Toronto and Ajax, Ontario

Hello! After a lovely few days checking out Banff National Park, we moved on to Ajax, a small suburban town about half hour away from downtown Toronto on the intelligently named GO train! The place was probably quite comparable to Rochester in terms of location to the big city and had some nice parks and retail outlets without having a main shopping hub like classy Chatham High Street!
If Banff had been fairly relaxing, this was due to be even more so, with not too many plans laid out and more a time to recover and a base to head around other parts of Canada we wanted to see!
We navigated the public transport to get from Toronto airport out to Ajax, getting buses, “Riding the Rocket” (that’s their tube name!) and then taking the GO to Ajax. My uncle Trevor, who’s place he had kindly given to us for as long as we needed it, had arranged for his good friend Lil to pick us up from the station. I called her up and she said she was on her way and would be a few minutes! What I forgot to ask was what she looked like or what car she drove?! So, at a very busy time for pick-ups we were looking out for a randomer, and I can only assume that she had the same confusion as to who she was picking up, so the situation was far from ideal! We began discussing what she might look like, and I suggested early 50’s, brown curly hair and thick glasses, and before we knew it that exact lady drove through the pick-up point! I picked up my stuff and began to wander over the car before somebody else walked over and got in!! Here I remembered I’m not psychic and we got back to the task of looking out for somebody looking out for us!
A few other likely candidates came and went, with another one waiting for a while that Louise nearly walked over and said hi, but then along came a sporty Ford Mustang Convertible driving in through the bus entrance, and it was in fact our Auntie Lil! We struggled to put all of our luggage in the car but managed it and we were taken back to my uncle’s house, a large bungalow with a couple of bedrooms, a nice kitchen and dining room and a very nice outhouse that had was apparently the envy of his road! We set our stuff down and were quickly whisked away to the local pub, the Magwyers Pub which was a blend of a lot of British emigrants and some locals, one classic guy named Bill who would just say whatever he wanted and be as offensive as he liked, but in a very funny way! Everybody was very accommodating and really made us feel at home, and we met some more of my uncles friends and Harry told us how he got so confused when he was driving in Canada after being in England that he drove on to the freeway the wrong way and had a lucky escape!! We had a burger which I enjoyed but as soon as I realised the bun was garlic I felt ill all night!! Lil arranged to pick us up the next day for the “chicken wing Tuesday” and we got some rest. Everybody we had met had their own stories and it was so interesting to have so much human interaction as we haven’t had many chances to form friendships so far as we’ve been moving around so much but we looked forward to meeting more of Trevor’s friends in the coming week! Lil was such an angel that she had bought us some provisions for the week! We had milk and eggs, now all we needed was fabric softener!! (Kevin McAllister, Home Alone!)
We woke up with around half hour to get ready for lunch, having slept in til 12! For me that is usual, but for Louise unprecedented!! She must have needed her kip! We devoured our wings, and at 59cents a go I quickly finished 10 of them despite their large size! We bought our shopping and Lil very kindly dropped us home and we spent the day doing what we did a lot of in the coming week or so, watching TV and films, playing cards, and playing poker whilst Louise read her book! It was nice to feel so at home and we made the most of it!
We decided we had to be a little more productive the next day, and headed in to Toronto to see the sights! We paid the rip-off price to take the lift up the CN tower as it’s something you have to do, and until 2009 it would have been the tallest building in the world! We took some reasonable pictures but the mist was at the peak so we couldn’t always have an unobstructed view, though we liked the glass walkway looking down to the bottom. Louise isn’t too sure with heights but she was still brave to step on it, though I had to be on best behaviour and no messing around! We walked down to the harbour which looked very nice from atop the building but was a bit more bland up close and we returned back to the GO station!
Now, I’m not psychic but it appears Louise might be, as just after she said how much she fancied a Sprite, from nowhere a Sprite van pulled over and offered free cans of Sprite!! We took our prize on to the GO train, and despite my intrigue as to the fact the train was double decker, we were too lazy to actually check it out! We had another relaxing evening ,cooked some dinner and got our daily fix of American sitcoms before bed!
I think by now it was September 24th, a date that particularly sticks in my mind as it was the date when Legends of the Guardians came out, a film Louise was dying to see! We again were kindly taken to lunch by Lil, and annoyed that I had paid for the day before (she was kind she just wanted to treat us all the time! :-D) she simply refused to take any more money from me! I had coyly planned to slip her $20 when she wasn’t paying attention before not so coyly leaving it on the chair before leaving! Luckily her brother was still around the table, and despite him saying that “he was sure it was his!” I got it back!! At this lunch we met Scott, her nephew, who had moved over from Scotland a few years before and settled down there with his girlfriend, Shannon. We arranged to meet up with them and headed off to the mall in search of some boots for Louise! We shopped around and spent at least two hours in a pet shop which had the cutest puppies ever in there! I guess due to a lack of space which in itself is very sad, the puppies were put in compartments of two or three, and they were so playful!! The tiny dachshund was amazing and the husky pup was just beautiful! There were also loads of cute kittens, gerbils and birds and it really made us want to get a couple of dogs and other pets! Louise has always said she wants to have loads of cats and be a mad Aunt Lou but now I think maybe she wants to same title but with dogs instead of cats! We finished shopping as we found her boots and were ready to leave but found a cinema and decided to watch the film! We had already eaten something and had bought lots of fudge and Louise devoured a toffee apple with white and dark choc chips, but we couldn’t resist a hot dog after the group in front were eating!! We watched the Legend of the Guardians and Louise was so happy seeing one of her favourite animals on the big screen! I think she may have picked up some tips on how to draw them as well!!
We were picked up by Scott and Shannon and were taken along to their friends, newlyweds who had a lot of interesting stories about their hometown of Newfoundland. Newfoundland is possibly to Canadians as Norwich is to us, they are a bit different and have their own quirks, though at the time they had been hit by a hurricane so we were shown all of the destruction that happened where his family live. There wasn’t a human toll taken on the area but a lot of houses and roads had been crippled by the huge rainfall and winds and we saw some of the pictures his friends had taken on facebook. Then we heard stories about his crazy Grandma who would get drunk and get in all sorts of mischief, get naked or just say embarrassing things! We heard about the Newfoundland tradition of mummering, which takes place between Boxing Day and New Years Eve and involves people dressing up in Halloween costumes, gathering in groups and moving from house to house eating and drinking and gaining in numbers! Imagine seeing somebody wearing a mask knocking on your door around Xmas time, it would be so weird, but it was a tradition there!! We heard about Scott and Shannon’s travelling to Australia and how they were swimming on a beach that had to be evacuated due to sharks! They also met a guy who’s friend has been killed by a shark and they didn’t believe him until they saw a documentary on him back home a few months later!!
We had a few drinks and went back to Trevor’s and got our stuff ready to go with Lil to her trailer the next day!


