It's about 7 o'clock and I'm on a yellow bus on a fairly dreary evening heading into The Square which is the town centre of Bournemouth. I get off the bus and wander along Westover Road for the Gala Casino. Tonight it's the £50 freezeout baby.
First off, the poker room itself has probably the best lighting of all poker rooms I have ever seen. There is soft lighting around the outside with a deep blue, brown and orange decor within creating a warm and cosy effect. The overhead lighting lights up the tables to perfection although the chairs and tables have certainly seen better days. As to the structure, it was pretty good for a £50 freezeout. (By 1AM I was fairly shortstacked but still had about 15BBs left.) What struck me initially was the zero charge to enter. Yep, it was a £50 freezeout with absolutely NO ENTRY FEE whatsoever. Nice.
In total there were 32 runners with 8 players to a table and, as you might expect, it was self-dealt which is still a bit odd these days for us spoilt London players. Virtually everybody was on first name terms with each other but I was made very welcome and people were very friendly. Anyway, I decide to play a steady ABC game, with the exception of an all-in bluff with 2 4s at one point, and by midnight end up on the final table - quite early considering. The top 8 get paid but a deal is struck for 9th place to get £50. (That means the top 28% of players get a payout!)
I'm fairly short-stacked throughout the final table and even though I double-up while holding AKs, I get a 6th place finish when my KJs raise in the cut-off is re-raised all-in by the BB (who I have to call) who then shows KQ. I'm dominated and I'm out. I collect £100 for a £50 profit and it's kebab time and a taxi ride back to base.
Strange, my live game continues to go from strength to strength, yet my online game is still a load of old pants. With just three more days to go till the end of the month I feel much more confident about heading for the Gala on Westover Road for some cash game action next evening rather than cracking on with my online game. The game they play at the Gala is 50p/£1 with a £250 max buy-in. I guess I'll just have to see where the mood takes me come Saturday night.
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