Landan and being a degen

So went to London for the weekend and had an awesome time. I am really feeling the affects of so many nights out now tho!

Anyway Geoff and I flew out on Friday afternoon, had to get a taxi to the airport because all my mates are benders! Grabbed a quick Maccy D's and we were on our way. Got to Geoff's cribnest about 7, chilled for a while and then decided we should eat again. We hit up Wagamama's, fucking love the place, food is fantastic, the service is great and there always seems to be a good buzz about the place. Then after a few beers at dinner we headed to the Vic to meet up with James666. But Geoff the ballbag forgot his I.D, so I headed in alone as he hit the mingin tube back to Islington to grab his I.D. I'd say I was in the Vic 45 mins and had 3 triple jager redbulls, was well oiled to say the least when Geoff arrived. We then left cause James couldnt handle the aggro scando's at his cash table:) We had a few drinks in this salsa place which was pretty cool (passion fruit mojito's, yum yum) We stayed there for a while and then decided it was time for some degening. Empire casino was our hole of choice and James and I got a private table and played series of HU games. We played every type of poker imaginable , it was awesome. We ended up even in the end, but I owned his soul, he ran like god in PLO. I think we left Empire about 3am and decided it was time for bed. We left James and headed back to Geoff's house. He hit the bed and I decided to play online ( fantastic idea ofc). I jumped in a 1/2 6 max game and managed to find some mugs who were somehow more hammered than I was. One hand for an example of the dismal play, I make it $8 on the button with Q10s ($200 effective stacks). The small and big blind both defend. We see a flop a rainbow flop of QJ10, it's checked to me so I fire $18, the sb quicky calls and the turn rolls out another 10. He checks again and I decide betting is best as he is a fishay and he wont fold any of his draws/top pair hands. I throw out $40 and he snaps me. The river comes a deuce and he again checks to me, I overbet jam (not by a huge amount) and he tanks down, uses his full timebank, and looks me up with Q6 yipeee! I won about $1200 over the course of a couple of hours, which was good considering I was deranged. I hit the scratcher about 6am absolutely wrecked.

Then next couple of days in London were very cool. We went to two Premiership games, Villa vs West Ham (Upton Park and its surroundings are in absolute bits by the way) and Arsenal vs L'pool. Keano got off the mark which was good news but I felt we should have got more from the game. We also ate some great food and drank out fair share of beers. We got back to Dublin late Sunday night and I got a text 'you home? coming out tonight?'. I was feeling ill and sooooo tired so obv I replied with 'yeaahhhhhhhhhh'. A mad night in Coppers in which we downed every drink we had , geeeeeeed ideas. Then the casino was visited at 4am, again not a fantastic idea, I bluffed away 400 euro in the last hand to leave a 150 euro loser, ah well it was good fun.

An entry of my chrimbus goings on will be posted soon............As for online poker, I played the $250 one day on laddies and managed to scoop the win for $2175. That is all:)

Happy Festive Period
Nick

Ummmmmmm

As I write this I am insanely hungover, properly in bits. So if it makes little or no sense you know why. What have I been doing the last week or so? Went on the piss, thurs, fri and sat..............good banter was had as per usual, but really feeling the affects of treating my body so poorly. And with Christmas just around the corner i'm guessing I won't be getting much of a break from it! Oh well, i'l just have to soldier on and suck it up. Tough life I have!

Pokers....................hmmmmmmm...................................Played a few tounries sat afternoon and managed to scoop 2nd in the $250 on laddies for 1.8k. I played like a toolbox HU. I have been playing a lot of HU since then, making a serious effort to improve, hopefully it will pay off:) Then played a huge slate on Sunday and had some great stacks in some big wans but the poker gods decided it was time to slap me in the face, really hard.

-15 left in the Irish Open sat with 4 packages, I have an average stack which is 12bb (Ipoker = jokes) My AA is no match for 89s. GG
-115 left in the 250k on ipoker I lose a massive pot with AKs to AQ, standard, it cripples me and I bust in 103rd with 100 paid. GG
-200 left in the Brawl on FTP I have a top 20 stack I get it in with A8s on and 822 board vs AQ.........turn the standard Q. I then run JJ into AA blind v blind, like come on, FUCK MY LIFE!

In better news I managed to have some sucess staking. I staked Snow-Men into the $300 daddy on laddies and he managed 5th for $3k and change. Great effort for a mug! I'm off to London tommorow for the weekend to watch the might pool beat the Arsenal scum, should be banter.

Take it ham and
Nick

Losing Live winning Onlizzle

Been a while since my last post. Mainly because I played a few live tounries, they went muck and I couldn't be shizzzed to talk about them.

Anways, I played the 1k event int Fitzwillam and was out by level 3. It had a great structure and I really don't think you will find a softer 1k event anywhere in the world. Honestly it was mad, like 7 people to every flop, people limping and then calling re raises, it was gas. I had to fold KK on 8 9 6 2 board when i guy shoved on me, wasn't the ideal board, but my plan was to bet/fold the turn given its drawy nature, oh well! I ended up busting flopping top two blind v blind, he bet i the flop i raised, he called, the turn completed a gutter and he led (made no sense) so I jammed trying to get value from worse two pairs ect, he obv turned the nuts with 64 o. GG. Was very annoyed to bust so early as the field was so weak.

Onto Cavan............Drove up friday night and met up with Snow-Men and Ballybaykid. Had some dinner and a pint and it was time to play. I played like a monkey for the first few levels, basically spewing chips left right and centre, again the standard was horrif! Tbh I found it hard to adapt to playing live from playing online so often. Its something I need to work on because my patience was no where to be seen. Ended up busting in level 8 I think, limped pot I had QJs in the sb, flop 7 9 10. I check shoved on the button who bet like 3k I had like 14k. He made a great hero call with 78o and even after turning a flush draw I couldnt get there, sigh! Live poker can blow my nuggets. Was fun to hang out with Snow-Men and Ballybay even if they are mugs!

As for online, it had been going very well.

2nd in the 15k on ipoker for $2.5k
3rd in the 4k on laddies for $900
4th in the Ipoker 25k for $2k
3rd in the laddies 15k $1.8k

So been a pretty decent 10 days......really haven't put in much volume but when I have played I have been winning. Little dissapointed I didn't win any of the above tounries, but in all honesty it just came down to not running well enough shorthanded!

