I was told by our fearless leader
Cambo, to be at the
Alea by about 7. I get there about 6:50 and walked into the
Alea in Glasgow for the first time. I had no idea where to go, so I ended up walking upstairs. After a stroll around looking for the poker room, a dealer told me it was downstairs. Off to a good start. I find the tables and see some players on our team,
Cambo and Fergus, chatting. Soon after Dale and Ludo join us and we talked about the best ways to approach the night and how finishing in minus points would be absolutely terrible for advancing. (The tournament had 10 opening tables each one an
sng. The winner of the table received 15 points for his team followed by 2
nd, 3rd and so on while 8
th, 9
th and 10
th places received minus points. The top team after round one advanced to the finals while 2
nd through 8
th went to a playoff to advance to the final)
Soon after the table draws were put out and people made their way to their seats. I was at table 2. I sat down and
didnt recognize anyone, then Damon from The
Cincinnati Club sat down and another player I recognized from playing in Glasgow, Colin. Damon was his usual polite, quiet, and withdrawn self, shouting at people across the room and generally making sure everyone knew he would win and that
Cambo and Bandit would be the first out on their tables. A player at our table, Jack, was kind enough to deal for the table early on.
I had no hands early on, I raised 9Ts only be be
minraised by a nice guy on my left named Andy. I called to see a
KJT flop and check folded. Andy and I talked about American football for quite awhile, and it took me about point four seconds to realise he was drunk and quite new to poker. He was friendly and for some reason was incredibly interested in what was on my
ipod. At one point I gave him an earphone to keep him happy. The game started at 25-25 blinds with a 5K starting stack. I had nothing at all through the first 3 levels and after making a so-so call with 3rd pair in a blind v blind pot, I was down to about 4K. I then made a nice call against Damon when blinds were 50-100. Jack limped in mid-position and I was on the button with Q9s. I limped as well (yes I was playing power poker with a strong limp on the button). Damon checked from the BB. The flop came A93 rainbow. Both checked, I checked behind. Turn came another A. Damon checked, Jack checked, I bet 200. Damon then thought about it and made it 500 to play. Jack folded and I called. The river came a 6 and Damon bet another 500. I
insta-called and he mucked 65. It was around this time that we lost our first player of the tournament from a table behind me. Bob, a well known regular in Glasgow poker, stood up and got a little ovation for his premature finish. He even gave the adoring crowd a little hat flip for the attention. Say what you want about live poker compared to online, the social aspect of live is fantastic. A room full of people all talking poker is a lot of fun.
I found 77 a little later on but had to fold after a big raise from Damon that I was 95% sure was AA or
KK. There was one caller and Damon moved in on a
KJ5 flop. He showed AA after Russell folded
TT faceup. The blinds now were 150-300 and we had yet to lose a player. I then pick up my first hand of the night, two black aces
UTG. I limp in (Live is so different to how I plan online) hoping for a re-raise. Colin obliges and makes it 1350. It is folded to me and I shove for another 3050 on top of his raise. He
thn starts talking a little, 'I
dont think you are giving me
credit for a big hand', 'I have a big hand' etc etc. I then think he has
JJ maybe
QQ as
KK would be an easy call. He counts his chips, thinks a little more and calls. I flip AA, he says '
nh' and flips
AJo.
Cambo and Dale come and sweat the board. Flop brings two diamonds, and the turn and river come running diamonds and his
Jdiamonds makes a flush.
gg me.
C'est la vie. So minus four points for the team. Nice.
