Nov 30th - £50+£5 No Limit Hold'Em (Victoria, London)

Thursday night at the Vic...its been a while!

After my short break from 'live' play it was back to the grindstone this evening for the £50 freezeout. Forty three runners so a prize pool of £2150 and its all self-dealt. Not a game for the purists.

The usual mix of total incompetents and Vic regulars make for an interesting night and as with all nights like these you do need a modicum of luck in order to progress as all-in bets are usually called down and its then a case of staying ahead or sucking out depending on your start position.

With blinds rising every 20 mins theres not much time to settle. You play your good cards strong and pass most of the rest. I started well and from a starting stack of 2k I was up to almost 3k at the end of level 1. Nice!

A couple of 'loosey goosey' calls in level 2 meant I was back down to 1800 at the start of level 3 and by the time level 4 started (200/400) I'd only 1500 left and it was already time for a move-in or fold!

On the BB I get 9-2 offsuit, a bin job if ever there was one, but with one flat caller from Mr Beginner across the table and the SB calling the extra 200 the 3 of us saw a flop of 9-2-6. Check-Check-All-In-Fold-Call. The limper flashed A-Q and although an Ace fell on the turn I collected the pot.

Level 5 (300-600) and I insta-call with 9-9 against a short stacked all-in bet. He flipped Q-8 but a Queen appeared on the flop and I was back down to just over 2k.

Level 6 (400-800) and I get all my chips in with Q-Q against J-10 (all-in) and A-9. My Q-Q holds and I'm upto 6k.

Level 7 (600-1200) and the blinds go through me. I have 4k left. Its final table time :)

I draw the worst seat in the house, seat 3, as the button always starts at seat 1 on the final table at the Vic and proceed to lose another 1800 instantly. I then pick up Ac-Qc and go all-in. With my bet being only 2200 I end up with two callers. The flop is Q-J-J-6-4 and I scoop!

Level 8 (800-1600) and I know I'm still on push mode. I get 10-10 in MP and there's a flat call before me as I go all-in for 5200. All pass back to the flat caller who checks his chips then calls. He flips 6-6.

Easy eh? Er no! The flop is 8-4-6-J-6 and he wins with quads. I finish 9th for £60. If I win that hand I have almost 15k and a shot at winning the tournament. On such fine lines is poker played!

Entries ->43 - Place ->9th - Win -> £5 ($9) Profit/Loss for 2006 -> +$12548
(As from 30th Nov 2006 rate of exchange is calculated at £1 = $1.90)