Genting Poker Series Newcastle

There were two main reasons why I was really looking forward to the Leg 2 of the Genting Poker Series 2013.

Genting Casino Newcastle

Firstly I had never been to Newcastle before & was keen to cross another location of my UK City list.

Secondly, following my success & 8th place finish in the GPS Birmingham, I was eager & highly motivated to top this up by at least a couple of spots (perhaps this was a bit of a stretch, but hey ho, it’s all about a positive & winning mindset right:)

After a smooth 2 hour & 49 minute trip on the train & a prompt check in at the hotel, I had just enough time to nip out & have a little wonder around the beautiful Grainger Town (which is a historic part of the Newcastle) before heading to the Genting casino to do some work:)

I started my GPS weekend by playing in the Button Poker side event. In essence this game works just like a normal NL Holdem Tournament & the only difference is that when a player wins a pot, he/she gets to keep the button & subsequently is the last person to act in a following hand, till someone else takes the button.

I think it’s one of the most fun & entertaining tournament structures I played in. Players become very defensive and are unwilling to let their button go once they acquire it. As a result the play for majority of the participants becomes very loose aggressive with the very wide range of hands!

Anyhow, I managed to final table the button poker event, but my joy was short lived when I got it all in pre with 10,10 v A,Q of Amy Trodd and couldn’t hold. Amy was unstoppable that night- played really well & with some luck on her side too it’s no surprise she went on to win it!

GPS Main event Day 1

Despite not cashing I had a great night & treated the game as a good warm up for the Main Event the following day.

After a good night’s sleep, a cup of yummy Latte in the morning & a lucky outfit sorted and I was feeling great heading back to the Genting casino to play day 1c.

I assumed my starting table, which included a couple of familiar faces & mainly local lads, to be rather soft and I was right. One hour in and I’ve increased my 25k starting stack to 30k without getting down to any showdowns:)

The table dynamics were straightforward & steady and we had some good banter going on and no-one was getting much out of hand.

This was until one of the busted player’s seats was swiftly taken by Albert Sapiano. I believe Albert to be one of the most unpredictable players in poker – he plays any two, so in any given hand he could have the nuts or be bluffing his life away with complete air.

As Albert was sitting two to my right and I had a position on him, I was happy to get involved in a few pots with him:

I raised UTG2 with QQ. I received 2 calls including Albert in the BB. The flop brought 6,6,6 and only Albert check called my bet. Turn was a 2 & we both checked. River was a 9 and Albert overbet the pot x2. I folded.

Albert Sapiano

I couldn’t see him doing this with a showdown value hand. Hence a 6 or a complete air made the most sense.

He knew at that point that I had one of the premium hands so bluffing in this spot would be pretty crazy & definitely a losing play in the long run, plus I’ve noticed previously that he seemed to have a tendency to overbet the pot when he had a very good hand. I just went with my read when making a fold & he proudly showed me 7,6 for a winning hand!;)

Fortunately not long after Albert & I played HU again and this time I won a decent pot when calling his bluff off on the river. We were even!:)

I was ticking along okay & steadily accumulating chips before  abruptly getting a brutal beat for an exit. Here’s a bad beat story for you- I’ll keep it short I promise!

I got it all in on a 7,4,2 rainbow flop with a set of 7s for an over 60k pot (blinds 150/75) and couldn’t hold versus pocket 8s. Sigh!

I was obviously going to re-enter but needed some time away from the tables to refocus first. Fresh air & some chocolates helped a lot & I was back to the poker room with a winning mindset again!

To make it even better, I got a seat 7 on a table 7, a lucky combination of double 7s, which were surely not going to disappoint me!?

The rest of the evening went to plan & I finished day 1 on 50k, which was around 30bb going into day 2. I was happy with that & very much looking forward to next day to hopefully making back to back final tables:)

GPS Day 2

Day 2 went off to an excellent start. I was happy with my seat draw & managed to win a race – JJ v AK – to double up early doors.

