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Poker Forum => General Discussion => Member Blogs => Topic started by: Pitchie on September 16, 2010, 09:21:14 AM

Title: My WSOPE Experience courtesy of APAT
Post by: Pitchie on September 16, 2010, 09:21:14 AM
Good morning all.

As those who know me will know, I"m not the most prolific forum poster. I like to lurk around in the background, occasionally jumping on seat exchange"s. However, I thought that being as APAT have put me into WSOPE event #3 it was only right that I give some sort of a report so that you know how I have gotten on.

Pre Tournament:
I have to say I don"t feel nervous at all - a little excited but not nervous! I remember when I played the £1k Monte Carlo at Dusk Till Dawn last year, I felt nervous on the run up to the event because it was the highest valued tournament I"d played. Having said that, I played a $1500 NLHE WSOP event prior to this but that was different. I was on holiday spending my holiday money in a massive field where I wasn"t likely to bump into anyone too challenging till later on in the event. I knew at the Monte Carlo event at DTD, that I was likely to have a tough time of it. Although the same applies here in that there will probably be around 200 great players on my day 1c, I"m really not that nervous. I think the fact that I"ve been to the Empire casino during the WSOPE before (but not played) is probably helping a little as I will be acquainted with the place.

I was going to go on my own originally but my father has decided to come with me so we are staying in The Cavendish Hotel London which is a short walk from the casino. Whilst this is convenient, it is costing an arm and a leg! Let"s put it like this, my car can stay in the car park for the same price as a night in a Premier Inn somewhere else in the country!! At least we"ll be real close to Leicester Square and we"ll be halving the bill! A friend may also be meeting us so that will be good.

On a final note, I was following event #1 updates Tuesday and Wednesday. The starting stack was 7,500 as opposed to our 3,000. All WSOP event"s starting stacks are 3 x the buyin for those who don"t know. However, this isn"t what surprised me. What did surprise me was that Phill Laak and Pras Bansi managed to get 15,000 each all in pre flop (30k pot) at 100/200 blinds with both holding AK!!! 75bb!! I was right in thinking that early on I need to be my usual aggressive self!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the read. Oh and if anyone else is coming down, let me know and we can meet for a drink!

Paul.
Title: Re: My WSOPE Experience courtesy of APAT
Post by: Laxie on September 16, 2010, 09:58:43 AM
Quote
Let"s put it like this, my car can stay in the car park for the same price as a night in a Premier Inn somewhere else in the country!!


LMAOOO!!!  

I"d seriously consider inviting a few more of yer mates to share the cost!   :)

Best of luck in the event!
Title: Re: My WSOPE Experience courtesy of APAT
Post by: Cyntaf on September 16, 2010, 10:00:11 AM
Very best of luck Paul, i am sure you"ll do well and really enjoy it by the tone of your post.

GL matey :)
Title: Re: My WSOPE Experience courtesy of APAT
Post by: AMRN on September 16, 2010, 11:19:22 AM
Best of luck mate!!

(and remember where you got the seats that won you the points to put yourself in contention for this prize!! Donations can be made via paypal, pokerstars, etc)

:D

Title: Re: My WSOPE Experience courtesy of APAT
Post by: Hammerite on September 16, 2010, 11:34:36 AM
Hi Paul,

Was on your table in a couple of events at DTD, was great to meet you and chat poker. Wish you luck in this event and I am sure you will do Apat proud.

All the best Don
Title: Re: My WSOPE Experience courtesy of APAT
Post by: Marty719 on September 16, 2010, 11:44:11 AM
Best of luck sir - truly hoping you crush.  
Title: Re: My WSOPE Experience courtesy of APAT
Post by: PHIL_TC on September 16, 2010, 12:03:11 PM
Good luck Paul, we chatted briefly at DTD at the Worlds, wishing you all the best and look forward to your updates

