GJP main event reports/reviews

Started off with a nice table great atmosphere, Nicnicnic, Smurph, Aengus from the Lane and BA the crazy Norwegian on my table along with a few locals, took 50 minutes to win my first pot, probably played far too tight and got no action when I got big hands in EP - was utterly card dead for most of the day, went the whole first day without getting all my chips in or getting another player allin - the closest I came to risking my stack was raising to 2200 of my 18k stack with AKo in EP, BA reraises to 6500 with a similar stack, I push and he folds TT, that got me to 25k and I sat on it without getting a hand for the rest of the day.
Started day2 with 22k but took a hit early on when I had to fold JJ on a K high board, limped in ep with 99 a few hands later hopeing for a raise, a shortstack pushes with KQo and I more or less double up to 25k, Gholi comes over to see how Im getting on, theres a raise and a call so I stay with 6s3s, flop is J83r - check check check, Im ready to take a stab on the turn but it comes an A - check check check! 3 on the river, I bet 5k of my 20k stack into a 9k stack, original raiser folds next fella makes a motion with his arms which Im told means all in, I gamble he mucks.
A while later Lyonzy who had been dogging me on tribeca in every tourney we played for the last week gets moved to my left and gets a sweet double up from the player who gave Lloyd chips with the QT v AA hand, a while later Lyonzy raises utg triple the blinds, theres a caller so I call on the bb with Q7s, flop comes QJ7, I check raise and get reraised by KK and my Q7 holds up. The table gets broken a while later and Im moved to a table with Rounders123 on my right, Kevin Fitzpatrick 2 to my left Brendan Mckenna BA and Conor Doyle the other end of the table, I hang around the 80-90k mark till a battle of the blinds with Rounders123 - he completes I triple it with A9o he calls, flop is 78T, he bets half the pot I call, turn is a 6, he bets I put him all in hes flopped the nuts.
Table gets broken again I get moved to a table with Kevin Fitzpatrick, Jen Mason and Mick McCloskey who gets moved quickly, I stay around the 35k mark with the blinds at 1k 2k then 1500 3k, couldnt get action on my big hands, pushed or got a walk once a round to keep me level. Table get broken again, we're down to 27. I get moved to a table with Lloyd, Marq, Andy Black and Conor Doyle, push in ep with KK, Lloyd starts thinking about it, I do my best to make myself look weak but he folds TT. another round of the table and Andys been crippled and I know he'll be looking to gambe, I push with AJo in ep, Andy calls with QT, QJ flop Q on the turn and Im down to 3bbs, utg I get A9 and push, Marq reraises with AQ - Andys says theres a 9 coming - board comes K98TJ and thats all she wrote. 2 card dead days of poker, wasnt happy with some of my shortstacked play either day but not much I could have done differently.

