Monday, January 24, 2011

1st Live Win of the Year

Friday gone I played the Monthly "NPower" private MTT at Aspers Casino in Newcastle, I went along with my good mate, Gary "Geordiegaz" Graham for a start at an early 5.45pm as the game must be finished by 8pm to allow room for the regular game that night, the buy in is a nice £15 with 4000 chips and 10 min blinds! yes, 10 mins! Gary also does a novelty book for this, and priced me at 50-1 to win....cheeky fcker!

22 players started the game and Gaz and I were the dealers amongst this pretty in-experienced crowd, I found myself doubled up pretty early on when my set of 7's beat 2 pairs and again later when my AA held up and i reached the final table as chipleader.

Pretty standard play ensured I made the final two after busting fellow PuntersLounge members Geordiegaz and ThePokerPad  along the way which gave me a 3-1 chip advantage over 2nd place.

Gary continued to deal after being knocked out and he dealt me 88 on the 1st hand which propelled me to a 6-1 chip advantage after an 8 on the flop helped me out big style! It was pretty much game over from that moment on and my final hand of A3 beating Q9 sealed the deal.

Thanks to the lads at NPower for the good humour and the welcome they give, much appreciated. See you next month!

Result as follows:

1st: Graeme Morl - £120


2nd: Craig Wood - £80

3rd: Tony Weedy - £60

4th: Chris Allan - £30

1st Online Wins of the New Year





Sky Poker Tour - Newcastle Leg 2

Sky Poker Tour – Newcastle Leg 2011
Graeme Morl

After weeks of online qualifying, the players of Sky Poker descended upon Aspers Casino in Newcastle for the 2nd leg of this year’s Sky Poker Tour.
171 runners took part in another well ran event, including some notable names such as Carlo Citrone, Tony “Tikay” Kendall, Keith “The Camel” Hawkins and SNG pro Ray “Montadoo” Norton, who is currently ranked 3rd in the UK, who head up a strong field.
After being drawn to the left of Tikay, we have some banter and then he moves all in on me in the 1st hand on the big blind after a raise and 2 calls, one being mine. I look down at pocket 9’s and reluctantly let them go for Tikay to show the obligatory Ace, I’m sure he had a 2 to go with it, but the old man assures me he had a 2nd ace, so ill let him go this time! “Plenty of time left” I say to myself
Just 3 hands later, I look down at QQ and raise the pot to 200, two folds and then a raise, to 300…..has he seen my raise? Is he messing with me? What’s up with that I think to myself, the dealer makes him put in a min raise to 350 and the rest of the table folds, what do I do here, Tikay’s looking at me as if I’m daft, the raiser looks bewildered so I re-raise again to 1200. Expecting the fold, he turns away and announces all-in…..omg I’m lost, does he have the AA, does he have nothing but wants me to fold? You only start with 5000 chips, I can’t keep folding these hands, so decide to call…..yep, he had the rockets. An ace on the turn and its game over, good night, 4 hands, thanks for coming Morls, now I’m on valet duty for the lads. Sigh!
As ever in Sky Poker events, there was the presence of Team Sky Poker, their in house team of professionals and it was one of their own who emerged victorious after 13 hours of gruelling play, for me however, it was a tale of what could have been.
Wayne “GlitterBabe” Rideout, who has excelled through the ranks on Sky Poker and was a fans favourite in their “Total Player” competition, steered his way through the field to emerge as the new 2011 Sky Poker Tour Newcastle Leg Champion.
The heads up battle saw Wayne take on Jamie Louise Barrett, another Sky regular who it seems has a massive following and the rail was loud and lively, testament to the camaraderie between Sky Poker players. The final hand was a brutal end to the event, with both players seeing a cheap flop of 8-5-9 rainbow. Wayne shoves all in and is called by Jamie Lou and we have a showdown, Wayne shows J7o for a double gut shot and Jamie Lou shows 97 for top pair and a gut shot straight draw. The turn brings a 4 which also gives Jamie Lou the flush draw; however a brutal Jack on the river secures Wayne’s victory and a payday worth over £4000.
Many thanks to Sky Poker for their excellent hospitality yet again and Aspers Casino, in particular Tournament Director Gary Ramsey, who ran the event under a lot of pressure and with a stinking cold to boot, Well done all. See you in Luton!

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Im Back!

Hi All

Happy 2011 to all my mates and readers, hope its a good one for you and may we all be millionaires by this time next year!

Graeme