Brighton

I flew back in from Cape Town on Saturday morning and after a couple of hours kip at home & a frantic luggage re-pack I was on my way to Brighton for the kick off of the Unibet UK Poker Tour 2017. I was determined to last longer in the tournament than the flight, so I needed to make day 2 as a minimum 🙂

Brighton is a place that holds many fond memories for me and I was both excited and feeling rather nostalgic going back to the city where it all started for me.

Brighton

I lived in Brighton for 5 years after originally moving to the UK in 2001.  I worked there before and during going to university completing my degree in Business whilst very much enjoying a student life in this vibrant & bohemian city.

Brighton is also the place where I met my husband and where I played a game of poker for the first time. I used to make some extra cash by hanging out at the local casinos playing £5- £20 tournament games and dreaming of a future as a poker pro.

So here I was, going back to my old home town in my new role as Ambassador for Unibet which has led me to reminisce about all the random jobs, crazy times & hard work I had to put up with whilst striving towards my dreams and I got thinking about how these related to poker…

Waitress in a very popular seafood restaurant: Like a turbo tournament in a smaller Vegas casino- way too busy for my liking, too many people shouting and of course- being surrounded by fish…

Bar Tender in a popular cocktail bar : Pretty much like busting the Unibet Open– having loads of fun standing at the bar chatting to people, doing shots, drinking wine and getting to bed at 4am before being back up for work early once again the next morning 🙂

Modelling – catwalk +editorial shoots: When you get the most unfriendly table in a tournament. Surrounded by rude and pretentious people for hours on end, waiting around playing only a few hands before min-cashing and realising it wasn’t worth it anyway.

Sales person in a shoe shop: Convincing people that they are looking good with their choices and then paying you off at the end of it as you talk them into a call when you hold the nuts.

Cashier at a late-night bar:  Pretty much like playing online poker in 2007. Taking money off drunk people, working into the early hours of the morning, drinking coffee to stay awake and counting the money at the end of the evening.

Selling double glazing windows door-to-door – the worst job i did! – Like your first live game of poker- no training, not being sure what exactly you are meant to be doing, getting berated by people for your mistakes and making nothing at the end of it. I lasted one day in this job which ended with this classic interchange with my manager:

Manager:”how is it going?”

Me: “well”.

Manager: “whereabouts are you?”

Me: “the beach:)))”

Thankfully poker came to the rescue! As I started to be successful online and then do better in live tournaments I got an insight into what it was like to do a job you enjoyed and be well recompensed at the end of it. This certainly helped as I finished my degree and left Brighton to move to London and the next part of my adventures in life.

Anyhow this trip down memory lane completed I was obviously really pleased Unibet had picked Brighton as one of their stops for the UK Poker Tour 2017 (not just once but twice) and I was looking forward going back to my roots & maybe even seeing a few familiar faces at the tables from the old days.

Brighton is also know as “Little London by the sea” famous for it’s beaches, culture and an amazing night life. I was excited for the players who were coming to this place for the first time.

There was so much on offer with tons of fun activities alongside poker. I find that busting a tournament is never as bad if you can stroll down a pier afterwards and tuck into some of the most delicious fish and chips in the country.

Find out what Unibet Ambassadors did get up to in the video below:)

 

Unsurprisingly the event was a huge success and the £220 Main Event has attracted 261 players which smashed the £40k guarantee by creating a £52,200 prize pool.

My poker journey this time, regardless of home ground edge, didn’t go to plan 😦 I did make day 2 but then lost a big flip for most chips & then ran AJ into KK for the rest.

It was a great final table though, with a perfect mix of online qualifiers, recreational players & some pros. I was especially delighted to see 3 female players still in fighting for the title, trophy & £14,090 cash!

Final table baby!

Local hero Deborah Worley-Roberts seemed to have the biggest rail but unfortunately bust in 3rd for a decent £6,140 payday.

Well done to eventual winner Mateusz Krzyzewski from Poland who secured his trip to Brighton for only €25 at Unibet Poker. It shows how you can spin up the smallest amount, to a barrel of cash and get to visit some great places and meet fun people whilst doing it!

The champ Mateusz Krzyzewski with the runner up Renata Jack

It was great to have a professional photographer (Tambet Kask) & a hard working content team on board so everyone who is interested in this tournament could follow fun & accurate updates online whilst supporting & railing their favorites.

This does not usually happen in smaller buy-in events & it was great to see Unibet being the pioneers of this!

I look forward to returning in October for some poker, fun and hopefully an even bigger turn out!

Unibet Open London (Part 2)

Post my exit from the Main Event, the next stop was a bar obviously:) I was rather disappointed at that point but a glass of wine and 10 hugs later I was feeling myself again.

I think that one of my favourite aspects about Unibet Open events is that you are always surrounded by friendly and approachable people and there is always someone on the bench happy to interact and have a chat including organisers and players alike.

Happy dealers 🙂

Another glass of wine & a few bad beat stories out of the way (not by me:), we decided to head out for some food. I was the only Londoner in the group and felt compelled to take my poker mates somewhere cool and easy.

Busaba – (my most frequently visited Thai restaurant chain in London) seemed like a perfect option for this and I’m glad it was a big hit with the guests too.

Some fresh air, tasty food in a  great company and I ultimately ended up back in action in the £300 Deepstack side event that night:)

We had a pretty insane table draw. It felt like a re-run of the Ambassadors Sit&Go! Unibet sponsored pros Dara and Espen were seated to my right, David K Lappin and Dan Murariu to my left and a very good Scottish player Stuart McNally in between.

Side Event, sandwiched between Dara & David

Although it was tough competition, it was a fun table at the same time too. We were having plenty of banter and enjoying some top class lines delivered by David who is a comedian at heart (and a very skilled poker player too). He managed to bluff me off QQ in a 5bet pot whilst telling a joke, so well played David:))

That cheeky bugger eventually took the rest of my chips when my KK couldn’t hold versus his JJ all in pre. Unfortunately it was one of those “run bad”days for me…

I joined the rail and watched David, Dara and Stuart making they way to day 2 before heading home at 3.30am…

Saturday morning I met up with the Unibet Digital team for some filming regarding the upcoming Unibet UK Poker Tour leg in Brighton. It was great experience getting involved in some promotion work & getting to meet the team behind the scenes:)

Coffee first…

Snapchat after:)

Official work out of the way, I was excited about catching up with my beautiful Dutch friend Dehlia for a coffee and some Snapchat antics of course (Dehlia is the queen of selfies:)

Not long after, I headed back to the Vic to rail my friends who made day 2 of the ME and the £300 side event.

