32Red Poker Blog

Well, I’m on my home from Amsterdam, this morning, after a disappointing day in the big one, the Master Classics of Poker.

It was another frustrating time really, where I did not at any point get above the starting stack, and ended with the disappointment of yet another lost race, my AK vs QQ, about seven hours into play. I realise just how lucky I am to be able to play so much tournament poker, but if I had to give it up, there is definitely one thing that I wouldn’t miss. The feeling of being so gutted, where one moment you are alive in the tournament and the next have lost everything, is really tough to take, and does not get any easier with time.

The bust-out hand was frustrating yesterday, as the one thing I hate in poker is to get into a big race for all my chips. I would normally do anything to avoid those 50-50%s, which this year have been about 5%-95%. I maybe should have done with this one, but there was an added difficulty. I was playing a stack of 8,200 at 100/200 blinds, and a early position player opened to 600. There were two callers before it came to me on the button, where I looked down at ace-king. I felt absoultely sure that the two flat callers had weak hands, so the situation was too enticing not to move in to try to win the 2,100 in the pot. I think, however,I can maybe give myself a better chance to re-raising to 2,000. If the player with queens now flat calls, there is a chance I can represent real strength on the flop, and possibly make him fold. It’s so frustrating to think back over your play, and realise you could have done a little better, but at the same time a little luck in the odd all-in would be nice!

So, the only thing I can do is keep my head up, and keep learning every time I play. The tournaments are coming thick and fast at the moment. I’m off to Blackpool on Friday, for the next leg of the GUKPT. Watch this space..