Double, Double, Toil and Trouble
I love PartyPoker's Grand Prix Poker Tour format. $109 buy-in, multiple live and online Day 1s, decent prizepools and just generally very well run. As the main tour travelled around various UK cities, there were also a series of 'mini' GPPT events, which followed the exact same format, just with smaller guarantees and less razzle dazzle. I will happily make these events the primary focus of my poker playing.
Double
With the smaller guarantee and resulting smaller field, making it to Day 2 didn't mean locking up a cash like the main GPPT event, I think roughly 50 players made it to Day 2 and we had to lose 20 or so before making the money. That being said, it was surprisingly plain sailing into the money but I lost a flip shortly after the bubble and headed to the cash desk for a nice little payday of a couple of hundred dollars. As part of the GPPT schtick, any cash includes a $109 ticket that can be used either online at PartyPoker or for a side event taking place later on during the Day2. An event I like to think is for all the losers who have bust the Day2. I can't begrudge the built in $109 ticket aspect of the payouts, I assume it helps with liquidity for the tour, which given how much I like the tour, I'm all for. I decided to hold on to my ticket and winnings to fund qualification to the next GPPT event.
Double Double
After banging on about the GPPT, I had managed to convince a couple of poker pals to get in on the action in time for the next miniGPPT event. Unfortunately for me, my first 'free' bullet came to end when one of my friends called my 3bet shove with, in my opinion, a dubious call knocking me out. I satellited my way to a second bullet but it too ended in failure. By the time the final online day 1 rolled around, both of my friends had locked up their places in Day2. One of them with a chunk of my chips, the other via the live route. Having went on and on about the GPPT events, I felt I had no option but to try one last time and bought directly in to the final online day 1. Thankfully, I made it through this one and would be joining my friends on Day 2. However, unlike them, a min cash would see me simply breaking even.
After another short Day 2, I notched up another min cash, and another overall enjoyable event. One friend min cashed also, the other fell just short but both had registered for the $109 side event and encouraged me to join them, I decided against it.
I once again intended to use my $109 ticket from the min cash for the next GPPT event. While my friends sat down for the side event, I wandered round the casino, finished off my pint and pondered the possibilities for the day ahead. Eventually, a combination of peer pressure, a likely overlay and not wanting to waste a rare afternoon free from parenting duties, I caved in and registered.
I have played a couple of $1000 live events and a few more $100+ events but this $109 side event probably weighs in as the seventh biggest live tournament I have ever played, ever. And yet, it was merely an afterthought, just something to do on a Sunday afternoon, and no one at my table seemed to think any more of it than I did. Which is mental. Seventh biggest live tournament I've ever played and yet it's a total Sunday snoozefest.
Double, Double, Toil
My table had a few notable characters; my friend Brentos, a regular at the casino Martin, and a fishy player I will call "MrFish" to my right. Everyone else was basically asleep. Martin has a very loose any two kinda style but I think it's a deliberate ploy to catch people out and get them to stack off against his perceived garbage range. MrFish seemed to take exception to the way Martin played, initially slagging off this any two approach before ultimately deciding to play him at his own game and spite play any two. Martin has been playing this way for years and does it far better than MrFish did. I emerged as table captain, seemingly as a result of being the only one who was even really trying, everyone seemed content to just play their cards on a lazy Sunday afternoon.
Eventually one of the old men at the table woke up and decided to take a stand and started 3betting me, and showing me the likes of ten four offsuit, I claimed I was just on a good run of cards but I don't think he believed a word of it. His strategy worked though and I tightened up my opening range but still managed to win more than my fair share of pots and continued to chip up in a fairly uneventful way.
Double, Double, Toil and Trouble
Fast forward to the final table and after a brief spell of cagey play 9 handed, players started dropping like flies, with some mad spewy play in a clash of bigstacks creating one massive chipleader. I basically stayed out of trouble and laddered my way to the final three.
The final three consisted of me, the Old Man who 3bet me from before and a seemingly solid guy as chipleader. Since going shorthanded, the chip leader seemed happy to sit back and wait for a hand with his massive stack, so I ramped up my aggression.
Once again, the old guy seemed willing to put up with my increased aggression for only so long. I raised perhaps the 4th hand in a row, only to be met with an all in reraise from the old man in the big blind. This time I was holding ace 5, and normally, I would just let this go, given that it was for my tournament life and old men don't have the reputation of 3betting light. But this was almost a replay of our clash from before. If he's got junk again, this is a great spot to swap stacks, slide into 2nd place and move closer to headsup. After a bit of agonizing I decide to take the gamble, he tables pocket fives, and with no help on the board I'm out the tournament. Well played sir, well played.
