Don't get me wrong. I was one of the first to throw my proverbial left shoe at the image of Brian Lenihan delivering his budget speech on TV last this week. It's amazing how the government continue to act as the anti-Robin Hood, robbing the poor blind - and on this occasion even robbing the blind - and letting the rich (i.e. the banks and property developers) away with murder.
The bottom line is though, we are all responsible - or in most people's cases, very irresponsible - for our own finances. No one forced you to take out that second mortgage. No one forced you to up your credit limit with MBNA to €10,000. No one tied up your family and threatened them at gunpoint until you pinned all your hopes on early retirement by signing that equity based pension scheme. That was all you my friend, your decision and no one else's.
If you didn't know you couldn't pay back the money the banks were lending you, then I suggest you go back to school and learn that when you borrow five apples and have to give back six apples, you can't pay them back if you keep eating all your apples. The developers did it, home-owners did it, almost everyone who got a credit card did it, so take that index finger of yours, find a mirror and point it at what you see there instead.
If you really want to know where all the money went during the era of the Celtic Tiger - which was actually just Bertie and Biffo in a costume fitted by the banks - then look no further than the streets of almost every medium to large town in the country which is lined with an astonishing number of bars and bookmakers.
Not only are we a nation of moaners, we are a nation of drinkers, smokers and gamblers. The gambling and alcohol industries are two of the biggest in the country and we smoke more cigarettes than everyone else in Europe except the Greeks and Cypriots.
Look how many people spend the price of a decent foreign holiday (or maybe two) every year on lotto tickets, scratch cards and flutters on the horses, and as for the Irish binge drinking culture, don't get me started. Ireland is so alcohol and nicotine fueled that as a nation we've completely lost our collective minds and like a drunk's attempts to stand upright and string a coherent sentence together, our excuses for our financial problems are nothing short of absolutely pathetic.
If Ireland's financial situation is to change, then our choice of lifestyle has to change but when I look at young people's attitude to alcohol and money I don't hold out much hope for our future. Every social event revolves around drinking. So much money wasted, so many brain cells killed, so much time that could have been spent on enjoying real culture, instead spent in a sardine-packed disco-bar or niteclub. That's not enjoyment. That is collective conformity for escapism through alcohol, but one thing no one can escape is their own financial responsibility to keep their head above water. Over the last ten years we've all done it though.
It's not the government's responsibility to hold your hand and tell you should have saved instead of blowing it on booze. You are not a victim so quit your wining. The real victims in this recession are the people who lost their jobs through no fault of their own because of the nation's collective greed and complacency.
Changing the governement won't change anything, changing your attitude will change the nation.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Yay! Football!
It's difficult being an Aston Villa fan. It's like being a poker player that finishes on the final table bubble a lot, finishing in the small money but never getting into the business end. One thing about being this kind of football supporter though is that it teaches you to be unbiased and realistic about your clubs expectations.
Last year I predicted villa would finish 5th. 6th isn't reallty any different. I said Man U would win the league. I thought Arsenal would do better and Chelea would do worse but Arsenal had lots of injuries and Chelsea replaced Scolari with someone competent early enough to sustain a challenge. If either of those things hadn't happened I think I would have been spot on.
What I didn't predict though was that the team lead by the Spanish waiter in a suit would do so well. Liverpool had a real shot at the league last year but Benitez blew it. The key game was the one where he dropped Robbie Keane after he scored twice the previous week. I'm not a Keane fan but looking at his goal ratio and the obvious fact that he thrives on confidence this has to go down as one of the all time biggest football management blunders.
I can't see Arsenal having any chance this year but you never know with Wenger. I just feel though that he has lost his edge and his appetite as a manager and I predict that this will be his last season at the club.
The other clubs you have to look at for challenging for a CL spot are Villa, Man City, Everton and Spurs.
Man City's Midfield and Defence is unspectacular. They'll score goals but concede too many and this will be their downfall, Not to mention the fact that there will be way too many over inflated egos not only in the dressing room but more inportantly sitting on the bench, unless they go with a 3-2-5 formation!
Everton haven't signed anyone but it's so hard to count out the genius that is David Moyes. I just can't see them having as good a season as last year. I don't really rate Jo as a striker though and the team loooks increasingly injury prone.
Spurs are looking good. Redknap will do a good job but has always lacked consistency and so will the team again this year.
Which brings me back to my beloved Villa. People are going to think I'm insane predicting they'll finish 4th considering we've lost Barry and Larson and our CL challenge faded away like an Irish Summer but let me put a few things straight.