Right so then im going to moan some more here.
After looking forward to this event for ages and ages the day had finally arrived.
I was in the bar with Pillowtalk and FatboyDim and O’Callagh having something to eat when the game had already started.
Then I found out that I was at the same table with FatboyDim and we had alugh about it cuz in we had the same table in the irish open as well and nither of us did well.
Also he is a aggrro player that I could do with out on the table.
I was just happy that I had position on him.
Our starting table was ok.
There was an English lad(the Climber) who is ok .he is solid enough and what I like about him is that I pretty much know where I am in the hand with him.
There was a Italian fallow after him.
Then there was another fallow I didn’t know.
Then FatboyDim
Then my self.
Then it was night mare to my direct left.one of those local gamblooer types from Drogheda who don’t know **** about **** but will just make life difficult for you.
This guy would call any raise with anything at all ,would call you down with a runner runner gut shot on the flop if he had to .he was also very fond of bluffing and to him a deep stack tourney meant more chips to use as a bluff.
After him there was one tight fallow and after him I believe was Richie Lawlor from boreds.
The two of them were fairly tight which was a very good position for me to steal their blinds but this Drogheda fecker to my left had focked everything up for me.
There was also a loose Drogheda dude on the table who was gone with in the first hour who is really not worth mentioning.
Any way the first big pot I played was with Len (just as I thought) where he raises in MP and I call with KTs .
Flop comes 5Tx and Len bets 200 and I makes it 700 and Len calls.
Turn is another 5 and Len checks.i bet 500 and Len minraises to 1K.
River is a blank and Len leads for 1K and I call and he shows A5 and im down a few K.
I play a few small pots with my mate to my left from Drogheda and I soon find out there is no way to bluff him or Cbet against him.
I raise with AQ ,AK,JJ,and miss every time and I check and he bets and I fold.
Eventually I play a big pot with him and I limp with 65 on the button and he completes and BB checks.
Flop comes A67.
Every one checks and I bet and surprise surprise my mate calls.
Turn comes a blank and we both check and river brings another 6 .
He leads big and I reraise and I he calls showing the 7 !!!
Few hands later I get AA after a limper and I raise and take the blinds.
Few hands later this tight Italian dude makes it 600 from EP and I call with JJ.
Flop comes Atx .the dude leads for 1K and I make it 3K and he folds showing AQ.
I was shocked and told every one I had AA (which no one believed me ,I don’t know why as I would have done the same play with AA) and he said cuz I was pretty tight(which I was) and I suppose it was a good fold from him .
Anyway the table breaks and im on 17K and move to another table.
I go tottaly card dead for about 3 hours .
I go down but come back to the 17K after stealing a couple of pots and then I get KK UTG.
I make it 1300 with blinds 200/400 and BB who I have to say is the luckiest player I have seen (I don’t think he was much of a player to be honest even though he did last long) calls.
Flop comes QJ2 and he checks.
I bet 3K and he pushes all in and he has me slightly covered.
I put him on a bad Q (hoping he doesn’t have QJ) and call and he has Q9.
Turn is a T and river a 8 to give him a straight and knock me out.
The pot was 35K when the average was only 25K and I can’t help think what could happen had that 8 not fall.

I was really looking forward to this tournament for ages. Went to the Star & Crescent on Thursday and won a ticket for the main game so I felt good.

I got no cards, nothing, absolute crumbs, won 3 pots, went down to 2k back up to about 8 k. Every time I hit top pair top kicker I ran into 2 pair, nic nic was at my table to my right and Oscar. There was good crack at the table, but the lack of cards was killing me. After the break i look down and find pocket 8's, yepee at last. Blinds are 100, 200 and I raise to 1K around to the button, raises to 3K. This guy had re-raised me a couple of times, so of course i go all in, he calls like a hot snot, which you do when you have Pocket Aces:o So that as they say is that. Sometimes you just don't get going into a tournament. I definitely feel that i panicked a bit and tried to push getting chips. Lesson learn't. Did okay in the cash games but was disappointed with my general play from the main tournament so i was not really in the form, so went drinking yeppee

Got 4th in the €300 Saturday game for €2.5K so that helped the disappointment. When it got down to 4 Denis (Dealer from the fitz) suggested we take 4k each and leave balance for the dealer, I said no as I felt I was playing well and wanted to continue, so Murphys law im gone the next hand. The atmosphere in the room on the Saturday night was brillant.

Sunday €200 game was so weird, I sat down with a manky hangover and I was still in the mode that I had a load of chips, from being at final table previous night. I was doing strange raises like blinds 25 50 I raise to 600 wtf!! and got called. In fairness I got good cards and got the starting stack of 6k up to 13.5k by the break. I was motoring, then after the break i lost 2 races that i was ahead til the river and my stack in down to 1.5K, built it up a bit and then went out when my A10 suited ran into pocket 55's,

The mix of players made for great cash games and the tournament were exceptionally well run. It just shows that poker in Ireland is going from strength to strength.

GJP €1070 Main Event
Before we kicked off they showed a great slideshow montage with music which went some way to inspiring me to beat my tables brains out. Easier said than done though because i had a couple of known players on my table and a few unknown but good players including a Welsh player to my right who was playing in the event through his GJP sponsorship fund. Multi-tabling 10/20 for a living does it i suppose!. I should have my buy-in for a €250 game next may!. 3 to my right was was Conor Smyth.