I was especially excited for my friend Kelly Saxby handling a big stack whilst appearing very comfortable at her table. I was hoping for a deep run and it would have been lovely to see a local female player at the final table.

Unfortunately it was not to be for Kelly and a few hours and a couple of coolers later she was out 4 spots away from the money 😦

Here’s a great interview with Kelly post her exit:

Strangely my friends Dara & Andy Hills busted their tourney’s at a very similar time and 4 of us decided to head out for some food and post hand analysis. That’s what happens when you hang out with poker players, you end up living and breathing poker.

I really enjoy discussing key hands and pots with my mates tho and I truly believe it’s one of the easiest and most effective ways to train & improve your thinking which helps to stay ahead of the fast advancing perpetual poker curve.

Some Lebanese tapas and mint tea later we were back to the casino to rail David Lappin & Stuart Mcnally in the side event.

Well done to David  who eventually finished 11th & super well played Stuart who unfortunately missed out on a trophy but pocketed a healthy £ 7,365 for his efforts;)

It was nearly 7pm and everyone was getting very excited for the Unibet Player’s Party later that night.

We decided to skip the side event for the joys of the big night out in London. My hubby John had a few mates visiting him from Manchester and  was having a few drinks at home. So I invited a few friends of my own and had a mini house party to warm up before heading out 🙂

We got to the The Loop Bar at around 12 and the place was buzzing with groovy 70’s tunes and moves to match. It was a swanky 3 floor venue with disco style main dancing floor.

It was so much fun; great dj & atmosphere all-round and I was glad to see so many poker players who seemed very focused at the tables earlier letting their hair down ( some quite literally!) and having a ball on the dance floor.

I was enjoying the cocktails and the music and no surprise ended up dancing non stop till the lights in the club came on…

You can check out the highlights of the Players Party in the video below:)

Next day was all about chilling & resting my achy feet whilst watching the live stream of the day 3 of the Main Event from a comfort of my home. Ever informative and with the usual accompanying witty and insightful commentary it helped pass a day on the sofa quite nicely.

My friend Tamer Kamel was still in with 13 players left but unfortunately bust in 12th.

I was also rooting for a recreational player called Rauno Tahvonen AKA “Estonian Jesus” who was a fun character to have on the UO London final table and follow on the live stream. He was great for table banter and played his heart out to finish in 6th for £13,650. Not a bad payday for a weekends work for a skateboarding instructor 😉

Very well done to a Belgian Gerret Van Lancker the last man standing and the eventual winner of the Record-Breaking 2017 Unibet Open London leg for £ 71,950.

And there it was – an end to yet another fantastic & a very successful Unibet Open leg. Well done to all the lovely people involved and I very much look forward to seeing you all in Copenhagen next.

Unibet Open London (Part 1)

I was very excited about the Unibet Open London Leg and had been looking forward to it since my return from their smashing stop in Bucharest last November.

I was glad to learn that the festival was going to be hosted at the Grosvenor Casino better known as “The Vic” which is my favourite casino in London and my local poker room I visit on almost a weekly basis.

I am fond of this venue for a number of reasons; it is usually very well run and has a great floor staff , the vibe at the tables are friendly & welcoming.

The casino itself is placed in a very central location on Edgware Road surrounded by a vast number of restaurants & coffee shops, and only 10 minutes walk away from all the hustle & bustle of the world famous Bond & Oxford Streets.

The poker room at The Vic

I had no doubt The Vic was going to be a big hit with the new visitors to London for the Unibet Open.

My own Unibet Open London experience started by me heading to the Hilton Hotel where everyone I know & previously met in Bucharest was staying.

It was a great night catching up with friends and meeting new people too but I was the most excited about seeing Dara, Dave and Ian and having a celebratory drink together to toast their success on officially becoming the new Unibet Ambassadors.

Ian Simpson (left), Dara O’Kearney & David K Lappin

Congrats once again guys; all 3 of you are very kind, friendly and fun characters as well as very skilled poker players and I believe you are going to be the perfect representatives for Unibet brand.

I headed to the Vic on Wednesday. The place was buzzing on my arrival; there were satellites to the main event and cash games running, also there were last minute prep work being done for the invitational eSports & The Ambassadors Sit&Go’s.

It was truly great atmosphere all around and I enjoyed being a social butterfly once again:)

I ended up meeting a few professional online gamers including the European Hearthstone Champion Thijs Molendijk and the eventual winner of the eSports Battle Royale – Alan Widmann.

Alan Widmann

All the guys were friendly and approachable regardless of their huge fame in the complex world of gaming (admission here- my knowledge of the world of eSports was zero prior to this evening), so it was interesting getting some insight into their world and understanding some of the parallels with online poker.

Then I got approached by Marc Convey to join him in the commentary booth for the Ambassadors Sit&Go which I happily agreed to.

Marc is always a fun person to hang around with and I was excited about bringing different perspective; female charm and some technical analysis to the table;)

Enjoying commentary stint with Marc:)

The line up for this event was pretty incredible with many very talented & experienced players with staggering live results under their belts.

The Swedish online sensation Viktor Blom , Romanian superstar Dan Murariu and the Irish legend Dara O’Kearney to name a few. I was looking forward to watching them play some great poker.

My bet for the win was on my close friend Dara; he had the most final table experience and is one of the best ICM specialists in the world. I knew he was likely to play a mistake free session.

There was a £10,000 prizepool with top 3 places getting paid 5k,3k & 2k effectively.

Unibet was also offering some great odds on the players to win or bust first, and I placed a couple of bets on my favourites in each category.

Unibet Ambassadors Sit&Go

I had a great time and some good banter with Marc in the booth; we even had some Sambucas and managed to send a round of tequila shots to all participants on the feature table:))

The shots were kindly accepted and I was pleased to see the players interacting with each other and having fun (drinking beer, eating bananas and sharing a box of Ferrero:):)

Congrats to Charlotte who eventually outlasted all the storied competitors at the table to take the tournament down.

Here’s the link to replay, the Ambassadors Sit&Go and guest commentary by me starts at 6 hours or so in the stream

Ian & banana action (left), Charlotte and Espen

It ended up being another late night for me with lots of poker chat, laughter and drinks with both old friends and new.

I took Thursday off to catch up on my sleep, do some yoga and prepare myself a little for the Main Event day 1b the following day. I wanted my head to be clear and feel in the zone for the big game although I have to admit it was very had to reject all the invites to head out.