Barry is over rated and was never really missed when out of the team anyway. Delph and Downing are quality signings and who wouldn't fancy a midfield with Petrov and Reo Coker sitting in front of the defence and the likes of Young, Milner and Sidwell rushing forward and I can see us signing a quality attacking midfielder soon.
We've signed defensive cover at right back which will allow Cuuellar to play in his favoured position at center half. O'Neill will definitely sign at least one more quality centre half before the end of the first transfer window anyway.
Villa won the peace cup defeating Porto and Juventus in the process who were both playing hard to win. We also beat Fiorentina in a recent friendly. Milner is playing out of his skin and Marc Albrighton and Delfonesu will make in ampact from the youth team this season. I really fancy the look of a Villa 4-5-1 with Ashley Young playing in the hole like he did against Everton last season. This is a team that can better Arsenal and Man City imo.
So here's how i think the league will go this year. I think Chelsea will shade Utd this time because Man U are a slightly weaker side without Ronaldo and Tevez and every team in the league will struggle to score against Chelsea this year.
BTW Join my fantasy Football League on premierleague.com. League code is 172996-165081.
Predictions.
Top 6.
1. Chelsea
2. Man Utd
3. Liverpool
4. Aston Villa
5. Arsenal
6. Man City
Bottom 3
Hull
Portsmouth
Burnley
Last year I predicted villa would finish 5th. 6th isn't reallty any different. I said Man U would win the league. I thought Arsenal would do better and Chelea would do worse but Arsenal had lots of injuries and Chelsea replaced Scolari with someone competent early enough to sustain a challenge. If either of those things hadn't happened I think I would have been spot on.
What I didn't predict though was that the team lead by the Spanish waiter in a suit would do so well. Liverpool had a real shot at the league last year but Benitez blew it. The key game was the one where he dropped Robbie Keane after he scored twice the previous week. I'm not a Keane fan but looking at his goal ratio and the obvious fact that he thrives on confidence this has to go down as one of the all time biggest football management blunders.
I can't see Arsenal having any chance this year but you never know with Wenger. I just feel though that he has lost his edge and his appetite as a manager and I predict that this will be his last season at the club.
The other clubs you have to look at for challenging for a CL spot are Villa, Man City, Everton and Spurs.
Man City's Midfield and Defence is unspectacular. They'll score goals but concede too many and this will be their downfall, Not to mention the fact that there will be way too many over inflated egos not only in the dressing room but more inportantly sitting on the bench, unless they go with a 3-2-5 formation!
Everton haven't signed anyone but it's so hard to count out the genius that is David Moyes. I just can't see them having as good a season as last year. I don't really rate Jo as a striker though and the team loooks increasingly injury prone.
Spurs are looking good. Redknap will do a good job but has always lacked consistency and so will the team again this year.
Which brings me back to my beloved Villa. People are going to think I'm insane predicting they'll finish 4th considering we've lost Barry and Larson and our CL challenge faded away like an Irish Summer but let me put a few things straight.
Barry is over rated and was never really missed when out of the team anyway. Delph and Downing are quality signings and who wouldn't fancy a midfield with Petrov and Reo Coker sitting in front of the defence and the likes of Young, Milner and Sidwell rushing forward and I can see us signing a quality attacking midfielder soon.
We've signed defensive cover at right back which will allow Cuuellar to play in his favoured position at center half. O'Neill will definitely sign at least one more quality centre half before the end of the first transfer window anyway.
Villa won the peace cup defeating Porto and Juventus in the process who were both playing hard to win. We also beat Fiorentina in a recent friendly. Milner is playing out of his skin and Marc Albrighton and Delfonesu will make in ampact from the youth team this season. I really fancy the look of a Villa 4-5-1 with Ashley Young playing in the hole like he did against Everton last season. This is a team that can better Arsenal and Man City imo.
So here's how i think the league will go this year. I think Chelsea will shade Utd this time because Man U are a slightly weaker side without Ronaldo and Tevez and every team in the league will struggle to score against Chelsea this year.
BTW Join my fantasy Football League on premierleague.com. League code is 172996-165081.
Predictions.
Top 6.
1. Chelsea
2. Man Utd
3. Liverpool
4. Aston Villa
5. Arsenal
6. Man City
Bottom 3
Hull
Portsmouth
Burnley
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Disappointments and Opportunities.