1hr levels and i hadnt seen a real hand or hit a flop when i was able to get in cheap. A hand came up, battle of the blinds where all my biggest pots seem to stem from it seems. I complete with J4 and bb checks. Flop J84. Nice!. I bet out and bb calls?. turn x and i fire a hell of a shell and he calls again?. Now im thinking maybe im not ahead but pretty sure i still am!. River came an 8 and im seemingly calm but bulling inside as i give up betting. I check after a long think to try and worry him. He moves for his chips and fires 3k. Blah how can i call now, my 4's are counterfeited. Then i look at him a bit and turn my look into a stare and i dont let up. Im eyeballing this guy to death. He knows im looking at him but he doesnt look back and is avoiding my glare and i sense he's nervous. Right then and there i feel theres a better than even chance im ahead. I go with my read as i make what was still a crying call and as soon as i do he exhales in disgust and flips some pile of sh!te over and i win the hand. The table couldnt believe the call i just made and tbh neither could i, lol.

At that point i felt i was going to have to get a very bad beat to go out on day1 but even better things were just around the corner. In one pot i defended my bb with 44 and flopped a set and got a bit out of it but my proudest speech play poker moment ever was against Conor Smyth.

I get AA utg and raised it up, everyone folds to Conor on the button who flat calls. 2 players see a flop and it comes 10 4 2. Pretty good. I fire away and connor calls. The turn was a J and i fire again fully believing im ahead and Conor flat calls again. At this moment im asking myself wtf's he calling with now!?. The river brings a Q. I confidently fire 5k into it and Conor agonises. My stomach turned when in his turmoil he tells me he has a set. Gulp!. Im fcuked if i dont do something about this revelation. "I have a set you know Aidan" he says. My heart sunk but im smiling brightly. He asks the dealer to count the pot which he shouldnt have counted and when the dealer said 10k i said "Come on Conor whats taking you so long, if youve got a set youve got to call 5k more?". "Conor how can you fold a set for that bet?". He was thinking and thinkin and he clearly had a big headache. "Conor if i was you i'd definately call here, how can you not call with a set?" he said "I actually think you flopped top set". I tell him im more likely to have AK than top set. The dealer put the clock on him and when he was told he's 20 seconds away he got the 5k chip out as he pondered a crying call. I felt i had to keep talking to keep his mind on me and not on what he should be doing. So i said and heres the clincher "I'll tell you what Conor, if you fold i'll do you a favour and show you my hand?" 5-4-3-2-1 the longest 5 seconds of my life before he mucked his hand at the last second. I flipped the aces and Conor went into one. He was furious at himself as he got up and walked away to look for the nearest sick bucket!. I couldnt believe he folded there especially after clearing the other guy out of chips and being able to well afford it. He arrived back punishing himself for the next 2 hours sat like a dog chewing a wasp!. I told him the rule of thumb is to never fold sets!. He was hurting but we were able to laugh at it. Whenever a 4 came on the flop i said "Theres that 4 again!". After about 90 minutes between a hand he silently called over when he caught my eye and said "Aidan, im over it now". I told him i was glad he was and to try to just forget it. He never recovered though and went out a couple of hours later.

I was one of the early cl's now and i was rocking. I flopped another set and won a bit from it but for the rest of the day i never got much more chances. I did lose 8k towards the end of the day when i was reraised all in by a short stack my AKh not improving against 66. That was a blow but i finished up the first day where i wanted to be and that was just over 40k.

Towards the end of the day the good english player raised from the CO and i with AKd in the sb, i had him covered and re-raised a hearty amount. He insta pushed. I thought it over and told him i think we have the same hand. I would have been below average if i called and lost. I took my chances and called and he turned over AKo. I told him 3 times "What did i tell you, i said we had the same hand" just to let him know i made quite the read!. The flop was scary for him, 2 diamonds but he escaped with a split when the board didnt deliver another.

