Circus - Sun £0.50-£40 league f/o - 4k chips

This game being the 3rd in 2 days, was for the league kitty, depending on points, depends on how much it cost to enter, for me it was 50p as I had enough from previous games. For others it could be upto £40.

We sat down and started with 62 entrants and a prize pool of £3100+ so a nice pot for free.

Lets just say it went shite, I was really tired by now, but to be fair, people treated it more respectfully and not like a usual donk fest (at first). Raises were reasonable and folds were respectful. I get into a hand thatw recks me near the end of the 3rd level. QQ and after a raise and my flat call. flop is low, a medium bet and a min raise from me, she calls, turn pairs the board and she bets I have had her on AK AQ throughout and she doesnt have me on the board, possibly with the calls, the same range. River is an Ace, but im down to 1.1k, but this does give me a get out clause and when she bets low, I trow them in. Fair play she had me trashed when she flips A A. I am glad I didnt push as id be gone by now, but then again if I had here Ax, should I have pushed??

Sod it, im crippled now and a few hands later im dealt 6 6 in the SB, 2 limps and I push. UTG calls and the other’s fold.
The slow playing bugger has K K and im out.

Cant say im entirely impressed with myself today, disappointed to say the least as 1st place was over £1000, but thats poker I guess.

I walk over to the rail and see I have £75 left in my pocket after starting the day with £180 :cS. I think f**k it and see theres a spot left on the True Dealers Choice cash game. I sit down and the game starts. I but in for £40 initially and end up spunking it down to £25. I mean hell we are playing Omaha 4 - 6 card, hi or low, with any flop, Baduki, Stud you name it. Effectively its a gambling table.

Now I admit, im not as hardcore a card gambler as the majority on here as I need to work for a living, they could loose £5k down the sofa and not care. But this is good for my game here as I can play the nuts and have them try to bluff me off it.

My main style is never to raise preflop, one of them will always do it and this therefore disguises my strength and allows me to hit big.

Eitherway I get into a hand in 6 card Omaha, where I find a great spot to stick my money in, The board is A K 10 rainbow and I have something resembling A Q J J 10 8 and the nuts currently with jacks as a backup. The usual suspect raises I push, another pushes and he calls. I get my triple up opportunity. 1st raiser has the same Q J but has a K as well so we are looking at splitting. The other guy has A A for trips.
The turn comes a J and I have trips as well, the river a K. The initial raiser boats K K K J J, I boat J J J K K, but the other guy boats A A A K K and scoops the lot!!! crazy game.

I reload for the remaining £35 and get to grinding again, picking a spot and blasting it. get the chance soon after, when i flop the nut flush and have the big guys betting at me, I get it all in and 2 callers. No bored pair and im safe, just over £100 and money back. I start playing now, win some more big pots taking in £40 or more a hand.

The crucial hand for me comes in 6 Card Omaha with a Maltese Cross. I have the nut low so am playing for this, I also have trips and a nut flush draw upto the river. The river comes and gives me the flush, theres nothing better and I have both nuts and scoop it for about £120, its easy this!

I take another big one after for about £120 after check calling with the nuts to a rich donkey who kept trying to bet me off it. Its good when you can

I had to loose one time and in fairness it was my own fault. Im looking at around £420 now and I flop 4 of a kind in Omaha 6, flop comes A 2 A (first 2 are spades) and I have hit A A A A, the mutts nuts, I check, 1 bet, 1 re-raise, I re-raise, call, call. Big pot, like £120 in there - Turn is 3 spades. I bet, all in fold. He has gone all in for about £60 Has he just hit a straight flush? what could he of been in with otherwise? I stupidly call and he has. I have just lost with the nut quads, wow. I had to laugh as he was a Russian and trying to apologise in that accent made me chuckle.

Back down to £310 and start to think about going, I loose another £30 waiting for the charges to start and cash out for £280, which wasnt bad considering I had some good fun and made about £100 for the day.

Overall the weekend had made me a tidy profit, lousy tournaments, but great cash sessions.

I am under no illusion that I am now a cash king as im not, as its swings and round abouts in this crazy game, especially the True Dealers Choice. But for now, im going to go and play with my £20 notes.

