Anted Up In Amsterdam -- Part II

The €1,000 pot-limit Omaha event was even more annoying. I played pretty well in it and had a decent stack, close to the money. I took a bit of a hit at the start of day two, but still had about 60 percent of the average stack three people from the bubble. I also had 10 percent of Dave Callaghan who was one of the chip leaders as well as being probably the best player left. It looked like we’d both cash and at least one of us would get a run at the final table.

I then doubled up a short stack holding 8-7-6-4 on a J-6-4 flop against his K-Q-Q-6, and lost the rest of my chips with Q-J-10-7 on a Q-Q-x flop against a guy who I thought had A=A… He held A-A-Q-x and I couldn’t hit one of my kickers.

That was pretty annoying, but not as annoying as Dave getting knocked out on the actual bubble, getting two outered after flopping a set. Hands like that are common place in Omaha, but it was just so annoying as we’d been in such a good spot with 20 players left.

I went straight to the airport after getting knocked out and was home within four hours of busting. I was a bit worried as to what state I’d have gotten myself into if I’d gone boozing in Amsterdam with the way I was feeling at the time, so I think I made the right decision. I did run a bit better on dinner bets and pool betting on the one messy night out we had over there, so at least that was something.

I may play a couple of Grosvenor UK Poker Tour side events next week (I can’t play the main), and then I’ll be playing the Galway UK & Ireland Poker Tour. That’s all I have planned for the rest of the year and to be honest I’m looking forward to taking a bit of time off poker.

I said recently that I don’t dislike poker but I do dislike losing, and it seems like that’s all I’ve been doing for the last year. At the minute I’m going to tournaments expecting to lose and that’s exactly what’s been happening. So until I feel differently it’s probably a good idea not to play any big tournaments.

Maybe if I can string a couple of results together in small tournaments I’ll feel differently.