s4ooting for the Stars: August 2010

FINALLY.............................................a live final table!!!

Its taken soooo long and so many close runs but it feels sooo good!

Decided to play the £30 Friday night game at the Gala which got 90 runners and £1000 first prize, drawn into Table 1 Seat 8, i sit down with my dinner only to be joined by 4 regs that i know, all of different standard and playing type, but was absolutely gutted to see a nit to my left. As the game progressed i found that 3 to my left was also nitty.

As the first few levels played out i noticed that the guy to my right was very Loose and Passive, and that another character (middle aged guy with CoralPokerTour tshirt on) was hyper aggressive!

I chipped up slowly, claling raises in position and betting flops that had obv missed, and occassionally 3betting the hyper aggro guy.

Before i knew it i had doubled my stack without showdown, and felt in control.

In the BB i am faced with another raise from they LAG guy, and i flat with J9o, the flop comes J87 (2 clubs) and i lead out thinking he will prob shove here, which he does. I call and he shows K4cc and i fade the turn and river, and now have a decent stack (25k @ 100/200)

I soon bust the nit with Q3 v TT and am in top 10 stacks with 40 remaining.

At this point i had only seen 1 Pair (77) and hardly any premium cards, but just found myself pinching points alot.

At this point Mick joins my table with 15bb and offers me 20% swap, as i know him i accept even tho i have a huge stack and play resumes.

Down to 20 players and im still sitting pretty with 30k, and bluff a huge pot vs young table CL

He raises Hijack, and i smooth in the bb with 33

Flop comes K99, and i check raise the minimum and he mucks his 88 face up ;) i show the vluff to hope to tilt him which it does! but it bites me in the ass later!

From here i cant win a pot........................

i have 99 v short stacks KK

next hand the young kiddy from the 88 hand squeezes with 55 i call with 99 and he binks!!!

then with 6bb i flop 2 pair on a 624 board with 62cc, i check to the bb who puts me all in, i call and he shows Q4o turn is 4 and i bust 17/90!!!!!!!

GRRRRRRRRRRR about 40% of the live mtts i have played in the last 8 months i have had the final 2 tables but had ZERO final tables.....run bad sucks!!!

Anyway i wake up to find a text from Mick to say he chopped it and i had £80 waiting for me, i pick it up off him and its in chips! so i decided ill drive to bristol and change it, plus play the £20 day game!

This was an odd odd comp, firstly i draw Table 1 Seat 8 again?! and have a really poor table, with a chinese manaic on my table who i just could hit a flop against, and spent the most part of the game folding. There was only 40 runners and i figured that with only £290 up top i'd play for the win, but in the first 3 hours i was yet to see a pocket pair or Ax higher that a 3!

I get moved to another table when 18 left, and preceed to donk of half my stack with JTdd v QQ on T33 board, i call the shorties shove and when the J on turn comes he starts moaning about a bad beat (d'oh he has won!) and as its the last hand before the break i just walk off as the chips are passed to me, and he throws his QQ into the Muck, i pop back after a fag to see that the chips have been moved to him now, which is ok as he won the hand but i dispute to the dealer that he mucked his cards (this wasnt me being a bitch i just figured he would call me lighter if i winding him up!) When i moved to this table i had shown lots of bluffs, which i hoped was to work well now i had 10bbs

I get into another pot with the QQ guy with T8hh on a Ah5hTs and shove, he calls with AJ and i bink a Qh on river to double up weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Now this table was really tight so i figured id have my wicked way, i started talking a lot of shit and joking around, and people started calling me light and as this happened my stack started to grow! ;)

I LOVE IT WHEN A PLAN COMES TOGETHER!

With 26k and 12 left im happy to fold my way to my first final table in ages until i have a SB v BB hand on a 883 flop with K8, it all goes in and the shortie had A8 hmph, down to 13k with 12 left and the blinds at 400/800............work to do!

All of a sudden 2 players get KO'd in a 3 way all in on the other table and its there!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A FINAL TABLE! So deserved if i do say myself!!!

In the break before the Final Table i sit down at 25p/50p with £25 and play 1 hand.............straddlin the BB to £1, utg raises to £3, 3 callers and i look down at TThc and shove (we had just been called!) UTG calls and all else fold

UTG show KJo (oh how i wish i could sit in this cash game all night!) i fade and take £60 off the table! Easy Game

Back to the Final Table i have the WORST seat ever with my stack.

To my left is Bob, a local who is an absolute nit, and he has 9k in chips, to his left is Mo (another local with the CL 35K) and 2 to his left is another local nit (David) with 20k.

Obviously being so card dead for so long is pretty ghey but with top 6 paid and being one of the shorties i need to either run good, get some hands or both.

Carddead, i start pinching some blinds with rags, and build my stack up to 21k, whilst this happens 2 players bust. I finally get a pocket pair on the button (TT) with utg+1 min raising i repop to 4800 and Bob then shoves in the SB, utg+1 folds and i call.............he shows AA!!! OMFG This is uber ghey!!! First pair all day, and i walk into AA lolz!

My next BB i get a walk, and look down to AK lol, getting better!

two quick bustouts at there are 6 left and i am very short (6bb) but 2 of the CLs get it in with KK v AK and the board runs out KT3QJ - Super sick, but means there are 5 left, and averages stack is 10bb.

3 of us have 6-7bb each and the rest is shared evenly by the 2 CLs and they offer a chop - £200 each for the top 2, and £100 each for us shorties - i obv snap call and the deal is made!!

weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee