Patrick Dillon's Grand Final Summary(Super Long read)
Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2011 7:54 pm
What 888pl is all about!
Multiply events, Final Tables, min cashes, deep runs, catching up with old friends, making new ones and getting the piss ripped out of you by 888pl staff (I’m looking at you Garth Kay!), pretty much the best weekend any poker player could ask for bar a bracelet!
Well where to begin? I’ve just woken up on Monday at 2:00pm and I’m shattered but have a huge grin on my face after yet another superb weekend. Much praise must go to all the guys and girls at 888pl for what was in my opinion the best ran, covered and enjoyable Grand Final to date. So it was fitting that it would be indeed the last one.
Friday 26th August 2011
888pl Grand Final Terminator (7:10pm)
Sadly for me I had work commitments and couldn’t make this event. However I did hear that the structure was pretty fast with ante’s coming at level 3, so I probably would have crashed out early!
Saturday 27th August 2011
888pl Grand Final Day 1 (10:10am)
I rocked up at 9:30 on Saturday morning and after registering was chatting to Mitchy about the terminator. He then told me the guy next to me won it. I thought I recognised the guy but couldn’t place him. I congratulated him and went to chat to Chris Whitmee about our tactics for Day 1. Turned out the guy who shipped it was benny the cunt (LOL). Sorry benny the cunt I don’t think we had met in person before then so didn’t recognise you! Apologises.
As most on here know we had a last longer bet on the forum which by the start of the tournament was about 15 people or so. Me and Whitmee talked about setting goals for the day and joked about both of us Final Tabling. We also have a standard 100 dollar last longer beat which he has never won (up til the start of this weekend).
Crown was awash with 888pl players from all over Australia and the world (me). It really puts butterflies in your stomach as the clock counts down to shuffle up and deal. The anticipation, the hopes and the dreams of winning it. Garth gave his usual speech regarding play, rules, sponsors and what not and we were underway. As the first level began I ran QQ into AA in the very first hand. I lost a couple of k and always hate starting my stack in reverse.
As the first 3 levels progressed I spotted the likes of JMack, Carmine, Luke Roberts, Con and many more and went around to say hi and good luck to all.
2 notable hands I had in the second level went as follows.
I raised UTG to 300 with KK when the blinds were 50/100. Got 5 callers before the BB bumped it up to 1300. I reraised to 2500 as this guy hadn’t played a hand in 50 minutes of play and wanted to find out cheaply if I was up against AA. 3 limpers flatted including the BB. (Puke).
Flop 2c3c4h.
BB check
I lead for 5.5k.
One by one they all fold. BB shows 1010 as he folds.
I scope a nice 10k pop and feel pretty good.
Very next hand 7 limpers, I’m in the bb with 1010. Decide to check to see if I can spike a 10 and get paid big (I don’t raise as everyone is limp calling any raise on the table and I don’t feel like playing 7 handed out of position with 1010.
Flop 2 10 2. (I do a little cartwheel in my head)
SB leads for 300.
I flat, hoping he has a 2.
Everyone else folds.
Turn is an A.
He leads for 600 again; I flat again I’m pretty confident he has a 2 here and probably should have raised looking back at it.
River is a 4.
He leads for 1k.
I raise to 3k and he flats with 9 2.
I scope another big pop and jump to 40k.
As you all know poker is a lot more fun when you have chips so with twice the average i was enjoying my table a lot. Sadly it was table 14 so I knew we’d break early. Garth came over a few times to give me and needled me in jest and commented on some hands over the microphone which was always entertaining. And the live reporting of Josh, Dale, Dave and Mitchy were never too far away. I even had my picture snapped a few times by the photographer but apparently I’m so friggin white I looked like a ghost and my face and zero definition! Ha wonderful!
For the rest of day 1, I didn’t get into too many big pots. Just standard raise, C-bet spots. And anytime I woke up with either AA or KK I 3 bet took it down pre. All in all I had 4 table changes during the day which didn’t help but I did get Mike Raines on my table for a while which was a lot fun. As always it was great fun playing with Mike. I saw him pull off an epic bluff with 57s on a 104j4j board. Always smiling and always enjoyable to play with.
I ended the day with 55k which was just a touch below average on 24BB.
The one other notable hand I played was when a very passive player limped UTG for 600. 2 other players flatted and raised on the button to 3.5k with 99. UTG called leaving himself 11k behind. Everyone else folded.
Flop 4s 5s Qc
UTG checked, I lead for 4.5k.
He insta shoved all in for 11k total. It screamed KQ to me but the pot was so big I convinced myself he had a flush draw. After about 3 minutes of thinking it over and knowing if i was wrong I’d still have 25 BB left I called.
He rolled kq.
Turn 4h
River 9d. (Just as I said nice hand)
UTG left pretty quickly and I sheepishly racked in the 30k pot to the cheers of ‘Luck of the Irish’.
1 table behind me though a certain benny the cunt Mac was getting a bit of the Irish luck himself when he committed his entire stack on a flop of 3c 4s 6s with 3h3s. He had run into 6c6h of his opponent. I watched as benny the cunt’s head dropped to the floor, resigned to his fate only for the boarding to run out Spade spade and his 3s gave him the winning flush.
