Off to Europe

On April 15, I left Las Vegas and went to five European countries, and played tournaments in three of them. My first tournament stop was for the European Poker Tour event in San Remo, Italy. They expected a big field, and they got it — a record number of entrants for a European Poker Tour main event. Day 1 was spread over two days, as 1,178 players had either paid the €5,250 buy-in or won a satellite seat online. PokerStars was the main sponsor of this event, and a large percentage of the players won their seats there.

I played on day 1 so that if I survived, I would get a day off before playing again. I made it through the day with 21,800 in chips — more than double the 10,000 we started with. This was about an average-size stack, and I knew that I had a long, tough day ahead of me if I was to make it to the money and beyond.

My first major hand came early in the first level of day 2 when a short stack went all in preflop. I had him covered, but would be very short-stacked if I lost. I knew that I had to gamble sometime, and figured that my A-Q probably put me in a racing situation. I was right, as my opponent turned over pocket nines, but I spiked a queen on the flop and busted him, putting me over 30,000 in chips. Since the blinds were 400-800, with a 100 ante, this pot was critical, because it gave me some breathing room.

Later in the day, with the blinds at 800-1,600, and a 200 ante, my next critical pot came about. I had not had aces the entire tournament, and now I found them. I raised to 4,500 from middle position, and it was folded around to the big blind, who called. He was one of the chip leaders at the table and had me covered, so if he cracked my aces, I was out the door. The flop came K-5-4 of mixed suits. It looked like a perfect flop for me, and it was. I made a pot-sized bet after being checked to, and he called. I put him on a king, so I thought I was in good shape, and I was. Another rag came on fourth street, he checked, and I moved in. He agonized for almost five minutes and finally talked himself into calling. I was shocked when he turned over pocket nines. He didn’t even have a king! My aces held up, and I was over 50,000 in chips.

The rest of the day, I won a few small pots but played no big pots, and finished with 51,500 in chips. It was definitely a below-average stack, but when play ended, I was only a few spots out of the money with many short stacks trying to survive. Unfortunately, day 3 saw my early elimination — after I made the money — when I gambled in the small blind by calling a raise with the K Q. The flop came with an ace and two small clubs. I had about 30,000 left at this point, and decided to move in. I figured that if my opponent didn’t have an ace, he would have to fold, and I had my flush draw as an out if he called. Well, he made the call with A-10. A 10 came on the turn, giving him two pair and me three extra outs with a straight draw. Alas, a blank came, and I finished in 107th place, which was good for €5,800. By the way, each euro was worth about $1.34 in U.S. currency.

After finishing the tournament in Slovenia, which I wrote about in a previous column, Casey Kastle and I made the nine-hour drive from Nova Gorica to Monte Carlo, enjoying the beautiful scenery and remarkable tunnels through the Italian countryside. We arrived late on the night before day 1A of the main event, so it was not a good idea for me to try to win a satellite that night after such a long drive. Since there was also a day 1B, I would have one day to try to satellite my way into the €10,600 championship event.

My first attempt was a super satellite. I lasted a long time, and took the one re-buy that was allowed, but could not hold on for a seat. I decided to try a one-table satellite, but got knocked out very early when I raised from late position with A-K and the player in the big blind moved in with pocket nines. I knew that he would move in with a variety of hands, so I decided to call. His nines held up, and I was out. I made one final attempt and got heads up with a French player who had me outchipped about 3-to-1. I battled my way back to even, and he tried to make a deal with me, offering me 60 percent of his action if I would let him win the seat. Since I didn’t know him, and knew that my chances were much better than his, I tried to give him €2,000 and 25 percent of my action. He said that it was his dream to play in this event, so we had to fight it out. On back-to-back hands, he cracked top pair and then cracked top set, and that was that. The next day, he was out before the afternoon was over. Oh well, at least I made another player happy by letting him fulfill his dream. All in all, my trip was both fun and profitable, and who knows, maybe I will get to play the main event in Monte Carlo next year.

Tom McEvoy is a representative of PokerStars, and also represents PicClub, a legal way to fund online accounts in the U.S. and elsewhere. He also has a website, www.tommcevoy.com, where he blogs and posts strategy tips.