Woke 6.20 am jumped a shower and an Uber taxi to North Greenwich and from there by tube to Victoria coach station. A £5 Subway deal for the journey and a 3 hr National Express coach to Nottingham to play the £500 + £50 £250,000 guaranteed deep stack at Dusk Till Dawn first place £45 K + $8,000 PCA package.
Started well and hit some hands, called some limps with Aces and ended up 7 way but hit top set, led out for 1,500 and got two callers one who had initially checked on an A J 7 rainbow flop. Turn was a 9 putting some draws out and I bet 5,000 hoping someone had a set only to get two folds. I could have bet smaller but I was hoping to be able to build a pot for a river shove.
UTG + 2 raise to 400 SB calls and I complete with a pair of nines. Flop comes 974 two diamonds, SB checks and I donk lead out representing a draw for 1,000 initial raiser calls as does the small blind. Turn is a 3 putting some wheel draws out SB checks and I bet 3,000 initial raiser bets 12,000 SB folds and I set him in for about 25,000 which he calls off with a set of sevens, board runs out for a nearly full double up.
I have an under the gun raise to 4 x to 2,000 I re-raise with AA to 6,000 and initial raiser calls and shoves all in for 11,000 on a Q 8 4 flop I call and he shows J9 for a gut shot. Easy money.
Up to double chip average when I raise 3 x to 2,400 with KK on the button. BB re-raises to 5,200 I make it 12,000 and he ships for 21,000 total showing A o and spikes and aces on the flop for a full double up, that was when lady luck moved on…
I went card dead but kept patient, with 10 BB I shoved over a button min raise with A3 called by KJ after much thought and held for a double up. I then shoved over a mid-position raise of 7,000 with AJ for 35,000 10 BB from the hijack and got an all in from the button, the initial raiser folded and all in turned over QQ. I spiked an ace in the door and then runner runner spades gave him a queen high flush and sent me to the rail.
Bought into the £55 tournament and dusted half my stack off in the first hand with some dreadful play and was out an hour later. Booked a hotel at the Ramada for £59 and took a £27 bus back first thing in the morning.
Main lesson don’t get involved in fancy play, start with playing your hands correctly, extracting the maximum value from them and being aware of the GAP concept. Don’t call early raises with suited connectors unless you have 30 x the initial raise and even then there are better situations.
I did discuss one hand with a guy who’d just busted. He min raised J 10 from the button into Martyn Frey’s BB who has a decent stack and likes to defend. Flop in J 10 7 two diamonds BB checks and he continues for 3/4 pot to get a call. Turn is a 7 and BB checks and then shoves over the raise. The guy called it off and did his 30 BB stack on the last level.