Sweden trip report

FRIDAY:

Justin, Nico, Donal, Tim, Jason and myself flew out to Gothenburg for the weekend. We were going over there to play in a Deaf poker tournament as well as going for a massive drinking session. Upon touching down on the runway of Gothenburg airport, we remarked at how small the airport was! Then we stepped outside and it was really hot, we were all wearing jeans so we agreed that as soon as we arrived in the city, we would go shopping for shorts and t-shirts. After getting our shorts we arrived at the hostel, which was basic but very nice and clean. We then got changed into our shorts and t-shirts and went out walking through the city for a few drinks and dinner.

We meant to go back to get changed later for the night but we were enjoying drinking in the sun far too much. The streets of Gothenburg were full of beautiful women! There were so many of them!!! Later that evening we saw some Deaf people and went up to them. It figured that they were standing outside the Deaf club! We wanted to have a look inside at the poker tournament that was going on but were told we couldn’t, as it was full. But just as we were going to go to the pub next door, Richard from PTG told us that we could come in because we had flown all the way over from Ireland! Nice one! We went inside and it was packed! There must have been over 80

people in squeezed in one big room. I met Marcus and the other members of the PTG team who welcomed us. The Deaf club also sold beer, which was cheaper than in the pubs so we got a round in and started watching the tournament. The tournaments looked very good- every small detail was taken care of-the table numbers, the two decks of cards for each table and the poker clock program. They even had their own chips with their logo on it! They also had a casino table provided by their sponsors!

During the tournament the PTG team seemed very relaxed and experienced. Nothing seemed to faze them. We sat down on the couch behind the tables and watched the poker for a while. After about 15 minutes we agreed that the average PTG player is better than the average IDP player. PTG have been running since the last 3 years and have tournaments every 2 weeks so hopefully IDP will become like them! After a while it was proposed we play Omaha PL for 100SEK (€10) so we all played for a laugh. I of course got knocked out on the first hand when Tim got JJJJ!!

I then ordered a round of Jagemiester and couldn’t believe how cheap the shots were! €1.50 for a shot! CHEAPPPP!! Wooo hooo!!! All night long we started drinking Jago bombs (jagemiester with red bull) and it wasn’t long until we started to get drunk. After Richard had won the Omaha tournament, we said our goodbyes and went to the Dubliner pub. I don’t know how the bouncer let us all in, we were all wearing shorts and t-shirts. And we were all bloody drunk! Lol!! We started drinking more shots and beer. As the night went on, 4 of the boys wanted to go back to the hostel leaving Tim and me to carry on partying until closing time! Tim went back to the hostel at 6am; I didn’t get back till 9am. It was a very enjoyable day indeed!!! ;)

SATURDAY:

I woke up feeling like I was going to die of dehydration. I needed lucozade so badly. I have never ever had such a bad case of dehydration, felt so tired and thirsty! The boys were the same too but we forced ourselves to get dressed and walk down to the casino. The sun beating down on us didn’t help as we gasped for an energy drink. We finally arrived at the casino and it was really posh!!! Once we paid the 30SEK to enter, I just didn’t have the energy to gamble at blackjack so I just went straight to the poker room, got my seat number and sat down to rest myself. Each table had an interpreter sat beside the dealer, which was really good. I wondered how PTG could afford to pay them but I later found out that the government provided the interpreters! Pretty cool!!!

PTG OPEN:

The tournament kicked off with 117 runners, with a 30minute clock with a 3k starting stack. I emailed Marcus the week before to ask if they could change the blind structure and the starting stack but it was out of his hands as it was the casino that decided it. I realised it was going to be very important to accumulate chips as early as possible. Tim, Jason and Justin were at the same table as each other and Donal and Nico shared the same table as well! I was the only Irish player at my table thank god. At my table I had Marcus sat to my left. The rest of the table I didn’t have a clue who they were. Within 10 minutes, I recognised that the old man two seats to my right was a fish. He had no concept of position and bet sizing. The same went for the Norwegian man who didn’t know what he was doing. In seat 2, there was Niklas who was a LAG and the table captain. Marcus, Johnny and the blonde girl fell into the TAG category. The rest I didn’t really think much of.