Throughout my life I have done many things I regret. (hasn't everyone?) Most of those things involve friends and relationships, especially in the last five years or so. I can't say I've ever regretted my choice of lifestyle or taking enormous risks that didn't work out but I certainly regret the way I've treated a lot of people, and often the way I've allowed people to treat me, and the way I've dealt with it.
This year I think a lot of those regrets and disappointments caught up to me mentally and started to take their toll. They say you never really see things clearly and start to recover until you hit rock bottom. I can't tell you how true that is or how blind I was not to see opportunities that were right in front of me.
I had hoped to be going to the University of Limerick to study Journalism and New Media in October and after sitting a pretty good interview I was confident of a place. Unfortunately I got the bad news this week and I won't be attending. I guess despite my experience they felt I may not be able to give the course my full attention and commitment and you know something, I think they could very well be right.
However, with one disappointment comes another opportunity and I had already been offered a place in Tralee studying Interactive Web Design and I've decided I'm going to give it a go. I'll be moving there in September.
I moved back to Limerick for the Summer and I regret not coming back sooner. I've taken up golf but I'm still playing off 28. Getting closer to breaking a 100 for a round though!
Poker has been going well. I had a sponsorship deal with an iPoker skin but it wasn't very good, so I rolled myself elsewhere. To be honest I didn't play very well while I was on that skin anyway. Since then however I've done well on B2B, Full Tilt and now I'm playing on Cake, which I love because of the anonymous stats. I've got a good deal there and the tables are pampers baby soft so I expect I'll stay there for a while.
I've been working very hard away from the table too. I try to get at least one article a day up on Irish Poker News Headlines and I've been travelling to Longford once a week to co-host a radio show which has been an adventure and a lot of fun. It has a lot of potential and we have a lot of exciting things planned for the future. We're recording Live in Waterford next week and from Galway's Race week poker festival the following week.
On top of this I still haven't abandoned the Irish Poker Federation idea and I've had contact and discussions from people who want to help me out and be involved. Hopefully it will gather at least SOME momentum before the end of the year.
By the way you can subscribe to my radio show using iTunes here, or just download the MP3s here.
God knows how I will fit everything in once I go back to college as a full time mature student.
My golf handicap isn't gona lower itself!
This year I think a lot of those regrets and disappointments caught up to me mentally and started to take their toll. They say you never really see things clearly and start to recover until you hit rock bottom. I can't tell you how true that is or how blind I was not to see opportunities that were right in front of me.
I had hoped to be going to the University of Limerick to study Journalism and New Media in October and after sitting a pretty good interview I was confident of a place. Unfortunately I got the bad news this week and I won't be attending. I guess despite my experience they felt I may not be able to give the course my full attention and commitment and you know something, I think they could very well be right.
However, with one disappointment comes another opportunity and I had already been offered a place in Tralee studying Interactive Web Design and I've decided I'm going to give it a go. I'll be moving there in September.
I moved back to Limerick for the Summer and I regret not coming back sooner. I've taken up golf but I'm still playing off 28. Getting closer to breaking a 100 for a round though!
Poker has been going well. I had a sponsorship deal with an iPoker skin but it wasn't very good, so I rolled myself elsewhere. To be honest I didn't play very well while I was on that skin anyway. Since then however I've done well on B2B, Full Tilt and now I'm playing on Cake, which I love because of the anonymous stats. I've got a good deal there and the tables are pampers baby soft so I expect I'll stay there for a while.
I've been working very hard away from the table too. I try to get at least one article a day up on Irish Poker News Headlines and I've been travelling to Longford once a week to co-host a radio show which has been an adventure and a lot of fun. It has a lot of potential and we have a lot of exciting things planned for the future. We're recording Live in Waterford next week and from Galway's Race week poker festival the following week.
On top of this I still haven't abandoned the Irish Poker Federation idea and I've had contact and discussions from people who want to help me out and be involved. Hopefully it will gather at least SOME momentum before the end of the year.
By the way you can subscribe to my radio show using iTunes here, or just download the MP3s here.
God knows how I will fit everything in once I go back to college as a full time mature student.
My golf handicap isn't gona lower itself!
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Muckish Adventure
On Wednesday morning I woke up early and decided if the sky was clear I was going to go climb a mountain. I had been playing a lot of poker and needed some fresh air.Mucksh is the second highest peak in Donegal (I don't know how high) and from up top you can see almost half the county. It's rumoured you can see as far as Scotland on a really clear day but I think that's BS myself.
