The Big Game - All Change

The times they are a changin'.

A new year and a new venue...Tower Bridge is the new Balham.

Thanks to Louis and James for hosting. They provided a decent table top with cup holders and for the first time ever a dealer for the night.

Having a dealer is a bit like Sky plus - it will be a bit difficult to go back. We probably played twice as many hands as we normally do and for me this was a good thing. I got AA three times and rather curiously had 2 red jacks twice in consecutive hands. So I can't say it was particularly skillful to end up well ahead...and I certainly have no bad beat stories to tell.

Here are the scores
Charlie + 735
Jim +361
Dave +224
Wilson +62
Neil -12
Mark -260
Louis - 400
Ben - 700

...and the jackpot was not won so there will be £160 in the pot next time.

Aussie Trip - 2007/01/16 - Out on Day 2

I don't even make it to the first break...

I start on the farthest flung outpost - table 42. We only play 8 hands before the table is broken and I move to a table which has Chris "Jesus" Ferguson sat 3 to my left.

I have played a couple of hands when I pick up AK spades in the SB. Blinds are 500/1000 ante 50 and I have around 38,000 chips. There is a raise all-in from mid position of 9,500 chips so when it comes round to me I go all-in to make sure the BB does not play too. The raiser flips 44 and I do not hit anything so I am down below 30,000.

The cameras are on Jesus because he is short stacked. Then this happens:
Jesus Doubled Up
Chris "Jesus" Ferguson raised preflop with A-K. Bryan Clark re-raised and Jesus moved all in. Clark showed A-10. Jesus was ahead all the way and rivered a King to seal the hand. The pot was worth over 50K.
I thought this was rubbish play from Clark. Jesus made a standard raise, when Clark reraised and then Jesus moved all-in I think he did not need to call. Surely Jesus must have a better hand than A9? But I guess the appeal of knocking out such a well known pro was too much. However - wait to see what I do later with the same hand!

I am now getting pretty short stacked. The blinds plus antes are 1,900.I try to steal the blinds and get reraised all-in. Then I get good odds to call with KQ and then TJ in late position. On the KQ hand the flop comes 888 and turn K. I bet out and get called. We check the rag river and split the pot when the other player shows AK - he had not raised before the flop so I think this was a lucky escape for me. If it had been a K high flop I would have got all my chips in.

So I now have around 24,000 in chips when I pick up AT diamonds on the button. The small blind is a player I have seen before when I played Omaha hi-lo. Ironically I was chatting to him before we started today. He had been playing on the same table as Patric Antonius who he said had been bullying the table, so he had hardly been able to play a hand. From his accent and play I figure him for a solid logical east german and so when I put in a standard raise to 3,500 and he raises to 8,500 I have a long hard think. (Later, looking him up on the internet I find he is Marek Kolk who won the Pacific Poker UK Open earlier this year)
The pot contains around 14,000 chips and I have around 20,000. I have been raising quite a lot from late position, so I think that he is a good enough player to decide to raise me back with any reasonable hand. However I also think that he would not be prepared to put in all his chips on a coinflip. So he may well fold a small pair and perhaps as much as AJ. So I thought that an all-in move might work here - so I go for it. He does not quite insta-call but does not think too long before calling and flipping JJ. Unfortunately no Ace comes to rescue me so I am out.

On reflection, perhaps this was a rash move but it felt like the right thing to do at the time.

...and I don't even get the correct report on pokernews - I moved to Makary's seat!

Kolk Doubled Up
Andrew Makary EliminatedMarek Kolk was all in with J-J against Andrew Makary's A-10. Kolk's J-J held up and Makary headed to the rail.

I hope you have enjoyed reading about my trip and maybe might want to join me in Las Vegas in July for the big one.

Aussie Trip - 2007/01/15 - The Big Day

I made it through to day 2 with 40,900 chips.

On a pretty tough table - up to 30,000 at one point in the late afternoon but lost a lot of chips when raised with AJ, bet and got called on a flop of QJ7 - had to fold to an all-in when the turn was Q.

Some extracts from pokernews about my table:

It Happens Every Day
Right about this time of day we seem to find another "name" player. Today it's Jean Robert Bellande who has been hiding at the furthest table. JR has been having a rough time of it, mostly due to the play of Van Marcus. "He has been abusing me" reports Jean Robert.

Van Marcus Wants to Fight
On a flop of Q-7-3, Player A bet out for 500. Player B from America dropped two 500 chips out. He said he wanted to just flat call but the dealer said that bet was binding. He protested and then Van Marcus re-raised to 2500. Player A folded and Player B moved all-in. Marcus called with 7-7 and Player B had Q-Q for top set Van Marcus had him covered and was not eliminated but he was fuming over the angle shooting incident. He challenged the young American to fight in the parking lot. Stay tuned for an update on the possible fisticuffs.