GL  I"m sure you"ll do APAT proud :)
Title: Re: My WSOPE Experience courtesy of APAT
Post by: Ant1966 on September 16, 2010, 21:18:45 PM
Very best of luck mate.
Title: Re: My WSOPE Experience courtesy of APAT
Post by: linziwan on September 16, 2010, 21:59:38 PM
Good luck     :)

soooooo jealous it was sooo nearly me, you looked really nervous in the HORSE after I managed to double up and you got knocked out   ;)   go slay them  ;D
Title: Re: My WSOPE Experience courtesy of APAT
Post by: AJDUK on September 16, 2010, 22:40:03 PM
All the best Paul TID
Title: Re: My WSOPE Experience courtesy of APAT
Post by: dwh103 on September 16, 2010, 22:47:57 PM
Good luck Paul :)

Wish I"d pipped you to POTS, but take it down in my absence ;)
Title: Re: My WSOPE Experience courtesy of APAT
Post by: Kinester on September 17, 2010, 00:04:37 AM
Good luck
Title: Re: My WSOPE Experience courtesy of APAT
Post by: pables on September 17, 2010, 00:14:36 AM
As I"ve said before you"ve got the game!

Let Lady Luck be smiling  :) when she"s needed

TID

and enjoy Vegas next week  :)
Title: Re: My WSOPE Experience courtesy of APAT
Post by: MAIR on September 17, 2010, 07:51:45 AM
Best of luck Paul
Title: Re: My WSOPE Experience courtesy of APAT
Post by: Foggy on September 17, 2010, 13:12:27 PM
Good luck mate I am sure you w?ll do well, just dont donk those ch?ps
Title: Re: My WSOPE Experience courtesy of APAT
Post by: samuel_9 on September 17, 2010, 17:19:40 PM
best of luk lad
Title: Re: My WSOPE Experience courtesy of APAT
Post by: lukybugur on September 17, 2010, 20:48:30 PM
Wishing you a pleasant and profitable experience Paul. Run good!!
Title: Re: My WSOPE Experience courtesy of APAT
Post by: Chipaccrual on September 19, 2010, 23:49:14 PM
From a post on Blonde, no more details.


Pitchy on 35k after knocking Freddie Deeb out
Title: Re: My WSOPE Experience courtesy of APAT
Post by: AMRN on September 20, 2010, 00:04:56 AM

From a post on Blonde, no more details.


Pitchy on 35k after knocking Freddie Deeb out


WOW - all the way Paul!!!

(just don"t tell Rich Stevenson! :D)
Title: Re: My WSOPE Experience courtesy of APAT
Post by: linziwan on September 20, 2010, 00:06:11 AM

From a post on Blonde, no more details.


Pitchy on 35k after knocking Freddie Deeb out


woop woop go Paul
Title: Re: My WSOPE Experience courtesy of APAT
Post by: Chipaccrual on September 20, 2010, 00:13:37 AM
Day 1c - End of day chipcounts

1     Leonard Truche          42,400     
2    Song Lee       40,300
3    Ting He       40,100    
4    Adam Fradgley       40,100
5    Joseph Bodner       38,900
6    Paul Pitchford       34,600    
7    Karim Jomeen       34,300    
8    Stephen Chidwick       33,100
9    Raphael Beer       30,000    
10    Tommy Vedes       27,200
11    Kumal Choraria       23,100
12    Claire Renaut       23,000
13    Ray Chan       19,100    
14    Elior Sion       18,800
15    Tim Blake       17,400
16    Allen Kessler       12,700
17    Tom Demaine       12,400    
18    Maria Demetriou    12,300
19    Richard Allen       12,000    
20    Richard Hawes       11,500
21    Mauceri Massimiliano       11,000    
22    Marco Ruggeri       8,400    
23    Tom Fleischer       7,000    
24    Ted Fey       5,600    
25    Helen Saperia       4,000
Title: Re: My WSOPE Experience courtesy of APAT
Post by: Waz1892 on September 20, 2010, 00:15:06 AM
wow, nice one..good luck
Title: Re: My WSOPE Experience courtesy of APAT
Post by: Chipaccrual on September 20, 2010, 00:19:05 AM
Day Two Chipcounts