Unfortunately, not long after I got moved to a new table & had one of the chip leaders sitting two to my right, as well as another couple of players, who were pretty chipped up, to my immediate left. Not the best spot!

With blinds going up & no premium hands to be found I was playing on my image, and made a couple of timely 3bets & some steals in position to keep me going.

I was down to around 17bb when approaching the bubble and I found myself in a position where I couldn’t do much but wait for someone to bust before I made a move with my stack of course unless I found AA or KK in my hand. It’s a frustrating place to be, but you like to think you’ll pick up a hand, and I simply didn’t.

I think it was one of the longest bubbles ever, short stacks kept on doubling up and players who were getting it in behind, sucking out.

This was very frustrating, as I had no other option but just fold away. I’d never advocate doing this as a general rule as you are playing for the final table, but as you get shorter the cycle perpetuates itself downwards. Finally after nearly two levels of hand-for-hand play we were in the money and down to 42 players! weeee!

I was happy and hoping for some kind of hand with a decent equity to get the remaining of my stack in the middle. 3,9….hmmm…10,2…..7,2 nooooooooo!…..this was not going to plan!

Ellie Biessek

In the end I picked up 7,9 utg but for some reason unknown I decided against it. Looking back, I think it was a definite mistake and I should have shipped my stack in regardless as I only had 6bb & I was going to be all in next hand anyway.

It was out of character for me and a lapse of concentration which does happen to all players at points in a long tourney.

As it happened I was lucky to pick up A,8 in the big blind next but unfortunate to run into Aces of Jeff Kimber for an exit. (40th/400)

I was happy with my performance & another GPS cash on the bounce, and although I made a couple of mistakes and questionable plays I do feel that overall I played well & I’m learning something new every time I play:)

Huge congrats to Ellie Biessek – the eventual GPS Newcastle winner – for such an amazing achievement & a win of £38,750! It is lovely seeing a female poker player picking up this trophy for once!

GPS Leg 3 in Sheffield next. Hope to see you there!

Genting Poker Series Leg 4 Stoke

So far the Genting Poker Series 2012 has been going from strength to strength and the £400+£30 Main Event has proved to be one of the best poker tournaments in the UK attracting not only local stars such as James Akenhead & Paul Jackson but players from all over the Europe.

James Akenhead

I was extremely happy to find that there were 4 Lithuanian poker players making their way to Genting Club in Stoke too!

A juicy final prizepool of £192,800 with over 40k for the winner for 3 day’s  work meant that both amateur and professional poker players had flocked in droves to the Potteries.

My plan for this was pretty simple. I was going to arrive in Stoke on Thursday and play £109 side event as a warm up ( which I busted halfway) before entering the Main Event day 1b on Friday.

Having ran the last couple of weeks +EV even outside poker ( including when my Olympic Tickets for Basketball turned out to be for a Lithuanian v Algeria game:) I was hoping to continue my run good on table 10 – seat 3.

The most recognisable players on my starting table included a professional poker player – Charalambos Xanthos, better known as “Bambos” and the local hero – Yucel Eminoglu “Mad Turk”, who ended up winning the tournament.

I had a decent start and after two levels I had increased my 25k starting stack to  40k with no showdowns but one gutsy 6-bet:) I was feeling confident!

I used my first break to meet & greet the 4 fellow Lithuanian players and have a good laugh whilst talking poker.

The club was buzzing with excitement and anticipation and with the big screens showing Olympic games, we have decided to get our competitive juices flowing even faster by arranging a last longest bet between us.

At my starting table

I was back to my starting table not only more refreshed but determined to win this event!

Jessica Ennis had destroyed the field in the Pentathlon field, and I had around 350 left to hurdle in my own quest for gold.

I was hovering around the 35-40k before we lost a few players and Ben Jackson was seated to my immediate left.

Although we represent the same team and are both Genting sponsored players, it didn’t take us long to get involved in a huge pot, where I lost nearly half of my stack when hitting top 2pair v Ben’s flopped set.