Suddenly the Terminator winner was among the chip leaders!
Saturday 27th August 2011
888pl Grand Final Teams Event (7:10pm)
I was absolutely drained at the end of bagging and tagging my chips on Day 1. Chris Whitmee and I normally play teams together but I told him I was too tired and needed rest for Day 2. He teamed up with old-man daryl Wesley instead and just as I was leaving I got a call from one of my best friends who plays in my venue every week (Renee Cornish). She wanted to play teams so I agreed. As soon as you see everyone start to register to play no matter how tired you are you want to sit down and play
As Renee was still on route to the Casino I played the first blind level (for those of you who don’t know in this teams event you play with a partner and you swap every blind level (20 minutes)) I was pretty much a zombie for most of this tournament to the mental drainage of the Main Event. However I did have a very fun table with Nathan Butler’s better half (Emily) on my table. She was full of cocktails and dancing to Party Rock Anthem “every day I’m shuffling” every time she was all in and ahead.
This event probably more so than the big one was every bit a true example of 888pl with everyone telling their bad beats from the main event, their suck outs, having a laugh and generally showing that 888pl players are some of the nicest and friendlies you could wish to sit down with at a poker tale. I spent the entire night laughing my way to the FT. Indeed as this was a super fast structure like the Terminator the night before to run deep you need cards, luck and a great teammate. Luckily I had all 3 as my partner Renee carried us from 3 tables out to the Final Table. She made some great calls; showed aggression at the right times and handled the pressure of playing at Crown for only the 2nd time ever exceptionally well.
FT was 10 players and the money was top 9. There were 3 to 4 super short stacks and once the bubble burst I shoved our remaining short stack with 22 which was up against the A2 of a man in very fetching suit braces. The board double paired on the river and in cruel fashion we were out in 9th.
But I was relatively happy. This was the 3rd team’s event in a row at Grand Finals I’ve Final Tabled and cashed in. Previously I came 6th with JMack and 3rd with Garth Kay in the two team’s event at the last Grand Final at Crown in March.
Chris Whitmee unfortunately busted out in 19th when old-man daryl Wesley lost a flip. And commiserations to Russ Mac and Dave Murrin who over the course of 3 hands got brutalised but awful dealer/TC mistakes. When short stacked they were forced to play BB twice, then Russ had his cards mucked from under a card rack the TC placed on his cards to buy up the black chips. Then there was a fold out of turn which allowed a short stack to gamble heads up against Russ and crack his aq with j7 off.
It was pretty brutal stuff. Apparently though it was all the Irish man’s fault for folding UTG when they were in the BB two hands on the bounce at a changeover. Because I had folded there was substantial action they had to leave their BB in. Unlucky lads!
And another round of applause to benny the cunt Mac who also FT’s the teams event for back to Back FT’s. I think he finished 7th. Superb effort benny the cunt.
Sunday 28th August 2011
888pl Grand Final Day 2 (10:10am)
Day 2 saw 94 players return from a starting field of 296. Blinds kicked off at 1200 2400 with a 300 ante. The average stack was 60k. Top 50 got paid. There were small jumps from 50th all the way down to 10th. $1,060 - $1650. Then on the FT the big jump was from 7th to 6th with a main event ticket given to each of the top 6 worth $1,200. 1st prize was $35,000.
As with most events Chris Whitmee and I met in the morning to travel in together and get some food. We did the usually stuff like talk about table draws tactics and how sweet it would be if we both ran deep and Final Tabled.
I got a pretty good table draw with only one large stack directly to my right and everyone else on average. First thing I noticed was how many good to very good players made day 2. Pretty much many to name.
I folded the first orbit, and on the 2nd orbit I opened UTG to 7k with AJh. Dealer flipped the Jd on me so I would have JJ.
Mid position player raised all in for 22k total. I had no info on the player and wasn’t sure of his range for reshipping at all. With 36k in the middle and it being 13k more to call I gambled and hoped he had 10’s or lower.
He rolled KK.
Board ran out J high. ARRRHHHHH!!!
So after that I was done to 25k.
I folded my bb and SB to raises.
Next hand UTG raised to 6k UTG plus 2 called for 6k. Folded to me on the button.
I peel JJ and reshove for 20k total.
Then there is serious confusion as BB realises he was UTG as it was a dead SB this hand. He tries to take his money back and fold. Then the original raiser thinking the action is on him announces call, while the real BB is still left to act. The BB gets angry as he was about to reshove. Instead he folds and tells me he had 77. I’m pretty disgusted myself now because protection against 77 would have been great.
Garth Kay is commentating on the hand and gives the UTG+1 player a penalty for calling out of turn.
The UTG + 2 calls the 20k as well and the pot is 70k for my tournament life with 2 players still betting.
Flop As Ac 2s
Check check.
Turn Qs
Check check
River 2c
Check check.
UTG + 1 shows 1010, UTG + 2 mucks and I scoop the pot and treble up. Queue Garth’s ‘Luck of the Irish’ comment.
