Yorky Pud

My first experience of online poker was playing Fixed Limit Hold'em and getting my ass handed to me. Eventually I learned the ins and outs of the game and I actually started to enjoy the game; but don't tell anyone please because fixed limit games just aren't cool any more!

Event #13 of the Grand Series of Poker (GSOP) was the only fixed limit game on the schedule and I was strangely eager to play. How did I and Team Betfair players get on? Keep reading to find out.

GSOP Event #13: $300+$20 Fixed Limit Hold'em $50,000 Guaranteed

Fixed limit tournaments are a strange beast in that the average chip stacks seem to remain constant for what seems like an age then all of a sudden everyone starts to bust out one after the other. This is because, for obvious reasons, you cannot get your chips into the middle of the felt, you have to do that one bet at a time. I suppose you could describe it as bleeding to death slowly, well it is if I am at the helm.

In a 10-handed game tight is right but tighter is righter (did I just say that?) so I wasn't expecting my starting table to be borderline lunatics but that appeared to be the case with at least half of them playing between 35 and 60 percent of their hands, including the donkey in the next hand.

The action folded around to yatzy_19 in the hijack and he made it 60 to play. I was next to act and three-bet with AhAs the button folded but the small blind, playing 66/8/1.0 cold-called. The big blind folded and the original raise tossed in the extra chips needed to call so it was three handed to the 7h-3s-3c flop. The small blind, KillBill27, checked, yatzy_19 checked and I made the maximum allowed bet of 30. Wow, that'll scare 'em. The small blind then check-raised to 60 and straight away I was like WTF and just called. The 7c turn saw fish face bet 60 and me call, which is exactly what happened with the 9s river and villain flipped over 7s3h. Post flop is fine obviously but what on Earth was he doing preflop? As usual poker rewards the donkeys in the short term.

That kind of set the tone for the entire evening and when the blinds started to rise quite substantially raising and missing the flop gets quite expensive. I raised, missed the flop and c-bet with ace-king, ace-queen and ace-jack during the 150/300 level and by the time the blinds had reached 300/600 I only had 1,500 left after paying the big blind. Icenigel opened UTG, the action folded to bojarek on the button and I three-bet with Ac9h in the big blind. Icenigel capped and bojarek called and I called off my last 300 chips. Both players checked down the Qh-7d-2s-4d-3h board and both showed ace-king and I was out of there.

By the time the tournament had come to an end only three Team Betfair players had made it into the money places. St1lett0 finished in 22nd for $527.67, Jack “Ellw00dinh0” Ellwood came 17th for $633.20 whilst Waaaaal of Austria's 11th place finish was the deepest of the lot earning him $911.81.

Event #13 in numbers

Total entrants: 198
Total prize pool: $59,400
Total Team Betfair entrants: 44 (22.22% of field)
Total Team Betfair cashes: 3
Total Team Betfair prize money: $2,072.68 (3.50% of prize pool)

Mini-GSOP Event #13: $30+$3 Fixed Limit Hold'em $7,500 Guaranteed

It took almost exactly 30-minutes for the first hand of note to occur in the mini Event #13 but it was worth the wait as it added a monster nine big blinds to my stack! The action folded to me in the hijack and I raised to 100 with KsKd only for nikmani and Woadsyyyy to call on the button and in the small blind respectively. The flop came down a rather safe looking 3h-6c-2c and when the SB checked to me I fired a 50 chip bet an unsurprisingly was called in both spots. The 6s turn saw Woadsyyyy lead into me, I called and nikmani folded meaning it was heads-up to the Ah river, not the best card in the deck, so when villain checked to me I checked behind to be shown QcQs.

I then lost three pots before picking up aces and betting all three streets of a king-high board and being good, then a few hands went my way and I was starting to think I could go quite deep. But then I stole on the button with queen nine and the big blind defended with nine-seven, flopped two pair and I paid him off. Damn. Not to worry because seven or eight hands later I would pick up kings again.

Of course this would not be a tournament I had entered if I did not have AA or KK cracked at a key time so here's my cowboys being obliterated. The blinds were 200/400 and I am sat in late position with 2,815 chips and KcKd, so when niki199393 to my immediate right opened to 800 I was delighted and instantly three-bet planning on getting my chips in at some point.  Villain called, creating a 3,000 pot and now I only had 1,615 I was basically going to be all in. The flop came down 4d-3s-7s and villain check-called my bet. The Ah turn received the same treatment as did the 10h river. I showed KK, they showed As8s and that was it, a 119th place finish.

Only two of Team Betfair made it through to the money places, j_sideris of Greece busting in 21st for $67.66 and PingoPenguin being eliminated in 13th place for $97.42. Not our finest hour but fixed limit tournaments are difficult to consistently go deep in.

Mini Event #13 in numbers

Total entrants: 196
Total prize pool: $7,500
Total Team Betfair entrants: 32 (16.33% of field)
Total Team Betfair cashes: 2
Total Team Betfair prize money: $165.08 (2.20% of prize pool)

With the completion of both Event #13's Team Betfair players had cashed 310 times for $417,119.06 whilst mini-GSOP players have cashed on 340 occasions for $21,381.81.

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It appears that in Team Betfair circles there is a big thumbs up for Pot Limit Omaha but a resounding chorus of boos and hisses for the same betting structure when applied to Texas Hold'em. Why? Divert your eyes downwards to find out.

Event #12: $100+$8 Pot Limit Hold'em 1r1a $50,000 Guaranteed

Although I am not personally a fan of Pot Limit Hold'em I love the idea of one rebuy and one add-on formats so please Betfair Poker add some more of these to the regular schedules. The reason I like them is the fact they help increase the prize pools and allow you to loosen up a tad without having to have a gigantic bankroll to rebuy a dozen times. Anyway, more on that later, let's get down to the action or should I saw lack of it.

I wish you guys could see my Holdem Manager database to see the cards I was being dealt early on, they were ridiculous to say the least. We started with Js5h, 7s5h, Qd7h, Qh5s, 3s3h, Ts6d, Jh5d, Jh4h, Tc8s, Qd2h, 8c3h, 7c2h, 6c6d, Kd2h and 6s2s! Amazing. I then picked up QdQc, raised and picked up the blinds to start the ball of crap cards rolling again.

I'd lost a coupled of 150-200 chip pots trying to get creative but it looked like another early bath was on the cards until I picked up KdKs during the 50/100 level. BobbyJ4 opened to 300 from under the gun, one player folded before tiltnogood8 three-bet to 699. Another player folded before I shoved for 1,935 in total. BobbyJ4 then re-shoved for 5,785 and when tiltnogood8 folded I found myself up against pocket queens. A ten-high board was enough to see me scoop the pot.

