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A huge deal was made of the final table. There was a large set assembled late that afternoon, complete with lights and at least four or five cameras. Things were a fair bit behind schedule with the field scraping by a lot longer than expected. We'd had a rushed dinner break with about 15 left, which involved us all eating whilst at the table playing. We then managed a quick 10-minute break before starting the final table.
From memory I was 4th in chips, which would normally seem comfortable, however, by this stage the blinds were huge and even the chip leader wouldn't have been overly deep stacked.
For the first couple of laps I was completely card dead. When in late position I never got the opportunity bar one time, when I raised late with complete junk and had to fold when it was snapped off. Of course, I did the prolonged dwell making it look like I had a hand however, my cards were that bad, I had to ensure that I folded them safely when the time came, so as not to expose the complete junk I had just raised with.
Vomit material
The next hand I was involved in was vomit material! UTG+1 open ships. He had been completely nit-like since the final table started, but I was confident he could have any two cards pulling that move. He had been caught out a couple of times doing that when there were three tables left and I was pretty sure I had a tell on him.
It would appear that when he looks at his card for a split second, i.e. literally flicks them up just enough time to catch a glimpse then immediately shoved his chips in, I took it as a sign of weakness. To me, it was as if he was shoving before he bottled out of it. Because of this, I had him on any raggy A or the like, possibly even worse.
When I looked down at JJ, I knew it was going in straight behind him and so it did. I didn't hugely like the call from the blinds though, as I had to assume they either had a pair or even more likely had two overcards, so it was most likely a race imo. However, it was a race for a huge % of the chips in play, which is obviously always an anxious spot.
To my delight, with cards on their backs it's my JJ vs initial shove with 63 vs BB with AJ. The guy to my right who I'd been chatting with, a nice guy from Portadown, offered some words of comfort in "you're in great shape, good luck", to which I replied, "I'm not sure I fancy this one!". Well call me psychic . . . I had a real bad feeling I was losing the hand alright, just didn't expect to be drawing dead after the flop!
I get it in, as a fairly substantial favourite in a treble up opportunity only to lose out big time. I can deal with the A hitting, in fact I could even deal with the AAx flop, the over celebrations on the other hand were quite hard to swallow. It was at that moment I suddenly felt the presence of the crowd and how the crowd was dominated by supporters of the two foreign players.
A deafening roar
The roar was deafening, the heat and light coming from the stage lights was intense, and swallowing hard whilst a guy jumped up and down after sucking out was hard to take. I don't blame him calling, he had to know he was almost definitely behind, but he was playing about 800k total and had 160k of it in on the BB. So calling I could live with, sucking out I would deal with, however the lack of etiquette was very sickening for me.
A few seconds later I looked around expecting to see Rob on the floor with a crowd around him, cardiac arrest or the like. However, Taylor was nowhere to be seen. In fact, I couldn't find Rob anywhere in the crowd, nor was he there after I open shipped the very next hand. Thankfully, I woke up with TT and quadrupled up.
A few laps later, I have outlasted a couple of people and wake up with AA on the button. I need a caller here, but a limp would be too sus, so I opt for the nervy shove and hope the Frenchman on the BB who had proved to have a wide calling range previously would look down to find something he reckons he's ahead with.
As it turned out, he had AT and called me. My AA did stand up, although he flopped a flush draw and a gutshot, reminding me how cruel poker can be. The T on the turn gave him even more outs and really did stop my heart beating for a second. Still, a double up was exactly what I needed and not long after when we went on break, I felt like I still had a lifeline.
During the break, the Frenchman told me how surprised he was to see I had AA. I guess in poker timing is everything and he was vul I had such a big hand, as I know I was shipping any two in that spot. At this point, I still can't find Rob and only discovered afterwards he was round the corner doing commentary with Parky.
Down to four and there wasn't a great deal in it. I had asked at the break would there be any chance of pausing or rolling back the clock and was told it wasn't an option. This is the one criticism I have of the tournament itself. Yes, the room was too warm, the food was horrible and very restrictive, but for a two day tournament there was a fair bit of play on offer. That was until we got to the stage that mattered, where the money jumps were decided like bingo. The prize pool was very juicy especially for the buy in, so it's a shame the serious money end was settled when average stack was a mere 4M.
Exit hand
I think my exit hand was fairly standard, folded around to me in the SB I open shipped QJ. I think I was unlucky the BB woke up with AJ and made a standard call. I did however flop an open ender but it missed along with my Q and I finished in 4th place.
Jaye Renehan played an absolute blinder yet again. The man is a machine; you just can't question his consistency. He's an absolute legend on the Irish poker scene and was unlucky not to win it in the end.
A quick mention for the other Irish at the final table. Mark Troy, who finished third, qualified for the IPO in a pub satellite for €40, a classic fairytale story, wp to him. As to the other Irishmen that made it, with so many 'professionals' and serious foreign players in the field it was nice to see an Irish tourney final table being dominated with Irish players.
The winner did get lucky along the way, but anyone who wins a tournament with a field as large as this had to get lucky and in the end, it was just his day. He obviously sucked out with his AJ against me, but as far as I'm concerned he played very well at the final table, fair play to him.
The JJ hand was one of the sickest I've ever had at a final table, but never in my wildest dreams did I expect to outlast over 1400 players to make it to the final table. $24.7k is my biggest cash by a mile and I'm so chuffed with it.
I'm no professional poker player, I play for the buzz with the intention of staying ahead so the poker pays for itself. I do like to be good at any hobby I take up and certainly, poker is no exception. I feel I'm improving every time I play and can only hope to continue to improve.
I'm lucky to have Rob to school me, as obviously he has taught me pretty much everything I know about poker although he tells me he reckons I have a natural knack for the game. I hope that the results will continue and I'll actually manage to win something biggish outright at some point in the next year or two.
A huge thank you
A huge thank you required to all involved in the IPO; it was a super tourney, which ran like clockwork. Stephen from Poker Ireland was clearly well organised as it showed, and paid off dividends. The Boylepoker Team of Paul, Lisa, Ciaran, Gerry, Padraig etc were very supportive and top notch as always. The TDs were on the money with John, Toby, Oscar, JP, Richard etc on hand whenever required. The dealing standard was second to none, as expected, with special thanks to Kasia who I managed to bump into in the toilets repeatedly. She always had words of encouragement for me, which I appreciated greatly. There are too many people to thank and I'm bound to have left someone out, but everyone involved with that event should be proud of themselves as the atmosphere and level of professionalism was superb.
It would appear I had supporters everywhere following the live stream, should it have been folk on Boards, people from work, or those that were railing the event live, thanks loads for all the well wishes and congratulatory messages via text, on Facebook and the Boylepoker blog.
Third time lucky?
Special commiserations to Mick McCloskey who revealed when a bit tipsy afterwards he was gutted to be the second remaining bounty two years running. Perhaps 3rd time lucky Mick?
Last year I managed two Hendon Mob entries and set a goal of achieving more in 2009. After a disappointing Vegas I figured I had no chance, however the side event in Killarney and the IPO have given me a total of three for this year, so I really can't complain. I didn't expect to make that target a couple of months back.
Enough babbling from me I think, time to do some new car research. I had been toying with the idea of buying a new car for a few weeks, I'm taking my IPO cash as a sign I am destined to get it after all :)
It may look like a bit of a beast, that's because it is, and I'm sure my golf clubs will love it!
Comments (1)
Nice story cat and well done on ur 4th place,i hope ya got that car.
p.s.I was the nice guy from portadown sittin beside ya,i got a new car with my money too,gl