On route I stopped in Creeslough to take some photos of the beautiful sunrise then on to conquer the mountain. I got there just after 6am. There is a really bad bumpy road up to the base of the mountain that leads to a small carpark and I decided at my first attempt I would be "safer" reversing back and pulling in to the side of the road. While reversing the morning sun was shining directly in my rearview mirror and I couldn't see shit. Next thing I know the left side of the car has gone into the ditch. Whoops! I got out to assess the damage and once I realised the car was pretty well wedged in there I gave up trying to get out and decided to wait until 8.30 to ring someone I knew for help.
I had a brainwave and decided to text Today FM and tell them my predicament. Then I got a phone call and spoke to Ian Dempsey who put the word out. 30 monuites later a jeep pulls up in front of me. Woohooo! I jump out of the car so excited that I lock the car with the keys in the ignition. OMFG!!!
The guy in the jeep was from the cement factory a couple of miles down the road. We went back there to get some wire to pop the lock. Came back and he popped it in no time then pulled me out. I tried to give him money but he refused to take anything. Amazing. I love Donegal people. I was out of the ditch in time for Ian dempsey to play my request. Zephyr Song by Red Hot Chili Peppers, and then recieved a call from the AA a little too late. lol! FFP to Today FM.
Anyway to cut a long story short. I climbed to the top of Muckish, met a couple of surfer dudes, got some great photos and had a glorious day on the mountain. The Hyundai lives on but it's a little more battered looking.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
€100 to €4000 in 3 days.
I recently changed my bank account and as a result had to go through a bit of rigmarole in linking the new account to Neteller so I could withdraw my online profit. On Friday I was still waiting on a withdrawal of €2500 and basically had €160 cash to my name.
So naturally, I entered a live tournament to try and spin it up. I played the 2K guaranteed in my local club for €100 and chopped it 3 ways for €560 each after tips. It was a good deal for me as the shorter stack as it was a little better than second place money and the blinds were huge.
Then I sat in to the cash game and made €50 more before it died prematurely. That was me up €610. On Saturday I played the local cash game again and made another €305. Up to €915.
On Sunday there was €10,000 guaranteed at Cactus Jacks in Bridge End so I decided to head out there. It took me an hour and a half to drive what is usually a 30 minute drive thanks to not one but two road diversions because of a 10K run and a terrible accident that happened on Sunday morning on the Letterkenny to Derry road where two people lost their lives.
Thankfully, even though I was 40 minutes late for the tournament it was only just starting because others had been delayed. Anyway to cut a long story short I won the 71 player tournament. I got an early double up which helped a great deal but got short stacked again with two tables remaining. Then went on a rush and somehow managed to have nearly half the chips in play by the final table of 9.
8 places paid and I refused to pay the bubble much to the disgust of the locals who wanted to take €200 off first to pay 9th. The fuck would I pay the bubble in that position? I had one lady repeatedly tell me “We always pay the bubble here”. I didn’t even respond. I’m not even going to go down the road of explaining how idiotic, sad and costly long term it is to have this attitude of always paying the bubble in local tournaments, or how rude it is to put peer pressure on someone who doesn't want to conform, especially someone with half the chips!! Sometimes even, if I’m the short-stack I refuse. Fuck the bubble imo.
I pretty much tore the final table apart, but I was blessed with a few fortunate situation. I had a 12 to 1 chip lead heads up and somehow almost lost it. His first double up came when he pushed with King-3 and I called with King-6. 3 in the window. Then he went on a pretty sick card-rush for heads up play getting Kings and several Ace Faces all in a row. Eventually I only had a about a 2.5 to 1 chip lead before I finally got him. I raised with pocket 9s and he called then open shoved a 2-4-5 flop. I called and his 6-7 missed. Woohooo. Ship the €3,400. After the tip and the €165 buy in I’ve got €4,000 in my wallet.
Wheeeeeeeeeee! :)
So naturally, I entered a live tournament to try and spin it up. I played the 2K guaranteed in my local club for €100 and chopped it 3 ways for €560 each after tips. It was a good deal for me as the shorter stack as it was a little better than second place money and the blinds were huge.
Then I sat in to the cash game and made €50 more before it died prematurely. That was me up €610. On Saturday I played the local cash game again and made another €305. Up to €915.
On Sunday there was €10,000 guaranteed at Cactus Jacks in Bridge End so I decided to head out there. It took me an hour and a half to drive what is usually a 30 minute drive thanks to not one but two road diversions because of a 10K run and a terrible accident that happened on Sunday morning on the Letterkenny to Derry road where two people lost their lives.
