Day 1D of the main event and I entered in a good fresh frame of mind but wary following the nightmare stories I had heard from many players from the first 3 day ones of appalling bad play which confirmed my experience of various tournaments over the last couple of weeks.My table was not a good one I had 5 Ladbroke qualifiers’ including two good Scandinavian players and two good American players to my rightI started off in great plodding style and after level one my 20000 starting stack had increased to a steady 20500. As we ended level two my stack had swollen to 23000 and at the end of level three was a veritably throbbing 27000. I did a couple of nice check folds (one of my favourite moves) particularly in one hand where I limped in mid-position with JK and then, after a player limped after me, called a small raise from a player who I felt was easy to read, or at least that was my justification in my mind at the time for the dubious call. The flop was Kh8s4s and I checked to the middle limper who bet 1100 into a 1200 pot. The pre-flop raiser folded and I followed suit with a nice check fold. I can already hear someone saying “how can you call a raise with that and then fold when you hit your flop?” or “what sort of flop did you want to hit, if not that one?” Be honest with yourself, if you said or thought that then please say “eee aww” out load, as you will no doubt be a narrow minded donkey that can’t fold top pair or who thinks that the only way to find where you are is to make a bet. I appreciate that it seems weak and if I turned my hand over it would probably be like painting a bull’s-eye on your forehead to some other players. However, it is possible to gauge the strength of an opponents hand by observing the amount they bet and their demeanour afterwards (not available online of course). I came to the conclusion that the bettor was convinced she was winning which suggested I was only beating a hand that based on my knowledge of her play, she would not limp and call a raise with so I folded and she showed KQ spades.I later lost chips with KJ on several occasions and you would think I might learn from it.I had an old boy constantly raising my blinds and a young American who raised in the cut off only for me to nicely ask him for change and then use it to re-raise him to which he responded with a further larger re-raise and I made a good lay-down with 78.I then mis-played a hand, though I had a good intention at the time. I limped in mid position with my hitherto so successful KJ suited and a very nice young Danish player limped on the button. The flop was Kh8c3c and the player in the big blind checked and I checked too hoping to pick of a The Danish lads probable steal attempt. He duly bet 1500 the big blind called as I was about to re-raise and then I changed my mind, confident I was still winning but waiting to re-raise on the turn. The turn was an off suit Ace and it again went check check and the Danish lad bet 2400 again called by the big blind. Now I was pretty sure I was still beating the player in the big blind, but I was not sure about the Danish lad on the button. He could reasonably think we had flush draws or maybe a weak King for the Big blind player and if he was stealing on the flop he may well continue it on the turn hoping for a blank river, if he checked the turn it would seem likely to us that he may not call a river bet and he would not want that. As the bet was only 2400 into about an 11000 pot I called and the river was a blank and it was checked down. The big blind had K10 and the Danish lad had A4 diamonds to win the pot. I was really annoyed with myself for playing the hand like a lady-boy and not re-raising on the flop and it sent me on tilt and I then went from 27000 down to about 17000 and became like a vengeance demon trying to “get” the players that I had given my chips to (even though the loss was down to my inept or lady-boy like play).Firstly I had a shot at the young American when he raised to 900 I made a creative call with K2 diamonds, really just trying to do him. The flop was 10c4c2cand we both checked. The turn was 4h and he checked so I made a weak value bet of 600 and he called. The river was an irrelevant 5h he checked and I again made a small value bet which he called and to my absolute delight not only turned over Ace high to lose but it was AK so he had me behind and dominated pre-flop and the loss must have really irritated him, job done!!Not satisfied with that donkey call I then showed a level of flair that could easily have had some observers thinking I must be the love child of John Tabatabai and James Akenhead (assuming they swing that way which I believe has not yet been disproven) or at least the spawn of an unfortunate lap dancer forced to accommodate the pair of them for undoubtedly insufficient financial compensation. Firstly, with blinds at 150/300 it is folded to the young Danish lad who raises to 1000 and I make a creative call on the button with 63 off suit.The flop is Js10s8h he checks and I check behind with the intention of re-raising his turn bet (he had bet the turn when it was checked behind almost every time so although I knew that did not mean he had no