UK and Ireland PokerStars FPP update

Entered my 7th tourney this month tonight...

Just managed to get to the final table winning a KJ vs Q6 suited allin battle that would have seen my be the FT bubble - I managed to hit trip jacks and took a very small stack forward...

Some good early hands and some big allin fights left us 4 handed with me again the smallest stack - The big stack bully pushed me once too many and his J10os ran into AJ to double me up.

77 vs AK and a set knock out the third place player leaving me heads up gainst the big stack bully from before.
We trade blinds for a while when this hands comes - I decide to chance his all in as he has been very aggressive - Alas my timing is poor (as usual) and he turns over an over pair- I need help and fast. The turn gives me lots of outs with straight and flush draws plus another 10 or Jack. The river hits a 10 and the chips come to me - The tourney is over and I have turned my third FT into a first place with a little help from the river :)




73 runners and nearly 4 hours later my prize is $25 and 20 points for the league which should hopefully see a top 50 finish now.

Playing AA

Aces are a hand I see people talking about quite often - I nearly always raise aces at least 10x the big blind to try and weed out hands like j9os, Q10 etc that invariably will catch 2 pair.

Obviously you will still get the occasional maniac with Q4os but a solid raise will minimise this.

I do, sometimes, slow play AA and other big pocket pairs but this is a dangerous tactic if you cannot lay down a hand - Here is a classic example of someone trying to slow play Aces. When the board comes down low they get a rush of blood and go all in - Ignoring the obvious straight and flush possibilities not too mention and number of possible two pairs.



Ofcourse a raise doesn't give you immunity from the donks - Here a 5x raise still gets a call from Q2 os!! - In classic fish mode he hits his miracle hand and then doesn't check raise the river!

6th Royal Flush

Hit my 6th Royal Flush earlier today - A giant 32c pot was my reward. Still no spades either! Mind you, some people never get one Royal let alone 6!

markooo888 is a DONK

Every so often you meet a player who is just the epitome of bad! markooo888 is without a doubt one of the worst players I have ever seen - I can think maybe one other player who made as many bad, reckless plays as he does.

Earlier on markooo888 sucked out on me twice. Once with King rag suited to a ten times raise and a solid pot bet to beat QQ and again with just overcards on a flop and turn to river me.

Needless to say I was pissed off! I questioned his play - Nothing. He was either too embarrased or more likely doesn't speak English. He also used the hide from player search feature. Presumably to stop people he has sucked out tracking him down.

Luckily for me though he hung around and I also managed to find him on another few tables. It took a while but I got my money back plus a bit more for my troubles :)







I wasn't the only guy he suckedout out on but my patience paid off - Those two hands were the result of an hour or so of play with him raising about 70% of the time and usually winning with rags.

If you happen to see him on PokerStars or PartyPoker - Say hi for me :) Be patient and he will pay you off.

Second Final Table

Tourney number four in the PokerStars UK and Northern Island Poker League ended with a 9th place and my second final table in 4 goes. More importantly I won 10 points for the league table which now puts me on 30 points and more or less guarantees me a top 100 place with only 4 tournaments entered.

I will certainly enter a few more as they are a good practice with a fairly good level of player from what I have seen.

The Next Best Thing

Sometimes donks get lucky. There is no better revenge that getting the money back with interest but sometimes they leave or you get no hands to beat them with. The next best thing, which happens quite often, is seeing them on play money! I reckon around a quarter of the players who have donked me over the years have been spotted later on play money.

Just supports one of my favourite poker sayings that "Skills lasts but luck comes and goes".

Quad Aces

Got this hand in my 3rd UK and Ireland FPP game - Alas about 30 hands later I got stick with JJ vs KK and a low flop which all but put me out about mid table.



Just a shame he only had 33 and not something better.

Decided to play my second PokerStars UK and Northern Island Poker League tourney. I went for the FPP version which has 104 players registered. I managed alright but soon ended up about 45/60 and a desperate all in when down and out runs into a set but I caught running hearts for a flush and survived

KK vs 99 Vs AJos sees me knock 2 players out and move up the leader board.

Soon after a very short stack goes all in from SB to my BB I call and he has A6 vs my A4 - A 4 flops and the ace on the river gives me two pair -a second bit of luck and the third player I have knocked out.

I have made final table in 6th but the blinds are now $650/$1250 and are starting to eat away at the smaller stacks.



I then have KK vs 5,10os and knock out my 4th player

Soon after I go all in with 33 trying to steal the now very big blinds. A player calls and flips over KK - my third bit of luck saves me a second time as a 3 comes on the river, putting me in second.


I am now up heads up with a nice 3:1 chip lead.

Despite the big chip lead I seem destined for second place as the luck I have experienced so far now turns against me. Twice I outplay my opponent with him all in and behind for him to catch hands

Now on Youtube

Finally got round to making a Youtube advert for the blog - Check it out.

Not A Great Start

Decided to enter both Division 1 and the FPP divisions. Fairly early exits in both with AJ running into AA - I have a knack of finding the outgunned hands to make a move with. I really don't like tournies although I will probably continue with the FPP division just to see how I get on. One nice surprise though was looking up an old user name on www.officialpokerrankings.com where my tourney record was much better than my PokerStars record. I seem to do good in cash games on some sites and bad in tournies and vice versa.

Nasty hand on PL omaha - Nut full house vs Quads :(

The night ended about even with a 5th place SNG result.