75 Players Remaining



Starting DayNameChipcount
1bWesley Pantling 56200
1bSofia Lovgren 52500
1aJeppe Bisgaard 49000
1aAnton Wigg 45600
1cLeonard Truche  42400
1bAndrew Lichtenberger 42400
1aMartin Hansen 41000
1cSong Lee 40300
1cTing He 40100
1cAdam Fradgley 40100
1cJoseph Bodner 38900
1aXiang Tan 35600
1bToby Lewis 35300
1cPaul Pitchford 34600
1cKarim Jomeen 34300
1cStephen Chidwick 33100
1bPriyan De Mel 32200
1bDominik Nitsche 32100
1bGeorges Tohme 32000
1cRaphael Beer 30000
1aKeith Hawkins 27800
1aStephan Nitschke 27400
1cTommy Vedes 27200
1aStephen Broomfield 26000
1aDominic Wells 24700
1aKaveh Payman 24200
1aJames Tomlin 23900
1aJP Kelly 23800
1bMia Dac Liu 23200
1bScott Fischman 23200
1cKumal Choraria 23100
1cClaire Renaut 23000
1aRan Azor 21800
1bTerence Tanner 21600
1bYann Dion 21400
1aMichael Leedham 20200
1cRay Chan 19100
1aMatthew Neiberg 18900
1cElior Sion 18800
1bTim Davie 18000
1aPatryk Slusarek 17800
1bDemis Hassabis 17700
1aManig Loeser 17700
1aRoman Chernavin 17600
1cTim Blake 17400
1bScott Shelley 17100
1aRoland Israelashvili 17100
1aMehdi Senhaji 16900
1bNicky Katz 16600
1aColin Whitehead 16400
1bKevin Igersheim 16300
1aJean Paul Seatelli 15800
1bKyle Bowker 15600
1bJustis Brogan 15300
1aJohn Harnett 14900
1bBernardo Dias 14800
1aMatthew Jarvis 14700
1bRamey Shaio 14500
1bAsa Pentelost 13900
1aDean Sanders 13900
1aKevin Williams 13800
1bJoe Huang 13300
1cAllen Kessler 12700
1cTom Demaine 12400
1cMaria Demetriou 12300
1cRichard Allen 12000
1cRichard Hawes 11500
1bJack Lyman 11400
1cMauceri Massimiliano 11000
1bKristian Wiermyhr 10600
1cMarco Ruggeri 8400
1bPaul Whiddon 7700
1cTom Fleischer 7000
1cTed Fey 5600
1cHelen Saperia 4000

Title: Re: My WSOPE Experience courtesy of APAT
Post by: Chipaccrual on September 20, 2010, 00:26:15 AM
Can"t find out how many runners.  There were 185 for Day 1c, so I guess somewhere around 500, all paying £1075 eac.


I reckon around £500,000 in the prizepool then.

Title: Re: My WSOPE Experience courtesy of APAT
Post by: WarBwastardo on September 20, 2010, 00:50:07 AM

Can"t find out how many runners.  There were 185 for Day 1c, so I guess somewhere around 500, all paying £1075 eac.


I reckon around £500,000 in the prizepool then.




Think it was something like 585 runners - £135k to the winner
Title: Re: My WSOPE Experience courtesy of APAT
Post by: MAIR on September 20, 2010, 09:11:20 AM
Best of luck Paul
Title: Re: My WSOPE Experience courtesy of APAT
Post by: Mikeyboy9361 on September 20, 2010, 09:25:30 AM
Quality so far, keep going Paul.
Title: Re: My WSOPE Experience courtesy of APAT
Post by: Pitchie on September 20, 2010, 10:51:20 AM
Good morning everyone. I"m here in my hotel with a few hours to burn after just having breakfast so I thought I"d do an update on Day 1c whilst it"s still fresh in my mind.

Firstly, I"d like to thank everyone for their support. The support that APAT members receive never ceases to amaze me.

Day 1c
I"m in two minds whether to go into too much detail or go for a summary but I"ve opted for a long post as I think the day deserves it!  ;)

I started on table 25, seat 7. Who should be two to my left? Stuart Rutter, who has had a stomping WSOP and is in fine form. The rest of the table were unknown"s though and was pretty happy with my draw. After about 45 minutes they were already wanting to move us to a new table and needless to say I loved my new seat draw.