Hanging out with my new friends:)

Friday – the Main Event. The Unibet Open always attracts a diverse and international player field which usually leads to a fun atmosphere at the tables and all around the festival. This stop was no exception and there were players from Sweden, Holland, Russia and even Singapore on my starting table.

This event has a superb blind structure; with a 30k starting stack and 1 hour clock I was looking to take my time to settle in and profile the players.

Unfortunately poker didn’t go to plan for me and from the very start I was chipping down rather than chipping up:(

I lost a chunky pot with AQcc when flopping top pair +backdoor flush & straight draws, actually turning a nut flush draw and annoyingly bricking the river. I’m pretty sure the had me outflopped so it was an easy fold on a paired river.

Then I picked up KK in the cutoff and elected to open x2.2, the btn called and a very friendly but super aggro Russian player in the BB decided to squeeze 3bet.

I was 70bb deep at that point and my options were to either call or 4bet with the intention to get it in. The only time I would ever consider flatting in this spot if the player who re-raised was very tight & would only be ever doing this for value only with the very top of his range (the same hand or aces).

However noting that my Russian opponent had proved happy to get AKoff all in pre-flop for for 150bb earlier, he was certainly the kind of player I would be looking to play for stacks with a pair of kings.

So I 4bet, he 5bet shipped, I snapped and to my horror he rolled over a pair of Aces…sigh..

GG Main Event

It was a very disappointing exit from the tournament I was looking forward for so long but I knew there was more fun to be had and was looking forward to playing some side events and attending the players party next 🙂 TBC…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sri Lanka

With the festive season out of the way and not much happening in the UK in January poker wise it seemed like a good time to head on a new travel adventure:)

The criteria for this trip was pretty straightforward; It had to be a destination with lots of sun, nice beaches and with plenty to explore; also it had to be a country we have not visited before.

Negombo Beach

After some thorough online research and some tips from friends we decided to settle on two different countries. We picked Sri Lanka for its multi-cultural heritage and the wildlife and Maldives for its beautiful beaches.

We started in Negombo –  the beach resort in Sri Lanka located only 10 km from the international airport.

Although it’s meant to be the 4th largest city in Sri Lanka, I found the place rather small & quiet; there seemed to be only one main road with a few restaurants, shops and mediocre spas which opened later afternoon and were shut before 9.30pm.

John prior the cricket game:)

Day time was all about the sports, music and relaxation by the beach. It was a perfect first Sri Lankan stop for us though, where we could ease our way into the new time zone (5 hours ahead) whilst catching up on sleep & still enjoying the relaxing surroundings.

We wandered around and explored a little in the daytime; got involved in some cricket games with the locals on the beach & got to try Sri Lankan cuisine for the first time which mainly consists of assortment of seafood & vegetable curries + rice. (Spicy !!)

Stray dogs were everywhere! (beach restaurant)

Later we discovered Rodeo Pub across the road – a lively sports bar which played great music and served tasty cocktails till 12 am;)

On the 3rd day of our trip, we jumped on a public train from Negombo to Colombo. That was a fun ride!

It was not too busy but with 30’C outside and no air- con on board it felt pretty humid on the train. Conveniently for the locals and tourists alike the train doors did not shut and provide much needed breeze for the travellers.

The train with no doors:)

Crazily enough no one seemed to be bothered about the locals hanging out of the open door on a moving train- to be fair they don’t speed along but still…

Also there were a number of random Sri Lankan food sellers hopping on & off at the stops (moving train) selling the most bizarre food snacks such as dried/smoked fish pieces, colored peanuts and popcorn 🙂

I was very excited about Colombo – the largest city and the commercial capital of Sri Lanka – and was looking forward to exploring its cosmopolitan culture and historic colonial architecture.

Colombo  – walking down the Galle Face Green

We were off to a good start when we stumbled across this very highly rated B&B online called “27” Spathodea & booked it as our hub for the stay in Colombo.

Here’s a shout out to the owners of this little gem – Glenn & Fiona – who not only provided us with a very stylish & cosy room in their beautifully decorated home but also gave us lots of great local recommendations which made our stay in the city so much more fun & memorable:)

We spent one of the days strolling along and admiring the views of the famous Galle Face Green which is an urban park that runs parallel to the seafront.

Temples, floating market & the traffic

Then we headed to the floating market for some shopping and light lunch. The rest of the afternoon passed by visiting various temples…

We got stuck in a traffic on the way back and our tuk-tuk driver was getting more impatient than us…he was taking the shortcuts by driving down the pedestrian paths and pulling out in front of cars driving in the opposite direction. It was a bumpy ride but we came to learn very quickly that this kind of driving is pretty much a norm in Sri Lanka.

Temple on water

We had a wonderful dinner at The Gallery Cafe that night. It’s a beautiful outdoor restaurant which is set inside the former offices of the world renowed Sri Lankan architect Geoffrey Bawa and is connected to an actual gallery displaying the work of the local artists.

The food, service and surrounding were top notch and this was easily the best meal we had in Sri Lanka.

Dinner at the Gallery Cafe surrounded by art

Our final day in Colombo we spent navigating our way around the Gangaramaya Buddhist Temple, which was fascinating and well worth a visit.

It had like 15 different rooms containing random (I mean really random!)  items; there was a room full of sofas and chairs for example.

It had a number of well-maintained outdoor gardens too and meditations areas, also there were hundreds of Buddhas of all sizes and shapes were scattered all over the place.

Despite feeling rather peaceful & calm, the venue felt more like a museum rather than a temple.

Gangaramaya Temple

Whilst on our wanders we discovered a casino and headed there in the evening.

Unfortunately there were no poker tournaments and just one cash table with a punchy 5% uncapped rake, not to mention a long wait for a soft looking table, so we headed for fun on the roulette table.

We met some interesting people around the table including a private jet pilot from the US who worked out of Dubai- explaining that multiple trips and remembering which wife was which (the sheikh had a few) tended to test his memory:)

We even found a way around the bar closing by persuading the bar to serve us beer disguised by being in tea-cups!

Beer in a tea cup action:)

Next up was Kandy- the old ‘capital’ of Sri Lanka where the king had originally resided.

To get there we had the enticing promise of a picturesque two and a half hour train journey. As seems to be standard in Sri Lanka this didn’t really turn out to be the case.

After discovering the engine wasn’t powerful enough to get up the last 45mins hilly climb, we had to wait for 2 hours for a more powerful one. Darkness fell and with it the prospect of the best views….sigh….