Circus - Sun £20 Round of each f/o - 10k chips

Sunday is going to be a busy day for me as there are two games on, this one and the league play off later on in the evening.

I enjoy this game lots as its a nice chance to escape the boredom of hold ‘em. It started at 3pm and we proposed a chip count at 9 so that we could enter the evening comp.

We take our seats and there are only 16 runners, being in seat 1 and competent, I get the job of dealing. I don’t think it could of got any better as I dealt myself A A on the button. Mid position raises up, 1 caller, I call, BB raises 5x, mid calls, folds, I call. Flop comes down A K 8, two clubs and I have hit top set, sexy! BB bets, mid position pots, I check I still have the nuts and call. I only call as this guy is committed, if I push and hes on a draw he’s calling. BB folds and the Turn comes down another K and I have just boated, beaten only by Quad Kings, he pushes and I call. Turns out he had 8 8 and also flopped a set and turned a boat… Ouch. River doesnt quad him out and after the first hand we have someone who has lost 10000 chips and im on 24k, ding dong.

Im able to concentrate on my dealing now and pretty much sit back. I hit another few nice ones and by the time we get to the final im on 41k, this one lad was betting like a fool when he was weak, so he paid me off a few times.

Now I dont usually do this, but for some reason when we were down to 5 and I have around 30k still, I started to tilt. It went like this and was like some kind of switch. I mean, seriously i was there to be won, i had loads of chips compared to blinds (300/600) and can afford to wait to pick my spots… But, it all went Pete Tongue, when I lost a big race.

1 player with around 12k pots a flop in Omaha with a board of A Q 3 with 2 clubs, and im sitting with something resembling A Q J 9. I think hes on a draw and instead of folding top two, I decide, hes good enough to fold this and re-pot which would put his last 8k and torn on the line. Not really to my surprise, but to my tilt buttons surprise, he call all in and hit the flush. There was loads of value etc and given the fact I had him on a draw that would kill be if I didnt pair up, my head turned to mash.

The tiltyness of this could of come from the fact I didn’t get out of this casino until 6am this morning and only had 5 hours kip. I don’t know but the next pot I got involved with I went sick. The flop comes down 9 8 6 and I have 6 6 7 A in the BB. I raise and the mid position pots for 7k, I have 21k (still enough for the event) and a set, straight draw and backdoor nut flush draw. I know he has to have the 10 7 to re-pot me back. But i still push all in as although remote outs, still outs that would crush him. He calls as he has around 50k behind and I loose to his 10 straight.

i don’t know why I did this, I don’t tilt like this anymore, I can only put it down to being tired.

Ohh well, I know have 2.5 hours to burn in a casino, with money in my pocket until the next one starts… Shit!

Circus - Sat £20 f/o - 5k chips

This was a fairly short comp for me and the start to poker weekend extravaganza, as ill be playing 3 games in 2 days.

It is however, a crapshoot, full of value, but equally full of donks. You need to double up really or be faced as a short stack after the break.

Nothing overly eventfully happens, I read one of the most successful guys there each hand we play in. Calling an all in with a pair of Kings, even though the Ace is onbored and also calling all in with AK to a King high bored, where a flush, straight and trips were available. It was a case of analysis of the play and looking for body signals. This in its self was the highlight of the night for me. I got upto around 9k and get involved in a hand with 88, flopping a set and rivering a boat with 8 8 8 A A. I lost when some moron turned over A 8 for A A A 8 8. That crippled me as he played it horribly, calling a large bet pre and a large one on the flop with bottom pair, then getting lucky when I push on the turn. bah, down to 2k.

I then push with 8 7 spades and get called by A A, flop a 7 and nothing more. Im out in level 3.

I then decide to take the last seat on the cash table and buy in for £40. Its a £1/£1 pot limit hold ‘em table. There are a few faces I have played with, a couple are blind drunk and ther are also two brothers from Plymouth.

Now call me suspicious, but there is something I dont like about two people, in a place for the same time, both bidding to try and take money from you. I always get paranoid that they have some master plan to collude and try to rob the poor locals, ala Rounders where they enter the Policeman’s Poker Torn.

Eitherway I will have to give them the BOTD (it made it worse that they were sitting next to each other). They even played up the concept that they new nothing and appeared to be a couple of learning idiots, asking stupid questions, taking a lot of time and generally annoying the hell out of me and the table. TBH one of them had to be the brains and the other, just had no skills whatsoever.