I had two shortish stacks to my left and a guy opposite me that had about 10k when the average was 3200. He"d obviously played every pot as he had all the 25 and 100 chips. This leads me into key hand 1. I raise from the cut off and my man with all the chips in the bb flats. I have QQ and a stack of 2900 with the blinds at 25/50. The flop is 4J7hh. Nice flop for me. He checks and I lead for 225 and he calls. The turn is a 2h. He checks and I lead for 450, again he just flats. The alarm bells ring a little but given the type of player and the things I"ve heard him talking about, I"m not too worried. The river is a blank and he checks again! I expected a made flush to bet. His check felt to me like KJ, AJ possible J10. Because of all my reads, I decided to try and get maximum value from a J. So I bet around 1100. (The pot sizes are a bit vague in my mind.) Disgustingly he puts me all in and I have to pass with 900 back!  >:( He had Q6hh by the way.

From here it"s all pretty standard AJ type shoves to a bet apart from when I made a call with K high on a 44227 board when it was checked to the river and then he bet pot. Needless to say he was bluffing and I won 1/3 of my stack in that pot.

Key hand 2 was against Justin Smith, a Full Tilt Pro known to many as Boosted J. I"d been moved to table 2 where the aforementioned Boosted J and Richard Ashby resided. Justin limped from the hijack and I checked my bb with 107. The flop came 1093. I check with the intention of raising a bet and he leads for 325. I make it 900 to go with 1400 back and he tanks for what felt like 10 minutes but in reality it was probably like 3 minutes. In the end, he put me all in! I thought about it for 0.5 seconds lol. I thought he"d put me on some sort of a draw or a 9 or something so I snapped him off. Turns out I"m a fish. He flips Q10. But a Q and a 10 is no good when the turn is a 8 and the river is a 6!!! Double up!

Key hand 3. Not long after that double up, i"m sat with around 4500 and a short stack shoves for around 1500. I"m late ish and look at 77. I don"t have a calling stack and I"m not to keen on a fold in this structure so I decide to isolate to take the pot. Unfortunately for me, Rich (WarBwastard) wakes up with AA in the bb. A beautiful 7 on the river hurts Rich but puts me up to around 10k.

From here I played pretty solid. Mainly showing down strong hands and picking good spots to gain chips, and at the dinner break, I had amassed 25k or so.

The last key hand really was against Freddie Deeb who my father loves to watch not only on TV but from the bar from where he was watching me! There is a fair amount of thought goes into this so bare with me. He"d just moved to our table from the table behind us. I"d just witnessed him loose a 40k pot and knew he was pretty tilted. So the first hand I raise from the cutoff with KK (I do have hands sometimes :)) into Freddie"s big blind. He looks me up and down, dwells, and passes. He has about 8600 left and I can just tell by his deminer that he wants to double up before the end of the day or go back to his room for a massage! The next hand he mucks in disgust. The very next hand I"m dealt A10hh. I look down at my stack to raise and then remember what I knew about Freddie. I know that if I raise, I probably going to have to call the 9000 or so he has behind. A10hh in my position is too strong to pass though IMO. The couple to my left are short stacks and playing relatively tight and Freddie is going to shove any two.

All this in mind I make my standard 2k raise and as expected after about a minute of eyeballing me again Freddie sticks it in with Q7cc. A harmless board with an A in the door seals a big scalp for me and a new bulging stack of 34,000.

I finished the day on 34,600 and depending which site you use for the updates, I"m 14th or 15th. Again depending which site you use, there are 75 or 83 players left. They pay 54 with £127k and the beautiful bracelet going to the eventual winner.

I hope this post isn"t worthy of any "tl:dr" posts but I felt that to do the day justice I had to write a long post. I can honestly say that if I had to go home now, I"d be happy. I can"t thank APAT enough for getting me into this event. Playing and getting the better of players like Richard Ashby, Justin Smith, Feddie Deeb, Dan Shack and Stuart Rutter has been amazing. However, there is a job at hand. First priority is cashing. The 2nd is getting that bracelet.

I"ll be updating facebook again and will probably post tomorrow to let everyone know how I have gone on. Thanks again for the good luck wishes. Keep them coming. There was something wonderfully positive in reading them yesterday!

Speak soon.