This Van Marcus guy was immediately to my right and in some ways it was good to have him in a lot of pots - it was certainly never dull

Key hands before dinner
Call 2 limpers including Van from the button with J9 hearts with blinds. 150/300 (50) ante. Flop is 872, 1 heart. We all check. Turn is Q and when Van bets 600 I misread my hand and think I have a bellybuster straight draw so I decide to raise to 1500 thinking I might nick the pot anyway. Van calls but the river is the perfect 10 so when he bets 1500 I min raise to 2100 which he calls showing 2 pairs Q8. He asks me how I could raise with a gutshot draw and then laughs when I say I misread the turn - confirming my fish status.

I bust a mid position min raiser when several calls around give me odds to call with my 55 in the small blind. I hit my set and when I check it he goes all-in with his AA. Ho ho.

Key hands after dinner
Blinds are up to 200/400 with 75 ante and I leak chips when a couple of semi steal raises with 99 and AJ get dangerous flops which I have to fold when met by big bets.

I am down to around 11,000 when I pick up TT in the BB and after a limper to my left calls a short stack min raises from mid position. I go all-in and he calls with 99 so I bust him.

Finally we have the hand of the day for me.
We have just got to the final level 400/800 (100) and I get AQ (red mixed) in the BB. The "young american" just calls from mid position so I bet 2500.
Flop is AK3 (K3 are both clubs). He has always bet out no matter what he has, so I decide to check. Sure enough he bets 5000 so I go all-in since I know he can't have AK or KK and if he has trip 3's I suspect he would have checked trying to lure me in.
He asks the dealer for a count of the pot (but in fact the dealer just spreads the pot - apparently they don't count it). My raise is t0 19000, so he is getting about 2:1. I put him on Ax of clubs so the odds will be about right for him to call with a flush draw. He thinks for ever and then calls with K7 diamonds!!! He says "I thought you had nothing". What hand can I have that he would be beating? Would I really go all-in with QQ or K6 with that board. Anyway I am not complaining when he does not get lucky so I win a massive pot and pretty much fold everything apart from a couple of steals to end the day at 40,900.
We started at 11.30 finished just after midnight had a 10 minute break every 90 mins and 1 hour for dinner so I am pretty knackered.

Aussie Trip - 2007/01/14 - Meeting Gareth's Bird

Today was the first day of the main event. There are so many entrants day 1 has been split into 2 flights. I am in flight 2 so all I have to do is watch the dancing girls and hear some chat from various poker celebs on the podium.

There is a Full Tilt poster signing session and at last it looks like I am going to meet Shannon. However by the time I get to the end of the line she has disappeared. I manage to get Howard "the professor" Ledehrer to sign my poster to the Balham Cowboy, which bemuses him somewhat. Mr Matasow is just as noisy in the flesh but the highlight is, of course, Gareth's bird Clonie Gowan.
I was rather confused because I was expecting a blond, but instead she was sporting a black bob. I asked her if she remembered playing with a mad Welshman in Vegas ealier this year, to which she replied that she was going to Wales in 3 weeks time.
Gareth - you sly old dog - you've lured her to Colwyn Bay...
I gave her a knowing wink and slipped away.

The play did not finish until 1.30 am but we will be starting earlier, so hopefully will only be until midnight for me.
For progress see :
http://www.pokernews.com/live-reporting/aussie-millions-2007/event-9-aussie-millions-main-event/blog/day1

Aussie Trip - 2007/01/13 - Waking Rumpelstiltskin

Today we are drinking at the last chance saloon - it is the final satellite before the main event.

This tournament is a $1000 buy-in and there are 181 runners so 18 seats to be won.
I take my seat and to my left is Willie Tann who is a well known player from the Vic
http://www.inside-edge-mag.co.uk/theplayers/playerprofiles/1255/best_of_british_5.html
Now Willie is almost comatose - I will give him credit for having jet lag, but more likely he has been playing high stakes with the full tilt boys who have been in town for the last couple of days.
I introduce myself to Mr Tann and suggest that we Europeans should stick together. He mutters something in reply which I don't quite catch but I suspect it is every man for himself.

The table has a couple of spooky look-alikes on it. To the left of Willie is Ferris Bueller and to my right is someone who looks just like a friend of mine Seb Dewing. It is all quite unnerving when Ferris speaks with a Scandinavian squeak and Seb an american drawl.

