Firstly, I think I must point out how shit I am at blogging. If you read the post below, you'll see that I promised a third chapter detailing my trip to the USA in the summer - obviously this didn't happen because I am very lazy...
Due to a conscious decision to stop playing poker throughout the week and my weekends being taken up by other activities, I haven't played so much poker recently. The NPF Championship is only the third live tournament I've played in the past couple of months. The other two being the Circus £50 Friday game and the Aspers £50 Sunday game where I finished 5th and 3rd respectively. I lost a couple of flips in the Circus game to cripple me and I got it all in with a Royal Flush draw after 3betting pre in the Aspers game, so I was a bit disappointed not to have won at least one of those, especially since I held the chip lead on both FTs.
My starting table in the NPF Championship was a bit of a weird one with a couple of unfamiliar faces. It featured PJB Aces, Smoggie, Ponca, George Trett, Jim Ward and an empty seat which Gary Robinson eventually occupied. I remember thinking it was a decent starting table, but I didn't know where I was gonna be able to accumulate chips as it was very passive. I decided to adjust to the table by opening much wider than I normally would (and some would say that's pretty wide to start with) knowing that I was unlikely to be put in too many awkward spots as everyone else was playing ABC and it almost felt like their hands were face up at times.
I won about 2k without showing down a hand and then Gary Robinson sat down to my immediate left. I didn't like this because I knew I would have to slow down a bit, but thankfully I took a decent pot off Gary very quickly. I opened the BTN with J9cc, both Gary and George Trett call from the blinds. I can't actually remember the flop, but I know I flopped a gutshot and decided to check it back because the board smashed both George and Gary's calling ranges in the face. Gary bets 300 into 750 on the turn and I call because I picked up a double gutter and I felt I could win a big pot if I hit any of my 8 outs. I don't mind raising here against some opponents, but myself and Gary have played a lot of cash together and I know from experience that he just won't believe I have a hand. Gary bets 1.1k on the river, I had second nut straight which was the effective nuts in my head. I quickly make it 4k and get snapped. I really enjoyed being berated about how bad my call on the turn was, if you're reading this Gary, please berate me more as I use this as a measure for knowing I played the hand well. Oh, and nice work calling off a 4bet shove with 9high in the first level ;)
I opened a few JT and K9 type hands and Sensh kept on giving me good flops to barrel so I continued to pick up chips with very little resistance until one hand where I opened QQ UTG. George Trett calls, everyone else folds. Sensh finds me another good flop, T63ss, I bet, George calls. Another ten on the turn, I bet, George raises. I sigh-fold, unsure if I just got bluffed by a flush draw, but after a few discussions with other players I think it seemed like a good fold.
It was business as usual soon after that and I got smashed in the face by another dream flop, courtesy of Sensh when I opened 78dd UTG. 5 callers and the board ran out 863dd. I bet straight into it and Jim Ward calls. Another 8 on the turn (thanks again Sensh!), obviously no reason to stop betting so I fire again and Jim minraises. I wasn't sure what to think of this raise as I've played a decent amount of times with Jim now and I'm sure he's noticed that I'm very aggressive at times. I'm folding precisely zero rivers, so I had to work out if I wanted to put it all in now or if I wanted to try and induce another bet on the river. I decided to put it all in praying that he had something like 99 and could put me on a bare flush draw and if he does have a better 8 I am far from dead. Unfortunately, he folds - perhaps he had NFD or 77/55, guess I'll never find out.
I won another large pot when I stacked Ponca. I 3bet a Q73 flop with Q7 and got called by Q2. The benefits of having a super laggy image were again reaped when I stacked Jim with what I think was the only hand I slow played all tournament. I 3bet Jim's raise with AQ, Smoggie says he "was going to raise", (TY for the extra info!) before peeling and Jim is priced in with his entire UTG range and makes the call. We see a nice Q23r flop, Smoggie gives me a suspicious look and checks, Jim checks. Another blank on the turn and it checks to me again, I make the obvious bet and Jim raises. I'm not sure if he was all in at this point or if I set him all in with a turn 3bet, but either way the chips go in and I win against 77.
Patch joined my table with a fairly large stack and the chipleader hoodie. I actually had the chiplead in the first level but I wanted to let Simmy have a few minutes of glory... In the second level, I again should have been wearing that horrible pink garment, but I couldn't count my stack quick enough thanks to getting back to back Aces, then a pair of Jacks (cardrack alert). Steve Wills was shouting down the mic at me to hurry up, but it's difficult to count your stack when you're winning four hands on the bounce. Thanks for totally killing my action with those Aces btw CGK - it was a bit obvious I had a monster! I would have been wearing the hoodie after the third level too, but I got involved in a sick hand against Patch where I floated two streets with a raggy Ace and spiked an Ace on the river. I made a really thin value raise after Patch fired the 3rd barrel. The Ace actually put three flush cards and four wheel cards out there, but I was hoping to get looked up by a top pair/overpair hand that turned into second pair as Patch's bet seemed so much like a blocker bet. I think it turns out that I was right with my reasoning on his betsizing, but he was actually putting a small bet out with a rivered wheel and he was worried about the flush... Nevermind!
I was a bit gutted when my table got broken up as I was reading the flow of the game well and winning a lot of uncontested pots. I stack a couple of people at my next table, but I actually can't remember anything too exciting happening other than Mr Daz constantly screeching and making up weird songs about me (stay sober dude!) and I move tables again before finishing the level. After escaping Mr. Daz, I have to endure Koyte's retarded table talk. I think I did so well not to tilt away my entire stack!
I was dominating this particular table and I could actually see the rage building up inside Dom as he was just looking for Jack high or better to shove on me with, but he was very obviously card-dead. I remember being a millisecond from 5betting over Craig McDowell's cold 4bet with absolute rags. I opened from EP, Mr Daz raised and I could sense he was at it. I think Craig also picked up on this and knew I was opening close to 100% of unopened pots. I just had to tell myself that I only had 2.2x invested and there was no need to go to war... Just the start of a recurring theme between me and Mac.
The next big hand that I can remember came against NRH. We used to play lots of $1 HUSNGs against each other just for the crack and to see how much we could level each other, so I know his game very well and vice versa. I 3bet AJ out of the BB which is fairly standard and Nathan 4bets small. I didn't have to think long before sticking it all over the line. Interestingly, Nath called a huge 5bet shove with just A7, I honestly believe that he thought that he had me outkicked because he knows I love to 4 and 5bet bluff raggy Aces cos I have an obsession with blockers. Thankfully I held and I added a big pot to what was already the chip lead.
I don't really remember much else about that table, I was just relentlessly stealing blinds and antes, taking down pots with a cbet etc. and I was baffled that nobody wanted to 3bet me or play back. Easy game. Looking back, I think I ran very well on the first day, but I also played very well as soon as I got a stack. I counted up 97k in chips at the end of day 1 and then went to Legends for a few drinks with an old friend who was visiting Newcastle for the first time in an age. I ended up getting minimal sleep which wasn't particularly clever knowing I had a long day ahead of me, but meh, you're only (sorta) young once!
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