Paul.
Title: Re: My WSOPE Experience courtesy of APAT
Post by: WarBwastardo on September 20, 2010, 11:13:48 AM
Had you arrived at our table when Justin Smith feeling a bit peckish, brought out his own sandwiches! He"s just won £140k in that London WPT high roller event and he"s bringing his own food to the casino.  Thought it was funny. That was the highlight of the day for me, that and his quiff.

Er, anyway, nice to meet you yesterday mate...(sort of  ;))  Good luck today
Title: Re: My WSOPE Experience courtesy of APAT
Post by: Pitchie on September 20, 2010, 11:21:58 AM

Er, anyway, nice to meet you yesterday mate...(sort of  ;))  Good luck today


Nice to meet you too. Thanks very much! :)
Title: Re: My WSOPE Experience courtesy of APAT
Post by: kinboshi on September 20, 2010, 11:34:41 AM
Good luck Paul.  Take it down!!
Title: Re: My WSOPE Experience courtesy of APAT
Post by: linziwan on September 20, 2010, 11:37:21 AM
Watching you all the way ... good luck.
Title: Re: My WSOPE Experience courtesy of APAT
Post by: Cyntaf on September 20, 2010, 12:01:13 PM
Go On Matey
                                         You Can Do It!
Title: Re: My WSOPE Experience courtesy of APAT
Post by: Chipaccrual on September 20, 2010, 12:02:51 PM

Go On Matey
                                         You Can Do It!


[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZ2HcRl4wSk[/youtube]
Title: Re: My WSOPE Experience courtesy of APAT
Post by: kinboshi on September 20, 2010, 12:04:10 PM
Just pretend it"s an APAT event at DTD - you"ll have no problems :D
Title: Re: My WSOPE Experience courtesy of APAT
Post by: janc on September 20, 2010, 12:20:14 PM
Good luck   and carry on just enjoying it
Title: Re: My WSOPE Experience courtesy of APAT
Post by: Chipaccrual on September 20, 2010, 12:50:34 PM

Good luck   and carry on just enjoying it


[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CB17uWuBrL0[/youtube]
Title: Re: My WSOPE Experience courtesy of APAT
Post by: ck1888 on September 20, 2010, 13:44:59 PM
Gl
Title: Re: My WSOPE Experience courtesy of APAT
Post by: stone on September 20, 2010, 15:12:47 PM
100k pot with bullets - nice
Title: Re: My WSOPE Experience courtesy of APAT
Post by: Pitchie on September 22, 2010, 22:09:40 PM
Evening everyone.

I"m sat here, wondering where to start this blog entry. I have just had THE most epic three days of my life and to be honest I"m struggling to wonder whether I can do it justice!

Day 2:
If memory serves me correct, I went into day 2 with 36,000 chips. I knew this was top 14-18 out of the 80 remaining, so was very happy about that. Setting Freddy Deeb up (to a certain extent) at the end of day 1c definitely helped my spirit going into day 2 as it made me realise a couple of things. Firstly and the most obvious, the pot was nearly half my stack again at the time and put me into a excellent position to move on into day 2. Secondly, it gave me my first real positive sense that I could perhaps win this event. Paul Pitchford from Sutton in Ashfield (or Sutton on Ashfield - according to TD Jack Eiffel"s introduciton to the FT.) could mix it up with someone who has amassed some $7,000,000 in tournament winnings alone. Ok, so it was only one hand, but it made me feel good.

To be honest, the start to day 2 couldn"t have gone any better. They drew me onto one of the two outer tables which broke after about 20 minutes as most of the 10 small stacks busted fast. They redrew me back down onto the main stage where I"d played for a lot of day 1c. As I sat down I couldn"t see any big names that I recognised at my table. Then after sitting in seat one, I noticed seat three was Andrew Lichtenberger (http://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=r&n=110004). For those who don"t know him, click his name. He is a very, very good player and famously offered Phil Ivey a playing deal on his poker site Lego Poker last year during his deep run in the 2009 WSOP Main Event. So now I"m faced with quite a prolific player in the BB from where I"d probably be trying to steal most of my chips.