Air Con + Cabin TV = Super Luxury Train:)

Kandy itself had a lack of decent hotels, ours had questionable wi-fi, broken TV and clueless receptionists- and this was one of the better ones… The centre itself had zero good restaurant choices and no discernable night life.

Consequently, we ended up in a Chinese restaurant where they had 100 seats, we were the only customers and there were 9, yes 9 staff! To be honest the cricket was on so I think they were all hanging around to watch that really 🙂

The next day was a trip to the famous Tooth Temple (this was average to be honest) some local bakery and then off with our driver to Sigiriya.

Tooth Temple

Our driver happen to be a very friendly and chatty gentleman called Ravi who did a lot to educate us on the vagaries of Sri Lankan life and was unfailingly polite. Do give him a shout if you require a private driver in Kandy (ramanathanm621@gmail.com)

We arrived in Sigiriya in pouring rain. After a couple of months with hardly any rain we were somewhat unlucky. The hotel itself was really nice and we explored the local area sampling hoppers in local restaurants and managed to find a designated wine shop with our new Taiwanese tourist mate so that was an evening in sorted.

Sigiriya rock

The next day was constant rain so- indoor movies and chilling. The following day the sun was finally back and we headed out to tackle Sigiriya.

A huge rock which had been the home to sprawling monastery on the top. People just love a challenge and building this must have been some feat.

After a somewhat hairy ascent we were rewarded with amazing views and that feeling of satisfaction on climbing quite so many steps (nearly a 1000)!

 

We then stopped for lunch in a local and small eatery. The father and daughter couldn’t do enough for their only customers ( the place had 3 tables) and it was as local a dining experience as you could hope for.

Leaving ourselves in their hands there were 6 dishes on the table, then up to 9, then finally 14!!! We felt bad getting nowhere through them… The £6 bill seemed crazy so we left a healthy tip and very, very full.

Sri Lankan lunch feast!

The afternoon consisted of an elephant hunt in the local national park. I mean, not literally- we just wanted to see some! Finally we discovered a family in the wild chewing away at trees and we were 40 metres or so away.

After some photos we remembered we were only in a tuk-tuk and they are huge and I imagine scary if disturbed so we headed back to the hotel.

We went on the search for a restaurant in the evening- it was a Saturday but most were empty or shut so it proved fruitless and we decided to head back to the hotel. On the journey back the tuk-tuk driver had to swerve suddenly, there was a wild elephant just strolling down the dark road. Not something you see every day on the streets of Camden 🙂

The following day we headed to the airport for our flight to Male and to begin our Maldives adventure in earnest. All of that and some poker in my next blog…

Unibet Open Bucharest

Unibet Open Bucharest was the best poker trip of 2016 for me & yes, just in case you are wondering, that includes the WSOP run too 🙂

Here’s why I enjoyed the whole Unibet Open experience so much:

Destination:

I’d been to Romania previously, but never to Bucharest and I can say honestly it surprised me! It was a cool city with lots to offer.

With a fascinating history (like everywhere some good/ some bad) it was rich in architecture with some lovely old buildings in the old town and of course the hugely imposing Palace of the Parliament which was once the biggest private residence in the world!

Bucharest’s Old Town

The day after the Ladies Battle Royale ( see previous blog) I spent exploring the city with with Dara O’Kearney and his lovely wife Mireille.

The vibe all around was friendly and the food in delicatessens tasty and the shopping centres pretty expansive.

When a shopping centre has a roller coaster and ice skating rink you may want to limit the food and wine.

Of course we failed at both and after some tasty Lebanese cuisine we headed to stock up on Prosecco for the hotel parties ( we knew there would be parties:) in the local supermarket.

Enjoying Lebanese with Dara & Mireille

I must confess to a strange fascination with exploring supermarkets in foreign cities across the globe.

The array of different and tasty food, different local choices and people watching is always fun. 

Confession here- favourite supermarket from trips- ‘Kirk’s’ in Grand Cayman; least favourite Mercado 2, Havana… anyway I digress….

Supermarket in Havana

Other highlights from the day was continual good food, cheap taxis and wine, decent city walks, great company and like any good Lithuanian appreciates readily available beetroot salads…

We were also to discover Bucharest has a fun party nightlife, but more on that later…

Hotel:

It is always nice when you turn up to your hotel and it’s a cheeky 5 star number and the tournament is also being hosted there! The Marriott Bucharest is a stunning hotel with spacious rooms and a good array of facilities.

Poker stressing you out, there’s a spa and pool. Want to keep your body agile as well as your mind, there’s a fitness centre. Hungry, 5 restaurants. Sports betting and want to watch the match- there’s a bar for that also.

The indoor pool

All poker players know the immediate aftermath of an exit from a tournament is a depressing time, but the environment can sure help pick you up and it did ( no spoiler here) when I ultimately got knocked out.

Basically the opposite of walking out of the Amazon Room at the Rio, thirsty with no decent food nearby and the cab queues…

One of the bars & chill out zone

Breakfast was amazing and depending on your personal time choice was available at 11am and also if you wanted a really early breakfast on the way home from a particularly big night… well the Romanian KFC one street away from the hotel did a great line of tasty dishes, complete with the next day shame of in room packaging and remaining cold chip 🙂

The Main Event:

With two starting days I decided on day 1b on the Friday. Firstly it gave me a day off to explore Bucharest prior and secondly I prefer Friday players in poker tournaments- it’s always fun with a higher proportion of recreational players playing and their table chat is usually more entertaining. 

Feature table

Anyway, once I’d sat down to play it was obvious it was shaping up to be the biggest Unibet Open ever and with 603 entries it was!

The generous guarantee was comfortably smashed. With a €1,100 buy in and 30k starting stack, plenty of play was guaranteed with a 1 hour clock.

My starting table included 2 Israelis, 3 Romanians and Gaelle Garcia Diaz who had played in the Unibet Ladies Battle Royale. It was a fun table with plenty of banter, as a minority at the table us ladies were welcomed and somewhat of a novelty.

We were the feature table after a couple of levels, with plenty of action and also a couple of players really determined to get action whatever the cost to their stack!

Just after busting the Main Event – wine time:)

I was card dead so grinding away, as I ended up doing the majority of the day. A,10 costing me chips vs. KJ sb/bb and a number of other shoddy run- outs for me.

With efficient friendly dealers it always seemed fun regardless and you learn not to get frustrated if spots and hands aren’t coming your way.

Later in the day I was on the feature table again, this time with Renè Dif (vocalist and writer from the band Aqua). 