In other news.........been goin out on the sauce alot:) My mates and I are such pissheads , lol! But na, really been enjoying myself! Also been managing to go the gym every 2nd day which is good for a fatboy like me! And finally booked a ski holiday for new year, so am really excited for that.

Over and out

Nick

Live poker

= BLAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Fun times.............update to follow when i can be shizzzzzzzed

Ship IT

Been back in Dublin since Thursday. Been great to be home even if the weather hasn't been the kanye. Had a party in our house on Saturday night for Chris who is moving away for Australia for 2 years. Was a great party and went on till about 5am, good to see all the lads again!

Then played online on sunday. Was insanely hungover but things managed to go well for me. I managed to win the ladbrokes $100 rebuy for $20k! I ran sooooo hot, got it in bad 3 or 4 times and won each time. But then when I hit the final table i played extremely well and pretty much bossed it. Wasn't an easy final table either, alot of really tough aggro scando's! Got HU and basically ownded him. Made one or two v nice bluffs and finally all the money went in pre with my 66 to his A9, a 6 on the flop and I was dancing around the room! Was sweet to finally win and not come 2-5th in a big one. Was well chuffed:) Also cashed in the stars 100k and the F tilt 150k, for $175 and $380, nothing major but gonna win something big on there soon.

Viewing a few appartments tommorrow and also test driving a new car, Porsche Boxter S. So should be fun:)

Later

Big weekend in D-Town

Had an awesome weekend. Friday night a large group of us went to bar downtown called Mantis. When we got there it was pretty emty, but wow did that place get crazy. It was alot of fun and great to catch up with a few of the guys I hadn't seen in 3 years. I got extremely drunk and think I hit the hay about 3am!

I awoke on saturday and informed Kyle that I wanted to eat breakfast at Hooters (as you do). The food wasn't the kanye west but the girls were smokin, so I was happy:) Later than day my buddy Chris picked me up and told me we were all going to a charity event called the Margarita Ball. He picked me up at 5.45pm and the ball started at 7pm. So in that hour or so, I had to find a suit that fitted, a shirt to go with the suit and a tie to round it all off. It was a mad rush but we managed to get the suit and get to the ball in time. It was an amazing night at a great venue. Sooooo many hotties + free margarita's + alot of you best friends = the time of your life!

Stayed in Chris house last night and got home earlyish this morning, I was feeling ridic tired but thought it would be stupid not to play a slate of sunday mtt's. Great idea Nick you mug. Played the Warm up on stars, the $120 FTOPS event, the 80k on laddies and the 125k on stars. Completely overplayed 88 in the warmup vs a tricky opponent who owned me with his AA. Laddies kept discoing (no surprises there) so I hardly played a hand in the rebuy period, and then missed the add-on, was really short and shoved 7bbs from the button with a7o into 44 and couldnt win the race. GG. Then 125k a lost a standard flip with my QQ losing to the nuggets that is AK. Had an ok run in the FTOPS event before squeezing with A6s, and got looked up by A9o, we both missed the flop, i turned the magical 6d but the smashing 9c hit the river. GG. So al in all a terrible day poker wise, but I had such a fun weekend I dont even care (well of course I do, but i'm trying to not be bothered by it)

I'm thinking about heading back to Dublin soon, maybe this week, iv been away 6 weeks now, have had a great time, but feel the need to get home for a while and then perhaps move on again.

May we all flip well in the future

Nick

Blahhhhhhhhhh........

Well, played alot of poker the last two days and it has gonna pretty terrible. Managed a few small cashes but nothing of any interest. Though things were going to turn around last night in the 80k on stars, but lost a crucial flip with about 200 left my JJ losing to AQ, this left me with about 15 bbs, folded for an orbit or two and then shoved 10bbs with Ah 7h from the cut-off, the button snapped me off and then the bb re shippped it. They had KK and AQ....gg 170 something place. Had a fun bustout in the laddies 35k. It was the last hand of the rebuy period, UTG limps for 50 the cut-off makes it 200 the button flats. I am in the SB with AhKh, i make it 1300 to go. UTG and the orig raiser fold but the button flats. Flop comes down a pretty terrible 7 8 10, but I deceided to try rep a large pair and shoved my last 2500, the guy tanked and called with 22....LOL. Seriously , what goes through these guys heads. Not that my play was fantastic, but 22 come on!

Had a few nights out the last few days. Went to this place called the Glass Cactus that was pretty cool. Full of older peeps but still a good laugh.......Untill, we get talkin to these two girls who are ok looking but nothing special, they were defo worth a spin but nothing to get excited about. Anyway, one of my friends ended up dancing with one, so I end up sitting there talking to her friend. After some small talk she asks me what I do? I tell her that I play poker for a living. Jokes asside, she responds with ' So wait, you sit around all day LOSING your PARENTS money on your laptop' haha, I laughed so hard. I mean, where she got this from I have no idea, anyway, I thought it was comical. Needless to say I didnt stay talking to her for very long.

Heading out tonight with a some friends I used to know from college in New Orleans. Should be a mad one me thinks! Won't be playing any poker till Sunday, where I reckon il hit the MTT's pretty hard.

Take it easy

Some $$$ and Sunny Dallas

Played a bit the last two days but nothing major as have played during the day.
Played the $30 Graveyard on ladbrokes, basically owned the tounry , running really well and playing hyper lag until I found myself HU with a 6-1 chip lead. ACE-ATTACK was my opponent who is a good player, but I still didn't think winning would be too hard given the stack sizes. Ne way, he had about 13bbs, I had KJo on the button, I shoved on him, he had A9s and he won the race, all pretty standard. Then I lost a few small pots basically being very cardead and then this hand comes up : I open the button to 2777 at 500/1k, he 3 bets me to 8100 (he has about 23k behind after this raise).....I decide to flat call (which I think is a mistake, I should be shoving or folding with these stack sizes HU.....and I def prefer shoving because he had 3 bet a few times).....the flop comes 4d 7d 8s giving me two overs and the a flush draw, he checks to me, i shove (jst over the pot size) and he snaps and i mean snaps me off with 33, haha. I thought it was bizzare, why would he check the flop if he was gonna call my shove with such a weak hand. Ne way, finished 2nd which was good for $360....massive!