I stole a few limped (never understand how anyone limps this late in a tournament with so much in the middle) pots pre with big reraises. Misplayed AK against a pretty poor player when I couldn’t narrow his range at all but kept my head above water without ever really getting many hands.
Whitmee got moved to my table when we dropped to about 70 players and started stealing my bb blind! He got very lucky when I folded my BB to his UTG + 1 raise when I had 910s. Flop 99j and he showed qq when his c-bet took it down.
The bubble burst and I celebrated with all the players on my table adjacent tables. JMack ground the short stack to make the money as did Amber, Mike, benny the cunt Mac, Sarah Catterwell, Whitmee among others.
Whitmee then went on a heater on my table knocking out a decent stack with kk vs qq and taking down a number of pots pre to build a very healthy chip stack.
I knocked out a shortish stack when my AQ spiked an A against his 1010 to build my stack up to around the 100k mark with the blinds at 2k 4k.
Then I completed in the SB with 67h in a 4 way limped pot.
Flop 358 rainbow.
BB leads for 7k gets 2 callers. I call.
Turn 9s puts 2 spades on the board.
BB leads for 11k. Get’s folded to me. I read him as having 2 pair wanted him to put me on a semi bluff so I over bet shoved and he tank folded.
Still a healthy pot to take down with no risk.
Over the next couple of levels I got short when I kept either getting 3 bet shoved on or called and donk lead into by the bb and had to release. I was getting very very short and looking for any spot to get my chips in. But as my table had a few shorties it seemed that every shovable hand I saw I had a shove in front of me.
I finally woke up with 66 UTG when the blinds were 5k 10k and 1k with 42k left I shoved. Sarah Catterwell reshoved for 200k to isolate. Everyone folded and she had AJ.
Board bricked out for her and again Garth was on hand to compliment me on my great skill at fading overs!
Our table immediately broke and we were down to 3 tables.
I got moved to a table with 2 of the biggest stacks in the room. An old gentleman who had over 1/6th of the chips in play with 70 players left and still had 700k at this stage when average was 300k. benny the cunt Mac is also there stroking his beard that apparently has more personality that Michael Ratnicks!
I’m UTG and wake up with 99. I’ve got 100k so I ship it all in. Action folds to the SB Paul Florence who snap calls with AA.
Garth shoots over to announce I’ll need a 9 to stay alive and sure enough one appears from heavens in the window. I avoid 2 A’s and double through to over 200k.
I had a stroke of luck 2 hands later, when benny the cunt Mac’s hand got mucked because the UTG player tossed his cards into benny the cunt’s. The BB though the whole hand was dead and shows kk. When he realised the hand was still live everyone quickly folded to his BB. Including me in the small with AJh.
I definitely would have come in for a raise in that spot.
An orbit later I’m UTG and look down at 1010 and make it 35k the blinds are now up to 6k 12k.
I get called by a player I haven’t seen play before. Flop comes 99 j. I lead for 45k. He flats. Turns a 7.
I have 110k left. I think hard. It’s a shove or release the hand moment. I know if I check he’s going to bet. Without a solid read I decide to wait for another spot. I check he shoves 200k forward and I fold.
He doesn’t show and I’m pretty upset at losing half my stack.
From on in I was pretty card dead to say the least and with everyone trying to FT the action was thick and fast. I didn’t get many spots to steal. Especially with the monster stack on my left.
I get blinded down to 54k totals when the blinds are 8k 16k and UTG I look down at 10/2. I think of Doyle Brunson shake my head and fold. However the rest of the hand was strange. The large stack that had been very tight since I moved to the table raised to 55k which was a big raise in the context of the table. The BB reshoved all in for 110k and he called with 10j off. BB had AJ and doubled up.
Next hand the large stack opened to 50k UTG and it folded to me in the BB. I looked down at 55 and put my last 52k in the middle hoping I will be flipping against something like 10J again.
Garth gets to the table to announce the hand just in time to see my 55 has ran into JJ.
But in true benny the cunt Mac fashion the board came Kc 8s 2s 9s Ks and my 5s was good enough for a 4 card flush on the river! I survived again
Again after a double up we were broken and down to the final 2 tables.
I got moved to the feature table and was joined by Chris Whitmee, Brad(from my original table) benny the cunt Mac, Mike Raines, Stewart from Hoppers and Paul. It certainly was a stacked table.
Very 1st hand Stewy opens to 80k UTG as the blinds have gone up to 10k 20k. I peel AKs and shove all in for 130k.
Action folds back to Stewy who calls with QQ.
Flop comes down JKJ
Turn J
River 9 and I double through 303k and finally have some chips again.
I don’t really get involved in any hands again bar taking the blinds and antes a few times to keep my stack afloat.
The Final Table bubble bursts seeing the early big stack losing when his AdJh could not catch up against Kahle’s KsKh on a 9 high all heart flop.
I came to the FT 4 shortest stack with 7BB and a stack of 220k. Blinds at 15k 30k 3k ante.
I didn’t care about a couple of jumps. I wanted the Grand Final bracelet to go with my state Final one. So I was in the mood to try and double up. I was pretty much happy to shove suited connectors any A’s, two pictures any pair. Unfortunately for me I ran super card dead. 9/3 10/3 8/2 j/4 etc.......