Day2 started and i had tribeca player 'LOVEJOY' on my right. Anyone who plays tribeca knows 'LOVEJOY'. I wanted to introduce myself but thought i better not in case he might remember any player notes he might have on me, good bad or indifferent!. First hand in im the bb and have 1010 and i get a walk. Thanks a lot lovejoy. I show him the **** and he tells me folding his sb was the first good decision he made all weekend!. As it turned out he didnt amount to anything and went out within a couple of hours. In all this time i got no hands, raised too seldom and was just blinding ever so slowly down. I was below average and feeling positively short stacked. T'was a tough table and Conor Doyle and Oscar joining didnt look like it was going to get any easier. Oscar was on my left and Conor Doyle was 3 to my right. Conor Doyle raised my bb and i stuck them all in with 77. I had enough to make him go away. He took a good while but i was glad to see him fold. At one stage In one all in pot against the badger he was between 5 and 10 minutes considering the call. This long wait pissed me off a bit so i called the clock on him. I didnt get much thanks from him and sensed from a couple of players reactions i was a bad bastard for doing so. He folded the best hand in the end and that was that. I didnt feel much love on this table after that but i often play my best when theres a bit of acrimony!.

Blinds went up and i really needed a double up. Up until now throughout the tournament i had folded loads of calling hands that were potentially trouble without being week about it but i think this was the main reason i was still there. I eventually got involved in the following hand.

Battle of the blinds once again. I completed with J9h and oscar raised it for 2k more. I wasnt folding like a pussy and called, if i missed i'd bet. The flop was 7810 hitting me in the face. I came out betting and Oscar called. The turn was a 6 and when i teed off again Oscar went all in and i called. Oscar had A9 so the turn was a killer for him. That was a huge hand for me and i was back in business over 90k. I won a pot against him also when i button raised and he called. We checked through a horrible all club flop/drawing flop and i kept cautous on the river beating his 10's with a rivered low straight. The table broke up shortly after this.

My new table had a good player Lyonzy on my left and my button was the CL's Niall Murphys bb. To my right was a brave young player called Patrick Tobin. Top of the table was Ulsterstew an online qualifier and a solid player. I heard the things about Niall's calling tendancies but it still didnt stop me from learning the hard way by trying to steal his bb with KJ missing and firing again before folding to a re-raise losing 15k in the process. Damn it.

The field was down to 36 now and we were playing down to the last 15. This seemed to go on for an eternity. I raised in position and kept myself going but i took a real hit when i doubled up a shortstack when he moved utg and i pushed from the cut off with AQ. I knew i was ahead, the only slight concern was someone behind me finding a hand which luckily they didnt. I was up against A5h but he turned a 5 and i was suddenly a real shortstack with only one option. I pushed about 5 times taking the considerable blinds so i could breath again but just about. I had about 40k now blinds 2k/4k when i got my first good pair to the day KK on the button. Action folded to me and i limped on the button. Lyonzy looked suspicious but completed and Niall the CL checked. The flop came Q high and they checked it to me. I dwelled and considered it for a while and made it look desperate by shoving all my chips in. I got Lyonzy to call with a Q but the second he called he knew he'd been tangoed as he asked me when Niall folded "You havent limped with AA have you?". Something like that!. My hand held up and i was out of immediate danger. For now!.

Played slowed right down from here on in. It was a real grind. 36 came 24 and i was going short again. I raised ulsterstews blind. He was solid but tight and he had earlier laid down AQ to an all in bet from a short stack for not much more. I made a point of robbing his bb after he showed that fold. So when i raised his bb with AQc he moved all in. Pretty much anyone else other than Lyonzy and i would have called but ulsterstew was tight and i was behind too many hands so i folded. He showed JJ and i told him if i had known that i was calling. I still needed a double up to be safe and was quite willing for a 50/50 as i was one of the lowest. So after getting snapped off there im one of the favourites to go out before the bubble bursts. I raise a few more times and get them through as we were nearing the bubble.

Then Paddy Tobin overraised and i pushed with AQc. He was pot committed so had to call. I was up against AJ this time and i flopped a Q to put Paddy back to about 40k and giving myself some more breathing space.

