A couple of weeks later and already it's a blur. A collage of flops, bluffs, value bets and squeeze plays. One pot has seamlessly merged into another. All I can say with certainty is that I had a ball and I'm still devastated that it all finished so soon.

I woke on the Friday morning feeling feverish and off my food. If I was a horse they would’ve shot me, at the very least I would’ve got a vet’s certificate to avoid the major race I was entered for at the weekend, but I resisted the temptation to call in sick to Withnail and sucked it up and caught the train south to cheer on Tristan and Vicky on their day 1. I arrived shortly after dinner and they were already struggling and moaning heartily about the strength and awkwardness of the opposition. I took my leave because I was still feeling a bit dicky and wanted a good night's sleep.

I woke up feeling a touch better, but my mood wasn't improved by finding my two teammates were busted late on.

On arriving at the Empire I was pleasantly surprised by my table draw. Everywhere I looked there were big names, I felt I should have bought my autograph book. But my table was decent. Sure Scott Fischman and Ross Boatman were there but they were safely on my right so I called the tune whenever we played a pot together. Full Tilt big noise Howard Lederer was on my immediate left but he showed himself not to be a threat. It's hard to ante yourself away with 30,000 chips, but that's pretty much what Howard did. He can be at my table any day he likes.

I don't intend to give a hand by hand account of my run. First I would be typing for about a week and second through the fog of illness I was still suffering from I can barely remember many.

So in ultimate stripped down fashion here’s how my tournament went.

Day 1. Held more hands than a faith healer. Flopped 4 sets, held AA four times and made a variety of flushes, straights and two pairs. On a more active table I would’ve ended as chip leader, but against these more conservative guys I finished with 72k.

Day 2. I played the best poker I've played in years. I drew a seat with the day 1 chip leader on my immediate left. But despite not finding any decent cards (well, I did flop one set, but the board showed up with 4 diamonds and 4 running cards so my hands were tied) I ducked and dived and chopped away while avoiding major trouble and ended the day with 121k.

Day 3. Yet again I drew a huge chip stack to my left. This time Devilfish. He avoided confrontation with me early and I played super aggressive and doubled my stack without showing a hand. Eventually the 'Fish had enough and decided to play a big pot with me. Unfortunately for him I had a nut straight and he was bluffing. From there on I was on cruise control (to be honest I had a lot of good hands - busted two guys including one of Withnail’s future guests with AA v 88) and made my way serenely into the money with 36 left holding 330k.

Day 4. Feature table time. Teddy Sheringham has never been my favourite footballer, but a surreal moment occurred when he offered his hand and asked "Are you the Camel? Pleased to meet you, my name is Teddy". As though anyone of my age wouldn't know who he was?!?!? The day couldn't have started better. I flopped a set against Teddy (no need for formalities, we're mates now!) and won a nice pot. Then I doubled up against internet phenom Christian Harder with AA v QQ. The day was going swimmingly until we got down to the redraw with 18 left. I had 850k and was in 4th spot in the whole tournament when I drew a seat next to monster chip leader Jason Mercier. Monster is an apt description because that’s how he played. Every time I opened a pot he reraised me. He basically ate my stack. I was below average when I finally found the first premium hand in what seemed like weeks, AK. I raise and for once Mercier left me alone. Instead it was young British player Praz Bansi who re-popped me. I had no choice but to shove and he made an easy call with 99. A race. A coinflip. Possibly the biggest in my life. Worth about £200,000 in equity. That's a really nice house where I live ooop north. Could I win it? Could I fuck. The board ran out free of any pictures and I was done. 11th for a payday just over £50,000. Still a nice chunk of change!

Mixed emotions for me. I was proud of performing well against possibly the toughest field ever assembled for a poker tournament but disappointed my run finished just before the final table.

I’ll save the stories of ESPN chair arguments, telling Daniel Negreanu exactly what I think of him and the Empire running out of loo paper at exactly the wrong moment for another day!

See you in Amsterdam

The Coach