We packed up some stuff for our short trip to the trailer, and the drive up was surrounded by beautifully coloured trees, with amazing red, gold and brown leaves! I just wrote golf leaves, it must be on the brain!! Anyway, we arrived at her trailer, set back from a very peaceful lake and equipped with everything we could need! We met her nephews and heard the famous Canadian eh? being said for the first time! Lil made us up some lunch snacks and despite it being midday poured us a stiff drink each! Louise had a couple of sips before putting it in a flask to take to the golf course, and off we went to golf, Louise playing on a proper course for the first time! We were both quite excited and got in our buggy, with Louise surely feeling the nerves of her first time! Horribly, the first hole had water about 40 yards from the tee, and that was the theme for most of the course! Using most of the clubs like the driver for the first time was very tricky but Louise was such a quick learner she began hitting good shots in no time! A couple of balls went for a swim but she managed to hit some with enough elevation and distance to clear the streams which made her very happy and me very proud! One shot she kept low and we thought it had rolled in to the water so I drove down to find it! It had stopped just before so I thought I would lend a hand and throw it over for her, but couldn’t manage to clear the ten yards of water!! Needless to say she gave up on that hole! Louise did so well to pick it up so well, and I guess it didn’t help that if she missed it my words of reassurance were “hit the ball baby”...I didn’t mean it in a patronising or mean way and was trying to be supportive, but even reading it back now I realise how off-putting that must have been! It probably speaks volume that her best drive of the day, a really nice shot which cleared the water and went very far was when I was driving around trying to find a ball I had sliced! (My rental clubs were seriously bad and that’s my excuse!!)
Lil had warned us that Harry might try to give a lot of advice and was a bit of a know-it-all at golf but he didn’t say too much to Louise, though he did have a strange method of hitting a chip one-handed which never really seemed to work!! At around hole 7 the heavens opened and we hurried back to the trailer to get away from the rain! Louise really enjoyed herself and was looking forward to playing again, though I’m not sure if she was too keen on playing again the next day which was the plan! We had told Lil that our favourite food was steak for myself and lasagne for Louise, and she bought us both our favourite food! Amazing bits of steak and a huge lasagne, and I became the head steak chef, though I was so ravenously hungry I was eating the first piece whilst the other pieces were cooking! We all ate so much, and the large lasagne was wrapped up for us to take home! We played cards with Lil’s friends in the evening and we learnt a clever new way to play rummy though we both lost as the rules were very confusing at first, and I taught Lil’s friends poker and in the process lost every hand to the beginners and was bluffed off of every pot by Louise!! We didn’t play for money but my pride was bruised, though it was a very fun evening! We slept very well that night, tired from all the eating and golfing!
That was until around 5am when the creaks in the trailer were loud enough to wake me up! They sounded a lot like taps, and I envisioned somebody outside walking around and tapping the outside like in some sort of horror film! I got myself into a nervous frenzy and struggled to sleep that night. I think it might have been an animal pushing up against the trailer, but I was really scared!! Louise wasn’t that bothered, but I woke Lil up just to check out if everything was ok! She was equally relaxed about it all, preferring to go to the window and scream pretending something was there when of course it wasn’t! I think after this I had calmed down and we both had another lay-in!
The next day we had some breakfast, toast and proper back bacon before heading to golf again, and Louise had improved so much! She enjoyed herself a lot more and the weather held out, making it a very fun trip! Now I know what to get her for Christmas!! We had a stroll down to the lake, took some pictures and got back in the car for Ajax, having had a really nice weekend at the trailer! On the drive back we were both so excited when we saw a skunk walking alongside the road! That was until the most putrid smell entered the car and we had been sprayed!! It took a long time to get that smell out of our system, though on arrival back home a skunk had clearly been around as we again smelt the stinky skunk, so we quickly got inside away from the animals!
We spent the next day sorting out our schedule, and after a few days of relaxing had the bug to get travelling again, so booked up a promotional deal at a Niagara Falls Hotel and got ready to go and see the wonderful landmark of the Niagara Falls, which is where Louise will pick up soon! :-)xx

WSOP 2010, have I used my one time?!

Good evening readers, I hope all is well!

Despite winning a life-changing amount of money, life has been much of the same this month, though I have been a lot lazier with my poker volume! I guess that's because I was very lucky before being in a "job" where I could take a few days off to go and see friends and travel around the country. I think working out that I can't play every day for hours on end and stay sane and instead taking breaks and trips away that has helped me produce higher quality play. As Keys said in his last post, quality is so much more important than quantity and my friend anthonyff proves that with his amazing graph and ROI by having a relaxed schedule.

I'm not sure I deserved the run-good but I had a really good May, playing mainly $345's and some $230's and $115's, recording a 16% ROI in my 300 or so games making around $14k and losing the rakeback (circa $1k in FPP's) in a couple of SCOOP's and Sunday Mill's with no cashes...I had stacks in a couple of 6max SCOOP's I played (before not bothering with any as they were tooo long and at stupid times!) but didn't capitalise and yesterday was top 80 with 3000 left in the Sunday Mill only to lose a basically chip lead pot v a guy who had me covered...was getting that vibe again, only to be given a necessary sense of realism that feelings aren't real!!

The best thing about the win isn't the things I can buy myself but trying to help out others. My Nan wants a new garden set and says she hasn't saved up enough £2 coins yet (everything she has she gives to her children and grand-kids) so it's amazing to be able to just buy her that and I have booked a family trip abroad in Spain which will be the first trip as a family for years! :-) Louise was very calm about the win at first, in fact she should play poker because she barely flinched, but she is enjoying being treated as she deserves and we are going to book our years travelling soon I hope which will be incredible!!

For anybody interested as to what I've bought myself, I used my Mum's broken old car to trade in with a new Vauxhall Corsa 1.2 sxi in pearlescent black (NAMED HER AKON!) saving 4k on the rrp and gave her my Peugeot 206 so that was a good deal all round, and I have bought some clothes and a nice camera for when we go travelling. The cool headphones are being ordered tonight but apart from that nothing too extravagant really, once a nit always a nit!!

I also booked my trip to Vegas for the last few weeks of this years WSOP...I am aiming to play the $1k event the day after I arrive and then the Main Event, and I haven't decided whether or not to be partially staked through it yet. I did think of setting $10k as an aim to make in June and just using that to buy in, but I might sell around 30% at 1.3 if there is any interest? If not, I hope that some friends will be up from percentage swaps as I enjoy this as a good way of reducing variance and getting a fun sweat!

Good luck everybody, whether you're in Vegas or just playing online or even reading this from work, run well! :-)

Paul,x

A week and a half on...

Since the unbelievable win in the Sunday Million, something that I still haven't really got my head round and it will be a long time before it does sink in, I have had a pretty relaxed few days, getting some rounds of golf in, seeing family and playing a few bits and pieces of poker, building up stacks in a few SCOOPs but letting my 6max inexperience make me a bit too aggro!!

A lot of people have asked me what's next, with views being split between staying where I am stakes wise and moving up, and whilst I have had a massive bankroll boost I have withdrawn the majority with a view to buying property or keeping some earning interest whilst me and louise get the opportunity to travel the world. So, for at least a month or two I am happy to play the same 100 and 200 levels, and I definitely want to get my way to 570s+ on ability and be good enough as a 5k+ downswing would dramatically affect my mood so I want to build myself up mentally before I progress upwards! A lot of people have also suggested playing more tournaments, which I really need to make sure I do!

Thanks to everybody who has been reading this blog or congratulated me on facebook or pokerstars, I will be playing a few more SCOOP events before heading up to Nottingham mid-month for the UKIPT, something that I am really looking forward to! I am currently considering whether or not to head to WSOP and have been planning my year abroad with louise and sorting out a family holiday. I am glad that I hvent lost my buzz for poker in any way and am happy to get back grinding soon with more shots at tournaments along the way, guess I've got the bug now!!!

I IV VII

ONE TIME!!!!!!! $hipped the $unday Million! 1/8776

Hey all (maybe more readers than last time!!), sorry I've a lazy motherblogger recently, the life of a HUSNG pro is really quite dull, and though I did have a fun trip to Vegas I didn't really feel in the mood to write about it!