Not much happens for the first 20 minutes or so apart from Willie reraising in his sleep to bully us young 'uns.
I have managed to reduce my chip stack to 2,500 from a starting size of 3,000 when I pick up pocket 3s in the SB with the blinds at 50/100. When only the button calls, I notice Rumpelstiltskin stirring to my left and I suspect that Willie might try to steal this if I call. I decided I will reraise all in if he tries it, but after my call leads to him pushing a blue 1000 chip in I nearly bottle it. However I go ahead and there is a gasp around the table at the cheek of it.
Willie now seems miraculously restored to full consciousness and gives me the full stare. "You have pair?" he asks... "I did not mean to push out blue chip" he says.."now I may have to call". At this point I am afraid I can't keep my poker face I just laugh out loud - the great Willie Tann accidentally bets the wrong amount - I don't think so.
After more grumbling he eventually folds. I decide to show my 3s and Willie says he had a small pair too - but I am not sure I believe him.

I then get Aces to knock out an AK and then get a very luck break when the blinds are 300/600 and I have A3 diamonds in the small blind. Ferris raises to 1000 from UTG, a mid position player goes all-in for 1100 and the button goes all-in for 700. Now this is not big enough to be a raise so as long as Willie does not raise from the BB I am getting pretty good value for my extra 800. I call and after Willie folds, the flop is a beautiful 245 rainbow and when I check Ferris goes all-in I can't get my chips in fast enough. Ferris has 33 and gets no help, the other all-ins have AK and JJ so I take down a monster pot. When our table breaks I have boosted my stack to 16,000 chips.

...but at last I have a genuine bad beat to report
There are 540,000 chips in play so the goal is to get to about 30,000. The blinds are getting pretty big but when I pick up Aces in the big blind I am happy to see an all-in from the button and even better he turns over A4 both clubs. I am 86.5% favourite in this confrontation but of course the dealer produces 2 clubs on the flop and another on the turn.
So instead of having 28,000 chips I am down to 4,000.
However a few hands later I find KK in mid position but with blinds at 700/1400 the big blind is obliged to call with A7. This time my kings hold up but I then get nothing to play with for another round until the blinds are 1000/2000. When it is folded around to me on the small blind I have to push all-in for my measly 6,000 with 45 diamonds. Unfortunately he has a pair of 10s so I am out in 35th place.
So I make my last visit to the ATM, and stroll up to the cashier to hand over my $10,000.
I am drawn on day 2 so I will not be playing until Monday.

Aussie Trip - 2007/01/12 - Celebrities everywhere...

Let the shameless name dropping commence.

I have breakfast with Steve and Kenna James in the Observatory right at the top of Crown Towers with a spectacular view over Melbourne.

We sit down at a table for four and whilst I am munching on my muesli, Kenna says he can see Daniel sitting on his own - should he invite him over to join us? I don't think much of it - until a small Canadian wearing a Full Tilt hat brings over his bacon and eggs. It is, of course, Mr Negreanu.

He seems like a nice guy and we discuss the merits of the PokerPro machines that have just been installed. These are essentially poker tables without dealers but with touch screens instead. Daniel thinks they are the devil's work but Kenna thinks they may bring players into live poker who otherwise might not play. I think the jury is out on this one.
Daniel has to rush off to play in the $100,000 buy-in tournament. There are rumours about his financial position but it would appear to be just a matter of misreading the buy-in amount - he though it was $10,000. Hmm...not sure about that one.

...and the celebrities keep coming - Roger Federer pitches up and then Chris Ferguson - who looks a bit odd without his hat.

But where is Shannon? Instead Joe Hachem's brother waltzes in and we eavesdrop on his conversation - apparently he has been posing with her for photos at the local Aussie Rules football team Carlton. According to Steve they are complete relegation fodder - but of course Shannon does not understand this.

Steve thinks he can play the horse card - his "farm" actually owns a large proportion of the most expensive stallions in Australia. Surely that would impress a girl more than a trip to the equivalent of Vicarage Road?
We put Kenna on the case - surely he can get us an in?
I mention that, of course I am related to English royalty. So that is all sorted, dinner with Shannon tonight and when it is accidentally revealed that Steve has a wife and small child, yours truly will smooth his way in....
...it isn't going to happen, is it?

and now one for the ladies...

I take a seat at a single table satellite and 2 to my right is some bloke called Mark. As soon as he sits down people start asking him about his leg. Seems a bit odd that a poker player would have a significant leg injury. Did he bang his knee on the table when all-in in a big tournament? Perhaps he dropped a rack of chips on his toe? Anyway a young blonde - the so called "poker princess" (according to the label on her ample left breast) comes over to take a picture of him with her phone. Surprisingly she is not interested in taking my picture. After he starts giving us too much information about inverted cartillage or some such on his knee I finally twig that is in fact Mark Philippoussis. So girls at last you have an incentive to join up with Full Tilt Poker who are sponsoring him in the main event. I will concede that he is a handsome chap, but is perhaps a little bit David Hasselhof...

