EPT Monte Carlo - Day 2

Before the start of the day, I had told Skippy that my goal for the end of Day 2 was to finish with between $180,000 and $200,000 in chips. I was starting the day with $52,100 which was about twice the average stack. If I could steadily pick up blinds, and then hit one or two big hands, I knew this would be a realistic goal. Skippy was starting the day with just over $42,000 and both other Team Eurolinx members had also made it to Day 2, but with relatively short stacks.

I looked at the names on my table when we got to the tournament area, and there were no names that I recognized. I asked my Eurolinx teammates if they recognized any of the names, and Bernt told me that he knew the Norwegian player Age Spets (pronounced Oggy Spetz). He said he remembered a hand that Age had played against someone on Day 1. It went as follows: Late position player raises to $1000, Age calls in the big blind. Flop comes 762. Age checks, the player bets $1700, Age calls. Turn is an 8. Age bets $3000, the player calls. River is a 5, making the board 87652. Age bets $5000, and the player folds. Age shows AT off suit. So right then and there, I knew what Age was capable of, and I would aware of it, since he was 2 spots to my left, and he would be in the big blind when I was on the button.

Day 2 had begun. The blinds started off at $150/$300 with a $25 ante. In the second orbit, I was dealt 66 in the cutoff -1, and I raised it to $1800. Age was on the button, and he re-raised it to $5800. I called. The flop was perfect for my hand, 632. I had flopped top set, but now I was hoping Age really had a big pair, otherwise I could not make much money on this hand. I checked, and unfortunately, he checked behind. I was now pretty sure he only had 2 high cards, like AK or AQ, and I was hoping he would catch up and hit one of them. The turn was a 9. I thought about leading out here, but he was still drawing dead and he might not call a bet on the turn with Ace high, but it was a possibility on the river. I checked, and again he checked behind. The river was a 4, which I really did not like. The board was now 96432. I decided to fire out $8000, and he called me with AK. I think I made about the maximum I could on that hand. This brought my chip stack up to just under $70,000.

You can watch the hand in a virtual replay here: Age Spets vs Marc Karam Part 1

The next 3 hours were probably the most boring 3 hours of my life. I literally did not see one flop. It was now Level 3 with the blinds at $600/$1200, and I had picked up some blinds and made a couple of squeeze plays to maintain a stack size of around $76,000. Earlier in the day, at the end of Level 1, a famous Danish player named Theo Jorgenson had been moved to our table. At one point, it folded to me on the button, and I raised it to $3600, and Age exclaimed, "You're raising??", and insta-mucked his cards in the big blind. Probably because I hadn't played a hand in 3 orbits. This struck me, I now had a super tight image (which is extremely rare for me, trust me on this one), and I decided to cash it in, by making a move and hopefully picking up a big pot while I'm at it. Theo Jorgenson made it $3200 to go from mid position, and it folded around to me in the big blind. I called the extra $2000 with Jd8d. The flop came down 579 rainbow. I flopped a double gutshot and I knew right then I was going to play it hard. I checked and Theo bet $5000. I raised it to $12,000. Theo called. The turn was a 2. Now I was wondering what he called me with. I knew I had to make my decision very quickly, because if I took too long he might smell something suspicious. I didn't want to bet out and get called and then have to make a tough river decision, so I decided to try to go for the check-raise. I checked, and he quickly bet out $18,000. While his chips were still in motion, I immediately said "I'm all in", trying to look very excited. He said "Must be a set", and folded quickly. He flashed a Queen, someone said they saw pocket Queens but I'm pretty sure I only saw one. I showed the J8 and the table was very surprised. I wanted them to see what I was capable of, because I was definitely not going to do this again any time soon, and I was trying to set them up in case I did pick up a big hand.

You can watch the hand in a virtual replay here: Theo Jorgenson vs Marc Karam

Unfortunately for me, my table broke soon after that, and I was moved to a new table with Devilfish who was 4 spots to my right. I was now up to $110,000 when the following hand came up. With the blinds $800/$1600 with a $200 ante, it folds around to the button who raises it to $5000. I look down at AsKs in the big blind. I look at my opponent's stack, and he has around $37,000 total. I re-raise it to $15,000, and he quickly declares himself all in. I call, and he shows pocket Jacks, and it's off to the races! I miss the flop, turn a flush draw, but miss the river, and just like that I'm back down to $70,000. I then went card dead for an entire level and was blinded down to around $55,000. I needed to pick up some pots, I moved all in from the big blind twice over-top of a raise from Devilfish, stole some blinds, and slowly grinded my way back up over the $100,000 mark. Then the next big hand occurred:

With the blinds at $1200/$2400, I raise it up to $7000 with Td8d. The button calls, as does the big blind. The flop is beautiful, 679 rainbow. The big blind checks, I bet $14,000, the button calls, and the big blind folds. The turn is an Ace. I bet $25,000 and he calls. The river is an 8, which I really disliked. He had around $60,000 left, but I couldn't bet that much because there was now a 4 card straight on the board. I decided to bet $25,000 again, and he showed A7 for 2 pair and he folded. I was now up to $165,000. Soon after this hand, I was moved to another table. I was again seated at the same table as Age Spets, but this time he was directly to my right, giving me better position on him. I was moved into the big blind, and there was a dead small blind. I folded to Age Spets on the button, and he just limped for $2400. I looked down at A8, and decided I had the best hand, and I raised it $7000 more, hoping he wouldn't call. He called. The flop was no help to my hand, KQ7. I bet $11,000 hoping to take it down, but he called quickly. Interesting. The turn was a Ten. I checked, hoping he would check behind and I would hit an Ace or a Jack. He also checked. The river was an 8. I now had a pair of 8's, but the board was KQT87. I checked, and he asked me how much I would call. I said, "Come on, just check behind like a nice guy". He said, "Would you call $30,000?". I said,"No, but I would call $2400." He said, "No, thats too cheap, I'll bet $18,000." Now, all the possible hands were racing through my head. AK, KQ, KJ, KT, AQ, QJ, QT, and so on, were all raising hands on the button, especially with the $200 antes. A pair of Queens or Tens, he would check behind with on the river. The more I thought about it, the more I couldn't give him a hand with a K or Q in it. This was not the type of player to limp KJ on the button. As I counted out $18,000 from my chipstack, he said, "Do you have the Queen?". Boom, thanks for giving it away. As soon as I heard him say that, I pushed my chips into the middle. He said "Oh noooo." I showed the A8, and he mucked 75.

You can watch the hand in a virtual replay here: Age Spets vs Marc Karam Part 2

I was now up to $203,000 in chips and we were approaching the end of the day. I lost a few blinds and decided to just take it easy and come back fresh tomorrow, and I finished the day with $196,700. It was a very satisfying day of poker. I wasn't dealt many premium starting hands, but that might have saved me. I was never called in an all in situation today, so my tournament life was never actually on the line with me needing to dodge the board to stay alive. I guess I was kind of lucky that I was never all in, hopefully I can do the same thing today. No races, picking up blinds and small pots slowly, and then hit a big hand once or twice.

Unfortunately, Skippy and both other Team Eurolinx members were casualties of Day 2, but they played extremely well and they should be proud of having made it this far in the biggest poker tournament in European history.

Malta and Monte Carlo Day 1

Last Friday, I visited Malta for the first time. I was greeted at the airport by the owner of Eurolinx himself and as it turns out, a big scam artist, Jo Remme. Our driver then took us for a small tour of the island before dropping me off at the Westin hotel, the nicest hotel in Malta along with the Hilton. The people were so warm and friendly, and I was treated like a king while I was there. I really forward to making another trip to Malta, hopefully for at least a week next time. I stayed for 3 nights, and spent most of the time with the Eurolinx crew, we went to dinner every night, played some poker at the local casino, and talked a lot of strategy.

On Tuesday, I left Malta along with the two other Team Eurolinx members, Bernt a.k.a elaineb, and Indie a.k.a. ElSueno. They are both Norwegian, very nice guys, and extremely talented poker players. Being around people like this has really improved all of our games, sharing opinions on a bunch of hypothetical situations that we come up with. We made the short flight to Monte Carlo for the European Poker Tour Grand Final. The closest airport to Monte Carlo is in Nice, France. We then took a 6 minute helicopter ride over the Mediterranean Sea and arrived at our destination.

Also, I had just found out that my good friend "Skippy" was coming to Monte Carlo! He had qualified for the tournament in a last minute satellite on Pokerstars. He would be meeting us at our hotel later that evening.

Yesterday was Day 1a of the EPT Grand Final. This year, there are more than 700 participants, so they had to split the field in half, with the first half of the players playing on Day 1a, and the second half of the players playing on Day 1b. Then they combine the surviving players on Day 2. I was originally registered to play on Day 1b. As I was standing in line to complete my registration, a young Norwegian player was asking if anyone who was playing on Day 1b wouldn't mind switching with him, because he was feeling really sick and didn't want to play on Day 1a. I thought about it for a little while, and then I decided I would rather play on Day 1a, get through the day, and then be able to take a day off while the Day 1b field plays. So I took his offer and played.

As soon as we entered the tournament area, the tournament director announced that there was some goods news, and some bad news. The good news was that we would be starting with $15,000 in chips instead of the original $10,000 in chips. I was extremely happy to hear this. The bad news was that since we had more players than they had expected, we would be playing 7 levels instead of 6, which would extend our day to a grueling 14 hours.

