August 2010 Grand Final Trip Reports

[bennymacca]

I know some of them are already appearing, but i think its good to keep them in one thread so that we dont have 20 different ones.

i will post mine soon (it will be pretty uninteresting except for a couple of hands vs larx, including my big mistake for the weekend)

have to say a MASSIVE congratulations to brad warner, whom i dont know, but obviously is a gun and had a great weekend. well done.

more importantly, i have to congratulate the mikes, subacius and raines for final tabling. you two are easily in the top 5 best players in the league in my opinion (pity my fantasy team didn't have you guys in it). well done also to matty moate who had a solid run.

only got to catch up with bionic mike for 2 minutes, but he is a pure gentleman and deserves the cash.

as for wabbit, how much for some coaching?

also got to meet chris whitmee as well - was great fun playing with him, and he was the same as me, just couldn't' get anything going.

[wabbit999]

I had a great time...

I got into Melbourne on Wednesday night for a couple of days of R&R before the final. When I got in I got a feed at the restaurant at the hotel I was staying... The burger was missing the cheese and bacon, no milk allowed for the coffee (kosher restaurant) heheh.

Next day went out to Victorian Markets and played that evening out at the Tigers Clubhouse. Got to meet some of the online players Pottsy, Rileypooh to name a few..

Friday went out did a bit more shopping before hangin out in my room waiting for bickles and rocket to arrive.. then headed off to the charity event.. that was a pretty good evening. Did an interview with Annette Melton she's a really nice person and is gonna go far. The only bad thing about the charity event was the lack of food but all in all a good night.

Went back to my room, only to be woken up a few hours later by Bickles and rocket returning, rocket won a GF ticket at the rebuy event which paid for most of his weekend so he was pretty happy.

Saturday Day 1
I have to say I was nervous, the feature table is place you want to end up not start on.

I was pretty much card dealt in the early part, one early hand I had AK suited and raised only to be called by Scott Murrin, the flop had nothing for me but the jack on the bored had me concerned, the turn a King, Scotty checked I bet out Scotty called, the river another dead card Scotty checked with a little smirk on his face, I decided to check and Scotty turned over 2 pair KJ.

Buy the end of the second session I was down about 7k in chips, but still confident I would be able to get back into the hand.

Buick the Trudgeon leader was on the table since the start had eventually hit the rail... Great bloke.

Later in the day I was forced to start stealing a few hands and went all in a few times to pick up the blinds and antes, i think Adam Rich who came to the table with massive chip stack knew what I was doing was waiting for a hand to call me. I then got dealt AA and decided that I would push all in again, Adam called me with his 44 thinking that I was maybe pushing with Ak AQ. Luckly my AA held up although I thought I heard a lot of people yelling for a 4 or 6 to land.

That hand really got me back into the game.

Day 2…

Being moved to a back table for day 2 was good for me, it gave me a chance to relax and think, my stack was around the average for most of the day, so I knew if waited for opportunities and played my hands aggressively I would make it to the money.
The final table was full of awesome players and I was just happy to make it there. This is where I perhaps let myself down, I was full of emotions seeing a room full of people watching me and the stress was getting to me. Luke was stealing what felt like every hand but I didn’t have the cards to call, I blame Garth for dealing the stuff I was getting but then again I could have tried a few re-steals.

Eventually I went to rail with A5 called by Brad with 99, thinking back on it now I could have waited a bit longer to make my move.

Overall apart from that, I don’t think I played that many bad hands during the 2 days, I raised when I needed to, I folded when I beat and read my opponents well most of time.

The whole event was a massive learning experience and upon reflection I am happy with the performance I put in.

And benny the cunt choaching is free i'm pretty sure I can learn just as much from you as you can from me.

[bennymacca]

And benny the cunt choaching is free i'm pretty sure I can learn just as much from you as you can from me.

i could tell you lots of things i have picked up about your game, and im sure you could do the same about me.

but because i play against you pretty much every time i play a game, helping you get better is probably not in my interests - it took me a good few weeks of getting crushed by you to work out a few things that i think i can exploit

[pmk]

Where do we start.... getting lost on the way to Melbourne (it was NOT my fault... I was asleep at the time) or my driver almost falling out his door... eventually Masi & I made it to Melbourne.

Had a great Thursday night having dinner with friends at a restaurant called Big Mouth in St Kilda (great food).

Friday night was the Casino night and while entertaining, it was very hard to get onto tables to share the wealth (good night though).

Saturday was a great day despite running into bigger hands most of the day and I didn't even manage to beat half the field .

Sat night was even better having a great night out with good friends and good food (plus the odd wine or two).

Sunday spent the day with friends then became slightly inebriated after yet another great meal at a chinese restaurant who's name eludes me at the moment. Got slightly further intoxicated at the After Party. It was great seeing 888PL management letting their hair down after such a high pressure weekend (the blue shots were nice). I may have been introduced to some people (Masi told me he did) I've only played against online so if I don't remember who you are please forgive me (gizmo was one).

We rounded out the early morning by a session at the casino. I proved to myself that after only my second visit to any casino I can take peoples' money from them.

Monday was recovery day... nothing much happened except re-hydration and moving from bed to couch.

Overall I can say it was a great weekend and we should do it more often.

[JMACK007]

Yep, another fantastic weekend put together by 888pl!!

I drove over on Thursday with my wife and 2 kids in the back. Considering the kids started getting loud at about Hindmarsh, it is probably lucky they survived the trip!! Anyway, arrived Thurs night, removed ear muffs and had a nice rest. Friday was recovery and then on to the Charity Bash. Was a good night, and great to see Lisa take down the “most chippies of the night“ prize. Getting kicked out at 10:45pm also helped as most of us would have kicked on for a few more hours and completely ruined the rest of the weekend as a result!

Saturday was great, our table was really good except for the dealer, he made quite a few basic errors that had me and Roy looking at each other with a WTF? Sort of look! I think he was tired, so we will give him the benefit of the doubt. Playing with Jeff Fenech again was great, and I can see alot of improvements in his game since Feb., he said he has really learnt alot from guys like Warnie, Hachem, etc., and it shows. He really is a formidable opponent and knows what he is doing. Sam lit up the table with her smile (as ususal), and Roy just couldn’t get anything going. I was happy with my play, I didn’t really make any errors at all for the day, laying down really big hands at the right time and calling off with marginal hands at the right time. Finished with 124,000 chips. Headed for drinks afterwards at the Crown with Carmine, Russ (Learmonth), Edith and Dom. They had the old Homer Simpson GPS guiding us in, so needless to say, 2 hrs later we arrived!!! Had time for a quick bite and a drink in the Vegas bar before heading back to the apartment.

Sunday was the exact opposite. Second hand of the day with blinds at 3000/6000 ante 1000, I was small blind, big blind had only about 16k total. Folds around to me with [Kh 6h], so I put big blind allin. He thinks for all of 3 seconds and calls with 7 4 off, flop 46x, turn x, river 7, giving him 2 pair (Thanks Tim!). That was not a good start! Then proceeded to get severely card dead for the next hour, and not even any chances to make a move, until I am down to 30k with blinds 4000/8000 ante 1000 and look down at QJ off (same hand that took me out last GF), and shoved, get called by guy with 28K, so 2K change (yay!). He had A 10 and hit a full house on the turn. Next hand allin UTG+1 with A8, UTG pushes allin for heaps before me (for me that is great as he is likely to push everyone else out of the hand), and all fold. Of course he rolls A 10 (its haunting me!), and I hit the rail. Just ran really bad at the wrong time.

Waited around and entered the Aussie Millions satellite. Proceeded to still be card dead for the first hour of that (rebuy period) but ran ok after the break and managed to FT, but again ran dry on FT being forced to play really marginal hands when HU to try and knock people out and advance to the ticket. Unfortunately I could only manage 4th after they raised the blinds to 50,000/100,000 (it was supposed to be capped at 25,000/50,000) and was basically allin blind at the end.

Story of the weekend, was so close but so far!!

The after party was great, really good to see everyone out there letting their hair down after the pressure of the weekend. Great to catch up with Mr Alex Kidd again as well, that guy is a consummate professional and loves our league, and a few drinks at Crown afterwards with some of the guys finished the night (morning) nicely.

Drove home today and despite a wrong turn that cost us a couple of hours, we all arrived in one piece.

A couple of notable mentions:

Said hello to Mike (Limpy) Raines, but I am not sure if he knew who I was!!
The Trudgeons, these guys are great and I always love catching up with them. Great to meet the Buick man!! (They are all his fault after all!!)
Mike Subacious and Matty Moate, sensational effort guys! You are both awesome players and deserve all the success that you have achieved.
Kon Koroneos, ARE YOU SERIOUS???!!! This guy is a gun!
Pat Dillon, sorry mate, had to call!, but was still great to catch up with you.
Dave, Scott, old-man daryl, I’m surprised you guys even had time to pick up your cards!, the Mistress stand was going off!!! Well done guys, let’s hope it continues to grow from strength to strength.

This GF was another in a long list of great events put together by Garth, Sarah and the team. I am already pumped for the next one!!!

**The above post will be available in paperback next month....!!

[MattyMoo]

Well my weekend started early. Having taken the beast into Gawler Body Works to be fixed on Thursday afternoon after losing a battle in the Mills Street Adelaide Car Park I was picked up by the one and only Russ Learmonth and went with him and Edith to play Watermark on Thursday night. Finished 3rd there after the short stack button shoved 47K (blinds 15K / 30K) and myself and the other chip leader called. I had A9 and flopped the A and turned the 9 and had to bet what I thought was a brick river 4. Only to have the other guy fold and the button roll 52 for the wheel... But finished with $79 so that was a great start to the weekend.

Then back to Edith's and played a couple of small tourneys on 888 and just made the cash in a $100 GTD after flopping the nuts on my first hand.

The next day Edith, Russ and Dom were escorted in Learmonth Seniors Ssanyong Chairman to the airport. We ran into a few 888PL players there. I was on Tiger and they flew Virgin. I arrived about 30 mins prior into Melbourne but after the walk from the back paddock where Tiger disembark we basically arrived at the same time. We were then picked up by the hire car place and we were off with Pop Dom driving and as Jmack mentioned my Homer GPS navigating.

We stayed at the Meridian on Fitzroy street St Kilda. The issue was with the sleeping arrangements. As Edith, being a penny pinching Accountant, only booked a two bedroom for two people so we didn't have to pay for the extra people. There was a K and Q bed... But then realised that the K could split into two K singles so we were all good.

First night we were planning to go to Crown but after a meal at the Elephant and Wheelbarrow down the road, including a visit to our table by a cockroach we decided just to stay in. I'd brought 4 x 2.5K start stack in chips and some cards and we played 2 x $10 winner takes all 4 handed games. I went heads up in both with Edith, won the first and second in the other. So up $20.

We arrive at the GF the next day and it was great to see everyone. Edith and I were seated at the same table right in the back r/h corner. Pretty tentative start for everyone and I lost my first pot against Rileypoo paying him off with top pair and he had the gutshot 9 with 92 on the 4 card connected board. One guy on our table hit quad T's then quad deuces two hands in a row. Next hand I lost with AT on a 93963 board again to Rileypoo having 62...

At first break I was a little worried only having around $18.5K and everyone telling me how many chips they had. I was thinking it was like a PStars big free roll when after the first hand you look at the largest stack and your like "WTF how do they do that"...

Anyway, I had a game plan of grinding it out and stuck at it. Next session I raised from the BB with AK and flopped top two to get paid well by AT. I finished that session with around 28K. But by this stage I had people telling me they were over 100K... "Don't worry just play your game".

In the next session Rileypoo was next to me complaining of a headache. I bought him a 3 minute massage and within 10 hands he was out. Suffice to say that no one else on the table wanted me to get them a massage after that. I also steered clear.

