Day 3: Bringing home the Gold

By now, Tom had exited in 7th place and I had basically anted myself down to 600k. I was starting to feel like I had blown my chance. The blinds were now 25k-50k and I knew that I was going to have to start playing. I raised Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi's BB with J975 d/s and he made the call.

The flop came KQJ with two spades, giving me a J-high flush draw as well as a pair and straight draw, although I didn't know how live any of my outs were. Michael bet out and I knew I had to gamble - if I won I'd have a real chance, but if I passed I was down to 400k and I'd probably be forced to play again soon when I might be in an even worse spot. As it turned out, Michael had AK45 and I was almost exactly 50% to win the hand, which I duly did when the J paired on the river.

The Irish crowd behind me -- which had been growing steadily throughout the day -- erupted but I don't think I reacted at all. I remember at the time thinking that I had been lucky to get a second chance today, and telling myself to dig in and concentrate. Shortly after that I doubled through Mizrachi again when I checked top pair on the flop, then hit top two pair and a gutshot on the turn. He had improved to a smaller two pair with the same card and also had a flush draw and gutshot, so he was perfectly entitled to think his hand was good. He bet out and all the money went in. I was a good favourite (about 70%) to win the hand and I held up.

I went to dinner in the Italian restaurant as tournament chip-leader, with 2.6 million, and the dinner - which I shared with about a dozen friends - had the feel of a celebration banquet. I'm always fairly realistic about my chances and I still knew that I was more likely not to win than I was to win, but I felt like celebrating anyway as it looked like I was nailed on for a top-three spot which would have been cause for celebration in itself.

After dinner I took out a short stack straight away and was up over 3 million in chips. Mizrachi then took out Billy The Croc and we were down to three: The Grinder, myself and Canadian internet whizzkid Peter "Apathy" Jetten. Peter had really impressed me at the final table and was the last player I wanted to be heads-up against. I was hoping that he and Michael would get it on, as they were around the same in chips and they didn't disappoint. It all went in preflop and Peter's aces held up.

I was still reasonably relaxed at this point. Peter had a 4-3 chip lead. He was a good player and I rated him a slight favourite to win, so I wouldn't have been too disappointed to finish second to him. The first big pot occurred when I got it in with a 13-card wrap. As it turned out, Peter had pumped on the flop with Ace-high and was probably fairly relieved to be ahead. I made the straight on the turn to hit the front, but he still had four outs for the redraw. It didn't appear and I now held a 5-2 chip lead with chants of "You'll Never Beat The Irish" reverberating around the Amazon Room.

This was the first time I felt under a bit of pressure to win the thing, as in my mind it was the first time I'd been in a position where I SHOULD win. By now the atmosphere was unlike anything I had seen before, and almost every Irish poker player in Vegas was in the stands along with a fair few other nationalities ordering beers by the case (literally!). I had it in the palm of my hand when I held ATxx and check-raised Peter to 1.3 million on an AT9 rainbow flop. When he called I was certain he had some kind of straight draw, either a wrap or an ace with QJ/KJ/KQ or something. When the J hit the turn I couldn't see any way I was still winning. I checked, he pushed all-in, I passed and he showed a bluff. He had called on the flop with QJ and no other draw, which I thought he couldn't possibly have done, and I'm still not sure how he made the call with the relatively small amount of chips he had behind.

I knew then that I'd be pretty devastated if I'd lost from there, and the overwhelming emotion that I experienced when I got over the line was one of relief. The final hand occurred when we both flopped the nut straight and obviously the money went in. There were two clubs on the flop and I knew I had three black cards in my hand but wasn't sure if I had clubs or spades. When he flipped over KJ for the straight with no other outs, I checked back to my hand and to my delight I saw I had the clubs, giving me a total freeroll on the hand. The turn was a blank and the river brought the 6c for my flush.

I've been asked since in interviews if the crowd made it easier for me, and I'm not sure if they did... it's a lot of pressure when there are dozens of drunken Irish people wanting a party and you don't want to put a dampener on things. Regardless, I'm certainly glad they were there because the atmosphere that day and night was something I've never experienced before; and probably never will again. The sight of everyone jumping in the air as I watched the crowd for a reaction -- while the river was being dealt behind my back -- is an image that'll be etched in my mind forever.

What happened after that is a bit of a blur to be honest. There was celebrating, then there were the interviews to get out of the way, then we hit the bar where KP had ordered 20 White Russians and "as many beers as you can fit on the bar". I had the good sense to give my bracelet to Paddy O'Connor to put in his safe for me, which was probably a masterstroke. I thought I was pretty drunk but I wasn't a patch on most of the guys there. Mind you, I did my best to catch up as quickly as I could! I don't remember much about getting home but I woke up the next day to find half my clothes and one shoe on the floor beside my bed while the other half of my clothes, and other shoe, were outside by the swimming pool.

A genuine thank you to everyone who was there, to Karen, my friends and family back home, everyone from BoylePoker.com, the posters on Boards.ie who all wished me luck and everyone who was texting me before and after -- and sorry if I missed anyone when I was trying to reply.

Log on tomorrow to read about my time in Vegas post-bracelet!