Poker Blog - NH GG FU

I arrived in Newcastle on Wednesday (expecting to play the 350 double shootout side event- and also to Satellite into the main event). I arrived the Grosvenor Casino for about 5:30pm- and the damn event was full, so I ended up 3rd on the reserve list, and my buddy Matt “donk” Dale (who was “co-ordinating things.. hah!”) was 2nd on the list. I also met up with Dan Carter who had the brains to book his spot online…

Anyway to cut a long story short, only 1 person was a no-show so neither myself nor Matt got to play that. We also met up with Graeme (”Morlspin“) from Newcastle (whom I know from playing online)… so after a few beers and some chat and looking at Morlspin’s seemingly obligatory Vegas stripper photos on his mobile (plus an amusing video clip of Simon trumper spinning around on Playboy owner Hugh Hefner’s rotating bed!) the three of us played some ₤115 Satellites to the main event.

Michael “don’t call me Beppe” Greco was to my right (he won a leg of the GUKPT recently). I asked him how he got on in Vegas. “Shit” was his reply. Anyway I was happy that he was on my right, as I figured he would be a strong player and I assumed he would be stacked before me given his live experience. After about 20 mins Matt “Donk Dale” pushed his j5o into Morlspin’s Jacks in an attempt to steal the blinds. Morlspin called, and the Local guy flipped over aces if I recall (Matt also pushed 8s2s and went busto in our next ₤115 SNG lol). When we were down to 6, Greco shoved UTG, I had played bugger all hands and looked down at pocket ladies, so I instantly reraised all in and took it down. Yeehaw I thought - I busted Beppe off Eastenders. I uttered the words “ship it” (I didn’t bellow it across the floor like some players I heard!). Greco asked why I said that. I replied that it was simply because I was shipping his chips to me. He told me that makes me sound like a c*nt before leaving. haha So I’ll just have to call him Michael “Ship-it-Beppe Holla” Greco from now on I think.

Morls soon got blinded out and I managed 3rd. A guy called Dong Steamrolled us 3 handed and the Main Event seat was his. He rolled into day 2 of the main event okay, so I don’t mind the fact that he pwned me as he obviously has the skillz… Barry Neville dominated the double chance and won just over 12 Grand. I heard he won about $60k in vegas recently - so he was running gooot.

On day one of the main event I played one more Sattelite for the main event (came 4th IIRC) - they only had one sat that day! not enough dealers apparently - so then I played some ₤115NL sngs and roulette to amuse myself while Matt and Dan Carter played the main event. Matt pushed his top pair (queens) into a low flush and busted out early in the first level. It was amusing to see Matt wearing blue-square garb (he satellited in on bluesquare) - rather than Poker.Co.UK attire (Matt’s poker site - and sponsors Daniel Carter, Pete Singleton and Lucy Rokach). Afterwards Matt claimed that since he sat’d in he was playing inverse poker. When quizzed as to what this was it turned out it involves raising with 72o and folding pocket kings Barry neville busted out of the Main event before the buffet (yummy - thanks bluesquare- Free buffet and free booze =))

Clip of Barry Neville after his bustout of the Main Event.(I manage to stagger past in the background after about 10 seconds- Anything to get on youtube! heh)

I met and gabbed to Lucy Rokach, and hob nobbed with and met a few pros and high rollers and people from blondepoker, as well Alex who is doing the official GUKPT updates (great guy - Give him a payrise !). I heard crazy gambling stories - you know - cardcounters, bad beats, gambling debts.. the whole spectrum of interesting gambling gossip you would expect I guess.

I watched Dale do his nuts in on blackjack and chinese poker before he dominated two consecutive ₤115 SNGS! (1st place in both!). I had 50% of Matt in each of them so I did nicely out of his pwnage thankyouverymuch Matt

About 3AM I boozed with Alex and we chatted to Rick Liotta (who was in my SNG earlier) It turns out he works for PokerStars - He seemed like a real nice guy and we talked about poker, donkeys, the world and everything and drank some JD’s (thanks Rick for getting me off the waters!).

The last hand of the GUKPT day 1 was a sicker (although not hand of the day for sure - as I heard tell of someones Quads getting busted by bigger quads early on). Last hand of the night was announced. Dave Colcough’s jd9d managed bust his opponents pocket aces (Colclough managed to hit a straight) - leaving his opponent with a meagre stack. Poker is harsh sometimes!

I staggered off into the night about 5am after two days of drinking casinoing and not going busto (which is always good). I managed to lose my phone (my life is in that phone) however thankfully I tipped the driver, and he remembered me and contacted me later on a different #, so I will hopefully “ship it” back to me soon I returned back home all GUKPT‘d out and phoneless and with aching guts (I must be getting old! - and I guess I missed my bed!)- but I had a super-fantastico time, and witnessed some real donkeys on the sngs and Satellites! I can definitely recommend going to these events to any player - give the side events or the satellites a shot - you gotta be in it to win it. Two of team poker.co.uk will proceeed into Day 2.

The next GUKPT event is in Luton, London next month. I will hopefull be there if it doesn’t clash with stag parties/weddings. Updates for the final day of the Newcastle Grosvenor UK Poker Tour are available on the GUKPT BLOG.