Rene Dif on the right

A lively, friendly character I was able to forgive him for the polarising smash hit Barbie Girl from the mid 90s. Polarising because my 13 year old self loved it, but my older self now isn’t so sure…sorry Renè 🙂

After a long days play my ultimate exit was pretty frustrating. I squeezed jammed from the BB with AJ and got called by the early position raiser. I was in great shape against his J8dd but the run out did not play ball and a flush sent me to the rail.

Traian Bostan – Main Event winner

Have no fear though, the lounge area and drinks were waiting along with a number of unfortunate bust buddies (Dara, Ian Simpson, David Lappin & Kat Arnsby to mention a few) and we had a good time there chatting and drinking until around 4am.

Congrats to Traian Bostan for an awesome performance and the 100k winner’s prize. Nice to see a local lifting the trophy.

Side Events/Fun tournaments:

Busting the main didn’t mean that poker was over for the trip. There was a strong array of side events including a 6-max tournament, PLO, Turbo, Bounty and high roller event.

There were also satellites for the main event and high roller prior to these for live players in Bucharest to join those who satellited online.

The Unibet Community side event

The side events had the continued friendly feel I’d come to expect on the trip. I especially enjoyed the Unibet Community side event.

It was free to enter as long as you were a community member and lots of fun. With drinks on offer and bounties on various people’s heads I met new interesting community regulars and Unibet staff members also.

Here’s the link to the Unibet Community  if you wish to be a part of this fun experience on the next Unibet Open stop. 

Ambience and Atmosphere:

My earlier points will mean it comes as no surprise to discover the general atmosphere across the events was  fun and friendly.

This has been lacking in recent tournaments I’ve played elsewhere and it reminded of the funner days of poker when I first started to fall in the love with the game.

Carl & Robin having some poker fun:)

Plenty of banter and people enjoying a beverage, and a lot less Beats headphones and scowls from jaded professionals.

It was nice to be congratulated on my ladies Battle Royale win from complete strangers, and indeed make new friends.

The poker room itself was a beautiful Grand Ballroom, just outside the main lounge. It had plenty of space and places to chill and rail mates.

When busting there was always someone new who wanted to have a chat and I think the community feel has helped everyone feel more inclined to approach others.

We even got to do a Poker Mannequin Challenge featuring over 300 players, staff and media!

 

Coverage and Streams:

You don’t have to take my word for it on the Unibet Open you can stream and enjoy the banter and coverage throughout. Whether watching the live stream of one of the events, or catching up on Pokernews updates from the diligent Frank Op de Woerd, you can always get a good insight into what is happening.

Marc Convey and David Vanderheyden were responsible for the live stream and they always bring the entertainment with witty and insightful commentary and observations.

I was lucky enough to join Marc in the commentary booth along with Dara for a period of streaming for the feature table.

Marc Convey on the left & Carl, the champ of the Unibet staff event;)

Concurrent to our comments, there is a live chat section suitable for railers, community members, hand opinions, exclusive Unibet Freerolls and even the occasional ( quickly deleted 🙂 trolls…

I enjoyed being part of the commentary albeit briefly and really appreciated how difficult it is to keep the banter and fun flowing so feel free to check Marc and David doing just this on some of the replays on the Unibet Twitch Channel.

Entertainment and the Players Party:

As anyone knows who regularly attends poker tournaments, there are plenty of players who enjoy socialising, a few beers and cocktails, or even just drowning their sorrows/ or indeed celebrating with friends!

With welcome drinks and cocktails as well as live music – Unibet got the ball rolling for all players.

The highlight of the weekend’s fun being the Players Party on the Saturday night with coaches laid on from the hotel to the venue- the aptly named Players Club.

With Kat & Linnea from the Ladies Event

With drinks vouchers provided for players I had more joy spinning these up from the 2 vouchers I arrived with to a mysterious 13 vouchers remaining in my purse the next day. I’m still bemused by this as I’d had quite a few already on arrival..

The club itself was pretty spectacular with a massive luxury interior, great music and some of the sexiest dancers you could wish to see. I had a great time dancing (see no.2 in favourite past-times) and fun with the girls.

My evening was somewhat derailed after having to down a massive Absinth shot following losing a bet, but a vomit inducing trip to the toilet resolved this.

Player Club

The club was still rocking when we left around 4am, open until 6am. I told you the Bucharest locals like to party…

Final Thoughts:

Unibet and their staff did a great job in running a successful and fun event. All the Unibet team members were approachable and interacted with the players throughout the event. 

Unibet Team

Dealers, TD’s and support staff all did a fantastic job of making this poker festival a huge success. 2017 promises to be bigger and better for the Unibet Open. The first main event is in London at the end of February.

I look forward to seeing many of you there for another exciting & successful Unibet stop 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unibet Ladies Battle Royale

I was kindly invited by Unibet to participate in their Ladies Battle Royale which was an invitation-only side event and part of the Unibet Open Bucharest stop.

I was very excited and looking forward to this event as I’m a big fan of ladies only tournaments as I believe it is a great way to promote the game as well as attract more female players to poker; plus they are always so very enjoyable 🙂

Unibet Ladies Battle Royale

The concept for the event was pretty simple; it was a 9 handed sit & go, with €6,000 prizepool and top 3 places paid.

What made this Ladies Challenge fascinating & unique is that it had a great mix of poker players, poker enthusiasts & female gamers alike from very different backgrounds .

There were 7 different European nationalities represented at the event with each female bringing their unique playing style and personality to the table. There was no doubt this was going to be a great fun poker experience!

Here’s a link to a mini bio of all participants: Unibet Ladies Battle Roayale 2016

Despite most of the girls meeting each other for the first time on the day of the challenge, unsurprisingly there was a lively atmosphere at the table from the very start. All of us were chatting and joking away whilst learning more about each other.

A great structure of a 20k starting stack & 40min levels ensured that there would be lots of play and there was no rush to aggressively accumulate chips or flip for your tournament life early doors.

I find it is always such a good confidence boost to have a great start on the day, which I was lucky to have on this occasion; I got allocated the best starting seat at the table – the button, and then I scooped the first pot too.

I felt great and it seemed like a good time to order a glass of wine. This may have been a recurring theme through the game 😉

Focused – prob thinking of a 3bet:)

My strategy for this event was rather conservative in the early stages and to aim to gradually build my stack whilst avoiding high variance spots.

I felt that I had a post-flop advantage versus the majority of players, an exception being a very talented & experienced Romanian poker player Luciana Manolea, who was sitting to my immediate right.

The plan was to avoid any major early confrontations with her unless I had a premium starting hand and play a wider range of hands versus the rest of the table.

