APT Launch & First Thoughts

 It's adventures like these that cause a blog revival. 

As most of you know I've created a new poker tour based in Ireland. It is as exciting as it is intense. The build up to events is like nothing I have ever experienced before. There are so many positives to take but one that keeps coming to mind is the amount of help I've received from family, friends and other poker players just wanting to be apart of this and willing it to be successful. In a way it creates even more responsibility but at the same time I am lucky that it does as without it I wouldn't have a blog to write about.

Falling out of love with online poker and being asked to leave my local casino in Carlow for supposedly winning too much money really fuelled this tour into belief. What was always an idea I took a huge gamble to make it a reality. To be honest nothing else got me excited when trying to think what I could replace online and live cash games with. I'm delighted I took this on. A challenge is what I was after and boy have I got one on my hands. There are so many positives already in my short time doing this. The people you meet and get to work with is by far the best part of a tour. I haven't made money yet so I don't know how that will match up to winning in poker. Trust me I look forward to making that happen.

The most enlightening thing so far for me was joining in my own Main Event at CityNorth. I'll be honest the buzz wasn't there on day1 the Friday. On Saturday I had finished registration and decided to max late reg. It was met by my table mates with great enthusiasm. Suddenly there was an atmosphere. I was giving away some freebies merchandise that WptGlobal was kind enough to provide. This was always a long term plan for me to join my events but after such a positive experience for myself and our players I now know this is what will be unique about this tour. I need to fast track this concept. I can simply offer more than what is currently on the calendar in Ireland. The first order of business is a bounty on my head on all stops that I play in. You beat the boss you get rewarded. Who doesn't want to beat a boss? Be it from a computer game or dare I say from the workplace?! 

I will run with this idea and hopefully it takes off. In the meantime the tour isn't going to set itself up long term so there is lots of work to do on that front. My immediate problem that I found is not every poker player does know about the tour. Spreading the word is essential to getting players to our events. This will remain my number 1 goal in 2023. I believe I have a good poker model to offer all players in Ireland & judging by our great turnout in Carlow & the feedback from players it will be a hit. I dedicated most of my time to this when building all aspects of the tour. Perhaps, this was a contributing factor to missing my 1st big guarantee of 50k albeit marginally by 5 players. Marketing and Location are the two main areas I should have invested more time into. Time though, is rarely on your side in a start up. You learn as you go just like any new business trying to establish themselves in Year 1. There is alot of competition out there but I believe in my model and I will simply trust in it.

We offer the best tournament structures and at the lowest registration and rake fees. 11% Reg on our Main Event is unrivalled. Even club poker in Dublin doesn't choose to go that low. Cash games 5% capped at €10 is also unrivalled and we pride ourselves on this. We are simply trying to offer more true value to our players in the hope they come out to support us. After being a professional poker player for well over a decade these are the values that are important to me. It is now my business to incentivise players so here we are. If you share these values plz do come support our events and help us grow. I'll even put a bounty on Dara O Kearney's head for the sheer fun of watching him try to calculate percentages & hands he needs to call off light with when you shove over the top of him.

For now, lets all enjoy the Irish Open this week. I know JP is flat out trying to make this a success under challenging circumstances so lets support him. 

See you there.

Foreigners, what are they good for? Contributing.

Some recent outcry on social media towards 'Foreigners' is shameful. In saying that, I believe the public is being misinformed to target minority immigrants instead of the real source of Irelands problems, its system. I recently watched a documentary specifically aimed at Asylum Seekers. How misguided is everyone? In relation to the above documentary, I would have to say.. extremely. I am not going to bash Tv3 for their work on this documentary as some of it actually shows decent journalistic reporting which is an all to rare occurance in news outlets these days. But it is sensationalist. It is designed to get your blood pumping and their ratings soaring. The figure of 4,500 has to be just a ball park figure thrown out there by Tv3 as the first word of the documentary is 'Around'. I'm confident it is less and they are rounding up to suit the sensationalist reporting ideal.

Ireland rejects more Asylum seekers than any other EU country. Recent figures published by the EU shows that of 1,625 Asylum cases ruled on by Irish authorities, (the amount of cases seen has come down over the last few years) only 140 applications were granted. That's an approval rate of only 8.6%. This is well below a rough average of 25% (rounded down). Malta and Italy have the highest acceptance of 72% and 62% respectively. This is mainly due to ppl fleeing from the ongoing war in Syria. I think we can all agree and understand that no one wants to flee their own country unless it is the last resort. These ppl come from worse off countries, so lets all think of at least acknowledging that fact before we talk about government funding. Every person on this planet is equal to the next. Unfortunately, where you are geographically born will dictate the amount of inequality you will experience. It is existing systems, governments and corporations driven by monetary gain that prevents equality.

Approximately 1/3 of Asylum seekers in Ireland are children. I can't begin to imagine how a child could possibly cope with that process. How does a child cope with fleeing from his/her homeland (who knows what crazy troubles they left behind and indeed what danger?!) to a new country in search of life, not just a life but to experience real life to which so many of this world will more than likely never get the opportunity. Not to mention the mental implications this type of ordeal would have on them later in their lives. In one of the interviews Kobe expresses through fear and helplessness what a joyless life she leads under the current system our government provides. It is draining tax payers funds but worse, its draining ppl's lives. It has to be repaired for the good of Irish ppl and Asylum Seekers.

To be fair, this documentary is not so bad. It has just managed to misplace ppl's anger throughout the venting tool that is social media, towards immigrants. We should not be angry at poor ppl seeking refuge just because they are housed and given an inadequate amount of money to survive on. It is the government and the system in place to which our anger should be directed. Why would any person or parent seek refuge in Ireland only to remain poverty stricken? To answer this takes two things. Firstly, it is clear only a worse life is waiting for them back in their own countries. How bad? I cannot say but logically speaking along with pieces I've read it would be life threatening in one way or another. Secondly, disinformation. I am sure they are told of a great new life that awaits them if they make it into such countries, like Ireland. It's lies. Or to put it better, it's disinformation. They are told what they need to hear not what they should know. They have no other choice. None.

Now, it has become a case of Asylum Seekers risking what little they have to stand up and be counted in a democracy, a supposable democracy. That should be applauded. You could listen to the old saying "don't bite the hand that feeds you" but in this case the hand that's feeding you is a broken system reduced over time to keep you in poverty. You know there is a better life out there, you have now seen it first hand with Irish ppl. To us it is not a great life and we should be doing the same, standing up and being counted but just remember on this long journey to equality our asylum friends are one step behind us in this poverty food chain. We are not well off by any means but there is worse off than us. For so many Irish ppl and families to be struggling it is the system, it is the government. The politicians who squandered and robbed during the boom, this is the fallout we are now experiencing and most have been experiencing for quiet sometime. My own friends and family have been directly effected by it just like most of you reading this. For some of you that believe I am well off, taking moral high ground or have no experience with any of this, plz read on.

I know first hand what it is like to be a 'Foreigner' in a different country. Granted that was just Australia but in this new age of immigration it has now become a business for governments to exploit. Boy were we exploited. Scammed is possibly a better word. All because we wanted a better life. We were taken advantage of not by human trafficking but by governments themselves. On three separate occasions we were misled, used, and then discarded. Thousands after thousands squandered. How could you not trust a government or government agents, right?! Maybe I was naive. Maybe I was still brainwashed to believe that governments have your best interests at heart. They should, but they don't.

You have an immigration system in place to which employers take advantage of with regards to employing immigrants. They assure you of sponsorship to keep you working after an initial mandatory 3 month period working for them. The next day they inform you there is no work left. Coincidentally, just after xmas when all businesses quieten down! Once bitten, twice shy. You brush yourself off and go again. You find more work and another 3 months is taken. Same deal, thanks very much wish you all the best. As you can see not only does it seem impossible to achieve your goal but at the same time you develop a distain towards the country you want to live in. Your time is running out.

Employers are abusing the system and by doing so are taking advantage of immigrants in general. This is how Asylum Seekers are treated in Ireland. They are left for months even years on end waiting for that piece of paper which allows them to live in Ireland. Sometimes it does not come. I can relate to this. Now, I am not comparing my monetary troubles and experiences during our time trying to stay long term in Australia to the problems of Asylum Seekers, I just know how they are being treated. Joy and I were emotionally, physically and financially spent trying to make it into Australia long term. I can't begin to imagine the distress Asylum seeking families find themselves in.

Alas, for us there was some light at the end of the tunnel, albeit, inevitability too late. After spending a further 7 months trying to get an indefinite visa I was refused and told to leave the country within 25 days or be deported. Effectively they squeezed us dry and sent us packing on a technicality once they couldn't get anymore money from us. Or so I thought. They offered me an appeal if I wished to do so. It's costs $2,500. I researched this as I did most visas from day one. What did I find? All appeals have 100% upheld governments decisions on visas. A scam. This is when Joy had found an employer with morals, a heart and a respect for ppl trying to live in their country. They offered us everything to stay which was amazing to hear, such great ppl but we had no choice and had to leave, for now at least. We have to do minimum one year away before returning if we wish to do so. I am not going to go into more detail about our problems, I've learned no matter how hard we have it that I am privileged to be born in a country that offers opportunity and easy access to food and water. We are all privileged. Most ppl born in different parts of the world struggle to get food and water from day to day never mind having a chance of making a better life. This will always make me sad but I understand at the same time you have to put your privileged opportunity to great use, as one day you could then help a child or family in need.