Obviously, everything changes when you have a sizeable win and writing suddenly seems a lot more interesting, so I'm going to try to post key hands on my ridiculous run to fulfilling a dream and winning the Sunday Mill in just the 7th time I've got my lazy arse to play it!!

Throughout the tournament I was one tabling (apart from maybe playing some heads up games at times) as other games were already busto, and after running bad in the FTOPS heads up tournie and tilting my way out of the Turbo Takedown I thought the Sunday Million would be another wasted buy in, though using 13500fpps to play never feels like money anyways!!

I kind of decided right, you're feeling quite awake, let's just focus on this one table and play well and try to see what happens. Throughout the tournament I obviously had to run like God and had some really nice hands in nice spots, but as will be obvious some people were just keen to donate as well which made things very nice!!

So, here's a group of interesting and crucial hands, I hope you enjoy! All the support from friends, people inside and out of poker has been amazing and I am very grateful! The post is taking a long time to make because I am trying to filter out the rubbish but post a decent hand guide without making you click through pokerhand links and see unnecessary things so bear with the fact that some might have mistakes where i've not included stack sizes or what they had, and believe me that all information I write in is genuine!!

The win took 731 hands overall and I managed to finish before 8:28am GMT so Ptevey and Matt Gamble could watch, aren't a nice guy!!

Reading through the HH, at the 50 hand mark I was at 10150, it was pretty much locked up from then I guess, surely something interesting early on must have happened!!

Establishing my table image....funny I think!!

Dealt to 147_star [Qc Kh]
147_star: raises 470 to 770
All fold to LaMartina:
LaMartina99 said, "770 ?? why not 800"
LaMartina99: folds
147_star said, "why not lamartina100?"

4hands later, hand 59...

*********** # 59 **************
HOLE CARDS ***Dealt to 147_star [Ah Ac]
folded to...LaMartina99: raises 600 to 900
147_star: raises 1570 to 2470
everyone folds to LaMartina99: raises 10430 to 12900
147_star: calls 7500 and is all-in
*** FLOP *** [Qh Kh 4h]
*** TURN *** [Qh Kh 4h] [6s]
*** RIVER *** [Qh Kh 4h 6s] [7d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***LaMartina99: shows [As Ks] (a pair of Kings)147_star: shows [Ah Ac] (a pair of Aces)147_star collected 20390 from pot

A small pot but a momentum builder and a very nice read, based mainly on his speed of calling on the turn.

*********** # 75 **************
Seat 6: uyra99 (5600 in chips)
Seat 8: 147_star (17350 in chips)
HOLE CARDS ***Dealt to 147_star [Qh 7h]
uyra99: calls
147_star: raises 875 to 1275
uyra99: calls 875
*** FLOP *** [3h Kc Tc]
147_star: bets 1999
uyra99: calls 1999
*** TURN *** [3h Kc Tc] [Ks]
uyra99: checks
147_star: bets 2326
uyra99: folds
Uncalled bet (2326) returned to 147_star

Getting in LaMartina's head blind on blind, definitely val here for later on...

*********** # 105 **************
*** HOLE CARDS ***Dealt to 147_star [8d 7s]
LaMartina99: raises 600 to 1200
147_star: raises 1798 to 2998
147_star said, "it's not aa"
LaMartina99: calls 1798
*** FLOP *** [Kc 3h Ts]
LaMartina99: bets 1800
147_star: raises 2999 to 4799
LaMartina99: folds
Uncalled bet (2999) returned to 147_star
147_star collected 9821 from pot
147_star: doesn't show hand

Picked on his limps a few times before now...

*********** # 128 **************
Dealt to 147_star [8c Ah]
Vlad989: folds
zfahmie: folds
LaMartina99: calls 800
147_star: raises 1250 to 2050
Jaguar: folds
Fulbert101: folds
AxGoM: folds
DavidGarrard: folds
bmalick19: folds
LaMartina99: calls 1250
*** FLOP *** [5h Ac 3d]
LaMartina99: checks
147_star: checks
*** TURN *** [5h Ac 3d] [Js]
LaMartina99: checks
147_star: bets 2400
LaMartina99: calls 2400
*** RIVER *** [5h Ac 3d Js] [9c]
LaMartina99: checks
147_star: bets 6600
LaMartina99: calls 6600
*** SHOW DOWN ***
147_star: shows [8c Ah] (a pair of Aces)
LaMartina99: mucks hand (he had JQ)
147_star collected 23750 from pot

Another great spot for me against the same opponent who was pretty tilted by now...

*********** # 130 **************
*** HOLE CARDS ***Dealt to 147_star [Ah Kc]
LaMartina99: calls 800
147_star: raises 1550 to 2350
folded until LaMartina99: calls 1550
*** FLOP *** [2c 5s 5h]LaMartina99: checks 147_star: checks
*** TURN *** [2c 5s 5h] [6s]LaMartina99: checks 147_star: checks
*** RIVER *** [2c 5s 5h 6s] [Ac]
LaMartina99: bets 1600
147_star: raises 6000 to 7600
LaMartina99: calls 6000
*** SHOW DOWN ***
147_star: shows [Ah Kc] (two pair, Aces and Fives)
LaMartina99: mucks hand (he had A10...lucky me!!)
147_star collected 21550 from pot

Up til now these hands are fairly insignificant seeing as my stack at the end was 86million+, but I think early play is crucial as an extra 10k chips early on doubled thru several times is huge, and at the time these hands were fantastic momentum builders.

Next hand, though after a 5min break, I manage to finish the same guy off...he shouldn't have questioned my fruity raises!!!

*********** # 131 **************
Dealt to 147_star [Ad Qd]
147_star: raises 900 to 1700
Vlad989: calls 1700
LaMartina99: raises 5491 to 7191 and is all-in
147_star: raises 48509 to 55700 and is all-in
Vlad989: folds
*** FLOP *** [Ah 8d 4s]*** TURN *** [Ah 8d 4s] [8h]*** RIVER *** [Ah 8d 4s 8h] [7s]*** SHOW DOWN ***
LaMartina99: shows [As Jd] (two pair, Aces and Eights)
147_star: shows [Ad Qd] (two pair, Aces and Eights - Queen kicker)
147_star collected 16932 from pot

LaMartina99 [observer] said, "du schwulle hure"

...I think that means nice play sir or "you will win"?! Any translations?!

*********** # 166 **************

Won a 40k flip with QQ > AK, QKx flop!
Stack 80k, blinds 600/1200...

..at this time I think I requested my one time, available from the VIP store for my soul, seemed fair!

This was a pretty sick double barrel against this guy...

*********** # 184 **************
Seat 6: zfahmie (75774 in chips)
Seat 8: 147_star (77356 in chips)

Dealt to 147_star [2h 9c]
folded to zfahmie (in cutoff): raises 1799 to 3299
boxen: folds
147_star: raises 5557 to 8856
zfahmie: calls 5557
*** FLOP *** [5h 6c Qs]
147_star: bets 8351
zfahmie: calls 8351
*** TURN *** [5h 6c Qs] [3d]
147_star: bets 12345
zfahmie: folds
Uncalled bet (12345) returned to 147_star
147_star collected 36514 from pot

Another momentum builder...most of these happened to be right that night luckily...