How was YOUR GUKPT?!

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Next week the Newcastle leg of the Grosvenor UK Poker Tour kicks off.

If you have never heard of the GUKPT , here is the blurb from the web-site:

The GUKPT is the largest UK-based poker tour and takes place at 10 different Grosvenor Casinos throughout the UK.

The GUKPT is an exciting series of 11 major poker tournaments, each taking place as the main event of an existing Grosvenor Poker Festival. Each event will be televised and broadcast in the 3rd and 4th quarters of 2007 on Channel 4.

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I have been kindly sponsored by Poker.co.uk (where I play a lot) into a couple of events, so it’s another GUKPT Freeroll for me (I freerolled into the Brighton Leg of the GUKPT recently).Other players sponsored by Poker.co.uk include:

• Lucy Rokach
  Daniel Carter (recently Cashed 2nd in the World Headsup Poker Championship 2007 for $81,022)
• Matt “Donk” Dale (I own 20% of Matt in the Main event- Here’s hoping he wins(I mean comes second to me) and ships me up to £18k
• Pete “The Professor” Singleton (who recently won the the Bournemouth £500+£50 Main Event in The Great British Poker Tour)

I plan to entering a few events to maximise my chances of cashing:

-Firstly I shall play the £300 Double Chance NL Freezeout on Wednesday.
-Sometime before the GUKPT main event, a £200nl sng (for a Main Event Buyin) with some guys I know from a few Gambling Forums so this is a +ev chance to get a cheap main event entry.
-And finally, depending on how things go (I believe there is plenty of partaaaay in Newcastle), and how the hangover is, I might play the Sunday £250 NL Shootout too.

I shall of course post some GUKPT gossip, pics etc, and blog it up when I return.

(c) 2007 UK Gambling Forums | Poker Blog

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I recently Qualified for the 5th Leg of the Grosvenor UK Poker Tour. This is what happened on my trip.

I flew from Edinburgh to Gatwick in the early AM on Friday, arriving in Gatwick Airport at some unholy hour (It was my first time there, I am usually flying into Luton when I hit London).

Upon arrival, I noticed some signs which informed me that I needn’t have ditched my lighter, toothpaste and other liquids (grr).. Paying £1.50 for a lighter pisses me off, but then so do Airports in general.

My plan was to meet up with some poker players I know in Brighton (some of guys from team trotter (the poker.co.uk pros, and Matt “Donk” Dale) before the comp, to meet them in the flesh (I know them from playing online…)- and of course to see if they had any advice to give me, given their years of experience on the live circuit.

I was scheduled to play on day 1b, and I had heard that Matt played in day 1a, and had accrued a nice 35k (ish) stack. The rest of Team trotter (Dan Carter, Pete Singleton and Lucy Lucy Rokach) were due to play on the Friday (day 1b), the same day as me.

I wandered through the Airport with the alarms and verbal alarm warnings being blasted over the PA System (nobody paid any attention to the alarms strangely..), I proceeded to pay £13 for a ticket to Brighton (where the sun allegedly always shines), and away I went on my adventure.

Circa 45 minutes later I rolled into Brighton, got off the train and tried to call Matt (pool, a beer and some cards I thought..) Straight to Answerphone.. Grr.
4am finish -> Hangover… I reckoned - so I decided to explore sunny (edit: Bloody Windy) Brighton.

After walking down by the waterfront and checking out some shops, I hit an internet café to read some mail, played some old slot/fruit-machines to kill some time, and finally I managed to get in touch with Matt who said he would be down at the Casino later.

I headed to the Grosvenor Casino for about 2:30pm for the “online qualifiers welcome reception” which comprised of a handshake, goodie bag, some sandwiches and beverages. I love goodie bags.. that’s just me.. They always have something novel in that I can give away to a friend or family member - So I wasn’t dissapointed when I opened mine. It contained a GUKPT MUG (not just any mug - It is a self-stirring mug (Gasp! When I donk out I can drink my tea in a self-stirring mug- I chuckled to myself). Also in the bag was a Brighton Rock (Sugar-tastic), and 2 GUKPT Polo-Shirts.

The welcoming guy informed all online qualifiers that if they wore the GUKPT branded stuff they would get entry into an online poker freeroll for the next 1k GUKPT Newcastle seat (worth $2100). With a mere 50 runners, this sounded good, but since I am already sponsored into the Newcastle event, I called Matt to see if he wanted me to wear his poker.co.uk shirts (oh of couse, I was going to haggle a price, however I ended up wearing the GUKPT gear in the end.) (Where is my email, telling me about this `roll? Grr…)

I spotted Dan “lucky Scrote” Carter, whom I recognized from his msn avatar, and ambled over to introduce myself.. Dan wasn’t giving any tips away (sly dog.. no doubt he will make good on his offer to give me some tips when I am playing with team trotter in the Newcastle GUKPT). When I quizzed him, he claimed he was going to play loose at the start and try to get stacked early on - the opposite of my strategy.

