Circus £75 (+£7.50) NLH F/O w/£500 Added

Hey Guys. Sorry for the delay reporting this, the truth is I’ve had a lot of other things on my mind & haven’t been in the mood to write but I’ve pulled myself round & here to reflect on our disappointing venture over Circus’s monthly £75. I had a friends 26th to be at for 21:00 so had a go big or go broke attitude from the off & wasn’t looking to hang around short stacked particularly from like 19:00 onwards. Anyway a large influx of pub poker players including scoop & Hetton social club crew, Koyte with his Jolly Miller riff raff, & 8BallAlly’s Coach & Horse’s boys substituted the missing Teesside contingent who were over Riverside Stadium watching their beloved Middlesbrough take a point vs. Newcastle in a 2-2 draw. So Circus still pulled in 70 players to generate a £5750 pot (including the £500 added) which gave generous top 3 prize payout’s;

1) £1795
2) £1105
3) £705

This event saw the introduction of FTP’s live tournament updates, I’m not sure if anybody followed them but yeah I was tweeting updates. I found when I got home that most (if not all) of my tweets were shortened as I had gone over the maximum amount of characters allowed for updates so bear with me guys I’m new to twitter & still learning but hopefully next event I’ll know the capacity. So I was drew T2-S6 with the following familiar faces Stu Costa (3), Arian Bahrami (5), PJB_ACES (6), & fatfish (7) along with a couple of the Hetton boy’s who were good lads. Before I’ve even played a pot I get the unfortunate news that Mark has hit the rail;

After taking a raised flop 3 way’s vs. Joe Peel & Gary Collins holding AA, he called Joe’s lead on the Kxx flop which gave Gary odds to come along. The 7 on the turn gave Gary a set & after getting into a raising battle, it eventually got all in & Mark didn’t find the miracle 5% on the river.

Oh well never mind, so I soldiered on & a yoyo 1st table so me eventually get some run good luck;

FTP GIM: I’m playing an average stack around 8.5k at 50/100 & villain come’s in for 3x upfront & get’s called in 1 spot by PJB_ACES I find a good spot to set mine from the SB holding 66. Although not a set the flop falls good for me with 245dd giving me an over pair & gutshot, I’m looking to check call the inevitable CBET but after PJB_ACES come’s along I opt to check raise instead to preferably win it their & then but failing that get it heads up & the latter works as PJB folds to my pressure. Villain is now playing his hand face up & so long as another diamond doesn’t hit I’m 100% continuing just have to decided on check calling or check raising, anyway Qx hit’s the turn & I decided to go for max value & check call knowing the bluff is coming on the river if no diamond hits. I know this is high variance especially considering he’s like 90% to have 2 over cards as well but M’EH I like the line, anyway the Tx hit’s the river & I check call for another 2.7k at which point I’d committed 2/3’s of my stack with 66 on 245QT board & villain passed facedown, ship the 15k pot.

Then after a good read & call my hard work is undone as I find a cold deck vs. Stu Costa;

After 2 late position limpers I complete out the SB with 97d at 100/200. I lead x59dd with top pair & flush draw for half pot which get’s called by Stu & both late limpers go away. 8x on the turn now give’s me top pair, gutshot, & flush draw so I continue my aggressive line & lead which brings another call & I know for sure Stu is chasing a flush here. I’ve already decided if the diamond falls on the river I’m bet folding (For those confused as to why I would choose this line rather than check calling it’s simple, I dictate the bet size if I lead & he can’t come over the top without a flush whereas if I check their’s no way I’m folding as he’s likely to bet anyway after I’ve surrendered & that way whether it’s a bluff or for value means villain can dictate the size of the bet) after my disaster at DTD & if it misses I’m check calling looking to pick off a bluff. So when the Kd falls on the river I lead for 1/3 of the pot & after some deliberation Stu calls which leads me to believe I could be good but he actually had the 2nd nut flush & just proceeded with caution. Although I lost the hand I feel it was the minimum all things considered & pretty happy with only losing 4k.

Then I lose further ground as my top 2 pair get’s flushed out;

After it’s folded round to me I open the C/O 2.5x holding AKo & get called out of both the blinds, the flop falls AxKhh & after checked to me I CBET for 2/3’s which finds 2 callers. Qx on the turn complete’s a straight for TJ but I don’t expect either blind (SB-Arian + BB-PJB_ACES) to be fishing for a gut shot so after checked to me I’ve kind of decided that both are on a flush draw, it’s really the only hands that make sense so I again bet 2/3’s which gets called again in both spots. A heart hit’s the river which prompts PJB to push the rest of his stack over the line which is only half the pot but it’s never ever a bluff here so I pass almost instantly & Arian calls with the 2nd nut flush to be shown PJB’s nut flush. So that took me down to 7.5k with the chip average around 11k at 100/200.

