Dom Classics, Utrecht

I’ll be travelling to destination unknown on Thursday, when I make my way to Utrecht for the Dom Classics of Poker. It’s a 2,500 Euro Main Event, and seems to be some kind of Dutch Poker Tour. Luckily,  Utrecht turns out to be not too far from Amsterdam, and it will be interesting to see a new town in a country I’m very fond of. I’ll be updating on here from Thursday!

I was checking out more precisely how the European Rankings work, and realised that I probably have the wrong game plan! The system seems a good one, as it weights points based on your finishing position(within the final nine), the number of players, and the size of the buy-in. However, their weighting for the buy-in size is very shallow, and makes little difference as you move up the stakes. A 250 Euro event gets a weighting of 2,5, increasing to 2,500 Euros only makes that up to 4.5, and even the biggest events are just 5.5.

I think the system is actually very good, and of course could never be without fault. One quirk of it is that you would score points for a 9th place in a 50 runner event, but not for a very impressive 10th place in a 600 runner EPT. Money has never been a part of poker for me, much more so the enjoyment of the event, and maybe then the rankings system. For this reason, I might have to come up with a different game plan, which takes in more side events and less trips to the unknown!

Day One Update

Well, it’s definitely been alot of fun, in this country that I really enjoy visiting. The Dutch seem so friendly, and it’s really nice to play with them; it’s just a shame that they all seem pretty damn good!

In typically bizarre fashion, the tournament started with everyone walking in to loud techno music, which was still going thirty minutes later!  I’m hoping to make the final table, just in case there is a guest appearance from the man Van Buren on the decks. Dutch hospitality is great, but the problem with it being a country where everyone seems of great temperament means that it produces a lot ot really good players.

It’s a day of poker I’ll look back on as one where I didn’t too much wrong, but have a nagging feeling that I maybe should have done more. The most frustrating pot came after I had got off to a decent start with 13k. A great little young player, whose name I don’t know, was raising alot, and so I was ready to three-bet him in position. I raised his 550 to 1,350 on the button with king-jack, and he made the sort of quick call that seemed to hint very much at a medium pocket pair, maybe 77 to 1010.

I was ready to make a move at most flops, but not one of the ugliest possible ones, which came 9s8s6c. I checked behind, and a turn of 10c9s8s6c made things more interesting for my KJ.  The Dutch guy made a biggish bet of 2,100, and I could not pass my hand. To catch a 109876 board 0or Q10986 could be massive, and there could well be a bluffing opportunity presented on the river.

It is in this situation that catching a pair on the river is just plain confusing. The river came the king of clubs (completing the runner-runner flush draw), and the guy quickly bet 3,100. It was apparent I could only beat a bluff, but I threw a chip on my cards, and gave it a long dwell up. The aggressive player was definitely capable of turning a hand like 33 into a big bluff, but at the same time he was definitely good enough to be value betting one of the four likely sets avaliable. I gave it up, and have the frustration of never knowing! The other real possiblity on the river is of course to turn my hand into a sick, big bluff. It definitely seems a very plausible move, as it would make it so difficult for him to call with a set, but it’s one of those situations where it can be hard to find the trigger in live poker!

Things were rocking a little for me, but then the button made an over-push on my big blind, for 5,600. I looked down at Kings in glee, and made the call against his AQ. The pot would be for most of my stack, and so the ace of spades as the door card was a real dagger to the heart. The turn offered no help, I took a big sigh of disappointment, and…………………. The Butcher of Bagdhad, the king of spades, came on the river! 

I couldn’t believe it, this game throws your emotions about, but really can provide some great moments! I was back in it, and soon up to a height of 20k.

 Then came a moment that was both irrelevant, but a real heart breaker. I had the button in such an aggressive game, and looked down at my first card… the ace of spades. The dealer fired out the second cards, and mine hit a little finger, and just about managed to flip upwards.. the ace of clubs!

It was so sick, in what would have been a great position in the game. But, what can you do? I had to keep soldiering on. A long, exhausting day finished soon after, and I’m looking forward to going back tomorrow with 17k. Just 45 players remain, and so hopefully a good start can produce an exciting day!

Day two update

I’ve just gone out in 21st place, not long before the money and the ranking points. I’ve always insisted on not being too disappointed about this game, but a few minutes after that kind of bust out, it doesn’t stop you feeling properly gutted!

I’ll be fine very soon though, and look back on a couple of days of fun poker, where I managed to play some good stuff. There will always be some regrets though, and I basically got cut apart in the last couple of hours by an old guy who twice found pocket kings. The second slice was inevitable, as I pushed the button with 10s8s for my last 17k, and he snapped with kings, but the first one hurts after reaching a height of 48k and feeling very optimistic about everything.

The old guy, the only player at the table who was not playing a really tough game, had made a suspiciously small raise to 3,300 on my 1,400 big blind. I could not wait to call with Jd9d for the chance of hitting a big flop, but of course the more likely happened. I hit a small piece of the flop, which came K93 with one diamond. The guy bet 5,300, and I called once, intending to pass the turn if I did not improve my hand with two pair or better, or a big drawing card.

The turn came a jack, which looked a sweet card as it gave me two pair. With possiblities for pair+gutshot, I could not play passively, and moved in for the guy’s last 18k. I hoped for a long dwell and call, but in stead the immediate “CALL” made bad news a certainty. The guy turned over a set of kings, and I had the awful feeling of drawing dead with two pair.

I think the turn play is inevitable here, but my chance to get away comes on the flop. I often call here, as so many cards help my hand a little on the turn. However, a card like the 10d is far less effective when the guy only has one pot sized bet left, and I just maybe should have made a very tight pass on the flop. Anyway, I won’t be beating myself up too much, that was a lot of fun, and now really looking forward to the Deep Stacks in Dublin.