I then ended up to talking to Dale (
AQ v AA with no outdraw) and
Cambo (
QQ no good v AK) about our chances of advancing. The words 'not good' and 'Fergus and Ludo need to win their tables' were passed around. That being said, as much as we wanted to advance, watching how excited the people were was priceless. And the tables had people all around it cheering their team on, fun to see. I got bored with not being involved so I went back to my original table and volunteered to deal. The table had eight remaining: Russell, Dave, Barry, Jack, Andy, Damon, Colin, and Mary. Damon went first with
TT v Barry's
QJs all in
preflop. Barry and Russel went out next on the same hand v Mary on a
KQT board. Russell held J9 for the straight, Barry had
AJ for a better straight and Mary had QT for bottom two pair. All in on the flop and Mary spiked a Q on the turn for the boat. 5 left. Colin went next on a small hand, but the damage was done when he shoved over Mary's
UTG raise with AA and Mary called with
AKs. The flop brought 2 clubs, and the turn completed the flush. 4 left. Dave ended up pushing K6s from the button
shortstacked, to be called by Jack with Ax. Andy in the BB thought and thought and after much deliberation folded what I later found out to be
JJ. The board brought no help and Jack doubled through Dave, and Dave was out the next hand. Three handed Andy ended up with a
shortstack on a hand I cant recall. The heads up between Mary and Jack lasted a long time, which I had to leave early from as I was getting tired and needed a toilet break. After a see-saw match, Jack ended up taking it down w
KK v 99. It was a well fought game.
After all the tables were accounted for The
Cincinnati Club came in first getting the bye to the final while 'The Seething Farces' (my team)
squeaked into 7
th place and the playoffs. The 2
nd table was another
sng, but the starting stacks were determined by your teams position in round one. The starting stacks ended up being: one 8000 stack, two 6500 stacks, one 5000 stack, and three 3000 stacks. I was now the proud owner of 3000 chips and high hopes.
The table had the_hair, ____ Duncan (cant remember your name, sorry), Jack from my original table, a woman named Christine, a nice guy named Peter, and a young player on my direct left but I
didnt catch his name. I had no hands early on but stayed afloat by playing any hand quite hard. I stole a few times to keep in it and we lost a few people before an interesting hand occurred that involves a really neat dynamic of live poker; human error. Jack and Peter were in a pot with Peter in position. The board reads 3d4d6d7d. On the turn, Jack checks. Peter checks behind. But instead of burning and turning the river, Jack says, 'I have the
Kd,' and flips the
Kd. He immediately realises the hand is not over and flips it back over. We all laugh as he deals the river; 9c. He then checks. As he does this, I instantly think 'How sick would this be if Peter moves in?' Peter, then moves in for about 9K into a 2K pot. I think this is hilarious and pretty much decide this is why I play live poker from time to time. Jack thinks and thinks and folds. Peter then shows the 2d and mucks the other card. Interesting. (For what it is worth, I call I think, that being said, I in no way
instacall and totally respect Peter's move).
As all this is going on, I see that Dale, Fergus, and Ludo are all out and our team has no way to advance. I am now playing for the 100£ to the table winner. I end up shoving some suited cards to stay in it, then get A9 and snap off Duncan's A6. I then get
AJ in the BB and re-raise Peter's button raise all in. He calls and shows AT. The flop comes
AAJ and no 2
nd J for a split pot comes and I am chip daddy. But there was only 36K at the table so 3 handed, the blinds were important to steal as much as possible. I end up stealing quite a bit, with the_hair doing his part as well moving in on limped pots. I knew he was doing this but was content to let him steal in the hopes I limp a big hand. I then got
ATs and limped the button. He shoved A6o from the SB, Jack passed, and I called. He hit a 6 and we are pretty even again. I
dont blame his play at all as he was short and needed to do it.
Thats the danger with slow playing, but I would do it again in that situation. Jack ended up shoving from the SB to my BB shortly after and I made the call with
KQ. He had K2 and
didnt hit. Heads up. The heads up lasted about 10 hands or so, and marked the first time all night I got my money in behind. the_hair limped the button and I checked 52s. The flop came J2J and he bet 3K. I
didnt think he would bet a J, and thought he may fold if I push. I pushed and he made a good call with 33. So obviously the turn is a 2 and I hit trips. He played the hand well, and in hindsight it was a bad play due to the fact he limped the button. The proper play would have been to flat call the flop and lead the turn another 3K regardless what came trying to value a J.
Thats poker though and it happens to us all. 100£ is cool with me. It was a really fun table and I had a good time talking to the_hair and Duncan throughout the night. Jack was a really nice guy but was on the other side of the table so it was tough to make small talk.
All in all the night was a great success in my eyes, and having so many people wanting to play in the event is a great testimony to the poker scene in Glasgow. I got home at about 4:30am when the finals had yet to begin, but I found out today The Cincinnati Club won it. Congrats. I am looking forward to the next one.
A
(2 players)
