I've moved, well I moved months ago, and Sovereign Poker's to far away, and I don't drive. So, instead of learning to drive like a normal human being, I'll find a club that's closer. The Full House was actually the first club I ever went to, one night on my way back from Brighton. It was shite.
Since moving here I've avoided The Fullhouse, mainly due to the tournement schedule - it was all rebuys, though on the plus side it did run a weekly PLO game that gets fucking massive, so massive I'm not allowed to play it. I fucking hate rebuys, there's some strategy behind them, but I cannot do it. They feel too luck intensive, and I never get enough chips at the begining.
So, I had a gander at the website, and was pleasently suprised to find that it's under new management, and the new management fucking loves a decent tournement structure. Three nights jump out - two £40 NLH freezeouts with 7500 starting chips on a thursday and saturday, and a fifty semi-freeze with 5000 starting chips on sundays.
Thursday was a forty night, and with a sping in my step I wandered down. The Fullhouse is located in the centre of Reigate, in a carpark, above some shops. It sounds seedy, but isn't - it's the nicest looking school I've played in, and will certainly be my new local. Great little bar area, free Cardplayers, computers for internet play, and 10 tables. Shame about the lighting, which made me feel like I was about to enter a Boxing Main Event, and the music was awful - all Dido and funky house. I think we all know that funky house is just a synonym for wank.
I got there thirty minutes early - unlike Sovereign I was unsure how punctual the place would be. At least the crowd was the same - the heady mix of Car Air Freshner and acne cream. Also, some cunt who claims to play all the EPT's is sat at the bar regalling us with a bad beat story. His quads were cracked by a straight flush, he couldn't believe it, and he can't seem to work out the cards needed for it to happen. Cock. Luckily I don't draw his table. I do, however, have to listen to him talking about Vegas, and while I finish my Guiness I'm reminded about a time I played in Reading with a fella who wouldn't shut up about how he'd play in the W-SOP; long story short, after about three levels of this guys hand by hand replay of his entire World Series, a genius old grinder at the table laughs "All that means is you wasted $10k." When the fella snapped back the he hadn't wasted the money the grinder retorted "Well who was stupid enough to give you that money?"
Eight-thirty rolls around and we kick off. A kid younger then my twelve year old brother is playing some really good poker - I'm gonna try and get to know this kid, because he's everything I should be - intuitive, agressive and lucky. He sat on the button, called a raise, re-raised the cut-off on a king high flop, then pushed to the cut-offs rereraise. When the cutoff folded his K10, he tabled J10. Next round, same situation, flop come 653 two diamonds, he raises, the cut-off reraise, he thinks for thirty seconds, the pushes. The cut-off calls, nay, instacalls, with 63c, and the kid turns over pocket fives. Blank blank. He's fat with chips, and the blinds are only 100-200.
The plays solid; he's set himself up pre-hand as a lunatic, and played that image right into a double up. Of course, you've got to be lucky that you flop a monster when someone flops a second best hand, but the repush screams flush draw. He knew where he was, he know what he had to do. Anyone would have won that pot, but this kid won the maximum. He didn't wait for a scare card to hit before he started to bet, he didn't flat call because he was scared of losing his fish, he played a good hand well. Nice hand sir.
I however, am playing like shite. Too loose to early too many hands. It worked to start, a ran the table over. Then I loose a third of my chips with Q10 on a flop of 10-4-5-A-7 two spades. I call a six hundred raise preflop on the button, flop the 10 and bet out 1500 into a 2k pot, and get called by the Tattooed Maniac to my right. Turn comes and ace, he checks I check, rivers a blank and he bets 1000. I stare at him, he stares back, and for some reason, even though the hand screams value bet, I call. He tables A3. Inside I scream.
I sit at 5-7k for the next hour, playing increasingly desperate. I win a nice little pot with pocket sixes, checking the 7-5-2 flop, betting the four turn, checking the queen river. Then I loose back all those chips with 44 preflop, when the kid pushes my 2k raise. Pretty sure he's got two overcards, but my aversion to coinflips kicks in and I fold. Then I chip up with AQ, and then like that I'm out. I raise to 2k with 66, get called by a big stack on the small blind. The flop comes 7-J-J rainbow. The chip stack bets 5k into the 5.2k pot, and all I'm thinking is AK. And yet he looks supremly confident, so I repush, for 5900. And he instacalls with pocket 10s, I brick out, and leave looking a little sheepish.
So yet again I fuck up two reads, and yet again I'm out early. Sort of early. I talk to the dealer, a fella named Scott - the tournement is playing a lot faster than I thought it would -not in a not having any chips way, though I was low for most of the tournement, but because most of the lunatics decided to get there chips in the middle as quickly as possible. Scott tells me that most of them don't understand deep stack poker. My table seems to.
As I leave the owner asks me my name, for records. A decent place like this will recieve my patronage for the forciable future, so he won't have to ask me it for long.
As a side note, the place lets you track you places, and sorts you into leagues for freerolls. Nice touch. It'll take a lot of work getting into the premiership league, as I appear to be lanugishing about 10 from bottom.
Starting Bankroll £2265
Tournement Entry -£40
Total Bankroll £2225
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