I am not even going to bother with a report of the satellites I played today - not even close to getting anywhere. Looks like I am going to have to pay the full $10,000.

Aussie Trip - 2007/01/11 - Bounty Hunting

Today's event was made a bit more interesting by having a bounty on the head of various pro players - 1 starting on each table.

Also it was a speed poker event so you only had 20 seconds to act.
I thought our pro might have been Mike Mizrachi but actually I don't think it was after all. There was $1000 in cash paid for knocking them out so I blame that on my poor play that crippled me.

I had done ok up until the first break emerging with 4,500 chips having started with 4,000. The blinds were at 100/200 when Mike raised to 500 under the gun. I just called with AQ of spades. The flop is 662, one spade and Mike bets 500. For some reason I decide he is trying to steal the pot so I raise to 2000 - what was I thinking??? He reraises all in and I fold. He shows a 6 of clubs. Hmm - what did he raise with? 66, surely not - he would have checked the flop. 76 clubs - possible.

So classic play from me - I called with the best hand before the flop and raised with the worst afterwards.

I am now tilting horribly and when I pick up KQ diamonds in the BB I see 4 limpers round to the button who raises it to 1000. I decided he is stealing so go all in. He calls and has AK so I am done when no diamonds arrive to rescue me.

I take my pointy hat with D written on it and go sit in the corner.

For more information about this tournament and others check out this site:
http://www.pokernews.com/news/

Steve has flown in to play today but is knocked out even before me. Being a part owner of a horse farm he has a runner in the 4.15. Apparently it has been looking good in training so I put $150 to win at an SP of 2.5-1. However it runs like the proverbial donkey and comes last. Kenna James had joined us in the bookies section of the casino and was not very impressed with Steve's inside knowledge either. The locals had a good laugh at the foreigner's expense as we cheered El Donko on.

Later on I play in the super satellite. Get off to a flyer when I win a 3 way pot with AA. However I never really get another hand until I push with AK vs 77 and do not improve.

Finally I get KK for the first time this trip in a sit and go satellite. I think I am being clever when I call under the gun and there are 4 limpers followed by a raise from the button. I decide to lure him in by raising to about half his stack, but when he can't get the rest in fast enough I think I can see that Aces look in his eyes. However I can't fold and, of course, he has the bullets to send me packing.

Aussie Trip - 2007/01/10 - Poker WAGs vs Golf WAGs

Now I don't know about you, but I always find that one of the enduring pleasures of watching the Ryder Cup is observing the Wives and Girlfriends of the golfers. For example those of you who are of equal maturity as myself may recall Suzanne Danielle - a rather foxy brunette TV starlet who married Sam Torrance...and as for the americans well need I say more. I hear Mrs Merton calling again.

Anyway I was reminded of this when sat on what some consider the best table in the poker room, given its proximity to the bar and the main route to the ladies "restroom". One of my fellow players was more than happy to give his thoughts on the quality of the talent on view. Now, like all good statistical analysis we have to decide a suitable average before we start. Let us assume that there is a fairly constant mix of local WAGs official and unofficial which I would say had not particularly attracted my attention earlier in the week. However now more poker players have arrived from abroad the quality is improving. I think Shannon is going to get a run for her money this weekend.

Despite the distractions I managed to do reasonably well in the supersatellite $200 rebuy. I had a change of tactics this evening. I decided I was not going to rebuy at all and folded everything - even AJ in the small blind to a raise of 300 when the blinds were 25/50.
However this tournament was going to be the tale of 3 pairs of Aces...and you know it is going to end in tears.
As you may recall from before I had not had AA at all on this trip. Well the sequence ended on level 2 when I got them in the BB. I reraised a couple of limpers and when one went all-in I was able to get up to 2,500 in chips. After the rebuy period there were 80 runners left and 10 seats available.
I knocked out one old rock when my AJ dominated his A7 (I was in the BB - he raised from mid position - all folded to me I went all-in and he called for his remaing 3000 chips - how could he do that with A7?)
The blinds started going up fast so I had to steal - I set myself the goal of raising either from the cut off or to the right of that each round if I had a vaguely playable hand. I got away with it until, raising to the usual 2500 when the blinds were 500/1000 I got one caller - the button. I had Q7 diamonds so when the flop came T53 with only 1 diamond I was in big trouble. I tried to look convincing when betting 3000 (half my remaining stack) and it worked - he folded.
Next round I tried again and this time got reraised all-in by the SB. He then did a curious thing - he put his head in his hands and stared down at his cards. I had A2 so there was no way I was going to call - but I did enjoy a bit of Hollywood staring at him, scratching my head etc. Anyway he showed me the AA and I did not show mine!
I then got nothing playable and the blinds were at 700/1400 when I picked up Q9 on the button. The SB was an old guy I sort of recognised and since I was down to 6000 chips when it was folded around to me I had decided I wanted to go heads up. I thought that if I looked weak he was good enough to try to push me off with anything so I minimum raised. When he went all-in I was happy to call, but you already know what he had and I could not crack the Aces with my Q9.

