Gala £100 (+£10) NLH F/O w/£1,000 Added

SUP FTP. Hope everybody is well, I’m here reporting on yesterdays trip down Teesside but I’ll start by giving a quick synopsis of Grosvenor 3-2-1 which both Mark & I played.

Grosvenor 3-2-1
Disappointing to see the numbers head south from 44 last week to only 32 this week which of course had a knock on effect on the prize pool which finished after buy in period at £1800;

1) £670
2) £490
3) £320
4) £180
5) £140

So drawn T3-S3 along with familiar faces mag1892 (2), Russ
“TheSuit” (4), PJB_ACES (5), roscopiko (6), & avkid (7). I got a courtesy double up from Russ 3rd hand in after I 3BET Colin from the BTN w/QQ which Russ & Colin called out the SB & C/O respectively. QJ8 flop & after checked to me I CBET half pot & Russ moved in w/JTs I make the easy call w/QQ & don’t even contemplate T9. So I’m on a double stack & an orbit later I play a BvB hand vs. a tilted Russ where I complete w/56s & flop falls 336r & goes B/C, K turned which goes C/C, 6 hit’s the river which after 3BETs gets all in & he folds face down after seeing my 6 declaring he had a 3. So sitting pretty w/12,000 which is effectively 20,000 including my optional double top up I take it easy & have a good catch up with Colin
“mag1892” Taylor about work, Vegas, Howard Hughes, fruit machines, etc & just general chit chat really but kept me out of trouble as I was more interested in the conversation then getting busy with mediocre cards. Also joined to my left by a young lad from Preston who was in town for the NUFC game on Saturday who was on drink & was a good laugh, anyway I made the break with 24,050 & average was around 13,000 so in very good shape & shared dinner table with teamdobb, mag1892, & txstrevb enjoying chicken & mushroom pie with chips & gravy which Varzee was the best yet IMO & an 8/10 for me big man. After the break we were joined by Phlmc over S9 & I take a 5,000 hit when I open 78s UTG+1 to 2.1x & get looked up by short stacked BB, flop 8xQcc which he C/R me all in & I make the easy call w/PO of 5:2 & I’m delighted to see I’m 90% when he tables 55 only for 5 to show up on the turn, D’OH 10,000 chip pot heading in the wrong direction. Shortly after I’m involved in my tournament deciding pot when I open J8d 2.1x from the C/O & BTN calls, flop falls J98r & after 3BET’s we created a huge 30,000 chip pot at 400/800 level. K on the turn & I put him in for his remaining 4,000 which he called & tabled JT for 1P, OESD & a lot of counterfeit cards giving him 40% equity in the hand which isn’t disastrous but I was hoping to have a slightly bigger % with my 2P, anyway Q hits on the river & I go from almost double chip average to 2,600 & 1 foot out the door. Next hand same villain gives me a double up as I get AIPF w/22 vs. his KQo & ensuing board reads K2xKx to fill me up, so later the same orbit I’m now on 6,400 & get AIPF w/AKc vs. TT which will get me back to average stack & when door card is a K things are looking promising but not for long as last card on the flop was a T & no more help ensured I hit the rail approximately 23/32. After shaking everybody’s hand & wishing them all good luck I had a bit crack with Mark, roscopiko, & andrizu on the rail before heading home for an early night (well 1:00am) to ensure I slept well for Teesside. Congratulations to NPFers & friends txstrevb & mac5910 (Jnr. Mac) who split the prize pool officially coming 4th & 5th respectively after they played it out, KUTGW chaps.

Gala £100 (+£10) NLH F/O w/£1000 Added
Travelled down the A19 for what was a very disappointing evening which began by arriving at 19:55 before the MTT had started but being penalised for not being there by 19:50 we had to wait until the cards were in the air before we could registered & then were deducted 1,000 chips, FFS. So I sat w/9,000 compared to everybody else’s 10,000 over T7-S10 which has Latif Snr (2) & Lorraine Hulse (8) as the only recognizable faces. Finished the buy in period w/12,000 after a bit of a roller coaster being dealt;

QQ vs. KK - QKxAx
KK vs. AQ - xxQxx
J9s vs. KQ - TKQxx
88 vs. KTc - 8xTQJcc
KJo vs. AQs - QxTxx

