PKR Live 5 - Saturday: The Main Event

Before I give a summary of my experience at this event, I would just like to throw up; throw up an image of the ID card that they issued me with at the beginning of the tourney:

So I woke up on the Saturday morning feeling a little worse for wear and made my way down to The Fox Poker Club in the west end of London. I checked in and, being a platinum member, received a voucher of 20 drink tokens entitling me to twenty free drinks - nice. Pity I was far too hungover to actually use them. Anyway, I milled around a bit and then took my seat at Table 2, Seat 2. Along with the aforementioned ID card, a very nice scarf was sitting there at each place, lovingly folded for each player - a very nice gesture. (I'll do an image of the scarf later.) I'd already done my research on the players and figured that, on paper, I was sitting at a pretty mean table. I'd even tried to convince anyone on the forum, who was remotely interested, that I was on The Table Of Death.

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You can check out PKR's official photos for L5 right here. In the meantime, here's a rundown of my starting table:

Seat 1 -Rattus: This fella, whose username is an anagram of his real name (Stuart), is a fairly regular face at The Fox and he was on very friendly terms with one of the dealers. He said I was less fat than he'd thought I'd be - which was nice. He came to the tourney with a good few recent results at live MTTs. His girlfriend was a constant source of support and although not quite off-putting did seem to be on the scene every five minutes taking his photo and whatnot. His manner at the table was friendly and he was willing to chat about this that and t'other.

Seat 2 - Wobblebottom: Just some fat geezer who thinks he's better than he really is.

Seat 3 - ScottyStarburst: This young, round and happy-faced chap is known as a high-stakes online pro player at PKR and even wrote a double-page (four-page?) spread in the WPT magazine on how to win a pot limit omaha tournament. I think he's popular with the in-crowd and certainly knows his stuff. At the table, he was a fairly quiet presence ( I thought he'd be louder) and it was clear that he was trying to build an early stack lead. He played many hands loosely from early position, never got going and went out early.

Seat 4 - Trymean77: Trymean77 has an excellent record at MTTs and won The Fox Launch party event soon before L5 kicked off. You only have to check out her sharkscope graph and her appearance on page 15 of Issue 6 of Stacked to see that she knows the game. She brings to the table her trademark dyed red hair and fairly strong (Swedish) accent. At this table she was clearly knocked back by getting involved in a flush-heavy board against japete and never really got back into it. Soon after, her AA got cracked by Rattus's QQ and she headed for an early exit.

Seat 5 - tebby1: This guy had no real record to speak of but played a fairly quiet, solid game. He may have been playing his hand strength a lot but I didn't really get involved with many hands against him. Like Ablazemusic in Seat 9, he didn't seem like a regular high-stakes live player or anything like that. He crashed out when his set of 9s got caught out by Ablazemusic's full-house on the river. 

Seat 6 - ZONE52: This guy just looked like the new kid from a different country who had just joined the classroom. He never seemed to get to grips with the chip denominations, had to be constantly reminded about the state of play and just seemed to be at a loss as to what the hell was going on. In saying that he lasted a long time and was quite hard to read. 

Seat 7 - japete: I only got involved with one hand against japete and when I did, I took the opportunity to ask him how he pronounced his username; ja-pet, ja-peet or ja-petty and he said any would do. When I asked him his real name it sounded like "Yolb" but I've since learnt it's Jaume. (You pronounce the "J" with a "Y" to make "Yome.") Any well-informed PKR player knows this man's credentials - pay a visit to the PKR website and he is revered as a cash game king. He's almost a PKR pro-in waiting and he has a feature in the latest issue (Issue 11) of Stacked. (No link available yet.) Look at his sharkscope graph and you can see that he's smashed the MTTs as well. His table manner is what you'd expect from this highly popular player - a very warm personality and an absolute gentleman! He grabbed 2nd place overall by the way. Wow, I almost felt like writing that the sun shines out of his arse as well but that would just be rude.