I watched painfully as every peel of a hand showed me rubbish.
However by the time the blinds went up to 20k 40k, we had lost 2 players.
AQ vs. JJ when a Q hit.
And then Chris Whitmee crippled the big stack at the start of the FT table Mike Raines when his KQd caught lightening on the turn with a Q when Mike called off 85% his stack in the BB with AJ.
Mike was eliminated on the very next hand when he got his stack in with KQ and dominated against Paul’s AQ. But another FT appearance for Mike and solid run! Well played Mate.
It’s worth mentioning that in our Forum last longer bet at this stage 4 of us had made the FT and 3 of us were still in with 8 left. It was a pretty sensational stuff. And benny the cunt Mac’s Final tabled his 3rd event of the weekend. Ultimate respect for the man!
With pretty much 2BB’s left (I’m embarrassed to say that) I look down at A5c UTG+1 and ship it in like its AA.
Kahle who by this stage was the monster stack and in all honestly the best player at the table with 1.1m called on the button with A8.
The board ran out 3s 4s 7h 7s 6c.
I bink a 7 outer on the river for the win.
Any 3 or 4 would also have given me a chop. And of course the place erupted with laugher as I come from behind yet again with my tournament on the line. And even though everyone was nervous and there was some serious cash up for grabs, the FT was more like a home game in spots with jokes flying around, the rail asking for a song and Garth running commentary. It was a pleasure to be a part of it. I enjoyed every second of it. It was an event that really lit up the Crown poker room.
Probably my biggest mistake on the FT was not shoving on the very next hand when I was UTG and looked down at QJc with 7 BB. It was a brain freeze moment that ultimately cost me my chance at winning.
Chris Whitmee was definitely playing to win and didn’t seem to care about any pay jumps or tickets given. He was getting his stack across the line more often than anyone else as proven by Mike Raines crippling hand. However he did show controlled aggressive and instinct when he was able to get away from an over pair on a 866 board when the BB check raised him all in. The BB revealing he had 56c.
With the BB looming I look down at A10o and ship my 4BB stack into the middle. I get tank called by Paul Florence who has pocket 9’s.
The board runs out Q 7 8 J Q and then even though I turned additional outs I couldn’t get there and bowed out in 8th place for $3000 and 2 spots short of a Main event Ticket.
I quickly shook everyone’s hand made me off for a photo.
Of the notables that were left benny the cunt went out in 6th when he shoved the button with K3 and ran into 66 of Kahle.
Chris Whitmee came back from the break 5 handed super short with 240k blinds at 25k 50k and pretty much decided it was double up or go home. He reshipped on Noels open to 200k with A4h and was in bad shape against AKd.
However in true Pat Dillon style he binked on the turn hitting a 4 and doubled up.
From there he became hyper aggressive doubling up again when he shoved 6 8o into A7 only to spike an 8.
At this stage he had climbed to 1.4M and we were down to 3 players.
Kahle Paul and Chris.
Then Chris was check raised by Kahle on a aq8 board after Chris C-bet and Chris released losing half his stack.
Very next hand Kahle opened to 125k Chris shipped in 700k and Kahle called with aq.
Chris had 22.
The board ran out safe for Chris until cruelly an A popped up on the river.
He was eliminated but took done 11k and a Main Event ticket for his efforts. And much respect for going for the win when others including myself probably didn’t gamble enough on the FT.
As a very close friend of Chris this is a result that was been coming a long time for him. He’s got the game and now he’s got the focus and drive I can only see bigger results in the future for him. Definitely watch this space. Well done mate and you can finally frame that last longer bet!
Kahle took down the title in a matter of hands with a 5/1 chip advantage with a flush bettering a straight.
A very deserving winner who played awesome poker all FT and pretty much crushed it. Winning all the vital flips and reading his opponents superbly. A very worthy champion.
As all the post mortems were being wrapped up it was brought to my attention that another girl from my local venue the Village Belle in St Kilda had taken down the Farewell event for $1300.
So all in all a superb weekend for the Belle, with 2 of its player FT’s the main event. Another 2 FT’s the teams and another one winning the Farewell. A superb effort from a venue that only runs one game a week and attracts a player base of about 50 players.
Obviously the night didn’t end there but what happens in the Vegas bar after a GF stays in the Vegas bar. Needless to say I was laughing all night long with all the guys. Staff and players alike. They really are an awesome group and these events get better every time.
Hopefully we’ll see the guys who travelled such as benny the cunt JMack and Carmine and Papa Bear over for the Shane Warne deep stack in 8 weeks.
As for myself, well I’m bitterly disappointed not to claim another title but my goal this weekend was to Final Table the Main event and take it from there.
I’ve now Final tabled the last 4 Grand final events I’ve played in (Main event + 3 team’s event) and won over 6k this year at Grand Finals so cannot complain.
A huge thanks to 888pl staff, the players, friends that railed me and Chris and Crown poker room for making it a superb weekend that will be hard to ever top.