Although things weren't going my way I decided to add-on during the break which is why I was able to donate 8,143 chips to my opponent during the 300/600 level. The action folded to Sircall in the butoff and he made it 1,200 to play. I was on the button and three-bet to 3,480 then called off my 4,663 remaining chips when Sircall essentially shoved on me. My 8s8c were ever so slightly ahead of the Ah9h of villain but I don't win flips and didn't win this one either as the board ran out Jh-Jd-10d-Ad-Kh to bust me out in 160/297. Meh.

It appears that PLHE is not the forte of my fellow Betfair players either because only three of us made it into the money places. Toots2_x finished in 40th, Doobs faired a little better busting in 24th whilst Mulegrynet's tournament came to an abrupt end in 14th place. Still over $1,700 won so not all lost by any means. Well done everyone who cashed!

Event #12 in numbers

Total entrants: 297
Total prize pool: $72,100
Total Team Betfair entrants: 44
Total Team Betfair cashes: 3
Total Team Betfair prize money: $1,711.05

Mini-GSOP Event #12: $10+$1 Pot Limit Hold'em 1r1a $10,000 Guaranteed

This particular event was one of the worst I had played in, not because of the format or anything like that but the fact I lasted exactly 37 hands despite rebuying! Yes I suck.

I'd already won a couple of little pots (before I rebought) so was seated with 2,600 chips when I picked up jacks in middle position. The UTG+1 player min-raised and I opted to call. I should possible have raised but whatever, I called. Gairy87, on the cutoff, also called and it was three ways to the 7s-7d-2h flop. UTG+1 checked, I bet 145 into the 225 pot and Gairy87 raised to 345. Our friend folded and it was no heads-up to the 6d turn. I now checked, villain bet just 165 into 915 and I called bringing us to the Ks turn. I checked again and villain bet again, setting the price at 555. I remember saying to myself that he had to have typed that amount in deliberately but I couldn't fathom out what it meant. It wasn't a king that's for sure. I opted to call and wasn't shown a king instead I got to see 9h7h for trip sevens. Ah, that makes sense!

I topped up my stack with some more chips and got back trying to find a hand. The blinds were 50/100 when I next got involved, making it 245 to play with my Ah6h from middle position. Everyone folded to the delightfully named CalzonePizza in the small blind and he call. We shared a flop reading 3h-7h-Jd and when my doughy friend checked to me I continued with a 300 bet into 590 only to see him suddenly check-raise to 800. Now here I should probably call and re-evaluate on the turn but that isn't fun is it? No it isn't, so I put in a raise myself, this one to 2,990. Have that! CalzonePizza did not take after his namesake and fold instead he shoved for 3,242 in total and I obviously called and even more obviously missed my flush.

The Pizza then busted me three hands later when I got the rest of my chips in with sevens to his eights and I couldn't find a third seven on the five community cards. Another finish outside the money for me, 361/412. Time for bed for Pudding.

Like the bigger GSOP Event #12 only a select few managed to make it into the money, four in total. PapAmericano made it into the money places yet again finishing in 59th place and he was joined by robmug )51st), dukeboy10 (19th) and a big shout out to 586527 who reached the final table before being eliminated in fifth for $520.19.

Mini-GSOP Event #12 in numbers

Total entrants: 412
Total prize pool: $10,000
Total Team Betfair entrants: 52
Total Team Betfair cashes: 4
Total Team Betfair prize money: $675.23

So by the time the dust had settled on the 12th events the figures looked a little something like this. In the GSOP Betfair players have cashed a total of 307 times winning $415,046.38 in the process whilst the mini-GSOPers have cashed 338 times for combined winnings of $32,216.73.

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At this year's World Series of Poker Phil Hellmuth seemed to have a unique and rather unwanted ability to finish as runner-up in some big events. At this year's Grand Series of Poker (GSOP) a number of Team Betfair players have been suffering the same fate. Who was a bridesmaid this time around? Keep reading to find out.

GSOP Event #11: $50+$4 No Limit Hold'em Short-handed Rebuys $100,000 Guaranteed

Regular readers of these recaps will have realised that I am not a fan of rebuy tournaments, especially rebuy tournaments that I cannot really afford to rebuy in. Before the GSOP I said to myself that I would give my all in the rebuy games but unless the rebuy was within my bankroll management constraints I would not be rebuying. Usually $54 buy-in games are outside of those bankroll restrictions so this was another event where I was trying to get through with just one bullet.

The problem with playing with just a single shot is that you sometimes play a little too tightly in order to preserve your chips and that is exactly what happened in this event. Looking back through my Holdem Manager database I missed several raising and three-betting opportunities but failed to pull the trigger. Thankfully at the 80/160 level, when I was down to 1,380 chips, I picked up KsKh and open shoved from UTG. The action folded to TRAOULOS1 in the big blind and thanks to him having more than 12,000 in his stack he made the call with Ad2s. The Qs-7s-8d flop missed him, the 2h turn hit him but the 9c on the river was not one of his outs and I bought myself a little breathing room.

Not long afterwards, during the same level, I found AsKs under the gun and min-raised to 320. Nobody wanted to play until the action was on Sejan in the small blind and he three-bet to 960, exactly three-times my raise. The big blind got out of the way and I decideed to ship in my remaining 2,280 chips and villain snap-called with pocket jacks. Great, time to lose yet another flop and that looked like it would be the case as by the turn the board read 3s-4d-Qh-7d but the ace of clubs showed its beautiful face on the river to double me again. [ ] Skill game

I was starting to feel pretty good about another GSOP cash as I was starting to run well and I started to run even better when I picked up AhAc during the next level, 100/200. Houen 7 opened to 500 from under the gun and when it folded to me in the big blind I three-bet to 1,400. Villain called and it was off to the fantastic looking 5d-2d-As flop. With 2,900 in the pot and just 3,360 behind I simply shoved like the money I am and villain called with AdQh. No drama on the turn or river and my stack was touching 10,000! Who needs to rebuy?!

Then the ride became a little bumpier. I'd win 1,200-2,500 chips, lose the same out, win them back and so on and so forth. That was until MswatiIII open-shoved for 4,607 with blinds of 250/500/50a with what turned out to be Ah5d, a much lesser hand than the AsJc I called with in the big blind. It was only the best hand for the first two cards on the flop because the final board read 8d-4h-5c-5h-3c to leave me in shoving territory with 7,645 chips.

Two hands later it was all over. The action folded to me on the button and I thought the best play for my 7,295 chips was to move in with my Ac6d. Unfortunately for me the villain from the last hand woke up with KdKc, which held, to send me to the rail 215/757. From hero to zero in two hands. That as they say is poker.