Thankfully, even though I was 40 minutes late for the tournament it was only just starting because others had been delayed. Anyway to cut a long story short I won the 71 player tournament. I got an early double up which helped a great deal but got short stacked again with two tables remaining. Then went on a rush and somehow managed to have nearly half the chips in play by the final table of 9.
8 places paid and I refused to pay the bubble much to the disgust of the locals who wanted to take €200 off first to pay 9th. The fuck would I pay the bubble in that position? I had one lady repeatedly tell me “We always pay the bubble here”. I didn’t even respond. I’m not even going to go down the road of explaining how idiotic, sad and costly long term it is to have this attitude of always paying the bubble in local tournaments, or how rude it is to put peer pressure on someone who doesn't want to conform, especially someone with half the chips!! Sometimes even, if I’m the short-stack I refuse. Fuck the bubble imo.
I pretty much tore the final table apart, but I was blessed with a few fortunate situation. I had a 12 to 1 chip lead heads up and somehow almost lost it. His first double up came when he pushed with King-3 and I called with King-6. 3 in the window. Then he went on a pretty sick card-rush for heads up play getting Kings and several Ace Faces all in a row. Eventually I only had a about a 2.5 to 1 chip lead before I finally got him. I raised with pocket 9s and he called then open shoved a 2-4-5 flop. I called and his 6-7 missed. Woohooo. Ship the €3,400. After the tip and the €165 buy in I’ve got €4,000 in my wallet.
Wheeeeeeeeeee! :)
Friday, April 24, 2009
The Choking Game
I couldn't believe my eyes when I looked at MSN news today. It took me back about 16 years to when I was in secondary school in Limerick and a guy in my class wanted to show me something that was "mad". I don't remember what we called it, but being easily lead I took part in it.
Basically I took a deep intake of breath and leaned up against the wall while he leaned heavily on my chest. What I remember was my vision started to go fuzzy and I started seeing stars like when you close your eye and press the backs of your hands against your eye lids for a while. I also felt a dizzy euphoric feeling. Then he stopped pressing against my chest and I was left standing there. I was somewhat conscious but had no control over my body, and fell against a desk then onto the floor. I didn't actually physically feel myself falling or hitting the desk or floor, and I remember thinking wasn’t that's supposed to hurt?
After a moment the dizziness subsided, my vision returned and I sort of came to my senses with my school mates staring down at me laughing their asses off. That was the one and only time I ever did it because it scared the crap out of me but I remember a group of my classmates trying it out regularly in my junior cert year.
In America this is called “The Choking Game”. Until now I had never even thought about it and today I read that children are actually dieing trying it out. Apparently there used to be a lot of videos on You-Tube demonstrating how to do it and showed videos of kids being choked and slumping drooling to the floor in a non-drug induced high.
Seriously scary stuff. What a nightmare for the parents. It's basically impossible to prevent kids trying it out.
Basically I took a deep intake of breath and leaned up against the wall while he leaned heavily on my chest. What I remember was my vision started to go fuzzy and I started seeing stars like when you close your eye and press the backs of your hands against your eye lids for a while. I also felt a dizzy euphoric feeling. Then he stopped pressing against my chest and I was left standing there. I was somewhat conscious but had no control over my body, and fell against a desk then onto the floor. I didn't actually physically feel myself falling or hitting the desk or floor, and I remember thinking wasn’t that's supposed to hurt?
After a moment the dizziness subsided, my vision returned and I sort of came to my senses with my school mates staring down at me laughing their asses off. That was the one and only time I ever did it because it scared the crap out of me but I remember a group of my classmates trying it out regularly in my junior cert year.
In America this is called “The Choking Game”. Until now I had never even thought about it and today I read that children are actually dieing trying it out. Apparently there used to be a lot of videos on You-Tube demonstrating how to do it and showed videos of kids being choked and slumping drooling to the floor in a non-drug induced high.
Seriously scary stuff. What a nightmare for the parents. It's basically impossible to prevent kids trying it out.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Look, a Poker Post!
I had been humming and hawing for a while about whether or not I should write about poker in the new blog. I’m not a fan of talking about strategy anymore and I think it would be better for the whole poker world if heads up displays were banned, online player stats were anonymous and training sites were shut down, but having run a poker school briefly recently I realised that no matter how hard you try to teach people how to play poker about 90% don’t listen, and players that are capable of learning would learn on their own eventually, albeit slowly even without training. Most of the players that are bad will always be bad or they simply talk a good game but don’t follow their own advice. That is as sure a fact about poker players as it is that spades are black and diamonds are red.
