Mrs D's blogspot

Haven't updated for ages, didn't take my laptop to St. Kitts so will try and remember everything now!



Saturday 24th Nov
Travelled up to London by train. Met Prettyace in the evening and had a lovely chinese meal just off Leicester Square. Then went to The Empire to play poker. Got a really nice surprise when we got there. Vera and her boyfriend Richard were there along with Queenoffe and Dangero. Never met Dangero before and he is a lovely guy.

Played the £70 F/O, about 50 runners and just bubbled the final table finishing in 11th. Had a great evening and was great to meet up with some of the hunnies!!



Sunday 25th Nov
Had a relaxing day in London, saw a few sites, did some shopping and met up with Steve's son for a meal. Had a look at the London xmas lights and was not impressed!



Monday 26th Nov
Got up at six to get the seven o'clock train to Gatwick. Went to check in and found that our flight was actually called 'Caribbean Poker Classic', lol. Flight was a bit cramped and XL airways not the best that I have flyed with. Finally got to St. Kitts, lovely warm weather and Marriott resort very nice. Went to welcome reception and met up with a few players. Azimut and Soap said hi, both really nice guys. Some guys were playing the first sat to the main event, luckily had my seat so after a few drinks went to bed shattered.



Tuesday 27th Nov
Got up early, had some breakfast and spent a couple of hours by the pool. Met up with Whitedog and Meg 80, Whitedog had been playing till six in the morning and had won his main event seat, he was very happy and a bit drunk I think!

At 2pm there was a $200 freezeout which I decided to play which got 173 runners, 2k starting stack and 30 min levels. At my first table met a great guy from Leeds called Sherman, he was there with his son Adam who was in the main event, he became a good friend during the week. Tournament was going great, after winning my first pot felt quite confident. Unfortunately I lost a few decent pots, AA vs 56 against a short stack, AK vs 99 after hitting my king on the flop only for the nine to come on the turn. Got to the dinner break at 7pm but a little short stacked. After dinner there were about 30 players left with 18 paid. Blinds were at 600/1200 and with about 11k left it was folded to me in the sb. I pushed with Q8 only for the BB to call with A9, no help and I am knocked out in 21st, three from the money :-(. Was happy with my play though and just needed to win a couple of races, from about two hours in my chips were only at risk twice.



Wednesday 28th Nov
Same routine as Tuesday, breakfast, pool then get ready for afternoon's tournament.

Was a $300 freezeout with 131 players, 3k starting stack and 30 min levels. In the first session I was off to a flier. Knocked a short stacked Animal out with QQ vs AK, knocked another guy out with 66 on a 637 flop, he had 99. Got to the break with about 10k.

Had a real character on our table called Chris, he kept us all entertained especially when he got a 8 hand penalty for telling this moaning whining 'Phil Hellmuth wannabee' yank he had massive ears :-).

Everything had slowed down a bit for me. Got dealt JJ in MP, guy with slightly more chips than me pushed from utg, I called and he showed KT. Everything great until the river brought the king. At this point I was crippled. With about 1600 chips left, blinds 300/600 and one hour to the dinner break I just started sticking them in whenever I could. I didn't want to have to go to dinner short and decided to either try and get back in it or bust. Managed a couple of double up's, the best when I pushed with 88, called by AK and the board came QT388 :-) !!

Went to dinner with about 26k. came back and blinds were 600/1200. A few hands in I get dealt JJ again. Guy in EP with equal chips raises to 4k, I push and he calls with AK, A on the turn and I am out in 25th with 18 paid!!!! grrrr. Bit cheesed off that I have played for 7 hours again and just missed the money again. Then played an stt with some of the Sun poker guys who were all drunk after playing Beerpong. I don't drink beer so didn't bother. Was a good laugh though and met some fab people especially Noseyboy who had won an EPT package for winning Beerpong and was quite drunk.



Thursday 29th Nov
Decided to give the poker a miss today. There was a $400 freezeout but needed a day of chilling out. Spent the day by the pool and went to Bassterre, the capital to have a look round. Bought a couple of things. Not a great deal there and had a laugh when a taxi driver called Veronica started following us because we said she could take us back to the hotel!

Played a couple of sit and go's in the evening, was running terrible, got knocked out of one all in pre with AQ vs KT and another all in pre KK vs QQ!

At this point my confidence was getting low, with the main event starting on the Friday I started to wonder if my luck could change.



Friday 30th Nov
First day of the main event which started at midday. Had some breakfast and made my way down to draw my seat. With a 15k starting stack and 50 min blinds I was ready to play a patient game.

First table was quite a nice one, had Adam, Sherman's son to my left and had a guy called Vic on my right. Vic is a really rich guy from Canada who comes down to St. Kitts once a month on his private jet. He was murdering the table hitting every hand. the good thing was he took a liking to me and whenever it was my BB he would give me a walk, even showing KQ and saying he must respect the lady, lol!

By the first break not a great deal had happened and I was still on starting stack. Was dealt KJ on the button and raised. Adam in the SB called, flop AQ2, Adam bet out and I called. Turn brought the 10 on a rainbow board. Adam bet and I called. River was a blank, at this point there was about 6k in the pot. Adam bet 6k and raised to 10k. He folded and I was off and running.

Soon got moved to another table. Juha Helppi was on the table but I must admit I had never heard of him! First big pot I got dealt 55 in EP, blinds 300/600 and I limped. Guy on the button made it 2000 and I called. Flop came 5TQ, I checked and he bet 2000, I called, turn brought another 5! I checked, he bet 4000 and I called. River was a blank. Asked the guy how much he had left, he had 6000 so I bet 6000. He instantly called and flipped over TT!! Sick hand and he was very unlucky.

