After the disappointment of the $1500 exit had subsided a little, I headed back to The Venetian with a plan to win some back in the very soft cash games. The place was heaving with a list 100-long for the $2/5 game, even though they had 15 tables of it (and another 25 tables of other games). I put my name down for $5/10 as well, kind of hoping not to have to take that seat, but then was tempted into playing a $240 satellite.

That was a little more than I really wanted to throw at a single table crapshoot, but that was the game on offer at that moment. Turned out it was effectively $340 as seat6 was arranging for $100 from each player to allow 3rd place to get $1000.His pitch went like "everyone else is doing it ......." so I didn't want to be the spoilsport.

So, 20minutes later I am out 10th of 10 but the upside is I am now 4th on the $2/5 list and my $5/10 seat has been given away, so in a few moments I am sat down in another Venetian special - the deep/loose/ passive $2/5 NLH.

In these games, a solid player would find it basically impossible to lose money. Obviously I am not a solid player, but even so it was a fun and profitable game. I actually made some good lay-downs with big hands which enabled me to stick around and cash in nicely with some monsters (eg when I flat called a raise to $35 with AK-suited heads-up with a Norwegian fella, and the flop came QJT rainbow. He had T8o, and with a Ten on the turn as well it was quite nasty for him by the end !)

I did lose concentation (and quite a bit money) towards then end when my friend, gutshot regular and ex-colleague Oli came by to fill me in on his seat-win in a $550 mega at the Rio (wp Oli - hope I can do the business in the $1060 mega on Wednesday) but still finished up several hundred.

Still not been dealt Aces a single time, and powerhouses very thin on the ground as well but I had a nice coup with the "Powerhouse Plus" - that's 6-3 obviously.

It's 2/5 with a 10 straddle. It's been raised to $35 as usual, called in one spot. I call on the cut-off. The button calls and now the SB makes it $150. The BB (who never folds) calls. Folded round to me and I can see the button is going to muck so I know I can close the betting here, so I call as well with 6d3d. Flop J63 with two clubs. Both blinds check to me.

I only have $400 behind so I bang it in. The SB folds (he can sense the power !) but our friendly station in the BB calls. Obviously I think I risk being counterfeited, or flushed out on and indeed the flush comes on the turn - but it is the 3 of clubs!

BOOOOOMMMM !

$1500 NLH Event #49

First things first. Barry lied about the breakfast. As I suspected, it is not possible for a restaurant that specialises in top-notch granola (whatever that is) to also serve a proper breakfast.

Still, South West scramble plus weak American coffee was just enough to set me up for the day ahead - off to The Rio for today's $1500 NLH - event #49 of the WSOP.

Kitted out in new 2008 Team Gutshot track-tops (very stylish on thin people) we got a cab to the poker-venue entrance.

This proved not the best choice as it turned out to be a long walk for both of us to our tables. Barry was billeted in the poker room on the casino main floor. I was in a special 16-table section set up outside the fish restaurant (appropriately).

Slightly late for the start, I still had not missed a blind when I played my first hand from UTG+1. Pocket 7s - nice. Saw a cheap flop - Qd8s7d. I raised the big-blind's flop bet and got called. Turn and river went check-bet-call and I added a useful 1,400 to the 3,000 starting stack.

I did give 1,000 back when the short-stack pushed into my and made a flush in 3-episodes: one each on flop turn and river.

Still, on 5k at the 1st break I was going along fine.

My first real setback came with pocket 9s in early position. I made a raise to 700 (100/200) and faced a shove from the button who pushed in 1,850 more to me (1,700 in the pot before the raise).

I felt I was well ahead of his range, and thought it was worth gambling. Unfortunately, if I was right about his range then his pocket Tens were right at the top of it.

When his hand held, I was back to my starting stack and it was a battle to stay afloat.

In fact, when we were moved to the main room, I had only 2,100 left. We had no tournament clock out in the suburbs, so when I saw that we had less than half the field left, I was pretty surprised. We were not even at the end of Level 4 !!