If you are an immigrant, you may be a good person or people but they don't want to know that. You are just another number. It is easier to discard a number than a person. I hope this isn't the same for Asylum Seekers. It's not about these ppl being grateful for what they get but that they know it is not good enough for any human to survive on. That is a basic human right. No human on this planet should live in poverty.

The greed of the richest 1% and governments is the only reason why this planet is not better run. It is in corporations interests to keep it this way so they can continue to exploit and gain more and more profit. In America, for example, the top 0.1% hold 25% of Americas entire wealth, almost the same share as the bottom 90%. Futhermore, the top 1% owns over 40% of the wealth in America. Moreover, the top 20% own 89% of Americas wealth, which means the bottom 80% of ppl own less than 11% of Americas entire wealth. And these figures are continuing to grow ever further apart. Creating more poverty and we know poverty fuels crime. All these figures above you won't get from main stream media such as sky news etc. They want you in your own bubble, constantly misinformed or distracted. 96% of news outlets are owned by corporations. The reason I use America as the example is their model is followed by most 1st world countries.

The real reason I use America is because they are the ones helping to bomb Syria right now aswel as many other countries. Their 0.1% are made up of weapons contractors and many other vile banks and corporations. They need more profit so more bombs have to be dropped. They control parts of America's government, make no mistake about that. America has bombed roughly 30 countries since the end of World War II. Make of that what you will.

Get your news and documentaries from the internet. I also recommend John Oliver if you like to watch Tv in general. He's brilliant. Youtube has all his shows. Here is a 6 minute clip on this topic of Wealth in America.

Getting back to the immigration topic. Take the Uk for example, here are some facts to which immigrants supported and contributed to the Uk. The main stream media does not report this.

Instead they offer disinformation to make us believe that immigrants are the problem. It is a common misconception and you can't blame ppl for not realising. We have the exact same scenario here in Ireland. You obviously get your bad apples of immigrants and these are the stories you hear. These stories are fueled by main stream media to misinform you as to the source of the problem. The problem is always the system. So next time you hear on the news of how immigrants are the problem think of what they are trying to distract you from. The next time you hear ppl in person saying immigrants are the problem politely disagree with them. Aggression does not change ppl's minds it only fuels stubbornness. Calmly presented facts even with a charm is the best action to take if you want to open ppl's minds. After all, I was shameful because at one point I use to think the same way about immigrants and many other concerning topics until I learned to get my news from the internet not the tv.

Immigrants contribute. Remember that and we instantly accomplish compassion for our fellow man and also the realisation that the government is responsible and accountable for the constant improvement of Asylum Seekers lives, and ours. I'll leave you with this 3 minute video. It will say more to you in 3 minutes than I possibly could from all of this blog.

It's that time of year, again.

I'm just all set for Vegas. Tickets booked, accommodation sorted and my action sold. Upon selling action this year for Wsop events, I found it quiet interesting. My late sale did not do me any favours, however, this time and lately, in general, the market has shrunk in size it feels. It's a very hard one to judge when selling. It has become a matter of how much you are willing to drop in mark rather than finding the perfect balance. To be fair, this is better for the longevity of the game albeit at the players expense. I think there has been a lot of mark ups over charged in the past, for sure, but not to gain a distinct advantage over some buyers who just want a sweat, but soley because its hard to judge all the factors exactly, on top of the main component, the marketplace.

The marketplace trumps any preparations you can make. It's the be all and end all. I've made mistakes myself on judging these, its only normal. I don't think anyone ever soley sets out to charge extortionate mark up, what thief would right? Especially, with your added reputation being on the line. And that brings me to a quick statement and apology I'd like to make. There is no way, no chance, that Rory Brown ever set out to do this in his selling thread that I questioned to the point, it became a distasteful interaction. It doesn't matter even if you are right about someones mark up (Rory acted on advice from friends and only in hindsight was it deemed a bit over), you do not call them out, the marketplace will take care of it in the long run and so for that, my emotionally charged response to Rory was bad judgement and poor form so I do apologise.

It is a pretty intense subject to speak about, especially with added passion. I think the marketplace in Ireland, which appears a slight touch smaller now is still as good an option if not better than dealing with private buyers. The only plus being a one lump sum transaction, which all poker players like, but mostly because we are flat out lazy and would rather spend our time playing and loosing than tracking multiple percentages. Well most of us apart from Smidge anyway, you just know he loves that shit. A good spot to get back onto talking about Vegas and my 5 picks... for the drunken end of
night state. Actually, I'll just need one pick, but I won't say who *cough* John *cough*. I'm terrible at the game of drink myself, just ask Albert Kenny or Big Mick G.

Ok, I will do 5 picks for a bracelet, I do enjoy trying to be right, especially when I'm wrong.

1. Nick Abau Risk. Nick has been running deep so far this series, like previous years. I have one of those feelings for Nick, he just might bink. (Nearly swapped him for Max during the 10k, lol.)

2. Jude Ainsworth. Give the man a stack and watch for the torture he will dish out. Definitely one of the best hopes for Irish poker in any high game, let alone a run at the series.

3. Padraig 'Smidge' O Neill. It would be about time we turned this man into a baller. Just take a moment to imagine that if you know him, glorious, right?! Credit card roulette is his first step.

4. Sean Prenderville. Same as Jude, you just cannot exclude the man. Serious results. It's no wonder he is named the GOAT.

5. Daragh Davey. Oh wait, he's not going, or is he? Who knows. One thing is for sure, the 'Real Davey Tweets' will be in full flow. So please do join in when you see that shit trending on Twitter. A preview you say? Ok, just one. 'I'd have got that bluff through v Johnny Chan in 1988.' #RealDaveyTweet

I was close to putting John O Shea into this, just for the maximum tilt factor, he will probably go and bink a bracelet. In holdem aswel to send me straight to the nearest bridge in Vegas. All jokes aside, I hope to have a crack at a bracelet along with a few others from Ireland. There's only one question left to ask, can the tiny Island produce?

5 Irish picks for Vegas

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.

Next

'It's been a while', is how I start most of my blogs. The day I don't start with that opening line is the day I'm writing more regularly, A good day. Considering I'm good friends with Doke & Lappin obvioulsy the two best blogs out there at the moment, you would think I'd be more into blogging, right? I am but my drive to do so is blocked by my constant trolling of twitter or most social media sites. To be honest I get more out of reading 1,000 tweets or posting myself than I do from sitting down and writing even a short blog like this. I'm going to put it down to the lads are too good at it, I can never be better than them and it annoys me. They put me off blogging regularly, cheers lads its clearly all your fault. Social media, my lack of drive or getting caught up in trying to write a blog for days as I just cannot stop writing once I start, obviously, has nothing to do with it!

As for getting into video blogging, it's probably a good idea, god knows I'd be alot quicker doing it, I think? My only fear would be ending up like Negreanu or being as plain as Galfond. Boring! Next! Wouldn't it be great if John O Shea made a video blog? He could go from no one been able to read his blogs to no one been able to understand him speaking in his blogs. Imagine having to put subtitles on your own video blog, now that would be something special. (Told you I'd get you back for your twitter comment blog) John and I have a funny relationship which probably needs clearing up, we slag each other quiet alot on twitter etc but it's all harmless, he likes a good wind up and to be honest sometimes it is more fun to just play along, needling is normal in our world. We chat normally quiet regularly. He actually came out with a cracker of a modified Shakespear quote at Pokerstars party in Cork when everyone was drunk and chirping at him "It's amazing how quickly the mob can turn on you after so long of giving" whilst he stood on a table in the middle of the pub. If you were there you know it was a classic. I think 'mob' was the only reference to Shakespear there.

Ok, to some poker. I recently won my second High Roller title, while it was Ukipt HR it still had lost some of it's ring to it as only 9 players took part. I'm happy tho. I can't have any complaints in general, final table wsop, final table Ept and a final table at start of the year in the Sunday Million on Stars. I finished 6th, 5th and 3rd in those games. The kick start win to my career was a 2nd place finish for 50k & I finished 4th in the Fitz eom just gone to Daragh Davey the eventual winner (who imo is one of the best players in Ireland right now, he makes my top 3 anyway). You might know him better from his other aliases such as Mongoose, Baby Veal, Sheldon Cooper, The Priest & the latest addition Friar Tuck. So yeah, I filled every other finishing position on a final table, maybe just maybe that illusive 1st place finish in a main event is coming. God knows I'm going to be gunning for it until I do.

