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All the way to Paris for €2 and a copy of Dara's satelite book


debaser_XIII

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Hi all, 
A while ago I posted this about my AKo getting beat on the bubble of a UK Tour ticket-only final. At the time I regretted moving in on the button and I was trying to digest the frequent satelite musings of Dara O'Kearney on The Chip Race podcast. I am, as I wrote it in that post, an experiential poker player. I have kids, a job and very little time for poker. Satelites for live events give me a focus - my aim has been to get to one of these events, even though I'd be astronomically out of my league.   

Well, not to spoil this post, but in a few short weeks I shall be flying to Paris to play in the final Unibet Open of 2019.

In the time between that UK Tour bubble and my Unibet Open final, I bought and read Poker Satelite Strategy, Dara's book. It's an enlightening read - after going over key principles a few times, I started playing more satelites and the results were so stark that I'm surprised Unibet didn't test me for PEDs. 

I was playing up from €2 and €4 and accumulating a ton of €25, and€50 tickets and gradually a couple of tickets for the final. 

I had played two Sunday finals and not made it past the second break. Then, one Sunday, I was clearing up after our family dinner and I realised the final was starting and that I had a ticket. I was on my second glass of red wine, REM's Unplugged double album was on the turntable, the kids were playing in the other room and I thought: why not? 

Everything that followed was recorded on the WhatsApp group I have with my old university pals - poker is our way of staying in touch, 25 years after we met. We get together and play long, drunk games of hold em once every few months. 

Looking back on the chat (as I have done a few times since) it's clear that there is NO CHANCE I would be looking forward to playing in Paris and hanging out with other Unibet players had I not read Dara's book. 

First of all, we're having a wee debate about when REM stopped being untouchable, hall-of-fame perfect. It's New Adventures in Hi Fi. After that, lots of good songs, but no great albums. 

Then at 20:55, we're at second break and I post:


9.6k chips
Average is 7.2
 31 players left
Top 5 go to Paris and sixth gets 125 cash
I am currently ninth
Big boost when I had pocket 3s. Called a small raise as did one other. Flopped a set. Checked. Original raiser all in for all my chips on K 5 3 (two clubs). Thought he might have a flush draw or pocket AA. He turned over top pair weak kicker.
Some folks crazee

My pal Craig posts this classic:


Borat.gif.17b6876634b549b70cde8c0d4ef938b4.gif

 

... which starts a discussion on Borat and then it gets on to Brass Eye. 

By the next break... 

 Significant downturn
7.1k
Average 10.2
Blinds 150-300
25 left
11th gets 225
10th to 6th get another 250 ticket
Top 5 go to Paris

I also share the following information with the group... 

Got the remake of Taking of Pelham 123 on in the background
Travolta v Denzel

Prompting Craig to respond:

Turn it off. Concentrate

THIS ADVICE WAS EVERY BIT AS IMPORTANT AS ANYTHING IN THAT BOOK. DO NOT WATCH DENZEL MOVIES WHILE TRYING TO QUALIFY FOR POKER TOURNAMENTS. 

Just before the next break, I get JJ and raise 3bb but have to drop them when raised on a board of A-K-x. I'm 11th of 22, with 21 bigs.

After the break, I find myself in shove-fold territory. I find 77, 88, JJ (again) and my all-in gets through evevery time.

One away from the bubble, I'm short stack with 8bb.I have both tables open and there are SO MANY ALL-INS called at the other table, but the short stack survives every time. It's incredible. 

Meanwhile, I go card dead. Key moment comes when I get a walk with 6-2o in the big blind. 

There's now one micro stack at the other table and I get a hand straight out of Dara's book. 77 in mid position,  down to 8bb. BUT there's a raise from UTG, who has been playing very tight. Before I picked up the book, in that spot I would have been all-in in a heartbeat. But now with the micro stack on the other table, a couple short stacks on mine and a raise that would likely put me in a race at best, I fold without giving it much thought. 

Which soon found me short stacked at my table on the cash bubble (there was a long way to go before anyone got the Rough Guide to Paris out).

In two hands, the micro stack at the other table went, as did a shortish stack at my table. At the break...

Top five go to Paris
Rest get another shot at this level - 250 entry ticket
I have 4.7k
Craig: ????
First Paris seat is at 26k
But you never can tell
I'm certainly not going to hang about and lose blinds though
Ejecting Denzel was the key

First hand after the break, I see A-10o. I move all-in and get called by 5-5. A river ace saves my bacon. 

Then, at 23:04, this happens: 

K 10
Gordon: Yup.
Called min raise
K high flop
Adam: Yes...
Called c bet
Chae
: ??
And another on river
15 K
I was vs 88
Boys if I double it's croissant time

From a lot of shove-folding, there was now a lot of min-raising and limping. Blinds were 400-800 with a 100 ante. I had 12.5k. 

After a couple of limps on my big blind, I jammed with K-6s and got it through to keep me solvent. Then did the same with 6-9s from the small after everyone folded (another play from Dara's book - I would have folded 100% before reading it). 

As we dropped to 8 players I found a run of mid-to-strong aces that I could stake my hopes to and none of my shoves were called. I was now on 27k and sitting in one of the Paris seats. 
As the pressure mounted, though, I was jumping either side of the bubble for a UO ticket. Then, at 23:50 I saw JJ in the small blind, with a min raise and one call in front of me. 