I also played the FTOPS $200 turbo with 500k gtd.......busted in about 800th when I found 77 utg with 4.5bbs and ran into JJ, oh well, 100k for 1st would have been nice! Also played the 70k and 10k on stars, busted early in the 70k and finished 60th of 1700 in the 10k, was a funny hand tbh : Cut off opens to min raises to 8k, the button flats, I'm in the bb with 44k, and i raise to 34k with A9o (committing myslef, attempting to look stronger than I am), the orig raiser flats my 3 bet, flop 5s 2h 3h, I move in and he calls and has 5h 4h, lol. And cashed for a massive $70 or something. GG

Also played golf today and the weather was fantastic, only played 9 holes, hit two balls O.B and stil managed to be +1, was enjoyable to play some semi-decent golf.

I'm still going to the Gym and eating healthier which is good. I'm finding the running easier so I may have to step it up a bit though.

Think we are heading out tonight somewhere locally for a few beers, should be fun.

Nick

Bubbleaments.......11th November 08

Played a whole lot online today as the weather was shity in Dallas. Played the 25k $100 rebuy on laddies, was going well and thenlost a really important flip with my 99 vs a guy's AQo, I win that I am in superb shape to contend for the win. Instead I grindedmy short stack and hovered around 8-12bbs. With 22 left and 20 paid, Ateyo(he is kinda spewy so he can have alot of hands here)limped the button for 1k, the sb folded, I am bb with 11k and Jh3h, ne way the flop was qh kh 4d, i checked he fired 2.7k, I shovehe had AA and I cant get there, oh well, like ofc I can fold, but considering I have 36% chance of improving vs a one pair handand there is always the possibilty he will fold, shoving must be somewhat +Ev?!

Also played the daily $50 80k on stars, got deep and with 110 of 1700 left I lost a massive pot with my AhKh to A10o.....fun fun.I then hung around for a while longer and shoved 9bbs with KQs, was called by 55 and couldnt get there. Played the 70k $10 rebuyon stars also and busted a about 3 hours in close to the money. Feel like I am playing well and another big win is defo on thecards, will prob play a few of the FTOPS this week, but considering the weather is gonna be good I will prob play alotta golf. Should prob get some sleep.

Laters

NH BRA.......11th November 08

So airballed the $500 shorthanded and the $1k main event, built a very nice stack in the $500 and with about 80 left this hand happend. I open 44 utg at 100/200 to 500, the bb with a huge stack flats, flop j43 rainbow, goes check check. The turn is 10, hebets 700, I make it 2k, he makes it 4k. Like, i could just flat here, but I have a set, it is six max and it is agaisnt a scando:). So I shove for 7k more and he snaps and flips up JJ! gg

As for the main event, busted about 5 hours in, don't feel like talking about the hand, but I stand by my play. I played 3 or 4 other sunday mtts and did no good im any, oh well!
Other than poker it was a great weekend, had two nights out in Dallas with some olds friends. Also went to an american football game, SMU vs Memphis, which was fun. Enjoying myself more
Nick

Dallas.....7th November 08

So be back in Dallas now a few days. Finally got an appartment sorted and its pretty sweet. Still got no funrniture, but we havemanaged to get Wireless and cable ...haha standard. Played golf a few times since we've been back, played poorly tbh.

Then thelast two days have hit the mtt's hard. Played the LEOCOP PL and did rubbish even though I amassed a huge stack in the rebuyperiod, I played pretty poorly but got kinda UL in one big hand vs some spewy scando. Played a few other mtt's on laddies/tiltbut managed to airball everything. Then finished the night playing some cash, which I never do but I was very bored. Played a little 1/2 and managed to about $175. Still a losing day but nice to win some back.

Then today I played a rake of mtt's on laddies. I reviewed yesterdays play and made some ammendments and came out feeling confident. The LEOCOP 2nd chance went horrendus, think I may have been 1st out. Got ul vs some mug calling 1/3 his stack on theturn with an open ender, I river top two and shoved into the nuts.......pff it was near impossible for me to put him on the handhe had, but then again I prob should have been more cautious. I managed to chop the 8k 20 rebuy with Banksy which was cool,very nice of him because he was ahead in chips and was in control of the match. Scooped $2k for that. Also final tabled the $50freezeout but busted 5th for $112 or some crap........aggressive sb raised for 3rd orbit in a row on my sb, i shipped 16bbs witha6o and ofc he had ajs.....gg! Busted in the mid stages of the 6k shoving 15bbs over a 4x cut-off raise with 88....he had 1010,think I should have played this one more cautiously tbh. It was SRX who opened (who is tight) and he did open 4x (basically saying he had some sort of a hand)....I dunno I convinced myself he had AK/AQ and might fold AQ. Also played the $22 freezeouthad a huge stack and managed to bubble in 21st making some dumb spewy play I cant even remember.

All in all a decent day whereI feel I played well. I look forward to the ending LEOCOP events, tommorrow is the $500 shorthanded and I am very excitedfor it.
Also, I am trying really hard to lose weight/get in shape. I have given up carbs and have been running and working out the last three days. Really hope I can keep this up!

Nick

I likes monies......October 28th 08

So it has been ALONG time since i last blogged and alot has happend so this could be a very long post. But I am happy to be back writing.

September

Kyle (college friend from Amercia) arrived early september with the intention of staying for 4-6 weeks. He stayed in our house andthroughout the next 4 weeks we played alot of golf, the weather wasn't great but I defo got more into as time went on, i becamemore motivated to get better i guess. I even took a lesson with Marcus Casey (my old coach), which was great and the first timei had a lesson in about two years. I also started running again with Kyle, this was great because it makes me feel good about myself and also it obviously will help my health, not that I am particularly unhealthy, I just need to be in better shape is all.Poker in september was horrible. I think i lost about $4.2k and having reviewed sessions I didnt even play that poorly, just ranlike crap at important stages (stadard basically). Only thing I can remember that was positive was winning a seat to The LadbrokesPoker Festival in Killarney. I was going to buy in anyway, but always nice to save a few $$$, partic when you have had such a badmonth. Kyle left late sept, and it was sad to see him go as he is such a positive infuence on me. It's cool to have a friend who is from a completely different background / lifestyle to me.