hand it also certainly did not mean he had a hand. The turn was an inviting 4c he bet 1200 and I re-raised to 4600 and he folded a jack face up, job number two done.That left the old boy due a good digging and obviously when you are a tilted mental man that’s all that matters and I got him a treat. He raised to 900 on my small blind and I made a great call with 53 off suit. The flop was arguably an unpromising JQK rainbow. I checked my monster and he made his usual poxy continuation bet. I decided that he probably had his usual ace rubbish as his continuation bet was the usual lower one that he did when he ended up actually having a hand, so I decided to call his flop bet and then bet out on the turn (providing the turn was not a ten). The turn was a nice ace which I thought he probably had but I figured he could not call without a ten and if he did I would fire a much bigger river bet to make him fold.I wanted him to fold on the turn as I would have felt more uncomfortable being forced to make a big bluff on the river and fortunately he did fold and my 35 off suit spanked his wrinkled bottom.I then calmed down and made my way up to about 25000. I have to say I do not really like making moves that way as, although it can be effective, it is just “taking a punt” and hoping your opponent can not call with limited reason for thinking they can’t and in reality just hoping they can’t.The most important hand for my tournament to date occurred in level 5.I raised in the cut-off to 1100 (blinds 200/400 with ante 50) holding A8 clubs and it was folded to the big blind who called (apparently with 55).The flop was Kh10h5c and we both checked (he presumably ready to check raise me not realising how much I liked all actions that include the word “check”). The turn was 3c which gave me a nut flush draw and he bet 1100. I was not sure if I was winning as many players will bet the turn when a pre-flop raiser checks behind them on the flop as it appears weak and they feel they have license to bet (as indeed they generally do) any apparently unhelpful turn card. Even if I was not winning I could reasonably expect that any club or ace would win for me (an ace obviously would not but I didn’t know that) so I called. The river was a lovely 7c giving me the nuts and now followed a really bizarre bad play by my opponent. He bet 2900 and I thought a little bit and mistakenly re-raised to 6200 (I wanted to make the re-raise more but only realised it when the dealer took the matched bets into the pot leaving my re-raise outside the main pot.)He asked me if I had a flush and I replied “does that mean you do not have a flush?” he thought for a bit and I hoped he would eventually call but he didn’t, he re-raised me another 3400. I again thought a bit and re-raised another 6000 on the basis that he was calling most raises or no further raises but still giving him the chance to re-raise me as I counted what I would have left before the re-raise and made sure he saw me count. He then flung his cards into the muck shouted “yes you do have a flush” and stormed off talking to himself. He asked me if I had the nut flush and I said “of course I did” and then he kept staring at me afterwards and I may be wrong but, I do not think that it was because he found me physically attractive.Anyway I finished the day on a decent 39,875 and go back Wednesday for day 2
About actionjack
In terms of online poker, under the infamous moniker ‘actionjack’, Paul was desribed by the “Voice of poker”, Jesse May as the most winning tournament player in the history of Ladbrokespoker.com.
In addition, he has won many online tournaments on all of the major sites and is generally regarded as one of the most successful online tournament players in Europe.
In terms of live poker, Paul’s greatest achievement was second place in the Monte Carlo Millions, losing heads up to Phil Ivey, but receiving $600,000 for his efforts. Included in that game, was one of the most reported and discussed hands in poker history, and put forward as one of the best televised hands of poker ever seen.
Paul also achieved notable success, winning the 1000 euro event and finished runner up in the world heads up event during the same week in Barcelona.
Paul has enjoyed tournament success all over the world and has now amassed over $1 Million in tournament winnings.
Paul has appeared on many televised poker tournaments and is often interviewed on TV, as a player and expert.
Paul regularly featured as the Poker Godfather (teaching online players how to improve) in The Poker Channel’s top-rated TV series.
Paul’s articles are much in demand, and are regularly published on many leading web sites, from industry ones to the BBC and is a regular contributor to several popular poker magazines.
Paul has guested on several radio broadcasts on poker related issues, including BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Radio 4’s ‘Word of Mouth’ series.
As a very experienced live and online poker player Paul has now taken the position of Director of Poker for DTDpoker.com and hopes to use his experience to ensure that DTDpoker.com customers are well looked after, respected and accommodated in terms of their thirst for poker.