]
foe: checks
J.K.: checks
Bennyboi: bets £600
foe: calls £600
J.K.: calls £600
----- RIVER ----- [8d 3s 4c 7h][Qc]
foe: checks
J.K.: checks
Bennyboi: bets £500
foe: folds
J.K.: folds
Returned uncalled bets £500 to Bennyboi
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Bennyboi: shows [Jh Ks 2c 5h] (High Card King)
Bennyboi collected £2397 from Main pot
----- SUMMARY -----
Total pot £2400 Main pot £2397 Rake £3
Board [8d 3s 4c 7h Qc]
Seat 1: TOPHAND7 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: foe (small blind) folded on the River
Seat 4: J.K. (big blind) folded on the River
Seat 5: Bennyboi showed [Jh Ks 2c 5h] and won (£2397) with High Card King
Seat 6: dawdip24 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

There were loads of hands after that that i bluffed, played well, played not so well and i finished up £3000 at the Omaha overall. So for the day i won £9250.

Leaving for Dublin on Thursday now. Had a nightmare with hotels so have to hop between a few to stay close to the casino. Looking forward to it though, strike while the iron is hot and all that.

Hmmmmmmmmm

Not sure how long this form can continue but i really can do no wrong at the moment...

On Sunday i decided to play Heads Up on Pokerstars. I had next to no money in my account so just played a $20 one for fun which i won, then a $50 one, then a $100 one. They do 4 player winner takes all so i then played an won that. Then i won a $500 NL Holdem heads up and two $1000 PL Omaha Heads up matches. So i turned about $40 into about $3300. I got really lucky in one, but the others went as smoothly as i could expect.

Today has been a good day as well after three hours play on Betfair i finished up £5900. Most of that came from playing a guy i hadn't seen play before heads up and i won two huge pots both times when i had flopped the nut flush. Its not a difficult game to play when that happens. I really felt focussed today. Made one slightly bad read in a big pot which cost me £1700. Other than that i felt on top form.

Heading to Dublin for the EPT event on Thursday or Friday. Depends on whether i fancy playing the Hold'em rebuy on the Thursday.

Happy Birthday

To my blog...

Its been a year since i started it up and i read through some of the oldest posts the other day.

Some year. I guess writing this blog must have contributed some way towards what has been an incredible year. Its been a year thats seen me travel abroad to Vegas for my first WSOP, Barcelona twice, Baden, Monte Carlo, Deauville and Stockholm. Sometimes i do have to pinch myself to believe what has happened in such a short space of time.

I haven't played that much poker this week. Incredibly i am up £4000 for the week despite playing very badly for long periods in one session. I lost to a 1% chance on the very first hand and it wasn't till i was £4000 down did i start playing properly again. Managed to turn my last £1000 buy in into £8000.

I really shouldn't have played at all this week. Just not feeling overly motivated to play cash games at the moment. I am sure i will be ready to start again on Monday. Still not sure about whether i should just stick to PL Omaha, or whether i should have another crack at the NL Holdem tables.

Next week i am heading to Dublin for the fourth EPT event of the year. Then probably Amsterdam for the Masterclassics.

Swedish Open 2005

This may take a while to read.... so many hands that i have to try and recall through memory, and i will probably miss out some key hands and the occasional big bluff that i made ;-)

After the Scandinavian players recent results around Europe in the big European Poker Tour events I was jumping into the Lions den somewhat, by going to play them in Stockholm. I felt good in the run up to the tournament, my form had been good both online and live, but I knew I would have to be at my very best against so many tough aggressive players.

I took my seat at the table and was pleased to find out there was going to be a 60 minute clock and 20000 starting chips. My plan to take it easy for level one soon got dashed. Blinds were 50/100 and I limped as you do with 89 suited. Flop 89K with two diamonds. I checked and then reraised the player to my left to make it 1700 to play. After a while he called and the turn was a T with no diamond. I bet out 4000 and was not to pleased when he made it 10000. Do I really want to travel all the way to Sweden to go out on hand three of the tournament? I reluctantly passed and he showed me a bluff. After that hand I was down to about 13000 chips. Still plenty of play left.