At the very end of the level (last hand in fact), I finally broke out of my 2 – 2.5k range when it was folded to me in the cut-off. Pocket 6s were plenty good enough to push. The big blind had no real choice but to call with AK-suited. The low flop was good, and the six of hearts opnm the turn was better still.

I enjoyed the break more as a result. On the way back in, I bumped into Stephen Bartley – well known to all of us from his time at gutshot. Now he is reporting for another station. He asked after Team Gutshot and I told him he was safe until Tuesday.

Back at the tables, I moved up to 9k in chips when my pocket Tens flopped a full house (T44 flop – looks familiar !). The big blind was the sole pre-flop caller. He made two pair on the turn and committed all his chips drawing dead. Nice.

However, I soon squandered this relatively solid position (about average in chips with 1/3 of the field remaining) in two key hands.

In the first, I raised with AT and received one caller from a new player at the table (big stack and big headphones). The QT8 rainbow board was simultaneously promising and threatening. I decided on a c-bet of 1,850 which was called. The turn brought a fourth-suit 7.

Presumably this can’t help him too much but I elected to check, and faced a push from big-headphones. I saw all kinds of drawing-dead possibilities and decided to escape with a playable 6,950 chips. Afterwards he told me he pushed with 97 – up and down on the flop and with further outs on the turn.

This put me slightly off balance and for some reason I thought it was a good idea to push all-in from the big-blind with KTo into a MP raiser. Clearly this was a move based on the stacks not the cards. MP reluctantly called with Aces. “No Jack” he mouthed when the flop brought AQQ, until he noticed that I was drawing dead to his flopped full-house. Quads on the turn rubbed it in.

A close-count revealed I had 175 chips left to put in blind next hand. Before I could do so, I had to go through a move half-way across the room as the floor broke our table.

One more hand was all there was, though. Out about 700th out of the 2,718 starters (sell-out) with only 2 last-longers to show for it. I need to do better at this kind of stage of tournaments. Usually I am the victim of self-inflicted pain, like here.

Aaaarrgggh ! Tournaments, I hate them (and love them) (and hate them) (etc.)

The problem with 5star hotels

News - the Venetian has electric curtains ! As I went to tweak them open to see what is out there in the world of Vegas, they whirred into life and did their own thing.

I have just woken up with the prospect of the $1500 NLH event #49 lying ahead in a couple of hours. I avoided the usual Vegas problme of waking up at 2am on the first morning, by not going to bed until 2am - that's experience talking.

I soon realised one of the major problems with high-end hotels the world over - no kettle in the room. Being America, of course there is no kettle. They haven't invented the kettle yet. But no coffee making of any kind - that is brutal. It all means I will be going to grab some breakfast asap - Barry recommends the Canyon Cafe and assures me they have non-healthy stuff as well. Here's hoping.

Will post later how I get on in the $1500 - much later hopefully !

Self-service at The Venetian

After unpacking and getting settled, I arranged to meet up with Barry who was returning from some therapeutic shopping after his 2-outer exit from the $2k NLH (read his blog for the ugly details).

It may be that Barry is single-handedly keeping the Vegas econony afloat as signs of the credit-crunch slowdown abound. As we headed off in a cab to The Rio to dine at (what is apparently) Vegas' #1 Italian, there was a measly 10-person queue for a ride. On weekend nights before I have known this to snake for what seems like miles.

Secondly, a fight practically broke out amongst the cab drivers who were falling over themselves to pick up $15 fares.When we arrived 45mins late for our reservation, this was no problem, and within 45minutes the place was practically deserted, at peak weekend dining time. Weird.

The casino floor seemed quiet also, but when we reached the Amazon room and its new sister rooms "Brasilia" and "Buzzios" it was clear that the poker economy was strong.

Barry & I both signed up for event #49 $1500 NLH for Saturday and then put our names down for some $2/5 PLO cash. Luckily (for me) we were not called before we gave up and return to The Venetian where we quickly found seats in $2/5 NLH.There were 30+ cash tables running - the place was buzzing indeed.