*********** # 195 **************

Dealt to 147_star [5s 9d](ON THE BUTTON, 1k/2k blinds)
folded to 147_star: raises 2250 to 4250
Mattazz: folds
nuizizi: calls 2250
*** FLOP *** [Js 8s 9c]
nuizizi: checks
147_star: checks
*** TURN *** [Js 8s 9c] [2d]
nuizizi: bets 6000
147_star: calls 6000
*** RIVER *** [Js 8s 9c 2d] [4s]
nuizizi: bets 10000
147_star: calls 10000
*** SHOW DOWN ***
nuizizi: shows [Kd Qh] (high card King)
147_star: shows [5s 9d] (a pair of Nines)
147_star collected 43300 from pot

200th hand = another cooler for me to get pretty huge...

QQ > JJ all in preflop after he shoved his 17bb stack against my open and was unlucky...73k pot surging me to 124k

201st hand = aj > a10 against a shortie for 40k pot, all seem to be holding!!

213th hand = About time I hit a set imo as I'd had a few small pairs/hit another set, ridic outdraw 66 . JJ for 73k pot against a shortie who had 3xed it from like 11BB stack so I should have got away! Up to 177k!

236th hand= Chip up another 90k pot shoving 45 in the small blind to the BB's 10BB stack and holding vs A10!!!

Made my first real mistake in the 246th hand, thought the blocker better would fold the river and couldn't read the spike...probably a bad flop check by me.

*********** # 246 **************

Dealt to 147_star [Kh Td]
all folds to 147_star: raises 4068 to 8068
dollarMI: folds
buzzzarrrd: folds
davidd267: calls 4068
*** FLOP *** [Jc As 4d]
davidd267: checks 147_star: checks
*** TURN *** [Jc As 4d] [5c]
davidd267: checks
147_star: bets 8800
davidd267: calls 8800
*** RIVER *** [Jc As 4d 5c] [7c]
davidd267: bets 12000
147_star: raises 40700 to 52700
davidd267: calls 40700
*** SHOW DOWN ***
147_star: shows [Kh Td] (high card Ace)
davidd267: shows [7d 5d] (two pair, Sevens and Fives)
davidd267 collected 144736 from pot

Next hand, hand 147+100, I managed to hit my 52 outer to get back to huge stackville!

*********** # 247 **************
Dealt to 147_star [7d 8d]
folded to 147_star: raises 4100 to 8100
dollarMI: folds
buzzzarrrd: folds
147_star said, "<----had a good read that you didn't have an ace ;) "davidd267: calls 6100 spirit2242: calls 4100 *** FLOP *** [6d As Qd] davidd267: bets 12000 spirit2242: calls 12000 davidd267 said, "yea i was lucky" 147_star: calls 12000 *** TURN *** [6d As Qd] [5h] davidd267: checks spirit2242: checks 147_star: bets 95000 and is all-in davidd267: folds spirit2242: calls 42531 and is all-in Uncalled bet (52469) returned to 147_star *** RIVER *** [6d As Qd 5h] [4h] *** SHOW DOWN *** spirit2242: shows [Ac 3c] (a pair of Aces) 147_star: shows [7d 8d] (a straight, Four to Eight)147_star collected 148962 from pot *********** # 265 ************** Lose around 1/4 of my 200k stack with AQ <>If nobody wants this pot, I'll have it...

*********** # 272 **************

*** HOLE CARDS ***Dealt to 147_star [Qd Td]
Jesaja04: folds
supernova9: folds
147_star: raises 5216 to 10216
eaw1104: folds
sluppermann: folds
HAZZZZA: calls 10216
tugamts: folds
gresuay: folds
cardlo69: calls 5216
*** FLOP *** [Jh As 3d]
cardlo69: checks
147_star: bets 17500
HAZZZZA: calls 17500
cardlo69: calls 17500
*** TURN *** [Jh As 3d] [6c]
cardlo69: checks 147_star: checks HAZZZZA: checks
*** RIVER *** [Jh As 3d 6c] [5d]
cardlo69: checks
147_star: bets 32500
HAZZZZA: folds
cardlo69: folds
Uncalled bet (32500) returned to 147_star
147_star collected 90148 from pot

*********** # 292 **************

Lose 35k from 240k stack, blinds 3k/6k with A3 <>First key clash with Hoodini10 goes his way, his aggression and fearlessness has been noted though, and given the situation/stack sizes (I have 200k) I was tempted to call thinking I may be good

*********** # 302 **************

Dealt to 147_star [Th As]
folded to cutoff
hoodini10: raises 9750 to 17750
147_star: raises 26443 to 44193
babina_greda: folds
triggerjoe1: folds
hoodini10: raises 207681 to 251874 and is all-in
147_star: folds

*********** # 313 **************

KK > AQ for 130k pot and back to 211k blinds 4k/8k

This one was a call I was pretty proud of, it was the second time he had shoved against me and I thought he was doing it fairly wide.

I have 250k, he has 158k...

Dealt to 147_star [As 2s]
AceQuad: folds jnpn: folds GetDowAndGo: folds benstunner: folds hoodini10: folds
147_star: raises 12500 to 22500
-benWU-: folds
Derby Status: raises 134860 to 157360 and is all-in
Zippus: folds
147_star: calls 134860
*** FLOP *** [Ac 4d 7s]
*** TURN *** [Ac 4d 7s] [Kh]
*** RIVER *** [Ac 4d 7s Kh] [2d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Derby Status: shows [Kc Qc] (a pair of Kings)
147_star: shows [As 2s] (two pair, Aces and Deuces)147_star collected 333720 from pot

Up to 430k now, blinds 5k/10k, when this stupid hand comes along!

Dealt to 147_star [Jc Js]
-benWU-: folds
Hohojirozame: folds
Zippus: folds
kremlin72 [observer] said, "v tough table
"AceQuad: raises 11366 to 21366
GetDowAndGo: folds
benstunner: raises 52294 to 73660 and is all-in
Kilah Priest is connected
hoodini10: raises 345107 to 418767 and is all-in
147_star: folds
AceQuad: folds
Uncalled bet (345107) returned to hoodini10
*** FLOP *** [5h 3s 4d]
*** TURN *** [5h 3s 4d] [Kc]
147_star said, "ridic i had jj"
*** RIVER *** [5h 3s 4d Kc] [Qd]
*** SHOW DOWN ***hoodini10: shows [9h 9c] (a pair of Nines)
benstunner: shows [2d 2h] (a pair of Deuces)hoodini10 collected 186686 from pot

I don't like his shove much and think maybe he is a bit too laggy and aggressive from that hand, and regret the fact it wasn't blind on blind one time he's 4bet jammed me in that situation once already.

*********** # 353 **************

I take a 100k dent from 430k back to 330k after a 3xer from mid position jammed on my button 3bet (I had KQ, he claimed KK)

*********** # 369 **************

Getting pretty deepish now, I have this huge flip go my way against my nemesis Hoodini!

Dealt to 147_star [Ah Td]
Hohojirozame (SICK JUST REALISED HE GETS TO THE FT): folds
Zippus: folds
AceQuad: folds
vonchamier87: folds
tomoscas: folds
hoodini10: raises 18750 to 33750
147_star: raises 232050 to 265800 and is all-in
-benWU-: folds
hoodini10: calls 232050
*** FLOP *** [5s Kc As]
PompYouUp [observer] said, "aaa"
*** TURN *** [5s Kc As] [2h]
PompYouUp [observer] said, "aaaaaaaaaaa"
*** RIVER *** [5s Kc As 2h] [Jh]
*** SHOW DOWN ***147_star: shows [Ah Td] (a pair of Aces)
hoodini10: shows [7h 7d] (a pair of Sevens)
147_star collected 558600 from pot
147_star said, "ty pomp ;)"

Pompyouup is a sick player btw who finished top 20ish and got horrificly 5outered on the river for a monster stack with a couple of tables left, really feel sympathy towards you man, you'll have your time.