October

This is where things began to pick up. Early Oct I went to Killarney for the Laddies fest. I drove down and Brian . A (GirlWonoder)accompanied me. The drive was fine, took about 4 h 40 mins (as Lewis Hamilton was driving...lol). We got there and I was nervousbecause i knew i was about to meet alot of the guys i have been playing online with for the last 18 months, it's a weird feelingbeing introduced to guys as an online alias, i feel people who dont play online poker would view this as weird but it wasnt at allit was great. We were straight to the bar at 11.30am and the first guys i met where Topppo (Tony) , top bloke and a fantastic player who i have learnt alot from and TrickyTrev, also a really nice guy and alot of craic. We had a few pints and then I checked into my hotel, chilled out for a bit and then hit the Laddies lounge to meet a few more peeps. Played a fun game of darts with James666 (funny as fuck), pokerbudge and his mate (who's accents are soo strong I had no clue what they were saying the wholetime, but still fun) , superbell (a dark horse at the old darts it seems and also and extremely nice person) and rock07 (another really nice guy). I didn't manage to do any good in the darts but it was still alot of fun. It was now about 4pm and time for the main event to start, on my way to my seat I met SOXXXXX (unreal poker player) and wildrick (he is not a machine/bot incase anyone was wondering:)).

My starting table wasn't too tough to be honest, i had John McGill to my left but to be honest I prettymuch ran the table for the 12 hours of day one. Some interesting hands effective stacks 15k-20k....The cut off opens for 400 at75/150 the button (who has been pretty active) flats and i see jd10d in the sb and flat also. We see a flop of 4d 8d 9d (WOWZERS)I check, the cut-off fires 1k, afet some thinking the button makes it 2.8k. Hmmmmmm, this puts me in a tough spot, vs one opponentI may just check call here but against two I didn't think this was gonna work, i made it 7.5k to go. The orig raiser looked baffled at all of this and eventually and reluctantly folded. The button tanked forever and folded ks kd face up. I said 'nh'and mucked my cards. Then there is some talk about the hand and the orig raiser said he folded 888 , il be honest I didnt believehim at the time, but having played the next 12 hours with him he was a serious nit. Another fun hand came up against John McGill, whoI had owned him when i flopped a set with 222 and got two streets of value out of him when he had 3rd/4th pair in a previous battle.Anyway John opens UTG to 500 at 100/200. He had been tight in EP so i decided to just flat in the bb with AsKs. Some may call thisquestionable but i felt comfortable flatting. We saw a flop of kd 9s 4c, i checked to him he bets 600, I decided to raise for value and to see where I was at. I made it 1600 to go, he quickly called without much hesitation. The turn rolls off a nice looking 2s, giving me top pair and the nut flush draw. Now I think after my check raise on the flop if i check here he will def bet as my flop raise defo looked slightly bluffy. Any I checked to him (looking like I was giving up on the hand) and he fires 2kleaving him and an additional 7k behind, so pretty standardly I just shipped it in. He folded after a long think, he told me laterthat he folded AK, if he did, then I played the hand close to the best I could have IMO, obviously I wouldn't play this hand the same way vs a different opponent, but vs Mr. McGill I think it was wp.

So I finished day with 42k chips, which I was very pleased with, although I had been up to 50k at one point and donked some offmaking a foolish bluff with 64s. All in all I was very happy and headed to the bar with a few of the laddies guys for a few beers before bed. I think i got to bed about 5am and play was to start the next day at 1pm. I arrived ready to play at 1pm andthings got going very well when the cut-off opened 2.5x bb and then a 13bb stack shoved over the top, I am in the SB and lookdown at a lovely KK. I get shipped the pot and am off to a perfect start. Then this sick hand happends. One of the good/aggroplayers opens UTG+1 at 500/1k to 4k (his standard open was 4xbb) I look down at AhAd in MP1 and due to my aggro/bluffy image I 3 bet to 10k. He looks frustrated with me and calls the additional 6k. We see a Kh 10h 4h flop and he says 'all in' for 25k .I carefully look at my cards again and see I do have the Ah so i obv call. He flips up KdJd, so i am in awesome shape. The turnbricks and the river is somehow the Ks (lol). And he gets shipped a pot close to 50k, it must be said I was fuming after thishand as it put me down to about 22k. I managed to rebuild and got moved to a new table with 40k playing 800/1600. This tablewas quite fun as I had two nitty ladies on each side of me, this allowed me to open alot of pots. Adam Fallon was at this tableand I really rated him as a player so i tried not to get involved with him. I then hit a bit of a bad spot around the money bubblewhere this hand came up. Mid position opens 3x bb, i see 99 in on the button and decide to flat (this is marginal, I think i prefer a 3 bet here but its meh), I cant remember the exact stack sizes/ bet sizes, but the flop came 238 rainbow, and he fired13k into about 18k i think. Now this is a tough spot I think I had 80k at this point. I decided to raise, I made it 29k (againi dont know if i like this, I think calling and evaluating on the turn is prob better). Anyway he thought for a long long time,counted out his chips several times and eventually shoved, ughhhhhhhhhhh. So I obv folded (guess he had an overpair) be a sickspot if he bluffed me.