FTP GIM: 50/100 & I was dealt QQ out of the BB behind a guy who came in from MP for 300, I elected just to flat call as I didn't want to play a big pot OOP in 1st level. So 650 pot & flop falls QKx & I check call a 500 bet for a A to hit the turn which I again check call 500. A blank on the river leave's board reading QKxAxr w/2650 in the pot & after I checked to villain he again bets 500 which is only 1/5 of the pot, I had intended to just check call but because it was so small & I wanted to get value out of AK/AQ I check raised to 2,000 which he called & showed KK. Although I seen the pot head in the wrong direction losing 3,200 after being dealt set over set I was pretty happy not to go bust or at least double the villain up.

So 3/2 out of 5 pots all north of 5,000 I could have easily been bust or on 25,000+ after all those so wasn’t too disappointed w/12,000. 81 runners generated £9100 (including the added £1000) which was split accordingly;

1) £3,130
2) £1,910
3) £1,310
4) £790
5) £560
6) £440
7) £340
8) £260
9) £200
10) £160

During the break I caught up with Brett Angell, Adam Tuffin, & COGB whilst giving my commiserations to Mark who had went bust moments before the break after getting KK bust by 74h which got all in on a 2 heart flop for 25,000 pot, sigh NVM. After the break I slowly chipped up to 15,000 when I was struck down with the curse of AK, blinds 200/400;

AKo vs. KTo - xTxxx
AKo vs. ATo - xxTxx
AKo vs. QQ - TJ2Q2

So from 15,000 I lost a couple of 10,000 chip pot 70/30’s before getting my final 5,000 (12.5BB) AIPF as a 50/50 which cruelly gave me a broadway straight only to come out 2nd best vs. villains full house, sigh GG WP NH chaps. I rang Mark who was having a late dinner over pizza hut so I headed down their & luckily he had 3 slices which were just going to waste so after finishing those & sharing a cookie dough for 2 desert we hit the road & headed for home. Mark recounts his day;

"Grosvenor 3-2-1
On the Friday night I unexpectedly ended up playing the 3-2-1 at the Grosvenor. I got a phone call from my wife on Friday teatime telling me that the electricity had gone off in the street and was scheduled to be off for most of the night. My wife made arrangements to take the kids to her parents and I made arrangements to play at the G. It’s a hard life at times. I was quite pleased to be honest as I’d read a lot of good things about this tournament and was looking forward to playing it. I arrive with Daniel and take my seat on T1 S5. I had a perfect table position really as I had position on the two best players at the table in SamJ (S3) & KQ4EVA (S4). Only other notable at the table was Mr E’s better half Dawn in S7. I must say I don’t really play in the G that often but credit where credits due the tourney was ran really well although it was a little disappointing to see the numbers drop from the previous week. I also really enjoyed my table, I was in good company and had a good laugh with Andy Blair (KQ4EVA) and SamJ as we talked about our online exploits. I impressed to hear about some excellent mixed game results from KQ4EVA and even more surprised to hear that SamJ has went bust online. The first pot I enter is with AdQd from the SB. Pretty much the entire table limps at 25/50 and I make it 500 from the SB. I’m flat called by some inexperienced player UTG and the action passes round to SamJ on the BTN who proceeds to jam his 4,000 stack all in. It’s obvious he has a pocket pair, somewhere in the region of 99 and I consider my action. In the end I decide I really don’t need to take a flip for my stack and there will be better spots for me to get my stack in so I fold my hand and the player UTG looks SamJ up. Not surprisingly SamJ turns up with 77 and UTG villain tables AJ. Sam’s on the right side of a flip for an early double up. I must say I don’t really like the play too much. I mean his best case scenario was a flip and there was so many soft spots I struggled to understand his logic behind the play.