Jammed
Adam: Noice.
Called by AJ
Craig: Oh my god
Chae: Oooooft
Say hello to your chip leader
Adam: Waaaaaaa
Craig: No xxxxxx way

Leaderboard.thumb.jpeg.2f07ee41c14d9d9c928cb6dfa32c8c70.jpeg

 

Folding my way to France, y'all

And that is exactly what I did. There are tables in the book that help you work out when you can lock it up and basically fold everything in the knowledge that the players below you will knock each other out. In the end - after my hearty Sunday-night rail accepted the drama was over and retired to their beds - I picked up AA and called an all-in that would not have damaged me too much. My opponent had QQ and that was the last hand of the tournament. 

I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to Paris. It's such a buzz. Hopefully I'll see some of you there. And if you don't have your ticket yet, I know a book you should think about reading.... 

Neil 

PS - I'll try to write about Paris on here too, as real-time as I can. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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@debaser_XIII wrote:

Thanks - kind of nervous about playing a 1k but really looking forward to it.


@debaser_XIII I won a raffle prize to UO Dublin last year, my first ever live poker, and was extremely nervous. First hand was QQ, just what I didn't want.                                                                         Sad Mission Impossible GIF                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Managed to survive that and lasted ten and a half hours, so that's your mission, should you chose to accept. Good luck. If you fail we will deny all knowledge of you.

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"It turns out that 75% of all poker players think they play better than the other 75%."     image.png.99a4e82708d54abfc527324e8836768e.png

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@GR1ZZL3R wrote:

 


@debaser_XIII wrote:

Thanks - kind of nervous about playing a 1k but really looking forward to it.


@debaser_XIII I won a raffle prize to UO Dublin last year, my first ever live poker, and was extremely nervous. First hand was QQ, just what I didn't want.                                                                         Sad Mission Impossible GIF                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Managed to survive that and lasted ten and a half hours, so that's your mission, should you chose to accept. Good luck. If you fail we will deny all knowledge of you.


10.5 hours!! That's a high bar. So you got through day one? Anywhere near the money? Out on a bad beat? 

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@debaser_XIII 

I was 1/2 hr from surviving day 1 with quite a healthy stack, dealt 10-10, flop J-J-10, we ended up all in on the river, villain had J-10. I'm still not sure to this day if I could have ever folded, could you? :waterfall:

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"It turns out that 75% of all poker players think they play better than the other 75%."     image.png.99a4e82708d54abfc527324e8836768e.png

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@GR1ZZL3R wrote:

@debaser_XIII 

I was 1/2 hr from surviving day 1 with quite a healthy stack, dealt 10-10, flop J-J-10, we ended up all in on the river, villain had J-10. I'm still not sure to this day if I could have ever folded, could you? :waterfall:


You lose to only three combinations - JJ x 1 and J10 x 2? NEVER FOLDING. What a horrible spot. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

First of all thanks to everyone who read and responded to my post! 

I'm writing this on the Saturday of the UO Paris, from L'Etoile Meridien, the players' hotel. But I won't be taking a seat for Day Two of the big one, unfortunately. 
I was knocked out short-stacked with about two hours to play at the end of Day 1b. I had bled down to 7bb and needed something to push. My A-8 ran into 9-9 in the big blind and that was that. 

In general I went card dead after the first couple of levels, when I did okay, but looking back, I was certainly playing scared at a couple of points, where I folded with marginal made hands to river bets I would have called in a five euro tourney on Unibet. 

Anyway, that's the poker part. But as I said right at the start, the experience was the whole deal with me and I have had a fantastic time. I couldn't persuade any of my online rail to come along for the trip, and I sheepishly left my wife with our two kids as I skipped off to play cards in France, so I was on my own, and I think I ended up meeting way more people because of that. 
Everyone I talked to at the tables were super cool, even the dude to my left on the first table, a Parisian who moved less than any human I have ever seen during hands in which he was involved. The two of us got by with my very basic French and I picked up a new phrase - river du merde - when a four-flush on the river prevented him from getting paid off for a well-disguised straight. I will be using that one a lot. 

I met guys from France, Lithuania, Finland and even Newcastle - the winner of the Unibet UK Tour there (Tabish?) was on my left at my last table and was building quite the stack at the end of day one. I like his style, he never really got in trouble. I just wish I had got everybody's names. 

On my way out after my KO I saw Dara and David from the podcast in the restaurant and I stopped to say hi, tell Dara that he had basically bought my package with his book. They couldn't have been any nicer to a rando from Scotland. 

I was pretty jacked up and we'd been couped in a pretty small card room all day, so I decided to walk the 5km to the hotel from the casino, through central Paris. It was a great way to end my day,  it's such a beautiful and vibrant place. 

I'm not going to buy in to any of the other events, so I grabbed the last seat on an EasyJet home today. It's been a great experience, I'll definitely start down at two-euro again and try to make another one next year - and I think I'll give the odd live tourney a go in Edinburgh and Glasgow, which are closest to me. 

Thanks again for reading. Unibet poker players are the coolest. 

Good luck, 

Neil 

 

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