Biggest Pot Record

This is the biggest pot I've won so far in my poker career. I don't like posting my wins and losses but this is fairly innoccuous.

Ozzy 87 posts the small blind of $50.
INTillerMaN posts the big blind of $100.

Seby: -- --
IKermit: -- --
Ozzy 87: -- --
INTillerMaN: 75
JOSKADUNA: -- --

Pre-flop:
JOSKADUNA folds. Seby raises to $350. IKermit
folds. Ozzy 87 folds. INTillerMaN calls.

Flop: (board: ): 753.

INTillerMaN checks. Seby checks.

Turn: (board: ): 7537.

INTillerMaN checks. Seby bets $500. INTillerMaN
raises to $2250. Seby calls.

River: (board: ): 7537K.

INTillerMaN goes all-in for $14780.50. Seby goes
all-in for $12087.50. INTillerMaN is returned $2693
(uncalled).

Showdown:
INTillerMaN shows 75.
INTillerMaN has : 75757 : full house sevens full of fives.
Seby shows 33.
Seby has : 33737 : full house threes full of sevens.

Hand #30428496-8154 Summary:

$2 is raked from a pot of $29425.
INTillerMaN wins $29423 with full house sevens full of fives .

In other news, Elder Scrolls : Oblivion is worth a purchase. I am finding it pretty fun and it is considerably better than Morrowind.

The Ipod Nano (replaced old chunky one) is simply amazing so far, I don't care about it getting scratched. I care about size and quality of sound and in both of these departments it is great.

I will be going to the Irish Open on April the 14th through to the 18th. It is a 3000 Euro event and I will be playing in whatever side events/cash games that are going on along side it.

I passed my driving test 3 days ago. Woo hoo. Need to send off for my licence etc and then think about what kind of car I want to buy. My friend is putting me on his insurance temporarily so I can get some practice in whilst I consider it.

Most amazing hand ever played?

This is without a doubt the most amazing hand ever televised so far. I just saw it for the first time yesterday and it is really quite unbelievable, so much so thats thoughts of hold card editing were popping into my head.



It is taken from the final table of the 2005 Monte Carlo Millions where it is down to heads up between Phil Ivey and Paul Jackson(ActionJack - An English Pro).

How Ivey thinks that Paul Jackson will fold after he has put in well over half his stack I don't know. I have never ever seen such a hand at such a critical point in the tournament for so much money. I haven't even seen close to this at less crucial points in tournaments.

Bet, Raise, Reraise, Reraise, and finally Reraise all in by Phil Ivey with Q high vs 6 high. Wow? Has someone in the editing room changed Ivey's KJ to 65o or perhaps it was actually QcJc? That would be hilarious and make much more sense =) Mafews did tell me that apparently Phil Ivey thought for like five minutes before moving all in on the river.

If someone knows Paul Jackson can they ask him about this hand and post in comments perhaps? I used to play with him sometimes at Ladbrokes but he plays mostly tournaments so I don't get to see him much there. Jacksons hand is way more believable than Ivey's but even if Ivey had folded on the river it would have still been way up there on the list of amazing hands =)

Perfect Perfect

Two and a half years of poker nearly and this is the most amazing hand I have ever played especially since it happened in a good sized pot :-

I am playing $25/$50 No Limit and a player raises to $200 from UTG+1 at a full ring game. One player in middle position calls the $200 and I find myself on the button with AA. I call the $200 and raise $600 more, we all have $5000 stacks. The UTG+1 raiser instantly calls the $600 more, I put him on a range of 99-KK in my head. The middle position callers folds.

The pot is $1875 at this point.

The flop comes 575.

Sweet flop! My opponent now bets into me $1000 and I am now convinced he has something like KK, QQ, JJ and feel like I am going to win a full buy in from him. I reraise small, calling his $1000 and raising $1200 more. He instantly pushes all in and I call creating a $10,000 pot.