This hand, just 4hands later, was a fairly tough decision but luckily I made the correct one...

Dealt to 147_star [5h 5c]
vonchamier87: folds
Zippus has returned
tomoscas: folds
hoodini10: folds
147_star: raises 15600 to 30600
-benWU-: folds
Hohojirozame: folds
Zippus: folds
AceQuad: folds
PapaGreggio: calls 15600
*** FLOP *** [Td 4c 4d]
PapaGreggio: checks
147_star: bets 37500
PapaGreggio: raises 52499 to 89999
147_star: calls 52499
*** TURN *** [Td 4c 4d] [Ts]
PapaGreggio: bets 175013 and is all-in
147_star: calls 175013
*** RIVER *** [Td 4c 4d Ts] [6d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
PapaGreggio: shows [Qc Kd] (two pair, Tens and Fours)
147_star: shows [5h 5c] (two pair, Tens and Fives)
147_star collected 612224 from pot

Up to 870k now, blinds 7500/15000 and feeling good!

Somebody finally notices my raise intentions in some chat that I've only just noticed now, thanks a lot mate for staying up and watching all night, I appreciate it!

kremlin72 [observer] said, "getting rid of your stack inequality. lol. OCD FTW"

Another awkward decision but as I think Zippus is a gortina99: calls 800
147_stcall.

Dealt to 147_star [7d As]
vonchamier87: folds
tomoscas: folds
hoodini10: folds
147_star: raises 20200 to 40200
-benWU-: folds
Hohojirozame: folds
Zippus: raises 209178 to 249378 and is all-in
AceQuad: folds
HCclubhopper: folds
147_star: calls 209178
*** FLOP *** [2c Ac 5s]
*** TURN *** [2c Ac 5s] [7h]
*** RIVER *** [2c Ac 5s 7h] [3s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
147_star: shows [7d As] (two pair, Aces and Sevens)
Zippus: shows [8h Kd] (high card Ace)

Luckily when I made the right reads Pokerstars was in a mood to reward and hands were holding nicely at the right times and I was on over a million chips and pretty close to first place!

This was an annoying hand where I was confident I was ahead and trying to eek out some more value until the river meant I paid him off...

*********** # 395 **************
Dealt to 147_star [Kc Qc]
call110: folds
AceQuad: raises 22223 to 42223
HCclubhopper: folds
vonchamier87: folds
tomoscas: folds
hoodini10: folds
147_star: calls 32223
Hohojirozame: folds
*** FLOP *** [Qh 6d 2d]
147_star: checks
AceQuad: bets 41233
147_star: calls 41233
*** TURN *** [Qh 6d 2d] [6c]
147_star: checks
rchan5 is connected
AceQuad: checks
*** RIVER *** [Qh 6d 2d 6c] [Ad]
147_star: checks
AceQuad: bets 86444
147_star: calls 86444
*** SHOW DOWN ***AceQuad: shows [Ah Tc] (two pair, Aces and Sixes)147_star: mucks hand

The following hand, with perhaps a hundred people left, was the hand that made the most nervous of any in the whole tournament...I knew me and this guy would clash, and he we were with a blind on blind scenario...my heart was racing a ridiculous amount here it's not even safe!!

*********** # 402 ************** Level XXIV (12500/25000)

Seat 3: hoodini10 (782504 in chips)
Seat 4: 147_star (959178 in chips)

Dealt to 147_star [Ad 7c]
hoodini10: raises 42500 to 67500
147_star: calls 42500 [I JUST FLAT HERE BECAUSE HE 4BET SHOVES SO OFTEN]
*** FLOP *** [6c 7d 4h]
hoodini10: bets 87500
147_star: raises 126678 to 214178
hoodini10: raises 498326 to 712504 and is all-in [AFTER A HUGE DWELL]
147_star: calls 498326 [I WANTED THIS SHOVE AND DECIDE AGAINST HIM IT'S A CALL]
*** TURN *** [6c 7d 4h] [5h]
*** RIVER *** [6c 7d 4h 5h] [Qs]
*** SHOW DOWN
***hoodini10: shows [As Tc] (high card Ace)
147_star: shows [Ad 7c] (a pair of Sevens)
147_star collected 1582508 from pot

WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! Genuinely the most nervous I have ever been at a poker table in any given scenario...sick heartrate as he spent a minute before jamming! I planned the hand out in my head before he jammed and luckily it went pretty much according to script.

I stay at around the 1.7-1.8m mark until this hand in which I don't dislike my play as the chip lead villain had flatted and reraised on the flop a few times now but perhaps calling would have been better on the flop

*********** # 424 **************

Dealt to 147_star [Ts Ks]
147_star: raises 30500 to 60500
AFROSUPERMAN: folds
JSchnett: folds
call110: calls 60500
AceQuad: folds
HCclubhopper: folds
vonchamier87: folds
Eduts: calls 30500
*** FLOP *** [3s 5s 4h]
Eduts: checks
147_star: bets 86500
call110: raises 113499 to 199999
Eduts: folds
147_star: raises 199999 to 399998
Akeen is connected
call110: raises 2522542 to 2922540 and is all-in
147_star: folds

*********** # 456 **************

Seat 4: 147_star (1147000 in chips)

In the bag from there really!!! :D

This was a huuuuuge bluff to keep my stack nicely above the 10-20BB region and mean I could afford to raise/fold and dominate where possible...

*********** # 467 **************

Dealt to 147_star [Js Tc]
PompYouUp: folds
147_star: raises 52500 to 102500
RaZe_U: folds
kdk1111: folds
ship_it_cfb: folds
klorinho1: folds
mick_allin: folds
EXTRA84: calls 77500
Enigmatic Em: calls 52500
*** FLOP *** [8c 2c 3h]
EXTRA84: checks
Enigmatic Em: bets 50000
147_star: raises 162501 to 212501
EXTRA84: calls 212501
Enigmatic Em: folds
*** TURN *** [8c 2c 3h] [Kc]
EXTRA84: checks
147_star: checks
*** RIVER *** [8c 2c 3h Kc] [5d]
EXTRA84: checks 147_star: bets 699999 and is all-in
EXTRA84: folds

I AM SUCH A DUMBASS, I HAVE BEEN HAVING SUCH TROUBLE PUTTING THESE HANDS OVER ON HERE AND I'VE JUST WORKED OUT HOW MUCH EASIER IT WOULD HAVE BEEN DOING IT ALL IN WORD AND THEN PASTING THE WHOLE THING ACROSS.......VARIANCE IMO!!!

Anyways, on with the action...I really hope this isn't boring, all of these hands were crucial to me and really changed the dynamics of how I could take pots uncontested. In a tournament of this size, these pots are the ones that prevent you having to win 100's of all ins and give you scope to cope with some outdraws/coolers, not that I had many at all!!

*********** # 478 **************

In this hand I made a dubious and debatable call with A5suited to a guy's 9BB middle position shove after it's the second hand he's taken in a row and whilst i've just moved here it seems like he jammed a hand just before that other one to take a pot as well. He had 10s and held an I am back down to 500k and have 10BB's again.

Then the standard insta-reprieve happens!!