I battled my way back up to 17000 chips without winning any major pots. I had Daniel Bergsdorf who came 7th in this years WSOP main event and he was playing very well but had just been very unlucky in a few big pots. The blinds were now 200/400 and he made it 1000 to play in late position. I called with KQ suited and it flopped Q48 rainbow. He bet 2000 and I just called. The turn brought another Queen and also a flush draw. He bet 2500 and I raised it to 7000. He called after a long dwell. The river was an Ace. He checked and I moved all in. He thought for ages again and called and I showed my hand and he passed.

A few hands later I picked up TT in middle position and made it 2000 to play. One of the blinds called and it flopped 89J with two clubs. I checked and he checked. The turn was a 7 to give me the straight. I decided to check hoping he would bet, and he obliged by betting 2500. I reraised it to 9000. To my surprise he called. I now thought he must either have a straight already, flush draw or three of a kind. The river was a 9. I checked and he bet 8000. I called and he had made his full house with 88899.

The very next hand was the luckiest of the tournament for me. The young guy to my right made it 2500 to play and i looked down at JJ. I decided to move all in for around 17000 figuring he would pass nearly any hand. He thought for ages, called and turned over QQ. It flopped AK2. Turn 8. River a J. That was my luckiest moment of the tournament by far. I guess everyone needs at least one very lucky moment in a tournament.

On level 5 with the blinds 400/800 I was sitting with 40000 chips, which was joint chip leader with the player directly to my right, when we tangled in a huge pot. I was on the button with 9dTd when he raised to 2000 to play. I called. The flop was 8d9cQd. A great flop for me and I was favourite if he was holding AQ, KK or AA. He bet out 4000. Without hesitation I moved all in for all my chips. He initially turned to me and said,"I don't think I can call here." As he pondered for minutes I was convinced he was going to call. He did and turned over top set with QQ. I still had a 40% chance of winning the hand. The turn was a 2d to give me the flush and the river a blank and I was up amongst the chip leaders.

I didn't really pick up any hands for a few hours but managed to keep my stack at around 80000 without being involved in any big pots when I moved table. One of the players I recognised and he had played superbly the last time I had seen him play, so I decided not to play too many pots against him. Also sat at my table was the guy who had very fortunately knocked me out the day before from the PL Omaha tournament.

By the time we reached level 9 I was still above chip average for the tournament with 95000. Blinds were 1000/2000 and I looked down at JJ in the small blind. To my surprise the player who had knocked me out of the Omaha tournament moved all in for 44000. Did I need to risk 43000 with JJ? As he had raised so much in late position I was convinced he couldn't have AA or KK, as he would surely have looked for action with those hands by raising alot smaller. I narrowed it down that he either had a smaller pair then me, QQ (the only hand i was scared he may have) or two overcards. I have passed in situations like that too often, so decided to go with my read and call. He showed AQ. The board came 22674 and I was up to 140000.

I played the very next hand badly. Perhaps I was distracted by winning such a big pot. I limped under the gun with AKs. Everyone passed and the big blind checked. Flop A44 with two spades. He checked and so did I for some reason. The turn was a K. He checked and again I checked. River brought the flush and he bet 10000 and I called. He had the flush, I would't play another hand for the rest of the tournament that badly again.

We returned for Day 2 and I was 10th in chips out of the 42 players remaining. I raised alot of hands on my table without ever getting called or being reraised so was able to slowly increase my chips without any risk. The players were getting knocked out very fast and I was feeling comfortable as I was never out of the top ten chip leaders. When we got down to two tables I made one big move. The button made a raise to 20000 chips and the small blind called. I pushed all in with KT from the big blind and they both passed.