So that crippled me slightly and I got moved table. My first hand at the table and im UTG I look down atAA. I have 48k at 2k/4k. I made it 10k. Then some dude with a huge stack looks at me and starts thinking ( i tried sooooo hard tolook weak here and i honestly think it worked, it was also the money bubble so perhaps he thought I would fold alot of hands)So when he said the word 'raise' I have never been happier loool. He made it 38k to go and it folds to me I obv just put it all inand he calls and shows AQo. Now I like his play here as it is the bubble, however when a shorty opens utg on the money bubble I really dont like 3 betting.Anyway he managed to miss his flopped gutter and I doubled. I then proceeded to tear the table apartplaying super LAG and never going to showdown. I then got moved tables and it was announced it was the last hand of the day,at this point there were 42 of us left. Anyway, it folds to me in the cut-off and I notice the sb is not there, this changes the dynamic of the hand as it allows me to open wider as i have less ppl to get through. So i see AsJs and make it 10k at 2k/4k.The BB (a girl who i had seen make some agressive plays previously, so she obv knows what she is doing) looks at me and says raiseshe makes it 35k. I count out my stack and I have about 100k left, I shoved pretty quickly (why? cause she is 3 betting light and she knows I am opening light and also it is the last hand of the day and she will not want to go bust with the nice stack she hasfor tommorrow. She folds JJ face up, WOOOP, throw up my AJ and she starts freaking out, pretty funny stuff. So I finished theday with 154k. After a tough day we hit the bar again and had quite a few drinks, Snow-Men was locked and was telling me abouthow Marcus2001 and him had been playing 25/50 on laddies, ha. I then met Sinbad01 and JEDI and had a couple of drinks with thembefore I headed to the scratcher. I must add it was amazing the support and encouragement I got from all the laddies guys throughout the event. I also had a beer or two with TheDerv and S7eve, good fun to meet the both.

I got to bed about 6am (great preparation) and dreamt of winning that night. I awoke to a few Gl texts from a few mates, which wasnice. Play kicked off at 1pm. I got busy early winning a critical coinflip in a massive pot with my JJ holding against someBelgian dude's AQs. I had a great stack now and played soooo aggresive, I had so much fun doing this (felt I was really playing myA game). Then this hand came up, I opened the cut off for the 4th time in a row (the same english guy had flatted in the bb everytime to my 2.2-2.5x raise and he had lost every pot to me, it was clear he was gettin frustrated) to 75k (there are about 22 leftat this stage BTW) at 15k/30k with A10o and my stack is about 800k his just slightly less. He flats in the bb and we see a k72 rainbow flop. He checks to me and I fire 100k. He looks frustrated and says '200k'. Now the more I thought about it the more I thought he wad full of shit. Now i didnt want to fold so i had to work out what was the best way to continue. Firstly I thoughtthat floating would work but when I inquired what he had behind he only had 300k, hmmmmm, so i shoved he folded and I showed thebluff. Was fun because I know it was risky but I felt I read the situation very well. This got me to over the 1million chip markand in great shape approaching the final table.
When there were 20 of us left we broke to two feature tables, there was quite a large crowd and a few of the laddies guys where supporting me which was cool. I tightened up somewhat as people began to bust, partially because I was extremely card dead butalso becsuse I had a huge stack to my left and then to his left was a very short stacks who was going to be shoving light. I gotmoved tables with about 12 left and lost a semi-large pot with my a9 on a j10q45 board, to 77 i should have bet the river but after he called the 10 high flop i felt the j and q were defo part of his range. Oh well......I then had a couple of LP raisessnapped off trying to play super aggro with 10 left. So my stack dwindeled and when we hit the final table I was 5/8 I believewith 1.7 million. The camera's got set up and we got underway, it was pretty cool to have the camera's there. I raised the cutoff twice in a row once with k9o and the other time with j10, i got re-popped both times and had to fold. I then got bluffedoff a pot B v B (versus the guy who won) when he check raised the river on a a5682 board, all i had was k6. I thought about itfor a very very long time, I guess I knew his line was full of shit but its hard to call of your tounry life with 3rd pair inthat spot. Anyway I folded and was no short stacked. I got to 5 handed and then started re-stealing very light with my 13-15bbstack, the table was playing super aggro and i knew that if i wanted to win this i was gonna have to double up. I ended up bustingin 5th, B v B the eventual winner, opens for 3x from the sb, i look at QJ and ship it in for 15bbs, pretty standard consideringhe is opening soooo wide there, anyway he called with AJ and I couldnt luckbox my way any further:) Got 20k Euro....which was pretty coool.

Had a great night that night with James666, Snow-Men, Girlwonder and a few of the other laddies guys. Finished upat 7am, was on a complete high, an old friend from school John Donnelly let me stay on the couch in his appartment (baller), which was really nice of him. I woke about 1pm and felt horrendus, I was soooo tired from 3 days of poker and beers, lool!Had some lunch in the bar and said goodbye to a few of the laddies crew. Gw and myself drove back. I got back to Dublin about 9pmand was informed by the lads that we were going to Coppers, no excuses, so I had to man up and go out again, had a great night ,so much fun and blew a load of $$$ , as ya do!

I then had a wknd in Edinburgh from Tom's 21st, which was fantastic fun, I can't be bothered going into details about it, but itwas awesome. I then spent a few days back in Dublin before I headed for the states.

I came to Iowa where my buddy lives with hisparents and played some golf, drank some beers, had a bbq, camped out, great fun all in all, we then went to the city two nightsand went out on the razzzmatazzz, was good banter, going out is so much cheaper over here its ridic. We then headed back to his house on Sunday morning because I am a degen and wanted to play the sunday mtts....Well it proved to be a fantastic idea as I came 2nd in the Leocop opening tounry for $22k, WOOOOOp! Played very well throughout and got lucky in a couuple of spots where I reallyneeded to. HU i started down 10/1. Not ideal, I killed him for about 40 mins and managed to get back to even and then this handhappend. I open the button to 75k with KJ, he flats and we see a K 4 5 flop. He checks calls, turn is 9, he leads for 2/3 pot,so i shoved for value and we wound up having KQ, oh well, kinda coolered IMO. Tounry lasted about 10 hours, the structure wasfantastic. That night it was just Kyle and I in his basement, we had a couple beers after the tounry and I hit the sack.

The next morning we drove to Dallas, 10 hours of fun, yuck, it was no fun. Spent a couple of days in Dallas, scoping out appartments andplaying golf (and also time for a few beers) and also went to the Kings Of Leon which was class, really was on the best concertsI have ever been to, they were so sharp. The next day we drove to New Orleans which took about 8 hours, soo sick of driving at this stage, but we had the most epic 3 nights there ever. I flew in a friends from Charleston Chip, who plays American footballfor a living. He is one of the most fun guys in the world, he is so much craic to be around. We had a few crazy nights and I gotto meet up with some old friends from NOLA which was really coool.As im writing this we are drivng (again) back to Dallas..........I start my no carbs diet tommorrow which is defo needed, also going to start running again and maybe some light weights. I'm looking forward to getting in shape and playing some onlineagain, reallly haven't played much the past 3 weeks, been an actionpacked few weeeks though:)

Forgot to add..........night before I left for the states I won the $50 rebuy for $5200 and also had a deep run in the ipoker 150k 29th i think for about $1300

Over and out

Nick

Landan.....18th Aug 08

Just in Gatwick airport at the moment, had a good trip over with Geoff, went to the Arsenal game on Sat, they won 1-0. The Emirates stadium is sick, so is Smai Nasri. Watched the Liverpool game in a pub also and they got off to a winning start, 1-0,Torres is our number 9.

