Another good run

Ended the month of April with another good run as some of you may no I am on a heater in tournament poker as I have cashed in every Irish tournament except the IPC at end of last year.This time it was at the CPT grand final in Carlow where I finished 2nd after a deal was brokered heads up between myself and Sean Prendiville. I'll get to the heads up match in due time.

I'd just like to give a huge kudos to Liam and Fionn who gave everyone that showed up for the grand final brilliant value for their money in which they had a great structure put together that never once turned into a crap shoot.They also had a 20k starting stack for the 1,100 euro entry fee which I feel makes for a great game indeed,well done again lads! If only our most prestigious tournament in Ireland could at least follow suit.

I had a pretty tidy first day finishing up with an above average stack for the night but I didn't have it all my own way, firstly sitting down to my table and having probably the most aggressive player in the tournament to my left in being Mark Mc Donnell but in saying that I think he went easy on me:). Cheers mate more money for you on the cash tables in the Fitz on Wednesday nights lol!

I did proceed to however loose 5-6k of my stack in the first 2 levels before I practically received my first double up when holding 4s4c. I flatted a raise preflop and proceeded to the flop with 2 other callers. Flop comes 7d7s4d boom just the flop I was looking for in a multi way pot, very easy for someone to have a 7, I checked, the preflop raiser made his continuation bet and folded round back to me so no1 has a 7 then:(. The preflop rasier just wasn't the sort of player to have a 7 unless it was quads, my plan quickly changed with 2 diamonds on the flop. I decided to flat call the cbet, 9s hits the turn this is where I chose to lead into the raiser. He didn't have a chance to check behind on the paired board so I put in nearly a pot bet and got called, 4h on the river for quads very very nice hand but pretty tough to get called. Still I new in this tournament its possible so I went for the max with a full pot bet. After some deliberation my opponent called so I believe I got full value for my hand. This pot took me up to around the 30k mark pretty sweet after a shady start. Ended the night with 45k.

We came back for the 2nd day, same tables needless to say I wasn't happy as Mark was still in with a pretty nice stack and of course day 2 is 3bet day. Dara O Kearney was moved to my table the day before but was moved away again soon after the day had started, he is not an easy man to trap in a hand I must say hmmm sneaky Dara lol.

I really grinded the 2nd day out moving my chips in the right direction without much risk. Half way through the day my table broke. I was moved to table with players I didn't really know so I was happy. Picked up loads of easy spots for 3bets and constant aggression preflop. No real hands I can remember of big importance only 1 funny hand where Keith Murphy always seems to be walking past when i call all in with j10 suited or the old 96 off, this time it was the j10 suited. I was dominated by kj and as the flop was coming out I coughed 10 loudly, sure enough 10 appeared on the flop and proceeded to hold and knock out the unfortunate player. This of course left Keith free to commence the slagging at my expense lol. I finished up the night 4th in chips so a job well done indeed.

Day 3 arrived with a table draw to land me back on table with not just Mark but also Donal O Connor, both of them being the chip leaders. Not so bad however as I was at the far end of the table. I still chose to play aggressively as my position on the table was good and I happily took down first couple of pots. First ko of the day came when I raised the button with jxjx, this was immediately followed by a small blind shove for around over a third of my stack. I called and my opponent showed A7 off, pretty standard. Thankfully the board ran out safe which allowed me to increase my stack and close in on Mark and Donal.

Last 2 tables, it was bubble time! The poor victim of the bubble was Noel Hayes where he shoved over the top of a raise wit Ax10x only to be called by JxJx. Jacks held, the bubble burst, now I was concentrating on accumulating as much chips as possible for the final table so I could really put myself in with a shout of winning the tournament.

I felt I played a great last 2 tables. I 3bet Sean and others a couple of times with light holdings in which they all got through. Not such a great time however for Mark who got very unlucky in a good few pots with some great calls only for lady luck to stop him right in his tracks. Soon after Mark busted in 13th a fitting number for his bad day I must say.

Only a matter of minutes after Marks exit it was the final table, it was madness players were just flying out in which had nothing to do with the structure in the slightest. Final table seating was drawn. I was placed 2 from Dokes left which in the space of a few hands turned into his immediate left as our first final table victim fell. This was good news for me!! Now I could watch one of our best tournament players in Ireland like a hawk and see if I could exploit my position on him to the best of my ability.