One last thing to clear up. I think alot of ppl have gotten this wrong. I am Not moving to Australia to live, I am going on a holiday there for about a month maybe a little longer depending on place to stay. I am going with my girlfriend Joy. She is going for a year. I don't blame her either, in what day and age do we live in when you learn your trade for 4-5 years become fully qualified in your field of expertise and you're then told that you are now over qualified to get a job here as you would have to be paid too much. Lol Ireland! Anyway, I can't wait for this trip it's been almost 10 years since I was there last, travelling around Australia. It's going to be great to see how it has developed as a country and also to see some of my close family who now lives out there.

My next trip is this Sunday, I'm off to Ept London. I cannot wait to get there, hoping for a bink like no other. If not there is always the cash games in the Vic.
Back to the above topic on blogging before I sign off, Maybe whenever I feel the need to post on Twitter I'll jot it down here and possibly after a week I will have a blog entry? Yeah, hmmm you're right, I guess that defeats the purpose of Twitter then. Looks like I'm back to square one, blogging regularly without actually doing so. One of these days Rodney, one of these days.

A piece on my background

This post is for a link to a recent interview I did. 

http://www.kildare-nationalist.ie/2012/11/22/a-poker-prince-without-king-or-queen/

I will have a post up about Ept San Remo soon also. From then on I'll be writting alot more up to date blogs, close to every week. Most of the blogs will be on events such as recent tournaments I played and general topics of discussion in the poker world. Up next is the Fitz festival and then Wpt & Ept Prague. What a spot Prague is, how can you go wrong with two huge tournaments on within a few days of each other not to mention it's easily the nicest city I've been to. Roll on Prague.

Hope you all enjoy the interview.

Bombardment

Just landed in San Remo, well, I actually landed in Nice, France, to be exact. I don't really mind the drive to San Remo, It's close to being the perfect definition of the term 'scenic route'. The taxi ride costs 150 bucks and it's just about worth it, especially when your travelling with two of the best in Dermot Blain & Nick Abau Risk. You be amazed what you learn in a one hour taxi ride as obviously the general topic of conversation is Poker. Do tell? Eh, no. There was an interesting topic about staking and how its become so big it's basically keeping the hole poker scene in general afloat. Make of that statement what you will. It is an interesting topic.

I've just regged up for day1b of Ept main event. It still feels horrible and great at the same time when you're handing over a brick of 5k and change to play one single event. Run goooot plz! This is what has to be done tho if you aspire to make it big in the game. Well, for the live scene anyway.

Which brings me to Online. I have been enjoying the grind lately, not much results to show for it but I know I'm doing pretty well in general with my play. It's easy to realise how, I just count how many times over the last month I want to break my mouse off the wall at home. Thearetically, 2-3 times a night when deep which is pretty good considering I only play like 6-7 games a night. I'll probably crack soon screaming BOMBARDMENT, meanwhile throwing as much technology at the wall as possible. Bah, who am I kidding, I won't. Especialy if it's anything to go by when I bust one live event in particular last year. For ppl who don't know I went up to my room having a few kicks at this and a few kicks at that to then turn and reaslise what I thought would have been my trail of destruction to find only a single pillow lying on the floor. Gutted. If you can't laugh at yourself who can you laugh at?!

The moral of the story is I know I've found my drive once again. To get so worked up means you care and that was something that had desserted me for quiet sometime online. I lost my drive and suffered because of it. A bit of a fiasco behind the scenes did most of the damage to me, my head was melted. I'm coming out on top of this one tho so you know always keep working hard even when you hate it. Love the game.

Another interesting fact came to my attention about online winners this year. Pretty remarkable stuff really. Only two players in Ireland are winning over 100k for the year in mtt's, consider this with roughly 6 ppl last year you can see something is up with Irish poker. Of course this one stat is pretty silly on it's own as we can all just say 'variance' but try less than 10 players winning over 50k only a slight jump again for guys above 30k and you start to think, wow, really? To mix this with the live scene and this trip, only 4 Irish came to play this Ept from what I can see. So, Is it really just the game getting tougher? Has the game evolved again to the point where playing so many tables might now be costing you money? I know it's standard thing these days to play anywhere between 16-30 tournies a night or if your Jaymo playing 136 in one night, more than my first few months play alone on stars. You sick fuck! It works for him but does it work for everyone else grinding online?

Me personally, I know I've changed my game at the start and mid tourny's. Completely trying to expolit regs and others playing far to many tables. They just can't see what I'm up too never checking their hud until deep in a tourny. By then, when deep, I guess it's safe to say I've changed my end game of tourny's also as these guys begin to open up and start to pay attention once again. Ask yourself this, Are they the one's who are really playing blind now, not me? Over the last month I'm going deep in possibly half my tournies I play which obviously is 3 yet I still hear same guys playing loads of tables say, 'well I don't need to look at huds etc untill I'm deep near end of the night as I'll have 3 or 4 tables left and give them my full concentration'. I play 7 (use to play only 4) they play 20+, I know lol sample size and all that but I am smart enough to realise something is up when there is this big gap for perhaps the same end product.

Of course there is more than one way of looking at it all and I'm obviously not taking everything into account here but there is a pattern developing. I can see it. I think 12-16 is the mark for a nights play hopefully I can get close to 12. I doubt it tho 10 seems like the mark for me but more of you guys can probably handle it better than me. Can you honestly say tho you use your hud correctly and assess situations when playing more than 6 tables at once? or are you just clicking buttons! I say only very few of you can perform this profitably.
The figues don't lie.

Back To The Grind

I've lost the interest in online poker for quiet sometime, close to 9 months I'd say. It had alot to do with finding the drive to get back into the game after spending a long time recovering from surgery. It crushed me mentally for quiet sometime, I think it was just online poker that suffered as live I was still hungry. I'd play a few nights and then give up for another 2-3weeks. Not very professional to say the least but I felt it was the right choice for me over this space of time or I could have burnt out pretty easily considering. It takes alot more to realise when to step back than to continue right threw lying to yourself along the way and probably eventually loosing chunks of your roll.

 I still kept up with the online game as now which most of you know I run a stable which holds brilliant players, it's been a pleasure to just sit back and watch these guys evolve as class players. Obviously I'm biased, but trust me when I say it these guys will dominate live tournys in Ireland soon aswel as the online world. Rob Fitzgerald is the guy I've been surprisingly delighted by his progress. He has taken everything on board and applied it within a short space of time to evolve from being a small stakes grinder to a winning mid stakes mtt'r. Not many can do that within this time frame! Then you got Colin (Hammo) Hammond & Ciaran (Tag) Taggart. You put both these guys in the same category but at same time you get a different mix of styles. Hammo just has the raw talent and he really doesn't know it, he just keeps binking all the time that we have even renamed the Ipoker 30r 10pm nightly game 'The Hammo' as it's ridiculous amount of times he's won it or final tabled it on a regular basis, not to mention many other tounry's. This see's him playing much higher for us now. He is a real gem! To Tag, well, we all know he's a monster. So what do you do with a monster? You let him loose! He will perfect his game and when he does I'll be just sitting here railing him, luaghing in awe of him destroying fields. Another influential part of this stable is funnily enough the biggest online grinder in Ireland, Dara O Kearney. Oh the irony. I cant even play a full week yet here he is never missing one. I can honestly say I don't know how the man does it. To keep that level of consistency & drive is beyond me, yet ppl like Doke are the reason why I'm back to the grind.

Which leads me to the grind. Right now, I'm playing the $700 Wcoop (ITM), along with a pretty big schedule totaling roughly 9k. I like to jump in head first. Gruelling long hours of poker mixed with keeping your head and composure. I will admit tho it has been hard but happy to say I'm on top of it and most of all really enjoying it. So yeah, back to the grind and long may it last.

For live, I think there is one or two Irish festivals coming up but next big one is Ept San Remo, Italy. A favourite place of mine. It's beautiful place and what I like most is how relaxed the hole place is, so mellow, suits me down to the ground. Coming off a decent Vegas score during the summer I'm hoping to drive on from there and really take on the high buyin live scene. Let's hope I can pull it off. Ok thats all from me for now. Short & sweet for once. Gl to all Irish in Wcoop's, bracelet plz!

Some cash action, finally.

It's been a while since I've got the chance at some cash action on regular basis, close to a year even. I have played in Naas which started out with my worst run in any one place but even that bad run eventually came to an end, thank you jebus. It brought a winning streak that span 4 weeks on the trot which got me 2/3 of my overall money dropped right back into my hand. I decided to drop the place tho not just cause of some ratty comments but the game was just dragging out all the time and plo had completely taken over, so for me was good time to move on, live plo is just so slow it tilts me, but if it's your cup of tea I'd recommend the game.

Now for the even more interesting poker hands. I swear, it is more interesting! I must say this game is absolutely epic even tho only 2 weeks have passed since 2-5-10nl game has been running in the Fitz (this week was first formal start to the game). I think this game has alot of potential with only 3 of the same players playing both weeks, so the pool of players is actually there. I have a feeling this weekly game might last the long haul. For anyone wanting to come play, it starts at 8.30pm every Wednesday night.