Barry switched over to a very deep and sick $5-5 PLO whilst I eventually called it a day up about $700.

Based on this one table, it seems a very soft game - it's so passive and there is so much limping and flat-calling going on, with little re-raising.

I probably should have made more, to be honest.

If the game was very good, the service was rather bad. After Barry had waited an hour for his order, he felt the need to roam the room seeking out a waitress. The drinks still didn't arrive before Barry moved tables, so I made a couple of strategic acquisitions from passing trays and delivered them to a parched Bully on the other side of the room.

Off to bed now to catch some rest in preparation for what will hopefully be a long and hard day of tournament poker tomorrow.

Tales of the Unupgraded

An early start for the long journey to Vegas this morning. Actually just setting out as Barry would have been finishing up on his first night in Sin City.

The train direct from Bedford to Gatwick is genuinely convenient, but does come with the main downside of train travel - other passengers!

In any case, I arrive at South Terminal on schedule just after 8am and head straight to the Virgin ticket desk to see if I can secure an upgrade. I'm booked in Economy (this is my concession to bankroll management) but hoping to use the trick I first learned from JJ Hazan of upgrading with Flying Club miles on the day.

This was succesful on my last 2 trips out but, as they say, 2 out of 3 ain't bad and that's how it is - a packed flight by all accounts and zero upgrades avaialble - although I manage to get a seat in an exit row.

Anyway, my Gold Card (my last trip to Vegas was enough to just keep me at Gold for another year) means I can relax in the Clubhouse Lounge before boarding and play Vegas-Spotting. There are no dead giveaways - no Full Tilt hoodies or even a lone pokerstars cap. Definitely no Gutshot shirts in evidence.

I make a mental tally of who I think is Vegas-bound. One such, surely, is Teddy Sheringham who draws a lot of eyes as he strolls in. Where else would a 40-something premiership footballer be going at this time of year ?

Much has been said (mostly unfavourable) about Virgin's Vegas route. To be sure the plane itself wasn't the absolute top end. Naturally the inflight entertainment didn't work quite properly (but this is a fact of life, I find, on all airlines from cattle class through to first class) and the out of place Italian-language labels in the restrooms gave some clue as to the not-quite-newness of the equipment.

Still, I found that the service was pretty competent and friendly. We even got choc-ices which I don't remember getting in Upper Class ! The passengers were in pretty good spirit, too, with one live marriage proposal over the tannoy (accepted, phew !) and the usual selection of anniversaries and big birthdays.

The flight was fine, it is just so loooooonnnnggggg !

A friendly welcome awaited at the airport - I still think that McCarran immigration is 10x less austere than anywhere else in the US. And they also have the comedy luggage belt which never fails to amuse (unless you've already been waiting an hour for your bags). I got mine pretty quickly, though, and it was a $20 cab ride to The Venetian.

I've not stayed here before, but my room (it's all suites) is bigger than my first flat, and that's the basic entry level offering, at an incredible $105 weekdays and $199 weekends.

I have improved my discipline this year to the extent I unpacked before heading off to play - unpacking quick and easy using my wife's pack-everything-on-a-hanger method.

I doubt I can resist much longer, plus it is important to keep active to overcome the jetlag, so I daresay I'll be down at the poker room soon and I may head over to the Rio later to buy in for the $1500 event.

I expect it won't be long before I bump into a few familiar Gutshot faces - more later !

This Much

I have received comments about "if I win a lot of money I will need a bigger bag".

Just to give some idea of the scale of this problem, here is a shot from the final table at event #2 which is the same event ($1,500 NLH) that I will be entering:

It's In The Bag

This will be my 5th ever trip to Las Vegas. The first was an in-passing visit with the whole family, when I played relatively little poker as a result. The second was also a short visit, with Mat, in which we both played in a $2k WSOP event and then played some cash (mainly at The Rio).

Last year, I went for a week - taking in 2 WSOP tournaments plus 2 Venetian Deep-Stack events.

And in April this year, as you know, I made a short hop over and played both cash and a range of smaller tournaments.