He turns over 55 and I am now instantly a 989-1 underdog on the flop? Omg, I was in shock when I saw his hand here.

The turn comes the A.
The river comes the A.

LOL! The whole table was in shock as was I, but I wasn't to upset for him to be honest =)

Less than five minutes later another amazing hand happens but versus a short stack so not quite as big an addrennaline rush :-

It is 6 handed $10/$20 No limit and I raise to $70 in middle position after the first 2 players fold with 55. The small blind calls the raise and the big blind folds leaving the pot heads up.

The pot is $160 at this point.

The flop comes 365.

The small blind checks and I bet $130. He check raises me for another $250 and I call. He turns over AA. Sweet!

The turn is the A.
The river is the 5.

This wins me a small pot of $920.

LOL! You couldn't script this stuff any better. I crack quad fives with aces and then five minutes later I crack aces with quad fives? Quite incredible!

Ben Bard

I forgot to mention this great result in all my reporting of Monte Carlo. He so underplayed his result after his victory it kind of escaped my mind. He did do a four way split but he still got 22,000 Euros and went on to win anyway so got the glory too. He was also whining about how he was a tournament fish on the previous days and then goes and shows up Mafews and me with this cracking result.

Even though he is new to Internet poker and only 21 years old he has been a winning live cash game player for a number of years so it is no surprise to me even if it is to him that he did so well in this live tournament.

He is in some of the photos I took of Monte Carlo a couple of posts below.

High Stakes Poker - 8 and 9

High Stakes Poker Episode 8 Torrent

High Stakes Poker Episode 9 Torrent

Well since I was away I missed two of these episodes. It seems like Daniel Negreanu is starting to lose his cool and doing some semi tilty plays =)

Photos from Monaco

I got ill precisely half way through the trip so my photos are really screwed up. I had planned on going out all day after I got knocked out to take photos all over Monaco as although it was chilly it was amazing blue skies and very bright. I spent the best part of 2 days ill in the hotel room before we had to fly back =(

Click on the images to view in higher resolution.


Checking in at the Helicoptor Desk - Woot! - Ben, Rury and Rory.


Tony Chessa posing for the camera. He finished an admireable 30th in the main event just missing out on the money! The chap behind him was the Littlewoods online qualifier, he also did pretty good lasting deep into the second day.


The helicoptor we are getting on to take the 6minute journey from Niece to Monaco. It is around 30-45 minutes in a car.


Luggage preparation.


The long walk =)



Take off, whoooooosh whooooosh.


Some nice left banking.


Was lots of vibrations and shuddering inside. It was not scary though. Fun stuff!


Rory Matthews (Mafews) in the middle admiring the view.


A zoom shot of Monte Carlo in the distance.


The heli-pads in the distance.


Getting closer!


Landed. Woot, in Monte Carlo!


Tony Chessa clearly excited after the Helicoptor ride and the Littlewoods representative to his right with a big smile also.


Taken directly outside of the Heli-pads. Clearly impressive but photos don't capture any of the true classiness, beauty of Monte Carlo unfortunately.


Same again to the right.


Arriving at the Hotel Du Paris.


Ben Bard getting ready to check in.


Rury displaying jaw dropping awe of the hotel!


Entering. All the photos from inside were too dark. It was pretty amazing inside.


A view from my hotel room, I shared with Mafews.


A view of the city center to the right.


Out hotel room.


Another angle.


This display was changed every day. It was more colorful the previous day. This was the final day. Must be expensive!


Very ill now suffering from flu like symptoms. Ordered Cream of Chicken Soup, Salmon and Potatoes and Coffee.


Also watching the movie, the Weatherman on TV. Only ok, pretty disappointing. I've seen too many movies like this recently which do it a lot better. Happiness, Garden State and Broken Flowers spring to mind.


Sweet bathroom.


Checking out of the hotel.


