I'd never actually played the IWF before, last year I was working the Saturday morning so never even bothered trying to qualify. With recent success and a 10% swap with Jaye in the IPO, it seemed like fate I should play it, with the 10% swap working out within €50 of the main event buy-in. Definitely a sign!
I got off to a good start, there were a couple of very competent players on my table, but the numbers were certainly made up of some value alright. I slowly built a reasonable stack & maintained it comfortably above average for the first few levels, then I hit a bad patch. That said I never gave up & stole a couple of small pots which gave me a bit of momentum. At the beginning of the last level of the night I got moved table which in one sense I was disappointed about as I was happy with my reads on the table, but sometimes a change of scene can bring a change in luck & I was due some cards.
I can be quite superstitious about dealers & have myself convinced that the dealers I'm friendlier with & know better are always better to me in terms of starting hands & showdown. This is silly I know & even though I know how stupid it sounds I will always have more faith at hitting that draw or flopping a set when the person dishing out the cards is someone I know & like. The lovely Lisa Condon is dealing my new table therefore I'm not surprised at all when she deals me my first decent hand in about 3 hours, AQ, which I shipped (from the button) over the top of a late position raise. original raiser didn't call which I was obviously happy enough with, but the chips I had gathered in were critical.
The very next hand I'm dealt QQ. I'm thinking it's a sign of better things to come, which didn't last long as it turns out . . . . I end up aipf vs AK. By the turn, the K is no good to him as it would give me a straight, but the 4 way flush on the river was enough to bring my tourney to an abrupt end. Guess that one just wasn't meant to be.
I watched Rob play for the last hour or so of the day & shrugged off my exit. I was happy with I played, wouldn't have done much different with hindsight, so onward & upward to the following day & the side event awaiting.
Was really up for this side event, even more than normal. I had a good starting table, several weak spots to take advantage of & a few characters to liven up the conversation. I had a bit of an up & down start. A lot of hands just didn't go my way, missed flushes, never hit a set etc but I hung in there & made some decent calls to keep myself in the game.
Towards the end of the night I get moved to a very lively table with loads of chips on it. This turns out to be fantastic for me as I'm not there very long when I get a full double up and become comfortable in chips once again. It wasn't too long after my double up that they stopped the clock for the evening, bringing back 4 tables for the 2nd & final day.
With top18 paid, there was still a fair way off the bubble yet & things duely tightened up considerably on the 2nd day. I had an ok table, knew what spots to raise light in, knew who's blind not to pick on etc then the unfortunate timing of being the next big blind happened.
My table was much more aggressive & a hell of a lot deeper in chips. This made the bubble harder than I would have liked. The most aggressive guy on the table was on my right, he had me covered by a long way & showed on more than one occasion that he was willing to call shortie shoves with marginal cards. He was doing a great job of putting most of the table under pressure & unfortunately card death meant I was unable to play back at him. A deal was finally done to pay 19th place & we were down to 2 tables.
I didn't last much beyond this point, 3 or 4 hands after the restart & I shipped over the top of a late position raise holding QQ. Raiser called with AK & the dealer flopped him happy. Ah well, losing a race is never the worst exit hand & thankfully it happened after the bubble burst meaning it wasn't a complete waste of several hours of my life.
Pretty much broke even over the course of the festival, but as I had been 'free-rolling' the main event it went down as another profitable weekend :)
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