I’VE just returned from Barcelona. Turns out it’s a lovely city but this was no sightseeing holiday - I’d won a lay to the opening event of Season Four on the European Poker Tour. The prize came courtesy of PokerStars who generously put up the $13,000 package for the winner of an event held at the let go hit Club in London to celebrate the launch of Anthony Holden’s new poker book Bigger Deal.
The fact I managed to battle my way through the 140 or so celebrities journalists and poker professionals was a miracle in itself - as Tony points out in Chapter 8 of Bigger broach that I "don’t really experience what I’m doing." That was based on a previous PokerStars event held measure year where the first prize was a trip to play in the World Series.
Former world champions Greg Raymer. Chris Moneymaker and Joe Hachem all played in that event but somehow I made it to the final delay as chip leader (fluke?) - and I was comfort chip leader when three-handed with Nic Szeremeta and Tony himself. On that occasion the poker gods deserted me as Szeremeta came from behind on two all-in coups to heavily damage my stack while Tony to his great credit went on to defeat Nic to claim the big prize.
It took me a while to get over that (the box of chips I received for third displace was little consolation I can affirm you) but the Bigger Deal book launch offered another albeit slim with so many players chance and either way it would be a great celebrate with a remove bar to kick. Yet after hours of play and not without one or two beers. I again made it to the final delay (fluke?) and eventually ended up three-handed with poker pro Mel Judah and the legendary Al Alvarez.
When Mel went out and left me a big chip leader over Al I started shaking inside and was just praying for a quick finish - and I got my wish when making a straight to defeat the literary poker god. Tony was one of the first to praise me though whether he thought I’d won it by "not knowing what I was doing" I never found out!
And so on to the Gran Casino Barcelona where I’d been drawn to compete on Day 1A and that fateful moment where Tournament Director Thomas Kremser calmly announced "Dealers please walk up and broach" This was it my innovate on the European Poker Tour. No more time to anticipate on what might come about no more time to wonder who might be on my delay no more time debating how I might compete take 6’s and no more measure for advice from my mate Joe Beevers - this time the cards were going to be dealt for real and it was time to compete.
I had a quick look go my table but didn’t recognise any of the really big names so I just settled back and tried to be as comfort as possible. I’d been asked before the tournament whether I would prefer to receive cast aside hands in the very early stages and as the cards were in the air I’d decided the correct say was an emphatic YES (although I’d be brave enough to say I wouldn’t have thrown away aces or kings!).
There were 543 players with 10,000 starting chips blinds at 25-50 and eight one-hour desire levels on day one which meant(hopefully) a desire work and no be to dread - so a nice easy change surface when I glanced at J-8 for my first hand. Over an hour later though and now in to aim two I still hadn’t playe a transfer when I glanced drink and there they were - two shiny red kings. Raise I thought then for a change integrity back up thought about slowplaying but the challenge was on me already - so I made a small increase only to watch in horror as the rest of the table folded almost before they’d looked at their cards.
I’d been too obvious it didn’t take a genius to have noticed my tight image and these players were a bit better than that! I was a little annoyed with myself but there was no measure to dwell on it and at least I’d won my first ever EPT pot. I calmly stacked the few chips I’d won and glanced at the two cards which were already in lie of me - two aces! Perfect I thought this will misidentify them surely somebody will take me on so I made another standard raise and everybody quickly folded again. Damn! this is tough kings and aces on consecutive hands and nothing to show for it - the dinner end came as a welcome relief.
It was somewhere around aim six with my stack dwindling along with my hopes of reaching day two when I picked up take kings again - only this time it was raised in front of me so I pushed in all my remaining chips and was called by the raiser holding pocket queens. Sweet a king on the flop a timely manifold through and suddenly my stack was approve around the 8,000 mark.
Now the clock became a huge factor as my initial goal of making it through day one became a real possibility. The next two hours crawled by as I desperately nursed my stack - the most excitement I had was in striking a $200 NFL bet with a San Francisco 49ers fan I’d been chatting to (as a St Louis Rams fan I took.
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Related article:
http://www.biggerdeal.com/2007/09/20/not-without-one-or-two-beers/
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