I tried teaching my class not to keep limping in and trying to see cheap flops, to just raise when they are first into the pot but one player out of about 14 listened to me. (Her game has improved immensely but the others are mostly playing the same. I tried to hammer this into them for weeks but they say “ah sure I know I know, but......” and then the next hand they would do it again, and then the numbers in the poker schooled dwindled just when some players were starting to see results (purely through superior hand selection) and that was the end of my poker school, my last ever poker school that’s for f***ing sure.
Anyway, I was drafted in for the Gold Club Team at the Ellington annual Team event in Galway and it was a road trip I really enjoyed, even if it wasn’t a profitable one. I was very confident of playing well. I had played just three tournaments this year in my local casino but I’d won all three of them. Before that I played the €350 Christmas game in Limerick and cashed and for a few months before that I’d pretty much been under a rock. The break has done be the world of good.
I picked up 3 of our team members on Friday morning and drove my 10 year old banger or a Hyundai to Forsters Hotel in Eyre square Galway which was easily the most reasonable city hotel I’d ever stayed in with a €55 per person sharing with a third night free (meaning we get a lie in on Sunday) and that included breakfast which was served all day. Superb deal in my opinion and I will be back there for sure.
We had a few pints at the hotel and then a few more in a bar round the corner from the Eglington where I met some of the usual heads in the form of Len Collin, KPNuts, Rob Taylor, Fintan Gavin and Brendan Walls from a strong Magherafelt team.The pints were flowing and seeing as I knew I was basically carrying my teams asses I proposed the obligatory last longer bet. I told the team that I would be on the final table, end of f**ing story. I was worried though that the team were getting a bit too giddy, and were only in Galway for the craic. I askled Jimmy if he was in the right frame of mind to play, because when he’s god he’s good but when he’s bad he’s a train wreck and sure enough he and Barney were early casualties after just an hour of poker.
Meanwhile I was having to work very hard for my chips calling down with Ace-Jack high getting in 1/3 of my 8K stack by the river and finding my opponent with a busted flush draw which was actually another Ace-Jack, a split pot. I busted the table donk with Tens and through a lot of pre flop aggression and I got my stack up to 14K just before the last hand before the break when I puniched a limper on the button with T-6s. The small blind called. I found a 10-8-7 flop with two hearts and fired out about 2/3 the pot. He called again and at this stack his remaining stack was almost the size of the pot. I didn’t really know what he had I just though he looked uncomfortable and when a clakc Jack came on the turn and he checked again I thought I either had the best hand and he was drawing or he had AT and would fold it, so I put him all in and after he dwelled for over a minute he called and I nearly fell out of my chair when he turned over pocket Queens. Whoop! Back to my starting stack.
After the first break I nursed that stack for a long time and I seriously had to work hard to keep my head above water. I made a sick move re-raising from the SB with 3-6o putting in a third of my stack. I felt the button had a hand he didn’t want to put his tournament on the line with. Because it’s a team event you can put this kind of pressure on people because they don’t want to let their team down and be seen donking off with AJ. He gave a very long two minute sweat asking me if I could beat AQ, I told him he didn’t have AQ, Eventually he folded showing an Ace and I showed my six high, not to be rude, but because Paul Leckey had just sat down to the table. He tried to get me believe he had AK when we talked about the hand later but I had it on good authority that he had AJ.
That hand only kept me alive for so long and it wasn’t long before my tam had lost two more players, leaving Just Paul Temple and I and I was down to ten big blinds. Then I isolated a small all-in from Paul Leckey with A8 which held up against his K-7. Fintan Gavin then took his place and once again the blinds caught up to me. The structure sucked!
With blinds 300-600 I had 8200 when this hand happened. UTG, the strange player with QQ earlier, limped in. Fintan completed the small blind and I checked with Ac-2h. The flop came Kh-Tc-2c and we all checked. The turn was the 6c and Fintan bet 1100. Both UTG and I called. The river was 5d and Fintan bet 2400. Now Fintan likes to bluff but he is reasonable enough that he doesn’t turn hands with good showdown value into bluffs, especially on this scary board. I think he just checks a lot of better hands to me here. I figured he was probably bluffing and that UTG would probably fold the best hand if I called. I called, UTG folded and Fintan showed A-4. Ship!
