Ladies Event Update

What a game... I felt totally out of my depth!

Susie and I arrived at 4:20pm and the place was buzzing! I checked out Smurph and Martin in the main event at their respective tables - both well in the game with decent size stacks.

JCB spotted us and we had a good chat about what to expect, JCB was on a high and raring to go, Susie was very nervous. I felt calm, very calm, but when I saw the final prize fund on the screens - the flutters began. I had resolved to play tight unless I was in late position...

147 women sat down to play, cards went in the air at 5:10pm. Susie reckons we were among the youngest in the room, I was positioned beside a lovely chatty grandmother from Donegal, and while I was definitely not the youngest on my table - I was in the youngest 25% at least!

I took down the first pot with a pair of 7s, gaining 6 blinds; after that I was card dead. The play went loose, fast and furious! The dealer we had for the first two blinds was the fastest I've ever seen, with the ladies at my table folding/shooting the chips out without a pause, in 30 minutes we managed to do no less than 5 orbits... my newly won stack dwindled fast.

I noticed certain woman was playing with 'big bets' and occasionally stealing blinds with cards (if we got to see them) that one usually wouldn't play. I called her with J10s but the flop showed AA9, I threw in 300 continuation bet but she fired out 1800, I folded. She showed a pair of Qs... phew! But the whole table muttered in surprise. She became the table chipleader very quickly after that - nice strategy(!)

Another woman just kept getting great hands: KK, two pairs, flopping sets, flushes etc; and she managed to treble her stack by the start of the 2nd level. But if she was in a hand, she called every raise. And won... I labelled her a calling station! I was down to 3k by 2nd level, wasn't the only short stacked player on the table, there were 4 of us hoovering around 2-4k.

Then this hand happened: I got AKo in mid-position and raised to 400; got 4 callers including the calling-station. Flop showed 456 rainbow and we checked to the CO who bet 800, UTG raised to 1600, calling-station called; chipleader made it 3k. Then it was back to me. I had no option but to fold. CO called all-in and won the 10k+ pot in a show-down with Chipleader's AKo with 78o(!) I'm so glad I held off going all-in there...

Another set of blinds and I was down to 2k, pushed all-in with AJ, everyone folded to the Chipleader who insta-called me with K10o. Flop gave me the A to stay alive and I was back up to 5k... phew! Chipleader lost a HUGE pot in the very next hand with a 10 high flush to the Donegal Grandmother's queen high and went right down to 4k.

JCB stopped by, seeing my stack, she gave me the thumbs up and remarked that she was card dead and had more or less same as me. That made me feel better. She also warned me to sit tight, the cards will come.

More fast and furious playing with big bets continued, and I remained hand dead for ages; til I lost 1,750 to another short-stacker in a show-down with my JJ v her AA. Bad call.

Was down to 3k when I got a beautiful pocket rockets... But in the previous hands AAs lost out to triple Q's and flush draws - being in BB with 8 callers including calling-station, I decided to play safe and not call til I saw the flop. Flop showed 10 4 2 rainbow; I threw in a value bet of 600 expected to reraise, two players called, rest folded. Turn was 8 and all-in I went, got one caller (guess who!!!) with J8 (eehhh?) and other player folded. River showed the one card I didn't want: 8 ...FFS! That was some playing woman!

I got a lot of sympathetic looks and a lot of head shaking ; dealer muttered something to me but I didn't catch it, Donegal woman nodded and patted me on the back "yah... well played lassie... pure bad luck cards tonight". Hard-luck, good game, goodbye... step behind the railings... ya-da... ya-da...

Out in 131st place. I felt soooo humbled.

Susie Woosie was playing ultra-tight on her table, working between 2.5-4k stack. She managed to boost her stack to 8k by break (end of 4th level) but grew very short-stacked with the blinds and antes, only to crash out in the 6th level in 87th place - well done girl, you lasted longer than me!

JCB was on 35k+ in 7th level with what looked like the overall tournament chipleader on her table with 100k++ (whoa!) JCB was engaging in table play talk with another short-stack all-in at that table...while 'deciding' whether to call into the pot or not when I stopped by, she made a big show of flashing me her cards "look at these... would you call? Hummmm... Ohhhh... Ah I'll call ya..."

Eh? I'm the last person you should ask that JCB! But she won that pot... and went on to finish among the final 10... GG Girl and Well Bloody Done!