OK, I end up getting down to £15 and decide to push on the button with A 9 spades when the pot is raised from mid position, 3 callers and im looking at a quad up. River gives me the nut straight and I take the pot down. This gives me a chance now.

Im fairly card dead throughout, but the brothers are looking quite healthy. Given the fact they both sat down with nearly £150 each, they could afford to see things through and see things through they did. Calling pot raises of £100+ with either a gutshot or a 1 card flush. I wouldn’t mind the easy money shots, but they were hitting every time and felting the good players with sickening beats.

I manage to get another reasonable pot of about 3 hours, where my 7, 2 in the BB, hots 2 pair on the flop. I get to check raise throughout with one of the big stacks, who is trying to bully me playing blind. I felt him and take another £60. Im upto about £120, its a long grind and about 4am by now. I keep saying I am tired, but want to get a chance to inflict pain on these two, which are getting lucky and working together,

I get a chance when im dealt AA, I bet and they both call, its rare they are both in a hand, but either way. I bet pot when the flop comes King high, but brings a straight for anyone holding J 9, something fishy now happens, when the first brother, min raises me and then the second brother pots for about £200. This is dodgy, yes I think I have the best hand, yes I know I can be horribly outdrawn like the others. I decide to cut my losses and fold, as its easily beaten and its for all my money. These pricks then call, check, min bet, fold on the river. The cheating fucking shits have just pulled a stunt to get me out of the pot. He has the nerve to say he had the straight, which I later find out from a suspicious dealer he had K 4 for a pair of kings.

If there were more people around, these guys would be dead, Stokie style out in the car park. I didn’t loose huge amounts so could live with it. We are now down to the last 30 minutes and the better of the two goes to the cash desk, leaving the other, who is quite drunk by now. We are only 3 handed and he is throwing money at every flop, which I always checked to him (it helped that I had hit this) and every time he missed he would pot the river. I called these bets with Jack high and bottom pair as he did the same move each time he missed and always bet weak when he hit. I managed to take £160 off him in the next 30 mins and finished up, cashing in £260 for a £220 profit and a free day of poker (and free beery weekend I had Friday night).

Moral of the story is, you can get lucky with cards to come, but betting at a sober person, when they have you read like a book, will only involve you going broke sooner or later.

P.S. show your face around here again you pair of cheating fucks and you will get yourselves seriously filled in dot com

Na Night (well its 6.30am and im just going to bed)

Walsall Grosvenor - Wed £30 triple chance f/o - 6k chips

Bare with me on this one guys, I feel its going to be a long journey as this was a great comp and I played some excellent poker today, so am writing with a smile.

Ok, after a full day working and a good nights sleep the night before, theres an hour or two left. I get the ‘I have got to do something tonight’ feeling and decide I could really do with a game of poker. I look over Its a Wednesday, my hopes drop as its not a very good night for local comps. The Circus hasnt held a comp on the weds for a while due to lack of demand and the Gros in Stoke, I imagine would have another low attendance, low pot shit game on. I consider a post on the forum about Nottingham and going DTD, but to be honest if I do go, im looking at a 4am/5am finish, then a drive back and in work for 9am.

I have another think and remember Walsall used to do a good game with loads of runners, I get on the email and see if Sleazychris fancys it, he does and its sorted. I draw the straw and do the driving.

After setting off a little late and facing the possibillity of Alternates, i remember the post from before about people going DTD, it was our native Brummie and uber sick fish Billyboy, I get sleaze to drop him a text to try and temp him over to Walsall as its local to him. To our surprise theres a reply, ‘i’m in the carpark now!’ lol, he registers us in and we carry on cruising.

We roll up to the carpark, get in and check the runers, only 55 (when I used to come there were 100+ for this game), but I here that the clocks are now a constant 30 mins, where before they went from 30 to 20 after the break and what could of been a good game, turned shooty quite fast.

Either way, we look at the names, glance over and see another forum fav Carlosb there, hes a sound lad an a good player, so I think that the ukpl/stoke lads can certainly turn up the heat on this comp tonight.

