Last weekend I took a leaf out of Steve Cody's book and decided to follow one of my own dreams....that of winning a large poker tournament. I entered the Irish International Poker Open, Europe's biggest tournament with 1072 players from 17 countries.
When I arrived at the hall in the RDS in Dublin I was completely overwhelmed. I was lucky to be with a number of my poker playing friends. Had it not been for them I would have probably turned tail and run. The hall was massive and full of players who undoubtedly were a lot better and a lot more experienced than me.
The tournament started at 12pm and by the first break (2 hours later) I had only played two hands (mainly because I was too shaky to push my chips in!). On the last hand before the break I was dealt KK in late position. The betting came around to me and I made a big bet only to be raised by a Frenchman under the gun. He was then re-raised by a Danish Pro. This was all pre-flop. The Frenchman then went all in, the Danish Pro put enough chips in to put me all in and I was left with a huge question...did the Dane have AA? I must have deliberated for about 10 minutes. I could hardly breathe and then I remembered a piece of advice that Matt Broughton the Editor of Flush Magazine gave me before the tournament. He said the best players make the least mistakes. I determined that not going All-In with KK pre-flop would be a big mistake so I pushed all my chips in. The Frenchman turned over AK and the Dane turned over a pair of Jacks so I was in the lead. Just! if an Ace came down on the flop I was out of the tourney after just two hours. I couldn't look so I couldn't tell you the cards that came out but nobody bettered their hand and I won a huge pot, put the Frenchman out and seriously crippled the Dane.
I nearly passed out through the pressure. The adrenaline was coursing through my body so much that I couldn't stop shaking. I then wondered why i do this to myself? The tournament carried on and I kept setting myself small targets. Just get into the last 700, then just to get into the last 500 and so on. I would have been delighted to have finished in the top 250. After all this was a really good field. Finally at 1.30 am and after 13 hours of play I was short-stacked (not many chips left) and pushed All-In with suited connectors 4 5 spades. I was called by a fellow with A 3 off suit. A 4 and a 5 came down in the flop and I had 2 pairs. Then came a 2 - he had hit a straight and I was out. It was cruel but that is poker.
I often argue that poker is a game of skill but it also is a game of luck. This tournament taught me more about the qualities you really need to succeed: concentration, determination, persistence, concentration, discipline and courage. Pretty much the same qualities you need to get on in life in general. I finished in 133rd place, just a few places shy of the money, but I was still really pleased with the way I played and took a whole lot of learning from the whole experience. My friend Stephen Richards came sixth and made 12,000 euros so we all were celebrating in the end anyway.
Oh my god! What a donkey call! You raise, and get a re-raise, and then someone goes all-in!!
You're super-lucky they didn't have aces. I would have folded those Kings in the blink of an eye.
I'd save your money if I was you. Poker's not your game!
Posted by: Meest | October 12, 2007 at 03:10 PM
Hi Meest
Well I suppose in silhouette it does look like a donkey call but remember that I had been playing these guys for 2 hours and mostly spectating so I had a pretty good read on them. I had put the Frenchman on A something but the Dane had been very cocky playing every other hand so i figured (after much deliberation) he had 10s and I wasnt far off!
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