Frustrating times...

Ola ! Back from sunny (well most days!) Barcelona and time for reflection on my tournament play.
I had only intended on playing the satellite for a seat in the main event but ended up playing the €500 event also. These tournaments represent great value both for the money up for grabs and the experience you gain from playing them.

The first prize in the €500 was €77,000 and the field was pretty similar to the main event. My starting table had Edgar 'Ragde' Skervold, the WCCOOP 2004 winner and Robert Binelli minus his trademark wild moustache. When this table broke after lunch I was moved next to Willie Tann and opposite Dave Colclough. Dublin EPT third placed Jamie Drummond was on my left, we had played the same table in the super satellite also. Within a few minutes David O'Callaghan arrived to my right.

Willie was in an usually bad mood and the slow dealer's were taking the brunt of it. I thought the table might get a little easier when he eventually busted but in his place sat Robert 'Le Dangerous' Cohen of late night poker fame. In fact his episode against Phil Hellmuth ranks as one of the most enjoyable pieces of televised poker I have seen.

I was having an excrutiatingly bad runs of cards in this tournament. As well as the aforementioned players there was an extremely drunk player 3 to my left who had a few chips and I think everyone was looking to make a hand and get paid off against him. His uncontrolled aggression made it important that you did make a hand when in a pot because he had no hesitation putting you to the test. I made the mistake of playing back at him with Ace high post flop and ended up losing a few chips. In the end it was Dave Colclough who got rid of him when he picked up KK behind one of his raises.

In the end I had to start to try getting some chips before my stack got so low I had no moves left other than all in. An English guy called my raise with AQ and I put him on a similar hand. Earlier he had re-raised when I raised with the same hand and when I folded he declared a mid pair. He had position on me so I checked the 6 high flop to him and he bet out the pot. I immediately move in trusting my read and after an uncomfortable delay he eventually folds.

This got me a little bit more respect and I was able to keep my stack from dwindling too much but still no big hands came to increase it by much. I won a four way pot which was checked to the river with 66. I won the blinds with JJ and AK. I picked up JJ again in the big blind and Robert Cohen limped from UTG and there were 2 other limpers. Usually I move in from this spot with a stack my size as it is big enough to make most hands fold and sometimes you will get called by a mid pair, however Cohen had not limped all day and I could smell AA so I just checked. The flop came down AQQ and after everyone checked the flop Dave Colclough put out a small tester which was raised by Cohen who show the flopped house when Dave folded.

This was a more intense table than I ever experienced before. There were 4 good solid players, 2 weak players and 3 loose aggressive players. I was sandwiched between all the loose aggressive's and usually any mistakes by the weaker players were punished by one of the two Daves. Jamie was the Big blind when I was the button and he was grinding it out like myself and I knew that his blinds were not going to be the easiest to steal, I managed a few but I'd say we were even after a couple of all in's by him. Eventually the table is broken and I draw the same table as Dave O'Callaghan. Also seated at the table were two WPT winners, Juha Helppi and John Gale as well as an english player John 'Texas' Houston who was coming off the back of two UK final tables. Maybe they moved me to a main event table?

My stack was now half the average and I was down to one move. I got away with it a few times. I escaped when John Houston called with AK versus my A9 when the board double paired. We split another pot when I got it all in with A4 on a AKx board, he had A2. Eventually though it was he who got me. I was in the small blind with A5 an 11k in chips. Blinds were 800/1600 with a 100 ante. John Gale raises to 3500 from the cut off. I know he could have any hand here so I shove all my chips in and John Houston quickly calls from the big blind, uh oh. Gale mucks and I find myself up against the snowmen and don't catch an Ace. 47th out of 244. 20 short of the money.

So back in Ireland I played a $22 re-buy on Pokerstars for over 3 hours only finish 55th from 440+, 45 got paid. The only time I made a move with garbage I ran into KK in the big blind and that was that. Before that I could not get TT to hold up against 88 in the Paddy Power $99 re-buy. Then last night I get down to 5 from the bubble in the Paddy Power $7.5k Gtd and hit an Ace with AK vs 77 but the board ends up making a straight for a chop, a few hands later I have the same match up and get knocked out 32nd. Hopefully sometime soon my 'not scared of finishing on or around the bubble' attitude is going to get me back up into the winners circle!