Right then, to the actual comp. We take our seats and with the alternates, theres 64 players and just shy of £2k to play for so quite decent, its a triple chance so everyone starts with 2k chips and has another 2 reloads of 2k waiting (6k total). With the 2 extra reloads, you can afford to take a gamble and turn on the aggression. Last few comps, alot of the local players have been really tight and limpy, great for a bit of aggression.

I start off aggressive, with some positional raises and squeeze plays when the table limped. to my surprise this worked a couple of time and I doubled up through this. I pick my spots and play hard when I hit for the first 30 minutes and look down at around 6k without any top ups. I have time to play and chips. The first significant hand comes when I get AQ in mid position and as always raise, i have been raising big with big hands, to try and look weak, but never getting to showdown, so the table still had quite a loose image of me. Blinds are 50/100 and I bump it up to 600 as there were 5 limpers. Folds round to the Big Blind who calls, others fold. Flops 8, A, 2, with 2 spades and I put out a bet of 500, he calls and has 1.5k left. I wonder if he has the flushdraw or with the preflop call, a weak A. Turns a 7 and he checks. I think I can try and get clever here and look like im chasing the flush, I also check and pray for a blank. Rivers a Q of hearts and I look weak, he takes a look and checks. I bang in 1.5k to look like a steal he goes into the tank and finally calls all in with 9, 2 or clubs! Wow, I take down a nice pot and am looking at around 10k now.

I carry on aggressive and the next hand big hand is 8, 8 on the button. Blinds are the same and I raise it to 700 after 5 limpers, the SB completes and so does the BB, the rest fold. I try to look big and figure them to have reasonable cards, maybe Ace big, maybe A rag or even a small pair. With the correct flop though I feel I can smash it to scare them off. The flop comes J, 9, 4. Not so good in a way, but its hard to put these tight players on anything like that. they both check and I blast 2k into it, they fold and i’m buzzing on the inside after a couple of great bets come from across the table. Im up to 14k now with another 4k in the bank. and easily leader on the table.

Now comes a bit of pain… I decide to play a little more conservatively now and look down at AQ again, the same guy with the 9, 2 previously min raises from utg to 200. I hate the min raise when blinds are this low, I limp with another couple and see a flop of Q 10 6 rainbow. He checks, and it comes to me. I feel nervous here, but bet out a pot sized 900 to get a feel. He thinks and plays with his chips and slowly calls. Ok, something fishy is going on here, has he flopped a monster or playing like an idiot with AK or something. He has 3.8k left and checks the turn again when a 2 comes down. I carry on with the aggression and blast 2k, I am going to be calling an all in here just to see what he has, again he calls and looks a little smug. OK min raise, check call, check call. This shit head has to have a monster or is a complete idiot. Rivers another 2 and he goes all in. I know im buggered here but for the 6k+ in the middle call the rest. He has been slow playing 10 10 for the boat. Well played, I’ll be back. This hurts me and takes me back down to 5k, all my hard work scuppered by a slow playing wombat!

The break comes and with my top ups, im over average on 9k

We stat loosing a few and I manage to bully it back up to around 14k. Blinds are now 100/200 and im faced with a 10, 10 mid position. I take a moment, only the blinds are in atm. I pump it up to 1200 and it folds to the button who has a think and then calls. This guy has been playing so tight and only really playing big hands, he seems to be capable of laying down a big hand aswell if theres bigger out there. The rest fold and the flop comes K, 8, 9 rainbow. He takes little time and throws 2500 into the middle. I have seen this move before, ohh yeah it was me!! I stare him down and my gut instinct tells me hes weak A high, maybe even KQ, KJ etc… He has a little less than me in chips and I think that for the right bet, he can easily lay down top pair if the kicker isnt the nuts. I go on my gut and push all in. He goes back to the tank and eventually folds, he must of been trying to play me, not tonight fella, im on fire.

It all goes fairly quiet for a bit now and im sitting on around 25k now, blinds are 300/600 and Billyboy gets moved to my left and looks to have a very healthy stack there, around 40k. I have to be careful now as no discredit to the others as i don’t know them, but he is a good aggressive player and I don’t want to unnecessarily get involved with him. i steal a few more and then look down at KK in mid position. 1 limp and then a 4.5k bet from a 30k stacker. I’m left with a conundrum, how to play this, he could easily have AK, maybe a pair, maybe im racing, but KK is fairly massive. with near 6k in the middle already, thats a nice addition to my stack. So I turn on the aggro and push for the other 25k. It folds round and he passes. cool, stacks looking to be around 35k now and im moved tables. 18 players left.