Sat night just took in easy in Geoff's house, i played a little online but with no sucess.

Sunday we went for lunch in Wagamamama,which was great as always. Then came home and played a slate of Sunday Mtt's. Played the laddies $250 but busted in 8th with 5 paid, i was soooo short the whole time and did well even to survive as long as i did, i had a really tricky player to my leftwho constantly 3 bet me, and i never had the goods, ah well not too unhappy with the way i played in this one, just one of thosetounries where you coudlnt have done any better imo. I also played the FTOPS $120 K.O tourny, busted about two hours in,lost a biggish pot at the 80/160 level, when the button shoved for 1500, i called with AKs in the bb, he showed 34s and the board ran out 2668104, I had 5k before this hand happend so it hurt me, then had about 3800 at 100/200 when this hand happend, thebutton limped with 2900, the sb (total donk) completed with 3k, i saw a9s in the bb, i shoved, i dunno if this is standard or notbut whatever, the button folded and the sb tanked called with kj, klapp, we saw a flop of j45, the then turn of the great ad,but the river brought the ks and that was me basically, was annoyed about this one, as felt i could have made a decent run at it as the field was quite weak. Oh well! Also played the ladddies 100k $100 rebuy. Rebuy period was boring, finished it with 8k withand add on and rebuy. Then played solid for 2 1/2 hours wining a nice race with my 77 to ak. I then busted with about 100 left where i was 20/100. I opened for 2111 at 400/800 utg with 88 with 23k stack. The big stack scando 3 bet me to 5100, he had 3 bet twice in the last 40 mins and i was definatly frusrtaed at this stage. I know i should fold here, but i flated, flop 993, i check he bets a suspicious5k, i think it looks like air (ak,aq) and shove, horrible play and he calls with jj. GG

Just about to fly home now, hoping to meet up with the guys for a few beers in town tonight. Will most def play alot online this week, am excited for Australia!

Nick

Blog more

Havent blogged in about 9 years.Alot has happend in the last month or so. It has been great poker wise. The start of the month was horrible, i just kept bubbling every big tounry i played, probably because i was thinking about cashing sooo much that i forgot i was there to win. Anyway,I had a sickish sunday about 3 weeks ago. Won the $30 crapshoot for $800, then played some of the best poker i have in ages in the$250 game, 5 hours later I was a winner with $3800. I was really happy with the way i played in this, as it is a deep stack gamewith 20 min blinds. I did get lucky once or twice, but that tournies for ya! In the same day I was beaten HU in the $30 rebuy and cashed for $880, again i played very well and was a little dissapointed not to win. Not to worry tho, the next win of the daywas just around the corner i won the $50 freezeout for another $500 a couple hours later. So about 7k for the day, v nice!

Since then I have had a few decent scores, cashed in the daily 250 a couple more times. all in all up about 11k this month

15th July 08......some cash

Soooo, had a fun weekend but didnt get to play near as much poker as i would have liked. Went out friday night into town andgot deranged and spent the contents of my wallet which was alot! Not alot went on sat, Sunday i had lunch with Dad and Goggiin Findlaters and then went out on the boat with Dad for a bit, wish the weather was better so we could get some skiing in! Had Dinner with Dad, and two of his mates in Casa P that night, love that place and came home and played a little online.

Played a 5 rebuy on tilt which was a waste of time and interest. Then jumped in the 75 on ladbrokes and got lukcy a couple of times early onwhen i was shortish, limped pot at 50/100, two limpers, i have a9s on the button with 1300, i shoved, the utg+1 tanked and tabled 66, we saw a 568 flop, yuck, turn 7, river a nice j, nice double and up to 2900, got short again making a raise with aqs and c-betting a j high flop and gettin CRAI. Back down to 1800, then it folded to me in the cut-off with j10s at 100/200, easy shovevs the tight blinds, i get looked up by aq in the bb and somehow win on a kk94j board. Up to near 4k and i got rolling from therejst played solidly and didnt really show down a hand. Was shortish 6 handed (5 paid) like 10bbs, perhaps because i tried to playover aggro around the bubble and didnt have a large enough stack to do so, This is something i need to work on in the future.The bubble burst and i jst kinda hung around, did nothing special, won no big pots and got HU with a 5-1 chip deficit. I knew Icould win because i really rate my HU game in Mtt's, most ppl make soooo many mistakes, im sure i do too but i feel i dont make as many as most. I managed to get back to even in chips I had 39k he 44k when the busto hand came up. I limp the button with J10at 500/1000, he checks and we see a 4h9hQd flop. He checks, i bet 1300, get popped to 4500 and think and decide flat calling is best because the guy is very straightforward and would rarely do this with a fl draw. Anyway, the turn is a 8d giving me the nuts,he checks again, i fire 7k he shoves, i snap he tables q8 for two pair and we see a river of and 8! Yuck, thats twice recentlyiv been mugged HU in this tounry. 2nd was good for $785, pffff, i

Flip me better....12th July 08

Home from Spain a week now, been an interesting week. Havent played near enough online as i should have, been other things goin onand been very lazy and not flipping well when i do play!
Had a great day on sunday, Jimbo got us tickets for this Polo match in the Phoenix park, it was a sunny warm day and a bunch of usjust sat outside drinking free beers, it was alot of fun. Was kinda annoyed i didnt get to play online after a good few sundaysnot playing, but when you gonna get the chance to do somethin like this again.

I arrived back at my place to my roomate telling me he was moving out! Cheers, leaving me high and dry, it really surprises me theway he has acted. Ah well, iv been staying at my parents home as they are away for the last few days, viewd a sweeet appartmentin Corr Castle today, the lease doesnt start untll sept 1st which is shit but the place is worth waitting for to be honest, just gotta find some roomates!