I decided this game is blog worthy so maybe every week or 2nd week I might blog about the happenings & give some detailed hand histories that will guarantee entertainment for you guys who choose to read it. I will only expose a certain amount of detail that I see fit for the security of my own game mainly & the guys playing also, however most big pot showdown hands will be blogged about I reckon.

First off is a real beauty from last week, some of you might of read the hand on twitter if not here you are. A young chap on his 3rd buy in, limps, Marc Macdonnell iso to 30, comes to me on the button and I 3bet to 120. Here is where it starts to get not just a little but alot weird. Original limper flats my 120 pretty quickly, folds back to Marc who decides to make it 290 to go. It's back on me, right here I'm eyeing up my own stack and it's roughly 1k so it's the perfect size to shove in here and try take it down, both the lads cover me by about 500. Before I decide to do this I glance at the original flatter who is bouncing around in his seat fumbling his chips getting ready to call Marcs 4bet, so I get spooked as this guy is pretty random. I take that read and fold my hand. Sure enough the guy flats and the two guys take a flop of Kx6s7s, limper goes for the lead out for 300, Marc calls. Turn comes Ax and now the action slows to check check. Off to the river and this brings the 8s, also it brings quiet a laugh with it too, limper now leads out for 400. Action now on Marc who thinks for about a minute and shoves the river effectively putting the chap all in. Right here I'm kinda kicking myself knowing Marc more than likely has complete air the way action has played out pre & post flop. Meanwhile with me thinking like this the action is still on the young chap who's throwing his hands in the air, giving it loads that he hates the situation Marc has put him in. He counts down his 100 & 25 chips but not his 5s & gives it a few more shrugs and calls all in. I'm pretty sure this guy thought he only had 600 behind but instead had close to 900 with all the 5chips.
Showdown: Marc KTo & limper QQ.
When the chap called he asked Marc had he got it, Marc shrugs and says he just has a king, the young chap goes mental with himself, f this and f that and shows the QQ. I mean to say I have never pissed myself laughing as much at a poker table in my life. The hand, the reactions, the crowd gathered around were all absolutely priceless. I have just never seen pocket queens so butchered in my entire life, like he actually didn't do one thing right in the entire hand. Was just so funny. Memorable hand! Wp Marc for the value shove, lol.

Our 2nd hand brings us to a more serious and possibly the most interesting cash game hand I've ever played. Nick Newport puts out a straddle for first time in the game. Immediately as the straddle chips dropped from his hand I think all 3 of us involved in this hand Nick, Marc and myself knew the dimension of what was going to happen before the chips even hit the felt. So the hand played out like this, Marc opens to 30, onto me in the sb and I make it 120 to go with Js7s, bb folds and Nick tanks for a min which means you know what is gonna happen, yup, he makes it 265 to go. Action is back on Marc, now this is where it gets interesting, he chose to flat call after a bit of a pause. I now stop with action on me to evaluate the situation and what my next move would be. Stacks are, Nick - 1,600, Marc - 2,500 and myself with 1,700. My thoughts on how the hand has played out so far was kind of to what I expected was a possibility at the start of the hand. When Marc just flats here, his representation is normally TT - QQ but in my head I just new Marc was floating Nick in position planning to outplay him postflop, also at the same time from Marc's point of view I'm going to have to be nutted or have a decent pair to either 5bet or call to continue in the hand. So right here after getting rough count on Nick's stack I work out it's prob not best to 5bet as to push out two players I would have to make it close to 700, basically that would commit me to call off my entire stack if either of the guys had shoved, in my head I am only worried about Nick having a monster but he is so easily capable of the 4bet here, easy is an understatement! Folding is obviously the right option here, well in saying that the word 'right' is used for normal hands where the normal guidelines trump any creative side but this was a totally different dynamic so for me those guidelines go out the window and the creative side takes over. (I think this thought process goes hand in hand with the debate between Lappin and Chubbs.) After all my thoughts, I go with the flat call option. I'm calling oop vrs two of the best players in Ireland with Js7s planning on outplaying them postflop, oh the levels, oh the sickness.

Flop comes out 9s3x3s. It goes check, bet 395 from Nick and flat call from Marc. So it's back to me again. It's actually a pretty good flop for me here all things aside but my plan still remains to outplay these guys so the obvious check shoving the flop doesn't really make any sense from other guys point of view so I could be looked up as easily as ace high, that play is out. Once I seen this flop come down,I went from ooooh a flushdraw to my normal instincts was ugh bit crap that board is paired to that is the perfect flop to continue my plan on. Here is why:
I repped mostly a mid sized pocket pair preflop when I decided to over call and I doubt the two guys had me on much else due to this hand being the only hand to play out this way with so much preflop action, so to state the obvious they had no reason to give me a loose range, also there is no way I have an Ax hand here, I would 5bet call a shove knowing I have at least 30% equity in the hand, but the two guys do not know that.
With the flop reading 933 it is going to be tough in their eyes for me to continue in this hand, tbh the chance of me calling on this flop is in the old 1% crew, so I knew the guys would know this and almost certainly rule me out of the hand once it went c-bet, and call, therefore this is the perfect spot for another overcall. I am completely trying to rep only one hand and that is pocket 9s for a flopped full house. This is my goal in this hand. Even when I paused, before deciding to call, all the attention was on me and I know how it looks. The guys have to be thinking ok wtf is he tanking about now because 99% of time I just muck this flop to that action. Knowing the guys have no choice but to only think this way, I proceeded with my plan and flat called to rep 9s full. The word spooked I am using alot lately, so spooked seems fitting for this one.

The turn brings Ax, this card almost insures that there no betting on this street. like why would nick shove the turn with Aces full if he indeed had them, he wouldn't, he knows that would be a woeful mistake. Also it stops Nick from further bluffing this hand for the same reasons I just gave above because he knows that Marc and I know this. It's a shutdown card for him. For Marc this card can never help his range, in fact it only hampers him. The range he is repping all he can ever do is bluff catch now, if indeed he actually does have TT-QQ to bluff catch with that is. To me nothing changes on the flop I still think Marc still flats to float Nick in position. Also, not to mention my line in this hand still more than likely has these guys spooked if not done with their own bluffs.
I thought about leading out on this turn card to create another level inside the current leveling going on in this hand (writting about hh is like fucking inception, it is the best way to discuss hands tho) but I decided against this because it was an ace that hit the turn, other cards and I might have gone with lead out into the two guys making them think why would he lead out here if he had it? It would be a pretty stupid bluff leading out knowing either one of us can shove on him? Is he doing this to make me shove so he can snap? etc etc questions. So trying to level inside a level is pretty complicated stuff, if you get one small thing wrong either of these guys would pick you off.
It goes check, check, check.

River comes Kx, so no flush for me which weirdly enough I'm kinda ok about, obviously it sucks but once I see I have missed it I begin to think what my next move is. Obviously there is no other decision but to lead out here so the question is, how much? I don't think shoving over a grand is the right move here as I just wouldn't do it with 9s full, I prefer to make the same bet as I would if I was really this strong. Remember these guys know me and obv remember my sizing when I'm nutted in polarized spots like this. Pretty much any decent size amount will get the same job done. I decide to bet 640 on the river. This makes Nick realize he cannot bluff now unless he wants to go for sickest one of all time the old reshove bluff with less chips. Nick after a short pause, mucks his hand (when in big pots as I make ppl fold I say 'init' in my head, Nick will get a lol out of that, private joke sry). Ok, only Marc to get through now and I'm feeling pretty confident considering the range he has repped in this hand. He asks me 'do you always have it' with an ugh and a smile, I gave no response like always. So either he is going to pass quickly enough also ie. he was floating Nick in position and now has to give up on the hand as there is nothing else to rep or he will go into the tank with TT-QQ to re-evaluate the entire hand to make sure folding this range is the right decision. Marc goes into the tank. Right here I'm thinking ok I have not given Marc enough credit at the start of the hand but this won't really effect my river bet here now as he only beats some random insane crazy bluff and If indeed I somehow was there is no way I took this line to try bluff at the pot surely? So even here and now I really like how I played this hand and he in turn has to worry about suited Ax hands even tho I know I would have went with any ace pre. Marc is now in the tank coming on close to ten minutes which actually slightly worries me, also a crowd has now gathered (probably the entire fitz) as this pot has escalated to roughly 2,500 and over 3k if Marc calls. It doesn't help me with the added variable of the crowd being around to get this bluff through as in Marc's spot he not only gets to call and show a good hero call or tap the table and muck his hand if he gets it wrong and nobody will ever know what he had. Another problem I had not totally factored was the possibility of Marc having a random 9 in his hand, like I had thought about it but obv you do not go into detail thinking about a random card that will probably be rarely in his hand. So as he is taking so long it now comes to my mind that he more than likely has a 9 in his hand and no matter how he adds the entire hand up it's going to seem fishy to him and the chances now of me having 9s full is evaporating as he tanks. Getting this bluff through becomes almost non existent. The only thing going for me now is previous history with Marc nearly always having it versus him in the last 2-3 months.

