SE €1k Main Event - Day 1

Well day one of the SE main event is over and I suppose I should be thankful that I'm still in with a shout - albeit only ~11k. My table is very tough with a lot of good players and no value - unless it's me of course!

No real hands of note - I just kept getting pushed off hands with big re-raises and couldn't make a stand. Only hand of the day with any significance for me was when I flopped a straight in the BB on an unraised pot and 99 came over the top and I held up. I needed it as I was down to 6k.

I still feel I can get back in the game. Blinds will only be 200-400 today with a 90 minute clock so I still have a bit of play in my stack. An early double-up would be welcome as it would get me back to average. However, there are a few big stacks so I'm not too far off most of the field. Just need to make the right moves.

Better post later after day 2 and hopefully today will be my day.

Here's to a Good Weekend

The Sporting Emporium ME €1k event starts today and I have to say I'm feeling well up for it. I suppose I'll be a bit nervous at the start but I'm sure the slagging I'll receive while wearing the compulsory Paddy Power merchandise will clam me down quickly.

My hope is that I don't draw a table with anyone I know too much about. I know this sounds funny but I feel I'll play better if I don't need to worry about reputations and the such like. Since I don't know too many people by their faces - only online nicks - it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

Goal is to get to Day 2 as I feel the field will be fairly short and Day 2 should be close to the money. But with the large starting stack and long blind levels there might be still a lot of play on Saturday.

I'm hoping to get a few early chips that will help to relax me and I can play my game. The last few weeks have been good and I have some confidence and a bit of a roll going - feeling at home on the table is such an important factor at this marathon tournaments.

Hopefully I'll have some positive stories to tell tomorrow.

It's All Starting to Come Together

Last night I decided to have a go at qualifying for the Sporting Emporium €1k main event via the paddypowerpoker.com online satellite. There were 39 runners and this equated to 3 tickets and about $1000 for forth.

I decided to play fairly tight initially and see how my table was playing, trying not to get suckered into anything with marginal hands etc. Starting chips were 1500 and there were re buys available for the 1st hour. I managed to stay out of trouble and pick up a few hundred during the first few levels.

I got a temporary set back when my kicker didn't hold up to a king high board but i got right back in the game with a flopped 2-pair that held up and I was into the top 10 at the break. After the top-ups etc I started to get a bit more aggressive and my table was fairly passive so I got to add to my stack on most orbits.

There were a few boards.ie guys doing well. Rob Taylor was at my table initially but had moved and I noticed he was going strong.

My stack had grown to have me challenging - top 3 at this stage when the following happened. I got AK on the button and raised it up. UTG went all-in and UTG+1 called. I had both covered and UTG was short stacked. The flop was a blank but I bet out and UTG+1 called with his remaining chips - flop read Q26. Cards on their backs AK for both me and UTG and UTG+1 showed 35. Turn a blank and river a 4 - sick. I was now way down to 5k in chips and short stacked.

Now on a mission I started a chip accumulating spree and managed to get up to 14k without showing a hand. The final table starts with 10 and there are 4 packages - 3 seats. Rob Taylor is still alive as are a few other boards.ie guys - Eion_dubh, The Tourist and barrera.

Nothing major of note happens for a while and a few get knocked out - some via rivered gutshot draws etc. Rob finally goes in about 6th I think when his 88 run into a higher pair (QQ I think) and although he turned a straight, the river gave a higher straight to his opponent.

Another hand of note is when I get 88 in the BB and there are 2 all-ins ahead of me. I think we were down to five at this stage. I cover both but it would make a big dent if I was to lose so I fold. It turns out it was Ax versus Ax and I would have held up but I think I made the right decision.

The next few orbits I really started to raise it up - I was getting good cards and no one seemed to want to go to war. The bubble burst and we were down to 4 when I picked up AA and eoin_dubh went all in with 66. I hold up and were off to the SE on Friday.

I was really happy with my play considering I still feel a bit rusty but I never felt under pressure and was fairly comfortable. Hopefully I be able to keep up this form for the weekend.

Back in the Game - Poker FTW

Started going back into the Fitz poker club more regularly than late. Having a young family isn't the greatest base from which to launch a poker career. But now that we have the parenting down to somewhat of a involuntary process, there is just enough time to get back into it with some sort of regularity.

I used to play a number of times a week about 4 years ago and had some regular success but things are much harder now and numbers are significantly greater. I have decided to focus on tournaments and Omaha cash games - getting into the cash games if I bust out relatively early in the tournament.

Over the last two months I've played about 8 tournaments and reached the final table on all but 3 - only cashed in 2. I feel this is a good start. Significantly my Omaha exploits have been much better and I've not had a losing session yet (again 8). I generally buy in for €250 and have gotten this up close to €2k on a few occasions - I play 1/2

This I feel is more to do with my general loose play and hitting pots hard then any above average skill. I do feel that I could just as easy lose a large stack as accumulate one so I have a lot to re-educate myself before I feel I can stand toe to toe with the regulars and come out in the black. Way back in the day i used to be quite good at Omaha so I feel I should be able to get back to something resembling that.

If you have any suggestions please comment.

Latest WGL Gaming Event Announced

July 12th in the Glen Royal hotel, Maynooth see the next installment of the World Gamer Live console gaming events. Following on from our hugely successful March event - where it was so popular late arrivals were struggling to find space to set up - this event promises to be even bigger.

At the last event we started promoting cash prizes to the tournament winners of the Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4 team events. This proved very popular and gamers were much more receptive to this than simply getting games or consoles as prizes. We are going to continue with this and hopefully extend the cash prizes to more events.

The event is open to all - most bring their console equipment but will will have a set number of Xbox 360s available to gamers who just com eon their own.

Tournaments will include Halo 3, CoD4, R6 Vegas 2, PES, Gears of War, PGR4 and many more.

The plan is to try and build up the events so they are self sufficient and get WGL out there as a good event for gamers. We have a sponsored team for XL this summer in the UK and hope to send more teams to cover different events as we grow.

If you are interested head over to http://www.worldgamerlive.com/ and check it out - you can even register your interest if you want to reserve a seat.

Here a YouTube clip that will show what we're about.

New Blog

Well since everyone else seems to enjoy talking about themselves I mights as well join the party. I've eventually took some time to open up one of these blog things and hopefully I'll find the time to put something useful up now and again.

My posts will probably centre around poker and video games, as well as my family and possibly work life.

I play poker in Dublin, primarily in the Fitzwilliam club but have been known to show up anywhere. The video games interest takes up a lot of my time. I write the Games column for the Irish Daily Mirror every Friday and organise "live" console gaming events every 3 months or so. I also operate a gaming website - www.worldgamerlive.com - so pop over and have a look.

I am married to Nysha - into our eight year and have two children - Adam (4) and Amy (4 mths) - family is the most important thing for me.

So enough of the profile stuff - more posts to follow.