The action was fast and we were soon down to 14 players and in the money. I had a very tight table and nearly any raise was winning the blinds and running antes. In one hand I picked up QcKc and everyone passed to me in the small blind. I had 220000 and the big blind had 100000. I limped hoping he would raise so I could put him all in. He checked. The flop was good for me, QK2 and I checked again. He bet 15000. I called. Turn was a T, I checked and he bet 20000. I made it 50000 and he passed.

It seemed I was getting involved in big hands in the blinds. It folded around to me and against a different guy who had just been moved to my table I limped in from the small blind with 99 hoping to reraise. He checked. It flopped 69T with two hearts. I checked and he bet 10000. I made it 25000. He called. Turn was a 2 with no flush. I checked and hoped he would sense weakness and bet. He checked. River an A. I bet out 25000 and he reraised it to 60000. I moved all in and he passed.

I was sitting happily on 330000 with 12 players left as the chip average was 360000 to make the final table. I hadn't had AA in 17 hours of play, but all that was about to change. The blinds were 5000/10000 and I was in the big blind. The small blind had 500000 chips and everyone folded to him. He made it 30000 to play. I looked down at the Aces. Could I extract any more from him here. I picked up 85000 to raise then left 10000 behind and made it 75000 to play. He thought for two minutes then moved all in. Maybe my tactic of saving back 10000 had indicated weakness. He had AQ and I doubled up when the board didn't save him.

The very next hand I am under the gun and look down at AA again. Wow. I made it 40000 to play. I knew that players would think I would be reluctant to play another huge pot after the one I just won. The small blind moved all in for 270000. I called of course, and he had 99. No help from the board and it was time for the final table.

I started at the final table with 900000 which made me chip leader, and decided I would sit back unless I felt my hand was strong enough to play a big pot, or I had a good chance of stealing if I bluffed. The action was fast and furious as it tends to be at a table full of Scandinavians. I also had about a quarter of the chips in play so there was no hurry.

I had no cards for a while, and the times when I did raise players moved all in forcing me to pass. So when we reached the final 5 players I was back in amongst the pack with 800000. Only the player to my left had significantly less with 400000. I was involved in another blind battle with him. I had Ah2h and raised to 40000 in the small blind. He made it 100000, and I moved in a flash hoping it would scare him. It worked and he passed. He was taken out by another player and we were down to 4.

It was time to move up a gear. I raised five hands on the trot without even a picture. The blinds and antes were so big that it was a big boost to my stack. The only other player who seemed interested in playing any hands was Bo Sehlstedt who was the strongest player left in. I lost half nearly half my stack to Thomas Berglund who was sat to my right. Blinds were 15000/30000 and I raised to 125000 under the gun with QQ, and he called in the big blind. It flopped KJ2 with two hearts. Not great but when he checked I decided to fire out another big bet of 240000. He called. Turn was a heart and he moved all in and I had no option but to fold.

I was down to 350000 when Bo raised and I found AJ suited. A good hand four handed so I moved all in as I needed to double up. He had TT but an Ace on the flop saved me and I had chips again.

Soon after picked up AK in the small blind and Bo raised again to 150000. I pushed all in for 630000 and he called eventually with QcKc. The first card out was a Q so I was in trouble. Followed by the Jc and then the Tc, so I had a straight but he held a flush draw. Turn was blank and I closed my eyes as the river was dealt. I heard no cheers so I knew my hand had won.

The very next hand i found 99 under the gun and made a larger than normal raise. Bo moved all in for 600000 and i eventually passed. Had i thought about it more, and the fact that its such a strong hand four handed i would have probably called. He showed AcTc so it would have been a coin flip anyway.

Bo was then knocked out by another player and we were down to three. I was second in chips to Thomas and the other player who was half asleep had about half my chips. Soon he pushed all in for 550000 and I had no option but to call with AhJh and he turned over Qc7c. It flopped AcTc9s so I was winning but he had made a flush draw. Turn an 8 so he could now hit a 6 or a J for a straight as well. The river was fortunately a blank so we were heads up.

