I played a fair amount of poker, both live and online, over the weekend.  On Thursday night I played in a €250 + €20 tournament, which made up part of one of Dublin’s finest card room’s winter festival.  I played quite well to begin with, doubling my stack within the 1st three levels, but mid-way through the tournament I lost a crucial race when my pair of Tens was outdrawn by Ace-Jack (my opponent made a very bad move against me, he re-raised me after I raised Under-The-Gun, a pair of Tens was the weakest hand I was going to continue the hand with) and went out shortly afterwards.

On Friday evening, before going out I made my 1st attempt at 6-tabling STTs (Sit-N-Gos), as I recently purchased a lovely new 22″ widescreen LCD for my PC!  I could only play for 90 minutes before heading out.  So I immediately loaded up 6 x $25 + $2 turbo STTs, placed 1st in two of them and crashed out of the other 4, which still resulted in a $60 profit.  Later that night I engaged in some live cash game action when slightly enebriated - not a good idea!  I was down €450 and managed to leave at 6am down €150 - RESULT!  Rivering two houses after all the money went in helped the comeback, I have to admit

Despite the hangover, I managed to play a few live STT satellites on Saturday afternoon to the main event of the festival, a €1,000 + €75 tournament with an excellent structure.  The card club generously added €525 to each STT prizepool (in order to increase the number of seats won), so 10 of us paid €55 with the outright winner taking the €1,075 ticket.  Online players with any kind of STT experience have a HUGE advantage in these kind of satellite, most live players do not understand the strategy needed in STTs, as their experience lies solely in cash or MTTs.  I won the ticket on my 2nd attempt, winning a big pot with 4 remaining that gave me 40% of the chips in play - hard to lose it from there!  As I was so tired after the night before, I eventually decided to sell the ticket for €800 (I’m too generous!) - the tournament was appealing but I really needed a nap!

I played a lot of online poker on Sunday, the usual mixture of satellite MTTs and turbo STTs with a cash table or two mixed in - Sunday is definitely a good day for chilling in front of the TV with your laptop beside you, watchin sport and building the bankroll!  I played the final event of the live festival last night, a tournament that cost €155 to play, I was card dead throughout (the best hand I was dealt, AK, was received very 1st hand after registering!) and went out a very disappointing 14th position, with the top 9 being paid.  I made a few hundred over the weekend but it could have been so much more - isn’t that the way it always is!  I’m planning to 6-table turbo STTs for the next couple of nights to build up the online bankroll again; I often turn to STTs when my cash game is letting me down.  What game do you fall back on when you’re bankroll needs a quick boost?

Thank crunchy it’s Friday!  Mmmm, crunchy….

Yep, my favourite day of the week, the day I can turn off the laptop at 6pm, the boss comes around to unshackle us from our desks and we run like giggling school-girls down the stairs of Paddy Tower and out into the vast Paddy Meadow that the tower stands in, with our skipping ropes at the ready and ready to pick summer flowers all evening…..wait, wait, I’m getting us mixed up with the opening to Little House on the Prairie - easy mistake to make!  Noel ‘BCB’ Hayes often wears his hair in pigtails after all

Anyhow, lots of poker on this weekend.  ECOOP III keeps on motoring, we’ve already had 3 paddypowerpoker.com players reach final tables and scoop four-figure paydays.  Who will take down a bracelet?!  The Back That Ace Up II leaderboard will be reset on Sunday at midnight so be ready for that - we’re giving away more than $5,000 each week, it is obscene!  Some great live events in Dublin as well, for those who want to leave the laptop behind for a few hours - you might even see some of the PPP crew in trying their luck.

And now, the good ol’ caption competition:

Given that Big C’s semi-final in the Poker Million is rapidly approaching, I thought I’d rescue this image from the files - I was there for the photo shoot and all I have to say is ‘lucky man - they’re gorgeous!’    I was a lot of fun seeing it all go down and the way photo shoots are run.  An Irish Open satellite token worth $33 to the winner and remember to leave your paddypowerpoker.com screenname so I can credit you with the token if you win!  I’ll pick the winner next Tuesday or Wednesday.

