From Hero To Zero - Boylepoker Blog

With 5 players left in the European Poker Open V, everything was running to plan. I had 40% of the chips in play, at least double the amount of each of the other players. Then everything went wrong and I finished 3rd. So what happened?

Did I choke under the pressure? Did the other players make a supreme effort, when their backs were against the wall? No, it was much simpler than that - my luck ran out!

Through the heat and the semi-final, I ran absolutely golden. At six times my chips were in the middle in a pre-flop coup, and 6 times I won. Sometimes from in front, sometimes flipping and sometimes behind, but the result was the same each time. When I found KK v QQ against the unfortunate William Martin and that held up too for 7/7, I found myself in the commanding position described above.

From that point on, however, I went 0/4 in pre-flop coups. I found myself miles behind, slightly behind, dominated behind and finally miles in front in the particular hands, but that isn't even the issue.

In each case I made the appropriate play for the situation, the other players found what they found and also made appropriate plays. There's really not much anyone could have done differently. People talk about gutsy comebacks and super blow-ups all the time, but mostly they're seeing something that's not there.

Basically I'm just reiterating Marty's excellent post below. All you can do is focus on making good decisions and see where that takes you. After the initial disappointment had worn off, I was pleased to have taken 3rd place in a pretty tough field and will move on to the next tournament.

Thanks again to Boylepoker for their support and many congratulations to the winner Roberto Romanello.

Cheers,

Andy.