OMG I have a cracker of a headache and I am absolutely starving. No gym today thank you!
Today’s tourney is $5,000 NLH and starts at 12pm, I get ready quick and head over to the Rio as I fancy the All American Burger Bar. Wallop! I have the works and even tried $20 on the keno as my luck has been okay, but no draw there. Properly bloated I walk the longest walk in poker, its from the casino floor to the card room at the Rio.
I get a decent table with five young guns spread around. There’s an old guy in seat 8 and Chad brown in seat 9. I’m in seat 1. I like my table draw, figuring I will get an easy run in the blinds from seat 8 and as soon as I play back at Chad twice I will be ok there too. I want to play really tightly because of the young guns and let them come to me.
The game goes nice and smoothly for me and after 4 hours I have 30k chips.
Chad brown has been active and has 15k, he raises up in early position, I have A-10 and decide to represent a big hand (first proper pot we have played) and re-raise to 2,400. He calls. Flop comes 4-8-K. I think this is a good flop for me. We both check. The turn is 9. He bets 3,200, and I call. The river is 5. The board is all rainbow. He thinks for a while and checks, and I figure he has 10’s J’s or Q’s and bet 5,500. He passes.
That was a particularly good hand for me. The table all say ‘nice hand’ and I know they think I am a rock.
Unfortunately, I get moved. My new table looks much the same and I have Rob Hollink 3 to my right. My cards are so dead it’s a joke but I have chips and I am not panicking, I even take a 45 minute massage to pass the time. One round before dinner and Hollink doubles through a muppet and has 60k, he is off and so am I – having played 2 hands in 2 hours.
After dinner, I am a bit late back and find I am in big blind with Ah 10h. The button raises and I nearly RR but decide to call. Flop comes 10 high with 2 clubs, I check raise and turn is J bet again he calls river is a blank and I check he turns over AA, Gulp! I could have lost more. I call in BB again from 1 raise in early position with Ac 8c flop comes 8-8-Q. I check-raise again and the turn is Q. I check and he checks. The river is a Jack. I check, and he bets approx 1/3 of pot and like a doughnut I call and he shows J-Q. I am down to 8,500 and a bit peeved. About 45 mins later Hollink who has been very active raises my button I have AJ and re-raise to 4k. The BB bets enough to put me all in, Hollink folds KJ and I have to call. BB shows QQ and I am out. After a positive start it can go wrong very quickly.
I head straight back to my hotel order some Chinese room service, watch a film and go to sleep.
Ian Frazer