I had about 40% of the chips and Thomas 60%. One amusing side note was that I had been having great banter on the table with all the Scandies, and I don't think they would ever have recovered if one of the two British players that entered had won the tournament.

I evened the chip count up on the second hand of heads up when I slow played QQ on a low flop and moved in on the turn. He was playing very aggressively and was hitting most flops and showing his cards. I was down to about 1.2 million chips when we played the final hand. I made it 200000 to play with AhJd and he called. He hadn't passed one hand preflop heads up. It flopped 5h6h9h and he bet 400000. I knew I had alot of outs if I was behind so moved all in for the rest of my chips. He called and flipped over Kh2h, so I need a heart to save me. It wasn't to be and I had finished second.

The result put me up to 21st in Europe rankings, and 15th in the money list. Next stop EPT Dublin.

The best day ever

Well i managed to finish second in the Swedish open main event for around £60000.

Feels very good.... better than Monte Carlo or winning my first ranking event. A few players of late have doubted whether i can play NL Holdem, and think i am an Omaha specialist. To be honest, it has irritated me quite a bit. Maybe now i have won over £125000 in NL Holdem tournaments this year may convince those who think i am a Holdem fish.

Rant over! :-)

Swedish Open Main Event

Swedish Open Poker Championships, chip count day 1
Denna lista sorterad i storleksordning

Kopiera gärna, men ange källa:
NAME CHIP COUNT TABLE/SEAT

1. Tobias Persson 275 400 13 / 6
2. Gusten Sjöberg 207 600 11 / 5
3. Stefan Diös 165 500 10 / 8
4. Micke Berg 163 300 14 / 1
5. Marcus Gidlöf 140 400 14 / 5
6. Charlie Wang 138 800 13 / 2
7. Bo Sehlstedt 136 900 13 / 8
8. Mikael Thuritz 130 200 10 / 6
9. Mikael Andersson 124 800 12 / 3
10. Ben Grundy 123 000 14 / 2
11. Mikael Stigård 119 600 12 / 7
12. Samuel Ling 116 800 11 / 6
13. Jan Bäckström 113 300 11 / 3
14. Karsten Honnefeller 80 200 14 / 6
15. Christer Larsson 78 700 12 / 6
16. Daniel Nilsson 75 600 13 / 5
17. Markus Westerling 75 600 14 / 10
18. Casper Hansen 75 500 13 / 3
19. Ardeshir Mokhtari 72 500 13 / 7
20. Karl-Johan Fösker 71 900 14 / 4
21. Mika Luumi 70 800 13 / 10
22. Anders Palmqvist 70 200 11 / 10
23. Ronnie Gustafsson 70 000 12 / 8
24. Koray Saka 64 000 11 / 2
25. Thomas Berglund 63 900 10 / 10
26. Jonas Jelström 60 400 12 / 5
27. Daniel Bergsdorf 60 200 11 / 8
28. Daniel Wadman 59 900 12 / 4
29. Olle Sundin 59 000 10 / 2
30. Per Ummer 59 000 12 / 9
31. Pawel Bielewicz 55 300 10 / 7
32. Olle Sporrong 54 100 13 / 1
33. Kaj Adolfsson 52 000 14 / 3
34. Andreas Nordström 49 000 10 / 5
35. Jani Karke 47 600 11 / 1
36. Camad Norozijan 44 900 10 / 9
37. Daniel Loewinski 43 300 12 / 2
38. Cem Arel 40 600 10 / 3
39. Ulf Dehlin 35 700 14 / 8
40. Samir Shakhtoor 33 600 11 / 4
41. Anders Beckman 32 200 12 / 10
42. Anders Österström 9 800 11 / 7

What is my name doing nestled in amongst so many Scandanavian players? I played some of the best poker of my life yesterday for 10 hours so will be giving it my best shot today. I had Daniel Bergsdorf who finished 7th in the WSOP main event on my first table for hours and he was a top quality player.....

