tilted behaviour

With my lone Team 888Poker member Pierre Aoukar unfortunately busting within the first twenty minutes of the today’s play, I was left with a whole day of nothing to do.

Consequently I strolled downstairs and walked around doing nothing for a while before making my way over to Heath’s place to write an article and chill for a while.

After writing a few 888Poker articles me and Heath suited up to play some tennis. The previous match saw Heath and Kirsty lose 2-6 to me, but this time it would be just the boys. I took a 4-1 lead at one point, only to go down in the first set 7-5 before losing the next one in even quicker fashion when it finished 6-3 in Heath’s favour.

We both had a shower and made our way over to a suite at the Crown Towers where Lynn was throwing GG a ‘leaving PokerNews party’ for all his friends and co-workers. When we arrived only a few guys were there eating dinner, and before too long, I was cutting down chips and dealing a home game!

It would never be a great idea running a sizeable game, so we chose a rotation of NLH and PLO with blinds at 5c-10c . . . big stakes ey!

I bought in for $10, while most people bought in for $20, $30 and even $50, and once Jonno, Mike and some random others strolled in, the game got out of control with pots of $50+ playing out in both the NLH and PLO orbits.

But like most home games / hotel party’s / going away party’s things started to get out of hand with drinks being spilt and ridiculous room service orders being placed.

Eventually security came knocking and we warned to shut-up or ship out! The food eventually came, and I took a step away and began cashing everyone out as I knew things wouldn’t last too much longer . . . and I was right as we were soon on our way home!

Thanks to Lynn for hosting a kick-ass night of fun and degeneracy!

Today marked the end of the third flight from Event 1 of the 2010 Aussie Millions!

Like previous years, the poker extravaganza that is the Aussie Millions kicked off with the $1,100 Opening Event that has seen record increases in attendance over the past few years; and 2010’s case was no exception!

A total of 1,143 entrants created the epic $1,143,000 prizepool thanks to a mixture of 919 unique entrants and 224 who repechaged.

When the dust settled on Day 1c, 193 players had made it through with many big-name local players, amateurs and international guests all having seats for action tomorrow.

As most of you know by now I was working the event on behalf of PokerNetwork and Bet 24/7, and if you want to catch the updates as I saw it, then click the links below.

Event 1 Day 1a
Event 1 Day 1b
Event 1 Day 1c

With work wrapped up around 9pm, I decided to join the PokerPro tables with Garry, Chris and Heath.

The tables were full so I decided to jump on the newly located $15 Squeeze Baccarat table that they had moved to sit nearby the PokerPro tables.

Buying in for $400 I slowly grinded up some profit before Brendon Rubie decided to join me for some degenerate gambling action. After explaining the rules he decided just to bet whatever I bet, but couldn’t really get a handle on the art that is squeezing!

At my high point I was up around $200, but left satisfied with $175 profit as Brendon had easily doubled his $100 buy-in before we both moved to the PokerPro tables.

Since Heath, Chris and Garry all had in excess of $300 – well apart from Heath who had around $200 – I decided to short-stack it to increase the fun factor and bought in for $20 on the $1-2 NLH PokerPro table that they were playing.

Those buy-in’s went fairly quickly – and from what I can remember – Kings vs Ace-King (all in on turn, river Ace) and against Chris as we shoved dark, my K♦ Q♣ went down to his 9♠ 5♣ when the board ran out A♦ Q♦ 6♦ 5♠ 5♥.

Consequently I decided to take it seriously after dropping a quick $100, and bought in for the full $100 amount. I quickly chipped up to $150 when I made two-pair and then just slowly took down pots every orbit to hit a high-point of $320 before making a move on Chris.

He made it $7 under the gun with 3♠ 4♠ and I three-bet to $23 with A♣ 9♠. The button called and so did Chris to see a 3♦ 5♥ 3♣ flop land. I bet out $25, the button moved all in for less, and Chris gave me this big talk before making it $75. Obviously he cashed out after that hand with around $500 as me and Heath were soon joined by Elaine once Garry and Brendon had left.

Elaine nitted it up and only lost pots to me when I would three-bet and then continuation bet with 7-3 off etc.

The night finished around 2am with all of us enjoying some play time outside of work!

Today was a dark day in my short-lived poker career as I was officially dropped from the PokerNews team.

If you read this site on a regular basis, or know me in person, then you would be aware of the incident that occurred at Crown the other day during the PokerNews Cup. Consequently, with the head of the live-reporting team in town on holidays, we decided to have a meeting to discuss what was needed.

Organising to meet up with GG left butterfly’s in the pit of my stomach as I had no idea what the outcome was going to be, and after small talking for what seemed like an eternity, we the heart of the meeting.

After around twenty minutes of GG leading the talking and me sitting there stone-faced, it was decided that I wouldn’t be part of the PokerNews team anymore.

He did say that the door is still ajar if I am able to learn from my mistakes, work hard and prove to him that I can still be a worthy contributor, but with PokerNews being the only poker media in Australia, it is close to impossible to keep working as a poker journalist from out of Melbourne.