*********** # 479 **************

Dealt to 147_star [Kh Kc]
Pechtis111: folds
147_star said, "fml"
147_star said, "bad call ffs"
ssinna: folds
Ronigoal: folds
PHHSkid99: folds
panormogr: folds
VieTLoKo: raises 102456 to 162456
batlerbm: folds
147_star: raises 307165 to 469621 and is all-in
deglingue: folds
VieTLoKo: calls 307165
*** FLOP *** [7c Qc Ts]
*** TURN *** [7c Qc Ts] [9c]
*** RIVER *** [7c Qc Ts 9c] [6h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
147_star: shows [Kh Kc] (a pair of Kings)
VieTLoKo: shows [Js Jh] (a pair of Jacks)
147_star collected 1053242 from pot

Over the next 10-15 hands made a couple of standard re-shoves with A8 as I was using my 12-15ish BB stack to get other people out of raised pots and stay afloat.

Then a couple of my spots were taken away from me over the next few hands by deglingue, who played very impressively and was very aggressive, 3betting me wide, and I had to wait until this resteal opportunity from heaven popped up...obv the call gave me extra value when I hit!!

*********** # 503 **************

Dealt to 147_star [9s Kd]
deglingue: folds
Pechtis111: folds
ssinna: folds
klorinho1: raises 80000 to 160000
PHHSkid99: folds
panormogr: folds
VieTLoKo: calls 160000
RaZe_U: folds
147_star: raises 817499 to 977499
klorinho1: folds
VieTLoKo: calls 568442 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (249057) returned to 147_star
*** FLOP *** [3c Kc 5h]
*** TURN *** [3c Kc 5h] [Jd]
*** RIVER *** [3c Kc 5h Jd] [6c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
147_star: shows [9s Kd] (a pair of Kings)
VieTLoKo: shows [8d 8h] (a pair of Eights)
147_star collected 1728884 from pot

This was another nice call which earnt me a few extra bluffing chips!

*********** # 508 **************

Dealt to 147_star [3h Ah]
RaZe_U: folds
147_star: raises 83942 to 163942
deglingue: folds
Pechtis111: folds
ssinna: folds
klorinho1: folds
PHHSkid99: calls 83942
*** FLOP *** [4d 9d 8d]PHHSkid99: checks 147_star: checks
*** TURN *** [4d 9d 8d] [4h]PHHSkid99: checks 147_star: checks
*** RIVER *** [4d 9d 8d 4h] [7c]
PHHSkid99: bets 280000
147_star: calls 280000
*** SHOW DOWN ***PHHSkid99: shows [Qd Kh] (a pair of Fours)
147_star: shows [3h Ah] (a pair of Fours - Ace kicker)
147_star collected 983884 from pot

After dropping a few chips to deglingue's brilliant aggression, I make the call with K10hh and have my luckiest moment in the tournament...

*********** # 520 **************
Dealt to 147_star [Th Kh]
folds to small blind RaZe_U: raises 2212072 to 2312072 and is all-in
147_star: calls 1639500 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (572572) returned to RaZe_U
*** FLOP *** [6c Ad Td]
*** TURN *** [6c Ad Td] [5h]
*** RIVER *** [6c Ad Td 5h] [Tc]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
RaZe_U: shows [6h Ac] (two pair, Aces and Tens)
147_star: shows [Th Kh] (three of a kind, Tens)
MSU10s [observer] said, "binkkkkk"

That was a massive bonus as I thought the dream was over but I was still in it and feeling like it could well be my night!

I think maybe there were 21 people by this point when I completed Raze_U's night with this reshove on the small blind against him.

*********** # 536 **************
Dealt to 147_star [Ah 7d]
klorinho1: folds
PHHSkid99: folds
FUTURE102: folds
extasyman: folds
RaZe_U: raises 1562144 to 1692144 and is all-in
147_star: raises 1633856 to 3326000 and is all-in
deglingue: folds
Uncalled bet (1633856) returned to 147_star
*** FLOP *** [Qh Js 3h]
*** TURN *** [Qh Js 3h] [Tc]
*** RIVER *** [Qh Js 3h Tc] [Kc]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
147_star: shows [Ah 7d] (a straight, Ten to Ace)
RaZe_U: shows [6c Kh] (a pair of Kings)
147_star collected 3605288 from pot

This put me up to the dizzy heights of 5m+ chips, over 40BB's and comfortable, although as I said to my mate Luke, l_usher87, legend, if deglingue keeps re-raising me I'll end up shoving...!

*********** # 537 **************

Dealt to 147_star [7d 7s]
PHHSkid99: folds
FUTURE102: folds
extasyman: folds
L_Usher87 [observer] said, "nh"
BigPapaLind [observer] said, "w0000000000000t gogogogogoo"
147_star: raises 136144 to 266144
Benjamin89 is connected
bcforrest is connected
Parky 32 is connected
deglingue: raises 523855 to 789999
klorinho1: folds
147_star: raises 4436145 to 5226144 and is all-in
deglingue has timed out
deglingue: folds

It has to be your night when you avoid a horrible flip due to the situation going mad in front of you...

*********** # 541 **************
Seat 6: extasyman (6266401 in chips)
Seat 7: Parky 32 (7855914 in chips)
Seat 8: 147_star (6185143 in chips)

Dealt to 147_star [Kd Ad]
147_star: raises 132143 to 262143
deglingue: folds
Benjamin89: folds
bcforrest: raises 523463 to 785606 and is all-in
klorinho1: folds
PHHSkid99: calls 12411 and is all-in
FUTURE102: folds
extasyman: raises 523463 to 1309069
Parky 32: folds 147_star: folds
Uncalled bet (523463) returned to extasyman
*** FLOP *** [6h 5d 5c]
*** TURN *** [6h 5d 5c] [Jd]
*** RIVER *** [6h 5d 5c Jd] [5h]
extasyman: shows [Td Th] (a full house, Fives full of Tens)
bcforrest: shows [Ah Qh] (three of a kind, Fives)
extasyman collected 1913711 from side pot
PHHSkid99: shows [Qd Qc] (a full house, Fives full of Queens)

This hand is the first of two sick ones against this villain, he has three bet me a couple of times by now and has now 4-bet me but I still think he must be strong and I try to disguise my hand to some extent with the shove but he doesn't buy it..

*********** # 552 **************
Dealt to 147_star [Kh Ks]
TUT07: raises 130000 to 260000
klorinho1: folds
FUTURE102: folds
extasyman: folds
ktaburn [observer] said, "lol"
Parky 32: folds
147_star: raises 404500 to 664500
deglingue: folds
Benjamin89: folds
TUT07: raises 635500 to 1300000
147_star: raises 3814000 to 5114000 and is all-in
TUT07: folds

This, against the same guy as before, is one of the most ridiculous hands I have ever seen!!!!!!!

*********** # 560 **************

Seat 2: TUT07 (6171587 in chips)
Seat 8: 147_star (6669000 in chips)

Dealt to 147_star [Ah Ac]
klorinho1: folds
extasyman: folds
Parky 32: raises 170000 to
147_star: raises 323000 to 653000
deglingue: folds
Benjamin89: folds
TUT07: raises 722000 to 1375000
Parky 32: folds
147_star: raises 860701 to 2235701
TUT07: raises 3919886 to 6155587 and is all-in
147_star: calls 3919886
Ince 24 [observer] said, "fireworks"
*** FLOP *** [2d 4d Qc]
GarotoPoker [observer] said, "wow"
BeethSymNo5 [observer] said, "LOL j6 hahahaha"
*** TURN *** [2d 4d Qc] [3c]
*** RIVER *** [2d 4d Qc 3c] [9s]
kremlin72 [observer] said, "wow"
rockymtnpro [observer] said, "lol"
*** SHOW DOWN ***
TUT07: shows [Jh 6h] (high card Queen)
147_star: shows [Ah Ac] (a pair of Aces)

What a ballsy motherbluffer and whilst it didn't work out there just wow for even trying it...think that's a time when the supernova stars certainly worked in my favour, and that elevated me in a to a big chip lead wowoowowowoooooooooooooooo!

