Jan 26th - €250+€20 NL Hold'Em - Fitzwilliam (Dublin)

The time I played in a €250 game you'll recall I got squished by some joker playing A-5 against my 9-9 and the flop coming 2-3-4! Like THATS ever going to happen again!

Tonight then there was me and 134 other bodies for this event at the Fitz but I've been playing well of late and felt like I could actually DO something for once in this event as usually I don't seem to be able to get past first base.

The first important hand for me came just before the break. I had around 7k in chips (from a start point of 5k) and looked down to see Ah-2h. I flat called the 300 blinds. There was then a raise to 1800 from a player in LP and, not wishing to give up on this ocassion, I called. The flop came Ad-Jd-8s. Immediately I went all-in figuring that I'd hit the card I wanted so that was that really. My opponent sat back in his chair & sighed (always a good sign!)

After several minutes of huff & puff I decided to interject...'if you look hard enough then I'm sure it'll turn into an Ace', I said, at which point he showed me the As. 'Oh I've got one of those', I splurged as I flashed him the Ah. He then passed saying his kicker card was too low to call. Thank god for that!

A while later I'm on another table and get dealt 7-7 in the SB. Its passed all the way around and I complete the blinds. 'I'm all-in', came the voice of the BB. Without a moments hesitation I called, much to his annoyance, as he firstly flipped Q-6, and then shipped 10k of his chips to me as he missed the flop...aw...shame :)

With over 20k in chips now I could choose to be more selective in playing my hands. Players were dropping fast but it wasn't until 2am when we finally got to the last 18. I had 45k in chips and no worries but one player was hitting hand after hand whenever the bet and so was monster chip lead with over 100k at this time.

Another hour passed and I'm at the final table with 80k in chips. First place paid 11k then 5.6k then €3k down to 9th at €800. I was in no rush.

After anyother hour of play and 6 of us left at the table we agreed a deal whereby 5 of us got €2800 whilst the monster chip leader got €10k. It was 4am so no-one complained. Mind you...perhaps I should have done!

Entries -> 125 - Place -> =2nd - Win -> €2530 ($3036) Profit/Loss for 2006 -> +$3596