Seat 8 - siggen333: As a regular multi-tabling presence at the $200nl+ cash game tables and a player I had respected, I was expecting this guy to be MEAN and he didn't disappoint. He looks pretty mean and scarey in his appearance and his table manner is very similar. Business-like, no-nonsense, tough to get a read and he raised my blind so much (as expected) I was thinking of buying some ribbon during the break so I could gift wrap the chips for him. I can't say I was disappointed to see him go when his AQ failed to improve against Rocken's AK.

Seat 9 - Ablazemusic: Much like tebby1, this fella was a bit of an unknown quantity beforehand but seemed to play fairly solidly. However, he just seemed to lack that confidence or spark that you see in a real contender which is all the more reason why I was so annoyed at donking off a load of chips to him and letting him off the hook in a major hand that really messed me up (see below). He was still going strong when I exited and I think he may have even grabbed a cash place.
 
Seat 10 - Rocken1900: This very mild-mannered fellow spoke zero words at the table and was almost a non-existant presence who seemed more than happy to be off the radar. He played as tight as the Rock of Gibraltar, got involved with very few hands but, as someone at Number 1 in the all-time money list with winnings of over $200K, commanded 100% respect from the rest of the table! There was no way you could get a read from him but you could sense he was always sussing out the table, like a cobra, waiting to see when the moment was right to pounce. Top man. Top player.

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As play continued a fair few more players came to the table, far too many to mention (and I apologise if I've missed you out) but two characters stood out. One was a French player; tall, distinctive, stylish and with the look of Brad Pitt about him. His name was HappyApple and he was known, on the PKR forum, for being involved in the biggest pot ever played for in a PKR cash game. I'm not going to dig out a link but it was for a pretty penny I can tell you. The other was an Italian chap who I sometimes see at the $200nl cash tables at PKR and who has a very good MTT record as well (approaching $30K profit). He goes by the name of ilcurioso and you can read a profile about him in an issue of Stacked. Check out his double page spread in Issue 9 of Stacked (p16-17) and his photo as he poses majestically while looking mysteriously into the distance.     

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-----PKR and The Fox Club are not big fans of my face but they love my arms. You can see part of my right arm in the picture of Rattus and a bit of my left arm in the picture of ScottyStarburst in the official set of PKRL5 photos.. You can see my right arm behind LockeLamora's hat and glasses at the far right of the screen in this youtube clip at 0:49 and you can see more of my arms in Seat 2 (2 to the right of Hardeep and his turban) at 1:06.-----

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Well, to be honest, my performance reminded me of those chess tournaments I used to play many years ago. I'd take hours to get to the place and then sit down playing good, solid chess for hours, even making a few inspirational moves that a master would be proud of; then......I'd throw it all away with a blunder of epic proportions and wonder why the hell I'd even bothered in the first place!! This is just what I HATE about MTTs. Well, my event was very similar to that. I was ducking and diving, wheeling and dealing very nicely right up until when the table dynamic changed, after about 5 or 6 hours when we were down to about 50 or so players, with the gradual arrival of three or four new players who'd been transferred from other tables. 

The key hand occurred when I was on a fairly reasonable stack, but I can't remember if I was acting after the villain or not or if I was on the button or in the blinds or what; I just can't remember. I looked down at 6 7s and my villain raised preflop in late position. I made the call and the flop came Q Q x, giving me a flush draw. My read was that my opponent hadn't hit anything and was just cbetting the flop and turn with nothing. I just called on both streets (not good) and when my flush failed to come in I just gave up and checked it on the river (totally bad)!! Needless to say, he showed A 10 for an ace-high hand and my table image crumbled right there.