Before I go onto our big hand though, there is a key hand I played with an unknown player which got me into a very good situation. Late in day 1c, I"d played with a Chinese guy on my right that was very loose, made quirky plays, and I felt was generally looking to avoid playing pots with me. In this hand on day 2, he made his usual quirky raise from the button. By quirky, I mean that he never counted out a precise raise. He would just grab a hand full of chips and sling them over the line. I knew this meant he didn"t play much and I was always trying to isolate him to get him to myself. In this hand however, I have KK in the BB and he has raised 4.5x the BB. I know I"m out of position but elect to just call.

The flop comes J high with two diamonds. I check and he bets about 2/3 of the pot. I know he leads a lot so I call so as not to scare his weak hands off. I"ve already decided that I"m check raising the turn if no diamond comes. A blank hits the turn and I check, and he strangely checks behind. The river fills me up and completes the flush. Beautiful! I decide to under represent my hand and check. He bets half his stack. After a few moments I move all-in and he passes after a long dwell. This pot puts me up to 58,000 and sets me up perfectly to the hand against Andrew.

From the button, I raise 3x with AA. SB folds, and Andrew dwells, then raises me 3x. Being a great player, I know he can just be putting me to the test here, however, he could also have a hand. I decide to try and make a weak looking 3 bet as the both of us are so deep stacked (~40-50BB"s each). I was hoping he would see this small raise as weakness and 4 bet me light. I"m not sure how he actually read this but needless to say, he stuck it in with KK, I snap him off and I now sit at 110,000 when the nearest has 55,000. Looking back, I think if I make a normal sized 3 bet here, Andrew is good enough to call and sniff my AA out post flop.

Two hands later I have KK again and knock a short stack and a micro stack out. 126,000!!!!! And at 500/1000/100. I was in a daze.

Now it wasn"t as easy as you"d think from here. Every photographer in the room came and took my photograph. Every reporter in the room came and counted my stack from afar. The players kept raising their eyebrows at me as if to say, "lucky get." It literally took me two hours to get my head back into shape, and to continue playing as solid as I had been doing prior to this crazy 15 minutes.

I"ll be honest, from here is a bit of a daze till we"re down to 36 players. Probably because not a deal affected me and it got a little ABC with some short stacks around. There was one hand were I made a reraise on the turn with no pair no draw and got it through. What I do remember however, is how long it too to get down to two tables. Once down to two tables, this is where I made my first miss step. A miss step that would prove to be costly, but strangely had a positive effect on me.

I"d raised a little too much for my liking from the button with 89os and the BB jammed. I realised I was getting around 6/4 and should probably be making the call but knew it was 1/3 of my stack. I tanked for a bit and made the reluctant call only to shown JJ. FML! Here we are then 70,000 chips which was quite short, deal with it! I was a bit miffed to say the least as I should have had a better idea of how many chips the BB had, but also I shouldn"t have made such a large raise. But after winning a few pots back, I got it back together.

In my mind from here, it seems really quick to the point where we"re on the FT bubble with 10 left. Although from speaking with Paul and my Dad, it was a lot longer in reality. It wasn"t long after though until the bubble burst and I was once again filling in my WSOPE chip sheet for the bagging up of my chips.

What a roller coaster day! Chip leader of a WSOPE event for nearly 5 hours I think. However, I had a new task at hand. A WSOPE final table with only 77,000 chips, 8th of 9, with the blinds at 4000/8000/1000.

We headed back to our hotel knowing I was guaranteed around £10,000. I hoped to get some much need rest as it was 3am. However, I don"t think I went to sleep till after 4am and was up at 9am. Very rare for me indeed!
Title: Re: My WSOPE Experience courtesy of APAT
Post by: Pitchie on September 22, 2010, 22:49:48 PM
Final Table:

I spoke in my last post about that 89 vs JJ hand how it strangely had a positive affect on me. Firstly because it grounded me a little, but secondly it made my play on the FT less tricky. It was - excuse the phrase - **** or bust from here. If I"d have had say 220,000 coming into the FT my play would had have to have been more calculated. Now though, I was just looking for good spots to stick it in!

There were three shoves straight away that got me over 120,00 within a very short period of time. First the SB limped my BB where I held 89ss. He won"t be doing that again in a hurry! The second was from the cut off with KQcc and the third was AK from middle position which I of course show to reassure everyone I"m not doing it all lightly! Believe it or not, 120,000 of the 1.7 million chips in play is basically average stack as two players had around 400,000 each.