Enjoy the weekend!

The Bounty Hunter tournaments on Wednesday evenings at 8pm are one of our most popular PPP-only events; the details are easy to grasp, each tournament is a $10 + $1 freezeout with a $100 bounty on the head of one of the players.  Knock that player out and win $100 plus an entry into the following week’s tournament.  Play the following week’s Bounty Hunter game as the bounty and get another $100.  Win two tournaments on the trot as the bounty and score a tasty $1,000!

Well, Stefmarc took out the bounty last week so yesterday evening lined up knowing that each and every other player in the tournament would target him from the moment the cards were dealt.  All that pressure……..obviously didn’t have any effect as he triumphed, taking down the lion’s share of the prizepool for his 1st place, ANOTHER $100 for surviving as the bounty and now gets to return next week looking to do it all again and snag the $1,000 and the glory!

Go on ya good thing ya! 

Anyone play these tournaments?  Have you have any luck?

[…continued from below]

Now if I remember correctly we started with 10,000 in chips (ionapaul will be quick to correct me if I’m wrong!) and as I said ‘Danish Champ Dude’ was splash pot-raising almost every hand. But the craziest thing about it all was that he had the goods every time…and I mean EVERY SINGLE TIME! If he was hand picking the cards himself, he couldn’t have done any better!

How do we know this you ask? Well, we know this because he showed us every time…it was sick! AA–AK-KK-AA-QQ-AK-JJ-AQ-set-another set-straight-flush…you name it – he had it!  I’ve been playing the game for a long time now and I tell ya it is rare I’ve seen a run like that before – it was incredible. Even when he played a rubbish hand he hit that as well!  He was like a young MacGyver…I mean this fella could make a hand out of anything! I’m just glad there wasn’t any copper wire or bluetac around or who knows what he would have come up with!

After about three levels he had tripled up and whether it was respect or the fact that he had nothing I was able to reraise and push him off a hand a few times when I had the right spot.  By the end of the third level I had doubled up and was quite happy. They broke our table after the dinner break and we went on our merry ways. Not having much time for my apple crumble to settle I ended up at a much harder table this time and not only that, but there were some really big stacks. Yes, it was fair to say that this table was stacked with very solid players who had the chips and weren’t afraid to use them.

Anyway, almost all the players by the end of the night had got my respect and when the bell finally rang I was up to 54,000 in chips, which put me in the top twenty for the day.

Considering that we had started with over 420 players I was very happy at the end of stage one!

I went off to have a well deserved pint at the bar with the mighty John McGill, Tall Alan, Mick McClusky, Mr. & Mrs. Booth, Paul and plenty of others who were all in great form.

Day Two began with a bang

As I said above, we started out with about 420 runners and by the day’s end almost 300 would get to have a lie in, as they didn’t make it through. But for the 130 or so that did make it we were back at the grind.

Now…have you ever thought to yourself; ‘if I had only done this or if I had only done that’…how things may have turned out different? Well that was exactly the way I was thinking after the very first hand that I sat down to and was dealt! Do let me explain

I was in the big blind with the chip leader to my left (nasty but we’ll deal with it) and I had a French bloke on my right who was in the small blind. Remember I had about 54,000 and the French lad had close to 50,000…what happened next had me scratching and shaking my head while downing a couple of gallons for the rest of the day.

Well my friends I don’t mean to leave you hanging but I don’t want to send you to sleep either as I’m approaching three pages here so check back in a few days for part three.

Have a good week and remember; you don’t have to win every hand you’re dealt – just the hands you play and you get to pick the ones you play - so pick well!

Ciaran

[…to be continued]

Another short post: as most of you know (or should do!) the European Championship of Online Poker starts tonight, the long-awaited ECOOP III, with a $250,000 Guaranteed $200 + $15 NLH event.  Most of the lads in the office here are planning to play BUT the real question is this: would you wear this bracelet (18k gold with diamonds and rubies) if you won an ECOOP event?!