Again two big hands save me from a cooler (IF BY COOLER I MEAN QUADS)!

*********** # 564 **************

Dealt to 147_star [Tc Th]
Benjamin89: folds
Hohojirozame: folds
klorinho1: raises 2182934 to 2342934 and is all-in
Eduts: folds
lumpicat: folds
extasyman: raises 1531678 to 3874612 and is all-in
Parky 32: folds
147_star: folds
*** FLOP *** [7s 2d Ts]
*** TURN *** [7s 2d Ts] [4d]
*** RIVER *** [7s 2d Ts 4d] [Td]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
klorinho1: shows [Ad Qs] (a pair of Tens)
extasyman: shows [Kd Kh] (two pair, Kings and Tens)

LMAO, some classic chat that I've just seen...

BeethSymNo5 [observer] said, "Hey 147 Star, I just went out and bought you new underwear after seeing J6hearts and remembering that on PokerStars, anything is possible"

Here the guy calls my 3bet, leads in to me and then I hit a dream river to make sure I get paid...

*********** # 581 **************

Dealt to 147_star [Th Ah]
Hohojirozame: folds
Eduts: folds
lumpicat: folds
extasyman: folds
Parky 32: raises 220000 to 420000
"147_star: raises 436201 to 856201
deglingue: folds
Benjamin89: folds
Parky 32: calls 436201
*** FLOP *** [2h Ad 6s]
Parky 32: bets 1000000
147_star: calls 1000000
*** TURN *** [2h Ad 6s] [4d]
Parky 32: checks
147_star: checks
*** RIVER *** [2h Ad 6s 4d] [Jh]
Parky 32: checks
147_star: bets 1899801
Parky 32: calls 1899801
*** SHOW DOWN ***
147_star: shows [Th Ah] (a pair of Aces)
Parky 32: mucks hand (HE HAD JQ)

So my lead builds and I have a chance to dominate now as the final table bubble approaches, I have the other table open and see one guys, the_blues totally crushing it and people are getting knocked out from either table at a fairly quick rate...all that's in my head is one time and the nervous cough has died down for the last couple of hours as I'm just focussed on the win and taking it home.

This next was big as it dented the guy who had been giving me the most trouble...now I felt I could have taken the pot away from him but once I hit the ace I thought I'd try to extract some value and have some pot control in case he had the K, 77 was pretty much exactly where I thought he was at..

Dealt to 147_star [As 9d]
lumpicat: folds
extasyman: folds
Parky 32: folds
147_star: raises 202003 to 402003
deglingue: calls 402003
Benjamin89: folds
Hohojirozame: folds
BeethSymNo5 [observer] said, "J6hearts"
Eduts: calls 202003
*** FLOP *** [Kh 4h Ks]
Eduts: checks
147_star: checks
deglingue: bets 329999
Eduts: folds
147_star: raises 400001 to 730000
deglingue: calls 400001
*** TURN *** [Kh 4h Ks] [Ah]
147_star: checks
deglingue: checks
*** RIVER *** [Kh 4h Ks Ah] [Js]
147_star: checks
deglingue: bets 999999
147_star: calls 999999
*** SHOW DOWN ***
deglingue: shows [7s 7h] (two pair, Kings and Sevens)
147_star: shows [As 9d] (two pair, Aces and Kings)
147_star collected 4926007 from pot

Suddenly I have 100BB's and in a position to totally dominate.

This next hand I flop a really nice flop after he prices me in to call and on the turn his bet just screamed weakness...

*********** # 593 **************

Dealt to 147_star [Ks 7s]
147_star: raises 204150 to 404150
deglingue: folds
Hohojirozame: raises 345850 to 750000
Eduts: folds
lumpicat: folds Parky 32: folds
147_star: calls 345850
*** FLOP *** [Kd As 3s]
147_star: checks
Hohojirozame: bets 650000
147_star: raises 9349999 to 9999999
Hohojirozame: folds

POPPOPPOPPOPPOPPOP of the final table bubble in classic run-like-god style for me!!

*********** # 595 **************

Dealt to 147_star [Ad As]
Hohojirozame: folds
Eduts: raises 297500 to 547500
lumpicat: folds
Parky 32: folds
kremlin72 [observer] said, "wow, sick pot on other table 32>AK aipf for 16 mil"
147_star: raises 707299 to 1254799
deglingue: folds
Eduts: raises 4896317 to 6151116 and is all-in
147_star: calls 4896317
*** FLOP *** [Ts Ks 6h]
HealthySoul [observer] said, "Q"
*** TURN *** [Ts Ks 6h] [3s]
*** RIVER *** [Ts Ks 6h 3s] [3c]k
remlin72 [observer] said, "hold!
"walter rod1 [observer] said, "oh"
***SHOW DOWN ***
147_star: shows [Ad As] (two pair, Aces and Threes)
Eduts: shows [Jh Ah] (a pair of Threes)

So, BOOOOM, I would start the final table of the biggest tournament online with a 28m stack,and 120 BB's...I knew from this point that with the ladders jumping up so sharply I had such a huge advantage with these chips and people just couldn't find it in them to play back at me...

I won't continue with the hand reviews as a video with highlights of the win is available at http://www.pokerstars.tv/poker-video-5356-online-poker-show-sunday-million-april-25th-2010.html, and better still for the poker fans who are interested in the dynamics of a final table or like me want to see what the other guys kept folding the full replay of the final table will be shown on Pokerstars at 6PM GMT from Wednesday!

If there are any questions, queries, congratulations or anything else please comment and I will try my best to respond!

This post has taken me over 3hours as hotmail and blogger was truly playing up and re-reading every hands and thinking which ones were worth blogging or of interest, but I really hope it has been worth it for anybody who has read this or just scanned down, and thank you so much for the support everybody has given me, it has been unbelievable!!!!

I will post more frequently in future and I will update people as to what I may be doing with the money when I work it out...thanks again everybody, and $h1p 1t 1m0!!!xxxxxxxxxx

147_shine

Janaury was a bit meh...

Didn't really get much chance to play in January as I have been taking driving lessons 3-4 times a week and tried to not play on evenings before a lesson. As such, when I played I was chasing profits a little too much, and combined with running bad for several sessions and some of this being at $230's, I didn't make much but with rakeback (in terms of FPP's) and bonuses still had a reasonable month.

I also learnt a valuable lesson, nobody wins on FT...I put $600 on and this went within 50minutes, losing to a 2-outer, a 3-outer and 3 flips plus getting cut off for one game...never again (well maybe for rush poker but that's an acceptable waste!)

I really wanted to hit the last Sunday schedule pretty hard but had a 6 hour driving lesson to look forward to the next day so missed out on Bowburn (DthestudentJ) putting in a heroic run to get 23rdish out of 20k ish people in the Sunday (2) Million for a nice score, but 22 people later he would have shipped $550k...if only I was online I could have persuaded him to take a 23 way chop or at least propose it!