Commiserations to dalemark70 of the UK who busted out in 108th with 105 paid, a much more disappointing, to him, feeling than my bust out I am sure. He was followed to the virtual rail shortly afterwards by Chris "NigDawG" Brammer in 93rd, Brammer being the number one ranked online tournament player in the entire world! In total 17 Betfair players made it through into the money place but only one made it through to the final table, Rand0mD0nk, whose name obviously is not true! Rand0mD0nk eventually finished as runner-up for a score of $12,481.01, narrowly missing out on the magic that occurs when you take down a GSOP event. An amazing performance from the dinkish one and I am sure it will not be his last major cash.

Event #11 in numbers

Total entrants: 757
Total prize pool: $103,600
Total Team Betfair entrants: 121 (15.98% of field)
Total Team Betfair cashes: 17
Total Team Betfair winnings: $17,520.71

Mini-GSOP Event #11: $5+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Short-Handed rebuys $15,000 Guaranteed

The mini-event was one where I said I was going to splash around early doors and try to build a stack up and it seemed to pay off as my donkey plays were rewarded! As early as the 15/30 level I managed to double up! Lukas V76 opened to 90 on the button then called when I three-bet to 240 with a pair of sevens. The Ad-Qh-6d flop saw me lead for 380 and villain call. The turn was the 7h gifting me an unlikely set and I bet 960 and villain simply called again, which was strange because that bet only left me with 450 behind! These obviously went into the middle when the river was the 5s and villain called the mucked. I was now on 4,090.

Unfortunately that is where the good fortune ended as it was a rapid downward slide from that very point. At 80/160 I opened to 320 with Kh10h from the cutoff and only the small blind, mole666, called. We both checked the Jd-4c-Jc flop but villain lead for 560 into 800 on the Kc turn. I didn't believe him and called and I didn't believe him when he bet 960 into 1,920 on the arrival of the 8c on the river. There is no way he has a king that I am not chopping with and he hasn't got the flush but he did have Js8s for a full house. Yeah, that beats my hand too! Oops.

So I went back to treading water for the next 10 minutes when I found a nice little re-steal spot. _ASDASDASD min-raised to 400 from the cutoff, I shoved for 2,885 on the button with Ac4h and villain called. A flop reading Jc-Kc-Ks was all that was needed to bust me because the turn and river missed me by miles and another tournament void of winnings was mine; 706/1,115.

Thankfully not all Betfair players were feeling as fishy as me and 20 of the 159 who entered made it into the money places. The first to collect some cash was Eyeball Kid_ of Russia and his in the money finish paved the way for more players to receive money. If the tournament had been played to a full ring format then DRK HRT would have made it to the final table with their ninth place finish but alas this was six-max. Which also means daianov of Bulgaria missed out on a final table appearance but they did make it into seventh place for $412.08 which in itself is a great result.

Mini Event #11 in numbers

Total entrants: 1,115
Total prize pool: $16,085
Total Team Betfair entrants: 159 (14.26% of field)
Total Team Betfair cashes: 20
Total Team Betfair winnings: $1,369.69

So what are the running totals after the 11th events? Well, in the GSOP Team Betfair players have cashed a total of of 304 times for winnings of $413,335.33 whilst our mini heroes have made it into the money 334 times for prize money worth $31,541.50.

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Twenty players returned to their seats inside the Bay 101 Casino in San Jose, California yesterday each of them hoping to at least make it through the day with their chip stacks intact and earn their place on the televised six-handed final table. For 14 of those players the dream ended but for the six who have made it through the dream of becoming a World Poker Tour champion is still very much alive.

The best placed of the final six is the Canadian man-mountain Erik Cajelais who will unbag and re-stack chips worth 3,648,000 when play resumes later today. Cajelais' stack contains almost an extra 1,500,000 than anyone else on the final table and he will be a firm favourite to walk away victorious in this tournament.

Cajelais has been a professional poker player since 2005 and he did not have to wait long for his first six-figure score as that came in December 2006 when he won the $5,000 buy-in Fifth Annual Five Diamond World Poker Classic for a cool $430,730 but he bested that score at the 2007 WSOP when he came second in the $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha event ($483,755) then in September of 2009 when he finished second to Matthew Glatz in the £20,000 buy-in High Roller event at the European Poker Tour London stop, a result that netted him £326,000 or $518,976. That particular score came just a couple of weeks after he won his first and only World Series of Poker bracelet that was awarded to him for winning the £2,500 Pot Limit Hold'em/Omaha event at the WSOPE.

The overnight chipleader will need to finish second or better if he is to break his best live tournament score and standing between him and doing that are Ubaid Habib (2,274,000 chips), Moon Kim (2,098,000), Andrew Badecker (1,040,000), Joe Serock (952,000) and Joseph Elpayaa (908,000). Arguably Cajelais' biggest threats come from WSOP bracelet winner Badecker and Serock. Don't let their shorter stacks fool you because event Badecker has 52 big blinds in his stack and he will certainly have a say on who wins the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Stars Main Event.

Each of the six survivors have now locked up $128,200 for their efforts and this increases to $192,300, then $256,300, $320,400, $570,200 with the eventual winner walking away with $960,900!

WPT Bay 101 Shooting Stars Final Table

Seat 1: Joe Elpayaa - 908,000 (45bb)
Seat 2: Joe Serock - 952,000 (47bb)
Seat 3: Moon Kim - 2,098,000 (105bb)
Seat 4: Ubaid Habib - 2,274,000 (114bb)
Seat 5: Erik Cajelais - 3,640,000 (182bb)
Seat 6: Andrew Badecker - 1,040,000 (52bb)

From time to time poker players, for some unknown reason, love to start with shallow stacks and move all-in like crazy horses just for the laugh. Poker players especially like to do this when they can rebuy and try to win the piece of a $50,000 prize pool and a $7,500 guaranteed one like in Event #10 of the Grand Series of Poker (GSOP) and it's mini equivalent. Here's how Team Betfair and I got on.

GSOP Event #10: $50+$4 No Limit Hold'em Mad Tilt Rebuy $50,000 Guaranteed

The Mad Tilt tournament is not one I would usually enter because it feel like pure gambling to me, a pastime I neither particularly enjoy or partake in, but in for a penny in for a pound let's go play a $54 rebuy one! For this write up I will describe, in great detail, every single hand I played so make sure you're ready.

The tournament kicked off with everyone starting with 100 chips and blinds of 10/20 so we only had five big blinds! Thankfully I had been dealt AcKc under the gun so I simply moved the bet slider all the way to the right, clicked bet 100 and my virtual chips slid into the middle of the equally virtual table. One player folded and I was then called in two spots to discover I was up against AdJc and 8h8d. The flop came down a rather stunning As-4c-Kh which pleased me no end because now I am about to triple up to a massive 15 big blinds. The Qc turn is even better because not I have the nut flush draw to go with my top two and I am already rubbing my hands together with glee. That happiness soon turned sour though as the river was an eight of spades! Mother F***er! Get out of here.