Not going with my read and not putting him all-in on the river was just criminal - I'm sure he would have folded to an all-in. Anyway, this kind of annoyed me and I was down to about 12BBs. I know I still have a lot to learn with MTTs because the annoyance with my bad play really tilted me and I just completely lost my balance. (This just doesn't happen to professional players.) I just didn't want to play this tournament with a short-stack and something in my head pressed the "panic button" far too early. I know this. Soon after this hand I looked down at 44 in late position and I told myself I was going all-in if it was folded to me. Lo and behold, it folded to me, I went all-in but got called by someone holding 10 10 in the small blind and that was it - thank you and goodnight. I was so pissed off with my play that I couldn't bring myself to hang around for any sort of cash game action - and I headed straight for the bus journey home.

It can be very disheartening, to walk away from a tournament table knowing that you've played well but that you got knocked out cos the villain got lucky - but it's a hell of a lot worse when you leave the table knowing that you've played like a complete donkey! (Even if it's just the one or two hands.) Anyway, in a later post I will sum up the final day which consisted of the Terminator Tourney and lots of SnG and cash table action. I'll give you my take on the players at my table in that tourney (plenty of pros and interesting characters) and some of the characters I met at the side-games afterwards,  including some of the regular mid to high stakes PKR cash game players.

Most Famous Person At My Table

Loads of people ask me if I've ever sat at the poker table with anyone famous. ( Well, they don't really, I just wanted to name-drop.) Well, with all due respect to Ashley Hames, James Sudworth and Tom Fleischer (ashleyhames1, james666 and flesicher123) the most recognisable name/face who I've had the pleasure of sitting with at the table is Hardeep Singh (or as I like to now call him, "Hardeep"). He was at my table at The Fox Poker Club and if you can't quite place him then here's a picture of him:  

And if you found that one offensive, here's another one for you:

PKR Live 5 - Friday: Free Drinks At Tower Bridge

**For this trip report, I will refer to players by using their PKR username.**

Prior to the two days of poker that were lined up at The Fox Poker Club the good people at PKR had organised a social gathering with free drinks for all, for all the L5 qualifiers and their guests, at Tower Bridge. Now while this may sound pleasant and glamorous and no doubt would have cost a pretty penny, most players, it turned out, would much rather have been playing a little poker. Nevertheless, here is my report of the evening:

Being my first PKRLive, the amount of people I knew beforehand (apart from the handful I had met briefly at The Fox Club launch party) came to precisely zilch. After a very wet journey to Tower Bridge and a few lagers on the way to loosen up, I arrived at the entrance to the north west tower. Inside, there was a small foyer along with a few PKR representatives and promo girls. After confirming my name, it was up in the lift to the corridor at the top. There is a very Victorian feel to the place as you exit the lift but when you take a right you get to the corridor, lined with purple and blue lighting, which links the two western towers together. Not knowing anyone, I grabbed a couple of bottles and just slowly sauntered to the end of the corridor while trying to recognise some of the faces. As it turned out I recognised A LOT of the faces but was happy to sip my beer and take in the view of London.

As time ticked on I thought it might be a good idea to strike up a conversation and I soon got talking to a chap who goes by the name of Robublind. We chatted away about the main event but what struck me the most was this guy's resemblance to Mike Matusow. He could have been his twin brother for sure! Anyway, I then spotted my guest who goes by the username of MrDickie and grabbed his attention. (As a qualifier you are allowed to invite a guest and as none of my friends or relatives were up for this, I offered my guest ticket to anyone who wanted it from the PKR forums.) We chatted away for a short while and the subject turned to PKR players. On mentioning the fact that I had never met Chivalrousgent, he immediately introduced me to the man himself. Never mind Mike Matusow's twin brother - right there was Chivalrousgent's very own twin brother!! Anyway, among this group were SOTVandy (a previous winner of The Masters) and also a chap called Philip Conneller (username: escalope) who was the first winner of PKRL (L1) and the editor of Bluff Magazine.

