32Red Poker Blog

Oh man, this game can rip your heart out. Just busted just before the end of the day in Prague, after I got my 28k in for a 57k pot with 66 on a 876 flop, against 97. Of course I couldn’t hit the miracle runner-runner non five or ten.

This one hurts more than any other I think, as I feel I didn’t put a foot wrong today. I busted Peter Eastgate early on, and played some decent stuff to chip up, just can’t get a damn hand to hold in a big comp.

I’ll write more tomorrow, feel almost sick with disappointment at the moment.

Evening update:

Feeling a little better now; I always have that few moments of real disappointment, and then you easily get it in perspective, realise it’s about the least important thing in life, and get over it.

 It’s interesting in a way. Being able to play so much poker is a real blessing and something that is so enjoyable. If I had to give it up, however, I would not miss those few mintues after busting from a tournament; a disappointment so intense that you don’t know what to do with yourself.

This game is a beautiful one, but it definitely comes with a warning. Apart from the financial risks (which everyone I know measures very well), you really are offering your emotions for slaughter. Tournament poker will get your heart racing and then rip it out, and it’s a situation that’s well worth preparing yourself for before putting your emotions on the line.

I’ll write more about the hands tomorrow, lots of interesting ones!

I’ve just landed in Prague for the year’s final installment of the EPT, nervous on two counts. I’m excited about the possibility of continuing this lucky run, but unfortuantely have one obstacle to overcome first. I have arrived in Prague unsure whether I will be able to get into the tournament before it hits sell out, thanks to the latest cock up from my bank (thankyou Nationwide), who have somehow lost the buy-in I transferred.

If all goes will with the buy-in, I’ll be updating each day’s play. I’m really buzzing about this one, as it’s nice to have some confidence back, not least in my luck.

Even if the news is bad, there is a great schedule of side events that I’ll be excited about playing, including a 1,000 and 2,000 Euro event.

All will be updated on here…

Stuart

Yesterday, I finished in fifth place in the GUKPT Grand Final at the Vic, cashing for £36,900.

Today, I woke up, and the crazy mix of emotions that poker brings was running through my head. Delighted to have had a good result in a big one; beating myself up about the final hand; gutted to have had the chip lead and seen it disappear; happy for my friend Pab to have taken it down. Wow, I thought, this poker malarkey is emotional. Read the rest of this entry →

For all the good things about poker, the great thing is hope. I’ve had a disappointing year in live poker, such miserable luck, and yet every new poker tournament brings such hope. If I could have chosen one to run good in at the start of the year, it might just have been this one. This is effectively the English Final of poker- the GUKPT Grand Final at the Vic- and it means so much to me.  Read the rest of this entry →

As a small stakes (50nl/100nl) online player I have never played any tournament with a buy-in bigger than 50 euro. So playing the Belgian Open Championships was a fantastic challenge to me and a great opportunity to gain some experience playing the real deal. After all, competing in big tournaments is what almost any poker player dreams of doing. So hopefully, obtaining a seat through a freeroll satellite on 32Red Poker for the Belgian Open Championships is the beginning of a long poker career.
Read the rest of this entry →

I’m very unusual for my age; I spend more hours playing ‘live’ poker than playing online. However, in almost every respect, I would consider myself an online player. This is largely because people my age are expected to be so, but also to do with my playing style, and the way I think about the game. I guess it would also be true to say that I have played far more hands online, even if recently I have spent less hours there. Read the rest of this entry →

I’m not going to write much today, but everything I do write on this blog will be exactly how it is; there is no point messing around.

I love this game, it creates so much enjoyment and excitement. But boy, can it bring some lows. At the moment, today feel like one of the lowest of the lows. I came back with 60,000 today, and having been eliminated within the first hour and a half, I am absolutely gutted on two counts. Firstly, in this never-ending bad luck that the last 28k went on another damn race, but above all with myself. The first 32k went on an absolutely horrific laydown. Read the rest of this entry →

Well, I guess just a usual day of poker really. Full of ups and downs, and alot of fun with a bunch of nice people. Oh, and as always seems to be the case, one older guy whose ego just can’t deal with someone playing aggressively against him. You come to expect this, however, amidst a whole lot of pleasant people, and a tiny bit of needle maybe even adds to the fun. Read the rest of this entry →

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. Read the rest of this entry →

The Main Event at the Master Classics of Poker in Amsterdam starts tomorrow, and I can’t wait to be getting on my 10am flight tomorrow. I’ll be running daily updates on here, watch this space.