Irish Poker Festival Killarney 2009

Enjoyed my time in Killarney last year so was looking forward to another weekend away & hopefully some profit to go along with the nice scenery. The venue same as last year was something else, fantastic room for a poker tourney with the added benefit for a large balcony for food and drinks as well as spectating.
Got off to a decent start in the main event, which pleased me as I didn't have the easiest of tables which was made worse when Oz got moved to it also. I didn't get many cards & found myself lying low, allowing the active players to go at it & kill each other. Only played one large pot where I got into a tricky spot with AK vs Oz's JT, needless to say he got runner runner straight & with hindsight I probably should have folded the river. Guess I slow played my hand more than I should have & allowed him to catch up, my bad.
It's always good to make it through to the second day although I didn't have many options with my stack & pushed AQ over the top of Albert's cut-off raise. I flopped an A but he turned a 6, so that one was never meant to be.

I was in 2 minds about playing the side event. Part of me figured I had to or I would be really bored. I wasn't in the mood for a cash game which is becoming the norm for me these days & I'm not a drinker so my options were limited. I decided to give the SnG sat a go, 10 seater 2 tickets. Got down to the last 3 without any tricky spots & was hopeful I could lock up a ticket. At this point it becoming a total crapshoot & decided my AT is too good to pass, unfortunately both of the other 2 called also. AT normally plays quite well on a T high flop, but with 3 of us all in, the runner runner to bring 4 spades on the board could only signal disaster. Bubbled, poop!

Due to a lack of alternatives I decided to play the side event all the same. Rob also ended up playing the side & both of us survived the first day again. I was quite short after accumulating a ton of chips through running AK into a K high flop into a set of Ts. Sick last level for me, but worked with the starting stack I was reduced to & picked a few spots wisely. Towards the end of the first day Oz was moved to my table & I was hoping to avoid him especially as he had a monster stack. I did my best to stay out of his way on day 2 also but with him 2 to my right I knew it would have to give at some point, can't have him raising my BB every lap.

I manage to claw my way back to about 80kish where I find myself on the BB, where Oz finds himself on the button, where's it's folded around to him & he . . . you know the rest. With blinds 2k/4k, Oz makes it 10.5k, SB folds. We're down to 3 tables, Oz has about 200k at this point & was running/playing well since the restart, so whilst not knowing what would be best to do all I knew was I had to be careful. I look down at A2os & decide to flat to see a flop. I prefer reraising here but didn't like the idea of committing nearly half my stack & it was too much to ship so I chickened out & just called. The flop comes A77 with 2 hearts, check check. Qh on the turn which I wasn't overly concerned about as I believe Oz deffo bets a flush draw on the flop, I can't put him on a 7, if he has I guess that's just ul but I'm happy to go with the assumption he doesn't, he also deffo bets an A. So at the point I'm thinking I have to be ahead. When deep in a tourney I'm playing to win, we're very close to the bubble & I decide it's time to up the ante a lil.

I open for 17k, he briefly looks at me then calls. To me this was a confident enough call which made me think he had to have a decently kicked Q. I normally don't put people on exact hands, if I can get their ranges half-way accurate then I'm improving as a player, but the voices in my head said he has a Q here & you're good. Blank 2 on the river & I'm thinking it's do or die time. I have about 53kish behind, there is slightly more than that in the pot & I'm looking to get a full double up (or go down in a blaze of foolishness). I have pulled the odd bluff on Oz in the past so I know he knows I'm capable (only once per year though for everyone who still regards me as a nit). I'm thinking, hmmm, would he call a shove here, oh shit, can't take too long, need to act quick to help confuse him, all in! I can see Rob behind me out of the corner of my eye starting to jump about (Rob style) conversing with others in the little crowd which had been there for a while at that point. After weighing up the pot, my play, Oz decided to call. Tbh part of me wasn't convinced he would call a shove with a Q, so I showed him the A & (as un-dramatically as possible) stopped breathing for a few secs . . . "A is good" . . . omg thank fuck! He showed the Q before mucking & I could relax again, now with a very nice stack :)

After picking Rob's jaw off the floor for pulling that stunt I got my sensible head on again & maintained my newly playable stack. Down to 2 tables, I lost the first couple of pots I played, with blinds & antes getting up, my stack had depreciated somewhat. On the final table bubbly I shoved 88 on the cut-off only to find the button couldn't fold his KQ monster for his whole stack, but my snowmen held up & it was final table time.

As it turned out the bubble actually burst twice, losing 2 players at the same time, 1 from each table. So with 9 left I'm one of the shorter stacks & on an aggressive table I can't afford to blind away much. I manage to survive a whole 1.5 laps when I get KK on the cut-off. With blinds 6k/12k, I raise to 30k & do my best to look weak. I need a double up & am not going to get many better starting hands so need to maximise this one. To a serious poker player, saying things like trying to look weak is usually laughable. I'm not talking about forcing 'the shakes' or anything, more so looking nervous, I've raised just enough to leave me fold equity, hoping someone will read into it & try to put me under pressure, expecting me to fold. The Norwegian guy directly to my left took an eternity (or so it seemed at the time) to make a decision. I didn't look anywhere near him but have been reliably informed that he was constantly staring at me, looking for info. He has been relatively solid up to that point, but stakes had increased, he had a huge stack and eventually decided his AT would be good against my raising range and reraised pot committing himself. With cards on their backs I could see he was clearly surprised that I was so strong & initially could only say "wow". T on the flop which I could live with, however the A on the river was a sick cruel death to my tournament.

9th place got me €2k, which in theory is a decent return for a €300 entry, however the jumps were so steep at that point, with €18k for the winner so those KKs being cracked cost me a fair few quid imo. Still always good to final table, even if it was a brief final table appearance!

Well done to Nicky who chopped it HU. I was hoping that if I couldn't win/finish top 3 that him or Derek Murray would at least go a fair bit deeper.