Hi all

Having wound down with some celebratory champagne I got a good night’s sleep and was fully prepared for the main event. As you can imagine waking up the next morning to see the Master Classics winners plate and 18ct gold moneyclip in my hotel room kept me on the high of the night before.
 
In a three day tournament with starting chips of 10,000 and levels of 75 minutes there is plenty of time to wait for premium hands and learn your table. I was in seat 4 and in 8 and 9 were Surinder Sunar and Garry Bush. Surinder took me out of the WPT that he went on to win in Paris with AK v my 88 and today the one hand I misplayed was AKs against Surinder!
 
During the first level I raised once on the button with A8 and was called by the BB. Flop was A high and the BB bet 300 which I called. Turn was checked and the river was an 8 giving me top 2 pair. I bet 1000 that was called by the BB who had slow played AK. I finished the level with 11,225. My goal in multi day events is to gradually build my stack and come back the following day with at least average chips.
 
In the second level I only played one hand, KQ of hearts on a T high flop with 2 hearts. I flat called a bet but passed on the turn when the board paired. I ended the level with 9,225.
 
In the 3rd level 75 150 I benefited from a player who was raising too many pots after losing half his stack. I had limped in with AKd and after two more limpers he now over raised to 1400. Back to me and I made it 5000 to get it heads up. He called all in with TQd and on a K high flop was out of the tournament. I then found AA. There was a raise of 500 and I made it 1800 to go. The SB re-raised to 5000 and back to me I made it 12,000. The SB had only 6000 left but made a very good lay down showing QQ. I now had a very healthy 20,125 and was expecting to make the next day easily.
 
The player who had passed the QQ was all in on the very next hand - this time with KK. His opponent had AA but he spiked a K to stay in. Surinder, meanwhile, had hardly won a pot and was down to 1350. Facing an early position raise to 450 and a flat call he decided to call for 250 more in the BB. Flop was 4 4 6, Surinder bet a very suspicious 350 and was raised by the original better all in. He called and showed 47o. His opponent had a flush draw which he made on the turn but Surinder rivered quads! The very next hand the same player raised pre-flop and Surinder called with QT of spades. Flop was A K 8 with 2 spades. Surinder check raised all in and was called by the raiser who this time held the AQ but again a 4 came on the river to make Surinder’s flush.
 
I now doubled Surinder up, in the SB I had AKs. One player limped and Surinder flat called. Another two players limped to me making a pot of 1650. I bet 3000 and Surinder re-raised a total of 7400 all in. All passed to me and with 14,000 I called without thinking saying to Surinder, “lets see if I can win this time with AK.” Surinder had slow played KK and with no A on board was now up to 15,000. In my opinion I made two mistakes here. The first was I raised too much. If I had made it 1500 to go it would have had the same effect and I could have passed to Surinder’s re-raise. The reason I would have been able to pass is faced with a 5600 call I wouldn't have made my second mistake of automatically calling but would have reasoned that Surinder probably held KK or AA.
 
By the end of level 5 I was down to 6,300 after re-raising a short stack all in with both of us in the blinds. I had KQs he had 44 which held up. Then I started a comeback with some aggressive play and was back level by the start of level 7 at 10,000.
 
We had already lost nearly half the field and the average was announced as 19,200. This was to be the last level for day one and I decided to set my goal at coming back with a minimum of 15,000 to 20,000. I limped in with TJ of spades in second position. There were 4 callers round to the BB. As the dealer took off the burnt card, the BB said "you haven't given me the option to raise." A passing floor manager told the dealer to replace the burnt card and give the BB the option. The BB then tossed in 2000. I immediately reacted by moving all in for 10,000. As far as I was concerned he was trying to pick up the 2200 in dead money and as I had limped from second position it would have to put me on a big hand and therefore could only call with KK or AA. All passed to him and he said “I call” turning over AA. Now before I tell you what came I know most players would not have made the "move" I made and even if they understood the play most will not have the guts to make it. I often react on feel and in this case because of the delay with the dealer commencing the deal I got it wrong. However if he had raised without saying anything I would have called as  the pot odds would have then induced sufficient callers behind me to make it worthwhile.
 
The flop was A K 4 with 2 spades and I was drawing to a royal flush. The turn was the Q of diamonds giving me the nut straight and meant that although he could still pair with a Q it couldn't be the Q of spades. The river was the Q of clubs and I was out. By trying to win the pot pre-flop betting all in I gave myself two chances. If all had passed I would have won 4200, if I had cracked his AA I would have been up to 21,600 and in good shape for day 2. But sometimes in No Limit you have to take chances and on the turn I was a big favourite to succeed .
 
As there is no tournament tomorrow I have a day off  to get ready for the last event- a €300 Euro Omaha. Winning yesterday’s Omaha means I have now won at least one  tournament in Paris, Vienna , Helsinki and finally Amsterdam. I also split one in Slovenia. My goal now is to win in Australia and the USA.
 
ACES