Poker
Meet Len Collin. Poker player extraordinaire, actor, impressario and beloved extended member of the paddypowerpoker.com family!
We first met Len when he qualified on paddypowerpoker.com for the European poker tour in Dublin. Since then he has qualified for both the Grand Slam and the Irish Open. Semi Pro-Player Len is not only a force to be reckoned with at the poker table, he is also a larger than life personality who has gained the respect of his peers and the love of the team at paddypowerpoker.com. Len lends us his poker wisdom with a touch of satire every month.
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The first major tournament on Irish soil took place last week in Galway. The IPC was a very successful event, the more so for being the first to be held outside Dublin. Just two shy of three hundred turned up for the two thousand euro Main Event. Many of the usual suspects were there including locals, pros and journeymen players from all over Europe and indeed the United States. Notable performances include Colette Murphy – Smurph to her friends – who once again defied the odds. Colette spent most of day one on - or below starting stack, at one time I believe as low as a couple of thousand. She started day two on a shortstack of 13k and fought her way through to the money finishing twenty first. Another impressive performance was that of Martin “Silky” Silke. Martin is a Mayo player, but poker nut that he is, can be found almost in any casino in any part of the country on any given night. Again Martin was down to 2k on day one and indeed down to 2k on day two. Come the final two tables he held on to a top five position for some time. Had his kings held up against Anthony O’Callaghan’s AK - he could well have gone on to win the event. Instead he was crippled but battled on to make tenth. Keith McFadden, impressed a lot of people - the long time chip leader since day one went out in sixth position, losing to eventual winner and local hero Jude Ainsworth.
As for myself? I started well enough and by the end of level one had doubled up to 20k without really seeing any great hole cards. But then I fell in love with a tart of a hand pre-flop and raised with King Ten. I hadn’t raised for two circuits and hadn’t played many hands at all, but the Big Blind, who liked to play lots and lots of hands, called. On the flop the hand teased and squeezed me into believing that top pair second best kicker was good enough. BB simply called my bets, but it was dangerous enough looking at two clubs and running cards. By the river the tart of a hand had me well and truly screwed. The love affair was over and it was a painful end. BB had actually flopped a straight with J7 off suit. From then on I was down to starting stack and stayed that way for most of day one. Towards the end of the night with maybe twenty minutes left Kieran Small raised my BB. I looked down to see KJ. I already felt that the raise was a steal, but decided to simply call, making up my mind to fire a bet in after the flop. The flop was Q97 with two spades. Kieran thought about it and called my half pot size bet. The next card came another spade – an eight. I fired a pot size bet and once again after a dwell up of some twenty seconds or more Kieran called. The final card was an ace and I declared all in. Kieran went into the tank for an age. We had a good table with tight and creative players. I had showed myself to be patient and it was a big decision for him. I knew he had hit a pair and that if he called I was dead. I think I might have made a mess in my pants had Silky not come over to talk with me. Kieran eventually folded and I showed him the bluff. He was gutted, having thrown J 9 away, but I had clawed my way up to 23k ready for day two.
Day two and I was mid – division. One hundred and thirty two players left. I had been pretty card dead since level two of day one and I was hoping things would improve. They didn’t. I got AQ once and made very little from it. I tried defending my blind a couple of times, but each occasion a shortie pushed all in and I had to fold. This left me on around 16k and I felt I had to get creative. I limped with 67 of hearts in mid-position. The SB – Bernard Brady – a solid Galway player who I know well – completed, and the BB – Peter “Savagebeat” Heslin checked. The flop was 10 J Q. Two hearts. Bernard checked, Peter checked and I put out a value bet of 1500, which was around 50% of the pot. Bernard thought about it and re-raised me 6k. I felt that he couldn’t be too strong as he hadn’t raised pre-flop. He obviously had a pair – probably with a weak kicker, but not the straight. I felt I had enough to push him off the pot and went all in for 14k more. He had around 36k behind. If he called I needed a heart. It was a risk I felt I had to take if I was to start competing in the tournament. Blinds and raises were now hurting.
Needless to say Bernard called and held Q9. He correctly guessed I was on the draw and if I wasn’t he had his own draw to catch the straight. No heart and I was gone. Both Bernard [8th] and Kieran [16th] made the money, as well as Niall Mulholland [23rd] who was a pleasant thorn in my side. Which I think goes to prove how tough this table was.
So an interesting start to the year. My next tournament is likely to be the Irish Open. It will be bigger and better than ever before. Qualifiers both live and online abound.
So Happy New Year. May your Aces never crack and your sets never falter.