tilted behaviour

Today saw two events run simultaneously with the Main Event on one side of the Grand Lisboa poker room while the HK$88,800 High Rollers Event occupied the other side.

The full strength side from Day 1a and 2 was unfortunately cut to pieces with my blogging partner GG being left bed-ridden after coughing up more than a lung the previous night and morning after visiting the Grand Waldo Spa.

Left to fend for my own, I tackled the stellar field with no doubt that I would ship the blogaments crucial one time and prove once again that I am the NIZZLES (Heath’s nickname for me . . . I don’t brag that obviously)!

The tables were understandably stacked, but unfortunately for many poker enthusiasts out there we lost the greatest High Roller champion to ever grace the felt within two hands when David Steicke bluffed on the river into Masa Kagawa’s flopped set.

I went to turn in my resignation letter right there, because it was obvious that something was rigged, but with no one to hand it to, I went straight back to the computer.

Players kept trickling in as registration was open for the first three hours – and it was kind of ironic that players that busted from the Main Event would find themselves in the High Rollers, only to bust from that as well – Andrew Scott, Van Marcus, Theo Tran, Dan Schreiber and Stanley Hou.

Before the High Rollers Event started, during dinner and after the event wrapped up I found some time to play Baccarat!

Yet another mistake for the trip as I went on to lose HK$6,900 to continue my Macau run-bad something I must have picked up at the airport . . . my advice – purchase the new anti-run-bad face mask from all good resellers!

After three days in the on the pine Heath returned to see a full strength team hit the track for Day 2 action!

We were always moving; grabbing hands, chip counts, asking players names, blogging – just basically non-stop for every minute of every level.

With Heath’s pent up energy due to his Swine Flu we had a little bit of a competition of who could blog the most hands, but after a few levels we totally forgot about it. Instead we came up with a challenge to be incorporated during a preliminary event in the future.

Basically it will be a Blogger’s Scavenger Hunt with a supplied task list that has to be completely ticked off before a winner can be crowned. The list will be fairly be fairly complicated with a range of different levels of tasks from the basics of all in preflop, flop, turn and river double ups, colour pieces, promotional posts, bluffs etc, and also some really random ones like (insert random notable) double up, colour piece etc.

Most likely we’ll both chuck $50 on it, as it should continue our great competitive spirit.

Now back to the actual tournament I’m covering, and I’ve decided to include one of the sickest hands I’ve ever witnessed . . . and yes I may have coloured it up a little, but it needed the extra bit of drama!

care of PokerNews
David Paananen Is Our Bubble Boy!
With the action folding round to Preetinder Bhayana in the small blind, he made it 17,500 to go and David Paananen defended his big blind.

The flop fell down 3♣ 10♦ 8♣ and Bhayana slid out a bet amounting to 25,500. Paananen sat there for a little before re-raising to 77,000 total as the rail begin to close in on the table.

Bhayana sat there riffling ten yellow 5,000-denomination chips as Tournament Director Danny McDonagh came over to announce the action to the remaining players and onlookers.

Another two minutes went by before Bhayana announced all in.

“You go all in? I call” announced Paananen as he flipped his 3♥ 3♦ for a flopped bottom set of treys.

Bhayana shook his head, stood up, and sheepishly rolled over his A♥ 5♣ for just Ace-high but also a backdoor straight and flush-draw.

“Two of clubs would be a great sweat card” commented one of the twenty or so players that had totally surrounded the table.

The dealer burned and turned a black two on the turn, but it would be the 2♠ to see Paananen needing to fade one of the four remaining fours in the deck to stay alive.

As the rail pressed even harder against the backs of the table eight chairs, the 4♥ would land on the river to the screams and sighs of the remaining 48 players.

Paananen stood there in shock before making his way to the exit, but not before launching a half-drunk water bottle at an unsuspecting camera girl.

Bhayana on the other hand could barely keep a smile off his face as he raked in a huge place to soar to 498,000 in chips.

(thanks to Kirsty for capturing the moment of me asking him his name . . . and sorry about the water bottle)

Heath was still in bed and now GG began to develop something . . . going to be a fun Day 1c!
While the Main Event players were slogging it out, the ladies had their chance to be in the spotlight with a Ladies HK$1,500 No Limit Holdem tournament kicking off as the day began to wind down.

Kirsty Brew and Lynn Gilmartin in action

Playing her first tournament, Lynn managed to make it all the way to just two places from the final table – and she detailed it all on her PokerNews blog.

Kirsty however made the final table with a medium stack to make it two from three at making final tables in ladies events. Unfortunately she would be first to go when her over aggressive approach holding J♦ 9♦ was no match against Queens.

Unlike some other places around the world, the shops in Macau close around 10pm, and with tonight being the last night that we would finish early, Kirsty and I decided to make our way to Xin Ma Lou to shop away!

We had been there the night before, but neither of us purchased anything.

With eyes only searching for shoes, I found this pair of Gola’s for HK$400 or AU$70ish, and am so happy I bought them – with their bright red and ballaness gold . . . easily the best pair of shoes I’ve bought in years! Oh, they’re comfy too!

Overnight Heath’s cold had developed really badly into a bad case of the flu . . . and maybe even the swine flu. Consequently it would be just F-Train, GG and me steering the ship today for Day 1b action!

It was fine not having Heath there, even if GG was busy most of the day doing some admin stuff with the video team, we still managed to plow through.

Kirsty and I decided to take a look around the nearby outdoor shopping strip called Xin Ma Lou in search for shoes or maybe some new clothing. There were a few shoes that I spotted, but will have to return tomorrow for a better look.

On the way home Kirsty decided she wanted to eat on the street and just down from the hotel we found Uncle Jimmy’s Noodle Shack. After seeing seven orders be made in about ten minutes, Kirsty just pointed to one man’s bowl and Uncle Jimmy started cooking away. Since I had already eaten, I wasn’t going anywhere near the food . . . or what turned out to be mixed vegies and CHICKEN FEET!

Kirsty happily chomped away tasting her first (and most likely last) dish of chicken fish. We toasted it off with a Tsing Tao and were on our way back to the hotel.

Uncle Jimmy’s Noodle Shack – the dish, the taste, the fellow diner

Once I returned to my hotel room I had the honours of writing my first piece for the PokerNews website; even if it was just a recap!

Check it out, click the thumbs up icon and give me your feedback.

PokerStars.net Asia Pacific Poker Tour Macau Day 1B: Myhre and Nielsen Lead the Way.

Today was the start of the PokerStars.net Asia Pacific Poker Tour Macau Main Event for 2009.

On a small desk we were expected to sit four bloggers, a photographer, camera-man and TV girl . . . no chance. Instead, Craig and Lynn were sent to another room to prep for interviews etc, and with a field of over 100 expected, I decided to work as a reporter for the day.

Arguably the greatest player of the modern era – David Steicke – was in the field, and consequently no one stood a chance, even Johnny F**KING Chan who bowed out on the way to Steicke amassing a count to sit second in chips behind Brandon Demes.

Lynn produced an interesting video with Celina Lin about the difference between English and Mandarin on the poker level. Also if you look close, a pop up in the background!