Well, after I told him how much I enjoyed his magazine and that its articles were the meatiest and most informative out of the whole crop of poker mags you can buy (the truth by the way, this wasn't flattery), I did mention my view on their front covers. Namely, that they nearly always contain a picture of a "hunky" bloke or two and that they look like gay mags for gay men. Surprisingly, he told me that he was aware of this but then asked me what else you would put on the front to make it less gay. Unfortunately, I was not able to supply him with a satisfactory answer at the time. (Maybe have poker related stuff with no blokes on the cover or, at least, don't make them look like models or porn stars?) I also asked him, as he had won L1, why he wasn't a presence at the PKR tables anymore, but he was tight-lipped on this one. He did let out though, that PKR weren't too pleased that he kind of did a runner after that success.

Anyway, shortly after, I had a short chat with Mumbolungo (Elvis hairstyle/strong Scottish accent) about strategies for the main event and then said a quick hello and goodbye to vd12345 (rotund fellow and winner of L3). As I left, the lager was telling me it was still early days and that I should see what was going on at The Fox and I'm sorry to say, I didn't resist this temptation. On the way down in the lift I saw Brutusnr1 and told him I was a big fan of his. As I passed him on the street later, I just punched my fist in the air and yelled "Sweden!" He probably thought I was some sort of stalker because I did the same when I saw him later at The Fox.

So I'm at The Fox, I'm a bit tipsy and I buy £200 in chips for a cash game!! Luckily, these just slipped into my pocket and were never used again until I cashed them the next day - thank goodness. I then nip out to the smoker's area for some fresh air and see Brutusnr1 again with a serious looking chap who goes by the (almost spoonerismically vulgar) username of BUCKFASTer. This guy just looked seriously unhappy about something all the time. Anyway, before Brutusnr1 really takes me for a disturbed stalker I figure it's probably best to let him know my PKR username. Thankfully, he recognises it and we're merrily chatting away. He then introduces me to some more forum favourites and familiar names including Trymean77, Azurecoil and TheMightySwe.

By this time though, things have started to get very blurry. I recall saying a quick hello to the likes of petrafyde, Soxfan73, KKowboy and I remember chatting away with Oscartpot. Unfortunately, by about 1 o'clock, I'm flagging and I head for a bus for the long journey home. I get in at about 2 o'clock in the morning and the realisation dawns that this is probably the worst preparation you can have for the main event!!

Apologies for the lack of detail and just the roll of names at the end but this lack of attention to detail may just reflect my drunken state at the time. Nevertheless, in my upcoming posts, I'll write about how the main event went and give an insight into the table manner of some of the players who were sitting at my table.

Live Poker Bad. Online Poker Good.

We're just beyond half-way through December now and I feel the need to report on my "winding-down" sessions for this last "winding-down" month of the year. For those who haven't read my previous blogs, September through to November were rubbish for me when it came to online poker so I am using December as the month to slow down before I plan to move up a gear or two in the new year.

In short, this is how my live sessions have gone this month:

1) 4th Dec: £35 freeze-out at The Fox plus cash games at The Fox and The Empire -£130
2) 5th Dec: £55 freeze-out at The Fox -£55
3) 7th Dec: Cash game session at The Fox -£140
4) 11th Dec: £35 freeze-out at The Fox -£35

TOTAL LIVE POKER BALANCE SO FAR THIS MONTH: = -£360.

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Not really very good truth be told. Let's swiftly move on to my online exploits where I've mainly been playing 25nl up to 50nl:

1) Betfair Deposit £325. Current balance = £400. +£75
2) PKR Account = +$90 (rakeback payment) PLUS +$160. Current balance = $250. +$250  OR  (+£150)

TOTAL ONLINE POKER BALANCE SO FAR THIS MONTH = +£225

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GRAND TOTAL SO FAR FOR THE MONTH -£135 OR (-$200)

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Ok, the downside is that my live game looks awful; the upside is that I've managed to go from $0-$250 in two weeks at PKR (albeit with a rakeback boost) by playing a few $25nl and $50nl cash games.

Swings and roundabouts. Swings and roundabouts. I'm thinking of withdrawing the £400 from Betfair and zonking £75 of that into my PKR account to be effectively free-rolling till the end of the year. Thing is, you won't believe how strong the temptation is to play a little 100nl.