Tuesday night I was gonna go play some live poker in Town but there was nothing appealing enough to me, so me and a few of theguys went to this comedy club in town. It was great fun, never been to somethin like that before but i defo want to do more thingslike this, think one of the comedians was called Neil Delemar, from the tv show The Panel, such a funny guy!

Went out Wednesday night to Tomango's, good times were had! Then spent pretty much the whole of Thurs watching the boxset of Entourage. What a show, im addicted, already finished season 1 and 2!

I played a bit online on thurs eve, bubbled a nice stackin the 30 rebuy, not down to bad play, just lost 3 flips in a row, which in my opinion were unavoidable.....well people neeed to learn to fold 22 to a re raise oop with 25bbs, thats how i busted, the guy check raised me all in on a j88 flop with 22 when iwas completely pot committed, ughhhhh ppl play bad! Cashed for like 120 bux in the 50 freezeout, wahoooooo, again had a good stack , some guy opened utg at 300/600 to 1800, i had 9,700, i look at aks, i 3 bet him to 5k, he snap shoves with 77? ne way i lose theflip and im out. I feel like im playin great and some good results are on the way, i need to put in more hours also!

Portugal and Espana

So again it has been a long time since my last blog. Im not a very organised person i suppose. So what has happend the last fewweeks? Went to Portugal for a week with all the lads to Glennon's amazing house out there, what a great time. Great weather, somegood food and all my best friends, just what I needed after the last few weeks. Didnt play any poker out there, was out every night and really didnt feel like playing. Some highlights from the week include: Dave Lennon pissing himself on the nice couch and then proceeding to crash our rent a car while driving some girls home while he was locked:) great thinking! Then Glenman shagging this bird, falling asleep and bally taking her to town, lol, what a great lad bally is! Anyway, all in all a great time was had.

I arrived home and basically continued on the going out. Had a couple of good nights in Tamango's and Barcode. Played a little bitof poker the three days I was home, I doubt it went well considering I dont remember anything from it! No worries but!

Then Sat I flew down to Marbella for a week. To be honest when i arrived I was not in good form at all. The whole thing with my Exwas really getting me down. I spent the first couple of days there being a depressive fool. Then one of my friends Geoff flew inand he dragged me out with my younger sister and her friends. It was just what i needed, a night in puerto banus, its hard to havea bad time! Had good fun in a few of the bars on the strip and then we al went to Glam, it was great fun! The next few nights were much of the same and it really helpedget my mind off things and enjoy myself, Geoff is always a good guy to have around, always up for having the laugh! we waterskiedmost days off our boat which i loved, have to say I am improving also.

Poker wise...........I played the first two nights I was in spain (in my depressed state) and bubbled eveything and anything i played in, mainly due to playing very recklessly around the bubble, i put this down to my state of mind at the time.I didnt play again till last night which was my last night. I was a $900 winner which was nice. Came 2nd in the 75 on laddiesand did well in a couple of $100 sngs! Which meant i was a $230 winner for the week, yippeeeee! HA, na but its nice to win ratherthan lose.

Just headin to the airport now late on a sat evening. The week ahead will consist of, some online play and hanging out with the lads, hopefully if the weather is good get some waterskiing in!

Nick

11th June 08

Been a while since last blog and alot has happend.My long term girlfriend and I broke up on Friday, it was a mutual decision but it still hurts. We had a great year and a halftogether and im hoping we can still be friends. And maybe in the future we will get together again, who knows? Right now it wasthe right decision.

Poker wise, hmmmmm. Let me think, final tabled the 10k 20 rebuy on ladbrokes the other night, ended up finishing 3rd for $1245,which was dissapointing to be honest, i felt i was better than the players, i got coolered two hands in a row to go from chipleader to bustooooooo. Firstly I raise a10s BVB, he shoves for like 17bbs, easy call he has aj, oh well, very next hand vs the same guy i have aj with 13bbs = the nuts 3 handed with the stacks, and I run it into his aq, what can you do? NADA!Then on Sunday I played quite a few things in the afternoon but I dont think i should have as i was not with it emotionally,I blew a huge stack in the ladbrokes $250, just playing badly due to the above. And also busted the 12k 20 rebuy on masnionwith a big stack, not alot can be done. Ah well no worries.

Then Sunday night I started play again at around 12pm, there was a 6 max 20 rebuy on tilt so i jumped in that and the 75 on laddies.I busted the 75 early getting it in on a as qs 9d board with my 10s8s vs a10o. I missed!:( As for the 20 rebuy i found it very easy to build a stack, the players were not great. 214 runners meant 24 paid. I had 51k at 500/1k when this hand happend. I raise q9o from the button to 2750, the passive bb with a huge stack flats. we see a flopn of ac qc 9d and he donk pot bets it. Now do i really think he is goin to donk two pair here when he knows I will c-bet? I dont think so, i perceived this bet to be either 1) A weak ace 2) a flush draw (and maybe a pair?) 3) j10 or 4) qj q10 kq. So when he donks 6k into 6k making it 12k,i have 4x the pot pretty much so i thought about it and thought shoving was correct, given how drawy the board was and it lookedlike i could be repping a draw, so he snapped (lol) with ajo , and this was HUUUUGGGEEE pot at the time. Anyway the river was the jack of spades. no worries:)

Monday night I was playing in my familys home in sutton as I wanted to watch EURO 2008. So i was too lazy to play on my laptop iplayed on my dad's old one, what a piece of crap, anyway, i played the 100 rebuy and the 20 rebuy as 2 tables was all that would fit. I cashed in both but missed the FT. 12th in the 100 rebuy and 14th in the 20 rebuy. Guess i played well and ran well in both but didnt pick up near enough hands late on to buildd a stack for the final table. Not a bother really because i feel i am playinggreat. Today is wed and i have played alot of golf the last few days, been fun, really taking my mind off things being out there.
Beers time, heading into town as a single man, weird. :) will prob play online tommmorrow night unless something better comesalong

NICK/AKOLAS/SALAMANDER_IT

$$$$ 3rd June 2008

So the downswing is finally over and it feels great. Didnt have a huge score but I managed to win the $50 rebuy on friday nighton ladbrokes for just over $6k. I felt I played very well particularly at the final table (which was a very tough one, TVHDK, neil003, h12rty) beacuse I didnt pick up many hands but managed to hang about. We got three handed and suddenly there was alot of play, i thrived on this and had good reads on bothopponents, a built my stack up to near 275k, at 4k/8k, the button H12RTY had become shortish and shoved for 90kish from the buttoni found 99 in the bb and snapped, he had 10h8h and the flop came 10 high, sigh, i was down to 160ksish. I managed to double when h12 shoved by bb, i found 66 and called, he had a8o and i won the race. H12 then busteed TVHDK and we were HU. He had 480k tomy 300k. We played an insanlely long HU which i felt i played very well. The final hand i shvoed ad4d on the button he made the call with as2d for like 10bbs and we saw a ks 4s 8s flop, turn brought 4c and the river bricked to give me the win. I definatlyplayed well but bar the 99 hand all my big hands held up.