We went into this amazing casino on the first night. It was like something out of a James Bond movie. Total opposite of Vegas. Couldn't take cameras inside either. No poker either so we never went back.


The cars were just unreal, this is all the photos I got as I was leaving and it was getting dark too unfortunately. I didn't plan on getting ill so I missed 3 days of photo opportunities. I had planned to walk over the whole area taking shots. Sucks. Saw multiple Ferraris, Lambourghines, Porches etc, even a Mclaren parked right outside the Casino which was clearly worth a fortune. I'm not an expert on cars though. Matdamon (player from Crpytologic network) who we were with a lot drove down in his Lambourghini Diablo (black). Really really amazing looking car.


Another Porchse to my left.


A Bentley in the distance. Then we had to go.

Jeff Williams wins EPT Monte Carlo

Nice victory for him as he is only 19 years old and his first major tournament. He was sat to my left for a couple of hours on the first day and was easily chip leader when I joined his table. The hand I remember being talked about as I joined was JJ vs KK vs AA with Jeff having KK and spiking a King on the flop for a 30,000 pot. He already had a huge stack anyway, we talked for a bit at the table until I was moved AGAIN. I was moved 5 times on the first day.

His name is yellowsub86 on Pokerstars and we played for a bit at $10/$20 cash after day one. Good victory, congratualtions Jeff. It is one thing to have a chip lead after day one. It is another to maintain momentum for a further 3 days.

Congratulations also go to fellow blogger Ben Grundy who managed to finish in 9th place for a win of 54,000 Euros just missing out on the final table.

Interview

My friend Darren Allarde did an interview with me a couple of months ago which he just got around to publishing on his website. It mostly covers the transition from Professional Gamer to Professional Poker player.

Check it out if you wish here.

ILL

Oh my god I got super ill last night with flu like symptoms, runny nose etc etc. Thought it might be just a little thing from travelling but it turned into full blown aches/pains/feverish type symptoms. Last time I got this was in Las Vegas on the last few days and now exact same? Total sickness. Been in bed all day. We fly back tomorrow.

Monte Carlo Day 4

Only half way through Day 4 but I finished 7th in the 500 Euro rebuy tournament for a win of 4300 Euros (-1000 = +3300). Better than a slap in the face I guess. The 1000 Euro tournament started whilst I was finishing at the final table so I was unable to enter it.

Whilst I was there Tony Chessa(from Scotland) was knocked out in 30th place, 2 off the bubble who incidentally got given a free EPT package anyway so I guess Tony was 1 off the real bubble. Sick. Jonny Lodden(Bad_IP) was the real bubble boy getting knocked out when his AJo failed to stand up vs a raise utg by 56o.

Probably just going to chill in the hotel room and maybe go see whats happening in the tournament this evening and perhaps play some Sit n Go's.

Monte Carlo Day 2/3

Well, I am out of the tournament, finishing in 90th or thereabouts. I built my stack up to 16k then back down to 5k then back to 17k etc. Couldn't string together two winning pots in a row which really makes you struggle.

Hands of note were not many, a few throughout the tournament :-

Luca Pagona raised my BB for the 2nd time in a row. I successfully defended it the first time and decide to do the same again. He is on the button. I have 97h. The flop comes A74, all clubs. I check to him and he bets around 1400. I check raise him to 3800 and after a long think he finally folds Ax rag with no club claiming he is reading me for AJ with the jack of clubs. I told him I'd tell him after the tournament what I had so here it is.