And finally a poker situation for you to ponder. I am playing in a 9 handed sit and go satellite with winner takes all. We are down to 4 players with the blinds at 500 / 1000. We started with 1500 each and the remaining players seem solid.
SB Me - 5500 chips after posting SB of 500
BB All-in for his final 1000
UTG - pushes all-in for 3500
Button - 3000 chips folds

I have A9 - do I call?

Aussie Trip - 2007/01/09 - Early Bath

Today part 1 of my blog is being posted a little earlier than I had hoped.

Last night I won my seat into today's tournament which is $1000 with rebuys in the first 90 minutes.

I played in a tournament like this in Las Vegas and usually the pros and other players with more money than sense will be happy to play a bit crazily and rebuy chips at $1000 per go.

We start with 1500 in chips and blinds of 25/25 and so I had decided that I would not rebuy and would take any opportunity to double up.

Unfortunately I got the opportunity 3 hands in when I was the big blind after 6 limpers. I had 7T diamonds and the flop came A64 with 2 diamonds. I decide I am going to check raise so when a mid position limper bets 200 I move all-in. He calls with A9 (a better hand than I expected) so when the dealer does not produce a diamond I am gone - setting a personal best for early exits!

Later on in the day I find a game that suits my level of skill. This is a supersonic satellite to the main event level 2 satellite. Each of the 10 players get 1,000 chips but the blinds start at 100/200 and go up at 5 minute intervals. Also you cannot call you either raise or fold. So naturally after 5 minutes half the field is gone and I quadruple up when my KJ hits a straight. We get down to 2 and do a deal - the winner pays the loser $500. After an all-in next hand I get the $500.

So I decide to enter the main event satellite costing $1000 with 1 in 10 getting a main event seat. There are 80 runners so 8 seats.
We start off with 3000 chips so there is not much action on the first level of 25/50. I call with a few small pairs but do not hit. I raise with AJ but have to fold to a reriase all-in.
Then follows a typical sequence in tournament play. Please recite this in your best Marvin the Paranoid Android voice.
The blinds are now 100/200. In mid position I pick up QQ I raise to 600. All fold. 2 hands later under the gun I have AK. I raise to 600. All fold. Now I am Big blind. There is one limper - a big Samoan who likes to puff out his chest and push the table around. The small blind goes all-in for 750. I look down at JJ. I decide I want the Samoan to think I am weak, but I need to take him on because I only have around 3000, so I raise to 1500. He goes all-in and I call. He flips AA - oh dear...another early bath.

Finally to round off the night I play in a satellite to the pot limit omaha tournament. There is no way I am going to beat these guys, but it is a privilige to sit next to Mr Mel Judah who on this occasion I outlast to finish a respectable 5th out of 9.

Aussie Trip - 2007/01/08 - Hi Lo Quartered

After my sensational victory in the satellite yesterday I get to play in a proper game. There are 96 runners in this fixed limit Omaha Hi-Lo $1000 buy-in tournament. This is probably the most complicated poker variety you can find. I won't try and explain it here - try this link if you are brave :

http://www.pokersyte.com/omaha_hilo.htm

So Charliefish takes his place at the table with various local sharks. Chief of which is Mel Juda, sat directly opposite me. My table happened to be close to the rail and I was sat nearest to the spectators. Now when it comes to hold'em, I can look at my cards once and then put them down quickly. However for Omaha you get four cards so it is difficult to avoid the railbirds seeing them. I do hope the spectators did not try to learn anything from my play...
We started with 4,000 chips with blinds of 25/50 and since it was fixed limit I was able to avoid doing anything too foolish at the start.
Now for the hard core hi lo players amongst you, it is a well known fact that you want to avoid being "quartered" - that is, sharing the low pot. Well when we got to the first break yours truly had been quartered twice and I was down to 2,500 in chips - confirming my fish status for all to see.
After the break I had the pleasure of playing a pot with Mel Juda. He raised my big blind and I decided to call with JJ56 (sorry Gareth). The flop was Q95 so I bet out and he folded - one for the minnows.