No rebuy for me and I busted out 534/546, amazingly 12 people had busted before me including three Team Betfair players including the last place finisher but we shall spare them of the embarrassment of naming and shaming.

Thankfully me fellow Team Betfairians seemed to fair a little better, except BetFairy who burst the bubble in 80th place. Their demise was for the great good though as it meant everyone else picked up at least $210.27 for their efforts. In tota 17 Betfair players made it into the money with forum and community game regular Mrs Keith A going really deep before busting in 21st place for $450.57. Mrs Keith A was the third highest Betfair casher as only xvisitor1 (16) and Dr.Giddens (7) managed to outlast him/her. Dr.Giddens of the Norway variety won a welcomed $2,327.94. GG everyone. Thank the heavens that one is over with!

Event #10 in numbers

Total entrants: 546
Total prize pool: $78,150
Total Team Betfair entrants: 116 (21.25% of field)
Total Team Betfair cashes: 17
Total Team Betfair prize money: $7,265.42 (9.30% of prize pool)

Mini-GSOP Event #10: $5+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Mad Tilt Rebuys $7,500 Guaranteed

If you thought a $54 buy-in tournament where you start with five big is mental then imagine what it's $5.50 baby brother is like. Yeah, it's completely barmy! I actually rebought in this one, not that it did me any good like but at least I helped to push the prize pool past the $7,500 guarantee.

Eight hands in I am sat armed with the monster stack of 155 and the blinds had already increased to 25/50 so when ti folded to me in late position I moved in with my AhJh and was called by Piraeus in the big blind who had somehow acquired a 505 stack. Anyway, they called with As9s, the board ran out 5c-Kh-4c-8h-4h and all of a sudden I had 335 chips!

It all went Pete Tong shortly afterwards though when the blinds were 40/80. I open-shoved for 435 from UTG+1 with AsKs and was called by Piraeus again and punisher101 was already all in from the big blind. Piraeus showed a dominated AhQd and punisher101 Qs4h. Marvelous, almost a triple up on the card for Pudding then. Don't be silly, everyone knows I run worse than anyone in history! The board ran out 10h-Qc-9d-5h-2d to leave me with 60 chips.

These went all in from the small blind a couple of hands later with 8s6c and syxoi777 raised it up with Ac10s. A board reading Jd-5d-Qh-3c-2d was enough to send me to the rail in 335/713. No more rebuying for me in this event. At least I know why they are called Mad Tilt events.

Some players obviously like them more than me, in particular the 18 Team Betfair players who finished in the top 105 places to receive some money back into their accounts. A big congratulations for not smashing your lap tops to pieces in frustration to 16 of those 18 in the money people but a massive congrats to DJ_Mustafa1 of Ireland and A4Ash of Canada who quite amazingly finished in first and second respectively, winning a combined $2,882.50 between them! Great stuff I am sure you will agree! Well played shove monkeys!

Mini Event #10 in numbers

Total entrants: 713
Total prize pool: $9,860
Total Team Betfair entrants: 96 (13.46% of field)
Total Team Betfair cashes: 18
Total Team Betfair prize money: $3,369.20 (34.17% of prize pool)

More wins for Betfair Poker players which is never a bad thing is it? I would love to see figures from other Ongame sites because I doubt any are killing the games as much as our guys and gals are right now. As of the conclusion of the 10th events Betfair players have cashed 287 times for total winnings of $395,814.62 whilst our mini grinders have made it to the money on no fewer than 314 occasions cashing for $30,171.81. Great stuff, keep it up!

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One of my favourite poker tournament formats is one played to No Limit Hold'em rules with a deep stacked structure and has tons of money money in the prizepool so surely Event #9 of the Grand Series of Poker (GSOP) should have been right up my street. Well it was but it did not go exactly how I planned to.

GSOP Event #9: $190+$10 No Limit Hold'em Deepstack $400,000 Guaranteed

If ever an online tournament had my name on it then it was this one. $65,000 up top would have been the perfect amount for me to significantly boost my bankroll, treat the family to a holiday of a lifetime and purchase a new motor. Instead I picked up some Player Points, a little bit of experience and approximately $3 in valueback; hardly the same is it?

My tournament started off slowly with it taking 34 hands to pick up my first pair, fives, and a further five to pick up an ace with a kicker higher than a three. If only 8c5c was a premium hand. The first pot of note that went my way saw me call a UTG+1 raise to 125 (blinds 25/50) whilst in the cutoff holding Jh10h. The flop came down a rather draw heavy 7s-8c-Jc and I called villain's 175 continuation bet. The turn was the 10c and we both checked but the river was the 10d and when villain checked I bet 335 into 675 and he quickly called then mucked when shown my full house. That was the only action I saw until the 80/160 level but when it came it was certainly worth the waiting.

I picked up AdAc UTG+1 so obviously I came out raising, making it 320 to play. It looked like I was about to pick up the blind when the button three-bet to 909. He didn't seem like a complete monkey so he probably had a decent hand, a hand that he would possibly call a four-bet to 2,315 with! Except he didn't call, no, he shoved for 9,967 and I snap-called off my remaining 2,524 chips and was shown KhKs. The flop was a perfect Ah-3h-3s and it is a good job I flopped a boat because the turn and river were both hearts and I would have lost in cruel circumstances but as it were I was now armed with 9,918 chippies. Nom nom nom.

A few hands later and I attempted to steal with queen-seven but met some resistance from the blinds. My cause was helped though by flopping a queen and hitting a seven on the river to add another 2,000 or so chips to my stack but as they say “easy come easy go” I lost a huge pot as a 96% favourite, which is pretty standard for me. I picked up aces again and min-raised to 320 and to my delight the player to my immediate left three-bet to 800. With the action back on me I four-bet to 2,240 and villain now called. The 5c-9h-Ac flop was pretty damn good and with the pot being 4,720 and villain only having 3,550 left I just shoved and he snap called with AhQh! Result! Pass the sugar. Ship it. BOOM! But just as I was about to virtually stack my 18,000 pot the turn came the 2h and the river the Jh to send the lovely stack of multicoloured pixels to the horrendous fish, who never made it to the money by the way.