I flopped my set of A's against two pair to have a guy drawing dead and me doubling on the turn and had around 48K by that break.

The final session of the day had me both worried but also I saw an opportunity to get moving. Though I wasn't fond of the table I was on with Dave Murrin to my right and also Mr Ivey down the end. But ended up moving my final day count to 88K.

I went home, oredered some Pizza's and watched Golden Eye on the TV and checked Facebook.

Step one was complete - make day 2, but I knew I had some work to do.

Surprisingly I wasn't nervous at the start of day 2. I am glad though we got a full level of the return blinds rather than the 10 minutes we had left on the clock at the end of day 1. But I knew each round was gonna cost alot from here on it and I didn't have alot of chips to wait around. So early on day 2 I decided to race 99. A short stack went all in on my right and I re shoved. To be called by AK. The short stack hit her Q with Q7 but I won the main side.

I was then extremely lucky an hour or so later again short shoving with KQ and hitting a 4 out T on the river. Very next hand I made probably my most stupid play of the day. I was on the button with a dead small. It folds to me and I look down at 22. Blinds are 6/12k. So I raised to 48K hoping just to take the blinds and antes. But instead he re pops me with Ac6c. What to do... It's another 46K to call. I call and loose with the board coming A66 and me drawing to running deuces... So I give that last win round to my left. ARGH!

Then I get AQ and AK two hands in a row and win both.

At two tables left, I am in the BB for 30k, with 83o... and 79K behind. Next hand is gonna cost me 20k in blind and antes. Raines raises and I shove hoping he'll fold. He doesn't showing A2 he flops his deuce which doesn't change anything and I get lucky again with a rivered 8.

I shove UTG with KK a few hands later with no called and also get Jesus (Adam) double me for the second time of the tournament with my AA's.

I was just so happy to make FT... The only hand I really saw I shoved with being TT on FT. I played my last hand terribly. Either I shove pre with my A high or fold on the turn when Kon bets 100K and all I have is A high and a gutshot for a 2. Lesson learnt!

It was great to then have a few beers, watch JMACK and Edith on FT of the Aus Mills Rebuy. Can't believe that guy called JMACK's open shove UTG with 66... What was he thinking? LOL...

Thanks to everyone for their kind words. And yes, I am pretty proud, I've only been playing for around 18 months and my game has improved significantly. I have plenty to learn. I am just so happy I can now play the Adelaide Champs ME next month with some of my winnings. These deepstacks certainly suit my style of play.

Congrats to everyone who participated and as I said on FB also to the 888PL management team and staff for a great weekend. I've already started working on getting my next ticket.

[David]

Went over Friday afternoon.
Played and came 91st.
Got home Monday.

[David]

I actually started to write more but was busy all of a sudden, so I'll write more later.

[Bacon]

played bad, didn't see the TD Ironman Challenge, won on the horses & at Crown.

[kentishgirl2010]

My weekend in a nutshell

1) Nearly crashed my hire car after driving around the crazy peak hour Melb streets with Bacon and Sarah going at it each other in the back seat
2) Got pissed off when I realised on Fri night our apartment toilet was blocked and the so called "emergency number" went straight to voicemail (hence no working toilet with 6 tipsy partygoers)
3) Some random took my 888pl green bag on Fri night which contained my camera case and spare battery and lanyard
3) Tried to make a move with 88 and got slow played with KK and thus got knocked at blind level 1000/2000
4) Won a satellite entry to Aussie Millions on Sun
5) Won $150 at Crown Sat night
6) Had a meltdown after losing the keys to my apartment
7) Taking a wrong turn out of Caulfield racecourse and ending up lost and driving around aimlessly for an hour
7) Didnt realise how bad Melb traffic was on Mon morning and only made boarding time to my flight back to Adelaide with one minute to spare.

So overall, an eventful, fun and interesting weekend I would do it all over again minus the driving, losing my bag, getting knocked out early and not running around Melb airport with four bags.