I received my seating assignment, and made my way over to my table which was located in the back corner of the room. I only recognized one player at the table, and that was the famous French player, Fabrice Soulier. The blinds were starting at $25/$50 and we would be playing 90 minute levels. I started off the first level pretty quietly, picking up small pots here and there. Then I played an interesting hand against Fabrice Soulier. It folded to me on the button, and I raised to $200 with 8c4c. Then Fabrice made it $600 to go out of the small blind. The big blind folded and I pondered my decision. I had around $17,000 at the time, and Fabrice had around $15,000. I called the $400, knowing that even if Fabrice had Aces, I would win a huge pot if I flopped a big hand. I put him on a hand like AK or AQ. The flop came down 943 with 2 hearts. Fabrice fired out $800, and I called. The turn card was an Ace, which I hated. But to my surprise, he checked. I thought he was trying to trap me here, so I checked behind. The river was another 4. He checked again, and I was pretty sure he had an Ace. There was $2800 in the pot, and I was trying to decide how much I could get him to call here with my trip 4's. I decided to over-bet the pot and make it $3000, making it look like I had a busted flush draw or straight draw. He thought for a short time, and he called. I showed my hand and he said "Eight-four for $600, I love it!", and he said well played. We had a good laugh about it.

By the end of Level 1, I had $23,000 and I was moved to a new table. The new table looked pretty weak, except for Victor Ramdin. I chopped away at a bunch of small pots, and I made a couple of nice calls on the river and before I knew it I was up to $31,000, before the next big hand came up. I was dealt pocket Kings under the gun, with the blinds at $150/$300. I made it $900 to go, and it folded to Victor Ramdin, who was playing very aggressive and involved in a large number of pots. He re-raised it to $2900, leaving himself with $11,000 behind. It folded around to me, and I considered my options. I decided to flat call his raise, and then check-raise him all in on any non-ace flop. I called, and the flop came down J72 rainbow. I checked, he bet $3000, and I moved all in. He instantly called with pocket Aces, what a cooler! I didn't catch a King on the turn or the river, and all of a sudden I was down to $17,000 again approaching the end of Level 3.

I decided I was going to try and take some risks to build my stack back up. I had missed a couple of draws and I was down to around $13,000 when the next big hand came up. I was dealt JsTs under the gun, and I limped for $300. It folded around to Ramdin, who made it $2300 to go. This was a huge raise, and I immediately decided he did not have a big pair. It folded around to me, and I counted the size of the pot in my head. There was $3050 in the pot. Knowing he did not have a big pair, I realized if I pushed all in, I could increase the size of my stack by almost 25% without even seeing a flop. Also, since I limped under the gun, by re-raising I was representing a huge hand. I decided to go for it and I moved all in. He thought for at least 5 minutes, and he finally said "I don't know how I can fold this." This meant one thing, he had the ONLY hand he could call with, Ace King. Even if he called, I was only a 60/40 underdog. He eventually called me, and it was show time! I whiffed on the flop and the turn, but the river was a wonderful Jack! I was back up to $27,000. The very next hand, I raised with Ace Jack, and I was called down on a Jack high board all the way to the river, and I was up to $33,000.

Level 4 was pretty uneventful, and I lost a few chips in blinds. I was hanging around $29,000, when I was moved to a new table. This time I had Humberto Brenes to my right. I decided I was going to play very aggressive at this table, show a few bluffs, and hopefully get paid off big time when I hit a good hand. My second hand on the table, I was dealt Q2 off suit on the button. The blinds were $200/$400, and Humberto made it $1200 to go from mid-position. I re-raised to $3200. It folded back around to Humberto, and he immediately moved all-in for only $5500 more, oops! I hadn't seen how short-stacked he was, I would not have made the re-raise if I had known that. I thought for a while, trying to make it look like I had a legitimate hand. Then Humberto brought out his famous little shark toy, and started making it swim around on the table and saying "The shark is coming, you know you want to call", blah blah blah. He was trying to goad me into calling, and it was kind of annoying. I knew he was trying to get under my skin, but I just smiled and didn't let it bother me, and I decided I would get him back later for some sweet revenge. I folded my hand and told him I laid down Ace Jack. Two hands later, I was in the big blind with 82 offsuit. It folded to the button, 'Zpaceman', who made it $1500 to go. The small blind folded, and I made it $4500 to go. The button thought for a long time before folding. A player from our table later told me that he folded pocket Queens, but Zpaceman said he had A5o in a thread on PocketFives and I believe that. I showed my 82 off suit and he was visibly upset about his fold. The very next hand, I was in the small blind with A4 off suit. It folded to Humberto, who made it $1400 to go. I knew Humberto would be raising with a wide range here, figuring I had just played two big pots in a row and probably didn't have the nerve to do it a third time without a big hand. It folded to me, and I looked at Humberto's stack, he had around $11,000. I looked at the big blind's stack, and he had around $10,000. I took three $5000 chips and threw them into the middle of the pot which covered both players, essentially putting them both all in. The big blind immediately folded, and Humberto thought for a while. I said out loud, "Where's the shark now, Humberto?" He says "You have a big hand this time", and he folds, and I show the 4 of diamonds. He busted out 4 hands later, with J6 in a limped pot on a T62 flop. He shook my hand on the way out like a gentleman, and told me he had pocket Jacks in the hand when I folded the Q2 off suit.