Unfortunately neither did I and it was pocket aces again that almost killed me off. The blinds were now 100/200 and I was in the big blind with AcAh. The cutoff open-limped, yes open-limped in a a $200 buy-in tournament, the small blind completed and I raised to 700. Both villains called and we shared a 7d-10d-Jh flop. Not the kind of flop to slow play so when the small blind checked I bet but mistakenly bet just 800 into the 1,600 pot and the limper called but the small blind folded. The turn was the Kd and I should have just bet because I was intended to call his inevitable shove as he only had 2,990 chips and the pot was 3,200. He shoved, I called and eh showed me KsJs. FML. River was the six of clubs and I was left with just 878 chips.

These went into the middle two hands later with my Qs10s only to run into As10d, neither of us caught any of the flop but his ace-kicker came into play and I was sent tot he rail in 1,288/2,160, around four hours earlier than I had planned.

Thankfully Team Betfair players chose this event to absolutely kill it! We had a total of 64 pf our men and women make it into the money places, each one winning a minimum of $279.88 but Betfair players aren't happy with min-cashes so it was no surprise to see no fewer than 19 of them in the top 100 places. By this stage they had all locked up $626.10 and the money was starting to get serious, even more so by the time IvanDimidov and weigolio busted out in 35th and 34th respectively because they were all now walking away with over $1,300 but the best was yet to come because not only did we have two players on the final table we actually finished in Event #9 in second and third place for a combined score of more than $70,000!

MacStokir of Poland was the third place finisher netting himself $29,309.04 and ZOMGMCBACON fell just short of victory coming second for $40,720.35. Amazing performances all round but especially from these two players. Over $70,000 in prize money for $400 outlaw, I'd take that every day of the week!

Event #9 in numbers

Total entrants: 2,160
Total prize pool: $410,400
Total Team Betfair entrants: 379 (17.55% of field)
Total Team Betfair cashes: 64
Total Team Betfair prizes: $103,492.39 (25.22% of prize pool)

Mini GSOP Event #9: $20+$2 No Limit Hold'em Deepstack $30,000 Guaranteed

Another GSOP, another set of bad beats and another cashless finish for yours truly; this is starting to get on my nerves! As early as the 25/50 level I was struggling for chips after getting my money in with a full house  but it was not meant to be. Shu11er77 open-limped from under the gun and the aptly named svanedonk raised to 200 from the cutoff. I was on the button with QhQs and I raised to 540 and when the initial limper called he screamed a big hand but he didn't raise so I though he probably had ace-king or something like that, maybe kings but meh. Donk called and the flop came down As-Qd-Qc. Both players checked to me and I bet 1,100 into 1,695 only to see the UTG player shove for 3,090 in total then donk shove for 3,600! Surely they haven't got AA and AQ? Nope, UTG held AdKs and donk boy AhJc. The 4d on the turn meant I was about to scoop the 11,985 pot but the Kc river put paid to those plans and I was down to 2,655 chips.

Although not really short-stacked I was not in a position that I had hoped but that was about to change during the 40/80 level wasn't it, especially as I had just picked up KhKc and saw some ridiculous action in front of me. The dude with the ace-king a few hands ago open-limped the player to his immediate left raised to 200, the player to his left called as did the button! Seriously! The small blind then moved all in for 2,255 chips and I instantly re-shoved. Everyone else then folded and I was up against AcQs. The 3c-2s-10d flop was superb but the Ad turn was beyond horrid and when the 10h landed on the river my stack had been decimated and I was sat behind just 480 chips. These were shoved in with queen-jack a few hands later and I busted in 1,545 when I was called by both ace-ten and ace-three and nobody caught any of the board. GG me. Maybe I should start folding AA and KK preflop from now on!

Whilst I was busy texting my poker playing friends with my bad beat stories Team Betfair players were busy making their way into the money places, all 43 of them. The first to cash, and the first to cash in the entire tournament, was gs12345678 of the Czech Republic was the first Betfair player to cash and the first player in the tournament overall, he picked up $26.51 fir his efforts and by the time Gadgerno1 had busted out in 30th place the prize money had increased to $155.68. Alendel0n7 picked up slightly more at $192.72 for his 16th place finish and HarziMcGoon of Germany $509.85 for making it all the way to the final table before busting in ninth. But mini Event #9's star performer was zzzzzzzze of Latvia who was finally eliminated in fifth place for $1,451.38.

Event #9 and its mini equivalent were the most profitable of the GSOP yet with $107,413.84 won! Absolute phenomenal stuff from Team Betfair. This huge wins mean that through Event #9 Betfair players have cashed 270 times winning $388,549.20 in the process whilst the mini GSOPers have cashed 296 times for winnings of $26,802.61.

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GSOP Event #8: Another Win For Team Betfair -- Combined Winnings Pass $300k Point

Another day another fantastic Grand Series of Poker (GSOP) and mini-GSOP event. Event #8 of 18 saw 342 Team Betfair players take to the felt to play in the $108 and $11 Short-Handed No Limit Hold'em tournaments. How did they get on? The clue was in the title but continue reading anyway!

GSOP Event #8: $100+$8 No Limit Hold'em Six-Max $75,000 Guaranteed

For the first time in eight events I actually managed to get off to a relatively decent start in this GSOP event, although I hardly played a hand until the 25/50 level. That's a lie I actually played quite a few but all I seemed to be able to do was pick up 50 chips here and there to stay ahead of the blinds.

Right at the start of the 25/50 level I was armed with a stack of 4,875 and was dealt AdKh in the small blind and was primed and ready for some action. It came when the player UTG+1 open-limped then called when I bumped it up to 175. The As-h-8s  flop was greeted by a 265 bet from me and an immediate call from villain. I decided to check the turn, which was the 5h, and I saw villain bet 475 into the 930 pot so I called. The river was the Ac and I checked again almost 100% sure villain would take another stab at the pot and I was correct as he bet 1,400 and I called. Maybe I should have just shoved the rest in but I do not see what is going to call me in that spot that I beat. Villain mucked Ts9s in case you were interested.

I lost 905 chips with kings when I was forced to fold the river of a board that was wetter than an otter's pocket then for the next hour or so it was a case of two steps forward and then two steps back. I'd win 240-300 chips then lose them a few hands later, quite frustrating to say the least but it was still relatively early days as the blinds had just reached 100/200 and there weren't any antes in play yet.

During the middle of the 100/200 level I picked up Kd10d in the cutoff and min-raised to 400, a raise that only zzz123zzz called from the big blind. The flop came down 7d-10s-Kc which I'm sure you'll agree was a pretty tasty flop for my hand so when villain checked to me I bet 560 into 900, probably should have been more but whatever, and he called. The turn was the 7c and when villain checked I checked behind hoping he bluffed the river, which was the Jc, completing a number of unlikely draws. Villain then fired a bet of 1,350 and I quickly called only to be shown As7s for trips. Nice catch sir.