A while later a table broke up and LuckyLloyd joined on my left. Folded to me in the sb and i overbet a tad with 1010. If Lloyd goes over the top im calling of course. Lloyd has something and gets me to make the mistake of talking as he asks me how much have i got left etc. He tries to grill me further before i realise im an idiot and keep quiet. He's thinking of putting me in but folds claiming he had 77. I showed my hand.

Then i was bb and sb completed and i like an idiot thought he bet despite looking at his chips for ages. I throw my cards over the line. I realise im an idiot when i hear the frenzied wtf'eded the run!.s gasps and grab my cards back. At least when the flop came muck that missed me i represented it and took the blinds.That was embarrasing!.

The bubble finally burst on the other table and i felt lucky and relieved i'd survived my earlier scrapes after losing the AQ-A5 race. I went in for a drink with the lads afterwards in the residents bar befor driving home. On the winding path out of the complex i caught a hedgehog out of position crawling across the road but i chose to not crush him. Big mistake. I passed up my animal sacrifice that would have assured a top 3 finish the next day.

I knew coming back the next day with 83k and blinds 3k/6k i had to move fairly quickly but i was happy having navigated that field into the money without much cards to work on during the whole of day2.

Day 3 started with 49k for 1st but 12th-15th was booked for 1.5k so unless i doubled up i had little chance of hanging around for much longer. The blinds went through me once and i needed to move before it hapenned again so when i got 66 this would have to do unless there was a raise and call/all-in in front of me. Marq who doesnt wait around for aces or kings raised utg and i think before pushing hoping to see overcards and not a better pair when he calls. He called and i got my first wish when i seen AK but an ace on the flop sealed my faith. I knew i should have ran over that hedgehog!.

rounders123 wrote:

Conor Doyle raised my bb and i stuck them all in with 77. I had enough to make him go away. He took a good while but i was glad to see him fold. At one stage In one all in pot against the badger he was between 5 and 10 minutes considering the call. This long wait pissed me off a bit so i called the clock on him. I didnt get much thanks from him and sensed from a couple of players reactions i was a bad bastard for doing so. He folded the best hand in the end and that was that. I didnt feel much love on this table after that but i often play my best when theres a bit of acrimony!.

Personally I think this is pretty poor form on your part, Conor could never be described as a slow player quite the opposite in fact if he was taking his time it must have been a big decision and players should be allowed puzzle it out in these circumstances, I have no problem calling clock on someone who is dwelling over a small bet or constantly dwelling but if someone has a genuine decision calling the clock here isnt on in my book.

lenny_leonard wrote:

I don't know Eoin, if it really was 5 min+, then that's excessive.

I didnt see it but Conor told me it was nowhere near 5 mins.

MrPillowTalk wrote:

I didnt see it but Conor told me it was nowhere near 5 mins.

Definately over 5mins imo. It seemed like 10 to me but i'd say it was 7. He even apologised over taking so long and i let it go for another couple of minutes after he said that until i called clock. I would never call clock to fcuk someone up. i realise it was a huge pot but i was getting low and i needed to see hands so i done it for my own selfish reasons which is the main reason i would do it.

Neither am i comfortable about it, in fact i hate doing it but i know what you mean!.

ditpoker wrote:

I dont think i;d ever call clock on a boardster

Do you want to take this back now? Mr. TV Time himself, fiddlesticks?

I started writing a report, but it's quite long and my laptop is out of battery and the charger is somewhere in the hotel in drogheda. I'll get it up on my blog soon.

I cant be bothered doing a long report. Basically played well for 17 hours for a return of -1k! It was a lovely tournament, im going to try and play another one that big soon. I was impressed with how I played and proud of how how I went out. Ollyboy played very well, as did an english guy called cobster. I played 1 hand very badly on the 2nd day and hope to never be reminded of it.

Ok, my extremely long report on the main event is now up on my blog. Read at your peril.

luQbox!

Nice reports rounders and others, I'm on tilt now that I didn't go to this, sounds like a good tourney.

Unlucky eoghan, I would have folded AJ and below, and pairs below 8s. You played well and would have gone much further if I hadn't luckboxed finding a hand in that spot.