Unfortunately, I never picked up a big hand to get paid off with, but I was stealing the blinds like crazy! I was literally raising 4 or 5 out of every 9 hands and winning the blinds. I went from $30,000 to $52,100 without getting past the flop. That is where I finished the day, in around 20th place of the remaining 160 or so players. Skippy also had a good day, finishing with $42,450 after surviving a table featuring Barry Greenstein. Bernt a.k.a.elaineb also made it through Day 1, still in decent shape with $18,875.

Today we have the day off, while we wait for Day 1b to play out. I'll be doing some shopping and touring of Monte Carlo, and later I will head back to the tournament to give some support to the other Team Eurolinx member who is playing today, Indie a.k.a. ElSueno.

For those of you who would like to follow the action live, you can do so at the following website:
PokerListings.com

I play again on Day 2 which will start on Friday at 2:00pm Monte Carlo time, 8:00am EST.

Back in Action

I arrived back in Ottawa a few days ago, after visiting some family in Cleveland. I took a 2 week break from playing any poker, after being very active for the past couple of months. I started playing again 2 nights ago over at the Eurolinx $50/$100 NL tables and I’ve been doing really well. I've made around $75,000 in the last 48 hours and feel really good about my play. What I'm even more proud of is that I have kept myself away from playing the $100/$200 NL and $200/$400 NL tables since I said I would.

As I mentioned in a recent interview, I would like to have at least $2 million online before I can comfortably play $200/$400 NL. Right now, if I lose $40,000 in a single hand, it still affects me, and would have a negative impact on my ability to play my "A" game for the rest of the session. On the other hand, at $50/$100 NL, if I lose $10,000 in a hand, I don't even flinch and just reload. That's how I know I am at a comfortable level.

Tomorrow, I carry my momentum with me to Malta, and then to Monte Carlo a few days later for the European Poker Tour €10,000 Grand Championship! There are already over 500 players registered for the event, so it looks like 1st place will be paying over $2 million! Monaco is one of the most beautiful countries I have ever been to, and I have heard many great things about Malta, I’m very anxious to see it.

In other news, I have been recently featured in a couple of interviews and articles. I was interviewed by HighStakesDB and they have posted it online. Also, I was mentioned in an article in this month’s issue of Canadian Poker Player Magazine. Here are the links:

HighStakes Interview
Canadian Poker Player Article

Also, I will now be writing a monthly article for Canadian Poker Player Magazine! This is very exciting for me, hopefully my articles will eventually be syndicated to other poker magazines and websites. My first article is titled “Staying A Step Ahead” and will be printed in the April Issue. You can pick it up at your local Chapters if you don’t have a subscription.

Well, it’s getting late and I guess I should start packing my bags since my flight leaves in just over 12 hours. I’ll try to post an update from Malta if I have a good Internet connection down there. Wish me luck!

Update

I decided not to attend the L.A. Poker Classic this year, instead I will be flying out to Cleveland, Ohio next week to visit some family for a week or so. On March 23rd, I will be flying out to Malta, to visit the new Eurolinx head office. For those of you who have never heard of Malta, it is a small chain of seven islands in the Mediterranean Sea, just south of Italy. It looks beautiful, I can't wait to see it. I will be spending 3 days there, and meeting with the rest of Team Eurolinx for some strategy workshops a couple of days before the EPT Championship.

From Malta, we will be flying out to Monte Carlo for the European Poker Tour Grand Championship. With an entry fee of €10,000 it is one of the biggest buy-in tournaments in the world outside of the $25,000 WPT Championship. The field will be very tough once again, with all of Europe's finest players sure to be there. I will be returning to Ottawa on April 2nd, which means I will spend most of March outside of the country.

Poker has been going very well recently. Since my last post, I had been killing the $50/$100 NL game on Eurolinx, but then I had 2 bad sessions which erased most of my profit. I dropped down a level to $25/$50 NL, and I have been making a very steady profit there while being a little more comfortable. I also final tabled a pretty big tournament last night, it started with around 600 players, but unfortunately I was eliminated in 8th place after my 99 got all-in against an opponent's AQ, and he flopped the nut straight.