I haven't posted a Hand History instalment for over two months now! This is partly because I haven't played poker in six weeks and so it hasn't been at the forefront of my mind or the top of my blog agenda (blogenda).
But the prospect of a tournament at DTD in July, UKIPT/GUKPT Brighton side events (in July/September respectively) and a Club Championship in October are all whetting my poker appetite like a large slab of steak with a dollar sign branded into it.
So what better way to gear myself up for a nice round of tournament poker than to talk about a previous round?
July 2008 - The Brighton Rack
Back in April 2007 the Conjurer and River Goblin came to my house for two nights. We played some poker against each other and also against one of my old Ryle friends - a £5 freezeout. The purpose of the visit had not been poker-specific and we did not venture into any cardrooms. Nor had we intended to. Though we had all broken our casino-virginity I believe we all had a slight youthful disregard for the establishments which, fun or not, were still seedy, populated with weirdos and not the sort of places you could expect to tell your mother you were going without being moaned at.
July 2008 was different. For a start, only the River Goblin came down. Also, rather than being for two nights, it was for nearly a week. I was still sort of playing in secret, though I had got to the point where I didn't really care if she found out - I was living such a nitty lifestyle at the time anyway (early mornings, driving lessons, work assignments) that I wasn't in the slightest bit interested in having my free time restrained too.
The first evening I met the Goblin at Brighton Station. He shared out some homemade sandwiches and some Nestlé Smarties cakes. It wasn't really a full dinner, but like countless gamblers before us, we were going to rely on the hospitality of the casino and sustain ourselves on the sandwiches provided during the tournament break.
The tournament was a £5 Rebuy. It was not my first time playing here - I had partook in a £10 Rebuy back in April a few days before university. I had managed to come 7th in that despite being scared money. I had gone out after getting A7o all in from the button against 77. It was a lousy way to go out, but at least I had cashed and would feel comfortable here in the future.
However, no amount of comfort could prepare me for the rather measly run of lack I had on this particular occasion. One one instance I had an overpair to the board versus two people with third pair. They both hit their kickers, leaving my hand third best. After the rebuy period ended, it wasn't long till I lost the remainder of my chips.
Goblin did significantly better. So much so, that I was standing for nearly four hours on the sidelines. By around 2am it was down to three players, Goblin with the advantage. He got it all in with Jacks. The big blind, who had not looked at his cards yet, flipped them over one by one. The first one... an ace. The second one... an ace! "GET IN!" he shouted. "GET IN!". Aces won that pot, but Goblin was far from dead stackwise and managed to get to heads up, whereupon a split was arranged. We had been splitting our buyins and prizes, and as a consequence we both profited the same amount - around £90. It was a pretty ideal way to start the Rack, and the taxi journey back had that excellent sense of justification, the feeling of victory. "Yep, we won."
We were both pretty tired - myself from sweating, him from playing and by virtue of the fact that he had been awake since 6am. It was now 3am and... you do the maths. Still, we have since referred to these sort of wins as 'classic tired gambler victories'. My PokerSoc win back in January had been one of these - I was in a pretty bad physical state as there were no drinks machines around and I hadn't brought anything myself - thus I played thirsty for five hours.
Of course there is a certain rationale behind tired gambler victories - when you're tired you tend to be calm as well, and therefore less excitable or prone to rushed decisions. Therefore you just sit there and... end up winning.
There was slightly less rationale behind what we did next. It was a great gamble, in a purely literal sense of the word.
Hand History - Part 9 will continue shortly, with the Second Part of the Brighton Rack
But the prospect of a tournament at DTD in July, UKIPT/GUKPT Brighton side events (in July/September respectively) and a Club Championship in October are all whetting my poker appetite like a large slab of steak with a dollar sign branded into it.
So what better way to gear myself up for a nice round of tournament poker than to talk about a previous round?
July 2008 - The Brighton Rack
Back in April 2007 the Conjurer and River Goblin came to my house for two nights. We played some poker against each other and also against one of my old Ryle friends - a £5 freezeout. The purpose of the visit had not been poker-specific and we did not venture into any cardrooms. Nor had we intended to. Though we had all broken our casino-virginity I believe we all had a slight youthful disregard for the establishments which, fun or not, were still seedy, populated with weirdos and not the sort of places you could expect to tell your mother you were going without being moaned at.
July 2008 was different. For a start, only the River Goblin came down. Also, rather than being for two nights, it was for nearly a week. I was still sort of playing in secret, though I had got to the point where I didn't really care if she found out - I was living such a nitty lifestyle at the time anyway (early mornings, driving lessons, work assignments) that I wasn't in the slightest bit interested in having my free time restrained too.
The first evening I met the Goblin at Brighton Station. He shared out some homemade sandwiches and some Nestlé Smarties cakes. It wasn't really a full dinner, but like countless gamblers before us, we were going to rely on the hospitality of the casino and sustain ourselves on the sandwiches provided during the tournament break.
The tournament was a £5 Rebuy. It was not my first time playing here - I had partook in a £10 Rebuy back in April a few days before university. I had managed to come 7th in that despite being scared money. I had gone out after getting A7o all in from the button against 77. It was a lousy way to go out, but at least I had cashed and would feel comfortable here in the future.
However, no amount of comfort could prepare me for the rather measly run of lack I had on this particular occasion. One one instance I had an overpair to the board versus two people with third pair. They both hit their kickers, leaving my hand third best. After the rebuy period ended, it wasn't long till I lost the remainder of my chips.
Goblin did significantly better. So much so, that I was standing for nearly four hours on the sidelines. By around 2am it was down to three players, Goblin with the advantage. He got it all in with Jacks. The big blind, who had not looked at his cards yet, flipped them over one by one. The first one... an ace. The second one... an ace! "GET IN!" he shouted. "GET IN!". Aces won that pot, but Goblin was far from dead stackwise and managed to get to heads up, whereupon a split was arranged. We had been splitting our buyins and prizes, and as a consequence we both profited the same amount - around £90. It was a pretty ideal way to start the Rack, and the taxi journey back had that excellent sense of justification, the feeling of victory. "Yep, we won."
We were both pretty tired - myself from sweating, him from playing and by virtue of the fact that he had been awake since 6am. It was now 3am and... you do the maths. Still, we have since referred to these sort of wins as 'classic tired gambler victories'. My PokerSoc win back in January had been one of these - I was in a pretty bad physical state as there were no drinks machines around and I hadn't brought anything myself - thus I played thirsty for five hours.
Of course there is a certain rationale behind tired gambler victories - when you're tired you tend to be calm as well, and therefore less excitable or prone to rushed decisions. Therefore you just sit there and... end up winning.
There was slightly less rationale behind what we did next. It was a great gamble, in a purely literal sense of the word.
Hand History - Part 9 will continue shortly, with the Second Part of the Brighton Rack
1 comment:
Just found this blog while using a friend's laptop and wanted to say that it's awesome. Can remember some historic hands of my own but never thought to write them down and tell the stories - am gonna give it a shot! Thanks for the idea!!
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