Next decent pot and I had AT on the button, blinds 400/800. I was not paying attention to the table and when it got to me I thought everyone had folded. I announced raise and went to bet 2k. I then stupidly got told that Juha had pushed utg for 6200. I then had to make the minimum raise to 12.4k. the blinds folded and Juha showed KJ. I hit an ace on the flop and knocked him out. Bit embarrassing though!!

A few hands later I get 99 in the BB. All folded to the SB. He only had about 10k left and pushed. I called and he showed KJ. A king came on the flop but a nine saved me on the river.

For the rest of the day I won a couple of small pots and we finished at about 11.30pm.

53 left from 153 and I had 55.7k and the average was 42k so I was happy.

We had met a lovely couple on the first day from Bristol called Karen and Paul. Paul had won his seat in the Thurs night satellite. He hadn't played live much but ended day 1 as the chip leader with 118k!



Saturday 1st Dec
Woke up at about 9.30am and got some breakfast. Play started at 12pm. With 53 left, 30 would get paid. I got to St. Kitts for $70 so I really wanted to cash. After just missing out on the money in two other events I was determined not to do it again. First hour the only hand I got was AcQs, I raised to 4k and was called by the button. Flop came all diamonds, I bet out 5k only to be raised so I had to fold. In the next hour I got dealt AK, a guy in EP who had been raising a lot of pots raised it to 15k, I pushed for 40k and he folded. With about 45k left and the blinds at 1000/2000 there were 31 players left. A big stack on our table was raising every hand and I just had to keep folding. The bubble finally burst and I was over the moon.

At this point we redrew seats as we were going to play six handed. I was happy to up my play now I had got in the money. One of the first hands I got dealt was KK in the BB. A guy who I had covered raised utg. The guy in the SB had a huge stack and pushed all-in, I pushed and the guy utg did too! The guy utg showed AhAd, the SB showed AsKh and I had KcKd. The flop came AcQc2c so the SB had hit the case ace! I needed a club to stay alive and was pleading with the dealer to put one down, lol. The turn was the 7h and the river 3h and that was the end of me.

Finished 27th for $7750 so was happy enough. Paul finished 11th for $17500, a fantastic result!

Got knocked out at about 3.30pm so went down to the pool for a few hours. There was a $500 freezout starting at 8pm and decided to give it a shot. 143 runners, 4k starting stack and 30 mins levels. In the first session got off to a fantastic start and ended up with 19k. We played down to 18 and finished at 3am, I had about average chips. Finally flopped into bed exhausted.



Sunday 2nd Dec
Breakfast and back in the poker room at 12pm to finish the $500 game. Had about 28k in chips but with the blinds starting at 1000/2000 I wanted to get off to a quick start. Dealt AT in LP and pushed. Guy in BB dwelled for ages and finally called with KQ. Hit an ace for good measure and I was back in it. Few hands later I get AQ in the BB, folded round to the SB who pushes for 20k, I call and he shows Q9. No help for him and another nice pot. Before I knew it we had made the final table. First decent pot I get dealt AK in the BB, blinds 1500/3000, aggressive scandi with a huge stack on the button makes it 10k and I flat call. Flop comes AK4, I check and he bets 15k, I call. Turn is another K. I check again and he bets 15k again. I call. River is a blank and I bet 20k to which he folds. I now have 100k +. Few hands later and I raise to 9k with 99 in mp, guy to my left pushes for 40k and I call. He shows 44 and I knock him out. Next hand I get involved with I have 66 in the BB. The guy who called earlier with KQ pushes for about 28k utg. I decide to call as I believe he was pushing before the blinds went through him. Unfortunately he has KK and I double him up. We are soon four handed. The blinds are now 3k/6k and I am down to about 70k. I get dealt AJ utg and push. The guy in the BB dwells then calls with AQ :-(. No help and I am out in 4th for $5.1k. Over the moon to have got so far though!

A $1000 freezeout has just started but I decide I have played enough and Steve is getting bored with living in the casino on his own!

Spend the rest of the day by the pool then in the evening went out for a steak with Paul and Karen. We both have some celebrating to do and have a couple of bottles of champers. Watched a bit of the FT of the main event. Thierry H/Garfy comes second. A fantastic player and a really nice guy. Sun poker players are 1st and 2nd which is great.

Had some fun in the casino and went to bed happy and drunk!



Monday 3rd Dec
Time to go home and I was ready for it. Checked out at 12pm and had a few hours to kill as the coaches didn't take us to the airport till 5. Played $1/$2 cash for fun all afternoon. Got to the airport and sat in departures. The plane was supposed to leave at 8.30pm but when 8.30 came there was no plane. Finally got told that it was in Antigua with tech probs. At 11.30pm we finally got told that we would not be flying :-(. We all went back to the Marriott and finally got a room at about 1am. What a crap day!



Tuesday 4th Dec
After breakfast got told that we would be flying at 3.30pm. Finally took off at 4.30pm. Had great fun trying to sort out getting home to Plymouth as we had missed our original connecting flights and all others were full. Sorted a hire car and got into Gatwick at 3.30am. Gave Animal a lift to Exeter as he was stuck too. Great to meet him, lovely guy. Finally got home at 10.15am and went to bed!

Really enjoyed myself and will definitely be trying to qualify for some more live events. Felt that I played well and held my own. Met some fantastic friendly people who I will keep in touch with.
Final profit for November is £8100 so very happy! Have included whole of trip and have started Dec from when I have got back. Thx for reading.

Gl in your games,

Mrs D xx