Fortunately, I intelligently booked my driving test for 14:05 today, and it was basically pass and the fairly poor month is justified...fail and Feb may be a struggle as well. I had a couple of traumas including pulling away uphill at traffic lights only to have to stop and not roll back when two fire engines whizzed through...still somehow I negotiated this and despite some obvious minors when I was asked how I thought I did and glanced at the clock showing 14:47 I inwardly said wp and got the good news! I'm still a pretty bad driver tbh but I can learn to drive soon enough and get my own style, so hopefully I can nail the poker in Feb and starting doing well again.

5HIP IT!

Blogggger Tournaments...let's ship them all!


Update wise nothing much has happened, had a standard drop $1500 get back to evens (and then slightly lose) night last night and haven't played much at all in 2010, putting in perhaps 4 or 5 half-hearted sessions. I have been relaxing after a big month in December, have been on holiday in the Lake District and am finally learning to drive which I'm not sure I like tbh...I hate doing things I'm not good at (unless it results in self-satisfaction!!!!) so making stupid mistakes tilt me and I have had 6 hours so far and I'm not quite at ease in a car yet...hopefully that changes soon!


So, I've only made a little bit this month though this has been helped by quite a few more fpps which I've used to invest in a ps3, an ipod nano and some other random junk like clothing and scarves and hats! FPPs rack up fast as a supernova which is nice, and I have been playing $230's and want to mix them in on nights where the action seems softer.


2010 is waiting to be a massive year I hope but it will probably have to start once my driving is out the way as I'm doing a sort of intensive driving programme spanned over a few weeks and I don't want to be out on the road without much sleep. 9am sessions won't be conducive to good driving, and neither will finishing this pos

2009 review, poker and life, and 2010 aims and dreams!!

Well, I can honestly say that 2009 has been a very successful, surprising and on the whole an incredible year with so many achievements and experiences, and I hope I can recap a few of them now! It's going to be epic but it will be my last for a while and I feel that 2009 is worth writing quite a lot about!!

First, I'll discuss life successes/failures and progress...

Despite a bit of a struggle throughout Uni in terms of keeping on top of the workload and being apart from Louise, in the third year I had set myself a reasonable platform from which a 2.1 was very possible. By this stage I was starting to take poker more seriously and had already replaced my part time job with poker but I knew that I had to give myself a sound basis if poker didn't work out. It has always been the same when I was considering taking snooker/football more seriously that I had to have something to fall back on, and poker is certainly in the same bracket of indefinite activities that can disappear as quickly as it appeared. Now, this was difficult, after the biggest win of my life I had to settle down the next day and work on a summative assignment, and whilst all I wanted to do was play and try to win more or go out and celebrate I did manage to knuckle down and prove to myself that I can get through exams and not let people down. I learnt that if I put my mind to something I can succeed and it's reassuring to know that I am lucky to have a good brain on me and I am determined to use it in whatever capacity necessary to succeed.

I have in some ways taken a step back in life by living back at home again after graduating, but financially this makes sense and it's nice to see my family and be able to spend time with my sisters and treat them as often as I like. I have turned my once childish and messy room into quite a nice place to relax and play poker, and have a comfortable chair and a nice monitor, along with a luxury in terms of Sky to help me work optimally. I think I have developed maturity in this time, and have become more placid in terms of poker and life on the whole. I miss Durham and the make-believe happy place it was but as with all forms of life you meet a select few who you see afterwards and make effort to really keep in contact with and they are who matter the most...the fake lifestyle of getting on with everyone at Uni is great and makes the place what it is but that's not the lifestyle I crave. It's nice to be back home, playing snooker and golf more regularly, though I do miss my housemates and the poker games from the last few years!!

I have been very lucky to experience new things this year, and have managed to go to Las Vegas, Malta, Edinburgh and almost everywhere across the British Isles which has given me a bug to go travelling and that is something I hope to do next academic year. I have also been more financially secure than ever before and have enjoyed treating people when I can and of course treating myself...Louise has had a tough time this year keeping on top of her finances and it is a proud feeling knowing that I am helping her out and establishing a nice nest-egg on which we can base our future. I am now one year closer to moving in with her and starting my life with her, and to be honest have been lucky that she and my family have been understanding with regards to me playing poker professionally.

In many ways, the money I have made from poker has enabled a lot of the things in 2009 that I enjoyed, the trip to Vegas, the balla hotel, trips away with Louise and family treats, and whilst I have splashed quite a lot of it on things I don't need, I have put some away safe which I can dip in to for things I need such as driving which I hope to be this month!

In terms of poker, SharkScope informs me that I played on 47% of days in 2009, which isn't that much compared to most of the HU regs. I played <200 games from April - June, and overall in 2009 played 4939 SNG's and a pathetic 130-odd scheduled tournaments, with only 3 Sunday Millions and 3 Weekly HU tournies.

It's easiest to review the whole year by dividing into before October 1st and after, as that's when I effectively became a "pro".

Pre October, I had some ridic run good in tournies, taking 50% of $8k from the Weekly HU tournie, $4.5k from the Sunday 250k and $4.5k from a $55 tournie, adding to around $12.5k I won from HUSNG's.

From a couple of thousand games I won around $28k and took home $24k, largely thanks to the big scores in the tournies. At this point I was still pretty much stuck at the $57.50s and a bit scared to move up to bigger games. Whilst my volume was fairly low, as I made sure I enjoyed Uni and worked when I had to , I had managed to work up the bankroll to make a big decision and play poker professionally for a year. Without some luck I probably would not have been able to make that decision, so I am lucky that I run well to get an opportunity to give it a go full-time.

Since October, I have played around 2.9k games and taken home around $21k profit, earning about $1k a month rakeback from the FPP's. I should really always use them in the HU shootouts to the Sunday Mill but I play too many 280fpp hyperturbos to blow off steam and they are pretty neutral EV. My ROI is only around 6% which can be increased, and mixing in regular speed games has helped increase that ROI. December was the breakthrough month which I hope I can progress from as I worked my ample arse off to make just under 12k from 1240 games, learning a lot about the best way to win which I hope I can take in to the new year.

So, doing some overall calculations, first up, I think if I can continue to win at a similar rate then poker is a viable career for a while. I am losing employability whilst I am out of work, but the tax-free winning at the minute is better than I would get from a job.

I have managed to win around $49k in 2009, give or take, and can add $1k from Vegas to total $50k, of which I gave $4k to backers. With only playing 47% of days in 2009, I am very proud of this total and I hope to add to it in 2010. Also, I managed to grind it out to make supernova, and I read from somebody's blog that 300k vpps with the new FPP and VPP system would equate to around $21k rakeback so I am going to try to maximise my volume to get as much money as I can get!

Aims...in life and in poker!

Travel and plan for possible trip to Aus, Thailand and NZ.

Put in good volume and keep learning.

Move up the stakes when I'm ready to take shots...I've taken a few shots at the $230s and want to continue to do so and beyond.

Play many more tournaments as they are ridic value and big scores can happen...especially Sunday Mill, FTOPS and WCOOP events.

Start driving and go on road trips to different casinos.

Get down to below 18 handicap at golf.

Make at least 4 century breaks in snooker.

Final table and preferably win a live event.

And, being bold, I have worked out that I would need to save my FPP's from 31k 115's to get the 3m FPP's to get a Porsche...if I can start to move up and play higher games, I think I can get a Porsche, so I will use this incentive to spur me on to put in good volume...if I can break even then I will have a healthly living just from the perks of being a Supernova and great FPP system...let's smash the profit as well and be actually able to afford to run the Porsche!

And, most importantly, make sure that any incredible job opportunities are looked into as getting on the employment ladder could become essential at any time!

Right, all the best for 2010, gl everyone!!!!