After a promising night so far i’m quite excited until my table produces so old pissed up irish bloke, who is constantly babbling and wont shut up. He has a lot, so I don’t really want to get involved if I dont have to, I have enough so can start to relax. Blinds are now 600/1200 and we are 7 handed, im utg+1 and raise it up to 4k with A10 diamonds. it folds to the button who has a think, then folds to the BB who thinks and then announces, all in and pushes for 5k. I reluctantly call and he turns 8 3 off, saying ‘any two cards aye?‘. Twat, i am chanting Ace and he rivers a 3. Strike 1. damn, I hope this isnt how its going to be, getting raced and loosing?!?

6 on the table and Im looking at K 10 spades in the BB. utg+1 limps for 1600, he has around 8k. it folds to me and im reluctant here and want to test the waters. I stick in another 4k and he goes all in.
I have to consider everything. He hasnt played for a hand for ages, has under 10 BB’s and is looking a little bored. His range of pushing must be reasonably wide, so I take a gamble and call him. He turns 4 4 and Im not in bad shape. Flop brings be A J 8, for a straight draw and overs, turn brings me a flush draw, so around 19 outs (any spade, any K, any 10, any J). rivers a 2 hearts. I miss everything and after another couple of out draws im down to 20k and fairly short. 10 players left, hand for hand and 6 getting paid.

As we wait for the next hand, the next table pipes up and we go to watch. Its a 3 way hand with the chip leader Billyboy, the irish twat and another big stack 3 way. It appears the irish guy ahs pushed for around 18k on a flop of 4, 6, 10 two diamonds. The other stack has re-raised to try and isolate and Billyboy has a look at K Q or diamonds. 2nd nut flush draw and over cards to the board. He has to go into the tank here as its going to cost him 36k plus the chaps other 18k or so behind. He calls both all in’s after analyising he must have the flush and over cards as out and its 99 vs JJ vs KQd. hes in great shape to blast a hole in this comp. Turns a blank black card, rivers the Ace of diamonds and his flush completes. That hand was massive, hes on around 200k and has cut the field to 8. Well played and nice call, you had enough to fight back with aswel if it did go tits up.

Short break and we get started again with blinds 1k/2k, im very short here with 19k and still 2 bubble spots to the cash, i have done it before, grind away and hope the others get involved. It doesn’t take long for 1 to go and we are bubbling. Billyboy is still a monster and the ego is coming out of the shell, raising and bullying. To be honest, I hate this feeling of being short stack, maybe getting sucked out on and going home with nothing, 6th place pays £80 so its a profit at the end of the day. And we try to rally a consolation of £50 to 7th to try and speed up the the check raise fold, situation.

It looks like Billyboy is already spending the £800+ for 1st and is reluctant to allow £50 to be taken off the top of 1st, fair duex, but I know look at a limp 9k in front of me and AKos. I make another offer for security and he says, ‘play this hand first‘. Fuck it, I coulndt stand loosing and going out with nowt, so i ditch AK. Kind of good as the next guy raises and the limper calls, no A or K on the flop and the first bet takes it down.

We agree on £50 for 7th, so £25 from 1st and 2nd. Its not that soon after the agreement another shorty goes all in and is called. He leaves and we are down to 6. Nothing really happens and im down to 9k. Hoping that someone else is going to get frisky and I can jump up the cash ladder. 2 people do try to get lucky and Billyboy calls them both, with average hands, semi donking and doubling them up, so its not looking promising for me.

Its crunch time and im on 9k still, utg and faced with Q 10 clubs. Best hand since the AK and I push, the next guy instantly calls and the rest fold. I feel a monster, but he turns over QJos

This hand amused me greatly. My - Qc 10c vs His - Qh Jd
Flop - 8c Jh 2c - Flush Draw
Turn - Jc - Hit the Flush, he has trips
*Drumroll*

River - Js - Flush for me - Quads for him

Ohh well, it was meant to be I guess, I take 6th place and £80 and after a handshale from a table of sound players, I go home feeling not so bad and what could of been

We here later that Billyboy chops 3 way for £500 each, so well done to you my san!!

