GUKPT Review

Had a surprisingly good trip and enjoyed the poker/non poker bits more than i think i expected to. The main event was one of them bad days where not much goes right but i was very happy with my play and i will list as many interesting pots as remember below. Met some old faces and some new ones. Got very very drunk after a mid evening bust and ended up making £180 on a £0.5/£1 cash table self dealt for 4-5hours, the first time ive played live cash in the UK ! This included dealing myself AA the first ever time i dealt at a live poker table, lol how dodgy that must have looked ! The set up was much better than Cardiff with good dealers and excellent support from blue square staff which helped make it run smooth from all of what i experienced anyway.

Right on to the main event:

level 1, 25/50

limped button after 3 or 4 others and saw a flop of Q64 with 75off, all checked and on a 10 turn i called a 175 bet after a bet and a caller. The river 3 gave me the nuts and was paid off 575 by a guy holding the queen

raised to 175 with KJoff in mid and both blinds called. Flop was J84 and sb led for 250 i quickly made it 750 and he called. turn was a 6 and he bet 1000, i didnt like it as knew he could hold AJ here but put the decision back on him by raising to 2600 to look ultra strong, he reluctantly passed.

shortly after these pots i reached my peak stack for the whole tournament of around 13,000

blinds me in sb flat call a7hh , flop QhJhxx and i bet 100, ABC calling station made it 300 and i called, turn 9x chk chk, river 8x i bet 550 and he calls with Q5. Maybe a bit dumb bluffing but i didnt realise at this point he was quite so much of a calling station but found out there and later he hardly ever folds top pair.

level 2 50/100

Nothing too eventful and dribbled down to 9600 by the 1st break

level 3 75/150

10s utg and fair player called 525 with position on me, i almost immediately decided i was going to check raise any flop as this guy was bluffing regularly. flop QJ9 i chk he bets about 600 i pop it up to 2500 , he moves in and i fold, all actions within a few seconds lol.

down to about 6400 and button makes it 525 and i see 77 and pop it up to about 1700. He asks how much it is as obviously trying to gage if im committed and then moves allin. It was very clear i was beaten and he told me afterwards he figured i was committed and had AA and wanted me to call so moved allin to look weaker. down to about 4000 after this pot

level 4 100/200

cutoff i make it 700 with 55 and bb calls, flop 10,3,2 he bets 650 and i move allin for about 3200 total. he eventually calls with KJ ! and i double up to circa over 8000.

utg+1 same guy as above and the 10s QJ9 flop makes it 600 and i call from the sb with KJcc. we both check to the river on a 10s,10c,9s,9c,xx board before he bets 1200. I go into the tank for a minute or more and call to be shown an 8 kicker, back to over 10,000 after this and go to the dinner break a lot happier but just hoping i can pick some hands up, my image on this table was always pretty good and i know i could easily get paid off.

level 5

150/300

my biggest hand again utg , too many of my playable hands were utg in this tournament JJ and i make it 900 which same guy as above calls again. flop K83 chk chk, turn 10 chk he bets 2000 and i call confident im ahead if im honest. river x and i check, he only bet 1800, i didnt like it as it seemed a pay me bet but knew i had to call and was shown 88. That took approx half of my stack and there was to be no comeback this time.

i tried to play patiently with the short stacks and it worked a bit but i then lost 1000 with AK limping and betting a 335 flop only to be raised and shown 34 when i instant folded. One of those days, if i raise i get reraised or they hit, if i call they hit or dont raise preflop ! down to 2800-3500 and the antes kicked in now.

level 6, as 5 but ante 25

1 or 2 shoves or raises the level before got through to sustain but then the door closed on this level, couldnt get a spot or any cards. finally with 2875 i was considering moving allin utg with anything linked but i picked up 10s anyway. button dwelled and i knew he didnt have a monster pair or even AK and was hoping to see 77-99 when he called but it was AQ, bb showed Q9 as he passed but the queen still came and i was a goner.


Strangest thing about the bust was i wasnt mad, pissed off or gutted too much. I was happy with my play and know on another day i would be stacked and flying but it was just one of those tournament games that you get sometimes. I certainly didnt wait for cards and i certainly didnt rely on too much luck again and enjoyed playing my usual unpredictable style that worked well in vegas in the summer. I struggled a bit to see matey one side of me with AA 5 times and showing all and never getting broke with them, matey to left getting QQ twice and KK and matey opposite getting KK JJ and AA a few times, again never running into anything.

Overall i very enjoyable trip which at the end of the day is all that really matters and a little more experience gained. Bring on St Kitts in just over 4 weeks !