PS: If anyone has made it this fair take a bow as I’ve typing all morning but didn’t want to leave anything out.
Multiply events, Final Tables, min cashes, deep runs, catching up with old friends, making new ones and getting the piss ripped out of you by 888pl staff (I’m looking at you Garth Kay!), pretty much the best weekend any poker player could ask for bar a bracelet!
Well where to begin? I’ve just woken up on Monday at 2:00pm and I’m shattered but have a huge grin on my face after yet another superb weekend. Much praise must go to all the guys and girls at 888pl for what was in my opinion the best ran, covered and enjoyable Grand Final to date. So it was fitting that it would be indeed the last one.
Friday 26th August 2011
888pl Grand Final Terminator (7:10pm)
Sadly for me I had work commitments and couldn’t make this event. However I did hear that the structure was pretty fast with ante’s coming at level 3, so I probably would have crashed out early!
Saturday 27th August 2011
888pl Grand Final Day 1 (10:10am)
I rocked up at 9:30 on Saturday morning and after registering was chatting to Mitchy about the terminator. He then told me the guy next to me won it. I thought I recognised the guy but couldn’t place him. I congratulated him and went to chat to Chris Whitmee about our tactics for Day 1. Turned out the guy who shipped it was benny the cunt (LOL). Sorry benny the cunt I don’t think we had met in person before then so didn’t recognise you! Apologises.
As most on here know we had a last longer bet on the forum which by the start of the tournament was about 15 people or so. Me and Whitmee talked about setting goals for the day and joked about both of us Final Tabling. We also have a standard 100 dollar last longer beat which he has never won (up til the start of this weekend).
Crown was awash with 888pl players from all over Australia and the world (me). It really puts butterflies in your stomach as the clock counts down to shuffle up and deal. The anticipation, the hopes and the dreams of winning it. Garth gave his usual speech regarding play, rules, sponsors and what not and we were underway. As the first level began I ran QQ into AA in the very first hand. I lost a couple of k and always hate starting my stack in reverse.
As the first 3 levels progressed I spotted the likes of JMack, Carmine, Luke Roberts, Con and many more and went around to say hi and good luck to all.
2 notable hands I had in the second level went as follows.
I raised UTG to 300 with KK when the blinds were 50/100. Got 5 callers before the BB bumped it up to 1300. I reraised to 2500 as this guy hadn’t played a hand in 50 minutes of play and wanted to find out cheaply if I was up against AA. 3 limpers flatted including the BB. (Puke).
Flop 2c3c4h.
BB check
I lead for 5.5k.
One by one they all fold. BB shows 1010 as he folds.
I scope a nice 10k pop and feel pretty good.
Very next hand 7 limpers, I’m in the bb with 1010. Decide to check to see if I can spike a 10 and get paid big (I don’t raise as everyone is limp calling any raise on the table and I don’t feel like playing 7 handed out of position with 1010.
Flop 2 10 2. (I do a little cartwheel in my head)
SB leads for 300.
I flat, hoping he has a 2.
Everyone else folds.
Turn is an A.
He leads for 600 again; I flat again I’m pretty confident he has a 2 here and probably should have raised looking back at it.
River is a 4.
He leads for 1k.
I raise to 3k and he flats with 9 2.
I scope another big pop and jump to 40k.
As you all know poker is a lot more fun when you have chips so with twice the average i was enjoying my table a lot. Sadly it was table 14 so I knew we’d break early. Garth came over a few times to give me and needled me in jest and commented on some hands over the microphone which was always entertaining. And the live reporting of Josh, Dale, Dave and Mitchy were never too far away. I even had my picture snapped a few times by the photographer but apparently I’m so friggin white I looked like a ghost and my face and zero definition! Ha wonderful!
For the rest of day 1, I didn’t get into too many big pots. Just standard raise, C-bet spots. And anytime I woke up with either AA or KK I 3 bet took it down pre. All in all I had 4 table changes during the day which didn’t help but I did get Mike Raines on my table for a while which was a lot fun. As always it was great fun playing with Mike. I saw him pull off an epic bluff with 57s on a 104j4j board. Always smiling and always enjoyable to play with.
I ended the day with 55k which was just a touch below average on 24BB.
The one other notable hand I played was when a very passive player limped UTG for 600. 2 other players flatted and raised on the button to 3.5k with 99. UTG called leaving himself 11k behind. Everyone else folded.
Flop 4s 5s Qc
UTG checked, I lead for 4.5k.
He insta shoved all in for 11k total. It screamed KQ to me but the pot was so big I convinced myself he had a flush draw. After about 3 minutes of thinking it over and knowing if i was wrong I’d still have 25 BB left I called.
He rolled kq.
Turn 4h
River 9d. (Just as I said nice hand)
UTG left pretty quickly and I sheepishly racked in the 30k pot to the cheers of ‘Luck of the Irish’.
1 table behind me though a certain benny the cunt Mac was getting a bit of the Irish luck himself when he committed his entire stack on a flop of 3c 4s 6s with 3h3s. He had run into 6c6h of his opponent. I watched as benny the cunt’s head dropped to the floor, resigned to his fate only for the boarding to run out Spade spade and his 3s gave him the winning flush.
