Born 30 something years ago into a card-playing clan in the North of England: the low-roller's poker odyssey has taken him from the school common-room via down-trodden Midlands' casinos, smoky Cotswolds pubs, celebrity Soho drinking spots and of course the ubiquitous world of cyberspace to the home of poker itself, Las Vegas. Join his search for juicy take-downs, great pot odds and the occasional back-door straight as he goes for glory.
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Thursday, July 03, 2008
Spike City
I'm feeling pretty gutted having played right through the first day at The Venetian. We were ten minutes from the end of play and ten places from the money, having outlasted a field of 300 with 30 getting paid. I had just crippled a poker legend, T. J. Cloutier, who was sat to my right. The blinds were $1,000-$2,000 the antes $300 and an early raiser makes it $6,000 to go. T. J. who's an ex-football player and built like a brick shithouse, calls on the button. I make it the extra $5,000 as the small blind with King-Queen offsuit and the big blind comes along. So there's $27,000 in the pot and I have $54,000 left. The flop comes J-10-7 and we check it round to the big man who bets $25,000 - I put him all-in with my K-Q, and he calls with J-8 of hearts. I have four 9s and four aces to make my straight as well as the remaining six kings and queens so we are close to 50-50 with two cards to come. One card is all I need as the turn and river both come nines. So I double through and he is all but crippled. I have the chance to finish the job but I need to call a $17,000 pot with a pair of threes with three players to act. So I leave the job to the big blind who beats his A-6 with A-7 - my 3s would have been good. My demise came when I manage to get all the money in with A-Q on an A-10-5 board against an A-J who spikes his Jack to bust me. So gutted and double-gutted. I spent nearly the whole day peddling a half-average stack and got back above average with the money looming. I had my money in as a 2-1 favourite and you can't say fairer than that. I am looking to start my challenge on the final day, July 6th and am feeling a lot more confident having played through a super tough field. The Main Event doesn't rate to be nearly as tough at least early on....we shall see.
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