Before we new it was 4 handed with Sean, Benny Carroll, Doke and I. I had a conversation at the time with Doke about how fast ppl were flying out in the later stages of the tournament, we just couldn't believe it really! Probably didn't help with coolers like Donal's JxJx going up against O'Flaherty's AxAx to see the end of Donal's challenge for 1st place. A total cooler hand did appear 5 handed where there was Benny's AxAx v O'Flaherty's kxkx v Sean's QxQx in which AxAx took the lot but only ko 1 player in O'Flaherty.

Long battle went on 4 handed for quite some time approx 3 30 minutes. Sean managed to grind back almost all his chips he had lost to Benny that time with some superior position play. Benny who just could not cope with Sean's aggression. Main story 4 handed was Doke's elimination which came at the hands of Sean where both players got it all in on a flop of 10d 8d 7h. Doke holding the best of it with 8x9x off v Sean's kd7d. Doke turns a straight to increase his lead but the river sank his hopes of winning when the Ad hit the river. Unlucky Doke!! He did play a great game and surprised me with how aggressive he played when holding chip lead at one stage. My game plan had to swiftly change once I noticed this. I came to a conclusion that 3betting Doke in position was my only profitable option, I believe this was very successful! More importantly I did not overuse this weapon as Doke is a very smart player who knows to click the all in button when over aggression is shown :)!

We were now 3 handed with myself in the chip lead, Benny and Sean with almost identical chip stacks. Blinds were being stolen constantly 3 handed, I finally got dealt Aces for the first time all weekend in the bb but it did not go to plan. I 3bet Benny's button raise but he showed an Ace and folded, puke lol as he had been flat calling 3bets throughout short handed play!

Very next hand we lost Benny where himself and Sean got it all in on the turn. It was a board of Js 10s 3c 9s Benny tabled Qd8s for a straight with a redraw to an open ended straight flush but Benny was not in good shape when Sean tabled 6s3s for the made flush. Benny still had quiet a few outs but wasn't to be when the river fell a blank 4d. Benny played a smart game and received a handsome pay day for it. GG Benny!

That left myself and Sean heads up with Sean in possession of the chip lead. This is where we took a short break to discuss the prize money. We ended up dealing on 25k each and playing off for the 4.8k which went to the winner. Heads up battle did not last to long, a mere 20 hands, I believe in which both of us did not expect. Sean raised the button as expected so I decided to 3bet my 6c7c, Sean flatted behind, we went to a flop of Kh 10c 8d, I checked, Sean checked, off to the turn and it brings 9c, Brilliant turn for me I've hit my gutshot but I've also picked up an open ended straight flush draw. I decided to lead out on this scary board hoping Sean would raise me. He knew with my 3bet preflop it would be very hard for me to continue in the hand with my range repping the likes of QQ, JJ or A10 and so on. I thought my hand was so perfectly disguised, sure enough Sean raised me on the turn. My next option was kind of already set, I decided to shove all in for 3times his raise only because I didn't want the board to pair, silly cards like Q,J or my own club to come out and spoil my chance of getting the lot. Obviously with this hand there are many ways to play it, all except folding, it's just out of the question I'm sure you will agree?! So I shoved but to my horror Sean snaps me off, not good as I knew the only hand he snaps with is QJ for the nut straight, indeed this is what he held...puke! I needed a club on the river to survive. I guess it just wasn't meant to be my day as the 5h fell on the river and so Sean claimed the victory!

Sean is a great player and if I was to loose to anyone I wouldn't mind loosing to a player with his caliber. He is a very smart player with the key aggression needed to win big tournaments and also is willing to risk it all, to win it all. Ive heard where he check raised all in with holdings of just A8 for Ace high on the turn against Nicky Power. Great bluff! Somehow I reckon if Nicky had a hand he would have got looked up pretty lightly. Nicky knows his stuff in those spots especially against an aggressive player like Sean.

To sum up the course of the tournament I am really happy with how I played, staying out of trouble, picking my spots really well which allowed me to go true the whole tournament without been all in once for my tournament life until the final hand with Sean. I have no complaints 25k is a nice payday especially with Vegas just around the corner.

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