Christopher Hamilton

I played a couple of the new PokerStars 180 player SNG’s last night. It’s the first time I’ve played poker since friday and it was a lot of fun. Well except for getting busted out, which always sucks.

The first tournament I was small blind and there was a small raise and everyone folded round to me. I’m dealt AJ so I call. I probably should have raised but I didn’t. The BB folds so there’s two of us in the hand.

The flop comes Q - 10 - K

Nice, the nut straight. The only thing that worried me was the two clubs.
I bet out around half the pot.

He raises All-In.

I figured he had either hit trips or was on a flush draw and wanted me out of the hand.

I thought about it for about 2 seconds, and called.

He flips over Q Q

So, as long as it’s not runner-runner clubs and the board doesn’t pair I’m fine.

Turn - 7

excellent, another rag please dealer.

River - K

Noooo!!

I busted out of my first 180 tournament in 136th….that sucks!!

After that I thought I’d play a small $10 + $1 multi table SNG and I was doing really well. I got to the final table with a decent stack. Not the chip leader but I had a chance. Then my internet connection dropped.

Fuck, Fuck, Fuck.

What made things worse though was getting it back up and running just as I bubbled out of the tournament.

Damn it!!

A couple of hours later I played my 2nd 180 player tournament. These things really are fun.

I won’t go into this tournament too much but I finished in 20th, 2 off the money. My 2 pair, A’s and 10’s, were crushed by the guy catching a queen on the turn to make a set.

I played really well throughout the tournament with a lot of confidence and I’m sure I would have been able to at least get to the final table, but it wasn’t to be.

My game has really improved over the last month or two but because I haven’t been able to play as often as I would like, my bankroll is still very modest. I plan on building it up over the next few weeks/months to allow me to play these tournaments more regularly. Ever since playing in the WWdN Tournaments I’ve found that I really enjoy MTT’s and I want to be able to play them more but to do that I have to have a decent bankroll to cope with the times when I don’t make the money.

While last night was financially unsuccessful I had a lot of fun for several hours and I’m really glad Stars have made these tournaments a permanent feature.