From the Concord to Citywest

Hear me now my fellow poker addicts, for what I say is true. After spending three weeks in Europe rubbing shoulders with some of the best in the game, I came away with the sense of feeling how lucky we all are. Lucky because regardless of whether it's just a nine player sit-n-go in a pub in west Cork or whether it's the mighty PaddyPowerPoker.com Irish Open with almost 700 runners at the marvelous Citywest Hotel in Dublin, poker is being played with such a great integrity, such fine sportsmanship, and with such a splendid touch of class that enables me to proudly report that our great game is stronger than ever and is inevitably here to stay.

My first stop on this trip was Austria. It was there at the Concord Casino and Card Room that the PartyPoker.com European Challenge II was being held. It started off with an East vs. West team event which was an absolute blast and was enjoyed by all who took part.

My exit from this event was as a result of my old buddy Roland De Wolfe or "Captain Luckbox" as many like to call him. I had 7-7 and Roland had A-9. I avoided the flop, dodged the turn but was unfortunately sunk on the river by Lord Luckbox himself. Ah well whatcha gonna do! He is a grand lad and I'm happy to call him a friend.

Anyway, the West went on to win it and all westerners, as a result of Bjoern Kaersten received €750 a man. Which basically covered each player's bar tab for the week. (Not!)

Next came the Austrian Open. Its splendid structure, accompanied by the fact that it was a televised event ensured that it was represented by players from all over the world. I must have pissed somebody off somewhere as my timing was absolutely miserable, when I flopped a set my opponent had a bigger set, when I had T-T the man from uncle had J-J, when I ordered a double Vodka I was given only a single. How is a man supposed to work under such conditions? Ah sure… if we can't laugh then we are destined to cry. Where's a tissue when I need one.

Anyway here's how I went out of this one. After spending about three hours at the TV table, we were then moved off to the side. I had 9,000 in chips and after ducking more blows than Wayne McCullogh in a title fight I still felt that I could get things going. The average stack was about 18,000 and with no action around to the cut-off, player A makes it 700 to go (blinds at 150-300) player B, who was on the button and was fairly tight, raises it to 2,000, and I'm in the small blind and look down and see Q-Q, hmm so, what should I do?

Well there's a good chance that player A has nothing due to him being in the cut-off and that player B should also be aware of this and might only need A-Q or A-J or maybe even a mid-pair for him to raise. So with my arse puckered up tighter than a gasket in a garden hose I'm confident I am a head so I reraise it to 5,000 which only leaves me 4,000 behind. This is my hand here folks and there's absolutely no way I'm getting away from it now.

The big blind (who has been reckless to say the least) ponders for a while and announces "call". Call!!?? What in the hell is this fella up to? He has to know that I'm pot committed and that if he has A-A or K-K then surely he should reraise and not price in the other two lads especially player B on the button as it would only cost him another 3,000 to play. You see if he has A-A or K-K he is only a 6/4 favorite against two random hands, so better to take A-A or K-K up against only one hand (me) and stand less chance of being out drawn. So the more I think about the way he's playing the hand the less I can give him credit for either K-K or A-A. So I figure my hand has to be good. Now it's back around to player A and reluctantly he folds. Then player B on the button took about three minutes before he folded. So this told me they had to have big cards which was good for me as there was a chance of cards in common and less chance of an over card hitting.

I told myself that regardless of the flop, I'm moving in. Here it comes Ace in the window along with 7-2. So as planned I move in for my last 4,000 and only after about 30 seconds I hear…"call". I ask him, "do you have an Ace" and he says "No. I have three of them" He slows rolls me and as it turns out the cut-off had K-J suited and the button had A-K. What a crazy hand that was and I am gone.

I ended up doing the commentary with the very talented Mike Carlson and "Mad" Marty Wilson for the next three days which was an absolute blast. It was very exciting doing the final table as Dave "Devilfish" Ulliott was there along with a couple young, up and coming stars. Peter Gelencser eventually out lasted Devilfish and the rest at the final table capturing his first major tournament. The young man hails from Budapest, Hungary and was deserving of the victory as he seemed to want it that bit more. Congratulations Peter.

I'll leave you with this, a final note; I will let you know how my trip to Ireland went in my next blog. Until then, play well and remember there's no shame in folding.

Ciaran O'Leary