DISASTROUS START

I got off to a terrible start when the blinds were 50/100. Nicolas raised 300 from UTG, folded around to me on the button with 99. I flat call because I think he has suited connectors like AJ, AQ. Flop comes down 5610 rainbow. Nicolas bets out 300, I think he missed the flop and so I raise to 750. He calls. We check down the turn and river, he shows 10d9d to take the pot and I’m left with 1950, which looks bad as the blinds are going up to 100/200 in 10minutes. I get a probe bet re-raised by Marcus and I am down to 1600! I look around at the Irish boys, Jason & Tim have got around 15k, Justin’s on 3k, Nico and Donal are on 4k! Shit!! I don’t want to be first out! Lol!!

LUCK OF THE IRISH

I decide I have only two moves- All In/Fold when this hand happens at 100/200. I’m on the BB with 103o, gets two limpers. Flop comes down 1026 with two clubs. I look at the pot, its 700. I’ve only got 1500. I push in the dark hoping that no one hit the flop. The UTG+1 pushes as well and Johnny in CO+1 calls. I’m gutted, as I know I have to be behind so I get up to leave. UTG+1 shows Qh10h, Johnny shows Ac9c for a nut flush draw. My heart sinks because I know I’m practically dead and buried. The turn brings a 10 but I’m still behind as the UTG+1 has a better kicker. The river brings a 2 to give us both a full house. I breathe a sigh of relief and tell myself “you lucky bollix”. I am now nursing a 2k stack and don’t really do much until after the break when I am moved to a different table. The blinds were really hard to beat so I kept playing “All-In” or “fold”. I was short-stacked for about 4 hours, never above 10BB when this hand happens on another table I got moved to.

I don’t remember what blind level it was at, but there were a lot of short stacks at this stage because the blinds levels were too harsh. I picked up A8o on the button as the cards were being dealt and thought to myself “crap hand, I’m gonna fold this”. UTG who was the chip leader raised 3xBB, MP pushed. Then MP+1 pushed as well. I looked at the size of the pot and suddenly I was overcome with a premonition that I was going to scoop it. I cannot explain the feeling; it was like an overwhelming hunch. Another short stack in LP pushed as well and the pot was massive and the premonition was really really strong so I just thought “ Fuck it, this is the kind of pot I am going to need to win if I am going to stay in the tournament. If I’m gonna get knocked out, I rather get knocked out now than on the bubble” and found myself pushing even though I knew my ace was already dominated. The UTG was clearly not expecting 4 shorties to push and started to dwell. It became clear that he had a monster. I didn’t want him to call so I started trash-talking him to put him off calling. He eventually folded KK!!!!!!!!!! Against 4 short stacks whose ranges are so wide, that fold beggars belief! The 3 guys flipped over Ad10d, 99, KJo. Flop comes down 1056, turn 9 (cue brief cries of joy from the 99guy) and the river brings a glorious 7 to give me a runner-runner straight. Even though there were still around 30 players left, I get really confident about my chances of cashing as I’ve finally got a playable stack after playing ninja poker for the last 4/5 hours. At this stage Jason, Donal and Nico had been busted and were railing me, Justin and Tim who were playing together at the other table. Tim got busted about 30 minutes later and Justin was still short-stacked but was playing well stealing blinds and pushing in profitable spots.