Unfortunately that meant I had to hold myself back from light 3betting which was especially hard to adhere to from the SB v Luciana’s button opens but that’s ok as I was saving those moves for the Main Event instead:)

Linnea on the left & the runner-up Kristi on the right

All the girls were lovely and they played well, however I was especially impressed with Linnea Maria from Norway, who despite having very little poker experience showed some very strong & ballsy moves and was enjoying herself to the max.  I think she has certainly lots of poker potential:)

We were having so much fun and time was flying by so quickly, before I knew it we were on the the money bubble with 4 players left.

One of the most enjoyable aspects of the Unibet Ladies Battle Royale format compared to some other ladies events I played in the past was that it was being streamed live on Twitch with a 15min delay & live commentary.

With Marc Convey and David Vanderheyden providing witty and insightful commentary, as well as Unibet promotions for viewers and an active chat box of banter and predictions I’m hoping this kind of format will attract more and more poker players into the game and feel part of a growing community which Unibet is fostering.

You can find the replay of the Ladies Challenge and many other fun broadcasts on the Unibet Twitch Channel.

Dehlia & I being silly off the tables:)

It was also a great feeling knowing that you had lots of family and friends railing and bringing some run good to the stream. This was also an extra motivation for me to keep on playing my A game and try my utmost to win.

We were 4 handed for quite a while before Dehlia de Jong from Netherlands ended up being the bubble girl. I was sad to see her go in 4th; I thought she played well and got unlucky to run top pair into 2pair (sb v bb) to bust. I liked her as a person a lot and I feel we really bonded throughout the game so I was secretly railing her to cash.

Although I barely lost the chip lead throughout the whole tournament, when 3 handed the stacks were becoming a bit shallower & play much faster.

The fact that I was covering both of them enabled me to play more hands and put max pressure on my opponents for their tournaments lives. I could also afford to run a couple of bluffs, even if they didn’t always work 😉

Maret – 3rd place finisher

Both Estonian girls seemed to have adjusted to short handed play rather well and were playing aggressively also, especially against each other.

I ended up taking out Maret Komarova (the Unibet Ladies Challenge last years winner) in 3rd with my pocket 9,9 v her 10,6 button shove. It was a nice time to pick up a hand and hold.

Heads up lasted just 2 hands- fortunately my close friend and study buddy Dara O’Kearney  had just arrived from the airport in time for the victory. I got it all in with a big chip lead with A,5 suited against J,8 and busted Kristi Kirs in second and I was the winner!

Well done to both girls for cashing and thanks for being a great company at the table ♥ Here is a little youtube video of the Ladies Battle Royale

I was really pleased to win the event and also bag a Romanian flag for the Hendonmob. I hope the Twitch stream made for interesting viewing and gave a good insight into how much fun can be had in the relaxed fun atmosphere that Unibet had created for this tournament.

Winner winner 🙂

I really hope the ladies invitational in some capacity will become a regular feature on the Unibet Open tour. Anything that encourages women of all abilities to play poker can only be a good thing in this hugely male dominated game.

I spent the evening celebrating the win with (yet more wine:) and a nice meal with friends. It had a been a memorable and fun way to start the trip and I was looking forward to the main event after a day off exploring Bucharest.

All this and more in my next blog covering the rest of the awesome Bucharest Unibet Open leg….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

San Sebastian

So it’s been a while since I updated my blog, but I’ve decided to revive it. It will focus primarily on poker, but also some of my other two passions in life; travels and dining experiences 🙂

I’ve not played much live poker in the last few weeks, so I’ve been taking time to catch up with friends and family and travel a bit instead.

My most recent trip was to San Sebastian. It was somewhere I’d wanted to go for quite a while now, so I was really excited to see if it lived up to my expectations.

San Sebastian

We originally flew into Bilbao and then it is an hour coach to San Sebastian itself. Alternatively you could jump on a train, but ironically it takes longer than the coach as there are too many scheduled stops.

The place sits on the coast with nice beaches and vistas and is famous for it’s amazing food and restaurants.

Unfortunately, it rained non-stop for the first two days we were there, and it was cloudy too but this didn’t dampen our enjoyment and we still managed to have-lots of fun.

Exploring San Telmo

Armed with recommendations from friends and the hotel, we headed to San Telmo which is the old town area of San Sebastian.

There is street after street of pinxtos and tapas bars and we headed to Borda Berri to begin with. 

A bustling place where you just find a spot to perch ask for a red wine and then pick some tapas. We started with foie gras which was amazing, followed up with some great braised pork, seafood risotto and octopus. We ended up returning there 3 times over the weekend the food was that good!

Foie Gras – the best I had!

Now the most amazing thing is that each dish is either 3.30 euros or 3.80 euros and wine is 2 euros! For quality of food for the price it is easily the best value of anywhere I have been.

The Saturday we spent exploring the town, heading around the coast to the port and stopping for tapas and wine at various spots throughout.

You find you settle down for hours at a time in a tapas place and lose track of time in food and wine. Another day was over before we knew it…

Pintxos Bar

Sunday was still rainy and we were booked into Mugaritz. We were excited to try this restaurant as it was ranked 7^th in world and holds a couple of Michelin stars.

The tasting menu was 25 course & very wide array of different dishes. I know it sounds  a lot but they are rather small and I’ve managed to eat or at least try  all of them 🙂

Most of the dishes were seafood based and some were pretty unusual to say the least.

Lunch at Mugaritz

Part of the dinning experience and the highlight of the meal for me at least was having an opportunity to visit the kitchen; which is split across 3 floors and has a mind boggling 44 staff on any given day.

Overall the meal was good and a great experience, however it wasn’t amazing, or worth the money we paid in my opinion.

I’ve been lucky enough to have eaten in significantly better places for less.

Sunshine is out!

We rounded off Sunday with more tapas and wine at one of our trip favorites –  Atari Gastroteka and Monday the sun came out finally. It showed the town in a new light. I can imagine it is really great here in summer, so we will definitely be heading back for that and enjoying the beaches, and more wine and tapas.

This weekend I’m heading to Zurich to see friends and then I’m going to be visiting Bucharest for the first time which I’m very excited about.

Bucharest

I’m there for 6 days and I’m playing the Unibet Open which promises to be a great event and I’ll probably jump in some side events too.

