"They say you make your best decision in the first three seconds. The rest of the time you spend talking yourself out of it."

No, I don't mean stick all your chips in on a flush draw because you REALLY think that spade is going to hit the river.

Today in the 100k deepstack tournament I was having a pretty good game, not having to show down many hands and behind the luck of winning one big coin flip early on, I was building my stack nicely.

I got involved in a hand when the blinds were 300/600, where a number of players limped into the pot. I called the blinds with a 7c 2c in position and we went into the flop 6 handed.

I hit the miracle flop I was looking for when the flop came down 9c Jc Qc and I flopped the flush.

Unfortunately to my surprise, the small blind lead the betting with a bet of 4400 into the 3600 pot. This was a problem for a number of reasons:

1) The small blind over bet the pot
2) The small blind lead the betting with 5 players still to act behind him
3) The small blind had played very tight

The big blind then called the overbet and the rest of the players folded to me.

With the big blind's call, I decided the big blind was likely on the Ac for the nut flush draw, and possibly some other card for a gutshot as well. So I wasn't worried about the big blind.

I decided the small blind was trying to protect a flopped made hand, and since he didn't raise preflop, 99 JJ and QQ were out of the question. So the small blind either has KT/T8 for the straight or he too flopped the flush.

This was my read, however this wasn't the information I processed when making my decision.

I decided that since the odds of flopping the flush are slim, and even smaller that two people flopped it, and smaller still if the big blind has the ace of clubs, then there is no way my flush was behind and I would shove hoping one would call on a draw.

I shoved my 24 000 stack, and the small bind quickly shoved his stack over top.

Small blind turned over a 6c 8c and I was drawing dead to a split pot with my flopped flush.

The moral of the story today is, if you have a gut feeling about a situation, try to understand why you feel this way, before trying to talk yourself out of it. There's a good possibility that your first instincts were right.

The 2009 Canadian Open Poker Championship is fast approaching!

This year the tournament will be held May 13th to 17th in Calgary at the Stampede Casino. The annual $5000 buy in heads Up tournament is regarded as one of the best structured tournaments available. With a 10 000 chip starting stack, 20 minute blinds and a best 2 out of 3 format, players have all the most playing opportunity available to them.

Whether it is the venue in Calgary, the prestige, or the great format, the Canadian Open always attracts some of the biggest names in poker. Last year the winner was Huckleberry Seed, edging out Canadian players Booth and Smith, as well as the always exciting Laak and Esfandiari.

Event Schedule:

EVENT OUTLINE

Monday, May 11th - Main Event Satellites.
$65 Buy-in ($55+$10) @ 12pm. 1 for every 10 players will qualify for 7pm satellite.
$550 Buy-in ($520+$30) @ 7pm. 1 for every 10 players will qualify for Heads-up Main Event.

Tuesday, May 12th - Main Event Satellites.
$65 Buy-in ($55+$10) @ 12pm. 1 for every 10 players will qualify for 7pm satellite.
$550 Buy-in ($520+$30) @ 7pm. 1 for every 10 players will qualify for Heads-up Main Event.

Wednesday, May 13th - Event #1 - No Limit Hold'em - One day event @ 12pm.
$550 Buy-in ($500+$50) - 5000 in starting chips.
Bracket Drawing - 10pm @ C.P.T. Ultimate Players Party.

Thursday, May 14th - 29th - Event #2 - Main Event Heads-up Championship.
$5000 Buy-in ($4600+$400) - Maximum 128 players Best 2 out of 3 match play. 10,000 in starting chips for each game.

Friday, May 15th - Event #3 - Pot Limit Omaha - One day event @ 4pm.
$200 buy-in with $100 re-buys and $100 optional add-on.

Saturday, May 16th - Event #4 - No Limit Hold'em - One day event @ 2pm.
$1100 Buy-in ($1000+$100) - 10000 in starting chips.

Sunday, May 17th - Event #5 - No Limit Hold'em - One day event @ 12pm.
$550 Buy-in ($500+$50) - 5000 in starting chips.

COPC

888 will be hosting satellites to the Main Event over the next few weeks. Stay tuned to the Live Event tab of the Multi table section for cheap satellites to this great opportunity!

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Last night in the 100k Deepstack tournament I witnessed a play made by an opponent while nearing the bubble. I really liked the play, although very debatable in nature and necessity, it was a well-thought out approach to the hand, except for one thing.

The action was folded around to the small blind, who had recently begun bullying the table and building his stack without having to show any hands. The big blind was the table chip leader who had acquired his chips earlier by calling a huge bet with the weaker hand but got there on the river.

The small blind flat called the 600/1200 blinds with a 36k stack.

The big blind then raised to 5600, with about 90k behind.

Without much hesitation the small blind shoved for 36 000.

After long consideration the big blind called and showed KQ offsuit. Small blind had T8 off.

So we had one of the largest pots of the tournament with a KQ and an 8T all in preflop, both playing for much larger amounts than they should have. They both missed and the K high won the hand.

I really liked the limp – reraise line the small blind took. However you can debate the bet size amount. 36k may have been too large of a raise. With a raise that big, you can probably rule out huge hands like Aces or Kings, and maybe even Queens. Eliminating the top three hands of the range means that the opponent can call with a number of hands that he may have otherwise folded if he thought he was up against a big hand.