This hand got me on a roll and I began eating up the other short stacks. I was in a very lucky position of having both the blinds, on short stacks covered and waking up with reasonable hands on the button when it was folded to me and I would just stick them all in. I got lucky with most of my all-ins. Winning with 22 V AQ, and even KJ V KQ. Then Dave Curtis came to my table and the aggression levels went up again. I found Kings against him with a re-raise but after a minute’s sweat, unfortunately he didn’t bite. My card rush kept going and I ran my stack up to 42,000 before we broke down to the last 3 tables. (There were 103 starters)
I was moved to a tough table with John O’Shea who was now chip leading and doing his best to smash through everyone, regardless of his cards. I also had John Weafer, Keith McFadden and Fiachra Meer, Ivan Donaghy and a very rocky player from Magherfelt, so there were basically no easy chips to be had at this table. My stack dwindled a little to 35K before Day 1 ended, and Paul Temple my only other remaining team mate was knocked out in a cooler the very last hand of the day.
Day 2 started slowly for me. I had been reduced to the all-in or fold move which got though a few times before I found Tens after Keith McFadden raise in early position and was too short to let them go. I raced off against his AQ and won. Yay! That gave me some blind stealing chips and I busted the Magherafelt player with JTs V his 22 and woke up with AK when the button shoved into me with KT. When he got down to the final table of 10 I was 4th in chips on about 100K with blinds 2K/4K but going up shortly.
I could only drag my team into the 3rd place overall by winning the tournament, and I fancied my chances because there were two teams with two players on the final table who would be tripping over each other. I was also pretty sure I would pick my spots against a very agro John O’Sea better than the others. Unfortunately though my final table appearance didn’t last long. I raised one button which got through then I raise in the cut-off with A-J on John Weafer’s big blinds. When it was folded to him and he looked at his cards I had already made up my mind that no matter what he did he not have AJ beat. He reraise to 46,000 leaving 35K behind and after I asked for a count I stuck him all-in. He has to call obviously, showing KQ. But a King on the flop sealed my fate and instead of getting the chip lead 8 handed my stack was crippled and I went out 2 hands later.
At least I made some money back on the last longer bet. From left to right: Barney "The Fish" Bradley, Tony "Psycho"Hynd, Jimmy "The Rock" Kiernan, Paul "Piggy Bank" Temple, Barry "Bazza" McLafferty and yours truly.
I tried teaching my class not to keep limping in and trying to see cheap flops, to just raise when they are first into the pot but one player out of about 14 listened to me. (Her game has improved immensely but the others are mostly playing the same. I tried to hammer this into them for weeks but they say “ah sure I know I know, but......” and then the next hand they would do it again, and then the numbers in the poker schooled dwindled just when some players were starting to see results (purely through superior hand selection) and that was the end of my poker school, my last ever poker school that’s for f***ing sure.
Anyway, I was drafted in for the Gold Club Team at the Ellington annual Team event in Galway and it was a road trip I really enjoyed, even if it wasn’t a profitable one. I was very confident of playing well. I had played just three tournaments this year in my local casino but I’d won all three of them. Before that I played the €350 Christmas game in Limerick and cashed and for a few months before that I’d pretty much been under a rock. The break has done be the world of good.
I picked up 3 of our team members on Friday morning and drove my 10 year old banger or a Hyundai to Forsters Hotel in Eyre square Galway which was easily the most reasonable city hotel I’d ever stayed in with a €55 per person sharing with a third night free (meaning we get a lie in on Sunday) and that included breakfast which was served all day. Superb deal in my opinion and I will be back there for sure.
We had a few pints at the hotel and then a few more in a bar round the corner from the Eglington where I met some of the usual heads in the form of Len Collin, KPNuts, Rob Taylor, Fintan Gavin and Brendan Walls from a strong Magherafelt team.The pints were flowing and seeing as I knew I was basically carrying my teams asses I proposed the obligatory last longer bet. I told the team that I would be on the final table, end of f**ing story. I was worried though that the team were getting a bit too giddy, and were only in Galway for the craic. I askled Jimmy if he was in the right frame of mind to play, because when he’s god he’s good but when he’s bad he’s a train wreck and sure enough he and Barney were early casualties after just an hour of poker.