My image on the final table must have been good. My raises were hardly ever contested and my re-raises got through every time. I basically ABC"d my way into 4th if I"m honest. I"d love to tell you how I bluffed my way to 4th but I just played rock solid, nothing fancy. Because day 2 had ran so long, our stacks were quite shallow and that took some of the play out of it.

As players dropped out the money jumps were massive. I could hardly believe the amounts of monies involved. One thing was certain though, I had my eye on that bracelet the entire time. At no point was I contempt with a £20k, £30k or £40k finish. I so badly wanted that bracelet. Don"t get me wrong, I"d be a liar if I said I wasn"t bothered about the money, £40,000 is a life changing amount for me, but the number one concern on my mind was that little sparkly bracelet.

I"m only going to talk about my exit hand on the final table as it was only my real thinking hand. I"d played with Jeppe Bisgaard for most of day 2 and most of day 3. You could tell he plays online a lot because he had the game but you could see he wasn"t 100% accustomed to live play. He"d stack his large chips at the back and hide his cards from view so we couldn"t see his cards (not on purpose though). As I say though, he had the game.

As it folds around to me, I have A6 on the button and 4 handed I"m raising 90% of the time here unless I notice something before it gets to me. Jeppe, sticks it in! I"ve seen him put people to the test like this before with QJ, KQ and J5 if I remember rightly. This was a perfect spot for him to stick it in with anything in the middle of his range or better. He only has 12k less than me so essentially, this decision is for my tournament life.

I thought about it for some time but ultimately the maths and reads came to the conclusion that I have to call. My stack is ~210,000 and his is ~190,000. The blinds are 8,000/16,000 with a running 2,000 and I have raised to 42,000. Also I have to take into account that If I fold, I"m immediately put under pressure with the ante"s coming through me two hands later and may never recover. At least here, in this situation, I"m at worst live to 3 aces and in my mind have to call.

The rest as they say is history. I entered the event as an amateur. Played with and knocked out some of the best players in the world. Won £40,862 and finished 4th of a WSOPE event. All off the back of a freeroll essentially! Who knows how it goes from here?!

I know I only finished 4th and don"t want to get over dramatic but I have a few thank you"s I"d like to shout out.

I had the time of my life - and for that I have to thank the APAT organisation. I know ultimately it was Betfair that put me into the event and for that I am very grateful. However APAT made this happen for me. Des, Tightend, Leigh, Tikay and everyone in the background, for me, run THE BEST amateur poker events in the country. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Thank you also to everyone that railed me over the weekend. As Des said in the updates, the spirit of the APAT is totally unique and I was totally humbled by the support to be honest. If you know me, you will know I"m absolutely rubbish with names, so please don"t be mad if I don"t remember your name if I bump into you again in the future. Also, thanks to Paul and the other guys who came down to rail me live. That was a nice touch!

Thanks to my Dad. He sat behind me for the 30 or so hours I played over the weekend never missing a beat. It was amazing to share this experience with you. Finally thanks to my friends and Sarah my girlfriend who raced down to London from Sutton to watch me play the final table (despite being at least 30 minutes late).

So that"s it. My WSOPE experience is over. But my, what an experience. On my way out last night, I caught a glance of Scott and JP playing heads up for the bracelet. I hope I get a chance to be in their position some time in the future...
Title: Re: My WSOPE Experience courtesy of APAT
Post by: AMRN on September 22, 2010, 22:55:47 PM
Excellent write up Paul.

Top performance from a top bloke!
Title: Re: My WSOPE Experience courtesy of APAT
Post by: Swinebag on September 22, 2010, 22:56:43 PM

However APAT made this happen for me. Des, Tightend, Leigh, Tikay and everyone in the background, for me, run THE BEST amateur poker events in the country.


Well done Paul, you just passed the BCPC initiation test.

seriously though, very well played and great trip report.

You lived the dream and have inspired a load of us.
Title: Re: My WSOPE Experience courtesy of APAT
Post by: Pears27 on September 22, 2010, 23:14:47 PM
No worries on the railing. Enjoyed every minute.