Result: Marc eventually calls and shows j9o to claim over a 3k pot. Nice call buuuudy.

My conclusion to all of this hand is mostly all about him having the 9ball in his hand. I don't think I could have played my hand any better and I am happy with my creativity and execution of my plan in this hand. I really feel with any other hand Marc has to fold allowing me to pick up the pot and more than likely show the bluff too. That was a pivotal point in the leveling war between Marc and I. I was just getting ahead but you just have to hand it to him, it was still a good call, it's to be expected when you sit at table with a player of his caliber. This shit is not over tho buddy :).

I was in for 3k now after this hand as I had to top up. I did manage to win another 3k pot back off Marc again where I flatted A2o on the button to his cut off raise. It's three way to the flop with bb coming along. Flop is Ad6h7h, bb checks, Marc bets 30, I call and bb calls. Turn comes 2d, bb checks, Marc now bets 85, I make it 245, bb folds and it's back to Marc. Marc makes it 660 to go now. Ok, I'm slightly worried but with such a draw heavy board I don't think I'm getting away. Also it looks like I could be on the big draw too aswel as him. I count down my stack and I have 1,500, 850 more so I shove to the disappointment of Marc who said he thought he had effectively stuck me in for half my stack which would have forced me to call or fold my big draw knowing shoving was never getting through. Marc ends up calling, I tell him I have A2 not the big draw he was hoping I had. River comes another Ace to give me aces full. Marc mucks and I'm not only back even but showing slight profit. I won about 700 overall for the night.

That's it from me with the hand histories for now, hope you have enjoyed them as much as I have. Hopefully next week will have a few more notable hands.

Let the leveling war continue.

Some high rolling in February

I began writing this blog post a couple days ago & basically I just had to scrap most of it but for good reason. The reason being I have just won the High roller deepstack event in D4, Dublin, run by D4 events. Absolutely chuffed with the win. This game was 2.5k buy in which started with 19 players taking to the felt & also boasted a prizepool of just under 45k with 19.5k of that going to the winner. Being a small field but large buy in, it was full of top players which included the likes of Johnathan Duhamel (wsop main event champion) John Eames & Marc MacDonnell but to name a few.

Highlights of the win of course involves a few sick hands and alot of luck, basically at one stage on the final table I lost a 3 way all in and was left with 5 big blinds, you guys know what happened next. A few hands stood out over the course of two days of poker. Making a call for nearly all of my stack near end of day1 holding 66 on a board of Q93,Q,T was a good read, he just bet a little too much on the river and was indeed bluffing when I called. That put me 3/8 in chips going to the final table the next day.

On the final table it was a very tight game throughout with especially the bubble play making for some great action. Myself & Max Silver began as the two shorts stacks both surviving our all ins to double through. Wouldn't you no it by the time the bubble burst myself & Max were now the two chip leaders. It's a funny old game sometimes. We eventually went 3 handed and 3 handed and I was fortunate enough to find kings vrs Max's 66 to win a huge pot and take the outright lead. Few orbits later we loose Max in third place. I was now heads up With Tim Farrelly with a slight chip lead. I've gotta give Tim alot of credit, even tho he might have satellited into this game he was never pushed around by this strong field & more than held his own outplaying quiet a few players constantly. I won a pivotal hand heads up when I made two pair on the river and check raised Tim's river value bet which was called and I showed him the bad news. This pot saw me stride ahead in chips. My winning hand of the tournament was TT the same hand I managed to knock Max out with for 3rd. Myself & Tim got it all in preflop my TT vrs his A8, no help for Tim on any street saw me lift the trophy.

A special note I must add, today of all days was my late fathers birthday so to win a tournament on his birthday was pretty special to me I must say. Funny how this world works ay.

Back in action tomorrow for the €500 main event, it really is a life grind anyone who tells you different could not be more wrong, but you gotta love it.

I was also in Deauville, France, lately. Had a pretty good time there, the architecture of all the buildings over there is really class, photo should explain this better. As my good friend Fergal Nealon said they are all about style and class in France & he could not be more right. The Ept there is probably the softest one I have ever played. It still mind boggles me that some people who clearly haven't a clue and are dead money still enter these games at €5,300 a pop. I'm not complaining tho, more the merrier in my opinion, it only increases my edge on the field. I bust day2 of the main event with two cooler hands but was lucky enough to cash in the side event for about €5k so it just about covered my trip. Fergal himself had a deep run in this but came up short of the final table, still good run all the same. Also, big congrats to Big Mick G who final tabled the main event but unfortunately finished in 8th position, still a pretty good achievement by anyone's standards.

My last entry also informed ppl I was going into the staking business, not even a month in and one of my horses, Rob Fitzgerald shipped 30rebuy game on Boyle Sports for 4.5k and same night Colin Hammond finished 3rd in another tourny. Colin showing great consistency with 4 final tables already. So that was a pretty good night I must say & congrats to the lads. Showing huge potential these guys are. It helps the lads that Alan McIntyre is in the group also. Alan is quiet simply a phenomenal player on the verge of breaking into the big time, he's got the game & is probably one of the most gifted players on the Irish scene, the potential I see in him is sky high.
Also we have another addition to the stable this time as a partner in staking none other than Dara 'Doke' O Kearney. So his general luck is a great help, lol.

Ok, that's it from me now for another while.

Finally Xmas break

Not that I need a break from poker it has more got to do with all the travelling and boring hotel rooms that I constantly find myself in. I suppose tho these are really the only down sides to been able to travel anywhere I like playing the game I love for what can be hundreds of thousands if I do bink one, maybe get the old million euro rush and win two big ones while I'm at it. Being rolled for all these high buy in games is pretty sweet, even tho it has not been going so well. I'm pretty sure it's just small sample size & getting dogged by every fish I've come across in these games that have stopped few deep runs. You would be woefully surprised to see the amount of guys in these games that either haven't a clue, do not want to learn or the guys who still play knowing there game is not good enough to compete on such a high level. I feel like giving them a souvenir in the form of a lighter after they get felted, either that or the money toilet roll I stumbled across the other day, either way there just burning money! Let them on tho I guess, only helps me more in the long run.

I recently had a deep run in San Remo tho tbf, even if it did end in a cooler squeeze with ak only to walk into AA, it was still good experience and great on a personal level that I can hold my own or best some of the top pro's around. I play a different game and I think it works great in these events. A few particular hands stood out from that tourny, being super card dead on day one, controlling myself was the key, I played super tight and it all paid off in the last two levels of the day. It was all preflop with me up until this point, I 4bet the same guy twice to keep my stack close to starting. I got my double up in the form of AT when I turned trip tens v pocket Queens and got paid in full. I then managed to run my stack up to 90k with some nice moves, one being so in zone I 5bet a guy noticing his stack size was just absolutely perfect for me to make this play as he would fold anything up to jj-aq, he made mistake himself not thinking two steps ahead and after he tanked what was for about 6 minutes he eventually released. I lost flip at end of day to double a shortie but was no biggie considering my stack size being very healthy. Day two was a good table draw to start with until Vanessa Selbts & Shaun Deeb moved into my direct left to replace the fish who had departed. I adjusted and played pretty tight again picking my spots pretty carefully. Prob biggest hand stood out was on the exact bubble, I raised into the chip lead with AJo but I just new what this guy was up too and sure enough he 3bet from the bb, I wasn't going to lay this down to him even knowing I could make the money easily if I folded, that's not me I don't just want to cash I want to take every spot and put myself in a position to win. So I shoved the loot in as casually as you like and got the fold from him. Myself and BigMickG were just talking about bubble on the break, we had same stacks size roughly and new we couldn't open without sticking it in as big stacks were putting maximum pressure on, think Mick was still surprised I shoved with AJ on bubble, right play v this guy tho. Beats shoving 70 bigs with two 77s ay Mick lol.
I pretty much played same game throughout rest of that Ept knowing if I got the double up I could go on the attack, shame the guy had to have AA tho. Still great trip and I will always be going to Ept San Remo, great tourny and place I must say.

I'm here in Prague airport while I'm writing this, taking a chapter out of Doke's book, no better time to blog. It's nearly Xmas which means another year of poker is just over. I must say this year even without going to Vegas and being lade up for some time stil has been a pretty profitable year, I'm averaging high figures every year in mtt's according to the Hendon Mob which is pretty good, I look round at other ppl's Mobs and there years to be so erratic big score then nothing for a year or two and so on, I'm still waiting for my big one but when I do get it, I'll know all the grinding and hard work really has paid off. Last year was my worst year in the game since I hit the scene, was pretty gruesome but I still managed to turn profit even tho was my worst year in mtt's and a loosing streak in live cash that lasted almost the year, truly tilting. This year however I've been winning pretty big even with Naas now back in the picture I'm starting to turn that tide around too. I'm gonna lamp them every week for a year when variance kicks in, everyone is getting destroyed, even if they are some of the soundest men I have ever lost money to, still the fact remains I'm loosing in that place and my competitive nature won't let that die off. Bink ty, bink ty, bink ty. That's way it will go.

