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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