Then came my exit hand around 20 hands later and entirely my own fault. Blinds were now 100/200/20a and I saw kaseo open from UTG+1 to 500 but did not see ikar.gr also call on the button. So my raise to 1,600 with JcJs was quite pathetic in the circumstances. The initial raiser folded but ikar.gr came along for the ride, much to my surprise as I though there was only kaseo and myself in the hand. Oops. The first three cards came out 6s-2h-Kh and I thought why not try represent ace-king and shove my 3,441 chips into the 3,920 pot which might not have been such a bad idea had the KsQs not been in villain's hand! The 8d turn and 2s river were no help at all and I bowed out 442/940 quite angry with myself.

My exit was miles away from the money places but mpookis' exit was not because they finished in 140th place with 140 paid, a real skin-of-their-teeth affair there. Mpookis was joined on the rail over the next couple of hours by a whole host of Team Betfair players right up to fergie28 who busted out in eighth place for a cool $1,945 straight, narrowly missing out on a final table appearance. Nazenit was one of two Team Betfair players on the final table the Russian being eliminated in fourth place for $5,626.05. Amazingly nazenit had won a ticket worth $108 on March 1 and used it to win over $5,600!

Although naenit's performance was superb it was outdone by a player who is no stranger to the tournament tables on Betfair Poker, Belarus' FINISHzFISH who went all the way and took down Event #8 for a massive payday of $15,270.69! To make his win all the more special FINISHzFISH also finished fourth in the $018 buy-in $10,000 guaranteed on the same night for an additional $1,288! What a night! He is currently ranked 152nd in the world for online tournament play on PocketFives and this latest win will certainly boost his position.

Event #8 in numbers

Total entrants: 940
Total prize pool: $94,000
Total Team Betfair entrants: 173 (18.40% of field)
Total Team Betfair ITM finishes: 23
Total Team Betfair prize money: $27,561.19 (29.32% of prize pool)

Mini-GSOP Event #8: $10+$1 No Limit Hold'em Six-Max $10,000 Guaranteed

Mini-GSOP Event #8 was one I was particularly looking forward to based on the fact it is more my buy-in level and I felt like a good, deep run was on the cards. Surely the poker gods owed me a solid finish for once and let me run good? Obviously not.

About half hour in I seemed to lose the ability to concentrate and also to play any form of poker, not good when you are in a tournament! I'd already dusted off 700 chips by the 25/50 level when I thought it would be a great idea to gift 1,300 chips to someone else. From the cutoff I opened to 125 and the big blind called me. The 4h-2h-5s flop saw me begging for an ace in case my new charity case had called with a weak one and when he checked to me I made it 150 to play. But villain spoiled the party and check-raised to 450, that wasn't in the plan. A little perplexed I called and then called a 725 bet upon the arrival of the Js on the turn. I'm such a fish. The Jc river saw villain bet 1,485 and me get out of the way. Well played Pudding you donk.

I managed to double up to 5,940 when my tens cracked aces in a battle of the blinds, kind of serves villain right for slow playing preflop to be honest. Once I flopped the set I went into check call mode and get nicely paid off. KERCHING! From there though it was a battle to keep around my starting stack, that was until another double up came along.

With blinds of 100/200/20a I open-limped in the small blind with AcAh simply because the big blind was a nutcase and was likely to raise everything he held. Sure as eggs are eggs he made it 750 to play so I went for the old “limp-reraise surely he can't have AA trick” and villain fell for it as he shoved for 5,162 in total. SNAPCALL to be shown AdJd. No drama amongst the five community cards and suddenly I was up to 9,560, nice.

It would have been nice had I not busted out shortly afterwards after two successive hands. The first saw me min-raise to 500 with AsTc and Usch58 call in the big blind. A flop reading Kh-Ks-7c was checked by us both but villain came out firing on a 10d turn. I called and then tank-folded to his overbet on the 6s river. He was courteous, or illy enough, to show me KdQs and I was back down to 7,098.

The very next hand I showed my tournament inexperience in my exit hand. I opened from UTG to 625 and both the button and big blind called. The flop came down 6c-Ah-3d and after the big blind had checked I bet 1,375 into the 2,150 pot. The button, yeahback, then shoved for 22,040 and 88jason88 called off his 3,938 stack. WTF. I'm probably beaten here always but I ended up clicking the call button to be shown As3s and Ac3c, seriously. I still had 29% equity somehow but none of it materialised on the turn or river and I was eliminated in 477/1,271, far from ideal.

Thankfully 32 fellow Betfair Poker players managed to make it into the money places but sadly we dod not have a winner or even a player at the final table but we did have a player on the final two tables, snowpaw of the UK who exited in 12th place for $118.46 in prize money.

So another profitable night at the virtual felt for Betfair Poker peeps who have now made it to the money 206 times in the GSOP winning $285,056.81 and 253 times in the mini-GSOP for a further $22,881.16. A big pat on the back to you all!

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Poker players are well aware that in order to be successful at this crazy game they need to make sure they are making decision that, in the long term, will yield profits. Constantly making +EV players help them to forget about the short term variance and eventually win money. That's the plan anyway.

The same runs true for “real life” too but so many get blinded by the short-term profits rather than looking at the broader picture and seeing if something has more value as a long term project. One such situation came up just a week or so ago when I was asked by Betfair if I wanted to play in all the Grand Series of Poker (GSOP) and mini-GSOP (barring the $5,000 Grand Final) in exchange for writing a report on each of the events. I saw this as a fantastic opportunity to play a whole host of tournaments I wouldn't usually have the chance of playing and I snapped their hand off.

Although the thought of winning $15,000-$60,000 obviously appealed to me it dawned on me that unless I actually cashed in some of the events I wouldn't actually be getting paid as such for writing what will end up being around 30,000 words not to mention the time it takes play the tournaments every night and the fact writing these articles takes up time I could use for other projects. I could have quite easily have asked for actual physical cash and locked up a nice short-term profit but I placed a higher long-term value on the education I could pick up from being in $54-$200 buy-in tournaments.

So far I have played 11 of the events, both GSOP and mini-GSOP, and have cashed for around $800 but the experience I have gained just from being in these games is easily worth quadruple that, possibly even more. I've been able to watch and play alongside winning regulars, seen how they bet and I'm soaking it all up like a sponge. Yes I am still missing far too many value-bet spots to be profitable in these games on a permanent basis and I am missing a lot of re-shoves too. And yes I have probably been completely owned on several occasions but with each tournament I feel I am growing into a much better poker player and my poker graduation seems like it is just around the corner.

I'm delighted with some of my results, more so when I consider that if I had just a couple of hands hold up at crucial times I would have gone event deeper in some of the higher buy-in events. Highlights so far for me include finishing 370/2,419 in my first $200 tournament, coming 50/600 in a $108 rebuy (I didn't rebuy or add-on) for my largest score of $521, finishing 86/364 in a $200 buy-in Pot Limit Omaha event, though I have been pleased with how I played in 95% of the games.

