Nov 16th - £20 NL Hold'Em - Cavendish Club (Belfast)

Forty runners for tonights £20 game and, as usual, I end up re-buying in after hand 1. I'm the BB and there are 5 players seeing a flop of J-3-7 rainbow. Lucky me (or so I think) holds J-3 so without further ado I go all-in in the hope I'll get the 'one-pair' players along for the ride. Well I got what I wanted...one player calling...trouble was that he held 7-7 and no more help for me. Bah!

After this debacle though things got better. My chip count steadily increased from the 2k rebuy level to around 7k. Got very lucky when my 10-10 held up against A-A when a 10 fell on the river and got one blokes chips when I made a straight whilst he was still pushing top pair.

At the break I had 7.5k in chips and with the 5k top-up I was in a nice position to do well again.

Straight after the break I get a nice touch with Q-J in the BB. There are one or two limpers and, with blinds at 300/600, I make it 3k to play. The guy immediately to my left calls but the gut immediately to HIS left goes all-in for 9k. I'm now getting 2/1 my money so I call the extra 6k while the guy to my left passes.

My opponent flips 6-6 but a flop of 9-8-Q-4-5 seals the deal and now I'm looking dangerous! Then disaster!

I hold J-J in late position. An EP player makes it 5k to go. The player immediately to my right goes ALL-IN for 17k. I think about it! I don't put either of these two players on bigger than J-J. One maybe on A-K and one on a lower pair. Its a good sized pot and if I get lucky and win it then I'm pretty much assured a seat at the final table. I flat call and the EP player also calls for all of his chips (14k). Its a 50k pot and its time to flip-em.

My EP flips 10-10. Player to my right flips 9-9 and I flip my J-J. In situations like these (3 players with a pair) its almost a guarantee that ONE of us will make a set. Tonight it was Mr 9-9's turn. A flop of 9-Q-K meant I was looking for a 10. Two of which were already out there. The turn was a THREE, the river a FIVE! Doh!!

With only 6k left in chips it didn't take me long to get them into a pot. Holding Jd-9d I got up against a K-10 and couln't make anything. C'est la vie!

40 Entries - 24th - Loss $105 (£60) - Acc. Total +$4413