Things were starting to get desperate and I ended up winning one pot with "the worst low I have ever seen" to quote the dealer (my 8764A beating an 8765A). I was down to about 1,500 chips when I picked up A244 and called 2 limpers from the small blind. The flop came 48T rainbow. I bet and got two callers. Turn is Q still rainbow so I am looking good for the scoop I bet again and get 2 callers. Last card is 9, so my low has disappeared - but luckily my trip 4's hold up and I have 4,500 in chips.

I limp along to the next break and shortly after I move tables and my chips start to dwindle away since the blinds are now 200/400. I pick up A398 in the big blind and contemplate calling a raise which had been called by the SB. However I decide not to and am gutted when the flop comes 247 and I have to watch the SB pick up the low without an Ace. The next hand I have A298 with the A2 diamonds. I call from the small blind and the flop comes 35Q with 2 diamonds. I now have a nut flush and nut low draw so I am quite happy to put in all the rest of my chips via a check raise. However the dealer produces J9 of spades and there is no low and I lose everything to a lowly pair of Queens.
I have finished 58 out of 96 which I am pretty happy with given the opposition.

Later on I enter the super satellite for the main event. This is the crazy $200 rebuy, I lose AQ vs 99 early on and rebuy. A few hands later I double up when my TT beats A9. However I then get completely stitched by the dealer. I have T6 in the BB and there are 3 callers. Flop is 59Q and we all check. Turn is T so I bet 200 and the mid position caller goes all in which will only leave me 350 chips if I call. I try to decide whether he has a Q. I decide not and call. Unfortunately he has JK for a straight. Actually on reflection I just played this hand very poorly. A few hands later I go all in with JJ vs A5 and when he hits an A I decide not to rebuy.

I then played a sit and go satellite with Kenna James sat 2 to my right. Unfortunately I did not get to play a hand against him when having called a 200 raise about 5 hands in with QKs. Flop comes K89 - he bets 400 I reraise all-in and of course he flips over AK and I am out.

However I then play a satellite to the next day's tournament. This is cheaper ($130) but only one player goes through. After a few hands we establish that 5 of the players know each other - they have come over from Perth. This makes for a fun friendly game. There is one good local player but luckily he gets knocked out early. We end up 3 way with me versus one of the Perth gang and a girl who I get the impression has been a bit heavy on the gin and tonics earlier for dutch courage.
I think I am finally getting the hand of short handed play and I am afraid I am not very chivalrous to the girl who is on my left - she keeps calling and then folding when I bet the flop. Eventually she is low on chips and when I just call from the button with 22 she decides to raise for about half her remaining stack. I reraise all-in and she calls showing A9. The 2s win and we are heads up.
My opponent from the Perth gang calls a bit too much and I have about a 4 to 1 advantage, but I lose a race when calling with 99 against his AT. After a few more rounds I steal a few and with blinds 300/600 with 15,000 in play he is down to 3000 chips after he has posted the BB. I pick up TT and decide that he is good enough to raise if I look weak so I just call. He then bets 1,500 which suggests I am well ahead. When I go all-in he is pot commited and so has to call with A6. No Ace comes so I win my seat to tomorrow's tournament and call it a night.

Aussie Trip - 2007/01/07 - Shannon is back

Having failed dismally to get into the limit tournament today, I concentrated on satellites.

First up a $240 NLHE sit and go. This is a single table of 10 runners, with the top 2 going through to a $1000 buy-in multi table super satellite for the main $10,000 event.
We start with $1000 in chips, 12 minute blinds - 25/50 then 50/100 ; 100/200 ; 200/400 etc.
I did not get a hand until I picked up QQ in late position on level 2. At this point I realised that I had not seen KK or AA at all in Oz so far. Whilst musing on the likelihood of that I raised several limpers all-in. Got an insta call from the BB who had slightly less chips than me. He flipped KK and I was down to $50. No miracle occurred...

After this quick exit I decide to have a go at entering the Omaha hi-lo tournament the next day via the same top 2 approach. I pony up my $240 and realise immediately I am playing with 9 people who actually know how to play this game. I do very little until I scoop a monster pot when my AA35 turns into trip aces with no low on the board. I then fold up every hand until we are down to 4. I take another large pot against the chip leader once again where I scoop with A2 low with a dodgy 2 pair. A few hands later we are down to 3 and suddenly one of the players takes a mobile phone call and receives a 5 minute sin bin. I have many more chips than the other lady left and she is a bit psyched out by the absence of the other player. I bully a couple of pots and call her raise from the small blind when I hold AQ76. The flop comes T52. She checks as do I. Turn is Q and she bets. I now reraise her which will virtually put her all-in. I figure she has A2 and no high. If a high card comes on the river she is screwed and she may be losing the low to A3 anyway so she folds. Next hand back comes the sinbin man who knocks her out. Off we trot to get our entries for the next day.