2 miniGPPTs played, 2 friends along for the ride, 2 min cashes, 2 times pwned by the old guy but another nice payday on a fun day of poker.
Double
With the smaller guarantee and resulting smaller field, making it to Day 2 didn't mean locking up a cash like the main GPPT event, I think roughly 50 players made it to Day 2 and we had to lose 20 or so before making the money. That being said, it was surprisingly plain sailing into the money but I lost a flip shortly after the bubble and headed to the cash desk for a nice little payday of a couple of hundred dollars. As part of the GPPT schtick, any cash includes a $109 ticket that can be used either online at PartyPoker or for a side event taking place later on during the Day2. An event I like to think is for all the losers who have bust the Day2. I can't begrudge the built in $109 ticket aspect of the payouts, I assume it helps with liquidity for the tour, which given how much I like the tour, I'm all for. I decided to hold on to my ticket and winnings to fund qualification to the next GPPT event.
Double Double
After banging on about the GPPT, I had managed to convince a couple of poker pals to get in on the action in time for the next miniGPPT event. Unfortunately for me, my first 'free' bullet came to end when one of my friends called my 3bet shove with, in my opinion, a dubious call knocking me out. I satellited my way to a second bullet but it too ended in failure. By the time the final online day 1 rolled around, both of my friends had locked up their places in Day2. One of them with a chunk of my chips, the other via the live route. Having went on and on about the GPPT events, I felt I had no option but to try one last time and bought directly in to the final online day 1. Thankfully, I made it through this one and would be joining my friends on Day 2. However, unlike them, a min cash would see me simply breaking even.
After another short Day 2, I notched up another min cash, and another overall enjoyable event. One friend min cashed also, the other fell just short but both had registered for the $109 side event and encouraged me to join them, I decided against it.
I once again intended to use my $109 ticket from the min cash for the next GPPT event. While my friends sat down for the side event, I wandered round the casino, finished off my pint and pondered the possibilities for the day ahead. Eventually, a combination of peer pressure, a likely overlay and not wanting to waste a rare afternoon free from parenting duties, I caved in and registered.
I have played a couple of $1000 live events and a few more $100+ events but this $109 side event probably weighs in as the seventh biggest live tournament I have ever played, ever. And yet, it was merely an afterthought, just something to do on a Sunday afternoon, and no one at my table seemed to think any more of it than I did. Which is mental. Seventh biggest live tournament I've ever played and yet it's a total Sunday snoozefest.
Double, Double, Toil
My table had a few notable characters; my friend Brentos, a regular at the casino Martin, and a fishy player I will call "MrFish" to my right. Everyone else was basically asleep. Martin has a very loose any two kinda style but I think it's a deliberate ploy to catch people out and get them to stack off against his perceived garbage range. MrFish seemed to take exception to the way Martin played, initially slagging off this any two approach before ultimately deciding to play him at his own game and spite play any two. Martin has been playing this way for years and does it far better than MrFish did. I emerged as table captain, seemingly as a result of being the only one who was even really trying, everyone seemed content to just play their cards on a lazy Sunday afternoon.
Eventually one of the old men at the table woke up and decided to take a stand and started 3betting me, and showing me the likes of ten four offsuit, I claimed I was just on a good run of cards but I don't think he believed a word of it. His strategy worked though and I tightened up my opening range but still managed to win more than my fair share of pots and continued to chip up in a fairly uneventful way.
Double, Double, Toil and Trouble
Fast forward to the final table and after a brief spell of cagey play 9 handed, players started dropping like flies, with some mad spewy play in a clash of bigstacks creating one massive chipleader. I basically stayed out of trouble and laddered my way to the final three.
The final three consisted of me, the Old Man who 3bet me from before and a seemingly solid guy as chipleader. Since going shorthanded, the chip leader seemed happy to sit back and wait for a hand with his massive stack, so I ramped up my aggression.
Once again, the old guy seemed willing to put up with my increased aggression for only so long. I raised perhaps the 4th hand in a row, only to be met with an all in reraise from the old man in the big blind. This time I was holding ace 5, and normally, I would just let this go, given that it was for my tournament life and old men don't have the reputation of 3betting light. But this was almost a replay of our clash from before. If he's got junk again, this is a great spot to swap stacks, slide into 2nd place and move closer to headsup. After a bit of agonizing I decide to take the gamble, he tables pocket fives, and with no help on the board I'm out the tournament. Well played sir, well played.
2 miniGPPTs played, 2 friends along for the ride, 2 min cashes, 2 times pwned by the old guy but another nice payday on a fun day of poker.
Comments
Post a Comment