Also, a large raise of 36k looks very defensive. This gives the appearance of protecting a made hand that is vulnerable, such as a low pocket pair, 44 to 88 for example. If you give the impression that you are on a small pocket pair, the chip leader in big blind may be inclined to call with such hands like KQ because he will think he is in a coin flip situation.

So bearing this in mind, perhaps instead of shoving for 36k, it may have been more appropriate to raise to something along the lines of 12k, and then shove the majority of flops. By taking this line instead, the small blind is able to get more value out of the big blind when the big blind calls the 12k and then folds to the 24k all-in on the flop. As well, the small blind is able to fold preflop if the big blind turns around and 4-bet shoves here.

Saying all this, I still like the thought-process that supported the play. The small blind has a mysterious image since he hasn’t shown down many hands. And by pursuing the table chip leader this way, he is sending a message to him that his blinds are not up for grabs, and even a flat call can be dangerous.

So now that we have discussed the line, why I like it and how it could be improved, I’ll highlight the biggest mistake made in the hand.

Earlier I mentioned the chip leader acquired his chips by putting them in behind in a large pot and catching up on the river.

The hand was AJ v KQ, and the board was 4 K Q A J with all the money going in on the turn. The AJ had 12 outs to take the lead on the river, so it wasn’t the worlds all time worst beat. So judging him on the way he won the hand would be a mistake to label him as a complete fish; which was what the small blind had said earlier. However what the small blind neglected to remember, or realize at the time was how the ENTIRE hand had played out.

On the flop of 4KQ, the KQ player had checked his two pair, and AJ had made an attempt to steal it by betting. KQ then check raised him. AJ called the check raise with only a gutshot here, and very little chance that an Ace would give him the best hand.

So from only looking at this one past hand in full, we have learned that our current table chip leader does not like to fold hands that he has committed any amount of money too, even if he is drawing to only 4 outs.

So now that we know this: our small blind’s crafty play, was an interesting play, it was well timed (as KQ is the exact type of hand that you would want to make a play like this against), but it was against the wrong opponent. Since with 5600 in the middle, there was very little chance that the big stack was going to fold any two cards he was holding, and very little chance the Ten high was the best hand.

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Well back home now after the Ireland trip. From a poker perspective, it certainly had room for improvement. While I caught a few unlucky breaks in the Open Main Event, I certainly did not play well. It's so important for a player to realize when a loss is out of their control, and when it is a result of their own misplays.

The 888 team in general had a rough event, losing most of our players on the first day. Papajac and Bokinjo had a decent showing, but alas busted out before the money as well.

The cash tables, unlike last year, were painful. Like the tournament, I had a few unfortunate hands (running a full house into quad jacks twice in 30 minutes). However I also didn't play the top of my game.

One example of this was during my last session. I ended up in a hand with QQ on a board of J 9 4 A Q. I had my opponent on AK, he c-bet the flop, tried to trap his ace on the turn, attempted pot control on the river by checking to me with the intention of calling a small bet. Unfortunately for him I decided to overbet the pot and shoved all in. He was pretty upset at the spot he was in, and debated his move for several minutes. He initially looked like he wanted to call but was slowly talking himself into a fold. When I saw this I told him that he should go with his instinct, so he called and I took down the pot.

This was an early double up at the table and it should have been the start of a great session. However I managed to play very poorly after that giving away both our buy ins in the process.

While the poker didn't meet expectations, the trip itself was enjoyable. I got to meet a number of 888 forum members for the first time, which was great. You will struggle to find a group of people more friendly and hospitable than these.

I'm back and forth between Ottawa for the next couple days to wrap up some University exams, then hopefully can secure a seat to the Canadian Open in Calgary next month ;)

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The young 26 year old Canadian, Andrew Pantling finished 3rd in the Irish Open for 205 000 euros.

He took some early hits at the final table to short stack himself, but played an outstanding aggressive style to manage to claw his way up the money ladder.

A very good showing for this up and comer, definitely someone to watch out for in the future!

The lovely Kara Scott finished just shy of the first prize claiming the runner up after a very steady tournament from start to finish.

And the 2009 winner of the Irish Open is Christer Johansson, taking home the grand prize of 600 000 euro!

Day 3 has just begun.

64 players remain in the field and all are in the money, with 72 being paid. All of our remaining players are guaranteed to get their buy in back now, and are trying to climb up the money ladder to that 600 000 euro first place prize.

The 300 euro Pot Limit Omaha rebuy tournament took place last night with a total prize pool of 117 000 euro. The action ran late into the night with Ari Soiri taking first place of nearly 40 000 euro. Juha Helppi managed to finish 4th.

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With an aggressive stack and tight image, the play folds around to the player right of Jack who throws in a standard raise.

Jack looks down at his hand and decides to reraise, throwing in a raise just over the minimum. The blinds fold and his opponent makes the call.

The flop comes T T 5, the young player leads out at the pot.

Jack thinks for a minute and shoves his remaining chips into the middle. His opponent calls very quickly and turns over 55 for the full house.

Jack tables 88 and needs to catch a Ten or an Eight to stay alive. The board bricks and Jack loses a pot well over 100 000 chips and his tournament life.

Well played Jack!

The break is over, and the new tv table is ready to go with Kara Scott headlining.

Papajac has managed to recover very nicely and is the only player at his table holding the new yellow 5000 chip, bringing his current count up to 49 000.