I can see this game being a regular as the structure, banter and players were very satisfactory and it suites a nice aggressive game.. Ideal if you want to try and improve it. Hope you havent lost the will to live reading this ta ta.

The Coachman Pub - Tue £10 f/o - 200 chips

This is a pub owned by one of our favorite posters fathers (Squirmy). He organises a weekly game is Northwich, Cheshire @ the pub.

There were only 16 of us and we arnt exactly playing for mega rolls but its the fun part of the game that took me here.

Coupled with the Fantastic Manchester United playing (and beating) Barcelona, my night was already sorted. A couple of beers and some cards.

The game its self appeared fairly weak to start off with as there were a couple of loose cannons on the table, whether they were genuinly good and acting like idiots or generally idiots acting like normal! I couldnt quite tell, but i’ll plan on sitting back and let them knock each other out… I mean i define idiots raising 100, when blinds are 4/8 and the pot 20 etc etc.

They didnt last long and we fought to the final table, after acumulating some chips by a double up, I proceeded to stupidly donk half of them over to Danno, bluffing the blinds. No matter there will be another opertunity.

The final came and 8 of us sat down, I have around 300 chips and blinds are 10/20. I get nothing really for a while and look down at Q J and 200 chips, I raise it up to 80 and someone goes all in. OK I have to be beat preflop here but maybe I have live cards? he has me covered and I dont want to hang around with limited chips as the blinds are going up to 20/40 in a minute. I call and see im against A Q. Not a good situation as im drawing to 1 live card! The flop came down a fantastic A K 10, I flopped a straight and his face drops. I can almost here the mental berating of ‘what a donkey’ and ‘how could he call, what was he beating’. I smiled an the turn came a J, lol. fair enough I can live with a split pot, he certainly will take it.

Still a bit tilty and a little annoyed by the last call, the same guy goes all in when I raise it up with A Q, I oblige again and he turns an A 10 over. Perfect, Flops Low and the bord pairs. I stand up and he’s crippled. I back to about 400 now. People start dropping and we are down to 4.

Myself
Sleazychis
Danno
Jason

All 3 of us are forum member except Jason who shares a flat with Sleazychris! So its a local Final.

Payouts are 1st £80, 2nd £40, 3rd £20, 4th £10

Its a closely matched game and no one really gets any advantage until I end up nocking Jason out (cant remember the hand).

Sleazys next when I raise the button with 10 10 and he calls with A J aftrer a minute of Sleazy theatre I stand up and have aorund 1.3k and the majority of chips.

Myself and danno last around 10 hands when I pickup 2 3 off in the BB and he flat calls. I check for a flop and its magical! 2 3 2, I have flopped a boat heads up. I check and he min bets (blinds are 100/200), I have a pose thought and flat call reluctantly. Turn is a K, by this point I cant put him on a hand with the flat call, obviously i am hoping he hits this King. I hesitate to set the mood and pretend like im goig to try a bluff, but dont and check again. It must of worked as he pushes all in, I insta call and he shows Q Q. The cheeky buggar slow played them and got his fingers burned, rivers blank. Thats poker! we take £50 each and I take the remainder £20 for 1st.

Nice little comp and considering we only have around 4 hours worth of play, worked out alright.

I’ll definatly be back guys. Thanks for the game

1st. Boydy
2nd. Danno
3rd. Sleazychris
4th. Jason

Suck Out Central - Circus - Sun £20 Round of Each - 10k chips

Another favorite game of mine is this one, with the only draw back of no dealers till the final. There were 20 runners, which is gradually getting better, week by week.

To be honest, there isnt much to report here, nothing really happened that would cause me to detail the hand and to be honest, an hour or 2 later its the final table and Im looking at 16k.

Again, apart from one absolute dickhead, who would raise every hand blind and then raise pot through out blind as ‘he needed to be somewhere else‘, kept getting lucky. After the whole table became so pissed off that we all worked together to get him out. He went about 30mins later.

We slowly started to whittle down numbers and around 4 hours after the start, we were down to 5, I only have around 13k atm but with the blinds only 600/1200 I can still play.