Didnt play much the rest of the wknd, went out to a bbq on sat night and then to a club with some of the guys, was a fun night and I was glad to be in bed before 3am for the first time in a while. Monday (bank holiday) was a fun day, Chris, Steve G , SteveL, Geoff Curran and I went out on the ribb, i waterskiid for the first time in a long time and really enjoyed it. We then hada housegame in our appartment , I cant say I can get motivated to play for 20 euro, i know it sounds dumb but it just doesnt interest me, would have prefered to play online as there was a few things i wanted to play in but my roomate really wanted a game.

Then played two online mtt's last night, neither of which went great, the first was the $109 crapshoot, I managed to get it in with my kk vs ajo in a 13k pot with 19 players left only to hit the rail (no worries it happends), the i jumped into the $82.50freezeout and didnt pick up much in the first hout had 2100 at 50/100 when I busted, weak player limps utg im in the mid pos and imake it 400 with ahqh, the button (with a huge stack) flats, as does utg (pot = 1350), the flop come qc 8c 3c, utg checks to me and I shove for 1700 into 1350, the button stalls and the calls with acqs and he gets there. Im not sure how my shove on the flopis here but i think it is ok. Still feel like im playing well and have a new found confidence after the win:)

Next few days will probably play a bit online and hand out with Ais. Will prob play the Daddy on laddies tonight, AKOLAS IS THE DADDY?

30th May 2008 London Town

Hit London on wednesday with Geoff and his mate Lewy. Geoff had a cool house in Islington which is a great location. However,having spent a few days there I am really not a huge fan of London. I mean i had a great time but i would hate to live thereand will not be rushing back. Why? It is way too big (ie...no central feeling), the tube's are horrendus and the people allseem as though they are in a mad rush. Anyway, we went to two footie games while we were there. England vs USA in Wembeley,which was very impressive and then Ireland vs Colombia in Craven Cottage, which was entirely different to Wembeley but just as fun.

Went out on the town one night and got deranged to say the least, met up with Keogh as he is working over there and the roundscame crazy fast. All in all a fun night. Didnt play any poker while I was there, just felt like relaxing but have the urge to play now. It's a saturday night, so think i will jump in the 20 and 50 rebuys on Ladbrokes. Hope for a big night:)
Nick

30th May 2008 Spain + Running worse than a dog with no legs

So I guess I have tried to start a blog for a while now, but never really got going, so I am trying again, mainly for me to keep track of what is going on in my life/poker wise.
On the plane back from Spain at the moment, was feeling very ill on the way down to spain but gradually got better as thetrip continued. Geoff and I played golf mosts days, we had one fun day in Las Brisas with Dave Bailey. Dave is a great guyand is always up for some banter. I shot 76 but was -2 through 9. Put 4 balls in the water on the back nine which was dissapointing. We then went to dinner with Dave, his wife and a few of their friends in a place called Il Restorante in La Campana.It was good fun.
The next day was Sunday and geoff and I chilled out and I played some of the big mtt's, played poorly for the most part butalso ran well below expectation. Think I may be putting to much pressure on myself to perform in the big ones, particularlynow that I am in a 5k downswing. I think the dowswing is due alot to running vvv poorly late on in mtt's which then tilts me thus affecting my play adversely.
Monday was a very enjoyable day, we drove down to Sotogrande and played golf with Matt O Donoghue. I played poorly but it was great course/place so i didnt let it bother me too much, They had a great par 3 course which we played after lunch and geoff and matt had a thriling skins game in which matt finished birdie birdie to win by one skin. All in all a very fun day. That night we went to dinner in Trader Vic's which was interesting, food wasn't bad just not amazing.
After dinner i decided to trya few mtt's. I played the 20k on ipoker, the 9k $50 on ladbrokes and the 4k $25 on ladbrokes. The 20k I played donkish and managed to build a decent stack in the rebuy period but proceeded to bust early (structure is horrible btw) when this crazy, super aggromuppet opned for 4x in the CO, i found ad9d and shoved 6.6k after his 1200 raise, i stoved it and i am 54% vs his range and thats not even his calling range just his opening range. Meh. The 9k on ladbrokes went ok to start with managed to have hang about and with 21 left i had 6.6k at 300/600, a laggyish player minraised in the Co i found aqo and shoved (standard) and he called with kqand I doubled. I floated around for a while and had 10kish when this happend. A 9k stack opens for 1.2k on the button I have j10o,there are 18 players left and 10 paid, therefore i think re stealing here is fine, because this button folds so often, anyway my bad run continued when the button tanked down and somehow managed a call with qdjd (loool). That was me basically. Then the 4k,i have 3900, av is 6600, 40 left 20 make the cash. I have been v card dead when I find KK utg, the table has been aggro so i decide to limp (hoping to limp shove), utg +1 limp along untill the big stack button makes it 800 to go (pefect i think),I tank down a bit the shove for 3900, he snaps with aks and the turn brings and ace, pfff, what can you do hey. Think I have been too results orientated recetly and should just forget about it and play the way i kno i can, which is a winning way. Need to think more positively about everything, not just poker!
Bout 2 hours left in the flight, think il do some poker stoving! Off to London tommorrow to see of few footie games, England vs US and Ireland vs Colombia, should be fun and a big piss up, will hit the tables hard when i return from london, untill then.....
Nick