A hand that totally cripped me happeneed vs Ram Vaswani. Someone UTG raised it up to 2000 and I pushed all in on the button for 10k with AKo. Ram Vaswani in the BB called my all in instantly with an 8000 stack. The original raiser folded. Ram said, please show me AK, theres a good boy. Which I dutifully did. He had 33. The flop came K3x. Ugh, and I was cripped to a 2.2k stack when the average was at 25,000. Lol. Amazingly I managed to double up back to around 15k when I was finally eliminated by a Scandinavian who raised me on the button to 2200. I was in the BB with AQs which is far too good vs a button raise. I reraised to 6600 and he finally pushed all in. I called for my remaining 8000 chips and he turned over KK. Ugh. Flop was TQxxx and I went out of the tournament with no help :(

Mafews went out in around 50th to 60th struggling with a short stack all day also. The other Scottish player that was with us is called Tony Chessa and he managed his short stack to great effect surviving all day and finishing the day with around 58,000 in chips with only 30 players left. The cashing starts at around 26th I believe so he has a good chance of cashing even though he is below average. This is good for me I guess as we did a small 3% swop =) Go Tony.

When I was eliminated I signed up the 500 Euro Rebuy tournament. It started at 8pm and I did good in it. There was 180 runners and I am currently in the last 18 with the tournament restarting tomorrow at 2pm. Unforunately I lost half my stack towards the end so only have 24,000 in chips left when the average is around 46,000. At least I cashed and got my 1000 Euros back + 800 extra. 1st place is 58,000 Euros. Fingers crossed for tomorrow and doubling up.

As for the trip itself, I have met a lot of people I play with online and they all seems like real nice people in person such as Insideedge, Elky, Dpommo, Dubbleup, Matdamon... the list goes on and on......... I believe Bennyboi (Ben Grundy) is at around 150,000 in chips in the main event so has a real good chance of going all the way. Gl to him also. I also see John Smiley of Pokerstars with around the same size stack also although I haven't met him yet. So gl to him too.

When I was playing tonight they were announcing 100 Euro Sit n go's and 500 Euro Sit n go's. There are no cash games at all unfortunately. Then at one point they announced a $20,000 Sit n go. And the names called out were like Greg, Eric, Patrik etc etc lol. I observed it a little as they were discussing the structure. It was 2 prizes, $150,000 for 1st and $50,000 for 2nd. When I last looked there were only 6 players left with Pokergirl1 just having being eliminated. TheSalmon was still there shortstacked as was Carlos Mortensen, Greg Raymer, Patrik Antonius and a few players I didn't recognize. After that they all ended up in a corner playing Chinese Poker together, (95% Scandinavians). Sickness.

Monte Carlo Day 1

Well, I played on the first day and things didn't go too great but I am still in after Day 1. My all time high was around 18,000 chips but in the last hour I dropped back to 10,000 unfortunately. 84o cracked my first pair of aces in the last hour, lol!

Average chip count is 23,000 chips, I have 9875 so one double up on thursday and I will be back to average. I was moved tables 5 times today which really sucks ass.

We have eliminated about 2/3 of of the field leaving us with 60 something players. If the same happens tomorrow for the second half then Thursday looks to be starting off with around 130 left with an average starting stack of 23,000.

Mafews plays tomorrow for any of his fanboys =)

I can't do photos easily to the blog as I can't resize/edit easily because Mafews has no software on his computer for editing. I will upload them when I get back. I never took any photos today. Hard too when I am playing. I will take my camera along tomorrow and see if I can get some good photos of the second half of the draw.

Going to sleep now!

Monte Carlo

I am going to Monte Carlo for the grand final of the European Poker Tour Season. I will be buying in direct probably (10,000 Euros). I am travelling and rooming with fellow Scottish poker players Rory Matthews(Mafews) and Ben Bard. I'm sure it will be a lot of fun, I have zero expectations for the tournament as I do with all tournaments. The event has a capped number of entries at 450 runners and with such an expensive buy in there will be a large saturation of professionals I'm sure.

I'll try to update my Blog whilst I'm there. No laptop but I will borrow Mafews' new one at any given opportunity to upload photographs and progress to the site.

High Stakes Poker Episode 7

High Stakes Poker Episode 7 Torrent

Two torrents have been released of this, this is the second one and apparently fixes some sound sync problems that were contained in the first one. I am downloading it now so no details.