The round is currently Hold’em and I look down at K, K I pot the bet and the SB thinks and thinks and calls. He leaves himself with 1.5k and I offer to put the rest in now. He says he might fold! Yeah right theres near 8k in the pot. I though the 1.5 in as the cards are being dealt and a seemingly harmless 2 4 Q flop had him commit the rest. I have him dominated when he turns Q J. The turn shows a J!!! and then the river follows with another J. Jeese, what a nasty beat that was. Im down to 6k now and a few hands later, i look down at K K again on the SB. Button raises and I push, he calls with A K and needless to say he hits an Ace on the flop and I dont improve.

How bad it that, K K twice, dominated both hands, got my money in when im massive and get sucked out on twice!!! More points, but no cash. I cant see myself playing again for a little while now, a week or two off is called for.

Tara for now - 8 Games 5 finals - 55 points.

Circus - Sat £20 Speed f/o - 2k chips

This is the second comp that is available on a Saturday and started at 23:15.

There was only 20 of us playing it and with 15 min blinds and 15 sec’s to act, it was going to be a quick one. I manage to hang around to average, watching the drunks reckless play take out people, one by one. I look and see it the same happening on the other table and within around 35 minutes we are down to the final table, which means more points. I manage to double up to 4k after my A J stands up. Then with 6 left, get a chance to inflict more damage with K, K when my preflop raise triggers a smiling lady to push all in, we have about the same and I call. She shows Q Q and im laughing. They stand and its down to 5. In fairness if id of though I could of tightened up and let the other drop so I could at least get a return.

I didn’t think and ended up over playing A J, when my raise was cagily flat called , it looked like she wanted to raise, but opted to safety. Big Ace or Pair, the flops 9 High and shes first to act. She goes all in and I go against by initial though of a definite pair and hope shes on the blag. I call and she flips 10 10. Dammit, I dont improve and out in 5th. 4th goes shortly after and they split it 3 ways. Dammit, I should of thought and hung in there!!!

But on the flip side, I have my points easily, but have lost out mentally by not cashing.

7 games, 4 finals - 49 points

Circus - Sat £20 f/o - 5k chips

Saturdays Crapshoot is my next game, this tends to draw a lot of reckless drinkers and general weekend donkeys, blinds are fast and you need to make you move as it draws 100+ players and is going to be a long night if you dont.

I manage to play myself into trouble at the start when a player raises from the button and I complete my BB with A J suited Flop is K J 4. I lead out with a bet to which he raises just over min by 25. I dont believe he has a K and call. Turn is a Q initially I had him maybe big Ace, with a Q J 10 etc so this worried me a little. I bet again and he only flat calls. Looks like the queen has helped him, he seems a lot more relaxed. Rivers a 2, I bet the minimum and he bets big. He’s now trying to make me think he’s buying it. I fold and the fool, shows Broadway. Cheers for the info and im down to 2.9k.

I must point out, that im on a fairly fresh faced table, with what appears to be half students, these noisey retards are continually chatting accross the table and barracking each other on bad plays. STFU idiots, im just glad I have my Ipod!

The next significant hand, brings me 4, 5 suited on the button. There is a small raise that i call and the SB and BB complete. 4 way. Flop comes 2 3 10 rainbow. and there is a raise from the BB, the other guy calls and I get in there with an open ender. SB folds. Turn card is a gorgeous A also rainbow. Im sitting on the nuts and the BB checks, so does the other player. Odd I thought, are they scared of the ace or trapping. I had one of them on it minimum. I bet out quite big as I think someones slow playing and leave myself with about 1.1k. BB takes a moment and calls. Bingo, trap set, I have to have him on 2 pair, maybe a BB special of A 2. The other folds and the river is a 9. He looks over and asks how much I have got, I look sad and show him the 1.1k which he bets. I hellmuth all in for a laugh and he sees my straight. He did have A 2 and cannot believe how badly he got played. As he was the loudest player at the table I shove my ear hones back in and stack my chips.

Up to about 7k and we break tables. not much else happens and I end up getting down to about 4k.