Matt Dale arrived (he was away looking for plasters as he had injured himself with a nerf rocket LOL - after beer poker and smokes, and a 7am beer carry-out (You have got to love English drinking laws! You can buy beer 24/7! - I live in Bonny Scotland, where the alchoholic beverages may only be purchased in shops etc between 11am and 10pm).

I met Pete “the Professor” Singleton, whom I recongised from TV, as well a few other renowned players, and I also saw a few familar faces such as Willie Tann on the tables around me.

Around 4:10pm the seating order was announced on the big screens around the casino, and to my annoyance I wasn’t on the list! I contacted the organisers and they assigned me seat 1510. I didn’t recognise anyone at the table, so thankfully I didn’t feel too intimidated (of course I knew that every player there knew how to play poker, so I wasn’t going to be complacent).

A loud welsh player was on my right, and he seemed to know half the players and dealers and “talk the talk” as it were.. I knew I had to watch out for him. Early on play was reasonably tight. I had decided to play like a rock for the 1st part of the tournament, and refused to see any preflop raises unless I had a decent hand.

I stole a few pots with reraises when I sensed weakness, and made two big laydowns before getting dealt the first memorable hand of the day.

In late Position I was dealt As3s, and it was checked around to me. I checked, and the flop came 3s7s9 - giving me the Nut flush. The Player in sitting opposite me me raised it 5bb, the guy to his left called, and the players in front of me folded. I pondered for a minute, trying to look reluctant to call (but not too reluctant), and I doubled his raise. Thankfully he called - the other player in the hand folded. Next card out Qs which ruined my chances of milking this guy. He bet the pot (I put him on 2 pair or a flush) so I decided to eyeball him for a bit. Well, It turns out I am not good at eyeballing people I think I managed about 4 seconds before I looked away.. Playing online doesn’t exactly make you good at eyeballing, and when I play live I try to hide my face with shades and hat.. [note to self- do some eyeballing practice in the mirror, or on the train Lol] -anyway I raised for about 3/4 of his stack, he looked disgusted and folded. I was up to about 14k and the first break was coming.

I managed to donk off 3k of my stack by making a great fold in a massive 3way pot. I was holding AK , the flop was KxT, turn T. One guy had KT, giving him a full boat, so I enjoyed a drink while reflecting on how glad I was I had folded.

In the second round I was so card-dead it was sick. I was dealt 73 at least 6 times, and the hammer (72os) about 3 times. The luckbox on my right was doing my head in yakking about cricket to a guy on the opposite side of the table, the air cond was blasting freezing air into the whole room (everyone was wearing their coats it was so cold!!!). I played 22 and won a 6k hand with a set, then watched the welsh luckbox knock out another player with his 444 v 333 (he called a 6xbb raise with 44!). Once stacked, this guy was a calling station.

About 10 mins before Dinner, I was dealt JcKc. Every Time I see JK I think of Phill Hellmuth’s famous rant, and I always remember it’s not a strong hand, however given my run of dirt cards, I thought there was no harm in seeing a flop. 4 of us saw the flop: rainbow TKJ (T clubs). Player 1 raised 3xbb, player 2 folded. Welsh guy on my right called, and I considered my options. I figured I had the best hand and mega outs- any J or K for a full-house, and possible backdoor flush (yeah right!) possibilities. I raised all for about 14k. The guy to my left went into the tank for a good minute, before I chirped “you are dominated man”… He looked at me and at the cards and said he was counting his outs. Welsh Luckbox on my right chipped in “don’t forget about me”. The guy to my left eventually folded. I was suprised when the welsh guy on my right grabbed his stack and shoved it into the middle of the table, and said “call”.

What did he have? of course he had flopped the straight, and had QA. D’oh. Turn and River didn’t offer me any salvation - I was out! I grinned, shook his hand and said good luck to the players and went off for food and a drink with Matt. I told him how it went down and we chatted. I asked how team trotter were doing and it seemed that Dan “lucky Scrote” Carter had run QQ into AA and had gone home (Dan’s off to Barca for the Heads up Championships this week).. I chuckled a little - being glad that I had outlasted at least one of team trotter - and hey - the whole learning experience was Free! (Thanks InsideEdge and Bluesquare!)

I headed off into the lively Brighton night confident that I would never play JK suited like a donk ever again. I’ll be back GUKPT.. just wait and see

Oh yeah! Did I forget to mention the hot chicks???? There were a good selection of hot ladies available during play, to give players shoulder massages while they played. Weeeeeird. Thankfully I didn’t play against anyone while they were having their shoulders massaged by one of these elegant ladies.. I would imagine it would have felt like chatting to somebody who is stroking a cat… but the player would be the cat.

I can highly recommend playing in a big money tournament such as the GUKPT - the experience can only make you a better player, and the prizes are hell-a-tasty!

(c) 2007 UK Gambling Forums | Poker Blog

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Tonight I won a package to the Brighton leg of the GUKPT. When we were down to 5, I had half the tournament chips, and a 3-1 chip advantage.

This is sweet, because it will be good practice.. I was planning on playing the GUKPT Newcastle in July with a few players I know.. Yeehaw. Should be good banter, and I plan to take a camera so I should get some good snaps for the blog

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