Home Game - £80 Holdem - Baron spews on the Rockery

Let’s start with some definitions:

Rock: A very tight player, who doesn’t create much action without premium cards
Rockery: A retaining structure of stacked rocks, who rely on interface friction of the rock elements to provide overall stability
Maniac: An insane person, who acts in a wildly irresponsible way Asylum: A place for the care of people, especially those with mental impairments

The Main Event started with 10k in chips and a 20 minute blind structure, which worked well for the first few hours, before descending into a shove fest 3 handed. I think I’ll return to a 30 minute blind structure next time.

The table draws had an amusing contrast:

Table One “THE ASYLUM”
The Baron
”Honest” Dave
McDee
Uncle Paulie
Ben

Table Two “THE ROCKERY”
Jimbo
Professor Jalfont
Wilkinson
Sir Mike
Deven

The tournament starts like a firecracker. Whilst the Rockery sees a raise to 150 and four folds, The Asylum sees a raise, re-raise, all-in and a call. Worth noting that the four betting actions were from four separate players, and not a raising war.
Anyhow - Uncle Paulie is the unlucky casualty - trying to teach Dave a lesson with QQ with a decisive shove but finding McDee waking up with AA behind him. Marvellous - the lunatics now have 50k in chips to fight with between 4 players.

We are due to form a final table with 8 players, so we have to play on 5 and 4 handed respectively. The action is a stunning contrast - The Asylum is regularly seeing 3k pots pre-flop, multiway. Meanwhile over on the Rockery, Jalfont quietly takes down a pot pre-flop with a 200 raise on the button.

McDee quickly burns through Uncle Paulie’s 10k stack and The Baron now seems to be sitting on 17k after being as low as 3k at one point. Next door, a panic ensues on the Rockery, as Sir Mike three bets Wilkinson pre-flop creating a giant 800 pot preflop but this sees insta-folds. During this excitement I noticed I had reached the dizzy heights of 11k in chips - clear chips leader on my table. Meanwhile Honest Dave hoovers up a 5k pot on the other table.

It seemed only a matter of time before two of the patients in the asylum got all the chips in and created a final table, and it soon happened when The Baron flopped top set, and got it all in to eliminate McDee who missed his flush and gutshot draw.

The Final Table was set - all five members of the Rockery who had between 8k and 12k, together with The Baron (27k), Honest Dave (13k) and Ben (10k).

The blinds began to bite at 300/600 and myself, Deven, Sir Mike and Wilkinson all found ourselves relatively short stacked and looking for a spot to get all our chips in. I received a big boost eliminating Deven who shoved with AJ to be called by myself on the button with QQ, and I held to get into contention. By this stage of the 100k chips in play, The Baron had about 55k so was in a fantastic position. With 7 players remaining the odds of not cashing seemed remote…

The wheels were about to fall off for the Baron - first he lost a race to Jalfont, and then doubled up the same player rashly shoving A7 on the button and getting snap called by AQ. Sir Mike and Ben were eliminated to leave us four handed and on the bubble. Wilkinson hit a flops after he found himself all in trailing with a 40% or 30% shot. It was ultimately the Baron who lost a key race, and he was eliminated after having more than half the chips in play with 7 remaining.

The tournament then became a crap-shoot with blinds of 3000-6000 and only 100k in play. I’ll change the structure next time, but unfortunately it was to cost me this time. I’d rarely call a shove with 55, but in this case I was in the BB and already had 25% of my stack in the middle for the big blind so felt I had little option but to take the likely race on. Jalfont’s KT hit, and I was done in 3rd for £160.

Jalfont deservedly took the title down after Wilkinon’s final table streak finally came to an end. Hopefully a sign of things to come for him at PCA EPT.

It is always interesting to compare players’ differing styles, and it was interesting that three members of The Rockery took the money spots. Perhaps on a different day it would be the opposite outcome, but as always balance is everything.