Up until the April trip, I had always finished a loser. In fact, as I gained in experience, I lost more each time. This was not as ridiculous as it sounds: I played more hours each visit, and at higher stakes, so as a basically losing player it was likely that larger losses would be the result.

In those days, I was 100% a recreational player so all losses could be chalked up to entertainment anyway.

Nowadays, I do not consider myself a professional or indeed a winning player per se but I am less accepting of constant losses. So in April I had a clear agenda to come away in the black.

And so it was, with cash winnings offset somewhat by tournament entries that failed to lead to any results.

On this trip, I have to expect I will be a net loser. The main reason is that this will be a tournament-focussed trip. In tournaments, 90% of the entrants fail to cash. Even if I were confident that I was significantly better than the field, I should expect to lose a lot of entry fees.

So, returning as a winner will be an aim, but can't really be my #1 objective.

What I do aim to do, though, is record at least one cash finish in a Las Vegas tournament. This is a realistic but obviously non-trivial aim. Ideally that would be a WSOP cash. But, I will accept a Venetian or Caesar's result. So far, apart from a STT 2nd place at The Mirage, I do have a 100% failure record in Vegas tournaments.

I also have the memory of being so incredibly close in one event last time (painful to recollect - losing to Aces one hand then losing with Aces the next hand. Out on the bubble.)

So, I feel I have done the apprenticeship, and I am due a result. If I get near to the money I will 100% be playing to cash. I will leave optimal long-run ROI strategy for another time !






My secret weapon, something I have been missing in all previous attempts, is a tournament bag !

Purchased this very day in TK:MAXX, this handy-sized accessory (**) is going to give me that vital edge in being well organized in the tournament venue. There are just only so many things one can fit in one's pocket - wallet, phone, players' card, energy bar, bottle of water, roll of $100 bills, loose chips for all those tips, tournament entry card, book &c - without them all falling out.

** " ...the Madison is from the Eastpak Core Series, a seriously well designed collection of bags with a streamlined stealthy look combined with high end finishing and a host of great details ..."

If I win a lot of money, of course, I will need a bigger bag to fit it all in. That will be a high quality problem.

Heading into Form ?

My constant refrain concerning tournament poker is how one is never happy. I can bring you yet another tale of woe, although this one has an element of success to it !

It is the $25 rebuy on gutshot.com (microgaming). This tourney is on every day at 7:30pm (except Sunday, anyway. Not sure about Saturday). I play it fairly often as it's such a great tournament. It has a good number of runners - somewhere between 300 and 500. This is enough to ensure good prize pools (actually, the prize pool is guaranteed at $30k minimum anyway) and not so many as to consign one to a 12hour marathon.

The general standard of play is just desperate. Of course, there are good players in it as well and after playing it many times I can spot some of them. But many are just hopeless.

The rebuy period itself is generally a bit of an adventure. One credible strategy is simply not to play at all during this phase, and rebuy and add-on at the end. In this tournament, with an inexplicable 20 - 25% dropping out before the freezeout, this tends to result in a stack about 80% of average which is very playable.

The other strategy I like is to play premium hands only - say 99+ and AJs+ but push them hard. For example, I might open-push with Aces. Such is the nature of the game that these moves will often get multiple callers and so whilst the risk of needing rebuys is high, there is a good chance of ending with a pile of chips also.

In any event, I often do reasonably well in this tournament. My previous best is 5th for $2k approx. In that case, I lost the winnings fairly quickly playing $2/4 NLH cash I remember !

In any event, on Friday, I was playing OK and moving towards the money but not galloping. With a low-end-of-range field of 300, the payout ladder was compressed to 27 places (compared to, often, up to 45 places).

As we neared the bubble, my stack started to fall below average and then towards the bottom of the field. I was 28th with 30 left. I determined that I would play to reach the money ($210) even though this is not long-term optimal. I was feeling a lack of recent results so wanted to cash.