PKR Live 5 - Qualification

PKR hold a live tournament twice a year. Presently, it is only open to PKR players and, to my knowledge, there are only three ways to get in:

1) Qualify online through their satellites.
2) Be a PKR pro player.
3) Get invited to buy-in direct (as a VIP player) using a surplus ticket after the bulk of the places have been awarded.

The first four "PKR Lives" were held at the Loose Cannon near Cannon Street Station and proved to be a very popular venue. Since then, PKR drummed up a sponsorship deal with The Fox Poker Club on Shaftesbury Avenue and subsequently decided to hold their forthcoming live events at this new venue. Over the next few blogs, I'm going to write about my experience of the PKR Live event (hereafter referred to as "L5") but I'll start with how I qualified:

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Satellites for this start about 3-4 months in advance. You can have a crack from the bottom rung which starts at around $4, the middle stage for about $28 or you can have a stab at the final stage for a direct buy-in of $160. To my mind, anyone who is available at the time of the event and who can get to London for it and who has a sufficient bankroll should have, at least, a couple of pops at it. It's nice.

My path for this started out the same way as my other woeful efforts to qualify for past PKRLs. Previously my personal best for L4 was a bubble finish at Stage 2 (pipped, among others, by a Scottish chap called Modge). And the closest I came for a place in L3 was second place, out of a few hundred runners, in a lottery for a place in the final stage; second, that is, to the eventual winner of L3 whose name is vd12345. Anyway for L5 I had no joy at the three or four efforts at Stage 1 and zero joy at the three or four efforts I made at Stage 2 and so I initially just chalked this up as another fail. 

Then there was a lifeline. One advantage of perusing the PKR forums is that you do sometimes get to see certain news of events before some of the other players and in this case it was the announcement that there was going to be a "Last Chance" satellite to qualify for L5. Now at this point, because my poker playing had gone up the spout, I had emptied my entire bankroll earlier and had $0 in my account. However, I just had this feeling that this could be the one. I made a one-shot $162 deposit so that I could enter the last chance saloon. I had a feeling that I should enter quickly as I felt sure these places would be snapped up quickly.

The satellite itself held places for seven players and out of about 34 odd players there were a lot of familiar names at the tables. I started off terribly and fell shortstacked fairly soon but, fortunately, I doubled up a few times at the right moments and just felt like I was going to be ok. Down to about 14 players I made a suspect call with something like K-8 in the BB to a SB all-in bet from a shortstacked Trymean77. Her ace held and I think that was her ticket in the bag. After a few tussles with the likes of Modge, petrafyde, Kingand77 and L4's runner-up, JJbird22, we got down to the final table.

Practically all the players on the final table were forum posters (friedagaric, Modge, ForFoxSake, petrafyde, Trymean77, Chivalrousgent, JJbird22 and yours truly) and maybe this accounted for why there were around 50 or so raillers! Anyway, soon enough I'm pretty much chip-leader and in the enviable position of being in "fold-to-the-seat" mode. However, I look down at KK in mid-pos and see friedagaric go all-in a few seats before me! Yep, good play says I fold but, hell, I never said I was any good and so I make the call. She flips over 44 and my KKs hold up. We're down to nine players and Modgie-babes falls by the wayside. Then, for some some reason JJbird22 is playing so loose and crazy, you really have to wonder what the hell he is doing. Anyway, after another suspect all-in from him, he gets called by Mr Huge-Stack and he's gone and we're all celebrating. (No worries for JJbird22 though - he still made it to L5!)

I would like to thank jdnorway for the above screenshot.

It's a very strange feeling qualifying for one of these. You win a relatively huge prize, which is the envy of many PKR players, yet you haven't actually won a single penny! Still, with it being talked-up so often, and with all those big name players involved, I really looked forward to my first PKRL. In a later post I shall talk about the Friday Drinks Party which occurred on 12th November and which was the curtain raiser to their Main Event which started on Saturday 13th November.