Not only have I been learning so much about the game and myself to some degree but playing in these games has given me a new lease of poker life, determination and love for the game. I want to be playing on $50 buy-in games on a regular basis, I want to be playing in the $200,000 Champion Chip on Betfair Poker every week and for the first time in months, possibly in the last two years, I actually feel like I not only could but I will be doing this before the year is out. You mark my words!

In other news, away from the virtual felt, I have been completely dry for 22 days which is probably the longest period of time without alcohol since I was 17 years old. It has been an absolute walk in the park and I cannot see myself drinking ever again, it is really strange. If you had said to me one month ago that I was going to be a non-drinker than I would have laughed so hard lager would have come out of my nose but sat here now typing this I can hand on heart say that I think that will be the case. I won't be pushing the message alcohol is evil down your throats but I would recommend anyone who drinks to read Allen Carr's How To Control Your Drinking even if you have no intention of giving up booze. It's only £3.70 or so on the Kindle so get it bought!

I have also decided to start reading the Discworld series by Sir Terry Pratchett, right from the very beginning. I have just downloaded The Colour of Magic onto my trusty kindle and I will not stop reading them until I have completed all 39 books, finishing with Snuff, probably in around 15 year's time!

I guess that's it for now. Keep an eye out on the Betfair Blog for the GSOP and mini-GSOP exploits of Team Betfair players and those of yours truly and I'll try my best to win one! Until next time, aim for the long term and good luck at the tables.

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If you are in the camp that thinks Pot Limit Omaha is a game that is completely crazy with chips flying around like a swarm of angry bees who are trying to get their honey back then God only knows what you must have thought about Event #6 of the Grand Series of Poker (GSOP) because it was nuts. Want to know more? Of course you do.

Event #6: $50+$4 No Limit Hold'em Short-Handed $100,000 Guaranteed

I was quite looking forward to Event #6 because I thought it would have quite a few satellite players in it because people would think the short-handed format would play exactly like in a cash game, so they would be making plenty of mistakes and what do mistakes make boys and girls? That's right, prizes!

My own tournament was not going exactly to plan and I had dwindled down to 1,940 chips by the time the blinds reached 60/120 but that was all set to change. The player under the gun opened to 480 and I had noticed they had folded to most three bets so I was basically going to ship it in on them and pick up the pot but DeStruCti0n spoiled the party and three-bet to 1,250. They'd been three-betting a lot so I jammed anyway for 1,940 in total, the UTG player folded but the other villain called with AdKc and I won a flip for once, despite the flop coming down 5s-4d-2c. This put me to 4,600 and gave me much more breathing room; no only if I cold catch some cards.

A few medium sized pots went my way then a few went the other way but I did find myself at 8,280 at the 80/160 level and feeling really good about my chances of going really deep in this event. I skilfully reduced my stack to 6,625 to give the others a chance of winning and then fooled them all by doubling up when everyone folded to me in the small blind at 100/200 and I made it 500 to play. IMOBI in the bib blind then shoved which I thought made no sense at all so I called them and was shown Ah2s. The flopped a two but a mighty queen paid me a visit on the turn and I now had 13,450 and was obviously running OK again.

The Pudding peaked at around 18,200 before falling back to 10,000 before rebounding with AsAd versus anelfegi's QhQc to sit behind 21,422 virtual ceramic discs. A few hands later I picked up kings and managed to get paid so I had almost 29,000 chips at 300/600/60a. But it all went horribly wrong shortly afterwards at 400/800/80a when I made it 1,600 with KhTc from the cutoff and the big blind called. The 8s-Kc-Jc board saw the BB check, me bet 2,400 and the Bbclick it back to 4,800. I thought he was full of it and shoved for an additional 12,952 and he snapped me off with KdQd, which held and I busted in 159/865 with 120 spots paid! My shove is probably a lot fishy to be honest but in my defence I had folded to three-bets pre and once to a player who had raised my c-bet all within the last two orbits. I went with my gut and despite its huge size it was wrong. Had I been correct this may have been a brag article!

If I was pretty gutted about falling just short than I need to get a grip because poor Team Betfair player SpiritRz of Bulgaria came 124th but Expekter123 of German managed to scrape into the cash by busting in 119th! In total 21 Betfair players cashed but more importantly four of them made it to the last two tables, three of those made it to the final table and one, Hentschit_ only went all the way and won the sixth event!

Hentschit_ aside, the three who went super deep with him were Varnatraderx of Bulgaria in eighth, mar1ach1 from Germany in sixth, 586527 of Mexico in fifth! Each of them picked up between $2,594.60 and $5,548.36 for their efforts whilst our very own champion picked up a bankroll boosting $20,370.79. A massive congratulations from everyone at Betfair.

Event #6 in numbers

Total entrants: 865
Total prize money: $119,650
Total Team Betfair entrants: 144 (16.65% of field)
Total Team Betfair ITM finishes: 21
Total Team Betfair prize money: $39,212.68 (32.77% of total prize pool)

Mini GSOP Event #6: $5+$0.50 No Limit Hold'em Short-Handed Rebuys $20,000 Guaranteed

This tournament attracted a bumper crowd of 1,561 fishes and me, making it 1,562 and like the $54 version I was feeling in confident mood, a mood that soon turned sour when I had to rebuy! The chips went flying in on a 6d-Qh-8c-9c board with yours truly holding 7h5d for the second nut straight and Ninikis7 6c6h for bottom set, which turned into a boat when the 8d landed on the river. Chips please.

This stack turned out to be much luckier than its predecessor because they helped me win a couple of decent sized pots almost straight away. With blinds 60/120 L.P.BERIY opened to 287 in the hijack, villain from my bust out hand called on the button and I called with As7s in the big blind. The flop came down 9s-Ac-Ks, I checked, hijack bet 420, button called and I played it fast and raised to 2,280 and surprisingly both folded. The very next hand I won another 4,800 pot when I found AdKs on a 2s-Kh-7h  flop against Kd-Js. Nice when it goes your way.

From there though the lucky chips were donated to someone else and I simply could not do anything ritght at all so by the time the blinds were 200/400/40a it was time to bring out the magical ace-nine offsuit. The UTG player min-raised to 800 and I three-bet all in for 6,156 from the button with Ah9c. Once again I ran into a huge hand in AsKh and he called but little did he know the board would run out 4c-5d-Qc-2c-9h, bink, and I was back in the hunt again!