The good, bad and the ugly

The Good

Had a couple of good wins online since i have been out here.... managed to turn £1000 into £4300 of the PL Omaha table against two opponents who seemed determined to keep putting there money in against me drawing dead. I also won two £300 out of two which gave me a nice profit as well.

The Bad

Played again live cash and managed to turn the equivalent of £1500 into £6000. I was getting pretty lucky at times but i pulled off so many bluffs it was untrue. This was my favourite. I called a raise preflop with 5578 ds. Flop TJ2. Both players check as do i. Turn Q. I checked again and one guy bet half the pot. I was pretty sure he was bluffing so made the minimum raise with nothing. He called. River was a blank and i bet 3/4 of the pot. He thought and then mucked his hand face up. He had QQ9K..... i showed three cards 578 and everyone was really amused.

We played three handed then and i couldn't hit any cards when i got involved in a monster pot. I raised on the button with 4567 DS. SB reraised. BB reraised. I called. SB reraised again. BB called. I called. Half my chips were in preflop. I fancied my hand against potentially two AA hands or very high hands. Flop 778. Nice. The rest of the chips go in. Unfortunately one guy had KK78. That was that.

The Ugly

Played the PL Omaha tournament yesterday. Started with 2000 chips and by the end of the rebuy period i had a whopping 26000. Kept steadily building till i hit 35000 and was second chip leader with 23 left. I had raised three hands on the trot before this one. I actually had AA DS in two of those and TJJQ on the button in the third. No one had called any of the raises. There was one limper and the button doubled the blinds to 2000. I look down at AATJ DS. Bingo. I reraise the pot and make it 8000 to play. He says,"I am sick of you raising.. i call." Flop 892 with two of my suit. I bet the pot and he goes all in for about 18000. What monster does he show? 9776 no flush draw. This was a mammouth 52000 pot. Turn rag T and i get no help on the river.

I was not happy about that. I would have been on course for a top 5 finish if i had won that hand.

Some live cash

Its been a while since i played live cash for a decent mout of money. I met a few of the guys i play on the PL Omaha tables on Betfair and apparantly i am a "tricky opponent." lol

Was playing the equivalent of £10/£10.... sat down with £2000. Only one big hand and a few others. Raised to £60 by middle position and i called from the BB with 8TJJ double suited. Flop 79Q rainbow. Small blind bets £120. I call. Original raiser makes it £400. Small blind calls. I call. Turn a 6 to give me the nuts. SB checks. I bet 1300. One pass. He thinks for ages and calls his last £700 with trips and the Ace flush draw (which came on the turn). Why the long pause? Luckily a blank fell and i was up £1500 early on.

Very strange hand this one. Hmmmm. I raise on the button to £100 with QQ22 DS. Three callers. Flop QJT rainbow. One guy bets £150. Other guy moves all in for £500. As the original raiser has just £600 i put him all in. He passes. All in guy shows 8923. It stands up as well. Are we playing Omaha or Hold'em here?

Finished up just under £1000 in profit. Am sure to donate it back very soon :-)

Sweden here i come

I fly off to Stockholm tomorrow for the Swedish open. Its a five day trip and i am definitely not returning early this time whatever happens. There is a Holdem rebuy, Omaha rebuy and main NL Holdem event... i imagine i will play all three. I am sure an unlimited rebuy Omaha event against a table full of Scandies will be alot of fun.

I was playing £0.50/£1 PL Holdem today. I just felt like playing just for the fun of it rather than for the money and i could make any moves i liked without it having any financial significance. At one point i bluffed £120 with 6 high on the river and showed it. I played for just over an hour and really had fun. The players thought i was insane but i managed to turn £100 into £320...