I win my first significant pot a little while later when I limp UTG with KJ. A few other limpers behind join the pot before unknown villain sticks his last 1,000 ITM. He’s looked up by the big stack at the table who had previously received a courtesy treble up from SamJ and unknown when they overplayed AK and KJ respectively pre flop and ran into Aces. Anyway, passed round to me and I have a little gamble and call the 1,000. Flop falls J high and I jam my remaining stack ITM. The big stack folds and I win a nice pot vs villains 99. My stack doesn’t last too long before taking a hit. Again there have been a few limpers before I make a raise with AcQc from the BTN. The SB 3BET shoves for not much more and I make the easy call. Villain tables K3o. He binks the King and I double him up and I’m back down to my starting stack. The next time I’m involved I open the pot from mid position with 4d6d and I’m looked up by Dawn Foggo. The flop falls 237r and I C-BET. Dawn calls and a Q hits the turn. I’m pretty sure Dawn has a pocket pair and won’t like the Q. I consider my action and decide to shove. Dawn tanks for ages and it looks like she’s about to throw her hand away as I say to her “9’s”. She eventually throws her hand away and I tell her I had 9’s beat to which she replied that’s exactly what she had.

Next time I’m involved SamJ raises from mid position and I play my BTN and call with Jd7d. The flop is 8 high and SamJ C-BETs for 750. I make a play at the pot and 3BET to 2250. SamJ moves all in and I muck my hand. Sam proudly shows 8To for top pair no kicker. Having previously watched him overplay 77 & AK and call a 3BET pre OOP with Q6s I’m staggered to see him trying to play for stacks with top pair no kicker. To be fair he had me in bad shape and made the right move but he’s crushed there so many times it’s certainly a questionable play. I know I’m giving SamJ a bit of shit but it’s all light hearted and he’s clearly a good player. This was proved when he eventually played one of his hand well. After opening from mid with 78o (not a play I’m accustomed to by so be it) he’s looked up by TeamDobbs who’s recently joined our table in seat 10. The flop is 78T. TD checks calls the flop and leads the brick turn. SamJ 3BETS the turn and TD calls and shoves when a 7 hits the river. SamJ makes the easy call with 7’s full to send TD to the rail. It all sounds pretty standard but I liked the size of his raise on fourth street and speaking to him after the hand he said he thought TD had 9T which TD later admitted to holding.

The next time I get involved I play my BTN and call a CO raise from Andy ‘KQ4EVA’ Blair. He’d just lost the previous pot the hand before and I thought I’d call his raise with 9To in case he was a little tilted. The flop is 77X and we both check the flop. An A hits the turn and Andy bets 1,100. I’m certain Andy’s missed and re-raise the turn to 2,500. Andy tank folds and shows an Ace. I show my 9T and scoop the pot. The next time I’m involved SamJ raises the BTN into my BB. I have A5o and consider my options. I don’t mind the fold here but I’m certain I’m ahead of SamJ’s BTN raising range so I don’t want to throw it away. He’s a tricky customer and I think he might put me to the test with a 4BET shove if I 3BET him pre so I decide to just flat call. The flop is AQ9r and I check to Sam. He C-BETs and I insti call him hoping to slow him down. A 2 hits the turn and I again check to Sam. He asked the dealer to spread the pot then fires a pot sized bet in off about 3,000. I’m certain my hand is now good and with about 10,000 ITM I decide to close things down right now and move all in over the top for about 7,000 more. SamJ makes the calls and tables A8o. FML. I certainly didn’t expect him to have an Ace in that spot considering the hands he’d went to show down with up to this point. Either way I wasn’t in bad shape as half of the river cards will chop the pot. Anyway the river is not one of my outs as an 8 hits giving Sam Aces up and sends me to the rail. Never mind. I had a good laugh and enjoyed the game. Maybe it was a mistake to take on SamJ with a marginal as there was so many other spots to gather chips but I just felt it was the right play at the time. SamJ did go on to chop this event 6 ways for £250 so well done to him despite playing dreadful throughout.

Teesside £1 HUNDO
After a good performance last month down Teesside (I finished 3rd for £1,350 but took a bad beat for about 90% of the chips in play 3 handed) I was hopeful of putting on another good showing this time around. The Teesside 1HUNDO is my favorite local monthly game, mainly due to the average £10,000 prize pool but I also just love the casino for obvious reasons. So after taking a wrong turn on the way down there both myself and Daniel walk into the card room just as the seats have been drawn and we head to the cash desk to pay our buy-in’s. Were informed that we’ll lose 1,000 of our starting stack because we were not registered ‘in time’. This was a little frustrating considering we were seated for the first hand and we both make the trip down from Newcastle every month to support the game. To lose 1,000 seemed less than fair but house rules are house rules and we accept our punishment without any fuss.