Nothing really happens again till the break and there is a pissed up idiot who I have played before, he loves any suited cards and Ace rag, catch and your chipped up. I look down at 3, 3 in the BB. Idiot makes his standard min and a bit raise, another guy sticks them all in for about 3.8k hes a good player and I think he thinks the idiot is on the blag with crap again like I do. I need to double up or its going to be hard, take a chance and shove.
Idiot shows 4, 4 so its looking bad, other has A, Q and my 3, 3 is not looking good.
Flop is 9 10 J
Turn 8
River 7
We all hit a straight, but the A Q takes the bigger one. Im out, but look at is at a few more league points and a chance to play the £20 speed which starts in a few minutes.

Points so far 40 with 45 being the entry limit. So thats 6 Games, 3 Finals.

Circus - Thur £25 f/o - 5k chips

My favorite game of the week, decent blinds, room for play if you can double up early and a reasonable payout.

Out in Level 3!

Not much to report on here, got sucked out on a couple of hands eg. my K 8 (BB) vs 89 early position. I raise pre, he calls. Flops 8, 7, 5 - I bet, he flat calls, turn Q, I bet big, he flat calls. River 6. I bet big, he things and flat calls! and turns 8, 9 for a rivered straight. The idiot committed nearly all his chips chasing a fucking gutshot! He also has the nerve to say ‘errrm, I think I have a straight‘ - Moron!

Needless to say im chipped down and have to turn 1.1k into a big stack, get gash for the next few hands and look down at the first card which is a K, leave the other one blind and push to a raise and re-raise for value. I have K 3 and he has A K - Gone and a little disappointed.

Circus - Mon £25 Semi f/o - 5k chips

Boredom left me facying a game tonight, so I popped back to the Circus for another session. the game was a 1rebuy and addon game, so potentially £75. Either way, I fancied trying to play the 5k and that was all. There was only 29 runners, so I didnt expect it to be a long night.

It all started OK, I won the first hand with a 4 card flush after someone slow played A, K with an A on board. Silly person! Then lost a few and got down to 3k. Im quite please with the next hand here as my read was spot on. Im in the BB with K, 10 and it is back to me with 3 limps. I bang it up 4x and everyone calls. Flop is 2, 9, 2. Im first to act and and bet 2x BB, call, call, fold. The turn is another 9, so I have two pair King kicker. i bet 3x the big blind, fold, call. Heads up with quite a dangerous player, but a creative one to say the least who would try to represent anything. To be honest i think he has nothing, not even Ace High and is planning to make a move on me on the river. River card is a 6, no flush, no straight. I bet 5x and he looks over and pushes all in. I still dont believe him, but its for all my chips (about another 1200). I tell him I have you on a complete bluff and I call with King High!!!! He looks amazed and states you win showing 3, 4 Perfect read that one, great! I also have some comfy chips to carry on with.

I take out the next guy with A 10 flopping top pair and even with him flat calling every bet to the river, even with a flush on board, I put him all in and he calls with J, 10! Well Blue, thats fishy cash players trying to play tournaments. Thanks for the donation!

From the break onwards i get up to about 15k, but am card dead for 3 revolutions of the button. Im fraustrated and seriously wanted to go home, in 18 hands I had one of the following combo’s - 9, 2 / 9, 3 / 7, 2 / 7, 3 / 5, 2 / J, 2 / Q, 2 - Utter gash!!! I finally have been blinded down to about 5k, get my BB gay raised (min raised) and look down at Q, 10. I call, flop is A, Q, 9. The raiser has been playing suited connectors all night like this, so I seriously didn’t have him on the Ace. I bang them in and he re-raises?!?!?
Its heads up, im all in and he re-raises! tbh I thought he was simply trying to bully me knowing im either committed or folding pre, but it appears he didn’t have any idea about my chip stack so probably did have a genuine hand!!! He turns A, 8 and I gently tap my cards asking for it to hit. It worked, I rivered a 10 and have a few more plays.

The run of shitty cards continue to the final table and im blinded down to a big blind. I see the best cards for another 22 hands and they are 3, 3. I push and get a call from A, 4. Ace rivers and im out in 9th.

Top 5 got paid, but its currently a league format and the points were what I needed as well, obviously the cash would of been equally nice

In summary I have played 4 games and manged to Final Table 3 of them, earning 36 points. 45 points means you get free entry to the league final, so another one or two should do it.