So short stacked & now around 18:00 I’m looking to get busy & fortunately I get a run of cards/good flops so start heading north;

K9d vs. K5o (Stu Costa) I open the BTN 2x at 100/200 which Stu call’s from the SB. Flop falls golden for me with top pair & a flush draw xxKdd & after 3BET’s it gets all in & although my 9 kicker is playing the Qd on the turn ensures I won’t fall victim to Stu’s live 5. Stack: 15k.

AA vs. AKo (Steve “fatfish” Brennan) Steve opens UTG & I 3BET from late position (Steve was unfortunate I’d 3BET him light a couple of times in previous orbits so this looked like I was up to my old tricks) he deliberates before pushing his stack over the line & I of course call, no danger on the flop & hand is locked up by the turn. Stack: 28k.

AKd vs. QJo (Arian Bahrami) I open middle position for 2x & Arian ships all in for approximately 6/7BB’s more & I call, Axx flop all but seals it & no help on turn/river see’s me through. Stack: 42k.

Then I was moved to T1-S2 joined by spoona999 (D), Mr. Manchester (8), Ray Chan (9), & swampy (10) & to be honest had far too much gamble & not the right attitude if I’m honest. A number of light calls seen my stack head in the wrong direction;

I was opening my entire range 2.2xish & 3 times in a row I had this short stack guy ship on me every time whilst holding 78d, 57s, & TJo then proceed to get himself short again by limp calling & check folding every flop. So when I raised the C/O with K8s I thought if this pest move’s in I’m calling & sure enough he jammed for like 7BB’s & I called to be shown A6d which held, a tilted call & I for sure wouldn’t have made it if it wasn’t for a number of factors but M’EH I was live & wasn’t that big of a dog for like 1/5 of my stack so I guess it’s ok. Stack: 32k.

AT vs. AKo: After some unfamiliar pub villain limps into my BB from late I decided to proceed with caution & check my option after swampy had completed. QxJr get’s checked around & nothing on the turn brings a bet from limping villain, I call with gut shot & A high is good some of the time. An off suit 3 hit’s the river completing nothing & I check looking to give up but he min bets the river, I’m like well whatever A high has some equity here & I’m not folding for like 5:1+ so make the call & he say’s good call as he flips his cards over, I’m like cheers mate but your good. Sigh bluffing with the best hand, guess I don’t mind that as he clearly wasn’t VBETing the river so in that respect it wasn’t a bad read. Stack: 25k.

AJo vs. TT: So it’s like 22:30 now & I’ve fell to 2/3’s of chip average with 25k. I open UTG+1 with AJo (unorthodox for me but I was looking to accumulate not preserve) & my immediate left ships all in for like 15k. I go into the tank for the 1st time in the tournament, I know I can fold but I’m just not in the mood & sick of being jammed on for like 15BB’s so make (again maybe tilted) a stand to be shown TT. Flop falls good for me xAx & turn keeps me in the lead only for the cruel 5% T to hit the river, only lost a flip but defo’s the most brutal way to lose them. Stack: 10k

AQo vs. KK: Another pub player opens middle position 3x & I find AQo out the SB with approximately 8BB’s so it’s an auto decision to dump them in, unfortunately he has KK & the xxQ flop was no good as I shake his hand & head for the rail.

Another great tournament but I don’t really think I should have played & it reflected on my absolute maniac approach from 30 players in. I did get out for a couple with my friends but it was gone 22:30 by the time I got their & they were all ruined whilst I was sober so it wasn’t the best night out but never mind. I’m not exactly sure how the tournament was decided, I understand it was a split but not sure how many ways but see that Rosie Barry & Nemesis were both in the top 4 so it’s likely they were involved in some way so well done guys.

On a different note you might remember Mark mentioning our good friend Milo “omahaha” McKenzie making a deep run in the DTD deep stack well yesterday he went 1 (or maybe several) better by final tabling the most prestigious online weekly tournament which is of course the PokerStars Sunday million. Playing under his alias Snort4eva he was eventually felted in 8th place for $19,374 after watching agonisingly as short stack after short stack kept doubling up, I know it will be a mix of elation & disappointment but when the dust settle’s mate you’ll appreciate how awesome that run really was. Huge congratulations from all FTP buddy, couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.

Finally you’ll probably notice I’ve tidied the labels & sections up & it’s welcomed a new calendar so you can follow our events & always know where to find us. So as that say’s our next stop is down Teesside for the monthly £100 freeze out with £1000 added which FYI get’s a £10,000+ pots & well worth the 50 minute drive down the A19.

Thanks for tuning in guys, talk to you later.