It made me think that the advantage you have when you can bluff big in NL Holdem is huge with no fear if you get called. In the £10/£20 game which i have been playing recently, the equivalent bluff would be £2400. My natural game definitely changes the more money that i play for. Food for thought.

I am feeling really good about my game at the moment. I have had the best run of my life online in the last eight weeks, and i won my first ranking tournament. Time to kick on from here.....

So Ridiculous

The last two days i must have played around 20 hours online. For half of that time i have played like a right idiot and how i ended up winning yesterday is anyone's guess. At one point i was up £6000 from playing NL Holdem, only to blow £11000 playing Omaha in about two hours. I deserved to lose the way i was playing to be fair, but i ended up playing someone heads up for two hours on two £10/£20 tables and managed to get myself together and put him on the biggest tilt i have ever seen and won £11000 of him.

It seems that my brain doesn't allow me to play two games well in the same day. I seem to be playing well at the NL Holdem at the moment, but very badly at Omaha. I had turned £2000 on the £10/£20 into £7000 yesterday and £1000 into £4000 on the £10/£20 till i gifted Dpommo a couple of grand on the £5/£10 table. Some recent £4000 plus pots that i have won/lost.

£10/£20 NL Holdem - 6 handed. I raised to £70 with 66 and got called by Roland De Wolfe in the small blind. I have just under £3000. Flop 267 with two hearts. He checks, i bet £120. He makes it £300. I decide no messing about... all in. He calls in a flash with 77. Never lost with top set over middle set in Holdem, it wasn't fun.

£10/£20 NL Holdem - 6 handed. I limped UTG with AA. Roland makes it £100. One caller in the blinds, i just call. Flop JQ2 all diamonds. I have the Ace of diamonds. I check. He bets £300. Other guy passes. I go all in and he calls with JK with the king of diamonds. Turn and river blanks.

£10/£20 NL Holdem - 6 handed. I raise in the cut off with 55. Small blind calls. Flop J95. He bets out £200. I call. Turn 3. He goes all in for £1800. I call instantly and he has QQ. River blank.

£10/£20 PL Omaha - 6 handed. Ridiculous hand this one. There is a raise and a reraise and its £200 to play. I call with 5AQK double suited. Flop 459 rainbow. Four players check to me. Bluff time. I bet £1000. Short stack calls and leaves himself with £500. Turn T. I can't pass so put him all in. He calls with 678J. River a 2 and my pair of fives win the pot.

£10/£20 PL Omaha - 5 handed. UTG raises to £70. One caller. I make it £300 with AAT3. Three callers. Flop 446. Aggressive player who always represents trips on flops like that bets £1200. No messing about i reraise and put him all in for £2900. He calls. Oops. He has 4357. Turn 3. River an Ace. Very lucky.

£10/£20 PL Omaha - 5 handed. I have £7000 going in to this hand. I call £150 preflop with three other players with 779T. Flop 7J3 rainbow. Original raiser who has £1200 in front of him bets £600. One caller. I make it £2400. guy who bet £600 passes. Other guy goes all in and has me covered. Does he have JJxx? hmmmm. I reluctantly passed and he showed JJxx. Phew.

£10/£20 PL Omaha - 5 handed. £200 to play. I call with 4567. Three other players. Flop 568. Checked to me and i bet £800. Check raiser goes all in for £1700. I call. He does have 79xx and no lucky pair up for me.

£10/£20 PL Omaha - 2 handed. So many big hands against the guy i won £11000 off but this was the biggest. I reraised preflop to £150 with AAKT one suit. Flop TJ2 with two diamonds. He checks. I bet £150. He makes it £450. I call. Turn 8... no diamond. He bets £1000. I call. River Q diamonds. He goes all in for £2300. I call and he has the king flush.