What a crazy year tho, there really has been some serious lows as I look back through the year but hopefully variance will kick in for next year and I can smash up the high buy in poker scene.

Early next year I think March, I'm up for appeal to get my driving licence back, two things can happen here, if I win my appeal that's brilliant I finally get back on the road driving at my own leisure and having my Toyota supra on the road will be epic. If I loose my appeal, that's it for me I can't go on waiting around on other ppl it's not fair on them and it's not fair on me so I will be moving country, which means no more grinding the Irish poker scene for me, well bar a trip home for the Irish Open of course (as long as the improvements are met). I am actually rooting to stay, I'd like to stay here for another two years and then jump ship to America also hoping online poker ban will be lifted by then.

In other news I've decided to do some staking, I've set it all up on Irish Poker Boards so feel free to apply ppl. Link not working for some reason... just go to the staking/selling section on Ipb.

I think I'm done for the year for the live Mtt's, not sure but think my next outing will be WPT Dublin, should be a great game even tho it is a bit of robbery with reg fee and funds witheld but for me it's a must play, gotta be in it if I want to win the old triple crown some day :).

Ok that's it from me, everyone have a good Xmas and see you all at the Wpt in the new year.

From highs of Remo to the lows of Iwf

Just a quick blog on this, mainly because it's tilting the balls off me! Had great time in San Remo and was unlucky to run my AK into AA right after I had just won a flip with AJ v Elio Fox 66. Was kinda tilting especially getting the slight slowroll on top of the loud screaming chanting when the guy won the pot, it really didn't phase me all that much I was just crushed that I could of been sitting top 10 in chips with 70 players left. I would of felt at home with that stack and would pick ppl off for sport but enough dwelling ay. Defo will be back again their next year, was even more delighted to get phone call like 3 days before to say I could fly. Made all the difference and felt like I was on a life freerole. Also lobster in San Remo was epic! Overall great experience.

Back home and straight up next was Iwf, Now I say all this in the slight hope ppl at Paddy Power will listen and take my points to whats exactly wrong with their tourny's even if I do and will come across annoyed by the hole experience.

I had won a package for this back in August so was pretty happy remembering that on flight home. When I arrived for day1 and with high expectations it just was the same old back in the day theme with paddy power set ups. All the things wrong with events is in this tourny and this is why they are down on numbers (I think there actually oblivious to this). I'm gonna list a few ridiculous faults, this is 2011 poker tourny and seems pp are always 3 years behind the rest of the world, it's quiet shocking as these are the ppl that hold our 2 biggest tournys of the year, what's portrayed really makes me easily see why ppl are not bothered traveling to this event from around Europe. It would be like me going to Cork or somewhere for same structured pub game!
1. How you can have all the late reg players put on the one table as they que up is ridiculous and at the Irish Open when I late regged same thing happened and they had the neck to tell me this was completely random??? I was so infuriated and quiet blank refused to go on same table as 5 top English pros, 1 or 2 top Irish pros and decent Scandis. I got the old snotty treatment and indeed waited, 5 mins later I got my much better table draw. It just shows huge unprofessionalism right before players even get to sit down. Not good.
2. Starting stack, my god like 15k was acceptable back in 07-08 maybe but it's 2011 get with the times already, you are representing Irish poker!!! It's insulting and ridiculous. As if it didn't take you long enough to change Irish open to 20k from a whopping 10k, not 1 casino game gives ppl a 10k stack and you want Europes best to come play this game??? It's sheer madness your asking players who can afford this buy in to loose most of their chance at outplaying weaker players as you are playing so shallow and 1 hit can kill your chances altogether. If you guys can sort this you will get the likes of Europe's top players coming back to these games in drones. As of now it simply goes against every fiber of their body to hop on a plane to give up loads of equity just to play this game...why would they like? They won't!
I'll give an example of how damaging shorter stacks may be, you have limited options facing big bets from amateur players, floating is out of the question which is probably a huge part of top players game, so effectively you have confined good players options down to near same level as an amateur who probably didn't know pr how to use these options effectively like a pro would. In essence their chance at winning is hugely decreased. I have few more points on that matter but I hope you get what I am trying to show you. At least increase it to 20k,(personally I'd like to see more) it might seem small amount but it's huge in terms of options for competent players.
3. The bet sizing rule, again it's like been back in 07 and that's politely putting it. Raising the last bet not the last raise has so many things wrong with it that it's tilting. Now again good players are limited, this time with their 3betting options and again pots get more bloated which once again decreases a good players chance at winning this tournament! Instead of having great last few tables with all top players which would publicize your event greatly by this happening, you will now be left with just few top players because quiet simply no matter how good you are you cannot beat these sort variables unless you run pretty dam good. It's just not good for the future of poker in Ireland that this is the message being sent from Irish poker. It's gamble early, spin up or hit the bar for drinks. Just not good and I'm not slightly over exaggerating this. The future of Irish Poker on a big stage is probably in your hands Paddy Power!

I've spoken to many many top players on their views about this and all these 3 points I brought up are on the top of the list of things they would sort if they could. Just ask anyone of them.

I will leave on good note, your publicity of the event and online qualifiers is brilliant and you deserve a hats of for that, also the sole survivor was brilliant introduction top notch.

Just plz fix these huge issues and I'll be the first to put my hand up and acknowledge the drastic improvements! This was no personal rant just business, it is of course made to look like a rant in hope ppl talk and this gets back to somebody who can and is willing to change things.

If i wasn't outspoken on the game I love well what sort of a person would I be then. Hope the right ppl appreciate this.
Good luck to the future of Irish poker!

Every hand revealed - Masters

I've decided this blog entry will consist of alot of hand histories and my thoughts throughout certain hands from the Waterford Masters. I have not had much drive recently to post up a blog considering I missed Vegas due to been hospitalized for nearly a month and still in recovery process but gladly things are on the up health wise and to get my first live main event festival win was just incredible start back. I pretty much thought about it everyday in hospital where at the time I did not know what was going to come of me before I went under the knife for major surgery for the 2nd time in my life. I guess positive thinking and concentrating on things you love can get you through even the roughest times but also family and friends play a huge part in recovery process too. My girlfriend Joy deserves the most credit through all of this, she left her job to go travelling with me only to have me hospitalized the next day and not to mention the mental aspect of the hole situation plus she loves Vegas as much as I do ha if not more. I owe it all to her for having such a speedy recovery, quite a remarkable woman, thank you.

Ok back to the pokers.

Day1
I arrived late due to the poor timing skills of my good friend Larry Brennan and this set the tone for everyday over the weekend, wouldn't you think we would have learned ay! Larry and Aidan I owe a shout out to for been sound blokes in giving me a lift to and fro from Kilkenny each day and night. Cheers boys.

I am gonna do roughly going to do about 10 of most interesting hands from Waterford Masters.

1.
First hand of the entire tourny I get JJ, what a welcome back to the tables after 2 months without playing poker at all. I have to say I got that little buzz and new I was back! I opened for 150 and got 2 callers, flop 7x8x4x, I c-bet 300 and get raised to 800. Folds back to me, right here I'm already thinking about dumping the JJ but it was draw heavy board so I decided to peel and re-evaluate the turn. It comes a blank 3x, I check, villain makes it 1,650 to go, I take a read that I am behind and fold the JJ face up to the table to see, great way to judge ppl's reactions on if they would fold in that spot or not. Always digging for info :). Later I find out he is a friend of Alan McIntyres so he kindly told me he flopped top 2 pair. Sweet.

2.
I began to feel right at home at the table and I was probably raising between 3-4 hands per round, accumulating nicely. This hand appeared, I open KsQs to 400 (blinds 100-200) youngish guy in the sb 3bets to 1,100 and folds back to me. He is well capable so I'm happy to take a flop in position. Flop 6s5s3d, he bets 2,200, pretty big and he only has 10k left behind, right here I kinda don't like it but I'm just never folding here so I make it try look like I have a big hand instead of shoving I raise to 6.3k. He goes into the tank for quiet sometime and eventually moves all in for 4k more, I call immediately and instantly he goes 'ah you got me', I'm immediately sceptical thinking uggh he has shoved with ace high but instead it turns out he has shoved with KQ off, oh lordy, how, why, are you crazy, eh I'm pot committed hello, all these entered my head and I did ask him how can you shove for 4k more like Ive to call with any random hand der and then I get the good speech 'ah well actually I thought King high was good there' I was like just stop talking buddy ssshhhhh your making it look even worse. Anyway it bricked out of course and we chopped the pot. I was shocked as he played aggro and seemed to have grasp of the maths of the game.