Suddenly the Terminator winner was among the chip leaders!
Saturday 27th August 2011
888pl Grand Final Teams Event (7:10pm)
I was absolutely drained at the end of bagging and tagging my chips on Day 1. Chris Whitmee and I normally play teams together but I told him I was too tired and needed rest for Day 2. He teamed up with old-man daryl Wesley instead and just as I was leaving I got a call from one of my best friends who plays in my venue every week (Renee Cornish). She wanted to play teams so I agreed. As soon as you see everyone start to register to play no matter how tired you are you want to sit down and play
As Renee was still on route to the Casino I played the first blind level (for those of you who don’t know in this teams event you play with a partner and you swap every blind level (20 minutes)) I was pretty much a zombie for most of this tournament to the mental drainage of the Main Event. However I did have a very fun table with Nathan Butler’s better half (Emily) on my table. She was full of cocktails and dancing to Party Rock Anthem “every day I’m shuffling” every time she was all in and ahead.
This event probably more so than the big one was every bit a true example of 888pl with everyone telling their bad beats from the main event, their suck outs, having a laugh and generally showing that 888pl players are some of the nicest and friendlies you could wish to sit down with at a poker tale. I spent the entire night laughing my way to the FT. Indeed as this was a super fast structure like the Terminator the night before to run deep you need cards, luck and a great teammate. Luckily I had all 3 as my partner Renee carried us from 3 tables out to the Final Table. She made some great calls; showed aggression at the right times and handled the pressure of playing at Crown for only the 2nd time ever exceptionally well.
FT was 10 players and the money was top 9. There were 3 to 4 super short stacks and once the bubble burst I shoved our remaining short stack with 22 which was up against the A2 of a man in very fetching suit braces. The board double paired on the river and in cruel fashion we were out in 9th.
But I was relatively happy. This was the 3rd team’s event in a row at Grand Finals I’ve Final Tabled and cashed in. Previously I came 6th with JMack and 3rd with Garth Kay in the two team’s event at the last Grand Final at Crown in March.
Chris Whitmee unfortunately busted out in 19th when old-man daryl Wesley lost a flip. And commiserations to Russ Mac and Dave Murrin who over the course of 3 hands got brutalised but awful dealer/TC mistakes. When short stacked they were forced to play BB twice, then Russ had his cards mucked from under a card rack the TC placed on his cards to buy up the black chips. Then there was a fold out of turn which allowed a short stack to gamble heads up against Russ and crack his aq with j7 off.
It was pretty brutal stuff. Apparently though it was all the Irish man’s fault for folding UTG when they were in the BB two hands on the bounce at a changeover. Because I had folded there was substantial action they had to leave their BB in. Unlucky lads!
And another round of applause to benny the cunt Mac who also FT’s the teams event for back to Back FT’s. I think he finished 7th. Superb effort benny the cunt.
Sunday 28th August 2011
888pl Grand Final Day 2 (10:10am)
Day 2 saw 94 players return from a starting field of 296. Blinds kicked off at 1200 2400 with a 300 ante. The average stack was 60k. Top 50 got paid. There were small jumps from 50th all the way down to 10th. $1,060 - $1650. Then on the FT the big jump was from 7th to 6th with a main event ticket given to each of the top 6 worth $1,200. 1st prize was $35,000.
As with most events Chris Whitmee and I met in the morning to travel in together and get some food. We did the usually stuff like talk about table draws tactics and how sweet it would be if we both ran deep and Final Tabled.
I got a pretty good table draw with only one large stack directly to my right and everyone else on average. First thing I noticed was how many good to very good players made day 2. Pretty much many to name.
I folded the first orbit, and on the 2nd orbit I opened UTG to 7k with AJh. Dealer flipped the Jd on me so I would have JJ.
Mid position player raised all in for 22k total. I had no info on the player and wasn’t sure of his range for reshipping at all. With 36k in the middle and it being 13k more to call I gambled and hoped he had 10’s or lower.
He rolled KK.
Board ran out J high. ARRRHHHHH!!!
So after that I was done to 25k.
I folded my bb and SB to raises.
Next hand UTG raised to 6k UTG plus 2 called for 6k. Folded to me on the button.
I peel JJ and reshove for 20k total.
Then there is serious confusion as BB realises he was UTG as it was a dead SB this hand. He tries to take his money back and fold. Then the original raiser thinking the action is on him announces call, while the real BB is still left to act. The BB gets angry as he was about to reshove. Instead he folds and tells me he had 77. I’m pretty disgusted myself now because protection against 77 would have been great.
Garth Kay is commentating on the hand and gives the UTG+1 player a penalty for calling out of turn.
The UTG + 2 calls the 20k as well and the pot is 70k for my tournament life with 2 players still betting.
Flop As Ac 2s
Check check.
Turn Qs
Check check
River 2c
Check check.
UTG + 1 shows 1010, UTG + 2 mucks and I scoop the pot and treble up. Queue Garth’s ‘Luck of the Irish’ comment.
