The poker calendar now has a lot more choices than a few years ago. Not only do they match your budget, but a wider variety of games are offered. However, with so much going on in the poker world, there seemed to be little time for the Christmas holidays and New Year's Eve celebrations. With a full month of filming in December behind me and my flight to Australia booked for Jan. 3, I managed to have a great new year with quality friends.
At the beginning of December, the
PartyPoker European Open came around again. I had been particularly looking forward to this event, as there were five satellite qualifiers from my hometown and card club in Bridgnorth. Unfortunately, the first of the five, Steve Clear, found himself drawn in the same heat as Scott Fenton, who finished deep in the main event at the
World Series of Poker last year. After hearing so much about him, his performance backed all of it up, and he definitely seems to be a name to watch out for.
The next day brought a new heat and a new Bridgnorth qualifier, Ian Cleary. He also was drawn against a big name from the 2006
WSOP main event, John Magill, who finished an impressive 12th. Ian managed to avoid John until they met heads up. After watching John outplay everyone else on the flop, he took a 50-50 shot at the chip lead with K-Q versus John's pocket sixes, which held up.
Gez "The Captain" Bailey changed the run of bad luck, despite finding himself heads up against Jon "Skalie" Kalmar holding pocket kings, to become the first of the Bridgnorth boys to advance to the semifinal.
Next up was the return of Darren "Chopper" Hickman. Playing for the second time in a televised event, he seemed to have learnt from it and brought his A-game to the table. Luck and form were on his side when, in one crucial hand at the beginning of the heat of six players, five pocket pairs were out, along with a J-10. K-K began the raising, only to be reraised by Darren holding Q-Q, and then A-A moved all in. The action was folded to K-K, who also folded. Darren called, and after the flop brought a queen and the turn a now irrelevant king, he was left to take down a huge pot. Using this lead, he went on to win the heat.
The last to play was television regular Graham "The Machine" Smith. He came to the table in form from Las Vegas - where he had played his first
WSOP, finishing 26th in a $2,000 no-limit event - and the "baby bounce." In the sporting world, this term describes a sportsman who hits his form after the birth of his first son. Nine-week-old Billy was there to sleep through his dad's performance. For the second time in a televised event, The Machine was heads up, all in after the flop, and in the lead, only to be called and outdrawn by Liam Flood.
With five down to two, but drawn in separate semifinals, they were now down to one when only Darren made it through to the final. Darren went heads up with Liam and took the lead. Years of experience prevailed, though, with Liam claiming the title, trophy, and prize money.
With my busy schedule, I had been unable to play at home much this year, and had only recently met Darren, whom I can honestly say I liked from the start. A player for six years, he was quick to congratulate Liam and went on to praise the quality of the players in his local casino, saying it was due to their high level of play that he was able to become the player he is.
Mad Marty Wilson is a professional gambler and poker consultant for Matchroom Sport.