My next blog promises to be a mixture of poker and travel, as for the culinary delights of Romania, well we shall wait and see…

 

888 Super Stack London

After a couple of fun weekends socialising – ; One of my closest friend’s Hen party in London followed by a fabulous Wedding in Krakow, I was ready & very much eager to get back to the tables for some live poker action:)

Luckily for me there was a Super Stack Series in town, happening at one of my favorite poker venues in London – Cromwell Mint Casino this weekend. The place seems to attract the friendliest players in town, hence there is always good banter & atmosphere at the tables. I assume, this is because the majority of regulars are recreational players & casual adrenaline seekers, who are not as competitive as professionals could be and play more for “fun” rather than “win” aspect.

I made my way to the Mint yesterday just before 1pm for the flight 1a of the Super Stack Series, feeling positive and ready to crush the tournament:) It’s a £150+15 buy in + an optional (no brainer:) 5,000 chips for an extra Fiver.

I love the fact that the 30k starting stack & a decent structure (Super Stack Series structure) for this specific event provides you with heaps of opportunity for lots of post flop play.

The action on my starting table was fast & furious and regardless of how sensitive I was playing, I found it very hard to win a pot. Players were not giving me much respect & calling off huge over bets with marginal/drawing hands & somehow getting there versus me. I ended up 4bet shipping with AK suited for 35bb in late position and losing a flip when BB decided to make a hero call with 10,10 (for his life and 2 players still to act)

Anyhow, I after a long break chilling at home, having some therapeutic ice cream as suggested by poker pro Dara O’Kearney on Twitter (https://twitter.com/daraokearney) and my change into a new/luckier outfit for the night, I’ve decided to give the Super Stack another go and play the Flight 1b at 8pm.

It was a bad idea! I didn’t run any better; didn’t get many playable hands, kept on missing flops and in the end lost another flip for 22bb JJ < AQ all in pre. Sigh!!!

The highlight of the night was making a new female poker friend. She is from Latvia, plays poker for a living and lives in London too! You will probably see us hanging out together at the tournaments from now on;)

I am having my sister over this weekend, so going to have a girly day & night in today, starting with a full English Brunch shortly and some inevitable shopping trip later 🙂

For whose of you who don’t have much going on today and fancy playing some poker, there is another Super Stack Flight at 8pm at the Mint tonight not to be missed!

Good luck and see you soon x

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sky Poker UK Poker Championship

Hello!! I know it’s been a while since my last post, but I’ve promised myself & some of you that I will be blogging more frequently in 2014, so watch the space 🙂

Since parting ways with Genting a few months ago, I spent some time catching up with my family and giving myself time-out so I could throw myself back into poker more refreshed. I’m excited about the year of poker ahead, and have a mini schedule for the first few months or so planned in my head with extra stops if I can get some run-good going.

I’ve decided to be more selective on game choice- looking for aspects such as set guarantees, extra value added to the prizepools, soft satellites & the right location for a game (not flying to Ireland and spending days in hotels for example) when choosing which tournaments to participate in.

Next stop for me is going to be the Sky Poker UK Championships in Nottingham this week. There is no doubt this is going to be one of the biggest events on the UK Poker circuit this year, attracting huge number of players & creating a juicy prizepool.

In my opinion the £500,000 guarantee is going to be easily surpassed.

Sky Poker has been running a number of great satellites online as well as in some mainland casinos, giving players the opportunity to win a seat to the Sky Poker UK Championship satellite for as little as £5.

For all Londoner’s who still haven’t secured a seat to the Main event, tomorrow’s £50 re-buy satellite at the Mint Casino could be especially good value, as there are an unconditional 5 seats guaranteed & a decent structure for a re-buy tournament.

I’ll be heading to the Mint tomorrow myself to try and win one of those seats, if not I will see you at the DTD in Nottingham on Thursday anyway 🙂

Daiva x

European Nations Cup 2013

I received a call from Barny Boatman a few weeks ago informing me about upcoming European Nations Cup event in Cyprus & kindly asking me if I would be interested in joining his team. How exciting!!

It meant swapping rainy London for sunny Paphos for a weekend in order to play poker against some of the best poker players in the world.

I was really honoured and proud to be a part of Team UK & couldn’t wait to contribute to its success (hopefully:)

Now just a little intro into what the European Nations Cup is all about.

It is a yearly event being hosted by the International Federation of Poker (IFP) with an intention to promote poker as a skill game and a mind sport. In order to achieve the most accurate results, IFP uses the unique format of Match Poker:

– 6 players per table play 4 sessions in total (66 hands each session)

– Every player on each table receives an identical order of cards (dealt electronically to players’ smartphones and the tables’ community devices)

– Every new hand is being started with 10,000 chips

– Scoring is based on the aggregate chips won/lost by team on each hand. 14points being the max and 1 point being the min.

There were 14 teams from different countries participating in the European Nations Cup 2013 & competing for the first place trophy as well as the top 6 spots, which guaranteed a place in the final (Nations World Cup) in November.

I had a good feeling for the Team UK – which was led by Captain Barny Boatman and included Neil Channing, Ross Boatman, Karl Mahrenholz, Ben Roberts, Jerome Bradpiece  & me – not only because we had some of the most experienced & successful poker players in the UK, but because we had a good mix of players with different poker skills useful for the Match Poker format as well as possessing the right mindset and attitude towards teamwork.

All of us got on really well and were prepared to support each other & work our hearts out to make sure the team UK succeeded.

Hands down I was the least experienced player in my team and having not played in this kind of event before, I was very eager not to let anyone down. Once I found out I was playing a 6max 200bb deep game, I started practising online & improving my game by watching 6 handed cash game training videos online.

I felt they gave me a useful refresher into deep stack poker; more hand range knowledge and betting sizes players tend to incorporate into their game & treated it as a good warm up going into the Cyprus event.

Team Lunch

After a 4.5 hour flight we have finally landed in Paphos & after checking in the beautiful Annabelle Hotel & grabbing a quick bite we were happily heading back to our rooms for some rest.

Friday was a glorious day and we took this opportunity to go for a wander by the seafront & try some local delicacies.

Ross & Jerome have decided it was a mixed seafood platter time! Cyprians seem to be extremely generous with food portions; After ordering our octopus, calamari & fish of the day combo we have also received breads, dips, olives and something pickled we couldn’t identify but what ever it was tasted great:)

We were making the most of the food & sun before heading back to the hotel for the opening ceremony, where everybody had an opportunity to try out the new technology (smartphones) to be used for the next day’s play and to officially meet the rest of the participating teams as well as check out the trophies.

Patriotism was running high even before the event was about to begin; some players were carrying their mini country flags around, the others were wearing clothing with national embroidery/branding or simply sticking to their own groups plotting the winning strategies even on an organised night out!