Again my stack dwindled and again the magical 9h came to my rescue, what a card! Sat with 7,786 on the button at the 300/600/60a level I open-shoved with Td9s and the small blind called with AdKh, does he not know of the magic number nine? Obviously not! The board ran out 2c-Qs-4d-3h-9h and I climbed back to 16,532! Easy game. Then things really took a turn for the better, again against Big Slick.

The small blind made it 1,500 to play and I three-bet to 4,500 with my queens. Villain shoved for 46,304 and I called. I was rewarded with a 6h-Qh-Kc flop, a 9h turn (which locked up the hand) and a Jh river. Thanks for the 25,000 stack.

By this time we were into the money places but there were very flat and little difference between cashing and making it to the final table so it was time to play looser and pick up chips for a charge up the table. Unfortunately that charge didn't last very long as my luck finally ran out. APSA1 min-raised to 2,400 from the cutoff and I decided to re-steal for my 22,890 stack with KcJs from the button but once again I ran into a big hand, this time AcQc, and villain called. The Qh-3s-8s-2c-9d board was no help to me and 222/1,562 was all mine. I've since checked my exit hand and it was a definitely resteal based on the fact I reckoned he'd fold 60% of the time but a fold he he only lets his hand go 50% of the time, so pretty close.

Like its $54 buy-in cousin this event saw a number of Team Betfair players go deep with 37 players cashing, eight making it to the final 10 tables, three of those making it to the final three tables and one, RiblStrike of Russia, falling just short of th evictory finishing in third spot. How amazing would it have been if RiblStrike had won this tournament after Hentschit_ had won the bigger GSOP.

Mini Event #6 in numbers

Total entrants: 1,562
Total prize money: $22,975
Total Team Betfair entrants: 219 (14.02% of field)
Total Team Betfair ITM finishes: 37
Total Team Betfair prize money: $$3,214.64 (13.99% of total prize pool)

Once again a fantastic effort from all the Team Betfair players who have now cashed a total of 170 times for $251,150.81 in the GSOP and cashed 202 times for $18,278.55 in the mini-GSOP. Quite frankly brilliant!

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The fifth events of the Grand Series of Poker (GSOP) and mini-GSOP saw Omaha being played for the first time, but not just any old version of Omaha, Pot Limit Omha Hi/Low Split, possibly one of the craziest games you will play; especially in a rebuy format! How did Team Betfair get on? Let's find you.

GSOP Event #5: $50+$4 Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo $50,000 Guaranteed

My experiences playing Omaha have usually being quite pleasurable and profitable but that is in the Omaha Hi version of the game, the split version of the game has always puzzled me. Lifetime I have probably only played 1,500 hands and those were at the fixed limit cash game tables so this tournament was a whole different kettle of fish.

Due to my inexperience in the game I had absolutely no intention of rebuying, instead I planned to sit and wait for premium hands and gamble it up when they found their way to me. Unfortunately I was picking up hands like Qc-9h-8h-6h and Jh-8d-6h-2d from the start and not a playable hand at all. This is probably why I decided to play the hi-only hand that was Kc-Kc-Js-4s around 40-minutes into proceedings, and almost certainly why I was stacked and sent to the virtual sidelines with my tail firmly between my legs.

The blinds were 25/50 and I picked up the aforementioned hand in hijack and misclicked it to 100. The cutoff called but the button clicked it back and made it 175 to play, a bet that the beautifully named madmuffer called in the big blind, I called and the cutoff came along for the ride too. The flop came down 4h-9d-Kd giving me a vulnerable top set so when madmuffer checked I thought it best to bet pot of 725, essentially committing myself I guess. The cutoff, willowz909 raised the pot, putting me all in, and when the other two active players folded I made the call to be shown Ad-Kh-Tc-4d for two pair and a nut flush draw. Apparently that gave me 67% equity but that counts for nothing if the turn competes the flush and the river bricks off! Well played Pudding, 331/358. I might as well have set fire to $54!

Thankfully my dire performance will go relatively unnoticed as seven Team Betfair players made it through to the money. Poland's paymybils was the first of them to cash, finishing in 41st place for $196.16 and he was followed to the rail by LluLlaiLlaco, ggoba87, aerpjkef, LEGOisfun and midastuck all between the places of 39 to 22. But our star performer in Event #5 was Sweden's HenrikX who made it to the final table before busting in eighth for $1,188.48.

HenrikX only rebought once and purchased the add-in so he had more than $1,000 in profit, nice work that man.

Event #5 in numbers

Total entrants: 358
Total prize pool: $50,000
Total Team Betfair entrants: 59 (16.48%)
Total Team Betfair ITM finishes: 7
Total Team Betfair prize money: $2,750.25 (5.50%)

Mini-GSOP Event #5: $5+$0.50 Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo $7,500

I was slightly more confident about my chances in the $5.50 Mini-GSOP event mainly because the fishes were probably closer to my skill and understanding of the game. A total of 644 of my fellow micro-stakes players entered but like the GSOP that was running alongside this event I simply did not pick up any real playable hands but managed to limp into break with a stack worthy of adding onto; so that is what I did.

For the next 30-40 minutes I basically folded, folded and folded some more; I felt like the I was making Origami not playing poker. My demise started when the action folded to me in middle position where I had been dealt Ac-4c-3d-2d and I raised pot to 1,050 with blinds at 150/300. The button, erevos7, three-bet all in for 2,782 in total and I made the call. Villain showed Ks-Qd-7d-2s and I'm a bout a 60% favourite. Again, this counts for nothing at all as the board runs out 8h-Jd-10c-5s-Kh. Thanks for that.

My tournament was over seven hands later when I raised 1,050 of my 1,365 stack in the hijack with Ah-Kd-4c-2h and then called when Rabia Sorda three-bet from the button. My hand was up against As-7h-5s-3d which is pretty good for my hand but the 8c-Ac-2d flop gave me the high but the deuce made my low a worse one that what villain was drawing to. The 7c turn was horrible and the Qd river meant villain scooped the entire pot and I finished 366/644.

Unfortunately we only managed to get five Team Betfair players through to the money places, those being Unschaerfe (84), LEGOisfun (72) who also cashed in the main GSOP, DONTOPRMEPLZ (61), Boujik (41) and our best placed finisher in 28th place Switzerland's genNNnious99. Congrats on making it to the money guys, see you at a different final table!

Mini Event #5 in numbers

Total entrants: 644
Total prize pool: $9,955
Total Team Betfair entrants: 79 (12.23% of field)
Total Team Betfair ITM finishes: 5
Total Team Betfair prizes: $164.90 (1.66% of prize pool)

These results mean that the combined figures for GSOP events 1-5 are, 149 cashes for a total of $211,938.13 whilst in the mini-GSOP we have cashed 165 times for prizes of $15,063.91.

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