Ireland

This is the actual view from the driveway of the home we rented in the Ring of Kerry the last few days of our trip to Ireland......................

We traveled to Ireland March 31st from LAX to Dublin via Atlanta and arrived pretty weary to The Burlington Hotel which is where Cake put us up and where the 2010 Irish Open was to be held this year.  Although this place was closer to town centre than was the Citywest hotel, where we stayed and played last year, I much preferred Citywest.   After resting up a bit, we had planned to meet in the hotel pub the first evening.  I always enjoy these meetings as you get to meet players you have played with online and others you have not.  I like hearing the different perspectives and experiences each brings.   I met Jasper from Holland, Yann from Quebec and Josh Prager from the Sacramento area.  I had sharkscoped each of the players prior to going to see what kind of players each were and was surprised to see how many players going had excellent ability numbers according to the sharkscope formula.  There were several 94's and very few under 80.  I was also surprised to see how few games at Cake many of them had and how they were able to come in and win major trips in so few tries.  It always amazes me while talking to players (and some could be bs) but for a 20 year old to talk about playing $8000 buy in cash games just makes me wonder how they get these kind of bankrolls to jump into big games as these.  While talking to Josh, I learned he was a professional poker player and was travelling around playing big tournaments.  He had just come from the WSOP series in San Diego and finished 6th in the main and when I looked him up, he had scored a 3rd in a huge tourney for over 500k.  What am I doing wrong ? ????????  :)   WE got to hang out with Chris, and Ian showed up and got to spend a couple hours with my old friend from Dublin, so that was cool.   We also got to meet Doug from Cake, who is one of the original Cake founders and the 'brains' behind the software.  Got some really good insight as to how the operation works and was very interesting.     So what about the Irish Open.................................................................................

DAY 1

We start off with 10,000 chips and a 25/50 blind with 1 hour levels.  We were to play 8 levels on day 1 with the last two levels being 75 minutes each.  Good format to get some play in.  Level one was fairly uneventful, but in level 2, I pick up A A from mid position and a dude from France on my right raises to 300.  I decide to slow play it and call and the button, a young Irish local reraised to 850.  The frenchman calls, I call and we see a flop of A K 10 rainbow.  There is over 2600 in the pot and it is checked around, with me sitting on a set of Aces.  The turn is a 4, and again checked around.  I was obviously waiting for some added value, taking a bit of a risk.  The turn is an 8, no flushes possible.  The frenchman checks, I bet 1600 and the Irishman repops me for 3500.  I put him on maybe slow playing AK or A 10, I'm not going away with my set, so think about it and shove all in.  He looks confused and goes into the tank for about 5 minutes and asks " will you show if I lay it down " and I shake my head  NO.  He laughs and says fold and turns over pocket 8's for a set of 8's.  Good laydown, he would have been on the rail (this player did eventually cash). 

A few hands later, I get 5 5 from the button and there is a raise in front of me to 300, which I call and the big blind calls as well. The flop is 3 4 6, two clubs. The raiser checks, I bet 675, the BB mucks and the raiser calls. The turn is a K, not a club, and he fires 1800 and I think about it with my 10 outs (from what I estimate) and make a scared call. The river is an A, no help to me, he checks and I bet 4100 and he thinks about it and lays it down, and I turn over the 5 5 and he is pissed....stack the chips

I didn't know it until about this time, but the player two seats to my left is Jude Ainsworth, a team Poker Stars pro with over a million in cashes lifetime. He seemed like a decent player but I certainly wasn't afraid of him before or after I knew who he was.



Card dead for a while after and I get to dinner break with about 19k in chips and after dinner I steal a few small pots and chip up to about 24k. We get to the last level of the night, 300/600 with a 50 ante and I had been raising quite a bit as the table was tight and picking up some extra bullets. Ainsworth has also been raising quite a bit and he does again and gets pushed all in from the button, a pretty tight Irish guy. Ainsworth calls, turns over K K, and the raiser meekly shows his 2 2, with the Poker Pro star about to pick up another 12k. Unfortunately for him, the river shows a 2 and he loses 12k instead, leaving him with about 18k. When it comes to my big blind, I pick up A A and raise Ainsworth the standard raise. I should mention, he has come over the top of my raises 3 times and I have laid down each time.  He instantly calls all in and I call and hold on against his A K, building my stack and taking the Poker Stars Team Pro out of the tournament.

WE are in the last level, it's about 1:30 am and I am sitting on 43k in chips. This is a great position to be in going in to day 2, so I don't want to get crazy. With 45 minutes left in the night, I pick up 9 9 on the button and it is mucked around to me and you remember that guy earlier who laid down the set of 8's, he is now in the big blind. I have determined after 10 hours of playing with him, he is a bit of a fish. I raise and he reraises to 4400. He has about 20k in chips. I think about it and am pretty sure he thinks I am trying to steal so I push all in and he calls with K K and it holds up...damn it. Half my stack that I have worked all day to build. 10 minutes later from an early position, I get K K and the gentleman to my right raises to 1900, I raise to 5100 and a player near the button pushes all in with about 19k. The raiser mucks, I think about it and wanting to get back to where I was, call and he shows A A.   Are you kidding me ?  But then the flop comes K 9 9...oh my god, I have sucked out and will finish day one, right ????????????    Not so fast fool, the turn comes an A and my tournament is over......sigh



Amanda as usual is here to support and is always great. I am putting her in the ladies event on Sunday and then we are off cross country to Killarney and the Ring of Kerry
 
The next day, we take the train across country about 3 hours to Kerry County.  The trains are clean, comfortable and on time.  The countryside was a nice change from big city Dublin.  Lot of small towns, farms, green pastures, very pretty.  We get to Killarney and easily find the rental car company in town centre and my Euro driving experience is about to begin.  I had made sure to get an automatic as of course we are driving on the opposite side of the road, not to mention the opposite side of the car.  I grew up driving a stick, but not left handed, lol, so f...that, get the automatic,even though it is much pricier.    I also make sure to get a GPS system and this turns out to be a smart move as roads in Ireland are not clearly marked in some of the places we ended up.  The drive to Waterville, where we stayed, was about 90 minutes and the drive is actually part of the Ring of Kerry.  It was a very pretty drive along the Atlantic coastline, through some small towns and then a little country road to the house.  A few days of relaxation and then back home.....Another great trip that I would recommend to any of you.
 

CLICK HERE for 33% rakeback
Use FRAZ in SIGN UP CODE box