Meanwhile I was having to work very hard for my chips calling down with Ace-Jack high getting in 1/3 of my 8K stack by the river and finding my opponent with a busted flush draw which was actually another Ace-Jack, a split pot. I busted the table donk with Tens and through a lot of pre flop aggression and I got my stack up to 14K just before the last hand before the break when I puniched a limper on the button with T-6s. The small blind called. I found a 10-8-7 flop with two hearts and fired out about 2/3 the pot. He called again and at this stack his remaining stack was almost the size of the pot. I didn’t really know what he had I just though he looked uncomfortable and when a clakc Jack came on the turn and he checked again I thought I either had the best hand and he was drawing or he had AT and would fold it, so I put him all in and after he dwelled for over a minute he called and I nearly fell out of my chair when he turned over pocket Queens. Whoop! Back to my starting stack.
After the first break I nursed that stack for a long time and I seriously had to work hard to keep my head above water. I made a sick move re-raising from the SB with 3-6o putting in a third of my stack. I felt the button had a hand he didn’t want to put his tournament on the line with. Because it’s a team event you can put this kind of pressure on people because they don’t want to let their team down and be seen donking off with AJ. He gave a very long two minute sweat asking me if I could beat AQ, I told him he didn’t have AQ, Eventually he folded showing an Ace and I showed my six high, not to be rude, but because Paul Leckey had just sat down to the table. He tried to get me believe he had AK when we talked about the hand later but I had it on good authority that he had AJ.
That hand only kept me alive for so long and it wasn’t long before my tam had lost two more players, leaving Just Paul Temple and I and I was down to ten big blinds. Then I isolated a small all-in from Paul Leckey with A8 which held up against his K-7. Fintan Gavin then took his place and once again the blinds caught up to me. The structure sucked!
With blinds 300-600 I had 8200 when this hand happened. UTG, the strange player with QQ earlier, limped in. Fintan completed the small blind and I checked with Ac-2h. The flop came Kh-Tc-2c and we all checked. The turn was the 6c and Fintan bet 1100. Both UTG and I called. The river was 5d and Fintan bet 2400. Now Fintan likes to bluff but he is reasonable enough that he doesn’t turn hands with good showdown value into bluffs, especially on this scary board. I think he just checks a lot of better hands to me here. I figured he was probably bluffing and that UTG would probably fold the best hand if I called. I called, UTG folded and Fintan showed A-4. Ship!
This hand got me on a roll and I began eating up the other short stacks. I was in a very lucky position of having both the blinds, on short stacks covered and waking up with reasonable hands on the button when it was folded to me and I would just stick them all in. I got lucky with most of my all-ins. Winning with 22 V AQ, and even KJ V KQ. Then Dave Curtis came to my table and the aggression levels went up again. I found Kings against him with a re-raise but after a minute’s sweat, unfortunately he didn’t bite. My card rush kept going and I ran my stack up to 42,000 before we broke down to the last 3 tables. (There were 103 starters)
I was moved to a tough table with John O’Shea who was now chip leading and doing his best to smash through everyone, regardless of his cards. I also had John Weafer, Keith McFadden and Fiachra Meer, Ivan Donaghy and a very rocky player from Magherfelt, so there were basically no easy chips to be had at this table. My stack dwindled a little to 35K before Day 1 ended, and Paul Temple my only other remaining team mate was knocked out in a cooler the very last hand of the day.
Day 2 started slowly for me. I had been reduced to the all-in or fold move which got though a few times before I found Tens after Keith McFadden raise in early position and was too short to let them go. I raced off against his AQ and won. Yay! That gave me some blind stealing chips and I busted the Magherafelt player with JTs V his 22 and woke up with AK when the button shoved into me with KT. When he got down to the final table of 10 I was 4th in chips on about 100K with blinds 2K/4K but going up shortly.
I could only drag my team into the 3rd place overall by winning the tournament, and I fancied my chances because there were two teams with two players on the final table who would be tripping over each other. I was also pretty sure I would pick my spots against a very agro John O’Sea better than the others. Unfortunately though my final table appearance didn’t last long. I raised one button which got through then I raise in the cut-off with A-J on John Weafer’s big blinds. When it was folded to him and he looked at his cards I had already made up my mind that no matter what he did he not have AJ beat. He reraise to 46,000 leaving 35K behind and after I asked for a count I stuck him all-in. He has to call obviously, showing KQ. But a King on the flop sealed my fate and instead of getting the chip lead 8 handed my stack was crippled and I went out 2 hands later.
At least I made some money back on the last longer bet. From left to right: Barney "The Fish" Bradley, Tony "Psycho"Hynd, Jimmy "The Rock" Kiernan, Paul "Piggy Bank" Temple, Barry "Bazza" McLafferty and yours truly.
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