Fellow gutshot forum league player dinzarelli started to rail me (on MSN). We exchanged messages - and I explained I was playing simply to limp into the money. Then, pocket Aces ! One limper. I push and get called by the limper with AQ. Now I am fairly safe, but still in the bottom 1/3rd.

The bubble approaches slowly. It is clear the players are aware of it and many are keen not to miss out. Ideal stealing territory, but I am not in the mood to risk my tournament life.

Now, pocket 9s in the big blind. A chunk of my chips are in already, when it is folded to the button who raises. He has me covered. If I continue in the hand, I will be committed.

On the bubble, I guess I should fold but now I change my mind and think that I want to have a chance to cash properly. I am in no doubt that I am MILES ahead of his range in this position.

I push. He calls with JTo. The flop brings a Ten ! It also beings a nine, and I double up plus the antes and blinds, and am now in the top half of the chips.

The bubble soon bursts of course.

My good run gathers pace and in due course, we make the final table, fourth in chips. Fourth pays $2,400 and I feel I would settle for that.

However, one monster pot where I took out 2 players catapulted me into the lead and I started to think I could take it down !

Several other gutshotters joined in on the rail - it's a bit more pressure in one way but it's actually nice to have that support.

I rejected a deal at the 4-handed stage when I had 35% of the chips that would have guaranteed me the "win" and a bit more than 2nd place money. I wanted to see if I could play to victory.

It wasn't quite to be - I started HU play at a small chip deficit and although I levelled it at one stage, I think I bottled it a bit and made half-moves that did not come off.

So, 2nd it was - $5,250. One of my biggest ever online wins. I think overall I have to be happy with the way I played.

The slight disappointments were (i) that I did not evaluate the deal on offer properly and (ii) my heads-up play. I doubt I would have taken the deal unless (v.unlikely) it was enormous value, but not taking the time to check it out was a mistake.

Likewise, heads-up it will probably be a bit of a crapshoot - we had about 25BB each I think - but I felt I was a bit weak in some of my plays and my opponent took advantage.

Am I really disappointed to finish 2nd ? Well, genuinely I am a little bit. Of course it is a good result and I did play well I feel. So I am pleased for all of that. The good news, I suppose, is that I left myself something to strive for next time !

The C-Word

I'm talking about poker here.

The word is complexity.

When you examine closely the thinking in the top players' game, it is startling to think it is the same game that can be played by a complete novice with 5minutes preparation. Of course, poker is also a great leveller and we also know that all the analysis in the world will not prevent the heartache of a bad beat from time to time.

Mind you, I have no time for those (some very good, some who just think they are good) players who endlessly bemoan the fact that they lost out to a bad play or a bad beat from some 'donkey'.

Firstly, I think it is vital that better players accept that they benefit overall from the bad plays. Secondly, the fact that the right luck at the right time can see anyone beat anyone is intrinsic to keeping bad players in the game and new players coming in. It's a unique characteristic of poker.

Coming back to complexity: if one reads a detailed exchange on a poker forum about some particular hand, then provided the narrative does not descend into name-calling and general moaning, it can show very plainly that there are countless ways of looking at the particular situation and that so many factors have to be weighed. The actual cards held are some way down on the list.

Even more compelling are some of the professional analyses. I want to get Gus Hansen's new book "Every Hand Revealed" in which he takes us through his victory at the Aussie Millions hand-by-hand.

In the meantime, I want to spend some time watching Nik Persaud's video on his win in a recent Full Tilt MTT - it's on the G-zone on gutshot.com but there is a clip of it on youtube - here.

Nik is a very good player indeed (I heard he now tops the European rankings) and I know he has developed a very analytical approach to tournaments (but does not lack in the people skills at a live game). I am imagining the full video is a kind of video equivalent of Gus's book.

I can't seem to get hold of the book in the UK, actually, but I do plan to watch Nik's video before I go to Vegas !

Vegas Game Plan

It's less than 2 weeks till I travel back to Las Vegas for the WSOP. The "series" is actually well under way. Often the term "World Series" is used to denote the main event itself - the $10k World Championship No Limit Hold'em tournament. But, in fact, the series is indeed a series of events - there are 54 in this year's poker-fest.