Immediately after I lost another small pot when missing all my draws and went down to my tournament lowest – 14k. I have to admit that at that point, things were not looking up!

Luckily dinner time was approaching and I was due much needed break.

We joined forces with my good mates Lee Atherton, Lee Taylor, Ellie Biessek + Lithuanian team and ended up dinning in the Italian Restaurant just round the corner. Some tasty pasta carbonara & a glass of wine sorted me out just right and I was back to my table still full of confidence.

A little bit of yo-yo and aggression and I was back to a healthy 40k before being moved to the feature table:)

It was all going well and I was steadily increasing my stack whilst looking for opportunities to see cheap flops and take down uncontested pots post flop. I even won my first showdown of the day when getting it all in with AK v shortie’s QQ.

Up & Down

It was approaching the last level of the night and I was up to 60k, when I raised on the button once again with pocket 10s. BB looked at his hand quickly re-shoved all in for 25BB – which was for around half my stack.

It was a pretty standard play by my opponent and a call from me considering the dynamics of the table and the stage of the tournament.

My opponent showed Q6 and was good when rivered a Q and I was back to grinding mode once again for the last hour. Sigh…

It wasn’t easy but I ended up making it through to day 2 with a little below the average stack and was looking forward to another day of poker.

Saturday saw 147 players making it back to the Genting Club to battle further. 42 got paid, but most importantly, only one was guaranteed the trophy +glory + 40k! I was hoping it was going to be me:)

I had a decent table draw and was looking forward to winning some pots. The premium hands never came, so I had to be creative. I managed to grind up to 110k (Avg 150k) with 80 players left, before doubling up when 4-betting all in with 33 and winning v AQ.

At that point I was in a pretty decent position approaching the bubble and was eager to use my new found stack to make even more chips.

Day 2

No such luck tho! Shortly after the 33 hand I was moved to a new table and lost half of my stack to Ross Boatman, with set over set! Double sigh!

I was back to grinding again and with the tournament chip leader & probably one of the most dangerous players left – Steve Warburton – to my right, it was never going to be easy. My strategy was all about playing well and picking the right players.

I was back to average with 53 players left. I was almost smoothly into the money, although I regret losing 25% of my stack with medium pocket pair when fighting back v table captain on my new table – Simon Deadman- just right on the bubble. Oh well, good lesson I guess.

I ended up busting in 32nd when losing a big flip with AQ v Simon’s JJ. Was gutted not to go deeper but still very happy with my overall performance, considering how many time I had to built back with no premium hands or easy double ups.

As always in a deep field tournament, you need to survive the beats and win the flips to make the final table.

It was a fantastic atmosphere in the club, and although it was nearly midnight, the place was buzzing with poker players. I ended up having a few glasses of wine and catching up with everyone as well as railing a Lithuanian player  – Marius Usas, who ended up chopping the £55 GPS side event.

And despite the eating and drinking being the antithesis of athletics, everyone was really into Team GBs awesome night at the Olympic stadium.

Ross Boatman – Stoke Anniversary Cup Winner

Sunday was another day and we were back to the casino for the famous Stoke Anniversary Cup, which has 6k added to the prizepool!

It was another extremely well attended tournament, which created £64k prize pool and provided 3 trophies up for grabs!

Not bad for a £150 buy in on a Sunday! I’d cashed in this last year, and was looking forward to trying to go deep again.

Unfortunately I didn’t go far in this tournament and after a few key pots didn’t land my way, I had my coat on and was heading back to London hoping to make the 100m.

Despite this I had an amazing weekend in Stoke. Met some great people and had an opportunity to catch up with some old poker buddies & happy to add yet another cash to my Hendon Mob player profile.

A huge thank you to all the GPS Leg4 organisers and contributors & congratulations on the success of another great event! The next GPS leg is Online, 30th September and I look forward to seeing you all at the tables:)