Whilst this is going on they are playing the final table of the tournament from yesterday. It is on a webcast and being shown on a huge plasma screen. Remarkably our friend Mr Zee is in there punching and ends up coming 2nd winning around $100,000 - so if he had won that straight yesterday...

I then go back to the main event satellites and this time there are several players I recognise. I manage to avoid them and end up 4 way with 3 of us amateurs versus a local pro. One of the amateurs has been hitting all the way and duly knocks out Mr pro. I really should have made it into the top 2 but despite some relentless raising with nothing, a couple of 50/50s went against me and I went out 3rd.

We then had the rebuy satellite for the main event. There were around 80 runners.
We have 90 minutes during which you can rebuy at $200 for 1000 chips but I did not need to when I got involved in a crazy hand when the blinds were 50/100. I had 700 chips and raised one limper to 200 with KT offsuit on the button. The BB called and so did the limper. Flop is 789 with 2 diamonds. The BB checks and the limper bets 200. I don't have a diamond, but have a reasonable hand so I go all-in. They both call. The turn is J of diamonds so I have made my straight but now the diamond flush is on. They check again. River is Q of diamonds. They check again. Now I lose to any diamond. One guy has 89 for 2 pairs, the other AT for the lower straight. This triples me up to 2,100 and by the time we reach the break and add-on I have 5,000 in chips.

At last I spot our favourite poker babe Shannon Elizabeth who was in this tournament too. So now I have a mission...via Mr Kenna James an encounter with Shannon must be engineered. According to the bitter locals she is stepping out with Joe Hachem's less talented younger brother but we will soon sort that out...but back to the tournament.

However I don't last much longer I pick up AK twice in a row, first time I raise and win the blinds, second time I reraise a mid position raiser who puts me all in - I call he shows TT which stand up and I am out.
My pal Steve manages to be the bubble boy in this tournament - he finishes 11th scoring $Nil. The first 9 won a seat and 10th got $1,500. That will teach him to raise with 2s in the SB.

I play a couple more Sit and Gos but get nowhere so slink off to a relatively early night...Shannon is nowhere to be seen...

Aussie Trip - 2007/01/06 - Pictures with Miss Australia...nearly

Arrived in Melbourne at lunch on Saturday. Had to fight through a large crowd to register for the first tournament of the championships - $1000 NLHE. There were over 500 entrants in the end.

What a difference since I was last here 2 years ago. The poker room is about 3 times bigger than before and is considerably swankier. However the air conditioning is just as icy...
I had caught a plane down with Steve together with his wife and new baby. Unfortunately the security guards at the casino were quite sharp and spotted that one of the party was aprroximately 17 years and 9 months too young to come in so the boys had to go it alone in the poker room.

Before the tournament began we caught up with Kenna James who knows Steve very well and I have met a few times. Kenna has had a good year so is a bit of a poker celebrity. Whilst we were chatting one of the organisers asked Kenna to pose with Miss Australia and friend and despite our best efforts Steve and I were waved away.

Back to the tournament which started at 12.30. We started with $3000 chips and blinds of 25/50. I got a series of small pairs which I limped with but never hit. Called a 3 way raise to 200 with KQs but flop came with an A so I had to fold.
With blinds at 50/100 I had A9 on the button so I raised a mid postion limper. After much thought he folded his AJ. I kept mum.
This ended up being the only hand I won before the first break. I tried a sneaky raise from late position on the last hand before the break with A9 again but when the big blind pushed all in I had to fold up like a "weak pommie cricketer".
After the break blinds were up to 100/200 and I only had $1500 left so after a whole round of getting nothing I tried an all-in move when it was folded around to me holding TJ. I thought I might get away with it when all folded to the big blind who only had about $2000 himself. He thought for some time, so I was hoping he might have A9 or worse which would be ok. Unfortunately he called with AJ and the saviour T did not arrive.
There was a curious incident a few hands before the break when the inscrutable oriental Mr Zee sat opposite me was thinking about calling a bet on the turn. The board showed TJ57 and he had his chips in his hand but had not pushed them forward when the dealer turned over the river card - the Ace of spades almost exactly at the same time as Mr Zee said call. Considerable argument ensued and the decision was that the call stood but the Ace was put back into the deck which was reshuffled. Needless to say the Ace did not reappear - we got a raggedly 4 instead. Naturally Mr Zee was not amused when he had to fold to a bet given that he held KQ. Naturally we all blethered on about Karma, Ying and Yang and "you will probably win it". He was still muttering at the break though.
Steve did a bit better than me lasting a few more hours before being eliminated by a random player with more chips than sense.
We had dinner with some of Steve's relatives (he is one of 4 brothers and 2 sisters) and with Kenna James and his wife Marsha Wagonner who is a very successful player and an Aussie too - which was very civilised.
It was one of those Japanese restaurants where they cook it in front of you but there was no knife throwing - rather disappointing. However I did sample the surprise prawn nibbles, being the legs and shells flattenned and lightly fried. I don't think I will have that again...!
After dinner despite having large amounts of wine we returned for some late night action. Kenna naturally had to go and play in a proper game whereas I had a go at getting into the limit tournament the next day.
I HATE limit poker. I played 2 sit and go satellites at $240 per go.
All the satellites have a starting stack of $1000 with 10 runners. With the first blinds 25/50.
In the first game the first hand I could play was AK, but I did not hit and so had to fold on the turn when the bet doubled. By the time the blinds were up to 100/200 I raised with 22 and got 1 caller. A flop of K33 looked OK for me but when I went all in for my last 200 I was a bit gutted when he turned over K9.
The second satellite went OK when I made a flush on the second level but I eventually finished 3rd when I got no more hands apart from the one that killed me TT vs AQ.