3.
I go on to loose 4 pots on the trot, top 2 loosing to a turned straight etc, dunno how I didn't manage to loose more. Suddenly I was back to just above starting stack. I believe Veira is her name, first hand after being moved to my direct right she opens and I look down at QQ, she is very tight player but I'm just never throwing away QQ here with my rep that she is very aware of. I 3bet and she instantly shoves, puke, but I'm not 3bet folding, I called and Veira tables AQ, board runs out and I'm back to where I was around 35k. Poor woman every time we play I seem to win big pot or knock her out. Guilt!

4.
Before I new it we were playing the last level of the night, I didn't actually realize we stopped at 1am every nite which I was delighted by. Last few hands of the night and I won the last 3. Paul Carr opens utg with shortish stack and I've QQ again so I just flatted I didn't think he would get it in pre. 3 way to the flop and comes 8x7x3x, Paul c-bets 1,400 I make it 3,200 and the bb gives the old well not coming back tomorrow with short stack and shoves for 10k. Paul folds. I make the call and opponent tables A3, boards runs out and a nice top up for me. I finished up day1 with 50k in chips pretty happy with that for sure. Before went back to Kilkenny had few chats with the likes of Doke and Bops ppl I hadn't seen in ages. Most of topics were about Vegas and we came to the conclusion I was lucky I missed out as I get to keep my 50k where most Irish lost theirs lol. At heart tho I still rather go and loose 50k than have the opportunity taken away from me.

Day2
Late again but ready to go after good nights sleep. Rough start tho to day 2 saw me once again drift down to 25k by misplaying a hand and also been hit in 2 others. Day 2 also began the rise of Paul Carr who came back with like 20 bigs and proceeded to spin it up to a monster stack within hours of the restart. Just before moving table won 1 or 2 big hands which settled me nicely, plus getting new table draw was good as big 100k pot with Paul would surely have played out. First hand at new table I was greeted by KK, turned out to be a simple raise, cbet and take it.
5. This hand I opened 7h5h and found a caller in Mark(celtic poker reg). He had position on me and we saw a flop of 2x3h4x, I cbet the flop knowing that Marks calling range does contain mid strenght pairs and he likes to raise them on low flops, it's sick enough as I saw this hand playing out as the flop came down. Sure enough Mark comes in with the huge size raise probably 4.5x my cbet but were playing quiet deep so it was a great spot for me to 'bring the pain' so to speak. I decided to make the big shove on Mark and was delighted to hear no snap call, as he took his time deliberating whether to call it off or not I knew I got this one spot on he has 77-1010. All I needed now was for him to fold and plan went perfectly ha probably the hardest part but thankfully after few mins he mucked 99 face up. Ppl should take something from this hand, the old school way of raising to see where you are is now outdated, it's become too easy for ppl to 'bring the pain' when your stack size acts accordingly, as the saying goes it just leaves you in a world of pain not knowing where you are. This also work both ways ppl should see more where you can be ultra aggressive these days and capitalize on small mistakes like this. I did not show the hand either out of respect and tbh I rarely show what I'm up too! Mark didn't die easily after that he's become a complete torment at these festivals because he is so wild and 99% of the time you need a hand to catch him. Also a gent that man, see n me at the Emop week later and immediately congratulated me on the win.

6.This one was v young guy who let on the entire tourny he is only playing poker 2 months or something redic like that, yet he knew all spots and was min raising preflop and seemed way to comfortable post flop to be a newbie. I cannot remember his name I know he plays a bit with Jamie Flynn so I can see where the good poker comes from. We played a big hand ridiculously deep, he opens ep and I'm in the bb with 44 so I flat. Flop comes down 346 rainbow, he is playing pretty aggro and prob whiffs alot so I just flat his cbet. Turn is 10 and again it goes check bet call, I have same line of thinking here he could easily be double barreling. River comes another 3 to pair up. I was thinking oh lord let him have aces, I check again as he vbets and bluffs all the time here. Sure enough he put out quiet a big bet, I took my time and made the raise to about 1/3 of my stack, almost immediately he shoves on me so you can imagine surprise by this, I for sure said something like ' wtf is going on here'. I took ages and ages as he actually had me covered at this stage I believe we were both chip leaders at the time. I eventually worked out there is just too slim a chance he is bluffing here cause he would just flat with aces. I said 2 hands you have pocket 66's or pocket 10's which is it, no response of course ha. So I folded as much as it hurt but was the right play I felt at the time. A round of the table went and he was kind enough to tell he he had 1010, bad read by me I thought he had 66 lol. We battled all day until end of the day, quiet a formidable opponent I must say! I ran one or two good bluffs but was also lucky to get paid off in a big pot which allowed me to take over the chip lead.

7. This hand was v the soon to be great Alan McIntyre, he's like a hidden gem stil Imo. He was pretty kind enough to donate half his big stack to me but it was not easy work for me to get it. Alan opened ep and I'm new enough to the table, Laois hammer flats in hijack and I'm on the button, as I'm watching Alan seems more interested in what George Power is showing him on his phone so I did the old fake look at my cards only seeing one 9, I was actually looking at the 9 when I spotted all this from Alan, on that basis I went for the squeeze hoping I'd find a muck from both players. It was such a spot as Alan would say. I made the 3bet and was back to Alan, now he starts to pay attention and realized that I've just squeezed so I knew Alan been Alan he prob won't let that slide and of course slides out the 4bet, Laois Hammer has been double squeezed at this stage and reluctantly folds. I'm thinking of the 5bet but I think it would have been a bit much at this stage. I look back at my 2nd card to find another 9... wooop de dooo. Now the hole hand changes. I have position so best course of action was to flat. Oh if I had looked back and found A9 I would have went for the 5bet. This is stil a very tricky hand and threading lightly will be key. It's good flop for me 10x3x5x, Alan cbets, I took my time and flatted. It was still worrying me that he still cbet after the flat as he knows I wont give up easily with half a hand. Turn comes a 6x, he thinks and now checks, I'm a bit shocked as he prob plays jj and qq this way. I check it back. River comes some sort of blank maybe paired the bottom card. He thinks for a bit and checks again. I know I good now but zero value in betting, he could be spooked with jj either. I check aswel, he announces a loan 6 and I roll over the two 9s to claim the pot. My self and Alan had quiet an interesting chat about the river, if he fired the river again after checking the turn it actually looks more like he has a real hand than a bluff cause I know good player would rarely take that line when bluffing. He might have got it true. Most of my read came from Alan allowing his attention been drawn from the hand at the start, I thought he never allow lapse of concentration with a big pair as watching the action pre is vital to picking up read and not going broke with your hand on certain boards. The turn was also huge, he has to jam for his tourny life and probably new with soft field it wasn't worth the risk reward ratio. At least 'collusion' will never be accused as Chris Dowling posted on boards ha. Interesting hand regardless.

Day 3
Yes you guessed right late again for day3, that late that we lost a player in first round of the table lol. Unfortunately Alan McIntyre got ko in the last level of Day2 which sucked but then again another good player gone is always a plus. Now it was time to settle in and play to my normal plan which is picking off ppl playing relatively tight then picking up the pre flop raises relentlessly and once again hiding until short handed play again to resume the constant aggression.

There was two ppl I was curious to see how they would play which was Paul Carr and Adam Earley. I have zero history with Adam only that I knew he was a very capable player. Paul was pretty much the same very limited history but I developed over time in Waterford how he played. Working out a few tendencies was great help but overall I don't think it factored huge in the game as we barely clashed in pots worth writing about. Overall these were the two I would be keeping my eye on.

The two tables left became one pretty quickly, was lightening fast. I did not mind as I had chipped up nicely and it was Adam, Paul and myself the three chip leaders going into the final table.

Adam was now clear chip leader after knocking out Fionn from celtic poker/joint owner of Atlantis casino in Carlow. Fionn got very unlucky but hand played itself once flop came down. Fionn and Liam did me a great favour when I missed the their grand final through being ill. I had won ticket previous year from finishing 2nd and now that I could not make it they informed me they would give me free entry next year. Very kind gesture so just said I'd give them a quick shout out, two very sound guys!