We are on about event 30 right now.

As far as WSOP events are concerned, I will play at least one NLH event - the smaller buy-ins are $1,500 or $2k. Those are going to have enormous fields, no doubt. Last year when I played I think there were 3,000+ runners. This year, in event#2, there were 3,929 starters. This was a record for any tournament except the main event. Even then, it was the 4th biggest tournament field of any kind, ever.

There are countless gutshotters already over there, some doing rather well. Several cash-finishes in the WSOP events including a hugely impressive 2nd place in that event #2 for James Akenhead - a long-standing regular at the club.

My aim will be to finish in the money. This is not easy, obviously, but it is not a ridiculous goal either. Previously I have finished in the top20% and been about 2 hours away from the critical phase. If I do get close to the money then I will certainly play to cash rather than to give myself the best chance at a high finish. That is not optimal long-term play but until such time as I have a money finish in one of these larger events (be it WSOP or EPT or GUKPT etc) then I want to hit that milestone before I look at other goals.

I will not be buying into the main event. Even though I do not have to worry about time off work to play it, and even though I could afford the entry, I still do not think the time is right to invest $10k and potentially many days in what is extremely likely to result in $0.

Having said that, I have won a super-satellite seat with gutshot.com so on 2nd July I will be playing to win a seat. If I succeed, I will play day 1B on July 4th, I think. If I make it through day1 then I will need to change my return flight.

Outside WSOP, there are excellent tournament festivals going on at The Venetian, Caesar's, Binion's and elsewhere. Very likely I will try some of these - which will typically be $300 - $1000 type buy-ins. Many people also believe the structures are far superior to the WSOP. However, the fields are probably stronger and of course they can't match the WSOP for headline-value should you cash.

I do plan to try stepping up to $5/10 cash games. I was a winner in April in the $1/2 and $2/5 cash and I feel it's time to give the bigger limits a shot.

In theory I have plenty of time on this trip so I will probably try to get as far as downtime (Binion's) and maybe try some other games (like Razz). Having said that, I know from experience that the time whizzes by.

I'd like to bank another in-profit trip but playing a tournament-heavy schedule obviously means there is a good chance of failing to cash in any and racking up a big "bill" in terms of entries. Playing cash to make up these losses is the plan, but clearly that is not guaranteed !

I have not been doing well in live cash games in the UK - although, ironically, I believe Las Vegas games are significantly easier to beat (although I certainly have never tested this at $5/10 !)

Tournament Roundup

Mainly composed of more disappointment, really, as expected ! Perhaps I am saving my best results for Vegas.

Last Sunday I played the Pokerstars Sunday Million - direct buy in for $215. Having broken my duck in the event a few weeks ago I feel more comfortable with it. It was going well as I almost trebled up with pocket 3s from the Big Blind. Flop was near-perfect 763 with 2 diamonds. I was facing an UTG raiser and a mid-position caller.

If one (more likely the mid position player) has flopped a higher set, then c'est la vie. I started the ball rolling with a bet on the flop, raised by the initial raiser and called by the other player.

With the diamonds posing some threat, but also allowing me to represent a draw, I pushed all-in at this point (it was only approximately a pot-sized bet by then anyway). The UTG player folded now, but the other called with pocket 9s.

So, in good shape with more than double the average chips, when I picked up Aces and managed to get it all in pre-flop heads-up with one player. He showed Kings, as expected, and I was looking forward to a top-20 position. Sadly, a King flopped on an all-club board. The turn was a club as well giving me some hope of a chop. No club or Ace, unfortunately.

Still, I could have no regrets about that one.

On the following Tuesday I played my first ever PLO tournament at the club in Clerkenwell. I managed to get all my chips in on the flop with the nuts and a draw to a higher straight. Another player came along with the same made hand but no redraw. A third player committed with middle set. As it happened he only had 5 outs on the turn and 8 on the river, but he picked up the case Ten to scoop.