Aussie Trip - January 2007 - "Any Harder"

I had only been at the table for a few minutes, when Kylie - the rather cute dealer turned to me and said "any harder"? A tricky question. I thought about a suitably smooth response but the best I could come up with was "ooh I don't think so" in my best Kenneth Williams voice - a fine start to the evening.

This was the third night of my stay in Sydney. I have been shamelessly poncing dinner from several Brits who have emigrated down under but this evening I was staying with a native - Steve who I had first met 2 years ago in Melbourne. He has recently had his first child so he has not been able to get to the tables much recently - so when a trip to the "Star City" casino was suggested I was more than happy to oblige.

There is only one place to play poker in Sydney and don't they know it. We put ourselves down on the waiting list expecting to have to wait 2 hours to get a game. Luckily they started up a new table and we were off - buy in of $200 to $500, blinds of $5 / $5. There is a sit down fee of $10 per hour and the rake from the pot is 10% with a cap of $10. It was going to be difficult to make a profit...
...actually it wasn't. Luckily very few of the players had a clue how to play. It was a limpers paradise and I got off to a flying start having sneaked in with K4 only to hit a K44 flop followed by 4 on the turn. I was already way ahead of the only man who bet the flop and when I made a smallish reraise he decided to go all in - instant double up for me.

The evening wore on and being an observant bunch we noticed that Kylie had a sparkly rock on display. It transpired that it had been her birthday on Saturday and her boyfriend had given her a porsche. Apparently he then proceeded to propose on New Year's Eve. I was going to quote a variation on Mrs Merton's famous quip - substituting Kylie for Debbie McGee but I thought it might be too sophisticated for the audience.

Steve was sat to my left and I was quite content for him to bully the table. Unfortunately he had a rather obnoxious regular to his left - he was the spitting image of Woganowski in Something About Mary and as the evening wore on he acted more and more in character. However he was just about tolerated because he spread his chips liberally around the table. The only disappointment I had was when Woggie made another ridiculous pre flop mini reraise and I put him all in with my AJ vs his 66 and I did not improve.

Eventually we emerged in the wee small hours with Steve up $1800 and me a puny $900 to the good.

However on Friday I went for further training - $200 buy in $5/$5 and after getting no hands for about 3 hours I hit a good run flopping a set twice in about 10 minutes, and then hitting a nut flush on the turn. I had been down to my last $100 out of a buy in of $200 plus a reload, but after this little run I had $1000 in front of me.

I then had a little rest, until running over the big loser of the table when my AK hit a flop of K63 with 2 hearts and he decided to go for the draw which did not connect.

Then I had the classic coup from the big blind where I picked up 56. Under the gun raised to 25, there was a call from mid position and the button so I am quite happy to call. The flop is 789 with 2 hearts. I decide to bet 75 rather than check raising and the original raiser thinks I am trying it on so he goes all in for his remaining 120. The mid position limper then calls thinking he is going to get to see a flop. The button folds and I go all-in putting the limper in a tough spot. Unfortunately he decideds to fold rather than putting in his final $400 - and when the all-in man shows black A9 rather than red he is virtually drawing dead. I have to go off for a beer shortly after so I cash up $1500 in profit...nice.

and "Any Harder?" - that is what the dealer asks the blinds when they have the option to raise - so now you know.