I stole a few limped (never understand how anyone limps this late in a tournament with so much in the middle) pots pre with big reraises. Misplayed AK against a pretty poor player when I couldn’t narrow his range at all but kept my head above water without ever really getting many hands.
Whitmee got moved to my table when we dropped to about 70 players and started stealing my bb blind! He got very lucky when I folded my BB to his UTG + 1 raise when I had 910s. Flop 99j and he showed qq when his c-bet took it down.
The bubble burst and I celebrated with all the players on my table adjacent tables. JMack ground the short stack to make the money as did Amber, Mike, benny the cunt Mac, Sarah Catterwell, Whitmee among others.
Whitmee then went on a heater on my table knocking out a decent stack with kk vs qq and taking down a number of pots pre to build a very healthy chip stack.
I knocked out a shortish stack when my AQ spiked an A against his 1010 to build my stack up to around the 100k mark with the blinds at 2k 4k.
Then I completed in the SB with 67h in a 4 way limped pot.
Flop 358 rainbow.
BB leads for 7k gets 2 callers. I call.
Turn 9s puts 2 spades on the board.
BB leads for 11k. Get’s folded to me. I read him as having 2 pair wanted him to put me on a semi bluff so I over bet shoved and he tank folded.
Still a healthy pot to take down with no risk.
Over the next couple of levels I got short when I kept either getting 3 bet shoved on or called and donk lead into by the bb and had to release. I was getting very very short and looking for any spot to get my chips in. But as my table had a few shorties it seemed that every shovable hand I saw I had a shove in front of me.
I finally woke up with 66 UTG when the blinds were 5k 10k and 1k with 42k left I shoved. Sarah Catterwell reshoved for 200k to isolate. Everyone folded and she had AJ.
Board bricked out for her and again Garth was on hand to compliment me on my great skill at fading overs!
Our table immediately broke and we were down to 3 tables.
I got moved to a table with 2 of the biggest stacks in the room. An old gentleman who had over 1/6th of the chips in play with 70 players left and still had 700k at this stage when average was 300k. benny the cunt Mac is also there stroking his beard that apparently has more personality that Michael Ratnicks!
I’m UTG and wake up with 99. I’ve got 100k so I ship it all in. Action folds to the SB Paul Florence who snap calls with AA.
Garth shoots over to announce I’ll need a 9 to stay alive and sure enough one appears from heavens in the window. I avoid 2 A’s and double through to over 200k.
I had a stroke of luck 2 hands later, when benny the cunt Mac’s hand got mucked because the UTG player tossed his cards into benny the cunt’s. The BB though the whole hand was dead and shows kk. When he realised the hand was still live everyone quickly folded to his BB. Including me in the small with AJh.
I definitely would have come in for a raise in that spot.
An orbit later I’m UTG and look down at 1010 and make it 35k the blinds are now up to 6k 12k.
I get called by a player I haven’t seen play before. Flop comes 99 j. I lead for 45k. He flats. Turns a 7.
I have 110k left. I think hard. It’s a shove or release the hand moment. I know if I check he’s going to bet. Without a solid read I decide to wait for another spot. I check he shoves 200k forward and I fold.
He doesn’t show and I’m pretty upset at losing half my stack.
From on in I was pretty card dead to say the least and with everyone trying to FT the action was thick and fast. I didn’t get many spots to steal. Especially with the monster stack on my left.
I get blinded down to 54k totals when the blinds are 8k 16k and UTG I look down at 10/2. I think of Doyle Brunson shake my head and fold. However the rest of the hand was strange. The large stack that had been very tight since I moved to the table raised to 55k which was a big raise in the context of the table. The BB reshoved all in for 110k and he called with 10j off. BB had AJ and doubled up.
Next hand the large stack opened to 50k UTG and it folded to me in the BB. I looked down at 55 and put my last 52k in the middle hoping I will be flipping against something like 10J again.
Garth gets to the table to announce the hand just in time to see my 55 has ran into JJ.
But in true benny the cunt Mac fashion the board came Kc 8s 2s 9s Ks and my 5s was good enough for a 4 card flush on the river! I survived again
Again after a double up we were broken and down to the final 2 tables.
I got moved to the feature table and was joined by Chris Whitmee, Brad(from my original table) benny the cunt Mac, Mike Raines, Stewart from Hoppers and Paul. It certainly was a stacked table.
Very 1st hand Stewy opens to 80k UTG as the blinds have gone up to 10k 20k. I peel AKs and shove all in for 130k.
Action folds back to Stewy who calls with QQ.
Flop comes down JKJ
Turn J
River 9 and I double through 303k and finally have some chips again.
I don’t really get involved in any hands again bar taking the blinds and antes a few times to keep my stack afloat.
The Final Table bubble bursts seeing the early big stack losing when his AdJh could not catch up against Kahle’s KsKh on a 9 high all heart flop.
I came to the FT 4 shortest stack with 7BB and a stack of 220k. Blinds at 15k 30k 3k ante.
I didn’t care about a couple of jumps. I wanted the Grand Final bracelet to go with my state Final one. So I was in the mood to try and double up. I was pretty much happy to shove suited connectors any A’s, two pictures any pair. Unfortunately for me I ran super card dead. 9/3 10/3 8/2 j/4 etc.......