Let me know, yes or no - for my part, NO CHANCE IN HELL!  Go on, guess how much it costs…

Just a super quick one: due to popular demand and $40,000 burning a hole in our trousers, Back That Ace Up II was re-launched last night at midnight!  Running from Sunday midnight to Saturday midnight for another 8 weeks, cash table players will win over $5,000 each week, with the big dog taking down $800 for 1st and the top 40 winning cash or tournament tokens.

To simplify things, there will be just one leaderboard (compared to three for BTAU I), with position determined by a combination of hands played, table stakes (higher stakes players getting a small multiplier) and amount of time spent on the tables.  The leaderboard will be updated every day (rather than twice a week as before), to allow players to better track their progress and see what they need to do to capture the top spot!  It’s time - once again - to Back That Ace Up!

Remember to read Big C’s IWF post below - I’ve seen what’s coming over the next few days from him - it’s a doozy!

I went to dinner the night before the IWF main event with some of our paddypowerpoker.com VIPs at City West Hotel. It was one of two gatherings that was taking place that night and both events featured some of the very best and loyal players that our site is lucky enough to call our own.

So while Eric, Mike and I were busy entertaining in the City West, Noel, Ross, Paul and Margot rounded up and took all the online mavericks / qualifiers to the Guinness Brewery in the City Center.

Now….can you imagine the amount of the ‘black stuff’ that was consumed that night!

Anyway, according to all the reports that were in and judging by some of the faces that I saw the next day, a hangover was definitely had by all! Yes folks, this is the fun, fair and friendly service that you get when you win your seat on PPP.

On to poker

The morning started off with Marty Smith, the 2007 Irish Open winner, and myself doing a joint interview with the World Poker Tour’s magazine reporter, Ben Wilson. Ben was writing a piece called “Pro on Pro” whereby two Pros (in this case Marty and I) would discuss and answer lots of questions regarding everything from poker to the price of a pint. We also got to banter about what it was like to be two Irish lads that happened to be World Series of Poker bracelet winners. We mentioned too how proud we both were to be on the same Irish team earlier this year in the Poker Nation’s Cup.

For those of you that don’t know…we were a bit unlucky in the end not to win it as we finished in second place behind Great Britain. Anyway, the interview went very well and was a lot of fun, so if you happen to see a copy of the World Poker Tour Magazine lying around next month – be sure to pick it up and have a read!

The Main Event

After we finished the interview I was off to get my seat assignment and find my table. By this stage now I was starting to get excited and even a little bit nervous, but by the time I got to my table, I was ready to go!

Now, I’m sure it is many a time you’ve heard me say this before; when I first sit down at my table, I typically start out by sizing up my opponents and giving EVERYONE at the table the respect that they deserve…and they continue to have my respect…until they prove otherwise. It is often the case that I find myself like a mirror reflection of my opponents, as their styles will possibly dictate as to how I’m going to approach and play at that particular table.

For those of you who are seasoned players this all comes as second nature to you, as you can typically spot the novice in amongst the crafty pros after only a few hands. However, for those of you who are just starting out and are learning the game or maybe not used to live play, I would stress that you consider taking note of the last paragraph as it has a lot of truth to it.

Ok – enough of the preaching and back to my table.

I had what I’d consider a nice table draw to begin with. No, not because I felt the opposition was weak but more because the table had a good vibe and nice feel to it and for me it’s always a bonus when people are not only playing poker but also are having a good time. Especially in the smaller buy-in events, plus it was paddypowerpoker.com that was putting the event on!

After a couple of rounds everyone had settled in and it was down to work. The one person that I first recognized at the table was this Irish lad who I had met and played with a few times before. Unfortunately I can’t remember his name but if he reads it he’ll know who I’m talking about. This lad is a very good player and his game was one that I respected a lot! So when he asked me if I wanted to swap 5%, I was happy to do so! Other than him I wasn’t sure if I had played with anyone else at the table.

