I have recently gotten back on the horse with grinding live cash and online tourneys. Live cash in Sydney is absurdly soft, maybe 1 other decent player at the table if you are unlucky with a table draw from possibly a handful of 2-5 games. Higher games don't seem to run much. There is a 5-10-20 interest lists which I have only seen run once. This is kinda annoying as I want to play higher not just because of how soft it is but also the rake is ridiculous with a hourly table charge of $10 and 10% rake on each pot capped at $10. Looking at the rake it is simple to see why no good players grind here. If you play high then you get a better rate as it's the same rake no matter the stakes. Hopefully these games run more before I make my annual trip to Vegas this year.
Online has been pretty fun as of late. With the Scoops passing and my deep run in the $2,100 8-max which ended with a horrible beat (I final tabled, only to get 3 outered to finish in 8th, Aks < K9s), oh the equity! The Sunday just gone I had top 5 stack going into the last 100 of the Sunday million only to loose with AK, AK and top set KK in a 4bet pot to destroy my chances of another final table or even dare I say it, winning. With the time zone being so harsh on the Aussie's, I really do feel for anyone playing full time online out here. You are getting up in the middle of the night anywhere between 2 and 5am to begin your daily grind. It truly is gruelling believe me. It will have its perks when the Summer comes round, extra few hours in bed see's you rise at 7am for the daily grind. Perfect.
All these high buy in games are great preparation for the coming Wsop grind. There is nothing more important than having a strong mentality while in Vegas. These beats of late will only help me deal with the onslaught of a packed Wsop schedule. I guess this is a good time to fill everyone in on my Irish Wsop picks for the Summer. It would be about time. Marty Smyth won his almost 5 years ago (5 years on the 29th of this month). 5 long years. To put it into prospective, it is longer time than my career when I first came on the Irish scene in 2009. So I've made 5 picks. Can an Irish person finally win a bracelet?
1. Sean Prenderville
The goat is a beast. By far one of the best players in Ireland and does it without playing nearly as much as the next pro. He has more than one gear but when he gets ahead and has a decent stack that top gear he hits is next to impossible to stop. That's exactly what you need to win a bracelet, build a stack quickly and then be relentless for the rest of the tourney. Sean ticks all the boxes.
2. Daragh Davey
If Daragh can close his eyes and smile when he is all in for that big important tourney pot I would expect him to be able to navigate a big stack to a final table with precision plays. That's how good he is. Can he go from there and win a bracelet? I'd put my house on it! Close you eyes and smile Priest it will ship you a bracelet. If not well at least you get to fiddle all those chips for a while.
3. Dermot Blain
Dermot's game impresses me the most. It's a style I was loosing touch with myself for a while without realising. Playing with him again lately made me realise. He plays so many deep structured games which suit him that I'd expect Dermots best run to come in a 5k event or his favourite Plo tournys. Then again he has surprised me once again with going deep already in a 1k event finishing 23rd. He isn't a fan of those events as he has told me before but it obviously doesn't stop him putting in the time to work out a perfect game plan.
4. Nick Abau Risk
Ok, sure, Nick is Canadian but at this stage I think Irish poker can take some credit from a Nick Abau Risk bracelet win, after all he has lived here longer than Dan Harrington at this stage. Nick is out there for the whole series so it's another reason for his addition not to mention his highly aggressive game that I'm certain will set him up for alot more deep runs than the one he just had, finishing 17th in event 7, a 1k nl event. Plus it would also be great to see John O Shea first hand licking Nicks bald head in the drunken celebrations afterwards.
5. The Unknown
I always have that feeling that some Irish person out of the blue will come along and bink a bracelet, or at least a non well known player. I'm sure there is enough of them out there who have played the series over the last 5 years. Who knows?
I would of put in Jude Ainsworth to this list with his unbelievable form of late but I believe he is skipping the series this year and is expecting another child, so congrats to him.
Any of these 4 above with a little help off lady luck or even a perfectly good 'hold' button will finally land Irish poker it's first bracelet since the new breed of poker players has come through.
Lets shuffle up and deal.