I watched painfully as every peel of a hand showed me rubbish.
However by the time the blinds went up to 20k 40k, we had lost 2 players.
AQ vs. JJ when a Q hit.
And then Chris Whitmee crippled the big stack at the start of the FT table Mike Raines when his KQd caught lightening on the turn with a Q when Mike called off 85% his stack in the BB with AJ.
Mike was eliminated on the very next hand when he got his stack in with KQ and dominated against Paul’s AQ. But another FT appearance for Mike and solid run! Well played Mate.
It’s worth mentioning that in our Forum last longer bet at this stage 4 of us had made the FT and 3 of us were still in with 8 left. It was a pretty sensational stuff. And benny the cunt Mac’s Final tabled his 3rd event of the weekend. Ultimate respect for the man!
With pretty much 2BB’s left (I’m embarrassed to say that) I look down at A5c UTG+1 and ship it in like its AA.
Kahle who by this stage was the monster stack and in all honestly the best player at the table with 1.1m called on the button with A8.
The board ran out 3s 4s 7h 7s 6c.
I bink a 7 outer on the river for the win.
Any 3 or 4 would also have given me a chop. And of course the place erupted with laugher as I come from behind yet again with my tournament on the line. And even though everyone was nervous and there was some serious cash up for grabs, the FT was more like a home game in spots with jokes flying around, the rail asking for a song and Garth running commentary. It was a pleasure to be a part of it. I enjoyed every second of it. It was an event that really lit up the Crown poker room.
Probably my biggest mistake on the FT was not shoving on the very next hand when I was UTG and looked down at QJc with 7 BB. It was a brain freeze moment that ultimately cost me my chance at winning.
Chris Whitmee was definitely playing to win and didn’t seem to care about any pay jumps or tickets given. He was getting his stack across the line more often than anyone else as proven by Mike Raines crippling hand. However he did show controlled aggressive and instinct when he was able to get away from an over pair on a 866 board when the BB check raised him all in. The BB revealing he had 56c.
With the BB looming I look down at A10o and ship my 4BB stack into the middle. I get tank called by Paul Florence who has pocket 9’s.
The board runs out Q 7 8 J Q and then even though I turned additional outs I couldn’t get there and bowed out in 8th place for $3000 and 2 spots short of a Main event Ticket.
I quickly shook everyone’s hand made me off for a photo.
Of the notables that were left benny the cunt went out in 6th when he shoved the button with K3 and ran into 66 of Kahle.
Chris Whitmee came back from the break 5 handed super short with 240k blinds at 25k 50k and pretty much decided it was double up or go home. He reshipped on Noels open to 200k with A4h and was in bad shape against AKd.
However in true Pat Dillon style he binked on the turn hitting a 4 and doubled up.
From there he became hyper aggressive doubling up again when he shoved 6 8o into A7 only to spike an 8.
At this stage he had climbed to 1.4M and we were down to 3 players.
Kahle Paul and Chris.
Then Chris was check raised by Kahle on a aq8 board after Chris C-bet and Chris released losing half his stack.
Very next hand Kahle opened to 125k Chris shipped in 700k and Kahle called with aq.
Chris had 22.
The board ran out safe for Chris until cruelly an A popped up on the river.
He was eliminated but took done 11k and a Main Event ticket for his efforts. And much respect for going for the win when others including myself probably didn’t gamble enough on the FT.
As a very close friend of Chris this is a result that was been coming a long time for him. He’s got the game and now he’s got the focus and drive I can only see bigger results in the future for him. Definitely watch this space. Well done mate and you can finally frame that last longer bet!
Kahle took down the title in a matter of hands with a 5/1 chip advantage with a flush bettering a straight.
A very deserving winner who played awesome poker all FT and pretty much crushed it. Winning all the vital flips and reading his opponents superbly. A very worthy champion.
As all the post mortems were being wrapped up it was brought to my attention that another girl from my local venue the Village Belle in St Kilda had taken down the Farewell event for $1300.
So all in all a superb weekend for the Belle, with 2 of its player FT’s the main event. Another 2 FT’s the teams and another one winning the Farewell. A superb effort from a venue that only runs one game a week and attracts a player base of about 50 players.
Obviously the night didn’t end there but what happens in the Vegas bar after a GF stays in the Vegas bar. Needless to say I was laughing all night long with all the guys. Staff and players alike. They really are an awesome group and these events get better every time.
Hopefully we’ll see the guys who travelled such as benny the cunt JMack and Carmine and Papa Bear over for the Shane Warne deep stack in 8 weeks.
As for myself, well I’m bitterly disappointed not to claim another title but my goal this weekend was to Final Table the Main event and take it from there.
I’ve now Final tabled the last 4 Grand final events I’ve played in (Main event + 3 team’s event) and won over 6k this year at Grand Finals so cannot complain.
A huge thanks to 888pl staff, the players, friends that railed me and Chris and Crown poker room for making it a superb weekend that will be hard to ever top.
PS: If anyone has made it this fair take a bow as I’ve typing all morning but didn’t want to leave anything out.