It was a double-chance event so I received a fresh consignment of 3,000 tourney chips only to lose them all flush-over-flush a few flops later. This was against the same player who was hoovering up chips. I should have let that hand go, really, but I thought he may have been playing a rush rather than peddling the nuts.

Last night, the Sunday Million was not running - instead they had a mega-qualifier for the Main Event. I decided to give that a miss. Instead I played the Hundred Grand - went out when UTG player limped then called a big raise against my Aces. On the QT7 rainbow board, he open-pushed and I insta-called. He had Q9-suited (??!!) and picked up runner-runner diamonds to felt me.

Meanwhile in the $10 rebuy I made good progress and made the money easily but once again failed to really go on to make the big returns which are at the final table.

It is noticeable how weak the field are in these large-field MTTs. I am thinking particularly of pokerstars and gutshot since this is where I play, but I daresay it is equally valid elsewhere. It is annoying when your Aces are cracked by 2 undercards as in the Hundred Grand, but of course on another night they hold and you can get a long way in the event by playing solid values in a straightforward fashion.

Tonight, I plan to play the £50 bounty tourney at the club - whilst simultaneously playing the forum league game online (laptop to the rescue). I'm leading the league for the 3rd month out of 5 and even though I can't qualify for a second seat in the final, I want to extend my strong record just for the sake of it really !

Pain, Killer

I did not get a very good night's sleep. Such was my regret at not progressing further in the £500 main event at the ESOP last night.

105 runners (100, plus alternates who were allowed in during the first 90 minutes - only 5 people knocked out in that timeframe). A lot of very good players - the likes of Nik Persaud and Richard Gryko, Jen Mason and many others. Bad players very thin on the ground.

10,000 chips and 45 minute levels with antes from level 4. This is a quality structure, no question.

I played a very solid game in the early running and kept just a little ahead of the average - no major incidents. Cards were pretty good to me - KK in the very first hand of the event in fact !

Also picked up QQ twice (once getting all in pre-flop against a short-stack who had 7s - held up). KK again, flopping a set (winning no further chips, mind you).

Of course I mixed in a few position raises when the blinds and antes started to move up.

When we reached about half-way in the field (I think there were 56 left in fact, so the average stack was 18,750. Blinds 300/600 with a 50 ante) I had 26,000 so was perfectly happy and looking forward to a strong showing.

Then, disaster ! I pick up AsAh in mid-position. It is folded to me and I make a table-standard raise to 1,700 (1,500 - 1,800 has been the norm).

The button (Michael Greco) and the big blind called. So the pot is 5,900. The flop is T-3-3 rainbow.

Obviously if someone has a three then I am in trouble, but this seems unlikely. So the only hand I have to fear is pocket Tens.

The BB checks, and I decide to bet 3,500. The button folds, and now the BB makes a mini-raise to 7,500.

I paused to think. Although, on reflection, perhaps not for long enough. At the time, my thinking was that the chances of him having a three, or exactly TT are slim. So, more likely he is raising with AT say, or a smaller overpair than mine or perhaps is just raising my apparent continuation bet with some other holding.

I figure that if I call, there will be >20k in the pot with me having about 16.5k left. At the time, I felt that I did not want to be in the situation of calling off the rest on the turn and river, and that I was becoming committed.

I thought the chances he had TT exactly were slim and an all-in at this point by me would not even be a full pot-sized re-raise so I pushed.

He immediately called, so I knew exactly what I was up against and indeed he turned up TT leaving me with just two outs, which never came.

All of a sudden, I'm out (he had me covered by a small amount)! It's clear I am going to lose a chunk of chips in this hand but it is not clear to me in hindsight that I need to go broke.

Of course, when this hand started I'm thinking I have a chance to really move up in the chips (if I had somehow won after being all-in I would have been at least 3rd in chips, maybe the leader).

You obviously run into situations in tournaments where it is destined to end badly, but I have a feeling this was avoidable. I think it is a hand I need to look back at and try to learn some lessons from.

I think I will remain gutted for some time .... I probably won't play another significant tournament before LV.