Paddy Power Irish Winter Festval side event

Ok.

I'm a happy girl.

Monday we go to the card room in the City West hotel, Dublin, to play a satellite for the 500 Euro side event. Betfred have paid me in but you take every penny you can get right? (Or is that just us women?) It's a bunfight - first 10 people to sit down play... the BF has his seat in his hot little hand and a French player called the Pink Lady literally parks her arse on his chair as he is halfway through sitting down, and pushes him off it. Now I'm known for being a little forthright (hmm) and considered rude by a few but this was amazing, made worse by the fact she then started shouting at him in french. My guy would never be rude to a woman so it's usually down to me, but she's there with half of Europe as her BF is pascal perault, so she's like the poker version of a WAG (in her case, a HAG), so I know if I say anything, all the frogs start croaking and it's the Battle of Waterloo all over again.

It killed me to keep quiet but we let the cards speak, I took out her rent boy with a really bad play (on my part lol) resulting in my 66 tripping up his pair of queens, ended up my BF, the Pink Lady and one angry lady -me - who gracefully exited in 3rd place to let Pink Lady push all in after the BF had limped on the SB with KK. Au Revoir Mademoiselle.

So onto the comp. My table had a great representation from scouse land with me, Charlie and Ian Nelson, all bantering and putting the heads away of the other guys there with the chat. Two Irish women, one who could play, one who couldn't, plus a Swede with limited English, and a French player Stefane who seemed to like calling. A lot. It's fair to say I owned the table - converstaionally anyway. I was never massively chipped as I lost two thirds of my stack in the first half hour with AA, AK, AQ and 10s - twice. Most of those hands were folded on the flop once i missed but I was battered by the Irish fishy female with my 10s, as she couldnt pass on any flop she had overcards to, whatever they were.

Anyway, I went on to make a few good plays, I also got paid nicely when a couple of hands hit the deck hard but I never had much of a stack as I was always working to build the stack back up to catch up with the others! I got back to the 6k starting stack when the AV was 6,900, and it seemed to stay like that - always just below average. I really did grind it out, not waiting just for hands but also for my chance to pick up a blind or two, but was called EVERY time by Stefane - we had a great laugh together and there was a lot of play going on, but for every pot I won, he would win the next, puttin me back where I was before.

After the dinner break they broke us up and I was moved to the table of the eventual winner, Nikolas Lesbian or something, plus Pro Liam "the gentleman" Flood. I think I played 3 hands in about as many hours. I was so card dead I had to put a mirror under my nose to check I was still breathing.
Then they moved me again, and it just got worse.

Julian Thew sat 2 seats to my right with a monster stack, an aggressive croatian on my SB who only knew two words of English - All In - and Ciaran OLeary 2 seats to the left. Then, just to rub salt into the already weeping wounds, they slot James Akenhead inbetween me and Ciaran. I'm so far out of my depth I was looking round desperately for a lifeline when I realised there were only 5 tables left, meaning over a quarter of the field had gone - but I was still there.

It gave me the patience to sit and nurse my short stack for what felt like weeks, plus I didn't have any chips to steal with so a hand of some sort was required, as most of the players would have to insta call my stack anyway on the BB. Then, who comes to the table but the French guy who I busted out of the satellite with my 66. Guess what happened? :) Yep, his KK UTG was beaten by my A10, apologies my froggy compadre.

So I had no friends or admirers on the table but I had doubled up. I sat on for another 36 hours or so until finally having to push with k9 before I got blinded away. Insta call in BB for another 16k with AJ, flop AK9, rest a blank I'm doubled up again. We're finally in the money (paying to 26) I nurse this stack like Florence Nightingale to scrape my way through, I have 59k in the SB when the cut off pushes all in for 60k. I HAVE KINGS!! I should be ecstatic but I have a really sick feeling in my gut this is going to go pear shaped. I don't need a hand! I've got here without any, I'm fine thanks poker gods, let me fold my way to victory please?

I call. I walk away from the table as I can't look. I don't need to look as a massive "Oooow" collectively comes out of everyone's mouths as the flop comes rag, rag, rag, turn - jack... river - Jack. The guy pushed with .. QJ. I'm out.

Realistically, I busted KK twice with A10 and 88 to get as far as I did, and I was always on borrowed time with never really getting over the average. That was the most solid game I have ever played, I folded more hands than i have ever managed to do before, but also outplayed strong players a few times to steal my way to the money and I was rewarded for that, so I really can't be unhappy about the bad beat. ( I did get the name and address of the JQ guy though - watch out for any post that sounds like it's ticking ok?)

So I placed 15th out of 203, i got 900 euros (but was freerolling anyway) and a couple of points which may take me up to about 3 millionth place on the ranking tables :). I'm more than happy with that. I got to meet some world class players, and some great people (these things do not always go hand in hand unless you are Julian Thew), had a free stay in a 4 star hotel, and got pissed with Padraig Parkinson so I'm chuffed to bits with the whole weekend.

NOTE TO BETFRED - You sent 6 male players over to this festival and one woman. Only one of your seven cashed. Like they say, if you need a man's job doing, send in a woman. I'm not sure if anyone actually says that or if I just made it up but I like the sound of it either way :) Now if anyone fancies staking me for the Blackpool GUKPT, main or side events, please feel free to get in touch. Quickly!