The MTT starts well for me as I quickly find AA in early position. I raise and I’m called in two spots. The flop is JJ3 and both players check to me. I bet and I’m called by one player who then leads the turn. I call and he again leads the river. It really does look like he has a Jack but his river bet is so small I can’t resist the price and call. He mucks his cards face down and I attempt to scoop the pot leaving my cards face down. The dealer announces that I have to show my hand. Despite knowing I do not I don’t really have a problem with it and don’t want any fuss so I flip my hand over. On seeing this Mark the TD informs the dealer that I do not have to show my hand down as the villain has already mucked his hand. No big deal but nice to see that the TD made the correct ruling. I’m a bit of a rack really as I pick up Aces a couple more times within the first 3 levels. Didn’t win any big pots but my stack was moving nicely in the right direction.

Just before the last hand of level 3 (100/200) and I’m dealt KK in mid position. Aces three times and Kings in the first 3 levels. I can’t remember the last time I had a card rush like that. I opened the pot to 600 and I’m looked up in two spots. The flop is Th-5d-Jh and I lead for 1,550. Action is passed around the table and the dealer tells the villain it’ll cost him 650 to call. WTF I made it 1,550. I quickly check by bet and realize I’d accidently thrown in a 100 chip instead of a 1,000 chip and it turn massively under bet the pot. Unknown villain then min re-raises to 1,300. The other player in the hand (I don’t know his name but I do know he’s a decent player and probably the best player at the table) then flat calls the re-raise of 1,300 and the action is back on me. I’m still happy my hand is still good. I’m a little worried about the min raiser but my next bet should define his range and where I am in the hand. So with about 5,350 ITM I then re-re-raise to 3,500. The min raiser passes and it’s back onto the decent local lad. He asks me how much I’ve got behind & I slide my stack forward of about 7,000. He then tanks for a while before re-raising to 10,000 total putting me all in. I think the hand through and decide I must be good. He’s a good player and it’s such a dangerous board that there is no way or at least very unlikely that he’ll not protect a flopped set or 2P. I’m 99% certain that he has either a FD or an OESD and make the call. Sure enough he tables 4h7h for a little FD. Ok, so were on our backs for a 25,000 pot when the chip average was still about 10,000. The dealer wastes no time and deals the 3h on the turn to complete the villain’s flush. I have the Kh and still have a re-draw but brick the river and just like that I was out. I have a bit craic with Teessider Martin Turnbull on the break who has also suffered an early exit from the MTT. I watch as he sticks £10 on roulette and proceeds to spin it up to £450 before catching up with Daniel on the first break and telling him my fate. Martin later told me that he’d managed to spin his £10a all the way up to £1,000.

After I went bust I tried to order some food in the casino whilst I waited for Daniel and was told that I had to wait 90 minutes before there were serving hot food? This was despite having a restaurant full of people but never mind. I headed down the road to Pizza Hut with a copy of Bluff and asked for a table for one. I sat there for an hour or so and slowly ate my food and flicked through the magazine. I’m just about done as Daniel walks through the door just in time to help finish off my pizza and share my cookie dough desert. So that was that. Teesside brings to an end to a disappointing month for February on the live poker scene for FTP. Looking back over the month I think I’m playing ok and have just been getting unlucky in some key pots. Never mind. Next stop for FTP is the Aspers £75 this weekend. Always a good game and decent structure so hopefully we’ll be able to get a good result and get off to a good start for March."

Thanks as always for reading guys, next weekend see’s Aspers £75 (+£5) D/C which we’ll both be supporting. This for our NPF readers coincidentally is the same day as FarmerDave’s charity football do which I for 1 am really looking forward, should be 1st class banter coupled with very poor football skills & all for a worthy cause. The time & organisational effort Dave has put into getting this arranged is admiral so please guy’s if you said you’ll play then don’t let the squad down for what I’m sure will be a thoroughly enjoyable morning/afternoon.

Full Radgie Dobbs FTW