My working relationship with PokerNetwork is still in limbo as GG said that decision rests with Heath, Sean and Stephen, but I’m going to assume that due to the PokerNews / PokerNetwork relationship that I’ll also be dropped from local events.

So what now for thkcduckworth . . .

Obviously I want to stay in this field and still enjoy writing immensely, but it’s now just become a whole lot harder.

I’ll have to start exploring some options with other poker sites and use my network of contacts that I have built over the past two years to see what opportunities exist, but basically . . .

After five days behind the computer we have finally reached the final day with the APPT Macau High Rollers Event playing down to just one.

The final table for the Main Event was being played over on the purpose built stage in the middle of the Grand Lisboa gaming floor while our final four tables and 25 players were battling it out in the normal tournament area.

GG was back to help out and we were down to three tables of eight and then two tables soon after. The next seven players fell relatively fast with friend Michael Marvanek unfortunately falling in tenth as the unofficial final table was created.

However it would take nearly three hours until we lost the bubble – and yet again it was another friend – with Jonathan ‘xMONSTERxDONGx’ Karamalikis having his Kings cracked by a two-outer.

Seat 1: Grant ‘grunter’ Levy – 1,428,000
Seat 2: Gap Young Kim – 760,000
Seat 3: Vladimir Geshkenbein – 678,000
Seat 4: Danny Huynh – 432,000
Seat 5: Neil Arce – 1,153,000
Seat 6: In Wook Choi – 490,000
Seat 7: Nicolas Wong – 224,000
Seat 8: Johnny Chan – 518,000

The final eight took an hour long dinner break only to lose Nicolas Wong, Gap Young Kim and In Wook Choi in quick succession once play recommenced before taking a break to move to the purpose built stage since the Main Event had just been wrapped up by Dermot Blain.

The remainder of the tournament ran out pretty standard – Grant Levy finished in fifth and Filipino Neil Arce fell in third to put everyone’s hopes on Johnny Chan being victorious. However that wish wouldn’t be granted as the kid with only $10 and four maxed-out credit cards to his name – Vladimir Geshkenbein – became the High Rollers Champion for 2009.

Heath, Kirsty and F-Train were already at the hotel along with Craig and Lynn, and with GG heading to WPT Cyprus tomorrow I retired to the hotel to complete my second article for the PokerNews website.

Like I said previously, check it out, click the thumbs up icon and give me your feedback.

PokerStars.net Asia Pacific Poker Tour Macau Day 4: Dermot Blain Wins the Main Event .

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!

So as we all shared a lift up to our room’s we decided that tonight was the night for some pampering at the Grand Waldo Spa.

Thirty minutes later GG, Lynn, Craig and I met and made our way to a cab – Heath and Kirsty pulled out, while F-Train was uncontactable – and HK$80 and fifteen minutes later we were outside the Grand Waldo Spa.

With everyone apart from me being a noob we consequently had to spend ten minutes looking at the spa menu, even though I had informed them on exactly what to get. Finally we were able to get to our lockers to get changed and head into the spa and sauna area.

GG went and had a haircut and shave while me and Craig jumped in a shower before making our way to one of the sauna’s. We sweated it out for about fifteen minutes before having a shave ourselves and another quick shower before getting changed into these sailor-type pyjamas.

We joined Lynn upstairs in the communal area and headed straight to the buffet and tucked into some noodles, toast and chinese tea. At about 1am we decided that it was time for our Shanghai Oil Massage and made our way up a level and were all allocated separate rooms facing each other.

Everyone seemed nervous while I was just ready to get every bone, joint and muscle cracked, stretched and bent!

My massage was . . . eventful . . . as the lady I had at one point just stopped massaging my back and pulled out this pumice stone type of tool and began rubbing it on my back. It didn’t really hurt and felt like she was cleaning it, and once she finished that, and the remainder of the massage, my back felt really smooth.

However when I saw what it looked like in the mirror, and after showing the guys, we were more then a bit shocked. Basically it appeared as though where she was rubbing she had popped the blood vessels under the skin so that it looked like I had been cut up. It kind of looked cool like it was a tribal-style tattoo, but Lynn and GG thought I had been scarred for life!

We returned to the communal area and all took a seat in the recliners and watched an assortment of National Geographic, MTV and Fashion TV before enjoying a foot massage. Me and Craig enjoyed a few more cups of Chinese Tea while I decided to join Lynn with the pampering and get a manicure and pedicure as well.

4am ticked round and Lynn, GG and Craig decided enough was enough and made their way home, while I decided just to sleep in the recliner because . . . I could . . . no other real reason.

I woke up around 10am and headed to the buffet for a breakfast of toast, sausages and orange juice before heading downstairs to have a sauna.

For some reason however the sauna’s were off, and I couldn’t be bothered waiting round, so I just showered up and got dressed. I went to pay my bill and was shocked to see that it cost me all of AU$105!

Grand Waldo Spa Bill
Cover Charge – HK$188
Shanghai Oil Massage – HK $120
Foot Massage – HK$78
Manicure – HK$100
Pedicure – HK$100
Service Charge and Government Tax – HK$87.90
Total – HK$673.90 or roughly AU$105

A very cheap and relaxing night . . . and now off to cover the HK$88,800 High Rollers Event

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.