GETTING TO THE FINAL TABLE

Soon 30 became 20 and two tables were formed with Justin on the other one. I really start to go card-dead and resisting steals was hard to do as there was always a danger a shortie would push and leave me little room to manoeuvre. The casino’s blind structure was not great as everyone’s stacks were shallow. If it weren’t for the big pot I had scooped earlier, I probably would have struggled really badly here. But I allowed my stack to be blinded away as we quickly approached the bubble. Justin unfortunately went out in 12^th place, 2 places away from the money and the bubble burst soon after and the final table was formed. I was the shortest stack on it- I only had 7BB. I wanted to give myself the best chance of cashing as much as I could so I decided to steal the blinds every two orbits with air if necessary. They managed to get through to give me a lifeline, as 10 players quickly became 6. I noticed the blinds were doubling yet again and asked for the previous level to be repeated because the average stack at the table was less than 15BB but the language barrier meant that I was coming across wrong and got treated like I was moaning. It also didn’t help that I was the short stack, which made it looked like I was only trying to save my own skin. There were other guys who were spewing away their chips and looked like they would be knocked out by the bigger stacks if they didn’t play more tactically, but I was still really struggling and became a bit tighter because I wanted to hang in there and hope these guys would be knocked out to allow me to finish higher up the money. My stack dwindled desperately down to 4BB and then the most beautiful sight greeted me- AA. I pushed and got called by the SB with Jh8h. The aces held and I doubled up to 8BB, which was still not enough. The very next hand a guy pushes from EP and I find AKo and call. My AK is good over his KQo and I now have 12BB. Buoyed by this, I start making moves and get my stack up to 15BB with steals. Soon there were only 3 of us left. We take a break and I have a word with the casino staff about the clock, as the blinds were about to jump from 5,000/10,000 to 10,000/20,000 when the average stack was about 150,000!!! They agree to freeze the 5,000/10,000 level, which buys me some time, as I’m short stacked with 60k and in the BB. I push with 10s9c and take the pot. The two other players have way more than me. I push again the next hand with Jd8d and get no callers. Then I push again for the third time in a row with Qh9d and get called with QcJc and I’m dominated. I pray for a 9 to hit the flop. It doesn’t but the flop brings two diamonds, the turn another diamond. I’m on a runner-runner flush draw but I turn around and face the Irish guys, as I don’t want to look at the river while it’s being dealt. I know by the look on their faces the river was a blank and I’m sent tumbling out in 3^rd place for 7,000SEK, which was over €750. When I told some Swedish people I would like to give some of my winnings as a tip for the dealers, the general feedback I got was that it wasn’t common to tip the dealer in Sweden which I found a bit strange, as in Ireland you are expected to tip the dealer after getting a prize.Anyways the two guys later chop the prize even though the old guy had a 2:1 chip-lead. He was given the official finish of 1^st place. I was exhausted and still dehydrated but I was glad I managed to get as far as I did in 3rd place as I got off to a terrible start. I felt it was a pity that the blind structure was harsh which saw the luck factor increased and play a big part in this tournament but that’s a matter for the Casino. The PTG team put on a great weekend and provided a well-organised weekend. After the tournament we all went back to the Deaf club where there were poker tournaments going on. I didn’t play in them, as I preferred to chat with Deaf people. I met Kristain, the Deaf guy who won a pot against “rainman” Khan in the WSOP with KK. He was pretty cool. The four lads played poker while me and Tim stayed for about an hour or two before leaving to go to a nightclub. It was pretty quiet night compared to the night before!!

SUNDAY

We just spent the day walking around Gothenburg city, going into shops and pubs, and basically chilling out. The evening was pretty quiet because most people were back to work the next day. We drank until closing time and went back to our hostel to get a good night’s sleep as we had to be up early to catch the flight home. It was a weekend I really enjoyed, the Swedish people are really cool and easy to talk to. Poker was great fun; my weekend didn’t cost me anything as my winnings paid for everything! :-)

POKER THIS WEEKEND

Have got a ticket for the APAT championship in Dublin for €96. The blind structure and clock is really beautiful so I hope to go deep in this. I also might play a CHL satellite tournament tonight for the Waterford Open, which is taking place at the weekend too. So if I get a ticket for the Waterford Open, I’ll sell my APAT ticket and play in the Waterford Open, as it’s a bigger tournament.