Another thing I noticed is that I had a VERY aggressive lad to my right, which as we all know is nice, because it can sure make the day a lot longer when the crazies are on your left. I think it’s fair to say in the first hour that he was in at least half the pots that were played. To be fair he was a sound enough bloke. He was quick to tell me and the others at the table that he was the Danish Champion but also acknowledged that he did not really want to go to war with me and suggested that we stay out of each others way…I suppose it’s a back-handed compliment but all I wanted to do was to play some cards and let the chips fall as they may!

Besides, with the amount of lies that are told at the poker table…you’re never really sure who to believe!

Ciaran

[to be continued…]

A quick shoutout to two of the best; Sep36 finished 2nd in Monday’s $50,000 Gauranteed High Roller Challenge for $10,000, while Johns Cox was runner-up in last night’s $50,000 Guaranteed Super Tuesday for $8,000.  Well done, you two!

Last night we ran our first $40 + 4 Super Satellite Rebuy to the Irish Open 2009 - over 500 runners fought it out for 4 full $6,500 packages and almost $5,000 left over in cash!  It was epic - hope to see the same again next week.

And now, that photo I promised….

Is your poker face as good as Mona’s?!

All tournament players probably try their hand at a satellite or two when planning to play any big events; I’ve enough in my bankroll to play $215 tournaments but much prefer satelliting in for $30 or $40 rather than buying in directly.  Partially, this is because satellite tournaments are generally quite soft and the standard low for a variety of reasons; poor players taking a shot at a game above their bankroll and also because many players, even good tournament players, don’t understand satellites particularly well and make mistakes in the crucial period before the bubble bursts.

If you think you have an edge in satellites, it shouldn’t matter how much you spend trying to qualify for the event (no results-based thinking!) but after trying and failing to qualify for that $215 tournament a handful of times and blowing 50%+ of the buy-in, my head always tends to go down and I give up for at least that night.  I’m wondering what type of satellites do you prefer - low buy-in rebuys where there is typically a seat won for every 30 or higher players, or freezeouts where the buy-in is usually 10% of the buy-in of the bigger event and so there is one seat for every 10 players?  I always prefer the higher buy-in satellites, as the crazy rebuys tend to go on much longer and although the standard of play is definitely weaker, I think the additional time spent on these satellites cancel out the potential benefit of this.

Anyone have any thoughts on the above?  What type of satellites do you prefer and what are you trying to satellite into at the moment? (other than the Irish Open of course - everyone wants to be the Sole Survivor!)

Did you realise the Irish Open is good for your health?  Your poker health that is!  Yep, recent Irish Open final tablists include Peter Eastgate (IO 2007) and Marty Smyth (IO Champ 2007), who between them won the two most important WSOP tournaments this year.  Sorrel Mizzi and Roland De Wolfe also made the IO 2007 final table and have done well for themselves since!

Edwin Tournier, who final tabled last March, today final tabled the Lido Masters Classic €6000 Main Event in Amsterdam, while Eric Larcheveque, who was knocked out in 8th place this year took down $50,000 this summer in a $1,000 event in the Bellagio in Vegas, taking out our very own Noel ‘BCB’ Hayes in the process (who, let’s not forget, managed a magnificant 35th in the Irish Open 2007!)

So get to qualifying!  This year you could be in with a chance to snag the €100,000 Sole Survivor package - what’s not to love about the Irish Open 2009?

Next up; the return of the Caption Competition!  One lucky player will win a $22 token to the ECOOP III Main Event Stage 2 Rebuy feeder tournament; what is 3rd placed finisher at the IWF, paddypowerpoker.com qualifier John Raftery thinking while on the final table a few weeks ago?

Remember to leave your poker nickname so I can credit your account if you’re the winner!

Good luck at the tables this weekend, whether you’re playing cash or trying your hand at Irish Open, ECOOP III or some of the big prizepool tournaments here - see ya next week!