The most underrated factor in being successful in a poker tournament is your table draw. When I made the last 100 of the WSOP main event in 2008 I didn't face a decent player with position on me until day 5. For the Luton leg of the GUKPT (the first stop of Withnail's Poker Tour) I was given a horror draw. The poker equivalent of being drawn in stall 15 for a 5f sprint at the Roodeye (Chester’s famous ever-turning racecourse). Immediately to my left were (in order), successful tour pro Nik Persaud and then two internet phenom's Tom "hitthehole" Middleton and Javed Abrahams.
 
Ceding position to good players in virtually every pot you enter (obviously when you have the button you have position on the whole field, but unfortunately that only happens once a round) means they have a lot more information than you when making their decisions. If you miss a flop and check they can bet with nothing and take the pot. They have the advantage of picking up any tells you give them. They can open the betting if they have a strong hand, or keep the pot small if they are weak or drawing. Basically position is the most important factor in Texas Hold’em tournaments. And these three guys would have position on me almost every pot we played.

Not that I gave them the chance to use it. I busted from this event in 80 minutes flat, not even half way through level two! I was dealt a series of great starting hands and failed to win any pots with them. KK and QQ were sunk by ghastly looking ace-high flops and strong betting action from other players. Then a couple of AK were put between my sweaty palms. The flops bore no relation to my holdings. I managed to lose nearly half my starting 10,000 chips with these disasters but worse was to come.

With blinds of 50-100 I opened the pot for 300 in second position with QQ. A player who had not played a pot yet (ie as tight as a duck's arse!) immediately reraised to 900. I wasn't folding, but committing to the pot against this guy could easily be a huge mistake. I simply called leaving myself about 4800. A flop of JT8 looked good but when I checked, the rock bet 1000. My gutshot draw with an overpair was more than enough to call, but I was pretty sure he had a big hand so I just called to see the turn. A harmless 2 saw him setting me all in. His play screamed strength and although I had only 3800 left I reluctantly let my hand go.

The decision seemed to be a good one when I picked up aces under the gun the very next hand. I merely called the 100 big blind, hoping someone would raise and I could shovel my remaining stack in with high hopes of a double up. However, everyone was cagey, five others limped in and we saw a flop of QJ5 six-handed. The blinds checked to me and I made a vain attempt to protect my hand by betting 600. Only one of the blinds called me. The turn saw a 9 peel off and the caller checking to me again. I didn't particularly like my position but there was to be no backing down and I bet 1200 only to see my opponent set me all in. I didn't have enough to fold this time and wasn't overly surprised to see him turn over KT for the nuts.

A disappointing start for sure, but I don't think I could have done much differently and it wasn't to be my day.

I could definitely have done a lot differently as Withnail's Tour hit the Macau Club, Cork.
 
Happily settled in the beautiful Hayfield Manor hotel, I arrived at the tournament ready to put the Luton disappointment behind me. My table draw this time was perfect. The only decent player was safely to my right and the rest of my tablemates were a gorgeous mixture of lunatics, calling stations and novices.

The structure of this event was good. 20,000 starting chips and 75 minute blind levels. This was almost the perfect spot. It should have been a simple matter of taking the weaker players to valuetown when I had a hand and waiting for the crazies to bluff their chips to me. It started well. By the dinner break I had 45k when the average was 25k, mainly due to picking up aces when a lady couldn't fold Q5 (?!) on a queen high flop. I just kept on betting and her miracle 5 failed to appear. But after dinner it all went wrong. Possibly I played too many hands. I was a little over eager to play pots with the "eggs" and entered pots with weak holdings or without premium position. I doubled up a short stack with 99 v QQ and then butchered a pot where I turned two pair and let a guy river a bigger two pair. It still makes me shiver how badly I played that one! I limped to the end of play with roughly my starting stack and a shedload of disappointment.
 
Day 2 started brightly. I made a couple of resteal shoves (re-raising all-in after someone else had opened) and boosted my stack to 25k. Then came the dénouement. I raised on the button with AJ and the big stack at the table re-raised me from the big blind. I made a pretty standard shove all-in for 3x his re-raise and he went into the tank. I got to the stage where I was willing him to call because a hand which had me dominated would surely have called already. Eventually, after five minutes, he said "I guess I have to call." and nodded when he saw my hand. Then he turned over AA!!!! It was the first time I've been slowrolled like that for years and I can't deny being slightly annoyed. I didn't think they bred them that way in the Emerald Isle!

What we learned:

First, if you are forced to stay in Luton, the Hilton Gardens Hotel is great value. Newly refurbished and about £40 a night it is excellent. And the Hayfield Manor in Cork is a great hotel too, serving the best breakfasts I’ve ever eaten. 

As far as poker is concerned, the key to my lack of progress in Cork was a lack of patience. I wanted to get the bad players chips too much too soon. When a structure is so good you really don't have to force the running. Relax, take your time and the chips will eventually find their way into your stack! Cardiff next and then term time will start in earnest. I have some surprises in store for my new students!

The Coach