I think some of them were taking this too seriously- the action was yet to begin!

This did not apply to the UK team. After listening to a few of welcoming speeches by the event organisers & guests as well as fitting in even more tasty Cyprian food, our team enjoyed a fun evening by the pool taking some lessons from Jesse May how to win at Chinese Poker 🙂  They’d be plenty of time to get focused and serious the next day!

Teams competing – Day 1

I started day 1, session 1 on table 6 & seat 5.

I had a Danish guy – Frederik Brink in seat 1, who was playing good aggressive poker and whom I ended up playing majority of my hands against.

Seat 2 was an Irish player Michael Graydon – who eventually won the best player of the tournament title, seat 3 was an Estonian player who was pretty quiet and only played a handful of hands in the first two sessions, seat 4 was a Spanish player who was probably the most aggressive player on the table and opened every second pot. I was in seat 5 & seat 6 was taken by a Lithuanian lady.

Because of pretty active table dynamics I ended up playing more hands than initially planned and when I did, I tried incorporating not only  the most obvious starting hands but a few holdings I would usually muck  in a typical MTT.

My reasoning behind this was that it was very likely that majority of the players on the other tables are going to fold those untraditional starting hands immediately,  or at least in the earlier sessions/stages of the game and thereby not make any points for the team, where I was going to try and go for the max scoring.

4 hours in and team UK was leading the way with top points. I was thrilled to bits!! After finding out the initial results, all of us gathered together to have a mini break & team lunch. We went over some of the hands played and tried to collate more information on the specific players & teams whilst trying to figure out their approach to the format.

Team standings at the end of Day 1

After another few hours of playing we managed to finish the day 1 in third spot, which was only 7 points behind the Irish team & half point behind France. We were really chuffed with the outcome & a night out for the team enjoying Cyprian cuisine was in order!

We had a great night out on the Island, enjoying local cuisine & delicious ice cream for dessert (yes, they were so good that even the boys couldn’t resist having a scoop or two:)!)

It was good having a proper catch up with everyone & to bond better with the team. We made plans to meet 9am the next morning in order to look at some hand histories, which were meant to be sent through to the team captains the night before.

The availability of this kind of data could have possibly given a great insight into each opponent’s play on any given table/seat and could potentially be used to UK team’s advantage.

Unfortunately, due to some technical issues the HH data did not arrive in time to be reviewed in detail & discussed in group before session 3 was due to start. Regardless, captain’s orders were to stick to the same kind of play as the day before as it had been working so far & the situation was going to be re-assessed once session 3 ended & results were out.

In addition there was some re-structuring in the team and Karl Mahrenholz was called in to take my seat, whilst I rotated into the substitution spot.

This basically meant that I was free to enjoy the morning’s sun chilling by the pool & hang around the hotel with the other substitutes, but not too far away from the poker room, in case any of my team mates needed me for smoking breaks etc

Break Time!

This has given me a great opportunity to do some networking & to meet some interesting people whilst testing out a few traditional Greek cold coffees – Frappe being my favourite!;)

It was lovely meeting Irish captain – Dara O’Kearney, who was gregarious & genuinely supportive of UK team all throughout. Also I managed to sneak in a passionate debate about Match Poker & it’s future with the President of IFP of Bosnia & Herzegovina – Djordje Lovric.

Before I knew it was time to head to the restaurant and meet my team for lunch. I was quick to learn that we did not have the best session and as a result slipped down to 7th place.

This was the first & the last time I noticed a tiny glimpse of worry in our captain’s demeanour.

Although not quite where we wanted to be it was not a disaster. All of the standings were pretty close in points and they could be easily changed for better after a number of hands.

There were a number of other teams who whose chances of qualifying were pretty slim and it was only to take some drastic measures for them to win.

After some thorough discussion we decided to go for a “solid poker” approach with an intention to exploit the players from the “desperate to win” countries that will be playing too loose and trying to gamble their way into the top 6.

Also, the captain has decided that Karl will stay on my table to play session 4 and I’ll be continuing my adventures in Annabelle hotel, which in my opinion was only fair given the circumstances.

I was the least experienced +the youngest:) player in the team and it only made sense strategically to have the strongest players in action going into the final round to try and pull the team up.

All of my team members are fantastic poker players with 10+ years experience in the business and between £600k -£2mill in winnings each, there is no doubt they were going to make less mistakes and be more accurate with the live reads as well as be better at applying max pressure on the weaker players than me.

It was paramount the team qualified!

Karl Mahrenholz on the feature table

As it happened, all the players from my table were being moved to the feature table upstairs for the final session. So whilst everyone was taking their seats, I was heading to the second poker room, where the feature table was being streamed live to rail Karl.

Karl played really well; he made some correct reads & has gone a couple of gutsy moves which seemed to work out just fine.

No doubt, he made some decent points for the team there. It was funny that he was getting involved with the Danish guy as much as I was in my first two sessions:)

Later I learned that the rest of the team members seemed to have had good final sessions too & the chances of the UK making it into the top 6 was looking bright again!

We were in good spirits heading for the awards ceremony & hoping for some wins and of course qualification!

I loved the ballroom; It looked stunning in white with big gold plaited chandeliers. Each team had a table for the night where drinks & lovely food were served and there was a live singer & a DJ who kept everyone entertained.

We were slightly nervous and couldn’t wait for the awards ceremony to begin… Although we didn’t know what to expect, deep down in my heart I felt that we have done enough to qualify for the finals….

The joy of winning:)

I was right!! Team UK came 4th & I couldn’t have been happier for all of us:) We worked hard, we played hard and we deserved to go through.

However, the most joyful point of the night was seeing our Captain – Barny Boatman – picking up the trophy for the best seat award (seat 3)! I was so proud of our Captain, leading us to qualification by showing us how it’s done with a winning seat. It couldn’t be a better story!

Karl & I must have done something right too as we scooped a trophy  for the best player in seat 5 🙂 It was such a lovely unexpected win & I have to admit it felt great!

There were only 6 seat awards in total, for the players who scored the most points in a specific seat compared to that seat on the different tables and Team UK managed to win 2 of them!

Also massive congratulations to the Irish team, who ended up winning European Nations cup 2013 & picking up a gorgeous trophy and my sincere consolations to the Lithuanian team who didn’t make it.

Well done to the International Poker Federation of Cyprus for putting on such a great & very successful event & I look forward to seeing you all in the finals next.

The location for the Nations World Cup has not been confirmed, but the gossip around is that it’s in Rio:) Bring on Brazil!!