Flying out to Vegas on Friday, right? All in all an ok week? :P
Title: Re: My WSOPE Experience courtesy of APAT
Post by: janc on September 22, 2010, 23:18:25 PM

No worries on the railing. Enjoyed every minute.

Flying out to Vegas on Friday, right? All in all an ok week? :P


I"m flying out in 14 hours
Title: Re: My WSOPE Experience courtesy of APAT
Post by: Chipaccrual on September 22, 2010, 23:20:20 PM
Top effort Paul, and a great write up.

Enjoy Vegas (Can"t believe you booked that to clash with APAT Ireland, shocking behaviour  ;D )

Hopefully see you in Luton next month.
Title: Re: My WSOPE Experience courtesy of APAT
Post by: Pitchie on September 22, 2010, 23:21:19 PM

No worries on the railing. Enjoyed every minute.

Flying out to Vegas on Friday, right? All in all an ok week? :P


Certainly am. Sticking to the original itinerary though. Nothing too exciting! :)
Title: Re: My WSOPE Experience courtesy of APAT
Post by: pables on September 22, 2010, 23:22:33 PM

Excellent write up Paul.

Top performance from a top bloke!


+1

Nice insights throughout on your thought processes m8. Enjoy!!!!
Title: Re: My WSOPE Experience courtesy of APAT
Post by: Honeybadg on September 22, 2010, 23:25:09 PM
Great work ...

... what"s your next poker assignment?

L
Title: Re: My WSOPE Experience courtesy of APAT
Post by: jbworldwide on September 22, 2010, 23:33:42 PM
Nice work Paul.

A pleasure to come and rail you on your final table. And an opportunity to bend Des" ear for a few hours lol

Enjoy Vegas!


James  ;)
Title: Re: My WSOPE Experience courtesy of APAT
Post by: Pitchie on September 22, 2010, 23:35:58 PM

Great work ...

... what"s your next poker assignment?

L


I"m not sure just yet. I"ve got a couple of weeks to think about it though. Watch this space!
Title: Re: My WSOPE Experience courtesy of APAT
Post by: Cyntaf on September 22, 2010, 23:39:49 PM


Go On Matey
                                         You Can Do It!


[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZ2HcRl4wSk[/youtube]


Rob Schneieder rules...hehe.  Rob schneider is a carrot etc.. Southpark episode...........
Title: Re: My WSOPE Experience courtesy of APAT
Post by: BOINGBLITZ on September 23, 2010, 01:28:58 AM
Paul, I have always found you to be a very likeable bloke on the occasions that I have met you and I know lots of other people feel the same. It is great to see the "good" guys have some success. Long may it continue and good luck in Vegas.
Title: Re: My WSOPE Experience courtesy of APAT
Post by: Pears27 on September 23, 2010, 09:28:46 AM
GUKPT Brighton? Treat the missus to a weekend at the seaside while you"re on the tables 12 hours a day? ;)
Title: Re: My WSOPE Experience courtesy of APAT
Post by: PantsMan on September 23, 2010, 12:04:18 PM


Great work ...

... what"s your next poker assignment?

L


I"m not sure just yet. I"ve got a couple of weeks to think about it though. Watch this space!


Is you next home game going to be $1000 buy-in now that you"re loaded?  ;)

Congratulations again Paul. Couldn"t happen to a nicer bloke.
Title: Re: My WSOPE Experience courtesy of APAT
Post by: PantsMan on September 23, 2010, 12:11:52 PM

GUKPT Brighton? Treat the missus to a weekend at the seaside while you"re on the tables 12 hours a day? ;)


Well i"m treating the mrs to a weekend away in Luton for her birthday for the second year running!

If everyone could let me win it would be much appreciated as then i"ve got a good excuse for next year.  :)
Title: Re: My WSOPE Experience courtesy of APAT
Post by: mousebob on September 24, 2010, 22:22:04 PM
Not too late to add my congratulations is it ???
Great blogs/updates all over the place with "live" railers etc.
Very well done Paul.
How long do you walk on air for after a win THAT massive ??
Bob. (just one of the apat anonymous!)