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.