JMACK's overdue ME Trip Report

[maccatak11]

Great read so far! Enough detail that we will have to wait for like 30 installments!

[JMACK007]

Continued…..

I decide that I’m not gonna let this opportunity pass me by, especially since it would kill me to be there soaking in the atmosphere, without being able to sit down and compete, so I start my sms campaign to win that seat!!! A few sms’ back and forth between me and the SA player (over the next hour or so), and a few persuading “come on mate’s”, and finally an agreement is reached. He says “Garth is transferring the ticket now”. At this stage I am back in Kayle’s car with Pat and Chris on the way to Crown for breakfast.

We arrive and the guys head up to the food court for breakfast, while I head straight to the Poker Room to register. I’m immediately greeted by Glyn and Tim who have my player pack and lanyard at the ready, as well as a grin and a hand shake. I then head into the room to try and locate the SA player to “finish the deal”, and run into Garth coming the other way. He shakes his head, says “well done” and shakes my hand. I am in a bit of a daze and think to myself, Wow! I guess if you put your mind to something hard enough, even if it doesn’t happen according to plan, things can go your way in the end, so never give up!!

After the usual meet and greet with all the regs (most have a puzzled “how the f**k did you get that ticket” look on their face), I find the SA player. We talk while watching the players take their seats at my table, and he identifies an Asian lady who also won her ticket via the last chance sat the night before. He says, “watch out or her, if she bets strong, she has the goods”. I sit down at my table, pumped!!!! Luckily, I had a great view of the opening speeches/video/flag parade, and didn’t really see much wrong with it (other than the video not being the right format for the big screen which cut off most of the sides). Harps comes up to wish me well and those awesome words “shuffle up and deal” are spoken, we are under way! 2 other notables at my table are the Tasmanian guy who shipped the POTY the night before, and a guy who ended up making final table (he was allin & behind a few times on day 1 and doubled through, showing that you need that element of luck to get you through these big tourneys).

I played ok day 1, had a couple of young guys at the table who really thought they could play, but really were just donating chips to the table. The only hand of note was against the Asian lady my SA friend pointed out earlier. I can’t exactly remember the details other than I am dealt AA in late position, she limps in early position, I raise pre and she calls. Flop Ax10, she checks, I bet, she calls. Turn x, she bets, I call. River 10, she bets, I raise about 4 x her bet, she shoves and I insta call (she has me just covered). She looks at me with a smile and rolls A 10, so I smile back and show her my AA, at which the table goes nuts. Several times during that hand I made it look like I wanted to fold, and was happy to get max value in the end.

I finish Day 1 with approx. 38k in chips. Wasn’t overly happy with that position, but took a few hits early, doubled with the hand above, and was really card/position dead for the rest of the day, so was happy enough to just survive til tomorrow. So off to the Vegas Bar we go, have a quick bevy, then it’s time to head upstairs to Fusion for the players party….

To be continued….

[JMACK007]

Continued (just for Craig)….

Still in my 888pl poker gear, I head upstairs to Fusion. The doors aren’t yet open, so I chat a bit with Wabbit and Luke Roberts. Finally, the doors open and people start to make their way in. I ask the guy at the door whether it is ok to go in still dressed in my poker gear, he looks at me and says “Are you serious? Have you seen what has already gone in ahead of you??!”. I say “Good point” and head on in. The room is fairly empty at this stage and there is plenty of food on offer, as well as a bar without a line up, so I grab something to eat and order a $10 pint.

Soon enough, the place fills out and it’s elbow to elbow with poker players. They had a promotion running to try and bring people together, everyone got a “card” with their registration kit that said you need to find someone else with the same card and turn them in at the party for a free gift. My card was the Queen of Hearts (handpicked by Tim Harry, haha very funny Tim!), and being the complete slacker that I am I had failed to find a match, so I give it to Sarah Franklyn (who was in charge of the free gifts) with the cheesy line “Queen of Hearts? This is obviously your card!!”, but unfortunately she is too good to fall for such a line and I walk away empty handed….

It was great to catch up with Carmine, Russ, Larx, Steve Pope, Anastacia, Dakota, Sam D, Sinitster, Wabbit, BBT, JesseJ, Harps, Giz and the rest of the gang and relax with a few drinks after poker. I wasn’t as wiped out after day 1 as previous Grand Finals, I guess due to the fact that we didn’t play for as long. Jeff Fenech was there to meet and greet players and after a brief chat handed over a handful of drinks vouchers that the crew enjoyed.

The live band (I can only describe them as “Melbourne Chunky Custard” (prob only the SA guys will understand that) got things jumping and the party was in full swing. Soon I get a tap on the shoulder and someone whispers in my ear, “Hey Jo, the real party is upstairs!”, so I head up to where the staff are enjoying the fruits of their labour, and am immediately handed the first of I don’t know how many Long Island Iced Teas! These things would have to be the deadliest things ever invented!! They taste like lolly water, so you think, hmmm, that was nice, I might have another couple! Well, you usually remember the next one, but it all becomes a bit blurry after that!!

I do remember Pat and Kayle having their own “dance off”, with Pat well in the lead with his Irish Jig, until Kayle brought out his back flips to not only win the comp, but earn a warning from security!! So amongst the haze of the rest of the night, I remember more dancing from the boys, Kayle going missing, me and Pat running away from Crown security for some reason, and passing out on Pat’s couch!

Saturday morning arrives, and further cements Pat as a great bloke, coz I am not missing any important facial hair! We head in on the train and arrive at Crown with plenty of time for a bite to eat before play gets underway. We catch up with Tim in the food court, and I leave Pat with him, who is telling a tale of me denting a Cab and falling down stairs the previous night, which is all obviously made up!!

I enter the poker room, take my seat, unbag my chips, and it is once again time to play poker!!

To be continued….