£10/£20 PL Omaha - 2 handed. Well if i thought i tilted badly.... I reraise preflop with 9JQK double suited. Flop KQ2. He checks, i bet £350. He calls. Turn 3. He checks. I bet £1000. He goes all in for £2000. I call. He shows K32T. Mmmmmm.

EPT Baden

Firstly, this tournament was superb. I know i had complained about Barcelona and the London EPT events, but Baden was different class. The structure was great... all the blind levels were there. They changed the clock to 60 minutes after a few levels. Then the played Level nine twice for 120 minutes. After that they switched to a 75 minute clock for the second day. It wasn't just the structure it was the whole feel of the tournament. They had set up a big flag parade before the start .... the food was superb. Drinks were free. There was so much room for all the tables.... i could go on.

As for my tournament. I played much better than i did in the other EPT events. I just couldn't pick up any cards and with two calling stations either side of me, bluffing wasn't that much of a good option.

I did get to 16000 after this hand. UTG raised to 600 (blinds were 75/150). I had QQ and just called in the SB. The BB called as well. Flop 227. I check, BB checks, original raiser bets 1000. I make it 2000. Turn a 9. I checked, and he checked. The river was a 5. I decided to make a big bet and hoped to get called bt TT or JJ which is what i had him on. I bet 3500. He called with JJ.

I survived all the way to Level 9 without ever going above 16000 or below 7000. With about 45 left i was playing all in poker. Blinds were 600/1200 and my stack was just 7600. I needed to double up. Twice i moved in with AQ and actually hoped for a caller. Everyone passed. Then i picked up AT. I was ready to move all in if it passed to me on the button. The cut off raised to 5000. I thought i may have still been in good shape or if not a coin flip against a pocket pair under ten so moved in. He had JJ and it stood up. Think i finished 44th out of 180.

The Scandanavians seem to be tearing up the fields at the EPT events. Everyone in the final is from Sweden, Denmark, Finland or Norway. The average age must be around 25.

So what am i doing? Flying to play in the Swedish Open next week to take them on in their own back yard. Should be interesting, i'm going to armed with plenty of Euros for the cash games.

Off to Baden

Just decided a few hours ago that i am going to Baden in Austria, to play in the next EPT event. Wish i had booked earlier as the price of flights have gone through the roof.

I am even leaving my laptop behind, so it will be live cash games to keep me entertained if i get knocked out early.

Haven't been to Austria since i went skiing about 15 years ago, and i have never been to Vienna so i am looking forward to the trip.

London EPT Event - I hate AK

Well that didn't exactly go as plan.

It was AK that did me in. Not a big all in coup preflop but i had it 8 times in about 16 hands. Wow thats form some might say but not when you lose 7 of those times. It became a running joke on the table.

I started ok and ran my chips up to 12000 after level 1. It was all downhill from there. One hand against an all in merchant was my big chance. He limped and i checked in the BB with JdQc. Flop TKA with two diamonds. I check and he bets 500. I call. He had moved all in on huge overbets a number of hands so maybe i can tempt him to do it again. Turn 4c. Now i decide to bet 500 to try and make it look like i am buying a free card. He pushes all in. YES. No - he has the nuts as well.

I made one bad call. Started this hand with 9500 ish. Blinds 100/200. I limped UTG with AdQd. All around to the one guy who made it 1000. I call. Flop JhKh2d. I check with the intention of folding. He checks. Turn 7. Again, i am going to check if he bets. He checks. River Th giving me the top straight. This player has called alot of hands down so i decide to bet 2300 hoping he calls with a pair. He think for a while then makes it 4600. The thinking should have set alarm bells off but then i decided to call. If i win the hand i have 15500, and if call and lose, 4000. Is that a call i have to make?

There was no recovery to be made and i was out shortly after.

As for EPT Baden next week. Even though i have registered and paid 190 euros, i still haven't decided whether to travel. I was also very annoyed with the Vic management team just prior to the start of the EPT event, when someone says they are 99% sure never believe them. I posted what happened here. I just knew it would happen.