8. This hand took place v Adam, we were now playing 7 handed I think. This hand played out like it did because I noticed when raising utg (Adam on button) he paused for long period of time as if he was going to 3bet then let it go. Mistake by him as I knew now it was his game plan to start 3betting me or at least he was eager to do it. Sure enough utg again I opened 6h7h and now pause again from Adam. He 3bets me this time. I'll just make up some rough figures to give you an idea of how the hand played. I opened for min raise as usual to 16k and 3bet is 38k. Right now with having read I think in hindsight I should have 4bet Adam here but I'm very comfortable post flop and were quiet deep so I took a flop. It comes 10h3hJs, not bad start flopped a flush draw and my immediate thinking was to get check raise in at some point in this hand if I do not hit my flush. I was effectively hoping Adam would continue and continue very strongly so as I could polarize his range therefore making a check raise with air a profitable good play as with reads before he is more than likely at it. Adam c-bet 39k which I decided to peal, pealing gives me a few more options and plus it makes it alot harder for him that if I do not raise his flop bet he cannot jam on me forcing me to fold my hand, also flatting and actually hitting would be great as I would severely under rep my hand and hopefully get 3 streets of value other than that I can rep scare cards etc so I had alot of options and went with the flat. Turn comes Qc, this is tricky it is a scare card but ak is in his range, also I was thinking at the time ak is also in my range too simply because of how deep we were, tbh I was just worried if he had the old k9 or not. I check to Adam and he bets 68k. I had made up my mind after watching him bet so I took little time and went for the check raise to 156k. I think I had roughly 300k in my stack left behind but really here he has the nuts or nada, no way he bets and 1 pair hand so only afraid of k9,ak or qj. He took about a minute but then released his hand with bit of a sigh but I doubt he had much in that spot. At this stage there was loads of ppl gathered around the table so I showed the 6h7h. I wanted to make sure Adam would be quiet for little while so I could continue to chip up well and secure a decent pay day at least. Great hand overall. It's good to plays hands differently and always always pay attention to your table it helped me alot in this hand.

9. This hand was pretty much a quick one v Paul Carr. I'm putting this one is just so ppl remember to watch tendencies and do not get ambitious in hands when you know your opponent plays a certain way and does not 3bet very often unless they have a hand even tho they tend to open alot preflop, different aggression be careful. This is exactly what was going on here, Paul was not 3betting alot but still I could not release my hand. It was a needless waste of chips having a read he is always strong 3betting. I opened from mid position and Paul 3bet from the bb. I had the old A4 off and went for the 4bet effectively forcing Paul to play for his entire stack preflop. Sure enough thos after my 4bet he moved all in pretty quickly and I released. At that stage this was borderline stupid from me with my current read and chip position. I gave up quiet a few chips in that hand as the blinds had just increased. It was too tempting to think if my 4bet gets through it would give me psychological edge plus alot more chips to add to my stack, which normally is good thinking but my read trumps this so stick to your reads ppl its essential.

10. Finally my last hand to write about, it's actually a series of hands and a look at how important tipping the table dynamics in your favour is hugely important. All this took place 3 handed after great showing from Paul Carr finishing 4th. Another notable bust out was Jay, travels to most games in Ireland and was unlucky to run into my QQ late position open when shoving from bb with k10 to finish 7th I believe. 3 handed was left Adam, Michael Walsh (who went from being the tightest player in tourny to being the most aggressive once we went 5 handed) and myself. I had built quiet a nice table dynamic, Adam was dying from a lack of cards to even enter a pot with but also at same time I think he was happy to see Michael and I going at it practically every hand. Hands in between I was taking down preflop. Ridiculous amount of steal attempts I must of had and just as high success rate. The dynamic was this and was great the two boys played along. On the button it was Adam's bb I would open and Michael would be less involved as he was sb, at same time Adam being very card dead (understaement in his eyes I'm sure) was finding it hard to play back at me plus taking a flop oop with mediocre holdings would be tough so I got away with that a bit. Another was Adam folding quiet a few buttons and I was raising every hand sb to bb into Michael and playing him oop with some good success. I did my absolute best to keep this table dynamic going and eventually after 2-3 hours of 3 handed play I was very far ahead, 2mil playing 800k Michael and 500k Adam. I new at this stage Adam was in shove mode and now would pick up the pace. This I did not want. I was starting to feel the hole toll of the entire weekend as this was suppose to be my 'see if I can stand a day or 2 of play' I never thought I would end up 3 handed with chip lead going on 3 full days of poker. I hit a brick wall at this stage and was getting quiet claustrophobic with the lack of fresh air in the room. We played one or 3 more hands and I won all three so I decided to end it right there and offered the boys a deal. Michael was on board but Adam took some time and eventually realized he was getting a great deal after bit of miscommunication on our part. I think I presented the deal pretty well one of my better plays :). I took 12k and trophy I've been after for nearly 3 years and the other 2 guys split the rest, Michael receiving 500 more than Adam but trust me Adam got a ridiculously great deal considering. Trust me tho no brick wall, no deal. Remember tilt the table dynamics in your favour or at least to what your happy enough with to secure your progression at all times!

That's all for the Masters. Also mentioning I never once was all in for my tournament life throughout the entire tourny, normally the trend I set but this time I didn't get unlucky and won all the important hands.


A final special thanks to Fox for his kind words when I was being presented with the trophy. He's a top guy and know him good few years now ever since I use to grind 2 nites a week in what was formerly Blazin Aces but is now known as the Poker Lounge. Great place and learned alot from different talented individuals that played in their and still do. I like to think I took their best plays into my own game. It was fantastic to win the Masters on my bounce back game!

Other recent games I've played were Ukipt Cork finishing 20 something, but also cashing in 3 events in the one schedule, 6max, triathlon and the main event.

Emop was good to see finally landing in Ireland. Doke finishing 2nd was great to see, well deserved score no1 grinds harder than him. He slags Mick McCloskey quiet alot about his age so I'll get one in for Mick.... great to see the drive and hunger Doke has even at his old age :) culdn't resist! The Emop did however how some very poor rules in the game and it quiet infuriated me to say the least. All in all it's great to see bigger buy ins finally coming back to the Irish scene. All these monkey games are starting to make my head spin and I will be striking off at least 5 for next year as there just not worth traveling for with cost of expenses.

Cork, I feel the macau has lost all it's prestige. I ended up busting this one due to being colour blind. I was so infuriated and felt hard done by but at end of day it was my mistake that cost me. Yet I still fail to see how ppl buy chip sets with two colours of huge importance 500 and 5k chips being the same colour. Cost me a good chance at running up a big stack and challenging for first prize. Oh well.

Coming up is a few good tournys (it's just great to be back in action), the likes of Ept London, Irish Winter festival which I won my ticket to online late last month and Mike and Jp's 6-max event. Good looking games coming up and cannot wait for them to come around.

I tried to do short and quick blogs but I have seriously no interest in them it's like keeping a diary imo. I prefer to spend ages writing one big long detailed post than 5 small ones that really doesn't benefit anyone.....Till next time.

My 5 picks v your 5 picks?

So as ever with Vegas within inches of been upon us all again I think its time for my 5 picks of Irish players for a bracelet. If anyone cares to wager v my 5 picks just post comment at the bottom lol don't be shy. Allowed 1 sub aswel seems only fair and you can pick yourself, beats choosing between likes of John o Shea maybe slightly rusty with loosing track of poker with big sportsbetting, or the other side of it an unknown also gifted good Irish poker player. I'll prob still pick John as my sub anyway tho lol.

Unfortunatly for me I have to write this blog whilst been in the great place of Naas hospital. Only couple of days left before I am suppose to leave things have gone belly up, another collapsed lung. That makes it lucky number 4. So after getting all clear only 2 weeks ago my body decides to do a U-turn and of all nights on myself and joys going away party,(I know any excuse for ppl to drink lol, even if it was my 2nd time in prob 6 months) next day or 2 is crucial to see where I stand. If I can't make Vegas this will be biggest soul wrenching thing ever to rob me in quiet sometime. Gotta look at the upside cause if i do get through this boy will I burn up Vegas! I will probably post in my thread on Irishpokerboards to confirm.

On a good note I was in the poker section of racing post, pretty happy to be selected along side those 4 wizzards for top 5 picks for a bracelet in Vegas. I think I was the only 1 not from/based in dublin, dunno if I am happy bout that either as being from Athy doesnt exactly jump off the map as a place to see or go.... Stil I'd rather be a culchie than a jackeen lol sorry guys.

Ok so here is my top 5:
1. Nick heather, 4th last year in a 1k obv knows how to beat those games, brilliant deepstack player. If he gets in same spot as last year definatly see a bracelet for Ireland.
2. Shiner, as most would know him. He has the live game edge too even tho assaming most results over 1mil all online. I just hope he is going.
3. Big Mick G, we all know mick and talk about been in form, totally crushing lately. I hope he is playing more this year than he did for last years wsop.
4. Mark mac Donnell, we all know about his crossbars, i just think he needs a bigger challenge right now and if those big pairs hold for him well then he has huge shot at a bracelet.
5. Sean prenderville, hopefully Sean has cleared time for Vegas, he got there late last year and still topped most with 2 deep runs within his short time there plus making day 3 of main aswell. Monster accumulating chips and monster with a stack, again if he goes deep you would have to fancy him v the field no matter who is left.
Sub. John O Shea, playing all the Plo events and other smaller size fields like so has great shot at a bracelet.

Ok that wraps up my picks for Wsop this year. Should be an epic trip regardless but if I do get the all clear I will be 100% focused on poker especially with Doc saying its a good idea never to drink again. Yikes now that is a statement! Could you imagine me shipping a bracelet and instead of drinking from bottle of don perion I'll be having to settle for carton of Ribena, maybe the tropical one you know spoil myself and all lol.